During the 1-900 number craze of the Nineties, one company provided the vast majority of phone sex. American Telnet was an empire founded by the man who called himself “The Telephone Pimp.” He ran the company “like General Motors” and got filthy rich doing it. But for the (mostly) women who answered the calls and delivered fantasies 24-7, it was a different story. The powerful stigma against sex work was always lurking just beneath the surface, until it threatened to tear apart the whole company. Hosted by Tina Horn (Why Are People Into That?), OPERATOR is an eight-part series about big ambitions, Shakespearean-level corporate backstabbing, men and women at the cutting edge of a technological revolution...and on the front lines of a sexual one.Listen to new episodes 2 weeks early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. https://wondery.app.link/OperatorSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Grand Scheme

Introducing: Operator

Back on the streets after four and a half years behind bars, Barry gets right back to scheming. Before long, he finds himself rich with casino money, and retires to a farm. But as the years go by, something starts to nag at him: even though the Wes gambit failed at trial, the narrative that Junior plotted his own kidnapping lingers in the popular imagination. Barry longs to tell his side of the story - but what if Frank Sinatra Senior won’t let him?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Snatching Sinatra | Chapter 10: The Rights

Barry’s trial is an overnight circus, and the evidence against him is overwhelming. But when Junior takes the stand and reveals his compliance with the demands of Barry and his accomplices, the defense team smells an opportunity. Determined to convince the jury that Junior’s kidnapping was engineered by the Sinatra family as a publicity stunt for his concert tour, Barry cooks up a story about a mysterious operative named Wes who put him up to the kidnapping. It’s a bold gambit - and, it turns out, a spectacular failure.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Snatching Sinatra | Chapter 9: The Stunt

Barry makes one last attempt to ride off into the sunset with Pam, but by the time he makes it to her house, she’s got company. And it turns out the FBI’s been listening in on their phone calls. After a series of narrow escapes, Barry finally finds himself handcuffed and brought up on serious charges. And then, just as he’s writing out a confession, the man Barry hoped would be saved by the Plan of Operation (his dad) intervenes to save Barry from the Plan of Operation.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Snatching Sinatra | Chapter 8: The Bust

While hiding out at a friend’s house, Barry counts out cash as the plot thickens around him. He’s lost track of his accomplices, and when he switches on the radio, he discovers he’s also lost Frank Sinatra Jr. By the time Barry tracks down John Irwin and Joe Amsler, there are sketches of his face on the front page of the LA Times. Time is running out - but as usual, Barry has a plan. And that plan is: to go Christmas shopping.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Snatching Sinatra | Chapter 7: The Proceeds

Barry and Pam sneak back into his hotel room in Lake Tahoe to clean up the evidence he mistakenly left behind the previous night. The place is crawling with cops and FBI agents, so Barry and Pam go undercover as honeymooning skiers, and take to the bunny slopes to evade capture. The plan works like a charm. But when Barry gets back to Los Angeles, he’s got a mutiny on his hands. Forced to improvise, Barry re-jiggers his ransom plan on the fly, and before long, he finds himself in a stand-off with the FBI.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Snatching Sinatra | Chapter 6: Heavenly Valley

With Junior successfully nabbed at last, Barry and Joe make a death-defying escape from Lake Tahoe in the middle of a blizzard. Junior proves surprisingly compliant - even lending Barry a hand in his attempts to evade the police. Convinced that Junior’s cooperation is evidence of the divine inspiration fueling the Plan of Operation, Barry arrives back in Los Angeles after an all-night road trip feeling exhausted but hopeful...until Junior abruptly stops cooperating and starts playing hardball.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Snatching Sinatra | Chapter 5: Strangers in the Night

Junior’s about to head to Europe for a run of concerts, and there’s no way Barry can afford to follow him there. After multiple failed attempts at the kidnapping - not to mention the seismic upheaval of President Kennedy’s assassination - Barry has a dark night of the soul. He resolves to give up on the Plan of Operation, and decides to give the scheme a send-off by drinking a bottle of whiskey. But somewhere towards the bottom of the bottle, Barry realizes he can’t bear to abandon his vision. When he discovers Junior’s making a pit-stop in Lake Tahoe before heading overseas, Barry decides to roll the dice one more time.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Snatching Sinatra | Chapter 4: The Pick-Up

Having scraped together some cash and settled on Frank Sinatra, Jr. as his target, Barry assembles his rogues gallery of accomplices. In short order, he recruits his mom’s ex-boyfriend (and small-time mafioso) John Irwin, as well as an old friend he used to pull pranks with back in high school, Joe Amsler. But then, something unexpected happens: Barry falls in love with a woman named Pam. He’s certain she’ll dump him when she finds out about the kidnapping scheme, but much to his delight, Pam instead wants in on the caper. With his crew assembled, Barry heads for a state fair in Arizona to stake out Junior’s hotel…See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Snatching Sinatra | Chapter 3: Just Play Along

Bestowed by God with a divine prophecy for his salvation, Barry heads to a local bar to brainstorm his kidnapping. Deploying the business strategies he once relied on as a securities trader, he cobbles together what he considers to be an airtight plan: kidnap someone with rich parents, use the ransom money to invest in real estate, and pay everyone back with interest. Nothin’ to it. All he needs is a target, and some seed money to get things moving - both of which, he discovers, are hard to come by.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Snatching Sinatra | Chapter 2: A Plan of Operation

A young Barry Keenan becomes obsessed with salvation after an angel appears to him in his mother’s basement. Convinced by the nuns at his Catholic elementary school that he’ll be doomed to an eternity of harsh penance if he doesn’t take drastic action, Barry starts looking for shortcuts to the promised land.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Snatching Sinatra | Chapter 1: God on the Radio

In 1963, Barry Keenan was broke, alone, and desperate to save his family from personal and financial ruin. In a final “Hail Mary” attempt to set things right, he rolled the dice on an elaborate scheme so bizarre it’s hard to believe it actually happened: He kidnapped Frank Sinatra Jr.  For the first time, Barry Keenan tells his version of the story in his own words, from beginning to end, to host John Stamos.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Introducing "The Grand Scheme: Snatching Sinatra"

New episodes come out every Tuesday for free, with access to binge all episodes ad-free now for Wondery+ subscribers.Hosted and narrated by John Stamos, The Grand Scheme: Snatching Sinatra is a complicated, nuanced story of one imperfect man trying to redeem himself by pulling off the perfect crime. Did you ever feel like everything’s broken, and it’s your job to fix it? That’s how Barry Keenan was feeling back in 1963. He was broke, unemployed, hooked on booze and pills, and his family was falling apart. Barry needed a miracle. And against all odds, he got one. One day the voice of God came over the radio in Barry’s car and told him there was a simple solution to all his problems: all he had to do was kidnap Frank Sinatra, Jr. For the first time ever, Barry Keenan shares his version of the bizarre story in his own words, from beginning to end.

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The Grand Scheme

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