About this episode
Gangsters, banksters, and politicians. Today on the show, how the hunt for Al Capone helped turn the IRS into one of the U.S. government's most powerful tools — and most effective weapons. This episode originally published in May of 2025.<br/><br/><strong>Guests: <br>Joe Thorndike</strong>, historian for Tax Analysts and author of Their Fair Share: Taxing the Rich in the Age of FDR. <br/><br/><strong>Paul Camacho</strong>, retired special agent for the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and member of the board of directors at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas. <br/><br/><strong>Jason Scott Smith</strong>, historian at The University of New Mexico and author of two books about FDR and the New Deal.<br/><br/><strong>Lawrence Reed</strong>, president emeritus of The Foundation for Economic Education.<br/><br/><em>To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at <a href="plus.npr.org/throughline"target="_blank" >plus.npr.org/throughline</a>.</em><br/><br/>See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>