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

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.

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]

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]

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

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]

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.”