Sit Down with Michael Franzese podcast artwork

PODCAST · society

Sit Down with Michael Franzese

From a high-ranking member of the Colombo crime family to a man transformed by faith, Michael Franzese shares his extraordinary journey like no one else can. In Sit Downs with Michael Franzese, Michael dives into raw, unfiltered stories from his life in the mob, his path to redemption, and the lessons he’s learned about faith, family, and overcoming life’s struggles. With gripping interviews and practical insights, this podcast will inspire, challenge, and entertain

Publisher-supplied feed metadata · PodParley refreshed Jun 6, 2026 · Source feed

  1. 147

    Former Mob Boss Interviews Mark Wahlberg About Playing Greg Scarpa in 'By Any Means'

    🍷 Join me in the next video with a glass of wine: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ ✅ Take Control of Your Money and claim $10 in US Stablecoin (USD₮)! Download now at http://wallet.rumble.com/InnerCircle and use the code InnerCircle10. People, I knew the real Greg Scarpa. We were in the same family — I was close with him, and his son Greg Jr. and I were made on the same night. So when Mark Wahlberg sits down with me after playing Scarpa in “By Any Means,” I told him straight to his face: you made him look NICER than he actually was. We get into everything: who Greg Scarpa really was behind the movie version, the story of a mob killer working with the FBI to take down the Ku Klux Klan, what I now believe REALLY happened with the Colombo shooting — and it’s not what everybody thinks — whether Persico knew Scarpa was informing all those years, Mark’s dad playing the numbers back in the day, his faith and why he never hides it, and the question this whole movie hangs on: who’s worse, the mob or the Klan? And is the government ever right to use one monster to catch another? “By Any Means” opens in theaters Friday, September 4th. It’s dark, it’s violent — but that’s exactly who Greg Scarpa was. Go see it, then come back and tell me if I’m wrong. And stay tuned, people — my sit-down with my friend Greg Scarpa Jr. is coming next, and after that, my full review of the movie. Former Mobster Who Knew Greg Scarpa Grades Mark Wahlberg's Performance — To His Face I Was a Capo With the Real Greg Scarpa. I Told Mark Wahlberg How He Really Did. 0:00 — I Told Mark He Made Him Look Nicer Than He Really Was 1:25 — My Sit-Down With Mark Wahlberg 2:37 — Who's Worse — the Mob or the Klan? 3:28 — Mark Almost Played Scarpa Once Before 3:55 — What Really Happened the Day Joe Colombo Got Shot 5:03 — The Guys Scarpa Killed Using FBI Information 6:29 — What the Government Did to Him in Prison 7:37 — I Told Mark Somebody Wants to Play Me 8:20 — His Next Movie Is on Pete Rose 10:19 — My Dad Lived to Play the Numbers 11:14 — The Day They Stole My Hub Caps at the Track 11:49 — Mark's Faith and His Jailhouse Tattoo 14:14 — My Honest Take After Sitting Down With Him 18:36 — Jack Ruby, JFK, and What I Was Told 19:24 — Lucky Luciano and the War Effort 20:24 — How the FBI Used Scarpa to Solve the KKK Murder 21:44 — What I Was Told About Marilyn Monroe 23:00 — The Mob or the Klan — Who's Really Worse? 24:04 — Where the "Italians Are Racist" Myth Started 26:36 — Why Mark's Faith Moved Me 30:26 — Go See "By Any Means" #MarkWahlberg #GregScarpa #ByAnyMeans #MichaelFranzese #Mafia #Colombo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  2. 146

    Ex-CIA Agent Reveals the Spy Skills That Give You an Unfair Advantage

    It’s not often I bring a guest back — but after our first sit-down hit over a million and a half views, Andrew Bustamante earned his seat at my table twice. Ex-CIA intelligence officer. His wife? Also CIA. And this time he brought his new book — and people, I don’t take notes on books. I took notes on this one. We get into the spy skills they don’t teach you anywhere else: how to detect a lie from a trained interrogator’s perspective, why you should trust NO ONE until they earn it — something the CIA and my old life agree on completely — how the CIA recruits people and how you can use the same psychology, the three resources that actually matter, and why there really is a system behind the system. An unfair advantage isn’t an illegal advantage, people. It’s only unfair to those who don’t have it. Now you can have it. Ex-CIA Agent Reveals the Spy Skills That Give You an Unfair Advantage Backbone Media Group 00:00:00 Introduction00:04:40 Interview Start00:11:41 Knowledge, Experience, Intelligence00:19:01 Japanese Screen Culture01:34:15 Outro Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  3. 145

    The Mob Boss and the Christian Debate Champion — The Sit-Down Nobody Expected

    I've done maybe 2,000 sit-downs in my life. This one's different. Sam Shamoun has spent 30 years debating the biggest questions of faith — Muslims, atheists, skeptics, you name it — and people, I've never met anyone in this kind of command of scripture. Me? I found God in a prison cell, three years in the hole, reading a Bible because I had a healthy fear of hell. Two different roads. Same destination. In this sit-down: the evidence for the resurrection that even atheist historians can't deny, what happened when a Muslim apologist shook Sam's faith as a young man — and where that journey took him, why 500 witnesses can't all be hallucinating, the question skeptics still can't answer, and why I say believing in Jesus is a win-win. I'm not here to impose my faith on anybody. I don't care what faith you are — or if you have no faith at all. All I ask is that you hear it out, use your common sense, and decide for yourself. And if you disagree? The comments are open. Prove us wrong. The Mob Boss and the Christian Debate Champion — The Sit-Down Nobody Expected #SamShamoun #MichaelFranzese #Christianity #Apologetics #Resurrection00:00:00 The One Fact You Can't Deny 00:00:50 Take a Good Look at Me — Why I Believe 00:04:43 Meet Sam Shamoun — I'm in Awe of This Man 00:07:48 Sam's Story — From Kuwait to Chicago 00:08:36 The Encounter That Started It All 00:09:54 The Debate That Shook His Faith 00:15:15 Is the Bible Historically Accurate? Let's Be Honest 00:17:47 The Atheist Historian Who Proves Our Point 00:19:10 The Fact No Serious Historian Denies 00:21:53 Why the Empty Tomb Story Has to Be True 00:24:38 Paul HATED Jesus. Then He Saw Him. 00:27:14 I Asked Sam: What Happened When You Read the Quran? 00:31:28 An Angel of Light — Sam's View on Muhammad's Vision 00:41:39 Was Jesus Only a Prophet? Here's the Problem 00:42:08 "God Is Not a Man" — Answering the Objection 00:45:55 The Trinity — Proven From Mark Alone 00:49:32 Why Skeptics Really Reject the Resurrection 00:52:59 500 Witnesses Can't All Hallucinate 00:59:10 3 Years in Solitary — My Healthy Fear of Hell 01:02:02 Are the Jews God's Chosen People? An Honest Answer 01:08:52 The Name Hidden in the Old Testament 01:14:36 The Rapture & the 7-Year Tribulation — Look Again 01:19:45 How to Actually Know Him 01:23:32 Why God Allows Evil — Love Can't Be Forced 01:25:49 "I'm a Made Guy Now" — My Final Thoughts Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  4. 144

    Ex-Mob Boss Recreates Goodfellas Prison Dinner While Telling Wild Prison Stories

    🍝 Get the Goodfellas Bundle — 3 wines + my full Mob Movie Cookbook: https://franzesewine.com/goodfellas I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked about the cooking scene in Goodfellas. “Michael, did you really eat like that in prison?” People — I knew all those guys. All of them. And today I’m finally recreating that iconic prison dinner — the gravy (NOT sauce, and I’ll tell you why we called it gravy), the pasta, the whole scene. I’ll tell you what we REALLY ate on the inside, how close the movie got it, and the one thing they got completely wrong. While I’m cooking, I’m sipping my wine and answering your questions about the life. I did the time so you don’t have to — all you gotta do is watch. Salud! 0:00 — Did I Really Eat Like That in Good Fellas?1:04 — Gravy or Sauce? What My Family Called It1:51 — Paulie Vario's Razor Blade Was Real3:30 — Starting the Meat — Veal, Pork, and Beef5:13 — Al Dente — What Italy Taught Me About Pasta6:52 — Three Years in Solitary Living on Cup of Soup9:22 — The Garlic Scene From Good Fellas10:23 — The Time I Took My Wife to See Good Fellas13:04 — The Godfather "Went to the Mattresses" Scene17:22 — The Only Tomatoes I Use18:21 — I Started Drinking Wine at 10 in My Grandpa's Basement19:26 — What I Really Ate Behind Bars22:14 — Jeffrey MacDonald — What I Saw in His Eyes26:25 — The Year I Spent With the Menendez Brothers32:27 — The Most Authentic Mob Movie I've Ever Seen33:51 — Epstein Didn't Hang Himself — I Was in That Cell35:42 — Why the World Is So Intrigued With the Mob37:47 — The Gift Jimmy Burke Sent Me at Lewisburg40:53 — Diesel Therapy — The Worst Part of My Time Inside42:34 — Why My Wine Comes From Armenia47:07 — Digging In — In Prison, This Would Be Your Whole Day Ex-Mob Boss Recreates Goodfellas Prison Dinner While Telling Wild Prison Stories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  5. 143

    Death Row’s Head of Security Reveals the Truth About Tupac, Keffe D & Suge Knight

    People, this is a big one. I sat down with Reggie Wright Jr. — former Compton police officer and the head of security for Death Row Records — just DAYS before he takes the stand at the Keffe D trial for the murder of Tupac Shakur. I’ve been on trial five times, I know what a proffer is, I know what “queen for a day” means — and I asked Reggie the questions everybody wants answered. Was Keffe D really in the car? What about Diddy’s alleged million-dollar bounty on Tupac and Suge? Why were the rumors pointing at Reggie himself — and what does he say about the night his security team allegedly went unarmed? We get into all of it: Suge Knight, the Biggie investigation, the street code, and why talking on social media is putting people in prison. Death Row’s Head of Security Reveals the Truth About Tupac, Keffe D & Suge Knight #Tupac #KeffeD #SugeKnight #DeathRowRecords #michaelfranzese 00:00 Introduction: Did Keffe D do it? 00:40 The Unsolved Murders That Still Haunt Us 02:42 Tupac & Biggie — 30 Years of Questions 05:10 The Night Tupac Was Shot — How It Really Went Down 06:20 Diddy's Alleged Million-Dollar Contract 06:46 Queen for a Day — How Keffe D Confessed With Immunity 07:22 Then He Wrote a Book About It 07:56 Who Is Reggie Wright Jr.? — Compton Cop to Death Row Security 08:30 The No-Guns Rumor I Had to Ask About 09:00 Why Keffe D Is On Trial RIGHT NOW 12:05 The Sit-Down Begins — He Testifies Tomorrow 13:37 I've Been on Trial 5 Times — Let Me Explain the Proffer 16:09 They Offered Reggie a Proffer on the Biggie Case 17:24 Growing Up With Suge — How He Became Death Row's Security 19:20 Cops & Wiseguys — It Was the Same in New York 21:31 Defunding the Police Is Asinine — We Both Agree 22:59 His Relationship With Suge Today — And the "Free Keffe D" Problem 24:50 Talking Too Much — The Thing That Buries Everybody 26:00 The Rumor He Tried to Take Over Death Row — His Answer 28:30 The Big Question: Was Keffe D in the Car? 30:16 The Bounty — Was It Common Knowledge? 31:33 "You Disarmed the Bodyguards That Night" — Reggie Responds 35:42 Who Really Killed Biggie? 37:49 The Crips & Bloods Today 39:02 Why RICO Hit Us Harder Than the Gangs 40:48 Fentanyl Took a Kid in My Own House 41:14 Testifying Tomorrow — How Will the Defense Come at Him? 42:23 Can Keffe D Beat This Case? 45:27 My Father Held Up a Phone: "This Is a Cop" 47:36 An Open Invitation to Come Back After the Trial 47:58 My Final Thoughts on Reggie 50:08 Be Safe, People Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  6. 142

    If I Started a Mob Family Today, Here’s How I’d Run It

    People ask me all the time — Michael, if you started over today, what would you do differently? So let's have some fun with it. HYPOTHETICALLY. If I built a mob family in 2026, here's exactly how I'd run it. No drugs. No human trafficking — you're DONE. No phones — this thing in your pocket is a COP, and half the guys in prison put themselves there talking on it. I'd run it like a corporation. Quality people, vetted hard. Gambling? Our biggest business. The numbers, the unions, lawyers with clout on the payroll — and yeah, in the age of AI, I'd have the smartest tech guys in the room. We fell the first time because we got careless and the government got ahead of us. I wouldn't make that mistake twice. And I leave you with a question — everything that's illegal is not always immoral. Do you agree with that? Tell me in the comments. Faith-based, gut feeling, whatever it is — I want to hear your position. And people, let me say it one more time so nobody twists my words: I am NEVER going back to that life, and I'm not encouraging anybody — especially you young people — to go anywhere near it. This is entertainment. This is a hypothetical. That life only ends in prison or a grave. I know. I lived it. #Mafia #MichaelFranzese #Mob #OrganizedCrime #Hypothetical Former Mob Boss: How I'd Build a Family in 2026 0:00 Introduction & Personal Gratitude 1:03 Introduction & Personal Gratitude 1:43 The Downfall of the Mob 4:28 Mafia Origins 6:29 The Modern Framework 7:38 Personnel & Vetting 7:55 Tax Fraud & Community Support 9:08 Gambling & Numbers Operations 10:15 AI & Cyber Integration 10:53 Strict Family Rules 14:33 Leadership & Gotti (1996) 16:36 Fear vs. Love in Leadership 18:03 Handling Mob Envy 21:06 Union Control & Political Influence 24:01 Non-Negotiable Rules 25:52 Business Advice & Negotiation Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  7. 141

    Mafia vs. Fauci: How Would The Mob Have Handled The Man Who Shut Down America?

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ ✅ Take Control of Your Money and claim $10 in US Stablecoin (USD₮)! Download now at http://wallet.rumble.com/InnerCircle and use the code InnerCircle10. 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Anthony Fauci went in front of a grand jury and took the Fifth 111 TIMES. People — I’m a former mob boss. I took the Fifth. Frank Costello took the Fifth. Joey Gallo took the Fifth. You know why we did it? Because we were criminals, and we didn’t want to incriminate ourselves. So what’s HIS excuse? The man had a preemptive pardon going back to 2014. In this one I break it all down: why that pardon reaches back six years before COVID, what his own diary gave away, the time I DIDN’T take the Fifth — and got acquitted — and exactly how we would have handled a guy like this in my world. Believe me, we wouldn’t have needed to touch him. We got held accountable for everything. Gambling. Extortion. We paid. I did 8 years. So when does Washington pay? Watch how the mob would have handled Mamdani next: #Fauci #TheFifth #RandPaul #MichaelFranzese #Accountability Mafia vs. Fauci: How Would The Mob Have Handled The Man Who Shut Down America? 00:00 What Was Fauci Worried About?00:37 111 Times — What Happened While I Was Away01:20 The Preemptive Pardon — Why Go Back to 2014?02:36 His Own Diary Gave Him Away03:41 Rand Paul Wants Answers — People Lost Everything04:21 He Takes the Fifth — Let Me Explain How It Works04:55 Worse Than Any Mobster — How We Would Have Handled Him06:19 I Took One Shot — I Was One of the Suckers06:57 You Had a Pardon, Fauci. What Were You Afraid Of?07:37 Costello, Gallo & How They Jailed US for Silence09:06 The Pardon Doesn't Cover the States — Tuberville Steps Up09:55 A Dog and Pony Show Until Somebody Acts10:19 The Media Covered for Him — They Buried Trump11:00 Blood on His Hands — Where's the Accountability?12:39 This Isn't About Trump13:08 A Pardon and STILL Afraid to Talk15:17 The Time I Talked to the Feds — And Got Acquitted17:04 He Has Something to Hide — Don't Let Him Gaslight You17:47 Aaron Rodgers Called Him Out18:44 I Paid for What I Did. When Do They?19:26 111 Times. Unprecedented.19:58 Find Me on TikTok — Lives Twice a Week Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  8. 140

    My Last Sit Down With Sopranos Actor Vincent Pastore - RIP Vinny

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ ✅ Take Control of Your Money and claim $10 in US Stablecoin (USD₮)! Download now at http://wallet.rumble.com/InnerCircle and use the code InnerCircle10. 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ This is a sad one, people. My friend Vinny Pastore passed away over the weekend. 80 years old. You knew him as Big Pussy on The Sopranos, and as Angelo Ruggiero — a man I knew personally — in the 1996 Gotti movie. He nailed that role. I told him so to his face. Vinny was the real deal. A good actor, a better man. Always had time for a fan, a photo, an autograph. Everybody who knew him will tell you the same thing. Back in 2021 we sat down together — and I’m glad we did. He told me stories you won’t hear anywhere else: how Armand Assante turned into John Gotti right in front of him at the audition, holding Anthony Quinn’s baby on set, his years with Tony Sirico, and how a guy from the Bronx who thought he’d be dead by 50 ended up in the greatest show ever made. We’ve lost too many of these guys the past few years — Ray Liotta, Jimmy Caan, Tony Sirico, Burt Young — and now Vinny. So watch this one, enjoy him the way I got to, and keep his family in your prayers. Rest easy, Vinny. See you on the other side, my friend. 00:00:00 — Introduction00:00:54 — A Sad Day — We Lost My Friend Vinny Pastore00:02:26 — The Great Ones We've Lost — Liotta, Caan, Sirico & More00:04:24 — My 2021 Interview With Vinny — In His Memory00:04:57 — How Vinny Became Angelo Ruggiero — I Knew the Real Angelo00:06:52 — Armand Assante, Anthony Quinn & the Baby on Set00:07:53 — The Bar Scene — Nobody Ever Played It Better00:08:41 — Wine Under the Table — The Freedom They Had on Gotti00:09:51 — Touring the World With the Sopranos Cast00:12:30 — The Secret Casablanca Records Movie00:13:23 — I Was in That Office With My Father — Casablanca & Buddah Records00:14:56 — The Disco Days — My Clubs, His Clubs, Old New York00:18:07 — Why Vinny Walked Away From the Nightlife00:18:52 — "You're Going to Be Dead at 50" — The Night He Chose Acting00:20:22 — Broadway, Chicago & Beating Tony Darrow for the Part00:22:26 — Vinny's Acting Lesson — Take the Two-Line Role00:24:09 — I Asked Him: How Do You Remember All Those Lines?00:27:41 — Tony Sirico — Best Friends From Episode Two00:28:41 — The Day David Chase Called ME About The Sopranos00:30:27 — Getting Whacked — The Truth Behind the Funhouse Episode00:31:51 — "I'm Not Getting Rid of Vinnie" — Tony Fought for Him00:32:30 — Jimmy Caan Told Him: "You Got Robbed at the Emmys"00:33:26 — When The Sopranos Was a Sunday Night Lifestyle00:34:12 — "Don't Beg" — How He Filmed His Final Scene00:34:47 — Liz Hurley Loved My Father — The Mickey Blue Eyes Days00:36:49 — We Made a Commitment On Camera — A Series Together00:41:16 — Vinny & Danny Provenzano — Getting Sick, Making Peace00:43:29 — "I Was Scared, Man" — Vinny Opens Up About Cancer00:46:01 — My Father at 103 — Still a Bull00:49:12 — I Challenged Him to a Pizza Face-Off — Slices vs. Mulberry Street00:53:32 — Two Old School Guys, Two Commitments00:58:44 — "So We Did Grow Up"01:00:13 — Our Goodbye — Mob Movie Monday & See You Soon01:02:02 — My Farewell to Vinny — I'll See You on the Other Side #VincentPastore #TheSopranos #BigPussy #RIP #michaelfranzese My Last Sit Down With Sopranos Actor Vincent Pastore - RIP Vinny 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  9. 139

    The Tates Were Arrested. I Know Them Personally. Here’s the Truth.

    🛡️ See if your SSN is for sale right now. My sponsor Cloaked will tell you for free in 2 seconds here: https://cloaked.com/franzese 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Everybody’s talking about the Tates getting arrested in Miami. The UK charges. The extradition. Everybody’s got an opinion. Here’s the difference — I know them personally. I’ve sat with them in Romania. My wife and daughter were with me. I’ve read the case files. I spent 8 years inside the system these boys are about to face. And the British government? They came after ME too — over a photograph. So before you believe what they’re feeding you, watch this. In this one: what I’ve actually seen in the case, my own run-in with the UK, what really happens when the Marshals arrest you, what that Miami jail is like on the inside — and my prediction for exactly how this ends. And I’ll tell you like I always do — I deal in facts. If credible evidence comes out, I’ll be the first to say it. So far? Nobody’s shown me anything. Watch the full video and decide for yourself: are they guilty? 00:00 — Do I Believe the Charges? 00:32 — Croatia, a Wedding & 41 Years Married 01:44 — Why I Stayed Quiet on the Tates — Until Now 02:31 — The DeSantis Conspiracy Nonsense 03:16 — I Speak From Experience — 8 Years Inside 06:02 — Let's Be Honest About Their Remarks 07:17 — Inflammatory vs. CRIMINAL — Know the Difference 08:05 — I Know the Tates. Here's What I've Seen. 09:20 — I Read the Romania Case Files. Garbage. 10:23 — California & Florida — Cases That Fell Apart 12:19 — The UK Came After ME — Over a Photograph 14:17 — Do I Trust the UK? No. Here's Why. 15:08 — The OnlyFans Question Nobody's Asking 17:03 — Are They My Friends? Yes. Here's the Real Target. 17:36 — Society Failed Young Men — That's Why Tate Exists 19:03 — What the Gangbangers in Prison Taught Me 20:05 — Not One Documented Case 21:06 — The Phone & the Jewelry — I Did the Same Thing 23:01 — I Spent Two Nights in MCC Miami. It's a Hole. 24:01 — 202 Exonerated — When Prosecutors Lie 26:06 — The Educators Have Zero Credibility 27:21 — Is This Political? Absolutely. 28:44 — If I'm Wrong, I'll Say It 30:22 — Social Media Is a Sewer 31:24 — Rules of MY Comment Section 33:41 — Don't Trust Government — We Live in a Mafia Democracy 35:18 — To Everyone Calling Me Uncle Mike 36:28 — My Prediction: Extradition, Bail & the Plea 38:30 — "Call Me a Rat" — Setting the Record Straight 39:25 — Giuliani Prosecuted Me. Now We're Friends. 40:22 — How This Ends — They Extort Worse Than the Mob 41:42 — God Bless the Tates #AndrewTate #TristanTate #TateArrest #Miami #Extradition #michaelfranzese Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  10. 138

    Mamdani Is Erasing Italians From New York — Former Mob Boss Responds

    Mamdani put out a map of New York's immigrant neighborhoods for the whole world to see — thirty of them. And he left MY people off of it. Little Italy. The Greeks. The Jewish neighborhoods. The Irish. Then he tells us it was an "accident." People — I got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. And that's not all he did. After 55 years, he denied the Italian-American Civil Rights League the license to celebrate Columbus Day. The league Joe Colombo started. My father was part of that fight. I take this PERSONALLY. We built the subways. We built the bridges. We built that city. And this clown wants to erase us from it? Not on my watch. In this one I get into all of it — the map, the permit, the socialism scam they're running on all of you, and what we would've done about a guy like this back in the day. Mamdani Is Erasing Italians From New York — Former Mob Boss Responds 0:00 — "He's a Clown" — The Cold Open0:36 — Greetings From Switzerland (Wedding on Lake Como)1:35 — What Mamdani Did to the Italians2:29 — Two Offenses: The Map + The Columbus Day Permit3:09 — A Word From Franzese Wine4:14 — Little Italy Reacts (Street Interviews)5:57 — "It Wasn't an Accident" — Who Got Left Off7:06 — The Socialism Scam — Bigger Than Any Mob Scam9:02 — Reagan Was Right10:14 — "Mamdani Is a Fraud" — A New Yorker Speaks10:29 — Joe Colombo, the League & 55 Years of Columbus Day11:44 — A Word From Rumble Wallet13:26 — Take Responsibility — Why He Won14:11 — $37 Trillion — The Politicians Did This15:05 — Pelosi & the Insider Trading Game16:53 — Would the Mob Have Stood For This?18:14 — Why Do We Resent Billionaires?19:45 — Newsom Out West, Mamdani Out East20:35 — "You Should Be Ashamed of Yourself"22:09 — Wrap-Up + Ministry Monday Announcement24:00 — One Last Salute From Franzese Wine Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  11. 137

    Most Dangerous Criminal Organizations Ranked By Ex Mobster

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ ✅ Take Control of Your Money and claim $10 in US Stablecoin (USD₮)! Download now at http://wallet.rumble.com/InnerCircle and use the code InnerCircle10. 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ I spent 20 years inside one of these organizations — now I’m ranking all of them. The cartels, the ’Ndrangheta, the Yakuza, the Triads, the Russians, the Irish, and yes, my own people. Four tiers: no rules no remorse, ruthless and relentless, dangerous with discipline, and business first, blood last. Where I put Cosa Nostra might surprise you.This isn’t just research. I did business with some of these groups, met their people on the street and in prison, and I’ve talked to the DEA and FBI agents who hunted them. One of these organizations shot down a military helicopter. One brings in $50 billion a year and most Americans have never heard of them. And one of them might be the most violent group on the face of the earth.Tell me where I got it wrong — and if I missed an organization, put it in the comments. I read them. 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 - Introduction: Built on Blood00:39 - My History With These Groups02:39 - The Rules: Four Tiers of Violence04:04 - Sinaloa Cartel06:18 - Jalisco New Generation Cartel07:50 - Medellín Cartel: Silver or Lead09:04 - MS-1310:21 - 'Ndrangheta: The Quiet Giant14:14 - Yakuza15:48 - The Irish Mob and the Westies17:13 - Whitey Bulger Was Working With Feds18:00 - Cosa Nostra: My Own People20:17 - Where I Put the Mafia23:18 - The Russian Mafia25:13 - Two Rankings for the Russians25:44 - The Triads27:38 - The Final Rankings28:05 - Tell Me Where I'm Wrong29:45 - Why I Do What I Do Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  12. 136

    Critics Hate Citizen Vigilante. Audiences Love It. Former Mob Boss Explains Why

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Critics and audiences are at each other’s throats over Citizen Vigilante, and I’m going to tell you what this fight is really about. This isn’t a review like the critics give — I lived on the other side of this fantasy. A masked vigilante hunting down criminals the system let walk, including a mob boss? I know exactly what happens to a guy like that on the street, and it doesn’t end the way it does in the movie.I break down where this film really came from, why audiences love it, why critics can’t stand it, and the one thing both sides are missing. Plus the story of the time we went hunting for the Son of Sam — the cops came to us for help, and we gave it.Fair warning: it’s a rough, violent film, and I say so. Watch to the end for what I think you should actually do about a system that fails people. Critics Hate Citizen Vigilante. Audiences Love It. Former Mob Boss Explains 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected]:00 - Introduction: Critics vs Audiences at War00:50 - Mob Movie Mondays Is Coming Back01:30 - Today's Movie: Citizen Vigilante02:39 - The Real Story Behind This Film06:15 - Banned in Germany, Boosted by Musk07:34 - Let Me Ask You This08:31 - I'd Go to Jail Gladly11:33 - Let Me Defend the Critics13:11 - The Whole Fight Right There14:36 - Inside the Movie: Key Scenes16:41 - I Put Senators on the Spot18:54 - I Know the Government Is Shady20:06 - Vote Them Out of Office22:16 - The Real Root of Crime25:18 - The Movie's Brutal Climax27:01 - When We Hunted Son of Sam29:17 - The Numbers That Tell Everything32:58 - He's Dead in a Week34:36 - The Moment That Turned Me Off36:11 - You'd Have Loved Our Neighborhood37:36 - 50 Cents and the Hypocrites Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  13. 135

    Which Politicians Could’ve Survived The Mob? Ex-Capo Decides

    ✅ Take Control of Your Money and claim $10 in US Stablecoin (USD₮)! Download now at http://wallet.rumble.com/InnerCircle and use the code InnerCircle10. 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ I ranked 15 of the most well-known politicians in America on one question: could they have made it in the mob? This isn't political — Democrats and Republicans get sized up the same way I'd size up any guy on the street. Are they cunning? Calculated? Could they pull the trigger if they had to? Three categories: made man (or woman), survivor, or total mamaluke — forget about it. Some of these answers are going to surprise you. There's a president who never would've lasted a week, a governor who'd smooth his way in but end up with a bullet in the head, and a speaker of the house I believe could've pulled the trigger herself. I lived this life for 20 years — I know who makes it and who doesn't. Tell me who I got wrong, and give me a politician I missed. Salud. Which Politicians Could’ve Survived The Mob? Ex-Capo Decides 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  14. 134

    Former Mob Boss Reveals What Real Mobsters Actually Ate

    ✅ Take Control of Your Money and claim $10 in US Stablecoin (USD₮)! Download now at http://wallet.rumble.com/InnerCircle and use the code InnerCircle10. 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ People ask me all the time: Michael, what did you guys actually eat? What was on the table? So today I’m giving you the real mob menu — not what Hollywood shows you, what these men actually loved. Al Capone’s favorite wasn’t a heavy tomato gravy — it was spaghetti with walnut sauce. Lucky Luciano, one of the most powerful Italians in history, preferred kosher pickles and corned beef from a Jewish deli. John Gotti? You’re not going to believe it — Cracker Barrel. I go through them all: Meyer Lansky’s cheese blintzes, Carlos Marcello’s Gulf seafood, Mickey Cohen’s French dip, Raymond Patriarca’s Sunday gravy, Joe Colombo’s table at Rao’s, the Genovese boss who kidnapped a chef because he couldn’t get a reservation, and Henry Hill — who told me himself his favorite was chicken soup. Then I’ll tell you what my father Sonny loved on Sundays, and my own go-to dish. I lived around these tables. Food was everything in that life. Hope I make you hungry. Salud. Former Mob Boss Reveals What Real Mobsters Actually Ate 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  15. 133

    The World Was Wrong About America — And Now They’re Admitting It

    💸 Sign up for Freecash via my link: https://freecash.com/c/f27266?sub1=michaelfranzese_YT_r1 — get a $10 bonus! Start earning extra money online today. ✅ Take Control of Your Money and claim $10 in US Stablecoin (USD₮)! Download now at http://wallet.rumble.com/InnerCircle and use the code InnerCircle10. 🛳️ Franzese Family Cruise - Sign Up Now: https://www.vacationofdreamstravel.com/GroupRegistrations/view/138596 🍷Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ The whole world just apologized to America — and I’m watching it happen from my hotel in Monaco. With the World Cup here, people are coming to the United States from the UK, France, Japan, South America, everywhere, and they’re saying the same thing: “We owe America an apology.” They were told it was dangerous. They were afraid they’d get mugged or shot. They believed the propaganda about my country. And then they got here — and found the most generous, warm, welcoming people they’d ever met. Fans paying for strangers’ meals. High school stadiums nicer than anything back home. A GoFundMe in Boston just to keep the players around longer. I’ve traveled all over the world, and I’ve been saying this for years: America is the greatest country on earth. It’s a shame it took the World Cup for the world to see it — and even more of a shame that so many people here still don’t. This is my take. God bless America. Salud. 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 - Introduction: We Owe America an Apology 01:06 - Reporting From Monaco 02:46 - Why the World Was Afraid to Come 05:30 - The Welcome That Stunned Them 07:40 - America Is Beautiful Coast to Coast 09:30 - The Boston GoFundMe 11:20 - How Spoiled We Are Back Home 13:40 - The People Who Hate This Country 15:10 - The Push for Socialism 18:00 - Where Has Socialism Ever Worked 20:30 - The Movement to Abolish Prisons 24:00 - Why Accountability Matters 26:30 - Why I Don't Believe in the Death Penalty 28:40 - The Spirit of 1776 31:00 - Unchecked Immigration Is Destroying Europe 33:00 - We Want America to Stay America Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  16. 132

    Former Cop EXPOSES The Number One Killer Of Police

    I grew up hating cops. My father was Sonny Franzese, underboss of the Colombo family, and I spent my whole life on the opposite side of the badge. So when I sat down with Kevin Donaldson — a New Jersey cop who got shot on the job and came home a different man — we got into something most people never see: what that life really does to you. The mob and the badge look like opposite worlds, but the dark truth is what they have in common. The trauma. The things you can’t unsee. The hidden cost nobody warns you about. Kevin will tell you what cops carry that they never talk about, why he says it’s worse than anything I witnessed on the street, and how a man comes back from the edge. Two opposite sides of crime. One conversation. This one stayed with me. Salud. Mafia vs Police: Is One Life More Brutal Than The Other? Former Mob Boss and a Cop EXPOSE the Hidden Cost of That Life Former Cop EXPOSES The Number One Killer Of Police 00:00 - Introduction: The Cop's #1 Killer 01:06 - Welcome and Today's Guest 04:45 - Why Michael Hated Police 06:19 - Pain Into Purpose 07:56 - Suffering as the Path 09:33 - The Book on Jesus 09:47 - Coming Out the Other Side 11:25 - Total Surrender 13:06 - Surrender Means You're Not Alone 14:52 - Suicide: The Silent Epidemic 15:51 - Losing His Partner 16:44 - What Officers Face Daily 18:26 - Don't Compare Your Trauma 22:08 - The Closed Casket 23:14 - How Trauma Rewires the Brain 23:45 - EMDR Explained 24:46 - Judging Yourself Hardest 25:35 - The Domestic Call 26:35 - Trapped and Ready to Die 28:19 - The Aftermath at Home 29:36 - Becoming a Monster 30:09 - Learning to Manage It 30:55 - Why Men Stay Silent 35:08 - The Role of Faith 36:17 - Crying at Church 38:12 - Surviving Without God 39:00 - Finding Your Primary Identity 40:32 - Where to Start 42:38 - The Truth About Defunding Police 44:05 - Wolves, Sheep, Sheepdogs 45:48 - Lord of the Flies 46:50 - A Necessary Evil 48:16 - Morale of Police Today 49:26 - Are We Near the End Times? 51:20 - Closing Reflections Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  17. 131

    Russian Mafia vs The Italian Mob: Expert REVEALS Which Organization Was More Brutal

    💸 Go to https://7minutetrade.com/ now to reserve your spot for the 7-Minute Income Summit. Discover how to potentially make $3,000-$5,000 monthly without complicated strategies, big risks, or sitting at a computer all day. Free LIVE virtual event June 25th & 27th. ₿ Take Control of Your Money and claim $10 in US Stablecoin (USD₮)! Download now at http://wallet.rumble.com/InnerCircle and use the code InnerCircle10. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Offer available to US residents only. Offer not available in New York State. Must be 18+. Offer is available for a limited time and for the first 500 wallets activated and funded. Details and full official rules available at http://rumble.com/promoofficialrules. 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ I made millions with the Russians. For almost eight years they were my best business partners on the street — and then I went to prison, and it all went bad. So when I sat down with Joe Ciro, I had to get into it. Joe spent about ten years in Russia working with the CIA, he wrote the book on the Russian mob, and he knows that world from the inside out. We get into how the Russian mafia really operates, why their hardcore guys aren’t afraid of anything America can throw at them — no prison here comes close to what they survived over there — and how all of it compares to what we had in the Cosa Nostra. Here’s what surprised me: I always thought the Russians were the most violent. Joe makes the case the Mexican mafia and the Russians are more alike than either is to us, because they’re intertwined with their own governments in a way we never were. We get into Russian culture, the bribes that run everything, socialism, and where it’s all heading. This was a fascinating one. Salud! Russian Mafia vs The Italian Mob: Expert REVEALS Which Organization Was More Brutal 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 0:00 - Introduction: They Don't Fear Anything 1:08 - Who Is Joe Serio 2:58 - The Hardcore Russian Code 6:33 - Society Collapsed, Everything Up for Grabs 7:00 - KGB and the Crime Groups 8:39 - Who Was Really More Violent 10:30 - Russian and Mexican Mafia Are Alike 12:22 - Take Out Mexico, Put In Russia 14:12 - Bribes From the Age of Nine 15:13 - How Moscow Changed by 2019 16:46 - Stories From the Soviet Union 20:39 - They Knew How to Party 23:23 - The Sad Ending With My Partners 26:13 - Why the FBI Got It Wrong 29:30 - Russia, China, Iran: Different Worlds 31:14 - What I'd Tell People Championing Socialism 33:42 - The Digital Gulag 37:20 - Will the Ukraine War Ever End 40:26 - Putin Will Lose 43:32 - What Happens After Putin Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  18. 130

    Ex-Mob Boss Cooks Mafia Style Chicken Cacciatore (Old Family Recipe)

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ You loved the chicken parmesan so much that I had to come back and do this one — chicken cacciatore. But let me tell you the difference. Chicken parmesan? That’s an Italian-American dish. Ask for it in Italy and they’ll throw you right out of the restaurant. Chicken cacciatore is the real thing — it comes straight from Italy. Here’s what I’ll tell you about chicken: I’ll eat almost anything a little overcooked or undercooked, but dry chicken? I’m sending it back every time. The beauty of this recipe is you can’t dry it out — it simmers right in the sauce and stays moist and tender. It’s simple, about an hour, and you can throw in whatever you like: peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives, all over a bed of rice. I first made this for my wife years ago when she was just learning to cook Italian — now she makes it better than I do. While I cook, I’ll be pouring my fruit wines and telling you a few stories along the way. This is the real Italian way. Salud! Ex-Mob Boss Cooks Mafia Style Chicken Cacciatore (Old Family Recipe) 0:00 - Introduction: Shopping for Chicken Cacciatore 2:47 - Why I Cook Twice a Year 3:36 - The Coupon Lady Problem 4:12 - Surprising My Wife on Saturday 4:35 - Italian Dish, Not Italian-American 5:02 - Why I Send Chicken Back 6:18 - Starting the Recipe: Legs and Thighs 7:25 - Cutting the Onions and Peppers 11:24 - Searing the Chicken 13:25 - The Wolfgang Puck Story 15:49 - Browning, Not Cooking 17:12 - Adding Onions and Peppers 17:55 - Don't Forget the Garlic 19:36 - It Comes From Calabria 20:16 - Croatia Was Wonderful 20:51 - Black Pepper Goes In 22:28 - The Rice and Chicken Broth 23:17 - Adding the Olives 23:49 - The Mutti Sauce for Color 26:25 - This Chicken Won't Be Dry 28:34 - Bringing My Wife to Sunday Dinner 31:44 - Teaching My Wife to Cook Italian 33:36 - Plating the Dish 34:14 - The First Bite 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  19. 129

    Former Mob Boss Reacts To The 10 Greatest Mob Movie Scenes Ever

    ₿ Take Control of Your Money and claim $10 in US Stablecoin (USD₮)! Download now at http://wallet.rumble.com/InnerCircle and use the code InnerCircle10. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Offer available to US residents only. Offer not available in New York State. Must be 18+. Offer is available for a limited time and for the first 500 wallets activated and funded. Details and full official rules available at http://rumble.com/promoofficialrules. 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ People keep asking me to bring back Mob Movie Monday, so today I’m doing something a little different — and I think you’re going to enjoy it. I picked out about ten of the most iconic scenes from the greatest mob movies ever made — Casino, The Godfather, Goodfellas, A Bronx Tale, Donnie Brasco — and I’m recreating them my own way. If that was me sitting in that chair, how would I have handled it? Some of these guys came in hot. I usually did things a little smoother — same result, but nobody ran to the law afterward. I’ll tell you which scenes are real, which lines we actually said on the street, and the one scene from the 1996 Gotti movie that gave me chills because it was so authentic. I even share how I really handled a situation on the 1984 Jackson Victory Tour. I’m not an actor — but I lived this. Let me know what you think in the comments. 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 0:00 - Introduction: Recreating the Scenes My Way 1:24 - Why Mob Movie Monday Went Away 4:34 - Casino: Nicky and De Niro in the Desert 7:32 - Casino: The Banker and the Bat 9:54 - The Godfather: The Funeral Director 11:41 - The Godfather: Ending the War 13:15 - Goodfellas: Funny How? 15:06 - A Bronx Tale: The Craps Game 16:44 - A Bronx Tale: Now You Can't Leave 18:14 - Donnie Brasco: I Got Sent For 20:20 - Donnie Brasco: The Cigarette in the Car 21:31 - The 1996 Gotti Movie 22:30 - The Scene That Gave Me Chills 27:39 - Why the Life Changed After My Era 28:44 - How I Handled the Jackson Tour Deal 32:13 - Same Effect, Done Differently Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  20. 128

    George Soros: Everyone Knows The Name — Nobody Knows What He’s Done

    I’ve spent my life around people who knew how to make money when everything fell apart. So when I started looking into George Soros, I recognized something. One currency collapses and he walks away richer. A nation’s economy breaks and his name turns up again. Then again. And again. At some point you stop calling it luck and start asking if it’s a pattern. In this one I walk through the crises — the Bank of England, the countries that never recovered — and I lay out what keeps repeating. I’m not here to tell you what to think. I’m here to show you the playbook and let you connect the dots. Because once you see how this works, you can’t unsee it. This is one of the most important things I’ve looked into, and I want you to watch it with your own eyes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  21. 127

    This Podcast Made Me Feel Like I Was Back In The Mob

    I just landed and walked straight into this one — sat down with the Hot Cakes and Hot Takes guys and we went deep. I tell the story of the day I visited my father in Leavenworth and the one question he asked me before I got made, the answer that changed my life. I explain what the oath actually is, because people get it wrong. And I get into something most people have never heard: back in 1982, I bought into Trump Tower in cash with a Russian partner whose brother was KGB — and forty years later, the FBI came knocking, trying to turn that deal into their Russia connection. I'll tell you exactly what I told them. There's a lot more in here — solitary, the war that almost took me with it, and yeah, they even had me do the "funny how" scene. This one's got it all. This Podcast Made Me Feel Like I Was Back In The Mob Former Mob Boss EXPOSES The Real Reason The FBI Targeted Trump Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  22. 126

    Sean Hannity vs. Michael Franzese: He Wouldn't Let It Go

    🛌 Thank you Helix Sleep for sponsoring! Visit https://helixsleep.com/michaelfranzese to take advantage of their Memorial Day Sale Exclusive Partner Offer and get 27% Off Sitewide! 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Sean Hannity got things out of me in this sit-down that I haven't told anyone in 30 years. He asked me straight up if I ever saw a murder, and I gave him an answer I've never given on camera before. We got into the Marilyn Monroe story my father took to his grave — why Bobby Kennedy called J. Edgar Hoover and told him to bury my dad. I told Sean how the FBI took $33 million from me in Austria — they basically robbed the money I robbed from them. And the night in 1991 that should've ended me, the one that 13 of my guys didn't survive. This is the longest conversation Sean and I have ever had, and he didn't let me off the hook on anything. Sean Hannity vs. Michael Franzese: He Wouldn't Let It Go 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 - Introduction: My Father Was Sonny 01:46 - Marilyn Monroe And My Father 02:25 - Why Hoover Buried The Mafia 06:20 - Saw Guys Get Killed 07:13 - First Time Admitting It 07:36 - Too Many Times 07:50 - Things That Still Haunt Me 09:51 - The Government Robs Worse 11:52 - 29 Months In Solitary 13:02 - $33 Million In Austria 14:51 - They Robbed It Back 15:27 - Your Smile Gives It Away 17:23 - I Wasn't Looking For That 18:33 - What Trump Told Me 19:35 - Giuliani Threatened Me 100 Years 20:36 - My Father Got Railroaded 22:45 - No Legitimate Way Out 23:48 - Your Father Went Along 24:43 - Writing My Own Death Warrant 25:25 - The Reason I'm Still Alive 28:13 - Never Told This Story Before 29:18 - 15 Agents Out Of Nowhere 29:50 - The War That Saved Me 30:06 - Join michaelfranzese.com/family Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  23. 125

    From JFK to the iPhone: 75 Years Through the Eyes of a Former Mob Boss

    I was born in 1951. I was made in 1975. And on May 27th, I’ll be 75 years old. Three quarters of a century on this planet. I lay in bed the other night and I started thinking about everything I’ve lived through — every president, every war, every cultural shift, every mob story I was in the middle of. So I sat down and I wrote it all down decade by decade. JFK’s assassination. Vietnam. Joe Colombo getting shot. Halloween night, 1975. The Commission trial. Doing my time. 9/11. The Sopranos finale. COVID. Right up to today. Some of it’ll make you smile. Some of it’ll make you angry. All of it shaped who I am. Consider this my thank you to all of you who’ve been with me on this ride. And if you’ve been around long enough, maybe it’ll bring back some memories of your own. From JFK to the iPhone: 75 Years Through the Eyes of a Former Mob Boss Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  24. 124

    Former Mob Boss and a Colombo Soldier: Expose the Truth Behind the Last Mob War

    I sat down with Greg Scarpa Jr. last week, and he told me a story I almost couldn’t believe. Now I’m sitting down with a second man who lived it from the other side, and he’s corroborating every word. Frankie Steele was a Colombo associate during the Persico-Orena War. He was 21 years old in the safe houses, in the wired cars, in the murder trials that put him away for over a decade. He’ll tell you exactly how the war started, how an FBI agent named Lin DeVecchio fed Greg Scarpa Sr. the addresses of the men they were trying to kill, why every trial after his ended in acquittal, and why my friend Michael Sessa is still rotting in a prison cell 34 years later for a murder he didn’t commit. This is the puzzle nobody could finish telling — until now. Two of the three living men who know the whole story are sitting in front of you. Listen to what they have to say. Former Mob Boss and a Colombo Soldier: Expose the Truth Behind the Last Mob War Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  25. 123

    He Was Cellmates With The 9/11 Mastermind — And Tried Warning The FBI About It

    🍾 Join Me In Celebrating My 75th Birthday, Sign up for this free event here!: http://celebrate.michaelfranzese.com/ 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Greg Scarpa Jr. and I got made the same night — Halloween 1975. I hadn’t seen him in 45 years. Now he’s out, and he’s telling me a story I almost couldn’t believe — except every piece of it checks out. While Greg was locked up in MCC New York, he was housed next to Ramzi Yousef, the man who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993. Greg got close to him. Yousef started passing him written notes through the cracks in the wall — plans to blow up planes, kill prosecutors, take down the World Trade Center. Greg gave it all to the FBI. They had photographs, kites, recorded calls. Then they buried him in supermax for 12 years and made him out to be a liar. Why? Because Greg was about to expose a corrupt FBI agent who’d put dozens of our guys in prison. You tell me what kind of country does this. Listen to what he says and decide for yourself. He Was Cellmates With The 9/11 Mastermind — And Tried Warning The FBI About It 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  26. 122

    The Ultimate Mafia Dream Team — Picked by a Former Mob Boss

    I lived that life for over 20 years. I was a Capo Regime in the Colombo family. So when people kept asking me — Michael, if you could build your dream mafia crew from movie characters, who’d be on it? — I figured we’d have some fun with it. Think of it like fantasy football for the mob. In this one, I draft my perfect crew: the boss, the underboss, the consigliere, the capo, the enforcer, the soldier, and the money guy. Don Corleone, Tony Soprano, Sonny from A Bronx Tale, Luca Brasi, Donnie Brasco, Tony Montana, Hyman Roth, Phil Leotardo — all the heavy hitters. Some of these picks were close calls. Some I’d bet my life on. Tell me in the comments who you’d put on your dream team — and who I got wrong. The Ultimate Mafia Dream Team — Picked by a Former Mob Boss 🛡️Get free life insurance quotes from America’s top insurers and start saving today with Policygenius: http://policygenius.com/franzese Thanks to Policygenius for sponsoring this video! 🍕 Celebrate My 75th birthday with Slices Pizza, a Bottle of Franzese wine, and a Special Seat at my table!: https://franzesewine.com/75 00:00 - Introduction: The Mafia Dream Team 03:21 - The Seven Roles Explained 09:43 - The Boss: Who Sits at the Head? 11:48 - My Dream Boss 13:21 - The Underboss: Right-Hand Man 15:35 - Who Steps Up If the Boss Goes Down? 17:24 - The Consigliere: The Counselor 22:51 - The Capo: Street Boss 27:13 - The Enforcer: When Words Don't Work 31:05 - The Soldier: Boots on the Ground 33:36 - Why I Wouldn't Make My Own Crew 36:11 - The Money Guy: The Earner 40:08 - Reviewing the Full Dream Team Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  27. 121

    Which Hollywood Mob Actors Could’ve Been Real Gangsters? Ex-Capo Decides

    🍕 Celebrate My 75th birthday with Slices Pizza, a Bottle of Franzese wine, and a Special Seat at my table!: https://franzesewine.com/75 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ I spent over 20 years in that life. I know exactly what it takes to survive — and what gets you killed. So when I watch these Hollywood actors play mob roles, I always ask myself the same question: could they have actually made it on the street? In this one, I take 24 of the most iconic mob actors ever — Brando, Pacino, De Niro, Pesci, Gandolfini, Sirico, Stallone, Imperioli, Cillian Murphy, all of them — and I put them in three categories: Made Man, Survivor, or Forget About It. Some of these guys I knew personally. Some I only know by reputation. But you might be surprised who I think could have actually pulled it off — and who wouldn’t have lasted a week. Tell me in the comments who you think I got right and who I got wrong. Which Hollywood Mob Actors Could’ve Survived That Life? Ex-Capo Decides 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  28. 120

    Russell Brand REVEALS Powerful People, Dark Cabals, and Hollywood Lies

    🍕 Celebrate My 75th birthday with Slices Pizza, a Bottle of Franzese wine, and a Special Seat at my table!: https://franzesewine.com/75 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Russell Brand told me something in this conversation I wasn’t expecting — and I have to share it. He’s facing serious charges in the UK. He’s become a Christian. And the cynics are saying he’s faking it for the trial. I heard the same thing said about me my whole life. So I sat down with him and let him talk. We covered his new book, his faith, the dark side of Hollywood and Epstein, why Gen Z is finally turning toward something real, and the system he says wants every one of us “switched off.” Innocent until proven guilty — that’s where I stand, always. But what he had to say about culture, power, and Christ? You need to hear this one for yourself. Russell Brand Opens Up Like You’ve Never Seen Him 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 - Introduction: In The World But Not of it? 00:56 - Why I Trust Russell's Faith 04:03 - Sitting Down With Russell Brand 04:53 - "Faith Won't Help in Court" 05:53 - The UK Has Gone Fully Secular 07:30 - Empire vs Kingdom 09:23 - Why Drugs Pointed Him to God 13:32 - Andrew Tate and Unchecked Audiences 14:36 - The Moment Christ Came to Him 17:12 - 23 Years Sober and a Dying Dog 24:33 - The World Is Controlled By Evil 28:44 - Satan Wants His Own Kingdom 32:52 - My 29 Months in Solitary 34:00 - A Healthy Fear of Hell 36:24 - Gen Z Is Buying Bibles 37:46 - The Pandemic Was a Taster Tape 40:33 - "The World Has Hypnotized You" 45:21 - They Want You Switched Off 47:06 - Christianity Is a Relationship 49:18 - Hell Is Real, Eternity Is Real 57:26 - Hollywood's Dark Side Exposed 59:58 - The UK Is Locking People Up Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  29. 119

    Why Does America Give Israel $3.8 Billion? A Former Mob Boss Explains the Deal

    🍾 Join Me In Celebrating My 75th Birthday, Sign up for this free event here!: http://celebrate.michaelfranzese.com/ 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Tucker Carlson, Theo Von, Candace Owens — they’ve all said America gets nothing from Israel and that we’re wasting billions propping them up. But do the numbers actually support that? I read an article today that breaks it down in a way nobody in the media is talking about — where the $3.8 billion actually goes, how much comes back to American companies and American jobs, and why Israel may be saving us far more than we’re spending. I don’t necessarily agree with everything in it, but the numbers are real and nobody is debunking them. I also give my honest take on Netanyahu, Trump, the Iran war, and why I think you can’t call a man a dictator on Monday and say he’s being led by the nose on Tuesday. Come at me with the evidence. I’ll change my mind. Why Does America Give Israel $3.8 Billion? A Former Mob Boss Explains the Deal 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 - Introduction: Are We Getting a Good Deal With Israel?00:39 - Welcome + Today's Controversial Topic01:17 - The Israel Blackmail Theory — Show Me the Evidence03:00 - The Article: US Aid Pays Off Big for America04:06 - Tucker Carlson: America Gets Nothing From Israel05:30 - Theo Von: All Our Money Goes to Israel — Wrong06:55 - Candace Owens — No Proof, Just Rage08:33 - The Real Question Deserves a Real Answer09:07 - The Author: Joseph Epstein — Who Is He?10:03 - The Truth: Most of $3.8B Must Be Spent on American Equipment10:29 - Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon — American Companies10:54 - The F-35 Program: 290,000 American Jobs11:44 - Israeli Intelligence Would Cost America Five CIAs12:52 - Israel Saves America 10-20 Years in R&D13:27 - Israel Is America's Strategic Anchor in the Middle East15:09 - Israel Replaces Multiple US Aircraft Carriers — For Free16:07 - Israel's Air Offensive — Best Sales Pitch Lockheed Ever Had16:53 - We Give $3.8B — They Invest $24B Back Into America18:08 - The Strategy: Shifting US Military Focus to the Pacific19:02 - Tucker Posted From Doha in Qatari Garb — Think About That19:39 - The Real Grift: Selling Rage for Ad Revenue20:24 - I Robbed the Government Once — I'm Not Doing It Again21:19 - The Podcasters Aren't Serious. The Numbers Are.22:00 - Nobody Controls Trump — Not Netanyahu, Not Anyone22:23 - You Can't Call Him Hitler and Say He's Led by the Nose23:06 - In Israel, They Say Trump Is Leading Netanyahu — Who's Right?23:33 - Michael's Israeli Friend Who Hates Netanyahu24:43 - Giving Trump the Benefit of the Doubt on Iran26:47 - Iran's School Curriculum: Teaching Children to Kill Americans28:06 - The Best Way to Defeat Your Enemies Is to Make Them Friends28:34 - Trump Tried to Make a Deal With Iran — Nobody's Saying That28:41 - You Got Your Foot on Their Throat — Don't Let Up29:40 - Bring Me the Evidence. I'll Change My Mind.30:14 - Final Thoughts + Be Safe Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  30. 118

    Former Mob Boss Debunks the WHCD Shooting Conspiracies — And Calls Out the Real Problem

    💪🏼 For a limited time, our listeners get 50% off FOR LIFE, Free Shipping, AND 3 Free Gifts at Mars Men at https://Mengotomars.com 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 🛡️Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Three attempts on a sitting president's life. No president in American history has gone through that. And nobody wants to talk about why it keeps happening. I break down everything that went down at the White House Correspondents Dinner — the facts, the misinformation, the conspiracy theories spreading online, and the one thing nobody on either side wants to say out loud: the rhetoric from the top is getting people killed. I also call out Jimmy Kimmel's disgusting "expectant widow" comment about Melania, the media spreading garbage before they even knew what happened, and why — when made guys on the street had more respect for each other than politicians do today — we have a real problem in this country. I'm not holding back. Former Mob Boss Debunks the WHCD Shooting Conspiracies — And Calls Out the Real Problem 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 - Introduction: Three Attempts — Nobody Is Asking Why 00:31 - Welcome + What Happened at the WHCD 02:00 - The Rhetoric From the Top Is Getting People Killed 03:01 - When the Mob Had More Respect Than Politicians 06:04 - Calling Trump Hitler, Fascist, Dictator — All Lies 07:51 - The Correlation Nobody Wants to Admit 09:05 - If You Can't Admit Biden's Failures, You Have Zero Credibility 10:19 - Trump's Rhetoric — What Michael Won't Defend 11:19 - Lawfare Against Trump — The Facts 13:15 - Who Was the Shooter and What Did He Say? 14:13 - Where Did His Rage Come From? 15:27 - The Mob Can Teach Politicians Something 15:39 - Candace Owens and the Misinformation Machine 17:07 - "It Was Staged" — A Former Mob Boss Responds 19:10 - What Michael Actually Supports About Trump's Policies 23:31 - In the Mob, You Called Someone That — You Died 24:26 - Trump Called the Cops on Epstein — Use Your Head 26:27 - The Facts of What Actually Happened 27:07 - Homeland Security Unfunded for 73 Days — Think About That 27:51 - Ilhan Omar's $30 Million "Accounting Mistake" 30:06 - Weak People With Power — That's the Real Problem 33:38 - The Shooter's Background and Manifesto 35:30 - It Starts at the Top — And Trickles Down 36:08 - Democrats Wouldn't Stand for Murdered Women at the State of the Union 38:14 - Paid Protesters Belong in Jail 39:09 - Thank the Secret Service — And Fund Them 39:51 - Misinformation Exploded Before Anyone Knew the Facts 41:03 - "It Was Staged" Debunked — All of It 46:28 - Conspiracy Theories About Charlie Kirk's Widow — Disgraceful 47:37 - Jimmy Kimmel — A Pathetic Coward 49:33 - "Expectant Widow" — What He Said About Melania 54:07 - What You Can Call Politicians — And What You Can't 56:17 - People Are Dying — This Has to Stop 59:45 - Thank the Secret Service. Fund Them Properly. Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  31. 117

    What Your Doctor Isn’t Telling You About Cancer — A Survivor Breaks It Down

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ My friend Brett Oubre was told he had six months to live. That was 14 years ago. I sit down with Brett — brain cancer survivor, successful businessman, and one of the most genuine people I know — for an honest conversation about what he did differently, why he walked away from the standard chemo and radiation protocol, how diet and mindset changed everything, and what he’d tell anyone who just got a cancer diagnosis today. He also shares something that stopped me cold: doctors found a mass on his brain years before the seizure that led to his diagnosis — and nobody said a word. This is a conversation that could save someone’s life. What Your Doctor Isn’t Telling You About Cancer — A Survivor Breaks It Down 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  32. 116

    Tommy Robinson: The Islamic Invasion Destroyed Britain — America Is Next

    🍾 Join Me In Celebrating My 75th Birthday, Sign up for this free event here!: http://celebrate.michaelfranzese.com/ 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Tommy Robinson has been jailed, silenced, threatened, and put on an ISIS kill list. He came to America for one reason — to warn us before it’s too late. I sit down with Tommy for a wide-ranging and at times shocking conversation about Britain’s grooming gang scandal, the cover-up from the highest levels of government, the Muslim Brotherhood’s documented plan for America, the Strait of Hormuz blockade, why he believes Trump is saving Western civilization, and what he says is already happening in Texas right now that most Americans have no idea about. He also tells me what he’d say to Trump if he got the chance to sit down with him. His answer surprised me. This is a conversation you won’t see on mainstream media. There’s a reason for that. Tommy Robinson: The Islamic Invasion Destroyed Britain — America Is Next 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  33. 115

    The Greatest Sopranos Characters Of All Time Ranked by a Real Former Mobster

    I was asked to consult on The Sopranos before it ever aired. I turned it down. The rest is history. Now I’m finally giving you the breakdown nobody else can give — a real former mob boss rating every major character from the real deal to flat-out mamaluke. Tony visiting a psychiatrist? Dead in a week. Christopher Moltisanti? Never should have gotten made. Vito Spatafore? Don’t get me started. I go through every major character and tell you exactly where they’d land in real mob life — and where the show got it right and dead wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  34. 114

    Former Mob Boss Breaks Down the Iran War — And What Happens If Trump Loses

    🍾 Join Me In Celebrating My 75th Birthday, Sign up for this free event here!: http://celebrate.michaelfranzese.com/ 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ I’ll be straight with you — Iran has been our avowed enemy for 47 years. They’ve killed Americans, they were building a nuclear weapon, and they’ve murdered 16,000 of their own people this year alone. This isn’t politics. This is common sense. In this video I break down exactly where the Iran war stands right now — the failed ceasefire talks, the Strait of Hormuz blockade, why the Democrats’ hypocrisy on this is staggering, and what Trump absolutely must do to finish this. I also address Netanyahu’s influence, Trump’s campaign promise of no new wars, and why America cannot afford to walk away from this without winning. I’ve got no horse in this race except my children, my grandchildren, and this country. That’s enough. Former Mob Boss Breaks Down the Iran War — And What Happens If Trump Loses 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 - Introduction: America Must Win01:35 - Is This a War? Michael Calls It02:14 - Trump Promised No New Wars02:55 - Venezuela vs. Iran — Not the Same03:41 - Iran Has Been Our Enemy for 47 Years04:21 - Would Iran Actually Use a Nuclear Weapon?04:44 - Iran Said They Could Build One in 11 Days05:29 - Obama's Nuclear Deal Funded Their Weapons06:10 - Trump Gave Iran Every Chance — They Refused06:41 - He Invaded. Here's Why Michael Supports It.07:53 - They're Murdering Their Own People — 16,000 This Year08:10 - As a Christian Nation, Can We Just Watch?09:40 - When You've Got Your Enemy Down, Finish It10:07 - The Ceasefire Talks That Fell Apart10:39 - The Strait of Hormuz Blockade Explained11:41 - Iran Is Begging to Come Back to the Table12:02 - The Democrats' Hypocrisy — It's All on Video13:08 - They Don't Care About America. They Hate Trump.14:09 - Newsom: The Biggest Fraud in Politics15:08 - Trump Must Keep His Foot on the Jugular15:59 - What Trump Said That He Shouldn't Have Said16:37 - The Madness Behind Trump's Method17:02 - What Trump Is Quietly Doing Right17:51 - Democrats Have No Policies — Just Anti-Trump19:31 - Where the Iran War Stands Right Now19:53 - Netanyahu: Influence Yes. Control? No.23:03 - The Policies Michael Supports — All of Them26:57 - Vote for Policies. Not Personalities.28:06 - If America Wins This War — What It Means29:21 - America First. Forget MAGA.30:09 - What Victory in Iran Actually Looks Like31:12 - The American Dream — What It Really Is32:44 - Democrats Rooting Against America — Shame on Them34:27 - Let's Hope and Pray America Wins34:43 - God Bless + Final Thoughts Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  35. 113

    Has Trump Finally Lost It? A Former Mob Boss Gives His Honest Verdict

    🍾 Join Me In Celebrating My 75th Birthday, Sign up for this free event here!: http://celebrate.michaelfranzese.com/ 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ I’ve supported Donald Trump. I still support a lot of his policies. But this week I have to be honest — and if you know me, you know I’m going to tell it like it is no matter who it offends.Trump went on Truth Social and called Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones low IQ and stupid. I know Tucker personally. He is neither of those things. None of them are. Then Trump posted an image of himself that looked like Jesus Christ — and had to take it down. I’m a Christian. I can’t stay quiet on that. I’m also going to give you my honest take on Iran, Netanyahu, and why Trump desperately needs a real consigliere — not a yes man. The mob got that part right. This isn’t me turning on Trump. This is me calling it like I see it. Has Trump Finally Lost It? A Former Mob Boss Gives His Honest Verdict 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  36. 112

    Former Mob Boss Breaks Down Machiavelli — This Is What Real Power Looks Like

    🔵 Get Exclusive NordVPN deal + 4 months extra here → https://nordvpn.com/franzese It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Anyone can lead when times are good. Real leadership shows up when everything is falling apart — and I know that firsthand. In this video I break down the most powerful leadership lessons from Machiavelli’s The Prince and overlay them with what I actually lived inside one of the most high-pressure criminal organizations in American history. We cover the four ways leaders rise, how to manage your reputation like a weapon, how to read timing and opportunity, and most importantly — how to lead through crisis without losing your people, your credibility, or yourself. Machiavelli described human nature as it really is. I lived it. Now you’re going to learn it. 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 - Crisis Doesn't Weaken Leaders. It Defines Them. 00:34 - What Real Leadership Actually Means 01:05 - Why People Misunderstand Machiavelli 02:37 - How Leaders Rise — The Four Paths 04:53 - Path 1: Inherited Power 05:42 - Path 2: Earned Power 06:20 - Path 3: Opportunistic Power 07:00 - Path 4: Forced Power 07:35 - Your Origin Shapes Your Strengths 07:54 - Public Image Is Part of Your Strategy 10:06 - Protect Your Reputation Like an Asset 10:30 - Real Virtue vs. Appearing Virtuous 11:06 - When Character and Image Align 11:35 - Timing Is a Weapon — When to Move 12:21 - Patience Is Also a Weapon 12:38 - How to Recognize Opportunity 13:01 - Opportunity Favors the Prepared 13:26 - Crisis Leadership — Five Rules 13:53 - Rule 1: Respond Fast, Not Emotionally 14:02 - Rule 2: Own Truth, Control the Narrative 14:15 - Rule 3: Separate Facts From Noise 14:22 - Rule 4: Protect the Mission Not Your Ego 14:31 - Rule 5: Rebuild Trust Through Action 15:16 - The Fox and the Lion 16:00 - Calm Is the New Currency 16:27 - Accept the Situation Quickly 16:38 - Prioritize Ruthlessly in a Crisis 17:09 - How to Decide Without Perfect Information 17:52 - Your Three Types of Capital 18:03 - 1: Financial Capital in a Crisis 18:17 - 2: Human Capital — Who Steps Up? 18:41 - 3: Political Capital — Alliances Save You 19:00 - How to Maintain Authority Under Pressure 19:50 - Never Lose Your Long-Term Vision 20:22 - What Remains When It's All Said and Done 20:28 - Legacy, Succession and Your Code 21:14 - Build Systems, Not Dependencies 22:27 - Develop the Leaders Behind You 23:47 - The Founder's Trap — Let Go or Stop Growing 24:28 - The Lines You Will Never Cross 25:05 - Leadership Is About Who You Built Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  37. 111

    The Time a Jewish Scam Almost Took Down the Italian Mob

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Giuliani looked me in the eye in that courtroom and said, "Franzese, if I convict you on this case, you're getting 100 years." I looked right back and said, let's go for round five. This is the case nobody ever talks about — one of the very first RICO trials ever used against the mob, before the famous Commission case, before any of it. I was a defendant. I know exactly what happened. Now there's a book written about it — Wise Guys, Rabbis and the FBI by Mel Cooper — and I'm giving you my side of the story. The backroom deals, the FBI undercover agent who told the truth, the defendant who walked out of prison by mistake on a 30-year sentence, and the moment I called my future wife and said pack your bags, we're getting married in Vegas. It's all here. Get the book on Amazon. Then come watch this. The Time Jews and Italians Got Indicted Together — My Wildest Case Ever The Time The Italian Mob Got The Upper Hand on Jewish Scammers The Time a Jewish Scam Almost Took Down the Italian Mob 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 - Welcome + Easter Blessings 01:07 - The Book: Wise Guys, Rabbis & the FBI 01:44 - Arrested Off His Own Plane 02:16 - "Why Are We Going to Manhattan?" 03:46 - Giuliani Threatens Him With 100 Years 04:00 - "Let's Go Round Five, Rudy" 04:29 - Michael Goes to the Prosecutor Himself 05:36 - Seven Italians, Eight Jews on Trial 06:04 - Reading From the Book 08:19 - Giuliani's First Ever RICO Case 09:29 - The Defendant Who Walked Out Free 11:05 - The Italians Walk, The Jews Convicted 11:26 - The Tape That Cost One Man Seven Years 13:35 - Reading the Verdict — All Counts 14:39 - The Jury Decided in the First Hour 15:48 - Acquitted — "Pack Your Bags, We're Getting Married" 16:22 - Michael's Real Involvement With Mel Cooper 18:07 - The FBI Boxing Sting — Don King & Michael 20:32 - The Undercover Agent Michael Never Knew 21:12 - The Agent Who Told the Truth 22:13 - Al Sharpton: Mob Payroll to FBI Informant 24:38 - The John Riggy Window Case 26:15 - Michael Takes the Weight for a Friend 27:38 - Sent Back to Prison for Loyalty 28:22 - Senate Hearings Are a Dog and Pony Show 29:36 - Read the Book — Final Recommendation 30:07 - Final Thoughts + God Bless 31:30 - Join michaelfranzese.com/family Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  38. 110

    Former Mob Boss Gives His Verdict on Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ I’ve lived the life Tommy Shelby is trying to escape — and I’m telling you, this movie hits different when it’s not fiction to you. Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man just dropped on Netflix and I gave it a full breakdown — the father and son tension, the Nazi counterfeit scheme, the demons that follow you when the life is over. I take you through my ten biggest takeaways from the film, and I get personal about what Tommy Shelby’s story actually reflects about my own life, my own father, and what it really costs when you walk away from all of it. Watch the series first if you haven’t. Then come back and watch this. You’ll understand why. Former Mob Boss Gives His Verdict on Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 - Welcome + Peaky Blinders Movie Review01:28 - The Series, Cast & Backstory02:07 - Nazis, Counterfeit Money & Britain's Economy03:01 - What Does "The Immortal Man" Mean?03:36 - Full Cast Breakdown05:12 - Takeaway #1: Curse or Gift?06:17 - Michael's Demons Come Out at Night07:22 - Can You Ever Escape Your Past?08:06 - Can a Criminal Ever Truly Retire?09:09 - Takeaway #2: The Next Generation Takes Over09:46 - Why His Son "Duke" Sided With the Nazis10:05 - Michael's 10 Years Without His Father11:06 - Takeaway #3: Crime Threatens an Entire Nation12:00 - Takeaway #4: Family Loyalty vs. Self-Destruction12:36 - Takeaway #5: The Moral Compromise14:17 - Takeaway #6: Haunting, Melancholy, and Dark15:21 - Takeaway #7: Revenge and Final Reckoning15:43 - Takeaway #8: Cinematic Upgrade — Real Movie Feel16:39 - Takeaway #9: End of an Era18:03 - My Verdict18:20 - Is Blood Really Thicker Than Water?21:05 - Two Brothers Who Killed Their Father21:44 - Father and Son — A Reconciliation22:10 - Watch the Movie AND the Series23:16 - Final Thoughts Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  39. 109

    They’re Planning A Fake Alien Invasion - UFO Expert EXPOSES The Truth

    🗝️ Go to my sponsor https://venice.ai/franzese and use code franzese to enjoy private, uncensored AI. Using my code will get you 20% off a pro plan. 🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ I sit down with one of the most controversial and fascinating guests I’ve ever had on this channel — Dr. Steven Greer, the world’s leading UFO disclosure expert, retired physician, and founder of the Disclosure Project. Dr. Greer has spent 33 years briefing CIA directors, senators, and presidents on what he calls the biggest cover-up in human history. He told me straight out that this operation would make the mafia look like nothing — and coming from me, that’s saying a lot. What you’re going to hear in this conversation is going to challenge everything you think you know. Dr. Greer claims that JFK was assassinated because he was getting too close to the truth, that Marilyn Monroe was killed for the same reason, that there are living extraterrestrials in captivity right now, and that a covert group has been planning a fake alien invasion for decades — and Trump may be the only person standing in the way of it happening. Is it real? I let him talk. I asked the hard questions. Then I give you my honest take at the end. You make up your own mind. They’re Planning A Fake Alien Invasion - UFO Expert EXPOSES The Truth 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 - If They Were Hostile, We'd Already Be Gone 01:22 - Welcome + 2 Million Subscriber Goal 02:11 - Michael's Take: Do UFOs and ETs Actually Exist? 04:46 - Meet Dr. Steven Greer — Briefing the CIA for 33 Years 05:20 - Did Obama Just Accidentally Admit Aliens Are Real? 06:08 - Trump's Executive Order and the Files They're Hiding 07:21 - "This Would Make the Mafia Look Like Nothing" 10:46 - Man-Made, Extraterrestrial, and Extra-Dimensional — Three Different Things 13:13 - Covert Programs and Criminal Enterprises Since the 1950s 15:33 - The CIA Document That Proves They Staged Alien Abductions 16:38 - $12 Trillion Missing From the Pentagon — Here's Where It Went 17:24 - The Free Energy Technology They've Been Suppressing for 80 Years 19:03 - Who's Really Behind This? The Consortium Nobody Can Name 19:31 - They Killed Kennedy Over This 23:20 - Marilyn Monroe Was a Hit — What She Knew Got Her Killed 24:32 - Senior Military and Law Enforcement Finally Want Answers 31:09 - He Was Offered $2 Billion to Stay Quiet — He Said No 31:42 - Black Sites, Underground Bases, and the GPS Coordinates 33:26 - Rumsfeld Said $2.3 Trillion Was Missing — The Day Before 9/11 34:07 - Lockheed Skunk Works: "Anything on Star Trek, We Already Have It" 38:10 - Will Trump Succeed? Or Is This the Epstein Situation All Over Again? 39:38 - The World's Largest RICO — Using the Same Law That Took Down the Mob 40:14 - Hard Evidence: Over 1,000 ET Craft Retrieved, Bodies in Storage 42:34 - What Do They Actually Look Like? 69 Species Catalogued 44:56 - Why Aren't They Hostile? The Physics Argument That Changes Everything 47:40 - Our Technology Is Way Ahead of Our Spiritual Development 48:29 - The Buga Sphere: A 12,560-Year-Old ET Artifact Found in Colombia 51:21 - CE5 Contact: How Greer's Team Communicates With ET Civilizations 54:24 - Living Extraterrestrials in Captivity — Greer Asked Trump to Free Them 55:27 - "They're Closer to Gandhi or Christ Than Anything We Are" 57:55 - A Greater Threat Than China, Russia, or Iran 58:28 - We're Out of Time — The Three Scenarios That Could End Everything 59:17 - They Can Fill the Sky With Man-Made UFOs and Fool Everyone 1:00:25 - Gulf of Tonkin. 9/11. COVID. The Pattern You Need to See 1:01:11 - Wernher von Braun's Deathbed Warning About the Alien Hoax 1:02:09 - The 70-Year Plan to Stage a Fake War and Install Totalitarian Control 1:04:14 - Trump Is the Only Thing Standing Between Us and a Fake War of the Worlds 1:05:10 - Joe Rogan Buried This. Sean Ryan's Family Was Threatened. 1:06:48 - "If I Get Threatened, This Interview Airs" 1:08:36 - Michael's Personal Take: Here's What I Actually Believe 1:11:46 - The Religious Question: What Does the Bible Say About Any of This? 1:14:04 - Final Thoughts — Make Up Your Own Mind Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  40. 108

    Mexican Presidential Insider Reveals How Cartels Really Run the Country

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Today I sit down with Enrique De La Madrid – son of a former Mexican president and one of the few people who actually understands how deep the corruption runs. We get into the cartels’ new gas tax scam that mirrors the exact gasoline hustle I ran back in the life, how cartels kidnap opposition and rig elections, why parts of the Mexican government are effectively in business with organized crime, and what that really means for your safety, tourism, and the future of the drug war. This one will change the way you look at Mexico, the cartels, and our own government on both sides of the border. Mexican Presidential Insider Reveals How Cartels Really Run the Country 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 0:00 – Cartels rigged Mexico's elections. Real facts.1:05 – Welcome & introducing Enrique De La Madrid2:11 – Son of a president, ran for office himself6:32 – Mexican government is in bed with cartels7:00 – The cartel gas tax — straight from my playbook9:37 – Witnesses who knew the truth were killed10:14 – Cartels moved way beyond just drugs19:27 – Did Mexico's president take $20M from El Mencho?20:43 – Fentanyl is 1,000x more profitable than cocaine22:43 – Cartels kidnapping politicians to steal elections25:29 – Trump labeled cartels terrorists — was it smart?28:47 – El Mencho dead — what happens to CJNG now?30:35 – Is Mexico actually safe to visit right now?33:19 – Cartels launder money through Puerto Vallarta businesses35:07 – The "narco peace" — what it really means36:26 – I recognize this — it's the mafia's old extortion playbook40:00 – Should US troops operate inside Mexico?43:34 – Why aren't we teaching kids about drugs instead?46:04 – Will Enrique run for president of Mexico again?47:03 – Michael's closing thoughts: this is happening here too Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  41. 107

    Ex-Mob Boss & Ex-CIA Agent: Iran, Israel, and Epstein Are All Connected

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ I thought I understood Epstein, Israel, and the war in Iran… until this conversation. In this sit down, CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou walks me through why he believes Epstein was working as an access agent, how Israel and Mossad might sit at the center of more than we think, why the Kennedy files still aren’t fully released 60 years later, and what’s really behind the Iran war and Trump’s decisions. I don’t say this lightly: this one actually made me rethink some things. Ex-Mob Boss & Ex-CIA Agent: Iran, Israel, and Epstein Are All Connected 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00:00 – Introduction: Epstein Was A Mossad Spy?00:01:03 – Meet Ex-CIA Agent John Kiriakou00:06:15 – How Epstein's Spy Network Worked00:14:07 – 3 Million Documents Still Being Hidden00:20:09 – The CIA's Secret Kill List00:22:55 – Is The Iran War Israel's War?00:25:15 – Netanyahu Threatened Trump With Nukes00:27:47 – Iran Never Had A Nuclear Program00:32:25 – Why They Won't Release The Documents00:36:12 – JFK Files They're Still Hiding00:41:31 – 10,000 Documents All Point To Israel00:42:40 – Why Israel Wanted Kennedy Dead00:43:06 – How Israel Controls American Politics00:49:00 – Inside The Prison Epstein Died In00:55:23 – Mossad's Blackmail Files On Everyone00:57:47 – CIA Agent: Epstein Was Murdered00:58:20 – Did America Bite Off Too Much?01:02:20 – Why NATO Won't Join The War01:05:04 – Bill Clinton & The Epstein Deposition01:06:52 – The Truth They'll Never Tell Us Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  42. 106

    Ex-Mob Boss cooks chicken Parmesan (Secret Franzese Family recipe)

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/👨🏻‍🍳 Get The Exclusive Mafia Apron Here: https://franzesewine.com/apron 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ I’m back in the kitchen people. And today I’m making one of my favorite old-school Italian-American dishes: chicken parmesan. This is the kind of meal that brings back memories of family, tradition, and the simple way we used to eat at home, and I’m showing you how I make it step by step the way it should be done. I’m keeping it simple, fresh, and delicious — just like the best family recipes always are. Along the way, I share a few stories, a few tips, and a little of the history behind the food, the wine, and the way we grew up around the table. Get The Chicken Parmesan Recipe Here: https://franzesewine.com/chicken-parm-recipe Ex-Mob Boss Cooks Real Chicken Parmesan (Secret Franzese Family Recipe) 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 – Introduction: I’m back! 02:27 – Cooking brings back memories 03:16 – My grandfather made wine 05:00 – My onion trick in sauce 06:03 – Fresh basil brings memories 08:20 – Organic is the way to go 08:56 – My grandma’s meatballs set the bar 10:28 – Step 1: Always Pound the chicken thin 11:47 – The Paul Castellano chicken story 15:47 – Flour, eggs, breadcrumbs 16:48 – Stories of My Grandparents 18:03 – My grandfather Was A Racist? 21:11 – Tootie the Lion: My Other Grandfather 22:23 – Step 2: Fry The Chicken 23:14 – Chicken parm isn’t from Italy 23:34 – Mozzarella, not parmesan 24:00 – I always drink wine with food 24:42 – Our 50th anniversary wine 25:28 – Europe makes healthier wine 27:54 – Step 3: Pasta has to be al dente 29:27 – Step 4: Sauce, cheese, and oven 31:20 – Food brings people together 34:19 – Step 5: Into the oven it goes 35:48 – My made-man anniversary 38:04 – The pairing is perfect 39:27 – Cherry wine grew on me 42:27 – Which Wine Pairs Better? 44:56 – Whats Next on Cooking With Michael? Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  43. 105

    Anabel Hernández: The Woman the Cartels & Mexican President Want Dead

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ The rule of law doesn’t exist in the shadows. We’ve all seen the headlines about El Mencho, El Chapo and the cartels, but the headlines are just the “front.” For twenty years, Anabel Hernández has been digging into the basement of the Mexican government—and what she found is a virus that’s reached the highest levels of power. She’s survived raids, assassination attempts, and a life in exile for one reason: She knows where the bodies are buried. And more importantly, she knows who gave the order to dig the graves. In this sit-down, we aren’t talking about “street crime.” We’re talking about the business of a failed state. This is the reality they don’t want you to see. This is the truth that costs lives. Anabel Hernández: The Woman the Cartels & Mexican President Want Dead 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  44. 104

    John Gotti: The Reason We Still Talk About the Mob

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ John Gotti turned murder into a media moment and a crime family into his personal stage. From the shots outside Sparks Steakhouse to a life sentence in a concrete box, this doc walks you through how a kid from Brooklyn with a chip on his shoulder became the last great “celebrity gangster” – and how that fame turned into a loaded gun pointed at his own head. You’ll see the real power struggle with Castellano, the truth behind the “Teflon Don” trials, what it meant when Sammy flipped, and why the old‑school mob quietly died in Gotti’s shadow. This isn’t about glorifying the life. It’s about showing you exactly how it ends. John Gotti: The Reason We Still Talk About the Mob 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 – The Sparks Steakhouse hit on Paul Castellano 00:35 – John Gotti seizes the Gambino family 01:00 – From mob boss to folk hero 01:41 – Michael’s intro and purpose of the series 02:22 – Why John Gotti and Al Capone stand above the rest 03:32 – “He was who he was” – Gotti’s attitude toward being a mobster 03:52 – Why RICO, not Gotti, really killed the Mafia 05:05 – The best Gotti movie Michael recommends 05:38 – Gotti’s hungry beginnings: Bronx and Brooklyn 06:03 – Seeing wiseguys as “the way out” 07:05 – Young Gotti’s brutality, charisma, and explosive temper 08:22 – First big step into the Gambino family under Carmine Fatico 09:09 – Carlo Gambino orders the McBratney hit 09:31 – Gotti shoots in public and gets caught 10:05 – Neil Dellacroce becomes Gotti’s powerful mentor 10:40 – Gambino picks Castellano over Neil – the family splits 11:24 – Gotti the neighborhood hero and the tragedy of his son Frank 12:31 – White‑collar Paul vs blue‑collar John – two mobs in one family 14:07 – Tapes, drugs, and why Gotti knew it was “him or Castellano” 15:28 – December 16, 1985: Castellano and Bilotti are murdered 16:22 – Gotti becomes boss and embraces full‑blown celebrity 17:36 – Beating RICO and becoming the “Teflon Don” 19:22 – FBI bugs the Ravenite – the beginning of the end 21:39 – Sammy the Bull flips and the government’s case locks in 23:01 – Guilty on all counts – the Teflon is gone 24:04 – Life in Marion: 23‑hour lockdown and losing control 26:00 – Throat cancer, Springfield, and Gotti’s final years 27:30 – Death, funeral, and the end of the celebrity gangster era 29:34 – How Gotti’s fall helped transform organized crime 30:10 – Michael’s final warning: no glory in this life Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  45. 103

    Former Mob Boss Sits Down with the Narcos Agents Who Took Down Pablo Escobar

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Two DEA agents helped bring down Pablo Escobar, the man who once supplied up to 80% of the world’s cocaine and may have ordered 50,000 murders. Their real‑life story became the basis for Narcos, but Hollywood didn’t show everything. In this sit‑down, Steve Murphy and Javier Peña tell me what it was really like to hunt Escobar with a $300,000 bounty on their heads, what Los Pepes actually did on the ground, and why they call him the most violent narco‑ter*orist in history. Then we fast‑forward to today: the kil*ing of El Mencho, the CJNG’s terror tactics in Mexico, and the fentanyl and counterfeit pill wave killing almost 100,000 Americans a year. Steve and Javier explain why Mexican cartels are “meaner” than Escobar’s, how they adapt when we bomb drug boats or close one route, and what actually has to change in the U.S. if we want to stop burying our kids. ​Real Narcos Agents EXPOSE the Truth About Mexico’s Cartel War Former Mob Boss Sits Down with the Narcos Agents Who Took Down Pablo Escobar From Pablo Escobar to El Mencho: What the Real Narcos Agents See Coming Next 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  46. 102

    Iran: It’s Not Over Yet – Insider Warns What Comes Next

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Trump hit Iran’s nuclear sites and the world moved on, but people who know the regime are saying one thing: it’s not over. Ashkan is an Iranian insider with deep family ties to the Shah’s old security apparatus, and he lays out what Tehran is planning next – from hypersonic missiles and cheap killer drones to “missing” enriched uranium and how fast they could rebuild a bomb. We get into the IRGC’s Nazi‑style takeover of Iran’s economy, the brutal crackdowns that left tens of thousands dead in days, and whether this ends with collapse, a counter‑strike on the U.S. and Israel, or a new revolution backed by Reza Pahlavi and the opposition. If you want to know what could actually happen next in Iran – not the sanitized version on the news – watch this to the end. Iran: It’s Not Over Yet – Insider Warns What Comes Next Iranian Insider REVEALS the Most Terrifying Secrets of the Regime 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  47. 101

    DEA Legend Reveals the Most Disturbing Cartel Rituals You’ve Never Heard Of

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ I’ve sat with mob bosses, cartel associates, and killers, but I have never been this educated on the Mexican cartels as I was in this sit down with DEA legend Mike Vigil. Mike spent 31 years with the DEA, rose to chief of international operations, worked undercover across Latin America, and has gone head‑to‑head with cartels from Colombia to Mexico. ​ In this interview he breaks down how groups like CJNG and Sinaloa really operate, what changed after El Mencho was taken out, and why retaliation spread across multiple Mexican states. He explains “terror schools,” disappearances, paramilitary tactics, and why killing one kingpin often makes the violence even worse. ​ We also get into something I’ve said for years: the mafia I was part of is not on the same level as today’s cartels – not in scale, not in weapons, not in how they treat civilians. If you care about what’s happening in Mexico, travel safety, the drug trade, or just want an honest look from someone who’s been on the front lines, watch this one from beginning to end. ​ Former Mob Boss Interviews DEA Legend: Inside the Mexican Cartels DEA Legend Reveals the Most Disturbing Cartel Rituals You’ve Never Heard Of 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  48. 100

    Mafia vs. Epstein: How Would the Mob Handle a Predator?

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Everybody’s been asking me one question: “Michael, what would the mob have done with Jeffrey Epstein?” This could be a one‑sentence video – he wouldn’t have lasted – but today I’m going to walk you through exactly how that life would really look at a guy like Epstein. I explain the code we had about women and kids, why certain behavior was absolutely beyond the line, and why men like my father, Joe Colombo, John Gotti and many others would have seen him as someone who had to be dealt with. I also talk about the other side of the life: the guys who might see a “money guy,” put him under their control, shake him down for millions – and still decide he was too dangerous to keep around. If you want to understand the difference between the ugly things we did, the lines we still wouldn’t cross, and how a man like Epstein would really be treated in that world, watch this one all the way through. Mafia vs. Epstein: How Would the Mob Handle a Predator? 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  49. 99

    Former Mob Boss Breaks Down the El Mencho Mexican Cartel War

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Mexico just took out El Mencho – and the cartels answered by setting cities on fire, trapping tourists and going head‑to‑head with the army. In this sit down I break down who El Mencho really was, how CJNG built its own “military,” what really happened in that operation, and why the retaliation looked like open war. I’ll tell you what the news isn’t explaining: how a power vacuum like this works, who moves in next, and why this won’t stop the drugs and fentanyl from coming north. And I’ll make it clear how these cartels are nothing like the American or Italian mafia I was part of. Former Mob Boss Breaks Down the El Mencho Mexican Cartel War 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 – Mexico on fire after El Mencho 01:06 – Michael’s intro and love for Mexico 02:21 – State Department warnings and first questions 02:41 – Will the U.S. move on cartels? 03:11 – Drugs, fentanyl and Michael’s family tragedy 04:00 – Retaliation for taking out El Mencho 04:07 – Setting up cartels vs mafia comparison 04:28 – How El Mencho was killed in Jalisco 05:24 – U.S. intelligence support and Trump’s pressure 06:08 – Sanctuary cities and drugs pouring into California 07:37 – CJNG retaliation: buses burned, roads blocked, tourists trapped 08:40 – Puerto Vallarta shutdown and Mexican people 09:12 – Who El Mencho was and how CJNG operated 10:20 – Cartels’ military power vs mafia’s limits 11:45 – U.S. indictments, rewards and El Mencho’s family in custody 12:39 – Who benefits: Mexican government, U.S. law enforcement 14:13 – Power vacuum: Sinaloa, local gangs and rising violence 15:23 – Who loses: civilians, tourism and local police 16:02 – What to expect: paramilitary cartels and short‑term fallout 17:51 – Succession, plaza bosses and CJNG’s future 19:09 – Drug flows won’t stop and border politics 19:56 – Travel advisories and “wait and see” 20:27 – Major differences between cartels and the mafia 24:34 – Mafia rules on drugs and correcting online myths 25:39 – How cartels were built on drugs and became paramilitary 27:06 – Why cartels can’t operate in the U.S. like in Mexico 27:39 – Summing up: two totally different organizations 29:21 – Michael’s advice on Mexico travel and staying alert 30:16 – Dangerous world, Dubai safety and health focus 32:22 – Wine, additives and “healthier European wines” 33:29 – Blessing Mexico, the U.S. and the oppressed 33:52 – Christians, Trump and policy vs personality 35:04 – Asking for honest, intelligent political conversation 36:28 – Final sign‑off and “God bless” Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  50. 98

    The Epstein Files Keep Getting Worse: WHO Is Protecting Them?

    🍷 Have you tried my wine yet?: https://yt.franzesewine.com/ 💪🏼 Join Franzese Family: https://michaelfranzese.com/family/ Today, I’m going to talk again about something I hate talking about, but we cannot let it go away – the Epstein matter. The latest DOJ dump is over 6 million documents, 180,000 images, nearly 2,000 videos, and they’re telling us there will be no more Epstein‑related prosecutions. How is that possible? In this video I give you my unbiased perspective on the new Epstein files – no politics, no team jersey. I tell you exactly why I believe Epstein did not commit suicide, why I’m convinced powerful people more powerful than Biden or Trump are being protected, and how blackmail really works at that level because I saw similar things on the street. I also make this very clear: I will never call anyone a pedophile without evidence – not Bill Clinton, not Trump, not anybody – but if the evidence is there, nobody gets a pass. The Epstein Files Keep Getting Worse: WHO Is Protecting Them? 🤝 Book 1 on 1 Call With Me: https://michaelfranzese.com/book-1-on-1-call/ 🔥 Check out my store: https://store.michaelfranzese.com/ 🎙️ Michael Franzese Podcast on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Eo39qb 📧 Interested in partnerships? [email protected] 00:00 - Introduction: 6M docs, 0 prosecutions01:08 - Why Epstein can’t be ignored02:21 - Unbiased, bipartisan perspective only02:51 - “Nobody gets a pass”03:20 - Power above governments and laws04:05 - Why I believe Epstein was murd*red05:05 - FBI delay and “fishy” details05:48 - Redactions and higher‑ups’ pressure07:12 - Being “on a list” isn’t proof07:49 - Clinton flights, no pedophile label09:04 - Prince Andrew, allegations and evidence10:09 - Trump’s name and “keyboard warriors”11:14 - Who stayed close after conviction12:33 - Gates, Musk and incriminating emails13:28 - Ghislaine’s camp move, no answers14:31 - Why wishing guilt is “sick”15:51 - DOJ letter, 300+ prominent names16:37 - “No client list” and blackmail17:41 - Possible intelligence ties and speculation18:20 - Florida victims and 2008 deal21:05 - More powerful than Biden and Trump22:21 - Global elite web and fallout30:28 - Disappointed Trump hasn’t unredacted files34:14 - Trump–Epstein split and sheriff call37:02 - Credit: Trump forced Epstein discussion38:02 - What people can do now42:19 - Dubai, accountability and U.S. hypocrisy45:07 - Final message and sign‑off Backbone Media Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Type above to search every episode's transcript for a word or phrase. Matches are scoped to this podcast.

Searching…

We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.

No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.

Showing of matches

No topics indexed yet for this podcast.

Loading reviews...

ABOUT THIS SHOW

From a high-ranking member of the Colombo crime family to a man transformed by faith, Michael Franzese shares his extraordinary journey like no one else can. In Sit Downs with Michael Franzese, Michael dives into raw, unfiltered stories from his life in the mob, his path to redemption, and the lessons he’s learned about faith, family, and overcoming life’s struggles. With gripping interviews and practical insights, this podcast will inspire, challenge, and entertain

HOSTED BY

Michael Franzese

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Sit Down with Michael Franzese have?

Sit Down with Michael Franzese currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Sit Down with Michael Franzese about?

From a high-ranking member of the Colombo crime family to a man transformed by faith, Michael Franzese shares his extraordinary journey like no one else can. In Sit Downs with Michael Franzese, Michael dives into raw, unfiltered stories from his life in the mob, his path to redemption, and the...

How often does Sit Down with Michael Franzese release new episodes?

Sit Down with Michael Franzese has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to Sit Down with Michael Franzese?

You can listen to Sit Down with Michael Franzese on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts Sit Down with Michael Franzese?

Sit Down with Michael Franzese is created and hosted by Michael Franzese.
URL copied to clipboard!