About
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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Episodes(5)
Check out the Growing Joy with Plants Podcast
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
Episode 8: The Destroyer of Worlds
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-li
Episode 7: The Tree That Bleeds
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 th
Episode 6: The Gray Market
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
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: h