A blunt look at money, power, and the narrow line between lobbying and influence.
The episode follows how money can tighten its grip on politics, moving from Capitol Hill fundraising to foreign-agent disclosure rules and the machinery of lobbying.
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In their own words
The Rackets Podcast focuses on news related to organized crime. The subject matter isn't limited to traditional gangsters, such as drug cartels. The show also focuses heavily on white-collar criminals, including corrupt politicians, lobbyists, corporate criminals, crony capitalists, shady government officials, etc.
As heard by us
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Rackets Podcast tracks how organized crime intersects with intelligence, political money, and enforcement, making systems of protection and influence easier to see.
Brian Sadey follows the points where criminal enterprise and institutional power become hard to separate. Rackets Podcast moves between solo commentary and guest interviews, tracing alleged relationships among crime figures, intelligence services, political influence, and…
Why you'd press play
Triads backing easier extradition? Brian Sadey asks you to look for the catch.
Press play if you want
- to hear why an intelligence agency might find a criminal contact useful
- a guest's account of gaining safe access to Colombia's coca-growing regions
Talks about
Best episodes of Rackets Podcast
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A sober, reporterly look at Colombia's cocaine economy at ground level.
Rackets frames this conversation with Toby Muse as a close look at Colombia's cocaine economy, but the real focus is the machinery around it: the risk, the access, the local power structures, and the way coca zones are governed by whoever can enforce rules on the ground.
A blunt look at how organized crime, business, and state cover blur together.
The episode follows China's links to organized crime through leverage, compromise, and state tolerance. Broken Tooth is the sharpest example: a triad boss with a criminal past who becomes a patriotic gangster, backed by gambling money from across the Myanmar border and by…
A concise look at criminal power, state leverage, and uneasy alliances.
It moves from Southeast Asia to Hong Kong and Taiwan, showing how triads, protest violence, extradition pressure, and intelligence ties can collide.
A steady conversation about work, records, and the grind of getting back in.
Richard Bronson talks about work after conviction without turning it into a slogan. The conversation moves from his Wall Street background to the logic behind 70 Million Jobs, and the strongest thread is simple: getting people with records through the door and into steady work.
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Episodes
- 1
US Congressmen Doing PR Work for a Shady Foreign Billionaire
Hidden gemMoney does the organizing.
Mar 6, 2025·36m·2 clips - 2
Toby Muse: Author of "Kilo" on Colombia's Drug War
Hidden gemToby returns with Kilo, and the host does not ease into it.
Jan 20, 2025·49m·3 clips - 3
China's Link to Organized Crime
Hidden gemChina's crime links are the case file.
Dec 24, 2024·57m·4 clips - 4
Are Notorious Criminals Acting as China's Spies?
Hidden gemThe claim is blunt.
Dec 6, 2024·1h 18m·4 clips - 5
Myanmar's Ethnic Cleansing & Human Trafficking Scam Compounds
Oct 21, 2024·32m - 6
Record Drug Production Fueling a Civil War in Myanmar
Oct 7, 2024·32m - 7
Alleged Financier of Assassination of Haitian President Moise Linked to US Intelligence
Aug 5, 2024·52m - 8
Bowe Bergdahl & the U.S. Tragedy in Afghanistan
Jun 10, 2019·39m - 9
Lindsey Graham Doesn't Understand the Constitution
May 31, 2019·24m - 10
Trump's Emoluments and the Government's Corrupt Revolving Door
May 9, 2019·25m - 11
China's Illegal Organ Harvesting
Apr 22, 2019·35m - 12
UN Refugee Bribery Scandal, Foreign & Domestic Kleptocrats
Apr 12, 2019·29m - 13
A Mob Boss Murdered, CIA Embassy Break-in, Weapons Trafficking, & International Crime
Mar 20, 2019·43m - 14
Nathan Smith's Lawsuit Against the President of the United States
This episode discusses the state of perpetual war and features a former army captain who sued the president over the legality of wars in Syria and Iraq.
Mar 4, 2019·51m - 15
El Chapo Trial Analysis
Feb 21, 2019·43m - 16
Richard Bronson - Employment for 70 Million Americans with Criminal Records
Hidden gemBrian Sadey talks with Richard Bronson, the CEO of 70 Million Jobs, about helping people with criminal records find work.
Feb 7, 2019·42m·2 clips - 17
Dame Catherine Healy - Decriminalized Prostitution in New Zealand
This episode discusses the decriminalization of prostitution in New Zealand with activist Dame Catherine Healey.
Dec 13, 2018·43m - 18
Dr. Frederic Whitehurst - FBI Whistleblower
Host Brian Sadey interviews FBI whistleblower Dr.
Oct 22, 2018·56m - 19
Government-Backed Hackers, Sanctions, & Geopolitics
Sep 24, 2018·30m - 20
Rape Laws Are Not Properly Enforced in America
Sep 10, 2018·37m - 21
The National Prison Strike
Aug 31, 2018·25m - 22
Trump's Commission on "Electoral Integrity" Was a Sham
The episode discusses organized crime and political corruption, featuring an interview with Matthew Dunlap about the Trump administration's election integrity commission.
Aug 13, 2018·58m - 23
Philip Mattera - Corporate Crime & Wage Theft
Aug 7, 2018·42m - 24
Toby Muse - The Drug War in Colombia
Jul 12, 2018·1h 23m - 25
Scott Pruitt's Resignation
Jul 10, 2018·20m - 26
Raeford Davis - Former Cop Turned Freedom Advocate
Jul 2, 2018·1h - 27
Government Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
Jun 22, 2018·23m - 28
Legal Sports Betting - What's Next?
May 29, 2018·17m - 29
Dave Moore - Candidate for Congress in South Carolina
Host Brian Sadey interviews independent congressional candidate Dave Moore about his platform and political ideology, with a focus on corruption.
May 21, 2018·1h 6m - 30
We hang the petty thieves & appoint the great ones to office
The episode discusses a historic trial in Italy convicting government officials and mob bosses for mafia murders in the early 1990s.
May 4, 2018·29m - 31
Want a career in organized crime? Gov't or Private Sector?
The host introduces the podcast's focus on white-collar racketeers and organized crime, using a political cartoon to illustrate the theme.
Apr 13, 2018·28m