When Unchecked Power Goes Off The Rails

What would you do if you woke up one morning to find your world turned upside down? Hundreds of negative articles have flooded the internet overnight and your name has been dragged through digital mud, your bank accounts have been frozen, and whispers are spreading—parents at your kids’ school have been contacted, told you’re a “bad influence.” Your life, your livelihood, your reputation, everything you’ve built is under threat.

Targeted unravels the chilling modern phenomenon of weaponized information and institutional power, spotlighting stories of those who’ve faced coordinated smear campaigns, Interpol red notices and sanctions meant to destroy.

What happens when you become the target and how do you fight back?

Our Guests

Jonathan Taylor did the right thing by exposing a massive international bribery scheme. The price he’s had to pay? A vindictive, punitive campaign to of political, legal, financial and personalpersecution.

Nathan Law a student leader in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and former law-maker, has been forced into living in exile. He and his family continue to be targeted by the PRC.

Gaurav Srivastava was targeted by a ruthless smear campaigndesigned to absolve a former business partner of sanctions by the UK, EU and Switzerland for illicit trading in Russian oil .

Amalia Zatari together with Dr. Alexandra Arkhipova exposed a Kremlin snitch who targeted academics and dissidents who were targeted by the regime and labeled as foreign agents, shedding light on the personal risks faced by those who dare to speak out.

Aron Shaviv was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice accusing him of terrorism and involvement in a coup attempt in Montenegro—allegations tied to his work for an opposition party challenging the country’s 27-year ruling regime. Though ultimately exonerated by Interpol and cited in a U.S. State Department Human Rights Report as a victim of politically motivated abuse of international law enforcement mechanisms, the ordeal took a lasting toll on his career, finances, and family life.

Pavel Ivlev, a Russian lawyer, fled to the United States in 2004 after refusing to fabricate testimony against Mikhail Khodorkovsky during the Kremlin’s campaign to dismantle Yukos Oil Company. Branded a fugitive and charged with bribery and embezzlement, Ivlev became the target of politically driven persecution. Though later vindicated, he remains in exile, a long-term political refugee shaped by his role in one of modern Russia’s most high-profile legal confrontations—and by the cost of defying an authoritarian state.