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A Thousand Pounds of Dynamite
Adam Higginbotham
In August, 1980, an enigmatic box covered in a bewildering array of switches appeared in an upstairs office of Harvey’s Wagon Wheel Casino, near Lake Tahoe. A neatly typed letter explained that the box contained 1,000 pounds of dynamite. In the pilot season of The Atavist Magazine Podcast, Adam Higginbotham unravels the story of the race to stop one of history’s most bizarre extortion plots.
In which we meet Big John, a Hungarian émigré, whose good luck has run out.
In which Big John plants an elaborate bomb at the Wagon Wheel Casino.
In which a ransom drop goes terribly wrong and the bomb explodes.
In which the FBI investigates Big John, as he hatches a new scheme.
In which an unlikely source helps the FBI solve the case.
Check back next week for a new episode.
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