Crimetown

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Crimetown

Welcome to Crimetown, a series produced by Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier in partnership with Gimlet Media. Each season, we investigate the culture of crime in a different city. In Season 2, Crimetown heads to the heart of the Rust Belt: Detroit, Michigan. From its heyday as Motor City to its rebirth as the Brooklyn of the Midwest, Detroit’s history reflects a series of issues that strike at the heart of American identity: race, poverty, policing, loss of industry, the war on drugs, and our universal desire for a savior. Detroit’s a tough town, and its residents are even tougher. They’ve weathered riots, a drug epidemic, political scandal, and innumerable other hardships, but they’re still here—and they have stories to tell.

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  1. EPISODE 1

    Stop the Robberies, Enjoy Safe Streets

    Detroit, 1971—a city riven by blight, racial strife, and rising crime. In the first episode of Crimetown Season 2, the police form a controversial undercover unit called STRESS—Stop The Robberies, Enjoy Safe Streets. One of the unit’s cops kills so many black men that he earns a nickname: Mr. STRESS. Can anyone stop him? For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    35 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    The Battle for Detroit

    A police shooting outside a community center leaves two black teenagers dead. Protesters take to the streets, igniting a movement to elect the city’s first black mayor. As election day approaches, the future of a racially polarized city hangs in the balance. For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    34 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    The Fat Man and the Field Marshall

    Eddie Jackson and Courtney Brown are childhood friends from a poor neighborhood. Eddie is the troublemaker, drawn to Detroit’s seamier side; Courtney is his quiet, serious sidekick. As they grow older in a city with dwindling job options, they go their separate ways. But when Eddie dives into the heroin trade, Courtney faces a choice: play it safe and stay broke, or join his friend’s burgeoning empire and get rich.  For bonus content from this episode, check out crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    35 min

  4. EPISODE 4

    The Kingpins' Kids

    When a hungry young DEA agent arrives in Detroit, he picks the perfect case to make his bones: taking down Eddie Jackson and Courtney Brown’s sprawling heroin organization. But if the drug kingpins fall, what will happen to their kids? As the feds close in, Eddie Jr. and Courtney Jr. must face the possibility of growing up without their fathers.  For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    33 min

  5. EPISODE 5

    YBI to the Day I Die

    It’s the early eighties, and a new organization is revolutionizing the heroin trade: Young Boys Inc. Unlike other drug operations, YBI recruits juveniles, brands smack as if it were designer clothing, and moves the industry out of the dope houses and onto the corners. As YBI’s relentless expansion causes more and more bloodshed, its foot soldiers must reckon with their impact on Detroit.  For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    41 min

  6. EPISODE 6

    The Mayor, the Barber, and the Babysitter

    Coleman Young has more underworld connections than you might expect of a big-city mayor. Sometimes those connections come in handy. But when his favorite niece starts dating an infamous drug dealer, Mayor Young must choose between keeping her out of trouble and keeping his hands clean.  For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    32 min

  7. EPISODE 7

    Who Killed Damion Lucas?

    A thirteen-year-old boy is murdered in a drive-by shooting. The Detroit police quickly apprehend a suspect. But the FBI is convinced that the wrong man is in jail — and that the real killers are escaping justice thanks to friends in high places.  For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    38 min

  8. EPISODE 8

    Operation Backbone

    Still hung up on the unsolved murder of Damion Lucas, FBI agent Herm Groman devises an elaborate sting to ensnare the corrupt cops of the Detroit Police Department. Will it bring down Mayor Coleman Young, too?  For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    43 min
See All Season 2 (21)

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4.7
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About

Welcome to Crimetown, a series produced by Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pontier in partnership with Gimlet Media. Each season, we investigate the culture of crime in a different city. In Season 2, Crimetown heads to the heart of the Rust Belt: Detroit, Michigan. From its heyday as Motor City to its rebirth as the Brooklyn of the Midwest, Detroit’s history reflects a series of issues that strike at the heart of American identity: race, poverty, policing, loss of industry, the war on drugs, and our universal desire for a savior. Detroit’s a tough town, and its residents are even tougher. They’ve weathered riots, a drug epidemic, political scandal, and innumerable other hardships, but they’re still here—and they have stories to tell.

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