1 00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:06,880 Speaker 1: Novel. 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,640 Speaker 2: I read a lot of romance novels. People have a 3 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 2: tendency to make fun of them, mostly because it's a 4 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:24,239 Speaker 2: genre largely targeted towards and written by women. Romance novels 5 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 2: are full of hope, humor, and yes, sometimes there's really 6 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,879 Speaker 2: steamy sex. You like dragons and elves. You want to 7 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:35,160 Speaker 2: know what it looks like when a whole hockey team 8 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 2: finds love. Maybe you'd like a fictionalized version of an 9 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,879 Speaker 2: amish courtship, or what would it look like for a 10 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,839 Speaker 2: rabbi to fall for a former sex worker. Romance has 11 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 2: it all, Pumpkin. There's even a world where Italian gangsters 12 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 2: learn there's more to life than money and violence. I'd 13 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 2: actually never read any mafia romances before I came across 14 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,560 Speaker 2: you his story, so I figured i'd pick up a 15 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 2: few for research purposes. Of course, I asked my Twitter 16 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 2: followers what they liked about mafia stories and got a 17 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 2: variety of answers. People are fascinated by the strong sense 18 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 2: of loyalty, the found family narratives, and the protectiveness, plus 19 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 2: the secretive nature of the community. And there's much to 20 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:27,759 Speaker 2: be said about size stepping government overreach. Everybody loves sticking 21 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 2: it to the man. Add in the mysts about Italian men, 22 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 2: their appreciation for good food, good living, and good loving, 23 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 2: and well, it can be hard to resist a good 24 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:42,440 Speaker 2: mob romance. A lot of these images that feed into 25 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:45,760 Speaker 2: the lore of gangsters were shaped by Eunice and Dewey's 26 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 2: conviction of Lucky Luciano. 27 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 3: Okay, a brief synopsis of America's fascination with the Italian mafia. 28 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 2: If I may. 29 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:02,720 Speaker 3: In the nineteen thirties, when the Lucky Luciano trial first 30 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 3: started to hit the local papers, life imitated art and 31 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:08,600 Speaker 3: aught imitated life. 32 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 4: In those days. 33 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 2: Until the trial of Lucky there may have been rising 34 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 2: public panic about the seeping influence of crime and corruption 35 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 2: on American life, but the gangsters themselves. 36 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 3: American people started to pick up sympathy for these guys. 37 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 3: You've got this crazy dichotomy between people fascinated with the 38 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 3: mob and people who hated and feared the mob. For 39 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 3: very good reason. 40 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 2: We can thank Hollywood for that. 41 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 3: Those early gangster movies were based on real life crime figures. 42 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 2: In the early thirties, Hollywood is turning out film after 43 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 2: film about anti hero gangsters. Whether it's Edward g Robinson 44 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 2: playing Rico in the nineteen thirty one movie Little. 45 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 5: Caesar Allison Rico. 46 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 6: I'm gonna talk to you, but you're not gonna hear 47 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 6: a word I say. 48 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 2: That would have been al Capone. 49 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 3: This is inside dope, and if it gets out, it'll 50 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 3: be just too bad for somebody. 51 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 2: Or Humphrey Bogart as Duke Manty in The Petrified Forest, 52 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:12,360 Speaker 2: released in nineteen thirty six. 53 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 5: If you'll think I was kitten when I said I'd 54 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 5: be glad to knock you up. 55 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 3: People all love The Petrified Forest because that's Dilinger. You know, 56 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 3: Bogi really nailed it. 57 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 6: You're all right, Paly, I got good ideas. I'll try 58 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 6: that picture soos that don't hurt. 59 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 3: By the early thirties, it di was kissed that people 60 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 3: wanted to see the gangsters. 61 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 2: The government, unsurprisingly doesn't like this. 62 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 7: The gangster is being seen as the hero. We've got 63 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 7: to stop that. We've got to stop that. 64 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 2: So the government starts promoting their own style of hero 65 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 2: in films. 66 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 3: Now we're going to make movies about g men, you know, 67 00:03:57,440 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 3: government men, the FBI agents. 68 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 2: I don't think the public ever really bought that. After all, 69 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 2: having the law as Heroes doesn't exactly fit with most 70 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:08,480 Speaker 2: people's experiences. 71 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 7: The general attitude towards criminality come nineteen thirty three as well. 72 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 7: The gangsters in fact that in many ways they're better 73 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:17,600 Speaker 7: than the police. At least they're not being paid by 74 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 7: the state. They're not taking money and being paid by 75 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 7: the state, so they're cleaner than that. 76 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 2: Then there's Dewey, with his investigation into the Mob. This 77 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 2: mustachioled crusader works hard to frame Dutch Schultz and then 78 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 2: Lucky Luciano as public enemy number one. Dewey does start 79 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 2: to have some success here changing public attitudes. He begins 80 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 2: using radio broadcasts and newspaper headlines, and the hype of 81 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 2: Lucky's trial helps chase away any lingering doubts the public 82 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 2: may have about how bad the Mob is. By the 83 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,280 Speaker 2: time of the guilty verdict, the legend of Lucky Luciano 84 00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:04,040 Speaker 2: and his downfall is being broadcast triumphantly across America. The 85 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:08,720 Speaker 2: gangster who revolutionized the mob has been taken down the 86 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 2: boss of bosses laid Low, the original godfather. But even 87 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 2: as Lucky is led away from that courtroom in handcuffs, 88 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,680 Speaker 2: people are already starting as to question the lines between 89 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 2: the truth and fiction. 90 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:32,479 Speaker 8: Lucky Luciano, who is this guy? Who was he for real? 91 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:41,599 Speaker 2: When it comes to unicon Dewey's prized mob conviction? Is 92 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 2: it possible the whole story of Lucky is a fraud? 93 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:53,360 Speaker 2: From the teams at iHeartRadio and novel I'm Nicole Perkins 94 00:05:53,920 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 2: and this is the Godmother, Episode seven Disorganized Crime. On 95 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 2: June eighteenth, nineteen thirty six, twelve days after Lucky Luciano 96 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:40,279 Speaker 2: was found guilty on charges of compulsory prostitution, he returns 97 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:45,160 Speaker 2: to court for sentencing Dewey, Lucky, and the other co 98 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 2: defendants pushed past the crowds and step into the Manhattan courtroom. 99 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 2: There they all stand before Judge McCook, a judge you 100 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 2: might remember who had been specially appointed to take on 101 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:00,599 Speaker 2: organis crime. 102 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 8: They were set on putting these guys away for as 103 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:07,279 Speaker 8: long as they could, particularly Luciano. 104 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 2: A few weeks ago, Lucky had been all arrogance and 105 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 2: swagger as he took to the stand in that same courtroom. 106 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 2: But if he'd been surprised by the jury's eventual guilty verdict, 107 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 2: it was nothing compared to his slack jaw shock. As 108 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 2: Judge McCook reads his sentence aloud to the courtroom. 109 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 4: Holy Toledo for prostitution, you're giving me a life sentence. 110 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 8: Lucky Luciano took the harshest term from Judge McCook. 111 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:44,200 Speaker 4: Thirty to fifty years in prison. It was a life sentence. 112 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 2: Once all sentences have been handed out, Lucky and the 113 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:53,760 Speaker 2: other defendants are taken away for processing. 114 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 8: It was quickly determined they needed to be split up 115 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 8: and sent to different prisons so that they couldn't reorganize 116 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 8: this sex trafficking gang. 117 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 2: Lucky heads upstate to a prison on the Canadian border, 118 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 2: up the river. 119 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:13,040 Speaker 6: As they say, he wasn't taken down by taxes like 120 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 6: al Capone or Waxi Garden. He wasn't shot in the 121 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 6: head by arrival like Dutch Schalt. He was brought down 122 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 6: by a bunch of two bit hores. Most men in 123 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:28,679 Speaker 6: the underworld insisted it could not be true. 124 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 2: In the end, it's the women who bring Lucky low. 125 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 2: Lucky might be down, but he and his team of 126 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 2: expensive lawyers are far from done because, let's face it, 127 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 2: the prosecution's case hadn't exactly been watertight. 128 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 7: At best, questionable, if not don't right illegal. 129 00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 2: So as that summer of nineteen thirty six passes, Lucky's 130 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:58,000 Speaker 2: team starts to work on their appeal in an attempt 131 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 2: to swiftly free Lucky from his new home up the river. 132 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 2: And while they're working on that, what is Eunice Carter 133 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 2: doing what she does? 134 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:13,559 Speaker 9: After Luciano's trial, Thomas Dewey's team continues to investigate organized crime. 135 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 2: She and Dewey are back in their office on the 136 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 2: Woolworth Building's fourteenth floor. She was a relative rookie when 137 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 2: she joined Dewey's investigation, But Eunice Harbor's ambitions of becoming 138 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 2: a judge one day It's a lofty goal on any scale, 139 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:36,800 Speaker 2: let alone for a black woman in the footheels of 140 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 2: a vast mountain of systemic racism and sexism in America. 141 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 2: But I wouldn't be surprised if Eunice thought why not? 142 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 2: Her career as a prosecutor was off to the best 143 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:51,320 Speaker 2: possible start with a high profile Lucky conviction. It's easy 144 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 2: to imagine Unice back in her office desk, light burning 145 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 2: her eyes as she goes back over every piece of 146 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 2: evidence in preparation for Lucky so appeal. She has to 147 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 2: know everything will be called into question. It was her 148 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 2: original work that got the conviction in the first place. 149 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:12,000 Speaker 2: She may not have received kudos in public, but if 150 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:16,440 Speaker 2: Lucky won his appeal, the prosecution's loss will definitely have 151 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:22,559 Speaker 2: her name all over it. By nineteen thirty seven, Lucky's 152 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 2: lawyers think a do over might be imminent. There was 153 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,480 Speaker 2: one obvious weakness in his original conviction. 154 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:33,560 Speaker 6: The witnesses the Underworld had a strong self interest in 155 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:38,000 Speaker 6: pressing the narrative that these women were unreliable witnesses. 156 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:41,320 Speaker 2: It wasn't just what the witnesses had said on the stand, 157 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:44,600 Speaker 2: it's the way Eunice and Dewey had coaxed that testimony 158 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 2: out of them in the first place. 159 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:49,439 Speaker 10: So they were effectively held against their will in communicado 160 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 10: unlesson until they cooperate. 161 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 2: Lucky and his team are well aware of just how 162 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:00,439 Speaker 2: shady the coercion of testimonies had been from the witnesses. 163 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:05,920 Speaker 2: In fact, most of America is becoming aware. The public 164 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:09,120 Speaker 2: has been reading a slow trickle of allegations that had 165 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 2: found their way into the newspapers. Some of the witnesses 166 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 2: who had cooperated with the prosecution are now talking to 167 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:20,720 Speaker 2: reporters about their experiences. I wonder if Dewey's composure cracks 168 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:23,960 Speaker 2: away from the courthouse as he reads the newspaper over 169 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:28,080 Speaker 2: his breakfast each morning. Maybe he worries his mustache into disarray, 170 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:33,199 Speaker 2: wondering who could be leaking all of this information. Readers 171 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 2: aren't just learning about brutal coercion. Eunice and Dewey may 172 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 2: have turned the bad cop dial up a little too high, 173 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,560 Speaker 2: but they'd also been using the good cop routine. 174 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:48,280 Speaker 6: It is certainly true that the ones who were willing 175 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 6: to talk were given special treatment. They didn't have to 176 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 6: stay necessarily in the jails. In some cases, they were 177 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:56,199 Speaker 6: put into secret apartments. 178 00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 10: Dewey's assistant prosecutors was taking the girls out the bar 179 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:01,080 Speaker 10: and getting drunk with them. 180 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:04,320 Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure Unis wasn't the assistant prosecutor taking the 181 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:06,280 Speaker 2: girls out, but who knows. 182 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:09,680 Speaker 10: The idea of whining and dining the ones who were 183 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 10: released from jail was fairly outrageous. 184 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 2: And the newspaper reports are now alleging that this coaxing 185 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:17,640 Speaker 2: of the witnesses didn't stop with simple nights out on 186 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:21,679 Speaker 2: the town. Apparently, certain promises were made to the witnesses 187 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 2: about rewards After a positive conviction, several. 188 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:29,840 Speaker 10: Of them received emoluments that were highly unusual. Two of 189 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 10: the women were sent on a cruise around the world, 190 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 10: paid for by doing as prosecutors. 191 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:44,360 Speaker 2: When the trial began, Judge McCook reminded the jurors of 192 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 2: the sex workers humanity, But maybe he should have delivered 193 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:51,679 Speaker 2: that message to the prosecution as well. These witnesses had 194 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 2: been exploited at every turn by their customers, the mob, 195 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:01,640 Speaker 2: the prosecution, the defense, and now the press. Yes, everyone 196 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 2: wants these little birdies to sing for their supper, with 197 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 2: promises of gilded cages for protection, but there's no real 198 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 2: safety after you read out the mob is there. The 199 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 2: good guys want you to be grateful as if they 200 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 2: saved you. The bad guys want you punished, and the 201 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:21,800 Speaker 2: press wants you to keep singing. But all those gilded 202 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:25,600 Speaker 2: cages flake and rust, So which one do you choose. 203 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:36,120 Speaker 2: There's no way to be truly free, is there. Dewey 204 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 2: and his team are about to learn the hard way 205 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 2: that some of their key witnesses are falling back into 206 00:13:41,760 --> 00:14:00,960 Speaker 2: the hands of the mob. Koki Flow was one of 207 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:05,720 Speaker 2: the prosecution's key witnesses. You remember Koki, She was going 208 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 2: through detox on the stand. Koch's testimony, like nearly all 209 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 2: the witnesses, had put her life in great danger. No 210 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 2: one likes a snitch, especially if they're pointing fingers at 211 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:20,840 Speaker 2: the boss of bosses. But if Dewey was worried about 212 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 2: the safety of Kochi or any of the rest of 213 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 2: the women, he didn't show signs of it, at least 214 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 2: not in his media briefings. 215 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 3: His press releases afterwards were more of a justification of 216 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 3: what had been done during the trial. He was very 217 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 3: mute on what steps were being taken to protect the women. 218 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 2: After the trial, when Lucky is convicted, Cokey and Millie Harris, 219 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 2: one of the other trial witnesses, understandably decide to get 220 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 2: the hell out of Dodge. They flee upstate to Rochester, 221 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 2: New York, and whole up in a cheap hotel. Breathing 222 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 2: fresh air and looking over their shoulders. 223 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 10: They began writing these stories that they were hired to 224 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 10: write for Liberty Magazine. 225 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:17,120 Speaker 2: They were offered the magazine deal in exchange for their 226 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 2: life stories. 227 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:20,840 Speaker 10: A series of stories was called Underworld Nights. 228 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:25,960 Speaker 2: Liberty Magazine is a popular magazine that features stories from 229 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 2: people of all walks of life, including celebrities, politicians, and 230 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 2: former sex workers turned prosecution witnesses. The series of articles 231 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 2: is published. 232 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 10: Once they finished that and they were paid for that, 233 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:44,680 Speaker 10: they couldn't go back to New York to their old lives, 234 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:47,800 Speaker 10: so they decided to go on a road trip and 235 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:50,280 Speaker 10: they bought a car. They took the southern route out 236 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 10: to California, California. 237 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 2: Because Flow and Millie aren't just magazine writers now, in 238 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 2: the aftermath of the trial, they'd also been offered a 239 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 2: movie deal. 240 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 10: They were under the impression that this film deal was 241 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 10: imminent and they wanted to be in LA when the 242 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:12,680 Speaker 10: film deal went down. 243 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:20,040 Speaker 2: The ladies don't end up in Tinseltown right away. Maybe 244 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:22,280 Speaker 2: they want to make their money stretch a little longer, 245 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 2: or try their hand at living straight. Because before long 246 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:30,560 Speaker 2: they're living in Pomona, just outside of LA and they're 247 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 2: getting short of cash because they've spent their remaining money 248 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,400 Speaker 2: on a kind of a strange new business. 249 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 10: They decided to open a gas station and Pomona, of 250 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:42,680 Speaker 10: all things, and the two of them opened a gas 251 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:47,000 Speaker 10: station and they ran it for a while, and Koki 252 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 10: Flow is okay. 253 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:51,240 Speaker 2: With that, But for Millie Harris. It's not so simple. 254 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 2: Hollywood tends to take its time, and the film about 255 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 2: their lives still hasn't come about yet. And the gas 256 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 2: station Pomona life isn't quite what she'd anticipated. I'm sure 257 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:05,919 Speaker 2: it lacked all the glitz and glam of New York City, 258 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:11,399 Speaker 2: and she's a city girl. Plus she's carrying an emotional weight. 259 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:16,160 Speaker 10: She wanted to get back to New York. 260 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 2: She missed her husband, a husband she had helped put 261 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 2: away alongside. 262 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:23,120 Speaker 10: Lucky who was in jail and sing sing. 263 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:25,360 Speaker 2: Maybe the guilt is eating away at her. 264 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:30,119 Speaker 10: Because Millie Harris, without Kochie Flow's knowledge, started communicating with 265 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:34,240 Speaker 10: the lawyers for Luciana who were handling his appeal, and 266 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:38,080 Speaker 10: an investigator wanted to get her to recant her testimony, 267 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:38,760 Speaker 10: which she did. 268 00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:43,520 Speaker 2: Eventually, both women returned to New York together, back to 269 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:50,880 Speaker 2: their old lives. Cochie goes back on heroin, she became. 270 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:53,359 Speaker 10: An addict again. They both went into a sanitarium to 271 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:55,840 Speaker 10: try to take the cure to get off of heroin, 272 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:59,159 Speaker 10: and it was during that time that they signed these 273 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:01,359 Speaker 10: affidavits recanting their testimony. 274 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 2: Sometimes the fear of something new is as much of 275 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:13,280 Speaker 2: a prison as anything else. By March nineteen thirty seven, 276 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:20,320 Speaker 2: all the prosecution's key witnesses have officially turned. Eunice and 277 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:23,919 Speaker 2: Dewey have lost the very foundation of their case against Lucky, 278 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 2: and Lucky's defense is picking up steam. All they have 279 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:31,240 Speaker 2: to do now is get these recanted statements in front 280 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:35,919 Speaker 2: of an appeals court, get the conviction overturned, and then 281 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:40,359 Speaker 2: Lucky will be a free man. Dewey is clearly worried 282 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:44,440 Speaker 2: about this too. He re enlists Eunice as his assistant 283 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 2: for an April nineteen thirty seven hearing for a retrial. 284 00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:53,040 Speaker 2: But Eunice, Dewey, and Lucky haven't factored in Judge McCook, 285 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:58,160 Speaker 2: that belligerent, dedicated, anti mob judge who had already come 286 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:01,600 Speaker 2: up with his own plan for this turn and of events. 287 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:03,160 Speaker 10: McCook did something that was highly unusual. 288 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,400 Speaker 2: You see, back in June of nineteen thirty six, when 289 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 2: the Blue Ribbon jury had dropped the bombshell of Lucky 290 00:19:14,359 --> 00:19:19,159 Speaker 2: Luciano's conviction, When Dewey was striding triumphantly from the courtroom 291 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 2: and Eunice was well not there as the drama played out, 292 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 2: another scene was also taking place, this one behind closed doors. 293 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,680 Speaker 2: Judge McCook, instead of taking a well earned break after 294 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:39,439 Speaker 2: ruling over the trial of the Century, is in his 295 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,719 Speaker 2: office surrounded by sex workers. 296 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:46,800 Speaker 10: After the verdict, and while the motion for new trial 297 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:50,080 Speaker 10: was pending, he called all seventy some women who were 298 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:53,680 Speaker 10: still in jail into his chambers. 299 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:57,880 Speaker 2: These seventy women are the sex workers and madams who 300 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:01,240 Speaker 2: have been witnesses in the trial. And this isn't some 301 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:02,639 Speaker 2: post trial party. 302 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 10: And without any notice to the defense or without any 303 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 10: defense lawyer being present, on the record, with a prosecutor present, 304 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,720 Speaker 10: he made them reassert their testimony. 305 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 2: All seventy women are told to swear again that their 306 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 2: testimony was accurate. 307 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 10: Highly unusual to do that, outrageous. Actually, the case really 308 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:26,800 Speaker 10: reeks a prosgatorial misconduct, at least by today's standards. 309 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,359 Speaker 2: These women don't have a cushy life at the start 310 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:35,840 Speaker 2: of Lucky's trial, and we know it took a lot 311 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:38,880 Speaker 2: to persuade them to testify in the first place. Their 312 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:41,960 Speaker 2: lives leading up to the trial had been severely uprooted, 313 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:45,399 Speaker 2: and it probably didn't get any easier after their names 314 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:49,399 Speaker 2: had been dragged through the press. Plus, I imagine the 315 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:53,439 Speaker 2: mob and their defense attorneys probably weren't very sweet when 316 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,680 Speaker 2: it came time to convince them to recant. It's been 317 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:02,720 Speaker 2: one harrowing experience after another, and now recanting their testimony 318 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:07,919 Speaker 2: means nothing. Lucky's defense team tries everything they have to 319 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:12,439 Speaker 2: get the case invalidated. In fact, by October tenth, nineteen 320 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:15,280 Speaker 2: thirty eight, they've taken this all the way to the 321 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:16,720 Speaker 2: highest court in the land. 322 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 3: The conviction was analyzed by the appellate and was denied 323 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:27,600 Speaker 3: for an appeal. They denied a retrial, and they denied 324 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 3: a mistrial. 325 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:32,440 Speaker 2: Thanks in part to Judge McCook's early intervention. 326 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:35,760 Speaker 8: Judge McCook, I'm not saying it was a crooked trial. 327 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:38,879 Speaker 8: I'm just saying, in nineteen thirty six, don't be a 328 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:45,080 Speaker 8: high profile criminal. They put him away in a manner 329 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:50,879 Speaker 8: that today standards I would hope wouldn't hold water. 330 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:55,879 Speaker 3: It was not fair, but it was considered fair for 331 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 3: its time. 332 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:02,080 Speaker 2: Dewey and Unice's triumph is now set in stone. It 333 00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:06,119 Speaker 2: looks like Charles Lucky Luciano is stuck in jail for 334 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:10,560 Speaker 2: the foreseeable future, and as he languishes there while his 335 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:14,119 Speaker 2: lawyers try and fail to win an appeal, Eunice and 336 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:18,720 Speaker 2: Dewey are already busy again. They both continue their fight 337 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:25,119 Speaker 2: against organized crime, although with very different results. Unice is 338 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:30,960 Speaker 2: now diligently prosecuting Numbers runners in Harlem. 339 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:36,440 Speaker 9: She winds up taking down some numbers racket leaders in Harlem, 340 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:41,639 Speaker 9: which is sort of met with mixed feelings within the 341 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 9: Harlem community. 342 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 2: Unice's success on this front isn't met with blanket approval. 343 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,840 Speaker 9: There's definitely a lot of people who are very happy 344 00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 9: because they do not want there to be criminal activity 345 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 9: in their community. But then also when you look at 346 00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:00,439 Speaker 9: the newspapers, not only black owned papers in carl but 347 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,959 Speaker 9: across the city, there's editorials that are like, why is 348 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,439 Speaker 9: this woman targeting her own community? 349 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,280 Speaker 2: In order to get ahead in the predominantly white world 350 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:17,280 Speaker 2: of law and justice, Unice has to prosecute people who 351 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 2: walk the same streets as she does. It's a fine line. 352 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:24,119 Speaker 2: I imagine she has to prove to her white colleagues 353 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 2: she won't be biased in her work, while also trying 354 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:30,679 Speaker 2: to prove her self trustworthy to her Harlem community. 355 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:34,919 Speaker 5: We talk frequently today about the constraints on black womanhood 356 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 5: in the public eye. Right we know that black women 357 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:43,280 Speaker 5: are subjected to more critique, to more hate, to a 358 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:47,680 Speaker 5: different set of standards than other people. These pressure from 359 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 5: within the black community to be a representative of the 360 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:56,800 Speaker 5: race would also presumably have made Unice Carter fuel pressure 361 00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:01,760 Speaker 5: even when she wasn't in white spaces. 362 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:08,119 Speaker 2: During this time. Whenever Unice Carter opens the paper and 363 00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:12,719 Speaker 2: sees her name, it's not with professional accolades or recognition. 364 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:17,240 Speaker 2: In the society pages, she reads judgments of her loyalty, 365 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:22,200 Speaker 2: her character, and her image. The newspapers that used to 366 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 2: praise Unice now judge her as harshly as any jury. Meanwhile, 367 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:49,680 Speaker 2: Dewey is receiving a much more positive reception in the media. 368 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,080 Speaker 2: By the end of nineteen thirty seven, Thomas Dewey is 369 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:57,640 Speaker 2: no longer a special prosecutor. He gets sworn in as 370 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 2: one of five New York District jorneys with a power 371 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 2: to decide who gets prosecuted. The law was only ever 372 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:10,199 Speaker 2: a stepping stone. He wants to break into politics. The 373 00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:13,119 Speaker 2: following year, he's on the move again. He runs and 374 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:17,080 Speaker 2: loses a gubernatorial race, but in nineteen forty two he 375 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:21,359 Speaker 2: runs again and is successfully elected governor of New York. 376 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:26,359 Speaker 2: His dreams of political office have come true. His rise 377 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:30,800 Speaker 2: is by any standards, meteoric. He's ridden a wave of 378 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:35,160 Speaker 2: popularity that followed Lucky's prosecution, far higher and faster than 379 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,239 Speaker 2: many might have expected. How did he manage it? 380 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,560 Speaker 3: Not in cooperation with police and federal law enforcement departments throughout. 381 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:43,120 Speaker 10: The United States. 382 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,640 Speaker 1: The only national program that brings you authentic police case 383 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,720 Speaker 1: history gain in Muster. 384 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 2: In the immediate aftermath of Lucky's trial. Dewey is not 385 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:08,720 Speaker 2: shy about trumpeting his performance. 386 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:14,080 Speaker 4: He gave his reports on WNYC radio. He also regularly 387 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 4: gave interviews. Dewey, by thirty seven thirty eight was in 388 00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:20,960 Speaker 4: the news. He was the guy who put Lucciano away. 389 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:22,159 Speaker 4: He was the gangbuster. 390 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,719 Speaker 2: Gangbusters is a law versus gangster fact based radio drama. 391 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 2: It first aired in nineteen thirty five. It's a program 392 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:34,399 Speaker 2: that Dewey becomes associated with by nineteen thirty six. In 393 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:39,040 Speaker 2: nineteen thirty nine, a book called ninety Times Guilty is published. 394 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:43,480 Speaker 2: It tells a now familiar story of Lucky Luciano as 395 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 2: a shadowy mafia figure pulling the strings of the underworld, 396 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:52,760 Speaker 2: a criminal mastermind. Hickman Powell, a former political reporter for 397 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:55,680 Speaker 2: The New York Herald Tribune writes the book while working 398 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,679 Speaker 2: for Thomas Dewey as a volunteer speechwriter and researcher. 399 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:03,919 Speaker 1: Ninety Times Guilty came out with the idea that Luciano 400 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:07,879 Speaker 1: had centralized, organized modernized the American mafia. 401 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:10,639 Speaker 2: It's a great pr strategy for Dewey to lean into. 402 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,399 Speaker 7: He knows that victory of a kingping boss is going 403 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:16,600 Speaker 7: to be incredibly good publicity for him. 404 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:21,040 Speaker 2: The only problem is this book was largely fiction. It 405 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 2: combines some of the hype about Lucky that Dewey has 406 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:26,880 Speaker 2: been feeding to the press with some new tar tales. 407 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 1: The idea that Luciano organized crime in America because he'd 408 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 1: killed sixty to eighty Greeces as they were called old 409 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:38,439 Speaker 1: style mafia gangsters. It gives credence to the idea that 410 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:41,240 Speaker 1: he was a dominant figure in organized crime in America nationally. 411 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:42,920 Speaker 10: It was just a. 412 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:46,280 Speaker 1: Completely made up story that true crime writers ran with. 413 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,960 Speaker 2: And it isn't just these scenes of vicious mob murders 414 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:54,440 Speaker 2: this book has fictionalized. It's also cementing a bigger lie 415 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:55,360 Speaker 2: about Lucky too. 416 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,320 Speaker 8: I'm not trying to be the cheerleader for Lucky Luciano. 417 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:12,399 Speaker 8: But I realized the opposition had a self righteous, zealous 418 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:15,240 Speaker 8: campaign going and they needed a poster boy. 419 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,280 Speaker 7: If you want to make your name, there's no point 420 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:23,320 Speaker 7: in putting some small time hoodlum from downtown Manhattan in prison. 421 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 7: That's not going to make you famous. But you get 422 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 7: the boss of all bosses of the mafia, and suddenly 423 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:30,520 Speaker 7: you were all over the papers. 424 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 2: Dewey needed to position Lucky as the one true face 425 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:38,520 Speaker 2: of crime in America. It was vital for people to 426 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:41,600 Speaker 2: think it had been Lucky pulling all the strings. And 427 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:44,840 Speaker 2: now that he's been taken down, the war on crime 428 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:45,480 Speaker 2: has been won. 429 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 1: By the end of nineteen thirties, with Dewey's success as 430 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:53,440 Speaker 1: well as Whover's success, American newspapers are saying, well, we've 431 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:54,480 Speaker 1: beaten organized crime. 432 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 10: Of course they hadn't. 433 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,840 Speaker 2: The book is part of a winning career political strategy. 434 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:04,320 Speaker 8: For doing There's something to be said of criminal poster boys. 435 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 8: Your El Choppels, your John Gotties, your Frank Lucas, your 436 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 8: Lucky Luciano. Who makes them that? Are they really the 437 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:23,480 Speaker 8: face of the problem poster boy for whom. 438 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 2: Dewey's plan of using an anti organized crime crusade to 439 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:29,240 Speaker 2: get to power has been used many times since. Remember 440 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:33,320 Speaker 2: Giuliani versus the Mob in the nineties. Dewey and his 441 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 2: subsequent imitators are able to gain traction because they're tapping 442 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:40,640 Speaker 2: into an already existing rich current in America. 443 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:45,960 Speaker 7: White supremacy is absolutely central to organized crime. I don't 444 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 7: think you can discuss one without the other. 445 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:52,200 Speaker 2: Lucky arriving into the squalor poverty and xenophobia of the 446 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,520 Speaker 2: Lower East Side of New York is an ideal candidate. 447 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 1: Now, a lot of the mafia stuff is a reworking 448 00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:02,120 Speaker 1: of nativist idea as bad in America has to come 449 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,760 Speaker 1: from somewhere else. It's foreign, it's the other. 450 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:08,040 Speaker 2: We still see this today, right, If. 451 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:12,280 Speaker 7: It is organized crime within America, it's by so called 452 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:18,240 Speaker 7: immigrant groups, it's Mexican nacos, it's Russian mafia, it's the mafia. 453 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:22,360 Speaker 7: You don't tend to think of organized crime as being American. 454 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,160 Speaker 7: I think what happened in the nineteen twenties and nineteen 455 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 7: thirties was this drive to demonize people in a way 456 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:32,760 Speaker 7: that really hadn't been attempted before. 457 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:37,200 Speaker 1: Organized crime is totally and only to do with Italians 458 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:39,760 Speaker 1: who've got the braun and Jews who've got the brain 459 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: using those ethnic stereotypes, which is essentially the analysis that 460 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: the US government followed, and certainly true crime writers. 461 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,720 Speaker 2: So you get this fertile ground for Dewey's projection of 462 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:56,040 Speaker 2: Lucky as the mafia boogeyman, an evil puppet master responsible 463 00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:58,040 Speaker 2: for all of society's ills. 464 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:02,960 Speaker 7: If you create a super demon, you're more likely to 465 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,800 Speaker 7: get funding, you're more likely to get political power, you're 466 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 7: more likely to remain in political power. And also if 467 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 7: you screw up, you can say, well, how on earth 468 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:13,959 Speaker 7: do you expect us to be able to deal with this? 469 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:16,000 Speaker 7: They're all over the place. They're far too big for us. 470 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,640 Speaker 1: There's a career opportunity for prosecutors in America that do 471 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 1: tend to use their trials and convictions to advance their 472 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:29,920 Speaker 1: political prospects. And I'd argue the prosecution of Lucky Luciana was, 473 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:31,840 Speaker 1: to use London terms, a fit up. 474 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:41,000 Speaker 2: In other words, Lucky's trial was rigged. So what is 475 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:44,800 Speaker 2: the truth about Lucky Luciano? Was he truly the godfather 476 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:45,800 Speaker 2: of the mafia? 477 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:48,360 Speaker 7: Categorically no, not at all. 478 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:51,960 Speaker 1: An important career criminal who now other career criminals became 479 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:55,400 Speaker 1: rich enough during prohibition to be able to afford hotel 480 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: rooms in the ward Off historia. But the mythology stems 481 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:02,640 Speaker 1: from Dewey calling the greatest gangster in America. He was 482 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:06,920 Speaker 1: a career criminal, an extortionist in a city full of extortionists. 483 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:09,680 Speaker 2: It's not that doing in units had the wrong man. 484 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:13,920 Speaker 2: It was that there never really was just one mafia 485 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:18,560 Speaker 2: puppet master controlling all vice and organized crime. One thing 486 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:22,520 Speaker 2: Lucky is guilty of, though, with his scarred face, sharp 487 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:25,840 Speaker 2: clothes and ritzy address, is standing out. 488 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:32,440 Speaker 8: If you dressed better and had nicer cars than the governor, 489 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:38,360 Speaker 8: people notice, And if you have a wow factor that 490 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:45,520 Speaker 8: makes enemies ears perk up, you're going to become that 491 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:50,160 Speaker 8: de facto face of everything those people are out to get. 492 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,880 Speaker 1: Government liked to make the battle against organized crime good 493 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:56,160 Speaker 1: versus evil. We are the good guys, they are the 494 00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:59,920 Speaker 1: bad guys. But there's so many different shades of great. 495 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:05,040 Speaker 2: This framing of Lucky as the boss of organized crime 496 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:08,680 Speaker 2: is still the way we understand the mafia today. It 497 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:12,040 Speaker 2: doesn't just come from Hollywood's portrayal of the mob. It 498 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 2: also comes from a deliberate manipulation of the public and 499 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:19,600 Speaker 2: the law. It's a falsehood that originates as much from 500 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:23,400 Speaker 2: our criminal justice system as it does from those la writers' 501 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:26,360 Speaker 2: rooms Millie and Kokie Flow wanted to get into. 502 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,160 Speaker 1: I mean, The Godfather was a great film, but for me, 503 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 1: a great misrepresentation of the issue of organized crime in America, 504 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 1: based partly on the Luciana legend. 505 00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:39,000 Speaker 7: Why is it that Luchana has this reputation that he 506 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:42,719 Speaker 7: doesn't deserve. Well, the answer lies really with Thomas Dewey. 507 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:47,800 Speaker 7: Dewey manipulated the press very successfully, and that mythology has 508 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 7: never really been challenged sufficiently, I don't think to this day. 509 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:56,000 Speaker 2: But what about Eunice Carter? How much is she on 510 00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:56,720 Speaker 2: the hook for this? 511 00:33:56,760 --> 00:33:57,000 Speaker 7: Too? 512 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:04,360 Speaker 1: A team player, which is a good thing, but not 513 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:07,840 Speaker 1: necessarily if you're in a team that is involved in 514 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:13,200 Speaker 1: manipulating justice for political advancement, which it was in Dewey's case. 515 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:20,680 Speaker 8: Eunice Carter was probably a good fit for Thomas Dewey's 516 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:28,160 Speaker 8: office because she too was career motivated. She had bigger 517 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:32,600 Speaker 8: barriers and hurdles to jump just because of who she was. 518 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 8: I believe she was probably as determined, if not more 519 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:46,520 Speaker 8: than Dewey to carry out their vision of justice. 520 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:49,839 Speaker 10: But for Unice Carter, Thomas Dewey would not have been 521 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:53,120 Speaker 10: able to convict Lucky Luciano. I don't know that Luciano 522 00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:54,800 Speaker 10: would ever have been convicted of anything. 523 00:34:56,520 --> 00:35:00,680 Speaker 2: I guess you could say Eunice Carter is the godmother 524 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:10,920 Speaker 2: of the Godfather. But while this undercurrent of American life 525 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:17,320 Speaker 2: is giving Dewey's career a seemingly unstoppable upwards trajectory, unsurprisingly, 526 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:21,200 Speaker 2: it isn't having the same impact on Unice. And as 527 00:35:21,239 --> 00:35:25,319 Speaker 2: America enters the forties and Dewey's career continues to take off, 528 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:31,359 Speaker 2: Eunice's professional life seems to languish. In nineteen thirty eight, 529 00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:35,080 Speaker 2: Eunice is named to Dewey's staff to lead something called 530 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:39,680 Speaker 2: the Abandonment Bureau of Women's Courts. Here, her time is 531 00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:43,480 Speaker 2: spent on cases covering everything from divorce and marital issues 532 00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:47,720 Speaker 2: to custody and child support. She'd stay there until nineteen 533 00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:51,960 Speaker 2: forty five, with none of the upwards career trajectory she'd 534 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:58,359 Speaker 2: hope for after Lucky's prosecution. I can't imagine Eunice's disappointment 535 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:01,760 Speaker 2: as she watches her boss Dewey reached his professional dreams 536 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:04,279 Speaker 2: based on the success of the case that could not 537 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:11,120 Speaker 2: have happened without her. Actually, yes, I can imagine it. Sadly, 538 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:18,200 Speaker 2: it's an old tale. If Thomas Dewey refuses to grab 539 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,120 Speaker 2: drinks with his colleagues so he can keep working, he 540 00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:24,720 Speaker 2: may have been seen as dedicated and focused. If Eunice 541 00:36:24,719 --> 00:36:28,160 Speaker 2: Carter refuses, she's seen as not being a team player 542 00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:32,200 Speaker 2: or trying to show up her coworkers. And if she does, 543 00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:35,520 Speaker 2: she could be dinged as not taking her work seriously enough. 544 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:38,680 Speaker 2: How is she supposed to know how to get ahead 545 00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:42,239 Speaker 2: if every step is used to hold her back. The 546 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:46,920 Speaker 2: struggle of navigating a predominantly white, predominantly male field is 547 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:50,200 Speaker 2: enough on its own, but add in the concerns of 548 00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:53,759 Speaker 2: your own black community. Why are you a prosecutor? Why 549 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:57,600 Speaker 2: aren't you looking out for us? Unice's medal is probably 550 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:00,960 Speaker 2: tested on a daily basis, and as a black woman, 551 00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:06,279 Speaker 2: she's expected to show uncommon resilience. She can't control what 552 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:08,880 Speaker 2: people think of her, so it wouldn't surprise me if 553 00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:12,080 Speaker 2: she focused on what she could control her pursuit of 554 00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:15,719 Speaker 2: a judgeship. But in the nineteen forties, Unice is not 555 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:19,160 Speaker 2: really seeing the rewards of her work, Unice has stayed 556 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:22,000 Speaker 2: close to Dewey, and Dewey has his sight set on 557 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:26,800 Speaker 2: a political win far higher than Governor. He's inching closer 558 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,759 Speaker 2: to the White House. Surely it's just a matter of 559 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:34,359 Speaker 2: time before he brings Unis along with him. Right, He's 560 00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:38,600 Speaker 2: become a bit like found family for Unice, brought together 561 00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:43,120 Speaker 2: by the intense, complicated loyalty of the mafia. But family 562 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:47,239 Speaker 2: can also be a source of betrayal. If Unice hadn't 563 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:52,040 Speaker 2: learned that yet, she was about to find out. That's 564 00:37:52,040 --> 00:38:08,600 Speaker 2: coming up in episode eight of The Godmother. On this 565 00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:11,440 Speaker 2: episode of a Godmother, you heard Hi. 566 00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:15,680 Speaker 3: My name is Ellen Paulson. I research and I write 567 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:21,800 Speaker 3: books about women who were involved with notorious gangsters in desperadoes. 568 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:25,239 Speaker 11: My name is Christopher Alfhelps and I worked for the 569 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:28,560 Speaker 11: University of Exeter. I've published two books and several articles 570 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:31,520 Speaker 11: on the organized crime in the United States. I tend 571 00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:34,080 Speaker 11: to specialize in a periage from eighteen sixty five to 572 00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:35,160 Speaker 11: nineteen forty one. 573 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:39,440 Speaker 8: My name is Christian SIBERLINI and I am an organized 574 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:41,640 Speaker 8: crime historian and author. 575 00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:46,360 Speaker 4: My name is Robert Whalen, and I'm an Emerathus Professor 576 00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:49,880 Speaker 4: of history at Queen's University of Charlotte here in Charlotte, 577 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:50,640 Speaker 4: North Carolina. 578 00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:54,160 Speaker 10: My name is Chuck Greeves. Before becoming a writer, I 579 00:38:54,239 --> 00:38:57,120 Speaker 10: spent twenty five years as a Los Angeles trial lawyer. 580 00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:03,600 Speaker 10: My fourth novel was basically fictionalization of the famous nineteen 581 00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:05,520 Speaker 10: thirty six vice trial. 582 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:09,440 Speaker 6: I'm Debbie Applegate. I'm a historian and biographer, and I 583 00:39:09,440 --> 00:39:13,839 Speaker 6: am the author of Madam, The Biography of Polyadler Icon 584 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:15,160 Speaker 6: of the Jazz Age. 585 00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:18,000 Speaker 9: I am Claire White, and I am the director of 586 00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:21,480 Speaker 9: Education at the Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas. 587 00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:22,840 Speaker 2: I'm Sarah J. Jackson. 588 00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:26,200 Speaker 5: I am an Associate Professor of Communication at the Annenberg 589 00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:30,440 Speaker 5: School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and an 590 00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:33,479 Speaker 5: affiliate with the Africana and African American Studies Program Here. 591 00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:37,520 Speaker 1: I'm Mike woodowis author of Organized Crime in American Power 592 00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:40,640 Speaker 1: and a teacher at the University of West of England. 593 00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:43,640 Speaker 1: And I think, with Christopher we are professionally story in 594 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:46,000 Speaker 1: to look at the issue of organized crime in particular. 595 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:55,600 Speaker 2: The Godmother is produced by Novel for iHeartRadio. For more 596 00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:59,879 Speaker 2: from novel, visit novel dot Audio. The Godmother is host 597 00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:05,040 Speaker 2: and written by me Nicole Perkins. Our producer is Leona Hamid. 598 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:11,280 Speaker 2: Additional production from Ajuajima Broumpong, Ronald Young Junior and Zaiana Yusuf. 599 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:16,040 Speaker 2: Our editor is Ajua Jima Broompong. Additional story editing from 600 00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:19,400 Speaker 2: Max O'Brien and Mith Lee Raw, and our researcher is 601 00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:23,880 Speaker 2: Zaiana Yusuf. Additional research from Mohammed Ahmed. David Waters is 602 00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:28,360 Speaker 2: our executive producer. Field production by Tnito Romani and Pallas Shaw, 603 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:33,400 Speaker 2: Sound design, mixing and scoring by Daniel Kempsen. Our score 604 00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:37,640 Speaker 2: was written, performed and recorded by Jeff Parker. Music supervision 605 00:40:37,680 --> 00:40:42,280 Speaker 2: by Nicholas Alexander and David Waters. Production management and endless 606 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:47,480 Speaker 2: patients from Sharie Houston, Sarah Tobin and Charlotte Wolfe. Fact 607 00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:52,080 Speaker 2: checking by Fendell Fulton and Dania Suleiman. Story development by 608 00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:57,520 Speaker 2: Madeline Parr, Jess Swinburne and Zaiana Yusuf. Willard Foxton is 609 00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:01,520 Speaker 2: our creative director of Development. Special thanks to Leah Carter, 610 00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:09,240 Speaker 2: Stephen Carter, Angela J. Davis, Andrew Fernley, Marilyn Greenwald, Sondra Lebedy, 611 00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:16,800 Speaker 2: Katherine Godfrey, Nadia Maidie, Amalia Sortland, Shawn Glenn, Neil Krishnan, 612 00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:22,799 Speaker 2: Julia Bromberg, Katrina Norvelle, Carly Frankel, and all the team 613 00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:32,760 Speaker 2: at w Emmy Novel