Listen Now: Lawless Planet

Summary

Podcast Summary: Business Movers — Listen Now: Lawless Planet

Released: August 25, 2025
Host: Wondery
Featured Voice: Zach Goldbaum (Host of Lawless Planet)
Clip Focus: Preview of Lawless Planet — the true crime behind the climate crisis

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Episode Overview

This episode of Business Movers introduces listeners to a preview of Wondery’s upcoming series, Lawless Planet. Hosted by investigative journalist Zach Goldbaum, Lawless Planet explores the intersection of true crime and environmental catastrophe, uncovering shocking stories of corporate malfeasance, environmental destruction, and the personal cost to activists and local communities caught in the planet’s climate crossfire. The clip featured in this episode offers a glimpse into one of their stories: the mysterious disappearance and reappearance of coal industry player Larry Price Jr. in Appalachia, serving as an example of the human drama and high stakes at the heart of climate crime.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Framing of Climate Crisis as “True Crime”

• Opening Premise:

  • The narrator declares the “biggest crime story of our time” is unfolding under everyone’s noses: the destruction and corruption driving the climate crisis.
  • The tone is urgent and investigative, blending environmental reporting with true crime storytelling.

  "We're talking mysterious deaths, daring heists and billion dollar scams, all with the fate of our world hanging in the balance."
  — Narrator [00:43]

2. The Story of Larry Price Jr. (LJ)

• Incident Description:

  • April 18, 2018: Amy Price reports her husband, Larry Price Jr. (LJ), missing after he failed to return from a coal mine where he’s a business partner.
  • Amy describes his recent depression and cryptic warning about preparing for the worst.

  "But he's been kind of depressed lately and I know there's a lot of things going on with him. I'm just real concerned."
  — Amy Price [01:44]

  “A week earlier, LJ told Amy, if something happens to me, be thankful for the years we've had together. Also, liquidate all the stuff and stay in one location.”
  — Zach Goldbaum [01:53]

• Search and Reappearance:

  • Police, dogs, and helicopters search the area overnight. Amy's fears mount.
  • The next day, LJ is found alive, 20 miles from home, with visible identifying tattoos.

• Aftermath and Broader Implications:

  • LJ’s disappearance and return spark a deeper investigation into one of America’s largest coal mines and the web of crime stretching through the industry.

  “LJ Price is alive, but his troubles are just beginning. LJ's sudden disappearance and reappearance will set off a chain of events that will expose not only LJ Price, but the dirty underbelly of one of the country's largest coal mines.”
  — Zach Goldbaum [03:29]

3. The Global Scope of Environmental Crime

• Broader Perspective:

  • Goldbaum recounts stories of activists “chaining themselves to pipelines,” butterfly conservationists in Mexico “killed for standing up to cartels,” and illegal gold miners in the Amazon.
  • The show promises to reveal untold global stories where individuals and criminal networks wage war over the planet’s resources.

  “Over the years, I've reported on environmental activists... butterfly conservationists in Mexico who were killed for standing up to cartels... Brazilian street gangs doing illegal gold mining in the Amazon. And I've come to realize that these are the stories about our changing planet that we need to tell.”
  — Zach Goldbaum [04:42]

• Core Mission:

  • The podcast defines the “crime of the century” as the coordinated attack on our ecosystems, with urgent calls for awareness and action.

  “The premise of Lawless Planet is that the crime of the century is the one being waged on our planet. The time to listen is now.”
  — Narrator [05:10]

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Amy Price’s Desperation:

  • “Yeah, I was just calling. I'm trying to figure out my husband. He's been missing for a while. I see him, I can't figure out where he is.”
    — Amy Price [01:09]

• Chilling Warning from LJ:

  • “If something happens to me, be thankful for the years we've had together. Also, liquidate all the stuff and stay in one location.”
    — Recounted by Zach Goldbaum [01:53]

• Goldbaum’s Global Reporting:

  • “I've come to realize that these are the stories about our changing planet that we need to tell. Stories about people and the things we're doing to either protect the earth or destroy it. In other words, the true crimes fueling the climate crisis.”
    — Zach Goldbaum [04:44]

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Important Timestamps

• 00:00 — Introduction and series teaser: Framing the climate crisis as a crime saga
• 01:09 — Amy Price’s 911 call and the mystery of LJ’s disappearance
• 01:53 — Background on Larry Price Jr. and his premonition
• 03:29 — LJ’s reappearance and foreshadowing of larger coal industry investigation
• 03:56 — Montage of environmental crises and human stakes
• 04:44 — Goldbaum on global environmental crimes and the need to tell these stories
• 05:10 — Series premise and call to action

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Tone & Style

• Language and Delivery: Urgent, suspenseful, investigative, blending the cadence of true crime with environmental journalism. Goldbaum’s narration is empathetic and vivid, focusing both on individual fates and systemic crimes.

  “We call things accidents. There is no accident. This was 100% preventable.”
  — Unnamed interviewee/Goldbaum [04:12]

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Conclusion

This special preview episode of Business Movers offers an edge-of-your-seat introduction to Lawless Planet. By combining personal narratives with large-scale crime investigations, the series spotlights how corporate greed and corruption drive environmental catastrophe — and the ordinary people caught in the middle. Listeners are left with a call to awareness, and an open invitation to delve further into the series to hear the full extent of these “crimes of the century.”

Transcript

[Narrator]

What if I told you that the biggest crime story of our time is happening right under our noses and we're all witnesses. Introducing Lawless Planet, the new podcast from Wondery that exposes the dark underbelly of the climate crisis. From the Amazon rainforest to small town America, host Zach Goldbaum uncovers shocking tales of murder, corporate coverups and greed. You'll hear about the activists risking their lives for their beliefs, the corrupt tycoons destroying ecosystems for profit, and the Ordina people caught in the crossfire. This isn't some distant threat. It's happening right now. Each episode drops you into a battle for our planet's future. We're talking mysterious deaths, daring heists and billion dollar scams, all with the fate of our world hanging in the balance. This is Lawless Planet and you're about to hear a clip from Lawless Planet. Make sure to follow Lawless Planet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Amy Price]

911 where's your emergency? Yeah, I was just calling. I'm trying to figure out my husband. He's been missing for a while. I see him, I can't figure out where he is.

[Zach Goldbaum]

It's just before 2am on April 18, 2018. Amy Price is in her home in Bluefield, Virginia, an Appalachian coal mining town on the border of West Virginia. Amy last spoke to her husband around 8pm he said there were a few things he needed to take care of at a coal mine he does business with. But Amy hasn't heard from him since and now she's scared.

[Amy Price]

But he's been kind of depressed lately and I know there's a lot of things going on with him. I'm just real concerned. Okay, what's his Name?

[Zach Goldbaum]

Larry Price Jr. Larry Price Jr. Or LJ as he's known to friends, is 38 years old, 5 10, muscular build, with a tattoo of a panther on his bicep and another of Jesus with the cross on his chest. LJ has spent his life in coal mines and he's risen to become a bit of a power player in the industry, involved in mines from Virginia all the way to Montana. But lately, Amy could tell things at work were not going well. A week earlier, LJ told Amy, if something happens to me, be thankful for the years we've had together. Also, liquidate all the stuff and stay in one location. On this night in Virginia, police officers, helicopters and canines fan out across the county looking for LJ Detectives. Contact the last person who Amy believes has seen him. It's his pastor who tells police that he and LJ had prayed together over a business decision. Amy Price doesn't sleep that night. And as the sun begins to rise the following day, she starts to fear the worst. Then, nearly 24 hours after LJ went missing, another call comes in to 91 1, this time from a driver who spotted a man walking along the side of the road about 20 miles away from Amy's home. The man is wearing boots, jeans, and a flannel jacket. And beneath the neckline of a blue T shirt is a tattoo of Jesus with the cross. LJ Price is alive, but his troubles are just beginning. LJ's sudden disappearance and reappearance will set off a chain of events that will expose not only LJ Price, but the dirty underbelly of one of the country's largest coal mines. From Wondry, I'm Zach Goldbaum, and this is Lawless Planet.

[Amy Price]

From coast to coast, people are fleeing flames, wind and water. We need a hell out of here. We are stuck. We have caught them, iOS.

[Narrator]

Nature is telling us. I can't take this anymore.

[Amy Price]

Are we really safe? Is our water safe?

[Zach Goldbaum]

You destroyed our time. We call things accidents. There is no accident. This was 100% preventable. I could tell I was floating in oil, and I remember looking under the rig and seeing the water on fire. And I thought, what have you done? Over the years, I've reported on environmental activists chaining themselves to pipelines in the swamps of Louisiana, butterfly conservationists in Mexico who were killed for standing up to cartels. I've met Brazilian street gangs doing illegal gold mining in the Amazon. And I've come to realize that these are the stories about our changing planet that we need to tell. Stories about people and the things we're doing to either protect the earth or destroy it. In other words, the true crimes fueling the climate crisis.

[Narrator]

The premise of Lawless Planet is that the crime of the century is the one being waged on our planet. The time to listen is now. You can listen to new episodes of Lawless Planet early and ad free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Start your free trial in the Wondery app on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.