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Narrator
Every week on the Moth podcast we share stories that are funny, strange, heartbreaking and above all, true.
Ethan
I myself have been married for 56.
Ronna Gray
Years.
Ethan
Unfortunately to four different women.
Ronna Gray
You can work out a whole lot of in the aisles of Target.
Narrator
Follow and listen to the Moth on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Mary Jane Marcantel
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Ronna Gray
He's dangerous, he's abused children, and I'm sure he's still abusing. He's evil.
Mary Jane Marcantel
As Ronna learned from his TV show, Scott had endeared himself to the city's top law enforcement officials and even created a church with a cult like vibe. Mary Jane, in an effort to expose him, had tried to prove that he lied about a past arrest for sexual abuse on his application to adopt a child. That was a felony offense, but Louisiana Child Services had denied her access to the application.
Luke Walker
They absolutely refused to give it to me. Well, when you piss me off, it is never a good thing.
Mary Jane Marcantel
Meanwhile, Scott's adopted child, a 10 year old boy was reaching the age at which Scott had abused other boys in the uk.
Ronna Gray
And so you kind of imagine that this process is about to start all over again, if it hasn't already.
Mary Jane Marcantel
Ronna and Mary Jane were desperate to get him out of Scott's house. In part one, Mary Jane explained how their first step had been trying to understand whether Scott had lied on his adoption form. When Child Services denied her public records request, Mary Jane wondered if there was another avenue to catch him. Scott had become a US citizen a decade earlier and she knew that application was even more strenuous than the adoption form. Was it possible he'd lied on that form too? If so, that was a federal offense, which would give the Feds jurisdiction over Scott's case. But getting Scott's citizenship application wouldn't be easy.
Luke Walker
I can't get access to the filled out form without doing a public records request to the Fed. If you've ever tried to do a Freedom of Information request to the federal government, first you wait forever. And second, when you get it back, it's got black lines all over it.
Mary Jane Marcantel
At the same time, Mary Jane and Ronna were reluctant to bring the case to local law enforcement due to Scott's close ties to the head of state police and the sheriff.
Luke Walker
And that's one of the first things that a pedophile will do is to inject themselves into a church, a community. I mean, all you gotta do is look until you woo the gatekeepers, it's hard to get to the children. And so we were struggling to find a place to go.
Mary Jane Marcantel
But that's when Mary Jane had an idea.
Ronna Gray
Mary Jane had a case in Lafayette, Louisiana with a U.S. attorney. The U.S. attorney had recently won an award for a child endangerment case that was very large and won a national award for. So she asked me, would I be willing to go see him? And Nathan and I both said, that sounds perfect. He's got the background, he's a little removed from here, so he's not going to be being entertained by Scott Rogers. So let's go to an objective person and see what they say about this.
Mary Jane Marcantel
The prosecutor's name was Luke Walker. He worked for the U.S. attorney's office in the Western District of Louisiana in Lafayette. One afternoon, Ronna and Mary Jane drove.
Ronna Gray
Out to meet him and he was extremely patient. Sat back and let me tell my whole story. I have the emails, I have the copies of the news articles. I lay everything out on his desk and he lets me talk. And at the end of the conversation, after looking at everything Luke Walker finally leans over the desk and taps on one of the photos of Scott Rogers. And he said, let me just tell you, this man is a predator.
Mary Jane Marcantel
I'm Jed Lipinski. This is gone south. Ronna and Mary Jane had spent months trying to find the right public official to talk to about Scott Rogers. They'd finally found him and Luke Walker, a federal prosecutor with experience in child sex abuse cases. He recognized the danger Scott posed to the community.
Ronna Gray
He said, I have to get this back into your district where there's jurisdiction. I'll handle that. You might think I'll go to the FBI. I don't use them because sometimes FBI agents are high profile. People know who they are. If they show up in an office pulling records, everybody talks about it. I don't use them. I use postal inspection agents.
Mary Jane Marcantel
Postal inspectors are federal law enforcement agents who investigate crimes involving the U.S. postal Service, such as mail theft, fraud, and drug trafficking through the mail. As it happened, Luke had used a postal inspector in Baton Rouge before he connected her with Rana and Mary Jane. That same day, the postal inspector agreed to start collecting documents, including Scott's adoption and citizenship forms, while being careful not to tip anybody off. But first, she wanted to talk to Ethan, the man in the UK who. Whose email to Rana had put everything in motion.
Ronna Gray
She wants to set up a video chat with the young man who contacted me and get his statement on record. So I go to her office, we set up a call, and this is the first time we've seen him, and he appears on video. And the first time I see him, he's sitting in his daughter's bedroom. You know, you see her toys behind him. And it's just so startling to realize this, you know, handsome young man, father of young children is going through this. You know, he's got a part of his life that is unresolved, and he is about to put in motion fixing that in his mind and getting some justice if he can.
Mary Jane Marcantel
Before the call, the postal inspector had told Rana she was going to have to ask Ethan some detailed questions about his abuse at the hand hands of Scott Rogers. At that point, she would ask Rana to leave the call. Rana said that was fine by her, but when Ethan joined the call, he asked Rana to stay on, so she did.
Ethan
And I had to then talk to the investigator about exactly what happened to me in detail. You know, tell them the entire story, tell them everything that I knew.
Mary Jane Marcantel
And was that the first time that you'd told your personal story to anyone in authority?
Ethan
Yes. Yeah, the first time I ever told anyone about what happened to me was a friend, and I would have been around about 21 years old.
Mary Jane Marcantel
And what was it like to tell your story in such detail to these investigators in Louisiana?
Ethan
It's difficult to go through the detail of what happened. Yeah. I mean, obviously I'm a victim of abuse, sexual abuse, which is the worst thing you can experience as a child. You have to go back in time. You don't have to relive it, but you have to go back in time and, you know, the feelings are still there or how you felt and everything that goes with that. So from that point of view, yeah, it's uncomfortable to talk about the detail of it.
Mary Jane Marcantel
After Ethan shared his story with Rana and the postal inspector, the conversation turned to the possibility of other witnesses coming forward.
Ethan
I obviously had my experience, and I was able to tell the story of what happened to me. And I think that at that point they asked me, are there any other victims we can talk to? Is there anyone else willing to step forward? That was when I then went to contact Jake.
Jed Lipinski
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Margo Gray
College holds a mythic place in American culture. It's often considered the best four years of your life and hailed as a beacon of integrity and excellence. But beyond the polished campus tours, there are stories you won't find in the admissions pamphlets.
Jim Engster
The higher ups are concerned about one.
Ethan
Thing, and that is avoiding scandal.
Margo Gray
It's no wonder that college campuses capture the nation's attention, especially in moments of upheaval. Margo I'm Margo Gray. Each week on the Campus Files podcast, we bring you a new story.
Ronna Gray
It was the biggest academic scandal in the history of college sports and probably in the history of academia.
Margo Gray
On Campus Files, we cover everything from rigged admissions to the drama of Greek life.
Mary Jane Marcantel
A chancellor having a pornographic double life is an extremely rare case.
Margo Gray
Listen to and follow Campus Files and Odysee original podcast, available now on the free Odyssey app and wherever you get your podcasts.
Narrator
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Mary Jane Marcantel
In their conversations over email and the phone, Ethan had told Rana about Scott Rogers other victims at the academy in the UK during the 80s and 90s. But perhaps the biggest victim of all was a boy Ethan referred to as Jake. As Ethan explained, Jake's mother was single and struggling financially, which made her an easy target for Scott.
Ronna Gray
He sort of conned her into letting him get custody of the boy and then kept him, abused him, but enrolled him in the academy and turned him into like a star pupil. You know, just poured everything into him. But jidden just sexually abused him, beat him unconscious, broke bones, terrible abuse of him.
Mary Jane Marcantel
Jake had endured this abuse for 12 or 13 years until like Ethan, he'd finally managed to escape.
Ronna Gray
He was living on the street when he ran away and Scott was sending other boys from the academy to hunt him down and try to drag him back. And he lived with a girlfriend's parents for a while and then basically on the street. Anything better than going back to that house.
Mary Jane Marcantel
And yet Jake had not only survived, he'd gone on to become a successful dancer in London's West End, the equivalent of Broadway in the us he met.
Ethan
A girl, got married, had two children, lives very happily and, you know, tried to put this awful memory out of his head. Very, very brave boy to man, you know. And I knew that he was the biggest victim out of everyone that I knew about.
Mary Jane Marcantel
Nearly two decades had passed since Ethan had last spoken to Jake. But a few days after his Skype call with Rana and the postal inspector, he tracked down his number and cold called him.
Ethan
And at first he absolutely did not trust me at all. I told him the story about what I was doing and meeting Ron O'Gray and the team that we'd put together and I did the pitch of my life. I can still remember being in my office and it felt like the pitch of my life, you know.
Mary Jane Marcantel
In the pitch, Ethan told Jake that Scott had adopted a child in Louisiana. Scott, of course, had adopted Jake years before. When Jake heard that, the line went.
Ethan
Silent and by the end of the call, he decided to come on board with us and he agreed to help with the investigation.
Mary Jane Marcantel
With Jake on board, Ethan then set out to recruit the former student who'd reported Scott to the police for sexual assault back in 1992. Scott had been acquitted of the charges. But as the news articles about the trial made clear, there was more to the story. After his arrest, Scott had hired an aggressive defense attorney who'd subjected the underage victim to a grueling five day cross examination, even suggesting that the boy had seduced him. The defense also called 17 character witnesses, including clergy members, to vouch for Scott. The victim, meanwhile, was the only accuser to testify. The detective who'd arrested Scott believed the boy's account, but he'd been unable to get other victims to testify as they were too scared to come forward. The jury had deliberated for seven hours before finding Scott not guilty of the principal count of sexual assault. But they'd failed to reach a verdict on five other counts involving indecency with a minor. A retrial was set, but the victim's family refused to put their son through another round of questioning and the prosecutors dropped the remaining charges. Now, close to 20 years later, Ethan reached out to both the victim and the detective. To his surprise, both eagerly agreed to cooperate. A strategy began to take shape. If they could prove Scott had lied on his citizenship and adoption forms, they might be able to get him deported back to the uk. Once he was there, Ethan, the detective and the other victims would lay the groundwork for a retrial. The uk, after all, had no statute of limitations on sex crimes. And this time, Scott would face not just a scared 13 year old boy, but a group of articulate grown men driven to put Scott behind bars. Ethan had returned to Bury St. Edmunds, the home of Scott's academy, to speak to the detective in person. As he was leaving town, he bumped into the parents of a boy he'd known at the academy. As you may recall from episode one, Scott had brought two boys from the UK to the United States to live with him. Their names were Matthew and Stuart. By now, they were Both in their 30s.
Ethan
I'm driving out of town and out of town there's a garage, a fuel garage, gas station, Jed you'd call it. And I went into the gas station and as soon as I walked in, I saw Stuart's dad working in the gas station. And as soon as he saw me, he asked me if I knew where his son was. And he said to me, he hasn't seen his son in 18 years. So obviously I'm there in the gas station, I know where his son is. I've got his son's phone number, I've got his son's email address, but I can't say anything at this stage, so I have a conversation with him, then I go to pay for my good stuff purchased. And his mum is working behind the till. Stuart's mum, and she almost can't believe she's seen me. And as soon as she sees me, she says, do you know where Stuart is? I haven't seen him for years. We really miss him. And it was heartbreaking, as you can imagine. So I took her details. I was standing, there was a queue behind me and the people were waiting whilst I gave the mother my phone number. And I said to her that, you know, I'd be happy to look for him and see if I can get in contact with him for her, knowing full well that I had all the information of the, you know, the son that they haven't seen for 18 years.
Mary Jane Marcantel
As Ethan left the gas station, he marveled at the coincidence. He hadn't seen Stuart's parents since he'd left the Academy in the mid-90s. Now, in the midst of the investigation, he'd suddenly stumbled across them. He took it as a sign. Although he'd been told not to say anything to anyone about the case, he decided to send Stuart a text.
Ethan
I can't remember whether or not I told Ron or I was going to do this, but I just felt that I had to do this. I told him that I had seen his mum and met his mum and she really wants to see him. You know, what's going on, I can help you. I can get you out of the country so you can come and see your mum. And he texted me back saying, you seem to think that, you know, I'm trapped or I'm in some sort of basement tied up. Those were the types of words he was using in this response. So I sort of backed off, but I then went back into it and then Stuart said, if you want to give my mum, you know, my phone number, I haven't got a problem with it. Almost like he had one reaction, then he came back with a different reaction. So I was really pleased anyway just at that result that I could give the mum his phone number and they could get in contact.
Mary Jane Marcantel
Ethan knew that texting Stuart was a risky move. By doing so, he ran the chance of alerting Scott to the team's secret investigation. What Ethan didn't know then was how close he'd come to scuttling the whole thing.
Ethan
The person that was responding to me on the text message wasn't Stuart. It was Scott Rogers.
Jim Engster
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Ronna Gray
What's up?
Mary Jane Marcantel
I just bought and financed a car through Carvana in minutes. You, the person who agonized four weeks.
Ronna Gray
Over whether to paint your walls eggshell.
Narrator
Or off white, bought and financed a car in minutes.
Mary Jane Marcantel
They made it easy. Transparent terms, customizable, down and monthly. Didn't even have to do any paperwork. Wow.
Ronna Gray
Hey, have you checked out that spreadsheet.
Mary Jane Marcantel
I sent you for our dinner? Options Finance your car with Carvana and.
Ronna Gray
Experience total control financing subject to credit appro.
Mary Jane Marcantel
When the postal inspector was assigned to the Scott Rogers case, Ronna figured it would only be a matter of weeks before she found enough evidence to arrest him. But then December passed with no news. Then January, then February.
Ronna Gray
In the meantime, we have a federal government shutdown which doesn't allow her to work or access records. We have an unusual ice event which closes the ATCHAFALAYA Bridge between here and Lafayette and some of the records that she was accessing. You know, it's just crazy, the delays. This drags on and drags on. So there's a lot of frustration in trying to make things happen.
Mary Jane Marcantel
The delays were made more difficult because Rana couldn't confide in anyone outside their inner circle. The postal inspector had warned her, if Scott finds out, he's apt to take his adopted child and run.
Ronna Gray
So I did avoid a lot of people. I avoided going to things that I found out that Scott Rogers was the MC I might have attended, but I was like, nope, I don't want to be at that and risk having some conversation with him. And meanwhile, I'm watching his weekly television shows, writing down the guest he has and making note of things he says that might be of interest. And all of a sudden he announces that he's in the process of adopting a second child. And I just could not believe it. And this one, he says, is a two year old boy and that he's very close to the final adoption. He cannot bring him on the show yet until everything is finalized, but he looks forward to introducing him to his audience. I just couldn't believe it.
Mary Jane Marcantel
When Ronna learned that Scott was planning to adopt a second child, she immediately called Mary Jane.
Ronna Gray
There's an urgency now. There's a second child about to be adopted into this home and already living in the home.
Mary Jane Marcantel
Mary Jane was equally upset about the delays, but she discovered something interesting while researching the case. The statute of limitations for lying on Scott's first adoption form had come and gone, meaning he couldn't be charged for it. But that didn't apply to a new adoption.
Luke Walker
But now he's got a new trial, which is a new form and a new interview that they have to do with him. And so when I got wind of the new child, I called the agent and said, okay, here's the deal.
Mary Jane Marcantel
The postal inspector recognized the urgency of the situation, but she told Mary Jane that she was struggling to get the interest of the U.S. attorney's Office in Baton Rouge. She didn't think the new adoption, as urgent as it sounded, would make a difference.
Luke Walker
And she goes, well, I don't know if they're going to be willing to do. I said, well, I'll tell you what I said. You let them know they don't want to do it. I'm going to plan B, okay? I don't have a clue what plan B is.
Ronna Gray
So Mary Jane and I laughed because we didn't know what plan B Was at that point, we weren't even sure we had a plan B. Although plan B in my mind because of my background was always to go public with this. If we couldn't get anyone to take this case up in an official way, the only plan B I ever discussed with anyone was, at some point, we'll give this story to a reporter.
Mary Jane Marcantel
In fact, despite the gag order imposed by the postal inspector, Ronna had shared the Scott Rogers story with one other person in Baton Rouge, a longtime friend named Jim Engster. Jim was a respected local journalist with a popular statewide radio program, Talk Louisiana.
Ronna Gray
I had confided in Jim Inkster and told him, if at any point this story becomes public, I would certainly bring this to you. He did not tell anyone, to my knowledge. He would occasionally say to me, any movement on that story? And I'm like, not yet. I'll certainly let you know if there are.
Mary Jane Marcantel
In talking with a postal inspector, Ronna and Mary Jane never outright threatened to give the story to the media, but they strongly implied that they might if the feds failed to take action. As they waited for a response, Rana learned that the adoption process was nearly complete.
Ronna Gray
He has gone on TV saying, one more interview and then next week I'll have. He called him Poe. He said, next week I'll have little Poe on the show and you'll learn his real name and medium and all that. He's really hyping it up.
Mary Jane Marcantel
Rana and Mary Jane weren't privy to exactly what happened next. Rana believes that at some point, Luke Walker, the federal prosecutor in the Western District, finally tilted the scales at the U.S. attorney's office in Baton Rouge. Whatever the cause was, the federal government, after months of sluggishness, suddenly sprang into action. The postal inspector met with the head of child services. She informed her that Scott Rogers had been accused of sexually abusing a child in the United Kingdom years earlier. She suspected Scott had lied about this fact on his original application to adopt a child and that he would lie about it again in his final adoption interview. The two year old boy Scott planned to adopt had disabilities, which entitled Scott to additional federal aid. And so it wouldn't raise suspicion if a federal representative was present for the interview.
Ronna Gray
And as it would turn out, he would then, in that interview, be lying to both state and federal officials.
Mary Jane Marcantel
When the day of the interview arrived, the feds were ready. In the event Scott lied about his past arrest, they'd arranged for subpoenas to be delivered to Scott's daughter as well as the two young men he lived with. Stuart And Matthew.
Ronna Gray
And they also arranged for the children to be picked up at the time that he was doing the interview from daycare and from school. And so this was a huge day for us. We knew this day was happening. We were on pins and needles. Anything goes wrong, the whole thing's blown wide open. We now had almost every law enforcement agency involved in that day. You know, we had a U.S. attorney's office, we had state police helping make sure the children were picked up and secured. You had Homeland Security, you had ice, you had the FBI, you had the postal inspection agent. All of a sudden, everybody was involved in that day.
Mary Jane Marcantel
At the same time, Ronna kept Ethan in the UK updated about what was going on.
Ronna Gray
I was in communication with Ethan in the uk. He knew this was going on. He knew the children might finally be taken away from him and picked up. And so all that was going on at the same time.
Mary Jane Marcantel
After the interview, Rana got a call from the postal inspector. Scott had been asked whether he'd ever been the subject of a child abuse investigation. And in the presence of state and federal officials, he'd said no.
Ronna Gray
So he finishes his interview, he gets a call from Matthew informing him that he's just been delivered a subpoena. And he realizes what's going on and says, don't say another word to anybody. I'm on my way back to the office, and shuts everything down.
Mary Jane Marcantel
Scott was trapped. Nobody knew or could imagine what he would do next. That's next time on Gone South Foreign if you have information, story tips, or feedback you'd like to share with the Gone south team, please email us at gone south podcastmail.com that's gone south podcastmail.com and for bonus content, you can follow us on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram on South Podcast. You can also sign up for our newsletter on substack. Gone south with Jed Lipinski. Gone south is an Odyssey original podcast. It's created, written and narrated by me, Jed Lipinski. Our executive producers are Jenna Weiss Berman, Maddy Sprung Keyser, Tom Lipinski, Lloyd Lockridge, and me. Our story editors are Tom Lipinski, Matty Sprung, Keyser, and Joel Lovell. Gone south is edited by Chris Basil and Perry Crowell. It's mixed and mastered by Chris Basel. Production support from Ian Mont and Sean Cherry. Special thanks to J.D. crowley, Leah Reese, Dennis, Maura Curran, Josephina Francis, Kurt Courtney, and Hilary Schuff.
Unknown
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Episode Overview
In Season 4, Episode 18 of Gone South, titled "Public Access | Part 2," host Jed Lipinski delves deeper into the harrowing story of Ronna Gray and Mary Jane Marcantel's relentless pursuit to expose Scott Rogers, a charismatic TV personality in Baton Rouge suspected of being a sexual predator. This episode unravels the intricate web of deceit, bureaucratic hurdles, and unwavering determination that Ronna and Mary Jane navigated to bring justice to the victims of Scott Rogers.
Recap of Part One
The episode opens with a brief recap of the previous installment, highlighting Ronna Gray and Mary Jane Marcantel's suspicions about Scott Rogers' abusive behavior.
Ronna Gray: "He's dangerous, he's abused children, and I'm sure he's still abusing. He's evil." (02:19)
Mary Jane Marcantel: "Scott had endeared himself to the city's top law enforcement officials and even created a church with a cult-like vibe." (02:27)
Initial Obstacles
Ronna and Mary Jane face significant challenges in accessing Scott's past records due to his influential connections within the local law enforcement and the state police. Their attempts to obtain Scott's adoption application, which they believe contains false information, are thwarted by Louisiana Child Services.
Finding the Right Ally
Recognizing the limitations of local law enforcement, Ronna and Mary Jane seek out Luke Walker, a U.S. attorney in Lafayette, known for his successful child endangerment cases.
Luke Walker's Commitment
Luke Walker acknowledges the severity of Scott Rogers' actions and takes immediate steps to involve federal authorities without alerting Scott.
Ronna Gray: "He said, I have to get this back into your district where there's jurisdiction. I'll handle that." (06:17)
Luke Walker: "I use postal inspection agents. They handle the documents without tipping anyone off." (07:11)
Involving Ethan and Jake
Ethan, a victim from the UK, becomes a pivotal figure in the investigation. His detailed account of abuse provides substantial evidence against Scott Rogers.
Mary Jane then reaches out to Jake, another victim who endured years of abuse before escaping.
Strategic Recruitment
Ethan persuades Jake to join the investigation, strengthening their case with firsthand testimonies.
Government Shutdown and Infrastructure Issues
The team faces unexpected delays due to a federal government shutdown and the closure of the Atchafalaya Bridge, impeding their progress in accessing essential records.
Maintaining Secrecy
To protect the investigation, Ronna avoids public places and minimizes interactions that could expose their efforts to Scott Rogers.
Scott Rogers' New Adoption Attempt
As Scott prepares to adopt a second child, Ronna and Mary Jane discern this as an urgent opportunity to act before Scott can exploit another victim.
Leveraging Legal Loopholes
Mary Jane discovers that while the statute of limitations has expired for Scott's initial fraudulent adoption, it does not apply to new applications, providing them a fresh legal avenue.
Coordination with Federal Agencies
Luke Walker orchestrates a multifaceted operation involving Homeland Security, ICE, the FBI, and local law enforcement to ensure Scott cannot evade justice this time.
The Final Interview
On the day of Scott's adoption interview, federal agents are meticulously positioned to intercept any deceit. Scott falsely denies past abuse, leading to the issuance of a subpoena and securing the testimonies needed for prosecution.
Scott's Downfall
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Scott attempts to halt the investigation, but the coordinated efforts of Ronna, Mary Jane, and the federal team leave him with no escape.
Human Resilience and Justice
Throughout the episode, Gone South emphasizes the resilience of the victims and their allies in the face of systemic corruption and personal trauma. The story highlights the profound impact of community support and the relentless pursuit of justice.
The Southern Context
The narrative underscores the unique challenges posed by Southern societal structures, where personal connections can both protect predators and empower those seeking justice.
In "Public Access | Part 2," Gone South masterfully weaves a tale of courage, strategy, and the quest for truth against formidable odds. Ronna Gray and Mary Jane Marcantel's unwavering dedication, combined with strategic alliances and federal intervention, ultimately lead to the downfall of Scott Rogers. This episode not only sheds light on the pervasive issue of abuse and corruption but also celebrates the indomitable human spirit striving for justice and redemption.
Notable Quotes:
Mary Jane Marcantel: "Quint has been a game changer for my own wardrobe." (02:52) - (Note: Likely part of an advertisement segment and omitted from the main summary.)
Ethan: "It's uncomfortable to talk about the detail of it." (09:04)
Ronna Gray: "There's a lot of frustration in trying to make things happen." (22:26)
Luke Walker: "Nobody does selling better than Shopify." (12:00) - (Note: Part of an advertisement segment and omitted.)
(Timestamps are indicative based on the provided transcript and correspond to the points discussed above.)
Disclaimer: This summary omits non-content sections such as advertisements, promotions, and unrelated podcast segments to focus solely on the main narrative of Ronna Gray and Mary Jane Marcantel's investigation against Scott Rogers.