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Bad Seeds

Bad Seeds

Written by: iHeartPodcasts
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About this listen

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
  • Inside the Olympic Prison [from Very Special Episodes]

    Inside the Olympic Prison [from Very Special Episodes]
    Feb 20 2026

    In the winter of 1980, the world turned its eyes to Lake Placid, New York, host of the Winter Olympics. But behind the pageantry, another structure loomed in the Adirondack woods. Built to house 1,800 athletes, the Olympic Village looked less like a dormitory than a detention center — because that’s exactly what it was designed to become.

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    Hosted by Zaron Burnett, Dana Schwartz, and Jason English
    Written by Zaron Burnett
    Senior Producer is Josh Fisher
    Editing and Sound Design by Jesse Nighswonger
    Mixing and Mastering by Josh Fisher
    Original Music by Elise McCoy
    Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
    Executive Producer is Jason English

    For School of Humans, Producers are Emilia Brock and Edeliz Perez. Executive Producer is Virginia Prescott.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    51 mins
  • Check out the Growing Joy with Plants Podcast

    Check out the Growing Joy with Plants Podcast
    Jun 8 2023

    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 take a listen to this short trailer to get to know Maria better. You can listen on Apple, Spotify, and follow Maria on Instagram.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    3 mins
  • Episode 8: The Destroyer of Worlds

    Episode 8: The Destroyer of Worlds
    May 31 2023

    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 plant content by following host Summer Rayne Oakes on her YouTube channels Plant One on Me and Flock.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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    40 mins
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