Podcasts about Mafia Wars

In this episode of Gangland Wire, Gary Jenkins sits down with author Craig McGuire to discuss his gripping book, Empire City Under Siege, a deep dive into three decades of FBI manhunts, mob wars, and organized-crime investigations in New York City. Craig explains how the project grew out of his collaboration with retired FBI agent Anthony John Nelson, whose career spanned the most violent and chaotic years of New York's Mafia history. From Nelson's early days as a radio dispatcher in 1969 to his transition into undercover and frontline investigative work, the book captures the gritty reality of law enforcement during the 1970s and 1980s. We explore how Nelson's career mirrored the evolution of organized crime and law-enforcement tactics, including the rise of undercover stings, inter-agency cooperation, and the increasing role of technology. Craig highlights the close working relationship between Nelson and NYPD detective Kenny McCabe, whose deep knowledge of Mafia families and quiet professionalism led to major breakthroughs against organized crime. He tells how these two investigators wathced and uncovered the Gambino Family Roy DeMeo crew under Paul Castellano and Nino Gaggi. Throughout the conversation, Craig shares vivid, often humorous slice-of-life stories from the book—tense undercover moments, dangerous confrontations, and the emotional toll of living a double life. These anecdotes reveal not only the danger of the job but also the camaraderie and resilience that sustained agents and detectives working in the shadows. The episode closes with a reminder that Empire City Under Siege is as much about honoring unsung law-enforcement professionals as it is about mob history. Craig encourages listeners to support true-crime storytelling that preserves these firsthand accounts before they're lost to time. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” Subscribe to the website for weekly notifications about updates and other Mob information. To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here To rent ‘Brothers against Brothers’ or ‘Gangland Wire,’ the documentaries click here.  To purchase one of my books, click here. 0:02 Welcome Back to Gangland Wire 2:14 The Journey to Anthony John Nelson 4:46 The Life and Work of Law Enforcement 15:00 Inside Anthony Nelson’s Early Career 26:49 The Dynamic Duo: Nelson and McCabe 30:16 Tales from the Underworld 35:55 The Tragedy of Everett Hatcher 39:12 The High-Stakes World of Undercover Work 40:56 Closing Thoughts and Inspirations transcript [0:00] Hey, all you wiretappers. Good to be back here in studio of Gangland Wire. I say the same thing every time. I hope it doesn’t bore you too much, but I am back here in the Gangland Wire studio. And I have today an author who interviewed and wrote a book with an FBI agent named Anthony John Nelson, who was one of the premier FBI agents in New York City that was working the mob. And even more interesting about him to me was he formed a partnership with a local copper named Kenny McCabe, who you may know the name. I had read the name before several times as I started researching this and looking at the book, but he was a mob buster supreme and Agent Nelson really formed a dynamic duo. But first, let’s start talking to Craig, your book, Empire City Under Seize, Three Decades of New York FBI Field Office Manhunts, Murders and Mafia Wars. How did you get involved with Anthony John Nelson? [0:55] Hi, Gary. Thanks for having me on your show. Big fan. Appreciate the opportunity. Very interesting and winding path that led me to Anthony’s doorstep. I also previously wrote another book, Carmine and the 13th Avenue Boys, which was about an enforcer in the Colombo family during the Third Colombo War. And I was introduced to Carmine Imbriali through Thomas Dades. Tommy Dades, he’s a famous retired NYPD detective. So after the success of that book, Tommy introduced me to another member of law enforcement. I started to work on a project that sort of fell apart. And one of the sort of consultants, friends that I met with during that was Anthony Nelson. And then one day as that, due to my own fumbling, as that project was falling apart, I had a delightful breakfast with Anthony and his wonderful wife, Sydney, Cindy, one Sunday morning. And Anthony’s pulling out all these clips of all these investigations and all these Jerry Capiche gangland clips. And it was just fascinating. And so I started to realize that there’s something here because I’m also a true crime fan and I remember many of these cases. [2:08] So it took a while to get Anthony to agree to write a book. He’s not one for the spotlight. He’s really your sort of quintessential G-man, modern G-man. It’s also somewhat of a throwback. But he eventually was interested in doing a book if we didn’t just shine the spotlight on him. Gary, you should know the original, the working title of the book was In the Company of Courage. And that’s really the theme that Anthony wanted to bring forth. You’ll notice throughout the book, there are some vignettes and some biographical information about many of the members of law enforcement that I interviewed, but then we also covered and who are no longer with us. It was my privilege to write this book sharing Anthony’s amazing history, 30 years at the FBI and then several years at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office as an investigator. And just like one of the themes is just to really shed some light on the valuable work that members of law enforcement, including you, sir. Thank you for your service. And we think too often these days, members of law enforcement are maligned and there’s a negative light cast on them. It’s the most difficult job in the world. And we just want to make sure that we’re shining some light on that valuable work that the thousands of members of men and women in law enforcement do every day protecting us. [3:24] I appreciate that. I’ll tell you what, all the way from the rookie on the street making those domestic violence calls and party armed calls and armed robbery alarms calls that are, there’s nothing there the first five times you go. And then all of a sudden there’s a guy running out with a gun all the way up to the homicide detectives. And even the people that handle the budget, they all paid their dues out on the streets and organized crime investigators, of course, and narcotics. I really appreciate that. It’s a thankless job for the most part. Once in a while, you get a little thanks, but not much. As we used to say, it was fun. I can’t believe they pay us to do this. [4:01] Gary, it’s like you’re repeating some of the lines of Frank Pergola to Al King, just like that. And that’s key, that thankless piece. I remember interviewing Frank Pergola, just famous New York City detective, worked on Son of Sam. He also worked on solving 79 homicides related to the Gambinos and the DeMeo family. And he echoed those same sentiments. While you’re investigating a case, it’s the victims’ families and the victims, their nerves are so fraught. It’s such a stressful situation. And the members of law enforcement bear the brunt of a lot of that frustration. [4:41] And too often, there’s no thank you at the end. And it’s not that they want to thank you. It’s just that they want the sort of closure, not even the recognition, just some sort of realization that they did a great job. And it’s unfortunate that they don’t, that doesn’t happen as often as it should. I appreciate it. Let’s talk about Anthony Nelson. He sounds like a very interesting character. Talk a little bit about what you learned from him about his early career. And I want to tell you something, that recalcitrance, I believe that’s the word, $25 word if I’ve ever heard one. His refusal to really make himself a hero or the center of attention. That’s pretty common among cops and FBI agents. I’ve noticed we’ve got, I’ve got a good friend here in Kansas City, wrote a book about the mafia in Kansas City called Mopsers in Our Mist, but he refused to put himself into the book. He had a publishing company that wanted him to do it and was going to pay him to do it, but it had to have him as a hero. He said, we have to have a hero in this book. He says, I won’t do it. So that Mr. Nelson, Agent Nelson, that’s not that uncommon. So tell us a little more about some of his early cases. [5:49] Anthony Nelson, interestingly enough, his career trajectory and really his life tracks with the latter half of the last century. And a lot of the technological evolution, the rise of organized crime post-prohibition, these themes of urbanization, radicalization that came out from the starting in the middle of the century. But really heating up as a young Anthony Nelson joins the FBI in 1969, really mostly in administrative roles, radio dispatcher first, eventually he’s an electronics technician. So I’m sure, Gary, you can reflect on, and some of this will resonate with you, just how archaic some of the technology was. Oh my God, yeah. Yeah. Back then, we have some fantastic anecdotes and stories in the book, but just also like, for example, when you’re responding to a hostage crisis and you don’t have a cell phone, you don’t have minimal communications and talking about, you better make sure you have a pocket full of dimes and knocking on a neighbor’s door because time is of the essence and to establish contact. So just some of this great, really interesting material there. Eventually, Anthony was sworn in as an agent in 1976, and he entered the FBI Academy at Quantico, graduated in 77. [7:13] And interestingly enough, Anthony reflects like some of his fellow graduates, perhaps were not as keen on going to New York, one of the larger field offices, perhaps wanting to cut their teeth at a smaller office, but he obviously wanted to go home. So he was, and he jumped right into the fray, really assigned to hijacking. And he was an undercover operative in Red Hook during the 1970s, like the really gritty. And from the stories and from the various folks I interviewed, this really was gritty New York back then with the economy failing, crime on the rise. [7:48] Gary, you look, I heard an interesting stat last week where you had, there was almost a record setting that New York City had not reported a homicide for a record 12 consecutive days. And that had not happened in decades. So when Anthony joined the FBI, they were recording five homicides in New York City. And also during the 70s, you also had this, when you talk about radicalization, with 3,000 bombings nationwide, corruption was rampant. You had credit card fraud was just kicking off. You had widespread bread or auto theft and hijacking. Again, at the street level, Anthony was the front for a Gambino-affiliated warehouse where he had first right of refusal, where some of the hijackers would bring in the loads. And he was doing this on an undercover basis. So he jumped right in. They set him up in a warehouse and he was buying like a sting, what we called a sting operation. He was buying stolen property. They thought he was a fence. [8:50] Yeah, they started doing that in the 70s. They hadn’t really done, nobody had done that before in the 70s. ATF kind of started sting operates throughout the United States. We had one here, but they started doing that. And that was a new thing that these guys hadn’t seen before. So interesting. He was that big, blurly guy up front said, hey, yeah, bring that stuff on. Exactly. If you look on the cover, there are three images on the cover, and one of them is following one of the busts afterwards where they tracked down the hijacked goods. I believe it was in New Jersey. So you could get the sense of the volume. Now, think about it like this. So he’s in Red Hook in the mid-70s. This was actually where he was born. So when Anthony was born in 49, and if you think about Red Hook in the early 50s, this was just a decade removed from Al Capone as a leg-breaking bouncer along the saloons on the waterfront. And this was on the waterfront, Red Hook eventually moved to Park Slope. [9:49] And this was where Crazy Joe Gallo was prompted, started a mob war. And this was when any anthony is coming of age back then and most of his friends is gravitating so to these gangster types in the neighborhood these wise guys but this was a time pre-9-1-1 emergency response system so the only way to report or get help was to call the switchboard call the hospital directly call the fire department directly so you had the rise of the b cop where it wasn’t just the police they were integral part of the community and there’s this really provocative story Anthony tells the first time he saw a death up close and personal, an acquaintance of his had an overdose. And the beat cops really did a sincere effort to try to save him. And this really resonated with the young Anthony and he gravitated towards law enforcement. And then a little bit, a while later as a teenager, they’re having these promotional videos, these promotional sort of documentary style shows on television. And Anthony sees it, and he’s enamored by it, especially when they say this is the hardest job in America. So he’s challenged, and he’s a go-getter. So he writes a letter to J. Edgar Hoover, and Hoover writes him back. [11:03] So it’s a signed letter, and now Anthony laughs about it. He says it was probably a form letter with a rubber stamp, but it really had an amazing impact. And this is at the time when, you know, in the 50s, you really had J. Edgar really embrace the media. And he actually consulted on the other famous, the FBI television show, several movies, the rise of the G-Man archetype. So Anthony was fully on board. [11:28] Interesting. Of course, J. Edgar Hoover wanted to make sure the FBI looked good. Yes, exactly. Which he did. And they were good. They had a really high standards to get in. They had to be a lawyer or accountant or some extra educated kind of a deal. And so they always think, though, that they took these guys who had never been even a street policeman of any kind and they throw them right into the DPN many times. But that’s the way it was. They did have that higher level of recruit because of that. So, Anthony, was he a lawyer or accountant when he came in? Did he get in after they relaxed that? Oh, that’s spot on. I’m glad you brought that up. So now here’s a challenge. So Anthony needs that equalizer, correct? So if you’re a CPA, obviously a former member of the military, if you’re a successful detective or a local police force, one of these type of extra credentials. [12:20] Anthony’s specialty was technology. Now, when you think of technology… Not the ubiquitous nature of technology nowadays, where you have this massive processing power in your phone, and you don’t really have to be a technologist to be able to use the power of it. This is back in the 1960s. But he always had an affinity for technology. And he was able to, when he, one of the other requirements was as he had to hit the minimum age requirement, he had to work for a certain amount of time, he was able to get a job at the FBI. So he was an electronics technician before he became an agent. [12:59] And he had all of the, and back then this was, it was groundbreaking, the level of technology. And he has some funny story, odd, like man on the street stories about, I’m sure you remember Radio Shack when there was a Radio Shack on every other corner, ham radio enthusiasts. And it was cat and mouse. It was, they had the members of organized crime had the police scanners. And they were able to, if they had the right scanner, they had the right frequency. They were able to pick on the bugs planted really close to them. And he tells some really funny stories about one time there was a member of organized crime. They’re staking out, I believe it was the cotillion on 18th Avenue. And then I believe he’s sitting outside with Kenny McCabe. And then one of this member of organized crime, he’s waving a scanner inside and he’s taunting them saying, look, I know what you’re doing. And so it was that granularity of cat and mouse. [13:55] Rudimentary kind of stuff. Yeah. We had a guy that was wearing what we called a kelk kit. It was a wire and he was in this joint and they had the scanner and so but they had to scan her next door at this club And all of a sudden, a bunch of guys came running and there’s somebody in here wearing a wire. And my friend’s guy, the guy I worked with, Bobby, he’s going, oh, shit. And so he just fades into the background. And everybody except one guy had a suit on. Nobody had a suit on except this one guy. So they focused on this one guy that had a suit on and went after him and started trying to pat him down and everything. Bobby just slipped out the front door. So amazing. I mean, you know, Anthony has a bunch of those slice of life stories. I also interviewed a translator from the FBI to get a sort of a different perspective. [14:42] It’s different. Like the agents a little bit more, they’re tougher. They’re a tougher breed. They go through the training. Some of the administrative professionals, like the translators. So this one translator, it’s a pretty harrowing experience because remember the such the insular nature of the neighborhoods and how everyone is always [14:59] looking for someone out of place. So she actually got a real estate license and poses a realtor be able to rent apartments and then she spoke multiple dialects and then just to have to listen in and to decipher not only the code but also the dialects and put it together when you have agents on the line because remember you have an undercover agent if they get discovered more often than not the members of organized crime are going to think they’re members of another crew so you’re dead either they’re an informant if they think they’re an informant you’re dead if they think you’re an agent yeah just turn away from you say okay we don’t deal with this guy anymore if you think you’re informant or somebody another crew or something trying to worm their way in then yeah you’re dead exactly so interviewing maria for this you get that sense from someone who’s not in like not an agent to get true how truly harrowing and dangerous this type of activity was and how emboldened organized crime was until really the late 90s. And back then, it truly was death defying. [16:02] Oh, yeah, it was. They had so many things wired in the court system and in politically in the late 70s and early 80s and all these big cities. No big city was immune from that kind of thing. So they had all kinds of sources. They even had some clerks in the FBI and they definitely had all the court. The courthouses were just wired. And I don’t mean wired, but they had people in places and all those things. So it was death to find that you got into these working undercover. Ever. Hey, you want to laugh? I don’t want to give away all the stories, but there was a great story. I remember Anthony saying, they set up a surveillance post in an apartment and they brought in all the equipment while they were, then they got the court orders and the surveillance post actually got ripped off twice. So while they try, like after hours, someone’s going, yeah, ripping off all the FBI equipment. So you have this extra level of, so that gives you like, It really was Wild West then. Really? [17:00] So now he gets into organized crime pretty quick, into that squad and working organized crime pretty quick. I imagine they put him in undercover like that because of his accent, his ability to fit in the neighborhood. I would think he would have a little bit of trouble maybe running into somebody that remembered him from the old days. Did he have any problem with that? I spot on, Gary. I tell you, this was he. So he’s operating in Red Hook and actually throughout the next several years, he’s periodically flying down to Florida as a front for New York orchestrated drug deals. So he’s going down to Florida to negotiate multi-kilo drug deals on behalf of organized crime. But at the same time, he’s an agent. He eventually rose to be supervisory special agent. He’s managing multiple squads. So there did come an inflection point where it became too dangerous for him to continue to operate as an undercover while conducting other types of investigations. [18:02] Interestingly enough they opened up a resident agency office the ras are in the major field offices in the fbi they have these they’re called ras i’m sure you’re familiar these like mini offices with the office and they’ll focus on certain areas of crime more geographically based so they opened up the brooklyn queens ra and that really focuses heavily on organized crime but also hijacking because you had the, especially with the airport over there and a lot of the concentrations of, especially in South Brooklyn, going into Queens. So he worked there. Also the airport. Also the mass, you have this massive network of VA facilities. You have the forts. So you need these other RA offices. So you have a base of operations to be able to investigate. But Anthony has such a wide extent of case history, everything from airline attacks to art theft heists to kidnappings, manhunts, fugitives. There was Calvin Klein, the famous designer, when his daughter was kidnapped by the babysitter, it did do it. Anthony was investigating that. So it’s just, and while he has this heavy concentration in organized crime. I mentioned that. What’s this deal with? He investigated a robbery, a bank robbery that was a little bit like the dog day afternoon robbery, a standoff. What was that? [19:30] This was actually, it was the dog day afternoon robbery. They based a dog day afternoon on this. Exactly. What you had, and this was before Anthony was when he was still in his administrative role. So he had a communications position. So he was responsible for gathering all the intel and the communications and sharing it with the case, the special agents on site. So what you had was like, he’s with the play by play of this really provocative hostage. It was a bank robbery that quickly turned into a hostage crisis. And then, so throughout this whole, and the way it eventually resolved was the perpetrators insisted on a particular agent. I apologize. It slips my mind, but he’s a real famous agent. So he has to drive them to JFK airport where they’re supposed to have a flight ready to fly them out of the country. And what happens is they secrete a gun into the car and he winds up shooting the bank robbers to death. And there were so many different layers to this bank robbery. It eventually became the movie. And a funny story aside, the movie, while they’re filming the movie, Anthony’s at his friend’s house in downtown Brooklyn. It may have been Park Slope. And they’re calling for extras. His friends run in and say, hey, they’re filming a movie about this bank robbery that happened on Avenue U. You want to be an extra? And he said, nah, no thanks. The real thing was enough for me. [20:55] I’ll tell you what, it wasn’t for a New York City organized crime and New York City crime. Al Pacino wouldn’t have had a career. That’s the truth. [21:05] Now, let’s start. Let’s go back into organized crime. Now, we’ve talked about this detective, Kenny McCabe, who was really well known, was famous. And during the time they worked together and they were working with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. Is that correct? Were both of them working for it? Was he at the FBI and Kenny was with the Brooklyn DA’s office? [21:26] When you think about thematically, in the company of courage, Kenny McCabe was really close. This was a career-long, lifelong, from when they met, relationship, professional relationship that became a deep friendship between two pretty similar members of law enforcement. [21:46] Kenny McCabe had a long career in the NYPD as organized crime investigator before he joined the Southern District Attorney’s Office as an investigator. So the way they first crossed paths was while Anthony was working a hijacking investigation. So he gets a tip from one of his CIs that there’s some hijacked stolen goods are in a vehicle parked in a certain location. So he goes to stake it out. Like they don’t want to seize the goods. They want to find out, they want to uncover who the hijackers are and investigate the conspiracy. So then while he’s there, he sees a sort of a familiar face staking it out as well. Then he goes to the, he goes to the NYA, a detective Nev Nevins later. And he asks about this guy. And so this detective introduces him to Kenny McCabe and right away strike up with his interesting chemistry. And they’re like, you know what? Let’s jointly investigate this. So they wind up foiling the hijacking. But what starts is like this amazing friendship. And I’ll tell you, the interesting thing about Kenny McCabe is almost universally, he’s held in the highest regard as perhaps law enforcement’s greatest weapon in dismantling organized crime in the latter half of the 20th century. For example, I interviewed George Terra, famous undercover detective who eventually went to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. [23:12] And he had a great way. I hope I don’t mangle. Kenny knew all the wise guys and they all knew Kenny. And when I say he knew all the wise guys, he knew their shoe sizes. He knew who they partnered with on bank jobs years ago. So he knew who their siblings were, who their cousins were, who they were married to, who their girlfriends were, what clubs they frequented. For example, during the fatical hearings, where they would do sentencing, often the defense attorneys would want the prosecutors to reveal who their CIs are for due process, for a sense of fairness. And they refused to do that, obviously, for safety reasons, and they want to compromise ongoing investigations. So in dozens, perhaps so many of these cases, they were bringing Kenny McCabe. He was known as the unofficial photographer of organized crime. [24:07] For example, I think it was 2003, he was the first one who revealed a new edict that new initiates into Cosa Nostra had to have both a mother and a father who were Italian. Oh, yeah. I remember that. Yeah. He was also, he revealed that when the Bonanno family renamed itself as Messino, he was the one who revealed that. And then when Messino went to prison for murder, his successor, Vinnie Bassiano, Vinnie gorgeous. When he was on trial, that trial was postponed because so many of law enforcement leaders had to attend Kenny McCabe’s funeral, unfortunately, when he passed. So this is such a fascinating thing. Now, why you don’t hear more about Kenny McCabe, and I interviewed his son, Kenny McCabe Jr. Duke, is like Kenny McCabe like really issued the media spotlight. He would not, he wasn’t interested in grabbing the microphone. So you have almost no media on Kenny McCabe. If you do a Google search for him, I believe the only thing I ever found was a picture in his uniform as an early career police officer. [25:19] So it’s really hard to even do a documentary style treatment without having any media because B-roll is just going to get you so far. So really what Duke has been doing over the last two decades or more is really consolidating all of these as much material as he can. And I think eventually when he does put out a book, this thing’s going to explode. It’s going to be like true Hollywood treatment. But now going back to the mid-70s, so these two guys hook up. You have the FBI agent and you have the police detective. [25:49] Craig, what you always hear is that the FBI is suspicious and doesn’t trust local authorities. And local policemen hate the FBI because they always grab all the glory and take everything, run with it. And they’re left out. And I didn’t have that experience myself. They’ve got the case. They’ve got the laws. We don’t locally, county and statewide, you don’t have the proper laws to investigate organized crime. Yes, sir. But the feds do. So that’s how it works. This really blows that myth up that the local police and the FBI never worked together and hated each other. [26:25] I’m so glad you brought that up because this was very important to Anthony. He has so many lifelong friends in the NYPD, and I’ve interviewed several of them. And just this sincerity comes across, the camaraderie. In any walk of life, in any profession, you’re always going to have rivalries and conflict, whether healthy conflict or negative conflict. [26:46] Even more, you’re going to find that in law enforcement because the stakes are so high. But it’s a disservice to… And what we want to do is sort of dispel the myth that there was no cooperation. Why there were very well-publicized conflicts between agencies prosecuting certain cases. This was the time where technology was really enabling collaboration. Remember, and you had a time, if you had to investigate a serial crime, you had to go from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and you had to interview investigators. You had to comb through written records to piece this together. So it really was not conducive for collaboration. [27:22] So what you saw was the rise of, and then you had these investigative tools and these legal tools like RICO, while they were still trying to figure out and to build. So now you had the litigious tools where you could build conspiracies and prosecute them. So this sort of helped ferment this sort of collaborative interagency, which eventually led to these joint task force that were very successful. What I really love is this microcosm of Anthony Nelson and Kenny McCain. Now, Anthony Nelson was issued a Plymouth Grand Fury with the full police interceptor kit. If you’re familiar with that make and model, no automobile ever created screams cop-mobile like the Grand Fury. And so what you had was after hours, Anthony and Kenny would join up and they would go prowling the underworld with the Grand Fury on purpose. They wanted to be as conspicuous as possible. to the point where they would park in bus stops across the street from these social clubs. And when I say social clubs, they were… [28:29] Everywhere. There were dozens of them all over Brooklyn and Queens. And these are cafe, social clubs, bars, restaurants with heavy OC presence, blatantly conducting their business. So you have these two, Anthony’s always driving. Kenny’s always riding shotgun with his camera. I assume it was some sort of 35 millimeter hanging out the side, taking down names, license plates. Just a great story. You had Paul Castellano in front of Veterans and Friends on 86th Street when he had Dominic Montiglio start that social club so he could have more of a presence in Brooklyn on the street so that he actually crosses the street and he goes to Kenny and Anthony. And he’s saying, guys, you don’t have to sit out here. You could come down to Ponte Vecchio in Bay Ridge. I have a table there anytime you want to talk to me. So it’s that level of bravado. But pretty soon it changed. Once more of this intel started to build these real meaningful cases, Castellana put an edict, don’t talk to these two, don’t be photographed. What came out of that was an amazing partnership where they gathered so much intelligence and Anthony is very. [29:46] Quick to have me point out, give more credit to the investigators, to the agents, to the detectives. They gathered a lot of the intelligence to help with these investigations, but you had so many frontline folks that are doing a lot of the legwork, that are doing the investigations, making the arrests, that are crawling under the hoods. So it’s pretty inspiring. But then you also had some really good, and I don’t want to share all the stories [30:12] in the book. There’s a great story of Kenny and Anthony. They go into Rosal’s restaurant because they see this. [30:21] There may have been a warrant out on this member of law enforcement. So they had cause. So they go in and there’s actually some sort of family event going on. And they’re playing the theme song of The Godfather. As they go in and then they have to go into the back room to get this member of organized crime who’s hiding. So it’s these kind of really slice of life kind of stories that just jump out, jump out of the book. Really? I see, as I mentioned, they had some kind of a run-in with Roy DeMeo at the Gemini. You remember that story? Can you tell that one? Yeah, there’s, so Kenny and Anthony, throughout the hijacking investigations. [30:59] Were, they were among the first to really learn of this mysterious Roy. And his rise. And then also Nino. Remember Nino Gadgi was the Gambino Capo who took over Castellano’s crew, Brooklyn crew, when he was elevated. And then Roy DeMeo was really this larger than life maniac serial killer who formed the Gemini crew, which was a gang of murderers really on the Gemini Lounge in Flatlands, which is really close to Anthony’s house. And Kenny’s not too far. Didn’t they have a big stolen car operation also? Did they get into that at all? Yes. Stolen cars, chop shops. Remember, this is when you had the introduction of the tag job, where it was relatively easy to take the vehicle identification numbers off a junked auto and then just replace them with the stolen auto, and then you’re automatically making that legitimate. And then, so they’re doing this wholesale operation where they’re actually got to the point where they’re shipping hundreds, if not thousands of these tag jobs overseas. So it was at scale, a massive operation. Roy DeMay was a major earner. He was such an unbalanced, very savvy business for the underworld, business professional, but he was also a homicidal maniac. [32:22] Some say they could be upwards of a hundred to 200 crimes. Frank Pergola alone investigated and So 79 of these crimes associated with this crew. And it got to the point where, and he had a heavy sideline in drugs, which was punishable by death in the Gambino family, especially under Castellano. So then what you had was all these investigations and all this intelligence that, and then with this collaboration between the FBI and NYPD. Oh, wow. It is quite a crew. I’m just looking back over here at some of the other things in there in that crew in that. You had one instance where there was a sentencing hearing and of a drug dealer, I believe, a member of organized crime. And Kenny McCabe is offering testimony to make sure that the proper sentencing is given because a lot of times these guys are deceptive. [33:16] And he mentions DeMeo’s name. So DeMeo in a panic. So then maybe a couple of nights later, they’re parked in front of veterans and friends. And DeMeo comes racing across 86th Street. Now, 86th Street is like a four-lane thoroughfare. It’s almost like, oh, I grew up in the air a few blocks away. So he’s running through traffic. And then he’s weaving in and out. And he’s screaming at Kenny McCabe, what are you trying to kill me? Putting my name into a drug case? They’re going to kill me. And so it’s that kind of intimate exchanges that they have with, with these key members of organized crime of the era. [33:52] Wow. That’s, that’s crazy. I see that they worked to murder that DEA agent, Everett Hatcher, that was a low level mob associate that got involved in that. And then supposedly the mob put out the word, but you gotta, we gotta give this guy up. But you remember that story? Now, this is another instance where I remember this case. And I remember afterwards when they killed Gus Faraci. So what you had was, again, and this is very upsetting because you had DEA agent Everett Hatchard, who is a friend of Anthony’s. To the point where just prior to his assassination, they were attending a social event together with their children. And he would also, they would run into each other from time to time. They developed a really beyond like camaraderie, like real friendship. So then, so Hatcher has, there’s an undercover sting. So there’s Gus Faraci, who’s, I believe he was associated with the Lucchese’s, with Chile. [34:55] So he gets set up on the West Shore. And so he’s told to go to the West Shore Expressway. Now, if you’ve ever been on that end of Staten Island, that whips out heading towards the outer bridge. This really is the end of the earth. This is where you have those large industrial like water and oil tankers and there’s not really good lighting and all this. It’s just like a real gritty. So he loses his surveillance tail and they eventually, he’s gunned down while in his vehicle. So then Anthony gets the call to respond on site to investigate the murder. He doesn’t know exactly who it is until he opens up the door and he sees it’s his friend. And this is the first assassination of a DEA agent. It was just such a provocative case. And the aftermath of that was, again, like Gus Faraci, who was, he was a murderer. He was a drug dealer, but he did not know. He set him up. He thought he was a member of organized crime. [35:53] He was just another drug dealer. He did not realize he was a DEA agent. And then all hell broke loose. And you had just the all five families until they eventually produced Gus Faraci, set him up, and then he was gunned down in Brooklyn. [36:06] Case closed, huh? Exactly. Yeah. And as we were saying before, I don’t remember it was before I started recording or after that. When you’re working undercover, that’s the worst thing is they think that you’re an informant or a member of another crew and you’re liable to get killed. At one say, I had a sergeant one time. He said, if you get under suspicion when you’re like hanging out in some of these bars and stuff, just show them you’re the cops. Just get your badge out right away because everything just, all right, they just walk away then. It’s a immensely dangerous thing to maintain your cover. Yes, sir. Anthony was always good at that because tall gentleman has the right sort of Italian-American complexion. He’s passable at Italian. So with some of these folks, especially from Italy that come over, he could carry a conversation. He’s not fluent. [36:56] And he just walks in and talks in. It’s a different… George Terror was a fantastic undercover detective. And you talk to some of these undercovers, it’s like you have to be… There’s sort of this misperception that the organized crime members are like these thugs and flunkies. These are very intelligent, super suspicious, addled individuals that are able to pick up on signals really easy because they live on the edge. So you really can’t fake it, the slightest thing. And again, they’ll think that their first inclination is not that you’re a member of law enforcement. Their first inclination is that you’re a member of a rival crew that’s looking to kill me looks at looking to rip me off so i’m going to kill you first it’s just it’s just a wild and imagine that’s your day job oh man i know they could just and i’ve picked this up on people there’s just a look when you’re lying there’s just a look that just before you catch it quick but there’s a look of panic that then you get it back these guys can pick up that kind of stuff just so quickly any kind of a different body language they’re so good with that. [38:02] And he’s also, he has to be able to say just enough to establish his connection and credibility without saying too much that’s going to trip him up. And that’s like being able to walk that line. He tells, again, I hate giving away all these stories because I want readers to buy the book, but he has this fantastic story when he’s on an undercover buy and he’s, I don’t know if it’s Florida, if it’s Miami or it’s Fort Lauderdale and he has to go into a whole, like the drugs are in one location and he’s in that with the drug deals in one location and he’s in this location and, but he knows the money’s not going to come. [38:42] So he has to walk into this hotel room with all these cartel drug guys who are off balance, knowing that he’s got to figure out, how do I get out of this room without getting killed? And once I walk out, will the timing be right that I could drop to the floor right when the responding FBI agents, again, these are FBI agents from a different [39:08] field office that he perhaps doesn’t have intimate working. knowledge of. I got to trust that these guys got my back and they’re not distracted. So I can’t even imagine having to live with that stress. No, I can’t either. All right. I’ll tell you what, the book, guys, is Empire City Under Siege, the three decades of New York FBI field office man hunts, murders, and mafia wars by Craig McGuire with former retired FBI agent Anthony John Nelson. I pulled as many stories as I could out of the book from him. You’re going to have to get the book to get to the rest of. And believe me, I’m looking at my notes here and the stuff they sent me. And there are a ton of great stories in there, guys. You want to get this book. [39:50] I also want to say there’s something special going on at Wild Blue Press. My publisher specializes in true crime. And it’s just, they’re so nurturing and supportive of writers. Just fantastic facilities and promotions. And they just help us get it right. That’s the most important thing, Anthony, accuracy. So if there’s anything wrong in the book, that’s totally on me. It’s really hard to put one of these together, especially decades removed. But then I’m just thankful for the support of nature of Wild Blue and Anthony and all the remarkable members of law enforcement like yourself, sir. Thank you for your service. And Anthony, and I’m just so inspired. I just have to say, they’re like a different breed. And you folks don’t realize how exciting. Because there are so many stories like Anthony would come up with and he would say, do you think readers would be interested in this story? And I fall out of my chair like, oh my God, this could be a whole chapter. So it was as a true crime fan myself of this material, it’s just, it was a wild ride and I enjoyed it. [40:56] Great. Thanks a lot for coming on the show, Craig. Thanks, Gary. You’re the best.

True Crime Tuesday Presents: Empire City Under Siege: Three Decades of NY FBI Manhunts, Murders, and Mafia Wars with Researcher/ Author, Craig McGuire EMPIRE CITY UNDER SIEGE: Three Decades Of New York FBI Field Office Manhunts, Murders, And Mafia Wars shares true stories of an FBI Special Agent spanning three tumultuous decades in New York City, beginning in the gritty 1970s when law enforcement refused to let their city be consumed by corruption and violence. Starting as an undercover operative investigating Mafia hijackers in Red Hook, Anthony John Nelson offers a gripping insider's look at the bureau's largest field office during one of its most transformative eras. From narcotics stings in Miami during the height of the Cocaine Cowboys to international manhunts, stolen Picassos, and late-night rides through Mafia hotspots with NYPD legend Kenneth “Kenny” McCabe, Nelson recounts some of the most impactful cases of the pre-Internet age. Each chapter pulls back the curtain on the dangers, strategies, and sacrifices behind the headlines. On Today's show, we sit down with Craig McGuire and talk about the crime fighting legend that is Anthony Nelson, his relationship with another legend, Kenny McCabe, how Anthony managed to survive and thrive through so much historical crime in the largest city on Earth, and manage to suppress it!  And, was there anything left of him, his family, or his sanity when it was time to retire? Get your copy of "Empire City Under Siege..." here:  https://wildbluepress.com/empire-city-under-siege-true-crime-fbi-mob-craig-mcguire-anthony-john-nelson/ PLUS: AN ALL NEW DUMB CRIMES/STUPID CRIMINALS WITH TRAVIS THORPE! Check out Jessica Freeburg's website and get tickets to her events here:  https://jessicafreeburg.com/upcoming-events/ and check out Jess on Tik Tok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@jessicafreeburgwrites There are new and different (and really cool) items all the time in the Darkness Radio Online store at our website! . check out the Darkness Radio Store!   https://www.darknessradioshow.com/store/ Make sure you update your Darkness Radio Apple Apps! and subscribe to the Darkness Radio You Tube page:  https://www.youtube.com/@DRTimDennis #crime #truecrime #truecrimepodcasts #truecrimetuesday #craigmcguire #anthonyjohnnelson #empirecityunderseige #threedecadesofnewyorkfbifieldofficemanhuntsmurdersandmafiawars #FBI #newyorkpolicedepartment #NYPD #cocainecowboys #autotheft #kennethmccabe #bronx #mafiahistory #drugwars #september11th #lacosanostra #dumbcrimesstupidcriminals #TimDennis #travisthorpe #combatrev #floridaman #drugcrimes #foodcrimes #stupidcrimes #funnycrimes  #sexcrimes

True Crime Tuesday Presents: Empire City Under Siege: Three Decades of NY FBI Manhunts, Murders, and Mafia Wars with Researcher/ Author, Craig McGuire EMPIRE CITY UNDER SIEGE: Three Decades Of New York FBI Field Office Manhunts, Murders, And Mafia Wars shares true stories of an FBI Special Agent spanning three tumultuous decades in New York City, beginning in the gritty 1970s when law enforcement refused to let their city be consumed by corruption and violence. Starting as an undercover operative investigating Mafia hijackers in Red Hook, Anthony John Nelson offers a gripping insider's look at the bureau's largest field office during one of its most transformative eras. From narcotics stings in Miami during the height of the Cocaine Cowboys to international manhunts, stolen Picassos, and late-night rides through Mafia hotspots with NYPD legend Kenneth “Kenny” McCabe, Nelson recounts some of the most impactful cases of the pre-Internet age. Each chapter pulls back the curtain on the dangers, strategies, and sacrifices behind the headlines. On Today's show, we sit down with Craig McGuire and talk about the crime fighting legend that is Anthony Nelson, his relationship with another legend, Kenny McCabe, how Anthony managed to survive and thrive through so much historical crime in the largest city on Earth, and manage to suppress it!  And, was there anything left of him, his family, or his sanity when it was time to retire? Get your copy of "Empire City Under Siege..." here:  https://wildbluepress.com/empire-city-under-siege-true-crime-fbi-mob-craig-mcguire-anthony-john-nelson/ PLUS: AN ALL NEW DUMB CRIMES/STUPID CRIMINALS WITH TRAVIS THORPE! Check out Jessica Freeburg's website and get tickets to her events here:  https://jessicafreeburg.com/upcoming-events/ and check out Jess on Tik Tok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@jessicafreeburgwrites There are new and different (and really cool) items all the time in the Darkness Radio Online store at our website! . check out the Darkness Radio Store!   https://www.darknessradioshow.com/store/ Make sure you update your Darkness Radio Apple Apps! and subscribe to the Darkness Radio You Tube page:  https://www.youtube.com/@DRTimDennis #crime #truecrime #truecrimepodcasts #truecrimetuesday #craigmcguire #anthonyjohnnelson #empirecityunderseige #threedecadesofnewyorkfbifieldofficemanhuntsmurdersandmafiawars #FBI #newyorkpolicedepartment #NYPD #cocainecowboys #autotheft #kennethmccabe #bronx #mafiahistory #drugwars #september11th #lacosanostra #dumbcrimesstupidcriminals #TimDennis #travisthorpe #combatrev #floridaman #drugcrimes #foodcrimes #stupidcrimes #funnycrimes  #sexcrimes

Welcome to another episode of Road to CTO, our series where we sit down with some of the most experienced and influential technology leaders in the world.In this episode, we talk with Dorion Carroll, a veteran with 35 years of tech leadership experience, former CTO at Zynga, VP at Amazon, and one of the most insightful engineering minds in the industry.From scaling engineering teams from 280 to 3,600 people, to navigating billion-dollar decisions, to understanding what truly makes a great CTO, Dorion shares the lessons, stories and frameworks that shaped his extraordinary career.If you're an aspiring CTO, an engineering manager, or simply passionate about how world-class tech organisations operate behind the scenes, this is a masterclass.Support the show

Tackling The Mafia And Dangers of Informants: Retired FBI Agent Speaks. Special Episode. “This is a part of FBI work the public almost never sees,” Vinton explains. “When you're Tackling The Mafia And the Dangers of Informants, you're operating in a world where loyalty is a currency, and betrayal can cost lives or careers.” Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast social media like their Facebook , Instagram , LinkedIn , Medium and other social media platforms. In a powerful Special Episode now streaming on the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast website, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and most every major Podcast platform, retired FBI agent and author Tom Vinton offers a rare, firsthand look into the world of organized crime, dangerous informants, and the internal risks faced by federal investigators. Promoted across Facebook, Instagram, and other News outlets, the episode takes listeners deep into the heart of New York's most violent Mafia crime families, and into the shadows where informants and agents walk a thin line between justice and treachery. Inside the Mafia Wars of the 1980s The episode dives into the turbulent 1980s, a decade defined by upheaval within the Gambino Crime Family, from the Crime Boss's leadership to his shocking 1985 assassination and the meteoric rise of another Boss. Vinton recalls the era as one marked by international heroin trafficking, brutal territorial battles, and the historic Mafia Commission Trial, which took aim at the leadership of all five New York Mafia families. Tackling The Mafia And Dangers of Informants: Retired FBI Agent Speaks. Special Episode. Look for supporting articles about this and much more from Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast in platforms like Medium , Blogspot and Linkedin . “The Commission Trial was a seismic shift,” Vinton says. “For the first time, the FBI could expose how the families cooperated, organized, and profited. It changed the direction of organized crime investigations forever.” The Perils of Informants: “A Necessary Evil” Vinton's book, Sanctioned Treachery: Portrait of a Drug Informant, becomes a centerpiece of the episode. Based on his decades-long career investigating organized crime and supervising the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, the novel brings to life the dangerous dance between agents and the informants they rely on. “Informants are both indispensable and incredibly risky,” Vinton notes. “Some agents have had their careers destroyed, or even ended up in jail, because they trusted the wrong person.” Tackling The Mafia And Dangers of Informants: Retired FBI Agent Speaks. Available for free on their website and streaming on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms. The book follows fictional FBI agent Eddie Michaels and his informant Alonzo “King” Curtis, a charismatic but ruthless operator whose moral compass is as fluid as the criminal underworld he moves through. Drawing on real-life cases, Vinton reveals how informants can both solve major crimes and simultaneously jeopardize investigations, or the agents themselves. “This could have happened,” Vinton says plainly. “Some of it did.” A Career Built on Crime-Fighting and Storytelling Tom Vinton's own story is as compelling as the cases he describes. Born in New Rochelle and a graduate of Holy Cross, he served as a Marine Corps infantry officer before joining the FBI. His assignments took him ultimately to New York, where he supervised massive organized crime and drug investigations. The Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast episode is available for free on their website , Apple Podcasts , Spotify and most major podcast platforms. After retiring from the Bureau, Vinton became Deputy Commissioner of the Westchester County Police and launched a consulting business. But writing remained a passion. Tackling The Mafia And Dangers of Informants. “A professor once told me that writing would serve me no matter what career I chose,” Vinton recalls. “He was right. These stories needed to be told.” Originally published in 2005, Sanctioned Treachery was lost when the publisher went bankrupt. Now updated, re-edited, and released, it's earning renewed praise. One early review called it “a grand thriller… an exciting breath-holding adventure disguised as fiction.” How the FBI Fights Organized Crime Throughout the episode, Vinton breaks down how the FBI tackles criminal enterprises, not just individuals, using tools like: Undercover operations Court-authorized wiretaps and surveillance Asset forfeiture Informants and cooperating witnesses Inter-agency task forces RICO statutes “The goal is to dismantle the entire infrastructure of a criminal organization,” Vinton says. “Not just arrest a few people. We target the enterprise, its money, its leadership, its operations.” Tackling The Mafia And Dangers of Informants: Retired FBI Agent Speaks. Special Episode. The full podcast episode is streaming now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and across Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. A Must-Listen Episode for True Crime Fans For those interested in the FBI, Mafia history, or the high-stakes world of criminal informants, this Special Episode delivers unmatched insight. “It's a reminder,” Vinton says, “that the line between justice and danger is thinner than the public ever realizes.” Listeners can tune in on the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show website, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and most every major Podcast platform and follow updates on Facebook, Instagram, and other major News outlets. You can find the show on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn, as well as read companion articles and updates on Medium, Blogspot, YouTube, and even IMDB. You can help contribute money to make the Gunrunner Movie . The film that Hollywood won't touch. It is about a now Retired Police Officer that was shot 6 times while investigating Gunrunning. He died 3 times during Medical treatment and was resuscitated. You can join the fight by giving a monetary “gift” to help ensure the making of his film at agunrunnerfilm.com . Background song Hurricane is used with permission from the band Dark Horse Flyer. You can contact John J. “Jay” Wiley by email at Jay@letradio.com , or learn more about him on their website . Get the latest news articles, without all the bias and spin, from the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast on Medium , which is free. “If you enjoy the show,” John Jay Wiley adds, “please share it with a friend or two, or three. And if you're able to leave an honest rating or review, it would be deeply appreciated.” The Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast is available for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and LETRadio.com, among many other platforms. Stay connected with updates and future episodes by following the show on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, their website and other Social Media Platforms. Find a wide variety of great podcasts online at The Podcast Zone Facebook Page , look for the one with the bright green logo. Be sure to check out our website . Be sure to follow us on X , Instagram , Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin and other social media platforms for the latest episodes and news. Tackling The Mafia And Dangers of Informants: Retired FBI Agent Speaks. Special Episode. Attributions Amazon.com F.B.I. Amazon.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Get ready to explore the stories behind some of the most iconic and innovative apps that have shaped the mobile landscape!We're here with App Masters Greatest Hits—a 10-episode series where we'll journey back in time to uncover the successes, challenges, and game-changing moments that made these apps truly distinguished.In this episode, we're joined by Roger Dickey, founder of Zynga and the creator of games like Mafia Wars. With an incredible entrepreneurial journey, Roger will share how to make the right choices and key decisions to build a successful app business.Here's what you'll discover:✔️ The key elements of engaging gameplay✔️ How to build successful apps and games✔️ How to tackle challenges and turn pain points into opportunitiesWork with us to grow your apps faster & cheaper:http://www.appmasters.com/Get training, coaching, and community:⁠https://appmastersacademy.com/Get your app audited:⁠⁠https://appmasters.com/audit/*********************************************Follow us:YouTube:⁠AppMasters.com/YouTube⁠Instagram:⁠@App MastersTwitter:⁠@App MastersTikTok:⁠@stevepyoung⁠Facebook:⁠App Masters⁠*********************************************

Join us for an exciting episode of KJ Today as we sit down with the talented Tom Welling, known for his iconic roles in Smallville, Supernatural, and Lucifer. And you better believe we talked cats too!  Tom shares insights about his latest film, Mafia Wars, which was shot in the beautiful city of Rome. He discusses the challenges and thrills of filming action scenes, as well as the depth of his character, Terry, who finds himself in a tough situation for the sake of his family. We also dive into Tom's memorable experience working with the legendary Christopher Reeve and his journey through the Lucifer series, where he played the intriguing character Marcus, also known as the Sinner Man and Cain. Plus, we touch on Tom's love for animals and his life on a horse ranch. Don't miss this engaging conversation filled with behind-the-scenes stories, inspiration, and a few laughs! ------------------- Stay tuned for more celebrity interviews, positive vibes of pop culture, people to know, and pets on the KJ Today Show. Remember to like, rate, review, and subscribe to stay updated on all the latest episodes. Let's keep spreading positivity together!

Reviews of Terrifier 3, The Apprentice, We Live in Time, Modernism, Inc., My Hero Academia and the Pharrell Williams LEGO documentary Piece by Piece. Plus an interview with Mafia Wars director Scott Windhauser. Hilarity ensues!

Max Foizey interviews Tom Welling about Mafia Wars and Smallville, speaks with Don Brazel of Cinematic Chaos about their Godzilla Film Festival, and reviews the movies 'Salem's Lot and The Outrun.

Join Steve Guerra and Chris as they delve into the 'Bad Blood' series, unearthing the enthralling life of Mafia boss Vito Rizzuto. This episode builds on their previous discussions, offering in-depth analysis of episodes three and four of the series. They discuss the portrayal and significance of Vito's mistress, the pivotal role of women in Mafia history, and Vito's entanglement in Montreal's construction industry. The hosts also explore Rizzuto's relationships with biker gangs, the Lennoxville Massacre, and the escalating biker wars in Quebec. Additionally, the episode examines Vito Rizzuto's struggles, his family's tragic fate, and the seismic shifts in Montreal's criminal underworld after his imprisonment and release.00:00 Introduction to Beyond the Big Screen Podcast 00:33 Diving into the Bad Blood Series01:19 Critique of Vito's Mistress 02:53 The Role of Women in the Mafia07:43 Mafia's Grip on Montreal's Construction Industry 13:52 Introduction to Biker Gangs in Canada28:28 The Rise of the Rock Machine29:53 Vito Rizzuto's Strategic Alliances 31:30 The Expansion of Hells Angels44:46 The Return of Vito Rizzuto47:09 The Assassinations of Nico Sr. and Nico Jr.53:32 The Changing Rules of the Mafia56:59 Vito Rizzuto's Personal Losses Transcript URL: https://share.descript.com/view/ujYKCVx8ztxYou can learn more about Beyond the Big Screen and subscribe at all these great places: https://atozhistorypage.start.pagewww.beyondthebigscreen.comClick to Subscribe: https://www.spreaker.com/show/4926576/episodes/feedemail: steve@atozhistorypage.comwww.beyondthebigscreen.com Parthenon Podcast Network Home: parthenonpodcast.comOn Social Media: https://www.youtube.com/@atozhistoryhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/atozhistorypage https://facebook.com/atozhistorypagehttps://twitter.com/atozhistorypagehttps://www.instagram.com/atozhistorypage/Music Provided by: "Crossing the Chasm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

What makes true leadership? Is it strength, wisdom, or something deeper? Join us as we explore the complex world of "Katekyo Hitman Reborn" with J.B. and Kokugatsu, diving into the core arcs of the series and discussing the intricate dynamics of the Vongola Family. From the hilarious beginnings of the Daily Life arc to the high-stakes confrontations in the Mukuro Arc, Jeff offers his passionate insights into character development, distinctive art, and the soundtrack that brings it all to life.Discover the intense battles of the Boreal Arc and the evolution of Tsuna's leadership, drawing intriguing parallels to iconic characters like Thor and Captain America. J.B. and Kokugatsu engages in a spirited conversation about the authenticity of the Vongola Rings and the trials faced by Tsuna and his Guardians. Reflecting on unresolved plot points and the complexities of integrating future memories, we also debate the evolution of alien themes in anime, from "Dragon Ball Z" to "Tenchi Muyo."Celebrate the character growth in Reborn's arcs, particularly Tsuna's transformation from a clumsy student to a respected leader. J.B. and Kokugatsu delve deep into the final arc, revealing the secrets behind the Arcobaleno curse and the thrilling battle against Checker Face and Bermuda. With heartfelt reflections and lively debates, we invite you to explore the "Reborn" series and share it with your friends. We believe that this series deserves a second chance, either in the form of a remake, or adapting the last two arcs of the manga into an animation!Stay nerdy, and look forward to more great content ahead!Text us for feedback and recommendations for future episodes!Support the showWe thank everyone for listening to our podcast! We hope to grow even bigger to make great things happen, such as new equipment for higher-quality podcasts, a merch store & more! If you're interested in supporting us, giving us feedback and staying in the loop with updates, then follow our ZONE Social Media Portal!DISCLAIMER: The thoughts and opinions shared within are those of the speaker. We encourage everyone to do their own research and to experience the content mentioned at your own volition. We try not to reveal spoilers to those who are not up to speed, but in case some slips out, please be sure to check out the source material before you continue listening!Stay nerdy and stay faithful,- J.B.Subscribe to "Content for Creators" on YouTube to listen to some of the music used for these episodes!

It's all funny people this week on the Kokomo Press Podcast! Host Jordan Danger Grainger and comedian Brian Alan West are in the studio, and they're joined by a couple of hilarious Seans.Sean Foster is a three-time guest with a unique perspective on life who spent his young years in bands and his middle years in politics. Sean D is a stand-up comedian, sneakerhead, and is also our most booked guest in the history of the Kokomo Press!Both Seans have an extensive background on the stage and bring that energy to the Kokomo Press Studio where we talk about everything including Indiana sports and the future of Caitlin Clark, to the monocultural bigotry of European countries, to the nuances of old advertising and ingredient mistakes, to the modern-day Greek theater of P. Diddy and that soap opera.We talked about all of that and more and we ain't... going no where... we ain't... going nowhere... we can't be stopped... cause it's another exciting consensual episode of the Kokomo Press Podcast... for life...        @thekokomopress on YouTube, Facebook, and instagram.Jordan Grainger is @ultrajoyed on twitter, facebook, and tiktok.Jordan Bell is @hypocrisy_jones on all major platforms.Cortni Richardson is @cortni88 on instagram and @cortni_lean on twitter.Brian West is @veinypeckerpete on twitter and @westjr.brian on instagram.

Six-term former UP MLA and minister Hari Shankar Tiwari, a Brahmin leader courted by Congress, BJP, SP and BSP, passed away Tuesday. In Ep 1233 of Cut The Clutter, Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta explains why Tiwari is seen by many as the ‘original' mafioso of UP ganglands, and dives deep into the origins of the heartland's complicated — and bloody — caste wars.

App monetization is a hot topic in nearly any industry. While creating an app can be a lucrative business, it can be difficult to stand out and generate revenue with so many apps available. In the Subscription League podcast episode 21, Steve P. Young, an app marketing expert and founder and CEO of App Masters, shared his top tips for app monetization including the followings:target 100% paywall viewsadd the paywall to the onboarding processstop building more featuresfocus on improving the rate of trials to subscriptionscarefully consider the length of the app's trialsuse data as social proofFor noteworthy quotes and key takeaways from the episode, read the article - How to Monetize Your App: Expert tips from Steve P. Young (App Masters)Episode Topics at a GlanceThe story behind App MastersSteve's youtube content initiativeApp monetization tipsWhy onboarding works and the proofsWhy trial works and the proofsShowing a paywall early on to 100% of the usersPaywall content tips (long vs short, pricing table)Feature led vs value-ledUsing data as social proofMore about SteveSteve P. Young is the founder of App Masters the app marketing agency that helps grow apps faster, better & cheaper.From top-charting apps to the world's biggest brands to small indie app startups, App Masters guides you through our successes and failures to ensure that you have a proven framework to ultimately find your success.He is an author, speaker, and host of the #1 app marketing YouTube channel. He has interviewed the biggest names including the co-founder of Shazam, Crossy Road, Mafia Wars, Color Switch, and more!Steve's LinksSteve's LinkedinSteve's TwitterApp Master Youtube ChannelPodcast - App Marketing by App MastersTimestamps0:00 Welcome to the Subscription League 0:21 Steve P. Young introduction and name explanation 1:13 How Steve founded App Masters 3:38 App Masters' brand partnerships 6:31 Steve's advice for CEOs for app monetization 9:34 What pushed you to get so involved with data? 11:28 How to incorporate paywalls during onboarding 13:11 The importance of showing a paywall early 15:50 What to include in a paywall 19:52 What is your experience with win-back offers? 23:20 Is a hard paywall a good idea? 28:31 Where to learn more about Steve 29:11 Thank you for listening!

DT!HQ takes a firm stance against gatekeeping. Whether your favorite games are on a console, a PC, or a mobile device, we consider you a gamer and you are valid. Unless, of course, you're one of the perverts still playing Facebook games in 2023. If you aren't keeping up with the news out of the Meta-camp, the Metaverse isn't exactly headed to the moon. Well luckily for old Zucks, the execs called us in to help revitalize that smooth VR hellscape. Today, we're gathered around the proverbial Round Table to decide which Facebook game would be the best to integrate into the Metaverse. You're going to hear about a lot of games today, most of them you'll at least remember hearing about. Matt's answer is not one of those games. Todd and Kyle, on the other hand, went with games that you'll be much more familiar with. Or you will be, if you're into match three and idle games. Recommended Reading: Debate This! Ep. 103: Come and Funge It This episode was sponsored by MANSCAPED! Join over 7 million men (and probably plenty of not-men too) who trust MANSCAPED by using code "DEBATETHIS" at Manscaped.com. Score 20% off and free world wide shipping by using our code "DEBATETHIS" at checkout! Have you seen our Twitter? twitter.com/debatethiscast Have you seen our Instagram? instagram.com/debatethiscast Want to send us an email? debatethiscast@gmail. Are you listening to this episode thinking to yourself, "Man, I hate hearing ads on my favorite podcast! I didn't think Debate This! would ever sell out!" Well neither did we and honestly, we try pretty hard to make our ads funny and worth the listen. But, if you'd prefer to listen to our show without ads, you can listen to every DT! episode ad-free right now at patreon.com/debatethiscast! Patrons of all tiers get ad-free episodes, bonus content and access to our Patron-only discord server. Higher tiers unlock the DT! Extended Good Vibes Aftershow and tons more. Get all the details at patreon.com/debatethiscast. Properties we talked about this week: Mob Wars, Mafia Wars, Farmville, Harvest Moon, Bejeweled, Bejeweled Blitz Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a creative commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

In Lavanya Lakshminarayan's science fiction novel, The Ten-Percent Thief (Solaris, 2023), is set in a world centered on meritocracy, where everyone is judged on the Bell Curve. Apex City, formerly Bangalore, divides its population into the Virtual and Analog societies where access to technology earns a stark difference in quality of life. With the right image, values and opinions, citizens can ascend to the glittering heights of the Twenty Percent, the Virtual elite, they're the movers and shakers with access to the best technology and thus the best quality of life. The risk of falling to the Ten Percent looms in most citizens' minds with its threat of deportation to the Analog society where there is no access to electricity and running water, and limited access to humanity. Told through the over 20 perspectives, the mosaic novel explores a future trajectory based on our current relationship with technology. Though the book was written prior to the covid 19 pandemic, Lakshminarayan noticed that during the pandemic “the lines between privilege were even starker.” She says, “that was actually really heartbreaking for me. I didn't expect that a lot of the more extreme disparities that I portray in the novel would feel so real in such an extreme way so soon.” The novel was first released in South Asia to critical acclaim and is now making its debut in the U.S. and U.K. Lavanya Lakshminarayan is the author of Analog/Virtual: And Other Simulations of Your Future. She is a Locus Award finalist and is the first science fiction writer to win the Times of India AutHer Award and the Valley of Words Award, both prestigious literary awards in India, and her work has been longlisted for a BSFA Award. She's occasionally a game designer, and has built worlds for Zynga Inc.'s FarmVille franchise, Mafia Wars, and other games. She lives in India, and is currently working on her next novel. Brenda Noiseux hosts New Books in Science Fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In Lavanya Lakshminarayan's science fiction novel, The Ten Percent Thief (Solaris, 2023), is set in a world centered on meritocracy, where everyone is judged on the Bell Curve. Apex City, formerly Bangalore, divides its population into the Virtual and Analog societies where access to technology earns a stark difference in quality of life. With the right image, values and opinions, citizens can ascend to the glittering heights of the Twenty Percent, the Virtual elite, they're the movers and shakers with access to the best technology and thus the best quality of life. The risk of falling to the Ten Percent looms in most citizens' minds with its threat of deportation to the Analog society where there is no access to electricity and running water, and limited access to humanity. Told through the over 20 perspectives, the mosaic novel explores a future trajectory based on our current relationship with technology. Though the book was written prior to the covid 19 pandemic, Lakshminarayan noticed that during the pandemic “the lines between privilege were even starker.” She says, “that was actually really heartbreaking for me. I didn't expect that a lot of the more extreme disparities that I portray in the novel would feel so real in such an extreme way so soon.” The novel was first released in South Asia to critical acclaim and is now making its debut in the U.S. and U.K. Lavanya Lakshminarayan is the author of Analog/Virtual: And Other Simulations of Your Future. She is a Locus Award finalist and is the first science fiction writer to win the Times of India AutHer Award and the Valley of Words Award, both prestigious literary awards in India, and her work has been longlisted for a BSFA Award. She's occasionally a game designer, and has built worlds for Zynga Inc.'s FarmVille franchise, Mafia Wars, and other games. She lives in India, and is currently working on her next novel. Brenda Noiseux hosts New Books in Science Fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-fiction

In Lavanya Lakshminarayan's science fiction novel, The Ten-Percent Thief (Solaris, 2023), is set in a world centered on meritocracy, where everyone is judged on the Bell Curve. Apex City, formerly Bangalore, divides its population into the Virtual and Analog societies where access to technology earns a stark difference in quality of life. With the right image, values and opinions, citizens can ascend to the glittering heights of the Twenty Percent, the Virtual elite, they're the movers and shakers with access to the best technology and thus the best quality of life. The risk of falling to the Ten Percent looms in most citizens' minds with its threat of deportation to the Analog society where there is no access to electricity and running water, and limited access to humanity. Told through the over 20 perspectives, the mosaic novel explores a future trajectory based on our current relationship with technology. Though the book was written prior to the covid 19 pandemic, Lakshminarayan noticed that during the pandemic “the lines between privilege were even starker.” She says, “that was actually really heartbreaking for me. I didn't expect that a lot of the more extreme disparities that I portray in the novel would feel so real in such an extreme way so soon.” The novel was first released in South Asia to critical acclaim and is now making its debut in the U.S. and U.K. Lavanya Lakshminarayan is the author of Analog/Virtual: And Other Simulations of Your Future. She is a Locus Award finalist and is the first science fiction writer to win the Times of India AutHer Award and the Valley of Words Award, both prestigious literary awards in India, and her work has been longlisted for a BSFA Award. She's occasionally a game designer, and has built worlds for Zynga Inc.'s FarmVille franchise, Mafia Wars, and other games. She lives in India, and is currently working on her next novel. Brenda Noiseux hosts New Books in Science Fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

Mark Pincus was at the forefront of mobile technology when it was just being born. He is a recovering venture capitalist who co-founded his first company with Sunil Paul in 1995. FreeLoader was at the forefront of giving people the news through push technology, just as the IETF was in the process of ratifying HTTP2. He sold that for $38 million only to watch it get destroyed. But he did invest in a startup that one of the interns founded when he gave Sean Parker $100,000 to help found Napster.  Pincus then started Support.com, which went public in 2000. Then Tribe.net, which Cisco acquired. As a former user, it was fun while it lasted. Along the way, Pincus teamed up with Reid Hoffman, former PayPal executive and founder of LinkedIn and bought the Six Degrees patent that basically covered all social networking. Along the way, he invested in Friendster, Buddy Media, Brightmail, JD.com, Facebook, Snapchat, and Twitter.  Investing in all those social media properties gave him a pretty good insight into what trends were on the way. Web 2.0 was on the rise and social networks were spreading fast. As they spread, each attempted to become a platform by opening APIs for third-party developers. This led to an opening to create a new company that could build software that sat on top of these social media companies. Meanwhile, the gaming industry was in a transition from desktop and console games to hyper-casual games that are played on mobile devices. So Pincus recruited conspirators to start yet another company and with Michael Luxton, Andrew Trader, Eric Schiermeyer, Steve Schoettler, and Justin Waldron, Zinga was born in 2007. Actually Zinga is the dog. The company Zynga was born in 2007. Facebook was only three years old at the time, but was already at 14 million users to start 2007. That's when they opened up APIs for integration with third party products through FBML, or Facebook Markup Language. They would have 100 million within a year. Given his track record selling companies and picking winners, Zynga easily raised $29 million to start what amounts to a social game studio. They make games that people access through social networks. Luxton, Schiermeyer, and Waldron created the first game, Zynga Poker in 2007. It was a simple enough Texas hold 'em poker game but rose to include tens of millions of players at its height, raking in millions in revenue.  They'd proven the thesis. Social networks, especially Facebook, were growing.. The iPhone came out in 2007. That only hardened their resolve. They sold poker chips in 2008. Then came FarmVille. FarmVille was launched in 2009 and an instant hit. The game went viral and had a million daily users in a week. It was originally written in flash and later ported to iPhones and other mobile platforms. It's now been installed over 700 million times and ran until 2020, when Flash support was dropped by Facebook. FarmVille was free-to-play and simple. It had elements of a 4x game like Civilization, but was co-op, meaning players didn't exterminate one another but instead earned points and thus rankings. In fact, players could help speed up tasks for one another. Players began with a farm - an empty plot of land. They earned experience points by doing routine tasks. Things like growing crops, upgrading items, plowing more and more land. Players took their crops to the market and sold them for coins. Coins could also be bought. If a player didn't harvest their crops when they were mature, the crops would die. Thus, they had players coming back again and again. Push notifications helped remind people about the state of their farm. Or the news in FreeLoader-speak.   Some players became what we called dolphins, or players that spent about what they would on a usual game. Maybe $10 to $30. Others spent thousands, which we referred to as whales. They became the top game on Facebook and the top earner. They launched sequels as well, with FarmVille 2 and FarmVille 3.  They bought Challenge Games in 2010, which was founded by Andrew Busy to develop casual games a well. They bought 14 more companies. They grew to 750 employees. They opened offices in Bangalore, India and Ireland. They experimented with other platforms, like Microsoft's MSN gaming environment and Google TV. They released CastleVille. And they went public towards the end of 2011. It was a whirlwind ride, and just really getting started. They released cute FarmVille toys.  They also released Project Z, Mafia Wars, Hanging with Friends, Adventure World, and Hidden Chronicles. And along the way they became a considerable advertising customer for Facebook, with ads showing up for Mafia Wars and Project Z constantly. Not only that, but their ads flooded other mobile ad networks, as The Sims Social and other games caught on and stole eyeballs. And players were rewarded for spamming the walls of other players, which helped to increase the viral nature of the early Facebook games. Pincus and the team built a successful, vibrant company. They brought in Jeff Karp and launched Pioneer Trail. Then another smash hit, Words with Friends. They bought Newtoy for $53.3 million to get it, after Paul and David Bettner who wrote a game called Chess with Friends a few years earlier. But revenues dropped as the Facebook ride they'd been on began to transition from people gaming in a web browser to mobile devices. All this growth and the company was ready for the next phase. In 2013, Zynga hired Donald Mattrick to be the CEO and Pincus moved to the role of Chief Product Officer. The brought in Alex Garden, the General Manager for Xbox Music , Video, and Reading, who had founded the Homeward creator Relic Entertainment back in the 1990s. The new management didn't fix the decline. The old games continued to lose market share and Pincus came back to run the company as CEO and cut the staff by 18 percent. In 2015 they brought in Frank Gibeau to the board and by 2016 moved him to  CEO of the company. One challenge with the move to mobile was who got the processing payments. Microtransactions had gone through Facebook for years. They moved to Stripe in 2020. They acquired Gram Games, to get Merge Dragons! They bought Small Giant Games to get Empires & Puzzles. They bought Peak Games to get Toon Blast and Toy Blast. They picked up Rollic to get a boatload of actions and puzzle games. They bought Golf Rival by acquiring StarLark. And as of the time of this writing they have nearly 200 million players actively logging into their games. There are a few things to take from the story of Zynga. One is that a free game doesn't put $2.8 billion in revenues on the board, which is what they made in 2021. Advertising amounts for just north of a half billion, but the rest comes from in app purchases. The next is that the transition from owner-operators is hard. Pincus and the founding team had a great vision. They executed and were rewarded by taking the company to a gangbuster IPO. The market changed and it took a couple of pivots to get there. That led to a couple of management shakeups and a transition to more of a portfolio mindset with the fleet of games they own. Another lesson is that larger development organizations don't necessarily get more done. That's why Zynga has had to acquire companies to get hits since around the time that they bought Words with Friends.  Finally, when a company goes public the team gets distracted. Not only is going through an IPO expensive and the ensuing financial reporting requirements a hassle to deal with, but it's distracting. Employees look at stock prices during the day. Higher ranking employees have to hire a team of accountants to shuffle their money around in order to take advantage of tax loopholes. Growth leads to political infighting and power grabbing. There are also regulatory requirements with how we manage our code and technology that slow down innovation. But it all makes us better run and a safer partner eventually. All companies go through this. Those who navigate towards a steady state fastest have the best chance of surviving one more lesson: when the first movers prove a monetization thesis the ocean will get red fast. Zynga became the top mobile development company again after weathering the storm and making a few solid acquisitions. But as Bill Gates pointed out in the 1980s, gaming is a fickle business. So Zynga agreed to be acquired for $12.7 billion in 2022 by Take-Two Interactive, who now owns the Civilization, Grand Theft Auto, Borderlands, WWE, Red Dead, Max Payne, NBA 2K, PGA 2K, Bioshock, Duke Nukem, Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear, Battleship, Centipede, and the list goes on and on. They've been running a portfolio for a long time. Pincus took away nearly $200 million in the deal and about $350 million in Take-Two equity. Ads and loot boxes can be big business. Meanwhile, Pincus and Hoffman from LinkedIn work well together, apparently. They built Reinvent Capital, an investment firm that shows that venture capital has quite a high recidivism rate. They had a number of successful investments and SPACs.  Zynga was much more. They exploited Facebook to shoot up to hundreds of millions in revenue. That was revenue Facebook then decided they should have a piece of in 2011, which cut those Zynga revenues in half over time. This is an important lesson any time a huge percentage of revenue is dependent on another party who can change the game (no pun intended) at any time. Diversify. 

Patrick Lazarra is a Las Angeles-based actor, writer, and director behind the new mafia thriller, Burn, releasing April 1st! Burn serves as a loveletter to old-school Hollywood mafia films, with great committment to making the film period accurate. Patrick also shares how to make the film seem so large despite its low budget. Patrick also talks about his struggles going through chemotherapy and how it has shaped him as a person and as a writer. You can learn more about Patrick's film here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2992252/?ref_=nm_knf_i1 The Big Time Talker is sponsored by Speakermatch.com

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-school “thimble kings” battled it out with bodybuilding skinheads, Chechen paramilitaries and the Volgas, partying hotheads who'd become a fearsome mob, for supremacy over one of Russia's most fabled companies. It'd take hundreds of deaths and Kremlin SWAT teams to bring the bloodshed to an end. A story that we don't think has been reported in English before, the Tolyatti Car Gang Wars are one of Russian crime's bloodiest episodes. And given the terrible things they're doing now, that says a lot.

In this episode we discuss the rise and fall of the Rizzuto crime family in Montreal, Canada. We also analyze the Mafia violence that has spread from Quebec to Ontario.

In this episode we discuss the rise and fall of the Rizzuto crime family in Montreal, Canada. We also analyze the Mafia violence that has spread from Quebec to Ontario.

In this episode, we're talking to Justin Waldron, former 19-year-old co-founder of Zynga and current founder of Storyverse, a web3 venture aimed at bringing NFTs to life. Justin has also advised ​​Dapper Labs, CryptoKitties, Decentraland, and Immutable (probably nothing). Justin unpacks all of his learnings from his years at Zynga working on Farmville, Mafia Wars, & Zynga Poker, and how he's implementing these first principles into his current NFT ventures. He also explains how Storyverse is helping bring NFTs to life through the storytelling tools it enables and why he thinks people play games and how NFTs make this reason even more compelling! ------

In this episode, we're talking to Justin Waldron, former 19-year-old co-founder of Zynga and current founder of Storyverse, a web3 venture aimed at bringing NFTs to life. Justin has also advised ​​Dapper Labs, CryptoKitties, Decentraland, and Immutable (probably nothing). Justin unpacks all of his learnings from his years at Zynga working on Farmville, Mafia Wars, & Zynga Poker, and how he's implementing these first principles into his current NFT ventures. He also explains how Storyverse is helping bring NFTs to life through the storytelling tools it enables and why he thinks people play games and how NFTs make this reason even more compelling! ------

The Boys and some guests read some face book posts.

The IMDb listing would try to make you forget this was a 3D movie, but we won't -- needless 3D is our bread and butter. Let's get together with some old friends Harold and Kumar and see if friendship can really save the holidays... or something. Not brought to you by Campbell's Soup or Mafia Wars. Check out Liam and the pals in Guest Room Status on: Spotify, Apple Music (I don't have Apple Music sorry trust me it's there), YouTube. Mitch is not saying anything at all. Art by Jade Dickinson: @jadesketches on Instagram | @jadesketches on TikTok Find us on Twitter & Letterboxd: @theymadeanother / @tmao | @mrcoreyprice | @grahamthemallow // Listen to MK Podquest with Corey and Neal: https://anchor.fm/mkpodquest Find us on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, RadioPublic, Breaker, Overcast and more as "They Made Another One?!" Reach us via email: tmaopodcast@gmail.com Music from filmmusic.io "Eighties Action" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) License: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

A hotel for hamster wannabes, the biggest grossing movie of all time and Usain Bolt’s crowning glorySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode, we talk with Bill Mooney, who was the former Studio Vice President of Zynga from 2008—2012, leading FarmVille, Zynga Poker, Mafia Wars, and other apps during their peak DAU numbers. He is currently the CEO at Proteus Games, a new venture in mobile gaming. We ask what makes a game stand out from the pack, and how to know a good bet when you see it? How do you find new, strategic opportunities in the gaming space and have the wherewithal to follow through? Bill speaks to the importance of curiosity when confronted with trends you don't understand, how to stick to a vision without partners, colleagues, and peers diluting it, why we can't get enough of tiktok's extremely niche content, and much, much more on this episode of Creators at Work.

Come join us as Cool Ass Key enlightens is on some LGBTQ issues --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gunshinestatepodcast/support

This is the hundred and fourth episode of the GameDev.tv Community Podcast. Nova Villanueva is a game designer, artist, and twitch streamer who started her gaming career as a game artist for Zynga's game, Mafia Wars. She received a Bachelor of animation from the Art Institute then worked as a technical artist at Animatic Media with clients such as Intel and Mountain Dew. Nova has taught game development at Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, and New York's College of Technology. She has then obtained her Master's degree from NYU Game Center and is currently an independent game developer working on the indie game, The Mills, and writing a 3D game art book for publisher Apress.Nova’s Blog: https://medium.com/@novalvillanuevaLevel Design Lobby: https://gumroad.com/a/100856947Unity Multiplayer Intermediate C# Coding & Networking: https://www.gamedev.tv/p/unity-multiplayer/?product_id=1319848&coupon_code=K_B&affcode=45216_dezckag6Unreal C++ Course:https://www.gamedev.tv/p/unreal-engine-c-developer-4-22-learn-c-and-make-video-games/?product_id=1319848&coupon_code=K_B&affcode=45216_dezckag6Unreal VR Course:https://courses.gamedev.tv/p/unrealmultiplayer/?product_id=1319848&coupon_code=K_B&affcode=45216_dezckag6Unreal Multiplayer Course:https://courses.gamedev.tv/p/unrealvr/?product_id=1319848&coupon_code=K_B&affcode=45216_dezckag6Unity 3D Course:https://courses.gamedev.tv/p/complete-unity-developer-3d/?product_id=1319848&coupon_code=K_B&affcode=45216_dezckag6Unity 2D Course:https://courses.gamedev.tv/p/complete-unity-developer-2d/?product_id=1319848&coupon_code=K_B&affcode=45216_dezckag6Unity RPG Course:https://courses.gamedev.tv/p/unity-rpg/?product_id=1319848&coupon_code=K_B&affcode=45216_dezckag6Blender Course:https://www.gamedev.tv/p/blender/?product_id=1319848&coupon_code=K_B&affcode=45216_dezckag6Blender Character Course:https://www.gamedev.tv/p/blender-character-creator-2/?product_id=1319848&coupon_code=K_B&affcode=45216_dezckag6Enjoy the Podcast!Support the show (https://www.gamedev.tv/p/complete-unity-developer-3d/?product_id=1319848&coupon_code=The_K_B&affcode=45216_dezckag6)

Gordon Rowe was a product manager on Mafia Wars, and then served as Zynga's only product manager on the 3rd party publishing team working with external studios to help them improve the performance of their games. He also worked on PC f2p as the Director of Product at Daybreak games. He's currently working at Facebook as an in-house consultant. Gordon has worked with dozens of external studios and has problem solved their products, and evaluated their chances of success. These are superpowers you can develop by listening to this episode... We dive deep into product management frameworks, rule-of-thumb KPI, common free to play errors, the evolution of monetization beyond pay-to-win, how to implement an analytics stack, and much much more. If you work in, or have interest in, free-to-play games, this interview is absolutely unmissable.

Ohh man this one is a doozy. On this week's episode we are joined by guest Drew Swadley to discuss the history of social media gaming. Specifically the rise and fall of Zynga the company behind such games as Mafia Wars and FarmVille. Prepare for an in depth history lesson and some interesting takes on Chiba Hut, Jake's version of FarmVille (literally a slaughterhouse simulator), MySpace memories, and farms filled with ducks.

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on the unique Animal Crossing. We talk about the holidays we visited, Mr. Resetti and not wanting to mess with your save, going to the island, and many more, before turning to our series takeaways and feedback. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: An hour a day! (Many in holidays.) Podcast breakdown: 0:41 Animal Crossing 1:07:38 Break 1:08:13 Takeaways and Feedback Issues covered: Brett's gyroids and UFO, Tim's asteroid, the attract mode and seeing outfits you don't have yet, learning about how to play the stalk market, whether the animals talk about things you haven't engaged with, additional visiting characters, how the fireworks work, the tricks on Halloween, how Jack works on Halloween, Tortimer's gifts on holidays, losing items to tricksters, having big scares on Halloween as a kid, how different Halloween is, the evolving nature of Mr Resetti, wanting to protect your town, the animal version of the Windows BSOD, playful shaming, having a dialogue with a designer, emerging design, recognizing what the player is going to do, seeing the things the player will do, encouraging the player to diverge from the intended style of play, weeds everywhere, setting the world state on the clock, having unique sets of animals between us, speculating about why the acre transitions occur, aesthetic choices and whether that translated to movement, Tim's adventures with morning aerobics and sports day, lacking interactions in mini-games, changing up the appointment play, trading off appointment play with real-world tension, theme sets on holidays, moving events to be longer time-framed for MMOs, talking about the new game's egg-onomy, reaching the island via Kapp'n, picking coconuts and wearing island shirts, Kapp'n's songs, the remarkable amount of discovery, Brett finds a coelacanth, the variety of bugs and other collectibles, attuning yourself to the world and being able to read things in the environment, appointment play and mobile gaming influence, the connection to mobile and social games, tend-and-befriend, means of player expression, Brett's gyroid fascination, growing expressiveness of the series, representing everything in the world, mechanically using the things that players interact with as animals and animal interactions, a huge variety of discovery supplanted by shallow interactions, not getting stuck, the potential to generate stories, a singing non-review delivered as a dramatic reading, the role of a designer for longer and larger development (such as AAA), the shifting needs for system design, communicating and holding a vision for an element of a design, advocacy and the narrative or progression of a design, communicating across departments, the complications of enemy or vehicle design, having to put micro pieces together that support the macro, being about more than the ideas, answering lots of why questions. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: The X-Files, Auld Lang Syne, Blizzard Entertainment, RoboCop, Starcraft, Asteroids, Gothic Chocobo, Game Boy Player, World of Warcraft, GTA III, Facebook, Zynga, FarmVille, Mafia Wars, The Sims, Pixar, Batman, Waypoint, Metal Gear Solid 4, Civilization, Peyton Place, Beverly Hills 90210, Blarg42, Pokemon, Billy/The2ndQuest, Halo (series), SW Republic Commando, Jamie Griesemer, Ryan Darcy, Elan Ruskin, Left 4 Dead, Epic Mickey, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers. Next time: An hour a day of Animal Crossing: New Horizons Errata: Although I stand by my memory of there being a coelacanth discovered in the Mediterranean in the 90s, the discovery that coelacanths had survived to the modern era dates back to one being caught in 1938. Also: Brett, what is a "stegalosaurus?" STEGOSAURUS. The television show Brett was looking for was Melrose Place. Peyton Place was in fact a multi-year running prime time soap rather than a mini-series. Links: Five GameCubes and Four Sword Jamie Griesemer: Changing the Time Between Shots for the Sniper Rifle from 0.5 to 0.7 Seconds for Halo 3 Ryan Darcy: Designing Spartan Abilities for Halo 5: Guardians Elan Ruskin: AI-Driven Dynamic Dialog through Fuzzy Pattern Matching Twitch: brettdouville, instagram:timlongojr, @brett_douville, @timlongojr, and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Vaibhav Sahgal is the Head of Growth at Reddit, Inc. which has 500 million unique users around the world. Prior to this, he worked at Zynga for 8 years as a product manager. He led teams building games like Words with Friends, Cityville, and Mafia Wars. Vaibhav immigrated from India to the U.S. to get a degree in Computer Science at Purdue University. Today, he talks about his journey into tech, the qualities of effective engineers, and how to build and grow products to millions of users.

We bring on Godswill's old coworker, Jeremiah, to talk about his illustrious career in the nerd world. From Blockbuster, SEGA, and GameStop and with experiences with IGN, G4TV, E3, Kotaku, and many other gaming hallmarks, Jeremiah has many stories that you'll enjoy even as a non-gamer. From the emotional start with Godswill's announcement to the very end where we reminisce over good communities and controllers, it's a great episode that gamers and casuals alike will love. Follow Jeremiah on Twitch and help his charitable causes! https://www.twitch.tv/WehlerDealer Music by KarpaBeats What Godswill will do (1), 50000 Tons of Metal Cruise (2), Tool album (3), Half-Life 3 (6), new career opportunities (9), Chappelle Special Sticks and Stones (11), moving out and moving back (16), Who is Jeremiah (18), Mexico City w/ Konami and Sega (20), Metal Gear Survive (23), Mafia Wars, The Sims, Oblivion (25), Staying up to date and staying young- Daywalker (29), college days and starting with video industry (33), how Godswill and Josh met (37), preordering games (39), World of Warcraft Classic (41), how g&J met, G4TV, and E3 (45), celebrities using their voice (48), Hulk Hogan (50), working at Blockbuster in 2002 (52), meeting with video game press (56), getting starstruck and street teams w/ System of A Down & Slayer (58), how to talk nto famous/important people (1:03), Polyphia (1:08), fighting as a conservation (1:10), playing evil in games & Fallout games (1:18), controllers and playing games (1:23), Jeremiah's favorite game Ico (1:33), new God of War (1:38), Journey, GTA 5, Red Dead (1:39), San Andreas (1:45), what games can do today (1:49), Brothers A Tale of Two Sons (1:50), different generations (1:54), skin care (1:57), take care of health (1:59), working in the nerd world (2:03), in-fighting in nerd culture (2:08), Closing (2:15) WehlerDealer Twitch, Dark Souls community (2:19), League of Legend (2:21)

Pada episode ini, Aqila Mazi menceritakan kisahnya mengambil mata kuliah presentasi di Korea Selatan. Mata kuliah yang ia ambil menggunakan buku Chris Anderson berjudul TED. Buku dan pengalamannya begitu membantunya dalam meningkatkan kemampuan presentasi, ibarat game Mafia Wars, level Aqila naik drastis setelah mengikuti mata kuliah ini. Penasaran kan dengan kisahnya? Yuk coba dengarkan di Podcast Magic Presentation Latar belakang musik: Haute Culture-Chordial

Farmville. Mafia Wars. Poking friends. Ah, Facebook. Not that many years ago it seemed so innocent and harmless. Taking online quizzes about which Harry Potter character I was? Checking in with the locations of places I visited? Sharing personal details of my day-to-day life? Of course! Why not? What could possibly go wrong? Fast-forward to … Continue reading Facebook Does a Faceplant and We’re Paying the Price → The post Facebook Does a Faceplant and We’re Paying the Price appeared first on About Men Radio.

What if the users that make Snapchat worth anything at all had been given ownership in it from the beginning?   In this episode I talk to Frank E. Banks, co-founder of ZEN for iOS, a video sharing and communications app for the video editor community and ZENCoin – the cryptocurrency that is the front door to a powerful business model innovation.   There are literally millions of mobile app developers worldwide. And who knows how many video content creators there could be over time.   Find out how ZENCoins will be the currency to knit them all together into a single, infinitely dynamic, market.     1:11 - Introducing Frank E. Banks, cofounder and CEO of Zen; some background on his career and on Zen.   3:02 - Comparing the current landscape of fanart distribution to how Zen will change that; finding this market through working with a video editing app for vine.   3:47 - The scope of this market and some of the specific benefits.   4:45 - How Zen specifically fits into the fanart distribution market.   5:21 - The monetization structure for Zen and how Frank plans to evolve it over time; comparing that structure to Youtube.   9:02 - The shadow market of influencer marketing.   11:13 - Applying this shadow market to how brands use social media marketing.   12:48 - Building a following quickly using these influencer techniques that stay more or less an industry secret.   14:17 - What results could come from turning this into an efficient, structured market through Zen; reposting as the primary attention commodity and how Zen streamlines that.   16:43 - Applying Zen’s functions to how advertisers and influencers can benefit.   17:32 - The global scope of Zen’s market and how they’re solving the currency problem by utilizing their own cryptocurrency, Zen Coin; additional benefits of using a cryptocurrency for this marketplace.   20:21 - What Zen’s decentralization means for users and providing incentives for using Zen Coins more widely.   24:18 - The potential for appreciating value of the Zen Coins and how they want to foster that through creating a strong ecosystem with other complementary businesses.   29:28 - Comparing this value proposition for content creators to using other platforms like Facebook and Instagram.   30:23 - Looking at Zen’s potential for growth, geographically and demographically, and how using a cryptocurrency facilitates that.   32:49 - Zen Coin as an incentive to be an early adopter for the platform and why it’s an added benefit over platforms like Instagram.   33:36 - Why cryptocurrencies can grow in value and looking at trajectories of previous iterations.   34:32 - What Frank is most excited about with the business right now.   35:50 - Frank’s experience at Zynga, having seen the network effects in action, and how something like cryptocurrency could have affected Zynga’s early sustainability.   37:34 - Comparing cryptocurrencies to other huge technology changes.   39:05 - The questionnaire, borrowed from James Lipton.   45:28 - Contacting Frank and learning about Zen - www.zenvideo.co.       Resources and Links Mentioned:   Zynga   Mafia Wars   Cryptocurrency   Farmville   Download Zen   Contact Frank at frank@autozen.tv        

On est tellement content de te retrouver ici en ce début de semaine. Cette semaine, on est avec la fantastique Coco Belliveau pour une semaine de dingue. Dans ton show: Coco pratique son métier actuel dans son sommeil, Chuck révèle ses rêves excitants, Vanessa et ses rêves de tueur fou, Coco est Wolverine dans ses rêves, les rêves érotique de Nick sont toujours gâchés à cause d’une raison particulière, les rêves post-apo de Nick, Chuck est horripilé par les invitations de jeu Facebook, Nick est rendu indifférent par les invitations inutiles, Nick revient sur sa page bloquée, Vanessa déteste quand Facebook devient nostalgique, Coco n’aime pas recevoir des invitations rando (oui, rando, deal with it), Nick nous parle d’un groupe Facebook assez particulier et plus! Un ptit show qui commence solidement bien la semaine. Hey, à demain là!   La très TRÈS drôle Coco: http://www.facebook.com/cocobelliveau/?fref=ts La fantastique sorteuse nationale: http://www.facebook.com/vanessa.chandonnet?fref=ts Votre sidekick en chef: http://www.facebook.com/nicprovo?fref=ts Le gars qui anime le show: http://www.facebook.com/charles.tleduc   Facebook - iTunes - YouTube - Google Play - Stitcher   Twittinons ensemble:   Coco: http://twitter.com/CocoBelliveau Vanessa: http://twitter.com/lasorteuse Nick: http://twitter.com/NickProvost Chuck: http://twitter.com/Chucktl LPB: http://twitter.com/lepbonheur   Merci de nous suivre!

This week, the Inc. podcast crew talks about how robotics company Savioke's robots are now delivering room service in hotels in California, how veterans from the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are turning to entrepreneurship in civilian life, and interview Roger Dickey about how he built Dope Wars (eventually remade into Mafia Wars) and sold it to Zynga. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to our final episode in our series examining Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, where we welcome guest Bill Roper! Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Quick show note: We had some technical difficulties with Bill's mic, so he's a little quiet. Apologies. It is worth boosting your headphones to hear him. Podcast breakdown: 0:38      Bill Roper Interview 1:12:41 Break 1 1:13:06 Outro, next game Issues covered: Blizzard pre-Warcraft, how Bill got in, voice over, joining up to do anything, having empathy for orcs, manual symmetry, making investments in quality, notepads add heft, guerrilla marketing, "Growing up Blizzard," inclusivity and the "Mom test," getting into the RTS market, raising the bar back and forth with Westwood, SVGA resolution, LAN multiplayer, desynchronization bugs, pushing the capabilities of the engine, stringing missions together into a story, constant iteration of game writing, ebb and flow of mission types, longer development time for 1993, everything going right for Warcraft 2, emergence of the multiple click voice lines, letting the team find a new feature, AAA production focus vs indie innovation ability, planning for innovation and leadership buy-in, great ideas come from everywhere, Blizzard culture and design credited to the team, flip-side: killing your babies, everybody playing the game, the quote board, the world's most expensive QA team, meritocracy, Blizzard's influence on the industry and its inclusivity, simple to learn/difficult to master, supporting approachability with humor and aesthetics, grognard capture, free multiplayer clients with the single-player game, genesis of Battle.Net, pay-to-play multiplayer services, the influences that led to the orcs, the origins of Medivh's name, exiling the wolf riders, characterizing units through voice and portraiture, embedding character into the gameplay, telling side stories because you don't know what the player looks like, audio cues as feedback system, economical design, micro-management, building on roads, mini-map choices: essentially just an alert, no playing the game off the mini-map, trolling pro players, avoiding mini-map distraction, design discipline. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Warcraft series, Starcraft series, Diablo series, Champions, Star Trek Online, Blizzard, Silicon & Synapse, Justice League Task Force, Lost Vikings, Rock n' Roll Racing, Dune 2, Herzog Zwei, Blackthorne, Mars: Bringer of War (Hölst), Glenn Stafford, Allen Adham, Mike Morhaime, Magic: The Gathering, Jeopardy, MAD magazine, Davidson & Associates, Bethesda Game Studios, Oblivion, Command & Conquer, Westwood Studios, Ron Millar, id Software, Epic Megagames, Starfighter games, Bob Fitch, Republic Commando, Daron Stinnett, Dave Brevik, Erich and Max Schaefer, Farmville, Mafia Wars, Mario Kart, Hearthstone, Chris Metzen, Wing Commander, Skyrim, Myth series, Stu Venable, GURPS, Happy Jacks, Poxy Boggards. Links: You should follow @BillRoper on Twitter! Check out his podcast, Happy Jacks RPG Podcast! Or their website! Bliss out to the RennFaire strains of the Poxy Boggards! Next time: Super Metroid! Play until you get the charge beam (save around that) @brett_douville, @timlongojr, and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Today we have a conversation with entrepreneur & investor and co founder of software development company Gigster Roger Dickey.  Prior to founding Gigster, Roger led game studios at Zynga after joining when the company had just 30 employees after selling his first company Curiosoft to zynga. Roger oversaw MafiaWar’s explosive growth to over 100million users and 1billion dollars in revenue.  Roger also as an international product team advisor for Zynga helping the company grow their games in India, Japan and China.  Alongside his work at Zynga, Roger began advising & investing in bay-area startups in 2010. His investments include Docker, Addepar, iCracked, OpenGov, ClassDojo, and Wanelo. Advisory roles include Formation 8, Nest, OpenDoor, and The Thiel Fellowship. Lets listen into Roger Dickey interviewed at our san Francisco chapter by startup grind editor in chief Michael Gasiorek. 

mike, travis, nappier (and late drunk) discuss the following topics........#flatdrunk update.........travis had an addiction to mafia wars........seth rogen NAILED nancy grace....the great comic book caper...........OUR INTERVIEW WITH FINLAND'S OWN STEVE 'N' SEAGULLS! CHECK THEM OUT ON FACEBOOK OR THEIR WEBSITE, stevenseagulls.comtattoos........a guy stole $25 from a gas station.......well........bye.

Recorded on January 21st, 2013 with Brian Fife, James Fingal and Thomas Westberg. Tom runs through a brief history of video game distribution, starting with arcade consoles and ending with digital distribution stores. A number of trends are identified: transition from physical (resellable) objects to software licenses, certification programs driven by the game distributors and the gradually lowering bar for distribution that now supports ‘indie’ game development. Links to referenced items: Super Missile Attack, Missile Command, Atari, Nolan Bushnell, Sente Technologies, Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Midway Games, Namco, Burning Wheel, Atari 2600, Activision, Imagic, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Gamestop, EA, Deadly Towers, Floppy Disk, CD-ROM, Copy Protection, Infocom, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, Blizzard, Diablo Three, Sim City, Final Fantasy, Blockbuster, iOS App Store, Stardock Central, Steam, Amazon Kindle, Wal-Mart, Humble Indie Bundle, Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates, World of Tanks, XBox Live, PSN, Nintendo eShop, Geometry Wars, Sega Channel, Atari Gameline, Temple Run, Square, Chaos Rings, Nintendo DS, PS Vita, How long should a game be? - Tobold Google Play, Sideload, Androminion, Ingress, Endgame: Syria Elder Scrolls Online, App Store Curation - Jonathan Blow, Angry Birds, Fifty Shades of Grey, The Smurfberry Affair - GigaOM, Zynga, Farmville, Popcap, Mafia Wars, Rovio, Cow Clicker, X-Com: Enemy Unknown, Ten Million, Dungeon Raid, Puzzle Quest, Letterpress, The Walking Dead, Mass Effect, Halo Four, Assassin’s Creed Three, Dishonored, Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Kate Snow reports on Zynga, the social gaming company that just went IPO, is Wall Street's newest billion dollar baby. Best known for its virtual gamesWords with Friends, Farmville,Mafia Wars and Cityville, it's CEO and founder Mark Pincus is making no apologies for his drive and intensity. Rock Center With Brian Williams airs Mondays @ 10pm (eastern).

Chris talks about a dream he had with @tomhanks Send questions/comments/topics through Twitter at: http://twitter.com/monkeyinmysoupOr email at us at:theresamonkeyinmysoup@gmail.com   Hosts:Chris Hernandez (about.me/mrcmh)Jeremy Klassen (about.me/jeremyklassen)

Wooouuu!!! Hola!! Por fin este es el primer podcast de la Segunda temporada de CodecX Por fin!!! En este podcast podrás escuchar, datos sobre Windows 8, Hackers Ponen Porno en le canal de Plaza sésamo, Virus de Mafia Wars y mucho mas!!

Liz Strauss is Witty, Funny and Too Friggen Smart I first saw Liz on Empire Avenue. Yes it is an Internet game, but although I do not do Mafia Wars or Farmville I love EAv because it tells you about … Continue reading →

Links from this episode: PETA gets a .XXX domain http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20094995-71/report-peta-to-launch-porn-site/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20 Warcraft: Patch 4.3 Updated Information, Transmogrification Preview: http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/2419-Patch-4.3-Updated-Information-Transmogrification-Preview Teen dies of rare disease caused by "brain-eating" amoeba: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20093447-10391704.html http://imgur.com/Wb8UM Lawful Good - Shigeru Miyamoto (Nintendo) Neutral Good - Gabe Newell (Valve) Chaotic Good - Tim Schafer (Psychonauts, The Secret of Monkey Island, and Day of the Tentacle) Lawful Neutral - Peter Molyneux (Fable, Black & White, and Populous) True Neutral - John Carmack (ID Software) Chaotic Neutral - Notch (Minecraft) Lawful Evil - Bobby Kotick (Author of "How to make more Money-O's") Neutral Evil - Fernando Melo (Bioware) Chaotic Evil - Mark Pincus (Farmville, Mafia Wars, Zynga Poker, etc) http://prime.paxsite.com/schedule.php

Ep 515: Mafia Wars “It doesn't take two weeks to crack WEP bro-ster… Punky Broster.” Another great episode of the Jamhole, well great in my eyes… or ears. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So I'll say it's beautiful, since I'm the … Continue reading → The Jamhole - Stay hungry, stay foolish.

Immediately after Mayor Oscar Goodman was elected, he got into political hot water for suggesting the city open a mob museum. And yet in the next 18 months, Vegas will be getting not one but two of them. The Las Vegas Mob Experience is set to open at the Tropicana in December and the Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas is due sometime in 2011. In this supersized episode of The Strip, we'll hear from prominent proponents of both. First, Steve speaks to Meyer Lansky II, the grandson and namesake of the legendary mob boss who first sent Bugsy Siegel to Las Vegas. Then, later, we have a conversation with Dennis Barrie, the curator for the downtown entry into the mob-artifacts sweepstakes. Barrie created the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the International Spy Museum in Washington D.C. and was at the center of a major controversy in the late 1980s over the display in a n museum of sexually explicit Robert Mappelthorpe photos. In Banter: Banning hula hoops, some gay-straight observations about topless shows, the Cosmopolitan gains steam, news on the Garth Brooks scalping front and more. Blog: VegasHappensHere.ComSite: TheStripPodcast.ComE-mail: TheStripPodcast@aol.comVoicemail: 702-997-3300Twitter: @TheStripPodcast

Social gaming on sites like Facebook and Myspace are the next big thing it seems, with some titles like Farm Town and Mafia Wars rocketing up to over 10 million players. But is this still a growth market, or has it become overly bloated? The post Social Gaming appeared first on Game Industry News.

More fun than shoving a Zebra Cake down your gullet, The Ugly Couch Show Couchcast is here for all your nutritional needs.  We'll feed you with classic arcade cabinets, the big Steam sale, Final Dimension5nal Destination, Mafia Wars, Debbie Gibson vs. Tiffany vs. Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, Pattinson the Impaler, Trolls 3, Myers tired, the day we get to Hobbiton, Donner's Woman, Suicide Girls commit Comic-con suicide, Marvel TV guru, Kellogg's waxy box, .xxx, Make-a-Falcon Foundation, Huluplus, Starcraft 2 : Aircraft 2, Saints Row nudity, and everyone's favorite family website: Lemon Party.  Sure we're a little high in slat/fat/cholesterol/nerd but we're cheap and easy to unwrap.  So prepare to bite down hard on this week's episode of Couchcast. The Big List: History's Top 10 E3 Screw-ups

This week I had the privilege to interview Jay Smith, the writer of the podcast audio-drama HG World. Jay and I discussed his writing, the inspiration for HG World, his favorite characters to write for, Mafia Wars, South Park, and the most memorable scene he has written for HG World. Once you finish listening to the interview, head over to the HG World website at www.goodmorningsurvivors.com and tell them the Tao of Tech sent ya! Stay tuned after the show and listen to the promo for Paul E Cooleys horror novella "Tattoo". Head over to Paul's website http://shadowpublications.com/ for more Feindmaster goodness, or to www.Amazon.com or www.smashwords.com to pick up your copy of "Tattoo".

WHO R THOSE GUYS TALKPresentsFakebook: Friends, Floozies, Freaks or FagsHow People Invaded Your Life With The Misuse Of This Social Tool?Everyone and their momma is on facebook! It's the largest social site in the world. It also has the largest number of perverts, freaks, cheats, and people you never wanted to hear from again.Everyday on facebook people send friend request to millions of people they don't know. There are many reasons for this aggressive behavior, but many are lonely individuals that hide behind a screen to say things they wouldn't normally say in person.Next are the facebook freaks that spend entirely too much time sending annoying pillows, drinks, Mafia Wars and FarmVille requests. Or the people that send one word instant message with nothing else to say. These individuals fit in the "I Need A Friend & Hug" category.Many people make up the world and now facebook. When you set up your account did you think how all these people would invade your life? If you're privileged not have your mobile devices connected to this social site, then you don't have to deal with all the pointless invites, or suggestions that are sent to you while working, sexing, partying or just enjoying your life.Who R Those Guys discusses how facebook has become fakebook with many people using old photos to fake their appearance. We also address the annoyance of old associates that try to reconnect. FYI: "IT WAS A PURPOSE YOU WERE NOT IN THAT PERSONS LIFE. THEY DIDN'T LOSE YOUR NUMBER, THEY WANTED TO LOSE YOU.

Spectacular Spider-Man DVD Giveaways, Green Lantern: Blackest Night, Jericho, Primeval, Thor movie casting, Amazing Spider-Man, Ultimate Comics, Mafia Wars, Flight Control, Fallout 3, Transformers music, Hulu, 24, and Superman and Batman and their pants.

This is another review heavy episode with reviews of Inspector Gadget, TNA Wrestling, a joint-review of Mafia Wars and a special preview of Toki Tori! We also talk about some newer released titles, talk about some price drops and even bring you some news! Hope […]