Crimetown

It’s the early eighties, and a new organization is revolutionizing the heroin trade: Young Boys Inc. Unlike other drug operations, YBI recruits juveniles, brands smack as if it were designer clothing, and moves the industry out of the dope houses and onto the corners. As YBI’s relentless expansion causes more and more bloodshed, its foot soldiers must reckon with their impact on Detroit.  For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When a hungry young DEA agent arrives in Detroit, he picks the perfect case to make his bones: taking down Eddie Jackson and Courtney Brown’s sprawling heroin organization. But if the drug kingpins fall, what will happen to their kids? As the feds close in, Eddie Jr. and Courtney Jr. must face the possibility of growing up without their fathers.  For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eddie Jackson and Courtney Brown are childhood friends from a poor neighborhood. Eddie is the troublemaker, drawn to Detroit’s seamier side; Courtney is his quiet, serious sidekick. As they grow older in a city with dwindling job options, they go their separate ways. But when Eddie dives into the heroin trade, Courtney faces a choice: play it safe and stay broke, or join his friend’s burgeoning empire and get rich.  For bonus content from this episode, check out crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A police shooting outside a community center leaves two black teenagers dead. Protesters take to the streets, igniting a movement to elect the city’s first black mayor. As election day approaches, the future of a racially polarized city hangs in the balance. For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Detroit, 1971—a city riven by blight, racial strife, and rising crime. In the first episode of Crimetown Season 2, the police form a controversial undercover unit called STRESS—Stop The Robberies, Enjoy Safe Streets. One of the unit’s cops kills so many black men that he earns a nickname: Mr. STRESS. Can anyone stop him? For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Season 2, Crimetown explores crime and corruption in the heart of the Rust Belt: Detroit, Michigan. Expect stories of police shootings, the drug trade, and political scandal from a city divided by race. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2003, a couple of Brown University alumni did the unthinkable: they wrote and performed a musical about everyone’s favorite criminal mayor. No recordings of the play exist today. So, as a holiday gift to Crimetown listeners, we’ve asked some friends in the musical-theater business to resurrect this forgotten classic. To listen to the Buddy Cianci: The Musical soundtrack, and for more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Courtney Calenda is a star high school student—until a powerful defense attorney more than three times her age pulls her into a downward spiral of sex and drugs. As her life falls apart, she decides to fight back. For more information about this episode, and a full list of credits, visit our website at crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jarrod Tillinghast is the son of one of Rhode Island’s most notorious mobsters. Determined to make a name for himself, he turns to boxing and becomes a rising star. But he learns that his father’s legacy isn’t so easy to leave behind. For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

80-year-old Ralph DeMasi is known throughout New England as both a prolific armored-car robber and a dedicated family man. After decades in prison, he thought he would live out his last years in freedom. Then the police made a break in a cold case, and now Ralph has a new charge on his long rap sheet: murder. For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com. Read Dan Barry’s New York Times article about Ralph DeMasi, “The Holdup: A Mobster, a Family and the Crime That Won’t Let Them Go.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Earlier this month, we brought some of your favorite Crimetown characters to Brooklyn for a night of storytelling. Hear tales of canine escape, gold heists, prison life and more from Bobby Walason, Charles “the Ghost” Kennedy, Brian Andrews, Tony Fiore, and Dr. Barbara Roberts. For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To celebrate the end of our first season, Crimetown is releasing a soundtrack featuring many of the songs from the show. In this special bonus episode, co-host Zac Stuart-Pontier and composer/sound designer Matthew Boll take you behind the scenes to discuss their favorite moments from the season and how music helped bring Crimetown to life. You can find the soundtrack on: iTunes | Apple Music | Spotify | Google Play | Bandcamp  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Buddy Cianci was once a crusading prosecutor who took on the mob. Now, he’s behind bars. For the mayor of any other city, this would be the end of the road. But Buddy isn’t any other mayor. And Providence isn’t any other city. For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Buddy Cianci faces justice. His lawyers say he’s the Renaissance Mayor, too busy rebuilding Providence to notice a few bad apples in his administration. The prosecution says he’s just another crooked politician, running a massive corruption ring out of City Hall. Which story will the jury believe? For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dennis Aiken is an FBI agent from Mississippi. Anthony Freitas is a businessman from Portugal. Together, they’re Providence’s best hope in the war on corruption—and they just might take down Buddy Cianci once and for all. For a full list of credits, and for more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nicole Ouimette always knew her father was different. He was in and out of prison for most of her childhood. He had a lot of money but no job. And then, one night, the FBI showed up. For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Charles “the Ghost” Kennedy and his sister Gloria took very different paths in life. She became a state senator. He became a drug smuggler. And as his empire starts to crumble, the people close to him suffer the consequences. For a full list of credits, and for more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Buddy Cianci left City Hall in disgrace after torturing a man in his living room. Now, he attempts the impossible: running for mayor of Providence again. For a full list of credits, and for more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When master burglar Tony Fiore gets out of prison, he decides to try something different: robbing armored cars at gunpoint. His new hobby will bring him head to head with an old adversary one last time. For more information about this episode, visit crimetownshow.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A shadowy group of political insiders tries to cover up a crisis. A mobbed-up banker vanishes after embezzling millions of dollars. And one renegade ex-nun saw the whole thing coming. For a full list of credits, and more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com. Our Sponsors Mailchimp – More than 12 million people use MailChimp to connect with their customers, market their products, and grow their businesses every day. Squarespace – For 10% off your first purchase go to Squarespace.com and use the offer code "CRIME" at checkout.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices