Listen Now: Lawless Planet

Summary

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Lawless Planet

Host: Zach Goldbaum
Release Date: July 28, 2025

Overview

"Lawless Planet" is a gripping podcast that delves into the intricate and often hidden connections between environmental crises and criminal activities. Hosted by Zach Goldbaum, the series examines how the climate crisis is intertwined with murder, corporate malfeasance, corruption, and grassroots activism. This episode, titled "Lawless Planet," serves as an introduction to the podcast's thematic focus, highlighting the urgency and severity of environmental crimes impacting our planet today.

Key Sections and Highlights

1. Introduction to the Podcast (00:00 - 05:02)

   • Host Introduction: Zach Goldbaum introduces "Lawless Planet" as a podcast that uncovers the dark, often unseen facets of the climate crisis, ranging from the Amazon rainforest to small-town America.
   • Themes Explored: The podcast aims to reveal stories of murder, corporate cover-ups, greed, and the brave individuals fighting to protect the environment.
   • Notable Quote:

     "The crime of the century is the one being waged on our planet. And the time to listen is now."
     (Zach Goldbaum, 05:02)

2. Case Study: Amy Price and LJ Price Jr. (01:01 - 04:07)

   • Background: Amy Price from Bluefield, Virginia, reports her husband, Larry Price Jr. (LJ), missing under suspicious circumstances connected to his work in the coal mining industry.
   • Details of Disappearance: LJ, a prominent figure in coal mining across several states, showed signs of depression and hinted at potential dangers before disappearing.
   • Investigation: Police search intensifies with the involvement of helicopters and canines. A lead surfaces when another individual matching LJ's description is found alive but in distress.
   • Emotional Impact: Amy expresses deep concern over LJ's wellbeing, highlighting the personal toll of environmental and industrial conflicts.
   • Notable Quote:

     "Are we really safe? Is our water safe?"
     (Amy Price, 04:02)

3. Environmental Crimes and Their Implications (04:09 - 05:02)

   • Preventable Disasters: The narrative reveals that many environmental catastrophes are human-induced and entirely preventable, often masked as accidents.
   • Firsthand Accounts: Zach shares experiences reporting on various environmental conflicts, including activists facing violence for opposing destructive practices.
   • Global Perspective: Stories span from illegal gold mining in the Amazon to grassroots conservation efforts, emphasizing that environmental crimes are a global issue.
   • Visual Imagery: Descriptions like "seeing the water on fire" under a rig paint a vivid picture of the environmental damage caused by unchecked industrial activities.

4. Call to Action (05:02 - End)

   • Urgency: Zach underscores the immediacy of addressing environmental crimes, framing them as the central crime of our era.
   • Engagement: Listeners are encouraged to join Wondery for early and ad-free episodes, emphasizing the importance of staying informed and involved.
   • Closing Statement:

     "The crime of the century is the one being waged on our planet. And the time to listen is now."
     (Zach Goldbaum, 05:02)

Insights and Conclusions

• Intersection of Crime and Environment: "Lawless Planet" effectively highlights how environmental degradation is not just a natural phenomenon but is often exacerbated by criminal activities driven by greed and corruption.
• Human Element: By focusing on personal stories like Amy and LJ Price's, the podcast underscores the real human cost behind environmental issues.
• Global and Local Impact: The series bridges global environmental crises with local incidents, illustrating that these issues are pervasive and interconnected.
• Activism and Resistance: The bravery of activists and ordinary people resisting environmental destruction is a central theme, offering a beacon of hope amidst widespread challenges.
• Preventability of Disasters: A recurring message is that many environmental disasters are avoidable, emphasizing the need for proactive measures and accountability.

Conclusion

"Lawless Planet" serves as a compelling introduction to the series, setting the stage for in-depth explorations of environmental crimes and their far-reaching consequences. Through evocative storytelling and thorough investigative journalism, host Zach Goldbaum invites listeners to understand and engage with the pressing issues threatening our planet's future.

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Transcript

[Zach Goldbaum]

What if I told you 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 Wondering 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 cover ups and greed. You'll hear about the brave activists risking their lives for their beliefs, the corrupt tycoons destroying ecosystems for profit, and the ordinary people caught in the crossfire. This isn't some distant threat. It's happening right now. And each episode drops you into a battle for our planet's future. There are mysterious deaths, daring heists, and billion dollar scams, all with the fate of our world hanging in the balance. This is Lawless Planet. You're about to hear a clip from Lawless Planet. Follow Lawless Planet on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcast.

[Amy Price]

9:1, 1 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.

[Narrator]

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?

[Narrator]

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 911, 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 help out of here. We are stuck. We have caught on firearms.

[Zach Goldbaum]

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

[Amy Price]

Are we really safe? Is our water safe?

[Narrator]

You destroyed our town. We call things accidents.

[Amy Price]

There is no accident.

[Narrator]

This was 100% preventable.

[Zach Goldbaum]

I could tell I was floating in.

[Narrator]

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.

[Zach Goldbaum]

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