The CIA is under new management. As the skim operation and the links between the mob and the Agency are exposed, a panicked attempt at a cover-up ensues. A neon paradise disappears in a tsunami of gore and litigation, but not everyone falls. We end with a look at the claim that the FBI "cleaned up" Vegas, and discuss the mob frontman who briefly...
2022-04-15 15:28:22 +0000 UTC View PostA new miniseries about the deep politics of casinos and other networks. Tonight we introduce the story of the near-destruction of the Syndicate, with a look at the story of Lefty Rosenthal, Tony Spilotro, and the secretive networks of business, intelligence and crime surrounding the massive skim operation they oversaw in Las Vegas back in the 70...
2022-04-11 04:33:18 +0000 UTC View PostA pal kindly informed me that I left a clap in there around the 9 minute mark. I use claps to mark edit points when I screw something up or do another take. I think there may be one or two more throughout the same episode. I have been floored by another weird bug I picked up last week and I guess it made me pretty sloppy while I was cutting BoW ...
2022-03-28 19:34:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Tonight we look at how the mafia consolidated its early power in the citrus groves around Palermo, and manipulated a series of revolts and revolutions to enter the Italian political system and become "an instrument of local government".
2022-03-26 02:02:53 +0000 UTC View PostHaving some technical issues exporting the file, it's quite a biggie. I'm trying to cut it down a bit but my laptop keeps crashing. Going to try and figure out a work around. Hope you're all good on this splendid Friday.
2022-03-25 15:14:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Lemons, sulfur and initiation. We will be exploring how the mafia consolidated its control of Sicily's economy and how it entered the Italian political system during a period of chaos and banditry. Intrigue abounds; a mild mannered physician stumbles into an early mafia war and his life becomes a waking nightmare, we examine a 19th century examp...
2022-03-23 14:19:34 +0000 UTC View PostA brief interruption to the last run of American history shows, in which we look at the City of London, the British Establishment, Ukraine, Russia, dark money and media spin. Now with potential libel removed!
2022-03-18 19:15:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Had to get my friend to scan it for libel at the last minute, this being Britain and all. There will be a few harsh edits but otherwise yes, it is inbound and I'll try to make it flow nicely.
I am going to briefly interrupt the last run of America-focussed episodes this week to do an hour or so on Britain. Something happened over the last few days that I think is quite instructive, and will help non-Brit listeners understand what we're up against here and what kind of angle were going to take when we begin covering British history in...
2022-03-13 10:59:21 +0000 UTC View PostTonight we look at the career of OSS/CIA agent and financier Nicholas Deak, and the strange, sad life of a mentally ill woman called Lois Lang. This one takes us on an odyssey through decades of money laundering, murder, banking and, bizarrely, MKUltra experiments.
2022-03-03 10:53:57 +0000 UTC View PostBack to the bread and butter of the show - spooks, drug dealers and crooked bankers. It's a very weird story that ends with a very weird murder.
2022-02-17 14:05:09 +0000 UTC View PostWe finally conclude Season of the Witch, and our long journey through the murk of the 1960s and 1970s war on the counterculture, with a reflection on where we've been, the maddening unknowns around Tate-Labianca and the Manson Family, and what developed out of the networks and operations active at the time.
2022-02-16 19:41:46 +0000 UTC View Post
In the first episode of BOOKS OF WAR, we trace the origin of the Sicilian Mafia and explore how it drew on 2000 years of history to fashion grandiose creation myths that obscured the grim reality of what it was and how it came into existence.
2022-02-05 08:45:32 +0000 UTC View PostWe kick off 2022 with a deep dive into the Process Church of the Final Judgement as part of our lateral look at the Manson family. A new religious movement and cult that was influenced by Carl Jung as much as Scientology, Process has been the subject of wild and feverish speculation for years. Art school try-hards or the guiding hand behind a se...
2022-01-21 14:55:44 +0000 UTC View Post
and other subjects. I apologise for the delay, had to rethink a couple of upcoming episodes so I could fit in Process. This is another installment in our Manson-adjacent series-within-a-series - after this, we're tying off the Family with a look at other murders potentially connected to them and then a final quickie episode about a much overlook...
2022-01-18 13:27:44 +0000 UTC View Post
First episode will be a freebie on the main feed, but thereafter it'll be entirely Patreon only. A monthly show, episodes ranging in length from 45 - 90 minutes. Perhaps once every six months or so, I'll post another one for free just to remind people we're now doing 2 shows.
This is going to be an entirely distinct and separate series f...
We look at how the mafia celebrate Christmas, then I tackle some listener questions and praise the work of Billie Eilish.
Merry Christmas to you and yours. See you in 2022.
2021-12-24 17:28:10 +0000 UTC View PostHollywood Ghost Stories continues as we get into the mind-warping, brain melting, sanity blasting story of Donald Defreeze and the kidnapping of Patty Hearst. From bank jobs to CHAOS agents, the Phoenix Program to revolutionary fervor, MKUltra to the LAPD, this story has it all, and is easily one of the most incredible we've ever discussed.
2021-12-23 13:26:05 +0000 UTC View Post
A lil Christmas treat from me to ye. The first will be a look at the mind fuck that is the kidnapping of Patty Hearst by the SLA, and the second will be a more relaxed, festive wander through your questions, with some Christmas spook tales and egregious audio experiments thrown into the mix for no reason at all.
2021-12-22 14:06:14 +0000 UTC View Post
AMA. I will choose ten or so at random. I'll try to find a balance of serious and not as serious.
I'm also trying to dig up a festive spook story that might make for a good 30 minute segment to fill out the episode.
Matt
Part 1: Hollywood. 1969. Hippies and revolutionaries mingle with rock gods and movie stars. The dream is over, but the party won't end. Gangsters, drug dealers, spooks and cult leaders haunt the scene. As the summer rolls on, Reagan unleashes his dogs on the counterculture, LAPD bulls run wild, paranoia reaches fever pitch, secret networks plot ...
2021-12-11 02:08:27 +0000 UTC View PostApologies. I think I may need to take another look at the release schedule, at the moment I'm kind of swamped with research and it's hard to stick to one ep a week. May need to go to fortnightly for a while.
2021-12-09 18:57:42 +0000 UTC View Post
The upcoming episode is going to be a combined historical account/book review a la The Twenty Days of Turin episode. So if you have time, have a quick skim/refresher of CHAOS by Tom O'Neill, Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon by Dave McGowan, and Easy Riders, Raging Bulls by Peter Biskind.
The title is:
Season of the Witch 8: Hollywoo...
It's happening. Hollywood Ghost Stories III. Patreon only.
2021-11-25 03:23:10 +0000 UTC View PostA look at the life, times and mind of Richard Nixon and his America. Bridging the 1960s and the 1970s, his administration is infamous for its corruption, dirty tricks and endless hustles. We follow him as he navigates a swamp of neofascist masons and CIA congressmen, Bohemian Grove bigshots and Wall Street creeps, examining everything from his b...
2021-11-23 14:07:20 +0000 UTC View Post
Or at least, I will give a Patreon exclusive Q&A another go for Christmas. Start submitting some questions in the DMs. By submitting early, it gives me enough time to Google information I can use to make myself appear more knowledgeable. I will select 10 or 15 and put the ep up the week of Christmas.
Nixon episode coming together nice...
I decided it kind of needs to be a monster, because there's quite a lot to get through. It won't be a ridiculous length, but it will definitely blow past the hour mark. Nixon, OPEC, Bohemian Grove, America in the doldrums, etc. It's also hopefully gonna be a fun experiment in talking about Watergate without actually discussing it, kind of simila...
2021-11-12 11:03:56 +0000 UTC View Post
