Recommendation: "Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen"

 It’s been some time since I found and listened to a multi-part limited documentary podcast, but I’m into one now I can highly recommend, “Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen,” from Campside Media, which is smaller than the giants like Wondery, Gimlet and Spotify. It reminds me a bit of “The Shrink Next Door” and “S-Town,” in that “Chameleon” unspools an odd type of crime story or fraud story that reveals itself as the episodes unfold.

“Chameleon” tells the tale of a bizarre Hollywood scam in which someone posing as a movie producer convinces aspiring personal trainers, make-up artists and other rank-and-file craftspeople who are trying to get established as film professionals, to travel to Indonesia for what looks to be a big blockbuster style epic production. The marks were convinced to front their own airfare and expenses with promises of reimbursement, and when they arrived in Jakarta, were driven around in a hired car, mostly aimlessly, to production meetings that would get canceled and location sites where no work was yet underway.

 

For male marks, like Eddie, a L.A.-based personal trainer, this would be frustrating, annoying and aggravating, but female marks, like Heather, a U.K.-based make-up artist, started wondering if they were in danger of being abducted for human trafficking, because of the way the scam manifested itself by putting them into a state of confusion and uncertainty about what was really going on, which made this a terrifying experience.

 

That’s the opening two episodes, but please do listen for yourself. I’m now on episode five out of eight, and as this podcast continues, the hosts drill down on whether the scam was the work of a network of people or just one mastermind. The evidence from the accounts of some of the marks who were victimized for relatively small amounts of cash (in the range of $500-$3,000 a piece) mounts, and the hosts, journalists Josh Dean and Vanessa Grigoriadis, examine it in depth to uncover what is really going on, and how and why it is being done.

 

The appeal of “Chameleon” is its binge-worthiness. Each epsiode centers on one personality involved in the story, including professional investigators who get involved, and some of the real Hollywood players whose identities were being stolen to carry out the scam. The episodes each run between about 30 to 45 minutes, so they are nice digestible chunks, and often will leave the listener wanting more and ready to go right on to the next one right away. 

 

Just in case you haven’t had enough of politics in the past few weeks…

In the interest of posting more regularly here, by sticking to podcast content itself, I’ll share that even following Election Day, I’ve been seeking out and finding some political podcasts to throw in to my listening mix.

I’ve been a big follower of the political documentary series “The Circus” on Showtime, which features journalist John Heilemann (who co-authored the “Game Change” books about the 2008 and 2012 presidential races). This year, Heilemann founded a new website and podcast concern called “The Recount,” hosting its flagship show “Hell & High Water.” I’m recommending the Nov. 7 post-election episode, where he’s joined by Republican strategist Steve Schmidt, and Democratic strategists Jennifer Palmieri and David Plouffe (who each have their own shows on Recount). The foursome break down the election results at a time just before most rational sources and observers called the race for President-elect Joe Biden. In particular, check out a portion around the 22 minute mark when Schmidt diagnoses the problems with Trumpism in the Republican party.

 

Secondly, respected journalist Kara Swisher, who migrated over from the Recode Decode website and podcast to the New York Times starting in 2018 through early 2020, debuted “Sway,” a new podcast for the Times, in September. I’m recommending episodes from Oct. 9 featuring election law expert Trevor Potter, and from Oct. 26 featuring an interview with Hillary Clinton. In the Potter episode, Swisher unearths the intricacies of campaign finance law (Potter had helped out on a Colbert Report stunt several years ago where the host started his own PAC). The Hillary Clinton episode is notable for the way Swisher rapid-fires tough questions at the 2016 Democratic nominee about that race and the 2020 contest (before Election Day), including a frank assessment of the earlier Democratic primaries.

 

Lastly, an interesting one, albeit tough to recommend, is “5-4,” hosted by the Stitcher network, which critiques Supreme Court decisions and news developments concerning the court from a left-leaning perspective. The notable episode is one immediately following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in which the hosts gave no quarter in criticizing her decision not to step down back in 2013 at a time when it was likely President Obama could have filled her seat with a justice of similar philosophy. That critique rankles RBG’s fans, but is a fair one. However, the hosts undermine their point by descending into profane rants about that situation and how Trump was going to nominate her replacement, rather than staying level-headed and focused in presenting their views.

A Podcast For Every Season

I have written entries in this blog, sporadically, off and on, not as much as I would like. It started out in 2016 with sustained regular entries about the business aspects of podcasting. I can’t do that job as well as people like Nick Quah do it, who are able to dedicate themselves full time to the endeavor.  

So I may just try to return to this with some musings about content and recommendations. The constraints of time have shifted my listening from setting out to explore every new or recommended podcast that sounds interesting, to just enjoying listening to certain favorites depending on my mood and interest. In the past several months of pandemic lockdown, that has become, as ever, Marc Maron’s “WTF,” but also Bill Simmons’ “The Rewatchables” and “Tabletop Genesis,” the podcast that features a different album by the band in each episode, going into a deep-dive nerd-alanche of discussion truly for the diehard fans of the group. With occasional detours to other indulgences of entertainment fandom, such as Amy Nicholson and Paul Scheer’s “Unspooled” podcast covering classic movies. 

 

One develops a relationship with the hosts of these shows, appreciating and being entertained by the nuances of their style and thoughts about the subject, by narrowing one’s listening from a broad spectrum of podcasts to multiple episodes of the same few shows.

 

My past pattern had been to check out mini-series style podcasts, such as “Slow Burn,” Rachel Maddow’s “Bag Man,” and “Crimetown,” but I think my habits have drifted to bingeing TV shows rather than narrative podcasts, because it’s harder to get into a running series on headphones while doing chores around the house. With a finite interview or recap style show, it’s easier to come and go and catch what you can. 

 

Sometimes it’s more promising to listen to something like “Bizarre Albums,” where they get in and out of the subject matter in 20 minutes or less, while some of the aforementioned shows typically run more than hour, so it’s a bigger commitment. For instance, the “Boomerang” episode of “The Rewatchables” was two full hours, as long as the movie itself, and it takes time to complete that. If it’s good, that goes by quickly in just a couple sittings, or more accurately “standings,” because you’re listening while working out or doing chores. The ones I tune into time after time are the ones that have a rapport between the hosts that stays engaging and carries you along.