Mariana van Zeller

So now I'm your competition.

It's too good.

This is what I'm hoping is with the podcast.

It's on YouTube, and I'm growing it into something bigger.

So it starts with interviews.

The podcast is called The Hidden Third because an estimated 35% of the global economy are these black and gray markets, which is what I've reported on.

Whoa, wait a minute.

It's a crazy number, right?

Estimated 35%, which is what economists call the hidden third.

So we're not just talking about illegal activities and goods, like drugs and scams and whatnot and guns.

We're also talking about... So that's the black market, and then there's the gray market, which is the unregulated part of the economy.

So untaxed work, untaxed goods, everything from the man selling fruit on the corner to

to other jobs and goods that are in tax.

But this actually has an effect on all of us because it's less money that comes in for schools and infrastructure and hospitals and all the stuff we need.

And then apart from all that we know, which is the black market and how that affects us all, which is whether you talk about guns or drugs or immigration, I mean, it all has a direct impact on our lives.

So with this podcast, what I really wanted to do is after reporting on these black markets for 20 years,

is I wanted to have a place like this where I can have intimate, raw, you know, sometimes difficult conversations with people who have lived or are living on the other side of the law.

And who, you know, I wanted to figure out why somebody decides to become a smuggler, a trafficker, a scammer, a bookie, you know, all these crazy things.

lives that people lead, see how it affects us all, understand why what they do affects us all.

And also, I think the most important part for me, which has always been, and I've talked about this with you, which is trying to understand if the circumstances were different, if it could have been you and me doing that.