Vassilis Paleokostas, aka “Greece’s Robin Hood,” has been on the lam for 14 years. In his absence, legends of his generosity have grown. But no one knows where he is, or if the stories are even true. Here’s what we do know: there’s a million Euro bounty out for Vassilis, and a 24-hour task force trying to track him down. When he robs banks, he shares the money with the poor. When he kidnaps industrialists -- and he only kidnaps those who are known for unfair labor practices -- they give baffling interviews showing how he opened their minds. And when he escapes heavily reinforced prisons, as he’s done ... by helicopter ... twice, he does it without harming a guard. Join host Miles Gray and our team of Greek reporters as we follow Vassilis’ trail from Athens to tiny islands to remote mountain hideouts. Along the way, we’ll meet Vassilis’s inner circle, chat with police chiefs and prime ministers, and work to understand how this thief managed to steal the country’s heart.
Introducing: The Sicilian Inheritance
Every family has an origin story – for author Jo Piazza (Under the Influence, Wilder) her family's is a murder mystery. For as long as she can remember the Piazzas have told the story of their Sicilian roots going back over a hundred years ago: one by one the sons and then their father sailed off to America to carve out a better life. Their mother, Lorenza Marsala was supposed to join them – but she never made it. She was murdered by the Sicilian mafia, they said. The truth of what happened has morphed like a game of telephone through the generations. Various versions of the story claim she was killed by the Black Hand, others insisted she was a witch, killed over a bad spell. Now, Jo is determined to untangle the twisted narrative which just might bridge the gap from cinematic mob fantasies to an unexpected reality. Join her in Sicily on a family vacation/fact finding mission in which she goes to the scene of the crime, confronts mafia experts, consults mediums, and tracks down Italian officials, determined to set the record straight on her great, great grandmother’s mysterious disappearance. Listen here and subscribe to The Sicilian Inheritance on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Introducing: On Musk with Walter Isaacson
What is it like to shadow Elon Musk for two years? To sit courtside as he builds a rocket? Or tears apart an engineer? Or couch surfs at the homes of billionaires? And how on earth do you make sense of it all? Walter Isaacson is the biographer of giants: DaVinci, Franklin, Doudna, Jobs...and now Musk, former enfante terrible, rocket launcher, electric car innovator, and Twitter—er, X—disruptor, to put it gently. In this four part series, author Evan Ratliff (Mastermind, Longform Podcast) sits down with Isaacson to draw out the behind-the-scenes stories of this epic biography, and what the writer has learned as an outsider inside Silicon Valley. Listen here or on the iHeartRadio app. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mountain King
After a rumored sighting, the team chases Vassilis deep into a remote mountain range, where everybody is hiding something. Like what you hear? Follow us @kscope_nyc on Twitter and Instagram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Unraveling
As Vassilis plans one last score, things start to fall apart. Meanwhile, thanks to a surprising tip, George and Christina come face-to-face with Vassilis’s older brother, Nikos. Like what you hear? Follow us @kscope_nyc on Twitter and Instagram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Help from Above
Nobody thought it was possible to escape from Greece’s toughest maximum security prison, until Vassilis did it. With a helicopter. Like what you hear? Follow us @kscope_nyc on Twitter and Instagram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
INTERMISSION: Search Party
We send Kaleidoscope’s Costas Linos along with investigative journalist Nick Niarchos on an adventure through anarchist enclaves, island retreats, and isolated monasteries to find out why Greece embraces outlaws like Vassilis. Like what you hear? Follow us @kscope_nyc on Twitter and Instagram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Innocents Abroad
Vassilis spends his loot seeing the world, until he and Nikos stumble into a new idea: kidnapping. Like what you hear? Follow us @kscope_nyc on Twitter and Instagram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
An Open Book
A mysterious manuscript gives us an inside look at Vassilis’s first prison escape, and explains how his moral code took shape. Like what you hear? Follow us @kscope_nyc on Twitter and Instagram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Meet the Artist
Every bank robber has to start somewhere. We track down the man who taught Vassilis the art of crime. Like what you hear? Follow us @kscope_nyc on Twitter and Instagram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How to Rob Banks and Influence People
Miles and the team learn how Vassilis and his gang pulled off the biggest bank robbery in Greek history without firing a single shot. Like what you hear? Follow us @kscope_nyc on Twitter and Instagram. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Introducing: The Good Thief
Introducing the first season of OUTLAWS: The Good Thief. We’re on the trail of Vassilis Paleokostas, Greece’s most-wanted man—a real-life Robin Hood known for stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Fourteen years ago, after pulling off a string of unbelievable heists, Vassilis disappeared. Where is he now? And why does his legend still have such a hold on people? Like what you hear? Follow us @kscope_nyc on Twitter and Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.