The Big Dig Presents: Catching The Codfather

GBH News

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, a selfish conman?

In Season 3 of The Big Dig podcast, “Catching The Codfather,” we go down to the docks. It’s a place where food, work, nature, money and politics all meet – where dreams are born, fortunes ruined, and where the watchful eye of the government is always present. The series traces the rise of Carlos Rafael and his escalating conflict with the government, because to judge the crimes of The Codfather, you also have to judge the whole system that he chose to break.

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“This is a town where there are three pastimes: politics, sports and revenge.” The town is Boston.

Seemingly dry topics become gripping political dramas in this Peabody Award winning show from creator Ian Coss and GBH News. Each season of “The Big Dig” uncovers a different facet of society – infrastructure, gambling, food, healthcare – together the pieces connect to tell the story of modern America.

Season One: "The Big Dig"

The highway project known as “The Big Dig” is infamous – a shorthand for government failure – but it all started as one engineer’s dream to correct the wrongs of the past, and its legacy is far from simple.

Season Two: "Scratch & Win"

America’s most successful state lottery – and its greatest innovation, the scratch ticket – all starts with mafia bookmakers and state bureaucrats going toe to toe in a battle to own the future of gambling.

Season Three: "Catching The Codfather"

A fishing tycoon is arrested in an elaborate sting operation, but claims he’s the real hero fighting back against the state.

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CREDITS:

Host & Creator: Ian Coss

Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins

Producer: Isabel Hibbard

Story Editor: Lacy Roberts

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“This is a town where there are three pastimes: politics, sports and revenge.” The town is Boston.

Season One: "The Big Dig"

Season Two: "Scratch & Win"

Season Three: "Catching The Codfather"

A fishing tycoon is arrested in an elaborate sting operation, but claims he’s the real hero fighting back against the state.

--------------

CREDITS:

Host & Creator: Ian Coss

Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins

Producer: Isabel Hibbard

Story Editor: Lacy Roberts

24hr 56min

Thumbnail for "Introducing Season One: The Big Dig".

Can America still do big things?

September 13, 20235min 3sec6.07 MB

October 15, 20255min 6sec4.9 MB

Thumbnail for "BONUS: A note from the team".

June 12, 20242min 50sec3.41 MB

Thumbnail for "The Big Dig | 1. We Were Wrong".

There is a strange irony behind the Big Dig: the most expensive highway project ever built in America began with a man who hated highways.

September 27, 202354min 17sec65.16 MB

Thumbnail for "The Big Dig | 2. Unholy Alliance".

In the early 1970s a radical idea took shape: tearing down Boston’s elevated downtown highway, and rebuilding it underground.

September 27, 202352min62.43 MB

Thumbnail for "The Big Dig | 3. All Politics is Local".

The Big Dig needs federal funding. House Speaker Tip O’Neill is determined to get it; President Ronald Reagan is determined to stop it.

October 4, 202353min 32sec64.26 MB

Thumbnail for "The Big Dig | 4. The Double Cross".

The project faces an unexpected challenge on the home front: resistance from local environmentalists and residents.

October 11, 202356min 5sec67.32 MB

Thumbnail for "The Big Dig | 5. Hatchet Man vs. the 800 Pound Gorilla".

In 1991, the Big Dig is handed off to a new leader – the brash, aggressive, hatchet-toting Jim Kerasiotes – who makes it clear he plans to shake things up.

October 18, 202353min 37sec64.36 MB

Thumbnail for "The Big Dig | 6. The Up Down Charts".

As work progresses through the 1990s and the tunnels take shape, the true cost of the Big Dig remains unknown to the public.

October 25, 202350min 7sec60.16 MB

Thumbnail for "The Big Dig | 7. The Turnpike Revolt".

By the year 2000, the Big Dig has passed through many hands, but in its final years a power struggle spills into public view.

November 1, 202356min 34sec67.9 MB

Thumbnail for "The Big Dig | 8. I Want Justice for What Happened".

Just as the project turns the corner towards completion, its entire legacy becomes clouded.

November 8, 202356min 59sec68.4 MB

Thumbnail for "The Big Dig | 9. Hearts and Minds".

It’s been fifty years since the Big Dig was first conceived, thirty years since construction began, more than a dozen years since it was completed.

November 15, 202337min 32sec45.06 MB

Thumbnail for "Introducing Season Two: Scratch & Win".

The unlikely rise of America’s most successful lottery

January 22, 20254min 2sec4.85 MB

Thumbnail for "Scratch & Win | 1. The Instant Ticket".

January 29, 202549min 36sec57.18 MB

Thumbnail for "Scratch & Win | 2. The Lottery Czar".

January 29, 202556min 50sec66.92 MB

Thumbnail for "Scratch & Win | 3. Have You Played Your Number?".

February 5, 202550min 52sec59.76 MB

Thumbnail for "Scratch & Win | 4. The Last Mafia Boss of Boston".

February 12, 202543min 48sec50.83 MB

Thumbnail for "Scratch & Win | 5. The Cherry Sheets".

February 19, 202556min 2sec66.37 MB

Thumbnail for "Scratch & Win | 6. The Game Dreams Are Made Of".

February 26, 202545min 59sec48.16 MB

Thumbnail for "Scratch & Win | 7. The Dirtiest Race in the Commonwealth".

March 5, 202551min 5sec59.85 MB

Thumbnail for "Scratch & Win | 8. The Other Massachusetts Miracle".

March 12, 202546min 32sec54.86 MB

Thumbnail for "BONUS: Why does sports betting feel different?".

March 19, 202549min 5sec47.13 MB

Thumbnail for "BONUS: Should we be nostalgic for machine politics?".

March 26, 202539min 10sec37.62 MB

Thumbnail for "BONUS: Why do some parts of government work better than others?".

April 2, 202543min 55sec42.18 MB

Thumbnail for "BONUS: How to sue the government, and win".

April 9, 202545min 20sec43.54 MB

Thumbnail for "Introducing Season Three: Catching The Codfather".

February 4, 20264min 6sec3.94 MB

Thumbnail for "What you need to know when buying fish, with Roger Berkowitz".

April 1, 202633min 56sec32.58 MB

Thumbnail for "Have we entered a new era for government regulation?".

March 25, 202642min 38sec40.93 MB

Thumbnail for "Catching The Codfather | 1. Red Lobster".

February 11, 202655min 46sec53.54 MB

Thumbnail for "Catching The Codfather | 2. I Hope Those People Sink".

February 18, 202653min 51sec51.7 MB

Thumbnail for "Catching The Codfather | 3. Punch in the Kisser".

February 25, 202648min 56sec46.98 MB

Thumbnail for "Catching The Codfather | 4. Mosquitos on the Balls of an Elephant".

March 4, 202652min 53sec50.77 MB

Thumbnail for "Catching The Codfather | 5. Painting Fish".

March 11, 20261hr 1min58.95 MB

Thumbnail for "Catching The Codfather | 6. It’s Your Job to Catch Me".

March 18, 20261hr 8min65.12 MB

February 17, 20262min 48sec2.69 MB

January 28, 20265min 55sec5.68 MB

BONUS: Should we be nostalgic for machine politics?

March 26, 202539min 10sec

There’s a lot of talk lately about patronage politics returning to Washington – a system based on loyalty, relationships, favors and transactions – but this kind of system is not new. Patronage was once the beating heart of the Democratic Party, and of course, the Massachusetts state lottery. So what changed? How did the party of patronage become the party of technocrats?

In this second interview episode, host Ian Coss speaks with historian Lily Geismer, co-editor of a new book about the evolution of the Democratic Party: “Mastery and Drift: Professional Class Liberals Since 1960.”