0:04

Double

0:04

Elvis.

0:07

This episode contains content that may be disturbing

0:09

to some listeners. Please check the show

0:11

notes for more information. Disgrace

0:15

Land is a production of Double Elvis.

0:27

The story about Ariana Grande is

0:29

insane. A terrorist

0:31

detonated a bomb outside her performance

0:34

at Manchester Arena. The

0:36

blast killed 22 people. It

0:38

injured over a thousand more.

0:41

The event remains one of the deadliest attacks

0:43

in England's history. It terrified

0:45

parents, made young fans scared

0:47

to enjoy live music. So

0:50

Ariana brought them together again, showed

0:52

them there was nothing to fear. She

0:54

gathered 55,000 people and raised over $23 million for victims

0:57

of the attack and their

1:00

families.

1:01

She raised that money with the power

1:03

of great music. Unlike

1:05

that clip I played for you at the top of the show, that

1:08

wasn't great music.

1:10

That was a preset loop from my Mellotron

1:12

called St. Vitus Dance Joyride

1:15

MKII.

1:17

I played you that loop because I can't afford

1:19

the rights to I'm the One by DJ

1:22

Khaled featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo,

1:24

Lil Wayne and Chance the Rapper.

1:26

And why would I play you that specific

1:29

slice of self-congratulatory

1:31

We the Best cheese could I afford it?

1:34

Because that was the number one song

1:36

in America on May 22nd, 2017.

1:40

And that was the day that Ariana Grande's

1:43

Dangerous Woman tour became

1:45

lethal. On

1:47

this episode, terror on tour,

1:50

tragedy in Manchester, the

1:52

tenacity of one city in

1:54

Ariana Grande. I'm

1:56

Jake Brennan and this is

1:59

Disgraceful. In the beginning

2:01

there was only music.

2:30

A kick drum pounding to the rhythm of heartbeat.

2:33

Voices in the crowd shouting along with the band.

2:36

Guitar riffs ricocheting off the walls

2:38

of the club. Total harmony. But

2:41

then some new sounds entered the concert. Loud,

2:44

rapid ones. They ricocheted off

2:46

the walls just the same. And then

2:49

they pierced through flesh. Not

2:51

music.

2:53

Gunfire. Terrorists

2:55

tore through the Bataclan theater of Paris

2:57

without a second thought. Three gunmen.

3:00

Three reloads each. Maybe four.

3:03

Three minutes of a police assault. Ten

3:06

hours of sorting through dead bodies. And

3:08

in the end there was no music. Just

3:11

silence.

3:14

The Eagles of Death Metal concert ended too

3:16

early on November 13th, 2015.

3:19

An attack during the show claimed the lives of 90

3:21

fans. Paris

3:23

burned with fear, grief, exasperation.

3:28

Concerts were supposed to be safe. Sacred.

3:31

A place to leave all that other shit at the door.

3:34

Everyone followed a set of unspoken rules.

3:36

Dance your heart out. Mosh even. But don't

3:39

put anyone in danger. Support each other's

3:41

backs as they crowd surfed over your head.

3:44

Watch your friends drinks whenever possible. Bottom

3:46

line. Protect your fellow fans. People

3:50

followed those rules most of the time. But

3:52

every once in a while, someone shattered

3:54

that sense of safety for everyone. The

3:57

damage went beyond Eagles of Death Metal fans. and

4:00

beyond Paris. Suddenly,

4:02

concerts didn't feel the same anywhere. Ticket

4:05

holders were wary, and parents were petrified

4:08

to send their kids out to the show alone. It

4:10

was a big bad world out there, and there was

4:13

no telling if or when tragedy

4:15

would strike again. She

4:20

wanted to look bad. Like the

4:22

good kind of bad. The sexy

4:24

kind of dangerous. Just like Ariana

4:26

Grande and latex on the cover of her new album

4:29

Dangerous Woman. She looked at the

4:31

clothes heaped on her pink bedspread. Cat

4:33

ears. Check. Black mini skirt.

4:36

Check. Thigh-high boots. Check.

4:38

But she'd have to be sneaky about wearing them if she didn't want

4:41

her parents to confiscate them again. Maybe

4:43

she could cram them into her purse and change shoes

4:45

at the show. Yeah, that

4:48

would work. She couldn't risk getting busted.

4:50

She needed those boots to complete the outfit,

4:53

and she didn't have much time left to prepare. It was

4:55

only five hours until tomorrow.

4:58

Twenty hours until school let out.

5:00

Twenty-four hours until she stepped into the Manchester

5:02

Arena on her own. Twenty-four

5:04

hours until she saw Ariana Grande

5:07

in the flesh.

5:09

The mere thought made her knees weak. Everyone

5:12

at school had their pop star. The

5:14

singer who dictated what they wore and how they

5:17

spoke and how they looked at life.

5:19

Some of the girls liked Katy Perry and Taylor

5:21

Swift. The rebellious ones opted for

5:23

Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus. But

5:26

Ariana Grande was her girl.

5:29

She could rattle off any and every fact about Ariana

5:31

without a moment's thought. Like she was reciting

5:34

stats from a baseball card or paragraphs

5:36

from a Wikipedia entry. Ariana

5:39

Grande was born in 1993 in

5:41

Boca Raton. Broken to Broadway

5:43

at just 15 years old, secured her

5:45

spot as a Nickelodeon star at 16, signed

5:48

with Republic Records at 17, and

5:50

dropped a debut album before she turned 21.

5:53

Ariana had eight Billboard top 10 singles,

5:56

three albums, and a shelf full of iHeartRadio

5:58

and American

5:59

Music Awards. The

6:01

girl read every interview Ariana gave, watched

6:03

every music video dozens of times to spike

6:06

those YouTube viewership numbers. She

6:08

was in it for the long haul, ever since the day

6:10

she saw Ariana on the Nickelodeon show,

6:12

Victorious. In the early

6:14

2010s, Ariana Grande played

6:17

a character on TV named Cat

6:19

Valentine, hapless sidekick to

6:21

lead actress Victoria Justice. Cat

6:24

was cute, dumb, simple. She

6:26

was a redhead, which meant Ariana damaged

6:28

her brown hair

6:29

with dye and bleach.

6:31

Once Victorious folded, Nickelodeon

6:33

kept Cat alive for a new show called Sam

6:36

and Cat. They buried Ariana behind

6:38

more dumb moments and then tossed the show

6:40

and Ariana aside after one season.

6:43

They saw her as a secondary character and

6:45

nothing more. Big mistake.

6:49

Ariana knew she had the pipes to shatter

6:51

the glass ceilings and kept teenage girls

6:53

in dumb demure roles.

6:55

So she did the 21st century thing.

6:58

She uploaded covers to YouTube until

7:00

they caught the attention of Republic Records.

7:02

Before long, she locked herself into

7:05

a management contract with Scooter Braun as

7:07

well. Scooter Braun had the power

7:09

to make or break any artist. Case

7:11

in point, he made Justin Bieber's career

7:14

and someday he'd break Taylor Swift's heart

7:16

and purchase her masters. Scooter

7:18

was the shrewdest manager in the modern

7:21

music biz, for better or for worse. He

7:23

could smell a hit maker and a money

7:25

maker from a mile away. When

7:28

he heard Ariana cover Bieber's song, Die

7:30

in Your Arms on her YouTube channel, he

7:33

went all in. Republic

7:36

Records and Scooter Braun saw something

7:38

in Ariana Grande that other industry

7:40

executives couldn't. There was a towering

7:43

four octave diva crammed inside

7:45

of that five foot three young girl. She

7:47

just had a break free. Ariana

7:50

had been trying to break free for years. She

7:52

told her management she wanted to record a mature

7:55

R&B album when she was only 14. And

7:57

they laughed her off. No one would want

7:59

that. kind of music from a kid who couldn't even drive

8:02

yet. Her management nudged her towards

8:04

Nickelodeon instead, said it was more

8:06

age-appropriate. So Ariana waited,

8:09

paid her dues on television until Republic

8:11

and Scooter Braun snapped her up. She

8:13

kept it cutesy with her first hit, a collaboration

8:16

with her boyfriend Mac Miller called The

8:18

Way. She maintained a reputation

8:21

as squeaky clean as the whistle notes that she

8:23

hit with her four octave vocal range. Ariana's

8:26

innocent persona stuck around for two

8:28

album cycles. But when she became

8:30

known as Ariana the pop star and

8:32

not Ariana the Nickelodeon star, she

8:35

slipped into that latex and she never looked

8:37

back. She had waited long enough

8:39

for this. Ariana

8:42

didn't have to act sexy to charm. She

8:44

can move records dressed like a child star.

8:47

She started embracing her sex appeal because she

8:49

wanted to, plain and simple. She

8:51

pulled bunny ears and a catwoman mask over her

8:54

signature ponytail, started singing

8:56

less about crushes and more about mixing

8:58

boys and bad decisions. Her

9:00

new album Dangerous Woman went places

9:02

her old material wouldn't dream of. The

9:05

kind of music you had to whisper about in school

9:07

so the teachers couldn't hear you. All

9:09

the kids thought they knew

9:10

what her song Side to Side meant, but no

9:12

one had the guts to ask. If

9:14

you admitted you didn't know, the other kids

9:16

in class branded you a virgin or a dumbass.

9:19

It may be both. Better to just act

9:22

like you understood why Ariana said she couldn't walk

9:24

right after seeing her boyfriend.

9:27

It was clear that Ariana Grande was all

9:29

grown up now, and so was her number one

9:32

fan in Manchester. Well,

9:34

the girl pretended to be at least.

9:36

Sometimes when her parents were asleep, she'd

9:39

wear those thigh-high boots and take long, sexy

9:41

steps like she was on a catwalk.

9:44

Ariana's new music made her feel like she was 10

9:46

years older.

9:47

She didn't really know what it felt like to be a dangerous

9:49

woman or a woman in general, but

9:51

Ariana's music gave her an idea.

9:54

She would officially learn what it meant tomorrow night

9:56

at the concert. It was time to step

9:58

into the next phase of her life. life.

10:01

She wasn't just attending

10:03

a performance by her hero. This

10:06

was the first time her parents were letting her

10:08

go to a show without them.

10:09

She felt so giddy she could squeal. But

10:12

squealing was for her lame tweens.

10:14

She was a teenager now, sophisticated

10:17

enough to go out on her own.

10:19

All she needed was her mom to drop her off

10:21

tomorrow night.

10:22

Not right in front of the Manchester Arena, no, that'd

10:24

be too embarrassing. She'd make her grand

10:26

entrance on her own, and then step into

10:28

the arena and

10:29

shell out however many pounds it cost to take

10:31

home every shirt, hoodie, and accessory

10:33

at the merch stand that she could afford.

10:36

Who even knew what would come next? She

10:38

kept off Twitter these days to avoid spoiling

10:40

any surprises about Ariana's current tour

10:43

and setlist. But no matter what

10:45

happened, she knew one thing for sure.

10:48

She would never be the same. He

10:59

would have blended

11:01

in perfectly if he

11:03

wasn't fidgeting so

11:10

much. The

11:16

stranger kept rubbing his hands together, scratching

11:19

his neck, everything except looking around

11:21

the room for someone. He perched

11:23

near a set of stairs in the foyer of the Manchester

11:26

Arena, the city room as it

11:28

was known to regulars. He was just

11:31

sitting there, conveniently hidden

11:33

from the CCTV cameras. Not

11:35

texting anyone, not killing time with a book,

11:38

not touching his massive backpack. Lingering

11:41

wasn't a cry. Lots of people hung around

11:44

the city room, waiting for friends and loved ones

11:46

to emerge from nearby Victoria station.

11:49

On May 22, 2017, parents

11:52

were scattered around the foyer, killing

11:54

time as they waited for their kids to burst

11:56

out of the arena, riding the youthful high

11:58

of an Ariana Grande car. concert.

12:01

But this one guy felt different.

12:03

Maybe he wasn't waiting for someone. Maybe

12:06

he was waiting for something to happen.

12:08

Maybe he was waiting for the right moment. A

12:11

suspicious

12:11

dad tapped a security guard in

12:13

the city room. That man on the stairs

12:16

was fidgeting and sweating far too much for

12:18

his liking.

12:19

The guard glanced casually over his shoulder.

12:22

The strange man dressed to blend in. Black

12:24

Hollister vest, black jeans, brown

12:26

ball cap. He was so unremarkable

12:28

that he nearly faded into the background, like

12:31

he was just part of the scenery. But

12:33

the concerned dad was right. The man

12:35

radiated weird vibes. He

12:37

gave the security guard an uneasy feeling

12:39

that he couldn't put his finger on.

12:41

And that wasn't even the whole picture. The

12:43

security team didn't know that this man had lingered

12:46

around the arena for almost two hours. Security

12:49

wasn't paying attention. Two

12:50

of the guards slipped out that night for a two-hour

12:53

dinner. Another two took their break

12:55

in tandem and left the city room unpatrolled

12:57

for nearly 45 minutes. They

12:59

even passed the suspicious man on his way into

13:01

the city room as they were leaving it. The

13:04

city room was never supposed to go without

13:07

supervision, especially on the night

13:09

of a concert teeming with vulnerable teenage

13:11

girls. But the security team

13:14

didn't follow

13:14

the rules tonight. They relaxed, and

13:17

this weirdo slipped right through the cracks.

13:22

Nagging feelings tugged the guard back

13:24

and forth. One instinct told

13:27

him that something was off with this guy. The

13:29

stranger didn't sit right with him. Literally.

13:32

I mean, who fidgeted that much? Why

13:34

not just take a lap and walk it off, dude? Or

13:36

check Instagram for God's sakes? No.

13:39

Wait. Owning a backpack was illegal.

13:42

So was milling around in a public space. What,

13:45

you gonna get this guy in trouble for just sitting there and looking

13:47

sweaty? Now

13:49

the guard was sweating too. He had to do something.

13:52

He grabbed his radio and tried to connect with the control

13:55

room. No dice. The channels

13:57

buzzed with excessive traffic.

13:59

again and again and again.

14:02

Nothing. Sudden

14:05

chatter broke his focus. Young

14:07

girls started streaming into the city room

14:09

from the arena, singing and squealing over

14:12

each other. The show was over. Time

14:14

to move on. The guard moved his

14:16

post outside.

14:18

The suspicious man noticed the crowd too.

14:20

He walked down the stairs to the center of the city room

14:23

at 1030pm.

14:24

Now he was on his phone, smiling.

14:27

There were no guards around to ask what he was doing.

14:30

No one to stop him from doing what came

14:32

next.

14:37

The girl's heart thudded louder than

14:39

it ever had before. Balloons

14:41

rained from the ceiling as Ariana Grande's final

14:43

high note soared to the rafters. Ariana

14:47

tore to dangerous woman for the finale.

14:50

Her number one fan watched from her seat in the

14:52

balcony, wearing those thigh high boots.

14:55

She clicked her heels on the floor to the beat. She

14:57

loved the way the music made her feel. It

15:00

was the perfect ending for the perfect night.

15:02

Everything she could have wanted and so much more.

15:05

She had new memories, new tour shirts

15:08

she held to her chest like treasure, and

15:10

new girlfriends who worshipped the same idol

15:12

that she did. They lent each other

15:14

their hair ties and swapped dance moves

15:16

like sisters. Sweat glistened

15:18

in their hair and clunked their cat-eared

15:20

headbands. The concert was

15:23

one giant baptism and the sweat was

15:25

the holy water. They were adults

15:27

now, cool enough to hang

15:29

on their own. Her heart

15:31

sank as it hammered in her chest. They'd

15:33

have to pry her from her seat.

15:35

She never wanted to leave this very spot.

15:38

She wanted to live in this giddy, flawless

15:40

moment forever.

15:42

Then she heard a

15:46

blast loud as fuck.

15:49

Was that part of the show? The

15:51

sound froze people in their steps and

15:53

the arena went silent for a few seconds. Fans

15:56

waited for something else to happen. Another

15:58

sound to help glue them in. Instead,

16:01

a gush of hot air swept across the arena.

16:04

It stung the girl's eyes and blew the bangs

16:06

off her forehead.

16:07

White smoke poured in first, and then came

16:10

the smell. Sulfur. Fireworks.

16:13

Danger. Run.

16:17

The screams started and never stopped. Fans

16:20

rushed to the exits even though they didn't know which ones

16:22

led to safety, knowing what was happening,

16:24

period. Theories spread through the crowd

16:27

like a nasty rumor. Some harmless, some

16:29

atrocious. The bang was a balloon popping,

16:31

a loudspeaker failing, a train that crashed

16:34

into Victoria Station, an active shooter

16:36

on the loose. No one knew the truth.

16:38

That a terrorist detonated a bomb

16:41

in the city room.

16:42

A

16:44

voice came over the loudspeaker with an eerie

16:46

sense of calm. Ladies and gentlemen,

16:49

please take your time. There's no need to bunch

16:51

up. The chaos

16:54

unraveling around the girl said otherwise. The

16:57

force of the crowd knocks the fans over and swept

16:59

them under a stampede of footsteps. People

17:02

vaulted over staircase railings to cut in front of

17:04

each other. A throng of fans absorbed

17:06

her and pushed her into a hallway. But they

17:08

were moving too slowly. She forced

17:10

her way out to the front of the mob and sprinted ahead.

17:13

She was alone now. No parents. No

17:16

friends. Her feet couldn't carry

17:18

her fast enough. She nearly fell over

17:20

in her boots. Damn these heels. She

17:23

kept her head straight as details whizzed by

17:25

her. People strewn across the floor, some

17:27

in pools of blood, some being loaded under

17:29

makeshift stretchers, their skin glistening

17:32

with massive dots. She couldn't tell

17:34

what the dots were. She didn't want to know. Her

17:37

heart thudded in a different way now. Shaky,

17:39

rapid beats, terror pumping through her

17:41

body. The excitement of the night was gone.

17:44

There was only fear now. She

17:46

tuned out the screams, the cries of

17:48

mothers being separated from their children, the

17:51

wails of her new sisters lying helpless on the

17:53

floor, and the useless message over the intercom.

17:56

She filtered it all out and focused on her boots

17:58

clacking on the tile.

17:59

Each click was another step towards safety,

18:02

wherever that was. Blood

18:05

streaked the floor underneath her feet. One

18:07

of her heels sunk into the tender flesh of

18:09

someone's hand. Her stomach twisted with

18:11

guilt, but she couldn't stop. She had to

18:14

go, go, go, get the hell away

18:16

from here. Her treasure trove of t-shirts

18:18

and merch was gone now. She didn't even know

18:20

when she dropped it all. She didn't care. Her

18:23

cat ears slipped down onto her face as she ran.

18:25

She tore them off and tossed them aside without hesitation.

18:28

A team of stewards banded

18:29

together to form a human wall to keep guests away

18:32

from the worst of the smoke. She sprinted

18:34

away from them and into the city room. More

18:36

blood on the floor, more people covered in

18:38

those dots. She spotted a clump

18:41

of flesh from the corner of her eye. Oh my god,

18:43

a leg. That was a human fucking

18:45

leg. Tears were running down her

18:48

face. She wanted to rewind. She wanted

18:50

to go home. She wanted to bury herself under

18:52

a pile of blankets and forget that she ever came

18:54

here, that she ever wanted to come here, that

18:56

she was ever so stupid to leave the house

18:59

alone.

18:59

Her mouth opened and she couldn't stop what came

19:02

next. She was screaming, shrieking,

19:04

louder than she ever had in her life. She

19:07

ran faster than she ever thought was possible.

19:10

Someone somewhere didn't have a leg and couldn't run

19:12

away. So she had to run twice as hard.

19:15

For both of them, she needed to live.

19:17

Someone needed to make it out of this nightmare alive.

19:20

She burst through the doors of Manchester Arena.

19:23

Police lined the streets. They yelled

19:25

to the crowd, run, run, keep on running. And

19:28

that's exactly what she

19:29

did. She ran

19:32

until one of the hills buckled under the pressure. She

19:34

ran until she couldn't breathe. She

19:37

ran until she couldn't see the arena or

19:39

the swarms of police cars or any proof

19:41

of that hellscape. So she could maybe,

19:44

just maybe pretend

19:46

that it never happened. We'll

19:53

be right back after this word, word,

19:55

word.

20:00

What's up everybody? You want to hear a messed up fact?

20:02

We are eating and drinking roughly

20:05

a credit card's worth of plastic

20:07

a week. Okay? Like the size of

20:09

all the plastic that goes into making a credit card. That

20:12

is what we are taking into our bodies every

20:14

week. Mind-blowing, right? The

20:17

products we use every day and the

20:19

products that are ultimately contaminating our water

20:21

supply generating these things called microplastics,

20:24

which we end up ingesting. This

20:26

is completely messed up and that's why Blueland

20:28

is on a mission to eliminate single use

20:31

plastic by reinventing cleaning

20:33

essentials. Okay? Their idea is

20:35

simple yet powerful. Blueland,

20:38

they offer these endlessly refillable

20:40

cleaning products. They have this beautifully cohesive

20:42

design, looks great on your counter. All

20:44

you need to do is fill the bottles that they send you with

20:47

water, drop in the provided tablets and

20:49

watch them dissolve. Here's the best part. It's

20:51

not just good for you and the planet, it's good for your wallet

20:54

too. Plus for Blueland, they start

20:56

at $2.25. Okay?

20:59

You can even set up a subscription or buy in bulk

21:01

to save more. Now let's talk

21:03

about the products themselves. Blueland, they've

21:06

got everything you need from cleaning sprays to

21:08

hand soap, toilet bowl cleaner, laundry

21:10

tablets, and they're all made with clean

21:12

ingredients that you can feel good about. Right

21:15

now, Blueland also has a new limited edition hand

21:17

soap kit. They've taken inspiration from the national parks

21:20

with scents like Joshua tree, Zion,

21:23

Sequoia, and Glacier. And in addition

21:25

to all this, I can tell you that I am a

21:27

fan of Blueland because I can focus on shopping

21:29

for

21:29

food at the grocery store rather than just,

21:32

you know, walking down the aisles, staring at cleaning

21:34

products, not knowing what the hell I'm reading on the backs

21:36

of them. And with the subscription option, everything

21:39

I want shows up right at my door and

21:41

I never run out. Okay? So

21:44

check it out. Blueland has a special offer for Disgraced

21:46

Land listeners right now. Get 15%

21:49

off your first order by going to blueland.com

21:52

slash disgraced land. You

21:54

won't want to miss this. Okay. Blueland.com

21:56

slash disgraced land for 15% off.

21:59

blueland.com slash disgrace

22:02

land to get 15% off.

22:06

What's up guys? Are

22:08

you planning to see any concerts this summer? Are you

22:10

like me? You feeling a little stressed out because you

22:12

still haven't purchased your tickets and you really

22:15

don't want to disappoint your wife or your girlfriend

22:17

or your boyfriend or your husband or whoever. You

22:19

know, you promised them, you take them to see their favorite

22:21

band but you didn't get the tickets. So what are you gonna

22:23

do? Well, listen up. Buying tickets

22:25

to your favorite events should not be stressful.

22:28

Game time, game time. It's the

22:30

fast and easy way to buy tickets for

22:33

all sports, music, even comedy

22:35

and theater that's near you. Killer deals, okay?

22:37

Killer deals

22:38

on last minute tickets and their best price

22:40

guarantee. You can stop stressing out over

22:42

getting the tickets and start to get hype for all the fun that

22:45

you're gonna have, all right? I love the game time

22:47

app, organizes the tickets into categories,

22:49

makes it super easy to see what's happening right in my

22:51

area. I can scan the app and easily

22:53

see all the Sox games that are coming up right

22:55

alongside any sort of like cool touring

22:58

bands that are coming through town that I wanna check

23:00

out or classic emo bands that my wife wants to

23:02

check out. I also see a few disgraced

23:04

land subjects that we're covering. They're coming, Aerosmith,

23:07

they're coming to Boston

23:08

this winter. You can use game time to get tickets there.

23:10

Game time is the fastest growing

23:12

ticketing app in the country for a reason, okay?

23:15

You can get images of your seat before you buy. You

23:17

know exactly what to expect when you walk

23:19

into the venue. I mean, it is perfectly respectable

23:22

to sit behind a pole at Fenway Park, okay? But for a big game,

23:24

you want a nice line of sight, okay? So you can check that

23:26

out on game time. With game time, you can buy tickets

23:28

in a matter of seconds. Two taps and you're all

23:31

set. Tickets are sent directly to your phone so you

23:33

never have to dig through your email. I love that. Snag

23:35

the tickets without the stress with game time.

23:38

Download

23:38

the game time app, create an account and

23:40

use code disgrace land for $20

23:42

off your first purchase. Terms apply.

23:45

Again, create an account and redeem

23:47

code disgrace land for $20 off. Download

23:51

game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest

23:53

price guaranteed.

24:06

Manchester stood in pieces. The

24:08

city split into fragments. Police

24:10

cordoned off sections of town with caution

24:13

tape. Streets turned gray,

24:15

void of life and energy. Small

24:18

patches of color around town attempted to

24:20

revive morale. Viral

24:22

bouquets, well-loved stuffed

24:25

animals and bundles of pink balloons.

24:28

Yellow tape circled Manchester Arena.

24:30

The scene inside the city room

24:32

told the story of the attack. Screws,

24:35

penetrated metal doors, deep scuffs,

24:37

marred brick walls. The arena

24:39

would lay dormant for months, silent

24:42

like the rest of the city. On

24:45

May 23rd, 2017, the

24:47

day after the attack, a hush settled

24:50

in Manchester. People tried

24:52

not to cry. They muted the news.

24:55

They stopped conversations mid-sentence.

24:58

At Buckingham Palace, the Queen observed a

25:00

minute of silence for the victims of the tragedy of

25:02

the arena. They had a label

25:04

for it by now. After a night

25:06

of chaos and confusion, they knew

25:08

it was a suicide bombing. The

25:11

bomb projected 3,000 nuts and screws

25:13

across the city room. The shrapnel

25:16

cut open limbs, necks, and chest. It

25:19

was powerful enough to kill anyone in a 20-meter

25:21

radius. Some people were only

25:24

standing two meters away when it detonated.

25:26

Experts said the force was like being shot

25:29

point blank 20-plus times. There

25:32

were 358 people in the city room

25:34

when the terrorists detonated the bomb. Sixty

25:37

ambulances rushed victims to the hospital

25:39

that night. First, the number

25:41

of injured people was given as 59. Then,

25:44

it grew to 116, and it would

25:46

eventually mushroom to over a thousand. Three

25:49

fans succumbed to their wounds in the hospital. 19

25:53

died at the scene. Police

25:55

identified each one with fingerprints and dental

25:57

records. was

26:00

barely enough time to read every name of the deceased

26:03

victims. But today, it was

26:05

all the time that the English authorities could spare.

26:08

The country was on high alert. The

26:10

government mobilized nearly 1,000 soldiers to

26:12

patrol London. There would

26:14

be no tours of the Palace of Westminster or

26:16

Buckingham Palace today.

26:18

Changing of the guard ceremony was canceled, so

26:21

officers could be redeployed. Leagues

26:23

of soldiers stood guard outside major tourist

26:25

attractions. Other officers patrolled

26:27

the streets of Manchester, guns in

26:29

hand. Everyone else pieced

26:31

together the country's biggest investigation.

26:36

The officers saw the minute hand lurch

26:38

forward on his watch. The Queen's

26:41

moment of silence was over, back

26:43

to work.

26:44

He sighed and poured himself another cup of coffee.

26:47

That minute was the most rest he'd had all

26:50

day. He plunked down at his

26:52

desk and rubbed his face. He

26:54

took a deep breath and flipped open the file

26:56

on his desk again. Salomon

26:59

Abedi, age 22, born

27:02

and raised in Manchester. Police

27:04

at the scene found him in bloody pieces scattered

27:07

across the city room.

27:09

He was so mangled that officers needed

27:11

a bank card in his pocket to identify

27:13

him. Facial recognition confirmed

27:15

it.

27:16

Abedi was the culprit. The

27:19

British government had been aware of him for years. The

27:22

calls started in 2011. People

27:25

who had brushed shoulders with Abedi dialed

27:27

England's anti-terrorism hotline to report

27:29

him. Said his extremist views were

27:31

worrisome. The domestic intelligence

27:34

agency, M15, were even aware

27:36

of Abedi before the attack.

27:38

They never thought he warranted immediate action

27:40

though. And now it was

27:43

too late. Officers

27:47

had to work backwards, retrace every

27:49

connection, every relationship, every

27:51

tip overseas. ISIS

27:54

formally claimed responsibility for the bombing,

27:56

but there were still gaping holes in the investigation.

27:59

The police didn't know how many people had helped move

28:02

this scheme along, and they didn't know if those

28:04

people were in England

28:05

right now. The officer

28:07

was one of roughly a thousand others working

28:09

around the clock to find answers. He

28:12

ran over the timeline again. A

28:14

baby was born in Manchester in 1994 to

28:17

Libyan immigrant parents. He attended

28:19

the Bernage Academy for Boys. Then,

28:21

Manchester College between 2011 and 2013. That's

28:26

when the calls to the anti-terrorist line started.

28:29

He visited Libya before enrolling at Salford

28:31

University to study business and management.

28:34

And that part was key. The

28:36

government granted him 7,000 pounds

28:38

for student loans before he dropped out

28:40

of school

28:41

later that year. 7,000 pounds

28:43

could buy a lot of different things. Like

28:46

plane tickets, batteries, and

28:48

burner phones. A baby went

28:50

to Libya one final time in mid-April. That's

28:53

when he connected with members of an Islamic State

28:55

unit. The same unit involved

28:57

with the Bataclan theater attack in Paris. When

29:01

a baby returned on May 18th, he

29:03

had a plan. Who's going to hit the United

29:05

Kingdom where it hurt? Right at the doors

29:07

of its largest indoor arena. Records

29:10

show that he withdrew money from a bank account he

29:12

hadn't touched in a year. Then he bought

29:15

materials, a backpack, nuts,

29:17

and screws. A lead acid

29:19

battery. With the right training, experts

29:22

said he could have built a bomb in just 24 hours.

29:26

Abadi

29:26

made his final arrangements. He

29:29

wired his brother 2,500 pounds. He

29:31

placed the bomb in his new backpack and

29:34

strolled into the city room in the Manchester Arena.

29:37

He doddled there for two hours before it

29:39

was time. Abadi called

29:41

his mother 15 minutes before

29:42

he detonated the bomb. He asked

29:45

her to forgive him for anything he had done wrong.

29:48

And then

29:48

he hung up. No

29:52

one would forgive him any time soon. They

29:54

would overcome him instead. Sam

29:57

and Abadi was dead, of course. His

30:00

bomb tore his torso to shreds,

30:02

catapulted it across the room.

30:05

Authorities arrested his brother in South Manchester

30:07

shortly thereafter.

30:09

That was one lead,

30:10

but the number of possible connections felt endless.

30:13

There were 3,000 lines of inquiry within

30:15

the counter-terrorism control room.

30:18

Police searched dozens of houses, arrested

30:20

innocent men, and questioned them for hours

30:22

just to be safe.

30:24

But there were still so many ifs, so

30:27

many missing details, it

30:30

might never truly be uncovered. The

30:34

officer tossed the file onto his desk.

30:37

England's terrorism threat level rose to critical

30:39

today. They'd do anything to lower

30:41

it, to tell people that everything would be all

30:43

right, to uncover some smoking gun

30:45

that would put people at ease. The

30:48

officer was unsure what a discovery like that

30:50

would even look like. He was unsure

30:52

it even existed. But the

30:54

people of Manchester needed something to heal

30:56

them. And they needed it. Immediately.

31:03

["The It

31:22

Could Happen Again." Everyone

31:24

was thinking it, but no one wanted to say

31:26

it out loud. Not on an occasion

31:28

like this. Today was supposed

31:30

to be about healing, strength, unity.

31:34

Today was all love. One

31:36

love Manchester was called. Ariana

31:39

Grande's benefit concert scheduled

31:41

for this afternoon, June 4th, 2017,

31:44

just two weeks after the attack

31:46

at the Manchester Arena. One

31:49

day earlier, terror struck England

31:51

again. London bridged this time.

31:54

They plowed down a line of pedestrians with a van,

31:57

and they stabbed the survivors in the street.

31:59

more deaths, 48 more

32:02

injuries. The crime

32:04

scene at London Bridge was still fresh when 55,000

32:07

fans filed into the old Trafford Cricket

32:09

Ground for Ariana's benefit show. Eyes

32:12

darted around the stadium.

32:14

Anxiety vibrated through the crowd, especially

32:17

in the very front. It

32:21

felt like deja vu, a packed

32:23

stadium, a sea of cat ears.

32:26

Young girls pressed shoulder to shoulder and oversized

32:28

sweatshirts. Her body

32:31

knew she had been here before.

32:33

Nearly two weeks ago, she was sprinting

32:35

away from an event just like this.

32:37

She swore she'd never go back to such a place,

32:40

never walk alone, never trust the

32:42

strange faces in a large crowd,

32:44

never let loose, not even a little.

32:47

She didn't even wanna speak anymore.

32:49

She worried that if she opened her mouth again, she'd start

32:51

screaming and never be able to stop.

32:53

But here she was, one girl in

32:56

a crowd of 55,000 people. Nearly

32:58

four times the size of the last show.

33:01

She huddled with a pack of 14,000 fans from

33:04

the original Manchester concert.

33:06

Ariana treated them to complimentary tickets

33:08

at the foot of the stage.

33:10

The 40,000 remaining tickets sold out in

33:12

six minutes. One

33:15

Love Manchester was the event of the

33:17

year. But

33:19

the girl still wasn't sure that she wanted to be here.

33:22

She ranked the artists on the lineup in her head as

33:24

a distraction. She had to see Katy

33:26

Perry and Miley Cyrus, obviously.

33:29

Justin Bieber and Nyle Horan were up there too.

33:32

There was some guy named Liam Gallagher, who apparently

33:34

was a big deal, but she could take her leave his set.

33:37

Then there was Coldplay, Usher, crap,

33:40

who else? The distraction

33:43

wasn't working. Her heart ramped

33:45

to a rib cage, just like it did when she'd heard that

33:47

bang two weeks ago,

33:49

when she threw herself down the Manchester Arena hallway,

33:51

threw the smell of sulfur and passed the trails

33:54

of blood on the tile floor. The

33:56

image wouldn't leave her mind. She was supposed

33:58

to be safe here,

33:59

She was supposed to be safe at Manchester Arena, too.

34:03

Her heartbeat was all she could hear anymore, and

34:05

it made her feel sick, disgusted,

34:07

and feelings far too mature for a teenager.

34:11

The sound was a nagging, constant reminder

34:13

of what she lived through. It made her

34:15

crazy. It made her.

34:17

Pop music

34:19

suddenly poured from the stadium of speakers. Notes

34:22

of songs she knew inside out and backwards,

34:25

that she danced to alone in her room, hair

34:27

brush and hand like a microphone almost

34:29

every day. Her heartbeat faster,

34:32

but was different this time. She

34:34

was excited again, back to being

34:36

lost in the moment, to just being a

34:38

teenager. Adulthood could

34:41

wait. She exhaled for the

34:43

first time in a long time. And

34:45

then, she opened her mouth without thinking.

34:49

She didn't scream. She

34:51

sang.

34:53

She couldn't pretend that the Manchester attack

34:55

never happened. No one could.

34:58

But she could remember this better. This

35:01

was the moment that no one could take away from her.

35:04

This indescribable sensation of singing

35:06

along with 55,000 people. In

35:09

reality, there were millions of people

35:11

singing along. Fans tuned

35:13

into live streams of the benefit around the world.

35:16

The BBC stream alone peaked at 14.5 million viewers.

35:21

Every time someone felt hope or peace, a

35:23

couple more notes joined the worldwide harmony.

35:27

Concerned parents and terrified fans began

35:29

to feel an ounce of relief. Even

35:31

the officers working on the case felt it, including

35:34

the one going over Salmonebides' file

35:36

over and over again. They

35:38

knew now that there was no network in England

35:40

that supported the bomber. That

35:43

was the ultimate relief.

35:47

The One Love Manchester concert would go on

35:49

to raise over $23 million to distribute to the

35:53

victims of the attack and their families.

35:55

It was a serious win to help soften

35:57

the blow of even more serious losses.

36:00

The kind of losses that you can never get back.

36:04

Thousands

36:04

of people lost their innocence on May 22nd, 2017.

36:09

Twenty-two people lost the chance to sing again.

36:12

And that is the ultimate disgrace.

36:16

I'm Jake Brennan, and this

36:19

is Disgraceland. Disgraceland

36:30

was created by yours truly and is

36:33

produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits

36:35

for this episode can be found on

36:37

the show notes page at Disgracelandpod.com.

36:40

Subscribe,

36:40

follow, like, rate, and review the Disgraceland

36:42

Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, because

36:45

the Disgraceland Podcast is now available

36:47

everywhere. If

36:50

you love Disgraceland, please subscribe. If you love Disgraceland,

36:52

please subscribe, follow, like, and review the Disgraceland

36:55

Podcast

36:56

wherever you get your podcasts, because

36:58

the Disgraceland Podcast is now available

37:01

everywhere. If you love Disgraceland, tell someone.

37:03

Tell everyone. Shout us

37:05

out on social. Spread the word, and follow

37:08

us to find out how you can cop some free merch for spreading

37:10

that word. Follow us on Instagram,

37:13

TikTok, Twitter,

37:14

and Facebook, at DisgracelandPod, and on

37:16

YouTube at YouTube.com slash at DisgracelandPod.

37:21

He's a bad, bad

37:22

man.