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
The Death of "God's Banker", the Vatican, a Pope's Murder, Mafia Plots and a Secret Masonic Coup
When Roberto Calvi's body was found swinging from a London bridge in 1982 it sent shockwaves through the religious, financial and criminal worlds. But who killed him? And how are the Vatican, Italy's…
00:54:43 |
Thu 28 Jul 2022
The Jewish & Redneck Gangsters that Beat the KKK: Charlie Birger w/ Jake Hanrahan
In the era of prohibition, Charlie Birger built a bootlegging and gambling empire in southern Illinois, otherwise known as little Cairo. He charmed women, passed out money to children and poor famili…
00:53:34 |
Wed 20 Jul 2022
Vladimir Putin, the KGB and the German Nazi Gangster Who Was a Communist Spy
Rainer Sonntag was just your run-of-the-mill, anti-state East German petty criminal—until a black ops team headed by then-KGB agent Vladimir Putin helped turn him into one of Europe's leading neo-Naz…
00:47:57 |
Tue 12 Jul 2022
Chechen Mobsters, Bombs, Bumps and Special Ops: The Criminal Tale of Caviar
Caviar has been considered a delicacy since ancient times. But when the Soviet Union collapsed, a black market flourished—and kicked off gang wars along the coasts of the Caspian Sea. Then, years lat…
00:47:50 |
Tue 05 Jul 2022
The Punjabi Indian Gangster Rapper Killed in a Gang War: Moosewala
Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, better known as Moosewala, was on the cusp of becoming a global superstar. Racking up billions of views on youtube, the Punjabi rapper heavily influenced by Tupac had blown up …
00:43:36 |
Tue 28 Jun 2022
The Bank of the Underworld: Kingpins, Arms Traffickers, Pablo Escobar and Saddam Hussein
The Bank of Credit and Commerce International was headed by a messianic, Karachi financier named Agha Hasan Abedi, with deep, deep connections all round the world. So deep, in fact, that nearly every…
00:54:18 |
Tue 21 Jun 2022
The Cartel Heroin Queenpin Who Ran Juarez for 50 Years with Benjamin Smith
Before El Mencho or El Chapo, even before Pablo Escobar, there was Ignacia Jasso, otherwise known as “La Nacha.” She was the Queen Pin of Juárez who ran the border heroin trade for 50 years from 1930…
00:40:51 |
Tue 14 Jun 2022
Fentanyl's Surge from China To Mexico to St Louis
Over the last three years there's been an explosion of fentanyl on the streets of America and it's led to over 100,000 Americans dying from drug overdoses, the overwhelming majority because of fent. …
00:50:38 |
Tue 07 Jun 2022
Who Rules Porn? From Hot Money
We’re shaking things up today and sharing a preview from Hot Money, a new podcast from our friends at Pushkin Industries and the Financial Times. When Financial Times reporter Patricia Nilsson starte…
00:12:22 |
Tue 07 Jun 2022
Belize's Gangster Politics and Ukraine's Battle for the Donbas
In this episode, Sean gets into the details about his story for Rolling Stone on Jamal "Shyne" Barrow, the rapper turned prime minister favorite in Belize, from the narco-trafficking taking place to …
00:44:24 |
Tue 31 May 2022
A Sicilian Rugby Team Fighting the Mafia - And Ukraine Update
Danny's in Ukraine, and Sean's cover story at Sports Illustrated—about a Sicilian rugby team facing down the Mafia—just dropped. So we're combining the two, first with a rundown of Danny's movements …
00:29:40 |
Wed 11 May 2022
Daniel Kinahan, Tyson Fury and the Irish Drug Cartel that Built a Boxing Empire - with Nicola Tallant
For years, Dublin-born Daniel Kinahan built on the work of his heroin-lord father Christy, aka the Dapper Don, to become one of the world's biggest cocaine kingpins. Kinahan fostered some of boxing's…
00:53:15 |
Tue 26 Apr 2022
The Shady World of Cryonics: Missing Heads, Bank Robbers and an Italian Funeral Mogul
We're joined by journalist and writer Peter Ward, whose upcoming book The Price of Immortality: The Race to Live Forever is out this week. Since the times of Gilgamesh, humans have dreamed of living …
01:03:23 |
Tue 19 Apr 2022
Murder Inc: The Jewish & Italian Hit Squad that Terrorized the US
In the 1920's, high level gangsters like Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky had a plan to bring some semblance of order to the underworld. Together with a few other kingpins, they formed the Syndicate: a…
01:00:32 |
Tue 12 Apr 2022
TEASER: From Cautionary Tales: Death on the Floor
Here’s a special preview of the new season of Cautionary Tales from Pushkin Industries. On Cautionary Tales, bestselling author Tim Harford shares stories of human error, natural disasters, and tragi…
00:10:53 |
Thu 07 Apr 2022
Whitey Bulger, Jai Alai, the Winter Hill Gang, & the Tycoon Murder that Stunned America
*Note: technical difficulties with Sean's microphone this episode, apologies* By the late Seventies Jai Alai, a superfast, racketball-like sport, had become one of the US’ most lucrative betting mark…
00:46:59 |
Tue 29 Mar 2022
Lord of the Skies: The Man Who United Mexico's Cartels
We're joined by author Noah Hurowitz to tell the story of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, one of the most powerful narco-traffickers to every live, with an estimated fortune of 25 billion dollars. After havi…
00:46:40 |
Tue 22 Mar 2022
PATREON TEASER: A Former Gangster on his Life in Belize City's Crips - and how Cartels are Changing Everything
Here's a little teaser from this week's patreon episode, with Sean on the ground in Belize doing a bigger story and sharing some of his work along the way. To get access to bonus episodes for $5 a mo…
00:09:41 |
Mon 14 Mar 2022
The Brutal Russian Mafia Wars of Tolyatti, Russia's Detroit
In the 1980s, as the Soviet empire crumbled, organized criminals eyed up the sprawling VAZ automobile plant in the city of Tolyatti, “Russia’s Detroit.” When it collapsed all hell broke loose. Old-sc…
00:46:04 |
Tue 08 Mar 2022
Carjacking and Fentanyl: Down and Out in Philadelphia & St. Louis
In this episode thrown together because of a last-minute delay, Danny recounts recent reporting trips to Philadelphia and St. Louis. 2021 saw Philadelphia hit it's highest murder total in history, wi…
00:51:28 |
Tue 22 Feb 2022
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are the property of The Underworld Podcast. This content is not affiliated with or endorsed by eachpod.com.