The Big Dig – Details, episodes & analysis
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A fishing tycoon is arrested in an elaborate sting operation, but claims he’s the real hero fighting back against an overbearing state. So who is Carlos “The Codfather” Rafael really – a folk hero, a crook, a righteous rebel, a selfish conman?
In Season 3 of The Big Dig podcast, “Catching The Codfather,” we go down to the docks. It’s a place where food, work, nature, money and politics all meet – where dreams are born, fortunes ruined, and where the watchful eye of the government is always present. The series traces the rise of Carlos Rafael and his escalating conflict with the government, because to judge the crimes of The Codfather, you also have to judge the whole system that he chose to break.
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“This is a town where there are three pastimes: politics, sports and revenge.” The town is Boston.
Seemingly dry topics become gripping political dramas in this Peabody Award winning show from creator Ian Coss and GBH News. Each season of “The Big Dig” uncovers a different facet of society – infrastructure, gambling, food, healthcare – together the pieces connect to tell the story of modern America.
Season One: "The Big Dig"
The highway project known as “The Big Dig” is infamous – a shorthand for government failure – but it all started as one engineer’s dream to correct the wrongs of the past, and its legacy is far from simple.
Season Two: "Scratch & Win"
America’s most successful state lottery – and its greatest innovation, the scratch ticket – all starts with mafia bookmakers and state bureaucrats going toe to toe in a battle to own the future of gambling.
Season Three: "Catching The Codfather"
A fishing tycoon is arrested in an elaborate sting operation, but claims he’s the real hero fighting back against the state.
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CREDITS:
Host & Creator: Ian Coss
Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins
Producer: Isabel Hibbard
Story Editor: Lacy Roberts
Contact us as thebigdig@wgbh.org
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Apple Podcasts
🇺🇸 USA - history
04/06/2026#79🇺🇸 USA - history
03/06/2026#99🇺🇸 USA - history
02/06/2026#88🇺🇸 USA - history
01/06/2026#77🇺🇸 USA - history
31/05/2026#79🇨🇦 Canada - history
30/05/2026#97🇺🇸 USA - history
30/05/2026#76🇨🇦 Canada - history
27/05/2026#69🇺🇸 USA - history
27/05/2026#78🇺🇸 USA - history
26/05/2026#74
Spotify
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See allScore global : 74%
Publication history
Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.
Scratch & Win | 2. The Lottery Czar
Season 2 · Episode 2
mercredi 29 janvier 2025 • Duration 56:50
Part 2: When states got into the gambling business, they wanted the same thing organized crime wanted: money and power. The question now is who in government will get to wield that awesome power?
Credits:
Host and Scriptwriter: Ian Coss
Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins
Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss
Story Editor: Lacy Roberts
Editorial Advisor: Jenifer McKim
Fact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel Hibbard
Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss
Project Manager: Meiqian He
Graphic Design: Bill Miller
Scratch & Win | 1. The Instant Ticket
Season 2 · Episode 1
mercredi 29 janvier 2025 • Duration 49:36
Part 1: It’s 1974, illegal bookies are everywhere and the brand new state lottery is struggling to compete. But a simple piece of paper is about to change the game forever: the nation’s first scratch ticket.
Credits:
Host and Scriptwriter: Ian Coss
Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins
Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss
Story Editor: Lacy Roberts
Editorial Advisor: Jenifer McKim
Fact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel Hibbard
Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss
Project Manager: Meiqian He
Graphic Design: Bill Miller
Introducing Season Two: Scratch & Win
Season 2
mercredi 22 janvier 2025 • Duration 04:02
Legal gambling is everywhere. But how did it get like this? And why can't we fully embrace it?
"Scratch & Win" looks for answers in the unlikely story of America's most successful lottery, and the charismatic state treasurer who was determined to beat the mob at their own game.
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Credits:
Host and Scriptwriter: Ian Coss
Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins
Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss
Story Editor: Lacy Roberts
Editorial Advisor: Jenifer McKim
Fact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel Hibbard
Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss
Project Manager: Meiqian He
Graphic Design: Bill Miller
Scratch & Win | 4. The Last Mafia Boss of Boston
Season 2 · Episode 4
mercredi 12 février 2025 • Duration 43:48
Part 4: The state lottery can’t run the mob out of the numbers business on their own. Luckily they’ve got help from the FBI, who are just launching a daring operation of their own – to bug the headquarters of the Boston mafia.
Credits:
Host and Scriptwriter: Ian Coss
Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins
Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss
Story Editor: Lacy Roberts
Editorial Advisor: Jenifer McKim
Fact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel Hibbard
Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss
Project Manager: Meiqian He
Graphic Design: Bill Miller
Scratch & Win | 3. Have You Played Your Number?
Season 2 · Episode 3
mercredi 5 février 2025 • Duration 50:52
Part 3: Before the Massachusetts Lottery can claim to be number one, they have to take out the competition. So in 1976 the state lottery challenges organized crime head on by copying their most popular game: 'the numbers.'
Credits:
Host and Scriptwriter: Ian Coss
Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins
Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss
Story Editor: Lacy Roberts
Editorial Advisor: Jenifer McKim
Fact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel Hibbard
Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss
Project Manager: Meiqian He
Graphic Design: Bill Miller
Scratch & Win | 6. The Game Dreams Are Made Of
Season 2 · Episode 6
mercredi 26 février 2025 • Duration 45:59
Part 6: The Mass Lottery stumbles when it attempts to launch the nation’s first ‘lotto’ game. But that failure soon becomes an opportunity – and a national craze – when Treasurer Bob Crane brings in a new agency to take over the state’s marketing efforts.
Credits:
Host and Scriptwriter: Ian Coss
Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins
Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss
Story Editor: Lacy Roberts
Editorial Advisor: Jenifer McKim
Fact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel Hibbard
Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss
Project Manager: Meiqian He
Graphic Design: Bill Miller
Scratch & Win | 5. The Cherry Sheets
Season 2 · Episode 5
mercredi 19 février 2025 • Duration 56:02
Part 5: The lottery was never just about stopping crime; it was about bringing in money. In 1980, an anti-tax ballot measure throws Massachusetts state finances into chaos, putting new pressure on the lottery to close the gap.
Credits:
Host and Scriptwriter: Ian Coss
Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins
Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss
Story Editor: Lacy Roberts
Editorial Advisor: Jenifer McKim
Fact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel Hibbard
Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss
Project Manager: Meiqian He
Graphic Design: Bill Miller
Scratch & Win | 7. The Dirtiest Race in the Commonwealth
Season 2 · Episode 7
mercredi 5 mars 2025 • Duration 51:05
Part 7: By 1986 Treasurer Bob Crane has turned the lottery into the most successful operation of its kind, but now he’s in the fight of his political life with a challenger who says he’s the real crook. To cement his legacy he will have to win one last election, and it’s a dirty one.
Credits:
Host and Scriptwriter: Ian Coss
Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins
Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss
Story Editor: Lacy Roberts
Editorial Advisor: Jenifer McKim
Fact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel Hibbard
Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss
Project Manager: Meiqian He
Graphic Design: Bill Miller
Scratch & Win | 8. The Other Massachusetts Miracle
Season 2 · Episode 8
mercredi 12 mars 2025 • Duration 46:32
Part 8: Most lottery games follow a predictable life cycle: a burst of interest followed by a long decline. But something else happened with the scratch ticket, and it changed how every lottery in the country operates.
Credits:
Host an Scriptwriter: Ian Coss
Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins
Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss
Story Editor: Lacy Roberts
Editorial Advisor: Jenifer McKim
Fact-checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel Hibbard
Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss
Project Manager: Meiqian He
Graphic Design: Bill Miller
BONUS: Why does sports betting feel different?
Season 2 · Episode 9
mercredi 19 mars 2025 • Duration 49:05
Lotteries are part of a long trend toward more and more legal gambling: bingo helped open the door for lotteries, just as lotteries helped open the door for casinos. And by that logic, sports betting is just the latest addition to the trend. So why does it feel so different?
In the first of three interview episodes expanding on themes from the series, host Ian Coss speaks with gambling historian Jonathan Cohen about why this expansion of legal gambling is unlike anything that came before it.
Cohen’s new book "Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling” is out April 1st, 2025.
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