"The Outfit" in September
Hello fellow Concrete Club members,
It's been a busy month on "The Outfit." On September 11th, we released an episode I am really proud of, about the World Trade Center as a nexus of mafia corruption–a sinkhole of greed, cost-cutting, and favoritism which played some role in the disaster that was the 9/11 attack. From fireproofing, to concrete, to steel, to Teamsters labor, mob-infiltrated companies played a role in constructing those towers, looting the job site, and even in killing one of their own on site. Even disasters, in 1993 and 2001, were just another chance for the mob to get rich. The cost was in thousands of lives of those working bravely to try to excavate Ground Zero, done on the cheap and with zero protection. I also wrote a lengthy thread on BlueSky about this subject.
Today, we turn to an arguably more depressing topic, and that is a pre-Stonewall 1964 police raid on a Chicagoland gay bar which would shine a light not just on the mob's long-time dominance over queer nightlife, but on its infiltration of the same police forces executing the raid. The central character, Richard Ogilvie, is a man out of today's scene, wondering, as he eyes a difficult road to political power: can throwing gay people under the bus enable him to do a greater good--battle the mob, which he genuinely despises? As he looks to mob-backed gay bars in the suburbs, he sees a way to stir up a moral panic among suburban voters--and it works. As we learn though, Ogilvie has made a deal with the devil, and the notion that you can do bad in order to do good is woefully blinkered.
Check it out on YouTube as always, and subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or wherever podcasts are found! And as always, follow me on Instagram and Bluesky. And if you're not already sick of me, we had two big guest appearances this week:
THE DOUGHBOYS! What a blessing this was to do. So much fun. THE premier fast food podcast. I loved doing this so much, and it has an explosive ending.
And...I was so pleased to be asked to join a show I've watched for years: THE MAJORITY REPORT! This is one of my favorite shows out there, and it was so much fun talking to Emma Vigeland and Matt Lech about how Trump behaves like a mafia boss, from the early days of his realty empire to his crypto racket present!
More fun stuff on the horizon...by which I mean violent and corrupting filth!
Check Out and Subscribe to "The Outfit"!