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The Hidden Third

Mariana van Zeller

From Emmy and Peabody Award–winning journalist Mariana van Zeller comes THE HIDDEN THIRD, a weekly dive into the underground markets that quietly power a third of the global economy. Every episode Mariana sits down with people who know these worlds firsthand - the hustlers, smugglers, scammers, kingpins, and those trying to shut them down. The series reveals how they function, why they endure, and the profound ways they impact us all.

New episodes drop every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts. The Hidden Third is a co-production of Muck Media and The Roost Podcast Network.

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  • 26 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 1 hr 52 min
  • English

Episodes 26

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  • Yesterday · 1 hr 23 min

    The Military Sent Her Family Overseas. Then It Wouldn't Let Them Come Home

    Jamie Lenio found out her husband, an active-duty Marine, was having an affair with his direct boss, a one-star Army general. After 16 years of marriage, it was over. Then she found out she was stuck in Germany and couldn't bring her three kids home. The family was only there because of his assignment. But his command told Jamie it couldn't send her and the children back to the United States early without his approval. Lawyers warned her that under the Hague Convention, an international treaty on child custody, a German court could decide that's where her children now lived. If she took them anyway, it could be treated as kidnapping. Her right to stay in the country depended on her husband's military status. If the divorce went through, she feared she'd have 90 days to leave, and her kids would have to stay. Jamie is far from alone. Military spouses going through a military divorce overseas have been getting stuck for decades, but almost no one talks about it. Other spouses in the same situation have described rationing money for groceries and gas, turning to food pantries and going thousands of dollars into debt while custody cases dragged on in foreign courts. So one night Jamie recorded an Instagram video explaining her situation and asking for help. Hundreds of thousands of people watched it. Within days, the acting Secretary of the Navy commented: "You and your family will be home soon." Jamie landed in California just hours before we sat down to record this conversation. In this episode of The Hidden Third, Jamie tells me about the moment she realized she was trapped. How she was asked to testify against her husband while they still lived together, and what it's like when your car, your mailing address and your visa all depend on your spouse. She also tells me about the military spouses, women and men, who reached out to her after the video. One father hasn't seen his son in two years and a mother in Spain has been stranded for five. We talk about the Stranded Spouses Project, started by former military spouse Shannon Vavich, and what Jamie thinks has to change so the next military family doesn't need to go viral to get home. Join The Hidden Third Patreon today! patreon.com/thehiddenthird 🎙️ From Emmy and Peabody Award–winning journalist Mariana van Zeller comes THE HIDDEN THIRD, a weekly dive into the underground markets that quietly power a third of the global economy. Every episode, Mariana sits down with people who know these worlds firsthand - the hustlers, smugglers, scammers, kingpins, and those trying to shut them down. The series reveals how they function, why they endure, and the profound ways they impact us all. 🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday. THE HIDDEN THIRD: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoCiI8nJacn8gDiHxr6aQGA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehiddenthirdpodcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hidden-third/id1845989117 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3n1BBoj3BgVuEYaiZ6SotF MARIANA: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mariana_vanzeller Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marianavz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Friday · 1 hr 20 min

    The Hacker Who Tracked Down My Romance Scammer

    He's been hacking since he could type. Now Arman the Cyber is a white hat hacker who hunts down romance scammers. He tracked down the fake Jon Bon Jovi who took almost everything from Leslie Pickett, and my personal favorite, the four-star general "deployed to Syria" who was trying to win my heart. Join The Hidden Third Patreon today for exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from SUPER SCAM ME! https://patreon.com/TheHiddenThird Arman is the hacker featured in my new National Geographic documentary, SUPER SCAM ME. Watch it now on Disney+ and Hulu. Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/browse/entity-3bf2735c-0983-47ea-b927-3ac38c2bf7ef Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/movie/super-scam-me-3bf2735c-0983-47ea-b927-3ac38c2bf7ef I found Arman at DEF CON, the giant hacker conference in Las Vegas, while I was making SUPER SCAM ME. In this conversation, he walks me through how he is tracking down the people behind the fake profiles targeting millions of Americans. Arman also talks about his own story in hacking. By fifth grade he was hacking into his school's mainframe. As a teenager, he got pulled into the infamous Xbox Underground case, an alleged conspiracy that federal investigators said targeted Microsoft and its partners and that the FBI valued at more than $100 million. He tells me why he decided to leave the black hat world behind and use his skills for good. For the full story of his years in the hacking underground, watch our first episode with Arman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AT2Pv-BxCU We talk about AI, and how Arman is now using agentic AI (AI that can carry out tasks on its own, not just answer questions) to hack into companies. He explains the threats AI poses, and what happens when these tools end up in the wrong hands. Arman also breaks down The Com, a network of young crypto scammers and hackers in the US who are causing havoc and stealing millions. And he shares his best tips for protecting yourself from online hacks and scams. For SUPER SCAM ME, I got a new nose. And new hair. And a full makeover. As Mary Zell, a woman looking for love online, I became the bait. Along the way I started dating a four-star general deployed to Syria, got wooed by "George Clooney," and teamed up with a hacker who helped me unmask several scammers, including my own. I wanted to understand their tactics and tools, and how they earn such deep trust. If you think you or someone you love is being scammed, stop sending money, save every message and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and IC3.gov. You can also contact me here: https://marianavanzeller.me 🎙️ From Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist Mariana van Zeller comes THE HIDDEN THIRD, a weekly dive into the underground markets that quietly power a third of the global economy. Every episode, Mariana sits down with people who know these worlds firsthand: the hustlers, smugglers, scammers, kingpins and those trying to shut them down. The series reveals how they function, why they endure and the profound ways they impact us all. 🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday. THE HIDDEN THIRD: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoCiI8nJacn8gDiHxr6aQGA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehiddenthirdpodcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hidden-third/id1845989117 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3n1BBoj3BgVuEYaiZ6SotF MARIANA: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mariana_vanzeller Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marianavz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • October 21 · 1 hr 31 min

    She Thought She Was Dating Jon Bon Jovi. Then He Asked for Money.

    Start your free trial of Perplexity Computer today at https://pplx.ai/hiddenthird and experience the next phase of AI. #ad Go to http://Quince.com/hiddenthird for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. She thought she was in a relationship with Jon Bon Jovi. For almost a year, Leslie Pickett sent "Jon" almost all her money, until she was on the verge of losing her house to foreclosure. That's when she reached out to me. Leslie's story is featured in my new National Geographic documentary, SUPER SCAM ME. Watch it now on Disney+ and Hulu. Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/browse/entity-3bf2735c-0983-47ea-b927-3ac38c2bf7efdisneyplus Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/movie/super-scam-me-3bf2735c-0983-47ea-b927-3ac38c2bf7ef Leslie has been a Jon Bon Jovi fan since she was a teenager. She had just created a new Instagram profile when she commented on what she thought was a verified JBJ account. Soon she was talking to "him" every day, for months. It wasn't until several months into the relationship that "Jon" asked her for money so she could attend a meet and greet. The requests kept coming, and she kept sending money, until the moment she realized he might be a scammer. Leslie had been caught in a celebrity romance scam, where criminals pretend to be famous people to win a fan's trust and then their money. Leslie is far from alone. One in seven American adults say they've lost money to an online dating or romance scam. In 2025 alone, Americans reported losing nearly $1.5 billion to romance scams, which makes them one of the fastest-growing and most devastating forms of financial crime. When Leslie contacted me, I was in the middle of production on SUPER SCAM ME. With help from Arman the Cyber, a white hat hacker (an ethical hacker who uses his skills to protect people, not exploit them) I met at DEF CON, the giant hacker conference in Las Vegas, we were able to track down her scammer. In this conversation, Leslie and I talk about the shame so many victims carry, and why "how could anyone fall for that?" is the wrong question. We look at the videos "Jon" sent her that looked completely real, and how scammers are using technology and AI. Generative AI can now convincingly imitate celebrities and public figures, and that's making these scams harder and harder to spot. We also go through the warning signs everyone should know. For SUPER SCAM ME, I got a new nose. And new hair. And a full makeover. As Mary Zell, a woman looking for love online, I became the bait. Along the way I started dating a four-star general deployed to Syria, got wooed by "George Clooney," and teamed up with a hacker who helped me unmask several scammers, including my own. I wanted to understand their tactics and tools, and how they earn such deep trust. If you think you or someone you love is being scammed, stop sending money, save every message and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and IC3.gov. You can also contact me though my website. Join The Hidden Third on Patreon for exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from SUPER SCAM ME: patreon.com/thehiddenthird 🎙️ From Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist Mariana van Zeller comes THE HIDDEN THIRD, a weekly dive into the underground markets that quietly power a third of the global economy. Every episode, Mariana sits down with people who know these worlds firsthand: the hustlers, smugglers, scammers, kingpins and those trying to shut them down. The series reveals how they function, why they endure and the profound ways they impact us all. 🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday. THE HIDDEN THIRD: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoCiI8nJacn8gDiHxr6aQGA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehiddenthirdpodcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hidden-third/id1845989117 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3n1BBoj3BgVuEYaiZ6SotF MARIANA: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mariana_vanzeller Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marianavz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • October 14 · 1 hr 30 min

    I Was Set Up by a Cartel. Now I’m Going to Federal Prison

    Get 15% off OneSkin with the code MARIANA at https://www.oneskin.co/MARIANA #oneskinpod Use code HIDDENTHIRD at http://Monarch.com to get 50% off your first year of Monarch Core! Join The Hidden Third Patreon today! https://patreon.com/TheHiddenThird Nine years after a chance encounter on a flight to Las Vegas, Niki Burke is just two weeks away from reporting to federal prison. Her story begins in 2017, when Niki boarded a flight from Florida to Las Vegas with two friends. A well-dressed man from Indiana sat next to them, and midway through the flight, they struck up a conversation. He offered to buy them drinks, paying with $100 bills, and they kept in touch after landing. Over the course of the trip, he paid for limousine rides, expensive dinners, gambling and extensions to their hotel stay. The friendship continued after Vegas. Eventually, the man told Niki he was starting a home-goods distribution company and offered her the opportunity to help build and run it. The business would source inexpensive products from Mexico and distribute them across the United States. Niki accepted. She moved to South Texas, found a warehouse and began operating the company. The man financed the venture, but most of the business was put in her name. Niki says she spent her days managing operations, solving problems and learning how to run a business. She was proud of what they were building and believed it could become her future. Then, one day, she received a call. A semi-truck registered in her name had been seized at a checkpoint. Inside, authorities found more than 20 kilograms of cocaine worth approximately $1.5 million. Niki says the man and the truck’s driver suddenly stopped responding to her. She later learned that federal agents believed the man had connections to a Mexican cartel. More than a year later, Niki received a text claiming someone had found her friend’s missing purse at a mall. When she arrived to collect it, federal agents were waiting. Niki says she was placed in an unmarked vehicle, interrogated for approximately five hours and taken into federal custody. She was charged with conspiracy to traffic narcotics. Federal prosecutors characterized her as a recruiter because she had introduced the Indiana man to two of her friends. According to Niki, she faced a choice: accept a plea agreement or go to trial and risk a potential sentence of 10 to 20 years. Niki was initially sentenced to three years in federal prison. That sentence was later reduced to one year and one day, and she expects federal time credits to reduce the amount of time she actually spends inside. In this episode, we talk about Niki’s childhood growing up around crack addiction, losing the grandmother who raised her, the breakup that preceded her trip to Las Vegas, what happened to the two friends she introduced to the Indiana man, and why she believed the distribution company was a legitimate business. We also discuss the moment she learned that the truck had been seized, her interrogation by federal agents, the pressure to accept a plea deal, the years she spent waiting for the case to end, and how she now looks back on the decisions that brought her here. Niki is preparing to report to FPC Alderson, a minimum-security federal prison camp for women in West Virginia. Often called “Camp Cupcake,” it is the same facility where Martha Stewart served her five-month federal prison sentence from October 2004 to March 2005. Rather than enter prison consumed by anger, Niki says she wants to make the most of her time inside. She even hopes to produce a podcast from federal prison, interviewing incarcerated women and sharing stories that rarely reach the outside world. This is Niki’s account of how a chance encounter, a business opportunity and a semi-truck registered in her name led to an alleged Mexican cartel connection, a federal cocaine-trafficking conspiracy case and a sentence in federal prison. 🎙️ From Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist Mariana van Zeller comes THE HIDDEN THIRD, a weekly dive into the underground markets that quietly power a third of the global economy. Every episode, Mariana sits down with people who know these worlds firsthand: the hustlers, smugglers, scammers, kingpins and those trying to shut them down. The series reveals how they function, why they endure and the profound ways they impact us all. 🔔 Subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday. THE HIDDEN THIRD: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoCiI8nJacn8gDiHxr6aQGA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehiddenthirdpodcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hidden-third/id1845989117 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3n1BBoj3BgVuEYaiZ6SotF MARIANA:TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mariana_vanzellerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/marianavz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • October 7 · 2 hr 16 min

    From College World Series Hero to $32M Ponzi Scheme

    Go to https://meetfabric.com/HIDDENTHIRD and apply today, risk-free He was a College World Series champion, a pro baseball prospect and a relative of Tampa mob boss Santo Trafficante Jr. Then a gambling addiction drove Sam Favata to run a $32 million Ponzi scheme that sent him to federal prison. In 1979, Sam hit .418 for Cal State Fullerton, a national college record that stood for 16 years, and scored the winning run in the school's first College World Series title. The Milwaukee Brewers drafted him. Two years later, in Modesto, an 87 mph fastball hit him in the head. He needed surgery for three brain bleeds, and doctors weren't sure he'd survive, let alone walk or talk again. Nine months later he was back on the same field, and almost 5,000 fans gave him a three-minute standing ovation after his first hit. But Sam was already hiding something. He placed his first bet at 19, at a Las Vegas craps table on a road trip with his Fullerton teammates, and lost everything his father had given him for the weekend. On the drive home, he realized he was more upset about losing at the casino than losing at baseball. He kept that secret for 26 years. Gambling ran in the family. Sam was born in Tampa, and his second cousin was Santo Trafficante Jr., the mob boss who ran Florida and pre-Castro Cuba for the American Mafia. Trafficante was later tied to the CIA's plots to kill Fidel Castro and long rumored to be connected to the JFK assassination, which he denied under oath. Sam's father ran bolita numbers for the organization before he walked away and moved the family to California to give his son a different life. Sam talks about growing up close to that world, and about the secret Trafficante is said to have revealed about Kennedy on his deathbed. After baseball, Sam built a career in mortgages and started a family with his wife, Sandra. He talks about losing their baby son, Joey, and the grief that followed. Through all of it, his gambling kept growing: VIP status at Caesars, a $1 million credit line at the Rio, a $985,000 win on a March Madness parlay. Then, in 2005, he bet $1.425 million on a single regular-season NHL game and lost. To keep chasing his losses, Sam turned his Orange County company, National Consumer Mortgage, into a Ponzi scheme. He persuaded more than 200 people to refinance their homes and invest with him, promising returns of 30 to 60 percent. There was no investment. According to the SEC, he used more than $10 million of their money to pay off his own gambling debts. Some victims lost millions. We also talk about Dodgers legend Steve Garvey, Sam's friend, who endorsed the company without knowing about the fraud and later testified as a character witness at his sentencing. When federal investigators contacted his wife in 2006, it all came crumbling down. Sam pleaded guilty to mail fraud and spent 33 months in federal prison at Lompoc. His father died while he was inside, and he couldn't go to the funeral. Today Sam is in recovery from gambling addiction, a quarter of everything he earns goes to restitution, and he'll be paying his victims back for the rest of his life. Americans legally bet more than $160 billion on sports last year, and there's a sportsbook on every phone. Sam's story is a warning about baseball, the Mafia, addiction, fraud, prison, grief and what gambling can take from someone before anyone around them notices. Join The Hidden Third Patreon today! https://patreon.com/TheHiddenThird The Hidden Third is a series of intimate conversations with people who have lived inside hidden worlds, from crime and addiction to exploitation, survival and recovery. Hosted by award-winning journalist Mariana van Zeller. Follow Mariana:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marianavz/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marianavanzeller X: https://x.com/marianavz/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • September 30 · 2 hr 23 min

    Evan Rachel Wood: The Cost of Speaking Out Against Marilyn Manson

    Disclaimer: Marilyn Manson, whose legal name is Brian Warner, has denied Evan Rachel Wood’s allegations. He has previously said that her claims are “horrible distortions of reality” and that his intimate relationships were consensual. In January 2025, Los Angeles County prosecutors announced that no criminal charges would be filed following a four-year investigation, stating that the domestic-violence allegations fell outside the statute of limitations and that they could not prove sexual-assault charges beyond a reasonable doubt. The DA’s office also said it “recognize[s] and applaud[s] the courage and resilience” of the women who came forward, noting that their advocacy helped bring greater awareness to the challenges faced by survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault. Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/HIDDENTHIRD and use code HIDDENTHIRD and get $150 if you win your first $5 lineup! Evan Rachel Wood has spent much of her life in the public eye, from Practical Magic and Thirteen to her unforgettable role as Dolores in Westworld. But in recent years, Evan has used her platform in a very different way, speaking publicly about the physical and psychological abuse she says she experienced during her relationship with Marilyn Manson. In this episode, Evan shares more about that relationship, including the sexual assault she says she experienced during the filming of Manson’s 2007 Heart-Shaped Glasses music video. She talks about the control and isolation she says she experienced, her use of alcohol and drugs during those years, and what it took to survive and rebuild her life. Manson has denied the allegations. We also go back to the beginning. Evan remembers auditioning for Interview with the Vampire, a role that ultimately went to Kirsten Dunst but helped get her noticed. She talks about moving to Los Angeles with her mother, growing up as a child actor in Hollywood, and appearing in Practical Magic alongside Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Then came Thirteen. Evan was 14 when she made the R-rated film that became her breakout role. She talks about having to kiss a 23-year-old actor and the impact that experience had on her. It was an early lesson in how little control a young actor can have over what is asked of them. Evan also talks about the backlash she faced after naming Manson publicly, and how speaking out has affected her career, her family and her sense of safety. She reflects on following the very public Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial while dealing with the fallout from speaking out herself, and on the messages later made public between Depp and Manson, in which the two men discussed Heard and allegations of abuse in crude and dismissive terms. She also helped pass California’s Phoenix Act, which gave survivors of domestic violence more time to come forward by extending the statute of limitations from three years to five. That fight became part of the HBO documentary Phoenix Rising, which follows Evan as she prepares to name Manson publicly and works to create more time and support for survivors who may not yet feel ready, or able, to come forward. Join The Hidden Third Patreon today!https://patreon.com/TheHiddenThird The Hidden Third is a series of intimate conversations with people who have lived inside hidden worlds, from crime and addiction to exploitation, survival and recovery. Hosted by award-winning journalist Mariana van Zeller. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • September 23 · 2 hr 25 min

    He Helped Save Thousands of Abused and Exploited Kids

    Join The Hidden Third Patreon today: https://patreon.com/TheHiddenThird Try ZipRecruiter for free at http://ZipRecruiter.com/HIDDENTHIRD Jim Cole spent two decades as a Homeland Security Investigations special agent, working child-exploitation cases. Early in his career, he saw a problem. Investigators were focused on the people making, possessing, and distributing child sexual abuse material. But the children in the images often went unidentified. Jim helped change that. In 2010, he founded HSI’s Victim Identification Program from scratch, including the first dedicated Victim Identification Laboratory at HSI’s Cyber Crimes Center. Its purpose was to answer a different question: Who is the child in the image, where are they, and are they still in danger? Sometimes the answer begins with a clue most people would never notice: a window, a label, a piece of furniture, a blanket, something in the background that can lead investigators to a child. The program has helped identify and rescue thousands of children around the world, and it continues to operate today. When Jim began tracking victim identifications at HSI in 2011, the agency rescued 262 child victims that year. The following year, after the program’s methods and technology were put in place, that number rose to more than 1,000. This is not an easy subject for a podcast. But given the scale of this crime, and the people most affected by it, it is an important conversation to watch and share. In 2025, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline received 21.3 million reports of suspected online child sexual exploitation. Those reports contained 61.8 million images, videos, and other files. In this episode of The Hidden Third, Jim takes Mariana back to his early years, from his time in the U.S. Army to becoming a patrol officer and then a detective on a Native American reservation in Oregon, investigating everything from narcotics to violent crime. He explains how a series of seemingly accidental turns led him into the work that would define his career. Jim tells the story of one victim, abused by her father, whose case changed the course of his career and made him determined to focus on identifying children. He also tells Mariana about the schoolteacher who abused children for years before Jim’s team uncovered what he had done. They discuss the tactics offenders use to groom children and why the people posing the greatest danger are often not who a child or family expects. They also talk about how artificial intelligence is changing this crime, from the creation of new synthetic abuse material to the ways technology can make it harder for investigators to tell what is real, identify victims, and keep up with the volume of material online. Jim also reflects on the toll of doing this work for decades, what he has carried with him, and why he continues to fight for children who might otherwise never be rescued. Jim now serves as Senior Advisor for Cyber Strategy and Child Protection at Our Rescue, a nonprofit whose mission is to end human trafficking and child exploitation. He also co-hosts Unlikely Allies: Inside Our Fight with Sonny Von Cleveland, a previous guest on The Hidden Third. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • September 16 · 2 hr 28 min

    The Vigilante Hunting Bullies, Scammers and Predators

    Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/HIDDENTHIRD and use code HIDDENTHIRD and get $150 if you win your first $5 lineup! Get 15% off OneSkin with the code MARIANA at https://www.oneskin.co/MARIANA #oneskinpod James McGibney is the man who took down Hunter Moore, the "King of Revenge Porn" behind the notorious site Is Anyone Up. He infiltrated Moore's operation, bought the site out from under him for less than $15,000, and turned it into an anti-bullying platform. That story became the hit Netflix documentary The Most Hated Man on the Internet. But that was more than a decade ago. Today James, a former Marine and cybercrime investigator, is going after something much bigger and much darker. In this episode of The Hidden Third, Mariana Van Zeller sits down with James to talk about his current investigation into two loosely connected online networks called The Com and 764. The Com is a sprawling group of mostly young people, some as young as 15 and 16, who trade stolen data, run crypto scams that have drained hundreds of millions of dollars from ordinary people, swat their enemies, and in some cases prey on underage girls. 764 is the offshoot that has captured the FBI's attention for coercing minors into producing sexual and self-harm content, sometimes pushing them to suicide. James walks Mariana through how he traced these networks from low-level "script kiddies" all the way up to what he calls the head of the snake in Pakistan. Along the way he uncovered a billionaire's son who allegedly trafficked a 16-year-old girl into Miami and beat her on tape, a teenage girl who laughed on a recorded call as her crypto scam victim killed himself, and a group of young men flashing quarter-million-dollar nights at Miami clubs while underage girls walked past bouncers uncarded. The conversation moves through the sextortion crisis pushing American teenagers to suicide before their parents ever find out, why crypto scams have quietly surpassed drug trafficking as the most profitable criminal enterprise in the world, and somewhat of a disagreement between Mariana and James over cheaters.com and the question of who the bully actually is when you publicly out someone for cheating. It also goes somewhere personal. James opens up about his own childhood in foster care and about watching his foster sister be sexually abused. He talks about why every case he takes on today, he takes on for her. There is a lot more in this one. A guy in Texas moving faster than the FBI because subpoenas take months and he doesn't. Living armed, with private security at the house, because that is now the cost of doing this work. An ISIS hit list. More than a thousand death threats sitting in his Instagram inbox right now. And a very simple explanation of why you should never, ever connect to the free Wi-Fi at your hotel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • September 9 · 1 hr 38 min

    Trapped in Bolivia's Deadliest Prison. Then She Took It Over.

    Use code HIDDENTHIRD at http://Monarch.com to get 50% off your first year of Monarch Core! Sharon Yitzhaki was 20 years old when she was pulled off a plane at a Bolivian airport. Authorities searched her bag, and the second bag she was carrying, which belonged to her boyfriend. Hidden in the false bottom was 10 kilos of cocaine. She had no idea it was there. Her boyfriend had abandoned her days earlier, telling her he'd been deported and asking her to meet him back in Amsterdam, where they both lived. Instead, Sharon was sent to Miraflores, one of the most violent women's prisons in the world. What happened next is one of the wildest true stories I've ever heard on The Hidden Third. Inside Miraflores, Sharon was beaten, electrocuted, and developed a severe cocaine addiction. She got clean by asking to be locked in solitary confinement for a month. She adopted a one-month-old baby born inside the prison. She fell in love with a cartel leader locked up in the men's prison next door, and ended up running the drug trade inside her own prison. She was finally released through a Papal edict from Pope John Paul II, and then had to flee the country to avoid being sent back to prison. In this episode, Sharon opens up about betrayal, hope, addiction, motherhood and love behind bars. As well as what happened to the man who betrayed her and to the woman who brutalized her and countless others inside Miraflores. Her bestselling memoir is now a feature film called 10 Kilos, in theaters now and coming to digital worldwide on September 29, 2026. WATCH 10 KILOS Movie🎬 Find a theater near you 🎧 Bonus content, uncut interviews, and behind-the-scenes on our Patreon: patreon.com/thehiddenthird 👉 Subscribe for more stories from the hidden economies most people never see. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • September 2 · 2 hr 17 min

    She Escaped Traffickers, Then Was Kidnapped Again

    https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/HIDDENTHIRD and use code HIDDENTHIRD and get $150 if you win your first $5 lineup! Sex trafficking survivor Lurata Lyon was kidnapped twice. First, at 17, by a trafficking network in Bosnia while fleeing the Yugoslav Wars. Then, after escaping, by Serbian paramilitaries who held her captive for six months. In this episode of The Hidden Third, Mariana van Zeller speaks with Lurata Lyon about surviving war, sex trafficking, human trafficking, kidnapping, captivity, trauma, and the long road to rebuilding a life after violence. Lurata was a teenager when the violence surrounding the breakup of former Yugoslavia forced her to flee her home in Serbia. She made her way to Bosnia, where she was kidnapped by a human trafficking and organ-harvesting network. She escaped. But after returning to her hometown, she was taken a second time by Serbian paramilitary forces. Held in solitary captivity for six months, Lurata survived abuse, torture, and the constant fear that she would not make it out alive. Her father ultimately arranged for her to be smuggled out of the country in the back of a truck. She arrived in the United Kingdom as a political refugee and began rebuilding her life from scratch. Today, Lurata Lyon is the author of Unbroken: Surviving Human Trafficking. She is an international speaker, public-speaking and presentation coach, and human trafficking advocate who uses her experience to raise awareness about sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, survivor recovery, resilience, and life after trauma. Sex trafficking is not rare, and it is not limited to conflict zones. The International Labour Organization estimates that 6.3 million people were living in forced commercial sexual exploitation worldwide in 2021, nearly four out of five of them women and girls. In the United States, the National Human Trafficking Hotline received 50,123 signals in 2021, including calls, texts, online chats, and tips from people seeking help or reporting possible trafficking. Even though human trafficking is often discussed through statistics, headlines, and criminal cases, Lurata’s story helps us understand the human reality of sex trafficking and survival. It also shows how war, displacement, fear, isolation, and the search for safety can make people vulnerable to exploitation. #SexTrafficking #HumanTrafficking #SexTraffickingSurvivor #HumanTraffickingSurvivor #HumanTraffickingAwareness #SurvivingSexTrafficking #YugoslavWars #WarSurvivor #PoliticalRefugee #TraumaRecovery #LurataLyon #MarianaVanZeller #TheHiddenThird Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • August 26 · 2 hr 15 min

    Ohtani's Bookie Is Out of Prison — And He's Talking

    Try ZipRecruiter for free at http://ZipRecruiter.com/HIDDENTHIRD Go to http://Quince.com/hiddenthird for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Matt Bowyer — the illegal bookmaker at the center of the Shohei Ohtani–Ippei Mizuhara betting scandal — is back on The Hidden Third, and this time he's talking from the other side of federal prison. The last time Matt sat down with me, it was 11 days before he self-surrendered to FCI Lompoc. His underground sportsbook had handled more than $1 billion in bets in a single year, taken action from roughly 700 to 1,200 clients (including Shohei Ohtani's former interpreter, who stole nearly $17 million from the Dodgers superstar to cover his losses), and helped trigger one of the biggest gambling scandals in Major League Baseball history. Now he's out, released early after six months, and the story has only gotten stranger. In our conversation, Matt takes me inside Lompoc: how contraband gets in, how the “cars” (prison crews) really run the yard, why a pouch of "carnitas" (shredded pork) is the closest thing to currency, and how he ran a full business from behind bars — concierge service, personal chef, the works. He tells me what he actually believes about what Shohei Ohtani knew — or didn't know — about Ippei Mizuhara's bets. He opens up about how prison changed him, why he thinks Resorts World Las Vegas got off easy with a $10.5 million fine, where he lands on the explosion of legal prediction markets and sports betting apps, and what he's building next now that he's a free man. This is a rare, unfiltered look at how the illegal sports betting world really works, from the bookie known as "bookie to the athletes." TOPICS COVERED • The Shohei Ohtani betting scandal, explained by the bookmaker at the center of it • Ippei Mizuhara and the $17 million embezzled from the Dodgers • Life inside FCI Lompoc federal prison camp • Running a business from behind bars • What Matt believes Shohei Ohtani knew (and didn't know) • How illegal sports betting operations actually work • Resorts World Las Vegas, the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and the $10.5M money-laundering settlement • The Nevada Black Book and Matt's nomination • Prediction markets vs. sportsbooks vs. offshore books • Athletes, gambling addiction, and what MLB still doesn't want to talk about • What Matt is building now that he's out #ShoheiOhtani #MattBowyer #MathewBowyer #IppeiMizuhara #OhtaniScandal #SportsBetting #IllegalGambling #MLB #Dodgers #TrueCrime #Investigation #Podcast #MarianaVanZeller #TheHiddenThird #ResortsWorld #Bookmaker #PredictionMarkets #Kalshi #Polymarket #Lompoc #FederalPrison Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • August 19 · 2 hr 26 min

    The Man Governments Send to Negotiate with Terrorists | Tom Gregg

    Hostage negotiator and UN mediator Tom Gregg on Afghanistan, the Taliban, the Haqqani network, and the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner exchange. He has spent more than twenty years in rooms most of us will never see. Tom Gregg is a conflict and hostage mediator — the man governments send when they need to talk to people they officially refuse to communicate with. He was the UN's man in eastern Afghanistan, the most dangerous corner of the country, when a full-blown insurgency against America took hold. In September 2006 a suicide bomber assassinated Governor Hakim Taniwal, the man he worked alongside — a former university professor who'd come home from exile in Australia to try to rebuild his homeland. The next day a second bomber walked into the funeral and blew himself up among the mourners who'd come to bury him. He has mediated in Somalia, Nigeria and the Sahel, negotiated with kidnappers to bring hostages home, and run back channels for the United Nations, the U.S. government and the World Health Organization. When Kabul fell in August 2021, the UN sent him in to open the first face-to-face talks between the United Nations and the Taliban leadership. He almost never gives interviews, because almost none of his work can be discussed. This is one of the very few long conversations he has ever done. In this episode of The Hidden Third, Tom Gregg sits down with me to explain how the invisible business of negotiation actually works. We talk about: The 2014 Bowe Bergdahl exchange: five Guantánamo prisoners for one American soldier, and how a deal that big actually gets done Flying into Kabul days after the Taliban takeover to open the UN's first face-to-face talks with the new regime The Haqqanis: how the family America armed to fight the Soviets became the deadliest enemy the U.S. faced in Afghanistan Washington armed the father. The son now runs the police. How Sirajuddin Haqqani went from a ten-million-dollar FBI bounty to Afghanistan's interior minister The morning a suicide bomber killed Governor Hakim Taniwal, who he worked alongside in Gardez, and the second bomb that hit the funeral the next day Why those two attacks were the first sign that America's plan for Afghanistan was already failing How a kid from Australia ended up as a UN Political Affairs Officer in the most dangerous corner of Afghanistan The backpacking trip that changed his life, and the time he almost got mugged in Mexico City — the strangest night of his life Negotiating vaccine access with armed groups, and what it takes to get a nurse safely into a war zone Private diplomacy at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue in Geneva, and what an NGO can do that no government can What Afghanistan looks like in 2026, with Pakistan now bombing the same provinces the insurgency once crossed from How Bono once told him he was against Bill Clinton engaging Gerry Adams, the Sinn Féin leader the U.S. had banned for twenty years — and how watching that gamble help deliver the Good Friday Agreement changed his mind about talking to your enemy Why the most consequential work in the world is done by people whose names you will never learn His PTSD, how he got better, and why he believes communication is the only thing that ever really ends a war If you're interested in war, hostage negotiation, Afghanistan, the Taliban, intelligence, diplomacy, or the hidden systems that decide who lives and who comes home, this conversation goes somewhere almost no interview does. Subscribe to The Hidden Third on YouTube, and follow, rate and comment on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. It genuinely helps. Get exclusive episodes, behind-the-scenes conversations, and unaired footage from stories we couldn't tell anywhere else at Patreon.com/thehiddenthird Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 29 · 1 hr 52 min

    Bad Vegan: Scam, Abuse & Netflix Scandal | Sarma Melngailis Speaks Out

    Go to https://meetfabric.com/HIDDENTHIRD and apply today, risk-free Try ZipRecruiter for free at http://ZipRecruiter.com/HIDDENTHIRD Sarma Melngailis was once the queen of New York’s vegan scene — a Wharton‑educated former Wall Street analyst who turned Pure Food and Wine and One Lucky Duck into celebrity hotspots frequented by Alec Baldwin, Woody Harrelson, Gisele Bündchen, Tom Brady, and many more. Then her life collapsed into one of the most infamous restaurant scandals of our time: a controlling partner, psychological abuse, coercive control, missing millions, a fugitive manhunt, Rikers Island, and the Netflix true crime documentary Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. In this episode of The Hidden Third, Sarma sits down with me to break down how a serial con man and psychological abuser — a man who first introduced himself to her as “Mr. Fox” — took over her mind and her life. We dig into: How a serial con man/abuser who called himself “Mr. Fox” (Anthony Strangis) slowly took control of her decisions, her finances, and her reality. The elaborate belief system he built around her: promising to make her dog Leon immortal, claiming access to a powerful otherworldly “family,” and turning wire transfers into supposed tests of loyalty. How he used spiritual language and “tests” to coerce her sexually — pressuring her into sex and sexual acts under the guise of bringing light, protection, and transformation into her life. The “meat suit” — how he used his own body and weight gain as yet another test of her devotion, and a tool of psychological control. How the press treated her, including the viral tabloid story that she was caught because “the vegan ordered a pizza” — a headline she says is completely false. Why she believes Bad Vegan unfairly portrayed her story, and what the documentary leaves out. How scammers and psychological abusers gain power over smart, empathetic people — and why intelligence alone isn’t a shield against coercive control. The mechanics of coercive control, isolation, and emotional abuse, and how one person can quietly take over your decisions, your money, and your sense of reality. How she was diagnosed as being on the spectrum late in life — and how that helped her understand both her vulnerabilities and her strengths. Her relationship with Alec Baldwin — and her thoughts on his marriage to Hilaria Baldwin. The cost of public shame, and what recovery looks like after fraud, prison, and global headlines — including her attempt to reclaim her story through her memoir The Girl with the Duck Tattoo. If you’re interested in true crime, scam stories, cult psychology, coercive control, or the dark side of fame and celebrity culture, this interview goes far beyond the documentary and tells the story in Sarma’s own words. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 8 · 2 hr 7 min

    How an LAPD Captain Solved a 30-Year-Old Cold Case Murder

    Nearly 30 years after 15‑year‑old Danielle “Danni” Houchins was murdered in Montana, former LAPD captain Tom Elfmont helped finally bring her family answers. Drawing on more than 25 years running gang and narcotics operations in South Los Angeles, Tom has turned his skills to cold cases and long‑forgotten victims. In this episode, he takes us inside policing during some of the most volatile moments in modern U.S. history — from Vietnam and the protest years in Berkeley to the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the notorious 39th and Dalton drug raid that put his LAPD career on trial. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code MARIANA at https://www.oneskin.co/MARIANA #oneskinpod Timeline’s clinically proven formula, Mitopure, now starts at $79, when you subscribe at http://timeline.com/MARIANA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • July 1 · 1 hr 2 min

    Wallo267 spent 20 years in Prison for Armed Robbery. Now He's YouTube’s Cultural Advisor.

    In this episode of The Hidden Third, we sit down with Wallo267 to unpack a story that starts in the harshest possible place: prison. Wallo caught his first conviction at just 10 years old. By 17, he was sentenced to adult prison, where he would spend the next 20 years locked away. Sometimes in the same facility as his own brother and stepfather. Instead of letting prison break him, he turned it into a classroom. Inside, Wallo started paying attention. He interviewed every newly arrived inmate about the outside world. Music, technology, culture, slang — tracking how everything was changing while he was gone. He filled notebooks, studied human behavior, and built a philosophy around one idea: your circumstances don’t get to decide your outcome. You do. Then everything changed. Wallo got hold of a contraband phone and began posting raw, unfiltered content from inside prison, building an audience before he ever walked out. By the time he stepped back into society, he already had a following and a blueprint for his new life. Today, Wallo267 is a Cultural Advisor at YouTube, co-host of Million Dollaz Worth of Game — one of the most influential cultural podcasts in the country — and a New York Times bestselling author whose books like Armed with Good Intentions and Yes to You, No to Them have inspired millions. This conversation dives into incarceration, transformation, cultural influence, and the mindset required to rewrite your story when the system expects you to fail. If you’re drawn to true crime, prison stories, personal transformation, or high-stakes comeback narratives, this episode is for you. Save 60% on Webroot when you go to http://webroot.com/MARIANA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • June 24 · 1 hr 8 min

    The World’s Best Bounty Hunter: How Michelle Gomez Finds People Who Vanish

    How do you find people who do not want to be found? In this episode of The Hidden Third, Mariana sits down with skip tracer and private investigator Michelle Gomez – described by Wired as “the world’s best bounty hunter” – to unpack how she tracks down people who have disappeared on purpose, from the fugitive Ryan Eugene Mullen to a fake “Prince of Dubai.” At 4'11" and just over 100 pounds, Michelle doesn’t look like the person you’d send after fugitives, stolen heavy equipment, or missing yachts – and that’s exactly why she’s so good at it. She leans into her unassuming appearance and uses quirky disguises, from Girl Scout getups to sex‑worker personas, wigs, and glasses, to get close to people who do not want to talk. Michelle grew up in Texas, the daughter of two IBM engineers, and her parents made her build a computer from scratch and solder her own motherboard before she was a teenager. That early crash course in how systems fit together became the blueprint for her career: today she applies the same mindset to people, combing through digital traces, financial records, and tiny “location blips” to build a profile and find the one thread that gives a target away. Over more than two decades, she’s hunted down fugitives, scammers, debt‑dodgers, and high‑risk skips that collection agencies, other investigators, and even law enforcement have failed to locate. In this conversation, she breaks down her use of open‑source intelligence (OSINT), social engineering, and psychological profiling – and what her biggest cases reveal about privacy, ghosting, and the fantasy of truly disappearing. If you’re into investigative journalism, true crime, OSINT, or the hidden world of skip tracing and bounty hunting, this episode is for you. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code MARIANA at https://www.oneskin.co/MARIANA #oneskinpod Save 60% on Webroot when you go to http://webroot.com/MARIANA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • June 17 · 2 hr 47 min

    America’s Last Weed Prisoner

    This past January, America’s so‑called “last cannabis prisoner” walked out of federal custody after serving years on a marijuana trafficking conspiracy between California and the East Coast. At 24, he was running a multi‑million‑dollar weed pipeline from Northern California to Maryland, using tractor‑trailers, private planes, and even FedEx franchises as part of the cannabis supply chain. Before he was ever arrested, he realized a federal case was coming, contacted a lawyer known for representing El Chapo, and then disappeared into Central America as a fugitive. In this episode of The Hidden Third, we go inside his full story as a federal cannabis defendant in a “legal weed” America: how his operation actually worked, what happened to the millions he made, and how, once he was back in the system, he says he was scammed by a lawyer he trusted. We talk about: How a kid who’d been homeless as a teen in suburban Maryland built a national cannabis logistics network The nuts and bolts of the operation: Northern California grow, East Coast demand, trucks and FedEx franchises in between Why he fled to Central America under another identity — and what finally made him come back and face the federal indictment What happened to the money and why the millions he made didn’t translate into a soft landing How he says he was scammed by his own lawyer Life inside pretrial custody and prison, “diesel therapy,” and what it means to try to rebuild while still on probation If you’re interested in the war on drugs, federal marijuana cases, or how large‑scale cannabis trafficking really works behind the headlines, this episode pulls back the curtain in a way you rarely hear from someone who’s just come home. Timeline’s clinically proven formula, Mitopure, now starts at $79, when you subscribe at http://timeline.com/MARIANA Save 60% on Webroot when you go to http://webroot.com/MARIANA Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • June 10 · 1 hr 29 min

    She Was the Crystal Meth Queen of Waikiki. Then She Became a PTA Mom in New Jersey.

    Nikki Mammano arrived in Hawaii as a college student and, within months, was running crystal meth in Waikiki. She became known as the Crystal Meth Queen of Waikiki — until it all came crashing down. Today, she’s a PTA mom in New Jersey and the author of Breaking Good, a brutally honest memoir about addiction, trauma, and the long road to healing. In this episode of The Hidden Third, we trace Nikki’s journey from an abused child and teenage addict to a meth dealer in Hawaii’s underworld, and eventually to a sober life built on therapy, accountability, and telling the truth about her past. She talks candidly about prison, homelessness, sex work, parenting with a criminal record, and what recovery really looks like years after the last high. In this conversation, we cover: Childhood abuse and the early wounds that shaped her Her teenage struggle with addiction How a college move to Hawaii spiraled into full‑time meth dealing Life as the Crystal Meth Queen of Waikiki and the rules of that underworld Violence, paranoia, and the moment everything collapsed Prison, shame, and confronting buried trauma Homelessness, sex work, and the cost of survival Parenting, PTA meetings, and living honestly with your past The role of therapy in long‑term recovery Why she wrote Breaking Good and what she hopes readers take from it If you or someone close to you is dealing with addiction, Nikki’s story is not a neat redemption arc — it’s a raw, hopeful map of relapse, repair, and the possibility of starting over. Go to http://Quince.com/hiddenthird for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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