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cover art for Untouchable, from 'Pull the Thread: The Wild Life'

Telephone Stories

Untouchable, from 'Pull the Thread: The Wild Life'

Season 1

If you like Telephone Stories, you'll probably enjoy this one, too: Pull the Thread: The Wild Life takes an unprecedented look at the corrupt, dangerous, and fascinating world of wildlife trade. Undercover recordings, a surburban house stuffed with ivory, and socks bulging with cash: this story is a wild ride. A Kingpin has his downfall as investigative reporter Runako Celina unpacks the complex systems surrounding illegal animal products, including the criminalization of poverty as well as the motivations driving demand. In this tale, nothing is as it initially seems. Listen to episode 1, Untouchable, now.


To hear the rest of the show, go to https://luminary.link/wildlife


CREDITS:

Executive Produced by - Drake, Adel “Future” Nur, Peter Nelson, Maggie Gilbride (DreamCrew Entertainment); Coral Lee (Luminary); Max O’Brien (Novel); Mauricio Gris and Alex Farquharson (Thread)


Host - Runako Celina


Producer - Saskia Collette


Additional Production - Julian Manuguerra-Patten and Jake Otajovic


Researcher - Madeleine Parr


Editor - Mythili Rao


Original music composer - Jake Long


Music Supervisor- Nicholas Alexander


Sound designer and mixer - David Smith


Fact checker - Dania Suleman


Voice of Wolf - Ivan Ivashkin

More episodes

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  • 1. A Suspicious Environment

    42:34||Season 1, Ep. 1
    Brandon and Omar set forth to find out: what really happened with Michael Jackson? Through an interview with Bert Fields, Jackson’s famed entertainment lawyer, comes a portrait of the singer at the height of his talents and fame. And following a televised interview with Oprah in 1993, Jackson befriends a boy named Jordan Chandler - a relationship that will change both of their lives forever.Originally published in 2019.
  • Trailer: Telephone Stories

    01:35||Season 1
    Join Ogborn and Crook as they explore the hall of mirrors that was Michael Jackson’s life and then as they painstakingly, sometimes painfully, reconstruct the complex narrative of an iconic and troubled performer haunted by allegations of criminal perversion. Listen back to this 2019 docseries now.
  • 2. Something Cosmic

    01:01:21||Season 1, Ep. 2
    As Michael Jackson and Jordan Chandler’s relationship evolves into constant companionship, Jordan’s father, Evan Chandler, a Beverly Hills dentist, grows suspicious that something is amiss. He begins a custody dispute with Jordan’s mother over his concerns, which leads to allegations that Jackson had a romantic, sexual relationship with Jordan. Originally published in 2019.
  • 3. Second Star to the Right

    59:46||Season 1, Ep. 3
    Featuring author and critic Margo Jefferson, we explore Michael Jackson's childhood and rise to stardom -- growing up in the limelight of a family band and dealing with his complicated and dysfunctional relatives.Originally published in 2019.
  • 4. Like a Ton of Bricks

    01:16:20||Season 1, Ep. 4
    Following interviews with the Chandler family by DCFS and the LAPD, Jackson's homes are raided and press scramble to find the origins of the boy's claims and the police investigations. As the Chandlers lawyer up, Jackson cancels tour dates over a drug problems and disappears in Europe.[Originally published in 2019]
  • 5. Walking Away With A Lot of Money

    01:14:35||Season 1, Ep. 5
    Jordie Chandler’s lawyer files devastating motions in court, Jackson switches legal council, and Elizabeth Taylor takes a front row seat in his defense. Soon, Jackson returns to the US to undergo a humiliating body search, and within weeks a massive financial civil settlement is announced, shocking investigators engaged in a criminal investigation. 
  • 6. A Land of Giants

    56:15||Season 1, Ep. 6
    Taking a break between the cases, Brandon and Omar speak with two lauded former FBI profilers - Ken Lanning and Jim Clemente, to better understand the complicated dynamics of child sex offenders and their victims. The "stranger danger" fear is rooted in truth, but exaggerated, they come to learn, and the real danger for children is the "nice guy" offender who becomes a pillar of his community only to gains access to children and manipulate them into silence once they are victimized. 
  • 7. The Goose With the Golden Eggs

    55:53||Season 1, Ep. 7
    Following the Jordie Chandler scandal, Michael Jackson's career wanes, his drug use worsens, he surrounds himself with sycophants and his finances are in shambles. Jackson's charitable efforts and public appearances become crude punchlines. Attempting to reign in the narrative and gain sympathy, Jackson agrees to allow British journalist Martin Bashir to film his private life -- a terrible miscalculation which results in a new, criminal investigation into the singer.
  • 8. Like a Brother, Like a Father

    01:24:56||Season 1, Ep. 8
    Young Gavin Arvizo, stricken by cancer in 2000, wanders into a world of celebrity, meeting idols from Chris Tucker to Michael Jackson. But Gavin and his troubled family are soon painted as con artists and gold diggers as the Arvizos find themselves at the center of a PR fallout. Gavin ultimately alleges abuse by the singer, resulting in a new investigation and a second raid on Neverland.