{"id":715,"date":"2020-10-19T21:43:48","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T04:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/?p=715"},"modified":"2020-10-19T21:43:49","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T04:43:49","slug":"crimetown-divine-providence-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/2020\/10\/19\/crimetown-divine-providence-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Crimetown – Divine Providence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Crimetown <\/em>is a podcast that explores the story of Buddy Cianci, the former mayor of Providence, Rhode Island and his connections to the mob. Buddy\u2019s story begins with his younger years, working as an assistant attorney general in Rhode Island. 
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The podcast and the story it describes is tied together and connected by the narration of the two hosts, Marc Smerling and Zac Stuart-Pointer. The audio often switches back and forth between first hand testimony and the commentary of the hosts, the interviewed audio almost serving as B-Roll footage for their narration. In the intro, Smerling gives some background information on Cianci, calling him \u201cthe mayor of a major American city\u201d who was caught \u201ckidnapping and torturing a guy\u201d. The audio then cuts to a testimony from Cianci\u2019s funeral, saying, \u201cHe did so much for this city, we\u2019re gonna miss him\u201d. This back and forth between testimony and interview is continued throughout the intro, as well as the rest of the podcast. These interviews, testimonies, and samples serve almost as character witnesses for Cianci and the mob, giving contrasting views, accounts, and opinions on them.
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Crimetown<\/em> also explores an interesting chronological structure, starting with the absolute end of Buddy Cianci\u2019s story, his death and funeral. They open some questions for listeners such as how after being convicted and serving time for a felony, \u201cBuddy ran again [and] won\u201d. The story then cuts back to the beginning of Cianci\u2019s career, his beginnings as an assistant attorney general in Rhode Island. By starting at the end of Cianci\u2019s story then going to the very start, the podcast hooks the reader in with these pressing questions. You want to know how Buddy went from being a lawyer, to a mayor, to a convicted felon, and then somehow back to being a mayor. 
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The podcast additionally uses both music but also, interestingly, sound effects to immerse the listener visually in the story despite the medium lacking that visual presence that television or film might have. The most notable example I can remember is when the narrators are describing when Cianci first approached the idea of running for mayor of Providence. Vinny Vespia, a good friend of Cianci\u2019s, reminisces about how they were at a restaurant when Cianci first presented his plan. Vespia says \u201che took a pen out of his pocket, he cleared a couple dishes and he drew a \u201cT\u201d right on the tablecloth.\u201d As Vespia said he cleared a couple dishes, there was a clattering dish sound effect which really added to the scene. 
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To go back to music, the podcast uses music as a score, to set the mood and create the atmosphere of specific scenes or sections of Cianci\u2019s story. There is this one song they use called \u201cRun to your Mama\u201d by Goat which is used often in parts glamorizing the lives of the mobsters. At the end of the podcast they include a snipped from Bobby Walson who says, \u201cIn that day, being a wiseguy was the coolest fucking thing on the planet. There was nothing cooler. Movie stars wanted to be around them,\u201d while the aforementioned song plays in the background. It felt like a scene from a movie.
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Crimetown<\/em> provides a really compelling story in a really compelling manner by taking advantage of both benefits and <\/em>the limitations of the medium. It balances and carefully manages the listeners imagination, pointing them in the right direction and immersing them fully.
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Word Count: 573 words
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Crimetown is a podcast that explores the story of Buddy Cianci, the former mayor of Providence, Rhode Island and his connections to the mob. Buddy\u2019s story begins with his younger years, working as an assistant…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":716,"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715\/revisions\/716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mattpoland.net\/sherlockpod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}