You Cant Make This Up

To finish out the year, we're replaying one of our most popular episodes of 2022. Wherever he went, Simon Leviev’s entourage would follow. A carefully curated supporting cast – his business partner, his driver, his security guard – created an air of glamour and legitimacy. But who were these people? Were they in on the scam? Or were they as much victims as the women Simon swindled? The Making of a Swindler Part 1 is a companion to the documentary, "The Tinder Swindler", only on Netflix.

At the top of Rebecca's Best Of list, we're replaying her interview with “Descendant" director and producer, Margaret Brown. The Clotilda was the last known ship to arrive in the United States carrying enslaved Africans, decades after slave importation was outlawed. The ship was burned and sank somewhere in the Mobile River, while its passengers would later settle in the community of Africatown. In the century that followed, the descendants of The Clotilda struggled to preserve their heritage in an Alabama town encircled by industrial property owned by the descendants of the slave owners. As a renewed effort to find the missing wreck gets underway, the community grapples with the implications of its discovery.

One of Rebecca's favorites of 2022, we're replaying her interview with "Trainwreck: Woodstock '99" director Jamie Crawford and producer Cassie Thornton.   Organizers from the original Woodstock tried to recreate the music and magic at a new three-day festival in 1999. But concert-goers expecting another groovy weekend were met with high food prices, dirty water, and mountains of litter. And promoters learned too late their audience wasn’t filled with 60s flower children; they’d drawn an army of rowdy thrash-rock fans who showed their displeasure by - literally - burning it all down.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, host  Rebecca Lavoie talks with Amanda Richards, the docs and docuseries writer for Tudum, Netflix's editorial companion site, about their favorite Netflix titles from 2022. This year there were intriguing cold cases, historical crimes, and cunning con men. There were meltdowns at power plants and meltdowns at rock concerts. There was also plenty of drama on reality shows. We cheered for cooking, baking, catfights, and matchmaking. There were game shows that asked whether true love is blind…and asked “Is It Cake”? Rebecca and Amanda give their top five favorite things from 2022.   

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Jessica Dimmock. Between 1986 and 1991, the remains of four missing women were discovered in the same field in League City, Texas. Authorities couldn’t rule out the deaths were connected to a string of 30 murders outside of Houston since the 1970s. Then another string of disappearances began in the 1990s. Were all of these crimes linked in some way? And what is their connection to that secluded plot of land on Calder Road? SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched “Crime Scene: The Texas Killing Fields" yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.        

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Pepsi, Where's My Jet?" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews documentary subjects John Leonard and Todd Hoffman. In a 1996 ad campaign, Pepsi claimed if you earned enough points people could get free sunglasses, leather jackets…or a Harrier jump jet. When a 20-year-old college student found a loophole that would let him obtain a $32 million plane for just $700,000, he and his friend began a campaign to claim the jet. “Pepsi Where’s My Jet?” recounts the landmark case of a kid who launched his own cola war and became the hero of a new generation. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched “Pepsi, Where's My Jet?" yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary “Capturing the Killer Nurse" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Tim Travers Hawkins and author Charles Graeber. Charlie Cullen was an experienced registered nurse, trusted and beloved by his colleagues at Somerset Medical Center in New Jersey. He was also one of history’s most prolific serial killers, with a body count potentially numbering in the hundreds across multiple medical facilities in the Northeast.  Based on the best-selling book The Good Nurse  and dramatized in the Netflix feature film starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne  – “Capturing the Killer Nurse” reveals the twisted story behind Cullen’s hidden spree of murders and how Cullen’s horrific actions underscore an even bigger danger still lurking in our healthcare system. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched “Capturing the Killer Nurse" yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary “Descendant" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director and producer Margaret Brown. The Clotilda was the last known ship to arrive in the United States carrying enslaved Africans, decades after slave importation was outlawed. The ship was burned and sank somewhere in the Mobile River, while its passengers would later settle in the community of Africatown.  In the century that followed, the descendants of The Clotilda struggled to preserve their heritage in an Alabama town encircled by industrial property owned by the descendants of the slave owners. As a renewed effort to find the missing wreck gets underway, the community grapples with the implications of its discovery. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched “Descendant" yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we conclude our look at volume three of the Netflix series "Unsolved Mysteries" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Robert M. Wise about his episode "Body in the Bay" After Patrick Lee Mullins's small boat never returned from a ride on the river, search crews scoured the waters in and around Tampa Bay. Days later, his body was discovered in a shallow part of the bay, carefully tied to his own anchor…but his empty boat was recovered far out to sea.  At first investigators assumed this was a straight-forward suicide, but the cause of Patrick’s death was not drowning. It was a shotgun blast to the head. “Body in the Bay” explores whether Patrick set off to take his life or whether he encountered something he shouldn’t have seen.  Note: We talk in detail about suicide in this episode. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, you can call 988 anywhere in the US to talk with someone who can help.  SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watch

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we continue our look at volume three of the Netflix series "Unsolved Mysteries" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Gabe Torres about his episode "What Happened to Josh?" In 2002, Josh Guimond left a party at St John’s University in Minnesota and was last seen walking back to his apartment. When his friends realized he never made it home it kicked off a massive search of the area’s woods and waterways. What could have contributed to Josh’s disappearance? The investigation would have authorities explore a romantic rivalry, a church abuse scandal, a killer targeting students in the area, and online secrets someone wanted erased from Josh's computer. Could any of these things answer the question: what happened to Josh? SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched “Unsolved Mysteries: What Happened to Josh?" yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about volume three of the Netflix series “Unsolved Mysteries" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews series executive producer Terry Dunn Meurer and director Donald Eichar. Over the next three weeks, new episodes featuring more unexplained deaths, baffling disappearances, and bizarre paranormal activity will be available on Netflix.  "Unsolved Mysteries" is a series you don’t just watch. Viewers engage with the stories, offering more than 5,000 tips regarding the last two seasons at unsolved.com. Maybe you have information about cold cases, missing persons, and paranormal puzzles. In this podcast we'll talk about “Body in Bags.” When a beloved single father disappeared and was later found dead, there was only one suspect. Now the U.S. Marshals Task Force is on the hunt for his girlfriend who is now a fugitive from justice. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched “Body in Bags" yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary “The Redeem Team" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director and executive producer Jon Weinbach. When the US added NBA players to their men’s Olympic basketball team in 1992, it seemed they’d never lose again. But in the years after that first Dream Team, the international competition got better and the American teams began to coast.   After a humiliating bronze-medal performance in 2004, organizers shook up the US system. A legendary coach assembled the nation’s greatest players with a renewed sense of purpose and a shot at redemption. But can these superstars learn to play together and bring the gold medal home? SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched “The Redeem Team" yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Eat the Rich: The GameStop Saga," out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews executive producer Dan Cogan. Powerful Wall Street hedge funds made a financial bet: if video game retailer GameStop went bankrupt, they’d make a killing on its devalued stock. But no one could anticipate an army of online day traders would prop up GameStop and squeeze the over-extended hedge funds that were short selling the company. What happened next made some people very rich, while bringing the nation's financial institutions to their knees. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched “Eat the Rich" yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Miles Blayden-Ryall. They slipped undetected in and out of the homes of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and others stars just by watching their social media. They became known as The Bling Ring and their exploits were made into a book and a movie. But their stories didn’t end there. In “The Real Bling Ring” we go inside the crimes and wild times of these star-studded burglars, who preyed on the famous while seeking fame for themselves.   SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched “The Real Bling Ring" yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary film, “The Anthrax Attacks: In the Shadow of 9/11" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Dan Krauss. In the days after September 11th, the nation was on edge fearing more attacks. When politicians and media figures began receiving letters filled with deadly anthrax, officials thought foreign terrorists were responsible.  But when tests revealed the anthrax was a strain used only by American laboratories, the FBI turned its attention to the scientists who had access to the bacteria...including Dr. Bruce Ivins.  SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched “The Anthrax Attacks" yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Sins of Our Mother" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Skye Borgman. Lori Vallow was known to friends and family as a devoted mother of three, a loving wife, and a woman of God. But then things changed. Lori joined a doomsday religious community. Her ex-husband was shot after a family confrontation…and the wife of her lover died under mysterious circumstances.  Lori’s face was in the news after two of her children went missing - all while she was on a carefree Hawaiian honeymoon. Now she faces trial in connection with their murders.   SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched “Sins of Our Mother" yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on. Listener note: The following interview was recorded in August 2022 and does not take into account any recent developments pertaining to the case.  

In this episode of "You Can't Make This Up," Rebecca Lavoie is joined by Connie Wang from Tudum to discuss the best unscripted films and series on Netflix coming this fall. 

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary “Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director David Terry Fine. Basketball referee Tim Donaghy worked his way through the ranks to become an elite official in the NBA. He and a friend from high school began placing bets on games he officiated. Soon, Donaghy’s picks were watched by organized crime - and eventually - the FBI. It unfolded in a scandal that threatened to take down the league. Was Donaghy merely using his inside knowledge of the game to win bets - or was he influencing the outcome to make money? SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched “Operation Flagrant Foul" yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews directors Ryan Duffy and Tony Vainuku. Notre Dame’s Manti T’eo was already one of college football’s biggest stars. His stature grew when he revealed his longtime girlfriend died at the beginning of his senior season. But on the eve of going pro, reporters uncovered his online girlfriend never existed. At a time when the public hadn’t heard of catfishing, football fans were left to wonder how T’eo could be duped by someone he never met…or whether he was actually in on the hoax.  SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched “Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist" yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.

In this episode of You Can't Make This Up, we are talking about the Netflix documentary series “Trainwreck: Woodstock '99" out now on Netflix. Host Rebecca Lavoie interviews director Jamie Crawford and producer Cassie Thornton. Organizers from the original Woodstock tried to recreate the music and magic at a new three-day festival in 1999. But concert-goers expecting another groovy weekend were met with high food prices, dirty water, and mountains of litter. And promoters learned too late their audience wasn’t filled with 60s flower children; they’d drawn an army of rowdy thrash-rock fans who showed their displeasure by - literally - burning it all down. SPOILER ALERT! If you haven't watched “Trainwreck: Woodstock '99" yet, make sure to add it to your watch-list before listening on.