Introducing Gangster Capitalism

Gangster Capitalism Season 1 is centered on the 2019 college admissions scandal that is exposing everyone from CEOs to celebrities. Award-winning documentarian Andrew Jenks uncovers the origins and inner workings of this unprecedented scam, introducing you to the people involved, and exploring the larger debate around higher education that is being brought to the forefront.

Gangster Capitalism is a production of C13Originals, a division of Cadence13.

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Episode Transcript

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a b R E zero one two. Hey, it's Austin,
senior producer of the Ballad of Billy Balls. Thank you
so much for listening. We love you, and we'll be
back with a fresh episode on Thursday morning. But if

(00:41):
you have some time to fill these next few days,
you should check out this new show from C thirteen
originals and award winning documentarian Andrew Jenks. It's called Gangster Capitalism.
The series is about white collar corruption, and season one
examine something you've probably been hearing a lot about lately,
the college admission scandal, also known as Operation Varsity Blues.

(01:06):
The scandal has exposed Hollywood celebrities like Felicity Huffman and
Laurie Laughlin, as well as CEOs, real estate developers, and
other business executives who are alleged to have taken part
in schemes involving bribery, money laundering, and fraud. Andrew Jenks
is covering the scandal as it unfolds. Each episode of
Gangster Capitalism goes deeper into the investigation and the inner

(01:30):
workings of the tricks that some very rich people have
been using to cheat the academic system. Jenks also takes
a step back to ask how could this all happen?
And where do we go from here? Here's the trailer
for Gangster Capitalism, which is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
See in a few days. So I gave him two dollars,

(01:55):
he made a stake, I da with my name and
his photo. He took the sakes under my name, and
I got a fourteen hundred and got into my dream school.

(02:17):
Right now, I feel like I'm at a red carpet event.
People have been waiting here for hours, lined up three
deep behind barricades, back back behind the gate, just to
catch a glimpse, step back, get out of the way,
and then the faces of this story finally emerge, but

(02:43):
they're not flanked by publicists. Laurie, do you have anything
to say? Instead, police and lawyers are at their sides.
I'm sorry because Felicity Huffman and Laurie Laughlin are both
at the center of the biggest scandal in academic history.

(03:05):
This is a big story today. Operation Varsity Blues more
on that fallout from the college admission scandal rocking Hollywood
this morning. Although Huffman and Laughlin are the most well known,
there are only two of the many people charged with
scamming the system to get their kids into elite colleges. Hi, guys,
it's Olivia Jade. I don't really care about school. As

(03:27):
you guys all know. They were led by Rick Singer,
a con man posing as an admissions counselor, and his
vast network of co conspirators who exploited his client's sense
of entitlement, hubris, and obsession with status. It's the home
run of home runs aw to work every time. Unfortunately,

(03:50):
white collar crime is nothing new, but this time it's
different because the victims of these crimes are your children.
Welcome to gangster Capitalism. Season one of our new podcast
series is about the college admission scandal, produced and directed

(04:10):
by C thirteen Originals, a division of Cadence thirteen in
partnership with me Andrew Jenks. I'm a student at USC
University of Southern California. What did you think of the
scandal when you first heard? I wasn't surprised. It's really
not even a secret. If you're really surprised that this

(04:31):
is a thing, and then I'm sorry, where have you been?
Everyone knows the richest corrupt AND's been like that forever.
I dropped out of n y U after my sophomore
year of college because it felt like the game was rigged,
and this story has brought all of that back into
focus for me. So I've read the Affidavid's, the indictments,
and the phone records. I went to the federal courthouse

(04:53):
in Boston. I've spoken with college admissions experts, attorneys, parents,
student who have cheated, and the victims. And the signs
you're holding find says Lorie, please pay my tuition and
mine says after you get out of prison, of course,
and I'll introduce you to the team of misfits that

(05:16):
almost pulled it off. The ringleader, the genius from Harvard,
I gore, the ex Soviet and the middleman a k a. Mr. Fox.
And is there any risk this thing blows up? In
my faith? There are a lot of ways to do this.
I can do anything and everything. At its core, this

(05:39):
is a story about how money is used to hurdle
the rules, and how sometimes the rules only apply to
those without money. This is a game. Just realize that
this is a game. This is about our priorities, are values,
our culture, and our future. Really, it's about all of us.

(06:05):
This is gangster capitalism. Gangster Capitalism available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Radio,
dot Com, and wherever podcasts are available.