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Crimetown

Gimlet

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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  • 20 episodes
  • Avg 29 min
  • English

Episodes 20

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  • Feb 25, 2025 · 3 min

    Crook County: The Secret Double Life of a Mafia Hitman

    For over 20 years, Ken Tekiela was a celebrated firefighter, husband, and father of two —but he led a secret, double life as a hitman for the Chicago mob. When the truth came out, it destroyed his family. Now, his son Kyle, host of Crook County, is left to pick up the pieces. Crook County is the shocking true crime podcast about Kenny “The Kid” Tekiela’s rise through the ranks of the legendary organized crime syndicate, the Chicago Outfit, and the lasting impact this has on a family. From iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV, welcome to Crook County. Follow the show here. To binge the full season, subscribe to Tenderfoot+. Click here for more details: https://tenderfoot.tv/plus Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Jul 30, 2024 · 33 min

    You Might Also Like: The Confessions of Anthony Raimondi

    Marc heads to Williamsburg, Brooklyn to meet a 70-year old gangster and hear him confess to the murder of Pope John Paul I. What he learns is that there’s a lot more to Anthony Raimondi than meets the eye. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Apr 24, 2024 · 24 min

    Introducing | Beyond All Repair

    A new 10-part true-crime podcast, Executive Produced and Edited by Zac Stuart-Pontier, co-creator of Crimetown. Imagine if, one day, you are accused of something. Something horrible, violent, heinous. Something you swear you did not do, and nothing you say can convince anyone otherwise — even the people closest to you. That’s Sophia Johnson’s story. Sophia was starting fresh: A new life, a new husband, a baby on the way. But it all unraveled on January 10, 2002, when her mother-in-law Marlyne Johnson was found bludgeoned to death in her home. Days later, Sophia was charged with the murder. To this day, Sophia swears she didn’t do it. But someone says they witnessed it — her own brother. When family betrays family, who do you believe? In this story of a sibling rivalry beyond compare, WBUR’s Amory Sivertson turns the clock back. She reexamines an unsolved case, a family torn apart, and a woman who wasn’t believed. From WBUR and ZSP Media, Beyond All Repair is a 10-part true crime investigation into a cold case. The series ends with an answer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • Feb 27, 2023 · 1 min

    Introducing “Operation: Tradebom”

    Everybody remembers the morning of September 11, 2001, when two passenger jets flew into the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan. But the idea of toppling the towers was not new. Thirty years ago, a group of men set off a bomb in the garage beneath the North Tower, hoping it would tumble into the South Tower. At the time, this was the largest improvised explosive device ever ignited on American soil. It killed six people and injured thousands, leaving behind a 100-foot crater five stories deep. Investigators from New York City’s Joint Terrorism Task Force—a ragtag team of FBI paper-pushers and NYPD detectives—found themselves conducting a new type of international investigation, called Operation: Tradebom. It became their job to find the bombers and bring them to justice before something even worse happened. Operation: Tradebom is an Apple Original podcast, produced by Truth Media in partnership with Brillstein Entertainment Partners. All episodes are available now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • S2 · E19
    Aug 29, 2019 · 35 min

    S2 E19: From the Ashes

    With Kwame Kilpatrick sentenced to 28 years in federal prison, Detroit tries to move on. But is the era of crime and corruption really over?

  • S2 · E16
    Aug 8, 2019 · 28 min

    S2 E16: Surrendered

    After 99 days in jail, Kwame Kilpatrick gets a taste of freedom. But it won’t last long.

  • Jul 31, 2019 · 9 min

    Introducing The Ballad of Billy Balls

    From the same team that brought you Crimetown comes Crimetown Presents: The Ballad of Billy Balls. It’s 1982 in New York City, and a man bursts into an East Village storefront apartment and shoots punk musician Billy Balls. What follows is a mystery of love and loss that examines the tender binds of family, and the stories we tell ourselves just to survive. Learn more at www.theballadofbillyballs.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • S2 · E14
    Jul 25, 2019 · 42 min

    S2 E14: The Affair

    The revelation that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had an affair with his chief of staff, Christine Beatty, rocks Detroit. But it’s only the beginning of their troubles.

  • Jul 17, 2019 · 14 min

    Introducing Man in the Window

    From the partnership that brought you Dirty John, comes Man in the Window. Pulitzer prize winning reporter Paige St. John investigates The Golden State Killer, and traces his path of devastation through the eyes of his victims. Binge the series now at wondery.fm/CT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • S2 · E12
    Jul 11, 2019 · 37 min

    S2 E12: Fake News

    As scandals swirl around him, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick faces a tough re-election battle.

  • S2 · E11
    Jul 4, 2019 · 35 min

    S2 E11: The Hip Hop Mayor

    As Kwame Kilpatrick takes office, rumors swirl about his outsized spending and hard-partying lifestyle.

  • S2 · E10
    Jun 27, 2019 · 31 min

    S2 E10: Right Here, Right Now

    Several years after Coleman Young’s death, a mayoral race pits the old guard against the new.

  • S2 · E9
    Jun 20, 2019 · 40 min

    S2 E09: Dimitri

    A teenager’s taste for the nightlife becomes a full-blown heroin addiction.

  • S2 · E8
    Jun 13, 2019 · 40 min

    S2 E08: Operation Backbone

    The FBI devises an elaborate sting to take down Detroit’s corrupt cops.

  • S2 · E7
    Jun 6, 2019 · 35 min

    S2 E07: Who Killed Damion Lucas?

    The murder of a thirteen-year-old boy reveals a web of connections between the drug world, the police department, and the mayor’s office.

Showing 1–20 of 20 episodes