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Trouble in River City

Trouble in River City 29 Episodes Oct 13, 2026

A show about scams, flim flam, grifts, and graft, hosted by Dan Boeckner, Riley Quinn, Hesse Deni, and Charles Austin. The hosts delve into various schemes and cons, likely with a mix of humor and investigation. Topics cover the many ways people deceive and defraud others, from petty swindles to grand corruption.

Episodes

[PREVIEW] 40 - PiGlobalComDotCom Oct 13, 2026 300 Dan reflects on his time working in scammy call centers in Montreal.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

39 - Funding the Royal Mind Palace Renovations Oct 6, 2026 2747 Charles rounds up stories about scammers hitting the DNC, RNC, and political campaigns, plus a Nigerian prince who scammed the Nigerian government.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 38 - The Westminster Ice Cream Wars (ft. Jim Waterson) Sep 29, 2026 301 Jim Waterson returns to the show to discuss the time he confronted illegal ice cream vendors on Westminster Bridge by pulling up with his own "completely legal" ice cream van handing out desserts for free.Read London Centric.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

37 - What Was George Washington's First Girlfriend's Birthday? Sep 22, 2026 2883 Hesse tells Charles the story of Twenty-One, a quiz show that sullied the sterling reputation of television with a rigging scandal.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 36 - Trouble in Jiangxi Province 2 Sep 16, 2026 300 This time in 17th Century Chinese swindles: a fox that steals your yang essence, swindling the salt commissioner while disguised as daoists, and the origin of the common phrase "shut up about him!"Remember, you can't snatch the pearl from under the dragon's neck unless you plumb the depths of the pool.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

35 - 45,376 Years and Six Months Was the Case They Gave Me Sep 8, 2026 2846 Charles tells the story of Turkish wunderkind Mehmet Aydın, who pivoted from rapping to Ponzi scheming via a Farmville knockoff.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 34 - Boiler Room Sep 1, 2026 300 The gang opens a dot-com-era time capsule: the 2000 Ben Younger film Boiler Room.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

33 - Wild West Hornswogglin': The Tale of Soapy Smith Aug 25, 2026 3477 Dan shares the story of Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II, the king of the frontier conmen.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 32 - The Ensorcelled Scousers (Part 2) Aug 18, 2026 300 Hesse concludes the story of how Magic Alex ensorcelled those inimitable lads famed for walking across London's Abbey Road Street.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

31 - The Ensorcelled Scousers (Part 1) Aug 11, 2026 2492 Hesse tells the story of Magic Alex, a dubious engineer that ensorcelled a wily band of Liverpudlian moptop Scousers known only as The Beatles.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 30 - Lurking Uncle, Hidden Dragon Aug 4, 2026 300 Riley tells the story of teen millionaire Barry Minkow, who made his fortune by running a carpet cleaning business and did not do any fraud of any kind.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

29 - Cheeky Todger (ft. Devin O'Shea) Jul 28, 2026 3998 Devin O'Shea joins Hesse and Dan for a freewheeling episode covering book-tour life, harassment by Veiled Prophet thugs, an AI scam afflicting a band and its fans, and Herman Melville's The Confidence Man.Buy Devin's book "The Veiled Prophet".Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 28 - Trouble in Jiangxi Province Jul 21, 2026 301 Using the 17th Century Chinese text The Book of Swindles as our guide, we intend to inform listeners of strategies to avoid falling victim to common deceptions. This episode covers the following real-life situations:—Stealing silk with a decoy horse—Chen Quan scams his way into the arms of a famous courtesan—Using broom handles to play a joke on sedan bearersSubscribe to Trouble in River City on P

27 - The First Monégasque Astronaut Jul 16, 2026 2766 Riley unspools an elaborate telemarketing scam that begins in the Monégasque Community and ends in Dnipro. Plus an update on the BC ostrich farm.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 26 - Now You See Me Jul 7, 2026 300 Hesse forces Charles and Dan to watch the 2013 blockbuster film Now You See Me.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

25 - Little Miss Muffet Nation (ft. John Semley) Jun 30, 2026 2888 John Semley discusses his Wired article about GLP-1 telehealth scams.Read John's article for WIRED.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 24 - Chinese The Sting Jun 23, 2026 300 Charles tells the story of a phony Chinese bank that went to great lengths to set up a believable brick-and-mortar location.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

23 - Field Werehouse Jun 16, 2026 2978 Riley tells the story of a hands-on salad oil swindle (and explains what salad oil is).Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 22 - Climbing Mt. Gox Jun 9, 2026 300 Hesse chronicles the rise and fall of the Magic the Gathering / Bitcoin site Mt. Gox.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

21 - Afscamistan (ft. Nate Bethea) Jun 2, 2026 4167 Nate Bethea joins us to explore the large-scale fraud and graft that took place during the American occupation of Afghanistan.Listen to Nate's album.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 20 - Caffeine Addicts at the Library (ft. Alex Branson) May 26, 2026 300 Riley explores the latest A.I.-powered™ scams targeting self-published authors.Buy "Alex Branson's The Money Wars".Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

19 - House of Games May 19, 2026 3212 Hesse and Charles discuss the 1987 David Mamet film House of Games.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 18 - Short Cons 1 May 13, 2026 300 Hesse teaches the gang to run a short con.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our Discord server.

17 - Plead the Favre May 5, 2026 2765 Charles tells the story of how Hall of Fame NFL quarterback Brett Favre defrauded the state of Mississippi out of eight million dollars intended for families in need.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our new Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 16 - Jumping the Great Megalodon Apr 28, 2026 300 Riley tells the story of Albert Grant, a 19th century Member of Parliament and a prolific scammer whose legacy is commemorated at Leicester Square to this day.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our new Discord server.

15 - Wonderful Bug Chalk (ft. Devin O'Shea) Apr 21, 2026 3406 Devin O'Shea tells the story of Edward Gardner Lewis, the inventor of sarsaparilla blood medicine and Dr. Hot's Cold Crackers who went on to reshape St. Louis.Follow Devin on Twitter and pre-order his book.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our new Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 14 - Montenegro Syndrome (ft. The Empire Never Ended) Apr 14, 2026 300 Boris and Rey of the Empire Never Ended return to discuss the inimitable Robbie Coltrane lookalike Gazda Jezda. We discuss his three golden years of scamming the Balkans, his one golden day of scamming Bobby Fisher, and how he completely redeemed himself by creating a perpetual energy machine that is also a Dutch Mossad Energy Weapon.Subscribe to The Empire Never Ended on Patreon.Subscribe to Trou

13 - YugoSCAMdic (ft. The Empire Never Ended) Apr 7, 2026 3092 Boris Mamlëz and Rey Katula from The Empire Never Ended tell the story of Dafina Milanovic's state-sanctioned Ponzi scheme in Serbia.Subscribe to The Empire Never Ended on Patreon.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our new Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 12 - Over 33,000 Blood Loss Mar 31, 2026 300 Charles and Riley take a look at the internet's least successful scammers with Tom from Chapo FYM.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our new Discord server.

11 - The Financialize Everything App Mar 24, 2026 2834 Charles explores the corruption machine that is Kalshi. Presented by our sponsor Polymarket!Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our new Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 10 - Logan Paul's Triceratops Skull Market Mar 17, 2026 301 Hesse chronicles Logan Paul's various adventures in crypto, NFTs, and tokenizing Pokemon cards.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our new Discord server.

09 - The Highland Farm Counterfeiting Sprint Mar 10, 2026 3106 Riley shares the story of Giuseppe Morello, an early Italian-American mob boss whose counterfeiting business was a precursor to the Genovese family.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.Join our new Discord server.

[PREVIEW] 08 - The Sting (ft. Will Menaker) Mar 3, 2026 300 Will Menaker drops by to discuss the 1973 film The Sting.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.

07 - I'm Feeling Like the Gay Kubrick Feb 24, 2026 2775 Hesse shares the story of Alan Conway, a man who decided he was Stanley Kubrick.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.

[PREVIEW] 06 - SouljaTech Labs Feb 17, 2026 301 We talk about Soulja Boy's love of NFTs, crypto, AI, knockoff game consoles, and subsequent trouble with the SEC. Is Soulja Boy the Forrest Gump of modern scams?Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.

05 - The Assassination Of Kim Jong Nam By The Goofballs Doan and Siti Feb 10, 2026 3416 Today we tell one of the most 2010s tales ever told: the tale of a North Korean Hit Squad disguised as a Japanese film crew conning two beautiful young women into assassinating Kim Jong Nam. This episode has everything; hilarious pranks, The CIA, VX Nerve Agent, tragedy, sisterhood, and, of course, Tokyo Disneyland.Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon.

[PREVIEW] 04 - The Music Man Feb 3, 2026 300 Hesse tries to convince the rest of us that the 1962 musical film The Music Man is good, to mixed results. Subscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon

03 - Snail Trail (ft. Jim Waterson) Jan 27, 2026 2935 London Centric's Jim Waterson shares the story of a Camorra-connected snail farmer's tax evasi… avoidance scheme that's fleeced London councils out of millions of pounds.The snail farmer of London, his mafia friends, and a £20m vendetta against the taxmanFollow Jim on BlueskySubscribe to Trouble in River City on Patreon

[PREVIEW] 02 - Birdhain Jan 20, 2026 300 We continue our exploration of Universal Ostrich Farm with a look at ostrich-inspired securities fraud, shitcoins, GoFundMes, and AI generated stomp-clap anthems.

01 - First They Came for the Ostriches Jan 13, 2026 2579 Dan tells the story of Universal Ostrich Farm, a get-rich-quick scheme funded by securities fraud that became a cause célèbre for the conspiracist right. Special guest Dr. Ostrich stops by to explain the benefits of nutraceuticals including Ejacumax, Psychotic Hellboy, and JujiMufu AHHHHHHH!

Trouble in River City

Episodes

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