When Mayor Coleman Young dies after twenty years in office, he leaves a yawning vacuum in Detroit’s power structure. But a successor quickly arises: a young, ambitious state legislator named Kwame Kilpatrick. He’s charismatic, larger than life, and has an impeccable political pedigree. There’s only one person who can stop Kwame Kilpatrick: himself. 

For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dimitri Mugianis is a rarity in Detroit: a white kid whose family stayed after everyone like them left. Growing up, he throws himself into the city’s avant-garde underworld, playing in art-punk bands and partying in gay clubs. But when his taste for the nightlife becomes a full-blown heroin addiction, he realizes that he’s in trouble—and, with a hot new drug called crack hitting the streets, it’s only going to get worse. 

For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Still hung up on the unsolved murder of Damion Lucas, FBI agent Herm Groman devises an elaborate sting to ensnare the corrupt cops of the Detroit Police Department. Will it bring down Mayor Coleman Young, too? 

For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A thirteen-year-old boy is murdered in a drive-by shooting. The Detroit police quickly apprehend a suspect. But the FBI is convinced that the wrong man is in jail — and that the real killers are escaping justice thanks to friends in high places. 

For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coleman Young has more underworld connections than you might expect of a big-city mayor. Sometimes those connections come in handy. But when his favorite niece starts dating an infamous drug dealer, Mayor Young must choose between keeping her out of trouble and keeping his hands clean. 

For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s the early eighties, and a new organization is revolutionizing the heroin trade: Young Boys Inc. Unlike other drug operations, YBI recruits juveniles, brands smack as if it were designer clothing, and moves the industry out of the dope houses and onto the corners. As YBI’s relentless expansion causes more and more bloodshed, its foot soldiers must reckon with their impact on Detroit. 

For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When a hungry young DEA agent arrives in Detroit, he picks the perfect case to make his bones: taking down Eddie Jackson and Courtney Brown’s sprawling heroin organization. But if the drug kingpins fall, what will happen to their kids? As the feds close in, Eddie Jr. and Courtney Jr. must face the possibility of growing up without their fathers. 

For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eddie Jackson and Courtney Brown are childhood friends from a poor neighborhood. Eddie is the troublemaker, drawn to Detroit’s seamier side; Courtney is his quiet, serious sidekick. As they grow older in a city with dwindling job options, they go their separate ways. But when Eddie dives into the heroin trade, Courtney faces a choice: play it safe and stay broke, or join his friend’s burgeoning empire and get rich. 

For bonus content from this episode, check out crimetownshow.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A police shooting outside a community center leaves two black teenagers dead. Protesters take to the streets, igniting a movement to elect the city’s first black mayor. As election day approaches, the future of a racially polarized city hangs in the balance.

For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Detroit, 1971—a city riven by blight, racial strife, and rising crime. In the first episode of Crimetown Season 2, the police form a controversial undercover unit called STRESS—Stop The Robberies, Enjoy Safe Streets. One of the unit’s cops kills so many black men that he earns a nickname: Mr. STRESS. Can anyone stop him?

For bonus content from this episode, visit crimetownshow.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices