American Grift

Episode 12: The Wedding Grift

We are BACK, baby! After a two-year hiatus (sorry about that), Oriana and her rotating cast of cohosts have returned with a new, personal tale to jumpstart the revived American Grift. This installment centers around a wedding gift that led Oriana down a rabbit hole of petty grift and a web of deceit weaved in North Canton, Ohio, of all places. To discuss this story are Oriana's husband Steve Parkhurst (@ssssparkers on Twitter) and friend of the show and financial journalist/content director Ismat Mangla (@ismat on Twitter). You can follow us at @AmericanGrift!

Episode 11: Aunt Becky's College Admissions Scam

We're back, baby, with an hour on the college admissions scam dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues" by the FBI. Comedian Gabe Gonzalez and freelance writer Aly Semigran join Oriana to talk about how weird it is that bribes to colleges are legal if they come in the form of a building you buy. Reading: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5766243-College-Admissions-Case-Complaint.html

Episode 10: Instagram Influencers

We're back from hiatus with a crazy one about how rotten the dark heart of Instagram Influencing is, told through the lens of one particular "Influencer": Caroline Calloway. Pajiba pop culture writer and critic Kayleigh Donaldson joins Oriana to talk about parasocial relationships, ghostwriting, and empty mason jars. (First read Kayleigh's definitive story: http://www.pajiba.com/web_culture/the-case-of-caroline-calloway-and-her-creativity-workshop-tour.php) Photo by Jo Naylor via Flickr Creative Commons (https://www.flickr.com/photos/pandora_6666/)

Episode 9: Jho Low, the Billion Dollar Whale

Jho Low and his fellow schemers made off with $2.7 billion in one of the most extensive grifts of all time. Did you like the movie The Wolf of Wall Street? Well, it was financed with money from this scheme. Oriana talks with NY Post reporter Kevin Dugan and The Verge reporter Sean O'Kane about this Stefon bit of a grift. Maybe get yourself a copy of "Billion Dollar Whale" (by Wall Street Journal reporters Bradley Hope and Tom Wright) before listening. Photo from Jessica Simpson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeslettt/) via Flickr under Creative Commons license.

Episode 8: Can You Ever Forgive Us, Lee Israel?

Lee Israel serves as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come for Oriana. Kristy Puchko of Pajiba and Aly Semigran join her to discuss the literary forger, author of the beautifully sharp memoir "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" and subject of the equally beautiful and sharp movie of the same name starring Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant. Oh also the Grift of the Week is these dummies: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/n-j-woman-alleged-gofundme-scam-was-duped-boyfriend-homeless-n937986