In 2011, a Social Security lawyer named Eric C. Conn and a judge named David Daugherty were investigated for committing massive fraud over many years. Conn figured out that he would get paid a hefty retainer for every Social Security disability payment he managed to get approved, so he and Daugherty (who need quick cash to pay for his daughter’s upcoming narcotics trial – which presumably meant bribing an awful lot of people) came to an arrangement. In the second episode, Investigators starts to collect evidence against Eric and Judge Daugherty. The whistle-blowers are pressured.
Eric C. Conn became a local celebrity and maybe even became heroic in the eyes of the people they were helping. He put up billboards all over the county and his parties were legendary. Conn took monthly vacations to exotic locations as a sex tourist and his 16 marriages were the talk of the town. In the third episode, a new U.S. attorney begins working the case. Things take a dark turn when several of Conn's former clients share their experiences. Wanted by the FBI, chased by the authorities, the story soon spirals into a twisty-turny thriller. That’s no coincidence either, given Conn mentions numerous times that he likens himself to James Bond. James Bond with a dash of Robin Hood.
The series tells stories of people caught in the dark and twisted web of modern misinformation and digital deception. Haunting, bizarre and up-to-the-moment relevant, the series explores consequences of 'SWATing', takes a chilling trip down the rabbit hole of white supremacy, joins a Federal hunt for the suspect of a brazen IRS heist and dives into Russian election interference. In the first episode, when an online gamer makes a series of fraudulent 911 calls to lure SWAT teams to innocent people's homes, his targeted trickery turns to tragedy.
In the second episode, panic strikes the community as a full-blown catastrophe looms. Locals mobilize to confront the authorities and protest the nuclear power industry. Twenty-eight hours after the accident began, the lieutenant governor appeared at a news briefing to say that the plant's owner had assured the state that 'everything is under control'. Later that day, Scranton changed his statement, saying that the situation was 'more complex than the company first led us to believe'. There were conflicting statements about radioactivity releases. Schools were closed and residents were urged to stay indoors. Farmers were told to keep their animals under cover and on stored feed.
In the third episode, during cleanup at the plant, insiders claim that cost-cutting measures and intimidation tactics create a danger war force than the accident itself. Several state and federal government agencies mounted investigations into the crisis, the most prominent of which was the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island, headed by chairman John G. Kemeny. The investigation strongly criticized Babcock & Wilcox, Met Ed, Graphics processing unit, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for lapses in quality assurance and maintenance, inadequate operator training, lack of communication of important safety information, poor management, and complacency. Kemeny said that the procedures and that the control room were greatly inadequate for managing an accident.
Magic mushrooms, long considered sacred by the Indigenous Mazatec in Mexico, become the subject of scientific studies measuring the intense effects of its Psilocybin and its potential therapeutic use. In the second episode, we are introduced to Ben, who’s battled with crippling Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) his entire life. When he had his firstborn, Ben’s life became full of panic attacks regarding his son’s safety, and he knew something had to change. Ben signed up for a psilocybin-assisted therapy clinical trial which was testing whether the psychedelic could help people with severe OCD. In the session under the influence of psilocybin, Ben felt decomposed and eventually grew into a tree. While living as a tree, he saw his human self, playing with his child. Though this sounds scary, from Ben’s perspective, it was beautiful. He was one with the universe, seeing himself in the ultimate third-person perspective. Finally, he saw how it could be different if he didn’t let his OCD control him. And several months out, all the symptoms disappeared. Ben’s story is one of many told in this series, which gives hope that help is right around the corner for the millions who suffer —often in silence— with debilitating mental disorders. But Michael Pollan’s work is showcasing the success stories. Often, even in the most successful trials, psychedelic-assisted therapy only helps up to a third of people enter remission. More frequently, patients are helped —sometimes substantially— but they still suffer with their illnesses and some people aren’t helped at all.
In the second episode, Investigators starts to collect evidence against Eric and Judge Daugherty. The whistle-blowers are pressured.