This week we start a new series on Jay Gould, one of the richest men in America in the 1800s. He isn't one of the most well known titans of the time, but he was one of the richest men in America and was one of the pioneers of taking advantage of the stock market.

He manipulated the money markets in innovative, possibly criminal ways, and was the catalyst for a lot of market regulation on Wall Street and the railroads.

For the start of our series we talk about his beginnings in map surveying and leather tanning, his first forays in the railroad, and the lessons he was learning from the wealthy men of the time.

Sources: American Rascal How Jay Gould Built Wall Street’s Biggest Fortune by Greg Steimetz

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This week we are wrapping up our series on Floreana Island in the Galapagos. The Baroness and Robert have been missing for weeks, Rudolph is no better off, and Friedrich has forgotten that poison is bad for you.

Thankfully the drought is finally over, and the Wittmers just keep working away and trying to mind their own business.

Sources:

Eden Undone- A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War 2 by Abbott Kahler

The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden

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This week things are getting spicy on Floreana Island. Tensions are rising in a drought that will never seem to end, and the desperation is causing everyone to act a little out of character. People are starting to suffer, animals are dying, and a few folks even disappear!

Dore and Margret's accounts of 1933 continue to diverge, as the story gets more complicated and we work on keeping it together.

Sources:

Eden Undone- A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War 2 by Abbott Kahler

The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden

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This week we are back on Floreana Island for more flawed Utopian hijinks. The Baronese with her two sexy male "assistants" have fully moved onto the island. She very quickly begins playing political games all while stealing everyone's rice. They begin work on a "luxury" hotel but do not get very far before it all starts to fall apart.

Meanwhile the young family living farther into the island successfully gives birth to a healthy baby named Rolf. *Trigger Warning for a section on a complicated pregnancy* Though the birth is incredibly harrowing both the mother and baby survive the experience and recover.

More wealthy good Samaritans show up to share gifts with the intrepid Floreanans. The Baroness uses as many of her wiles as she has left to get as much out of each expedition as possible eventually resorting to literally stealing milk from a baby. But when one wealthy group decides to avoid that camp completely, tensions begin to rise and foreshadow a chaotic and possibly violent turn.

Sources: Eden Undone- A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War 2 by Abbott Kahler

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This week we journey to Floreana Island, in the heart of the Galapagos Islands. Millionaires from all over had started visiting the Galapagos Islands after Charles Darwin did, for the exotic animals and uncharted territory and to bring back plenty of critters and carcasses. Foreign businessmen were also visiting with the intent of figuring out how to profit there, and how to buy the islands for their governments.

Then, three different groups: an odd couple, a family, and a pretend baroness with her two young lovers came to the island separately to all create their own version of utopia, but these 10 people wouldn't even share the island for a before several would meet tragic ends.

Sources: Eden Undone- A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War 2 by Abbott Kahler

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We are Wrapping up the Ma Mandelbaum Story this week and boy is she going out with a bang. We have The SHADIEST of lawyers, wild court cases, Running from the law, vigilantly Private Investigators.

We talk more about Howe and Hummel her silly and corrupt lawyers, The Pinkerton National Detective Agencies. and how ma continued to evade Justice.

Enjoy!

Sources:

“The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum: The Rise and Fall of an American Organized-Crime Boss” by Margalit Fox (2025)

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This week we continue our journey through the life of Frederika Mandelbaum notorious gilded age crime boss. Ma is getting into not only the illegal silk trade but also the bank robbing business!. Funding and planning multiple bank robberies including the Oceans National Bank Heist and the Manhattan Savings Institute heist, with the help of some new criminal masterminds and partners.

We also discuss her connection with Tammany Hall and her suspiciously good ability to avoid suspicion by the police and other political figures.

We finish the episode with a bank heist gone wrong, the loss of one of her most trusted compatriots, and the ground getting a little shaky under Ma Mandelbaum's feet.

Sources:

“The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum: The Rise and Fall of an American Organized-Crime Boss” by Margalit Fox (2025)

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Week two of our Ma Mandelbaum Series. This week Ma is starting her own shop and really working to train an army of thieves. We talk about tricky diamond heists, and a how too handbook she created to teach new thieves how to steal. Then we get into how she constructed her shop to help her do all of her clandestine activities. Hope you enjoy!

We did have a few technical difficulties this week and lost a little bit of data. Sorry for the glitchiness working to fix!

Sources:

“The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum: The Rise and Fall of an American Organized-Crime Boss” by Margalit Fox (2025)

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