Sit Down with Michael Franzese

Michael Franzese
  • 4.5 (4)
  • Personal Journals
  • Updated Weekly

From a high-ranking member of the Colombo crime family to a man transformed by faith, Michael Franzese shares his extraordinary journey like no one else can. In Sit Downs with Michael Franzese, Michael dives into raw, unfiltered stories from his life in the mob, his path to redemption, and the lessons he’s learned about faith, family, and overcoming life’s struggles. With gripping interviews and practical insights, this podcast will inspire, challenge, and entertain

  1. 1 hr ago

    Former Cop EXPOSES The Number One Killer Of Police

    I grew up hating cops. My father was Sonny Franzese, underboss of the Colombo family, and I spent my whole life on the opposite side of the badge. So when I sat down with Kevin Donaldson — a New Jersey cop who got shot on the job and came home a different man — we got into something most people never see: what that life really does to you. The mob and the badge look like opposite worlds, but the dark truth is what they have in common. The trauma. The things you can’t unsee. The hidden cost nobody warns you about. Kevin will tell you what cops carry that they never talk about, why he says it’s worse than anything I witnessed on the street, and how a man comes back from the edge. Two opposite sides of crime. One conversation. This one stayed with me. Salud. Mafia vs Police: Is One Life More Brutal Than The Other? Former Mob Boss and a Cop EXPOSE the Hidden Cost of That Life Former Cop EXPOSES The Number One Killer Of Police 00:00 - Introduction: The Cop's #1 Killer 01:06 - Welcome and Today's Guest 04:45 - Why Michael Hated Police 06:19 - Pain Into Purpose 07:56 - Suffering as the Path 09:33 - The Book on Jesus 09:47 - Coming Out the Other Side 11:25 - Total Surrender 13:06 - Surrender Means You're Not Alone 14:52 - Suicide: The Silent Epidemic 15:51 - Losing His Partner 16:44 - What Officers Face Daily 18:26 - Don't Compare Your Trauma 22:08 - The Closed Casket 23:14 - How Trauma Rewires the Brain 23:45 - EMDR Explained 24:46 - Judging Yourself Hardest 25:35 - The Domestic Call 26:35 - Trapped and Ready to Die 28:19 - The Aftermath at Home 29:36 - Becoming a Monster 30:09 - Learning to Manage It 30:55 - Why Men Stay Silent 35:08 - The Role of Faith 36:17 - Crying at Church 38:12 - Surviving Without God 39:00 - Finding Your Primary Identity 40:32 - Where to Start 42:38 - The Truth About Defunding Police 44:05 - Wolves, Sheep, Sheepdogs 45:48 - Lord of the Flies 46:50 - A Necessary Evil 48:16 - Morale of Police Today 49:26 - Are We Near the End Times? 51:20 - Closing Reflections Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    59 min

  2. 2 days ago

    Russian Mafia vs The Italian Mob: Expert REVEALS Which Organization Was More Brutal

    💸 Go to https://7minutetrade.com/ now to reserve your spot for the 7-Minute Income Summit. Discover how to potentially make $3,000-$5,000 monthly without complicated strategies, big risks, or sitting at a computer all day. Free LIVE virtual event June 25th & 27th. ₿ Take Control of Your Money and claim $10 in US Stablecoin (USD₮)! Download now at http://wallet.rumble.com/InnerCircle and use the code InnerCircle10. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Offer available to US residents only. Offer not available in New York State. Must be 18+. Offer is available for a limited time and for the first 500 wallets activated and funded. Details and full official rules available at http://rumble.com/promoofficialrules. 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ I made millions with the Russians. For almost eight years they were my best business partners on the street — and then I went to prison, and it all went bad. So when I sat down with Joe Ciro, I had to get into it. Joe spent about ten years in Russia working with the CIA, he wrote the book on the Russian mob, and he knows that world from the inside out. We get into how the Russian mafia really operates, why their hardcore guys aren’t afraid of anything America can throw at them — no prison here comes close to what they survived over there — and how all of it compares to what we had in the Cosa Nostra. Here’s what surprised me: I always thought the Russians were the most violent. Joe makes the case the Mexican mafia and the Russians are more alike than either is to us, because they’re intertwined with their own governments in a way we never were. We get into Russian culture, the bribes that run everything, socialism, and where it’s all heading. This was a fascinating one. Salud! Russian Mafia vs The Italian Mob: Expert REVEALS Which Organization Was More Brutal 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? partnerships@michaelfranzese.com 0:00 - Introduction: They Don't Fear Anything 1:08 - Who Is Joe Serio 2:58 - The Hardcore Russian Code 6:33 - Society Collapsed, Everything Up for Grabs 7:00 - KGB and the Crime Groups 8:39 - Who Was Really More Violent 10:30 - Russian and Mexican Mafia Are Alike 12:22 - Take Out Mexico, Put In Russia 14:12 - Bribes From the Age of Nine 15:13 - How Moscow Changed by 2019 16:46 - Stories From the Soviet Union 20:39 - They Knew How to Party 23:23 - The Sad Ending With My Partners 26:13 - Why the FBI Got It Wrong 29:30 - Russia, China, Iran: Different Worlds 31:14 - What I'd Tell People Championing Socialism 33:42 - The Digital Gulag 37:20 - Will the Ukraine War Ever End 40:26 - Putin Will Lose 43:32 - What Happens After Putin Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    44 min

  3. 6 days ago

    Ex-Mob Boss Cooks Mafia Style Chicken Cacciatore (Old Family Recipe)

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ You loved the chicken parmesan so much that I had to come back and do this one — chicken cacciatore. But let me tell you the difference. Chicken parmesan? That’s an Italian-American dish. Ask for it in Italy and they’ll throw you right out of the restaurant. Chicken cacciatore is the real thing — it comes straight from Italy. Here’s what I’ll tell you about chicken: I’ll eat almost anything a little overcooked or undercooked, but dry chicken? I’m sending it back every time. The beauty of this recipe is you can’t dry it out — it simmers right in the sauce and stays moist and tender. It’s simple, about an hour, and you can throw in whatever you like: peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives, all over a bed of rice. I first made this for my wife years ago when she was just learning to cook Italian — now she makes it better than I do. While I cook, I’ll be pouring my fruit wines and telling you a few stories along the way. This is the real Italian way. Salud! Ex-Mob Boss Cooks Mafia Style Chicken Cacciatore (Old Family Recipe) 0:00 - Introduction: Shopping for Chicken Cacciatore 2:47 - Why I Cook Twice a Year 3:36 - The Coupon Lady Problem 4:12 - Surprising My Wife on Saturday 4:35 - Italian Dish, Not Italian-American 5:02 - Why I Send Chicken Back 6:18 - Starting the Recipe: Legs and Thighs 7:25 - Cutting the Onions and Peppers 11:24 - Searing the Chicken 13:25 - The Wolfgang Puck Story 15:49 - Browning, Not Cooking 17:12 - Adding Onions and Peppers 17:55 - Don't Forget the Garlic 19:36 - It Comes From Calabria 20:16 - Croatia Was Wonderful 20:51 - Black Pepper Goes In 22:28 - The Rice and Chicken Broth 23:17 - Adding the Olives 23:49 - The Mutti Sauce for Color 26:25 - This Chicken Won't Be Dry 28:34 - Bringing My Wife to Sunday Dinner 31:44 - Teaching My Wife to Cook Italian 33:36 - Plating the Dish 34:14 - The First Bite 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? partnerships@michaelfranzese.com Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    41 min

  4. 16 June

    Former Mob Boss Reacts To The 10 Greatest Mob Movie Scenes Ever

    ₿ Take Control of Your Money and claim $10 in US Stablecoin (USD₮)! Download now at http://wallet.rumble.com/InnerCircle and use the code InnerCircle10. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Offer available to US residents only. Offer not available in New York State. Must be 18+. Offer is available for a limited time and for the first 500 wallets activated and funded. Details and full official rules available at http://rumble.com/promoofficialrules. 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ People keep asking me to bring back Mob Movie Monday, so today I’m doing something a little different — and I think you’re going to enjoy it. I picked out about ten of the most iconic scenes from the greatest mob movies ever made — Casino, The Godfather, Goodfellas, A Bronx Tale, Donnie Brasco — and I’m recreating them my own way. If that was me sitting in that chair, how would I have handled it? Some of these guys came in hot. I usually did things a little smoother — same result, but nobody ran to the law afterward. I’ll tell you which scenes are real, which lines we actually said on the street, and the one scene from the 1996 Gotti movie that gave me chills because it was so authentic. I even share how I really handled a situation on the 1984 Jackson Victory Tour. I’m not an actor — but I lived this. Let me know what you think in the comments. 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? partnerships@michaelfranzese.com 0:00 - Introduction: Recreating the Scenes My Way 1:24 - Why Mob Movie Monday Went Away 4:34 - Casino: Nicky and De Niro in the Desert 7:32 - Casino: The Banker and the Bat 9:54 - The Godfather: The Funeral Director 11:41 - The Godfather: Ending the War 13:15 - Goodfellas: Funny How? 15:06 - A Bronx Tale: The Craps Game 16:44 - A Bronx Tale: Now You Can't Leave 18:14 - Donnie Brasco: I Got Sent For 20:20 - Donnie Brasco: The Cigarette in the Car 21:31 - The 1996 Gotti Movie 22:30 - The Scene That Gave Me Chills 27:39 - Why the Life Changed After My Era 28:44 - How I Handled the Jackson Tour Deal 32:13 - Same Effect, Done Differently Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    37 min

  5. 4 June

    George Soros: Everyone Knows The Name — Nobody Knows What He’s Done

    I’ve spent my life around people who knew how to make money when everything fell apart. So when I started looking into George Soros, I recognized something. One currency collapses and he walks away richer. A nation’s economy breaks and his name turns up again. Then again. And again. At some point you stop calling it luck and start asking if it’s a pattern. In this one I walk through the crises — the Bank of England, the countries that never recovered — and I lay out what keeps repeating. I’m not here to tell you what to think. I’m here to show you the playbook and let you connect the dots. Because once you see how this works, you can’t unsee it. This is one of the most important things I’ve looked into, and I want you to watch it with your own eyes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    27 min

  6. 2 June

    This Podcast Made Me Feel Like I Was Back In The Mob

    I just landed and walked straight into this one — sat down with the Hot Cakes and Hot Takes guys and we went deep. I tell the story of the day I visited my father in Leavenworth and the one question he asked me before I got made, the answer that changed my life. I explain what the oath actually is, because people get it wrong. And I get into something most people have never heard: back in 1982, I bought into Trump Tower in cash with a Russian partner whose brother was KGB — and forty years later, the FBI came knocking, trying to turn that deal into their Russia connection. I'll tell you exactly what I told them. There's a lot more in here — solitary, the war that almost took me with it, and yeah, they even had me do the "funny how" scene. This one's got it all. This Podcast Made Me Feel Like I Was Back In The Mob Former Mob Boss EXPOSES The Real Reason The FBI Targeted Trump Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    43 min

  7. 25 May

    Sean Hannity vs. Michael Franzese: He Wouldn't Let It Go

    🛌 Thank you Helix Sleep for sponsoring! Visit https://helixsleep.com/michaelfranzese to take advantage of their Memorial Day Sale Exclusive Partner Offer and get 27% Off Sitewide! 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Sean Hannity got things out of me in this sit-down that I haven't told anyone in 30 years. He asked me straight up if I ever saw a murder, and I gave him an answer I've never given on camera before. We got into the Marilyn Monroe story my father took to his grave — why Bobby Kennedy called J. Edgar Hoover and told him to bury my dad. I told Sean how the FBI took $33 million from me in Austria — they basically robbed the money I robbed from them. And the night in 1991 that should've ended me, the one that 13 of my guys didn't survive. This is the longest conversation Sean and I have ever had, and he didn't let me off the hook on anything. Sean Hannity vs. Michael Franzese: He Wouldn't Let It Go 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? partnerships@michaelfranzese.com 00:00 - Introduction: My Father Was Sonny 01:46 - Marilyn Monroe And My Father 02:25 - Why Hoover Buried The Mafia 06:20 - Saw Guys Get Killed 07:13 - First Time Admitting It 07:36 - Too Many Times 07:50 - Things That Still Haunt Me 09:51 - The Government Robs Worse 11:52 - 29 Months In Solitary 13:02 - $33 Million In Austria 14:51 - They Robbed It Back 15:27 - Your Smile Gives It Away 17:23 - I Wasn't Looking For That 18:33 - What Trump Told Me 19:35 - Giuliani Threatened Me 100 Years 20:36 - My Father Got Railroaded 22:45 - No Legitimate Way Out 23:48 - Your Father Went Along 24:43 - Writing My Own Death Warrant 25:25 - The Reason I'm Still Alive 28:13 - Never Told This Story Before 29:18 - 15 Agents Out Of Nowhere 29:50 - The War That Saved Me 30:06 - Join michaelfranzese.com/family Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    33 min

  8. 21 May

    From JFK to the iPhone: 75 Years Through the Eyes of a Former Mob Boss

    I was born in 1951. I was made in 1975. And on May 27th, I’ll be 75 years old. Three quarters of a century on this planet. I lay in bed the other night and I started thinking about everything I’ve lived through — every president, every war, every cultural shift, every mob story I was in the middle of. So I sat down and I wrote it all down decade by decade. JFK’s assassination. Vietnam. Joe Colombo getting shot. Halloween night, 1975. The Commission trial. Doing my time. 9/11. The Sopranos finale. COVID. Right up to today. Some of it’ll make you smile. Some of it’ll make you angry. All of it shaped who I am. Consider this my thank you to all of you who’ve been with me on this ride. And if you’ve been around long enough, maybe it’ll bring back some memories of your own. From JFK to the iPhone: 75 Years Through the Eyes of a Former Mob Boss Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    49 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

From a high-ranking member of the Colombo crime family to a man transformed by faith, Michael Franzese shares his extraordinary journey like no one else can. In Sit Downs with Michael Franzese, Michael dives into raw, unfiltered stories from his life in the mob, his path to redemption, and the lessons he’s learned about faith, family, and overcoming life’s struggles. With gripping interviews and practical insights, this podcast will inspire, challenge, and entertain

Information

  • Creator
    Michael Franzese
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    151
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Michael Franzese. All Rights Reserved. "Sit Down with Michael Franzese".
  • Show Website
    Sit Down with Michael Franzese

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