Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD

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Listen Now: Audible True Crime – Ghost Story Oct 12, 2026

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Audible True Crime is a dedicated podcast feed where we bring you the best podcasts in true crime, with episodes dropping every single week.

Just in time for spooky season, we’re releasing a show called Ghost Story, a series about a hidden family secret, unexplainable events and jaw-dropping coincidences.Tristan Redman doesn’t believe in ghosts. But weird things happened in his teenage bedroom. And when he discovers later that occupants of his family home have seen the ghost of a faceless woman, he’s intrigued. Because it just so happens that his wife’s great grandmother, Naomi Dancy, was murdered in the house next door…killed by two gunshots to the face.

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Listen Now: My Mom’s Murder Sep 28, 2026

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Lauren Malloy was a baby when her mother, Lori, was murdered in East Providence, Rhode Island. For thirty years, no one told her. Everyone said Lori died of natural causes. Then a stranger sent Lauren a message — and the lie collapsed. Now Lauren is investigating her own mother’s murder. She’s recorded hundreds of hours of interviews with law enforcement, family, childhood friends, and people who won’t stop contradicting each other. Every answer opens a darker question. Every person she trusts seems to be hiding something. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more she realizes the people she trusts may be the ones with the most to hide. A 10-part true crime investigation hosted by the victim’s daughter. Lauren’s mission: to finally uncover the identity of Lori’s killer.

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Listen Now: Audible True Crime Aug 24, 2026

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Introducing Audible True Crime, a dedicated podcast feed where we bring you the best podcasts in true crime, with episodes dropping every single week. Find your next bingeable series about unsolved murders, cold cases, scams and mysteries. This is the cream of the crop of Audible podcasts, featuring award-winning series and soon-to-be favorites. Stop pestering your friends or searching “best true crime podcast” on Google.

Up first, Guru: The Dark Side of Enlightenment: A search for spiritual guidance leads a group of strangers to seek direction from a self-help guru. And not just any guru. James Arthur Ray is an Oprah endorsed motivational speaker and entrepreneur whose unorthodox methods that blend self-improvement and economic advice have won him praise and a growing following. He’s fast becoming a self-help superstar. But Ray’s increasingly extreme methods push his followers to their limits. What are they seeking? What does he offer? And what happens when it all goes too far, and people die?

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Bonus Episode: The Fall of Eric Adams Nov 01, 2024

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New York’s Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted and charged by the federal government with corruption, wire fraud, bribery and more. Could we have predicted what kind of mayor Adams would become based on the culture he was a part of in the NYPD? Chenjerai and attorney John Teufel, who has investigated police misconduct, discuss the implications of the indictment and the significance of a former cop becoming the mayor.

From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack.

Empire City is made with a commitment to ensure the stories of those who were and are still impacted by the NYPD are always part of the stories we tell ourselves about the Police, about America, and about Democracy.

Voices & References:

John Teufel: https://www.johnteufelesq.com/

DOJ’s Indictment of Adams: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/new-york-city-mayor-eric-adams-charged-bribery-and-campaign-finance-offenses

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Black History, For Real: NYPD's Secret Story | For Real, For Real | 9 Oct 23, 2024

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"Woop! Woop! That’s the sound of da police! Conscious and Frankie welcome Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika – host of Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD. Dr. Kumanyika’s podcast is a deeply personal tale of his relationship to policing, the history of the NYPD and its long reaching impact in police departments across the nation. Are the police truly functioning as designed? Does their origin begin and end as slave catching patrols? Today’s conversation brings humor and depth to the exploration of that fraught history.

Listen to Black History, For Real on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and ad-free on Wondery+.

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Stay Dangerous | 8 Oct 21, 2024

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The NYPD loves to show off its diversity, but it often hides how hard and long it fought that diversity. Chenjerai takes us back in time to the real story of how the NYPD got its first Black cop – and how decades later, Black cops went to war with the NYPD’s union to push for civilian oversight of the police. But how effective is reform if the police are still only accountable to themselves?

From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack.

Voices & References:

Edwin Raymond: https://x.com/edwinraymondnyc

Khalil Gibran Muhammed: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/khalil-gibran-muhammad

Natalie Cherot: https://nataliecherot.com/

Andrew Darien: https://directory.salemstate.edu/profile/andrew.darien

An Inconvenient Cop: My Fight to Change Policing in America https://www.amazon.com/Inconvenient-Cop-Change-Policing-America/dp/0593653165

The Watchmen: https://www.hbo.com/watchmen

The Congress of Racial Equality: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/congress-racial-equality-core

Follow Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD on the Wondery App or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/empire-city/ now.

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The American Problem | 7 Oct 14, 2024

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New York’s police start to realize that beating up and arresting immigrants is making them distrustful of cops. In response, a police chief has an idea, borne out of his time colonizing the Philippines: control the population by recruiting local community members to police their own people.

From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack.

Empire City is made with a commitment to ensure the stories of those who were and are still impacted by the NYPD are always part of the stories we tell ourselves about the police, about America, and about democracy.

Voices & References:

Asad Dandia https://www.newyorknarratives.com/our-narrative

Matt Guariglia https://www.matthewguariglia.com/

Daniel Czitrom https://www.mtholyoke.edu/directory/emeriti-retired-faculty/daniel-czitrom

Albert Samaha https://www.albertsamaha.com/

New York Narratives https://www.newyorknarratives.com/

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The Rotten Orchard | 6 Oct 07, 2024

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It’s like clockwork: every 20 years or so, a corruption scandal forces the NYPD into the hot seat. But how did this cycle begin? To find out, we go back over a century ago to the very first investigation into the police where the NYPD is put on trial like never before.

From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack.

Voices & References:

Carol Safir

Daniel Czitrom https://www.mtholyoke.edu/directory/emeriti-retired-faculty/daniel-czitrom

Cait Murphy

Bill Williams, descendant of Clubber Williams

Leslie Cornfeld

Scoundrels in Law: The Trials of Howe and Hummel, Lawyers to the Gangsters, Cops, Starlets, and Rakes Who Made the Gilded Age

https://www.amazon.com/Scoundrels-Law-Lawyers-Gangsters-Starlets/dp/0061714283

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The Moral Crusade | 5 Sep 30, 2024

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Officers in early New York didn’t just police the city’s vice economy; they profited from it. But when America’s first professional vice fighter Anthony Comstock strong-arms the NYPD into enforcing his vision of morality, he also transformed how and what we police.

From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack.

Voices & References:

Amy Werbel https://www.fitnyc.edu/creative-nexus/faculty/directory/werbel-amy.php

Bill Williams, descendant of Clubber Williams

Jennifer Wright https://www.jenashleywright.com/

Lust On Trial: Censorship and the Rise of American Obscenity in the Age of Anthony Comstock https://www.amazon.com/Lust-Trial-Censorship-American-Obscenity/dp/0231175221

Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York’s Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist

https://www.amazon.com/Madame-Restell-Resurrection-Fabulous-Abortionist/dp/0306826798

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They’ve Got Weapons | 4 Sep 23, 2024

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Horrific race riots erupt when New York City starts to draft soldiers into the Civil War. A mob of white people, who resent fighting for emancipation, direct their rage at the Black community as well as the police… and all hell breaks loose. The NYPD pushes for more firearms – but will they use them to protect New York’s most vulnerable, or subdue them?

From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack.

Voices & References:

Ed O’Donnell https://edwardtodonnell.com/

Kamau Ware https://kamauware.com/

Kevin McGruder https://antiochcollege.edu/team-members/kevin-mcgruder/

Daniel Czitrom https://www.mtholyoke.edu/directory/emeriti-retired-faculty/daniel-czitrom

Black Gotham https://blackgotham.com/

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