# Across the Bar Podcast, Episode 52 - CIA Gold Heist, JPMorgan's "Salami Case" & Why Workers Are Unionizing Again Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/across-the-bar-podcast-7317541/across-the-bar-podcast-episode-52-cia-gold-heist-jpmorgan-s-salami-case-why-workers-are-unionizing-again Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/across-the-bar-podcast-7317541/across-the-bar-podcast-episode-52-cia-gold-heist-jpmorgan-s-salami-case-why-workers-are-unionizing-again.md Podcast: [Across The Bar Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/across-the-bar-podcast-7317541) Published: 2026-05-29T18:32:11+00:00 Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/9846237e Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/9846237e/eec69069.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/across-the-bar-podcast-7317541/episodes/across-the-bar-podcast-episode-52-cia-gold-heist-jpmorgan-s-salami-case-why-workers-are-unionizing-again Duration seconds: 2173 ## Resource It's a (sort of) America 250 edition of Across the Bar! πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ Employment attorney Peter Rahbar and journalist Laura Brounstein break down a packed week of workplace stories β€” from a CIA gold heist to a $642 deli platter that cost JPMorgan millions. βš–οΈ The Union Comeback Is Real β€” Unionized workers just hit 16.5 million, a jump of 463,000 in a year and the highest level in 16 years β€” even as employers pour $1.7B+ into anti-union efforts. Peter explains what the shift in worker-vs-employer power really signals, and why he's warning companies not to overplay their hand. πŸ† The CIA Gold Bar Guy β€” A senior CIA official allegedly faked his rΓ©sumΓ© for years, then walked off with $40M in gold bars, $2M in cash, and a pile of Rolexes. Laura and Peter use it as a jumping-off point for the real question: how much can you actually embellish on a rΓ©sumΓ© before it becomes a career-ending lie? Plus where salary-history laws stand now. πŸ₯ͺ The JPMorgan "Salami" Case β€” A wealth manager who brought in a billion dollars was fired over a $642.50 expense his assistant mislabeled. He asked for $30M and won $4.25M in arbitration. Laura and Peter explain why theft is a bright-line issue for big employers β€” no matter how small the dollar amount or how high the performer. 🀝 Intern Survival Guide β€” Two listener questions: Should you join in on the office jokes? (Wait for the invite.) And how do you handle the Monday "how wasted were you" chatter without oversharing? Laura's got a trick β€” plus the cleanest embarrassing story of all time, straight from her White House internship. πŸ“Œ Follow-ups: A Google engineer arrested for an insider-info Polymarket scheme, and why every company needs a betting-markets policy β€” plus the AI meeting-recording trap. Peter Rahbar is a New York-based employment attorney, wo… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/across-the-bar-podcast-7317541/episodes/across-the-bar-podcast-episode-52-cia-gold-heist-jpmorgan-s-salami-case-why-workers-are-unionizing-again/transcription-requests` β€” Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/across-the-bar-podcast-7317541/across-the-bar-podcast-episode-52-cia-gold-heist-jpmorgan-s-salami-case-why-workers-are-unionizing-again.md` β€” Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.