Q&A

Former mafia associate Louis Ferrante talks about "Borgata: Clash of Titans," volume two of his history of the American mafia that covers the years 1960-1985. In part one of a two-part interview, he gives a history of the mafia in America, discusses Attorney General Robert Kennedy's war against organized crime and the involvement that he says the mafia had in the 1960 election and 1963 assassination of President John Kennedy. Mr. Ferrante also shares stories about his time as a heist expert for the Gambino crime family, which led to his imprisonment in 1994.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reginald Dwayne Betts originally read Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "Letter from Birmingham Jail" – King's defense of the use of nonviolent civil disobedience in the fight for civil rights – while in solitary confinement in prison. Mr. Betts, who served over 8 years for a carjacking he committed when he was 16, went on to become an award-winning poet and graduate of Yale Law School. He has written the Afterword for a new commemorative edition of Dr. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Mr. Betts talks about the book and the work done by Freedom Reads, an organization he founded that builds libraries in prisons.           Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. District Court judge Frederic Block (Eastern District of New York) talks about the application of the 2018 First Step Act, under which federal prisoners who have served decades in prison can petition the court for reductions in their sentences. The bi-partisan act, signed into law by President Trump during his first term, was created to address the excesses in federal sentencing during the 1980s and 90s, reduce the size of the federal prison population, and promote rehabilitation. In his book, "A Second Chance," Judge Block discusses the outcomes for 6 defendants – including mafia hitmen, a child pornographer, and a rogue policeman – who petitioned him for their release.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Military historian and presidential biographer Nigel Hamilton talks about the military face-off between two American presidents – Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis – during the Civil War. He discusses the early months of the war, the decision to move the Confederate capitol to Virginia, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, and more. This is part two of a two-part interview with Mr. Hamilton about his book "Lincoln vs. Davis."      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Military historian and presidential biographer Nigel Hamilton talks about the military face-off between two American presidents – Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis – during the Civil War. He discusses the background of both men, their rise to the presidencies of the Union and the Confederacy, respectively, and the events that led up to attack on Fort Sumter by Confederate forces on April 12, 1861, not long after both men were inaugurated. This is part one of a two-part interview with Mr. Hamilton about his book "Lincoln vs. Davis."      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former high school government teacher and host of the "Here's Where It Gets Interesting" podcast, Sharon McMahon, author of "The Small and the Mighty," profiles lesser-known Americans who have changed the course of American history. During the interview, Ms. McMahon talks about the contributions of retail pioneers Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck, former slave and philanthropist Clara Brown, Japanese American politician Norman Mineta, Founding Father Gouverneur Morris, and others.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stuart Eizenstat, former Domestic Policy Adviser to President Carter and U.S. Ambassador to the European Union under President Clinton, talks about his political career and his new book, "The Art Of Diplomacy," in which he discusses the work done to achieve agreements like the Camp David Accords, the Kyoto Protocols, and the Iran nuclear agreement. Mr. Eizenstat also talks about growing up in the South during the Civil Rights Era and how that experience changed him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 "For every young kid that makes a mistake, they can look at Don Scott and say, 'I'll never give up. I can still be what I want to be in America.'" That was former Republican governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia speaking about our guest this week, the state's newly elected Democratic speaker of the House of Delegates. Don Scott talks about the hurdles he overcame, including spending almost eight years in prison, to become Virginia's first Black speaker in 405 years.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since its founding in 1992, the Innocence Project has been responsible for getting hundreds of wrongfully convicted people in the United States out of prison. Attorney and Innocence Project executive director Christina Swarns joins us to talk about the history of the organization, the root causes of wrongful convictions, and some of the clients the Innocence Project has successfully represented over the years, including the two men convicted of killing of Malcolm X in 1965. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York City real estate developer Larry Silverstein, author of "The Rising," shares stories about the rebuilding of the World Trade Center complex following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mr. Silverstein - who acquired a 99-year lease on the World Trade Center just weeks before the attacks - talks about his memories from that day and discusses the business, political, and engineering challenges he faced during his 20-year rebuilding effort.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices