Shaping Opinion

Storyteller Margot Leitman joins Tim to talk about the art of storytelling, and how you can be a better storyteller.  Margot is an award-winning storyteller, best-selling author, speaker and teacher and a Moth Storytelling “GrandSlam” winner. This episode was originally released January 17, 2022.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shapingopinion/222_-_Margot_Leitman_Storyteller_auphonic.mp3





If you’re a regular podcast listener, there is a good chance you heard about a group called The Moth. It’s a nonprofit group based in New York City that’s dedicated to the art and craft of live storytelling.

The organization was founded in 1997 and now hosts storytelling events across the United States. Storytellers are from all walks of life, and each one takes the stage to tell a personal story, and each has a chance to have that story and the performance of telling it ranked.

The Moth has branched out into more than simply live events. The Moth podcast is one of the most popular podcasts in the medium.

Some Moth storytellers can become champion storytellers. Its published books on storytelling, and it hosts other events.

If you have the chance to tell your story on a Moth stage, you could become a Champion. Some of the best storytelling performers are recognized as Moth Grandslam Champions.

Our guest today is one of those champions.

Margot Leitman is an author who has written books about storytelling. She’s written for NBC, Dreamworks TV, the Hallmark Channel and others.

She is a five-time winner of The Moth StorySLAM, and was the Moth GrandSLAM winner in New York City.
Links

Margot Leitman (website)
The Moth Radio Hour (website)
The Moth (official website)

About this Episode’s Guest Margot Leitman
Margot Leitman is the author of the best-selling book LongStory Short: the Only Storytelling Guide You’ll Ever Need, What’s Your Story? & Gawky: Tales of an Extra Long Awkward Phase. She has written for DreamWorks TV, the Hallmark Channel, and the Pixl Network and worked for “This American Life” as the West Coast story scout. She is the founder of the storytelling program at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre and is a five-time winner of the Moth Storyslam and a winner of the Moth Grandslam, receiving the first ever score of a perfect 10. She travels all over the world teaching people to tell their stories.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com

If you like baseball you’ll love this interview. If you like Pittsburgh sports, you’ll love this interview. Former Pittsburgh Pirate closer and World Series Champion Kent Tekulve joins Tim in this special extended episode. Kent talks baseball, Pittsburgh, how to teach kids about sports, and somewhat about life.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shapingopinion/Kent_Tekulve_-_The_Closer_auphonic.mp3





This is an extended conversation where I promise you that after you listen to this, you’ll feel like you made a new best friend. With that in mind, we’re going to get right to our interview.

But before we do, I think I owe it to you to give you some of the basics.

Kent Tekulve is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was a tall, skinny reliever and a closer in his career, which included stops in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Cincinnati. You can learn a ton if all you do is search for his name online, and you’ll get all his stats.

Kent Tekulve pitched in more than 1,000 major league games during the 1970s and 80s. He recorded an unbelievable 184 saves. He was a closer, and if you know anything about baseball, closers are the coolest dudes on the roster. They come in when the pressure’s on and they close out the game.

He’s most known as a Pittsburgh Pirate, but not just any Pirate. Kent was the pitcher on the mound to get the last out of the seventh game in the 9th inning of the 1979 World Series. This was the last time the Pirates made it to the World Series, and the last time they won a World Series. Kent was on the mound in Baltimore for that feat.

He came up in the minors with the Pirates and played in his first major league game in 1974.
If You Liked This Episode You’ll Also Like

Going Head to Head with the NFL - Guest: Ralph Cindrich
Larry Czonka: A Football Story - Guest: Larry Czonka

Links

Kent Tekulve - Baseball Reference
Kent Tekulve - Major League Baseball
Kent Tekulve: The Bespectacled Submariner of the '79 World Series Remains a Man of the People in Pittsburgh - Sports Illustrated

About this Episode’s Guest Kent Tekulve
Kent Tekulve is best known as "Teke." He’s  was a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball for 16 years, playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds. He was best known as a side-arm pitcher who threw the final pitch to help the Pittsburgh Pirates win the 1979 World Series.

Tekulve graduated from Marietta College in Ohio, and then signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played for them until 1985.  His most memorable seasons were 1978 and 1979 when he saved 31 games and posted ERAs of 2.33 (’78) and 2.75 (’79).

In 1979, he was key to the Pirates World Series season and in Game 7 of the World Series that year in Baltimore.

In 1985, the Pirates traded him to the Phillies. In 1989, he signed with the Cincinnati Reds, retiring from baseball at mid-season.

Tekulve led the National League in games pitched four times, appearing in 90 or more games three times.

He is one of two pitchers (also Mike Marshall) in baseball history to appear in 90 or more games more than once. They did it three times each.

Tekulve had three saves in the 1979 World Series, which tied the single-Series mark set by Pittsburgh Pirate Elroy Face in the 1960 World Series. That record would stand until 1996.

Tekulve holds the National League record for career innings pitched in relief (1,436+2⁄3). For a time, he held the major league record for career relief appearances - 1,050 career games, all in relief.

Tekulve holds career records for most appearances and innings pitched without making a single start.

He still resides in the Pittsburgh area.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com

FBI-trained hostage negotiator Scott Tillema joins Tim to talk about how to negotiate when the stakes are high, even when lives are on the line. Scott teaches organizations how to use the power of life-saving negotiation principles to get results. This episode was first released March 14, 2022.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shapingopinion/334_-_Scott_Tillema_Secrets_of_a_Hostage_Negotiator.mp3





Scott Tillema was trained by the FBI in hostage negotiating. He spent over seven years as a negotiator with the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System Emergency Services Team. This one of the largest municipal SWAT teams in the United States.

Scott is known across the country as a speaker in the field of police negotiations. He’s presented to audiences of all sizes, including a very popular TEDx Talk where he covered, “The Secrets of Hostage Negotiators.”

That’s what we talked about when we sat down with him recently.
Links

Scott Tillema Website
Negotiations Collective, Scott Tillema Page
How to Use the FBI’s Behavioral Change Stairway Model to Influence Like a Pro, EMS1
Active Listening Skills, Psychology Today
Kwame Christian: On Compassionate Curiosity, Behavioral Grooves
Pre-Suasion: Channeling Attention for Change, by Robert Cialdini (Amazon)

About this Episode’s Guest Scott Tillema
Scott Tillema is an FBI-trained hostage negotiator. He teaches police, law enforcement agencies and others how to use the power of life-saving techniques and principles to enhance their work. He is a nationally recognized leader in the field of crisis and hostage negotiations, passionately training thousands of police negotiators across the country in verbal influence. He has developed a powerful model for safely resolving crisis situations, which is now being recognized and adapted by the private sector for use in sales, communication, influence, and leadership.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com

In this episode we hear from seven people who talked with Tim to answer the question, “What is the American Dream?”  Tim set out to get the answer to the question on the streets of his hometown, Pittsburgh.  You’ll hear from Vidya, Dwayne, Chuck, Leah, Jack, Tamara and Charlie. Each person was selected randomly in “man on the street” interviews, and we had no idea what they would say, but all of their answers were moving, thought-provoking and inspiring. This episode was first released July 4, 2022.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shapingopinion/247_-_7_Voices_-_The_American_Dream_auphonic.mp3





For thousands of years, around the world, people weren’t trusted to govern themselves. It was assumed you needed a king, a czar or a dictator to decide what’s best for you.

But in 1776, a group of brave revolutionaries came along with a different idea. They believed that common and civilized people could run their own country. That they didn’t need a king, a monarchy or a dictatorship to run their lives. They believed in freedom, and they spelled it out in the Declaration of the Independence, and the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution. They created the greatest country in the history of the world based on the principles contained in these documents.

The thinking is that all people want to be free to decide for themselves on everything from religion and work, to how they raise their families, what they could own, how they could own it and how they can craft their own lives for themselves. But it’s more than just wanting to be free. They deserve to be free.

The founders of the United States of America said it’s not the government that should have the power to grant you your fundamental rights or take them from you. Instead, your rights come from a higher source of power, that your rights and freedoms already exist.  They believed that you are born a free person. You can only lose that freedom or certain freedoms when someone else takes them from you.

These thoughts inspired a revolution. Time and again over America’s history, it has had to struggle and sometimes fight over the very issue of freedom, and many of the freedoms we now cherish. There is always someone who wants to take some freedoms away from someone else, and so it’s a struggle for a country like ours to preserve those freedoms.

But freedom has survived and thrived, and it has made many things possible for our nation, our people and our future. In the process, our nation has changed the world and advanced all humanity.

We have a term for the thing that sets America apart from all other countries. It’s just two words. When we think of what makes America the exception in all of history…we think of the American Dream.  That is the subject of this episode.
Links

Declaration of Independence
Constitution of the United States of America
Revolutionary War, History
Independence Day, National Parks Service

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com

Historian and author Christopher R. Browning joins Tim to talk about his study of the Holocaust and the “Final Solution” in Poland. In this episode, Christopher discusses his book, “Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland” and how a group of otherwise average, everyday men turned into one of Hitler’s most prolific killing squads in World War II. This episode was first released January 24, 2022.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shapingopinion/223_-_Ordinary_Men_Making_a_Kill_Squad.mp3





Long before the world heard the term “Holocaust” in connection with the Second World War, and even before the mass killing started, it all began with an atmosphere in Germany that supported the expelling of Jewish people from territories controlled by Hitler’s Germany.

At some point, instead of expulsion, the movement would turn into the mass executions of millions of Jews in places like Poland.

Historian and author Christopher Browning wrote the landmark book on how such horrific events could take place. It’s called “Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland.”

To set the stage for the larger story of the book, Browning tells us how it began. This passage is part of the opening chapter that book:
“Pale and nervous, with choking voice and tears in his eyes, (Major) Trapp visibly fought to control himself as he spoke. The battalion, he said plaintively, had to perform a frightfully unpleasant task. This assignment was not to his liking, indeed it was highly regrettable, but the orders came from the highest authorities. If it would make their task any easier, the men should remember that in Germany the bombs were falling on women and children.

He then turned to the matter at hand. The Jews had instigated the American boycott that had damaged Germany, one policeman remembered Trapp saying. There were Jews in the village of Jozefow who were involved with the partisans, he explained according to two others. The battalion had now been ordered to round up these Jews. The male Jews of working age were to be separated and taken to a work camp. The remaining Jews – the women, children, and elderly – were to be shot on the spot by the battalion. Having explained what awaited his men, Trapp then made an extraordinary offer: if any of the older men among them did not feel up to the task that lay before him, he could step out.”
These were the major’s comments to the battalion of mostly middle-aged men on the morning of July 13, 1942. They weren’t Nazis. They weren’t even members of the German army. They made up a police battalion of working-class men too old to serve in the army.

Those men would round up and shoot 1,500 Jews in that Polish village on that one day.

That battalion would eventually kill upwards of 83,000 captives during the war, making it one of the most efficient German killing squads in the war.

But as the title of Christopher Browning’s book suggests, before the war, he says these were considered Ordinary Men.
Links

Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, by Christopher R. Browning (Barnes & Noble)
Christopher R. Browning, University of North Carolina (website)
The Stanford Prison Experiment (website)

About this Episode’s Guest Christopher Browning
Christopher R. Browning was the Frank Porter Graham Professor of History at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill until his retirement in May 2014.  Before taking up this position in the fall of 1999, he taught for 25 years at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.

Browning received his B.A. degree from Oberlin College in 1967 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1968 and 1975 respectively.  He is the author of eight books: The Final Solution and the German Foreign Office (1978), Fateful Months:  Essays on the Emergence of the Final Solution (1985),

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com

Advocate, author and attorney Charles H. Rose, III, joins Tim to talk about the art of cross-examination in the court of law. Charles is a successful lawyer, a trial advocate, an author, and currently, he’s the Dean of the Pettit College of Law at Ohio Northern University. In this episode, he talks about one of the most dramatic features of any courtroom, the cross-examination of a witness at trial. Cross-examination is often where cases are won or lost in the court of law. This episode was originally released on February 28, 2022.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shapingopinion/228_-_Charles_Rose_-_The_Art_of_Cross_Examination.mp3





Watch just about any movie or TV show where the drama revolves around a court case and sooner or later the climax of the plot will revolve around a particular witness or testimony.

The trial lawyers question their own witnesses in litigation, and their opposing attorneys have the chance to cross-examine those same witnesses. They get to challenge claims and statements that were made. They go back over previous testimony and look for gaps or contradictions in statements, all to win the case.

In many court cases, cross-examinations are usually tense. A case can be won or lost with every witness who takes the stand.

Our guest today, Charles Rose is regarded as one of the better attorneys at cross-examination. While he’s now law school dean at Ohio Northern University, and he’s served on the faculty at other law schools, he’s had a decorated career in the U.S. Army. He served as a judge advocate where he’s focused on persuasion techniques. He teaches and researches in the areas of advocacy, criminal procedure, evidence and professional ethics.
Links

Charles H. Rose, III (Ohio Northen University)
Charles H. Rose, III, The Trial Advocate (TrialAdvocate.com)
Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (Amazon.com)

About this Episode’s Guest Charles H. Rose, III
Charles H. Rose III, dean of the Pettit College of Law, previously served as professor of law and director of the Center for Excellence in Advocacy at Stetson University’s College of Law in Gulfport, Fla. Prior to joining the Stetson faculty in 2005, Rose spent 20 years on active duty in the Army. He served as a linguist, intelligence officer and judge advocate.

His primary scholarly interest focuses on advocacy persuasion techniques, and he teaches and researches in the areas of advocacy, criminal procedure, military law, evidence and professional ethics. Rose earned his bachelor’s degree from Indiana University at South Bend and his JD from Notre Dame Law School. He also earned an LLM from the Judge Advocate General’s School, United States Army.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com

Cayce, South Carolina Police Chief Chris Cowan joins Tim to talk about something both of us wished we didn’t have to talk about. He tells the story of the recent and tragic loss of one of his officers who was shot and killed while responding to a call. He tells the story of and pays tribute to Officer Drew Barr. In the process, he tells the story of the risks and sacrifices police officers take every day to ‘protect and serve.’  This episode was originally released May 16, 2022.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/shapingopinion/Drew_Barr_End_of_Watch_auphonic.mp3





Cayce, South Carolina is a suburb to the City of Columbia.

A few weeks ago, in the early morning hours of a Sunday in Cayce – 2:48 a.m., on April 24th to be exact – there was what police call a “domestic disturbance.”

Police were called to the scene.

Three officers responded. The second officer on the scene was Drew Barr.  We’re going to tell you what happened, but before we do that, you need to know a little bit about the young officer.



Partners Drew Barr and Molly


He was 28 years old. He joined the Cayce Police Department in 2016.  In October 2020, he was promoted to the department’s K-9 unit. His canine partner was Molly, a black Labrador retriever, who became his family.

He had no wife or children, but he did love his community and he worked to keep it safe.

In addition to being a police officer, he was also a volunteer firefighter, a captain in the Monetta Volunteer Fire Department. He was an emergency medical technician. He was a committed professional.

These are the details that Cayce Police Chief Chris Cowan does not want to get lost when people talk about Officer Roy “Drew” Barr.

 
Links

Cayce Police Department
SC law enforcement community mourns slain Cayce police officer: ‘He was brave’ | Columbia | postandcourier.com
‘Our Hearts Are Breaking in Cayce;’ SC Fire Captain/Police Officer Killed in Shooting (firefighternation.com)
Officer Drew Barr honored at funeral and graveside service (wistv.com)
Chief: Man killed SC officer with calculated shot from rifle – ABC News (go.com)

Gratitude
Our gratitude to the Cayce Police Department for the photos used on this page, to Chief Cowan for telling the Drew Barr story, to Officer Drew Barr himself and to his family for the sacrifices they have made for others.
About this Episode’s Guest Chris Cowan
Chris Cowan is recognized internationally for his vast network of private and public partnerships and his expansive policing knowledge, from 29 years in law enforcement.   Chris’ extensive experience leading special operations, homeland security, crime suppression, professional development, community policing, media relations and business and community crime prevention units has given him a unique perspective on what it takes to be a guardian to our communities.   He has also served as a Chief Financial Officer, Chief Public Information Officer, Commander of Special Weapons and Tactics Units and Commander of Community Policing Units.  This experience has provided Chris with a unique perspective on mitigating challenges to corporate and community quality of life issues because it has been paralleled with 22 years in corporate security, risk management and professional development.   His passion is holistic policing strategies to provide stability to all citizens, and protect the vulnerable, through programs that create religious, business and neighborhood crime prevention.

Commissioned a United States Naval Officer; he secured his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science.  He has also earned a Masters Certificate from the Australian Institute of Police Management.  Chris is a graduate of the South Carolina Executive Institute, the FBI National Academy, the FBI Command College and the FBI Hazardous Devices School Executive Management Program.   He has over 19 years of leadership experience in the fields of administration, human capital, crisis management,

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com

Groundhog Club Inner Circle member John Griffiths joins Tim to talk about Groundhog Day and why a little town called Punxsutawney becomes the epicenter of weather prognostication one day a year. John is the handler of Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvania ground hog famous around the world for predicting whether or not we have another 6 weeks of winter. February 2nd is better known as Groundhog Day. This episode was first released January 21, 2019.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shapingopinion/329_-_Encore_-_Its_Groundhog_Day_Again.mp3





On February 2nd, 2019, it will be the 133rd year of Groundhog Day at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, which is a little drive north of Pittsburgh.

This is when Punxsutawney Phil will reveal to the president of his Inner Circle his prediction for the end of winter.

It all happens at the break of dawn, on a usually very cold morning in front of thousands of spectators and television and news media cameras. Whatever happens, Phil’s prediction is transmitted to millions thanks to the media.
History of Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day has European roots. Started centuries ago and is rooted in certain animals in nature “awakening” from their winter hibernation on certain dates. Legend has it then that the groundhog come out of his winter hibernation on February 2nd to look for his shadow.

If he sees it, this is seen as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather, and he then returns into his hole.
If the day is cloudy, and there is no shadow to see, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.

Some of Pennsylvania’s earliest settlers were Germans and they noticed the abundance of groundhogs.
They saw the animal as the most intelligent and sensible of the local animals, and decided that if the sun did appear on February 2nd, the groundhog would be the one to see its shadow or not.
Phun Phacts

Punxsutawney Phil is named after King Phillip. Crowds have gotten as high as 30,000 on Gobbler’s Knob.
The Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper printed the first news of the observance in 1886, one year before the first trip to Gobbler’s Knob.
During Prohibition, Phil threatened to imposed 60 weeks of winter on the community if he wasn’t permitted a drink.
In 1982 Phil wore a yellow ribbon in honor of the American hostages in Iran.
In 1986, Phil went to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Reagan.
1993, Columbia Pictures released the movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray.

Links

The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club
Groundhog Day Movie via Amazon
The First Groundhog Day, History.com
Groundhog Day & Punxsutawney from The Encyclopedia Britannica

About this Episode’s Guest John Griffiths
John Griffiths is a co-handler in the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club and a member of the Inner Circle.  He’s been a member since 1999.

His advice to people who plan on enjoying Groundhog Day in person, he advises “Put all rational thought out of your mind and let the day take you wherever it may.”

His favorite Groundhog Day Memory was, “Meeting a couple from the state of Washington who told me Groundhog Day was their favorite holiday because it wasn’t political or religious, its just ‘fun’.”

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com

Television host and producer Marc Summers joins Tim to talk about the classic Nickelodeon show that put him and the Nickelodeon cable network on the map, Double Dare. Before Double Dare, kids didn’t have their own game show and the Nickelodeon network was not as widely known as it would become after this crazy, messy, green slimy “party” that millions of millennials would rush home after school to watch. This episode was originally released on March 16, 2020.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/forcedn/shapingopinion/214_-_Encore_-_Marc_Summers_and_Nickelodeon.mp3





It was the first game show for kids on the Nickelodeon cable network. It premiered in 1986 with Marc Summers as its host. Double Dare.

In the show, two teams would compete to win money and prizes by answering trivia questions and completing physical challenges that amounted to an organized mess.

The original version of Double Dare ran from 1986 to 1993. Two subsequent versions relaunched in 2000, and then from 2018 to 2019.

Double Dare had more than tripled viewership for Nickelodeon in the afternoon. It was the most popular original daily program on cable television.

Because of that show, Nickelodeon was able to take its place as a major player in cable television, and game shows for kids a thing.

The show remains Nickelodeon’s longest-running game show. In January 2001, TV Guide, ranked the show number 29 on its list of 50 Greatest Game Shows.
Links

Marc Summers
Double Dare, Nick
Double Dare, Fandom
Five Things to Know About the Green Slime on Double Dare, Newsday

About this Episode’s Guest Marc Summers
Marc Summers is a veteran television host and producer, and a comedian. His long list of television credits include: host and producer of Double Dare on Nickelodeon, Unwrapped for the Food Network, and as executive producer of the Food Network’s Dinner: Impossible and Restaurant: Impossible.

Over the year’s he’s hosted other shows, such as the syndicated Couch Potatoes, Nickelodeon’s What Would You Do?, and as a talk show host on the Lifetime network’s Our Home program.

He remains active in new projects across several networks and platforms.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com

Author Mark Seal joins Tim to talk with Mark about the subject of his popular new book about the making of The Godfather movie. The book is called, “Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli.” Mark has is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair where he’s covered scandals, history makers and pop culture icons. This episode was originally released January 10, 2022.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/forcedn/shapingopinion/221_-_The_Making_of_The_Godfather_auphonic.mp3





The Godfather was the first of three motion pictures directed by Francis Ford Coppola about the fictional Corleone crime family. The box office hit was released in 1972, and was followed by sequels in 1974 and 1990.

The original Godfather film was inspired by the novel of the same name that was written by Mario Puzo and published in 1969.

All of the films were distributed by Paramount Pictures and generated roughly $512 million worldwide. The film franchise won nine Academy Awards.

This coming March will mark the 50th anniversary of when the Godfather first hit the big screens.

The movie centers on Don Vito Corleone and his family. Marlon Brando plays the Don.

The Don declines an offer to get into the narcotics business with another crime family, which is led by Virgil Sollozzo.

This creates problems. Don Corleone becomes a marked man. Don Corleone’s oldest boy is Sonny Corleone. He’s played by James Caan. Sonny takes over the crime family while his father recovers.

Meanwhile, Sonny’s little brother Michael – who is played by Al Pacino – is recruited to exact revenge on Sollozzo.

As the gang wars heat up, Michael is sent to Sicily to lay low for a while. That’s where he meets his first wife. The violence follows him there when his young bride is killed.

Back in New York, Michael’s older brother Sonny is killed in an ambush attack.

By now, Don Vito Corleone has recovered from the assassination attempt on his life, but he decides to turn over the control of the family business to Michael.

There are plots and sub-plots, but through it all, Michael emerges as a force to be reckoned with, and Al Pacino goes from a relative unknown to a Hollywood super star.

Mark Seal first wrote about the making of The Godfather years ago in his work for Vanity Fair Magazine. Eventually, that work would lead to his new book entitled, “Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli.”
Links

Mark Seal (website)
Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli, by Mark Seal (Barnes & Noble)

About this Episode’s Guest Mark Seal
Veteran author and journalist Mark Seal joined Vanity Fair as a contributing editor in 2003, covering stories as varied as the Bernie Madoff scandal, Ghislaine Maxwell, Tiger Woods, the fall of Olympian Oscar Pistorius, the making of classic films such as Pulp Fiction, and many more.

He has twice been a National Magazine Awards finalist. His 2016 Vanity Fair article “The Over the Hill Gang,” about a gang of retired thieves who pulled off the biggest jewel heist in British history, was the basis of the 2018 film, King of Thieves, starring Michael Caine.

In addition to Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli. he is the author of the books Wildflower, about the incredible life and brutal murder of Kenyan naturalist and filmmaker Joan Root, and The Man in the Rockefeller Suit, about the serial con artist Clark Rockefeller.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.shapingopinion.com