Uploaded September 2021 | Updated September 2026, 11 hours ago
Russell Shorto in conversation with Tracy Metz (15 September 2021)
On September 15, Russell Shorto took the John Adams podium to talk about his latest book "Smalltime", translated by Ambo Anthos as "Pater Familias".
"Smalltime" is a thoughtful family memoir about Russell Shorto’s grandfather (and namesake) who ran the mob in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. But it is also an immigration narrative filled with dreams and aspirations: a fascinating read how a poor Italian immigrant family became rich through small cons and hustles during the Prohibition. The discrimination and poverty these immigrants faced forced them into the worst jobs in coal mines and eventually the steel mills in the Johnstown area. In reaction, the immigrants became close knit and prone to seek extra-legal means of earning a living.
Shorto reveals how the underground economy mirrors that of the capitalist superstructure: the hierarchy and the manipulation of the social and legal systems of a small society.
#johnadamsnl #lectures #mob #history #immigration #mafia #Italian-American
Click here for more info on the event: https://www.john-adams.nl/russell-shorto-4/
Russell Shorto in conversation with Tracy Metz (15 September 2021)
On September 15, Russell Shorto took the John Adams podium to talk about his latest book "Smalltime", translated by Ambo Anthos as "Pater Familias".
"Smalltime" is a thoughtful family memoir about Russell Shorto’s grandfather (and namesake) who ran the mob in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. But it is also an immigration narrative filled with dreams and aspirations: a fascinating read how a poor Italian immigrant family became rich through small cons and hustles during the Prohibition. The discrimination and poverty these immigrants faced forced them into the worst jobs in coal mines and eventually the steel mills in the Johnstown area. In reaction, the immigrants became close knit and prone to seek extra-legal means of earning a living.
Shorto reveals how the underground economy mirrors that of the capitalist superstructure: the hierarchy and the manipulation of the social and legal systems of a small society.
#johnadamsnl #lectures #mob #history #immigration #mafia #Italian-American
Click here for more info on the event: https://www.john-adams.nl/russell-shorto-4/
