Criminal Adaptations

This week we examine Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World (2017), the thrilling drama based on the infamous 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, the grandson of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. We dissect the film’s intense portrayal of wealth, power, and familial dysfunction, while comparing it to the true events that shocked the world. The episode also explores the Getty family’s vast fortune, their legacy in the oil industry, and the personal tragedies that plagued the bloodline for generations. Why did one of the richest men in history refuse to pay his grandson’s ransom and what does this reveal about the darker side of immense wealth? Whether you’re a fan of the film or curious about the true story behind it, this episode is a deep dive into a family saga that continues to intrigue the world.
Primary Source:
Pearson, John. Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortune and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty. St. Martins Press (1995).

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For our two-part season finale, we are unpacking movies about two men who smuggled cocaine for the Medellin Cartel into the states, largely by air. In our first episode, we dive into Ted Demme’s Blow (2001), starring Johnny Depp as small-town boy turned infamous drug smuggler, George Jung. How accurate was Depp’s portrayal of Jung? What details about his life did Hollywood dramatize or leave out? Listen now to learn about the true story of the man who played a pivotal role in the cocaine boom of the 1970s and 1980s, exploring his relationships, rise to power, and downfall.
Primary Source:
Porter, Bruce. BLOW: How a Small-Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellín Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All. St. Martin’s Griffen (2015).

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Bernhardt “Bernie” Tiede II was a beloved mortician in Carthage, Texas who always went out of his way to lend a helping hand. Marjorie Nugent was a wealthy widow with few confidants, until she befriended Tiede, a man 40 years her senior, who oversaw her husband’s funeral. Through this friendship, Bernie went from living a modest lifestyle to jet setting around the world and being next in line to Nugent’s multi-million estate...until her body was found stuffed in a freezer nine months after she was last seen. This week we are back with another Jack Black true-crime comedy, Richard Linklater’s Bernie (2011). Tune in to find out how accurate the movie depicts the murder of Marjorie Nugent, and to learn about the wild sequence of events that unfolded after the film’s release.
Primary Sources:
Texas Monthly – Midnight in the Garden of East TexasTexas Monthly – Bernie in HellTexas Monthly – Lights, Camera, Carthage!Investigation Discovery
The Austin Chronicle

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Primary Source:

Glatzer, Jenna & Markowitz, Susan. My Stolen Son: The Nick Markowitz Story. Berkley, 2010.

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To many, Larry Flynt was nothing but a controversial pornographer responsible for the publication of Hustler magazine. However, he was also a defender of our constitutional right to freedom of speech, the attempted murder victim of a convicted serial killer, and involved in setting legal precedent protecting parody under the First Amendment. His fascinating and proactive life was detailed in Milos Forman’s The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) starring Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, and Edward Norton.

Primary Sources:

Flynt, Larry & Ross, Kenneth. Unseemly Man. Dove Books, 1996.

New York Times

Keeton v. Hustler Magazine, Inc., 465 U.S. 770 (1984)

Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell, 485 U.S. 46 (1998)

CNN

FOX

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Music: He_s Changing The Game by Darren-Curtis _ https___soundcloud.com_desperate-measurez_Music promoted by https___www.free-stock-music.com_Creative Commons _ Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)_https___creativecommons.org_licenses_by_3.0_deed.e