Up Against The Mob: Recent Episodes
CAFE
Elie Honig spent fourteen years as a federal and state prosecutor in New York and New Jersey. Now he peels back the curtain on the real-life, inside stories of the modern-day mafia with unprecedented access to the people who lived them. The fear, the pressure, the setbacks, and the triumphs. What does it take to bring down the world’s most secretive criminal organization? Up Against The Mob is produced by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
What’s the history of associations and powerful internal groups in American life? On this episode of Now & Then, “Associations: From the Masons to the Mob,” Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman discuss the popularity of the Freemasons and other secret clubs among the early national elite, the growth of political machines like Tammany Hall during the 1800s, and the development of organized crime during Prohibition. Then, Elie Honig, the host of Up Against the Mob and a former mafia prosecutor, joins Heather and Joanne to discuss the origins and goals of the controversial Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which Congress passed in 1970 to go after nefarious associations. When do associations promote democracy? When do they become problematic? And how should law enforcement guard against dangerous associations?
Listen to all six episodes of CAFE’s Up Against the Mob podcast, hosted by Elie Honig: cafe.com/up-against-the-mob
Sign up for the CAFE Brief to receive the weekly Note from Elie and a slate of articles: cafe.com/brief
Join CAFE Insider to listen to “Backstage,” where Heather and Joanne chat each week about the anecdotes and ideas that formed the episode. And for a limited time, use the code HISTORY for 50% off the annual membership price. Head to: cafe.com/history. For references & supplemental materials, head to: cafe.com/now-and-then/associations-from-the-masons-to-the-mob Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Martin Scorsese’s iconic film Goodfellas introduced generations to life in the mafia. In this Up Against the Mob season finale, Elie is joined by two former SDNY colleagues, Lisa Zornberg, former Chief of the Criminal Division, and Daniel Chung, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney. They examine the story of Goodfellas, analyzing what’s accurate, what’s not, and share some of their own real-life experiences of taking on organized crime.
In the bonus episode for CAFE Insiders, Elie Honig and Safeena Mecklai take listeners behind the scenes of the sixth episode of Up Against the Mob. Become an Insider at cafe.com/Insider and enter code MOB for 50% off the annual membership price.
Up Against the Mob is produced by CAFE Studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Subscribe wherever you listen.
Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Senior Editorial Producer: Adam Waller; Technical Director: David Tatasciore; Audio Producers: Matthew Billy; Composer: Nat Weiner; Editorial Producers: Noa Azulai, David Kurlander, Sam Ozer-Staton, Jake Kaplan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Why are we enthralled with the mob? From the Sopranos, to Goodfellas, to the Godfather, pop culture representations of the mafia have become classics. Psychologist Maria Konnikova studies the widespread public fascination with mafia figures and the enduring allure of anti-heroes. She and Elie discuss the glamorization of the mafia, how mobsters juggle a life on the streets and a life at home, and Elie’s experience of these phenomena in his own work prosecuting the mob.
In the bonus episode for CAFE Insiders, Elie Honig and Safeena Mecklai take listeners behind the scenes of the fifth episode of Up Against the Mob. Become an Insider at cafe.com/Insider and enter code MOB for 50% off the annual membership price.
Up Against the Mob is produced by CAFE Studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe wherever you listen.
Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Senior Editorial Producer: Adam Waller; Technical Director: David Tatasciore; Audio Producers: Matthew Billy; Composer: Nat Weiner; Editorial Producers: Noa Azulai, David Kurlander, Sam Ozer-Staton, Jake Kaplan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
James Gagliano was fresh out of the FBI Academy when he drew a bizarre assignment: safeguarding Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, a former Gambino mob boss who had recently flipped, becoming one of the government’s most important, and endangered, cooperating witnesses. Gagliano reveals details from those first few months when he lived with and protected Sammy the Bull, getting to know the most important mob cooperator in American history.
In the bonus episode for CAFE Insiders, Elie Honig and Safeena Mecklai take listeners behind the scenes of the fourth episode of Up Against the Mob. Become an Insider at cafe.com/Insider and enter code MOB for 50% off the annual membership price.
Up Against the Mob is produced by CAFE Studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe wherever you listen.
Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Senior Editorial Producer: Adam Waller; Technical Director: David Tatasciore; Audio Producers: Matthew Billy; Composer: Nat Weiner; Editorial Producers: Noa Azulai, David Kurlander, Sam Ozer-Staton, Jake Kaplan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Joaquin “Big Jack” Garcia is a legendary former FBI undercover agent. Posing as mob member “Jack Falcone,” Garcia infiltrated the Gambino Family deeper than anyone else in history. Garcia reveals how he bonded with powerful mob leaders, fooled the family into accepting him as their own, and ultimately took down a powerhouse Gambino Family crew.
In the bonus episode for CAFE Insiders, Elie Honig and Safeena Mecklai take listeners behind the scenes of the third episode of Up Against the Mob. Become an Insider at cafe.com/Insider and enter code MOB for 50% off the annual membership price.
Up Against the Mob is produced by CAFE Studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe wherever you listen.
Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Senior Editorial Producer: Adam Waller; Technical Director: David Tatasciore; Audio Producers: Matthew Billy; Composer: Nat Weiner; Editorial Producers: Noa Azulai, David Kurlander, Sam Ozer-Staton, Jake Kaplan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Murray Richman is a longtime criminal defense attorney who’s better known as one of the country’s top mob lawyers. Purportedly the real-life “Better Call Saul” character, Murray takes pride in being “liberty’s last champion.” He tells of his life defending top mafia chieftains and hip-hop stars—and, of the time he went out with Frank Sinatra after fighting for his mob boss client’s acquittal.
In the bonus episode for CAFE Insiders, Elie Honig and Safeena Mecklai take listeners behind the scenes of the second episode of Up Against the Mob. Become an Insider at cafe.com/Insider and enter code MOB for 50% off the annual membership price.
Up Against the Mob is produced by CAFE Studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe wherever you listen.
Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Senior Editorial Producer: Adam Waller; Technical Director: David Tatasciore; Audio Producers: Matthew Billy; Composer: Nat Weiner; Editorial Producers: Noa Azulai, David Kurlander, Sam Ozer-Staton, Jake Kaplan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this bonus episode of Up Against the Mob, Elie Honig and Safeena Mecklai take listeners behind the scenes of the first episode. They discuss the challenge of flipping a mafia member to become a cooperating witness and how Elie would speak to his young children about his job prosecuting organized crime.
To hear future bonus episodes of Up Against the Mob become a member of CAFE Insider at cafe.com/Insider and enter code MOB for 50% off the annual membership price.
Up Against the Mob is produced by CAFE Studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Senior Editorial Producer: Adam Waller; Technical Director: David Tatasciore; Audio Producers: Matthew Billy; Composer: Nat Weiner; Editorial Producers: Noa Azulai, David Kurlander, Sam Ozer-Staton, Jake Kaplan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Once a rising star in the Genovese crime family, Michael Visconti decided to leave the mafia and become a cooperating government witness. Visconti opens up to Elie Honig about his life and rise in the mob — how he first got mixed up with the mafia, the violent crimes he committed, and his decision to flip against his mob “family.”
In the bonus episode for CAFE Insiders, Elie Honig and Safeena Mecklai take listeners behind the scenes of the first episode of Up Against the Mob. Become an Insider at cafe.com/Insider and enter code MOB for 50% off the annual membership price.
Up Against the Mob is produced by CAFE Studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe wherever you listen.
Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Senior Editorial Producer: Adam Waller; Technical Director: David Tatasciore; Audio Producers: Matthew Billy, Nat Weiner; Editorial Producers: Noa Azulai, David Kurlander, Sam Ozer-Staton, Jake Kaplan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Up Against the Mob is a new podcast from CAFE hosted by former prosecutor Elie Honig. Each week, he sits down with cops, undercover agents, defense lawyers, mobsters-turned-cooperators and more to tell the stories of what it’s like to take on the world’s most secretive criminal organization. New episodes drop every Wednesday starting September 8th. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices