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405
April 9, 2010

Inside Job

For seven months a team of investigative journalists from ProPublica looked into a story for us, the inside story of one company that made hundreds of millions of dollars for itself while worsening the financial crisis for the rest of us.

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Ostrograd
Episode Extra

Bet Against the American Dream

This is a tribute to the song "We Can Do It" from The Producers where Nathan Lane explains his unlikely get-rich-quick scheme. Written by Robert Lopez (Book of Mormon, Frozen) to describe the financial deal in our episode "Inside Job." 

Prologue

Ira talks about a friend who for years had a very trusted business partner and bookkeeper, until one day when he ran away with all of her money. (1 minute)

By

Ira Glass
Act One

Eat My Shorts

A hedge fund named Magnetar comes up with an elaborate plan to make money. It sponsors the creation of complicated and ultimately toxic financial securities...while at the same time betting against the very securities it helped create. Planet Money's Alex Blumberg teams up with two investigative reporters from ProPublica, Jake Bernstein and Jesse Eisinger, to tell the story. Jake and Jesse pored through thousands of pages of documents and interviewed dozens of Wall Street Insiders. We bring you the result: A tale of intrigue and questionable behavior, which parallels quite closely the plot of a Mel Brooks musical. (40 minutes)

By

Alex Blumberg
Planet Money
Story Update

Magnetar and Goldman Sachs: Connected?

Act Two

Taking a Big Pink Eraser to the Thin Blue Line

Michael May tells the story of Barry Cooper, a former crooked narcotics cop who has turned his interest elsewhere...to busting crooked narcotics cops. But after Cooper and a rich benefactor team up to set a trap for the police, Barry's plans are put in jeopardy—including his dream of creating a reality show called "Kop Busters." Michael May is the Culture editor at the Texas Observer. You can watch videos of Barry's police raids at their website. (15 minutes)

By

Michael May

Song:

“Good Guys and Bad Guys” by Camper Van Beethoven

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