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Criminal Adaptations - The Polka King

The Polka King

Explicit content warning

12/12/23 • 49 min

Criminal Adaptations

Everybody polka! This week we discuss Jan Lewan, Grammy nominated polka artist turned Ponzi schemer, and Jack Black’s depiction of him in Maya Forbes’s The Polka King (2017). Was Lewan a contriving money hungry criminal or a man who found himself in too deep? We will let you be the judge.

Primary Sources:

American Greed Podcast: The Polka King Con

PA Times Reader

Daily Beast

Spin

Instagram: @CriminalAdaptations
Email us: [email protected]
TikTok: @criminaladaptations
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

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Everybody polka! This week we discuss Jan Lewan, Grammy nominated polka artist turned Ponzi schemer, and Jack Black’s depiction of him in Maya Forbes’s The Polka King (2017). Was Lewan a contriving money hungry criminal or a man who found himself in too deep? We will let you be the judge.

Primary Sources:

American Greed Podcast: The Polka King Con

PA Times Reader

Daily Beast

Spin

Instagram: @CriminalAdaptations
Email us: [email protected]
TikTok: @criminaladaptations
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

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Lucy in the Sky

This week Ashley and Remi discuss Noah Hawley’s Lucy in the Sky (2019), a film loosely inspired by former NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak. Join us as we uncover the details behind the riveting story which dominated headlines. Spoiler: It involves much more than soiled diapers.

Primary Source:

Moore, K. Star Crossed: The Story of Astronaut Lisa Nowak.University Press of Florida (2020).

Instagram: @CriminalAdaptations
Email us: [email protected]
TikTok: @criminaladaptations
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

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In Cold Blood

Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood captivated the world when it was published in 1966. Richard Brooks adapted the book into a movie under the same name the following year. This week we explore Brooks’s film and discuss how truly it portrayed the 1959 murders of four members of the Clutter family, perpetrated by Richard “Dick” Hickock and Perry Smith.

Primary Source:

Capote, T. In Cold Blood. Random House (1965).

Instagram: @CriminalAdaptations
Email us: [email protected]
TikTok: @criminaladaptations
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

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