Vassilis Paleokostas, aka “Greece’s Robin Hood,” has been on the lam for 14 years. In his absence, legends of his generosity have grown. But no one knows where he is, or if the stories are even true.
Here’s what we do know: there’s a million Euro bounty out for Vassilis, and a 24-hour task force trying to track him down. When he robs banks, he shares the money with the poor. When he kidnaps industrialists -- and he only kidnaps those who are known for unfair labor practices -- they give baffling interviews showing how he opened their minds. And when he escapes heavily reinforced prisons, as he’s done ... by helicopter ... twice, he does it without harming a guard.
Join host Miles Gray and our team of Greek reporters as we follow Vassilis’ trail from Athens to tiny islands to remote mountain hideouts. Along the way, we’ll meet Vassilis’s inner circle, chat with police chiefs and prime ministers, and work to understand how this thief managed to steal the country’s heart.
New from Kaleidoscope: Mind Games - Episode 1. The Guru's Guru.
What if someone told you that you could skip years of therapy with a few mental tricks? It sounded impossible… until we found Neuro-Linguistic Programming. NLP is a form of hypnosis beloved by everyone from sex cults to the U.S. military to fortune 500 companies–yet almost no one knows it exists.
Long before she co-founded NXIVM, hypnotist Nancy Salzman encountered NLP as a radical method for reprogramming the mind. Her story leads us to its inventor, Richard Bandler, a volatile, self-made guru. As we dig into how it took hold in so many places, we face an unsettling possibility: NLP might actually work.
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6 Jun 2024
Kaleidoscope recommends: Afghan Star!
A young radio producer in Afghanistan is given an impossible task: to create a brand new, revolutionary talent show in just two months.
To purchase original Afghan Star artwork visit www.awastudios.com/afghanstar (http://www.awastudios.com/afghanstar) — proceeds go to support The Noor Initiative, who are on a mission to ensure every Afghan girl has access to education and opportunity.
Music at the end of this episode from Afghan musician Qais Maroof, contestant on The Voice of Afghanistan.
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30 Aug 2023
Mountain King
After a rumored sighting, the team chases Vassilis deep into a remote mountain range, where everybody is hiding something.
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23 Aug 2023
The Unraveling
As Vassilis plans one last score, things start to fall apart. Meanwhile, thanks to a surprising tip, George and Christina come face-to-face with Vassilis’s older brother, Nikos.
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16 Aug 2023
How to Escape Prison by Helicopter (Part 1)
Nobody thought it was possible to escape from Greece’s toughest maximum security prison, until Vassilis did it. With a helicopter.
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9 Aug 2023
INTERMISSION: Search Party
We send Kaleidoscope’s Costas Linos along with investigative journalist Nick Niarchos on an adventure through anarchist enclaves, island retreats, and isolated monasteries to find out why Greece embraces outlaws like Vassilis.
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2 Aug 2023
The Gentleman’s Guide to Kidnapping
Vassilis spends his loot seeing the world, until he and Nikos stumble into a new idea: kidnapping.
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26 Jul 2023
Autobiography of a Good Thief
A mysterious manuscript gives us an inside look at Vassilis’s first prison escape, and explains how his moral code took shape.
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19 Jul 2023
Every Crook Needs a Mentor
Every bank robber has to start somewhere. We track down the man who taught Vassilis the art of crime.
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12 Jul 2023
The Good Thief - Ep 1. How to Rob Banks and Influence People
Miles and the team learn how Vassilis and his gang pulled off the biggest bank robbery in Greek history without firing a single shot.
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27 Jun 2023
Introducing: The Good Thief
Introducing the first season of OUTLAWS: The Good Thief. We’re on the trail of Vassilis Paleokostas, Greece’s most-wanted man—a real-life Robin Hood known for stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Fourteen years ago, after pulling off a string of unbelievable heists, Vassilis disappeared. Where is he now? And why does his legend still have such a hold on people?
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