Explore every episode of the podcast Royal Swindle

In the season finale, cracks start to show in Laila and Evelyn’s relationship as they adjust to the hell of their new circumstances. The couple are forced apart for the first time in decades but, after an emotional homecoming, life will never be the same again.

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Laila and Evelyn are forced to return to England to face their demons, though they strike up a surprising friendship en route. After touching down in London, they check in to less refined quarters than the ritzy hotels they’re used to. With only each other left to cling to, the duo endure an agonising wait for their day of reckoning.

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Laying low on the other side of the world, it looks like Evelyn and Laila have outfoxed Detective Jim Frost. But the tireless English cop catches a break as Evelyn’s tendency for mischief leads to an early-morning drama, while the couple’s suburban neighbors look on aghast.

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Detective Jim Frost is closing in on Evelyn and Laila. The couple are running out of money as they wait for a massive cash windfall to be wired from the US. Increasingly desperate, the pair attempt to outwit the dogged English detective and plan a daring escape to somewhere they hope Jim Frost will never find them.

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In England, Evelyn plays it cool as Detective Jim Frost turns up the heat on the couple’s investment business. More details emerge about Evelyn and Laila’s dark past in Australia and their hasty escape overseas. But just as Jim Frost thinks he has the couple cornered, their loyal butler Lars comes to the rescue.  

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A fire alarm at Evelyn and Laila’s country hotel has potentially catastrophic consequences for our Aussie couple. Laila attempts to reassure their spooked investors. Meanwhile, a small-town detective starts to take a keen interest in Evelyn’s business activities. And Laila reveals her tough start in life and how she got drawn into Melbourne’s sex trade. 

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Evelyn and Laila get a rude awakening at one of London’s swankiest hotels. They set their sights on the British royals as Evelyn spots a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take their investment business to the next level. But drunk with success, the pair make a miscalculation which will very soon come back to haunt them.  

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England, 1996. Two larger-than-life, fabulously wealthy Australian women blow into town promising rich investors spectacular returns. Evelyn Burton and her lover Laila Andre are welcomed into the rarefied world of horses and old money, making plans to buy a vast country house with a huge staff. But the colourful couple are concealing a dark past and diabolical intentions.

Royal Swindle is a Blanchard House production for USG Audio, in partnership with Exactly Right Media. 

Hosted by: Becky Milligan

Written and Produced by: Becky Milligan and Seren Jones

Original Music by: Daniel Lloyd Evans, Louis Nanke-Mannell and Toby Matimong

Sound Design and Mix Engineering by: Volkan Kiziltug, Toby Matimong and Daniel Lloyd-Evans

Story Development by: Duncan Barber

Managing Producer: Amica Sciortino Nowlan

Production Support from: Josh Laolagi at USG Audio 

Creative Director of Blanchard House: Rosie Pye

Executive Producer and Head of Content at Blanchard House: Laurence Grissell

Executive Producer from USG Audio: Josh Bloch 

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Two Aussie lesbian lovers touch down in 1990s London and become the toast of British high society. They charm rich businessmen, England's horse-loving elite, and even Queen Elizabeth herself. But the glamorous duo are concealing a dark past and dastardly intentions—and when a small-town detective vows to bring them down, he finds they are exceedingly hard to catch.

Hosted by award-winning journalist Becky Milligan. Royal Swindle is a Blanchard House production for USG Audio, in partnership with Exactly Right Media.

Premieres Thursday, July 23rd. Follow Royal Swindle wherever you get your podcasts—and see rare photos from the story at @exactlyright on Instagram.

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For decades, João Teixeira de Faria — known as John of God — was revered as a spiritual healer who claimed to perform miraculous surgeries without anesthesia. Desperate people from around the world traveled to Brazil, believing he could cure what doctors could not.

But behind the promise of divine healing was something far darker.

Hosted by award-winning journalist Martina Castro, Two-Faced: John of God is a six-episode limited series from Exactly Right Media and Adonde Media.

Premieres Wednesday, February 4. New episodes drop every Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Este podcast también está disponible en español — búsquenlo como Dos Caras: Juan de Dios.

See photos from the story at @exactlyright on Instagram.

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Ann contemplates leaving Costa Rica forever. A drug bust and a prison visit lead to speculation about the Benders’ former head of security and his role in events. Everyone drawn into the couple’s orbit reflects on this shocking story. The final chapter revisits the jungle house, now abandoned, and the mysteries that refuse to die.

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The second trial concludes with a verdict that stuns Costa Rica. Ann Bender adjusts to a completely new way of life as a terrible tragedy shatters her world further. Meanwhile, public opinion dramatically shifts. A second trial is granted, the defence sharpens their case and judges consider the evidence one last time.

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John Bender’s death soon becomes a cause celebre. But the woman at the centre of police suspicion is now the hospital. Ann’s psychiatrist is shocked at her physical and mental state. As the full story of the Benders’ isolation unfolds, prosecutors make their move and judges reach a verdict. But the Costa Rican authorities have a surprise in store.

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It’s midnight in the jungle. The Benders are alone. A single shot rings out. One person is dead. As police arrive on the scene, they initially conclude it’s a suicide. But suspicion grows and the scene raises questions. But soon, the suspect is out of reach of detectives.

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Before Costa Rica, there was Wall Street. John Bender has a mind built for numbers - and makes a vast fortune betting against the crowd. Friends describe him as brilliant, a little arrogant - and haunted. John’s academic parents are relieved when he decides to escape the world of high finance and build a different kind of empire in the trees - but it will prove to be a decision with dark consequences.

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On a routine excursion, the Benders are ambushed. Guns are drawn. Is it a robbery, or something far more sinister? The couple are certain they’re about to be kidnapped. In the aftermath, they ramp up security at their jungle compound, hiring a former police chief to protect them. Fearing for their safety, the couple retreat further and further from the outside world.

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Dark forces gather as the Benders’ presence grows more controversial. The couple’s jungle fortress stands apart from everything around it - lavish, secretive and utterly out of place. Neighbours speculate. Resentments stir. Mystics speak of a curse. Behind the gates, the atmosphere shifts as the couple’s physical and mental health start to decline.

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A jungle compound. A midnight emergency call. The mystery begins. At the centre of it all: John and Ann Bender. Young, brilliant and impossibly rich, they set out to build a vast mansion and wildlife sanctuary in the Costa Rican rainforest. But something is off. Not everything in paradise is what it seems.

Hell in Heaven is a production of Exactly Right Media and iHeart Podcasts, produced by Blanchard House.

From Blanchard House

Hosted, Written and Produced by: Becky Milligan

Co-Writer and Producer: Poppy Damon

Original Music: Daniel Lloyd Evans, Louis Nanke-Mannell and Toby Matimong

Sound Recordist, and Head of Sound and Music: Daniel Lloyd-Evans

Lead Sound Designer: Volkan Kiziltug

Managing Producer: Amica Sciortino Nowlan

Creative Director: Rosie Pye

Executive Producer and Head of Content: Laurence Grissell

From Exactly Right

Artwork: Vanessa Lilak

Executive Producers: Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark and Danielle Kramer

Consulting Producer: Lily Ladewig

Associate Producer: Jay Elias

From iHeart Podcasts

Executive Producers: Katrina Norvell, Anna Stumpf and Nikki Ettore

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John and Ann Bender had hundreds of millions of dollars and one dream: to build a glittering glass mansion deep in the Costa Rican jungle. But paradise soon gave way to paranoia — with abduction plots, armed guards and a bedroom blazing with hundreds of Tiffany lamps. And then one night, it all ended in blood.

Hosted by award-winning journalist Becky Milligan, Hell in Heaven is an eight-part limited series from Blanchard House, Exactly Right Media and iHeart Podcasts.

Premieres Thursday, October 9. Follow Hell in Heaven wherever you get your podcasts — and see rare photos from the story at @exactlyright on Instagram.

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Host Becky Milligan hears about the king’s last supper and wonders if revenge really is a dish best served cold. She learns what happened to the royal children when they returned from exile and realizes nothing is ever quite what it seems. It’s time to reveal the whole truth. Can she finally lay King Boris III’s mystery to rest?

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When host Becky Milligan receives a surprise call from a crucial witness, she realizes she must revisit King Boris III’s autopsy. Shocking new evidence about his death comes tantalizingly close to solving the mystery, but time is not on anyone’s side. When an old friend turns up with a killer suggestion, it leaves a bad taste in Becky’s mouth.

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Accusations fly like bullets as host Becky Milligan discovers that King Boris III has been a hunted man for most of his life and has dodged more assassination attempts than James Bond. Did he ignore the one crucial message that could have saved his life? Becky feels the net closing in on the identity of the Butterfly King’s killer.

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It’s 1946, three years after King Boris III’s death and a heavy Iron Curtain has fallen over Bulgaria. What dark secrets does it conceal? Host Becky Milligan learns some disturbing facts about the Soviet secret services and why they couldn’t let sleeping kings lie. And we hear a haunting tale from the royal children as they meet their father again – three years after they buried him…

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We’re back at the Vrana Palace in Sofia, Bulgaria, where King Simeon II and Princess Maria Luisa tell host Becky Milligan about their narrow escape from targeted Allied bombings after their father’s death. As more secrets emerge from the pages of a British diplomat’s private diary, Becky is forced to consider an ugly possibility. But as she follows the trail of poison, a brand new suspect slithers into the frame.

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Can you trust anyone in wartime? Host Becky Milligan meets a man in Sofia, Bulgaria, who shows her a side of King Boris III that makes her question whether he’s really the hero of this story. As Becky picks her way through the viper’s nest of conflicted history, she must confront the royal children with some uncomfortable truths.

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Host Becky Milligan meets King Boris III’s children at Vrana Palace, a royal residence on the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital city. The children share the details of their father’s strange and painful death. Officially he dies of a heart attack, but the symptoms don’t add up. What—or who—is responsible? Becky speaks to witnesses who explain how Boris duped Hitler. But the discovery of a dusty document, thousands of miles from Bulgaria, makes Becky wonder if she’s way off course. 

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It’s 1943 during a crucial turning point in the Second World War. Caught in the crossfire, King Boris III of Bulgaria has a make-or-break meeting with a key ally. Boris is a reluctant politician and a family man, sucked into the bloodiest conflict in history. Someone resents his influence and wants him out of the way for good. Could Boris’s fate be linked to the company he keeps? 

The Butterfly King is a production of Blanchard House and Exactly Right Media.

From Blanchard House

Host: Becky Milligan

Writer and Producer: Emma Jane Kirby

Original Music: Daniel Lloyd Evans, Louis Nanke-Mannell and Toby Matimong

Sound Design and Engineering: Toby Matimong and Daniel Lloyd-Evans

Managing Producer: Amica Sciortino Nowlan

Creative Director: Rosie Pye

Executive Producer and Head of Content: Laurence Grissell

From Exactly Right

Consulting Producer: Kyle Ryan

Artwork: Vanessa Lilak

Executive Producers: Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark and Danielle Kramer

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Introducing The Butterfly King, a World War II murder mystery from Blanchard House and Exactly Right Media, home of My Favorite Murder, premiering Thursday, March 21.

Award-winning journalist Becky Milligan follows a trail of dissidents, poisoners, soldiers and spies to unravel eighty years of lies and cover-ups around the mysterious death of King Boris III of Bulgaria. The Second World War is raging when the king suddenly dies amid mysterious circumstances. There’s no shortage of suspects. This tragic family saga of a doomed royal dynasty is a story of treachery, deceit and a quest for the truth. Who killed the Butterfly King?

Follow the show today and don’t miss the premiere of The Butterfly King on Thursday, March 21, 2024.

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