1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:08,920 Speaker 1: What's Jeffrey my Epstein's Oh boy, this is the topic 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: that was a horrible idea. Sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet sweet, 3 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: Margaret killed Joy. This is Behind the Bastards, the podcast 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:23,440 Speaker 1: where Robert gets himself canceled with that introduction, Margaret, I can't, 5 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: I can't even you. This is the topic you chose 6 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: for our dear friend, Margaret kill Joy. Mars people right, 7 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 1: this this is a nice one, kind of not really, Um, Margaret, 8 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: you know you you're, you're, you're, you're, you're familiar with 9 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: a friend of the pod Jeffrey Epstein, Right, I am 10 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: aware of this person. Yeah, yeah, Um, everybody is real bad. Um, 11 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: not great, Um, not not very well, although by some judgments, 12 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: better than ever because he's dead. Um. That might be 13 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: my attitude towards how Jeffrey Epstein's doing. Um, a pretty 14 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: bad guy. He's kind of become like shorthand for a 15 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: specific kind of monster, like a man who traffics women 16 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: and children. Um, and is like fucking child sex trafficker 17 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: to the rich and famous and powerful, just like this 18 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: embodiment of corruption. And I'm here to tell you today, Margaret, 19 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: I found a guy I think might be worse. Um, goddamnit. Yeah, 20 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 1: um wow, this guy real, real piece of shit. Have 21 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: you heard of Peter Nigrid? I have not. Okay, well, 22 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:39,319 Speaker 1: put on your I once again, I'm saying, how could 23 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: you do this to our dear friend. I'm not sure 24 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: what you what? You put on? Strap on your anti 25 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: pedophile cream, vote up your anti garment industry monster fashion 26 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: demon hammer, and get ready for an episode behind the Bastards. 27 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: Just nine mill I feel like a nine millimeter might 28 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: work out great. I keep one in my desk in 29 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: case anyone involved in the fashion industry comes to my house. 30 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,080 Speaker 1: I do. I do sincerely look forward to the point 31 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,639 Speaker 1: where I get to show Margaret a picture. Yeah, this 32 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,799 Speaker 1: guy looks incredible. Almost. I almost brought our good friend 33 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: Tom Ryman onto the podcast, who we had on for 34 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: our episodes on right wing media Grifters, just to react 35 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: to this man's appearance and then leave. But I DESI 36 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: had not. Um Pecca Juhani Nigard was born in Helsinki, Finland, 37 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: on July nine. His mother and his father ran a bakery, 38 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: or maybe it was just his dad. Sources I found 39 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 1: her a little bit unclear. Now you might guess by 40 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: the year that this was not the easiest period in 41 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: history to be a finn Um. Some real the late 42 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: thirties early forties real rough years for the Finnish people. 43 00:02:57,880 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: There's for a lot of people in that region to 44 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: be fair, not just some good decisions and some bad 45 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: decisions and rapid succession. It was a complicated time. No 46 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:08,840 Speaker 1: one was going to handle it perfectly. Um. And after 47 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: the war, his family were like, maybe this chunk of 48 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 1: Europe is not the best place to raise a child. 49 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: I don't I don't know, if I don't know, if 50 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,520 Speaker 1: the bad stuff is done happening over here, you know. Um. 51 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: So they moved to Winnipeg, Canada, where they lived in 52 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: They get hired by a bakery, and the bakery kind 53 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,040 Speaker 1: of moves them in to some land that it owns, 54 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: which means that they take up residents in a fifteen 55 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: foot by thirteen foot converted colbin um. So that's also 56 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: not a great place to raise a family. Not a 57 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: great place to raise a family. Although if you've just 58 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: lived through several both the invasion of Finland by Russia 59 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: and then World War Two, you'll be like a coalbin 60 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: where nobody is shooting at us. Sounds dope, yeah, let's 61 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: get the funk out of Finland. Probably would stop some bullets. 62 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: I probably would. There's a good chance that was on 63 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: their mind. How big is this Cobin? Oh yeah, no, 64 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 1: absolutely yeah. Um. So they lived there for a little while. 65 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 1: Peter was about or Pecca at this point was eight 66 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: or nine years old, maybe eleven when he moved again. 67 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: Sources are kind of unclear, and it's not entirely clear 68 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: to me. If he was born at a time when 69 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,120 Speaker 1: everybody who got born in Finland got up an accurate 70 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,160 Speaker 1: birth certificate, right like the forties, you still are kind 71 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: of in that that period. Um. Now, since Finnish names 72 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: are simply unacceptable in English speaking nations, he began going 73 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,479 Speaker 1: by Peter instead of Peca and substituted the Johani for 74 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: a j um. Now we have a lot less to 75 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:37,600 Speaker 1: tail about his early life than I would prefer. And 76 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:41,359 Speaker 1: because he becomes basically a billionaire, Peter was successful for 77 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: many years and limiting the scope of inquiry that reporters 78 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:47,800 Speaker 1: could could delve into his past. I did find it 79 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 1: right up on celeb family dot com, which is a 80 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:54,159 Speaker 1: clearly credible source by someone I think was either Peter 81 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: Niagart or someone he had paid to write it. Um 82 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,479 Speaker 1: and that source notes quote er Nigard credits his vast 83 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: success to three things genetics, his finished roots, and perseverance. 84 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:08,359 Speaker 1: He is immensely grateful to his parents for having immigrated 85 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:10,600 Speaker 1: to Canada. He remembers never having to go without the 86 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,480 Speaker 1: basic necessities, even though money was often scarce in his household. 87 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: And I think actually is probably more just based on 88 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: some things he paid other people to write on other websites, 89 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: and then he gets it wounds up getting filtered to 90 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: these kind of clickbait sites after some stories break about him. 91 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,599 Speaker 1: But whatever, the person he is about, how good of 92 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: a person he well, yeah, that's early on. Yes. Um, 93 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:34,679 Speaker 1: So his mother and his father opened their own bakery 94 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: soon after arriving in Canada. Um, they move out of 95 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: the coal bin pretty quick, so they're doing good. They're 96 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:42,559 Speaker 1: doing good. Uh. They wind up in the big city, 97 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,359 Speaker 1: which is Winnipeg, so not really a big scene, a 98 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: moderately large town, birthplace of Winnie the Pooh. Um, he 99 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 1: was a meeting, Yeah, Winnipeg, that's yeah. Does hear one lie? 100 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: It might be crap. There's no way to know. It's 101 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: impossible to say. Um, but Yes, the city where Winnie 102 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: the Pooh lived briefly before going to die on the 103 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: Western Front. Look it up. You you'd be surprised at 104 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 1: how accurate that one is. Um. So, yeah, they open 105 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: a bakery and uh, they things go well, you know, 106 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:20,359 Speaker 1: they wind up kind of It's kind of hard for 107 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: me to tell exactly, but I would probably say upper 108 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,720 Speaker 1: middle class ish or maybe at least solidly middle class. Right, 109 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 1: they're doing fairly well. Um, And yeah, they seem to 110 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,919 Speaker 1: have a lot of gratitude to their adopted new home country. 111 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: Once Peter gets rich, his mom's going to use some 112 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:38,360 Speaker 1: of his money to create a park in Winnipeg in 113 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: their father's armor honor, where the coal beIN homestead they've 114 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:44,160 Speaker 1: lived on is featured. Uh. I don't know that they 115 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: keep that cold been around anymore. After the stuff that 116 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: happens in this story. But now again Peter becomes almost 117 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: a billionaire, close enough that it doesn't really matter all 118 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: that much. The internet winds up littered with all these 119 00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:58,839 Speaker 1: weird little websites that he paid to create and have 120 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,159 Speaker 1: someone right nice things about him on. There's like a 121 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: bunch of websites he makes. We'll be talking about this 122 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 1: more in part two. Because it's part of a a 123 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 1: kind of rich guy battle. He winds up and and 124 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 1: what'll do this for? Like ten dollars that much? Right? 125 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: You get some people in other countries to write some 126 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: nice stuff about you. Yeah, use like a task rabbit 127 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: style app to get Yeah. Yeah, um, it's not a 128 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: bad idea, right, Margaret. We could, we could, We could 129 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 1: at least take down one enemy. I feel like if 130 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: we if we wrangled together six to eight writers, Yeah, 131 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: that could be the end. That could be the end 132 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 1: of of Will Wheaton. Oh sure. Uh So in one 133 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: of these, uh these random little websites about him, which 134 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: was titled the Real Peter Niger dot Com, I found 135 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: this claim that's again incredibly incredible. Yeah yeah, well, wouldn't 136 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: say real if it wasn't, Margaret. It's like being a cop. 137 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: You're not allowed to lie about that. No, absolutely, not 138 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: so quote. Peter excelled at school and received recognition and 139 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 1: awards for both academics and athletics. During his secondary school years. 140 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,240 Speaker 1: He constantly contributed money to assist his family through varied 141 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 1: and multiple jobs. He concluded, and he concluded his high 142 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: school years as the most accomplished student in the graduating class. 143 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: Peter was later asked by the school to return and 144 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: deliver a speech to the graduating class. This speech provides 145 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 1: a roadmap to his success in business in life, and 146 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: was still being quoted fifty years later. Now I haven't 147 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: found a copy of this speech, Margaret. I don't. I don't. 148 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: I don't know that it's still being quoted fifty years later, 149 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,080 Speaker 1: unless it's by people Peter and igerd paid to write 150 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: articles about him. Um. But yeah, there there you go. 151 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 1: That's his claims about this period. We know that he 152 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: goes to the United States, you know, basically as soon 153 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: as he graduates high school. Um. And he graduates from 154 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: the University of North Dakota a couple of years later 155 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 1: with a business degree. This is in nineteen sixty four, 156 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: when he is twenty three years old. Would go on 157 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: to praise one of his professors, Tom Clifford, as a mentor. 158 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: Now Tom round Up went up running the college, and 159 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 1: he seems that I found like his You like obituaries 160 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: and stuff, um, which obviously aren't unbiased. But the obituaries 161 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,839 Speaker 1: make him look like a decent guy. He killed a 162 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: Japanese soldier during World War Two with a shovel, but 163 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 1: that's you know that happens, also pretty rad. I gotta 164 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 1: get anyone who kills a man with a shovel. That's 165 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: pretty badass. Yeah yeah, not boring, um, not boring um. 166 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: He was also apparently pushed for more recognition of Indigenous 167 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: people on campus, which is nice. Um. There's only one 168 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: detail from the obituary that gives us maybe some insight 169 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:41,440 Speaker 1: into what niggards saw in him. Quote in the preface 170 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 1: to Good Medicine, a two thousand three account of intrigue 171 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:46,440 Speaker 1: behind the creation of the four year medical school. He 172 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: created a medical school at the University of North Canada, 173 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: Clifford told how we cut corners, sometimes at blinding speed, 174 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:55,680 Speaker 1: and got around red tape in many cases by simply 175 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 1: ignoring it. Right. So Clifford Clifford is kind of an 176 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: education Asian. And again I haven't really run into terrible 177 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: criticisms of this guy, but he's he's Peter's mentor, and 178 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:07,600 Speaker 1: he's a big if you've got to cut corners, cut 179 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: them kind of guy, right. Um, So that might that 180 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 1: might have an impact on the man that Peter becomes 181 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 1: a little bit late. Right corners like getting consent from 182 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: your workers and consents. Not something Peter is going to 183 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: grow up to be great at Margaret In a number 184 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:26,520 Speaker 1: of ways, He's not. That's not a strong suit of his. Um. Yeah, 185 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: his other strength he I mean, he does have other strengths. Uh, 186 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:34,679 Speaker 1: we can debate whether or not they're good ones. So 187 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:37,960 Speaker 1: Peter spends very little time working for anybody else in 188 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:41,160 Speaker 1: his life. He returns to Winnipeg right after graduating. He 189 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 1: gets hired by the Tea Eaton's Company, which one of 190 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 1: his websites describes as quote the premier and most sophisticated 191 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:50,560 Speaker 1: department store chain in North America. I have no way 192 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:54,200 Speaker 1: to to judge those claims, three of them, and they 193 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 1: had like a yeah, yeah, it's some weird little Canadian 194 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 1: like I haven't heard of Tea Eatons. It sounds like 195 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: it's a it's like the Tim Horton's of clothing. Um. Anyway, 196 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 1: he was part of their young executive program, and Peter 197 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:09,840 Speaker 1: is very careful to let us know that quote. He 198 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,040 Speaker 1: worked side by side with the Eaton brothers and was 199 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:15,120 Speaker 1: identified by the Eaton family and their executive management team 200 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 1: as having the potential to eventually run the entire Eaton's operation. 201 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: But he doesn't do that, Margaret. He doesn't do that, 202 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:25,000 Speaker 1: and we don't really know why. Although it's possible he's 203 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:27,439 Speaker 1: just lying about this and he wasn't really very good 204 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: at that job, we have absolutely no way of I mean, theoretically, 205 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 1: if I was to make an article about him, I 206 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:36,240 Speaker 1: could try to track down people in the Eaton's management team, 207 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 1: but they're all probably dead now because this was nineteen 208 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:44,439 Speaker 1: sixty six. Um, he was really the most accomplished student 209 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 1: at a school in all fields or whatever. He was 210 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 1: probably the one who made the most money. I have 211 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 1: not I can't tell you off the top of my head, 212 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: and did not find in limited research at University of 213 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: North Dakota graduate who I'm certain made more money than 214 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:00,840 Speaker 1: your niagred. So he makes a lot of an okay. 215 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty seven, he gathers up his life savings 216 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 1: and receives an eight thousand dollar loan to purchase a 217 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 1: steak in a woman's garment manufacturer called Nathan Jacobs. Now 218 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 1: kind of unclear to me whether the loan came from 219 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: a bank or his family. Uh Niagard does not specify 220 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 1: on any of the defunct websites I found and I 221 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:23,800 Speaker 1: haven't really found clarity anywhere else. Um. It's noted in 222 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 1: several sources that he quickly came to own the business 223 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: outright on one of his websites. Niagard says the speed 224 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,280 Speaker 1: with which Niagard claimed his number one position in the 225 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:34,960 Speaker 1: industry has attributed to the uniqueness of his business decisions 226 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 1: and his work ethic that includes fourteen to sixteen hour days, 227 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:40,600 Speaker 1: seven days a week. But then, as Niagard says, the 228 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: only time you are working is when you wish you 229 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:48,719 Speaker 1: were doing something else. And that's, uh, that's gonna be good. 230 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 1: When we have our podcasting seminars. I feel like that's 231 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 1: going to be a that's right, that's gonna be at 232 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: You all got that for free. Yeah, you got that 233 00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:59,680 Speaker 1: for free, but if you I mean honestly, I do 234 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: feel like we should get a collections agency to just 235 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:04,440 Speaker 1: go around and crack a couple of kneecaps of some 236 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:07,079 Speaker 1: listeners until they pay up. That was worth just random 237 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 1: three or fifty dollars. You feel like that's a three 238 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:11,840 Speaker 1: fifty margaret, Yeah, I think so, as long as it's 239 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:16,880 Speaker 1: enough people, well ten ten people, yeah, at least ten 240 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 1: of you better send us some fucking cash or um, 241 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:22,480 Speaker 1: it's it'll it'll be bad. That's a threat, that's a 242 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: legally binding threat that that I'm party to somehow that 243 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:30,040 Speaker 1: you cool, Zone Media, Sophie, the I Heart Radio Corporation. 244 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:33,199 Speaker 1: We're all all making it anyway. On one of his 245 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:38,040 Speaker 1: personal websites, Nigard describes this process differently. Rather than buying 246 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: into own part of a company, he was quote recruited 247 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:43,840 Speaker 1: to become an equity partner, which makes it sound more 248 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: like the company brought him on to buy them out. 249 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:48,280 Speaker 1: He makes sure to let you know that he was 250 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 1: recruited quote despite having no direct knowledge or experience. And 251 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:55,160 Speaker 1: the ladies apparel manufacturing industry, do you think it's just 252 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: like going out of business and they're like fun, fun fun. 253 00:13:57,440 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: I kind of think it was. I kind of think 254 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 1: that's what happened. That he was not recruited. They thought 255 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:05,640 Speaker 1: they were pulling over one on over on him. Um, 256 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 1: but that's not how things are going to work out, 257 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:10,680 Speaker 1: because this is the thing he's actually good at in anyway, 258 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 1: He by gets enough money together one way or the other, 259 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:14,880 Speaker 1: by hook or by crook over the next year or 260 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:17,200 Speaker 1: two couple of years to buy a majority stake in 261 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 1: the business, which he renames from Jacobs to tan J 262 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: Fashions um now. He would later market the products under 263 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: his own name, Niagard, and eventually expand to produce products 264 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,560 Speaker 1: under tinned brand names. His clothing was sold in Niagard stores, 265 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: but also in major department stores like Sears and Dillards. 266 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: Remember Sears and Dillard's. I remember Sears. I feel like 267 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 1: Dillard's missed me. I mean, I can picture it. But yeah, 268 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:45,440 Speaker 1: if you want, right today, if you want to encounter 269 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:49,440 Speaker 1: very large rats, find your nearest Dillard's and break in. 270 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:53,240 Speaker 1: Don't worry. There's no security guards there. Um, there's no 271 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 1: people there at all. It's it's it's the Boulevard of 272 00:14:55,960 --> 00:15:01,800 Speaker 1: broken dreams. A Dillard's in two serious security guard uniform, 273 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: like you'll find the desiccated remains of a security guard 274 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: with rats kind of filling out the uniform in a 275 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: sort of body shape. Yeah. They left him there when 276 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 1: they when they locked the doors from the outside and 277 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: they said they'll be right back. Yeah, and now the 278 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:20,080 Speaker 1: rats inhabit his soul um, but they don't know about 279 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: cell phones, so they can't reach his family. He had 280 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 1: a six month old shot I don't know why I'm 281 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:27,560 Speaker 1: making this so sad. One early strength that helped Nigart 282 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:30,440 Speaker 1: expand beyond the bounds of the business he'd invested in 283 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 1: was a focus on the growing field of information technology. Peter, 284 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:37,640 Speaker 1: and again, this is like the fucking seventies that this 285 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: is all starting to come together, invested in software that 286 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:44,000 Speaker 1: linked manufacturing with a network of retail stores to keep 287 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: them fully stocked. Peter expanded his business from Canada to 288 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,000 Speaker 1: the United States. He did this by again investing in 289 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 1: an existing company, a sportswear designer run by Nancy Ebker. 290 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:57,560 Speaker 1: She claims Peter came to her and agreed to split 291 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:00,480 Speaker 1: profits fifty fifty and kicking seven hundred thousand dollars of 292 00:16:00,480 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 1: her own money to finance the production of two new 293 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: sportswear lines sold out of her showroom. According to Ebgar, 294 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 1: Niagard smooth talked her out of putting any of this 295 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:12,200 Speaker 1: agreement down in writing. He complained that bringing lawyers into 296 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 1: the situation would make everything a big mess. As soon 297 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,520 Speaker 1: as the deal closed, Niagard fired Ebger from her own 298 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 1: company and took over the offices. Um, yeah, he is, 299 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:24,800 Speaker 1: he is. He is a cool customer. I'm going to 300 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: quote from a write up and form and that's the 301 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: worst thing he did. M Well, yeah, Edgar is still fuming. 302 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: He literally ruined my life, she says. Ebgar claimed in 303 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: court testimony that in their heated final conversation, Niagard told 304 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:39,920 Speaker 1: her I have all your patterns. I have everything, I 305 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 1: own everything. I never intended to put anything in writing. 306 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:47,200 Speaker 1: You have nothing and I am a millionaire. Yeah, that's 307 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:49,920 Speaker 1: straight up. Um, he's the one who locked that guy 308 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:52,920 Speaker 1: into Dillard's. He's dead. He did. Oh my god, of 309 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:57,400 Speaker 1: course he did. Um, why wouldn't he. Let's try to reason, 310 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:00,120 Speaker 1: she interjected, to which Nagard responded, if you don't have 311 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 1: one million dollars by Friday, I'm going to see to 312 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: it that your name and reputation are totally destroyed in 313 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: this market. Um. Just a cool guy. Now. Niagard tells 314 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:11,600 Speaker 1: the court a different story, saying the two had a 315 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:15,159 Speaker 1: calm conversation in which he suggested the amicably part ways. 316 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:18,679 Speaker 1: The judge found Edgar to be highly credible and deemed 317 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 1: Niggard evasive, insincere, and utterly lacking incredibility. We deplore the 318 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:27,440 Speaker 1: unseemly conduct of Niagard. Judge Irving Cooper wrote but ultimately 319 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:29,880 Speaker 1: ruled that Edgar failed to prove she was damaged by 320 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: his actions. Nigard's counterclaim was also dismissed. Edgar, who calls 321 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: him a true villain of the world, is writing a 322 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: book about the case. I don't think she ever did. 323 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:43,480 Speaker 1: She did. I'll read it, um. So his business takes 324 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,440 Speaker 1: off in the years that follow Niagart hires his mom, 325 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,000 Speaker 1: He brings his sister on a spokesman for the brand, 326 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:52,240 Speaker 1: and he's building this clothing building he's making is really 327 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:55,400 Speaker 1: tailor made for middle aged women. This is not high fashion. 328 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:57,320 Speaker 1: I don't mean that as an insult, but he's not. 329 00:17:57,520 --> 00:17:59,160 Speaker 1: He's not building this is like, this is the Paris 330 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 1: Runway kind of stuff. This is like clothing for women 331 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,960 Speaker 1: from like thirty to fifty, um, who have a couple 332 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 1: of kids. It's meant to be like affordable, have like 333 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: a wide selection, and he's trying to both make it 334 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:15,879 Speaker 1: kind of something that's attractive to them but also something 335 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: that they feel good about buying from. So he makes 336 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:20,920 Speaker 1: sure that, like his sister is the spokeswoman, he makes 337 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: sure to bring his mom on so that he can 338 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,159 Speaker 1: talk about how while he treats his mom um, he 339 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:29,240 Speaker 1: emphasizes his annual two million dollar donation to breast cancer research. 340 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:33,719 Speaker 1: He claims makes big claims about having an ethical supply chain. Uh. 341 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: Niagard's former website bragged as achievements to be the number 342 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,520 Speaker 1: one the first manufacturer to have air conditioned factories. Um 343 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: and in the real Peter Niagar dot com. He also claims, 344 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 1: quote Peter was always committed to the health and comfort 345 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:49,200 Speaker 1: of his associates. He was the first company in Canada 346 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,000 Speaker 1: to ban smoking by associates or visitors in the buildings 347 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: or elsewhere on the premises. He created the first air 348 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: conditioned manufacturing and visitors Yeah, well he banned them from smoking. 349 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and he he created the first air conditioned 350 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:08,879 Speaker 1: manufacturing plants, transforming the industry from sweatshops to fashion houses. Uh, 351 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:14,399 Speaker 1: this guy's fucking clever. Mhm, Margaret, you want to guess 352 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:20,840 Speaker 1: if they weren't sweatshops anymore? Uh? Was this his one lie? Yeah, 353 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:23,879 Speaker 1: this is the only one. So um, we'll get to 354 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:26,520 Speaker 1: that in a second. Obviously, top reviews for Niagard clothing 355 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: on Amazon include praise that their polyester pants are quote 356 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,200 Speaker 1: very comfortable and wash well. Um, so it gives you 357 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: an idea of kind of like what people are looking 358 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:36,639 Speaker 1: for in these right, Like I want something comfortable. I 359 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 1: want something that's convenient, Like I'm a busy mom, right 360 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:41,879 Speaker 1: like that? That that's like what this is angled at 361 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 1: um And it's a good strategy. In very short order, 362 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,960 Speaker 1: his clothing is in more than thirty states. Sixty of 363 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:51,560 Speaker 1: his corporate revenue was soon coming from outside of Canada, 364 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:53,399 Speaker 1: and it spreads to other countries too. It's not just 365 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 1: the US and Canada's all over the place. And as 366 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:58,080 Speaker 1: you might have guessed by now, the reality of niagard 367 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,680 Speaker 1: ink labor practices did not quite matched the rosy claims 368 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:03,880 Speaker 1: made by their old website. And I'm gonna quote from 369 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:07,399 Speaker 1: Forbes here. In late April, the National Labor Committee n LC, 370 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: a private group in Pittsburgh, issued a report claiming that 371 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: Niggard pants from its Alie line were being sewn in 372 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:15,840 Speaker 1: a Jordanian sweat shop. The factory in al Zarka. The 373 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:19,639 Speaker 1: report says, employed guest workers from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and 374 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,480 Speaker 1: India who had quote been trafficed to Jordan's, stripped of 375 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:26,680 Speaker 1: their passports and held under conditions of indentured servitude. According 376 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:29,440 Speaker 1: to the investigation, women were forced to work fifteen hour 377 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 1: shifts seven days a week, and we're paid half the 378 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,119 Speaker 1: wages they were owed. A Niagard spokeswoman says that a 379 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:37,240 Speaker 1: government inquiry found no truth to the allegations, but since 380 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:40,399 Speaker 1: the report, the NLC says factory conditions have improved significantly. 381 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 1: Passports have been returned and workers now get Fridays off. Wow, 382 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:47,200 Speaker 1: and they get their own passports back. They get to 383 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:50,400 Speaker 1: keep their passports while they're working fifteen hour days, six 384 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:54,639 Speaker 1: days a week. Um, and six days a week. Yeah, 385 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:57,200 Speaker 1: that's that's not as many to days as there are 386 00:20:57,240 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: in the week. That's not that's not that's a whole 387 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:03,600 Speaker 1: day they don't have to work. Other cool fact. The 388 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:07,080 Speaker 1: factory is in al Zarka, which is also the hometown 389 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,199 Speaker 1: of Abu Musab al Zarkawi, the founder of al Qaeda 390 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:12,720 Speaker 1: in Iraq, which is kind of the group that immediately 391 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: led to isis Yeah, okay, cool guy. Anyway, that has 392 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:21,159 Speaker 1: nothing to do with Peter Niagard coincidence. It's just a 393 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:25,920 Speaker 1: fun well or does it. Did Peter Niagard uh create 394 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:32,640 Speaker 1: isis in order to sell more comfortable, easily washed polyester sweatpants. 395 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:36,280 Speaker 1: Did a world will never know. There's no babe that 396 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:39,800 Speaker 1: it didn't happen. Maybe it's possible, but that's not a 397 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 1: legally binding allegation, so it gets worse. The one detail 398 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:46,800 Speaker 1: I did find on his website that actually surprised me 399 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,680 Speaker 1: was this tidbit. Nothing has made a bigger impact on 400 00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:53,120 Speaker 1: the Canadian fashion industry than the NAFTA agreement. The seeds 401 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 1: of this agreement were sewn in nineteen two when Peter 402 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,159 Speaker 1: Nyagard wrote a strategic position paper to initiate free trade. 403 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,919 Speaker 1: This paper resulted in his appointment to chair in the 404 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:06,120 Speaker 1: Advisory Committee on Future Canadian Long Term Industrial Strategy. From 405 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:09,760 Speaker 1: that committee grew Niger's recommendation to negotiate a free trade 406 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,640 Speaker 1: Agreement f t A first with the United States, which 407 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,879 Speaker 1: ultimately became the foundation agreement from Mexico's entry in d 408 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: e c. Ninety two, nor known as the North American 409 00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:21,960 Speaker 1: Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA. No other person in the 410 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:24,399 Speaker 1: apparel industry has played a more significant role with the 411 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:30,440 Speaker 1: creation of NAFTA than Peter Niagart. Holy sh it right, Yeah, now, okay, 412 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:32,880 Speaker 1: Well that means the zapatista. We get the Zapatistas out 413 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 1: of him. We do kind of get the zapatistas out 414 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:39,919 Speaker 1: of him. Um, it's now obviously this is a claim 415 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:43,240 Speaker 1: being made on his website. He thinks of his personals 416 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:46,720 Speaker 1: and he is taking personal credit for making it. I 417 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:50,560 Speaker 1: think he is overselling his role here. But he winds 418 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:53,800 Speaker 1: up on a couple joint Canadian US like government panels, 419 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:56,800 Speaker 1: like several a number over the years, like a number 420 00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:01,200 Speaker 1: of pretty significant positions that he holds, like helping to 421 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:04,400 Speaker 1: carry out aspects of like what's going to become NAFTA. 422 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,080 Speaker 1: So he's not entirely lying here either. We're going to 423 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:08,479 Speaker 1: get into this in a bit. But he is not 424 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:12,280 Speaker 1: an insignificant part of the creation or the establishment of NAFTA, 425 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 1: although he is a little bit over selling it here. UM, 426 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,280 Speaker 1: he's definitely one of the people in the apparel industry 427 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:21,400 Speaker 1: who's most involved in the creation of NAFTA. That's probably 428 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,960 Speaker 1: fair to UM. So we're gonna talk about that and 429 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:29,200 Speaker 1: why that's not entirely a good thing. But first, Margaret, 430 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,919 Speaker 1: you know, people don't like about NAFTA the fact that 431 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:39,880 Speaker 1: it strips resources from developing nations to fuel the lifestyles 432 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:43,480 Speaker 1: of the wealthy that are destroying the earth exactly. You 433 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:48,639 Speaker 1: know what doesn't do that? Potatoes. Potatoes don't. But let 434 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:50,680 Speaker 1: me let me paint a picture of you, Margaret. Want 435 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:55,639 Speaker 1: you to think about the Great Lakes superior the other ones, 436 00:23:56,240 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: shining out beautiful, surrounded by basically Hanada, Canada, which is 437 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 1: the bad guy of this story. Now imagine, now imagine Margaret, 438 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:10,760 Speaker 1: a beautiful sheet of I C. B M s coming 439 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:15,840 Speaker 1: down over the Great Lakes, and instead of robbing poorer 440 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: and low income nations in order to finance the lifestyles 441 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:21,560 Speaker 1: of the rich and the famous, we irradiate fish in 442 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:26,119 Speaker 1: the Great Lakes to provide the world with fish. That's huge, 443 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:31,280 Speaker 1: because whatever, probably who knows what happens. I just think 444 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:34,800 Speaker 1: we should do it. Ylvie, how are we doing here? 445 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:37,920 Speaker 1: I'm so tired that I'm like, let's let me show 446 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: you some pamphlets while while the listeners check out these 447 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:52,639 Speaker 1: other ads. Okay, oh we're back. And you know, I 448 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: think if the US has six thousand nuclear weapons, we 449 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,879 Speaker 1: can spare a handful. Convinced. The pamphlets had lots of charts, 450 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:03,239 Speaker 1: yep and it and uh warning labels that have been 451 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:07,000 Speaker 1: scratched out, so they probably don't matter. They probably don't matter. 452 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:10,440 Speaker 1: And several times I repeated the lyrics to the wreck 453 00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 1: of the Edmund Fitzgerald to remind you of all the 454 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:16,800 Speaker 1: brave men who died in those lakes. Yeah. Absolutely, So 455 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:21,200 Speaker 1: I looked at your many personal websites, and I have 456 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:25,359 Speaker 1: hired to we have a lot of websites made. I 457 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:28,320 Speaker 1: cross referenced from one of your personal websites to the other, 458 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:30,840 Speaker 1: and they all checked out. That's right, that's what we 459 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: call research. That's nocent um. Yeah, you know, people, look, 460 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 1: Sophie has driven a hard line that we have to 461 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:44,880 Speaker 1: stop the blue Apron child island bit um because it's 462 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,280 Speaker 1: it's just it's just creates so much work on the 463 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,240 Speaker 1: bleeping end um, and then when we don't bleep it, 464 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: people are like is it real, which is a question 465 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:55,120 Speaker 1: we've had to deal with a lot lately. So now 466 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:57,119 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about nuking the Great Lakes for 467 00:25:57,160 --> 00:25:59,440 Speaker 1: a couple of months and then I'll figure out something else. 468 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: Because you believe, mistakenly that if you go all of 469 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 1: the producers and go more and more drastically absurd, that 470 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:11,639 Speaker 1: people will stop believing you I do hope because it 471 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 1: will be really funny. It'll be the end of life 472 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:15,720 Speaker 1: on this earth, but it'll be really funny that like 473 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: this bit ends with me being elected president in a 474 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: landslide with a mandate to deploy nuclear weapons to the 475 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:30,200 Speaker 1: Great Lakes. Yeah, I mean you don't have zero Mostel, 476 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:37,720 Speaker 1: so off. But anyway, back to NAFTA. Speaking of bad things, um, 477 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 1: not bad things like zero Mustel. He was rad didn't 478 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:43,040 Speaker 1: name names anyway, Sorry Jesus, this is going off the 479 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:45,359 Speaker 1: rails a little bit. Let's talk about NAFTA. So Peter 480 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 1: n Iagart, obviously he's a narcissist. Take what he says 481 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 1: about being like integral to the creation of NAFTA with 482 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:54,639 Speaker 1: a grain of salt. But it's not an invented claim. 483 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:57,760 Speaker 1: It's probably fair to say that niagard strategic papers were 484 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,359 Speaker 1: less the inspiration for NAFTA than one of a number 485 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,400 Speaker 1: of people with influence who were pushing for trade liberalization 486 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:08,119 Speaker 1: to allow US and Canadian companies to do their manufacturing overseas, 487 00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 1: particularly in Mexico. I found a right up by the 488 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:16,400 Speaker 1: makila Uh Solidarity Network, which is a Canadian organization promoting 489 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,440 Speaker 1: solidarity with laborers in places like Mexico and other parts 490 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,480 Speaker 1: of Central America to improve conditions and win a living 491 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,359 Speaker 1: wage for workers. Right at the beginning of NAFTA, they 492 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:28,480 Speaker 1: published a position paper analyzing the trade agreement and it's 493 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:32,000 Speaker 1: likely impact on laborers and the manufacturer they chose to 494 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:36,280 Speaker 1: highlight in order to analyze this was Niagard. So whatever 495 00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:39,159 Speaker 1: he's saying, and however much he kind of exaggerates things 496 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:42,639 Speaker 1: this organization. When they were like choosing to like look 497 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,520 Speaker 1: at a garment manufacturer to see what NAFTA was going 498 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,199 Speaker 1: to do in Mexico, they picked Niagard because he's it 499 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:49,560 Speaker 1: was a really big deal and he was a big 500 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:52,600 Speaker 1: part of it. Ums, just like the obvious where are 501 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:55,440 Speaker 1: we at? Timeline? Yeah, this is this is like the 502 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:58,199 Speaker 1: late eighties. I think when kind of this gets I 503 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,199 Speaker 1: can I can actually look this up? Um don't. I'm 504 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:02,639 Speaker 1: just trying to figure out why I've never heard of 505 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: this brand before. Is it because I'm not Canadian or 506 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:06,240 Speaker 1: is it because I only became a middle aged lady 507 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:09,399 Speaker 1: more recently. Yeah, I think the second might be a 508 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:13,680 Speaker 1: bigger and you're you're not like a suburban like mother 509 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: of three, which I think is primarily kind of who 510 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:22,119 Speaker 1: he was angled at UM. But yeah, so obviously mckiela 511 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:24,119 Speaker 1: is also a Canadian organization that may also be part 512 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 1: of why they pick Niagard. But Niagard was one of 513 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,119 Speaker 1: the largest, I think at it for a time, the 514 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:33,400 Speaker 1: largest garment manufacturer to invest in Mexican factories and kind 515 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,200 Speaker 1: of the first days of nafta UM. The writers of 516 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 1: that Makuela Solidarity Net Network paper did not consider this 517 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:41,320 Speaker 1: to have been a good thing, and they wrote quote 518 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 1: from the research that has already been done on the ground. However, 519 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,560 Speaker 1: working conditions in areas where Niagard has produced and is 520 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:49,880 Speaker 1: currently producing in Mexico are less than ideal. While management 521 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: at the Majelosa factory in Tahoakan, Mexico, insisted that they 522 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 1: paid premium wages, workers disputed these statements. Low wages are 523 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,800 Speaker 1: a common complaint of garment workers into wak Been. Many 524 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:03,120 Speaker 1: are forced to work several jobs to meet their families 525 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:05,400 Speaker 1: basic needs. It is not uncommon for children to work 526 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,480 Speaker 1: in smaller makilas and workshops to complement the very low 527 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:12,040 Speaker 1: wages their parents are making. In Quahuila, where Niagard is 528 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,160 Speaker 1: currently contracting work there, are similar reports of low wages, 529 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:18,000 Speaker 1: long hours, and forced overtime. Since the signing of NAFTA, 530 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 1: union representation has decreased significantly in this region. Force pregnancy 531 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:25,280 Speaker 1: testing and sexual harassment have also been reported. Further research 532 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:27,320 Speaker 1: needs to be done to document the working conditions at 533 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:31,760 Speaker 1: niagard owned factories in Guadalajara and Guernavaca, Mexico and Canada. 534 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:35,160 Speaker 1: Three of Niagard's Manitoba factories are certified by UNITE, the 535 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:38,600 Speaker 1: North American Garment and Textile Workers Union. During union drives 536 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:41,000 Speaker 1: in the nineteen eighties at his plants, Peter Niagard placed 537 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: full page ads in Winnipeg newspapers stating his anti union position. 538 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:47,280 Speaker 1: At that time, the Manitoba Labor Board ruled that the 539 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 1: company had committed unfair labor practices, including the refusal to 540 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 1: deduct union dues to allow the union access to the 541 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:55,480 Speaker 1: plant and to pay into the union's retirement and health 542 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:57,960 Speaker 1: and welfare funds. Niagaret was ordered to pay the union 543 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:01,000 Speaker 1: and illegally laid off employees a hundred fifty dollars in 544 00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:06,120 Speaker 1: money owed and fines um. So yeah, he's cool, Do 545 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:08,760 Speaker 1: you ever like? Is there ever a bastard who's like 546 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:12,960 Speaker 1: the shining prints of everything and then secretly has the 547 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:16,760 Speaker 1: like murder basement or always just these people where you're like, 548 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:21,360 Speaker 1: of course, this person doesn't respect fucking anybody except like, 549 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:24,560 Speaker 1: I mean, we didn't portray it this way, but a 550 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:27,000 Speaker 1: lot of people, Georgia Tan, the woman who invented adoption 551 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:29,080 Speaker 1: by kidnapping a lot of babies, a whole bunch of 552 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:32,240 Speaker 1: people thought she was wonderful because she's running these adoption 553 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:36,840 Speaker 1: centers and stuff, you know. Um, so I should probably 554 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:38,560 Speaker 1: say a little bit about naft to here as well. 555 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,320 Speaker 1: We're not gonna go a lot into nafty here, because 556 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,080 Speaker 1: that's a subject that deserves more than just casual coverage 557 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:46,440 Speaker 1: on a podcast. Um, but it's fair to say that 558 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:49,880 Speaker 1: rather than inspiring NAFTA, Nigaard's primary contribution was to be 559 00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:52,000 Speaker 1: one of the first guys to use the trade agreement 560 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:55,600 Speaker 1: to escape unionized labor and forced workers to endure privation 561 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:58,840 Speaker 1: for the enhanced profit of his company. This pattern was 562 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:01,440 Speaker 1: repeated on a large scale al by other businesses. I 563 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:03,560 Speaker 1: want to quote now from a writ up by sociology 564 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:06,680 Speaker 1: professor Robert Ross from Clark University. Uh, it is a 565 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:08,959 Speaker 1: long quote, but I think that it's necessary to do 566 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,800 Speaker 1: that here. On August second, nineteen, labor officials in the 567 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:15,920 Speaker 1: state of California rated a garment manufacturing shop twelve miles 568 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:18,080 Speaker 1: east of Los Angeles and the town of El Monty. 569 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:20,640 Speaker 1: The shop was located in what had appeared to be 570 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: a residential condominium complex, but this one was surrounded by 571 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 1: a barbed wire fence and a six foot brick wall 572 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:29,120 Speaker 1: with metal spikes. Dangerous and unsanitary, the Carmit Factories was 573 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 1: worse than substandard. Its workers were virtual slaves. Held in 574 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:35,400 Speaker 1: the condominium complex were seventy two laborers who were first 575 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:37,480 Speaker 1: to work as much as seventeen hours a day, seven 576 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 1: days a week for one six In some cases, the 577 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:43,360 Speaker 1: sixty seven women and five men worked up to twenty 578 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:45,320 Speaker 1: two hours for as little as fifty cents an hour 579 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,080 Speaker 1: their which is varied therefore between about one third and 580 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:50,320 Speaker 1: one tenth of the U S legal minimum wage. The 581 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:52,800 Speaker 1: condominium was also a major fire hazard. There was no 582 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:56,040 Speaker 1: rear exit and only small windows with thick iron bars. 583 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:58,400 Speaker 1: A gain of eight smugglers had paid the workers air 584 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:01,000 Speaker 1: fair from Thailand, promising them a bright her future in America. 585 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 1: Upon their arrival, However, the new immigrants were forced into 586 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:05,600 Speaker 1: slave labor, working day and night to pay off their 587 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:08,440 Speaker 1: passage fees. The fees ranged from forty eight hundred dollars 588 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:11,600 Speaker 1: to twenty five thousand dollars. They were also threatened with beatings, rape, 589 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:14,480 Speaker 1: and even death. Following the discovery, all seventy two workers 590 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:18,160 Speaker 1: were arrested as a legal alien held by federal immigration officers, 591 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:20,680 Speaker 1: but conditions had been so bad. One of the women said, 592 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:24,560 Speaker 1: the day I was arrested, I was very happy. Budparangmak, 593 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:26,480 Speaker 1: one of the people forced to stay at the compound, 594 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:28,400 Speaker 1: claimed that a year ago, two people who tried to 595 00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: escape were severely beaten and sent back to Thailand. He 596 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:33,680 Speaker 1: also stated that workers were frequently beaten in the compound 597 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 1: to prevent escapes. Another worker from the al Monti sweatshop 598 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:38,480 Speaker 1: claimed that she was told it would take three years 599 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:40,120 Speaker 1: for her to pay off the forty eight hundred dollar 600 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:42,800 Speaker 1: traveling fee. She was forced to pay three hundred dollars 601 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 1: a month. According to federal officials, threats against the workers 602 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:47,640 Speaker 1: children or family members in Thailand were used to make 603 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:51,240 Speaker 1: sure their parents continued sewing. Immigration officials had been aware 604 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:53,360 Speaker 1: of the al Monty operation for three years, but the 605 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:55,880 Speaker 1: local authorities acted only when they heard the testimony of 606 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:58,400 Speaker 1: a woman who escaped through a ventilation shaft just weeks 607 00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:00,880 Speaker 1: before the raid. The eight time nationals who ran the 608 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: ring and its businesses were convicted of harboring and transporting 609 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:06,959 Speaker 1: illegal immigrants, kidnapping, peonage, and other serious charges. A few 610 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,600 Speaker 1: weeks after the discovery, over a million dollars of their assets, 611 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,320 Speaker 1: including over eight hundred and sixty five thousand dollars in cash, 612 00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:14,440 Speaker 1: were distributed to the seventy two workers found in al 613 00:33:14,480 --> 00:33:16,600 Speaker 1: Monty and a thirty nine others who had worked in 614 00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:20,080 Speaker 1: the Los Angeles installations controlled by the ring. The smuggler 615 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:22,680 Speaker 1: owners have been imprisoned the illegal immigrants, who do approximately 616 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:25,000 Speaker 1: three point five million in back pay in penalties, The 617 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:27,840 Speaker 1: Labor and Occupational Safety agencies of the State of California 618 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:30,240 Speaker 1: asked for five hundred and fifty thousand dollars in penalties 619 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:33,200 Speaker 1: from the sweatshop owners. Compensation has also been collected from 620 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:35,880 Speaker 1: the garment manufacturers who con commissioned work from the man 621 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: from the contractor Major American Retails Change, which sold clothing 622 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:42,880 Speaker 1: made in the swaves. The slave sweatshop include and even 623 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:46,600 Speaker 1: Marcus Montgomery Ward and Sears. Stories such as these about 624 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,800 Speaker 1: the Thai slaves of El Monty, California, symbolically represent one 625 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:53,720 Speaker 1: of the main tendencies of contemporary global capitalism, the tendency 626 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:56,520 Speaker 1: to level workers conditions down to or below a global 627 00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:59,320 Speaker 1: standard more like that of today's most vulnerable Third world 628 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:02,440 Speaker 1: workers and that of yesterday's organized workers and the developed 629 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:05,320 Speaker 1: industrial social order. This is the concrete meaning of the 630 00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:08,000 Speaker 1: race to the bottom. While the Thai slaves represent the 631 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:10,160 Speaker 1: unusual worst case of the problems of labor in the 632 00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:13,120 Speaker 1: apparel industry and in other low wage industries in North America, 633 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:17,200 Speaker 1: the rise of the new sweatshops is widespread. One responsible estimate, 634 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:19,880 Speaker 1: often used by former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, is 635 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:22,080 Speaker 1: that up to half the entire apparel workforce of the 636 00:34:22,160 --> 00:34:25,560 Speaker 1: United States, potentially half a million workers, labor it below 637 00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:28,600 Speaker 1: the legal minimum wage or without legally entitled premium pay 638 00:34:28,640 --> 00:34:32,920 Speaker 1: for overtime hours. These workers also suffer unsafe and unsanitary conditions. 639 00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:35,520 Speaker 1: Such conditions include as many as fifty thousand workers in 640 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:38,560 Speaker 1: New York City and seventy to ninety thousand in Los Angeles, 641 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:41,320 Speaker 1: the two largest centers of garment production in the country. 642 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:44,719 Speaker 1: The North American Free Trade Agreement, dissolving barriers to the 643 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:47,520 Speaker 1: movement of goods and capital between the United States, Mexico 644 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:50,640 Speaker 1: and Canada, is like the European Union and the General 645 00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,480 Speaker 1: Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, part of the project of 646 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:56,839 Speaker 1: global capital and a very successful one. In thirty years, 647 00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:58,640 Speaker 1: a new form of capitalism has been borne out of 648 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:01,919 Speaker 1: the crisis of mid century capitalism. The mid century type 649 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:05,800 Speaker 1: of capitalism, known variously as monopoly capitalism or later ford 650 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:09,319 Speaker 1: is um, was characteristically associated with the Kingsian welfare state, 651 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:11,759 Speaker 1: but many of the characteristic forms and achievements of that 652 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:14,480 Speaker 1: variant of capitalism have been superseded by a new one, 653 00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:18,320 Speaker 1: global capitalism. This, then, is the context of NAFTA, a 654 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:21,239 Speaker 1: world project of capitalism to dissolve barriers to investment and 655 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:24,080 Speaker 1: to lower cost of production in te lingibso facto a 656 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:26,920 Speaker 1: systemic attack upon and loss of working class power and 657 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:31,080 Speaker 1: social protections in the older industrial nations. Yet paradoxically, the 658 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:34,080 Speaker 1: same world context makes more concrete than ever the rewards 659 00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 1: of solidarity and the necessity of internationalism. Anyway, I mean 660 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:40,800 Speaker 1: was a long one and it talks about the necessity 661 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:45,680 Speaker 1: of something. Uh, like when I only a couple of things. 662 00:35:45,719 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 1: When I think about the compensation as people are deserved, Yeah, 663 00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:53,360 Speaker 1: I mostly think about like I don't know, ears and 664 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:58,520 Speaker 1: pieces pieces of bodies, yes, um, but it is like 665 00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:02,239 Speaker 1: this is this is the thing that igerd was was 666 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:04,040 Speaker 1: a huge part of. And we can tell from the 667 00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:06,239 Speaker 1: way he treated his workers in Canada and the way 668 00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:09,319 Speaker 1: he treated his workers in Mexico. This was exactly what 669 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:12,000 Speaker 1: he wanted to happen. Like he saw he was one 670 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:14,239 Speaker 1: of a number of people not to put too much 671 00:36:14,239 --> 00:36:17,080 Speaker 1: credit on this guy, but he saw the people who 672 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:20,040 Speaker 1: made his products as a barrier to his profits. And 673 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:23,719 Speaker 1: before NAFTA happened, he was working to do what he 674 00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:26,719 Speaker 1: could to ensure that they could not cut into his profits. 675 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:30,440 Speaker 1: And he backed NAFTA and took advantage of it as 676 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:33,680 Speaker 1: soon as it happened in order to cut the ability 677 00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:36,880 Speaker 1: of other people to make money off of the company 678 00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:38,840 Speaker 1: that he owned. Right, Like, that was the thing. The 679 00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:41,719 Speaker 1: people who made the products he wanted he was willing to, 680 00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:45,760 Speaker 1: you know, force him to take pregnancy tests, beat them, um, 681 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:48,640 Speaker 1: lock them up for dayson and take their fucking passports. 682 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:51,960 Speaker 1: Whatever it takes to make sure that like he gets 683 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:56,120 Speaker 1: every dime he possibly can that anyway, I'm sure he 684 00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:58,160 Speaker 1: used for good and noble purpose, like I just I 685 00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:01,919 Speaker 1: can't even Yeah, that's that's what we're about to talk about. Yeah, 686 00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:03,840 Speaker 1: what he does with all the money he makes doing this? 687 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:09,879 Speaker 1: Um so uh. In nineteen eight seven, Peter purchased land 688 00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:12,480 Speaker 1: in the Bahamas, where he soon began construction on a 689 00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:16,040 Speaker 1: sprawling estate. We will discuss this later, um. But in 690 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:18,800 Speaker 1: two thousand three, an American couple sued him in Florida 691 00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:22,320 Speaker 1: for allegedly tricking them into accepting jobs managing this estate. 692 00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:26,640 Speaker 1: They further claimed that Niggard ignored Bahamanian immigration laws and 693 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:29,200 Speaker 1: failed to obtain work permits for employees, which you may 694 00:37:29,239 --> 00:37:34,439 Speaker 1: notice is something of a pattern for him. You're gonna 695 00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:35,719 Speaker 1: need to give me those. I'll make sure you don't 696 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:38,800 Speaker 1: lose them now. They also alleged that he find workers 697 00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:41,680 Speaker 1: for petty infractions, which Nigard conceded to doing during a 698 00:37:41,719 --> 00:37:44,040 Speaker 1: court case. He claimed this was done in cases of 699 00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:47,600 Speaker 1: quote lateness and poor quality work. Such penalties under law 700 00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:50,719 Speaker 1: are only allowed to be deducted from quarterly bonuses, but 701 00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:54,680 Speaker 1: Nigard illegally deducted them from weekly pay Forbes rights. Twenty 702 00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:57,080 Speaker 1: five dollar fines were common for such offenses as leaving 703 00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:59,600 Speaker 1: a dirty glass on a beach cabana, not having Niggard's 704 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:01,759 Speaker 1: room enough when he arrived, and for the presence of 705 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:05,000 Speaker 1: house flies in the grand Hall. Executives at Niagard corporate 706 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:07,960 Speaker 1: offices lived under a similar threat of penalties. For example, 707 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:11,000 Speaker 1: the employment contract of Norman Neil, a former vice president, 708 00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:15,040 Speaker 1: advised that after receiving full indoctrination, including so called basic 709 00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:17,759 Speaker 1: policy framework training, you would be septed to a fine 710 00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:20,160 Speaker 1: equal to five percent of his bonus for violations of 711 00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:23,239 Speaker 1: company policies. Neil was fired and he later sued for 712 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:26,920 Speaker 1: breach of employment contract. Niagrid countersuit and the case was settled. 713 00:38:27,520 --> 00:38:29,640 Speaker 1: So this is just kind of the way this guy rolls, 714 00:38:29,719 --> 00:38:31,759 Speaker 1: and it is, I guess interesting that he treats his 715 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:36,880 Speaker 1: vps kind of the same way. Um that that's honestly 716 00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:40,480 Speaker 1: the most house thing so far, like you'd think, I mean, 717 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:42,760 Speaker 1: maybe it's just like all of the Hollywood indoctrination about 718 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:46,120 Speaker 1: like even the evil capitalist rich people at their house 719 00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:50,160 Speaker 1: on the beach are like really into like seeming really 720 00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:52,600 Speaker 1: cool to the people who are around them, including like 721 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:55,880 Speaker 1: the higher up people who work for them or whatever, like, no, 722 00:38:56,040 --> 00:39:01,600 Speaker 1: this guy is, it's amazing, it's it's yeah, he's comprehensively 723 00:39:01,719 --> 00:39:04,799 Speaker 1: a piece of ship. Now there's more things we could 724 00:39:04,800 --> 00:39:06,879 Speaker 1: say about Peter's treatment of his employees, but I think 725 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:10,160 Speaker 1: we have now covered the most consequential cruelties. So it's 726 00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:13,719 Speaker 1: probably time to discuss the primary group of people outside 727 00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:16,880 Speaker 1: of laborers that he targeted for horrific cruelty, which was 728 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:19,680 Speaker 1: any young woman who happened to be anywhere near his orbit. 729 00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:23,960 Speaker 1: Often the employees he abused where were obviously, as this 730 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:26,800 Speaker 1: excerpt from The New York Times makes clear. A nineteen 731 00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:29,640 Speaker 1: eighty news article described an area of his office in Winnipeg, 732 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:31,920 Speaker 1: the city in Manitoba where he built his company, as 733 00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:34,600 Speaker 1: a passion pit, with a mirrored ceiling and a couch 734 00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:37,400 Speaker 1: that transformed into a bed at the push of a button. 735 00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:42,600 Speaker 1: This is his office in Winnipeg. Um, if anyone calls 736 00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:45,719 Speaker 1: your boss's office a passion pit, it's time. That's not 737 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:48,640 Speaker 1: a place. That's not don't go don't go to that's 738 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:50,439 Speaker 1: not a good place. Don't go to the pack. Don't 739 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:52,920 Speaker 1: go to anything called the passion pit unless it's like 740 00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:56,840 Speaker 1: a like a juice restaurant that that focuses on passion 741 00:39:56,880 --> 00:39:59,680 Speaker 1: fruit and like peaches a lot, and I guess it 742 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:01,960 Speaker 1: might be okay, or like a kind of if you're 743 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:04,640 Speaker 1: into the kind of sleazy swinger club that we call 744 00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:09,240 Speaker 1: itself the passion Pit. Obvious, no judgment. Look, if there's 745 00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:12,000 Speaker 1: if there's like a dirty bar in an industrial part 746 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:15,680 Speaker 1: of Philly that promises key parties and like sixty five 747 00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:18,040 Speaker 1: cent rum and cokes and it's called the Passion Pit, 748 00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:21,439 Speaker 1: of course I'm going to go there totally. Yeah, that's 749 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:25,080 Speaker 1: just a good time. Um, that's just a good time. 750 00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:28,399 Speaker 1: And then a number of doctor visits afterwards, but most 751 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:32,000 Speaker 1: of that stuff anyway, whatever, Yeah, they got fucking things now, 752 00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:36,200 Speaker 1: So uh boy, I shouldn't lead directly from that to 753 00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:39,799 Speaker 1: this next paragraphs. You know we're gonna to Margarets Is, 754 00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:41,799 Speaker 1: We're going to roll to ads and just try to 755 00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:44,960 Speaker 1: let let a little bit of capitalism cleanse our palates. 756 00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:50,040 Speaker 1: This is our palate cleanser, little little little bit of 757 00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:58,000 Speaker 1: an ad break, dabble off down the shopping pause. Whoa, 758 00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:08,160 Speaker 1: it's all bad except for these ads. Oh we're back 759 00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:13,480 Speaker 1: over the years. Peter Nigard was repeatedly accused of demanding 760 00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:17,160 Speaker 1: for that female employees satisfy him sexually. Uh. There were 761 00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:19,839 Speaker 1: at least nine women in Winnipeg and Los Angeles who 762 00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:24,000 Speaker 1: accused him of sexual harassment or assault. Um. The New 763 00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:26,600 Speaker 1: York Times spoke to ten other women who said that 764 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:30,960 Speaker 1: he had proposed sex, touched them inappropriately, or raped them. Um. 765 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:33,319 Speaker 1: Since he sold fashion for women, Peter worked hard for 766 00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:36,600 Speaker 1: decades to maintain the image of an eccentric playboy. But 767 00:41:36,640 --> 00:41:38,640 Speaker 1: when it was basically good at heart, right, he would 768 00:41:38,719 --> 00:41:41,719 Speaker 1: dress ostentatiously, he would have this. He was always photographed 769 00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:44,319 Speaker 1: with models and stuff, and there's even photos of like 770 00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:46,720 Speaker 1: his passion pit and his like living room and stuff 771 00:41:46,719 --> 00:41:48,960 Speaker 1: and all of his fancy things. But his whole attitude 772 00:41:48,960 --> 00:41:50,160 Speaker 1: was that like, well, yeah, I'm a little bit of 773 00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:51,719 Speaker 1: a play with but look, you know, my mom and 774 00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:53,759 Speaker 1: my sister helped me run the company. Like I'm a 775 00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:57,160 Speaker 1: good guy at heart. I just like to um. Anyway, 776 00:41:57,840 --> 00:42:00,239 Speaker 1: when he wrote about his one brief marriage to a 777 00:42:00,280 --> 00:42:02,799 Speaker 1: model in the nineteen seventies, he refused to name her 778 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:05,080 Speaker 1: and claim that she had left him after three years 779 00:42:05,120 --> 00:42:08,080 Speaker 1: because quote, I worked too hard, which is again you 780 00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:10,000 Speaker 1: see what he's doing here is He's like, look, yeah, 781 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:12,040 Speaker 1: I had a marriage break up. It's because I worked 782 00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:14,080 Speaker 1: too hard. But like, that's not done me. And I'm 783 00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:19,160 Speaker 1: a bad guy, you know. I just that's what I do. Yeah, Um, 784 00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:22,120 Speaker 1: it's it's it's it worked for a while. In other interviews, 785 00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:24,000 Speaker 1: Niagret would bemoan that he had given up on the 786 00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:26,440 Speaker 1: concept of marriage. He claimed that in his youth it 787 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:28,640 Speaker 1: had been about finding a partner you wanted to stay 788 00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:31,759 Speaker 1: with for life. Quote. It doesn't mean that anymore, he said, 789 00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:35,200 Speaker 1: claiming he was disillusioned about what marriage has turned out 790 00:42:35,200 --> 00:42:38,040 Speaker 1: to be. People aren't necessarily happier when they get married. 791 00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:39,719 Speaker 1: I think you can be a very good partner to 792 00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:42,080 Speaker 1: someone if you have to earn that partnership every day 793 00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:44,960 Speaker 1: rather than be legally bound to do it. Um. So 794 00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:50,319 Speaker 1: another good. Yeah, that sounds that's like fine, Like, but 795 00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:53,640 Speaker 1: that's not what he does. Um, that is very much 796 00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:57,600 Speaker 1: not what he does. Um. It certainly does not jell 797 00:42:57,760 --> 00:43:00,200 Speaker 1: with the picture of the man's relationship styles painted by 798 00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:03,240 Speaker 1: this Forbes profile quote. Niagard went on to have seven 799 00:43:03,320 --> 00:43:06,719 Speaker 1: children with four different women Karina Paca, and eventually gets 800 00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:09,560 Speaker 1: up to ten kids. Karina Paca, a former steward, has 801 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:12,000 Speaker 1: fought him for years in Ontario courts for child support 802 00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:14,239 Speaker 1: for their then teenage son, and I could argue the 803 00:43:14,239 --> 00:43:16,279 Speaker 1: amount she saw it was excessive and would destroy the 804 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:20,520 Speaker 1: child's work ethic. Give him a case of affluenza. I know, right, 805 00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:25,480 Speaker 1: what a what a cool guy? Um? Yeah, he's just 806 00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:29,959 Speaker 1: such a slee's ball. Um. But it works really well. 807 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:32,560 Speaker 1: He's making fucking bank. He's like one of the biggest 808 00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:36,240 Speaker 1: names in fashion. Allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace 809 00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:38,720 Speaker 1: have flittered out around Peter for most of his career. 810 00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:41,880 Speaker 1: We know that. In nineteen eighty, the Winnipeg Free Press 811 00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:43,799 Speaker 1: reported that he'd been charged with the rape of an 812 00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:47,120 Speaker 1: eighteen year old girl by local authorities. Those charges were 813 00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:49,880 Speaker 1: dropped when the complainant refused to testify. I'll give you 814 00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:53,200 Speaker 1: some guesses as to why. Niagard claimed the police had 815 00:43:53,280 --> 00:43:55,880 Speaker 1: used poor judgment in investigating the case. He told the 816 00:43:55,880 --> 00:43:58,120 Speaker 1: Free Press that he planned to finance the creation of 817 00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:04,560 Speaker 1: a foundation to improve the Canadians audicial system. Never happened. Look, 818 00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:06,080 Speaker 1: I want to fix this. We all want to get 819 00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:10,000 Speaker 1: to the bottom of this problem, right, investigating us poor 820 00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:14,680 Speaker 1: innocent men. Yeah, it's poor innocent multi millionaires with at 821 00:44:14,719 --> 00:44:17,879 Speaker 1: this point twenty or thirty sexual assault and rape allegations 822 00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:21,440 Speaker 1: against them. A CBC investigation in the late two thousand 823 00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:25,960 Speaker 1: teens found Forbes says dredged up claims by former employees 824 00:44:25,960 --> 00:44:29,520 Speaker 1: that he'd abused In the nineteen nineties, It's alleged Niagard 825 00:44:29,520 --> 00:44:32,279 Speaker 1: paid to have three sexual harassment complaints settled through the 826 00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:35,279 Speaker 1: Manitoba Human Rights Commission. Since the cases did not go 827 00:44:35,360 --> 00:44:38,160 Speaker 1: to court, no records exist about what these cases were about, 828 00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:41,360 Speaker 1: but the Winnipeg Free Press published articles about the complaints. 829 00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:44,200 Speaker 1: One was from a twenty seven year old travel coordinator 830 00:44:44,239 --> 00:44:48,080 Speaker 1: who claimed she repeatedly brushed off Niagard's touches and sexual advances. 831 00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:51,080 Speaker 1: Another claims Niagard added skinny dipping to the agenda of 832 00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:54,120 Speaker 1: a business meeting. Business events were often held on his 833 00:44:54,160 --> 00:44:58,280 Speaker 1: Bahamanian compound, well Niagard would, according to one employee, frequently 834 00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:01,840 Speaker 1: grabbed himself while wearing a small aithing shoot suit. She complained, 835 00:45:01,840 --> 00:45:04,200 Speaker 1: I would find him in a state of undress, pants open, 836 00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:06,040 Speaker 1: no shirt, or with his hand down the front of 837 00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:12,160 Speaker 1: his pants fondling himself. Gus really subtle, Yeah he's you 838 00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:14,239 Speaker 1: will see a picture. You know what, Sophie, it's time 839 00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:17,520 Speaker 1: to show Margaret a picture of Peter Niard. This count 840 00:45:17,680 --> 00:45:21,719 Speaker 1: time for Margaret to see this man. Yes, this this violates. 841 00:45:21,840 --> 00:45:24,560 Speaker 1: Actually all of us have have have grounds to sue. 842 00:45:24,600 --> 00:45:31,560 Speaker 1: Now sue him for his photo. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm 843 00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:34,360 Speaker 1: trying to side which I'm gonna I'm just gonna go 844 00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:38,240 Speaker 1: to Google images he's he looks, and then just share 845 00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:42,200 Speaker 1: my screen because I can't. I can't pick one look 846 00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:45,840 Speaker 1: like Ethically, I can't suggest that like people get charged 847 00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:48,799 Speaker 1: with sexual harassment just based on their physical appearance. But 848 00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:52,000 Speaker 1: if you were going to do it, Peter Niagard would 849 00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:55,879 Speaker 1: be the guy. He looks like how Trump thinks he looks. Yes, yes, 850 00:45:55,960 --> 00:45:59,680 Speaker 1: that's exactly how he looks. And he has his hair 851 00:45:59,800 --> 00:46:03,759 Speaker 1: is sucking amazing. No, like um, he's got the like 852 00:46:04,600 --> 00:46:10,040 Speaker 1: silver fox thing down, but in a like creep Yeah, 853 00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:15,080 Speaker 1: like you could. Yeah, he wears. We'll talk about the 854 00:46:15,200 --> 00:46:19,480 Speaker 1: v NEX in a little bit really deep. He he 855 00:46:19,560 --> 00:46:26,960 Speaker 1: was jacked at one point, yeah, but he did. He was. 856 00:46:27,080 --> 00:46:32,360 Speaker 1: He was muscular at c He does look like he 857 00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:35,520 Speaker 1: looks like the bad guy from a Paul Verhoeven movie. 858 00:46:36,280 --> 00:46:39,520 Speaker 1: Like he looks like someone RoboCop would shoot at like 859 00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:42,520 Speaker 1: the like the hour and twenty five minute, or the 860 00:46:42,560 --> 00:46:47,279 Speaker 1: androids will hold over and be like I want more life. Yeah, yeah, 861 00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:51,840 Speaker 1: the androids will accuse him of sexual assault. Incredibly, Um 862 00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:55,600 Speaker 1: he's he's he does also look and this is bury 863 00:46:55,640 --> 00:47:00,759 Speaker 1: inside Baseball for people who live in's name through the 864 00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:04,520 Speaker 1: weather map, Dallas rains. I want that guy to be 865 00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:09,239 Speaker 1: good in every way because if so, yeah, from a 866 00:47:09,280 --> 00:47:16,759 Speaker 1: big dominative determinalists, so I can't imagine he's bad. But okay, okay, no, 867 00:47:16,920 --> 00:47:21,760 Speaker 1: See he looks nice, Peter Niagard, Peter n he looks 868 00:47:21,880 --> 00:47:23,960 Speaker 1: rich in all of his photos, but also like he 869 00:47:24,000 --> 00:47:26,120 Speaker 1: would leave a film if he sat in your car, 870 00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:28,799 Speaker 1: you would have to scrub it, and not just with 871 00:47:28,880 --> 00:47:31,160 Speaker 1: like a spray bottle and a little bit of like 872 00:47:31,160 --> 00:47:33,440 Speaker 1: like a paper towel, Like you need to actually get 873 00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:36,000 Speaker 1: like one of those green scrubby things to really get 874 00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:38,279 Speaker 1: in there, because it's going to get in the crevices. 875 00:47:38,360 --> 00:47:42,480 Speaker 1: The Niagard goo. So when the Free Press reached out 876 00:47:42,520 --> 00:47:47,200 Speaker 1: for comments on the case of him pulling down the 877 00:47:47,239 --> 00:47:50,200 Speaker 1: pant fondling himself in front of an employee, Niagard threatened 878 00:47:50,239 --> 00:47:54,560 Speaker 1: a defamation suit against the paper, the reporter and another employee. 879 00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:56,960 Speaker 1: He was accused of rape again by a Los Angeles 880 00:47:57,000 --> 00:48:00,440 Speaker 1: employee who he later fired. The case was eventually smissed. 881 00:48:01,040 --> 00:48:03,640 Speaker 1: Now none of these all again, this is the eighties 882 00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:05,879 Speaker 1: through the nineties, that none of these allegations do more 883 00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:08,719 Speaker 1: than cause mild talk, right, like, this does not harm 884 00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:11,399 Speaker 1: him in any way. There's not a lot of way 885 00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:13,680 Speaker 1: to search things on the internet, so unless you're really 886 00:48:13,719 --> 00:48:16,280 Speaker 1: paying attention to his life, it's not something you're gonna 887 00:48:16,280 --> 00:48:18,640 Speaker 1: just like drum up the fact that there's these stories 888 00:48:18,640 --> 00:48:21,960 Speaker 1: in fucking Canada about him. Um so now you've got 889 00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:24,440 Speaker 1: to live a life of opulence and semi glamour. He 890 00:48:24,560 --> 00:48:27,520 Speaker 1: co hosted an annual Oscar party in Los Angeles, which 891 00:48:27,520 --> 00:48:30,560 Speaker 1: he build as the Night of a Thousand Stars, actual 892 00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:32,719 Speaker 1: Hollywood in crowd, people knew it as the Night of 893 00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:35,600 Speaker 1: a thousand has Beens because no one but B listers 894 00:48:35,600 --> 00:48:37,799 Speaker 1: tended to show up. It was at one of these 895 00:48:37,840 --> 00:48:41,279 Speaker 1: parties that he may yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a real 896 00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:44,839 Speaker 1: Hollywood burn. And again, the people burning in here are 897 00:48:44,840 --> 00:48:50,600 Speaker 1: probably the people using Epstein as like him, So let's 898 00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:53,719 Speaker 1: not yeah anyway, it's at one of these parties that 899 00:48:53,800 --> 00:48:57,560 Speaker 1: he met Anna Nicole Smith, who he dated from two 900 00:48:57,600 --> 00:49:00,680 Speaker 1: thousand one. After she died of an overdose in two 901 00:49:00,680 --> 00:49:03,120 Speaker 1: thousand seven, he went on Montell Williams to claim that 902 00:49:03,160 --> 00:49:07,640 Speaker 1: he'd tried to get her off drugs, which based on 903 00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:09,839 Speaker 1: some things we'll talk about in a bit, I don't 904 00:49:09,880 --> 00:49:16,920 Speaker 1: think it's likely. Come on, it's very sad. It's a 905 00:49:16,960 --> 00:49:20,040 Speaker 1: real bummer, real bummer. Uh. Now, he had a private 906 00:49:20,040 --> 00:49:22,520 Speaker 1: plane where he did the normal rich guy stuff. They 907 00:49:22,560 --> 00:49:24,279 Speaker 1: put a bar in there, he put stripper poles in 908 00:49:24,280 --> 00:49:26,360 Speaker 1: a bed in there, and like, look, you've got a 909 00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:29,000 Speaker 1: private jet, which you shouldn't, but of course you're gonna 910 00:49:29,040 --> 00:49:31,239 Speaker 1: do some like wacky S seven ship like that. All 911 00:49:31,239 --> 00:49:33,120 Speaker 1: that is worth noting. He's doing this in like the 912 00:49:33,200 --> 00:49:37,160 Speaker 1: eighties and nineties. Um, this is all anyway. Whatever would 913 00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:43,200 Speaker 1: be like it's like led Zeppelin ship. Um. And at 914 00:49:43,280 --> 00:49:47,320 Speaker 1: least one instance, Nygard's seventeen year old girlfriend was filmed 915 00:49:47,400 --> 00:49:51,840 Speaker 1: dancing on one of the poles. So again, Epstein E 916 00:49:52,320 --> 00:49:55,080 Speaker 1: we're not yet getting into the stuff. That's yeah, but 917 00:49:55,120 --> 00:49:57,440 Speaker 1: we're starting to get into the Epstein stuff. Right. Flying 918 00:49:57,480 --> 00:50:01,040 Speaker 1: around children on your your sex plane, that's that's that's 919 00:50:01,040 --> 00:50:04,479 Speaker 1: abstain territory. We're in there, you know, we're we're running deep. 920 00:50:04,520 --> 00:50:07,960 Speaker 1: We've made a first down. That's a basketball term, right, 921 00:50:08,000 --> 00:50:10,600 Speaker 1: So if he's moving right along, Um, I'm gonna quote 922 00:50:10,600 --> 00:50:13,439 Speaker 1: from Forbes here. A former stewardess on his private plane 923 00:50:13,520 --> 00:50:16,000 Speaker 1: told of one incident in which Niagard was accompanied by 924 00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:18,480 Speaker 1: a bevy of topless women. At one point in midflight, 925 00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:21,520 Speaker 1: she recalls Niagard, wild haired and with his bathrobe open, 926 00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:25,400 Speaker 1: began berating her coworker, yelling, you are nothing, you are garbage. 927 00:50:25,520 --> 00:50:27,640 Speaker 1: When the stewardess tried to calm him down, he screamed, 928 00:50:27,680 --> 00:50:30,680 Speaker 1: I am God. Do you not understand. Even after the 929 00:50:30,719 --> 00:50:34,200 Speaker 1: security director intervened, she claims, Niagard continued to rage, shouting, 930 00:50:34,239 --> 00:50:36,080 Speaker 1: this is my plane. I could do whatever the hell 931 00:50:36,120 --> 00:50:39,840 Speaker 1: I want. That's that's the way the rules work. Cool guy, 932 00:50:39,880 --> 00:50:42,680 Speaker 1: Cool guy. I mean they do for him for like decades. 933 00:50:43,040 --> 00:50:45,440 Speaker 1: So that's why he feels that way. He's not like 934 00:50:45,600 --> 00:50:49,120 Speaker 1: making He hasn't like invented this out of peer like 935 00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:52,560 Speaker 1: that would normally be evidence of delusion, but for decades, 936 00:50:52,640 --> 00:50:55,520 Speaker 1: that's the way the world works for Peter. Like, not 937 00:50:55,640 --> 00:50:57,120 Speaker 1: that that's good, but that is the way the world 938 00:50:57,160 --> 00:50:58,640 Speaker 1: works for him because he gets away with all of 939 00:50:58,640 --> 00:51:01,560 Speaker 1: this for an extremely long time. Also, I should note, 940 00:51:01,640 --> 00:51:05,920 Speaker 1: for legal purposes, he denies that story above um, although 941 00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:08,560 Speaker 1: I don't think he'll be suing us anytime soon because 942 00:51:08,600 --> 00:51:14,520 Speaker 1: of where he's located. By far, Peter's most beloved possession. Yes, yeah, um, 943 00:51:14,600 --> 00:51:17,440 Speaker 1: By far Peter's most beloved possession, and the center of 944 00:51:17,440 --> 00:51:20,440 Speaker 1: his image is a care free playboy. Fuck Monster was 945 00:51:20,600 --> 00:51:23,960 Speaker 1: nigred k a chunk of the coastline of New Providence, 946 00:51:23,960 --> 00:51:26,799 Speaker 1: which is in the Bahamas, that he renamed after himself. 947 00:51:27,160 --> 00:51:29,879 Speaker 1: The compound was Mayan themed and it had the look 948 00:51:29,920 --> 00:51:33,680 Speaker 1: of a tropical temple city. I described the build no, 949 00:51:33,960 --> 00:51:36,920 Speaker 1: just just that that way just I have nothing to 950 00:51:36,960 --> 00:51:40,759 Speaker 1: add to that, but that stands for its own. It 951 00:51:40,840 --> 00:51:43,080 Speaker 1: does say a lot, right when you have built your 952 00:51:43,080 --> 00:51:47,000 Speaker 1: own Mayan temple city to yourself in the Bahamas, like 953 00:51:47,360 --> 00:51:53,200 Speaker 1: sovereign country that you have just bought an ignored. Um. 954 00:51:53,239 --> 00:51:55,480 Speaker 1: I would describe the build quality based on what I 955 00:51:55,520 --> 00:51:58,440 Speaker 1: can see is like Disney World quality. Like it looks 956 00:51:58,480 --> 00:52:01,600 Speaker 1: like it was. It looked pretty cool. I'm not gonna lie. 957 00:52:01,920 --> 00:52:05,480 Speaker 1: The Mayan temples didn't look bad. The grand hall was 958 00:52:05,560 --> 00:52:08,720 Speaker 1: thirty two thou square feet with a hundred thousand pound 959 00:52:08,800 --> 00:52:12,719 Speaker 1: glass ceiling. Uh Nigred k was featured on Lifestyles of 960 00:52:12,719 --> 00:52:15,719 Speaker 1: the Rich and the Famous. It hosted celebrities like Oprah, 961 00:52:15,800 --> 00:52:19,359 Speaker 1: who claimed I'm not living large enough after seeing it 962 00:52:19,960 --> 00:52:24,160 Speaker 1: for years. Yeah, yeah, there you go. Of course, Oprah constantly, 963 00:52:24,239 --> 00:52:27,080 Speaker 1: like a little D level villain in like seven or 964 00:52:27,120 --> 00:52:31,080 Speaker 1: eight of Art, moves through it. Yeah, just a little thread, 965 00:52:31,160 --> 00:52:33,560 Speaker 1: just like what's going on with her? She kind of 966 00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:35,600 Speaker 1: seems like she might be up to some evil stuff, 967 00:52:35,640 --> 00:52:40,480 Speaker 1: but also everyone loves her um fun stuff. Anyway. For years, 968 00:52:40,480 --> 00:52:43,040 Speaker 1: the compound was one of the most infamous examples of 969 00:52:43,080 --> 00:52:46,080 Speaker 1: wealthy access on the planet. I want to play a 970 00:52:46,160 --> 00:52:48,959 Speaker 1: clip for you, Margaret from a two thousand four show 971 00:52:49,080 --> 00:52:52,359 Speaker 1: called Life of Luxury. Now. The woman you're gonna hear 972 00:52:52,400 --> 00:52:55,080 Speaker 1: talking first is Bianca Nigred, who's his daughter and at 973 00:52:55,080 --> 00:52:59,880 Speaker 1: this point is the chief of operations for his compound. Hi, welcome, 974 00:53:00,120 --> 00:53:04,440 Speaker 1: nag Key. We have anything you could possibly imagine. Champoline 975 00:53:04,440 --> 00:53:10,840 Speaker 1: out on the water, tennis courts, basketball court, beach, volleyball, pool, volleyballs. 976 00:53:10,880 --> 00:53:13,880 Speaker 1: Every Sunday we have a paper party with nanicures and 977 00:53:13,960 --> 00:53:18,400 Speaker 1: pedicures and massages for I guess this highway of Heathenism 978 00:53:18,520 --> 00:53:22,840 Speaker 1: boast a hundred and fifty thousand square foot wonderlander of excess, 979 00:53:22,920 --> 00:53:28,239 Speaker 1: the ocean, the water slide. There's even a human aquarium 980 00:53:28,280 --> 00:53:30,640 Speaker 1: that's not crazy. I need to pack your back. Sorry. 981 00:53:30,880 --> 00:53:35,239 Speaker 1: The slice of having anchor rent it's the private, utopian 982 00:53:35,320 --> 00:53:39,000 Speaker 1: bachelor pet of this man Canada's clothing magnet. Peter and 983 00:53:39,080 --> 00:53:43,440 Speaker 1: I guard and entry is by invitation only. Personally, I 984 00:53:43,760 --> 00:53:47,920 Speaker 1: enjoyed the electric best when I have friends here with 985 00:53:48,040 --> 00:53:51,160 Speaker 1: which you shareff. It certainly is bigger enough with its 986 00:53:51,239 --> 00:53:56,759 Speaker 1: twenty two mem rooms built without walls, so that last 987 00:53:56,840 --> 00:54:02,040 Speaker 1: bets a little creepy, right without walls, built without walls, 988 00:54:03,680 --> 00:54:08,480 Speaker 1: and the human aquarium that does a shot. It's a 989 00:54:08,800 --> 00:54:14,240 Speaker 1: gross tank in as with a person in a bikini 990 00:54:14,360 --> 00:54:20,120 Speaker 1: in it. It is pretty fucking, pretty fucking Nardi and 991 00:54:20,960 --> 00:54:23,480 Speaker 1: we have not really started into the gross stuff. We've 992 00:54:23,480 --> 00:54:25,640 Speaker 1: started into the gross, but it gets a lot worse. 993 00:54:25,719 --> 00:54:28,719 Speaker 1: For now. You're not going to be surprised to learn 994 00:54:28,760 --> 00:54:30,640 Speaker 1: that a lot of those so called friends that he 995 00:54:30,719 --> 00:54:32,600 Speaker 1: likes to share his compound with, the ones who are 996 00:54:32,680 --> 00:54:36,960 Speaker 1: not celebrities, were extremely young women. Some of them were children. 997 00:54:37,600 --> 00:54:40,640 Speaker 1: A lot of them were children who were trafficked, sometimes 998 00:54:40,640 --> 00:54:44,880 Speaker 1: allegedly against their will, and systemically abused, systematically abused by 999 00:54:44,920 --> 00:54:47,839 Speaker 1: Peter Niagard. We're going to tell that story, and we're 1000 00:54:47,840 --> 00:54:50,880 Speaker 1: gonna tell you a lot more in part two. But Margaret, 1001 00:54:52,360 --> 00:54:56,640 Speaker 1: if you had tens of millions of dollars compound based 1002 00:54:56,680 --> 00:55:02,120 Speaker 1: off of the stolen artistic style of a Central American 1003 00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:05,799 Speaker 1: civilization on a Bahamanian island, where you committed a raft 1004 00:55:05,840 --> 00:55:07,719 Speaker 1: of felonies, what would it be and what would the 1005 00:55:07,719 --> 00:55:09,920 Speaker 1: felonies be? Well, the felonies is that people like that 1006 00:55:10,080 --> 00:55:15,320 Speaker 1: would be in the aquarium and they would be in 1007 00:55:15,400 --> 00:55:18,400 Speaker 1: there for just long enough to before we lift them 1008 00:55:18,440 --> 00:55:20,799 Speaker 1: out again. It's just kind of a perpetual dunking tank 1009 00:55:21,320 --> 00:55:25,400 Speaker 1: and anyone who comes can can dunk them in. Um. 1010 00:55:26,239 --> 00:55:30,520 Speaker 1: That is that is what I would build. Yeah, yeah, 1011 00:55:30,600 --> 00:55:32,920 Speaker 1: I think I would do like a Khokey amount, But 1012 00:55:33,120 --> 00:55:35,320 Speaker 1: the mound is just a mass grave of guys like 1013 00:55:35,480 --> 00:55:40,920 Speaker 1: that my throne of bastard spells. Yeah, I think the 1014 00:55:41,320 --> 00:55:43,600 Speaker 1: I think the people of the Cookey Amounts would be 1015 00:55:43,680 --> 00:55:49,120 Speaker 1: okay with that. Um anyway, Margaret, you got that's that's 1016 00:55:49,120 --> 00:55:51,560 Speaker 1: all for part one. You got anything to plug? Well 1017 00:55:51,600 --> 00:55:55,840 Speaker 1: after that? Enjoyable? Uh yeah. I have a book that 1018 00:55:56,120 --> 00:55:58,680 Speaker 1: is probably out by the time you hear this, called 1019 00:55:58,760 --> 00:56:02,920 Speaker 1: we Won't be Here Tomorrow, which includes such stories as 1020 00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:07,400 Speaker 1: people programming drones to murder people like we're discussing the 1021 00:56:07,480 --> 00:56:13,840 Speaker 1: show in a fictional s because it's fiction. Um. And 1022 00:56:14,960 --> 00:56:17,960 Speaker 1: that book is out. And I also a host of 1023 00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:20,799 Speaker 1: a podcast called Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff, where 1024 00:56:20,880 --> 00:56:24,560 Speaker 1: you can hear um ban things that are sort of 1025 00:56:24,680 --> 00:56:30,080 Speaker 1: like this, Um, Margaret Banger, we won't be here tomorrow, 1026 00:56:30,239 --> 00:56:34,200 Speaker 1: but we will be back on Thursday. Part two, well done. 1027 00:56:35,040 --> 00:56:36,840 Speaker 1: I just thought of that one. Also, I have a 1028 00:56:36,880 --> 00:56:41,480 Speaker 1: book called After the Revolution. Find a K Press or 1029 00:56:42,400 --> 00:56:44,239 Speaker 1: a K Press has a bunch of indie bookstores you 1030 00:56:44,280 --> 00:56:46,040 Speaker 1: can order from. You can also get it from all 1031 00:56:46,080 --> 00:56:48,680 Speaker 1: of the regular bookstores. It's it's all over the place. 1032 00:56:48,840 --> 00:56:53,200 Speaker 1: Just type the words in and you'll find it. All right, everybody, 1033 00:56:53,960 --> 00:56:59,800 Speaker 1: alright Margaret, alright, alright, Sophie, Off we go to Nigrid 1034 00:57:01,800 --> 00:57:05,000 Speaker 1: but like in an i R kind of way. Yeah, there, 1035 00:57:05,200 --> 00:57:11,320 Speaker 1: there we go. No. Behind the Bastards is a production 1036 00:57:11,480 --> 00:57:14,080 Speaker 1: of cool Zone Media. For more from cool Zone Media, 1037 00:57:14,400 --> 00:57:17,840 Speaker 1: visit our website cool zone media dot com, or check 1038 00:57:17,920 --> 00:57:20,400 Speaker 1: us out on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 1039 00:57:20,480 --> 00:57:21,920 Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.