James Gagliano was fresh out of the FBI Academy when he drew a bizarre assignment: safeguarding Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, a former Gambino mob boss who had recently flipped, becoming one of the government’s most important, and endangered, cooperating witnesses. Gagliano reveals details from those first few months when he lived with and protected Sammy the Bull, getting to know the most important mob cooperator in American history.  

In the bonus episode for CAFE Insiders, Elie Honig and Safeena Mecklai take listeners behind the scenes of the fourth episode of Up Against the Mob. Become an Insider at cafe.com/Insider and enter code MOB for 50% off the annual membership price. 

Up Against the Mob is produced by CAFE Studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe wherever you listen. 

Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Senior Editorial Producer: Adam Waller; Technical Director: David Tatasciore; Audio Producers: Matthew Billy; Composer: Nat Weiner; Editorial Producers: Noa Azulai, David Kurlander, Sam Ozer-Staton, Jake Kaplan.

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Joaquin “Big Jack” Garcia is a legendary former FBI undercover agent. Posing as mob member “Jack Falcone,” Garcia infiltrated the Gambino Family deeper than anyone else in history. Garcia reveals how he bonded with powerful mob leaders, fooled the family into accepting him as their own, and ultimately took down a powerhouse Gambino Family crew. 

In the bonus episode for CAFE Insiders, Elie Honig and Safeena Mecklai take listeners behind the scenes of the third episode of Up Against the Mob. Become an Insider at cafe.com/Insider and enter code MOB for 50% off the annual membership price. 

Up Against the Mob is produced by CAFE Studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe wherever you listen. 

Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Senior Editorial Producer: Adam Waller; Technical Director: David Tatasciore; Audio Producers: Matthew Billy; Composer: Nat Weiner; Editorial Producers: Noa Azulai, David Kurlander, Sam Ozer-Staton, Jake Kaplan.

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Murray Richman is a longtime criminal defense attorney who’s better known as one of the country’s top mob lawyers. Purportedly the real-life “Better Call Saul” character, Murray takes pride in being “liberty’s last champion.” He tells of his life defending top mafia chieftains and hip-hop stars—and, of the time he went out with Frank Sinatra after fighting for his mob boss client’s acquittal.

In the bonus episode for CAFE Insiders, Elie Honig and Safeena Mecklai take listeners behind the scenes of the second episode of Up Against the Mob. Become an Insider at cafe.com/Insider and enter code MOB for 50% off the annual membership price. 

Up Against the Mob is produced by CAFE Studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe wherever you listen. 

Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Senior Editorial Producer: Adam Waller; Technical Director: David Tatasciore; Audio Producers: Matthew Billy; Composer: Nat Weiner; Editorial Producers: Noa Azulai, David Kurlander, Sam Ozer-Staton, Jake Kaplan.

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In this bonus episode of Up Against the Mob, Elie Honig and Safeena Mecklai take listeners behind the scenes of the first episode. They discuss the challenge of flipping a mafia member to become a cooperating witness and how Elie would speak to his young children about his job prosecuting organized crime.  

To hear future bonus episodes of Up Against the Mob become a member of CAFE Insider at cafe.com/Insider and enter code MOB for 50% off the annual membership price.

Up Against the Mob is produced by CAFE Studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. 

Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Senior Editorial Producer: Adam Waller; Technical Director: David Tatasciore; Audio Producers: Matthew Billy; Composer: Nat Weiner; Editorial Producers: Noa Azulai, David Kurlander, Sam Ozer-Staton, Jake Kaplan.

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Once a rising star in the Genovese crime family, Michael Visconti decided to leave the mafia and become a cooperating government witness. Visconti opens up to Elie Honig about his life and rise in the mob — how he first got mixed up with the mafia, the violent crimes he committed, and his decision to flip against his mob “family.”  

In the bonus episode for CAFE Insiders, Elie Honig and Safeena Mecklai take listeners behind the scenes of the first episode of Up Against the Mob. Become an Insider at cafe.com/Insider and enter code MOB for 50% off the annual membership price. 

Up Against the Mob is produced by CAFE Studios and the Vox Media Podcast Network. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe wherever you listen. 

Executive Producer: Tamara Sepper; Senior Editorial Producer: Adam Waller; Technical Director: David Tatasciore; Audio Producers: Matthew Billy, Nat Weiner; Editorial Producers: Noa Azulai, David Kurlander, Sam Ozer-Staton, Jake Kaplan.

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Up Against the Mob is a new podcast from CAFE hosted by former prosecutor Elie Honig. Each week, he sits down with cops, undercover agents, defense lawyers, mobsters-turned-cooperators and more to tell the stories of what it’s like to take on the world’s most secretive criminal organization. New episodes drop every Wednesday starting September 8th. 

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