Oh What A Time... - #45 Gangs (Part 2)

Episode Date: May 13, 2024

This is Part 2! For Part 1, check the feed from yesterday! This week on the we’re discussing Gangs ie. proper mean ones so not the Scouts (Chris) or the Boys Brigade (Elis). We’ll be taking a look at some of the razor gangs of Glasgow, the infamous American mafia and going back in time to see what gangland was like in Medieval Britain. Have you ever landed on a rhubarb patch? Would you like to live on Cockney Island? And want to hear what Welsh sounds like in another accent? You know what to do, drop us an email at: [e-mail] If you're impatient and want both parts in one lovely go next time plus a whole lot more(!), why not treat yourself and become an Oh What A Time: FULL TIMER? In exchange for your £4.99 per month to support the show, you'll get: - two bonus episodes every month! - ad-free listening - episodes a week ahead of everyone else - And first dibs on any live show tickets Subscriptions are available via AnotherSlice, Apple and Spotify. For all the links head to: ohwhatatime.com You can also follow us on:  X (formerly Twitter) at @ohwhatatimepod And Instagram at @ohwhatatimepod Aaannnd if you like it, why not drop us a review in your podcast app of choice? Thank you to Dan Evans for the artwork (idrawforfood.co.uk). Chris, Elis and Tom x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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and how weirdly it led to the death of John Dillinger, who's kind of one of the most famous bank robbers in American history. Now, I'm really into those sort of American Mafia movies like Goodfellas and stuff like that. Is it a thing you guys are interested in? Do you like those sort of movies? Yeah, I'd say Goodfellas is possibly my favorite ever film and like you i've read so many mafia books yeah i love goodfellas as well uh i read the godfather book having yeah it's incredible uh and the thing with the italian mafia i was so unreasonably scared of it as a child I was so unreasonably scared of it as a child.

It was never going to have an impact on my life. What was the threat of them coming across to come at them? Did they have a come at them outpost? Every now and then, someone would say, oh, we're going on holiday to Italy. And I think, you idiots. You absolute maniacs. It would have been nice knowing you. I remember, you know, my first World Cup I remember was Italia 19

I remember watching the England games asking dad why Wales weren't there dad said Wales haven't qualified small part of me thinking well that's good

because obviously the Mafia would have been a problem I don't know why I fixated on the Mafia to such an extent did you get nervous

whenever someone tucked into a good fella's frozen pizza yeah I was thinking alright it looks like they pissed me that's theirs you never know where they are you never steal from them i don't have a chicago town either but there's probably

mafia in chicago as well you idiot dr oka is he in the mafia no he's probably not he's in the medical industry so he's fine he's a doctor now he's a doctor of violence oh god that's the last thing we need. So those of you who don't know as much as these guys, the mafia in America, in its basic sense, it started in cities like Chicago and New York and developed out of the Sicilian Fossa Nostra and the Neapolitan Camorra, mainly because of mass migration from Italy to the United States in the late 19th century so that's

kind of where the start of American mafia came from. The New York Camorra for example they emerged in Brooklyn in the 1880s and kind of provided an Italian-American offshoot of the Italian original okay there were usual patterns of mafia activity just going to quickly surmise this for you they had protection rackets they did trade and illicit goods violence gang warfare particularly in the sicilian mafia families in east harlem manhattan lower east side okay and eventually after a bloody war which kind of raged in new york between and 31 the New York mobs were organized into an all-powerful unit called the Five Families and this was led by a guy called Salvatore Maranzano who is known as Little Caesar who came to power in 1931 in April and his title was Capo di Titi

Capi which is the boss of all bosses now we've talked about this a lot like jobs in history you think you'd be all suited to i think boss of all bosses at the head of a new york mafia crime family sicilian crime family would be up there as jobs i'd be terrible at thoughts on keeping these warring mafia families together i weirdly think it would be easier to be the boss of all bosses than a boss underneath or a capo you know as you start going that middle tier you even easier to be the boss of all bosses than a boss underneath or a capo. You know, as you start going, that middle tier, you either want to be at the very top or right down the bottom so much you're almost meaningless.

If you're like a middle mafia manager, I reckon it's tricky. So why is that? Why do you think that is? Do you think you're protected as the top boss to some degree? You're protected as the top boss and you're so senior that no one will probably touch you. But then there's a lot of competition as you drop down the levels. And you're probably getting asked to kill people.

Or you know about people getting killed. And that would worry me. What about you, Al? How are you feeling about the idea of being the Cappadocian? When I read The Godfather, the novel, and in the film this character is played by Robert Duval, the character Tom Hagen, do you remember him?

Yes. He's a consigliere. He's the sort of lawyer for the Corleone family. I remember thinking to myself, that's all I'd need would be a law degree. Surely he's all right. He's just a guy with a law degree That's alright isn't he

That's so true Al I've thought about that when I go If I ever God forbid I was sent to prison That would have to be my salvation I'd have to suggest I had some kind of legal understanding That could help other people with their cases I think that would be my get out From what I remember Tom Higgins speaks Sicilian

So I'm thinking alright then I do Duolingo I can learn. From what I remember, Tom Higgins speaks Sicilian. So I'm thinking, all right then, I do Duolingo. I can learn another language and I get a law degree. I'm not shooting anyone. I'm just being asked for advice. Impartial advice, that's fine. Your sentence, Hel. They say, OK, you've got to serve five years. I'm imagining you're saying to the judge at that point,

before you go to jail, can I just have a year before you send me down in which to learn sicilian and get some basic kind of law qualification that's all i ask yeah yeah yeah yeah please i'll do additional years you can give me 10 years rather than five just let me get that under my belt before i go to britain do what i'll say i'd say listen uh to the judge listen mate i've already got an undergrad degree. I just need to do a law conversion course. It takes a year from what I remember.

And then I'll do the dueling on the side as well. I'll do that on the bus on the way to the lectures. So I need 12 months. And who knows, in the future, I could be working in this court with you. So just show some faith in this legal upstart. So the five families, okay, at this point, were the Maranzanos, later the Bonanno family, Profacci, later the Colombo family, Mangano, later the Gambino family.

That's a big one, Gambino. Luciano, later the Genovese family, and Gagliano, later the Lucense family. Would you care to guess how long Little Caesar, the boss of all bosses, lasted in his role? It's either going to be 11 years or six months. Okay. Well, Ellis, ding, ding, ding, it's six months.

What happened to him? Before, in September 1931, and I'd say this is a bit much, he was stabbed and shot to death. Oh, man. I don't think that's needed stabbed and shot to death the double I don't think that's needed it feels unnecessary the double so my hypothesis

that you're in a safe spot is completely wrong completely wrong wow stabbed and shot so I'm imagining the stabbing's finishing

someone coming up to me what were you doing when he was being stabbed and shot sorry I was doing Duolingo on the toilet it all happened so quickly however I do know

Italian for Stabbed and shot if you're interested Imagine the job interview for the Boss of all bosses And being like what happened to the last guy Oh well he got stabbed and shot But that might not Happen to you. How long was he in post?

Six months He looked at the stabbing end and he thought well thank goodness that's over now I can slip into death and then someone got a gun out he's like are you kidding me come on mate surely this is done you've done enough now this assassination was on the orders of Lucky Luciano who was ahead

of what would become the Genovese family who and it's quite interesting rather than declaring himself the new boss of all bosses he abolished the title so this is how the sort of mafia started to change believing the position created trouble amongst the families and could make himself a target for ambitious challenges i think we can probably say that yeah yeah yeah that's fair enough considering he's literally just killed the last guy because he's an ambitious challenge instead he established something called the commission you may not have heard of this but it served as a governing body for organized crime and he named himself as the first chairman of

this um this group the commission was a group of seven mob bosses who together controlled criminal activity not only in new york with the five five families but in buffalo by a chap called stefano magadino aka the undertaker sounds. Sounds nice, doesn't he? And in Chicago, under, for 10 points, who was looking after Chicago? Very famous. Oh, Capone. Al Capone, there you go.

The group also took control of the National Crime Syndicate, which had been established in Atlantic City in 1929 to coordinate bootlegging efforts and, in their own words, to bring about peace amongst the multi-ethnic criminal underworld now they ensured this peace let's see how this is quite a way to approach creating peace by setting up its own enforcement slash contract killing division which was responsible for hundreds of killings in the 30s and 40s, a division which the press labelled Murder Inc.

Now, if I set up a peacekeeping division and the press labelled it Murder Inc., I'd probably start to question if I was meeting my remit. Would you be? I wonder if they were meeting in person, the heads of these families, etc. They were meeting in person. Well, nowadays you do it on Zoom. Every 40 minutes they're having to re-log in Because they haven't got a Zoom pro One of them is saying

Can we do a Google Hangout I actually prefer it to Zoom One person's daughter emigrated to Australia 25 years ago He's like well I'm still using Skype actually I think Skype is just as good I don't know what the problem is Al Capone you're on mute

You can't hear me Write it on a piece of paper Skype, actually. I think Skype is just as good. I don't know what the problem is. Al Capone, you're on mute. Al, you're on mute. Al, you can't hear me. What do I... Write it on a piece of paper. Read the paper. Lucky's iPad, number four. Yeah, I can't turn the camera on. I can't turn...

Someone's mistakenly got their name as The Snitch. Bottom left. Well, you'll need headphones if there's going to be feedback. No, seriously, if you're in a public place, it'd be a nightmare if you don't... Just forget... I suppose we could do this in email. Don't both sit in the same room with the laptop's volume on.

We can hear each other. That's so true. Yeah, so these guys, they did meet. They met in person. The security would have been nuts, wouldn't it? Absolutely. Oh, man. so it's so true that is it would be yes so these guys they did meet they met in person the security would have been nuts wouldn't it absolutely oh man to give you an idea of quite how peaceful this overseeing was the italian american unit of murder inc was headed up by a chap called umberto anastasia otherwise known as i love this this is quite the nickname, isn't it? Bearing in mind your job is keeping peace.

The Lord High Executioner. Yes, that sounds bad. That's a grand title. I mean, was that on his CV when he applied? It says here you've referred to yourself as the Lord High Executioner. That sounds bad. So, of course, it was Prohibition that lasted between 1920 and 1933 which brought about the classic era of mafia in america during which time gambling dens sprung up moonshine flooded in in

fact there was so much bootlegging of alcohol in 1925 basically efforts from enforcement at maintaining dry environments especially in the cities just failed and they kind of gave up so the police instead classic just ended up focusing all their efforts on working class neighborhoods and letting the wealthy just get away with whatever they wanted so it was complete split in what was okay for example this completely blew my mind during prohibition president warren g harding kept a huge private stash of booze at the White House. So alcohol's banned, but the president deems it OK to have a massive stash of booze, most of which he'd taken from the FBI. It was kind of booze that the FBI had seized and he kept it for himself. In fact, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, who was kind of a regular at the poker parties, also wasn't allowed.

The president was holding at the White House, described described it as no rumor could have exceeded the truth trays with bottles containing every imaginable brand of whiskey stood about while FBI reports from the time showed the president was hammered during an oval office confrontation with railroad leaders during 1922 strike oh my gosh it's banned you can go to jail if you're caught with booze. The president himself has filled the White House with the stuff and is having piss-ups all the time. Nothing winds up normal people like the idea of there being one rule for us and one rule for them.

Yeah, absolutely. Well, look at the pandemic. Look at the past, you know, completely. It's that to the thousandth degree. But of course, it's this period that to the thousandth degree um but of course it's this period that most captured the imagination of authors and filmmakers um take you through a couple of these before i end uh damon runyon for example who was the author of guys and dolls you know guys and dolls yeah yeah uh very famous book he was friends with mobsters like otto berman

and he incorporated various characters and scenarios of these people that he met in the New York Wonderworld into his writing. F. Scott Fitzgerald presented his most famous character the Gatsby is deeply connected to bootlegging and to characters such as the all-too-real Arnold Rothstein who was kind of a real mob boss a high-level mob boss and ever since Joseph von Sternberg's 1927 film which is a silent film called underworld was one of the really early gangster films which actually ended up getting uh ben hecht who was the the writer got an oscar for it um gangster films have basically become an established part of hollywood motion picture industry um you we talk earlier you say your favorite film is um what what you you think it's uhfellas, is that Chris?

Yeah, that's mine, Goodfellas, Henry Hill You're not alone because these films have become a staple of Hollywood but how did this lead to the death of John Dillinger as I mentioned earlier this incredibly famous bank robber so well, John Dillinger, like you

Chris, absolutely loved gangster movies and in 1934 he went to the cinema to watch a film called Manhattan Melodrama starring Clark Gable and Myrna Loy and as he emerged from the Biograph Theatre in Chicago he was shot dead by the FBI because he'd been betrayed by a lady called Anna Kampanas who's a Romanian brothel madam who traded information in order to avoid being deported she acted as a signal she turned up in a bright orange dress as her code and Dillinger this guy they've been chasing for ages at last drawn in by the temptation of watching a gangster film because

everyone loved gangster films and he was a gangster himself and of course he was going to go there the FBI waited outside and shot him as he came out at last caught this guy because he'd been drawn to watch this film. According to newspaper reports published in the aftermath, this is what I found most amazing, just to close. He was killed in an alleyway after he tried to escape, 10.40pm on 22nd July 1934. But what I found interesting, he was 31 years old, which shows you how young a lot of these gangsters are.

These top-level gangsters, 31, he's the head of a proper crime gang. The age of that. I just find that so astonishing, don't you? Well, the other thing, not only was he young, I'm really intrigued by the idea of a gangster going to see a gangster film. Do you think it's a Bustman's Holiday? Yeah, Bustman's Holiday. But they're sitting there thinking, well, it's not like that.

Or, oh, I'm scared of him yeah yeah yeah that's true i don't like gangster films they're dead dead scary what do you do for a job i'm gangster is he going dressed as a gangster as well exactly just to really sort of throw himself does he wear a suit or does he wear like a pair of trackies to try and put people off the scent yeah um i guess but i guess they're not gonna gangsters probably don't make it that old Does he wear a suit or does he wear a pair of trackies to try and put people off the scent? Yeah. I guess gangsters probably don't make it that old, do they? It's such a dangerous occupation. You probably don't get that many old gangsters.

Yeah. It's the kind of thing that if you're a financial advisor, you're not really going to offer pensions, are you? Yes. It's a very good point, actually. I suppose, yeah, it's a very good point actually i suppose yeah it's a small minority and if you have lasted to 31 then you're probably pretty tough and therefore high up the leadership there's the bit at the start of goodfellas where he's talking about the life and he's like they're the best cars they're the most attractive women as girlfriends they had the best clothes so if you're into that kind of thing

and you're a thrill seeker, I'm not materialistic enough to be a gangster and also don't like thrills enough. So I'd be like, do you know what? I'll just buy a shit car. It doesn't bother me. I'm more of a sort of Netflix and a takeaway sort of guy. That's my vibe.

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Must be 19 or older, Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you or someone you know has concerns about gambling, visit connectsontario.ca. Well, I am going to be discussing medieval gangs. Now, before we get cracking with medieval gangs, I didn't think there were gangs back at this point apart from um i said you know you had fiefdoms and people with armies but i didn't think i didn't think of gangs in the sort of more normal context but you know people are tribal so in my mind also medieval people are constantly knocking around in leggings yeah it doesn't feel like particularly sort of tough thing to wear and it doesn't feel like a particularly sort of tough thing to wear.

It doesn't feel like gang wear, does it? But, no, exactly that. But medieval England, you know, could be a bit of a lawless place, right? Especially in the Midlands and Yorkshire. So back in the 14th century, there were lots of armed gangs of outlaws who behaved like more modern gangs. So you had Malcolm Musard, Lord of the Manor in the Gloucestershire village of St Brie.

And he was a fascinating example of a gang leader. So him, together with his brothers, and I'm blown away by this, with some freebooting clergymen, he rampaged around the countryside, initially restricting himself to poach, but eventually turning to more lucrative activities such as extortion and protection. So I love the fact that he got into it first. He was like, I'll just do some poaching. There's nothing wrong with poaching. Poaching's fine.

It's basically victimless, isn't it, poaching? Quite enjoying the poaching. All right, then, I'll move into extortion and protection. Now, in 1304, Musart's gang was employed by Godfrey of Combe, a priest who had recently been evicted from his parish by the Bishop of Worcester to get rid of his replacement, Thomas of Weston. So, accordingly, the gang ransacked Thomas's house

and stole various items, but Godfrey was persistent and insisted that the gang go back a second time and do even more damage. But this time, Thomas ran away before the gang arrived. Similar threats were put to a priest in Derbyshire in August 1328. So here, the infamous Cottrell gang attacked Walter Cann and robbed his church, having been paid to do so by a rival priest.

Robert Bernard from Bakewell. Izzy grew up very near Bakewell. I mean, I had no idea it was such a dodgy area. Whom sources identify as a former lecturer at Oxford University. So Bernard had been expelled from the same parish a few months earlier, not for dodgy lessons, but for embezzlement. Wow. So as one historian observes, Bernard, Robert Bernard,

who was a former lecturer at Oxford University and a priest, he was apparently a very unsavoury character. I used to find going to church unbelievably boring as a child. Yeah. Had my parents said to me, just let you know that Vicar is heavily involved in gang activity, I'd go, OK, now I'm in. I'm now listening.

I think about this all the time. How could they make it boring, but they managed to? Where I live, there's two churches, like two huge churches that are probably like 200 metres apart. And I've always thought, what happened there? Like surely when you've got a church

and a decent congregation, you're like, wow, we can't even get them all in on a Sunday. Oh, no, this is... Has a rival priest gone, oh. Wales is terrible. There's like an old Welsh joke, like there's a Welsh bloke on a desert island and there are two chapels.

And when he's eventually rescued, they say, what's that chapel then? He goes, oh, that's the one I go to. What's that chapel? Oh, that's the one I don't go to. Because it was all, it was very... It was really small differences in denomination. and that's the one I don't go to because it was all, it was very, it was really small differences in denomination.

So you had the Baptists and the Methodists, you know, and the Independents and all sorts of stuff. And yeah, like, you know, the Welsh were a very, very chapel-going nation, but there was a church, a chapel census, a religious census, I think in 1851, certainly at some point in the mid-19th century. And the capacity of chapels and churches was more than the population of the country. No way.

They were being built like one every eight days or something ridiculous in the 19th century. We bloody loved it right now. And were they always starting their services? Are they going like 3pm kick-off on a Saturday in the premiership? Where you're going, right, we're going head to head. We'll see who gets up. Or is there a slight break? Is there like a 12 o'clock kickoff and a 5 p.m. service?

It's like my grandparents were very religious. They went, I think they changed when they got married, but they'd grown up going to different chapels and they were living in the same village. Now, the Cottrell gang was led by the Cottrell brothers, James, Nicholas and John, and their trusted lieutenant, Robert Le Sauvage, which written down is so, so close to Robbie Savage.

I was like, this is unbelievable. Robbie Savage was a medieval sort of gang member. He joined the gang having practised extortion in Oxfordshire and appears to have been much more akin to an organised crime syndicate than most medieval gangs we know about. What's funny as well is these are happening in small rural areas which we no longer associate with gangs because nowadays we associate gangs with, you know,

sort of built up inner cities and very urban areas it's funny to think of it happening in bakewell in derbyshire and oxfordshire yeah so this gang they were responsible for murder extortion kidnap protection racketeering and liked to refer to themselves as the society of savage men which is a very uh that's a very highfalutin title for for what you're doing it sounds like the sort of thing that Boris Johnson would have been a member of yes at Oxford University

when he was doing his classics degree he was in the society of savage men really elitist white men and they were just smashing up pubs and stuff as one contemporary court indictment had it They rode Armed publicly and secretly

In manner of war By day and night Wow And one of their most useful And regular clients Was the dean and chapter Of Litchfield Cathedral This was very religious

What is going on here? I know Why is every vicar This is where the idea The idea of naughty vicars come from But why are they all What's going on Why is is every vicar... This is where the idea of naughty vicars comes from, but why are they all... Why is every vicar involved in organised crime? When I think of

vicars and priests, I think of them in a sort of Alan Bennett way, like a bloke on a pushbike next to a thousand-year-old chapel or church. A balding, kind old man. Hello, vicar. Hello. Enjoyed the service

on Sunday thank you like Vicar of Dibley would be such a different sitcom wouldn't it if they'd all

been in gangs we all go to a tarts and vicars party I'm there as a vicar but I've got a handful of chain I'm like I'm going around

extorting everyone at the party you know what I'm saying now I'm being a 13th like 14th century vicar, a true version of what vicars were like. You're thinking twice, aren't you, at the end of the service before putting your money in the collection plate as well.

You're thinking, well, I know where that's going. It's going into sort of... That's blood money. We really hear the gang's voices, of course, but from one Yorkshire outfit, a threatening letter has survived in some court records. So it was sent in 1336 to a priest in Huntington. Here we go again.

Demanding changes to personnel, changes which would favour the gang. Lionel, king of the rout of ravenous salutes, but with little love is false and disloyal friend. We command you on pain to lose all that can stand forfeit against our laws, that you immediately remove from his office him whom you maintain in the vicarage of Burton Agnes. And if you do not do this, we make our avow first to God and then to the King of England and to our own crown, that you shall have such treatment at our hands as the Bishop of Exeter had in cheap. He was murdered in 1326, and we shall hunt you down.

The letter was said to be written at our castle of the Northwind in the Green Tower in the first year of our reign. I mean, so you can see it's an indication of their purpose and their intent. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And the man who received it was so frightened that he sought protection from the

king, despite a warning not to do so. So Northwind and Green Tower suggest a woodland or forest hideout, and they were regularly used. William Beckwith's gang of 500 based itself in Knaresborough Forest in Yorkshire between 1387 and 1394, where it also established a parliament called the Dodlow, and the Cottrells made use of Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire. And in Essex, a gang led by John Fitzwalter in the 1340s,

which amassed in the forest there, grew so large, it was able to carry out sieges of towns. At one point in 1343, Fitzwalter besieged Colchester for two months, lifting the encirclement only after being paid 40 quid by the townsfolk to do so, which is the equivalent of about 46 grand today. No way. And in 1350, the gang besieged Colchester again,

this time for three months. Yeah. So it's basically an army at that point. If you're besieging something, you're an army. So Fitzwater's gang was able to put pressure on juries to get favourable verdicts. It was able to put pressure on juries to get favorable bird verdicts it was able to prevent the reporting of deaths to the coroner they could exercise influence to get people released from jail and even practice intimidation of tax collectors who put him down

for the lowest possible burden so he was paying that they were paying low taxes and not having deaths reported basically it was all sewn up so when he refused to pay even this paltry sum of tax his tenants gathered the money and paid instead so sometimes though they were just vindictives one victim a man described as having less wisdom than a natural idiot imagine being recorded in history like yeah 800 years on right he's been talked about on a podcast this guy I wouldn't be surprised if that's my gravestone. He gave up his land with £40 a year after a promise from Fitzwalter

of £22 a year rent for life and new clothes each year. And then it soon transpired that Fitzwalter had no intention of providing the money or the goods. Poor sod. So somehow these medieval gang leaders often escaped severe punishment because they chose their allies so well. So somehow, these medieval gang leaders often escaped severe punishment because they chose their allies so well.

So Malcolm Musard, he was rewarded by being appointed Forester at Feckernham in 1315 and Constable of Hanley Castle in 1321, where he used his office to extort locals. So he's been given a chance to start again. Yeah. And he's back into his old ways. He was forced to buy back his lands from the king, which cost him nearly 850 quid, about 750 grand today.

Oof. And others agreed to pay a bond and not do any wrongdoing again, or they obtained pardons through well-connected middlemen. As for James Cottrell, he carried the favour of Queen Philippa, wife of Edward III and sometime regent of England, because Edward was fighting in France. And it was probably her, it was probably Philippa, wife of Edward III and sometime regent of England, because Edward was fighting in France. And it was probably her, it was probably Philippa who engineered Cottrell's pardon for extortions, oppressions,

receiving of felons, usurpations and ransoms in 1351 because he had friends in high places. That's amazing. It's unbelievable, isn't it? Yeah, absolutely. In a weird way, I'm just kind of surprised it's that organised in like the 1350s. I just wouldn't imagine people had the wherewithal Absolutely. In a weird way. I'm just kind of surprised it's that organised in the 1350s.

I just wouldn't imagine people had the wherewithal to actually get some organised crime together. Also, it just shows you the importance of the rule of law. Because otherwise, hard people with armies and gangs end up getting what they want, and it's a bloody nightmare for everyone else. I have to say, after this podcast, I'm all for the rule of law yeah can i shock you i mean i like the rule of law i was on the fence up until now that is the

case though isn't it when you talk about friends in high places and you'll see that in all of these situations really in large gangs that that's really what keeps these gangs in power the mafia in america will have been kept in power to a great extent because it all has stuff on politicians and financial interests from those in power, etc. Also, I'd always thought that

if I was really running out of options, if comedy didn't go well, I could just become a clergyman and it would be fine. I'd have to do a little bit of pretending, I've got to be honest, but I thought, you get a nice vicarage sounds sounds quite good uh uh no i'm leaving that well alone now All right, well, that's it for this week. That's it for gangs. But speaking of gangs,

I'm here to shout out some of our fantastic Oh What A Time full-timers who have subscribed to the podcast. And these people are full-timers on Spotify. And just a reminder, you can go to another slice. You can go to Spotify, you can go to Apple. The following are Spotify full-timers on Spotify. And just a reminder, you can go to another slice. You can go to Spotify, you can go to Apple. The following are Spotify full-timers. Now, we've got our one-day time machine.

I can go anywhere throughout history. Where am I going to take them? Any time, any place. I want to show these people a good time. Knowing you, I'm thinking, well, if you say good time, I would have assumed World War II. Because it's you. Or maybe World War I, chuck in the song. Surely it's to watch

West Ham win, is it, the 1964 FA Cup? Okay, Ellis is closer. I'm taking them back to the 10th of May 2016. And we're going, my friends, on a pub crawl. What is special about the 10th of May 2016? Gareth Bale was at his peak. Nope. It's the last game at Upton Park. Yes, it's the last going my friends on a pub crawl what is what is special about the 10th of may 2016 uh gulf beer was at its peak nope it's the last game at upton park yes our spotify subscribers are coming

with me on a pub crawl it's the one day time machine it's the one day time machine it's the one day time machine it's the one day time machine now we all met at barking station and from there we got the train to Plastow, but guess what? Matthew Thomas didn't want to buy a ticket. He wanted to jump the barrier. Of course he did. Classic Matty Thomas.

So he's jumped over the barrier, he's tripped and fell, and then a police dog's gone after him, grabbed his shoe, pulled off his shoe, and ran off with it. Matthew says, I'm just too embarrassed at this point.

I'm just going to go home. So that was the last we saw of Matthew. He's walked out with one shoe on that's that's unthiccified as well isn't it hobbling back poor guy first pub on the pub crawl the victoria tavern now the victoria tavern is a very rough pub it has prison bars on the window from the outside lisa hoyle's taken one look at this and quite rightly in my opinion opinion, said this is not for me. So we wished her all the best. She's mentioned something about going off to buy a lottery ticket.

I don't know how you got on with that, Lisa. Best of luck. We haven't seen her since. Off she goes. All right. Now we go in the Victoria Tavern and Aisling Chopsticks, she loves it so much

that she answered the advert for new bar staff she actually started her first shift then and there she quit her job so after the victorian tavern we walk across the road we're in the black line beer garden and as we know on the 10th of may uh 2016 the sun is shining it is blisteringly hot and ginny augustine well she's only forgotten to put any only sun cream she is absolutely burned to a crisp and no amount of after sun was going to sort her out she says i'm going downstairs to the beer cellar to chill out and get some shade and that was the last we saw of her up next the queens on green street andy clark describes it as his new favorite pub despite losing his shoes on the sticky carpet and just as well he likes the place because he The Queen's on Green Street. Andy Clark describes it as his new favourite pub,

despite losing his shoes on the sticky carpet. And just as well he likes the place, because he subsequently lost his shoes, his socks, and then his bare feet stuck to the carpet. We had to leave him there. So that was the last we saw of Andy. Nobody's going to make it to the game. I'm worried about this.

It's going to be quite stressful. We're whittling him away. Down to the world-famous Bolin Tavern.vern but as we all know on the 10th of May 2016 Jenny Alice Howell catches sight of the United team bus and she pulls a crowbar out of her handbag and launches it and smashes the windscreen of the Manchester United team bus

the police sees her so if you're wondering what the backstory was the drama that night on the 10th of May 2016 Before the game Well it was at Jenny Alice's house She smashed the team bus, the police seize her She gets in the wagon, the sirens go off

She's seen, last seen Driving down Green Street Can I just say, I'm glad she's not going to the game I think she should I think that seems completely fair enough Into the bowling tavern Lewis Walker asks for a sex on the beach cocktail. Big mistake.

Thrown out onto the street. And that was the last we saw of him. Rightly so, in my opinion, again. But we finally make it to the game. Simon Molinar, however, he senses this historic opportunity. He's brought with him his toolbox. He wants some souvenirs. He tries to take up a whole row of seating

and the Sir Trevor Brookings stand sign. And once again, the stewards catch him and he is turfed out of the ground. Couple left now. Louisa Murr,

well, she runs on the pitch. Lifetime ban. Stewards Caesar. She's given the fingers at the United fans as she's walking off. Disaster for her, but we enjoyed the scene.

And lastly, Maria Edlund was so overwhelmed with emotion at full-time that West Ham had won the game and that this was the last game at Upton Park that she just refused to leave. So I got back in the one-day time machine all alone, having left 10 0-water time full-timers back

in 2016, and I hope they fared well after that point. But thank you so much for subscribing. If you want to feature in a future One Day Time Machine, all you've got to do, if you want to get two bonus episodes as well every month, plus access to all the old back catalogue, and episodes one big chunk ad-free

a week ahead of everyone else, just go to owhattime.com. Chris, I tell you what, I thought was going to happen there. This is absolutely what I thought was going to happen. Surely the lottery winner, or the person who thought had gone off to buy a lottery ticket was going to return and gone i've just won two million and then use that money to pay for a box and then everyone would have got in the box and got to watch the game after all that's what i thought was going to happen a nice

ending i don't think ham a lot of that speedy Admin boy. It is embarrassing how many of my one day time machines would involve sport. Really, really embarrassing. And I routinely worry that I'm monocultural and that I only like one thing. But the one day time machine choices is all the evidence you need

if you're going to accuse me of that. It would be basically repeatedly going back to every single game of Swansea's season when Michu was playing really well in the Premier League. Yeah, yeah. That's what it would be, isn't it?

Oh, you've got access to my notebook. That's good. Thank you, guys. If you want to become a subscriber, go to owatertime.com. There's two extra episodes a month, loads of other fun stuff, and we take you on a trip

on the one-day time machine every month. Either way, we'll see you guys next week. Bye. Goodbye. Bye. Thank you.