By all appearances, Varnamtown was a typical backwater fishing village. Located one hour south of Wilmington, North Carolina, the sleepy town had a population of just 300, and many of the residents shared the same last name—Varnam. In the early 1980s, however, the townspeople entered into a clandestine business agreement that transformed the area forever: they made a deal with the infamous drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. Planes and boats packed to the brim with illegal drugs began arriving in Varnamtown from South America, and the wealth of the town soared. The story involves REO Speedwagon’s private jet, a DEA investigation, undercover operations, and 300 alleged co-conspirators all from the same town. A new podcast hosted by Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) and journalist Joshua Davis investigates the small town that experienced “a fire hose of money and cocaine,” and why the story was all but ignored until now. —Paulina Prosnitz