WILDCIDE

What happens when one of the world's largest corporations decides its critics have become the enemy? In August 2019, David and Ina Steiner, publishers of the independent news site EcommerceBytes, found themselves at the center of a nightmare. Anonymous threats escalated into doxxing, harassment, and disturbing package deliveries. Strange cars began circling their quiet Massachusetts neighborhood, and someone appeared to be watching their every move. The truth was even stranger than they imagined.
Federal investigators would eventually uncover a coordinated cyberstalking campaign carried out by members of eBay's own Global Safety and Security division. What began with three words, "Take her down", would lead to cross-country surveillance, a failed GPS tracking plot, seven guilty pleas, criminal charges against eBay itself, and a $55.7 million civil settlement.
In this episode, we unpack one of the most bizarre corporate scandals in modern history, exploring not only what happened, but how experienced security professionals gradually normalized behavior that escalated from executive frustration to federal crimes. Through the lenses of psychology and sociology, they examine obedience to authority, groupthink, moral disengagement, and the dangerous consequences of organizational loyalty unchecked by ethics. Because sometimes the most terrifying stalker isn't a stranger in the shadows, it's a corporation hiding in plain sight.

How petty can people be? Apparently...petty enough to go to war. This week's shortcide episode, Chelsea unpacks The Pastry War, where a French baker's complaint escalated into an international conflict, while Bailey explores The War of Jenkins' Ear, proving that one severed ear became the perfect excuse for two empires already itching to fight.
From unpaid pastries to missing body parts, we're diving into two of history's most absurdly named wars to uncover the far more complicated stories hiding beneath the headlines. Because as it turns out, wars are rarely started by pastries or ears—but human pride, greed, and pettiness have a remarkable way of turning the smallest incidents into international disasters.
 
References:
The Pastry War
Anna, T. E. (1978). The fall of the royal government in Mexico City. University of Nebraska Press.
Costeloe, M. P. (1993). The Central Republic in Mexico, 1835–1846: Hombres de bien in the age of Santa Anna. Cambridge University Press.
Fowler, W. (2007). Santa Anna of Mexico. University of Nebraska Press.
Hamnett, B. R. (1999). A concise history of Mexico (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Meyer, M. C., Sherman, W. L., & Deeds, S. M. (2014). The course of Mexican history (10th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Vázquez, J. Z. (1997). The Mexican wars for independence. Hackett Publishing.
The War of Jenkins' Ear
Harding, R. (1991). Amphibious warfare in the eighteenth century: The British expedition to the West Indies, 1740–1742. Boydell Press.
Harlow, V. T. (1926). The founding of the second British Empire, 1763–1793 (Vol. 1). Longmans, Green and Co.
Rodger, N. A. M. (2004). The command of the ocean: A naval history of Britain, 1649–1815. W. W. Norton & Company.
Simms, B. (2008). Three victories and a defeat: The rise and fall of the first British Empire. Basic Books.
Woodfine, P. (1998). Britannia's glories: The Walpole ministry and the 1739 war with Spain. Boydell Press.
Additional Historical References
Black, J. (2001). European international relations, 1648–1815. Palgrave Macmillan.
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). War of Jenkins' Ear. https://www.britannica.com/event/War-of-Jenkins-Ear
Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Pastry War. https://www.britannica.com/event/Pastry-War
National Maritime Museum. (n.d.). The War of Jenkins' Ear. https://www.rmg.co.uk
Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State. (n.d.). The Pastry War. https://history.state.gov
Oxford Reference. (n.d.). Pastry War. Oxford University Press.

In this episode, we dive into the Kentler Experiment, a case so horrifying it sounds impossible but was very real. In late-1960s West Berlin, psychologist Helmut Kentler promoted a dangerous idea: that vulnerable foster boys could be placed with men known to be pedophiles, under the claim that they would provide “care” and stability. Instead, what unfolded was a state-supported failure that exposed children to abuse while academics, social workers, and officials looked the other way.
This is not just a story about one man’s twisted theory. It is a story about institutions giving power to predators, about children being treated like subjects in an experiment, and about how language, status, and “expert opinion” can be used to disguise something monstrous. Decades later, survivors came forward, investigations followed, and Germany was forced to confront a dark chapter in its child welfare system.
The Kentler Experiment is a chilling reminder that when systems stop protecting the vulnerable, the damage can last a lifetime.
 
References
Aviv, R. (2021, July 19). The German experiment that placed foster children with pedophiles. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/26/the-german-experiment-that-placed-foster-children-with-pedophiles
Berlin Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family. (2020). Final report on the Kentler experiment and the Berlin foster care system. Berlin Senate. https://www.berlin.de/sen/bjf/
Teresa Nentwig. (n.d.). Research and archival investigations into the Berlin foster care system. University of Hildesheim.
University of Hildesheim. (2020). The Kentler Experiment: Final research report (German). https://www.uni-hildesheim.de/
Leibniz University Hannover. (2021). Statement and historical review concerning Helmut Kentler and institutional responsibility. https://www.uni-hannover.de/
Helmut Kentler. (1988). Report to the Berlin Senate regarding foster care placements. [Archival government report].
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (Germany). (n.d.). Publications and resources on institutional child sexual abuse. https://www.aufarbeitungskommission.de/
Independent Commissioner for Child Sexual Abuse Issues. (n.d.). Historical child protection failures and institutional abuse resources. https://beauftragte-missbrauch.de/

This week Bailey and Chelsea dive into the unbelievable world where soccer stops being just a game and turns into a full-blown circus of lies, money, ego, and corruption.
First, we cover Carlos Kaiser, the legendary “striker” who somehow built a professional soccer career without actually playing soccer. Literally. Kaiser faked injuries, charmed clubs, fooled managers, partied with celebrities, and became one of the greatest con men the sport has ever seen. 
Then we shift to international corruption with FIFA-Gate and the bizarre story of Chuck Blazer, the larger-than-life soccer executive who helped expose one of the biggest scandals in sports history. From bribes to a luxury apartment for his cats...? Blazer’s story is equal parts absurd, criminal, and almost impossible to believe.
Two stories. One sport. A whole lot of fraud.

In the 1980s, New York City was already fighting a war in the streets....crack cocaine, violence, fear, and neighborhoods pushed to the breaking point. But in Brooklyn’s 75th Precinct, one of the most dangerous threats wasn’t just coming from the criminals.
It was coming from the cops.
This episode dives into the infamous Seven Five scandal, one of the most shocking corruption cases in NYPD history. At the center of it all was Officer Michael Dowd, a cop who didn’t just cross the line, he completely leaped over it. Dowd and others in the precinct were accused of stealing from drug dealers, protecting traffickers, taking payoffs, tipping off criminals, and turning their badges into weapons for profit.
What started as small acts of corruption grew into something much bigger: a police officer operating like a gangster with a shield, working inside a precinct that was supposed to protect the very community it was helping destroy.
The Seven Five case is not just a story about one dirty cop. It is a story about power, greed, loyalty, fear, and what happens when the people trusted to enforce the law realize they can break it better than anyone else. It exposes how corruption spreads, how silence protects it, and how an entire system can look away until the damage becomes impossible to ignore.
Because in the 75th Precinct, the question was not just who was policing the criminals.
The question was: who was policing the police?

In this episode, we cover the survival story of Kara Robinson Chamberlain, a teenager whose quick thinking and courage helped expose a predator hiding in plain sight. What began as a terrifying abduction in broad daylight quickly turned into a case that would connect one survivor’s account to a series of unsolved crimes. Kara’s ability to stay observant, remain calm under extreme pressure, and later provide investigators with crucial details became the turning point in identifying Richard Evonitz. As the investigation unfolded, law enforcement realized they were not dealing with a single isolated attack, but with a man connected to the disappearances and murders of Sofia Silva, Kristin Lisk, and Kati Lisk. This case is not only about the crimes committed, but about survival, resilience, and the power of one victim’s voice to bring long-awaited answers to other families.
 
Please take a moment to follow Kara:
https://www.kararobinsonchamberlain.com/
https://www.instagram.com/kararobinsonchamberlain/
https://www.tiktok.com/@kararobinsonchamberlain
https://www.facebook.com/kararobinsonchamberlain
https://www.youtube.com/c/karachamberlain
 

In this more playful Shortcide episode, Bailey and Chelsea take a funny nod at one of the greatest animal-detective movies ever while covering two real cases that feel like they were made for Ace Ventura himself. First, we head to India, where a parrot allegedly helped identify a killer, because apparently the key witness had feathers and a flair for drama. Then we travel to 1930s Australia for the infamous shark arm case, where a shark at an aquarium coughed up human evidence and turned a day at the exhibit into a full-blown murder mystery.
Buckle up buttercups. It's a whole lot.

Y'all remember the McDonald's Monopoly game that dominated the 90s? Those addictive peel squares hoping you had gotten the one piece you were missing. Well, this will take you for a walk down memory lane for sure.
Obviously if you're listening to this episode, you probably weren't one of those lucky million-dollar winners but...did you at some point believe that you were going to win the McDonald's Monopoly game? Like really win the million dollars, cars, or the whole thing?
Well, if your answer is 'yes', then you're not alone because for years, millions of people believed they could, too. They collected pieces, traded with friends, hoarded stacks of stickers, convinced they were one move away from hitting it big. It felt random. It felt fair. It felt like luck.
But what if it wasn’t? What if the biggest prizes were never actually in circulation? What if the “winners” you saw on TV weren’t random at all—but part of something much bigger happening behind the scenes?
In this episode of Wildcide, Bailey and Chelsea break down one of the wildest and most overlooked white-collar crime stories in the U.S. A scheme that quietly took over one of the most trusted promotions in the country. We’re talking insider access, a nationwide network of hand-picked “winners,” and a system that kept running perfectly… while being completely controlled from the inside.
And just when it starts to feel impossible that no one caught on… it all begins to crack. Because this isn’t just a story about fraud. It’s a story about how easy it is to believe in a system. How hard it is to question it, and what happens when the person you trust to protect the game, is the one secretly controlling it?
So if you’ve ever peeled a Monopoly sticker and thought, what are the odds? You might not like the answer.
 
References:
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (n.d.). Operation Final Answer case materials.United States Department of Justice. (2001). Press release on McDonald’sMonopoly fraud indictments.McMillions (2020). HBO Documentary Series.
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). McDonald’s Monopoly fraud case.Farley, C. (2020). The true story behind McMillions. Vanity Fair.People Magazine. (2024). McDonald’s Monopoly fraud overview.

Two women. Two different lives. Two crime scenes five years apart that, at first, seemed completely unrelated. In 1986, Margarette Eby was murdered inside her secluded Flint, Michigan home. In 1991, Northwest Airlines flight attendant Nancy Ludwig was attacked and killed inside a hotel room near Detroit Metropolitan Airport. For years, the cases remained separate. That was until Margarette’s son, Marc Eby, noticed similarities that he could not ignore and reached out to Nancy’s husband, Art Ludwig.
In this episode, we discuss how one family member’s gut instinct, years of unanswered questions, and eventually DNA evidence connected both murders to Jeffrey Wayne Gorton. This case raises a haunting question: how often does intuition see the truth before the evidence can prove it?

What first looked like an unbelievable headline about a California couple and an unusually large family quickly turned into a case that drew national attention. Silvia Zhang and Guojun Xuan became the focus of intense scrutiny after authorities linked them to 21 children, many reportedly born through surrogacy, and the scale of the situation immediately raised questions that didn’t have easy answers. On the surface, it was a story that seemed almost impossible to understand, but the deeper people looked, the more unsettling it became.
This case is about more than just the number of children involved. It’s a story that opened the door to bigger questions about secrecy, control, and what may have been happening behind closed doors. As details began to emerge, the case left investigators, surrogate mothers, and the public trying to piece together how something so unusual could spiral into something so disturbing. In this episode, we’re taking a closer look at the case and the questions that still surround it.