Al Capone All American: Prohibition

Al Capone All American: Prohibition

From The Outfit by Headgum

January 22, 2026 · 1h 2m

About this episode

The episode explores the impact of national prohibition on American society and its historical significance through the lens of Al Capone's life.

Description: This week, on the next installment of "Al Capone All-American," Dan and Alana turn to the greatest gift Al Capone could have asked for on his 21st birthday: the national prohibition on the sale and manufacture of alcohol. From the Ku Klux Klan, to poisoned rotgut liquor, to the singularly forgotten political genius behind the law, prohibition would come to define an entire era of American history--a story freshly relevant today. Sources Historian Mario Gomes's excellent website, My Al Capone Museum ( https://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/ ) The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State  by Lisa McGirr Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition  by Karen Blumenthal Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America  by Edward Behr Smashing the Liquor Machine: A Global History of Prohibition  by Mark Lawrence Schrad One Hundred Percent American: The Rebirth and Decline of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s  by Thomas R. Pegram Prohibition: A Very Short Introduction  by W.J. Rorabaugh Alcoholics Anonymous Al Capone’s Beer Wars: A Complete History of Organized Crime in Chicago During Prohibition  by…

People in this episode

Hosts: Dan, Alana

Topics covered

  • Prohibition
  • Al Capone
  • American history
  • organized crime
  • Ku Klux Klan
  • liquor laws

Keywords

  • Prohibition
  • Al Capone
  • history
  • organized crime
  • liquor
  • Ku Klux Klan
  • American society

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ku Klux Klan, Alcoholics Anonymous

Books & works: The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State, Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition, Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America, Smashing the Liquor Machine: A Global History of Prohibition, One Hundred Percent American: The Rebirth and Decline of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, Prohibition: A Very Short Introduction, Al Capone’s Beer Wars: A Complete History of Organized Crime in Chicago During Prohibition, The Outfit: The Role of Chicago's Underworld in the Shaping of Modern America, Gangland Chicago: Criminality and Lawlessness in the Windy City, Prohibition Gangsters: The Rise and Fall of a Bad Generation

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