60 episodes
Smoke Screen: Deadly Cure The Binge
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- Society & Culture
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4.0 • 1.6K Ratings
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Smoke Screen is an investigative documentary series on people with complex motives and morals. Follow characters on the fringes of society — con artists, cult leaders, corrupt politicians — as they seduce their marks and bend communities to their will. Join us as we unravel their stories and bring justice to the people they’ve deceived. For advertising opportunities, contact podcastadsales@sonymusic.com.
SEASON 5: Smoke Screen: Deadly Cure is a podcast about a family on the fringe who convinced tens of thousands of people across the globe to buy a miracle liquid made of poison, the international conspiracy they ignited, and the people who fought to take them down. Subscribe now to unlock all shows on The Binge - All Episodes. All at once… and you’ll be the first to access Smoke Screen: Deadly Cure as soon as it drops on February 1.
A Neon Hum Media, Bloomberg & Sony Music Entertainment production.
Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
SEASON 4: Puppy Kingpin
Americans are used to being on the lookout for a scam, but authorities are warning of a new kind of fraud. Puppy Kingpin shines a spotlight on Jolyn Noethe, a secretive businesswoman from Iowa who is accused of laundering puppies much like drug money. Investigative reporter Alex Schuman exposes the scheme and an underground part of the industry bringing us the pets we love. From Neon Hum Media and Sony Music Entertainment. Smoke Screen: Puppy Kingpin is available June 16th. Subscribe on apple podcasts to binge all episodes or listen weekly wherever you get your podcasts.
Smokescreen: Puppy Kingpin is part of The Binge - a new podcast channel from Sony Music Entertainment.
The Binge: All Episodes, All at Once. Coming Soon.
SEASON 3: The Sellout
Councilperson Jose Huizar grew up in Boyle Heights – a working-class Latinx neighborhood in L.A. For the most part, people trusted Huizar... until the day the FBI raided his home and offices, looking for evidence of a criminal enterprise. He stands accused of taking bribes from luxury developers as his constituents were displaced from their homes. Produced in collaboration with LA Taco, journalist and host Mariah Castañeda investigates how Huizar got the power to do what he did, and how the community that raised him paid the price.
SEASON 2: I Am Rama
To some he was an enlightened master, and to others a dangerous cult leader. One thing’s for sure, the spiritual leader Rama was a product of the 80s: designer clothes, a rock band, sports cars and a modern message were only some of the things that made Rama a fascinating and complex teacher. Host Jonathan Hirsch explores his life and untimely death.
SEASON 1: Fake Priest
Ryan Scott, known to some as “Father Ryan,” was no ordinary con man. He’d been accused of abusing followers and enriching himself with their money. He's left a wake of angry people across multiple states. And that’s not all. There are questions surrounding the brutal deaths of two priests he associated with. Investigative reporter Alex Schuman explores Scott's bizarre, quizzical, and sometimes dangerous world.
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Deadly Cure | 1. Genesis
Meet Mark Grenon, Jim Humble, and the Genesis II church. Mark Grenon, a missionary in the Dominican Republic, contracts MRSA. He discovers the Miracle Mineral Solution, and claims that it has miraculously cured him of numerous ailments.
This takes him to the founder of MMS, Jim Humble, a man who claims to be a billion-year-old god from the Andromeda galaxy, and has treated thousands of people with what he calls "my malaria solution.” Together, they start the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing.
A Neon Hum Media, Bloomberg & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
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Deadly Cure | 2. The Bleach Hunters
Fiona O'Leary is a fearless firebrand, and mother of four autistic children. She is also an online vigilante who will stop at nothing to take down proponents of MMS. She's part of a loosely affiliated group of keyboard warriors known as "The Bleach Hunters.” Her Nemesis is Kerri Rivera, a former real estate agent who created something called "The Autism Protocols", which promote using MMS as a "cure" for autism. Meanwhile, a tragic death in the South Pacific of someone using MMS alerts the FDA that something might be terribly wrong.
A Neon Hum Media, Bloomberg & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
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Deadly Cure | 3. The Martyr
What starts for Daniel Smith as an attempt to regain trust in medicine quickly becomes "Project Green Life" – a top distributor of MMS. Then, the feds catch wind of his operation, hoping to take him down.
The Grenons use Daniel's prosecution as a rallying cry for the Genesis II church, claiming that their church status is what would insulate them from future attempts by the feds to shut them down.
A Neon Hum Media, Bloomberg & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
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Deadly Cure | 4. The Limelight
Self-appointed archbishops Jim Humble and Mark Grenon begin hosting seminars around the world, and charging $450 per person to attend. But it wasn’t just locals expressing interest in the so-called cure: now, national media was catching wind of the group, thrusting the Genesis II Church further into the limelight.
A Neon Hum Media, Bloomberg & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
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Deadly Cure | 5. Operation Quack Hack
As MMS continued its rise, so did the Federal Drug Administration’s attention on the so-called cure.
But MMS would prove difficult to clamp down on. Between eBay and Amazon, sales of the vials were reaching the millions. In 2019, a special agent with the FDA began buying MMS, gaining information on the church and its founders.
But the Genesis II Church would receive a major boost in March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic rattled the world. Unapproved Covid cures were rampant, leading to the formation of the FDA’s Operation Quack Hack. The operation targeted 700 groups accused of fraud and Genesis II was one of them. It seemed as though the government was gaining on the Grenons. Until the man inside the Oval Office tacitly endorsed their miracle solution.
A Neon Hum Media, Bloomberg & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
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Deadly Cure | 6. The Raid
In the summer of 2020, the government raided Grenon's compound and arrested two of Mark Grenon’s sons. But where in the world were Mark and his other son?
This episode traces the Grenons’ moves around the world, and examines both how they rose to international stardom … and how they were ultimately brought down.
A Neon Hum Media, Bloomberg & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Customer Reviews
Enjoyed this podcast!
This is a wild story and I enjoyed the podcast.
Solid reporting, great host, great sound design
Lots of triggered conservatives in the comments… that’s when I know that I’ll probably like a show, lol.
Season 5 hooked me right away, I can’t wait to listen to the previous seasons. Keep up the great work!
Good show, a bit choppy presentation
Good show, interesting topics and compelling g discourse. Would prob rate 1 star higher if not for the abrupt commercials out of nowhere; they can be quite jarring and take you right out of the story.
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