The Code of the Underworld

Pirates may look like the ultimate outsiders. Lawless, dangerous and answerable to nobody. But a pirate ship could not survive without rules. There had to be agreement over food, pay, discipline and what happened when someone was injured. In a world beyond the reach of government, trust was what kept the crew together.

In this episode, Mary-Ann Ochota explores the hidden codes that hold criminal worlds together. Pirate historian Rebecca Simon reveals that the real pirate “code” was not a Hollywood fantasy, but a set of articles that governed life on board. They set out how spoils were shared, how decisions were made and what happened when someone broke the rules. Even Blackbeard, one of history’s most feared pirates, depended on discipline and intimidation as much as violence.

Those same questions continue in the modern underworld. Criminologist Federico Varese explains how criminal groups solve the problem of trust when they cannot rely on contracts, courts or public reputations. From Mafia families to gang initiations, he shows how shared crimes, rituals and the threat of violence can create loyalty and make leaving extraordinarily difficult.

Professor Sophie Scott explores why costly tests of belonging can bind people to a group, even when that group is dangerous. Together, these stories reveal the darker side of trust. It’s not simply something freely given, but something that can be demanded, enforced and used as a weapon.

Trust Forward is a podcast from Sumsub, AI-powered trust infrastructure for compliance operations at scale, made in collaboration with This is Distorted. Every story here is really a version of the same problem playing out in a different era. Today it plays out online, in the moment a business has to decide whether to trust a stranger on the other side of a screen. That’s the problem Sumsub exists to solve.

Sumsub's Website: sumsub.com Sumsub's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/sumsub Sumsub's Instagram: instagram.com/sumsubcom Sumsub on X: x.com/Sumsubcom Sumsub's YouTube Channel: youtube.com/@sumsubcom Mary-Ann Ochota on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mary-ann-ochota-frgs-9234aa61/ Rebecca Simon: https://rebecca-simon.com/ Federico Varese: https://www.sociology.ox.ac.uk/people/federico-varese Professor Sophie Scott on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sophie-scott-179b6610/

Resources for this episode can be found here: https://trustforward.sumsub.com/episodes/the-code-of-the-underworld Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.