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Prologue

Producer Ben Calhoun tells Ira about a secret move his friend uses all the time — the "good guy discount" — that gets Ben's friend money off all sorts of items when he's shopping.

Prologue

Ira introduces Carmen Segarra, a bank examiner for the Federal Reserve in New York who, in 2012, started secretly recording as she and her colleagues went about regulating one of the most powerful financial institutions in the country. This was during a time when the New York Fed was trying to become a stronger regulator, so that it wouldn't fail to miss another financial crisis like it did with the meltdown in 2008.

Act One

ProPublica's Jake Bernstein tells the story of Carmen's first months at the New York Fed, and how she came to start recording.

Act Two

We hear what the New York Fed and Goldman Sachs say about all this. We hear a New York Fed supervisor tell Carmen Segarra how an examiner should talk and act to be successful at the Fed.

Prologue

Producer Sean Cole heads to Toronto to see if it was true what he heard: that lots and lots of the bartenders who used to serve him drinks there were on coke at the time. Then Sean takes Ira through a catalogue of the various professions in which people tend to get high.

Prologue

Producer Ben Calhoun tells Ira about a secret move his friend uses all the time — the "good guy discount" — that gets Ben's friend money off all sorts of items when he's shopping.

Act Two

A quick primer of who’s who, and how the place works.

Act Three

Salesman Bob Tantillo has the fewest sales of anyone at Town and Country this month. Robyn Semien spoke to him.

Act Four

Salesman Jason Mascia has the most sales of anyone this month, as usual. Sean Cole spent a week with him watching how he does it.

Act Five

The next-to-last day of the month. Deals fall apart, but not all of them.

Act Six

The last day of the month begins. They have to sell nine cars by the end of the day. "God help us," Freddie says.

Act Seven

Joe Monti’s real name is Joe Montalbano. But when he started in the car business, he didn't want to lose a sale because a customer couldn’t keep his name straight so he simplified it for the job.

Act Eight

The last day of the month continues and the truism is accurate: some people get great deals because it’s the end of the month and they have to hit their goal. When you look at the numbers, the average car they sell in the last two days actually loses money.

Act Nine

Salesman Manny Rosales keeps to himself in the showroom, with his own sales philosophy. He explained it to Brian Reed.

Act Ten

The last day of the month ends.

Act One: 2011

NPR reporter Laura Sydell and This American Life producer/Planet Money co-host Alex Blumberg tell the story of Intellectual Ventures, which is accused of being the largest of the patent trolls. Executives at Intellectual Ventures insist they are not trolls, but rather, promoters of innovation.