The On The Bookshelf Podcast

Gianni Russo tells Mafia Secrets and What Happened to the Kennedys & Marilyn

A Mafia insider and authentic Hollywood tough guy reveals the explosive secrets he's learned (and kept) for decades in this shocking tell all that unveils the hidden worlds of film and organized crime-from who shot JFK and murdered Jimmy Hoffa to the truth about Marilyn Monroe's death,the Kennedys, the Vatican, Vegas, The Godfather, the Mob, and more .

During a polio-cursed childhood in a Manhattan neighborhood teeming with Italian immigrant Gianni Russo fended for himself at an early age. It was a quality that didn't go unnoticed by Frank Costello-father figure, mentor, and legendary crime boss. Thanks to Costello, Gianni was only twelve when his luck would change for a lifetime. All of it charmed-and thrilling. With it came Hollywood glamor, Vegas risk-takers, political conspiracies, sex, murder, shadow governments, and secrets. The stories Gianni Russo could tell . .

Now he does in this bombshell confessional. This is the inside account of the Sicilian Mafia, Cosa Nostra, what really transpired in those Mulberry Street clubs, and who whacked whom-including how mobster Tony Spilotro and his brother really died, finally revealed for the first time. This is Gianni, buddy of Frank Sinatra, and intimately more with Marilyn Monroe. What's the cover-up behind her death, JFK's, and Jimmy Hoffa's? It's all here. So is the clandestine role of the pope as the sacred boss of bosses, the glory days and downfall of Las Vegas, and the colorful behind-the-scenes tales of Gianni's role in the greatest movie ever made, The Godfather. The go-getter Frank Costello once called "The Kid" shares his shocking, exhilarating, sometimes violent, and always riveting life with the dealmakers of Hollywood and the Mob. Gianni Russo lives to tell, and spills it all.

Gianni Russo knows the Mafia inside and out. He grew up on Mulberry Street in Manhattan's Little Italy, where Mafia boss Frank Costello took him under his wing. In 1962, he was privy to inside information regarding the murder of his friend Marilyn Monroe. A year later, he was acting as a messenger for New Orleans boss Carlos Marcello during the months and weeks leading up the JFK assassination. With Frank Sinatra as his singing teacher and Marlon Brando as his acting teacher, Russo landed the role of Carlo Rizzi in The Godfather. He is the author of Hollywood Godfather, an autobiography written with Patrick Picciarelli, and Mafia Secrets, written with Michael Benson.

 

David & Barbara Leeman's newest, Hosannas Forever-Hymns of Heaven

Hosannas Forever: Hymns of Heaven and Our Pilgrimage
(Moody Publishing)
Hymns with inspiration and meaning in an era
lacking hope and confidence.
While themes of Christian hymns today cover a
broad range of doctrinal and theological topics,
surprisingly, one of the least covered truths today is
Heaven. This is particularly true of songs written in
the past twenty to thirty years. In the last half-
century, few songs about Heaven have been written
and even fewer sung in many evangelical churches.
Music transports us to the heavenly. It moves our
souls and puts courage in our bones. In Hosannas
Forever, David and Barbara Leeman include fifty-
two hymns about heaven that speak to the trials,
longing, and sufferings we’re facing. A one-year
weekly devotional, each hymn is introduced with a
brief biography of the author who penned the lyrics
and a biography of the melody's composer, followed by a devotional summary. The hymn is included on the opposite page.
The book is divided into three major sections:
Hymns of Heaven and Our Pilgrimage1.
Slave Hymns of Our Freedom in Heaven2.
Hymns of Our Forever in Heaven3.

DAVID & BARBARA LEEMAN have been professional
musicians for over fifty years—David was music director
for churches in California, Oregon, Illinois, and Texas.
Barbara was a music educator in her private studio and a
private Christian school. They are both graduates of Biola
University School of Music. Together they have written
"Hosanna in Excelsis" and "Our Hymns, Our Heritage", a
student hymnal that is widely used in churches, Christian
schools, and homes. They are now retired and living in
Greenville, South Carolina. They have four grown children
and twelve grandchildren

Ace Collins -More Stories Behind Best-Loved Christmas Songs

Ace Collins has written a series of wonderful books that tell of the stories behind beloved Christmas Songs. This interview from 2006 discusses such classics as "Let there be peace o Earth", "Merry Christmas Darling', "Some Children See Him" and "Star carol" by Al Burt, "It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas", "Carol of the Bells", "Little Drummer Boy", and "We Need a Little Christmas". (Zondervan Publishing, and the whole series is still available!)

Mark Shaw-Who killed Bobby Kennedy, Dorothy Kilgallen & JFK ,and why?

In his explosive new book, ABUSE OF POWER (December 2, 2025; Post Hill Press) bestselling author, former noted criminal defense attorney, and TV network legal analyst Mark Shaw affirms RFK, Jr.'s sense that Sirhan Sirhan was not accountable for the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Shaw, however, refutes the HHS Secretary's theory that his father's murder was linked to the CIA. Backed by shocking new evidence, Shaw exposes the real mastermind-the one with the strongest motive to want RFK dead-New Orleans mafia don Carlos Marcello. Further, the author deduces that Sirhan was "recruited" as a "patsy" to defer suspicions of Marcello's involvement. The result: for nearly 60 years, Sirhan has languished in a prison cell because, Shaw believes, he was denied justice from the moment he was arrested.

Based on Shaw's nearly 15 years of extensive research, ABUSE OF POWER exposes, for the first time, the connection between the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy and the mysterious death of famed journalist Dorothy Kilgallen, with Marcello as the culprit for each. The mafia don used patsies to cover his complicity-a pattern that had never been revealed before. For Shaw, the key to this conclusion is an FBI file transcript, an audiotaped "confession" Marcello made to a fellow inmate at a Texas federal prison on December 15, 1985. While expressing his intense dislike of the former president, the mafia don confided, "Yeah, I had the son of a bitch killed. I'm glad I did it. I'm sorry I couldn't have done it myself." Predictably, the 24-year-old Sirhan became the fall guy. Before getting caught up in the mafia don's murder plot, Sirhan, per FBI records, worked at Santa Anita Racetrack in Southern California where John Shear, a paddock captain hailed as a hero for saving a little girl from being stampeded by a wild horse, hired Sirhan as a "hot walker" for the meager sum of $200 a month.

Like a prosecutor building his case, Shaw uses this jaw-dropping admission as the stepping stone to "indicting" Marcello for RFK's murder. Why? Because RFK, who knew the mafia don had orchestrated his brother's assassination to render the then-attorney general powerless, had illegally deported Marcello. So, when RFK announced his campaign for president in March 1968 and then won several primaries, Marcello devised a diabolical plan to protect his multimillion-dollar empire while also exacting his revenge.

Startling revelations in ABUSE OF POWER include:

Shortly before RFK's assassination, Shear saw Sirhan at the Hollywood Park Racetrack, "all dressed up," despite being unemployed, with two "hoodlums" who had been thrown out of the Santa Anita track. (Pages 1-5)

Shear was the first one to identify Sirhan for the authorities when he saw the Palestinian's photograph on TV. He told them his Hollywood Park story, but was never contacted by the LAPD or FBI, leading to a cover-up. (Pages 1-5)

Shear stated that his phones were tapped for a year after RFK's murder, causing him and his wife to fear for their lives since they suspected mafia interest. (Pages 1-5)

Shear's son Michael (available for interview) provided videotaped confirmation of his father's account to Shaw. (Pages 1-5)

Due to his rants against RFK, which Shear witnessed (recorded interview (please refer to timecode 9:44-12-27), and his desperation for money, Sirhan became easy prey for manipulation. (Page 2)

Marcello's close ties to Mickey Cohen, a mobster who both controlled LA Racetracks, including Santa Anita, and knew the layout of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, where RFK was assassinated. (Pages 250,351,354)

How Cohen leveraged Sirhan's well-known hatred of RFK and his heavy gambling debts to lure him into serving as a decoy in an assassination plot orchestrated by Marcello. (Page 368) The fact that four crisp $100 bills were discovered in Sirhan's pockets when he was arrested-even though he was impoverished-is a vital piece of evidence that was never adequately investigated. (Pages 357, 358, 368)

How J. Edgar Hoover shut off any further investigation into RFK's assassination by deliberately proclaiming "Sirhan Alone," just as he had shouted "Oswald Alone" regarding JFK's assassination. (Page 357)

The conclusions of famed forensics experts Dr. Cyril Wecht and Dr. Thomas Noguchi, who handled RFK's autopsy, are that Sirhan could not have been responsible for shooting RFK, since he was standing in front of RFK when he was shot in the back. (Pages 361-362)

Never-before-published ballistics tests confirming that Sirhan did not shoot RFK. (Pages 355-356)

Sirhan's inadequate legal representation after arrest and during his trial thus denied him justice. (Pages 354-355)

Videotaped interviews with former NYC Medical Examiner's employees prove Dorothy Kilgallen's death was covered up by the Mafia (Marcello). Pages 300-308)

ABUSE OF POWER presents a compendium of substantial evidence that Sirhan deserves a new trial. Unfortunately, the Task Force on the Declassification of Government Secrets, convened in early 2025, appears, in Shaw's estimation, to be perpetuating the cover-up of Marcello's involvement in the murders of RFK, JFK, and Dorothy Kilgallen. Shaw's evidence in this book could bring the Kennedy family closure.

Now, it's up to RFK, Jr. to take notice of Shaw's evidence and support a thorough new investigation of Sirhan's involvement regarding RFK's death after meeting with the author.

MARK SHAW BIO

Mark Shaw is a bestselling author ("The Reporter Who Knew Too Much"), respected investigative reporter, and noted historian who has published nearly thirty books, including six touching on the JFK assassination. His 2021 book, "Collateral Damage," connected the deaths of Marilyn Monroe, Dorothy Kilgallen, and JFK for the first time and his latest book, "Fighting for Justice" exposes the cover-ups of the JFK assassination and the murders of Dorothy Kilgallen and Marilyn Monroe, while revealing for the first time the corrupt inner workings of the Warren Commission based on the firsthand "whistleblower" account of an actual Commission member never quoted before.

Shaw's alma mater Purdue University is archiving his body of work (press release: https://tinyurl.com/yyth7afp) and acclaimed actor/producer Mark Wahlberg's production company is developing a documentary based on "Collateral Damage." More about Mr. Shaw, a former noted criminal defense attorney and legal analyst for CNN, ESPN, and USA Today for the Mike Tyson, O.J. Simpson and Kobe Bryant cases, is at www.markshawbooks.com.

 

Celebrate Advent with Pastor Kara Eidson's Exposition on The Jesse Tree

Jesus may have been born to an obscure young couple in a backwater town, but his family tree told a greater story.

Jesus was born into the rich legacy and sacred history of the Jewish people, with lineage said to go back to King David and rooted in the whole history of the Hebrew Bible. This Advent, find out how this little baby we worship became the savior that he was and discover your place with Jesus in the big story of God and God’s people.

Inspired by the centuries-old Jesse Tree tradition, pastor Kara Eidson presents forty Scriptures from across the Bible to explore how Jesus, his family, and followers were shaped by all that had come before him—the epic story of God and God’s people—and how we, too, are part of God’s story as followers of Christ today. Enhanced by daily illustrations symbolizing each Scripture, this Advent study and devotional guides readers from ancient stories and prophecies to the manger and beyond to deepen faith and grow in appreciation of Jesus as Messiah.

Daily readings for Advent through Epiphany are organized into weekly themes for congregational use. Family devotions and worship resources make The Advent Tree useful in settings from home to classroom to pulpit, while downloadable versions of the daily illustrations offer a creative outlet for contemplative coloring or decorating a tree.

Visit www.wjkbooks.com/AdventTree to access free digital resources, which include group study session introduction videos from the author; worship resources that include liturgies, sermon suggestions, children’s sermon scripts, prayers, and more; images that enrich worship or group study; and coloring sheets of the images used in the book.