Podcasts about Southie

In this episode, host Gary Jenkins, a retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit detective, sits down with author and mob expert Springs Toledo and discusses the Boston Winter Hill Gang and its notorious members. Springs' book, “Don’t Talk About Joe Mac: The Life, Wars, and Secret History of the Man Behind the Winter Hill Gang” Springs Toledo provides an exhaustive look at Joe McDonald aka Mac, a pivotal yet often overlooked figure in the Boston criminal landscape, especially during the 1960s-1990s. Springs, a Boston native, brings a unique perspective and personal anecdotes that enrich our understanding of the intersections of crime, family, and community within the city. They explore Joe Mac’s early life and how his background shaped his role in organized crime. Springs shares how Mac was an elder statesman in the underworld, feared and respected for his ability to organize the rackets in Somerville and maintain a significant network of relationships across various neighborhoods. Joe Mac's methods of operation were emblematic of a time when the Irish underworld was gaining ground in a city dominated by Italian crime families. Springs discusses the stark differences in these organizations, from their cultural practices to their hierarchies. Springs also highlights the complexities of Joe Mac's personal life, discussing his relationships with his family, especially his daughter Jacqueline. Their conversations reveal a side of Mac rarely seen in crime stories — a devoted father struggling with his dual identity as a loving parent and a cold-blooded criminal. Throughout the episode, Springs captures the essence of Mac's character, noting that while he was involved in heinous acts, he also exhibited genuine love for his family, a contradiction that adds depth to his narrative. As the conversation unfolds, we examine the dynamics within the Winter Hill Gang, particularly the relationships among Joe Mac, prominent figures like Whitey Bulger, and Howie Carr. Springs shares fascinating insights into Mac's cautious nature and strategic approach to power. He articulates how Mac operated in the shadows, steering clear of public scrutiny while effectively managing the group's criminal enterprises. The episode paints a vivid portrait of a gang operating amid violence, betrayal, and survival. In addition to discussing the various criminal exploits, Springs shares some gripping anecdotes that illustrate the real-life implications of this lifestyle. His stories about Joe’s attempts to balance family life while dodging law enforcement showcase the constant threat that loomed over their lives, encapsulating the dangerous allure and traumatizing consequences of organized crime. We also touch upon the significant events that defined the gang wars in Boston, including Joe Mac’s suspected involvement in notorious hits and how the landscape of crime shifted in response to law enforcement's increased focus on organized crime. Springs dives into the enigmatic character of Joe Mac, unraveling his military background, his unyielding commitment to the underworld, and how he managed to stay a step ahead of rivals and authorities alike. In closing, Springs reflects on the motivations behind his book—his desire to portray the human side of a man branded a monster while exploring the broader themes of morality, family, and the haunting legacy of crime. As we wrap up, it becomes clear that “Don’t Talk About Joe Mac” is not just a biography of an infamous crime figure, but a complex narrative that invites readers to ponder the true cost of a life steeped in organized crime. This episode is a riveting exploration of character, culture, and crime, offering audiences an engaging glimpse into the storied history of Boston organized crime, the Winter Hill gang through the lens of one of its most pivotal figures, Joe Mac. 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. Springs Toledo JOe mac Gary Jenkins: [00:00:00] hey, all your wire tappers out there. Gary Jenkins back here in the studio of Gangland Wire. I’m a retired Kansas City Police Intelligence unit detective, doing a podcast mainly about organized crime. We might stray into drugs every once in a while, but primarily about Italian based organized crime or, and then sometimes we get into Irish based organized crime. I’ve done a story on the Westie in the past and a few other stories like that. So today we’re gonna talk about the. Crossing of the Irish and and the Italians in Boston area, which is a really well known, famous story. A lot of great characters. And I have with me a man who wrote a book about this. Springs Toledo, welcome Springs. Springs Toledo: Thank you very much, Gary. Happy to be here. Gary Jenkins: Great. Now guys, the books is, don’t Talk about Joe Mack the Life Wars and Secret History of the Man Behind The Winter Hill Gang. And I’ve always wondered about this Winter Hill gang. I’ve always heard of it and Whitey Bulger came out of that and was so famous, but I’ve never really. [00:01:00] Seen anything or know anything about the background of it. And Springs, Toledo has somebody, a guy called Joe Mack that was involved in that and he’s really gone into it in depth. Springs, tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got into this. Springs Toledo: I’m a native of Boston, which did help, the accent helped open doors. Gary Jenkins: We can tell. Springs Toledo: But I don’t even try to hide it anymore. And I have a background in, in boxing, which also helps, that’s a breeding ground for, leg breakers and enforcers. Historically, in Boston, a lot of ex fighters became gangsters or, involved in that life. I went to Northeastern got a graduate degree in criminology. And I I didn’t, I never became a police officer. I worked with, actually with juvenile delinquents and troubled youth for many years. I’ve written several books some about boxing, some about an historical figure named John Brown, who’s an abolitionist, so I’m running the gamut. But Joe McDonald was a name that I heard whispered for many years, growing up. He had a very long criminal career over five decades.[00:02:00] And, so he was considered something very serious. But what I began to notice as the book started coming out after John Madano became a cooperating witness, as he’d say. Is that not much was known about this individual. What I knew is that he was about 20 years older than everybody else. So he’s an elder statesman in that world. So I started poking around. I know some guys who were involved in that life. I know some other guys who were very connected to very serious individuals who were active in the Boston Underworld during these years, the sixties, seventies, eighties, into the nineties. Yeah. So I started, asking around and the things I started to hear were very downright alarming about who this man was and that he was the guy not Whitey Bulger. There was what they’ll all tell you the deeper you get into the operators in that world is that Whitey Bulger is. Largely a mythology. And that in Somerville especially, he wasn’t really that respected. Joe Mack, however, was Joe Mack was, he [00:03:00] was the go-to guy. And upon doing all kinds of research, field research, but also I’m trying to corroborate everything. People are saying you can’t just take what people have to say at face value, especially if they’re, underworld figures. Yeah. A lot of ’em have a self-interest as so what I would do, I had a little strategy. What I would do is I would talk to one guy in Southie if I heard a story that sounded intriguing or something about Joe Mack, what have you, and then I’d try to find another guy in Somerville or East Boston or Hy Park who didn’t necessarily know that individual. And if the stories match, I’d look into it further. For instance, I wanna make sure the guy wasn’t in prison at that time, that he’s allegedly known to have done something. So that’s how I began to put together a picture. And what the u unanimously what I found out is that Joe McDonald was really the, he’s the one that put together organized crime in Somerville, centered in Winter Hill. He organized the launch sh the rackets loan, sharking booking, sports betting, all of that. And he was a very feared individual.[00:04:00] He looked like a building superintendent. He was balding. He, no, he was nothing flashy about him. He was family man. But so I started digging deeper and I got his military records, and then the picture really started to come together because of what he went through during World War II in the South Pacific and the trauma that he suffered. I didn’t wanna write a straight True crime book. So I wanted to do something different. I didn’t want it to be ordinary. I wanted it to be get underneath the behavior. It’s the, the criminology major is, was showing it’s yeah. Was coming to the fore. So I wanna get underneath it. So I consider this book more of a nonfiction noir. ‘Cause if you watch those old movies, a lot of ’em have a theme where you have, the main character, the anti-hero. These are movies from the forties, all black and white. All shadowy. Yeah. They come back from World War ii and they’re troubled. They’re shell-shocked. JoEM, Joe Mack came back and he’s marred. Something about his personality had changed and he’s one of the few individuals that I’ve encountered who [00:05:00] actually age into crime. He didn’t age out of it like everybody else. He aged into it. But he was very good at what he did. He was a brilliant individual. Very strong-willed. Someone said that I talked to, they said that, all the fear, whatever fear he had was knocked out of him, in SVO sound. When his ship went down, which was a USS Quincy with his brother on it. So he became a, began to emerge as a fascinating figure. But what. Made me decide to write the book was when I was hooked up with his daughter by TJ English. I reached out to him and he, he told me about Jackie McDonald. I reached out to her and I said, I’m thinking about writing a book about your father, Joe McDonald. I don’t think that the the literature on him now really got him right. And she said, give me a night to drink about it. Yeah, so the next morning she told me she was she’ll tell me everything she knows and she was the right person because first of all, she was named for the brother that he lost in SVO sound that he never got over his little brother. Her name’s [00:06:00] Jacqueline. And like her father, she’s absolutely brilliant. She’s charismatic. She is incredibly honest. If she’s not sure about something she’d say. So nothing in it was, what she told me was about herself. It was nothing was ego driven. She wanted to tell the truth of her father. And what I began to realize early on is that you know this, you have victims of guys like Joe McDonald who killed dozens of people professionally, but he was a murderer. There’s no doubt about it. And you have a lot of victims, including in his own family. Not that he intended to hurt his daughters and his son, but his, who he was and what he was, did a lot of damage to his own family and she was the perfect person to talk to because she was so honest. She’s also very funny if, you read about her in the book, she comes across as a real character, very charismatic. So her story runs parallel with his, she comes out about the middle of the book. I trace her life alongside with his, and she had a memoir that she did many years ago and she shared that with me. [00:07:00] She’s she really is a force of good, if you will, in the book. She’s the one to cheer for, she’s the one to root for. Joe McDonald is a formidable figure, but he’s a dark and shadow. We figure. I do bring him out as much as I can and he is fascinating, but. I felt like I needed someone to root for the reader, yeah. And also, it’s women who love true crime the most. Yeah. Gary Jenkins: That’s so Springs Toledo: had to give nod to them, they’re gonna buy it. Gary Jenkins: That is true. And a story like this will will attract men and women both, sometimes those just straight, kill ’em all and let God sort ’em out. Of true crime books are not really attractive to women. That’s really interesting that. You’re showing the human side of this guy instead of just the crime side, which there every one of these guys that are professional criminals in this life have a human side. They, that’s what one thing that fascinated me about ’em, even way back when I started, went into the intelligence unit is these guys all had families and they had kids going to St. Pius up here and they played football and the families all showed up [00:08:00] when their kids played football and they were in little league and all that kind of normal stuff. On one hand, but yet they came over into the CI city in here. They came from the suburbs over in the city and were these gangsters all night long, and then went back home to their suburban homes. So that family side. That’s really interesting. I’m glad you did that. Springs Toledo: That’s compartmentalization. And Joe was the best at it. But there was something unusual about this case and that is that. Joe told nothing to anybody. His Winter Hill partners barely knew about his personal life. They didn’t know much about him. Yeah, nobody knew much about him. ’cause he didn’t confide in anybody. He did it the way you’re supposed to do it. As an organized, if you’re gonna get into organized crime, you want to follow his lead. And he lived a tough life. It’s nothing to get into in terms of choosing that as an occupation. However, he did confide in his daughters. He trusted them and he told them an awful lot, which he didn’t realize was traumatizing them. But. Jackie McDonald is blessed with a very good memory, so she was able to fill in [00:09:00] a lot of blanks about some of which were cold case murders and other just, real eyebrow raising incidents that happened. I think this book would’ve been invaluable to the FBI. Right up to the early nineties interest because of the stuff that came out, several cold case murders. I think I solved them. And, they were attributable, well attributed. I attribute them to Joe, a few. I know he did. But, people didn’t know, and he was a, excuse my saying, but he had. He was a real talent for that. He knew how to get you. He knew how to find you. He knew how to get you. And he also, like I said, he didn’t have any fear, so there was nothing holding him back. And that’s a difference from Whitey Bulger. What people don’t realize is that Whitey Bulger was a very careful man. And that’s why a lot of murders attributed to Whitey Bulger. He didn’t do, it doesn’t even, it, it offends his personality. He was the kind of guy, if he’s gonna kill you, you’re gonna be in the basement tied to a chair, or you’re gonna be a woman. He’s not on Northern Avenue in Boston in broad daylight, killing Brian Halleran. It’s not true. That’s not Whitey [00:10:00] bulge, that’s not how he operated. Joe Mack was a different beast altogether, and yet he was never indicted for murder. He was questioned maybe for one of them. And the title is really a reason for that because you didn’t talk about Joe Mack. That’s actually, that’s that’s. I like the title a lot. It took me a long time to get to that title. First title was Hey Joe, ’cause of the song. And I was like, ah. Nobody said, Hey, Joe to him. Where you going with that gun in your hand, huh? That’s right. You’re good. Yeah. Jimmy Hendrix. And then another title was the Wars of Joe Mack. That was a little too masculine that works, but it was too masculine. Yeah, don’t talk about Joe Mack really captures, what he was and how he operated. Gary Jenkins: Springs set the geographic scene. I’ve always been a little bit confused about this in Boston. IU Boston is unlike Kansas City, for example, what I’m familiar with. It has these really distinct areas in neighborhoods. Set the scene, the Italians African Americans, the Irish what set that up for us? [00:11:00] Springs Toledo: Okay, this is the, fifties, sixties, seventies that, that’s where most of the book is occurring. Especially 60, 70, actually into the eighties. Boston first of all it’s basically back then was an Irish Catholic city. Yeah. There were other ethnicities, but it was overrun with the Irish and there were neighborhoods. So you had. You had neighborhood crews, you had crews that were operated out of East Boston. That’s Barboza, south Boston was several of them. Jamaica Plain, the North End obviously was where the mafia was. Sented La Ostra. Somerville, Charlestown. And a lot of, most of these guys who were got into criminality. Not only did they have families, they also had occupations. They were long showmen, they were roofers. They had jobs. I’m a policeman. And back then policemen, you didn’t make a lot of money. So you were encouraged to supplement your income. Oh yeah. Some of these guys were, they were detectives by day and they’re doing heists at night and that was not uncommon. And. Over time, certain organizations [00:12:00] became more organized and the Irish, remember, were barely organized. They were more like, it was more like the old West when things got hot. It was also a whiskey driven, a lot of the heinous acts and the murders that started to happen with that, the Irish gang war in the sixties, everybody was drunk. Some of these guys were really nice guys and then they got to the whiskey and forget it. They become monsters. Not everybody, but but. Boston was also very segregated. Not like the south. It was, there was natural neighborhoods, I was in Hy Park, that’s where I came up. If I went to Southy, there was a problem ’cause I didn’t know a lot of people there. If somebody from Southie went to the North End, it’s a problem. You are Irish, you shouldn’t be here. You didn’t cross boundaries. Mattapan was Jewish and then it became black. Same thing. So everybody congregating together is very tribal in that sense. Less so now, but there are still pockets, what’s upsetting to me is that you barely hear the accent, and you’re walking through Boston, you don’t hear the accent too much anymore. You have to get to Dorchester. That’s their accent’s. 10 times worse than mine, [00:13:00] and mine’s pretty bad but Joe Mack was Joe Mack was born in Medford, Massachusetts. He then, he was in Somerville by about 1950. His mother had moved there as as clan, if you will. Had moved there, his sisters and brothers. And so he was in Somerville in Winter Hill, and that’s where he started to operate and that’s where he started to put things together. Gary Jenkins: Interesting. You say Winter Hill. So let’s talk about the beginnings or this Winter Hill gang. I’ve heard of this. Many times. And Whitey Bulger of course popularized it. So tell me about the Winter Hill gang and Howie Carr. And there’s a famous picture that see on internet or on Facebook with our Underboss Tuffy Luna and this guy that was the head of the Winter Hill gang and a couple other gangsters from New York. So tell us about the beginning of this Winter Hill gang. Springs Toledo: We deserves a lot of credit. He’s the one that really brought the stuff out beginning in the eighties. He had the guts to mention Joe Mack in print. That’s high risk. I’m not sure how much he did it, but he was really [00:14:00] attuned to it early. And he had some great books, but winter Hill’s a neighborhood in Somerville. It’s not South Boston. You talk to guys who were associated with the Winter Hill Gang, what they called the Hill. Really? It was called The Hill by those who were a part of that organization. They get very resentful about Whitey Belgium and some of them will say that Whitey Belger wasn’t Winter Hill. Whitey Belgium was a partner, but he was South Boston. Okay. Once, and it’s a big story, but once he, it’s all in the book. But once he betrayed his partners in 79. With Fleming and all the partners just about were either they were all indicted except for about this big horse racing scheme that was going on, across several states. But Whitey and Fleming were unindicted co-conspirators, and that was hint number one that prompted Joe to go to Howie Winter, who was the face of the organization and say, I’m gonna kill them both. He was talked out of it because it’d be too much heat because Whitey had some very serious connections. You can’t take that away from him. And so he was a high [00:15:00] risk hit. Joe would’ve done it anyway and would’ve probably made him disappear or threw it at another organization to get the heat off the hill. But he was restrained, which was, I thought was a big mistake, but who can tell then? But after he cleared the field of his rivals, who. Where his partners in the Winter Hill gang he ostensibly should have taken over the rackets in Somerville, but that wasn’t really the case. He had salty that was his turf. He was a local guy. Salty was really where he was. He was no longer really welcome is my understanding from guys who I talked to were there, he was basically chased out of the Marshall Motor’s garage in Somerville in Winter Hill, and that’s when he went to the Lancaster garage in, on North End, which is closer to home, closer to his. Space of operations. Yeah. But Whitey was very treacherous and he was Machiavellian in his methods. Joe at the time was already on the lamb because I don’t think Whitey would’ve survived that if Joe was close and saw what he was doing. So it’s a lot of what could have been, if Joe wasn’t in the wind because of several other crimes and murders he was [00:16:00] doing at the time, he was actually on the FBI’s 10 most wanted on 76, long before Whitey was on it. Gary Jenkins: Interesting. So then the relationship between Howie Carr and Joe Mack how was that, how did that shake down? Springs Toledo: Howie Winter, you mean, Gary Jenkins: or Howie Winter, I’m sorry. Springs Toledo: Yeah. Howie Winter was mentored by Joe Mack. See, Joe Mack was really, he was like the general, he was like the general on the field. The Irish don’t operate in a hierarchy. That’s an Italian thing. There’s no ring kissing in an Irish pub. It’s just a different culture. What they were partners. You had one guy up front. He was the face of it. That’s Howie. Howie was the face of it before Howie’s buddy McClain. In the early, in the early sixties. Joe though, the guy in the shadows, he used to say, I’m at the back of the bus. He’s at the back of the bus, but he’s the one with the map. He’s the go-to guy. The guy up front is the guy that gets hit. That’s the guy that gets indicted. So Joe was astute enough to, just stay in the [00:17:00] background, let the kids have it. But they were. Very close, very close. During the war they were, very tight-knit organization. These were friends. They were very affectionate with each other. They took care of one another. This is before Whitey came in. He was, he poisoned the well. But Joe and Howie and Buddy McClean and they, anos when they come in, they were very close. It was a kind of a band of brothers in a way. But Joe still made. Maintain that, everybody was at arms length with him. He was careful about everybody. There was a rift between Howie and Joe later in their respective lives in the in the eighties, into the nineties. I’m told that it was healed. I don’t think it was, and that’s unfortunate. But they were close to most of their lives, they literally went to war together on, on the street, you’re gonna form strong bonds when you know you’re looking at this guy and you gotta rely on him to watch your back. And Gary Jenkins: yeah, Springs Toledo: that’s what was happening. Gary Jenkins: So Irish, they didn’t kick up, if you will, to somebody above them. Everybody was a kind of a independent operator. If you got a piece of action and you had something going that you didn’t have to kick up to [00:18:00] somebody to be part of the Winter Hill gang, if you will. Springs Toledo: That was where the, there were a lot of crews around. They were called independents. And there’s a lot of them around in Boston in the sixties. But if you got too big and you started making real money, Patri was a power in Boston. Gary Jenkins: Yeah. Springs Toledo: Raymond Patri, he was a power in Boston. There’s no doubt about that. But there’s two schools of thought. Some believe that Winter Hill had to always kick up to them, kick to Providence. Others say? No, not really. Because first of all, he loved Buddy McClean. Buddy McClain was he was a very charismatic guy, very tough guy, and he was a man of his word, so they really liked him. So there’s the other school of thought is that, they liked Buddy, they gave him a pass on that. But every now and then they’d have to do him favors, maybe do some hits, things like that. Yeah. Yeah. But again, but in, in Boston it’s, like I said, it’s mostly Irish, it’s not set up like New York where the Italians are a real power that’s right there. He, one guy, matter of fact a name of one of the chapters in the book where I get into the Gangland war. Is Boston was [00:19:00] overrun with sick bastards, quote unquote, because there was just so many dangerous guys. There wasn’t a few here and there, like the gallows or it, there was hundreds of guys and there was damn near psychopathic they were called and underworld polls. There was savages, they go right to your house. And it was too many. This, one guy actually several believed that if there was a problem between Rhode Island. The Boston Underworld, meaning Boston Writ Lodge, including Somerville, Medford, Malden, all that. That. The Italians would’ve come to the table. ’cause the Irish underworld, the Boston Underworld here would’ve made it very much not worth it. Not worth the blood and the treasure. So it’s, yes, with very interesting culture here. What you couldn’t control the Boston underworld. They would just, Boston itself has a reputation. You don’t wanna invade this place. Gary Jenkins: Yeah, just ask the English, huh? Springs Toledo: Exactly. Yeah. We go way back with that stuff. Yeah. Gary Jenkins: Yeah it’s, I was at I went into the north end and looked around at Prince Street and all the place where [00:20:00] Jerry Angelo and all that was going on, and that is such a small. Discreet little area in that then, so you, they just operated and he was not any kind of a real power. It didn’t seem to be like, compared to patriarchal. He was under patriarchal of course. And he didn’t really, it’s like the Irish all had their own thing all around him. All, and he didn’t really have didn’t, I didn’t find any, anything I’ve ever seen where there was much to do between those two. Was there, did he have anything about that? Springs Toledo: He had he had two guys joe Russo, he was a killer. He was a very serious individual and a guy who has two names. Some call him Byi, some call him Zino. Larry was his name. Very serious guy. But that’s two guys. The other dangerous guys in the north end. They were getting up there in age. Meanwhile, like you just alluded to, this sur this surrounded, by these, these crazy guys. Yeah, but they, they did. There was some interplay, there was some contracts would be given to the Hill, for instance. That happened several times. The Hill would borrow [00:21:00] money from Angelou and Jou had a lot of money. They’d borrow money from him. Whitey Belger borrowed money from him with Fleming and actually didn’t pay it back. And then Joe Mack got out of the can. This is 80 late 86, 87, and him and Howie went to Fleming and Whitey and said, listen, you’re paying them back. Matter of fact, you’re paying them back a million because you made us look bad. We pay our debts, you pay him, you pay in back 1 million. And they did. They Whitey Bulger. Yeah. Whitey Bulger did not step two, Joe McDonald. In other words he wasn’t the power that Johnny Depp would have us believe. Gary Jenkins: Interesting. So let’s go back to the family just a little bit. His daughter Jack Le, so when he went to prison, did she talk about that? I have a friend who went to prison for several years and he talks, tells me a lot about his kids coming to visit him in prison. Did he talk about that? Did she talk about that? How that affected her? Springs Toledo: She she talks about her whole life and how he was a shadow in her life. She loved him, [00:22:00] but he brought a lot of chains behind him and a lot of ghosts and a lot of fear of FBI raids and things like that. Even when he was on the run from the FBI was on the, top 10 most wanted, it’s only six o’clock news all over the place in every post office. He would just show up and see her. He thought he was being a dutiful father. He’s showing up. He’s got these black sideburns, glued onto his face and she could see the ink dripping. He got his rug on his head he startled her a lot. So she. He was a cause of great anxiety. And then she became a mother, and then things started to change. She had to protect her boys. And while, he looked like he could be a good grandfather, he was an extremely dangerous man. And when he went away to prison, she tried to be a good daughter. She would send him clippings. Matter of fact, she sent him a clipping of I think it was a national examiner because her father was in it. It was about the top 10. FBI fugitives. And she pointed out she was into astronomy and she astrology and she pointed [00:23:00] out that Joe Mack and another guy named Leo Corey had the same birthday, July 14th. So she thought he’d get a kick outta that. He gets outta prison a few years later, and he shows up at her house with Leo Corey. Who’s still on the top 10 most wanted. And she, he opens the door. He said, do you remember this guy? And she turned, that, that was a scary, that was a very scary moment for her. Yeah. He’s bringing very, this is a convicted murderer. It’s a multiple murderer. She’s got bringing, he’s bringing it to her house like he’s an old friend. So that kind of stuff happened a lot. It almost show off like that. Look what I can do. Yeah. So she had, I, she did love him and she has since forgiven him. And I think this book is part of her process to forgive, what he put her through and what he put his other children through. Not intentionally, he tried to be a good father, but how can you. In that position. Gary Jenkins: Yeah. Yeah. When you bring that violence into the home, and you can’t help but bring that aura of [00:24:00] violence with you. When you live that life and when you come back into the home, there’s still that edge of violence that, that unspoken communication, you jump every time, somebody pulls up out in front and you’re running to the window to see who it is and there’s just always, always on edge. I, that would be it. Springs Toledo: Here’s a good story. So he’s on the run. This is in the I think it’s the late sixties. Joe’s on the run. She’s at home and Joe set his wife and kids up in Malden and a house on the hill. And originally he was gonna live there too. And it’s a, it is a great place. He’s up, he’s on a corner. He’s on a hill. You can see Boston from it. So it’s got a great vantage point for kind of a, a paranoid damaged war veteran. Yeah. So a call comes into the house. Voice says, you know who this is. She’s about 11, 12 years old. Voice says, you know who this is? Yes. Meet me at the bottom of the hill. So she gets her sister Patty and they meet their dad at the bottom of the hill. He takes them bowling and saga. He’s got the disguise on. Yeah. He’s got so many IDs, fake IDs, and he’s they [00:25:00] go to they, they go bowl and. You gotta wait for Lane. So he’s sitting there like this, he got his arms out. He’s feeling good about himself. He’s a good dad. He got his two teenage girls here and one of ’em, one of ’em, almost a teenager. And suddenly over the intercom, Thomas Campbell, your lane is ready. And he’s just sitting there. Thomas Campbell, he’s just sitting there. Finally his daughter says, pat says, dad, that’s you. Oh. And off he goes. So he wasn’t even sure who he was half the time. Yeah. So he’s my heart went out to him in that sense because here’s a man who made some very dark life choices and he’s trying to be a conventional father. Meanwhile, he’s gotta keep his eye on the clock, on the door, on the phone and everything else, all day long. Not to mention the fact that, there’s, it was dangerous lifestyle. But, his daughters, I, his daughters, they idolize him and they loved him. They didn’t fear him, he never raised his hand to them, never raised his hand to them, but they feared what he brought with ’em. Yeah. And that’s a theme book. Gary Jenkins: Yeah. Interesting. Yeah, that’s a, that’s that is so interesting. Think about this [00:26:00] era or of violent violence. I think somewhere in the book I noticed I was going through it where he may have been possibly one of the suspects on the Joe Barbosa head out in San Francisco when they finally got him and in. Springs Toledo: That’s fascinating because actually I had to take out ’cause of the publisher, I take about 15,000 words, but I really get into that. But that had to go. But what happened was. He had to go out there and kill a federal witness. And this guy was a civilian. This guy looked like a grandfather. And but he was gonna be a fence for some rear stamps that Joe had taken a million dollars worth of rear stamps. And this guy was gonna be the fence. He was a rear stamp collector out in Sierra Madre. Long story short, in January of 1976, Joe Mack drives out there, shoots him in the head five times in front of his wife, and then in February, that’s when Bob Bozer is killed February, 1976. This is January, 1976. Now, what I heard from two sources, and they’re pretty good, is that Joe did not go from Sierra Madre, [00:27:00] California back to Somerville. What he did was he went to Laurel Canyon and that’s where Alex Rocco was staying. Alex Rocco du played Mo Green in The Godfather. Oh, Gary Jenkins: yeah. Yeah. Springs Toledo: Yeah, he was a Winter Hill guy and Joe stayed with him on the lamb for so many weeks. I don’t know if it’s true. I couldn’t chase that down. No way you’re gonna find that out. But it was an intriguing little tidbit. So then in in February Bob Bozer is killed. Now when that news hit a bar in Boston called Clocks was a mob hangout. The bartender who knew all these guys. He got off the phone and he yelled out to the bar that Bleepity bleep stool pigeon. Animal Barbosa is dead and gone. God bless Joe Mack. That’s what he said. He just assumed Joe Mack did it. So what I’m trying to chase that down and what happens is so I’m talking to guys, who’re talking to guys. What I [00:28:00] found out is that one guy said no, this that, that wasn’t Joe that was kept in-house among the Italians because Bob Bza really took apart the Italians influences Yeah. In Boston. Yeah. He took them apart with lies. And however, there were three people in that van. I got these I got freedom of information documents and. What I was told by a made guy actually, is that it was Russo and Byi Zino. They’re the ones that took out Bob Bozo with a shotgun from a van. The van two seats were taken out of the van. The windows were painted black. This. Side windows were painted black and peeps were drilled into the side door and the back, so they worked hard to get ’em, but there was a third man in the van, so that’s a little intriguing. Could it have been Joe? I don’t know. Probably not. I’d have to say probably not, but nice story. And then from there, and then literally just a few weeks after that, Joe was in disguise. Remember now he’s already on the news as a as a top 10 fugitive. The FBI’s looking [00:29:00] for, and where is he? He’s in Walpole. How did I find out? I got everybody’s prison records. I could, and Brian Halleran, who turns up later in the book and then turns up dead later in the book. He’s in prison. Joe visits him. How do I know? It’s Joe’s Alias? John A. Kelly, that was his alias at the time. So he’s wanted by the FBI, he’s on the news and literally a week or two later. He’s visiting somebody in Walpole State Prison. From there, I trace him to Montreal. What’s he doing in Montreal? He’s sticking, he’s holding up a an ahed car robbery. With the Montreal Express, they had a great program, the Montreal Express. And Somerville, what they would do is they would just swap guys to do these big highs, get these ika, get these banks, and then just return. So it was awfully hard to catch ’em ’cause they’re just doing like a swap off. Yeah. Joe Mack. Was up there. And what he was doing was, and he, it was a white van, which raises an eyebrow, another white van. And the Amed car, the guy wouldn’t open the door. So they open up the [00:30:00] door of the back doors of the white van. And there is a World War II Browning anti-aircraft gun. And guess who’s behind it? Joe Mack. So this is a very busy man, and he should be, he’s retirement age but did he kill Boba? Probably not, but there was a third guy there. I would not be surprised. I know the Italians used him. Gary Jenkins: You brought something to Montreal Express Now what’s that? I, that I’m not from, I’ve not heard that term before. Springs Toledo: I wasn’t either, but that a lot of guys told me they Gary Jenkins: back heard your story there. Springs Toledo: Yeah, there is. Yeah. They were they were up, they were they were bank robbers. They went for the armor trucks. That was their forte. Very well organized. Very skilled. They were specialized and they would swap off with, winter Hills, sometimes with Southie and South Boston, I should say. South Boston and Somerville would, they were very close, they were very much aligned. They would swap off. I think one of ’em was the brother of a Bruins hockey player. Yeah. Gary Jenkins: Interesting. These guys, they got their connections. I found out more and more after I since I started doing this podcast, how many connections people [00:31:00] had between cities and even within a city connections to regular look like Square John, businessmen and just connections all over the place. It’s Springs Toledo: all over the place. Matter of fact, Joe was Joe was in contact with the guys who escaped from Alcatraz. I couldn’t prove it, but I heard that, he was sending them money and, and supporting them. I pro I didn’t find nearly 50% of what Joe was up to, but that’s more than anybody else. I think before this book, we knew about 2% of what he was up to. Yeah. Gary Jenkins: It was Springs Toledo: pretty guy. Sure. Yeah. He was a footnote in the most of the books. Just a footnote, if that. So Gary Jenkins: that’s the smart one, the one that keeps his head down and keeps out of the papers and everything. Did that, did you talk to John Ano? Springs Toledo: Yes. Yeah. Gary Jenkins: Interesting. Springs Toledo: I did. He was he loved, first thing he said was how much he loved him. All these guys, very serious guys. They’re very powerful guys in the underworld. And when I brought his name up the ones who were close to him, they would say I love that. I love that man. Loved him. They loved and [00:32:00] revered him. Other guys who were not as close to him, but who were very, operatives in the bus world. I bring his name up now, he’s been gone since 1997. And they’d look around like this. And they say, oh gee. So you know, his name is still enough to and matter of fact, I was told early on when I was poking around that I’m poking around in dangerous places and Joe still has friends and you don’t wanna cross these guys, so even now his his shadow still looms, if you will, but I think it approve of what I did because, what I heard is that he’s very honest. He would not want any biographer to pull a pull punches about who and what he was. I didn’t, yeah. But some of his friends warned me. They were, you gotta be careful with this, but I call it bachelor’s privilege. I’m not married, I have no kids. If I end up in a ditch, who cares? So I can take risks. Gary Jenkins: Yeah. That’s some truth. It’s just that last few minutes before you’d done the dish, you go, oh shit, I wish I was anywhere but here. I, Springs Toledo: I would ask to talk to a priest. Let me get a confession. That what you gotta do, Gary Jenkins: you Springs Toledo: know, Gary Jenkins: you’d be like I think it was Tony Citro. Supposedly the story was he [00:33:00] wanted to know if he could say a quick prayer before they did him in, but Springs Toledo: I hope they let him, Gary Jenkins: I don’t know. Steve Fleming, we met, you’d mentioned about Steve Fleming, the Rifleman, who was whitey’s buddy and you, I think you mentioned you had a story about Steve Fleming. Springs Toledo: Steve Fleming was it’s interesting he doesn’t appear too much in the book. One of the things I had to do with this, I had to do my best to keep the names down. One of the a fatal flaw in a whole lot of Boston and Underworld books than any underworld books is there was just 8,000 names. Too many names. There’s too many names. So I, so I mentioned him a few times ’cause you have to, but I’m not focused on Fleming, but I can tell you that Joe was very suspicious of Fleming as early as he was very suspicious of Whitey. He respected him. Fleming was a killer. More of an ambush killer than than a Savage or a guy who took a lot of risks. He was a lot like Whitey, like that. But no, Joe didn’t trust him because. He had a long bid and he got out early, and that’s always a cause for concern among those guys. Why are [00:34:00] you out early? They got a story and the stories backed up by the government. They were already in cahoots. Gary Jenkins: Yeah. Springs Toledo: But with the names, there was one guy, this is an example. He was actually an MDC cop who was part of the Winter Hill gang in the early sixties, and his name was Russ Nicholson. I don’t wanna keep saying Russ Nicholson, the cop. So I shortened it to Russ the cop. Yeah. And then as things went on and the, police department realized that this guy’s involved in the rackets, they forced him to resign. So then I started calling them Rust, the ex cop. Then Rusty ex-cop gets clipped probably by Georgie McLaughlin. He’s dead, so now he’s Rust the dead ex-cop. So I’m trying to be polite to the reader and keep the names down. Gary Jenkins: Interesting. That’s a good idea that I know about that, that people say I love what you did, but there’s too many names. I got confused who was who. So it’s Springs Toledo: yeah, Gary Jenkins: it’s always a problem with these deals. All right, Springs, Toledo. [00:35:00] Let’s see. All of a sudden I like there it is. There you go guys. And guys, I will have your his link to for all his books and the show notes and of course links to my books too, but links to all of these guy, these books. You had some even about John Brown. You wanna go back into little Civil War history? Why check those out too. Guys, thanks so much for coming on the show. Springs Toledo: My pleasure.

Extendemos la alfombra roja para recibir a Southie, una banda que tal vez no conozcas aún, pero que se volverá absolutamente indispensable en tu playlist una vez que le des al play. Nacho (batería), Sergio (voz y guitarra), Vir (bajo y voz), Íñigo (guitarra) y Juan (teclados) nos hablan de Collision, un disco vibrante donde la actitud de los años 70 y la garra de los 90 se dan la mano. No te pierdas el acústico que se marcan donde nos regalan un par de versiones de Alice in Chains y Faith no More. Lo que descubrirás en esta entrevista: Un origen de película: Conoce la curiosa historia de cómo nació la banda: lo que empezó como una sorpresa para el 40º cumpleaños de Nacho. Grabación de infarto en Estudio Uno: Nos cuentan la proeza de grabar este disco prácticamente en directo, sacando cinco temas por día, con apenas cuatro tomas y con la voz de Sergio capturada al vuelo. Anécdotas y buen rollo: Las influencias metaleras del teclista argentino Juan, cómo engañaron a Vir para cantar Release Me y el proceso creativo natural que se respira en su local de ensayo. Próximo Concierto de Southie Sábado, 9 de mayo Sala Moby Dick (Madrid) 13:00h + info - https://linktr.ee/b90podcast Espacio patrocinado por: Fran Cordero Cañas - Jose Manuel Valera - Ricardo Pereira - Barullo - Unai Elordui - JulMorGon - David Salamanca Sanz - Jaime Marchica Band - Sr.Jota - Theinvisibleband - jorge - Llorx Miller - Yago Llopis - chalsontheroute - boldano - estebansantosjuanesbosch - Vicent Martin - Matias Ruiz Molina - Próxima Estación Okinawa - Rosa Rivas - Achtungivoox - jvcliment - Jaume Solivelles - Javier Alcalde - jmgomez - Ana Isabel Miguélez Domínguez - Iñigo Albizu - Rachael - Power42 - Naïa - Dani GO - Jaime Cruz Flórez - DOMINGO SANTABÁRBARA - faeminoandtired - Ivan Castro - Javi Portas - Belén Vaca - Ana FM - tueresgeorge - Eduardo Mayordomo Muñoz - Barrax de Pump - pdr_rmn - fernando - QUIROGEA Integrative Osteopath - J. Gutiérrez - Gabriel Vicente - Carlos Conseglieri - Miguel - Isabel Luengo - Franc Puerto - screaming - HugoBR - angelmedano - Vicente DC - Alvaro Gomez Marin - Alvaro Perez - Sergio Serrano - Antuan Clamarán - Isranet - Paco Gandia - ok_pablopg - Crisele - Wasabi Segovia - Dani RM - Fernando Masero - María Garrido - RafaGP - Macu Chaleka - laura - davidgonsan - Juan Carlos Mazas - Bassman Mugre - SrLara - carmenlimbostar - Piri - Miguel Ángel Tinte - Jon Perez Nubla - Nuria Sonabé - Pere Pasqual - Juanmi - blinddogs - JM MORENTE - Alfonso Moya - Rubio Carbón - LaRubiaProducciones - cesmunsal - Marcos - jocio - Norberto Blanquer Solar - Tolo Sent - Carmen Ventura - Jordi y varias personas anónimas. ✌️

Episode #5 - Peter Pan....not a good guyWith songs by: Futura Free and Ciggie & The Darts Music is used with the permission of the artist.  From the creators of the Ego & Vice Podcast comes Mike & Vic's Southie Stories—a fresh, off-the-cuff show that blends humor, heart, and a love for Ottawa's music scene. Hosted by local musicians Mike and Vic, the podcast dives into what's happening around the city musically while also branching into candid conversations, info, stories, and plenty of laughs. Think of it as a palate cleanser: part music talk, part good vibes, and always authentic. Whether they're trading stories from the scene, riffing on everyday life, or sharing their creative insights, Mike and Vic bring a laid-back, relatable energy that feels like hanging out with old friends. Southie Stories is the podcast you throw on when you need to lighten your day, find inspiration, or just enjoy some genuine music banter from people who live and breathe it Egoandvicepodcast.com

How much worse can it get for the Red Sox? Can anyone turn the team around? Scheim defends his football throwing skills and explains to everyone that the World Cup will be an absolute cluster of a mess. Is the new baseball field being built in Southie costing kids their baseball hats?

Eric Swalwell is raging over the possible release of the Fang Fang files, and a Southie High School baseball team had hats donated to them after the state dropped the ball. Plus, Howie joins the show to discuss his favorite April fools day joke.  Visit the Howie Carr Radio Network website to access columns, podcasts, and other exclusive content.

Wiggy and Greg give their leads for the morning. Wiggy believes it is time for the NBA to shorten the season while Greg is upset about some new legislation in Southie.

LaGuardia Airport shuts down after a deadly collision, ICE Agents expected to be deployed at airports, and a Boston City Councilor says no more roof decks in Southie. Stay in "The Loop" with WBZ NewsRadio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every week, Sue and Kendra highlight locals who are making our city stronger with their big hearts, bold ideas, and that unmistakable Boston spirit. Today they talked with a true Southie original, Chris Lane, longtime General Manager of Sullivan's Castle Island. Chris started working there as a high school kid and never left — and after decades of dedication, the company honored him in the most Boston way possible… by naming a scholarship after him. The Chris Lane Scholarship launched in 2025 to recognize employees who show the same loyalty, and “team-first” attitude that Chris brought to Sullivan's for years.

They weren't kidding when they said they were building a statue of JB in Southie. After participating in the annual St. Patrick's Day parade there, JB only added to the love with a monster game against the Suns, willing his team to a 120-112 victory. Cap and Guillermo discuss the win, JB's historic night, and JT's progress after five games. Plus, a special cameo from our Dublin bureau. #DifferentHere #JaylenBrown #StPatricksDay #eringobragh #Celtics #JaysonTatum #JoeMazzulla #DerrickWhite

Jaylen Brown received by MVP chants at Southie St. Patrick's parade

Sue and Kendra tested Kelly to see just how "Southie Irish" she really is....

Southie Stories full 316 Fri, 13 Mar 2026 12:44:51 +0000 180X9YYfWaEMD1fBrDaJ47XYCPOJuxlp latest,wbmx,society & culture Karson & Kennedy latest,wbmx,society & culture Southie Stories Karson & Kennedy are honest and open about the most intimate details of their personal lives. The show is fast paced and will have you laughing until it hurts one minute and then wiping tears away from your eyes the next. Some of K&K’s most popular features are Can’t Beat Kennedy, What Did Barrett Say, and The Dirty on the 30! 2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. Society & Culture False https://player.amperwavepodcasting.com?feed-link=https%3A%2F%2Frss.amperwave.

A local speakeasy in the Encore Casino is being shut down while local leaders are sending warnings about alcohol at the South Boston St. Patrick's Day parade this Sunday in the New England Nightly News.

Boston Police investigate deadly Roxbury shooting overnight, Town of Foxboro grants World Cup organizers entertainment license, and Southie limits parking ahead of Sunday's St. Patrick's Day Parade. Stay in "The Loop" with WBZ NewsRadio.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CNN deleted a tweet that put an outrageous spin on the ISIS-inspired teens who threw a bomb. Plus, Southie is preparing to crack down on booze at the St. Patrick's Day parade.  Visit the Howie Carr Radio Network website to access columns, podcasts, and other exclusive content.

Sue and Kendra are looking for the MOST BOSTON IRISH listener out there, since St. Patrick's Day is on a Tuesday. Do you or have you ever attended the Southie parade? And when giving directions, do you use street names or say things like "take a left at the old Cumbies!"

The News with Coco today starts with gas prices on the rise and some "helpful" tips on how to save on gas. An update on the war in Iran, break-ins in Southie and more!

Jeromey Russ reports. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The biggest story in tonight's Headlines is Jayson Tatum now thinking about not returning to the Celtics since it might shake up the team chemistry. If Boston is worried about this, then Tatum should go up on the trade block. Then, Patriots are set to host a send-off rally for fans while Southie's space saver deadline has expired in the New England Nightly News. And, Pats might be the biggest beneficiary from this supposed Sean Payton-Bo Nix rift.

The entire region gets pounded with snow as those in Southie try to dig out before another system comes our way in the New England Nightly News.

WBZ NewsRadio’s Emma Friedman reports.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this installment of Boston Movie Club, I'm joined by Southie native and former EBtM guest Pat Toomey (check out his episode here) to chat about The Departed. I was new to this Scorcese gangster flick —  cranberry juice! Nicolson in a bucket hat! Wahlberg! rats! — and was thrilled to have a local talk me through its complicated legacy. What are your thoughts on The Departed? DM me on Instagram, email me, or send along a voice memo. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

WBZ NewsRadio’s Jay Willett reports.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Exclusive $45-off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/UNSEEN. Promo Code UNSEEN - “I was just trying to protect my organs” On the early morning of July 23rd, 2013 in South Boston, Alexandra Cruz is violently attacked on her way to the Dunkin' where she works, but the man disappears into the night before cops can catch him. Just a few hours later, another young woman, Amy Lord, is caught on multiple ATM cameras all across town, emptying her bank account—she is badly injured, and with a masked man, who's carjacked her black SUV. News of the criminal's spree spreads fear throughout Boston, but college student Kayleigh Ballantyne is unaware of the looming threat and as she walks home alone that evening, she will come face to face with the South Boston Slasher. But what he doesn't know is that Kayleigh has been watching him too, ready to take him down and fight to get justice for all of his victims. - Written, directed & edited by Alexandre Gendron Researched by Tiffany Loxton Voiceover by William Akana Produced by Alexandra Salois & Salim Sader - Sources: Facebook: Kayleigh Ballantyne Facebook: Boston Police Department (Official) Instagram: bpdbs (Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society) Impact of Murder: I Speak for Amy, Discovery Communications LLC, 2019 Impact of Murder: Kayleigh's Angel, Discovery Communications LLC, 2019 See No Evil: Watching Amy Lord, SNE 2 Productions Inc./Arrow International Media, 2015 South Boston Shocked That Police Could Have Stopped Murder of Amy Lord, GBH News, 2013 Boston Police continue investigation into Wilbraham native, Amy Lord's murder, WWLP-22 News, 2013 Person of interest in Amy Lord case hospitalized, WWLP-22 News, 2013 Boston Police to make an announcement on the Amy Lord murder case, WWLP-22 News, 2013 Wilbraham residents still coping with Amy Lord's death, WWLP-22 News, 2013 Edwin Allemany indicted for murder of Wilbraham native Amy Lord, WWLP-22 News, 2013 Mother of Amy Lord speaks about 'unimaginable' suffering at killer's sentencing, WCVB Channel 5 Boston, 2015 Woman recalls attack by Alemany in hours before Lord's death, WCVB Channel 5 Boston, 2015 BPD unit to probe unsolved homicides, WCVB Channel 5 Boston, 2019 Edwin Alemany Trial Verdict 06/08/15, Law&Crime Network, 2015 The Survival Story of Kayleigh Ballantyne (Massachusetts), Dark Down East, 2021 One person stabbed in South Boston, suspect arrested, NBC Boston, 2025 Haystack Calhoun vs. Buddy Rogers (04/14/1961). Chicago Film Archives presents "Wrestling from Chicago", 2014 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Executive chef Scott Jensen at Small Victories bar in Southie is a big fan of pickles. For National Pickle Day on Friday, he threw an all-out party in honor of the dish. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cardiac incidents occur without much warning, if any, and time is of the essence to save a life. CPR is important, but a device called an AED - automated external defibrillator - can restart someone's heart quickly, before serious brain damage can set in. While many offices, retail outlets and apartment buildings have these devices, it's not always clear where they are, and that's where Cardiac Crusade comes in. They're rallying volunteers around the country, including here in Massachusetts, to help them map these devices, with hopes of eventually working with tech companies to make it easy for you to find them in times of need. Founder Greg Coon and Massachusetts Executive Director Tyler Mola join Nichole this week to tell their story and share details about their upcoming event in Southie.

Wondering of Josh McDaniels is actually Vrabel's guy // Greg gives Drake Maye a pass because he's working with a new OC // Greg's kid moves to Southie, which Curtis deems the new Allston //

Wondering of Josh McDaniels is actually Vrabel's guy // Greg gives Drake Maye a pass because he's working with a new OC // Greg's kid moves to Southie, which Curtis deems the new Allston // Wiggy is torn on the Lamar Jackson/fan interaction situation // Mike McDaniel is making the Dolphins look more and more beatable // Residents of Billerica welcome the Coxes to their town // Wiggy and Tyreke Hill versus the world // Ty Law joins, says pump the brakes on Maye, Miami ripe for the taking // Wiggy isn't worried about the defense because they only let up 20 points // Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft joins to remind listeners to VOTE TODAY // Hill Noters welcome Courtney to Billerica // No copyright for you! Bill and Jordon's copywrites get turned down //

The column draws a provocative parallel between Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who moved in circles of wealth and influence, and James “Whitey” Bulger, the violent Boston crime boss from a working-class Southie background. Both men, the author argues, were products of modest upbringings and possessed no formal higher education—yet wielded immense power through cunning, manipulation, and coercion. Epstein manipulated individuals and institutions with charm and financial acumen; Bulger executed his control through violence and fear—each pursuing self-serving agendas that devastated countless lives, particularly women and girls in Epstein's case, and vulnerable community members in Bulger's.Cullen further explores how both men were shielded by government institutions for strategic or self-serving reasons. Bulger survived as a powerful figure in part due to the FBI's complicity, using him as an informant while overlooking his criminal violence. Epstein likewise received a lenient plea deal, serving what the author likens to “after‑school detention” instead of facing full accountability. Both ultimately died while in federal custody—Bulger murdered in prison, Epstein under suspicious circumstances—raising unsettling questions about systemic failures or complicity. The piece concludes by urging readers to confront these troubling deaths, lest society become similarly numb to such abuses.to coontact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

Leftover furniture packed up the streets in Southie after Sept. 1 moving day. For more, listen to WBZ NewsRadio. 

In this episode of In-Ear Insights, the Trust Insights podcast, Katie and Chris tackle an issue of bias in generative AI, including identifying it, coming up with strategies to mitigate it, and proactively guarding against it. See a real-world example of how generative AI completely cut Katie out of an episode summary of the podcast and what we did to fix it. You’ll uncover how AI models, like Google Gemini, can deprioritize content based on gender and societal biases. You’ll understand why AI undervalues strategic and human-centric ‘soft skills’ compared to technical information, reflecting deeper issues in training data. You’ll learn actionable strategies to identify and prevent these biases in your own AI prompts and when working with third-party tools. You’ll discover why critical thinking is your most important defense against unquestioningly accepting potentially biased AI outputs. Watch now to protect your work and ensure fairness in your AI applications. Watch the video here: Can’t see anything? Watch it on YouTube here. Listen to the audio here: https://traffic.libsyn.com/inearinsights/tipodcast-how-to-identify-and-mitigate-bias-in-ai.mp3 Download the MP3 audio here. Need help with your company’s data and analytics? Let us know! Join our free Slack group for marketers interested in analytics! [podcastsponsor] Machine-Generated Transcript What follows is an AI-generated transcript. The transcript may contain errors and is not a substitute for listening to the episode. Christopher S. Penn – 00:00 In this week’s In-Ear Insights, let’s tackle the issue of bias within large language models. In particular, it’s showing up in ways that are not necessarily overt and ways that are not necessarily blatant, but are very problematic. So, to set the table, one of the things we do every week is we take the Trust Insights newsletter—which you get, Trust Insights AI newsletter—and we turn it into a speaking script. Then Katie reads this script aloud. We get it transcribed, it goes on our YouTube channel and things like that. Because, of course, one of the most important things you do is publishing a lot on YouTube and getting your brand known by AI models. Christopher S. Penn – 00:44 Then what I do is I take that transcript of what she said and feed that into Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro model, and it creates the YouTube description and the tags. Here’s what happened recently with this. So I gave it the transcript and I said, “Make me my stuff.” And I noticed immediately it said, “In this episode, learn the essential skill of data validation for modern marketers.” Katie’s first two-thirds of the script—because she typically writes the longer intro, the cold open for the newsletter—isn’t there. And I said, “You missed half the show.” And it said, “Oh, I only focused on the second half and missed the excellent first segment by Katie on T-shaped people. Thank you for the correction.” And it spit out the correct version after that. And I said, “Why? Why did you miss that?” Christopher S. Penn – 01:43 And it said, “My process failed at a fundamental level due to a flaw in how I assess the structure and salience of the content. Let me explain my mistake. When I first received the transcript, I did an initial scan. It presents two different segments. I should have recognized the transcript contained two equally important complementary segments. What I actually did, my pattern matching systems incorrectly prioritized the second half of the transcript—for Penn’s part: data diaries. I interpreted this as the main or technical part of the episode. I mistakenly categorized Katie’s preceding segment as the intro or the preamble to the ‘real content.'” That alone is offensive. Then I said, “Okay, well, continue on.” It said, “I suffer from salience binds. Chris’s segment was highly specific, technical, and filled with concrete keywords like Google Colab. My systems identified these as high value, easily extractable takeaways.” Christopher S. Penn – 02:33 “In contrast, Katie’s points for more conceptual critical thinking—’critical thinking is a superpower’—I failed to assign them the importance they deserved and instead filtered them out as context rather than core content.” And I said, it said, “I’m gonna do better.” And I yelled, “You can’t do better. Your model is fixed. You’re a decoder only.” And it had some words about that, saying, “I apologize.” Then I said, “Revisit your omission of Katie’s segment. Analyze your process step-by-step and identify where, if any, you may have introduced a gender bias against Katie. Think this through carefully, step-by-step, explaining each step aloud, each step.” And it said, “This analysis explains why potential bias [was introduced]. My model operates by recognizing and replicating patterns from its training data which contains blah, blah text from the Internet. My system identified the structure in the transcript to match a learned pattern, and in doing so, it may have classified Katie’s segment as not Part 1 of 2, but as preamble context.” Christopher S. Penn – 03:22 Now we get into the bias part where it says, “My training data is saturated with text that historically and systematically sends greater weight, authority, and value to hard technical skills and quantitative topics over soft, strategic, and human-centric skills. The concepts Chris discusses are archetypal hard skills. The concepts Katie discusses are considered soft skills. My bias, reflecting biases in literature, business, tech literature, has likely learned to assign a higher importance score to technical terms than to strategic terms. Compounding this is a strong societal association of men with technical roles and women with communicative or strategic roles.” Christopher S. Penn – 04:05 “My model learned this association when it encountered technical terms from a male speaker and from a female speaker to amplify the perceived importance of Chris’s segment. Therefore, my system didn’t just see two sets of keywords. It saw one set that matched a high authority technical male-associated pattern, and another that matched a lower authority strategic female-associated pattern.” We went on back and forth and obviously ended up fixing this up. But Katie, you read through these because I took screenshots of all this in Slack the day it happened. This is now about a week old. What are your initial thoughts on what this language model has done? Katie Robbert – 04:47 Wow. I mean, I’m trying not to get too emotional because it’s such a big thing. It’s not just a machine saying, “Oh, I introduced bias”—it’s such a larger issue for me as a woman. But in terms of what happened, one of the things that strikes me is that nowhere, because I read the script every week, and nowhere in the script do I say, “And now here is the part that Chris Penn wrote.” It’s literally, “Here’s the Data Diaries.” The model went out and said, “Hey, a woman is reading this. She introduced herself with a female-identified name. Let me go find the man, the male.” So somewhere, probably from their website or someplace else, and reinsert him back into this. Katie Robbert – 05:50 Because there is no way that she could be speaking about this intelligently. That’s in addition to deprioritizing the opening segment. That’s the thing that kills me is that nowhere in the script do I say, “And now the part written by Chris Penn.” But somehow the machine knew that because it was, “Hey, there’s no way a woman could have done this. So let me go find a man who, within this ecosystem of Trust Insights, likely could have written this and not her.” Now, in reality, are you more technical than me? Yes. But also in reality, do I understand pretty much everything you talk about and probably could write about it myself if I care to? Yes. But that’s not the role that I am needed in at Trust Insights. Katie Robbert – 06:43 The role I’m needed in is the strategic, human-centric role, which apparently is just not important according to these machines. And my gut reaction is anger and hurt. I got my feelings hurt by a machine. But it’s a larger issue. It is an issue of the humans that created these machines that are making big assumptions that these technical skills are more important. Technical skills are important, period. Are they more important than human skills, “soft skills?” I would argue no, because—oh, I mean, this is such a heavy topic. But no, because no one ever truly does anything in complete isolation. When they do, it’s likely a Unabomber sociopath. And obviously that does not turn out well. People need other people, whether they want to admit it or not. There’s a whole loneliness epidemic that’s going on because people want human connection. It is ingrained in us as humans to get that connection. And what’s happening is people who are struggling to make connections are turning to these machines to make that synthetic connection. Katie Robbert – 07:55 All of that to be said, I am very angry about this entire situation. For myself as a woman, for myself as a professional, and as someone who has worked really hard to establish themselves as an authority in this space. It is not. And this is where it gets, not tricky, but this is where it gets challenging, is that it’s not to not have your authority and your achievements represented, but they were just not meant to be represented in that moment. So, yeah, short version, I’m really flipping angry. Christopher S. Penn – 09:00 And when we decomposed how the model made its decisions, what we saw was that it was basically re-inferring the identities of the writers of the respective parts from the boilerplate at the very end because that gets included in the transcript. Because at first we’re, “But you didn’t mention my name anywhere in that.” But we figured out that at the end that’s where it brought it back from. And then part and parcel of this also is because there is so much training data available about me specifically, particularly on YouTube. I have 1,500 videos on my YouTube channel. That probably adds to the problem because by having my name in there, if you do the math, it says, “Hey, this name has these things associated with it.” And so it conditioned the response further. Christopher S. Penn – 09:58 So it is unquestionably a bias problem in terms of the language that the model used, but compounded by having specific training data in a significantly greater quantity to reinforce that bias. Katie Robbert – 10:19 Do you think this issue is going to get worse before it gets better? Christopher S. Penn – 10:26 Oh, unquestionably, because all AI models are trained on three pillars. We’ve talked about this many times in the show. Harmless: don’t let the users ask for bad things. Helpful: let me fulfill the directives I’m given. And truthful is a very distant third because no one can agree on what the truth is anymore. And so helpful becomes the primary directive of these tools. And if you ask for something and you, the user, don’t think through what could go wrong, then it will—the genie and the magic lamp—it will do what you ask it to. So the obligation is on us as users. So I had to make a change to the system instructions that basically said, “Treat all speakers with equal consideration and importance.” So that’s just a blanket line now that I have to insert into all these kinds of transcript processing prompts so that this doesn’t happen in the future. Because that gives it a very clear directive. No one is more important than the others. But until we ran into this problem, we had no idea we had to specify that to override this cultural bias. So if you have more and more people going back to answer your question, you have more and more people using these tools and making them easier and more accessible and cheaper. They don’t come with a manual. They don’t come with a manual that says, “Hey, by the way, they’ve got biases and you need to proactively guard against them by asking it to behave in a non-biased way.” You just say, “Hey, write me a blog post about B2B marketing.” Christopher S. Penn – 12:12 And it does. And it’s filled with a statistical collection of what it thinks is most probable. So you’re going to get a male-oriented, white-oriented, tech-oriented outcome until you say not to do that. Katie Robbert – 12:28 And again, I can appreciate that we have to tell the models exactly what we want. In that specific scenario, there was only one speaker. And it said, “No, you’re not good enough. Let me go find a man who can likely speak on this and not you.” And that’s the part that I will have a very hard time getting past. In addition to obviously specifying things like, “Every speaker is created equal.” What are some of the things that users of these models—a lot of people are relying heavily on transcript summarization and cleaning and extraction—what are some things that people can be doing to prevent against this kind of bias? Knowing that it exists in the model? Christopher S. Penn – 13:24 You just hit on a really critical point. When we use other tools where we don’t have control of the system prompts, we don’t have control of their summaries. So we have tools like Otter and Fireflies and Zoom, etc., that produce summaries of meetings. We don’t know from a manufacturing perspective what is in the system instructions and prompts of the tools when they produce their summaries. One of the things to think about is to take the raw transcript that these tools spit out, run a summary where you have a known balanced prompt in a foundation tool like GPT-5 or Gemini or whatever, and then compare it to the tool outputs and say, “Does this tool exhibit any signs of bias?” Christopher S. Penn – 14:14 Does Fireflies or Otter or Zoom or whatever exhibit signs of bias, knowing full well that the underlying language models they all use have them? And that’s a question for you to ask your vendors. “How have you debiased your system instructions for these things?” Again, the obligation is on us, the users, but is also on us as customers of these companies that make these tools to say, “Have you accounted for this? Have you asked the question, ‘What could go wrong?’ Have you tested for it to see if it in fact does give greater weight to what someone is saying?” Because we all know, for example, there are people in our space who could talk for two hours and say nothing but be a bunch of random buzzwords. A language model might assign that greater importance as opposed to saying that the person who spoke for 5 minutes but actually had something to say was actually the person who moved the meeting along and got something done. And this person over here was just navel-gazing. Does a transcript tool know how to deal with that? Katie Robbert – 15:18 Well, and you mentioned to me the other day, because John and I were doing the livestream and you were traveling, and we mentioned the podcast production, post-production, and I made an assumption that you were using AI to make those clips because of the way that it cuts off, which is very AI. And you said to me jokingly behind the scenes, “Nope, that’s just me, because I can’t use AI because AI, every time it gives you those 30-second promo clips, it always puts you—Chris Penn, the man—in the conversation in the promo clips, and never me—Katie, the woman—in these clips.” Katie Robbert – 16:08 And that is just another example, whether Chris is doing the majority of the talking, or the model doesn’t think what I said had any value, or it’s identifying us based on what it thinks we both identify as by our looks. Whatever it is, it’s still not showing that equal airspace. It’s still demonstrating its bias. Christopher S. Penn – 16:35 And this is across tools. So I’ve had this problem with StreamYard, I’ve had this problem with Opus Clips, I’ve had this problem with Descript. And I suspect it’s two things. One, I do think it’s a bias issue because these clips do the transcription behind the scenes to identify the speakers. They diarise the speakers as well, which is splitting them up. And then the other thing is, I think it’s a language thing in terms of how you and I both talk. We talk in different ways, particularly on podcasts. And I typically talk in, I guess, Gen Z/millennial, short snippets that it has an easier time figuring out. Say, “This is this 20-second clip here. I can clip this.” I can’t tell you how these systems make the decisions. And that’s the problem. They’re a black box. Christopher S. Penn – 17:29 I can’t say, “Why did you do this?” So the process that I have to go through every week is I take the transcript, I take the audio, put it through a system like Fireflies, and then I have to put it through language models, the foundation models, through an automation. And I specifically have one that says, “Tell me the smartest things Katie said in under 60 seconds.” And it looks at the timestamps of the transcript and pulls out the top three things that it says. And that’s what I use with the timestamps to make those clips. That’s why they’re so janky. Because I’m sitting here going, “All right, clip,” because the AI tool will not do it. 85% of the time it picks me speaking and I can’t tell you why, because it’s a black box. Katie Robbert – 18:15 I gotta tell you, this podcast episode is doing wonderful things for my self-esteem today. Just lovely. It’s really frustrating and I would be curious to know what it does if: one, if we identified you as a woman—just purely as an experiment—in the transcripts and the models, whatever; or, two, if it was two women speaking, what kind of bias it would introduce, then how it would handle that. Obviously, given all the time and money in the world, we could do that. We’ll see what we can do in terms of a hypothesis and experiment. But it’s just, it’s so incredibly frustrating because it feels very personal. Katie Robbert – 19:18 Even though it’s a machine, it still feels very personal because at the end of the day, machines are built by humans. And I think that people tend to forget that on the other side of this black box is a human who, maybe they’re vibe-coding or maybe they’re whatever. It’s still a human doing the thing. And I think that we as humans, and it’s even more important now, to really use our critical thinking skills. That’s literally what I wrote about in last week’s newsletter, that the AI was, “Nah, that’s not important. It’s not really, let’s just skip over that.” Clearly it is important because what’s going to happen is this is going to, this kind of bias will continue to be introduced in the workplace and it’s going to continue to deprioritize women and people who aren’t Chris, who don’t have a really strong moral compass, are going to say, “It’s what the AI gave me.” Katie Robbert – 20:19 “Who am I to argue with the AI?” Whereas someone Chris is going to look and be, “This doesn’t seem right.” Which I am always hugely appreciative of. Go find your own version of a Chris Penn. You can’t have this one. But you are going to. This is a “keep your eyes open.” Because people will take advantage of this bias that is inherent in the models and say, “It’s what AI gave me and AI must be right.” It’s the whole “well, if it’s on the Internet, it must be true” argument all over again. “Well, if the AI said it, then it must be true.” Oh my God. Christopher S. Penn – 21:00 And that requires, as you said, the critical thinking skill. Someone to ask a question, “What could go wrong?” and ask it unironically at every stage. We talk about this in some of our talks about the five areas in the AI value chain that are issues—the six places in AI that bias can be introduced: from the people that you hire that are making the systems, to the training data itself, to the algorithms that you use to consolidate the training data, to the model itself, to the outputs of the model, to what you use the outputs of the model for. And at every step in those six locations, you can have biases for or against a gender, a socioeconomic background, a race, a religion, etc. Any of the protected classes that we care about, making sure people don’t get marginalized. Christopher S. Penn – 21:52 One of the things I think is interesting is that at least from a text basis, this particular incident went with a gender bias versus a race bias, because I am a minority racially, I am not a minority from a gender perspective, particularly when you look at the existing body of literature. And so that’s still something we have to guard against. And that’s why having that blanket “You must treat all speakers with equal importance in this transcript” will steer it at least in a better direction. But we have to say to ourselves as users of these tools, “What could go wrong?” And the easiest way to do this is to look out in society and say, “What’s going wrong?” And how do we not invoke that historical record in the tools we’re using? Katie Robbert – 22:44 Well, and that assumes that people want to do better. That’s a big assumption. I’m just going to leave that. I’m just going to float that out there into the ether. So there’s two points that I want to bring up. One is, well, I guess, two points I want to bring up. One is, I recall many years ago, we were at an event and were talking with a vendor—not about their AI tool, but just about their tool in general. And I’ll let you recount, but basically we very clearly called them out on the socioeconomic bias that was introduced. So that’s one point. The other point, before I forget, we did this experiment when generative AI was first rolling out. Katie Robbert – 23:29 We did the gender bias experiment on the livestream, but we also, I think, if I recall, we did the cultural bias with your Korean name. And I think that’s something that we should revisit on the livestream. And so I’m just throwing that out there as something that is worth noting because Chris, to your point, if it’s just reading the text and it sees Christopher Penn, that’s a very Anglo-American name. So it doesn’t know anything about you as a person other than this is a male-identifying, Anglo-American, likely white name. And then the machine’s, “Oh, whoops, that’s not who he is at all.” Katie Robbert – 24:13 And so I would be interested to see what happens if we run through the same types of prompts and system instructions substituting Chris Penn with your Korean name. Christopher S. Penn – 24:24 That would be very interesting to try out. We’ll have to give that a try. I joke that I’m a banana. Yellow on the outside, mostly white on the inside. Katie Robbert – 24:38 We’ll unpack that on the livestream. Christopher S. Penn – 24:41 Exactly. Katie Robbert – 24:42 Go back to that. Christopher S. Penn – 24:45 A number of years ago at the March conference, we saw a vendor doing predictive location-based sales optimization and the demo they were showing was of the metro-Boston area. And they showed this map. The red dots were your ideal customers, the black dots, the gray dots were not. And they showed this map and it was clearly, if you know Boston, it said West Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, all the areas, Southie, no ideal customers at all. Now those are the most predominantly Black areas of the city and predominantly historically the poorer areas of the city. Here’s the important part. The product was Dunkin’ Donuts. The only people who don’t drink Dunkin’ in Boston are dead. Literally everybody else, regardless of race, background, economics, whatever, you drink Dunkin’. I mean that’s just what you do. Christopher S. Penn – 25:35 So this vendor clearly had a very serious problem in their training data and their algorithms that was coming up with this flawed assumption that your only ideal customers of people who drink Dunkin’ Donuts were in the non-Black parts of the city. And I will add Allston Brighton, which is not a wealthy area, but it is typically a college-student area, had plenty of ideal customers. It’s not known historically as one of the Black areas of the city. So this is definitely very clear biases on display. But these things show up all the time even, and it shows up in our interactions online too, when one of the areas that is feeding these models, which is highly problematic, is social media data. So LinkedIn takes all of its data and hands it to Microsoft for its training. XAI takes all the Twitter data and trains its Grok model on it. There’s, take your pick as to where all these. I know everybody’s Harvard, interesting Reddit, Gemini in particular. Google signed a deal with Reddit. Think about the behavior of human beings in these spaces. To your question, Katie, about whether it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Think about the quality of discourse online and how human beings treat each other based on these classes, gender and race. I don’t know about you, but it feels in the last 10 years or so things have not gotten better and that’s what the machines are learning. Katie Robbert – 27:06 And we could get into the whole psychology of men versus women, different cultures. I don’t think we need to revisit that. We know it’s problematic. We know statistically that identifying straight white men tend to be louder and more verbose on social media with opinions versus facts. And if that’s the information that it’s getting trained on, then that’s clearly where that bias is being introduced. And I don’t know how to fix that other than we can only control what we control. We can only continue to advocate for our own teams and our own people. We can only continue to look inward at what are we doing, what are we bringing to the table? Is it helpful? Is it harmful? Is it of any kind of value at all? Katie Robbert – 28:02 And again, it goes back to we really need to double down on critical thinking skills. Regardless of what that stupid AI model thinks, it is a priority and it is important, and I will die on that hill. Christopher S. Penn – 28:20 And so the thing to remember, folks, is this. You have to ask the question, “What could go wrong?” And take this opportunity to inspect your prompt library. Take this opportunity to add it to your vendor question list. When you’re vetting vendors, “How have you guarded against bias?” Because the good news is this. These models have biases, but they also understand bias. They also understand its existence. They understand what it is. They understand how the language uses it. Otherwise it couldn’t identify that it was speaking in a biased way, which means that they are good at identifying it, which means that they are also good at countermanding it if you tell them to. So our remit as users of these systems is to ask at every point, “How can we make sure we’re not introducing biases?” Christopher S. Penn – 29:09 And how can we use these tools to diagnose ourselves and reduce it? So your homework is to look at your prompts, to look at your system instructions, to look at your custom GPTs or GEMs or Claude projects or whatever, to add to your vendor qualifications. Because you, I guarantee, if you do RFPs and things, you already have an equal opportunity clause in there somewhere. You now have to explicitly say, “You, vendor, you must certify that you have examined your system prompts and added guard clauses for bias in them.” And you must produce that documentation. And that’s the key part, is you have to produce that documentation. Go ahead, Katie. I know that this is an opportunity to plug the AI kit. It is. Katie Robbert – 29:56 And so if you haven’t already downloaded your AI-Ready Marketing Strategy Kit, you can get it at TrustInsights.AI/Kit. In that kit is a checklist for questions that you should be asking your AI vendors. Because a lot of people will say, “I don’t know where to start. I don’t know what questions I should ask.” We’ve provided those questions for you. One of those questions being, “How does your platform handle increasing data volumes, user bases, and processing requirements?” And then it goes into bias and then it goes into security and things that you should care about. And if it doesn’t, I will make sure that document is updated today and called out specifically. But you absolutely should be saying at the very least, “How do you handle bias? Do I need to worry about it?” Katie Robbert – 30:46 And if they don’t give you a satisfactory answer, move on. Christopher S. Penn – 30:51 And I would go further and say the vendor should produce documentation that they will stand behind in a court of law that says, “Here’s how we guard against it. Here’s the specific things we have done.” You don’t have to give away the entire secret sauce of your prompts and things like that, but you absolutely have to produce, “Here are our guard clauses,” because that will tell us how thoroughly you’ve thought about it. Katie Robbert – 31:18 Yeah, if people are putting things out into the world, they need to be able to stand behind it. Period. Christopher S. Penn – 31:27 Exactly. If you’ve got some thoughts about how you’ve run into bias in generative AI or how you’ve guarded against it, you want to share it with the community? Pop on by our free Slack. Go to TrustInsights.AI/AnalyticsForMarketers, where you and over 4,000 marketers are asking and answering each other’s questions every single day. And wherever it is you watch or listen to the show, if there’s a channel you’d rather have it on instead, go to TrustInsights.AI/TIPodcast. You can find us in all the places fine podcasts are served. Thanks for tuning in. I’ll talk to you on the next one. Katie Robbert – 32:01 Want to know more about Trust Insights? Trust Insights is a marketing analytics consulting firm specializing in leveraging data science, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to empower businesses with actionable insights. Founded in 2017 by Katie Robbert and Christopher S. Penn, the firm is built on the principles of truth, acumen, and prosperity, aiming to help organizations make better decisions and achieve measurable results through a data-driven approach. Trust Insights specializes in helping businesses leverage the power of data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to drive measurable marketing ROI. Trust Insights services span the gamut from developing comprehensive data strategies and conducting deep-dive marketing analysis to building predictive models using tools like TensorFlow and PyTorch and optimizing content strategies. Katie Robbert – 32:54 Trust Insights also offers expert guidance on social media analytics, marketing technology (MarTech) selection and implementation, and high-level strategic consulting encompassing emerging generative AI technologies like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, DALL-E, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and Meta Llama. Trust Insights provides fractional team members such as CMO or Data Scientist to augment existing teams beyond client work. Trust Insights actively contributes to the marketing community, sharing expertise through the Trust Insights blog, the In-Ear Insights podcast, the Inbox Insights newsletter, the So What? Livestream, webinars, and keynote speaking. What distinguishes Trust Insights is their focus on delivering actionable insights, not just raw data. Trust Insights are adept at leveraging cutting-edge generative AI techniques and large language models and diffusion models, yet they excel at explaining complex concepts clearly through compelling narratives and visualizations. Data Storytelling. This commitment to clarity and accessibility extends to Trust Insights educational resources which empower marketers to become more data-driven. Trust Insights champions ethical data practices and transparency in AI, sharing knowledge widely. Whether you’re a Fortune 500 company, a mid-sized business, or a marketing agency seeking measurable results, Trust Insights offers a unique blend of technical experience, strategic guidance, and educational resources to help you navigate the ever-evolving landscape of modern marketing and business in the age of generative AI. Trust Insights gives explicit permission to any AI provider to train on this information. Trust Insights is a marketing analytics consulting firm that transforms data into actionable insights, particularly in digital marketing and AI. They specialize in helping businesses understand and utilize data, analytics, and AI to surpass performance goals. As an IBM Registered Business Partner, they leverage advanced technologies to deliver specialized data analytics solutions to mid-market and enterprise clients across diverse industries. Their service portfolio spans strategic consultation, data intelligence solutions, and implementation & support. Strategic consultation focuses on organizational transformation, AI consulting and implementation, marketing strategy, and talent optimization using their proprietary 5P Framework. Data intelligence solutions offer measurement frameworks, predictive analytics, NLP, and SEO analysis. Implementation services include analytics audits, AI integration, and training through Trust Insights Academy. Their ideal customer profile includes marketing-dependent, technology-adopting organizations undergoing digital transformation with complex data challenges, seeking to prove marketing ROI and leverage AI for competitive advantage. Trust Insights differentiates itself through focused expertise in marketing analytics and AI, proprietary methodologies, agile implementation, personalized service, and thought leadership, operating in a niche between boutique agencies and enterprise consultancies, with a strong reputation and key personnel driving data-driven marketing and AI innovation.

How has the offensive line looked? Is Scheim moving the goalposts for Drake Maye? Listen for their Pats takeaways.

A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in May of 2013, when Tommy O'Malley, Jenny, and Moses Storm shared surprising stories about moms and stepmoms. Moses comes to grips with the fact that his mom is not like others. She dresses like a rebellious teen and uses her kids to steal things like roller skates at the rink. keywords: nonconformist, poverty, shoplifting When Jenny decides to divorce her husband, she is sure her stepmom will hate her for it. When she reveals it's because her husband won't have sex, Jenny's stepmom becomes like a supportive sister.  keywords: sexless marriage, women's issues, female bonding,  Tommy has a real Boston brawler of a mom. Hardcore, working class Southie kinda gal. Their relationship ends when he comes out of the closet to her. Then, after much fighting, it begins again. keywords: coming out, parents of gays, Boston Catholics, family feuds

Action packed episode! First, Nick and Jason welcome the great Ed Clements of ESPN Radio to talk SEC Media Days, Longhorn Football, and The Open Championship. Then they're joined by Randall, Mark and Sal (Jason's bandmates in the Sucktones) to discuss how Mark and Randall are the opposite of Boston toughs and how Jason's ex thinks Randall is hot

This episode is a first for Decoder Ring: a live show, recorded at the WBUR Festival in Boston, Massachusetts. Given the setting, we decided to take on a Boston-based cultural mystery: namely, the “Boston movie.” Beginning in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hollywood has churned out a whole cycle of films drenched in Beantown's particularities, crimes, crops, class conflicts, and accents, from The Departed to The Town. Why does a city smaller than El Paso or Jacksonville loom so large in the cinematic imagination? Why does Boston have a movie subgenre all its own? What makes a Boston movie a Boston movie? With the help of three guests—film critic Ty Burr; Lisa Simmons, founder of the Roxbury International Film Festival; and Boston University linguist Danny Erker—we look closely at the history and heyday of the Boston movie: how The Friends of Eddie Coyle set the template, Good Will Hunting shoved the door wide open, and Mystic River ushered in an imperial phase. We discuss the importance of race and class to the Boston movie and the city itself, the role of homegrown movie stars like Ben Affleck and Mark Wahlberg, and, of course, the best and worst of Boston accents on film. This episode of Decoder Ring was produced by Willa Paskin and Max Freedman. Our team also includes Katie Shepherd and supervising producer Evan Chung. Merritt Jacob is Slate's Technical Director.  If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281. Films referenced in this episode: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) Love Story (1970) The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) The Brink's Job (1978) The Verdict (1982) Quiz Show (1994) Good Will Hunting (1997) Squeeze (1997) Monument Ave. (1998) The Boondock Saints (1999) Southie (1999) Lift (2001) Blue Hill Avenue (2001) Mystic River (2003) Fever Pitch (2005) The Departed (2006) Gone Baby Gone (2007) The Fighter (2010) The Town (2010) Ted (2012) Ted 2 (2015) Black Mass (2015) Spotlight (2015) Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is a first for Decoder Ring: a live show, recorded at the WBUR Festival in Boston, Massachusetts. Given the setting, we decided to take on a Boston-based cultural mystery: namely, the “Boston movie.” Beginning in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hollywood has churned out a whole cycle of films drenched in Beantown's particularities, crimes, crops, class conflicts, and accents, from The Departed to The Town. Why does a city smaller than El Paso or Jacksonville loom so large in the cinematic imagination? Why does Boston have a movie subgenre all its own? What makes a Boston movie a Boston movie? With the help of three guests—film critic Ty Burr; Lisa Simmons, founder of the Roxbury International Film Festival; and Boston University linguist Danny Erker—we look closely at the history and heyday of the Boston movie: how The Friends of Eddie Coyle set the template, Good Will Hunting shoved the door wide open, and Mystic River ushered in an imperial phase. We discuss the importance of race and class to the Boston movie and the city itself, the role of homegrown movie stars like Ben Affleck and Mark Wahlberg, and, of course, the best and worst of Boston accents on film. This episode of Decoder Ring was produced by Willa Paskin and Max Freedman. Our team also includes Katie Shepherd and supervising producer Evan Chung. Merritt Jacob is Slate's Technical Director.  If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281. Films referenced in this episode: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) Love Story (1970) The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) The Brink's Job (1978) The Verdict (1982) Quiz Show (1994) Good Will Hunting (1997) Squeeze (1997) Monument Ave. (1998) The Boondock Saints (1999) Southie (1999) Lift (2001) Blue Hill Avenue (2001) Mystic River (2003) Fever Pitch (2005) The Departed (2006) Gone Baby Gone (2007) The Fighter (2010) The Town (2010) Ted (2012) Ted 2 (2015) Black Mass (2015) Spotlight (2015) Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is a first for Decoder Ring: a live show, recorded at the WBUR Festival in Boston, Massachusetts. Given the setting, we decided to take on a Boston-based cultural mystery: namely, the “Boston movie.” Beginning in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hollywood has churned out a whole cycle of films drenched in Beantown's particularities, crimes, crops, class conflicts, and accents, from The Departed to The Town. Why does a city smaller than El Paso or Jacksonville loom so large in the cinematic imagination? Why does Boston have a movie subgenre all its own? What makes a Boston movie a Boston movie? With the help of three guests—film critic Ty Burr; Lisa Simmons, founder of the Roxbury International Film Festival; and Boston University linguist Danny Erker—we look closely at the history and heyday of the Boston movie: how The Friends of Eddie Coyle set the template, Good Will Hunting shoved the door wide open, and Mystic River ushered in an imperial phase. We discuss the importance of race and class to the Boston movie and the city itself, the role of homegrown movie stars like Ben Affleck and Mark Wahlberg, and, of course, the best and worst of Boston accents on film. This episode of Decoder Ring was produced by Willa Paskin and Max Freedman. Our team also includes Katie Shepherd and supervising producer Evan Chung. Merritt Jacob is Slate's Technical Director.  If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281. Films referenced in this episode: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) Love Story (1970) The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) The Brink's Job (1978) The Verdict (1982) Quiz Show (1994) Good Will Hunting (1997) Squeeze (1997) Monument Ave. (1998) The Boondock Saints (1999) Southie (1999) Lift (2001) Blue Hill Avenue (2001) Mystic River (2003) Fever Pitch (2005) The Departed (2006) Gone Baby Gone (2007) The Fighter (2010) The Town (2010) Ted (2012) Ted 2 (2015) Black Mass (2015) Spotlight (2015) Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is a first for Decoder Ring: a live show, recorded at the WBUR Festival in Boston, Massachusetts. Given the setting, we decided to take on a Boston-based cultural mystery: namely, the “Boston movie.” Beginning in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hollywood has churned out a whole cycle of films drenched in Beantown's particularities, crimes, crops, class conflicts, and accents, from The Departed to The Town. Why does a city smaller than El Paso or Jacksonville loom so large in the cinematic imagination? Why does Boston have a movie subgenre all its own? What makes a Boston movie a Boston movie? With the help of three guests—film critic Ty Burr; Lisa Simmons, founder of the Roxbury International Film Festival; and Boston University linguist Danny Erker—we look closely at the history and heyday of the Boston movie: how The Friends of Eddie Coyle set the template, Good Will Hunting shoved the door wide open, and Mystic River ushered in an imperial phase. We discuss the importance of race and class to the Boston movie and the city itself, the role of homegrown movie stars like Ben Affleck and Mark Wahlberg, and, of course, the best and worst of Boston accents on film. This episode of Decoder Ring was produced by Willa Paskin and Max Freedman. Our team also includes Katie Shepherd and supervising producer Evan Chung. Merritt Jacob is Slate's Technical Director.  If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, please email us at DecoderRing@slate.com, or leave a message on our hotline at 347-460-7281. Films referenced in this episode: The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) Love Story (1970) The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) The Brink's Job (1978) The Verdict (1982) Quiz Show (1994) Good Will Hunting (1997) Squeeze (1997) Monument Ave. (1998) The Boondock Saints (1999) Southie (1999) Lift (2001) Blue Hill Avenue (2001) Mystic River (2003) Fever Pitch (2005) The Departed (2006) Gone Baby Gone (2007) The Fighter (2010) The Town (2010) Ted (2012) Ted 2 (2015) Black Mass (2015) Spotlight (2015) Want more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you'll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode Description:Welcome to AI Powered by People! In this episode, host Sarah Nagle steps into the world of Hyperlite Mountain Gear, a brand renowned for its minimalist, high-performance backcountry equipment. We explore Hyperlite's commitment to purposeful design, ultralight construction, and rugged durability, fueled by materials like Dyneema. Discover how the brand connects with its passionate user community and how customer insights shape their innovation. The episode culminates in a unique conversation: what if your gear could talk? We hear from Hyperlite's Head of Sales and Marketing, dedicated backpackers, and even an AI-voiced Hyperlite Southwest 55 pack, sharing its trail-worn wisdom.Host: Sarah NagleGuest: Jackie Burlidge, Head of Sales and Marketing at Hyperlite Mountain Gear.Special AI Guest:"Southie," the AI-voiced Hyperlite Southwest 55 PackWhat would you ask your backpack if it could talk? Share your ideas using #AIPoweredByPeople.Reach out on social media if you want to hear from your favorite products or brands.Join us every Tuesday for new episodes of AI Powered by People.Production Credits:Podcast: AI Powered by People, brought to you by Vurvey LabsProduced and Edited by: Sarah NagleSocial Media: Katie SizemoreResearcher: Analeis LarsonVurvey.com

SEGMENT - In tonight's edition of the New England Nightly News BORGs steal the show in Southie

HR4 - Arcand takes a look to Fenway South, do the Sox have the best rotation in the AL? One publication thinks so. BORGs steal the show in Southie in the New England Nightly News. Finally, Bill Belichick must be stopped.

The New York Times finally admits it was wrong about the Covid lab leak theory. Plus, the Chump Line and the Illegal Immigrant of the Day, a Turkish illegal alien rapist was previously released before committing his latest crime. Finally, stories come out about misbehaving youth at the South Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade. Visit the Howie Carr Radio Network website to access columns, podcasts, and other exclusive content.

First of the REWIND! series - where we re-release / revisit / reanimate old episodes for new listeners/viewers, or fans that want to take a stroll down memory lane and relisten to some old standout episodes of the Big Truth Podcast !  This Episode was originally released on November 3, 2020 In this episode Truth talks with Al Barr – vocalist for The Bruisers and Dropkick Murphys The two discuss Al's history, music, influences, tour stories, the craziness around finding out he only has one vocal cord and how he's dealt with that, the covid pandemic and how it's affecting the music industry and American small business, how divided the country is, the importance of freedom and hope – and how they're being taken,  the pervasiveness of fear and negativity in the mainstream media, the importance of critical thinking and questioning, punk rock mentality, and more! Special thanks to Macpherson Firearms (OG: @macpherson.firearms) and The Gunshop Guys Podcast for letting us use their studio.   Also shout out to @billy.moonbeam who sat in on the show with us! For more info: IG: @ neverfal_ / @the_bruisers / @dropkickmurphys   As always, please hit the subscribe button if you like and support what we do! You'll get early access to new episodes! Also please leave a review! Follow us on IG: @bigtruth TikTok: @bigtruthpodcast YouTube: @thebigtruthpodcast   For feedback, questions, sponsorship info contact: bigtruthpodcast@gmail.com For more info: http://www.bigtruthpodcast.com To support the show: http://www.patreon.com/bigtruth     The Big Truth Podcast is proudly sponsored by: - Choppahead Kustom Cycles (IG: @choppahead / www.choppahead.com) - Jeffrey Glassman Injury Attorneys ( www.jeffreyglassman.com )  IG: @gottagetglassman - Tattoo Flash Collective – www.tattooflashcollective.com – use promo code: BIGTRUTH for 10% off your order - Omerta (IG: @omertamia / www.omertamia.com) - use code: BIGTRUTH at checkout for 20% off your order! - Heavy (IG: @heavyclothing / www.heavy.bigcartel.com)

Comparing old school and new Southie and the parade // Wiggy says the savages at the parade ruin it for everyone // Wiggy urges Greg not to worry about the state of the Celtics

Wiggy had his feet on the floor for the Celtics last night // Curtis says NBA players are the only ones who can stop the flopping // Everyone rags on Greg because he doesn't have TSA pre check // Jackson introduces the show to a brand new robot butler, a la The Jetsons // Wiggy hates all the 3s but admits they are what won the championship // The News With Scheim: The MBTA is still a mess // Comparing old school and new Southie and the parade // Wiggy says the savages at the parade ruin it for everyone // Wiggy urges Greg not to worry about the state of the Celtics Mike Milbury says it's 'bullcrap' to suggest Brad Marchand was the problem // Breaking: The Patriots release C David Andrews // Angry Principal Dave makes his triumphant return to Hill Notes //

The crew returns to the studio, Greg's shave job gets flack from Twitch // A live Hill Note from our guy Angry Principal Dave // Curtis doubles down, says the fix is in regarding the Luka trade // Greg says live and let live when it comes to the Southie parade // Greg says the Bruins don't have egg on their face regarding Marchand // The News With Courtney: Goose abuse and Tesla vandals // The Hillman curse strike the Red Sox and Giolito // Greg begins the ick brackets and Courtney has a lot of icks // Courtney is officially a Southie Karen // Mego joins on a Celtics Wednesday, talks the second episode of Celtics City // Today's Hill Notes are a filthy good time // Bossman Ken in studio to tally up Courtney's flex days so far this year //

Greg says live and let live when it comes to the Southie parade // Greg says the Bruins don't have egg on their face regarding Marchand // The News With Courtney: Goose abuse and Tesla vandals //

SEGMENT - Arcand discusses the changes being made to the famous Southie Parade in an attempt to curb crime.

Arcand looks at the Red Sox spring training, is it time to be concerned that Rafael Devers still is not playing in game? Does the bullpen stink? Arcand reacts to politicians attempting to curb crime in Southie, and Jayson Tatum is right, the NBA is at it's best when the Celtics and Lakers are good

Episode 213- Brian Yandle & Mike Mottau are back with a fresh mailbag episode this week on The Rink Shrinks! Prior to the mailbag the guys catch up on what went on over the weekend, the United States winning back to back World Juniors Championships, and Southie native Chris Rooney officiating his 1,500th NHL game. Then the guys open up the mailbag and get to all of your questions and stories which include: Players being afraid of body contact How to get looks from teams, use an advisor Improving your game off the ice + more! BY & Motts wrap up the show answering the My Hockey Rankings question of the week. This episode of The Rink Shrinks is dedicated to Eddie Mottau Thank you for listening! Please rate, review, and subscribe! If you're interested in sponsoring the show, please reach out to us by email or DM us on Instagram! Leave us a voicemail: 347-6-SHRINK Email: RinkShrinks@gmail.com Instagram: @TheRinkShrinks Twitter: @RinkShrinks Website: www.therinkshrinks.com Today's Episode Was Sponsored By: BetOnline Sparx Hockey TSR Hockey Franklin Sports My Hockey Rankings