The Burden

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The Burden
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The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them.  Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice.  Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood  Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question.  This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden  In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast.  Welcome to The Burden.

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  1. Avenger | 1. The Process

    EPISODE 1

    Avenger | 1. The Process

    It’s 1977, Argentina. The military has seized power. Miriam Lewin is 19 years old, an activist, and a target of a brutal dictatorship. She’ll spend two years in prison. But Miriam is one of the lucky ones..... Her fellow prisoners will be tossed from airplanes to their deaths on the infamous “death flights.” Three decades later, Miriam is a respected investigative journalist. She steadfastly avoided doing stories about the death flights – the subject is too painful –  until a phone call from an Italian photojournalist changes everything. Avenger is a production of Orbit Media in association with Sonoro Media and Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    32 min
  2. Avenger | 2. The Investigation

    EPISODE 2

    Avenger | 2. The Investigation

    An Italian photographer with a specialty in the horror humans do named Giancarlo Ceraudo shows up in Argentina to learn about the death flights during Argentina’s military dictatorship. He’s obsessed. Who are the pilots who flew these homicidal missions? He knows the planes will hold clues. To find them, he needs Miriam’s help. If she accepts, she will have to confront  painful memories of her own torture and kidnapping. But she may also have the chance to bring the pilots of the death flights to justice. Avenger is a production of Orbit Media in association with Sonoro Media and Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    27 min
  3. Avenger | 3. The World Cup

    EPISODE 3

    Avenger | 3. The World Cup

    It’s 1978. The World Cup, the most popular sporting event in the world, is hosted for the first time in Argentina. The Argentines are losing their minds with excitement. From a small cell in the middle of the city, Miriam can hear the cheers from the stadium a mile away. Her captors recruit her to work on the junta’s media propaganda machine; she must celebrate the very regime that imprisons her. Survival is a tricky business. She may have to compromise to avoid the death flights that will kill most of her fellow prisoners. Avenger is a production of Orbit Media in association with Sonoro Media and Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    30 min
  4. Avenger | 4. The Planes

    EPISODE 4

    Avenger | 4. The Planes

    Miriam and Giancarlo team up to search for the planes. She shows up at his tiny apartment every day after work at a TV station. They share pasta, cigarettes and scour the Internet for clues. One day, they stumble upon an obscure group of hobbyists who lead them to more details about the planes. Confident that they’re onto something, they try to enlist the help of a well-known Argentine pilot, actor, producer and controversial figure in Argentina. Their meeting doesn’t go well. Meanwhile, they locate one of the planes used for the death flights. When Miriam makes a discovery about the plane, she faces a decision that could make or break this investigation. Avenger is a production of Orbit Media in association with Sonoro Media and Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    19 min
  5. Avenger | 5. The Flight Logs

    EPISODE 5

    Avenger | 5. The Flight Logs

    One day, Miriam sits in her office when she gets a call from the stringer she hired to go look at one of the Skyvan planes which had been sold to a Florida businessman. The owner reveals that he has the flight logs dating back to the dictatorship. Those logs are a break. They could lead to the pilots of the death flights. With Enrique Pineyro’s help, who now joins the investigation, they decode the log’s cryptic notes. Flights that should have only taken 45 minutes were logged in at four hours. With the green light from the TV station, Miriam and her crew put the final touches on her report. She’s ready to expose everyone and maybe, finally see some justice. What follows comes as a complete surprise. Avenger is a production of Orbit Media in association with Sonoro Media and Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    22 min
  6. Avenger | 6. Miriam in Court

    EPISODE 6

    Avenger | 6. Miriam in Court

    The lack of media attention on the TV story is disheartening, but Miriam has a bigger plan up her sleeve and redirects all her energy to the courts. With the help of Nobel Laureate Adolfo Pérez Equivel, who himself survived a death flight, they file a formal accusation against the pilots at the federal prosecutor’s office. The evidence is mounting, the Argentine Navy hands over thousands of pages from the original flight logs to the prosecutor’s office. The prosecutor assigns a special unit to investigate crimes against humanity, and it includes an elite forensic team that links Miriam and Giancarlo’s investigation to a long unsolved crime. Avenger is a production of Orbit Media in association with Sonoro Media and Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    33 min
  7. Avenger | 7. The Pilots

    EPISODE 7 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Avenger | 7. The Pilots

    It’s 1979, Miriam is free, but living in exile in New York City where she is surveilled by the junta. She’s among the few to survive imprisonment. In the years that follow, unidentified bodies start to wash up on the shores of Argentina. The bodies are swollen and bloated, but the perpetrators are unknown. Years later, democracy returns to Argentina, but still no one is held to account for the crimes against the disappeared. In 1985, the new president promises a historic trial against the junta commanders. Miriam bravely returns to Argentina to testify, but the judicial process drags on. Eventually, the forensic team examining the flight logs Miriam and Giancarlo found, link them to the bloated bodies that washed ashore during the dictatorship. The pilots of the death flights could finally face justice. Avenger is a production of Orbit Media in association with Sonoro Media and Signal Co. No1.

    35 min
  8. Avenger | 8. The Bodies

    EPISODE 8 • SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

    Avenger | 8. The Bodies

    After thirty years of government impunity, the amnesty laws that helped bury Argentina’s horrific past are overturned. The trials against the junta commanders are reopened, and slowly, one after another, they are brought to justice. The trial against the pilots begins with Miriam and Enrique Piñeyro as key witnesses. It is the moment Miriam had been waiting for. The culmination of the investigation to avenge the deaths of her friends. And to answer the question that has plagued her: Why did I survive? Maybe to bring justice to the fallen. Avenger is a production of Orbit Media in association with Sonoro Media and Signal Co. No1.

    30 min
  9. Introducing - The Burden: Avenger

    SEASON 3 TRAILER

    Introducing - The Burden: Avenger

    Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice.  Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Avenger is a production of Orbit Media in association with Sonoro Media and Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    3 min
See All Season 3 (9)

Trailers

Hosts & Guests

4.3
out of 5
286 Ratings

About

The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them.  Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice.  Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood  Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question.  This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden  In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast.  Welcome to The Burden.

Information

  • Channel
    True Crime Clubhouse
  • Creator
    Orbit Media
  • Episodes
    49
  • Seasons
    3
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    2024 Orbit Media © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from Orbit Media
  • Show Website
    The Burden
  • Provider
    ORBIT MEDIA GROUP, INC.

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