Bound by the Cloak

S5 Episode 22: Amosite

Amosite, brown asbestos, was primarily mined in South Africa until about 2002. However, it was known to be highly toxic in the early 1900's and cancerous in the early 1930's. Although there were well documented health risks, it was still mined and used in an endless amount of common materials. In this episode we speaks with author and human rights lawyer David Kinley. He is the author of "In a Rain of Dust: Death, Deceit, and the Lawyer Who Busted Big Asbestos." It's thr story of how CAPE Plc put workers and their families in harm's way, but it's also the story of how a lawyer named Richard Meeran, was able lead a victory against a large corporation.

S5 Episode 21: Dangerous Transgressions

Dr. Stein worked as a forensic psychologist under California's Sexually Violent Predator Act. Her role was to evaluate violent sex offenders alone, one by one, at various prisons across the state. It was her job to determine whether these offenders were fit for release or would remain behind bars for the rest of their days. We caught up with Dr. Stein to discuss her book "Evil at Our Table: Inside the Minds of the Monsters Who Live Among Us" and what it was like to sit less than 3 feet away from some of the most danerous and violent offenders in the state of California.

S5 Episode 20: Halloween Night with Mike Brown of Pleasing Terrors

On Halloween night we had the pleasure of speaking with Mike Brown of the Pleasing Terrors podcast and the Pleasing Terrors Ghost Tour in Charleston, South Carolina! We discuss spooky tales from Charleston and other places that Mike has had a chance to visit. We also discuss some of our own experiences!

S5 Episode 19: Inside Scam Compounds

What if the people running online scams weren't criminals by choice—but victims themselves? In this episode, we talk with Ivan Franceschini and Ling Li, authors of Scam: Inside Southeast Asia's Cybercrime Compounds, about the hidden world of online fraud across Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and the Philippines. Based on years of fieldwork, their book reveals how thousands of people are trafficked or coerced into "pig-butchering" romance scams and investment cons inside prison-like compounds. Franceschini and Li explain how organized crime, corruption, and technology have turned Southeast Asia into a global hub for cybercrime—and how many of the perpetrators are actually victims of modern slavery. Ivan Franceschini is a lecturer at the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne, where he studies transnational crime and labor issues in China and Southeast Asia. Ling Li is a PhD researcher at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, focusing on technology's role in modern slavery and human trafficking. She also works directly with survivors of scam compounds across the region.

S5 Episode 18: Death and Everything After

Death is universal, but it remains one of the least spoken about aspects of life. Sitting down with Aubrey Thamann and Kalliopi Christodoulaki, the editors of Beyond the Veil: Reflexive Studies of Death and Dying, we explore how grief, mortality, and memory shape our personal and collective lives. We explore the deeply personal and profoundly cultural dimensions of death: how communities ritualize dying and remembrance, how grief reshapes our sense of self, and how researchers grapple with their own mortality in the course of their work. Thamann and Christodoulaki remind us that studying death is not an abstract exercise—it's an act of reflexivity that brings us face to face with what it means to be human. Together, we ask pressing questions: What can grief teach us about resilience and connection? How do cultural practices around death shape our collective memory? Also, why is it so important to talk openly about death and dying?