Bad Seeds

Dec 07 2024 11 ep. 24 mins 1k

Bad Seeds Podcast artwork

The biggest black market you’ve never heard of is blooming right under your nose. Whether it’s a 4,000-pound cactus shoveled from the Arizona desert or delicate orchids pinched from the tangled jungle of Peru, rare plants are at the center of a rapidly growing and lucrative world of crime. Hosted by plant expert Summer Rayne Oakes, Bad Seeds plunges straight into it, featuring the buyers, the sellers, the obsessives, and those who came face-to-face with the criminals behind an underworld few know exist.

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Introducing: Escape From Zaqistan

Dec 07 2024 2 mins

Deep in the Utah desert is a tiny, tiny, tiny nation: The Republic of Zaqistan. Guarded by robots, Zaqistan nonetheless welcomed new citizens for more than 15 years - until it fell into ruins. Now the eponymous founder wants to rebuild. Join hosts Ryan Murdock, Gabbie Watts and Zaron Burnett on a journey to uncharted territory … to the nation of Zaqistan…and the upside-down wor

Check out the Growing Joy with Plants Podcast

Jun 07 2023 2 mins

Hey! This is Summer Rayne Oakes, host of Bad Seeds. Our season is wrapped, but if you want even more plant content, I wanted to recommend another podcast that I love. Growing Joy with Plants explores the plant person connection, and teaches you how to care for plants successfully and cultivate joy in your life by doing so. Click over to Growing Joy with Plants and subscribe, and t

Episode 8: The Destroyer of Worlds

May 30 2023 40 mins

In Bad Seeds, we’ve explored the crimes of obsessed hobbyists, of organized criminals, and even corrupt governments. But what about the elephant in the room? What about when the places entrusted to conserve flora are committing the crimes? And what about those risking everything… to protect plant-life and our planet? This is the last episode of Season 1. But! You can get more p

Episode 7: The Tree That Bleeds

May 23 2023 30 mins

Zambia is home to a rare and coveted rosewood called mukula, but the country has been losing its treeline for years. The Zambian government put regulations and penalties in place to stop the illegal logging of this vital resource, but still, the deforestation continued. So what was accounting for the rapid disappearance of mukula? One undercover investigation exposed a chain of cor

Episode 6: The Gray Market

May 17 2023 31 mins

Gibson is a favorite guitar brand for the stars. But in 2009, federal agents stormed one of its warehouses, looking for illegal goods. And what ensued was a years-long debate of government overreach versus environmental exploitation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 5: Business Opportunities

May 10 2023 31 mins

On November 25, 2019 in Tortugas Bay, six fishermen prepare their boat and begin motoring out onto the water. Their Destination? Isla de Cedros. What appears to be an innocent fishing trip will result in the deaths of two of these men. In this episode, plant poaching collides with organized crime: how cartels, mobs, and criminal syndicates might be connected to some of your favori

Episode 4: Charming Personalities

May 02 2023 31 mins

In the Lonely Planet Guide, the editors provide one simple admonishment to travelers considering a journey to Panama’s Darien Gap: “Don’t even think about it!” But that didn’t deter English orchid enthusiast Tom Hart Dyke, who plunged into the forest in 2000 to see orchids – but ended up spending ten months in captivity. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati

Episode 3: A Peculiar Hobby

Apr 25 2023 34 mins

In 2014, five tourists traveled to the United States to marvel at cacti in the national parks. But when it becomes clear they’re doing more than just looking, U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents begin surveilling the suspects. In this episode, we examine how there’s a thin line between passion… and obsession. Is there a difference between overzealous collection and callous crime? A

Episode 2: Plant Mania

Apr 18 2023 27 mins

Philodendron Spiritus-Sancti is one of the rarest plants in the world. Many call it the “Holy Grail of Philodendrons.” In May 2020, the San Diego Botanic Garden had one of these plants as their centerpiece. But in the dead of night, it was stolen. In this episode of Bad Seeds, a look inside a booming craze for houseplants and how a cultural obsession might be killing the thing

Episode 1: Unscrupulous Collection

Apr 11 2023 31 mins

In 2020, police in Italy raided an apartment in a small coastal town in the Adriatic. Inside it were one million euros worth of stolen goods. But Italian police didn’t find firearms, drugs, or other contraband; they found succulents. Specifically, 1,000 specimens of Copiapoa cacti, all stolen from the Atacama desert in Chile. This is just one of many stories like this. There’s