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Bad Seeds

Bad Seeds

By: iHeartPodcasts
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The biggest black market you’ve never heard of is blooming right under your nose. Whether it’s a 4,000-pound cactus shoveled from the Arizona desert or delicate orchids pinched from the tangled jungle of Peru, rare plants are at the center of a rapidly growing and lucrative world of crime. Hosted by plant expert Summer Rayne Oakes, Bad Seeds plunges straight into it, featuring the buyers, the sellers, the obsessives, and those who came face-to-face with the criminals behind an underworld few know exist.

2025 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia Biological Sciences Science True Crime
Episodes
  • Very Special Episodes: The Dogs of Chernobyl

    Very Special Episodes: The Dogs of Chernobyl
    Nov 21 2025

    When Russia invaded Ukraine, hundreds of starving dogs were trapped inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. For years, Oregon-based veterinarian Dr. Jenn Betz had been their lifeline. Now, with Putin’s troops occupying the site, she had only one thought: How do I get back there?

    *

    Hi, Bad Seeds listeners! Check out this story from the Very Special Episodes podcast. You can listen to new episodes of VSE every Wednesday wherever you get your podcasts.

    Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, and Jason English
    Written by Lucas Reilly
    Senior Producer is Josh Fisher
    Story Editor is Virginia Prescott
    Editing and Sound Design by Jesse Nighswonger
    Mixing and Mastering by Jesse Nighswonger
    From School of Humans, producers are Emilia Brock, Edeliz Perez and Gabbie Watts
    Research and Fact-Checking by Lucas Reilly and Austin Thompson
    Original Music by Elise McCoy
    Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
    Social Clips by Yarberry Media
    Executive Producers are Virginia Prescott and Jason English

    Today's episode is a production of iHeartPodcasts and School of Humans.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
    Show More Show Less
    45 mins
  • Check out the Growing Joy with Plants Podcast

    Check out the Growing Joy with Plants Podcast
    Jun 8 2023

    Hey! This is Summer Rayne Oakes, host of Bad Seeds. Our season is wrapped, but if you want even more plant content, I wanted to recommend another podcast that I love. 

    Growing Joy with Plants explores the plant person connection, and teaches you how to care for plants successfully and cultivate joy in your life by doing so. Click over to Growing Joy with Plants and subscribe, and take a listen to this short trailer to get to know Maria better. You can listen on Apple, Spotify, and follow Maria on Instagram. 

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
    Show More Show Less
    3 mins
  • Episode 8: The Destroyer of Worlds

    Episode 8: The Destroyer of Worlds
    May 31 2023

    In Bad Seeds, we’ve explored the crimes of obsessed hobbyists, of organized criminals, and even corrupt governments. But what about the elephant in the room? What about when the places entrusted to conserve flora are committing the crimes? And what about those risking everything… to protect plant-life and our planet?

    This is the last episode of Season 1. But! You can get more plant content by following host Summer Rayne Oakes on her YouTube channels Plant One on Me and Flock. 

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
    Show More Show Less
    40 mins
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