Caviar and Criminals

This week, Dana tells Anthony the unbelievable story of Fredericka Mandelbaum — the German immigrant who quietly built one of the largest criminal empires in American history while New York’s elite looked the other way. From stolen diamonds and blackmail schemes to training master thieves in the heart of the Gilded Age, “Mother” Mandelbaum became the secret architect of organized crime decades before the Mafia ever took power.Behind the velvet gowns, luxury storefronts, and high society connections was a woman laundering fortunes in stolen goods and outsmarting police at every turn. But as her empire grew bigger, so did the detectives determined to destroy it.This is a story of greed, corruption, glamour, and the woman who helped invent the modern criminal underworld.Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

A love triangle, a mysterious blonde in a black coat, and a murder that shocked suburban New York. This week, Anthony takes Dana through the wild and messy case of Carolyn Warmus — the so-called “Fatal Attraction Killer” whose affair with a married man ended in obsession, scandal, and a courtroom drama straight out of a movie.Was Carolyn a cold-blooded murderer? A woman unfairly villainized? Or is there more to the story than the headlines wanted us to believe? Tune in for one of the most infamous cases of obsession and murder — and listen to Caviar and Criminals wherever you get your podcasts.

Baltimore, 2000. A woman named Tracy Whittle did everything right. She got the protective order. She cut contact. She tried to move on. He killed her anyway.What followed was eleven days that paralyzed an entire city — four people dead, a family taken hostage, and more than 400 officers who couldn't stop one man with a gun and nothing left to lose.This week, Anthony and Dana go inside the Joseph Palczynski rampage: the warning signs everyone saw and no one could stop, the standoff that had Baltimore holding its breath, and the fifteen-year-old boy who ended it when no one else could.This is the story of what happens when the system fails a woman who did everything right — and what it costs the people left behind to survive it.

This week on Caviar and Criminals, Dana walks Anthony through one of the most disturbing wellness stories in history — the case of Linda Hazzard.At first glance, Hazzard presented herself as a trusted “fasting specialist,” promising healing through extreme detox methods. But behind the doors of her Washington sanitarium, something far more sinister was unfolding. Patients who came to her for help were subjected to prolonged starvation, isolation… and an overwhelming number of enemas.As Dana unpacks the story, the red flags quickly pile up — wealthy clients signing over control of their finances, bodies wasting away under the guise of treatment, and a system that allowed it to continue for far too long. Anthony reacts in real time as the story shifts from bizarre to deeply unsettling.How did she convince so many people to trust her?When does “wellness” cross the line into something dangerous?And how did it go on for so long?This is a story about manipulation, control, and the deadly side of pseudoscience.And trust us… it only gets worse.

This week on Caviar and Criminals, Anthony walks Dana through one of the most disturbing medical cases in modern history — the story of Dr. Death, Christopher Duntsch.At first glance, Duntsch had everything you’d expect from a rising star in medicine: elite training, confidence, and a booming career in neurosurgery. But behind the operating room doors, something was going terribly wrong. Patients who trusted him with their lives were leaving surgeries permanently injured, paralyzed… or not leaving at all.As Anthony unpacks the timeline, the red flags start stacking up — botched procedures, baffling decisions, and a system that failed to stop him when it should have. Dana reacts in real time as the story spirals from shocking to almost unbelievable.How does someone like this keep operating?Who should have stepped in sooner?And how did so many warning signs get ignored?This is a story about ego, negligence, and the terrifying consequences of unchecked power in a place where lives are literally in someone else’s hands.Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

In Part One, Gregor MacGregor sold the dream of Poyais — a thriving country filled with wealth, opportunity, and promise.In Part Two, people paid the price.As ships carrying hopeful settlers arrive expecting a new life, they are met with a brutal reality: there is no country, no city, no plan — only an unforgiving landscape and the collapse of one of the most audacious scams in history.What follows is survival, loss, and the true cost of believing the lie.And somehow… even after all of it, Gregor MacGregor isn’t finished yet.Prince of Poyais: Gregor MacGregor (Part Two)Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

A war hero. A “prince.” A master of reinvention.This week, Dana tells Anthony the story of Gregor MacGregor—a man who convinced hundreds of people to risk everything for a tropical paradise called Poyais.There was just one problem.It didn’t exist.In Part One, we follow his rise from respected soldier to one of the boldest con artists in history—and how he built an entire country out of nothing… and sold it.Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

What happens when faith, fame, and money collide… and no one’s watching the books?This week, Anthony takes Dana into the glitter-soaked, mascara-streaked world of Tammy Faye Bakker — a televangelist who built an empire on love, forgiveness, and really good TV… until it all came crashing down.We’re talking about PTL (“Praise The Lord”… or “Pass The Loot,” depending on who you ask), a Christian theme park built to rival Disney, millions of dollars flowing through the ministry, and scandals that went from whispers to front-page headlines fast.But Tammy Faye isn’t exactly who you think she is.Behind the lashes and the over-the-top persona is a woman who challenged norms, embraced outcasts, and—at times—stood in direct opposition to the very world she helped create.So how did it all unravel? Where did the money go? And why did America become so obsessed with her downfall?This is a story about power, image, belief… and what happens when the performance becomes bigger than the faith.