Tue, Feb 6, 2018
Sam Giancana was utterly ruthless and willing to do anything in his pursuit of power. But unlike most mobsters, he didn't live his life in the shadows. He had a beautiful showbiz girlfriend. He was even pals with singer Frank Sinatra. Sam Giancana's influence reached the highest echelons of American politics from helping John F. Kennedy to defeat Richard Nixon in the 1960 Presidential election to assisting in the CIA's darkest operations in Cuba. Under his reign, the mob and politics were combined with deadly results.
Tue, Feb 13, 2018
We explored the early days of one of the most flamboyant and dangerous mafia bosses of all time, Sam Giancana, and heard from those who strived to bring him to justice. We discovered how he helped get JFK elected to president. hat he made clandestine deals with the CIA to assassinate Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, all in the expectation that his criminal activities would be overlooked by the authorities. But that didn't happen - far from leaving Giancana alone, Bobby Kennedy was now on a mission to bring down organized crime. So, with Giancana feeling double-crossed by the Kennedy's, could he have been behind the most infamous assassination in modern history?
Tue, Feb 20, 2018
In the 1920's, at the height of prohibition, the intelligent, ruthless, and visionary, Charles "Lucky" Luciano forever transformed the Mob from warring street gangs into a highly sophisticated criminal empire. By the time Luciano was finished, the Mob was bigger than General Motors, and he had fully organized crime into a booming business. We explore the early childhood of Luciano, his making in the mob, and his making of the mob.
Tue, Feb 27, 2018
The story continues about Charles "Lucky" Luciano, who made the Mob a highly sophisticated criminal empire. From night clubs to brothels, Luciano's Mob spread its tentacles into every part of American society, earning billions, and a reputation. Meanwhile, the FBI had declared war on organized crime, and the prosecution took the form of Thomas E. Dewey. In Part 2, we'll discover how Luciano was finally put behind bars, until the outbreak of World War 2 played a part in his escape from justice.
Tue, Mar 6, 2018
In the 1980's, one man became the face of the Mafia. The most famous gangster since Al Capone. Through murder, deception, and pure luck, John Gotti worked his way up the mob ladder. But Gotti was best known for flaunting his status, enticing the media, and attracting the attention of the press - the press that gave him the name "The Teflon Don."
Tue, Mar 13, 2018
When last we met John Gotti, he had taken the media by storm, posing for the camera as a glamorous mafioso. Meanwhile, he had taken over the Gambino family by treacherous means: lying and murdering his way to the top. In Part 2, Gotti earns his nickname, "TheTeflon Don," beating every case brought up against him until the FBI teamed up with a surveillance squad. Hear from squad leaders and historians tell the harrowing tale of danger, betrayal, and sharp detective work, and the mission that finally brought Gotti down.
Tue, Mar 20, 2018
In the 1970's, penetrating the mob hierarchy was considered too difficult and too dangerous. But when the infamous five families became involved in a series of car hijackings, veteran agent Joe Pistone of the FBI volunteered to go undercover. What he didn't know was that he would be undercover for six years. Hear the story from Joe Pistone himself and all the tools and tricks to survival as he navigated the mob as the most successful mafia undercover agent of all time, under the guise of a diamond thief named Donnie Brasco.
Tue, Mar 27, 2018
Joe Pistone continues his story of spending six years undercover as the gangster Donnie Brasco. With the help from the FBI and other undercover agents, Pistone spread his own influence and string operation beyond New York, to Wisconsin and Florida. As Brasco continued to make his way up the mafia hierarchy, he grew increasingly close to Sonny Black Napolitano, gaining his trust and friendship. But things came to a head when Napolitano proposed for Brasco to become a full-fledged mafioso - requiring that he do something that the FBI couldn't condone: murder.
Tue, Apr 3, 2018
When Charles Luciano organized the mob and decided that money didn't care what your ethnicity was, it was the chance for Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel to prove his worth. With ambition as big as Las Vegas and a temper to boot, Siegel made his way to the top through charm, hustle, and murder. And Sigel's tendency to violence would take him from the poor streets of Downtown New York City to the glitz and glamour of 1930s Hollywood, and beyond.
Tue, Apr 10, 2018
From the poor streets of downtown New York, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel worked his way up through the mafia and through Hollywood. And then he set his sights on Las Vegas. Siegel bought what is now the Strip, determined to make a luxurious casino resort where people would have fun as they were parted from their money. The mafia funded the wayward project, and Siegel was ready to bask at the top of the mob with a glamorous lifestyle - until he crossed a line, and the mob had no choice but to take him out.
Tue, Apr 17, 2018
Prohibition was a time that allowed those outside of the law to thrive, as rival bootlegging businesses were set up by mafia members all over the world. In the heart of New York's gangland was Dutch Schultz, a student of the old world thuggery, and a man with an exceptional taste for violence. Not even his closest friends were safe from his bloodlust. As Dutch tried to make his way up the mafia ladder by muscling into territory, he came up against the likes of Arnold Rothstein, Vincent Coll, and his arch-rival - Charles "Lucky" Luciano - as well as the rest of the mob. And Dutch's preference for outspoken violence would lead to his downfall.
Tue, Apr 24, 2018
Dutch Schultz continues his feud with Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll. The reign of violence puts the mafia in a delicate position when it gains the attention of an ambitious new prosecutor named Thomas Dewey. His friends dwindling as he betrays and kills them, and the mob unable to cope with his recklessness, Schultz finds himself into dangerous territory that ultimately leads to his downfall.
Tue, Jun 19, 2018
Carmine Galante wanted to be the "Boss of All Bosses," the head of the mafia, and would stop at nothing to reach his goal. He was single-handedly responsible for trafficking enormous amounts of heroin into the United States, raking in millions for himself and leaving streets of addicts in his wake. Until he was nabbed by the new narcotics laws. But even from jail, he ruled the streets.
Tue, Jul 24, 2018
Far from the big-name mob territories of New York and Chicago, the mafia scene in Tampa, Florida was of a smaller scale. That is, until Santo Trafficante used his influence and geographic advantage to turn Cuba in a gambling paradise. His smooth-talking demeanor made him fast friends with powerful officials, making life easy street - until he was betrayed.
Tue, Jul 31, 2018
At the Warren Committee hearings, looking into the deaths of Fidel Castro and JFK, Santo Trafficante kept his lips sealed. And yet the connections kept coming up. Trafficante had every reason to want to kill the man who had shut down his Cuban casinos - but had the CIA really ordered him to assassinate Castro? And what exactly was his connection to Jack Ruby?
Tue, Aug 14, 2018
The mob's merchant of death and family man, Albert Anastasia, continues as head of Murder Inc. But when the Commission decides to shutdown this violent organization how does Albert adjust to his new role in the mob? What are the three cardinal rules of the modern mafia that Anastasia would break?
Tue, Aug 21, 2018
Tony Spilotro, known as the Las Vegas enforcer, was a feared man whose job it was to make sure the mob's law was kept - or else. But when he proved too rough for the job, and went back to his street hustling ways, there came a point when the mafia couldn't get behind him. And the corrupt police force was about to change. Their first target? Tony Spilotro.
Tue, Sep 4, 2018
Joseph Massino was the legendary godfather of the Bonnano crime family, known as 'The Last Don' of a generation. And he absolutely crushed anyone who went against the mafia code of silence or 'Omerta.' But when the family was infiltrated by the legendary undercover agent Donnie Brasco, it spelled the end for the Bonannos and for the Mafia.
Tue, Sep 11, 2018
In the 1980's and 1990's, four of the bosses of the five families had been taken down by the FBI. But one family, the Bonnanos, remained untouched. But after years of the FBI being unable to catch Joe Massino in anything, they had finally bagged his right-hand man, Sal Vitale. And finally were given the edge they had been looking for.
Tue, Sep 18, 2018
Organized crime and street gangs were originally strongly divided along ethnic lines, but into the 1930s, those lines began to blur, especially between the Italian and Jewish gangsters. In this bonus episode, Mafia explores how this change came about, and highlights the prolific Jews who ran the underground world: Arnold Rothstein, Meyer Lanksy, and Bugsy Siegel.
Tue, Sep 25, 2018
For years, the mob was able to rule New York, Chicago, and many other cities, free to run gambling rackets, flood the street with drugs, and corrupt officials to their liking. Until the law enforcement got wise and turned up the heat. How Thomas Dewey, RICO, and undercover operations finally took a stand against the mob and ultimately worked to bring it down.
Tue, Oct 2, 2018
There is a long list of people and organizations who were in one way or another in the Mafia's pockets. In this bonus episode, we'll look at the connection between the Mafia and the American establishment. From politicians, law enforcement, the CIA and the unions the mob collaborated with the state and officials on many occasions. And being the Mafia, they always expected something in return.
Tue, Oct 9, 2018
One of the unwritten rules of the Mafia was Omerta, the code of silence. No one was allowed to talk about the existence of the Mafia, reveal how it worked or who the main players were. The Mafia demanded loyalty from its members to the very end. But when the law enforcement started to use modern surveillance techniques and tools to incriminate mobsters, those willing to cooperate with authorities began to grow longer and longer. It turned out mobsters do talk about the Mafia and about others to save their own skin, even bosses.