The Underworld Podcast
Underworld exposes the secret world of transnational criminal networks that have flourished since there were banks to bust, drugs to smuggle, and scams to run. Journalists Danny Gold and Sean Williams bring their experience reporting on dangerous people and organizations to take listeners on a global tour of mobsters, warlords and crooks - from Brooklyn to Beijing, from the streets to the boardrooms - and everywhere in between. Underworld is a show about heroes, villains, and the barely visible mafias that affect all our lives, whether we know it or not.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 49 minutes
- Episodes
- 227
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
Black Caesar: The Biggest International Black Druglord You've Never Heard Of
Frank Matthews went from a poor boy in North Carolina stealing chickens to running one of the biggest heroin rings America has ever seen before disappearing without a trace after getting arrested wit…
00:43:16 |
Wed 17 Mar 2021
Rasta City vs The Muslims: Trinidad's Gang Wars and Abu Bakr's Attempted Coup
In 1990, the tiny Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago saw the only attempted Islamic militant overthrow of a government in the Western Hemisphere. The coup led by Abu Bakr and his Jamaat Al Musli…
00:51:19 |
Thu 11 Mar 2021
How Albania's Mafias Took Over Europe (and more)
The "Mafia Shqiptare" was forged during communism, exploded into life during a nationwide pyramid scheme, and unleashed a wave of drugs and violence across Europe from the late 90s. We dive into its …
00:52:26 |
Wed 03 Mar 2021
Sicily's Brutal Wars and Mafia Super Trial
The "Maxi Trial" pitted two fearless Palermo prosecutors and turncoat "Pentiti" against the Cosa Nostra, its thuggish leader Toto Riina, and a whole host of corrupt cops, politicians and businessmen.…
00:41:54 |
Wed 03 Feb 2021
Bitcoin Blood Gangs and The Greatest Scammer of All Time
Early one morning this past June, 6 fully kitted out SWAT teams in Dubai fanned out across multiple luxury buildings. They were targeting a vast criminal conspiracy that had scammed hundreds of milli…
00:41:27 |
Tue 26 Jan 2021
The Car Bomb Wars of the Israeli Mafias
Car bombs, shoulder-fired missiles, grenades and hits across 5 continents; the Israeli mafias that rose up in the 90's and fought each other for control of gambling and drug rackets for the following…
01:20:55 |
Tue 19 Jan 2021
The Drug Lords and Killer Cops of the Philippines
Over the last few years, Sean's been on the ground covering the Philippines' brutal drug war amongst the dealers, addicts, and killer cops. Rodrigo Duterte, the architect of the Philippines' blood-so…
00:46:57 |
Tue 12 Jan 2021
Murder City USA: St Louis's Record Breaking Murder Rate
( note: we weren't able to record in the studio so audio is off a bit) The murder capital of the United States isn't Chicago, Baltimore or Detroit - it's St. Louis, Missouri, which for each of the la…
00:57:22 |
Mon 04 Jan 2021
Melbourne's Gangland Killings: The Smiling Assassin Carl Williams w/ guest Sami Shah
Danny is out this week, and Sean is joined by comedian Sami Shah. He came from nowhere to become the murderous king of Melbourne's 'underbelly.' But how did Carl Williams, a "shelf stacker - and not …
01:02:08 |
Tue 22 Dec 2020
The Albanian Bronx Crew that took on the Italian Mafia
In the 1990's, a new group of criminals started making their presence known on the streets of New York City: the Albanian mafia. Soon, they earned a reputation that even scared the Italian mafias tha…
00:52:26 |
Mon 14 Dec 2020
On the Hunt for Burma's Billion Dollar Meth Labs
The biggest drug cartel in the world isn't Mexican, or Colombian. It's Asian. Buried deep in the Burmese jungle are networks of cutting edge meth labs, guarded by rebels and run by kingpins so powerf…
00:44:18 |
Mon 07 Dec 2020
MS-13 Behind the Scenes in El Salvador
In recent years MS-13 has become one of the most feared street gangs in the world, thanks to face tattoos and machetes. Underworld host and producer Danny Gold first went to El Salvador to report on …
00:53:35 |
Mon 30 Nov 2020
The Yakuza Part 2: The Rise and Fall of Japan's Feared Mafia
In part two of our Yakuza deep dive, we plot their post-war rise from hustlers to corporate raiders - and a smack back down to earth. There are wars, kamikaze assassinations, CIA stings and the growt…
00:36:05 |
Tue 17 Nov 2020
The Yakuza Part 1: The Rise and Fall of Japan's Feared Mafia
Is there an organized crime group more iconic than Japan's Yakuza? In part one of two episodes on the group-or web of groups-we plunge into their ancient history, traditions, and how the Second World…
00:31:42 |
Mon 09 Nov 2020
Part 2 - The Russian Mafia Comes to Brooklyn
In part 2 of our episode on the Russian Mafia coming to Brooklyn, we are joined by journalist Michael Weiss to continue our story of how mostly Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union set up sho…
00:48:27 |
Mon 26 Oct 2020
Part 1 - The Russian Mafia Comes to Brooklyn
The Russian Mafia has been an object of fascination for decades in America, but it only really emerged in the 1980's after mostly Jewish immigrants were allowed to leave the Soviet Union and settled …
00:41:51 |
Mon 19 Oct 2020
The Merchant of Death: Arms Dealer Viktor Bout
They called him "The Merchant of Death" - the world's most dangerous man. But was gun-runner Viktor Bout actually the arms trade's fall guy? From Angola to Zaire and everywhere in between, Bout's bla…
00:45:26 |
Tue 13 Oct 2020
BONUS PATREON MADE FREE: Nigeria's Cults and Revolution with Omoyele Sowore
Building off our Nigerian Cults episode: Omoyele Sowore was attacked by the cults as a student leader, saw them morph into political power, and tried to take them down. Now the New Jersey resident - …
00:41:59 |
Thu 08 Oct 2020
The White Boston Townie Who Became A Chinese Triad Boss
Chinatowns in the United States have never been short on organized crime syndicates, from the early days of secret society tongs to the Triads. In Boston, it was the Sky Dragon who ruled over the gam…
01:01:57 |
Tue 06 Oct 2020
Black Axe and The International Cult Confraternities of Nigeria
They began as freedom-fighting pirates, swashbuckling for African rights. But over the decades Nigeria's confraternities descended into vicious cults. Among them one group has spread across the entir…
00:41:22 |
Tue 29 Sep 2020
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