In 2020, in a small California mountain town, five women disappeared. I found out what happened to all of them, except one, a woman known as Deer whose estate is worth millions of dollars. I'm Lucy Sheriff. Over the past four years, I've spoken with Deers family and friends, and I've discovered that everyone has a different version of events. Hear the story on where's Deer? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

In the early morning hours of September 6, 2016, St. Louis rapper and activist Darren Seals was found murdered.

That's what they gonna offer. Death offered nothing.

Every day Darren would tell her, all right, mom, be prepared. They are going to try to kill me.

All episodes available now listen to after the uprising, the murderer of Darren Seals on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

All eight episodes of to die for are available now to binge absolutely free. But for ad free listening and exclusive bonuses, subscribe to tenderfoot plus@tenderfootplus.com or on Apple podcasts.

Warning.

The following episode contains explicit language and sexual themes.

Listener discretion is advised.

This is a scary case, actually.

Tell me what you mean by that.

This is scary because the implications are pretty profound, I think. So let's assume everything.

This is Robin Driek, who spent 22 years working russian counterintelligence for the FBI. You heard from him in the first episode of this podcast. I've circled back to get his thoughts from an intelligence perspective on what he's heard so far.

Let's assume everything Aaliyah has said is true. That would mean that this country is won by warlords, that each one of these generals is a fiefdom under themselves, and they're all serving the greater warlord, Putin, and they each have their cadre of enforcers that are in uniform, that are under state kind of control. I'm only analyzing the information she provided, but they're not as a nation state trying to counter drugs. They, as warlords, are going after their adversaries. And if it's a general that's at the top of yours, that means the general on the top of another. So, in other words, this, to me, looks like a feudal system of a bunch of fiefdoms trying to take out each other's supply chain and monetary structure. That's kind of scary if you're thinking about it. This is actually the truth of how this nation state, a world power, is supposedly being run. So it's either one or the other. Either she's making all this up, or this country's a country of warlords.

I had to kill you. I'm really sorry. I had to do it. I come on my own. You didn't get the behind. I was holding my gown. I got you. I tell you. I have to kill you. Was it so much fun?

Episode 16 chapter 33 Downward Spiral.

He put me into the cardinal. I drove away, and I felt like something died inside of me. I felt like I just lost him forever. But I was trying to tell myself, no, no, no, I will see him again. But it didn't feel like I will really see him again.

Aliyah had just left the home of Vladimir, her It was Vladimir.And I saw him sitting next to my bed. And he looked at me. He said, come on, wake up. You have to go. You have to leave. You have to go and live your life. And he told me, do you remember? I gave you all these numbers. Call illusion also is not just for you, but, like, showing your dad that even though I didn't choose his path, look at me and look at my life.To my dad, of course, to show him that without military and without following your order, I still pretend that I'm successful because I feel. I feel like it's my armor, and I protect myself in certain ways where I cannot. I don't have power enough to be open and live in real world because it scares me a lot.Let me pause. Is it okay if I call Emily you've been working with therapeutically? So can I kind of luber in on this discussion?Yes.Okay. Hanley, you there?Yeah, I am.So, as I'm sitting here sort of unpacking stuff with Aaliyah, I just thought I'd sort of bring you in and get some thoughts.Okay.What I'm learning as I talk to Aaliyah more is the happy ending isn't exactly. How would you put Aaliyah. The happy ending isn't.There is no happy ending, to be honest.At this point, I've spent a year and a half with Aaliyah and unpacked her story, not just with Emily Macas, the trauma counselor were speaking with now, but with russian intelligence sources and experts. And I could go over it point by point and share what the FBI says was believable, what the CIA says was credible, and so on. But I think we could do that with any story. Every true crime podcast is a collection of narratives that were trying to pick the best path through. And I think the path that is best to take with Aaliyah, given everything we've heard, is a trauma informed one. People see Aaliyah's instagram, and they think of it from an influencer point of view. But I'm curious, what does it look like from a trauma point of view?Part is dissociation. It's part of her coping mechanism and what she. It was, and it's involuntary and detachment from reality at times. And it's a way that she protected herself and most of the time is unconscious.With that dissociation, when we experience trauma, some of us want to feel like it doesn't define us, that we're not victims, that we winners, winners.Trauma does affect the way we perceive ourselves, the way we act and react, because it affected our brain, it affected our nervous system. When you look at dissociation, it's part of the fight flight response. It's even your memory that can be affected.I start to understand, as Emily speaks, that after surviving such a disempowering experience, there's a need to find a way to empower ourselves through our narrative. As the author Isaac Dineson once said, all sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them.And look at even the way Aliyah was raised by her father in the military. She was raised not to feel, not to be connected, but she was also raised to be the superhero in the story. I just want to remind you, Aliyah, that you can change your past. You can't, but you can change the narrative of the story, but you are a superhero in your life story.What are your thoughts on that?I was thinking that I think this podcast actually gave me freedom, because first time in life, I started to feel. I felt a strong guilt. I felt anger. I felt hate. I felt pain. And then I started to feel love. I started to not to at play, from unfair sentencing to jaw dissolving health risks. And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story.Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.Epilog a russian story so I just called to ask, what are your thoughts now that youve heard the rest of aaliyahs story?It took me on a journey, really, and the journey that it brought me on was a conclusion that she is a product of a father who is part of the state. She was recruited and or volunteered into the state system. Her context is then shattered, tragically with abuse and rape and then put into this odd school of sparrow training. Because that is just as we've said before. Was that a real school? Was it a state sponsored school? Or was it a bunch of dirty old men that were justifying their actions on behalf of the state as an excuse? Could be all. There lies the russian state at its bedrock.This is Robin Treeck again, former chief of the FBI's counterintelligence behavioral analysis program.They keep you in a state of chaos, personally, emotionally, psychologically, and physically. They traumatize you. They trauma bond you to them. This is the case where they give you a little bit of love bombing. We love you. You're great. You're awesome. And then they beat on you, beat on you, beat on you, beat on you. And then the beatings become more and the love becomes less. And then you get addicted to that one time out of a million. You might get a kind word or a yemenite, a promotion or a good posting from someone, or maybe even not being traumatized tonight by someone. This is what they do. And that's what she is, a product of the state. It's pretty profound that she was able to do what she did to rescue herself. The amount of bravery she had to start recognizing, basically, it's the matrix, you know, that I have to get myself out of this matrix. And that's where therapy comes in. And that's where rescuing ourselves from the trauma with the great healthy relationships we can forge around us. And getting that narrative and that story out there for people to see.What is a hero? Is it black widow? Is it red sparrow? Is it James Bond? When I first sat down with Aaliyah, that's the type of story I imagined hearing. And I think that's the type of story Aaliyah imagined telling. But real life is not so clear cut. And I learned through this process at least three things I will never forget. The first is that life in a totalitarian system, whether it's a country or one's own family, is a prison with bars made of fear and duty. And even if we manage to escape physically, psychologically, it's much harder to escape psychologically. The second is that sexpionage is anything but sexy. The third is that most stories of abuse don't have happy endings. The perpetrators often get away with it. The victims rarely get justice or resolution. And even if they do, the healing process is often messy and incomplete.All these things in here do happen, and these are the tragic results of them.So what is a hero? In this case and so many others? It is a person who survived to tell their story, not necessarily the story. Their story. And what is healing? It's being heard. So thank you for listening. To Die for is a production of Tenderfoot TV in association with iHeart podcasts. The show is hosted and written by me, Neal Strauss, with additional writing assistance by Tristan Bankston. Executive producers are myself, Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay. For iHeart podcasts, executive producers are Matt Frederick and Alex Williams. Lead producer and editor is Tristan Bankston. Additional editing by Miles Clark and Christian Brown. Supervising producer Tracy Kaplan. Consulted include Nooshin Felizide, Chelsea Gooden and Jamie Albright. Artwork by Byron McCoy. Original music by makeup and Vanity set, mixed and mastered by Dayton Cole. Our theme song is Killer Shangri la by psychotic beats, featuring Paddy Amore. Special thanks to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTA, Beck Media and marketing, Oren Siegel, Becky Jensen, the Nord group, Meredith Stedman, Rose Barouch, and Alex vespested. Thanks also to additional guests Robin Dreek, author of the upcoming book Unbreakable alliances, a spy Recruiter's authoritative guide to cultivating powerful and lasting connections Alex Finley, author of the Victor Carrow series Doctor David Lewis, author of triumph of the how two men hypnotized Hitler and changed the world doctor Joel DiMartino, author of Dark a history of brainwashing from Pavlov to social media professor Mark Galiotti, author of Downfall, precosian Putin and the new fight for the future of Russia Mark Hollingsworth, author of Agents of Influence how the KGB subverted western democracies Doctor Ian Garner, author of z generation into the heart of Russia's fascist youth Robert J.Lifton, author of surviving our resilience and renewal from Hiroshima to the Covid-19 pandemic Amy Knight, author of the Kremlin's Putin's bitter feud with the oligarch who made him ruler of Russia Yuri Felshtinsky, author of from red terror to Terrorist state, Russia's Secret Service and its fight for world domination doctor Joe Syrio, author of being resilient 50 lessons on leaving chronic stress behind Holly McKay, author of the dictator's wife Emily Makis, author of the naked truth of a the path to my authentic self Luke Harding, author of invasion, the inside story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's fight for survival and Svetlana Stevenson, author of Crossing the line, vagrancy, Homelessness, and social displacement in Russia Federico Varese, author of Mafia Love, Death, and the money at the heart of organized crime and Matt Tipton, Army Ranger veteran and internal medicine doctor trained in chemical and radiological weapons response wow, that was.A very russian story.In 2020, in a small California mountain town, five women disappeared. I found out what happened. Happened to all of them except one, a woman known as deer whose estate is worth millions of dollars. I'm Lucy Sheriff. Over the past four years, I've spoken with Deers family and friends, and I've discovered that everyone has a different version of events. Hear the story on where's dear? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.In the early morning hours of September 6, 2016, St. Louis rapper and activist Darren Seals was found murdered.That's what they gonna learn. On for death, on for nothing.Every day Darren would tell her, all right, mom, be prepared. They are going to try to kill me.All episodes available now listen to after the uprising, the murder of Darren Seals on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

It was Vladimir.

And I saw him sitting next to my bed. And he looked at me. He said, come on, wake up. You have to go. You have to leave. You have to go and live your life. And he told me, do you remember? I gave you all these numbers. Call illusion also is not just for you, but, like, showing your dad that even though I didn't choose his path, look at me and look at my life.To my dad, of course, to show him that without military and without following your order, I still pretend that I'm successful because I feel. I feel like it's my armor, and I protect myself in certain ways where I cannot. I don't have power enough to be open and live in real world because it scares me a lot.Let me pause. Is it okay if I call Emily you've been working with therapeutically? So can I kind of luber in on this discussion?Yes.Okay. Hanley, you there?Yeah, I am.So, as I'm sitting here sort of unpacking stuff with Aaliyah, I just thought I'd sort of bring you in and get some thoughts.Okay.What I'm learning as I talk to Aaliyah more is the happy ending isn't exactly. How would you put Aaliyah. The happy ending isn't.There is no happy ending, to be honest.At this point, I've spent a year and a half with Aaliyah and unpacked her story, not just with Emily Macas, the trauma counselor were speaking with now, but with russian intelligence sources and experts. And I could go over it point by point and share what the FBI says was believable, what the CIA says was credible, and so on. But I think we could do that with any story. Every true crime podcast is a collection of narratives that were trying to pick the best path through. And I think the path that is best to take with Aaliyah, given everything we've heard, is a trauma informed one. People see Aaliyah's instagram, and they think of it from an influencer point of view. But I'm curious, what does it look like from a trauma point of view?Part is dissociation. It's part of her coping mechanism and what she. It was, and it's involuntary and detachment from reality at times. And it's a way that she protected herself and most of the time is unconscious.With that dissociation, when we experience trauma, some of us want to feel like it doesn't define us, that we're not victims, that we winners, winners.Trauma does affect the way we perceive ourselves, the way we act and react, because it affected our brain, it affected our nervous system. When you look at dissociation, it's part of the fight flight response. It's even your memory that can be affected.I start to understand, as Emily speaks, that after surviving such a disempowering experience, there's a need to find a way to empower ourselves through our narrative. As the author Isaac Dineson once said, all sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them.And look at even the way Aliyah was raised by her father in the military. She was raised not to feel, not to be connected, but she was also raised to be the superhero in the story. I just want to remind you, Aliyah, that you can change your past. You can't, but you can change the narrative of the story, but you are a superhero in your life story.What are your thoughts on that?I was thinking that I think this podcast actually gave me freedom, because first time in life, I started to feel. I felt a strong guilt. I felt anger. I felt hate. I felt pain. And then I started to feel love. I started to not to at play, from unfair sentencing to jaw dissolving health risks. And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story.Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.Epilog a russian story so I just called to ask, what are your thoughts now that youve heard the rest of aaliyahs story?It took me on a journey, really, and the journey that it brought me on was a conclusion that she is a product of a father who is part of the state. She was recruited and or volunteered into the state system. Her context is then shattered, tragically with abuse and rape and then put into this odd school of sparrow training. Because that is just as we've said before. Was that a real school? Was it a state sponsored school? Or was it a bunch of dirty old men that were justifying their actions on behalf of the state as an excuse? Could be all. There lies the russian state at its bedrock.This is Robin Treeck again, former chief of the FBI's counterintelligence behavioral analysis program.They keep you in a state of chaos, personally, emotionally, psychologically, and physically. They traumatize you. They trauma bond you to them. This is the case where they give you a little bit of love bombing. We love you. You're great. You're awesome. And then they beat on you, beat on you, beat on you, beat on you. And then the beatings become more and the love becomes less. And then you get addicted to that one time out of a million. You might get a kind word or a yemenite, a promotion or a good posting from someone, or maybe even not being traumatized tonight by someone. This is what they do. And that's what she is, a product of the state. It's pretty profound that she was able to do what she did to rescue herself. The amount of bravery she had to start recognizing, basically, it's the matrix, you know, that I have to get myself out of this matrix. And that's where therapy comes in. And that's where rescuing ourselves from the trauma with the great healthy relationships we can forge around us. And getting that narrative and that story out there for people to see.What is a hero? Is it black widow? Is it red sparrow? Is it James Bond? When I first sat down with Aaliyah, that's the type of story I imagined hearing. And I think that's the type of story Aaliyah imagined telling. But real life is not so clear cut. And I learned through this process at least three things I will never forget. The first is that life in a totalitarian system, whether it's a country or one's own family, is a prison with bars made of fear and duty. And even if we manage to escape physically, psychologically, it's much harder to escape psychologically. The second is that sexpionage is anything but sexy. The third is that most stories of abuse don't have happy endings. The perpetrators often get away with it. The victims rarely get justice or resolution. And even if they do, the healing process is often messy and incomplete.All these things in here do happen, and these are the tragic results of them.So what is a hero? In this case and so many others? It is a person who survived to tell their story, not necessarily the story. Their story. And what is healing? It's being heard. So thank you for listening. To Die for is a production of Tenderfoot TV in association with iHeart podcasts. The show is hosted and written by me, Neal Strauss, with additional writing assistance by Tristan Bankston. Executive producers are myself, Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay. For iHeart podcasts, executive producers are Matt Frederick and Alex Williams. Lead producer and editor is Tristan Bankston. Additional editing by Miles Clark and Christian Brown. Supervising producer Tracy Kaplan. Consulted include Nooshin Felizide, Chelsea Gooden and Jamie Albright. Artwork by Byron McCoy. Original music by makeup and Vanity set, mixed and mastered by Dayton Cole. Our theme song is Killer Shangri la by psychotic beats, featuring Paddy Amore. Special thanks to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTA, Beck Media and marketing, Oren Siegel, Becky Jensen, the Nord group, Meredith Stedman, Rose Barouch, and Alex vespested. Thanks also to additional guests Robin Dreek, author of the upcoming book Unbreakable alliances, a spy Recruiter's authoritative guide to cultivating powerful and lasting connections Alex Finley, author of the Victor Carrow series Doctor David Lewis, author of triumph of the how two men hypnotized Hitler and changed the world doctor Joel DiMartino, author of Dark a history of brainwashing from Pavlov to social media professor Mark Galiotti, author of Downfall, precosian Putin and the new fight for the future of Russia Mark Hollingsworth, author of Agents of Influence how the KGB subverted western democracies Doctor Ian Garner, author of z generation into the heart of Russia's fascist youth Robert J.Lifton, author of surviving our resilience and renewal from Hiroshima to the Covid-19 pandemic Amy Knight, author of the Kremlin's Putin's bitter feud with the oligarch who made him ruler of Russia Yuri Felshtinsky, author of from red terror to Terrorist state, Russia's Secret Service and its fight for world domination doctor Joe Syrio, author of being resilient 50 lessons on leaving chronic stress behind Holly McKay, author of the dictator's wife Emily Makis, author of the naked truth of a the path to my authentic self Luke Harding, author of invasion, the inside story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's fight for survival and Svetlana Stevenson, author of Crossing the line, vagrancy, Homelessness, and social displacement in Russia Federico Varese, author of Mafia Love, Death, and the money at the heart of organized crime and Matt Tipton, Army Ranger veteran and internal medicine doctor trained in chemical and radiological weapons response wow, that was.A very russian story.In 2020, in a small California mountain town, five women disappeared. I found out what happened. Happened to all of them except one, a woman known as deer whose estate is worth millions of dollars. I'm Lucy Sheriff. Over the past four years, I've spoken with Deers family and friends, and I've discovered that everyone has a different version of events. Hear the story on where's dear? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.In the early morning hours of September 6, 2016, St. Louis rapper and activist Darren Seals was found murdered.That's what they gonna learn. On for death, on for nothing.Every day Darren would tell her, all right, mom, be prepared. They are going to try to kill me.All episodes available now listen to after the uprising, the murder of Darren Seals on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

illusion also is not just for you, but, like, showing your dad that even though I didn't choose his path, look at me and look at my life.

To my dad, of course, to show him that without military and without following your order, I still pretend that I'm successful because I feel. I feel like it's my armor, and I protect myself in certain ways where I cannot. I don't have power enough to be open and live in real world because it scares me a lot.

Let me pause. Is it okay if I call Emily you've been working with therapeutically? So can I kind of luber in on this discussion?

Yes.

Okay. Hanley, you there?

Yeah, I am.

So, as I'm sitting here sort of unpacking stuff with Aaliyah, I just thought I'd sort of bring you in and get some thoughts.

Okay.

What I'm learning as I talk to Aaliyah more is the happy ending isn't exactly. How would you put Aaliyah. The happy ending isn't.

There is no happy ending, to be honest.

At this point, I've spent a year and a half with Aaliyah and unpacked her story, not just with Emily Macas, the trauma counselor were speaking with now, but with russian intelligence sources and experts. And I could go over it point by point and share what the FBI says was believable, what the CIA says was credible, and so on. But I think we could do that with any story. Every true crime podcast is a collection of narratives that were trying to pick the best path through. And I think the path that is best to take with Aaliyah, given everything we've heard, is a trauma informed one. People see Aaliyah's instagram, and they think of it from an influencer point of view. But I'm curious, what does it look like from a trauma point of view?

Part is dissociation. It's part of her coping mechanism and what she. It was, and it's involuntary and detachment from reality at times. And it's a way that she protected herself and most of the time is unconscious.

With that dissociation, when we experience trauma, some of us want to feel like it doesn't define us, that we're not victims, that we winners, winners.

Trauma does affect the way we perceive ourselves, the way we act and react, because it affected our brain, it affected our nervous system. When you look at dissociation, it's part of the fight flight response. It's even your memory that can be affected.

I start to understand, as Emily speaks, that after surviving such a disempowering experience, there's a need to find a way to empower ourselves through our narrative. As the author Isaac Dineson once said, all sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them.

And look at even the way Aliyah was raised by her father in the military. She was raised not to feel, not to be connected, but she was also raised to be the superhero in the story. I just want to remind you, Aliyah, that you can change your past. You can't, but you can change the narrative of the story, but you are a superhero in your life story.

What are your thoughts on that?

I was thinking that I think this podcast actually gave me freedom, because first time in life, I started to feel. I felt a strong guilt. I felt anger. I felt hate. I felt pain. And then I started to feel love. I started to not to at play, from unfair sentencing to jaw dissolving health risks. And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story.Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.Epilog a russian story so I just called to ask, what are your thoughts now that youve heard the rest of aaliyahs story?It took me on a journey, really, and the journey that it brought me on was a conclusion that she is a product of a father who is part of the state. She was recruited and or volunteered into the state system. Her context is then shattered, tragically with abuse and rape and then put into this odd school of sparrow training. Because that is just as we've said before. Was that a real school? Was it a state sponsored school? Or was it a bunch of dirty old men that were justifying their actions on behalf of the state as an excuse? Could be all. There lies the russian state at its bedrock.This is Robin Treeck again, former chief of the FBI's counterintelligence behavioral analysis program.They keep you in a state of chaos, personally, emotionally, psychologically, and physically. They traumatize you. They trauma bond you to them. This is the case where they give you a little bit of love bombing. We love you. You're great. You're awesome. And then they beat on you, beat on you, beat on you, beat on you. And then the beatings become more and the love becomes less. And then you get addicted to that one time out of a million. You might get a kind word or a yemenite, a promotion or a good posting from someone, or maybe even not being traumatized tonight by someone. This is what they do. And that's what she is, a product of the state. It's pretty profound that she was able to do what she did to rescue herself. The amount of bravery she had to start recognizing, basically, it's the matrix, you know, that I have to get myself out of this matrix. And that's where therapy comes in. And that's where rescuing ourselves from the trauma with the great healthy relationships we can forge around us. And getting that narrative and that story out there for people to see.What is a hero? Is it black widow? Is it red sparrow? Is it James Bond? When I first sat down with Aaliyah, that's the type of story I imagined hearing. And I think that's the type of story Aaliyah imagined telling. But real life is not so clear cut. And I learned through this process at least three things I will never forget. The first is that life in a totalitarian system, whether it's a country or one's own family, is a prison with bars made of fear and duty. And even if we manage to escape physically, psychologically, it's much harder to escape psychologically. The second is that sexpionage is anything but sexy. The third is that most stories of abuse don't have happy endings. The perpetrators often get away with it. The victims rarely get justice or resolution. And even if they do, the healing process is often messy and incomplete.All these things in here do happen, and these are the tragic results of them.So what is a hero? In this case and so many others? It is a person who survived to tell their story, not necessarily the story. Their story. And what is healing? It's being heard. So thank you for listening. To Die for is a production of Tenderfoot TV in association with iHeart podcasts. The show is hosted and written by me, Neal Strauss, with additional writing assistance by Tristan Bankston. Executive producers are myself, Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay. For iHeart podcasts, executive producers are Matt Frederick and Alex Williams. Lead producer and editor is Tristan Bankston. Additional editing by Miles Clark and Christian Brown. Supervising producer Tracy Kaplan. Consulted include Nooshin Felizide, Chelsea Gooden and Jamie Albright. Artwork by Byron McCoy. Original music by makeup and Vanity set, mixed and mastered by Dayton Cole. Our theme song is Killer Shangri la by psychotic beats, featuring Paddy Amore. Special thanks to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTA, Beck Media and marketing, Oren Siegel, Becky Jensen, the Nord group, Meredith Stedman, Rose Barouch, and Alex vespested. Thanks also to additional guests Robin Dreek, author of the upcoming book Unbreakable alliances, a spy Recruiter's authoritative guide to cultivating powerful and lasting connections Alex Finley, author of the Victor Carrow series Doctor David Lewis, author of triumph of the how two men hypnotized Hitler and changed the world doctor Joel DiMartino, author of Dark a history of brainwashing from Pavlov to social media professor Mark Galiotti, author of Downfall, precosian Putin and the new fight for the future of Russia Mark Hollingsworth, author of Agents of Influence how the KGB subverted western democracies Doctor Ian Garner, author of z generation into the heart of Russia's fascist youth Robert J.Lifton, author of surviving our resilience and renewal from Hiroshima to the Covid-19 pandemic Amy Knight, author of the Kremlin's Putin's bitter feud with the oligarch who made him ruler of Russia Yuri Felshtinsky, author of from red terror to Terrorist state, Russia's Secret Service and its fight for world domination doctor Joe Syrio, author of being resilient 50 lessons on leaving chronic stress behind Holly McKay, author of the dictator's wife Emily Makis, author of the naked truth of a the path to my authentic self Luke Harding, author of invasion, the inside story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's fight for survival and Svetlana Stevenson, author of Crossing the line, vagrancy, Homelessness, and social displacement in Russia Federico Varese, author of Mafia Love, Death, and the money at the heart of organized crime and Matt Tipton, Army Ranger veteran and internal medicine doctor trained in chemical and radiological weapons response wow, that was.A very russian story.In 2020, in a small California mountain town, five women disappeared. I found out what happened. Happened to all of them except one, a woman known as deer whose estate is worth millions of dollars. I'm Lucy Sheriff. Over the past four years, I've spoken with Deers family and friends, and I've discovered that everyone has a different version of events. Hear the story on where's dear? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.In the early morning hours of September 6, 2016, St. Louis rapper and activist Darren Seals was found murdered.That's what they gonna learn. On for death, on for nothing.Every day Darren would tell her, all right, mom, be prepared. They are going to try to kill me.All episodes available now listen to after the uprising, the murder of Darren Seals on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

at play, from unfair sentencing to jaw dissolving health risks. And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story.

Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Epilog a russian story so I just called to ask, what are your thoughts now that youve heard the rest of aaliyahs story?

It took me on a journey, really, and the journey that it brought me on was a conclusion that she is a product of a father who is part of the state. She was recruited and or volunteered into the state system. Her context is then shattered, tragically with abuse and rape and then put into this odd school of sparrow training. Because that is just as we've said before. Was that a real school? Was it a state sponsored school? Or was it a bunch of dirty old men that were justifying their actions on behalf of the state as an excuse? Could be all. There lies the russian state at its bedrock.

This is Robin Treeck again, former chief of the FBI's counterintelligence behavioral analysis program.

They keep you in a state of chaos, personally, emotionally, psychologically, and physically. They traumatize you. They trauma bond you to them. This is the case where they give you a little bit of love bombing. We love you. You're great. You're awesome. And then they beat on you, beat on you, beat on you, beat on you. And then the beatings become more and the love becomes less. And then you get addicted to that one time out of a million. You might get a kind word or a yemenite, a promotion or a good posting from someone, or maybe even not being traumatized tonight by someone. This is what they do. And that's what she is, a product of the state. It's pretty profound that she was able to do what she did to rescue herself. The amount of bravery she had to start recognizing, basically, it's the matrix, you know, that I have to get myself out of this matrix. And that's where therapy comes in. And that's where rescuing ourselves from the trauma with the great healthy relationships we can forge around us. And getting that narrative and that story out there for people to see.

What is a hero? Is it black widow? Is it red sparrow? Is it James Bond? When I first sat down with Aaliyah, that's the type of story I imagined hearing. And I think that's the type of story Aaliyah imagined telling. But real life is not so clear cut. And I learned through this process at least three things I will never forget. The first is that life in a totalitarian system, whether it's a country or one's own family, is a prison with bars made of fear and duty. And even if we manage to escape physically, psychologically, it's much harder to escape psychologically. The second is that sexpionage is anything but sexy. The third is that most stories of abuse don't have happy endings. The perpetrators often get away with it. The victims rarely get justice or resolution. And even if they do, the healing process is often messy and incomplete.

All these things in here do happen, and these are the tragic results of them.

So what is a hero? In this case and so many others? It is a person who survived to tell their story, not necessarily the story. Their story. And what is healing? It's being heard. So thank you for listening. To Die for is a production of Tenderfoot TV in association with iHeart podcasts. The show is hosted and written by me, Neal Strauss, with additional writing assistance by Tristan Bankston. Executive producers are myself, Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay. For iHeart podcasts, executive producers are Matt Frederick and Alex Williams. Lead producer and editor is Tristan Bankston. Additional editing by Miles Clark and Christian Brown. Supervising producer Tracy Kaplan. Consulted include Nooshin Felizide, Chelsea Gooden and Jamie Albright. Artwork by Byron McCoy. Original music by makeup and Vanity set, mixed and mastered by Dayton Cole. Our theme song is Killer Shangri la by psychotic beats, featuring Paddy Amore. Special thanks to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTA, Beck Media and marketing, Oren Siegel, Becky Jensen, the Nord group, Meredith Stedman, Rose Barouch, and Alex vespested. Thanks also to additional guests Robin Dreek, author of the upcoming book Unbreakable alliances, a spy Recruiter's authoritative guide to cultivating powerful and lasting connections Alex Finley, author of the Victor Carrow series Doctor David Lewis, author of triumph of the how two men hypnotized Hitler and changed the world doctor Joel DiMartino, author of Dark a history of brainwashing from Pavlov to social media professor Mark Galiotti, author of Downfall, precosian Putin and the new fight for the future of Russia Mark Hollingsworth, author of Agents of Influence how the KGB subverted western democracies Doctor Ian Garner, author of z generation into the heart of Russia's fascist youth Robert J.

Lifton, author of surviving our resilience and renewal from Hiroshima to the Covid-19 pandemic Amy Knight, author of the Kremlin's Putin's bitter feud with the oligarch who made him ruler of Russia Yuri Felshtinsky, author of from red terror to Terrorist state, Russia's Secret Service and its fight for world domination doctor Joe Syrio, author of being resilient 50 lessons on leaving chronic stress behind Holly McKay, author of the dictator's wife Emily Makis, author of the naked truth of a the path to my authentic self Luke Harding, author of invasion, the inside story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's fight for survival and Svetlana Stevenson, author of Crossing the line, vagrancy, Homelessness, and social displacement in Russia Federico Varese, author of Mafia Love, Death, and the money at the heart of organized crime and Matt Tipton, Army Ranger veteran and internal medicine doctor trained in chemical and radiological weapons response wow, that was.

A very russian story.

In 2020, in a small California mountain town, five women disappeared. I found out what happened. Happened to all of them except one, a woman known as deer whose estate is worth millions of dollars. I'm Lucy Sheriff. Over the past four years, I've spoken with Deers family and friends, and I've discovered that everyone has a different version of events. Hear the story on where's dear? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

In the early morning hours of September 6, 2016, St. Louis rapper and activist Darren Seals was found murdered.

That's what they gonna learn. On for death, on for nothing.

Every day Darren would tell her, all right, mom, be prepared. They are going to try to kill me.

All episodes available now listen to after the uprising, the murder of Darren Seals on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.