'The Rise and Fall of an Urban Empire' is the memoir of Courtney Brown Jr. The book chronicles the rise and fall of his father, Courtney 'Berman' Brown Sr. and partner in crime Eddie 'Fat Man' Jackson. These two guys start from meager beginnings to seize control of the Detroit drug trade in the 1970's and soon start taking in millions of dollars per month in heroin sales while still raising their families in the back ground of little league baseball and boy scouts. Detroit had made them 'Kings of the Heroin Game'. Find out how they became the richest and most influential men in Detroit at the time'.
 

In the early 1960's a bloody civil war broke out between the two powerful Irish Mob families in the Somerville Massachusetts neighborhood known as Winter Hill. Over sixty men were murdered, including the leader of the Winter Hill Gang, James "Buddy" McLean. The leadership of one of the most influential non-Italian crime organizations in the United States was inherited by his childhood friend, Howard T. "Howie" Winter. In Bobby Martini's riveting book, titled CITIZEN SOMERVILLE, the author vividly writes about these events offering a true visceral picture of an era in Boston's pre-Whitey Bulger history when the streets were protected by a close-knit group of Irish-Italian "businessmen." The award winning author has laid his own history bare to depict a life of survival in the rough streets of Somerville. Crime Beat is privileged to have Mr. Martini as a featured special guest on Thursday August 11, 2011 at 8 p.m. EST ... mark it on your calendar, you will not want to miss this one...

Anybody interested in the NBA basketball betting scandal involving former basketball referee Tim Donaghy and the world of sports betting will want to tune in to Crime Beat at 8 p.m. EST on July 28, 2011. Our featured guest is author Sean Griffin, who in his book about the scandal, Gaming the Game, provides Griffin's take on the scandal and on the current state of sports betting. Make sure to mark the date on your calendar, you will not be disappointed.

Lynch mobs in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America exacted horrifying public torture and mutilation on their victims. In  her award winning book, titled Lynching and Spectacle, Amy Wood explains what it meant for white Americans to perform and witness these sadistic spectacles and how lynching played a role in establishing and affirming white supremacy. Lynching, Wood argues, overlapped with a variety of cultural practices and performances, both traditional and modern, including public executions, religious rituals, photography, and cinema, all which encouraged the horrific violence and gave it social acceptability. 

Crime Beat's featured guest is David Albright, one of the world's most foremost experts on nuclear proliferation... in his startling book PEDDLING PERIL, he offers a harrowing narrative of the alarming huge cracks through which nuclear weapons traffickers such as Pakistan's nuclear scientist A.Q . Kahn are allowed to practise thier dangerous and lethal trade... you won't want to miss this one, tune in at 8 p.m. EST.

The blockbuster award winning book, American Icon: The Fall of Roger  Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime is much more than than the downfall of a superstar. While the fascinating portrait of Clemens is certainly at the center of the action, the book takes the reader outside the white lines and inside the lives and dealings of sports executives, trainers, congressmen, lawyers, drug dealers, groupies, a porn star, and even a murderer—all of whom have ties to this saga. Four superb investigative journalists have spent years uncovering the truth, and at the heart of their investigation is a behind-the-scenes portrait of the maneuvering and strategies in the legal war between Clemens and his accusers.  CRIME BEAT is privileged to have Mr. Michael Okeeffe and Nathanial Vinton, two of the four acclaimed authors to talk about their intriguing book on the Artistfirst World Radio Network this Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 8 p.m. EST.
 

This week's Crime Beat radio show (www.artistfirst.com/crimebeat.htm) features Rick Muny and Patrick Fleming. officials with the Poker Players Alliance (www.theppa.org), who will talk about issues relating to online gambling and the recent U.S. government crackdown on the industry. Show time is Thursday, June 16, at 8 p.m. EST. All programs are archived for 24-7 listening.  Its going to be an intriguing and fascinating show, you won't want to miss this one.
 

6-02-11
Andrew DiDonato

   When Andrew DiDonato left his past behind in 1997 he was a old school gangster at the tender age of 32.  The wise guy was a career criminal and he loved every minute of it until he saw the light and became a government witness helping to bring down the infamous Teflon don' himself, John Gotti.

   The Gambino Family soldier chronicles his life in a new book and DVD called 'Surviving the Mob' that describes his nefarious talents as 'true-to-life' mobster.  On the next Crime Beat programme airing February 3, 2011 on ArtistFirst Worldwide Network radio,  Andrew DiDonato will offer insights on the most recent Gambino and other notorious family members in one of the biggest round ups in New York City and FBI history.

Robert Edward Forchion (NJWeedman)

At the age of 15, Robert Edward Forchion  (NJWeedman) smoked his first marijuana cigarette and was immediately impressed by its medical healing powers, in regard to his asthma. By age 18 he was a regular user of marijuana, and he dismissed the Surgeon Generals claims of its harms as "propaganda and Christian superstitions". NJWeedman, is a cannabis activist and a perennial candidate for various New Jersey elected offices. Forchion identifies himself as a member of the Legalize Marijuana Party and campaigns primarily on the single issue of cannabis legalization. Forchion has done various stunts to bring attention to cannabis legalization, including smoking cannabis in front of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia as well as attempting to legally change his name to NJWeedman.  Mr. Forchion joins Ron Chepesiuk and Will Hryb on Crime Beat this Thursday at 8-9 p.m. EST.  It promises to be a great show...you won't want to miss this one.'
 
 

Robert K. Wittman

CRIME BEAT welcomes featured special guest  Robert K. Wittman, author of the best selling book titled PRICELESS .  Wittman is also the founder of the FBI's ART CRIME TEAM who  writes in his page-turner memoir about the fascinating stories behind his recoveries of priceless art and antiquities.  High stakes art theft comes to life in this spellbinding narrative.  Robert Wittman will describe the darkest corners art theft and the world of elective thieves this coming Thursday on CRIME BEAT at 8 p.m. EST where you will want to have a front row seat in this fascinating world of criminal activity.
 

In his best selling book titled DRUG WAR ZONE - FRONTLINE DISPATCHES FROM THE STREETS OF EL PASO AND JUAREZ,  Howard Campbell describes in visceral detail the lives of drug warriors and the people connected to the drug trade ...his book, is a vivid ground-level portrait of terror, violence and futility.  Howard Campbell is a socialogist and anthropologist at the University of Texas at El Paso who illuminates the sights and sounds of the mean streets on these two drug infested border cities.  Be sure to tune into Crime Beat this Thursday May 12, 2011 at 8 p.m. EST, where you want to have the front row seat to the fascinating and frightening world of drug wars on the Mexican, USA border.