Swindled
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''Swindled'' is an American
true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
written and hosted by an anonymous man that uses the pseudonym "A Concerned Citizen". The scripted series explores the world of
white-collar crime The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...
,
con artists A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have de ...
, and
corporate greed Criticism of capitalism ranges from expressing disagreement with the principles of capitalism in its entirety to expressing disagreement with particular outcomes of capitalism. Criticism of capitalism comes from various political and philoso ...
.


Production

In a Q&A with
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
, the anonymous host, a former government worker with a background in graphic design and audio production, claimed the inception of the podcast was motivated by the immorality of a "capitalistic culture". According to the
Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single y ...
, "A Concerned Citizen" created ''Swindled'' after failing to find an existing podcast on similar topics. The host explained to MEL Magazine that the underlying theme in all of the episodes is greed and a "social culture that values getting rich as quick as possible." Each episode begins with a prelude story to the main subject, followed by the theme music consisting of stringed and brass instruments, and then a structured narrative interspersed with archival audio, suspenseful scoring, and dry humor. In addition to the writing, research, and audio production, "A Concerned Citizen" creates all of the visual artwork for the podcast. The show's music is written and performed by multi-instrumentalist Trevor Harte Howard using the moniker "Deformr''".'' Since its inception, ''Swindled'' has remained independent of podcasting networks. The podcast's advertising sales are supported by AdLarge Media based in New York, New York.


Episodes


Season 1


Season 2


Season 3


Season 4


Season 5


Season 6


Season 7


Season 8


Bonus Episodes


Reception

The show has received positive reviews from critics. ''
Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
'' named the series one of the "52 Great True-Crime Podcasts fthe post- ''Serial'' boom". The ''
Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...
'' named the series one of its "10 must-listen true crime podcasts" in June 2018. In August that year,
Digital Trends Digital Trends is a Portland, Oregon-based tech news, lifestyle, and information website that publishes news, reviews, guides, how-to articles, descriptive videos and podcasts about technology and consumer electronics products. With offices i ...
included the series on its list of best true crime podcasts. ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' also selected the series as its podcast "pick of the week" for the week of September 9, 2018 and
WVXU WVXU (91.7 FM) is a public radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is owned by Cincinnati Public Radio, which also operates station WGUC and WMUB. It airs public radio news and talk syndicated programming from National Public Radio, Ameri ...
featured the episode "The Saint" on its ''Start Hear'' program in November 2020. In January 2021, Canadian culture writer
Scaachi Koul Scaachi Koul (born February 7, 1991) is a Canadian culture writer at BuzzFeed Canada. She is the author of the book of essays ''One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter'' and was one of the reporters in BuzzFeed's Netflix document ...
featured ''Swindled'' in her podcast picks for
CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
. ''Swindled'' has charted in the Top 100 podcasts in 5 countries, with peak ranking positions of the podcast including: Australia (18), Canada (52), Germany (46), United Kingdom (73), and United States (52). In July 2018, true crime podcast
Crime Junkie ''Crime Junkie'' is a true crime podcast hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat, based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Production and format In a Q&A with ''Inside Radio'', Flowers said that she and Prawat, her co-host, have been friends since birth ...
adopted ''Swindled's'' episode "The Contraceptive," covering the Dalkon Shield. In a profile of ''Crime Junkie'' host
Ashley Flowers Ashley Flowers is an American podcaster, writer, and non-profit organization founder. She is best known for the true crime podcast '' Crime Junkie''. In August 2022, Flowers' debut novel, ''All Good People Here'', became a ''New York Times'' bes ...
, Laura Barcella of
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
magazine wrote about the episode: "Flowers is at her best when dissecting complicated cases that stink of larger cover-ups and corruption." A German translation of the series titled ''Schmutzige Geschäfte'' launched on November 19, 2018. A Danish translation titled ''Svindlerne'' subsequently followed in 2020.


Accolades

* Listed as #10 in "Top Subscriptions" on Apple Podcasts' Best of 2021 *Winner in the 2019 Discover Pods Awards for "Best True Crime Podcast" * Runner-up in the 2019 Discover Pods Awards for "Best Overall Podcast" * Runner-up in the 2018 Discover Pods Awards for "Best True Crime Podcast" * Finalist in the 2018 Discover Pods Awards for "Best New Podcast"


References


External links


Official website
* {{imdbtitle, 15028354 2018 podcast debuts True crime Audio podcasts Crime podcasts