In July 2018, 12 youth soccer players and their coach found themselves trapped 6 miles deep in a cave with no food or water and depleting oxygen. The rock formed maze became almost completely submerged as the water rose to levels nearly impossible for survival. There was no light and no way to communicate with the outside world. The first season of Wondery?s new original series Against the Odds takes you into the incredible events of when an adventurous group of teens found themselves fighting to save their lives, and the brave heroes that gave them their only chance at survival. With step by step recounts, experience for yourself what it was like to be in their shoes, and how they survived against the odds. Listen to Against the Odds at wondery.fm/ATO.

A financial analyst raises red flags about Bernie Madoff's record. Madoff faces an investigation from the SEC. 

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Bernie Madoff is young and broke. And he's hungry for a big paycheck. So he sets out for Wall Street. But a market crash forces him to make a difficult decision, one that will haunt him for years.

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For decades, the U.S. has led covert campaigns abroad. These campaigns?spearheaded by the CIA, among others?have shaped the balance of power in the world. The U.S. has even helped topple foreign governments. In this new interview, Lindsay chats with Stephen Kinzer, an author who's written extensively about America's foreign policy, and the way our government's actions have had unintended consequences.

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Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh sets his sights on the White House and tries to answer the question everyone has been asking: Exactly how much did President Reagan know and when did he know it?

This episode originally aired on December 24, 2018.

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Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh is called to D.C. to investigate Iran-Contra and bring those responsible to justice. But what he discovers will shake his political allegiances, and drive a wedge through the heart of the country. 

This episode originally aired on December 18, 2018.

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When the story breaks that senior U.S. government officials secretly traded arms for hostages, Congress and the American people demand answers. Chief of Staff Don Regan and Attorney General Ed Meese begin building a wall around the President.  

This episode originally December 11, 2018.

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Two of Reagan?s top priorities are in jeopardy: American hostages are still in the hands of terrorists, and the Contras are losing their fight against the Sandinistas. In early 1986, the two operations merge. In the middle of it all is Lieutenant Colonel Ollie North.

This episode originally aired on December 4, 2018.

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In July of 1985, the National Security Advisor to President Reagan, Robert ?Bud? McFarlane, puts a plan in motion that could change the course of history and turn the Reagan administration upside down.  

This episode originally aired on November 27, 2018.

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Ted Kaczynski warned that technology was crushing the human spirit?and harming the planet. Since 1995, when his manifesto was published, Kaczynski has gained a large number of followers. John H. Richardson, a journalist and author, corresponded with Kaczynski, and joins Lindsay to discuss the wide-reaching influence of Kaczynski's ideas. 

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The FBI gets closer to the Unabomber. But a leak to the media threatens the case. And soon, agents are forced to take action. 

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A fight erupts between Ted Kaczynski and his brother, David. And when tragedy strikes, the Kaczynski family begins to break apart.

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Ted Kaczynski falls in love. But soon, he's shocked by some news?and retreats into the wilderness in Montana. It's there that he pushes forward with a deadly bombing campaign.

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Ted Kaczynski faces a painful rejection in high school. Then he endures an abusive psychology experiment at Harvard. Kaczynski may be an academic prodigy, but he feels lonely and out of place. His solution? He's going to get revenge on modern society.

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In 1979, disco was a dominant force in American music. It took the top spots in the Billboard charts, and sold countless records. But with its culturally diverse audience, disco faced a major backlash. And that would lead to a crisis one evening in July of 1979, when a promotional event at a baseball game turned into a riot. Vince Lawrence was at that game, and has since become a music producer and documentary filmmaker. He and Lindsay discuss the meaning of that infamous night, and how disco?s legacy is still with us today, in music and in culture.

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Trailer for Vince Lawrence's film "Legacy": https://twitter.com/i/status/1321898855546429440

From the mid-1950s to the early '70s, the FBI employed a secret program known as COINTELPRO. It aimed to disrupt a wide range of social activism, from anti-war protests, to the fight for racial justice. At the time, Clayborne Carson was on the front lines of the battles for civil rights. He?d go on to become the founding director of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute, at Stanford University. He and Lindsay sit down to discuss the FBI's investigations of civil rights leaders. They also discuss how those events echo what's happening now between law enforcement and activists.

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Antiwar activists hatch a risky plan. Led by a physics professor, the group decides to burglarize an FBI office. The goal: to find incriminating documents, and to expose decades of federal abuses.

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Fred Hampton is a rising star in the civil rights movement. But when he challenges police brutality, he finds that his life is suddenly threatened.

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The FBI goes after Martin Luther King, Jr., after the civil rights leader calls for an end to racial injustice. The bureau begins to spy on King?and forces him to make an impossible decision.

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Billie Holiday makes a decision. The jazz singer will perform "Strange Fruit," the protest song about lynchings, no matter what happens to her?and no matter how many times law enforcement tells her to stay quiet. But that puts her in the crosshairs of one federal official, who uses any means necessary to silence Holiday.

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It's been over 40 years since the crisis unfolded at Three Mile Island. But the nuclear accident still lingers with us today, as the United States confronts new public health emergencies. At the time of the accident, Peter Bradford was a member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He joins Lindsay to discuss what went wrong at Three Mile Island; who was responsible for the crisis; and how nuclear power could play a larger role in the future, as the world looks to fight climate change.

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A large bubble of hydrogen emerges in the nuclear reactor, threatening to cause a catastrophic explosion. President Carter dispatches an envoy. The goal: to get control of the crisis. And Pennsylvania's leaders face a big moment, as they decide whether to evacuate the region.

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When politics intervene, the engineers at Three Mile Island find themselves up against a wall. Mike Pintek airs a stunning interview on the radio, and causes a panic. And Bill Scranton tries to restore calm to the shaken residents of Pennsylvania.

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On March 28, 1979, Bill Zewe hears an alarm at Three Mile Island. Something has gone terribly wrong at the nuclear power plant, in southern Pennsylvania. And now, the operators at the plant must move fast?before a crisis engulfs the region. 

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The United States is home to a large number of big businesses, from entertainment conglomerates to the giants of tech. Increasingly, members of the public and politicians are raising concerns about these companies?and the power that they wield. Chris Sagers, a law professor at Cleveland State University, joins Lindsay to discuss monopolies in the U.S., both in the past and the present. The two also discuss how the current, heated debates about big business may play out.

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John D. Rockefeller is on the run. His company is under assault from state and federal lawsuits, and now, Rockefeller is moving from house to house, doing whatever he can to avoid a courtroom. But soon enough, his fate will be decided for him. Because the U.S. Supreme Court is about to issue a landmark decision.

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Ida Tarbell begins to investigate Standard Oil. And as she digs deeper, she receives help from some unexpected sources. Soon, John D. Rockefeller learns that his deepest secrets could come spilling out into the light.

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John D. Rockefeller makes a bold move, one that helps him crush his opponents. Soon, disaster strikes in Titusville, Pennsylvania. And that means it's time for Ida Tarbell to return home?and to take on Standard Oil.

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Standard Oil faces an organized resistance. But that doesn't slow down John D. Rockefeller. The oil titan continues to build his empire, and soon, some of his enemies have to make a terrible choice. They can keep fighting?and go bankrupt. Or they can team up with Rockefeller.

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John D. Rockefeller is a poor boy with a dream. He's going to become a businessman. And he's going to be wildly rich. Soon, he stumbles on the product that will seal his fate: oil. Thick, crude oil is gushing from the ground across America. It's creating boomtowns?and a new economy. Rockefeller begins to conquer the industry, but he quickly makes enemies, including a young woman who will challenge Rockefeller's growing empire.

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It's been over 20 years since a major settlement forced the tobacco industry to reform?and pay billions of dollars for its mistakes. Still, despite a sea change in the public?s attitude toward smoking, the tobacco industry remains strong. And it continues to win over new customers. Annice Kim, a public health expert, joins Lindsay to discuss the explosion in e-cigarettes? popularity, and the ways in which companies now use social media to sell these products.

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Jeffrey Wigand steps into the national spotlight. But with all the attention, he now faces a very real threat. The tobacco industry could launch its most vicious counterattack. Or, if Mike Moore has his way, Big Tobacco may waive the flag of surrender.

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Mike Moore files a landmark lawsuit. Jeffrey Wigand comes under attack. And the producers of 60 Minutes face a major roadblock, as they try to tell the story about Big Tobacco.

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A group of ambitious lawyers builds a case against Big Tobacco. But first, they'll need to convince the whistleblowers to speak up.

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Merrell Williams stumbles on a terrible secret, one that's been hidden for decades. Jeffrey Wigand starts a new job with the tobacco industry, only to come face to face with a bitter truth. Soon, both will have to make a choice that could put them in danger.

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Dan Murphy is a staff writer with ESPN. He?s been covering the changing landscape in college sports, in which athletes could soon make money from endorsements. He and Lindsay discuss the wide-reaching effects of a recent proposal, and look at the history of scandals in the NCAA.

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The FBI investigates the ties between Boston College basketball players and Jimmy Burke?s crime ring. As the point-shaving trial gets underway, the athletes discover there?s a larger game being played?and they?re the pawns. 

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Pressure mounts as the mafia starts pouring money into the betting scheme. But the players begin to crack, and mobsters start disappearing. And soon, the FBI launches its pursuit.

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Criminals in Pittsburgh have a plan. It involves gambling and manipulating the scores of college basketball games. But to pull it off, they'll first need some help from the basketball players themselves.

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The fishermen run a blockade. Alyeska Pipeline goes to extremes to root out a mole. Exxon and the fishermen face off in court. 

Photos of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill can be found here

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After Captain Hazelwood?s arrest, Exxon tries to clean up its public image. President Bush tells Exxon to pick up the pace on the cleanup. Fisherman Riki Ott takes on Big Oil in the Alaska State Legislature.

Photos of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill can be found here

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The fishermen find that damage from the spill is even worse than expected, while a winter storm destroys Exxon?s plans for a quick cleanup. Captain Hazelwood disappears.

Photos of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill can be found here.

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A supertanker carrying 53 million gallons of crude oil runs aground in Prince William Sound sparking the worst man-made ecological catastrophe in the country?s history at the time. As Exxon struggles to get the cleanup underway, fishermen worry that this is the end of life as they know it

Links to recommended reading:

Not One Drop by Riki Ott

Out of the Channel by John Keeble

The Spill: Personal Stories from the Exxon Valdez Disaster

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Eric Benson is a senior editor at the magazine Texas Monthly. In 2018, Benson wrote a series of articles that helped shed new light on the tragedy at Mount Carmel. He and Lindsay discuss how the event still shapes American life today.

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The Branch Davidians prepare to surrender. But their plan unravels when they face the FBI, which is under intense pressure to get quick results.

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The Branch Davidians remain locked in a tense standoff with the federal government. And with the FBI now in charge, negotiators try to secure a peaceful surrender. But the FBI?and the Davidians?face a major obstacle: the always-unpredictable David Koresh.

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The federal government prepares for a raid at Mount Carmel. But a chance encounter eliminates the element of surprise?and sets the course for a massive battle between federal forces and David Koresh's community.

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The Branch Davidians are accused of child abuse and stashing illegal firearms. With a federal investigation now underway, paranoia grows at Mount Carmel. And a government raid appears imminent.

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Vernon Howell faces criminal charges in court. And soon, his followers begin to turn against him?fueling his paranoia, and setting the stage for his fateful standoff against the U.S. government.

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In 1993, a massive conflict erupts in rural Texas. The federal government launches a siege against the Branch Davidians, a religious group based in the outskirts of Waco. What follows is the longest firefight in the history of American law enforcement. And it?s a battle that ends in tragedy. But the standoff has its genesis years before. It?s then that Vernon Howell comes looking for a new religious community to call home. He finds it with the Branch Davidians, and soon, he begins working to seize power.

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