Hey, guys. Am I still allowed to say that I did a partnership with wonderingly a podcast called Bunga Bunga? You guys no wonder they did Dirty Jon. They did Dr. Death.

Also, those like super fascinating audio podcasts that are very skinny, titillating, you know, leading skinny lady.

I need to Google them anyway.

Bunga bunga is this crazy story about Silvio Berlusconi. He was the former prime minister of Italy and he hypnotized the country in this crazy way.

It's basically just like a crime drama. And I know. Trust me, I do not like talking about politics or getting into politics.

But trust me, this is just like it's it's more of a mind bending thrill ride than anything else.

The story is just bananas, but the broad brush strokes of how it works, it's.

This shady billionaire real estate mogul who owns most of the TV stations in Italy, then the government decides to investigate him for bribery, blackmail, you know, the usual.

But where most people would have hired a lawyer, Silvio hired a campaign manager.

They can't arrest you for breaking the law if you just change the laws. Kind of genius, right?

Fast forward a little bit to Silvio is the prime minister of Italy.

Turns out manipulating the Italian people isn't that hard when you have charm, money and lots and lots of self.

Tanner But instead of making good on his promises to help the people, he threw these wild sex parties, like if they happened today, everyone would get covid.

He continued to blackmail government officials and spent most of his time watching soccer games like it's just nuts.

The craziest part about this story is that everyone in Italy knew what was going on and they still voted for him. Kind of sounds like America. And a tape. You see where I'm going with this.

Everyone was into it until two words brought his entire empire crashing down.

And those two words are bunga bunga, bunga, bunga, bunga bunga. I think I just had a stroke.

I'm going to play you a clip from the show. But why you're listening to be sure to subscribe on Apple podcasts. Or you can listen early and ad free by joining one degree plus in the Wonder app. OK, people, we're going to Milan, Italy, late on a Thursday night in May of 2010. It's a quiet night in the courtyard at number 11 VCF at that benefit. This building used to be a palace, but today it's Milan Central Police Station.

And this is business as usual.

Until officers bring in a 17 year old girl named Ruby, you know, the Ruby scandal is such a strange one because you have this young girl who gets arrested for essentially, you know, stealing something from one of her roommates. And she tells the police, listen, I'm someone important.

Ruby has wide eyes and pouty lips and let's be real. She doesn't look surprised to be here. This isn't her first brush with the cops. But a few hours after she arrives at the police station, something happens that will change everything. The phone rings on the other end of the line. Silvio Berlusconi. OK, here's what you need to know about Silvio Berlusconi. Some people like to say that in Italy, he's like Rupert Murdoch and Warren Buffett rolled into one.

But that doesn't even do justice to the influence he has in Italy. He's everywhere and he owns everything. Oh, I almost forgot.

When Ruby walks into that police station, Berlusconi's also the prime minister. That's who calls about this random 17 year old at a local precinct police station a little before midnight on a Thursday. And so everybody raises an eyebrow.

And sure enough, Berlusconi knew exactly who Ruby Ruby, quote unquote, the heart stealer was.

Ruby stage name is Ruby, Ruby Koorie, Ruby the Heart Stealer.

So what does the prime minister do when he hears Ruby the heart stealer's at the Milan police station? He tells the police that she's the Egyptian president's niece and he doesn't want an international incident. He tells the police to let her go. So they do. The end, thanks for joining us, everyone, from London. I'm Whitney Cummings, and this is the right like that's the end.

That is not the end, because obviously this one little phone call raises a ton of questions. For one thing, Ruby is not related to the Egyptian president. That was a lie. All of a sudden, you have someone as powerful as Berlusconi making a call. And this girl who's in jail for stealing out of her roommate's purse is sprung from jail. And that raised a lot of eyebrows like who on earth is this girl? Where does she come from?

How does she know Berlusconi?

And more importantly, what does she know? Because Ruby definitely knows something in the answer to what she knows is just two words.

Bunga, bunga, bunga, bunga, two words that will spell out a world of trouble for Berlusconi, for Italy and maybe the world.

Two words that are the mystery at the heart of this story. What the hell is bunga bunga? Well, let me just give you some advice. If anyone ever asks you to. Bunga bunga run with.

Coming up this season on bunga bunga, this kind of crazy moment with Berlusconi's bloodstained face and had he been shot? What was going on?

Somebody has been involved in kidnapping one of your house guests and you don't fire them right away. What does that mean?

Everywhere you looked, you saw these sort of grotesque, vulgar, inflated silicone bodies oozing out of plunging necklines and tottering on stiletto heels. We ran a cover, a famous cover initially saying the man who screwed an entire country, we have to attack, attack, attack.

If we treat our enemies with concentrated fire and fire relentlessly against them, they will finally stop. He said, is that girls, are you ready for the bunga bunga? I'm Wendy Cummings and my new eight part mini series, Bunga Bunga is available on Apple podcast. Or you can listen early and add free by joining one degree plus in the Wonder app.