{ "version": "1.0.0", "segments": [ { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "0.692", "endTime": "4.885", "body": "This is part two of a two-part series. If you haven't listened to part one yet," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "5.094", "endTime": "9.727", "body": "I would recommend listening to that one first. This episode contains some adult material," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "10.084", "endTime": "14.34", "body": "so if you don't want to hear it, or you have children around, you may want to skip it." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "15.912", "endTime": "21.111", "body": "In May 2016, I attended a small security conference in Miami, Florida," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "20.419", "endTime": "22.681", "body": "for a company I was working for at the time." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "23.102", "endTime": "28.867", "body": "It wasn't anything big, just a few presentations, lunch, drinks, the usual." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "29.468", "endTime": "33.151", "body": "But there was one event I was especially interested in checking out." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "33.652", "endTime": "38.676", "body": "A presidential candidate was attending the conference and would be holding a Q&A." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "39.197", "endTime": "42.5", "body": "This candidate was a strong advocate for privacy reform," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "42.8", "endTime": "46.043", "body": "not just for individuals, but within the government itself." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "47.044", "endTime": "51.889", "body": "He supported the decriminalization of drugs and wanted to promote cryptocurrencies" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "51.889", "endTime": "54.251", "body": "as a means of financial independence." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "55.332", "endTime": "59.135", "body": "By now, you might have guessed who I'm talking about, John McAfee." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "60.056", "endTime": "63.199", "body": "Of course, he never won, or even came close," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "63.94", "endTime": "67.123", "body": "but it was still cool to meet him and talk with him for a few minutes." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "67.964", "endTime": "71.447", "body": "Even in the short time I spoke with him and heard answers to questions," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "71.707", "endTime": "73.989", "body": "he came off exactly as he was described." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "73.989", "endTime": "78.333", "body": "Wild, unpredictable, and unapologetically himself." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "79.695", "endTime": "83.819", "body": "From running a yoga retreat in Colorado to fleeing to Belize" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "83.819", "endTime": "86.421", "body": "on this episode of In the Shell." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "88.543", "endTime": "89.204", "body": "Hello." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "89.704", "endTime": "91.526", "body": "Hey, why are we not shipping Windows 98?" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "91.526", "endTime": "92.066", "body": "Absolutely." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "92.587", "endTime": "95.229", "body": "Mr. Jobs, you're a bright and influential man." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "95.409", "endTime": "95.99", "body": "Here it comes." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "96.711", "endTime": "100.054", "body": "It's sad and clear that on several accounts you've discussed," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "100.114", "endTime": "101.395", "body": "you don't know what you're talking about." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "101.555", "endTime": "111.204", "body": "The key to success is developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "111.625", "endTime": "113.106", "body": "Janice and I don't own phones." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "113.526", "endTime": "116.809", "body": "Neither should you people, if you have any common sense." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "118.851", "endTime": "126.879", "body": "My name is Josh, and I'm able to keep this podcast independent and advertisement-free because of support from listeners like you." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "127.239", "endTime": "134.706", "body": "If you are finding value in what I'm doing here, consider becoming a paid supporter at members.sideofburritos.com." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "134.706", "endTime": "144.315", "body": "And as a thank you, members get early access to new videos, ad-free versions of everything, bonus content, and access to a live monthly Q&A." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "144.716", "endTime": "145.957", "body": "Thanks for considering." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "146.257", "endTime": "147.678", "body": "Now let's get back to the show." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "148.899", "endTime": "151.302", "body": "It's 1994 in Silicon Valley." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "151.722", "endTime": "157.688", "body": "John McAfee, a name already synonymous with antivirus software, does something unexpected." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "158.308", "endTime": "164.094", "body": "He resigns from McAfee Associates, the company he founded and built into an industry giant." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "164.794", "endTime": "174.123", "body": "At 49 years old, with a fortune from selling his stake, reportedly around $100 million by the mid-90s, McAfee decides to retire young." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "174.624", "endTime": "179.448", "body": "While many might have doubled down on new tech ventures, McAfee took a different path." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "179.648", "endTime": "190.859", "body": "He kept a low profile for a while, mentoring startups, giving the occasional lecture at Stanford, and tinkering on side projects like an early instant messaging app called PowWow." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "191.619", "endTime": "194.142", "body": "But corporate life no longer interested him." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "194.762", "endTime": "198.346", "body": "Instead, John sought something more spiritual and adventurous." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "199.467", "endTime": "202.43", "body": "By 2000, John McAfee had retreated to the wilderness." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "203.571", "endTime": "208.555", "body": "He bought a 290-acre ranch in the Colorado Rockies and built a yoga retreat." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "209.056", "endTime": "216.523", "body": "Picture McAfee in those days, a tech mogul in search of Zen, writing books on yoga, and spiritual enlightenment." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "217.243", "endTime": "226.072", "body": "He would start his day meditating at sunrise, surrounded by pine forests, a far cry from the cutthroat software world that he left behind." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "226.912", "endTime": "230.716", "body": "Around the same time, he also indulged his taste for adrenaline." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "231.537", "endTime": "238.824", "body": "In New Mexico, he purchased another large property and founded an ultralight aviation club dubbed the Sky Gypsies." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "239.444", "endTime": "246.271", "body": "It wasn't just flying, it was aero-trekking, skimming low over desert canyons and lightweight aircraft." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "246.811", "endTime": "250.655", "body": "Life seemed good for John McAfee, at least for a while." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "250.835", "endTime": "254.939", "body": "He was rich, free-spirited, and living on his own terms." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "254.939", "endTime": "258.142", "body": "But this peaceful chapter wouldn't last." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "258.442", "endTime": "262.165", "body": "The financial crisis of 2008 hit McAfee hard." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "262.736", "endTime": "269.895", "body": "Risky investments and economic collapse shrunk his fortune from $100 million to as little as $4 million." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "270.894", "endTime": "278.603", "body": "McAfee's lavish real estate, the sprawling compounds, the planes, the luxury toys, all of it had to be liquidated." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "279.398", "endTime": "283.314", "body": "The one-time king of antivirus was now facing a very different reality." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "283.926", "endTime": "287.026", "body": "Semi-retirement wasn't so comfortable anymore." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "288.107", "endTime": "294.714", "body": "Restless and dissatisfied, John started looking for his next move, and he found it far from American shores." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "295.918", "endTime": "304.667", "body": "In 2008, John McAfee packed up what remained of his fortune and headed to Belize, a small tropical country in Central America." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "305.34", "endTime": "312.09", "body": "He chose the island of Amberguese Quay, a Caribbean paradise of turquoise waters and swaying palms." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "312.722", "endTime": "315.211", "body": "There, he purchased an oceanfront estate." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "314.64", "endTime": "319.126", "body": "Not just a house, but a sprawling compound that would soon become infamous." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "320.528", "endTime": "324.113", "body": "Initially, McAfee claimed he had a noble purpose in Belize." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "324.293", "endTime": "327.257", "body": "He wanted to work on his new biomedical venture." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "328.199", "endTime": "333.206", "body": "He partnered with a young microbiologist to research natural antibiotics from rainforest plants," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "333.566", "endTime": "335.749", "body": "hoping to discover breakthrough cures." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "336.27", "endTime": "338.774", "body": "But trouble was brewing under the surface." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "339.475", "endTime": "342.779", "body": "McAfee's personality, always prone to extremes," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "342.779", "endTime": "345.463", "body": "began to assert itself in bizarre waves." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "345.824", "endTime": "350.029", "body": "The microbiologist who co-founded the lab with him suddenly quit," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "350.23", "endTime": "352.253", "body": "and the research project faltered." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "353.294", "endTime": "357.62", "body": "McAfee's interests shifted away from science and into darker corners." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "358.141", "endTime": "361.145", "body": "Rumors around Ambergase K grew outrageous." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "361.846", "endTime": "367.114", "body": "Neighbors whispered that John's pristine beach compound was now home to armed guards patrolling." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "367.114", "endTime": "373.439", "body": "with shotguns at night, a pack of large, aggressive dogs, and a rotating clique of teenage girlfriends." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "373.982", "endTime": "382.557", "body": "By many accounts, McAfee, once the Zen yoga enthusiast, had descended into a haze of guns, drugs, and paranoia." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "383.32", "endTime": "386.151", "body": "Imagine approaching McAfee's Belize compound." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "386.653", "endTime": "389.907", "body": "High walls and barbed wire encircled the property." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "390.348", "endTime": "393.501", "body": "At the gate, guards with rifles eyed you warily." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "394.505", "endTime": "399.948", "body": "Inside, John McAfee stands shirtless on his porch, a pistol strapped to his side." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "400.349", "endTime": "406.173", "body": "Young Belizean women lounge in hammocks nearby, and loyal but ferocious dogs roam the yard." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "406.795", "endTime": "414.587", "body": "By his own later account, he'd begun changing houses, or sleeping in different spots each night to evade potential assassins," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "415.23", "endTime": "416.816", "body": "never fully trusting anyone." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "417.7", "endTime": "419.588", "body": "Friends say he was experimenting." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "419.588", "endTime": "424.615", "body": "with powerful psychoactive drugs like the bath salt stimulant MDPV," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "425.015", "endTime": "431.384", "body": "and even searching for drugs that induce sexual behavior in women, as one reporter would later allege." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "432.005", "endTime": "437.012", "body": "Whether these salacious details were true or exaggerated, one thing is clear." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "437.513", "endTime": "440.597", "body": "John McAfee's life in Belize was anything but normal." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "441.098", "endTime": "443.481", "body": "He seemed to be living in his own world." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "444.323", "endTime": "447.848", "body": "Part pleasure-seeking hedonism, part fortress mentality," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "448.388", "endTime": "455.258", "body": "convinced someone, perhaps the Belizean government, perhaps cartels, perhaps anyone, was out to get him." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "456.019", "endTime": "459.764", "body": "During this time, the Belizean authorities certainly took notice." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "460.205", "endTime": "467.095", "body": "In April 2012, McAfee's property was raided by the gang suppression unit of the Belize police." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "467.756", "endTime": "472.062", "body": "They were allegedly looking for an illegal drug lab, suspecting McAfee's..." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "472.062", "endTime": "474.149", "body": "Fee was manufacturing methamphetamine." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "475.193", "endTime": "480.714", "body": "Officers and tactical gear stormed a compound at dawn, detaining John and ransacking buildings." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "481.316", "endTime": "487.88", "body": "He claimed the raid was a sham, retaliation because he refused to pay a hefty bribe to a local politician," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "488.422", "endTime": "492.256", "body": "a $2 million donation that McAfee says he wouldn't pony up." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "493.039", "endTime": "497.456", "body": "The raid ultimately found no meth lab, and no charges were filed at the time." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "497.877", "endTime": "501.972", "body": "But it marked the beginning of a war between McAfee and the Belizean authorities." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "503.337", "endTime": "509.159", "body": "After that day, McAfee fortified his compound even further, and grew more mistrustful." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "510.143", "endTime": "515.362", "body": "He started wearing a handgun on his person at all times, and spoke openly about government corruption." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "515.984", "endTime": "520.963", "body": "Some locals thought he had gone mad. He insisted he was being targeted unjustly." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "522.308", "endTime": "524.536", "body": "Tensions between John McAfee and his neighbors" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "524.536", "endTime": "530.765", "body": "were nearing a breaking point. One neighbor in particular, Gregory Fall, an American retired" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "530.765", "endTime": "536.833", "body": "builder who lived just on the beach, had numerous spats with McAfee. Fall complained formally to" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "536.833", "endTime": "541.9", "body": "the town council that McAfee's aggressive dogs and armed guards were disturbing the peace." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "542.481", "endTime": "547.929", "body": "He wasn't the only one fed up with the eccentric expat next door, but he was the most vocal." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "548.79", "endTime": "553.757", "body": "McAfee was furious about the complaint. He allegedly told friends that his dogs had been" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "553.757", "endTime": "560.226", "body": "poisoned by someone, and indeed, two of his dogs died mysteriously, apparently poisoned, in early" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "560.226", "endTime": "570.401", "body": "November 2012. On November 11, 2012, the unthinkable happened. Gregory Fall was found dead in his home," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "570.701", "endTime": "577.01", "body": "shot in the head. The Belizean police quickly named John McAfee a person of interest." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "577.01", "endTime": "584.561", "body": "dressed in the murder. Whether out of fear, guilt, or both, McAfee panicked and went on the run" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "584.561", "endTime": "589.488", "body": "before the police could even question him. When the officers arrived at John's gate," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "589.748", "endTime": "595.436", "body": "they found only his dogs and an empty house. McAfee had vanished into the Belizean jungle." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "595.957", "endTime": "601.665", "body": "Thus began a chapter of International Cat and Mouse that turned John McAfee into a global" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "601.665", "endTime": "609.876", "body": "headline. For three weeks, the 67-year-old tech mogul eluded a countrywide manhunt. He disguised" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "609.876", "endTime": "616.606", "body": "himself, at one point dyeing his hair and beard jet black, even hiding in the sand, breathing through" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "616.606", "endTime": "622.835", "body": "a cardboard box, according to his own later recollections. Belizean special forces combed" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "622.835", "endTime": "629.484", "body": "the forest and swamps for any sign of him. Meanwhile, McAfee was skittishly moving under cover of darkness." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "629.484", "endTime": "633.43", "body": "convinced that if the authorities caught him, they'd kill him on the spot." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "634.131", "endTime": "636.113", "body": "I thought maybe they were coming for me." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "636.374", "endTime": "637.696", "body": "They got the wrong house." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "637.876", "endTime": "639.017", "body": "My neighbor's dead." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "639.438", "endTime": "640.439", "body": "They killed him." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "640.86", "endTime": "645.126", "body": "It spooked me out, he told Wired Magazine in an interview from Hiding." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "646.107", "endTime": "649.332", "body": "To the media, he insisted he was innocent of the murder" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "649.332", "endTime": "651.976", "body": "and that he was fleeing only because he feared" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "651.976", "endTime": "654.76", "body": "a corrupt government would silence him for good." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "655.781", "endTime": "658.966", "body": "McAfee's escape from Belize was as audacious and bizarre" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "658.966", "endTime": "660.568", "body": "as everything else in his life." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "661.029", "endTime": "665.054", "body": "After weeks on the run, he reappeared in a neighboring Guatemala" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "665.054", "endTime": "667.217", "body": "in early December 2012," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "667.878", "endTime": "672.024", "body": "only to be arrested by Guatemalan police for entering the country illegally." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "672.805", "endTime": "675.809", "body": "Now you might be asking what led the authorities to him." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "676.41", "endTime": "679.935", "body": "Incredibly, McAfee was undone by an iPhone photo." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "680.276", "endTime": "681.958", "body": "A pair of journalists from..." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "681.958", "endTime": "686.172", "body": "Vice Magazine had managed to secure an exclusive interview with The Fugitive." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "686.453", "endTime": "690.005", "body": "In their excitement, they posted a photo of McAfee online," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "690.246", "endTime": "693.296", "body": "forgetting to strip the image's GPS coordinates." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "693.878", "endTime": "697.249", "body": "That metadata gave away McAfee's exact location," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "697.51", "endTime": "701.362", "body": "and within days, Guatemalan law enforcement scooped him up." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "701.784", "endTime": "703.971", "body": "But the spectacle did not end there." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "704.834", "endTime": "706.981", "body": "As officials prepared to send him back to Belize," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "707.443", "endTime": "710.132", "body": "McAfee collapsed dramatically, clutching his chest." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "710.132", "endTime": "713.964", "body": "He was rushed to a hospital amid speculation of a heart attack." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "714.386", "endTime": "720.004", "body": "Many suspect this health crisis was a ploy to delay his deportation, and it worked." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "720.847", "endTime": "725.262", "body": "By the time he recovered, and the heart symptoms turned out to be not serious," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "725.864", "endTime": "729.777", "body": "Guatemala decided to deport McAfee to the United States instead of Belize." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "730.78", "endTime": "734.432", "body": "In December 2012, a frail but defiant" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "734.432", "endTime": "741.342", "body": "John McAfee arrived in Miami, back on American soil for the first time in years, and nominally" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "741.342", "endTime": "747.31", "body": "a free man. Belize would later seize his properties and still consider him a person of" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "747.31", "endTime": "754.04", "body": "interest, but John never returned there. One might expect John McAfee to lay low after that harrowing" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "754.04", "endTime": "760.128", "body": "escape, maybe slip into quiet anonymity in the United States, but John McAfee has never been" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "760.128", "endTime": "768.38", "body": "one for laying low. In 2013, barely a few months after his extradition drama, McAfee launched himself" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "768.38", "endTime": "775.65", "body": "back into the spotlight, this time with a heavy dose of self-aware humor. He produced a satirical" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "775.65", "endTime": "783.141", "body": "YouTube video titled How to Uninstall McAfee Antivirus. John appears in a silk robe, surrounded" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "783.141", "endTime": "786.906", "body": "by scantily clad women, snorting white powder, jokingly" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "786.906", "endTime": "790.492", "body": "labeled as bath salts, and firing a gun into his computer," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "790.935", "endTime": "794.057", "body": "all while mocking the very software that made him rich." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "794.581", "endTime": "798.207", "body": "Oh, hello there. My name is John McAfee." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "798.348", "endTime": "802.095", "body": "I'm the founder of the McAfee Antivirus Software Company." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "802.417", "endTime": "805.579", "body": "Although I've had nothing to do with this company for over 15 years," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "805.579", "endTime": "811.502", "body": "I still get volumes of mail asking, how do I uninstall this software?" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "812.207", "endTime": "813.395", "body": "I have no idea." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "814.181", "endTime": "819.76", "body": "The video is outrageous, profane, and over the top, and it instantly went viral." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "820.425", "endTime": "825.421", "body": "I tried one final time and got the Urban Dictionary Definition for McAfee." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "825.582", "endTime": "832.249", "body": "McAfee, a barely passable virus scanning program that updates at the worst possible times." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "832.632", "endTime": "836.298", "body": "Tends to render your computer completely useless whenever it starts an update," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "836.359", "endTime": "839.38", "body": "which it doesn't ask to start, and you cannot cancel." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "839.38", "endTime": "846.55", "body": "Or pause. McAfee updates at horrible times, almost like the creators want you to die." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "847.151", "endTime": "854.101", "body": "Here was McAfee, parroting his own public image as a drug-addled, girl-crazy wild man," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "854.321", "endTime": "858.167", "body": "as if daring the world to laugh with him at the legend he'd become." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "859.108", "endTime": "865.738", "body": "Beneath the satire, there was truth. He genuinely hated the modern McAfee antivirus software," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "865.738", "endTime": "870.304", "body": "which he called bloatware, and had long been urging people to uninstall it." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "871.005", "endTime": "878.976", "body": "The video struck a chord, turning McAfee into a kind of tech-folk anti-hero, unpredictable and unfiltered." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "879.918", "endTime": "884.524", "body": "Also in 2013, McAfee found companionship in an unlikely way." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "884.865", "endTime": "890.472", "body": "While holed up in Miami, he had hired a young prostitute named Janice Dyson for an evening." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "890.793", "endTime": "891.854", "body": "That encounter..." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "891.854", "endTime": "898.023", "body": "blossomed into an unusual romance. John and Janice married later that year, and Janice became his" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "898.023", "endTime": "904.252", "body": "steadfast partner through the chaos to come. She was more than 30 years his junior and had a" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "904.252", "endTime": "910.641", "body": "troubled past of her own, but John trusted her implicitly. Together, they settled into a home" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "910.641", "endTime": "917.29", "body": "in rural Tennessee and tried to live quietly. But quiet just wasn't in McAfee's DNA." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "918.252", "endTime": "924.46", "body": "By 2015, John McAfee was itching for a new stage. He dabbled in tech again," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "924.781", "endTime": "931.891", "body": "joining a startup and even becoming CEO of a publicly traded company, MGT Capital Investments," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "932.091", "endTime": "938.02", "body": "focusing on cybersecurity. But what really grabbed the headlines was McAfee's next stunt," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "938.34", "endTime": "944.328", "body": "running for President of the United States. In September 2015, John McAfee announced" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "944.328", "endTime": "951.238", "body": "his candidacy for the 2016 U.S. presidential election. He eventually sought the nomination" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "951.238", "endTime": "956.786", "body": "of the Libertarian Party, styling himself as a champion of personal freedom and privacy." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "957.167", "endTime": "962.995", "body": "His campaign slogan was Here's to the Crazy Ones, which was borrowed from an old Apple ad." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "964.237", "endTime": "969.344", "body": "McAfee fully embraced the role of the eccentric outsider candidate. He'd appear on talk shows" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "969.344", "endTime": "975.352", "body": "like Larry King Live, wearing tinted aviator glasses, waxing poetic about government overreach" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "975.352", "endTime": "980.66", "body": "and the importance of encrypting your data. He argued that the U.S. government had grown too" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "980.66", "endTime": "987.049", "body": "invasive, that privacy was sacred, and that he alone, as a tech guru who understood the dangers," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "987.329", "endTime": "994.72", "body": "could be a visionary for cyber defense and liberty. McAfee's 2016 presidential bid was less about" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "994.72", "endTime": "996.803", "body": "actually winning, and more about amplifying." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "996.803", "endTime": "1000.137", "body": "his renegade brand. He didn't come close to securing the Libertarian nomination," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1000.325", "endTime": "1003.954", "body": "that honor went to Gary Johnson, but McAfee had succeeded in transforming himself yet again." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1004.423", "endTime": "1007.517", "body": "As the years went on, John McAfee's life somehow grew even more chaotic." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1007.946", "endTime": "1012.914", "body": "Freed from the constraints of any job or office, McAfee found a new playground, Twitter. He amassed" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1012.914", "endTime": "1016.879", "body": "hundreds of thousands of followers who never knew what he'd say or do next. One day he might" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1016.879", "endTime": "1021.191", "body": "post a philosophical musing. The next, a shirtless photo brandishing weapons or a crude joke." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1021.821", "endTime": "1025.718", "body": "Unfiltered and uncensored, McAfee turned his Twitter account into a performance art piece of his life." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1026.308", "endTime": "1030.218", "body": "Around 2017, McAfee became one of the loudest voices in the exploding world of cryptocurrency." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1030.633", "endTime": "1031.852", "body": "He was an early evangelist for" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1031.852", "endTime": "1031.879", "body": "endar something of 특히" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1031.879", "endTime": "1031.892", "body": "Not a reprogram которой" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1048.661", "endTime": "1049.277", "body": "to" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1049.277", "endTime": "1055.224", "body": "Bitcoin, and other digital currencies, preaching that crypto would empower individuals to resist" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1055.224", "endTime": "1061.436", "body": "government control of finance. His love for crypto was matched only by his flair for the dramatic." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1061.842", "endTime": "1070.084", "body": "In one infamous July 2017 tweet, John McAfee made a jaw-dropping bet. He swore he would eat his own" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1070.084", "endTime": "1077.371", "body": "dick on national television if the price of Bitcoin did not reach $1 million by the end of 2020." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1078.183", "endTime": "1085.207", "body": "This outrageous wager, equal parts confidence and shock value, cemented McAfee's status as a crypto bro." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1085.836", "endTime": "1091.114", "body": "And for the record, Bitcoin never reached that price target, but McAfee later backpedaled on the" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1091.114", "endTime": "1097.894", "body": "offer as a ruse, but the stunt had already become part of his mythology. Behind the scenes," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1098.584", "endTime": "1101.751", "body": "John had failed to pay U.S. income taxes for several years." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1101.751", "endTime": "1105.274", "body": "He openly admitted this, claiming taxation was illegitimate." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1105.655", "endTime": "1111", "body": "He was also allegedly making millions by promoting various cryptocurrencies and consulting." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1111.761", "endTime": "1116.626", "body": "In late 2019, McAfee learned that indictments were being prepared against him." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1117.247", "endTime": "1119.589", "body": "Sensing danger, he did what he knew best." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1119.829", "endTime": "1120.77", "body": "He ran." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1121.851", "endTime": "1125.695", "body": "John and Janice McAfee suddenly vanished from their Tennessee home." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1125.695", "endTime": "1134.545", "body": "They took to the high seas on a yacht, a white 60-foot yacht, ironically named The Great Mystery, roaming from port to port in the Caribbean." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1135.786", "endTime": "1141.412", "body": "McAfee declared he was in exile for his political beliefs, that he'd been charged for speaking out." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1141.952", "endTime": "1148.459", "body": "In reality, a grand jury had indeed indicted him for tax evasion, and it was about to be unsealed." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1149.1", "endTime": "1154.225", "body": "For the next few months in 2019, McAfee led authorities on a nautical goose chase." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1154.225", "endTime": "1160.247", "body": "He would pop up online posting videos from marinas in the Bahamas or anchoring off of Cuba." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1160.652", "endTime": "1166.999", "body": "He even offered to help Cuba evade U.S. sanctions using crypto, which the Cuban government politely declined." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1167.688", "endTime": "1171.784", "body": "In July 2019, the McAfee's luck nearly ran out." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1172.23", "endTime": "1178.982", "body": "Their yacht was boarded in the Dominican Republic, and John was detained on suspicion of bringing weapons into the country." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1179.59", "endTime": "1186.301", "body": "Local officials held him for four days, but once again, John charmed or negotiated his way out." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1186.747", "endTime": "1192.485", "body": "The Dominicans released him and allowed him to fly to London rather than handing him over to U.S. agents." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1193.013", "endTime": "1200.271", "body": "In a triumphant tweet, McAfee posted a photo of him and Janice on their escape flight, grinning ear to ear." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1201.022", "endTime": "1206.699", "body": "During this period, McAfee's behavior was as erratic as ever, and it was all playing out in public." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1206.699", "endTime": "1210.024", "body": "One week, he was challenging the U.S. government to come get me." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1210.384", "endTime": "1217.714", "body": "The next, he tweeted that he had been arrested in Norway for wearing a lace thong as a face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1218.195", "endTime": "1220.418", "body": "complete with a mugshot of him scowling." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1220.799", "endTime": "1224.804", "body": "When reporters asked Norway about it, they found no record of such an arrest." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1225.566", "endTime": "1228.309", "body": "McAfee later laughed it off as a hoax to trick the media." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1228.91", "endTime": "1233.216", "body": "He taunted authorities with such pranks, even as he was genuinely on the run." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1233.216", "endTime": "1242.269", "body": "In 2020, from some undisclosed bunker or boat, John mounted a second run for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1242.91", "endTime": "1250.441", "body": "Not surprisingly, his 2020 presidential bid fared no better than his first, and was largely ignored by mainstream media." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1250.861", "endTime": "1257.531", "body": "But it was official. John McAfee, fugitive, was campaigning to be John McAfee, U.S. president." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1258.031", "endTime": "1259.173", "body": "The absurdity of the U.S. president was a big fan of the U.S. president." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1259.173", "endTime": "1262.17", "body": "It was lost on no one, least of all McAfee himself." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1263.377", "endTime": "1266.293", "body": "John McAfee's luck ran out in the fall of 2020." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1266.876", "endTime": "1272.85", "body": "On October 3, 2020, while attempting to board a plane in Barcelona, McAfee was arrested" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1272.85", "endTime": "1274.056", "body": "by Spanish authorities." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1274.66", "endTime": "1280.231", "body": "The U.S. Department of Justice had finally unsealed its indictment, charging John with" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1280.231", "endTime": "1283.59", "body": "tax evasion for failing to report over $10 million in income." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1283.59", "endTime": "1290.529", "body": "On top of that, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission hit him with civil charges alleging" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1290.529", "endTime": "1297.106", "body": "McAfee had fraudulently promoted cryptocurrency ICOs, initial coin offerings, and earned $23" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1297.106", "endTime": "1300.444", "body": "million for those promotions without telling investors he was paid." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1301.611", "endTime": "1307.283", "body": "At 75 years old, John McAfee was looking at the very real prospect of spending the rest" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1307.283", "endTime": "1311.647", "body": "of his life in an American prison if extradited and convicted." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1312.67", "endTime": "1316.678", "body": "McAfee was thrown into a Spanish jail as the extradition proceedings began." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1317.537", "endTime": "1322.342", "body": "Ever defiant, he kept in touch with the world via Twitter through his lawyers." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1322.792", "endTime": "1326.964", "body": "His tweets from behind bars swung between upbeat and ominous." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1327.455", "endTime": "1332.404", "body": "On the one hand, he wrote in late 2020 that he liked his new life in prison," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1332.853", "endTime": "1336.33", "body": "finding the conditions good, and even making new friends," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1336.657", "endTime": "1339.418", "body": "saying he had no regrets and had found some peace." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1339.418", "endTime": "1343.181", "body": "But in another tweet, he referenced the fate of Jeffrey Epstein," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1343.426", "endTime": "1346.289", "body": "who died in jail under suspicious circumstances," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1346.657", "endTime": "1351.217", "body": "and he doubled down on his prior insistence that he would not die by his own hand." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1351.872", "endTime": "1357.639", "body": "Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine, McAfee warned." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1358.272", "endTime": "1360.911", "body": "He even got a tattoo on his arm that read whacked," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1361.422", "endTime": "1365.144", "body": "implying that he could be murdered by authorities just to get the message." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1364.121", "endTime": "1370.951", "body": "Cross. For about eight months, McAfee languished in a Spanish prison as his legal team fought" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1370.951", "endTime": "1378.001", "body": "extradition. Janice McAfee, his wife, rallied behind him, tweeting updates and proclaiming" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1378.001", "endTime": "1384.169", "body": "his innocence and vitality. But ultimately, the Spanish court approved John's extradition to the" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1384.169", "endTime": "1392.121", "body": "U.S. on June 23, 2021. It was effectively a green light for him to be sent back to face charges" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1392.121", "endTime": "1398.109", "body": "that could put him away for decades. John's reaction never came because mere hours later," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1398.45", "endTime": "1405.079", "body": "he was found dead. The official report from Spain was blunt. Suicide by hanging." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1406.321", "endTime": "1413.971", "body": "John McAfee was no more. He was 75, ending a life of infamy in a cold cell far from the tropical" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1413.971", "endTime": "1416.595", "body": "beaches he loved. But in death, he died." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1416.595", "endTime": "1423.605", "body": "as in life, McAfee sparked immediate controversy. News of his apparent suicide sent shockwaves" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1423.605", "endTime": "1429.372", "body": "through the media and online forums. Many recalled his own tweets and statements vowing that he would" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1429.372", "endTime": "1435.608", "body": "never take his own life. Conspiracy theories exploded within hours. Some noted that his" }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1435.608", "endTime": "1441.599", "body": "Instagram account bizarrely posted a single image of the letter Q, a possible reference to QAnon," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1441.844", "endTime": "1446.429", "body": "just minutes after his death, fueling wild speculation that it was a coded message." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1447.163", "endTime": "1452.726", "body": "Others pointed to his whacked tattoo and claims that secret authorities wanted him silenced." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1453.786", "endTime": "1459.186", "body": "McAfee's widow, Janice, publicly stated that she does not believe John killed himself." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1459.675", "endTime": "1464.973", "body": "She met with him in prison and the days before and said he was upbeat about the situation," }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1465.87", "endTime": "1469.069", "body": "fearing only that the extradition might actually succeed." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1469.694", "endTime": "1476.76", "body": "Janice questioned the Spanish authorities' rush to declare suicide and demanded a thorough investigation." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1481.978", "endTime": "1485.649", "body": "To this day, she continues to push for answers." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1490.992", "endTime": "1497.459", "body": "In the shell is written, researched, and recorded by me, the Belizean Podcaster." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1499.257", "endTime": "1505.649", "body": "If you are listening to this in an app that lets you rate shows, please take a minute to rate this one." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1506.598", "endTime": "1508.87", "body": "I would truly appreciate it." }, { "speaker": "Josh", "startTime": "1510.094", "endTime": "1514.263", "body": "That's it. Take care, and I'll see you next time." } ] }