29 episodes

The Gangland History Podcast, hosted by history buff and mob aficionado, Jacob Stoops. He tells the true crime biographies of real life mobsters and dives deep into the plots, sub-plots, and real facts behind Cosa Nostra as well as popular mob films and television shows. Formerly called The Members-Only Podcast.

The Gangland History Podcast: An Organized Crime & Mafia History Podcast Jacob Stoops

    • True Crime
    • 4.5 • 37 Ratings

The Gangland History Podcast, hosted by history buff and mob aficionado, Jacob Stoops. He tells the true crime biographies of real life mobsters and dives deep into the plots, sub-plots, and real facts behind Cosa Nostra as well as popular mob films and television shows. Formerly called The Members-Only Podcast.

    #28: Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara Sr., The Man Behind Apalachin (Part Three)

    #28: Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara Sr., The Man Behind Apalachin (Part Three)

    In this episode, we again discuss Joseph Barbara Sr., the mobster who famously hosted the ill-fated Apalachin Mob Meeting in Apalachin, New York. Part Three covers the events leading up to the disastrous Apalachin meeting in 1957 and the fallout.

    Part One: https://youtu.be/NGHgoGlYOgw
    Part Two: https://youtu.be/2h1ERPB0sCU

    In this final installment of a three-part series, we discuss:

    00:00 Start
    01:27 Opening Remarks
    05:38 Events directly preceding the Apalachin meeting
    13:12 Who ordered the Apalachin meeting
    13:58 The Apalachin meeting gets raided by police
    19:27 Law enforcement's previous suspicions of Barbara
    26:32 The history behind Edgar Croswell's initial interest in Barbara
    34:09 The "sick friend" excuse and real reasons for the meeting
    38:18 Barbara's ill health and becoming a recluse
    40:12 The law catches up with Barbara and his company
    41:15 Barbara sells Canada Dry Bottling Company
    41:55 Barbara sells famous estate
    42:50 Barbara subpoenaed to testify in front of grand jury
    43:40 Barbara indicted for tax evasion
    44:34 Barbara's last public appearance
    45:32 Barbara's death and funeral
    51:10 Joseph Barbara's mob legacy
    54:27 Closing remarks

    • 59 min
    #27: Interview with Gary Jenkins, Retired Kansas City Police Detective & Host of the Gangland Wire

    #27: Interview with Gary Jenkins, Retired Kansas City Police Detective & Host of the Gangland Wire

    We sat down to talk with Gary Jenkins, who is a retired Kansas City Police Detective, lawyer, as well as the host of the extremely popular mob podcast, Gangland Wire.

    In this episode, we discuss the following topics:



    His early years, family, and upbringing
    What made him want to join the Kansas City Police Department
    His promotion to Detective within the KCPD
    The composition of the Kansas City Mafia in the 1970's
    The key players in the Kansas City Mafia including Nick Civella, Carl "Cork" Civella, and Carl "Tuffy" De Luna
    His many stories of surveilling the Kansas City Cosa Nostra family
    Kansas City's involvement in the Las Vegas skim
    His work surveilling and the wiretaps related to the Las Vegas skim
    Comparisons of real life versus the movie Casino
    Bringing down the Kansas City mob
    The Spero-Civella war in the late 1970's and early 1980's
    Retiring and becoming a lawyer for 20 years
    Starting and running his popular podcast, Gangland Wire

    Links to Gary's documentaries, podcast, website, and YouTube channel:


    1) Brothers Against Brothers: The Spero-Civella War: https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-against-Civella-Spero-War/dp/B081ZHB17X

    2) Gary's Website: https://ganglandwire.com/

    3) Gary's Podcast:
    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gangland-wire/id984020877
    https://open.spotify.com/show/1kGMUAUanWOv3UAbW4RVPk

    4) Gary's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdoYdPBGwXdsQGkvX4yovvQ

    • 1 hr 31 min
    #26: Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara Sr., The Man Behind Apalachin (Part Two)

    #26: Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara Sr., The Man Behind Apalachin (Part Two)

    In this episode, we again discuss Joseph Barbara Sr., the mobster who famously hosted the ill-fated Apalachin Mob Meeting in Apalachin, New York.

    In this second of a three-part series, we discuss:


    Barbara's move towards legitimate business and establishment of several bottling companies including the Endicott Beverage Company, the Mission Beverage Company, and the Canada Dry Bottling Company
    Barbara's ascension within the Northeaster Pennsylvania and Southern New York mob
    The changes in leadership of what would become the Bufalino Crime Family
    Barbara's relationship to top Pittston mob leaders Santo Volpe, Russell Bufalino, Anthony F. Guarnieri, Emanuel Zicari, as well Pat and Sam Monachino
    Barbara's issues with the State Liquor Authority (SLA) that nearly drove him out of business in the early 1950's
    The 1956 meeting between Barbara, Joe Bonanno, Frank Garofolo, John Bonventre, and Carmine Galante in Binghamton, New York

    Part Three will cover the events leading up to the disastrous Apalachin meeting in 1957 and the fallout.

    Part One: https://youtu.be/NGHgoGlYOgw

    • 1 hr 2 min
    #25: Real Attorney Breaks Down Roy Cohn, Vicious Mob & Celebrity Lawyer

    #25: Real Attorney Breaks Down Roy Cohn, Vicious Mob & Celebrity Lawyer

    In this episode, we discuss Roy Marcus Cohn (1927-1986) with professional attorney, Tony Taouk of Magna Carta Lawyers in Sydney, Australia.

    Tony and I walk through Roy Cohn's history, and Tony brings an attorney's perspective to some of Cohn's vicious tactics, personal life, as well as areas where he displayed both pure brilliance and borderline diabolical evil.

    We cover:


    Cohn's upbringing and early life
    Cohn's involvement in the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg trial in the early 1950's
    Cohn's involvement in the McCarthy investigations of the 1950's during the Cold War and Communism scares
    Cohn's eventual fall from grace after his misconduct was discovered and re-emergence as a private practice attorney
    Cohn's legal representation of various mobsters including John Gotti, Tony Salerno, and Carmine Galante
    Cohn's representation of various celebrities including Donald Trump
    Some of Cohn's brilliant and vicious tactics
    We debate Cohn's legacy and a top mob lawyer

    • 38 min
    #24: Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara Sr., The Man Behind Apalachin (Part One)

    #24: Joseph "Joe the Barber" Barbara Sr., The Man Behind Apalachin (Part One)

    In this episode, we discuss Joseph Barbara Sr., the mobster who famously hosted the ill-fated Apalachin Mob Meeting in Apalachin, New York.

    In this first of a two-part series, we discuss the beginning of Barbara's mob career including:


    His birth in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, Italy
    His immigration to the United States in 1921
    His first jobs in and around Endicott, New York as well as Old Forge, Pennsylvania
    His introduction to the Pittston mob of Northeastern Pennsylvania (more famously called the Bufalino Crime Family)
    How we gets started in the rackets during the 1920s
    His relationship to top Pittston mob leaders Santo Volpe, Charles Bufalino (the uncle of Russell Bufalino), Angelo Polizzi, and more
    His involvement in up to four murders in the Northeastern Pennsylvania area in the early 1930s


    Additionally, we located a long-buried photo of a young Barbara that we do not believe has been widely surfaced.

    Part Two will cover his ascension to leadership within the Northeastern Pennsylvania & Southern New York Mafia, and of course the events leading up to and after the Apalachin meeting in 1957.

    • 1 hr 14 min
    2024 Show Announcement

    2024 Show Announcement

    Join me as a make a significant announcement about the future of this show and discuss my plans for 2024 and beyond.

    • 18 min

Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5
37 Ratings

37 Ratings

BRC in Baltimore ,

Good start!

There are others in this space — Nadu’s Excellent ‘The Sit Down’ for example — but there is room here for others with a serious interest, and when the host is devoted to accuracy. Stoops offers a look at history and background and while he is sometimes reading from texts on the topic he has chosen well. The Castellammarese war is interesting, for example, and Stoops did a good episode on this. Give this a listen if you are interested in this area. Like most new podcasters, Stoops will get better at this as he goes along and is worth a listen. One background music is a bit too loud and very distracting — try saving it for transitions but silence it while Stoops is talking.

metadotz ,

AB

Your podcast on Angelo Bruno was great, as a Philly guy your on point

PW from GR ,

I love this pod!

As a former Jersey girl whoWorked in the casino industry in Atlantic City and was quite familiar with the Philadelphia/Atlantic City organization, I really appreciate this factual, well written and well presented pod.

Top Podcasts In True Crime

Murder in the Hollywood Hills
NBC News
Three
Wavland
Dateline NBC
NBC News
Crime Junkie
audiochuck
Morbid
Morbid Network | Wondery
Paper Ghosts: The Ozarks
iHeartPodcasts

You Might Also Like

Gangland Wire
Gary Jenkins: Mafia Detective
A Lifetime Of Mafia Tales
Salvatore Polisi
The Sit Down: A Crime History Podcast
Better Than Vegas, Inc
Original Gangsters, a True Crime Talk Podcast
Original Gangsters, a True Crime Talk Podcast
Original Gangsters, a True Crime Talk Podcast
Original Gangsters, a True Crime Talk Podcast
Mafia
Audioboom Studios