It is an absolute treasure for insight into the life from a first hand account. I love the podcast. It's done wonders for my writing. That being said, it's a shame Sammy flipped and all. I love getting the chance to hear from someone who was there living the life, but to flip on your boss like that is just scummy no matter what. I get all this pride hearing him talk about la cosa nostra and living the life and all that. How the rules keep them safe and together...

Yet at the end of the day he sung like a canary for his own hide and didn't truly uphold to omerta. One of the most compelling podcasts I've ever found, though. Anyone truly interested in mob lore should give it a listen.

I'd also check out The Sitdown if you are into the history of different mobsters throughout time. They do a good job of telling the life story of multiple mobsters.

John backed em’ into a corner like some thug and was going to kill him.

Idk, Gotti was a shitty Don that was disastrous for the Gambino Family to this day.

Sorry, BrunoAccardo. Forgot to add tag.

That is true Bacon . John Gotti broke one of the number one rules. La cosa nostra was never meant to be on display. 

There is no doubt in my mind that John Gotti was terrible for not only the Gambino family, but he played a major factor in bringing down the modern mafia as a whole. The man loved the attention, and that is just terrible for business. 

I agree that John had him backed into quite the corner, but I'll never agree with someone cooperating with the feds like that. There were other things that could have been done to help salvage things. Maybe even breaking another golden rule and killing the boss would have been the best way to go about things. I don't think that the federal government wouldn't have went down the road they did against the mob if it wasn't for John Gotti, but standing up and throwing it in the government's face everytime you beat a wrap isn't a smart thing to do either.

Sammy was definitely a lot more of an overall mafioso, but John Gotti never coorporated. I just don't have any false notions of thinking that Sammy was the greatest things since sliced bread. If you want to look at what a real stone cold gangster does when you catch a case, look into Tony Accardo. Man pleaded the fifth his entire life and was able to keep his business low down enough that he kept himself from the inside of a jail cell.

Sammy would have made a much better boss in my opinion, but I also think he was trying to use Gotti as a fool of a frontboss to keep the heat off of him. When that backfired, it seriously screwed everything up for Sammy. I do think he did a little killing for money and power against some of his own though, DB and all that. 

Anyone who is still listening to the podcast. 

Do you believe that Sammy Gravano would have made a better boss than John Gotti after the Castellano hit. Do you believe Sammy would have been able to hold onto the title of boss longer and avoided being in the trial? I myself believe he could have done a much better job of keeping their activities out of the light the way things were supposed to be. I wonder if the other families would have backed Sammy any better or worse as the new boss after the Castellano hit. 

I think it could have been a much more interesting history for the Gambino's under Sammy's type of doing business in a hidden manner. There's something to be said about a man making that kind of money and still dressing in regular clothing. 

I learned about Michael Franceze from his VladTV interview.  Riveting stuff.  He was also a guest on mike Tyson's podcast which was great too.  Became a fan of him after that.

I like how the mafia podcasters have all turned into typical youtube drama channels and all in-fight now.  A lot of former mob guys are doing podcasts now, most stink but Gravanno's and Franceze are pretty good.  The rest are just a bunch of not very smart guys rattling off crimes and murders they commited, which somehow they manage to make even that uninteresting.

Michale Franceze was shown briefly being portrayed in Goodfellas, when Ray Liotta brings Karen through the restaurant on their date

I love Gravano's podcast and Franzese

The way Gravano goes into the details of his stories sometimes is excellent. There is another channel too sitdownnews John Pennisi i like his too

Yes Jaws, the Paul Castallano writing contest in particular, and we all know how that ended for him.

I love that Sammy Gravano has his own merch line now.

I would highly recommend anyone who is into the mafia / crime & not easily unnerved to watch 'The Iceman Tapes' Richard Kuklinski was a paid killer for the mob. Although I doubt his claims of killing hundreds of people, he is a pretty fkin dark guy. Something really unsettling about the dude. 

I cannot watch him

See I don't have a problem with rats like most mafia historians out there. (I deem myself as well), but I will continue. I cannot handle that he refuses to say that he ratted and that he was forced into it. He damn well knew the life was dangerous, nobody forced him into it. He wanted the fast life and he needs to handle the consequences of it.