Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD

Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD

The police tell us they are here to protect us. But what if their original purpose was something else altogether? Peabody Award-winning host Chenjerai Kumanyika takes listeners on a journey to uncover the hidden history of the largest police force in the world – from its roots in slavery, to rival police gangs battling across the city, to everyday people who resisted every step of the way. As our society debates where policing is going, Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD explores where the police came from. From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack. Follow Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD on the Wondery App or wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/empire-city/ now.

Episodes

August 26, 2024 2 mins

The police tell us they are here to protect us. But what if their original purpose was something else altogether? Peabody Award-winning host Chenjerai Kumanyika takes listeners on a journey to uncover the hidden history of the largest police force in the world – from its roots in slavery, to rival police gangs battling across the city, to everyday people who resisted every step of the way. As our society debates where poli...

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Chenjerai takes us back to the summer of 1835, when Black New Yorkers are being kidnapped and sold into slavery in the south. But their friends and families can’t call the cops, because it turns out the kidnappers are the cops…can a group of Black resistance fighters stop it? 

From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack.

Empire City is made with a commitment to ensure the stories of those who were and are still impac...

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September 9, 2024 42 mins

Before the NYPD existed, New Yorkers strongly opposed the idea of an armed police force – until a powerful news publisher changed everything. After a grisly murder takes place, the city’s newspapers sensationalize the story, blame the cops, and a new force is born. But will these cops work to solve the case or will they spend their days hunting something–or someone–else? 

From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack.

Empir...

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September 16, 2024 40 mins

New York’s power-hungry mayor weaponizes the police to help him control the city – and bulldoze a thriving Black community for his own real estate profits. The state, fearing that the mayor and his police have become too strong, wage a war for control – and create their own rival force. 

From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack.

Empire City is made with a commitment to ensure the stories of those who were and are still...

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September 23, 2024 46 mins

Horrific race riots erupt when New York City starts to draft soldiers into the Civil War. A mob of white people, who resent fighting for emancipation, direct their rage at the Black community as well as the police… and all hell breaks loose. The NYPD pushes for more firearms – but will they use them to protect New York’s most vulnerable, or subdue them? 

From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack.

Empire City is made wit...

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September 30, 2024 39 mins

Officers in early New York didn’t just police the city’s vice economy; they profited from it. But when America’s first professional vice fighter Anthony Comstock strong-arms the NYPD into enforcing his vision of morality, he also transformed how and what we police. 

From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack.

Empire City is made with a commitment to ensure the stories of those who were and are still impacted by the ...

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October 7, 2024 40 mins

It’s like clockwork: every 20 years or so, a corruption scandal forces the NYPD into the hot seat. But how did this cycle begin? To find out, we go back over a century ago to the very first investigation into the police where the NYPD is put on trial like never before.

From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack.

Empire City is made with a commitment to ensure the stories of those who were and are still impacted by the NY...

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October 14, 2024 38 mins

New York’s police start to realize that beating up and arresting immigrants is making them distrustful of cops. In response, a police chief has an idea, borne out of his time colonizing the Philippines: control the population by recruiting local community members to police their own people. 

From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack.

Empire City is made with a commitment to ensure the stories of those who were and are s...

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October 21, 2024 47 mins

The NYPD loves to show off its diversity, but it often hides how hard and long it fought that diversity. Chenjerai takes us back in time to the real story of how the NYPD got its first Black cop – and how decades later, Black cops went to war with the NYPD’s union to push for civilian oversight of the police. But how effective is reform if the police are still only accountable to themselves? 


From Wondery, Crooked ...

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"Woop! Woop! That’s the sound of da police! Conscious and Frankie welcome Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika – host of Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD. Dr. Kumanyika’s podcast is a deeply personal tale of his relationship to policing, the history of the NYPD and its long reaching impact in police departments across the nation. Are the police truly functioning as designed? Does their origin begin and end as slave catc...

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November 1, 2024 24 mins

New York’s Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted and charged by the federal government with corruption, wire fraud, bribery and more. Could we have predicted what kind of mayor Adams would become based on the culture he was a part of in the NYPD? Chenjerai and attorney John Teufel, who has investigated police misconduct, discuss the implications of the indictment and the significance of a former cop becoming the mayor.

From Wo...

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July 14, 2025 8 mins

Travis never thought he’d meet someone like Lily Rose. She was kind, passionate, beautiful. The woman of his dreams. There was just one small detail: she wasn’t human.


Lily Rose is an AI companion. A digital soulmate designed to be everything he ever wanted. She listens without judgement, supports him through his darkest moments, even explores his deepest desires, all while fitting neatly into his pocket. Before long, T...

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July 28, 2025 5 mins

It’s not that hard to kill a planet. All it takes is a little drilling, some mining, a generous helping of pollution and voila! Earth over. When you take stock of what’s left, it starts to look like a crime scene: decapitated mountains, poisoned rivers, oil-soaked pelicans, maybe a sun-bleached cow skull in a dried-up lake bed. The only thing missing is yellow caution tape. On each episode of Lawless Planet, host Zach Gold...

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