DISGRACELAND – BONUS EPISODE: "Sixes and Sevens and Nines"
Air Date: September 5, 2024
Host: Jake Brennan
Episode Overview
This interactive bonus episode—coined the "After Party"—bridges Disgraceland’s full-length stories, offering a dynamic blend of behind-the-scenes commentary, listener feedback, music fandom nostalgia, and broader reflections on fame, risk, and storytelling. This week, host Jake Brennan riffs on the criminal and gambling-soaked origins of the NFL as featured in the latest full episode, shares personal anecdotes about his family’s deep ties to betting, explores the role of risk in music and life, and responds to a lively collection of listener questions and comments ranging from disgraced athletes to gender in punk, Lana Del Rey, and more.
Key Discussion Points and Insights
Gambling, Risk, and Family Legacy
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NFL & Gambling Origins Recap
Brennan reflects on the full-length Disgraceland episode about "the National Football League and its criminal origins," bringing gambling—and the existential stakes that follow—into sharper focus."Gambling is, of course, at the core of this week's full episode on the NFL and the league's gambling origins. And there are quite a few characters... that wind up rolling sixes and sevens and nines figuratively. They end up against it and they end up murdered because of the risk that they took." (04:04)
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Rolling Stones Lyric Inspiration
Brennan notes the title—"sixes and sevens and nines"—is a nod to Rolling Stones’ “Tumbling Dice,” interpreting the phrase as an expression of frustration and risk. -
Personal Gambling History
Detailing a family culture deeply entwined with betting:- Family wagers on football, basketball, cards, scratch tickets, and more
- His own more reserved approach, wary of becoming "too into it” after seeing loved ones struggle with addictive gambling behaviors
- Powerful childhood memories:
"...By the time I was 10 or 11, I was calling in bets for my stepfather to bookies. Why? I can only assume because my stepfather owed money and was afraid if he called he wouldn't get his bet in." (10:15)
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Sobriety vs. Gambling Paradox
Brennan recalls how his stepfather and grandfather (both heavy drinkers) would abstain from alcohol only during marathon card sessions—highlighting priorities and family dynamics:"The only time they didn't drink was when they played cards…just astounding to me. How the hell can you be such a pain in the ass drunk…and then the only time you do stop is when you want to gamble?" (07:56)
Risk in Art and Life
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Creative Risk-Taking
The episode draws parallels between the stakes in gambling and those in creative expression:"If you're gonna be any good anyway… the only way to do that is to take chances creatively…there's a risk in that if you fail, you can sometimes look like an asshole." (12:01) "Writing 'Tumbling Dice,' coming up with a lyric like 'I'm all sixes and sevens and nines' like Mick Jagger did... [is] hard." (12:29)
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Rolling Stones on the Run
Ties the risk motif to the Stones' making of Exile on Main Street while evading tax authorities, celebrating artistic daring:"Tumbling Dice might be the greatest song on what might be the greatest rock and roll record ever." (12:45)
Next Week’s Teaser: River Phoenix
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Brennan previews the upcoming River Phoenix episode, encouraging debate on the “greatest actor of the 1990s” and speculating which DiCaprio roles might have gone to Phoenix:
"If River lived, Leonardo DiCaprio’s career would probably look a lot different right now." (13:37)
Listener prompt:
"Call me and let me know…Who is the greatest actor of the 1990s? Subquestion: What Leonardo DiCaprio roles do you think would have went to River Phoenix had he lived?" (13:55)
Listener Q&A and Community Interactions
Most Despicable Athlete (19:09)
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Kathy (971 area): Nominates Michael Vick, referencing his 2007 dogfighting case as the low point in athlete disgrace.
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Jake’s Response: Agrees Vick is egregious but personally points to Aaron Hernandez:
"There was something just so chilling about that story when it was happening…He seemed to just unravel into complete psychopathy. Is that a word, psychopathy? It sounded smart coming out of my mouth. We're just going to go with it." (19:56)
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Aaron Hernandez, O.J. Simpson, Robert Rozier are also discussed as infamous cases, with Jake promising a future Disgraceland feature on Rozier.
Lana Del Rey, Vibes, and Music Moods (21:27)
- Tony (206 area): Asks Jake for his go-to Lana Del Rey song.
- Jake’s Response:
"Lana Del Rey Go To Song for Me is definitely ‘West Coast’. It’s the first song that brought me into the Lana Del Rey world…if I want to vibe out…it is Keith Jarrett, and the song is ‘The Rich and the Poor’." (22:38)
The Replacements, All Access, and Archival Episodes (24:04)
- Praises for the Replacements’ episodes—older, archival content accessible via All Access membership.
"The Replacements episode is an All Access episode. We do one full episode per month for our All Access crew." (24:33)
Bias and Sexism in Music Media (Female Punk Voice) (26:50)
- 971 Area Listener (Kendra, frontperson of Contagious): Highlights hypocrisy in idolizing Sid Vicious while trashing Courtney Love, draws parallels to Yoko Ono, and notes the scarcity of female live sound engineers.
- Jake’s Reflection:
"Great point. Fantastic point. Sid had a lot of problems and to lionize a guy like that...is pretty hypocritical when you put it up against the Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain dilemma."
He acknowledges strong fan reactions to Disgraceland’s Courtney and Kurt episodes, reiterates his editorial honesty, and expresses interest in doing more episodes about women in punk (L7, Kathleen Hanna, Mia Zapata/The Gits).
Meta/Podcast Inside Baseball and Feedback (30:50)
- Addresses accusations of "ripping off" other podcasts—clarifies shoutouts are intentional and friendly.
- Promotes Spotify commenting, encourages greater cross-platform interaction.
Music Fandom, Merch, and Episode Archive (36:25)
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Highlights archival episodes: Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street (ep. 36), Motown (ep. 40), Kurt Cobain/Courtney Love (eps. 25/26), Public Enemy (ep. 171), Prince (ep. 59).
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Discusses recent social media shout-outs from Chuck D and Apollonia.
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Listener Reviews and Free Merch
Brennan reads heartwarming reviews, awards free merch to those who reach out.
Notable Listener Questions/Moments
- Is the After Party intro Tom Petty? (Terry from 714): Jake can't confirm, but doubts it’s Petty.
- Female sound engineers? (Kendra): Jake admits he’s rarely encountered women in that role and invites further discussion.
- New listeners and the archive: Emphasizes the depth of the feed and encourages exploration.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
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On creative risk:
"Taking a chance on making something new is difficult. It's easy to do something that's been done before." (12:11)
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On Aaron Hernandez:
"To me there's something just...chilling about that story....the way that he seemed to just unravel into complete psychopathy." (19:56)
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On family gambling:
"My aunt Poppy, I'm pretty sure, puts more time into studying point spreads during the football season than I do researching Disgraceland topics. And I'm not even joking." (10:49)
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On podcast philosophy:
"Disgraceland is not a journalistic podcast—it's an entertainment podcast inspired by true events." (Podcast description)
Timestamps for Important Segments
- Disgraceland “After Party” intro & theme explanation: 03:39
- NFL/Gambling/family stories: 04:00 – 14:00
- Risk & creativity (“Tumbling Dice”/Rolling Stones): 12:00 – 13:00
- Next week’s episode teaser (River Phoenix): 13:37
- Listener question: Most despicable athlete (Kathy): 19:09
- Listener question: Lana Del Rey, music moods (Tony): 21:27
- Listener reviews/All Access/merch info: 36:25 – 42:25
- Archive highlights & episode navigation: 42:25 – 47:00
- Episode recap & Billboard chart tie-in: 42:25 – 47:32
Episode Close & Call to Community
- Recaps current and upcoming content: NFL episode, rewind episodes, River Phoenix episode.
- Re-ups the listener prompt about 1990s actors/DiCaprio/Phoenix
- Urges engagement through voicemails, texts, reviews, and social platforms.
- Leaves listeners with Billboard hits from the date Joe Namath retired, tying back to the episode’s NFL theme.
"No one cares about great storytelling more than you do. And, well, that's a disgrace." (46:22)
Further Community Engagement
- Feedback & Review incentives: Listeners who write reviews and contact the show can win free Disgraceland merch.
- Contact for All Access/Membership: www.disgracelandpod.com/membership
- Voicemail/Text line: 617-906-6638
- Instagram/X/Facebook: @disgracelandpod