Nothing had worked. Not threats or negotiations, not shutting down the betting parlors or opium dens, not house-to-house searches or throwing Chinese offenders into prison. Not even executing them. New York’s District Attorney was running out of ideas and more people were dying every day, as the weapons of choice evolved from hatchets and meat cleavers to pistols, automatic weapons, and even bombs. Welcome to New York City‘s Chinatown in 1925. In Tong Wars: The Untold Story of Vice, Money, and Murder in New York’s Chinatown, author and historian, Scott D. Seligman scrupulously documents three decades of turmoil, with characters ranging from gangsters and drug lords to reformers and do-gooders to judges, prosecutors, and cops. It’s a true story set in Prohibition-era Manhattan and at last, unravels much of the legendary mystery of Chinatown. Don’t miss Scott D. Seligman discuss his riveting new book on the next edition of Life Elsewhere.
It’s late summer, 1921: Disgraced former lightweight champion Pepper Van Dean has spent the past two years on the carnival circuit performing the dangerous “hangman’s drop” and taking on all comers in nightly challenge bouts. But when he and his cardsharp wife, Moira, are marooned in the wilds of Oregon, Pepper accepts an offer to return to the world of wrestling as a trainer for Garfield Taft, a down-and-out African American heavyweight contender in search of a comeback and a shot at the world title. Pepper and Moira soon realize that nothing is what it seems: not Taft, the upcoming match, or the training facility itself. Champion Of The World, is the masterful debut novel from author and sportswriter Chad Dundas. Hear the interview on our upcoming show.
Bob Ross, respected film and media critic returns to Life Elsewhere with his Summer Movie picks, beginning with The Infiltrator, starring the increasingly popular Bryan Cranston as a US Customs agent. Bob also offers his take on the new, all-female Ghostbusters; Woody Allen’s latest, Cafe Society; Jason Bourne; Star Trek Beyond; a Ben Hur remake, and the much-anticipated Absolutely Fabulous, the big-screen adaptation of the cult British TV series.
It’s a bumper-packed edition of Life Elsewhere. Hear it first, Sunday at 12 noon ET on WMNF on the new, spiffy, cool, app.
Life Elsewhere Show #177 airs:
Sundays 12 noon ET at The Source WMNF HD3
If you miss any editions of Life Elsewhere, go here then go to the Listen On Demand panel, choose the date of a show and click play.
PS: You can now download the new WMNF mobile app for FREE and listen to LIfe Elsewhere as it streams live at 12 noon ET every Sunday
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