Prompt Cast
The Guardian Angels: Citizen Anti-Crime Activists in New York City
TLDR Formed in response to high crime rates and lack of action from the police, the Guardian Angels are a group of citizen anti-crime activists in New York City. Initially met with resistance, they have since improved their relationship with the police and continue to be active today.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The Guardian Angels is a group of citizen anti-crime activists that formed a nonprofit under the leadership of Curtis Sliwa in February 1979.
06:18
The crime rate in New York City in the 70s and 80s was high, with a significant amount of violence and lawlessness, particularly on the subways, leading to the formation of the Guardian Angels.
13:02
Curtis Sliwa formed the Guardian Angels in response to the high crime rate and lack of action from the police and city officials in New York City.
21:19
The Guardian Angels were initially met with resistance from the police and city officials, who saw them as potential criminals and a vigilante gang, but Curtis Sliwa proved himself to be above racial politics and recruited people from diverse backgrounds to join the organization.
27:55
The Guardian Angels are trained to engage people physically and are encouraged to make citizen's arrests, although they are trained to use minimal force and not deliver beat downs.
34:09
The police union and the patrolman's benevolent association came out against the Guardian Angels, calling them vigilantes and accusing them of vigilantism and Gestapoism, while Governor Cuomo supported them and criticized the firing of many cops as being racist.
40:28
The Guardian Angels held a press conference alleging police misconduct and from that point on, the relationship between the police and the Guardian Angels started to improve.
47:15
The Guardian Angels were invited to open a chapter in Cleveland in 1981 and also went to Atlanta to help with the Atlanta Child Murders investigation, breaking the story about the FBI and the KKK suspects.
53:54
The Guardian Angels are still active today and can be found through videos from 2018, and the conversation in the podcast veers off into a discussion about hockey logos.
01:00:37
The host discusses his appreciation for underdog sports teams, particularly the Boston Red Sox, and his experience attending a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game.
01:06:39
The host discusses his superstitions and how he believed that wearing a different hat during a hockey game would affect the outcome, even though he believed in science.
01:12:57
The host discusses his previous books and how he moved away from writing compendiums of fake trivia because he didn't want to be associated with the cultural and political use of fake facts.
01:19:15
The host discusses his transition from writing fake trivia books to writing true stories from his own life, including his experiences working on various television shows and being killed off in some of them.
01:26:08
The host discusses his missed opportunity to take a role on Breaking Bad and his encounter with the actor who ultimately got the role.
01:33:13
The host encourages listeners to say yes to interesting opportunities and shares his upcoming tour dates.
01:39:56
The host wraps up the episode by providing information about his book tour, offering incentives for purchasing multiple copies of his book, and promoting his newsletter and social media accounts.
Categories:
Society & Culture
