Steve Kough lived many lives. He was an NFL journeyman, a male model, and one of the most well-connected smugglers in 1980’s Miami, the “Drug Capital of the World." Kough collected many souvenirs from his adventures, but his most treasured bounty – a beautiful ceramic, crafted by Pablo Picasso and gifted to Ernest Hemingway at the author’s Cuban home, the Finca Vigia... or so the story goes. Lost during the Cuban Revolution, the artwork resurfaced when Kough took it as a payment for drug run financed by the notorious Pablo Escobar. Kough passed away in 2018, passing the piece down to his son, Stevie, a skateboarding hippie growing weed in California. Stevie feels he needs to complete his father’s mission – of selling this piece and telling Steve’s cinematic life story. So, is the Picasso authentic—or a fraud? Was Steve Kough a big talker or a real deal smuggler? Does any of that matter or is this a story of aspiration, legacy, and difficult love? Tune in on Monday’s starting on October 18th to find out! This is a Somethin' Else production in association with Vespucci.
Portrait of a Con Artist: Unraveling the Art World's Greatest Deception
For years, Helge Achenbach has been among the world’s most successful art dealers. But with one treacherous move, he lands in prison. In Season 6 of Chameleon: Gallery of Lies, host Bijan Stephen sets out on the international trail of the most famous criminal you’ve never heard of. With unprecedented access to an ex-con, Bijan attempts to solve the riddle of who Helge really is—and who he might become.
Subscribe now to unlock all shows on The Binge and you’ll be the first to access Chameleon: Gallery of Lies as soon as it drops on September 1st.
A Campside Media & Sony Music Entertainment Production.
Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts.
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9/11/2023 • 6 minutes, 24 seconds
Introducing Power: Don King
We wanted to share a show which we think you’ll want to listen to. Power: Don King.
In a sport famed for money and excess, what does it take to get to the top...and stay there?
Rising from a life of hardship and crime, Don King became the most successful boxing promoter the sport has ever seen—and the first Black man to do so. He is his own American Dream. His flamboyant appearance and commanding personality made him a star in and out of the ring, as did his promotion of greats like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and even America’s musical dynasty, the Jacksons. But his less than honest exploits? They made him legendary.
Listen and follow now wherever you get your podcasts.
Power is a Somethin’ Else production with Sony Music Entertainment
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3/24/2022 • 11 minutes, 27 seconds
Introducing...Operator
During the 1-900 number craze of the Nineties, one company provided the vast majority of phone sex. American Telnet was an empire founded by the man who called himself “The Telephone Pimp.”
He ran the company “like General Motors” and got filthy rich doing it. But for the (mostly) women who answered the calls and delivered fantasies 24-7, it was a different story.
The powerful stigma against sex work was always lurking just beneath the surface, until it threatened to tear apart the whole company.
Hosted by Tina Horn (Why Are People Into That?), OPERATOR is an eight-part series about big ambitions, Shakespearean-level corporate backstabbing, men and women at the cutting edge of a technological revolution...and on the front lines of a sexual one.
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11/17/2021 • 6 minutes, 40 seconds
Introducing Power: Hugh Hefner
Who was Hugh Hefner? Liberator of sexuality, bizarre playboy or something more sinister? In this season, journalist and author Amy Rose Spiegel looks at his complex story through the eyes of the women who knew him best, delving into Hefner’s rise to power and investigating the dark side of the brand. What can the story of Hugh Hefner and the rise and fall of Playboy tell us about sex and power, then and now?
A Somethin' Else production.
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11/4/2021 • 4 minutes, 53 seconds
Introducing...Hemingways's Picasso
Steve Kough lived many lives. He was an NFL journeyman, a male model, and one of the most well-connected smugglers in 1980’s Miami, the “Drug Capital of the World."
Kough collected many souvenirs from his adventures, but his most treasured bounty – a beautiful ceramic, crafted by Pablo Picasso and gifted to Ernest Hemingway at the author’s Cuban home, the Finca Vigia... or so the story goes. Lost during the Cuban Revolution, the artwork resurfaced when Kough took it as a payment for drug run financed by the notorious Pablo Escobar.
Kough passed away in 2018, passing the piece down to his son, Stevie, a skateboarding hippie growing weed in California. Stevie feels he needs to complete his father’s mission – of selling this piece and telling Steve’s cinematic life story. So, is the Picasso authentic—or a fraud? Was Steve Kough a big talker or a real deal smuggler? Does any of that matter or is this a story of aspiration, legacy, and difficult love? Tune in on Monday’s starting on October 18th to find out!
This is a Somethin' Else production in association with Vespucci.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
