In this episode, we explore the legal and professional saga of former NFL coach Brian Flores. Flores filed a groundbreaking lawsuit against the NFL and several teams, alleging systemic racial discrimination in hiring practices. He claims that some interviews for coaching positions were merely performative, that Black coaches were repeatedly passed over, and that teams used him to check diversity boxes while effectively closing the door on genuine opportunities.

Flores also alleged that while coaching the Miami Dolphins, team management pressured him to deliberately lose games to secure better draft positions and to recruit a high-profile quarterback in a way that violated league rules. He says that his refusal to comply with these directives contributed to his firing.

While the NFL initially tried to push parts of his lawsuit into arbitration, courts have allowed key claims to move forward, meaning the case could proceed to trial. Flores frames his fight as more than just a personal grievance: it’s a challenge to entrenched racial bias within one of America’s most influential sports organizations. The episode examines the intersection of power, fairness, and accountability in professional football, and the broader implications for equality in sports leadership.

In this episode, we uncover the disturbing rise and fall of Ruby Franke, the once-popular family YouTuber behind 8 Passengers. She built an online empire by showcasing strict, “values-based” parenting to millions of viewers — but behind the curated family videos was a reality far darker than anyone imagined.

We trace how Ruby’s increasingly harsh discipline, combined with the influence of her business partner and mentor Jodi Hildebrandt, escalated into severe emotional and physical abuse. The turning point came when Ruby’s 12-year-old son escaped a home where he had been deprived of food, physically restrained, and isolated. His desperate plea for help shattered the wholesome image Ruby had crafted for years.

Ruby Franke ultimately pleaded guilty to multiple counts of aggravated child abuse, and the court handed down a series of prison sentences reflecting the seriousness of the crimes. In later statements, she claimed she had been manipulated into a warped worldview — but the damage done to her children was undeniable.

This episode dives into how a family-vlogging brand became a blueprint for exploitation, the dangers of extreme “parental coaching,” and the broader conversation about kids growing up on camera. It’s a sobering look at the hidden risks behind influencer culture and the illusion of the perfect online family.

In this episode, we explore the audacious plots to abduct or oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, including both external mercenary schemes and covert U.S. operations. From a foiled 2020 sea‑raid allegedly involving American mercenaries to a more recent U.S. attempt to recruit Maduro’s personal pilot, these high-stakes operations laid bare the intense geopolitical struggle surrounding his regime.

We trace the backstory of Operation Gideon, an attempted incursion aimed at capturing Maduro and shipping him out of Venezuela — a mission that ended in arrests, denials, and fierce propaganda battles. Then, we turn to the modern twist: a long-term covert effort by U.S. agents to flip Maduro’s own pilot, offering money, asylum, and a new life in return for redirecting the president’s private jet. We examine how loyalty, personal risk, and moral cost played out when the pilot refused.

Beyond just the plots themselves, the episode digs into the implications: how this reflects decades of foreign intervention, the blurred lines between regime change and kidnapping, and what’s really at stake for Venezuelan sovereignty — and international norms.