Media
T.J. and Joey
The author first met podcaster, actor and stand-up comic Joey Diaz when he was writing the book The Corporation. Diaz is Cuban American, born in Havana and raised in Union City, NJ. The two bonded over the Cuban American crime lore that was explored in that book and have since become good friends. They first appeared together on a popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast episode in 2018, and recently they rekindled their friendship on Uncle Joey's Joint podcast. These two could take their act on the road!
The Irish Mexican Alliance
Years ago, when hosting an event in El Paso, Texas to call attention to the plight of journalists covering the narco war in Mexico, T.J. English first heard a unique version of the Irish folk song “On Raglan Road.” Sung in alternate stanzas of English and Spanish by an Irish American and a local Chicana singer, it was, to anyone who heard it, a remarkably beautiful rendition. T.J. and the two singers vowed that one day they would get into a recording studio to do a full-blooded version of the song. In January 2019, the occasion presented itself to not only record the song, but to create a music video to go with the recording. Long live the Irish Mexican Alliance.
Talking About Goodfellas
It’s been 25 years since Goodfellas, the iconic film that forever changed the rules of gangster movies. Bestselling author and producer Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Martin Scorsese, is joined by Irwin Winkler, the Academy Award-winning producer (Rocky, Raging Bull, The Right Stuff and Goodfellas), and Dechert lawyer Edward McDonald, who recreated his real-life role as the prosecutor in the film, to look back and celebrate. T. J. English, one of the foremost crime writers in America, moderates.
An EPIC Story of The Cuban American Underworld
In the pantheon of American Mob bosses, Jose Miguel Battle ranks as one of the most charismatic and brutal. Some believed that he was a great leader and a man with a big heart. Others feared him, and for good reason. He killed one of his closest associates with his own hands, shooting him right between the eyes. The organization he led – the Corporation – was known for its brutality.
Set against the larger framework of Cuban exile politics and the violent efforts to assassinate Fidel Castro and take back Cuba, it’s no wonder that The Corporation is already in development as a major motion picture, with Benicio Del Toro set to play Battle.
Blank On Blank Presents: Bill Murray On Being Obnoxious
The legendary film director Martin Scorsese was interviewed by T.J. English in 1990, shortly before the release of Goodfellas, his classic gangster movie. The interview – conducted for a profile that appeared in the Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine – was far reaching. To say English was a student of Scorsese’s work would be an understatement. He has said that the early works of Scorsese – Who’s That Knocking At My Door, Mean Streets, Taxi Driver – were part of the reason he came to NYC in the first place.
Blank On Blank Presents:
Bill Murray On Being Obnoxious
T.J. English interviewed actor Bill Murray in October 1988 for Irish America Magazine. That interview recently resurfaced in a wonderful animated "episode" created by Blank on Blank, a web creator that uses archival interviews with significant historical figures in the arts, politics and letters as the basis for inventive animated short videos. ‘Bill Murray On Being Obnoxious’ has now gone viral, with nearly 500,000 views on Youtube.