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Outside/In

Catching the Codfather

Outside/In

NHPR

Society & Culture, Documentary, Natural Sciences, Nature, Science

4.71.5K Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2026

⏱️ 60 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A fishing tycoon is arrested in an elaborate sting operation, but claims he’s the real hero fighting back against an overbearing state. So who is Carlos “The Codfather” Rafael really – a folk hero, a crook, a righteous rebel, or a selfish conman? This week we’re sharing the first episode from “Catching The Codfather,” the third season of GBH’s hit podcast The Big Dig.  It’s a series about fishing regulations disguised as a true crime caper unlike any you’ve heard before.  Produced by Ian Coss and Isabel Hibbard. To hear the rest of the series, subscribe to The Big Dig wherever you get your podcasts.  SUPPORT Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In.  Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, this is Outside In, a show where curiosity and the natural world collide.

0:04.6

I am Nate Hedgy.

0:06.1

And I got to tell you, I love a good Boston movie.

0:11.7

Give me Ben Affleck robbing banks in the town.

0:14.7

Give me Marky Mark dropping like 100 F bombs in The Departed.

0:18.3

Or I guess I should say like the Departed.

0:20.1

Fuck yourself.

0:23.7

I'm tired from fucking your wife. How's your mother? Good. She's tired for fucking my father. There is just something about that accent that I love. And when I first

0:31.8

heard a new podcast series from Ian Koss and our friends over at Boston Station, GBAH, I just knew it was going to be a winner.

0:41.2

It's a true crime saga set in the fishing port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and it's centered

0:45.9

on a guy named the Codfather. We're going to share the first episode with you now, but also

0:51.0

be warned, the Codfather swears like a sailor, even though he doesn't actually like being on boats.

0:56.0

All right, here we go.

0:59.0

Can you tell me about how you did ultimately get arrested?

1:25.0

This all started a few years back when I wanted to sell my business see my legacy it was to grow this to a point that I would turn it over to my keys.

1:30.9

I dated. That said, I'm done. I want to give the business to my middle daughter.

1:37.3

And I told her, Stephanie, I was 62 at the time. I said, Stephanie, that is style. I got enough.

1:47.5

I'm going to give you the the business and I want no money at the end of the year the profits you split with your sisters it's

1:54.3

yours so she looks at me and she says do you think I want the kind of live you have?

2:03.9

And she didn't want a company over 100 million just for them.

2:09.7

Can you blame her?

2:11.4

No.

...

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