{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"English Learning for Curious Minds | A More Interesting Way To Learn English ","title":"#636 | Victor Lustig: The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/cd38338e\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1474,"description":"In 1925, Victor Lustig convinced a Paris scrap-metal dealer that the French government was selling the Eiffel Tower.\n \nHis secret was a mixture of official papers, careful acting, and victims too embarrassed to report him.\n \nHe later returned to Paris and tried to sell it again.\n \n\nVictor Lustig reads that Paris may dismantle the rusting Eiffel Tower\nBorn in Bohemia, Lustig learns languages, gambles and develops his skill at deception\nOn Atlantic liners, he persuades wealthy passengers to invest in imaginary projects\nIn America, he sells a fake money-printing box containing hidden real banknotes\nA Texas sheriff confronts Lustig, then receives counterfeit money as compensation\nLustig uses forged ministry letters to invite scrap metal dealers to his hotel\nAndré Poisson buys the Eiffel Tower and pays Lustig a bribe\nPoisson stays silent from shame, so Lustig returns to attempt the scam again\nLustig tricks Al Capone into paying him for returning an untouched investment\nPolice arrest Lustig for counterfeiting; after escaping, he is recaptured and imprisoned\nFull interactive transcript, subtitles and key vocabulary available on the website: https://www.leonardoenglish.com/podcasts/sold-eiffel-tower","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/HIneD2bpN38ZyIYQqvz9OwtMc5c5ep366psJkVe0ZiU/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzU3MDEvMTYyMDk3/Mzg5MS1hcnR3b3Jr/LmpwZw.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}