Word comes that Scorpion has been spotted in Turkey and new leads take the team into the heart of the smuggling network, with dramatic developments as they stake out an address. Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and went on to build a smuggling empire which now spans the globe. An international police surveillance operation trapped more than twenty of his gang and almost netted Scorpion...
May 10, 2024•33 min•Season 8Ep. 6
The search takes us deep into Scorpion's gang and the men arrested and imprisoned for people smuggling and then things take an unexpected turn as we find and confront his brother. Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and went on to build a smuggling empire which now spans the globe. An international police surveillance operation trapped more than twenty of his gang and almost netted Scorpi...
May 10, 2024•38 min•Season 8Ep. 5
The job of policing smuggling gangs is obstructed by a network of well-wishers who want to help refugees and sometimes end up helping the gangs - has this happened with Scorpion? Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and went on to build a smuggling empire which now spans the globe. An international police surveillance operation trapped more than twenty of his gang and almost netted Scorpio...
May 10, 2024•36 min•Season 8Ep. 4
It's already late when the BBC team get a tip off that Scorpion's network of complicit lorry drivers might be operating from a new pick-up point. They stay hidden as events unfold. Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and went on to build a smuggling empire which now spans the globe. An international police surveillance operation trapped more than 20 of his gang and almost netted Scorpion ...
May 03, 2024•33 min•Season 8Ep. 3
Sue and Rob hear transcripts of police surveillance tapes, broadcast for the first time as officers eavesdrop on calls between members of the Scorpion people smuggling gang. Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and went on to build a smuggling empire which now spans the globe. An international police surveillance operation trapped more than 20 of his gang and almost netted Scorpion himself...
May 03, 2024•31 min•Season 8Ep. 2
This is the hunt for a people smuggler, codenamed Scorpion, one of the central characters controlling the transport of migrants from the European mainland into the UK. It is a tense and disturbing investigation, recorded as it happened, in real time. Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal career in Britain and went on to build a smuggling empire which now spans the globe. An international police surveillance ...
May 03, 2024•35 min•Season 8Ep. 1
The dramatic hunt for one of Europe's most-wanted people smugglers, recorded as it unfolds. BBC journalist, Sue Mitchell, and ex-soldier and aid worker, Rob Lawrie, go on a search for a crime boss: a people smuggler on the run, whose codename is Scorpion. He is one of the central characters controlling the transport of migrants from the European mainland into the UK. Barzan Majeed - codenamed Scorpion - leads the Scorpion gang. He's on international most-wanted lists. He started his criminal car...
Apr 26, 2024•3 min•Season 8Ep. 1
In this last programme of the series, the community of Cayucos is watching on and wondering how things will develop. Is there a way to handle a situation like this, where homelessness and wealth collide. Where a damaged man and a frail older woman come together to share a life? The unusual romance between Dave and Carolyn captured the attention of the BBC Journalist Sue Mitchell as it was unfolding on her street. She spends a lot of time in California, she married an American and her award-winni...
Dec 21, 2023•37 min•Season 7Ep. 10
With Carolyn’s daughters powerless to act, it looks like Dave might be on the brink of a receiving a small fortune from his 80 year old lover, Carolyn. She has promised to take care of him and says that he is the best thing to happen in her life. Her daughters do not believe she is in her right mind, but they cannot find anyone prepared to help them. It is shaping up for a distressing battle when suddenly events take a turn for the worse. The unusual romance between Dave and Carolyn captured the...
Dec 21, 2023•35 min•Season 7Ep. 9
Things are reaching a head as worries grow about Carolyn’s decision to sell two houses, on a single plot. One of the houses is home to her grandson and his family and Carolyn does not appear to be totally sure about her decision. Her daughters are so concerned that they approach the estate agent begging him to stop things. If he does not and the sale goes ahead, Dave could be looking at a sizeable amount of money being transferred into his name. Carolyn’s daughters could be seeing their worst ni...
Dec 14, 2023•36 min•Season 7Ep. 8
In the idyllic seaside town of Cayucos, on the Californian coast, property is expensive, a home here can easily cost a million dollars or more. The property boom which has made people of Carolyn’s generation well off, has priced so many out of the market and made it expensive to rent. There is a growing problem with homelessness, a world that Dave knows well. Even now that he is living with Carolyn he has not cut his ties with the homeless and is determined to help when he can. When Dave returns...
Dec 14, 2023•35 min•Season 7Ep. 7
At first glance Carolyn appears to be a lucky woman who has led a charmed life: loved by her husband and daughters – prosperous and secure. But she has endured great hardship and in this episode it becomes a bit easier to understand why she initially felt so drawn to Dave and what he has come to represent in her life. For his part, Dave is reluctant to dwell on his childhood, but he undoubtedly had a difficult start in life. Some of that damage has since been repeated in the lives of his childre...
Dec 07, 2023•36 min•Season 7Ep. 6
With Carolyn’s encouragement, Dave is making more effort to see his children, including his daughter, Cody. Like her Dad, Cody has struggled with crystal meth addiction and is sometimes sleeping rough in her car as she waits for a place in a recovery unit. She longs for her Dad’s love, but she has been let down by him in the past and cannot really trust that he has changed In this episode BBC Journalist, Sue Mitchell, goes with Dave to Riverside, on the outskirts of Los Angeles. This is where Da...
Dec 07, 2023•38 min•Season 7Ep. 5
One of the consequences of the family falling out about Dave is that Carolyn has decided to take back control of her bank accounts from her daughter, Sally, who had always helped her Mum in the past. Carolyn’s daughters fear that she will start giving money to Dave and that there is nothing they can do about it. In the early days of the relationship, the daughters had got Carolyn and Dave to sign a legal agreement protecting her money and properties. But now they fear that the pair have effectiv...
Nov 30, 2023•32 min•Season 7Ep. 4
Carolyn is facing mounting opposition to her relationship with Dave, who is 23 years younger than her and a world away in terms of wealth and lifestyle. She is being forced to make the most difficult choice possible: between her daughters and her new lover. The situation becomes so heated that it finally erupts into violence. Opposition to Dave makes Carolyn more determined to support him and she decides to take back control of her finances from her daughters. They fear she is showing signs of m...
Nov 30, 2023•32 min•Season 7Ep. 3
Carolyn had not expected to fall in love at 80 and certainly not to someone 23 years younger. But she has embraced all aspects of her new relationship, including having sex and being open with her daughters about that. Her honesty has not gone down well and even her Pastor, Dale James, is shocked that the couple are now living together in this way. Concerned about the speed of the relationship and the direction it's taking, Carolyn's daughters turn to the police and outside agencies for help. Th...
Nov 23, 2023•31 min•Season 7Ep. 2
Million Dollar Lover is an unlikely love story, recorded in real time as the relationship unfolds between Carolyn, who is 80 and has a valuable property portfolio, and Dave, 57, a former drug addict who is homeless and has spent a decade in jail. The story captured the attention of the BBC Journalist Sue Mitchell, as it was unfolding on her street. She spends a lot of time in California – she married an American and her award-winning journalism has been about the lives of people like Dave who in...
Nov 23, 2023•29 min•Season 7Ep. 1
Million Dollar Lover is an unlikely love story, recorded in real time as the relationship unfolds between Carolyn, who is 80 and has properties worth a few million dollars, and Dave, 57, a former drug addict who is homeless and has spent a decade in jail. The story captured the attention of the BBC Journalist Sue Mitchell, as it was unfolding on her street. She spends a lot of time in California – she married an American and her award-winning journalism has been about the lives of people like Da...
Nov 17, 2023•3 min•Season 7Ep. 1
The idea of living forever has captivated us for millennia, but rarely do people imagine what would happen the day after the fountain of youth is discovered. Today’s technology entrepreneurs pushing an immortality agenda - through their investments and their influence - seem only focussed on the pursuit. Whether or not immortality is a distant possibility, how do we cope with living longer en route to forever? Where’s the planning for that? It’s a great opportunity for innovative thinkers but, f...
Oct 02, 2023•15 min•Season 6Ep. 10
The immortalist movement in Silicon Valley shares a lot with evangelical religions, says Dr Emile P Torres, a philosopher and former Nick Bostrom acolyte. In both, he explains, there’s a heaven in which the faithful will experience unsurpassed bliss and delight, and an apocalypse, which will separate out the people who can go there. After a decade at the epicentre of the transhumanist research community, Emile became concerned with the number of apocalyptic stories of techno-utopia that were bei...
Oct 02, 2023•15 min•Season 6Ep. 9
A new philosphical movement is gathering steam in Silicon Valley, one that promises immortality by using technology to solve the problem of death. This movement is led by Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom. Professor Bostrom is the author of Fable of the Dragon Tyrant, the original manuscript of the modern immortality movement. It was published in 2005 in the Journal of Medical Ethics as a response to what Bostrom described as the absurdity of the inevitability of accepting ageing and death. Far fr...
Sep 25, 2023•15 min•Season 6Ep. 8
Vitalek Buterin is the billionaire founder of Ethereum, one of the most successful blockchains and cryptocurrencies in the world. With his fortune, he is attempting to solve the problem of death by creating a longevity state - which will fast track life everlasting, without the need for regulation. They will crowdsource their longevity solutions and organise them through the blockchain. His north star is the Fable of the Dragon Tyrant. In this series, technology reporter and psychologist Aleks K...
Sep 25, 2023•15 min•Season 6Ep. 7
Many of the longevity innovators in the Valley want to extend human life. But there are others who are trying to eliminate death. A lot of them. The tech billionaires who have never been told ‘no’ are driven to tackle the most insurmountable problems. They believe they can solve death by re-engineering the human in code. Problem is, it’s unlikely to happen in their natural lifetime. But technology is on their side. Every year, computing power doubles. Once a decade, the amount of change produces...
Sep 18, 2023•15 min•Season 6Ep. 6
Loyal for Dogs is one of the companies in the longevity industry doing serious science. They are well-founded, have a killer team, and a very clear mission: to be the first to get a drug that treats ageing - not just the diseases of ageing, but ageing itself - to pass the rigorous Food and Drug Administration approval process. Their CEO, Celine Halioua, is a maverick founder whose life has been guided by her ability to work systems. So, to meet her mission, she’s got a hack that will get her new...
Sep 18, 2023•15 min•Season 6Ep. 5
Jesse Karmazin’s Ambrosia Plasma clinic promised the fountain of youth, two litres of young plasma at a time. For a fee, anyone could go to his treatment centre in the redwood forest outside Silicon Valley and receive an infusion. The results - according to Karmazin - were remarkable. Silicon Valley billionaires were rumoured to be queuing up for their young blood. The problem was, the scientists whose work in mice he claimed to be bringing to the people disagreed with what he was doing, and he ...
Sep 11, 2023•15 min•Season 6Ep. 4
The Conboys’ experiment gave a young Harvard medical school graduate a big idea. But, there is a big gap between the experiments they did with mice in the lab, and pumping young blood into human beings. Still, he registered his company, Ambrosia Plasma, on the Food and Drug Administration clinical trials website and began an ambitious human research experiment. For $8,000 in cash, cheque or digital transfer, anyone over the age of 35 could receive two litres of blood plasma from 16-25 year olds ...
Sep 11, 2023•15 min•Season 6Ep. 3
Mike and Irina Conboy are a couple of tie-dye clad scientists in the bio-engineering department at the University of Berkeley. When they started researching ageing more than 20 years ago at Stanford, the field was nothing more than a spin-off from geroscience - most of their time at the lab bench was spent documenting signs and signals that our bodies are reaching their ends. But in 2005, they published an article in Science that suggested there is hope for reversing ageing our tired old bodies....
Sep 04, 2023•15 min•Season 6Ep. 2
Over the last 100 years, we’ve seen global life expectancy double. Could it happen again? Technology reporter and psychologist Aleks Krotoski explores the frontiers of the extreme longevity pioneers. They've made their money in Silicon Valley. And with their technology solutions - PayPal, Facebook, cryptocurrencies - they've ushered in the world that we live in today, with all its unintended consequences. Some of them now want to solve the "problem" of aging, or even death, and they are making b...
Sep 04, 2023•15 min•Season 6Ep. 1
Over the last 100 years, we’ve seen global life expectancy double. Could it happen again? In The Immortals, technology reporter and psychologist Aleks Krotoski explores the frontiers of the extreme longevity pioneers. They've made their money in Silicon Valley. And with their technology solutions they've ushered in the world that we live in today. Some of them now want to solve the problem of aging - or even death itself - and they are making bigger strides than we may think. Can they? Should th...
Aug 29, 2023•2 min•Season 6Ep. 1
The K-pop stars are jailed for their crimes and some women hope this and other sex abuse scandals might finally spark a real social change. Instead, all it does is fan the growing divisions between men and women. Then the gender war goes mainstream and plays out during the recent presidential election. For the first time, we give the definitive account of the sex scandals that brought down some of Korea’s biggest K-pop stars. It’s a tale of depravity, power and excess - hidden behind a facade of...
Jul 26, 2023•29 min•Season 5Ep. 6
