Whale Hunting23 Okt 2024

How do you stop Putin’s war machine?

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Western economies scrambled to coordinate an offensive of their own: sanctions. They weaponized economic tools in the hope of blunting Putin’s attacks, and more than $300 billion in Russian assets were frozen in Europe. Almost overnight, these governments embarked on an unprecedented financial experiment that is drastically altering the geopolitical order — but at what cost? Joining us this week on Whale Hunting is investigative reporter Stephanie Baker, who sits down with Tom to discuss how and where sanctions are working, the inter-oligarch war playing out between antagonistic Russian tycoons, and how cryptocurrency, technology supply chains, and unscrupulous enablers all help Russia’s war machine rumble on. Not to mention Moscow-on-the-Gulf: the new home for Russian roubles in the UAE. Mentioned in this week’s episode: Stephanie Baker’s new book, Punishing Putin: Inside the Global Economic War to Bring Down Russia. Read an except of her book in Bloomberg here: ‘They Have Stolen Our Business’: When You Leave Russia, Putin Sets the Terms Sanctions evasions via Hong Kong shell companies: The Illicit Flow of Technology to Russia Goes Through This Hong Kong Address Zeke Faux’s recent book on crypto’s wild ride: Number Go Up Zeke’s appearance on Whale Hunting earlier this year For more from Whale Hunting, make sure to follow the podcast — and subscribe to our newsletter at whalehunting.projectbrazen.com. Subscribing gives you access to more from Whale Hunting, and helps support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://brazen.fm/plus/

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(54)

The Man Stealing Billions of Dollars from the US Economy, Mauerberger's Spiderweb

This episode of Whale Hunting explores the intricate web of illicit activities surrounding Benjamin Mauerberger, a South African involved in high-stakes financial crimes across Asia. Hosted by Journal...

24 Apr 53min

From A Curious Worldview: How did MBS rise to power?

Thanks for listening to season three of Whale Hunting. We've heard from the biographer of the world’s most secretive billionaire, the man running a TV network under the Taliban, the undercover agent w...

18 Des 20241h 21min

How did federal agents infiltrate the world’s dirtiest bank?

A rare opportunity arises when global financial institutions implode: a brief window into how the world really works. There’s an opportunity to learn how money is laundered and where it’s coming from,...

11 Des 202440min

Why does Elon Musk need private spies?

For the right price, a billionaire can buy almost anything in the private intelligence industry. Investigators will covertly dig through bins, pose as friendly faces to deceptively extract information...

4 Des 202440min

What does Iran achieve by outsourcing assassination attempts in the West?

Iran’s war with Israel and the U.S. has been waged through numerous proxies — Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen — but more recently, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, have been “out...

27 Nov 202425min

Do Hezbollah's booby-trapped pagers herald a new era of warfare?

Conventional warfare no longer exists. Drones, offensive hacking techniques and even sonic weaponry is upending how conflict is waged — and the recent Israeli intelligence operation to plant explosive...

20 Nov 202432min

Why was the FBI fascinated by the artist Mark Lombardi?

Mark Lombardi was on the cusp of international success with his provocative artwork. So why was the 48-year-old found dead, and his death ruled a suicide? And why did the FBI ask to examine one of his...

13 Nov 202415min

How did the FSB infiltrate one of Sweden’s biggest banks?

Honeypot operations are one of the oldest tricks in the espionage playbook — get access to sensitive information through a wily femme fatale. Scandinavian banking giant Swedbank was recently the targe...

6 Nov 202435min