A Gas Attack at a Furry Convention

Hello and welcome to the first edition of the Brazen newsletter. I’m Arnav, an associate producer at Brazen, and you’ll hear from me every now and then with a round-up of everything we’re working on, a look behind the scenes of our reporting efforts around the world, and much more. We’ll also send you new developments and updates from our previous shows. Please get in touch with ideas for how we can make this even better.

Fur & Loathing

First, I'd like to introduce you to Brazen's newest show: Fur & Loathing. If you liked The Sound, our 2023 show about the Havana Syndrome mystery, you’ll be pleased to hear that we’ve partnered with investigative journalist Nicky Woolf once again to tell this story. Here’s what it’s about:

In December 2014, a chlorine gas bomb was set off at a convention for Furries, hospitalising 19 people. It’s one of the largest chemical weapon terrorist attacks in American history – and it remains an unsolved mystery. Who did it? And… why?

Fur & Loathing opens at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Rosemont, Illinois. It's the final night of Midwest FurFest 2014, the world's largest annual congregation of a digital native subculture known as Furries, and the party is in full swing. People are dressed in a myriad of exquisitely detailed, head-to-toe anthropomorphic animal suits, as usual. But this year, a little before midnight, a chlorine gas bomb is detonated.

Firefighters in full hazmat suits soon arrive and rush inside. They trace the gas to a stairwell, where they find the remnants of a chemical bomb. Police immediately rule it an intentional attack.

With help from the Furry community, including Furry journalist Patch O'Furr, Nicky is determined to crack this case. In Fur & Loathing, we join Nicky as he journeys to Midwest FurFest 2023, discovers the dark side of Furry Fandom, and unearths fresh leads about who might be behind the chemical weapon attack.

Brazen co-founder Bradley Hope sat down with Nicky to hear more about the story in a special launch interview. Nicky explained why he couldn't let this story go:

Bradley: I've heard, Nicky, that the story behind Fur & Loathing was kind of a white whale for you. Can you just fill us in on that?

Nicky: I was at The Guardian at the time this happened, which was 2014, and I was already sort of developing a specialism then in the weird intersection of politics and technology and internet subculture. This particular story caught my attention because it was just so strange. What I was watching play out was an evacuation at a furry convention — basically they're a subculture in which people inhabit and artistically come up with an anthropomorphic animal persona known as a Fursona.

Bradley: It feels like a uniquely idyllic happy place compared to other, more dark subcultures. Why do you think they’re such a polarizing phenomenon for people, especially for online trolls?

Nicky: There's a lot of misunderstanding about what the furry community is. For example, there was one phrase that people who don't know much about Furries use: “identify as animals.” Now, that's extremely problematic, because it completely misunderstands what this is about. What furrydom is, is essentially a form of cosplay. It's artistic. It's about inhabiting a persona that's different from yours, but as a form of play.

Bradley: If you're a listener right now who loves podcasts, loves true stories, but feels kind of even alienated by the Furry culture, or not even particularly interested in it, why do you think this particular investigation is compelling?

Nicky: It's a mystery, and it's a mystery that the authorities failed to solve. There were no arrests. There have been no charges. And it is, by some measures, one of the largest terrorist attacks in the United States in a long time. In terms of attacks with a chemical weapon, there have been two major ones in the last 50 years: one was the 2001 Anthrax attacks, which set off one of the largest FBI investigations in history, and the other was this one—which did not.

Both the launch interview and the first episode of Fur & Loathing are out now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere else – and if you're in any doubt about tuning in, here's a final word from Nicky:

"The political world and the media are 10 years behind the realities of what's going on in the world. In my reporting on things like QAnon, it's clear that if you pay more attention to what's happening in these digital subcultures, then you understand so much more about what happens in politics. There is almost no political event that can't be better understood by looking at the digital lead up to it. Because in a lot of ways, these subcultures are where this stuff happens first."

Brazen Studios

In other Brazen news this month, we opened our brand-new podcast and video studio in London. Located near London Bridge, our studio is a single, well-fitted recording space with state-of-the-art-equipment, including a customizable multiscreen wall, full studio lighting, and top-of-the-line gear. To celebrate, we hosted a launch party last month and recorded a live episode of the Whale Hunting podcast, covering all the latest updates in the 1MDB case with Bradley and Brazen co-founder Tom Wright. If you’re in London and in need of a recording space, the studio is available for hire—more details here.

Best of The Weekender

Every weekend, my colleague Megan sends subscribers of Brazen's Whale Hunting newsletter the team's top picks for things to watch, read and listen to. Here's a round-up of our favourites:

📖 What we've been reading: How international gold dealers exploited a tiny African kingdom’s economic dream. Eswatini, previously known as Swaziland, is Africa’s last monarchy. Its King, Mswati III, lives a life of lavish consumption while vast numbers of his subjects languish in poverty. There are plenty of obscene anecdotes about the king's excesses – like his decision to rename his country to celebrate his 50th birthday, or his fleet of 120 BMWs and 19 Rolls Royces. Less garish but perhaps even more problematic is the kingdom's recent move towards becoming a money laundering hub. This ICIJ investigation takes a deep dive into the Special Economic Zone set up by the king in 2012, and the two “gold refineries” established there – finding they've been used to move millions of dollars to Dubai, often from South Africa — all under Mswati's watchful eye.

🎧 What we've been listening to: Ripple. This podcast starts with the simple question: Do you remember the BP oil spill? I'm sure most people would say yes. I remember coming home from school and watching the news on television; footage of seabirds coated in slick reddish slime, helicopter flyovers of ink-black ocean. I also remember the battle to actually plug the oil well at the Deepwater Horizon rig, the time it took, and how eventually, they managed it. Crisis over. But Ripple asks the question – where did you learn this story, about the spill and its resolution, and who told you? Because, as it turns out, this disaster was all about narrative, and who controlled it. Resolution or not, this podcast reveals how the spills consequences are still being felt today. It's thoughtful, troubling reporting – I'm hooked.

📺 And what we've been watching: The Sympathizer. Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen's 2015 novel of the same name, this HBO miniseries is brand new. Mixing historical drama with black comedy, the show tells the story of a North Vietnam spy embedded in the South Vietnam army. When the war ends, he's forced to flee to the US, where he lives in a community of South Vietnamese refugees and continues to spy on them. But as he settles into his new life, sustaining his loyalty to the Viet Cong becomes more difficult. It's a raucous look at the absurdities of the Vietnam war and its aftermath, recommended by Soobin as “most excellent” – which is high praise indeed from the Brazen producer. You'll need to put your phone down, as subtitles and a twisting plot require your undivided attention, but you'll be rewarded with a compelling watch.