Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything - Convolution

Episode Date: February 16, 2021

This year your host wrote an original crime thriller for Audible Originals. Listen to the first chapter here, then go to Audible.com search for Convolution and you can listen to the rest of the story. Rhea Seehorn leads an incredible cast as cybercrimes detective Sydney Birch. This 10-part police drama begins in Los Angeles with an investigation into a group of con men using machine learning to improve their scams and ends in Tibet with a long con involving reincarnation and an evolved artificial intelligence.

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Episodes every other week at neverpo.st and wherever you find pods. The other day, I got an email from a listener about Convolution, the audio fiction piece I wrote this year for Audible. Actually, I believe this was the 10th email basically saying the same thing, asking why they had to stumble upon it, why I had failed to promote it. Well, dear listeners, promotion just isn't one of my strengths. But in my defense, I did make a promo for it that ran on the TOE feed when Convolution was released last October. But yes, I get it. I could have tried harder. So I'm going to pull out all the stops here on this episode.

I am going to play you the entire first chapter right here with the hope of motivating not just those of you out there who weren't aware of this particular story, but also those of you who did hear the promo, but still didn't seek the story out. Convolution is told through audio drama and monologues, all recorded by a Los Angeles cybercrime detective named Sydney Burch, who is portrayed by the one and only Rae Sehorne,

who totally knocks it out of the park. It was chilling hearing this character come to life even better than I imagined her. There are a number of amazing actors in this cast, but in this chapter, you're only going to get to hear Ray Sehorne, Chris Gethard, and William Jackson Harper. But you can listen to the whole thing. All you need to do is pop on over to audible.com and search for convolution. Actually, at the moment of this recording, you can also find convolution on the podcast page at amazon.com. And it's free for some Amazon members right now. So let's do it.

This is convolution. Chapter one, Swindler's List. Okay, here we go. James, I am in West Hollywood. Today is February 24th, 2019. Interviewing victim number 85 at his residence for case number E0945. Can I get you to state your name for the record? Marv. Marv Pearson. Thank you. And your occupation? I'm a cinematographer, mostly for movies, but I do a lot of TV.

Prestige TV as well. And I know this isn't easy, but when did you realize that you were the victim of a scam? It was one of those Facebook emails. You know, the reminder emails they always send you? No, I actually don't have a Facebook. Okay, but you remember all those reminder emails you always used to get? No, no, no, I never had a Facebook. Oh, wow.

Like, you never joined? Whoa, are you, like like totally anti-technology? Um... I mean, this recorder thing, that looks pretty advanced. It is. I use this to communicate with my assistant. Oh. So James, that's like a police Alexa? Nope. No, he's not. My James is analog.

Okay. Well, Facebook sends you emails for friend anniversaries, like when you and so-and-so first friended each other. About a week ago, I get one of these telling me it's the third anniversary of my friendship with Hallie Belling. And well, most of the time, I have no idea who these people are. So you have a lot of Facebook friends? Yeah, I've been on Facebook for almost 15 years and I work in Hollywood. So yes, I have thousands of Facebook friends? Yeah, I've been on Facebook for almost 15 years, and I work in Hollywood. So, yes, I have thousands of Facebook friends, which is why these emails are mostly meaningless.

But this one jarred something to me, because Hallie Belling was an assistant director on this Hollywood teen band's doc that I shot, the one that Spielberg claimed to like so much. So I click on her profile, and I see that she's posting that she's stuck in Thailand. She needs some help getting a plane ticket back to L.A. because she thinks she might have been scammed.

And so I messaged her asking what's up, and it's like, boom, the whole thing. It was just, it was like waking up after taking the red pill. You know, I'm not the only one, right? I mean, I found a Facebook group for victims who have traveled all over the world. That will be very useful, Marv. And of course you're not the only one, but let's just stick with your story for now, okay? I just have one more question before I want you to go back to the beginning and tell me the whole story. If you hadn't clicked on your friend Hallie's Facebook profile, do you think you ever would have put it together?

That you had been scammed? Ooh, wow, that's a really good question. You know, I'm not sure. I don't think so. All right, now your story. Let's start from the beginning. Well, it started with a call from Steven Spielberg's assistant who told me that Steven was a big fan of this teen bands doc that I shot, which is totally bizarre because, like, five people probably saw that thing.

But since some of his kids were in bands together since they were in junior high, it makes sense that he could have seen it. Anyway, the assistant tells me that the reason he's calling me is that Steven would like to discuss a new top-secret TV project that he wants to get me involved in. And so we set up a time for them to call me back in like an hour. I remember hanging up the phone thinking, Oh my God, I am set for life.

You didn't think it was too good to be true? Well, obviously it was. But this has always been my dream, to work on big Hollywood movies. And that's what dreams are, right? They're too good to be true. It made perfect sense to me. After this, I went on YouTube and I watched all these clips of Steven. And when they call me an hour later, I assure you, it's the same guy I'd been listening to. It's the same voice. Steven Spielberg. Okay. And what does Steven Spielberg tell you? Well, he sketches out this epic story about immigration set during the Vietnam War. We're talking women and children. We're talking raft people.

Dreams of America. And this American Marine who makes it all work. Sounds incredible. And then he tells me how much he likes my work. He brings up this stupid teen band doc, which I really think he did see because he asks about the drone shot. I've been getting a lot of work since I bought this drone for like, you know, like the big helicopter shots from the sky.

I invested in this super nice one, the SLK Smart Drone. It's got facial recognition, all kinds of stuff in there and basically do everything automatically so I don't even need to hire a drone op. Hopes we make a little extra money, you know, on the low budget gigs. Like this doc. Got some pretty dope battle of the band shots, the drones flying over parents and the auditorium and stuff. But as far as Steven's concerned,

I'm way more than a drone op. He says he looked at my Instagram. He thinks I have an incredible eye and that if it's possible, he hopes I can come with him in two weeks to Vietnam for a scouting trip. And I'm just like, wow. Then Stephen says goodbye, and the assistant takes over.

And what's this assistant's name? Rondell. I never even got his last name. So Rondell tells me that it's going to be a very big budget TV series for ABC, and I'm going to have to sign an NDA. The whole thing is totally top, top, top secret. Can't say a word to anyone. That wasn't a red flag for you?

No. I got a friend who worked on Game of Thrones. He was a costume design assistant for the first two seasons, but during the filming of season three, he posts a photo on Instagram of just some fur, not even a full costume, some fur that was going to be a part of a costume. Boom, gone, fired, just like that. So trust me, I understand how locked down things are. The idea that I'm not supposed to tell anybody about this, it's definitely not a red flag. It's not even a flag flag. Rondell stresses that at this point, the crew isn't settled because Stephen wants to work

with some new people, and he's really interested in seeing what I might bring to the table. This is why he wants me to come on this first trip before any roles or jobs are settled. But again, the main thing he wants to tell me is that it's all secret. I can tell no one. Then he takes my info, says to look out for a ticket. It's going to be business class from LAX in like two weeks. But then, about two days later, the assistant calls back. There's complications. Facebook's now involved.

They want to steal the project from ABC for their new streaming platform. It's a bidding war. And they can't spend any of the ABC money until everything's settled. But Stephen wants to go on the trip anyway. So if I want to come, I'm going to have to pay for the travel myself up front. And of course, I'll be refunded, but they can't pay for it yet.

The assistant tells me about a cheap ticket he found. Not business class. And honestly, not even that cheap. But Rondell says I should come because a lot of the other cinematography people, they won't be on this trip. So there's an opportunity for me to make a big case for myself getting this big job.

But he understands if I want to wait, there's a good chance I'll still be on the list when things come together. But I'm not looking to let this opportunity slip, man. I go for it. I tell Rondell I'm in, man. I buy my own ticket. I book myself a room at the Hilton on the beach in Tan Nung.

And I fly to freaking Vietnam on my own dime. As soon as I check into the hotel, I get a call from Rondell. More complications. The bidding war's getting crazy. Amazon's involved now. Everybody's going to be delayed two days. Everyone except for Steven. He's en route. And I should meet him at this restaurant for lunch in Binh Truong. You understand, right? It's going to be just me

and Steven Spielberg having lunch together alone in Vietnam discussing his next masterpiece. I write out pretty much everything I want to say about how I envision shooting the waves and the refugees. I take like five showers. I'm so nervous. A little jet lagged too. But I go to the restaurant. And then my phone buzzes. It's Rondell. He sounds really weird.

He's like, look, listen closely, Marv. We got a really bad situation. Stephen has been kidnapped. And I'm like, what? Rondell says he spoke to the kidnappers. They say Stephen's okay. They must not know who he is because they only want $5,000. Now, there's a bank across the street from the restaurant. Rondell tells me you can't miss it. It's literally right across the street. We've used it before. I want you to go to that bank. Ask to talk with one of the tellers about an international wire. I'm going to wire you $5,000. I need you to go to that bank, ask to talk with one of the tellers about an international wire.

I'm going to wire you $5,000. I need you to take the money, go back outside. A man in a white shirt is going to come meet you outside the bank in 30 minutes. You're going to give the money to him, then go right back to your hotel. They promise to release Steven immediately. The adrenaline. Oh, my God. I feel like I'm going to pass out, but Rondell, he's really calm. He's maybe been trained for stuff like this. I don't know. It's really impressive. He goes, Marv, and you should make sure you get the best description of this guy.

You can don't stare at him or anything, but get a sense of his height, his clothes, his eye color, hair color. Okay. Hopefully this information will not be necessary. We're praying this whole thing is over in 30 minutes, but I need you to keep your wits about you. Can you do this Marv? And I'm like, yeah, yes, you can count on me. Yes. So run across the street and I go into the bank. I asked to see someone about a wire transfer. And sure enough, I've just been wired $5,000. This is real, man. I show my ID, sign for the money, I go outside.

And in about 15 minutes, this guy in a white shirt walks up to me and lights a cigarette. He's short, he has dark eyes and, like, peppercorn gray hair. He doesn't say anything. I take out the envelope. He nods eyes and like peppercorn gray hair. He doesn't say anything. I take out the envelope. He nods. Takes it from me. Opens it. Counts it. Right there on the street. In front of this bank.

And he looks at me. He shakes his head. He says, ten thousand. This is only five. And was he Vietnamese? He had an accent. Sounded Vietnamese to me. Okay. Please continue. And I'm like, uh, I don't know what to do.

Just wait here, I say. I run back in the bank, I go to the cash machine, and I withdraw the $3,000 remaining in my checking account. And then I do $2,000 cash advance on my credit card. I go outside and I give it to the man. He doesn't even count the money. He just pockets it and walks away. Oh, God.

I'm telling you this. It's bringing it all back. I thought I was saving Steven Spielberg's life. Sure. Okay. And then? I go back to the hotel. There's a message waiting for me at the front desk. It's life. Sure. Okay. And then? I go back to the hotel. There's a message waiting for me at the front desk.

It's flowers. And a note from Rondell, who says this was the fastest way to get me a message. It says, S is safe and already on his way back home. Obviously the trip's canceled. You should get out of there too. We can talk more in L.A. And then there's one last note. Please tell no one about this or the whole project will be in jeopardy. We'll be in in LA. And then there's one last note. Please tell no one about

this or the whole project will be in jeopardy. We'll be in touch soon. And at this time, you have no thoughts that maybe you've just been scammed? Of course not. I'm high as fuck. I just saved Steven Spielberg's life. I mean, yeah, it does hit me that maybe the white shirt guy pulled a fast one. Not even on me, but like, you know, on his own gang. And that's maybe why Rondell didn't mention reimbursing me. Because he doesn't even know about the extra $5,000. But I'm sure they're not going to care about this. You know, I have no doubt that I will be reimbursed for everything.

And furthermore, you know, be taken care of for life. I'm getting into the ASC, baby, for sure. I am pumped. But at this moment, all I can think about is the Emmy. I'm going to win for filming this Asian Schindler's List, which they didn't call it that, by the way, okay? Don't, let's not say that I said that. That was just what I thought.

Marv, it's fine. I'm not going to tell anyone that. How long was this before you got that Facebook friend reminder email? About six weeks. And you heard nothing from Rondell all this time? No. But I can only imagine what it was like for all of them. I just figured eventually I'd hear back.

I mean, now in hindsight, can you imagine how ridiculous I would have sounded if I tried to get in touch with them? Hey, what's up? Guys, it's Marv. You know Marv, the guy who saved Steven Spielberg from kidnappers in Vietnam? But I never went there. I probably never would have went there.

And I can tell you why. It's because of that first conversation. When the assistant told me he was going to call back, I'm telling you, I went on YouTube and watched some Steven Spielberg clips. Well, look at this. So this is Steven Spielberg. And now I want to play you something, but I don't want to get in trouble because... You recorded the call.

Yeah. I have a bunch of old iPhones that, you know, they still work, so I use them as remotes for my Sonos and stuff. And when they called, I just thought it was cool, man. I'm on the phone with Steven Spielberg. So I just put my phone on speaker, and then I use these phones recording. It's not the best quality recording, but listen. It's really a complicated story about the boat people.

Hmm. Interesting. Right? Look, I know it's illegal to record people without their knowledge, so I don't want to get in trouble. Right, but Marv, you know this is not Steven Spielberg, right? I know. I know.

But like, who would fucking go to this length to scam me out of 5k i mean i'm not the plane tickets the hotel a lot of hassle but they only got 5k from me and again if i didn't know any better i'd probably have gone to my grave thinking this white shirt guy's the scammer not steven spielberg surely They gotta do this to like thousands of people to make any money. But how can you even scale a scam like this? They have to pay all these actors. Are they using different celebrities as bait? It's like, what, they know that Steven Spielberg has been my idol since childhood? Thank you, Marv. I'm afraid I can't share any more from the case at this time, but I do have one more question for you. What apps do you use to connect with people? Like, social media?

Yes. Obviously Facebook and Instagram. Twitter. I got Snapchat, but I only use that with my girlfriend. So you don't use any dating apps? Well, I still have accounts on OkCupid and Tinder, but I don't use them, obviously. Same with LinkedIn, because you know

I'm always trying to hustle, but it's useless. You know, there's this new one I've been using. It's a creative freelancer app. It's called Initiator. It's not really that great for getting cinematography work, but it has this new function they just added. AIMD, aimed, they call it. It's like a Fitbit for your whole body. And if you give it access to your data, you don't have to pay when you go to the doctor, which is great. And that discount is in exchange for all of your most personal

biological information being sold to third parties. Well, let me tell you, as a freelancer, it's a godsend. Sure. Thanks again, Marv. We'll be in touch. Okay, James, I'm sitting on the deck at Bianca's in Venice. I don't know if you've been here, it's really good. I just finished my interview with Natalie Mercer, M-E-R-C-E-R. And unlike Marv Pearson, she declined to be recorded and I didn't push her. If the only choices are to go on the record or say nothing,

I fear many of these victims will choose to opt out. And I totally understand where they're coming from. I mean, they feel foolish, you know? Oh my God, that's good. What is fascinating about Natalie's case, though, is that when the white shirt gentleman told her that she needed to come up with $5,000 to add to the $10,000 that was just wired to her,

she said no. Not because she didn't believe, you know, in the whole scam, but because her bank had a foreign country limit set on her card. But the rest of the story tracked closely to the one I just got from Marv Pearson. Only difference, Natalie was a set designer, and the bait was the actress Jessica Chastain. You know her. The whole thing went down in Bogota. So we now have, let me see, 87 possibly related cases. Ten individuals were sent to Mexico City, five to Singapore, nine to Colombia, seven to Peru. I think there was just a few to Thailand, Ecuador.

And really the biggest concentration, 37 individuals were sent to Vietnam. Something to look at. I think the international aspect of this is super important. I believe it rules out the idea that we're working with just one particular gang. And I'm suspicious about the high number of Vietnam cases, I have to tell you. It's almost too obvious, like someone wants us to focus on Vietnam, to throw us off. And actually, the on-the-ground element, it's pretty simple. It's one man, one white shirt.

You only need one person on the ground in each country. It's probably a service you could get remotely, like TaskRabbit for bag men. Is that a thing? It should be a thing. It might be a thing. I'm intrigued by what happened to Natalie, though, because while it's true that most of our victims do travel a lot, it's also true that most banks now have foreign withdrawal limits. Automatic

fraud protection should be keeping this scam from working this well. That's something to look into too. Just add it to the list. Oh, and I'd also like to discuss the voice recording Marv played me earlier. He almost didn't want to send me that file. As you heard, he wanted to make sure he would not be in trouble for recording it. But really, I think it's because he's still holding onto the possibility that this whole thing is a mistake, and that he really did save Steven Spielberg. I am convinced it's not a voice actor, but rather computer-generated. But the snippet Marv recorded suggested that he wasn't listening to a pre-recorded script. Stephen did respond to Rondell.

Well, I mean, no, I guess that could have been planned. But he responded to Marv as well, you know? I mean, you could write this in a way, like write a script that only allows for a one-word wow or amazing. No, that's not my Spielberg impression. I don't want to hear it. But let's have forensics look into this as soon as possible. It's just very curious. I just don't see how this, I know it's not a particular gang, but whatever this group of people is, I don't see how they could have the capabilities to get actors

to do all these voices perfectly, which is, oh man, I need to be more quick. Somebody's walking by, nevermind. Which is why I think it's suspicious. I feel like we're being pushed to see this as maybe a local Vietnam thing and concentrate on the who. But I have to tell you right now, I am more interested in the how. How are these victims being targeted?

How do you find a mark that will, one, believe, two, have the capacity to travel on short notice, and three, the financial means to, I mean, in most cases, give up $5,000. Most of these victims are freelancers. They're people working in the margins of the entertainment industry. And, you know, this is not a group known for their disposable income, right? So I know we are currently looking into dating apps, but I actually think it's the wrong direction, and I'm going to tell you why. Something just happened here at Bianca's that has got me thinking and it's not just about the profiles users make for dating apps but for social media in general and I know you hate it when I

talk about social media seeing as how I never had an account on any social media platform very proud of that but hear me out okay she's right there listening so so I'm going to be quiet. Okay. I just ordered a Cortado. And by the way, it was a Cortado to die for. A temperature that ensured I could drink the whole thing in one chug should I have wanted. But it was also a temperature that encouraged me to savor the perfect ratio of milk and espresso and marvel at the missing acidity. Yes. And then the barista also made a little design on the top, you know, like they do, but it was unlike anything I have seen before. It wasn't just a heart or a bear. It was like a galaxy, a galaxy filled with individual foam, like shooting stars coming out and planets. And then the barista informed me that she is an artist.

And she gave me her card to prove it, if that proves that you're an artist. But anyway, she says, you can see all of my designs on Instagram. Okay, she's looking at me. Hang on. So then she says, I actually took a pic of yours before I served it to you. Leave a comment when I post it and I'll be sure to follow you. So of course I told her I don't have Instagram. And of course she looked at me like I was crazy. But I am going to guess she has quite a number of followers

considering how aggressively she markets herself, right? It's so good. Anyway, the point of this convoluted story that's been fascinating, I'm sure, is that I now could reach out to her, you know, pretending to be, whatever, Will Smith's assistant. And I could tell her that Will Smith loves her cortado

and her latte designs, and that we want her to come to Berlin to work on a new TV series. She's clearly thirsty. Not literally. Like, self-promoting thirsty. Everyone in this coffee shop is thirsty. Everyone in Hollywood is thirsty.

So what I'm saying is, on social media, everyone is a possible mark. But, and here's the thing, social media does not identify who has the money or the time or the disposition to fall for a con. In fact, it might misidentify who has money, being that people are always portraying themselves as having more than they actually do, and they're better, and they're more fabulous, and this vacation and that, and it's all, you know, crap. This initiator app platform, though, has come up a number of times.

And then the add-on Marv mentioned, Aimed, that's new. A-I-M-D. Can you look into that for me? I'm so sad that's over. Nope, I'm going to have to do it. I'm getting another Cortado. And then I will head back into the office.

Can you just look from my barista's Instagram and leave a comment for me? I sent you a photo of my drink. Okay, James. Right here, Sydney. Oh. God, I hate it when you do that. Why are you here? It's almost 7 p.m. I'm cross-referencing all the open cases to see how many victims were unable to take out extra money due to bank limits

and how many have profiles on AIMD. But you don't need to come in to do that, right? Do you? If I want to use Columbo to access banking info, then I need to come in. We can't do that sort of thing off-site. I don't understand it. How do

you manage to be one of the top cybercrime detectives in the state and be such a Luddite? What? I'm not a Luddite. Look at this. I'm using our new mandated state-of-the-art voice dictation and communication technology. But you're not

using it correctly. Watch me. Okay, Columbo, pull up the Facebook group for Hollywood Scammed. Okay, Columbo, how many members of this group are using AIMD? Well, there are 14 of 26. Okay, Columbo.

And are there any other patterns? Well, there are A, B, C. What's that? Another app? The network? Spielberg's assistant told Marv that the high bidder for the new show is ABC. Is that it? Must be. I'm telling you, Columbo is amazing.

And don't forget, lots of departments wanted to get in on this trial, but it was our cybercrime unit that was selected by Calatech. We are the ones who get to test their new predictive policing digital assistant. And yet, you're not using the main feature. What? The predictive policing AI? Listen, over the course of my career, I have always welcomed the opportunity to test new technology and new tools. But I'll say it again. This new mandate feels more like we're being forced to be test subjects for this RoboCop. His name's Columbo, not RoboCop.

It doesn't matter. They're both dumb Hollywood references. Well, after I went through your recording and annotated everything and uploaded it to our working Columbo file, Columbo found Judy, the barista's, Instagram. And yes, you were right. She does have a lot of followers, quite a number of whom are influencers. But since you refused to chat with Columbo, he was unable to share with you some of his discoveries. Judy is actually Facebook friends with Marv Pearson. Ah, okay, but you might be missing how insignificant that is. It's even more

insignificant of a detail than the multiple appearances of the ABC network, because as Marv mentioned, everyone in Hollywood has thousands of Facebook friends. So if I listened to RoboCop, I might have lost hours of precious time walking this useless piece of inference back. I will say, I am grateful that most of the time you filter all of this sort of fruitless pursuit before it gets to me. And listen, just because I don't want a computer telling me how and what to think does not make me anti-technology.

Oh, come on. Columbo merely helps us make the right connections, and he helps us make these connections faster. He's not telling us what to think. Columbo is going to revolutionize policing. Sid, I for one welcome the opportunity to get a leg up on the future. I am not sure lucky is the right word to describe willingly entering into a partnership we won't ever be able to free ourselves from. Luddite. If I was a Luddite, I would still be using my notebook and writing this all down in my beautiful script handwriting that I worked so hard to make my parents proud of, okay?

But instead, I use this voice recorder. It's not just a voice recorder. Do you even know how it works? The memos go straight to the cloud in real time, and I get transcribed and annotated notes, which I read, and then I further mark them up on the same device. That's part of it. But I have to annotate and mark up your notes and sometimes listen to them because I actually don't know what you're talking about.

What? With the Cortado. But basically, everything you ask me to do, I ask Columbo to do. Oh, so you're saying I don't need you. No, you do. Columbo can explain how the way Initiator is using AI is relevant to us. Can you? Yes.

Targeting algorithms work because they can sift through information that is both stated and information that is not. This is the service Initiator is promoting. It offers users jobs that they didn't even know they wanted or are qualified for. And their pitch to employers is that it can deliver candidates who are not only qualified, but extra qualified in ways the employer didn't even know they needed.

OK, well, an AI that could actually deliver on that should be able to correlate other data points too, right? Like what might be in a candidate's bank account as well. Yes. Very interesting. And what's going on with AIMD? Well, Initiator is basically offering its users free health insurance if they turn on biometric sensors. Sensors that monitor heart rate, body temp, and sleeping patterns.

What about mental health? Oh yeah. That's crazy. I'm assuming the users have to wear something like advanced Apple Watches or Fitbits. It works with iOS and Android, but Caltech's got their own devices, too, of course, including a watch. We could probably even get it running on our Columbo units. Caltech's edge on the other tech companies is its interoperability with its devices and software. Oh, so there is a Caltech connection to AIMD.

Yeah. Callahan Ventures pretty much a rescued initiator with a giant cash infusion a few months ago. This coincides with the introduction of AIMD. Huh. Okay, well, at this point, I doubt there are any players in tech that do not have connections to either

Google, Facebook, or Callahan, but I'd still like to talk to the folks at Initiator and, you know, learn a bit more about their AI. How it works. how they made it. Are they in Silicon Valley? No, Santa Monica. Oh. It's called Silicon Beach now.

Sid, everyone knows this. Oh, do they? Okay. Well, let's see about getting me an appointment. Already done. Tomorrow, 9 a.m. Also, I printed out a bunch of Facebook posts and Instagram stories from some of the executive team at Initiator, so you can read them overnight. You know, it's hard for me to think of a more Luddite thing, Sid.

I mean, it's one thing to resist AI, but social media? Come on, it's like part of daily life now. Well, not mine, James. I know that is still very hard for you to comprehend. But let me let you in on a little secret. It's actually one of the reasons why I am, as you kindly say, recognized for my expert detective skills. I'm more inclined to see the stories and the connections that people aren't telling me

than the ones they're trying so hard to present online. And that's why I'm going to be able to solve this case. If you want to listen to the rest of this story, all you need to do is go to audible.com and search for Convolution. Or you can find it on the Amazon podcast page, where it's free for some Amazon members right now. The Theory of Everything is produced by me, Benjamin Walker, and Andrew Calloway. Special thanks to everyone that made Convolution a reality, especially Jim Colgan, Jamie Katsoufis, and Ray Sehorne.

The Theory of Everything is a proud founding member of Radiotopia, home to some of the world's best podcasts. Find them all at radiotopia.fm. Radiotopia. From PRX.