EPISODE 34 The Magliana Gang (Part 1)

History on Fire

Daniele Bolelli

Society & Culture

4.7 • 5.9K Ratings

🗓️ 3 May 2018

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“A lifetime serving one machine Is ten times worse than prison” The Clash (from the song Bankrobber) “We were treated like movie stars with muscle. We had it all, just for the asking… Anything I wanted was a phone call away. Free cars. The keys to a dozen hideout flats all over the city…When I was broke, I would go out and rob some more. We ran everything. We paid off cops. We paid off lawyers. We paid off judges. Everybody had their hands out. Everything was for the taking.” From the movie Goodfellas “Drugs are power” Antonio Mancini This series is about the rise of a street gang that took over Rome in the 1970s and 1980s. The Magliana gang was not just one of many criminal organizations who operated in Italy. Among their business partners, they counted Italy’s most important politicians, bankers, secret services, and possibly the Vatican itself. The gang left an indelible mark on Italian history. The story of their rise to power and of the heyday of their rule truly is stranger than fiction. It’s the kind of story that makes you think that the Godfather 3 perhaps was a documentary after all. There are lots of books and documentaries about this story but they are nearly all in Italian, so it looks like I’m your man if you wanna hear this story in English—or whatever approximation of English I speak. In this episode, we’ll see one of bloodiest gangsters in the late 20th century being buried among Cardinals; why law-abiding citizens are fascinated with gangsters; the genesis of the Banda della Magliana; the kidnapping of the Duke Massimiliano Grazioli Lante della Rovere; how the gang took over Rome; the gang becoming the liaison to the criminal underworld for Church and State; the story of The Years of Lead; Italian Prime Ministers being kidnapped by Communist guerrillas; the killing of Franchino Nicolini, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Whether you like history or not, if you care about bravery, wisdom, passion, larger than life
0:06.0	characters, and some of the most emotionally intense moments in human experience, you have come
0:11.6	to the right place. Deniele Bollelli is a university history professor, writer and martial artist,
0:18.5	and he shall be your guide and a journey to the place where history and epic collide.
1:00.8	Episode 34 of History on Fire is brought to you by Blue Apron. Once upon a time I was the chef
1:08.2	around the house. Back then, History on Fire producer and editor Savanna M possessed many fine
1:16.5	talents by cooking wasn't one of them. And then the Blue Apron delivery began arriving,
1:23.6	and she decided to take a stab at it, and it took her no time to learn to be incredibly
1:29.2	skilled cooking Blue Apron meals. So she's now the official household chef. My skill
1:35.4	have been very sadly overshadowed by her newly found mastery. We just had right before right
1:42.2	now when we set down recording, we just had one of her amazing Blue Apron creations just a few
1:47.0	minutes ago. Now, regardless of her cooking skills, which way may not benefit you much,
1:53.2	the good news for you is that there's a special offer for History on Fire listeners.
1:58.5	So if you check out this week's menu and you can get your first three meals for free at blueapron.com
2:05.3	forward slash on fire. Blue Apron, a better way to cook. This episode is also brought to you by
2:13.0	Cannaway. If you guys have never tried CBD to... CBD is one of those one-there chemicals that
2:22.5	is just amazing. It helps to fight pain, inflammation, anxiety, and I can go down the list and
2:27.6	spend a whole episode just listing all the good stuff that CBD does to your body. So if you want
2:32.8	to check it out, do some research, Google CBD and find out what it's all about. I'm partner
2:38.8	here in App with CBD Company. So if you guys want to try it out, you can go to cannaway.com
2:46.4	forward slash 2496006. That's k-a-n-n-a-w-a-y.com forward slash 2496006. If you end up trying it,
3:00.1	I would love to hear your feedback. Also, big thank you to my usual sponsors on knit.com.
	...

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