Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - Lobbying, Part 1: The Dirty Business of Democracy

In the US, voters elect officials to represent their concerns in local communities as well as in Washington. These officials, in theory, work to advance the causes of their constituents, whether they're representing individuals, groups of individuals, or businesses and special interests. But there's another, unelected group fighting to represent a given special interest: lobbyists. In part one of this two part episode, the gang explores the history of lobbying, how it became controversial -- and why so many people are convinced the industry is riddled with corruption.

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Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - CLASSIC: Does Being Wealthy Make You A Bad Person?

It's often said money can't buy happiness -- but what exactly can it do? Could it change the way you think? ...could it make you a bad person? Listen in to this classic episode to learn more.

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Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - Strange News: The Pegasus Leak, AI and Bourdain, India Proposes Population Control

Documentarian Morgan Neville stirs controversy with the decision to use computer-generated audio. In India, locals raise objections over Uttar Pradesh's proposed bill to lower population growth. A massive leak implicates Israeli tech company NSO Group in troubling cases of state-level surveillance (and possibly assassinations) via their hacking software, Pegasus. All this and more in this week's Strange News.

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Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - NASA Was In Bed With The CIA (And Everyone Else)

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is responsible for some of the most profound breakthroughs in the history of space exploration. Since NASA's creation in 1958, the organization has been touted as an explicitly civilian organization. Yet there's more to the story -- the history of space exploration, as it turns out, is literally the Stuff They Don't Want You To Know.

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Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - Listener Mail: Oakville Blob, Dark Side of Twitch, and the Mystery of the Bosnian Pyramids

What exactly were those blobs of gunk that fell in Oakville, Washington in 1994? Does the streaming platform Twitch have a dark side? Is Bosnia really home to an ancient set of gargantuan pyramids with bizarre physical properties? All this and more in this week's listener mail.

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Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - The Mystery of Forgotten Religions

The concept of religion predates civilization and the written word -- from its earliest days, the human species looked to religion to explain the ineffable. Religion has been the inspiration for some of humanity's noblest acts (and the rationalization for some of its most horrific crimes). Some have been enormously successful, spreading across the globe... but what happened to the rest? How many religions have been forgotten, or purposely destroyed?

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Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - CLASSIC: Is clairvoyance real?

Are psychic powers actually possible? Join Ben and Matt as they investigate the truth about clairvoyance in this classic episode.

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Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - Strange News: Haiti’s President Assassinated, One Billion Sea Animals Cooked Alive, COVID-19 Scams in India

Who ordered the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse? What does one billion sea animals being cooked alive by a heat wave in Western North America mean for the future of humanity? Why are Indian medical professionals conspiring to swindle people with fake vaccines? All this and more (including Ben's obsession with radioactive Fukushima boar-pig hybrids) in this week's Strange News.

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Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - The Life and Death of John McAfee

John McAfee lived a life of extremes, from working as a tech entrepreneur to becoming an international fugitive, Presidential candidate and more. As time went on, he became increasingly paranoid, certain that powerful forces were out to get him. And on June 23rd, he was found dead in a Spanish jail cell. The authorities concluded he committed suicide. Numerous people disagree with this conclusion -- including John McAfee himself, who warned people numerous times that he would never take his own life.

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Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - Listener Mail: Exxon Lobbyist Goes Full Supervillain on Camera, Ray Gricar and Jerry Sandusky, an Unsolved Murder in Oregon

An Exxon lobbyist is caught on camera explaining the villainous logic he used to move members of Congress toward his company's side. Ray Gricar and Jerry Sandusky produce an endless, disturbing rabbit hole. A mysterious murder remains unsolved in Oregon. All this and more in this week's listener mail.

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