← DISGRACELAND
DISGRACELAND
Michael Alig: If a Club Kid Kills, Stuffs the Body in a Box and Tells The World About It Will Anyone Listen?
00:27:24
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- [00:00]
Ryan Seacrest
Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's stock up savings time now through March 31st. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hunts, Nerds, Pillsbury, Lowry's, Breyers, Quaker and Culture Pop. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more. Enjoy savings on top of savings when you shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pick up or delivery restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions.
- [00:31]
Public Investing Announcer
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you backtested against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures
- [01:33]
Poshmark Advertiser
we all have different styles. I may be into Levi's and you may be into Fendi or Miu Miu. But we all should be into poshmark.com right? Because we can all find exactly what we want to fit our style. Poshmark has millions of new and pre lived pieces. Vintage, luxury, men's, women's, children's, everything from Carhartt to coach. Download the Poshmark app and sign up with code podcast10 and get $10 off your first purchase.
- [02:02]
Jacob Goldstein
This is Jacob Goldstein from what's yous Problem? Business software is expensive and when you buy software from lots of different companies, it's not only expensive, it gets confusing. Slow to use, hard to integrate. Odoo solves that because all Odoo software is connected on a single affordable platform. Save money without missing out on the features you need. Odoo has no hidden costs and no limit on features or data. Odoo has over 60 apps available for any needs your business might have, all at no additional charge. Everything from websites to sales to inventory to accounting. All linked and talking to each other. Check out Odoo at O D O O.com that's O D O O.com Pro
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Public Investing Announcer
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Jake Brennan
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Ryan Seacrest
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Public Investing Announcer
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- [03:17]
Jake Brennan
Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. New York City club kids in the 90s lived shockingly decadent lifestyles. Their sense of spectacle went beyond their open drug use in flamboyant fashion. In public, they drank each other's urine, had sex with amputated limbs, obliterated gender norms, and packed large capacity Manhattan dance clubs. Fueled by an endless stream of hard drugs. In a new form of electronic music that was loud and abrasive, Club kids were propelled by aggressive beats, the perfect soundtrack for this new post punk, post disco clubland decadence. It was great music. King of the Club Kids Michael Alig didn't make great music. In fact, he didn't make any music at all. He made nobodies into somebodies. He was a club promoter, as much a Pied piper as other rock stars you can think of. Michael Alec packed clubs, put an entire scene on his back, and wound up on the COVID of magazines and splattered across television screens. He made headlines. He made people happy, he made people dance, he made people famous. And he made one person turn up dead in a box on Staten Island. But he didn't make great music. That music at the top of the show, that wasn't great music either. That was a preset loop from My Melotron called Samba Electric Organ MK1. I played you that loop because I can't afford the rights to Vision of Love by Mariah Carey. And why would I play you that kind of forgettable cheese by Ms. Mariah? Could I afford it because that was the number one song in America on August 15, 1990. And that was the day that Michael Alec launched Disco 2000, kicking off the Club kid movement and setting into motion a series of decadent events that would bring about what would come to be known as a disco bloodbath. On this episode, Samba Electric organs, smoking hot forgettable cheese. A disco bloodbath club kid decadence and Michael. Alec. I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgrace. Bone colored business cards. Oliver People's glasses, bespoke Valentino suits. A table at Dorsia. Without these, in 80s Manhattan, you're a nobody. At least you're a nobody from the perspective of Bret Easton Ellis's brilliantly satirical Patrick Bateman from American Psycho. That table at Dorcia, it's hard to come by. Harder than the money it takes to afford bespoke suits and trendy eyewear. You have to know someone and you're from east wherever the fuck, so you don't know anyone. So you head downtown to find your place. But lower Manhattan hotspots like the Odeon or Cafeteria are off limits because the running of the Wall Street Bulls is in full effect in the Masters of the Universe are rubbing coke straws with Jean Michel Basquiat and SNL cast members in the bathroom. And you're either too young, too broke, too openly gay, too unsexy, or too much of all of the above to fit in. And so you head over to the Bowery to try your luck with the punks and the hardcore kids. But you'd rather eat Gigi Allen's shit than sit through some post punk mediocrity with the offensively asexual crowd at CBGB's. Max's. Kansas City is dead. The Mud Club is closed. Elaine's is where your mom would hang out if she could afford a bus ticket and shoes that didn't look like Tom McCann's stolen out of the discount section from Caldor's. You're alone in New York City. You know nobody. You are a nobody. And what do you do? Reinvent yourself into something outrageous and more decadent than Patrick Bateman, Jean Michel Basquiat, and even crazier than Gigi Allen. It worked for Michael Alig. In 1984, 18 year old Michael Alig was alone in New York City, fresh off the bus from South Bend, Indiana. He quickly found his place at Danceateria. Danceateria was the spot for Alec to reinvent himself. It was the epicenter of New York cool. The Beastie Boys worked as busboys. LL Cool J was an elevator attendant. So was actress Debbie Mazar. Sade attended Barr and had her first performance ever there. But no performer is more associated with Danceteria than Madonna. Danceateria is where she honed her craft, where she became Madonna. And it's where Michael Alig became Michael Alec as a busboy himself. He witnessed the exact kind of magic needed to attract young, horny, impossibly cool Manhattanites to a club on a nightly basis. The only problem? Alec had no talent. He couldn't play guitar or write or act. It didn't matter. The creativity and free expression at Danceateria taught him that you didn't need to be a performer to draw people. All you needed was a hook. What does the pre feminism Mad Men character Bobby Barrett say to Don Draper? This is America. Pick a job and then become the person who does it. And that's what Michael Alec did. He picked the job of promoter because he didn't need to know how to sing or dance or any of that. All you needed was a friend who could DJ a club looking to sell drinks on an off night. A little creativity and decadence. Lots and lots of decadence.
- [09:57]
Public Investing Announcer
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- [10:06]
Ryan Seacrest
Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's Stock Up Savings time now through March 31st spring in for store wide deals that earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Lindor, Chips Ahoy, Gatorade, Host, Ziploc and Zoa. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more. Enjoy savings on top of savings when you shop in store or online for easy drive up and go, pick up or delivery restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions.
- [10:37]
Public Investing Announcer
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures let's talk personal style.
- [11:40]
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- [12:08]
Danielle Roubaix
Absolutely.
- [12:08]
Poshmark Advertiser
Kids? You bet. And the best part? You're shopping, right? Real closets from real people with real style. It's like braiding your most fashionable friend's wardrobe if you had thousands of fashionable friends. Plus, every item over $500 goes through Poshmark's authentication process so you can shop high end with total confidence. Ready to refresh your closet? Download the Poshmark app and sign up with code podcast10 and get $10 off your first purchase. Go ahead, find your next favorite thing.
- [12:39]
LifeLock Announcer
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- [13:38]
Danielle Roubaix
This is Danielle Roubaix from Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club. Nothing compares to the anticipation of something new. A new start, a new year, a new home, or a new car. When it's time to get a new car, where do you start? Car shopping can honestly be a little overwhelming, but it should be fun. Buying your next car should be exciting. And it can be if you remember one cars.com cars.com has the tools and expert advice to help you figure out what vehicle is right for you. Their advanced search filters allow you to explore 2 million new and used cars so that you can find the perfect car. The site is so easy to use. Looking for an electric vehicle with a third row and leather seats for easy cleanup, Cars.com has you covered. A variety of tools and badges are used to help shoppers understand the price of a vehicle and find the best deal. And every review is written by a real person reflecting a real life experience, so don't take any chances. Do car shopping the easy way. Start your search with cars.com where to next?
- [14:43]
Jake Brennan
In 1988, Michael Alec was hired by New York City nightclub owner Peter Gation to work as a party promoter at his club the Limelight. Alec's parties were the most outrageous, the most decadent, and quickly became wildly successful, in part because Alec created what became known as the Club Kid. It's impossible to describe the look of a club kid. Remember that rave you went to in college? The one where you were certain you were getting dosed by the sketchy dude wearing lipstick, frosted tips, an astrological sign choker and leopard print creepers? Okay, a club kid is who that guy was trying to look like. A club kid is an even more outrageous version of sketchy Roofy dude from college. But throw in a mix of drag queen, Japanese anime, heroin chic, B grade horror and a dress stolen from your little sister's American Girl doll collection and you're getting closer to the club kid look. Club kids took hard drugs, designer drugs and took on flamboyant, ludicrous Personas. Michael Alec's friend and fellow club kid James St James was a self proclaimed celebutant, meaning he was famous for, well, being famous. This was the early 90s, way before Internet ubiquity, social media and just at the cusp of 247 news and infotainment. To be famous for no good reason and in the absence of talent, you needed to be over the damn top. St. James described the club kid vibe as part drag, part clown, part infantilism. In addition to St. James, Alex club kids included, among others, superstar DJ Kyoki, who sometimes clad in nothing more than glitter in a diaper would provide the soundtrack for Alex parties. The stunning Jenny Talia, who was prone to big pink dresses, big black boots and big blonde wigs worn over a shaved head which when revealed made her even more attractive in a little known at the time drag queen who went by the name RuPaul, whose stint as a club kid came before his supermodel of the world Glamazon status. And Amanda Lepore, who like other club kids, not only bended gender lines but completely scrambled them with her undeniable and over the top sexuality. In the late 80s and into the early 90s, these and an army of other club kids owned the New York City nightclubs. It was a scene defined by over the top public displays of sex, overindulgence of hard narcotics and designer drugs, and an overthrow of the highly codified stale rock and roll by a new form of electronic music that was loud, abrasive and propelled by relentlessly aggressive beats that kept the party going well into the morning. At Limelight and at other Peter Gation own clubs. Michael Alec was the straw that stirred the roof and all drink. His Wednesday night party, Disco 2000 featured over the top acts to draw further attention with characters like Floyd the human money tree who would strip naked, pin $100 bills to himself and run through the crowd into a grabby free for all or earn the pee drinker who, you guessed it, would openly piss in a glass in front of the crowd and gleefully slurp it all down. Alec himself would frequently piss on his crowd from the balcony at Limelight and pass out cups of his own urine to unsuspecting club goers. No behavior was too shocking. It was all done in the name of hedonism and decadence. And it worked. The word was out on the club Kids. Michael Musto from the Village Voice noted that Alec's hedonistic minions had filled a void in New York City nightlife left behind by Andy Warhol's death. New York magazine put Alec on its cover. Geraldo and Joan Rivers had them on their television shows. The Limelight and Gation's bigger club Tunnel remained packed. As the notoriety of the club Kids grew, so did Alex's appetite for the outrageous. He staged elaborate outlaw parties in public places. Manhattan Burger Kings and subway cars were suddenly out of nowhere, overrun by club kids and drag queens for instantaneous dance parties. And Alec began producing other events beyond Disco 2000. There was unnatural acts where one night Woody the dancing amputee lost his prosthetic while performing a dance, only to be joined on stage by a female club goer who had sex with both his prosthetic and his stump. The depravity and decadence was way out in the open. Anything went overt. Sexuality, bisexuality, homosexuality, pansexuality, any sexuality and the drug use kicked up a notch. Special K was everywhere. Club kids boasted of snorting 6 inch lines off of 8 inch dicks. Punch bowls were laced with acid. Balloons filled with ecstasy descended from the ceilings and onto the dance floor. And Alec promoted another night called Blood Feast with a flyer depicting him dead on the floor, dismembered and covered in blood. Club kids would show up dressed in homage to their favorite serial killers. And in the sign of the horrific reality to come, Alec would arrive in a wheelchair covered in someone else's blood.
- [20:47]
Public Investing Announcer
We'll be right back after this.
- [20:49]
Poshmark Advertiser
Word, word, word.
- [20:53]
Jake Brennan
Because of Michael Alig, the limelight was making Studio 54 seem like a cute suburban key party your parents might have attended back in the 70s. This during a time when Rudy Giuliani, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and then mayor of New York City, was doing everything in his considerable power to restore social norms in law and order back to Gotham City. And in Gotham City, Michael Alig, king of the club kids, the pajama boy cum pied piper, could give two fucks about Rudy Giuliani. In Alex's myopic, drug addled view of the world, he was a prince. He had the power after all. He determined who got passed the velvet rope, who sat next to him on Geraldo, who got mentioned to the Village Voice, and who he graced with his presence. The decadence and all the drugs created an alternative reality for Alec, one where he was immune to any surrounding pressure or sense of right and wrong. He didn't know from Rudy Giuliani. Alex had no sense of right or wrong or decency. It was all about the party and the shock and the headlines. He didn't understand or care about the pressure his boss and benefactor, Peter Gation faced to clean up his act at Limelight or else be closed. All Alec understood at this point was getting high. When pressed by Gation to get clean or else be fired, Alex tried striking a compromise where he promised to only smoke crack while taking heroin. Or was it he'd only take heroin while smoking crack? It didn't matter. It all came crashing down. Giuliani turned the screw and Gation was forced to close Limelight. Alex flamed out of rehab and descended into a drug stupor that would have made Courtney Love jealous. Cocaine, Special K heroin and crystal meth were all swimming through Alex's system while he holed up in his luxury west side apartment, paid for by Peter Gation with fellow club kid Robert Freeze Riggs, and the two were nearly out of drugs. This was a problem. So was the fact that Aleg owed his drug dealer Angel Melendez money. Maybe this is why friends of theirs recounted that Alex was running around town casually mentioning that he wanted to kill Angel. Angel Melendez wore wings. Literally. That was his club kid schtick. He also dealt heroin. He'd hung out with the punks at CBGB's before finding his way to the rough trade over at the piers on the west side. A pier queen and street smart, angel was by all accounts a sweet kid who was saving his drug profits to break into the movie business and break away from the matter of clubland. Problem was, collecting drug debts was a real headache. And Michael Alex debt was becoming a real problem. It wasn't just that he owed angel thousands of dollars. It was that he was being a real prick about it, disparaging him in public, not letting him into the parties he was hosting. And then the little bastard found out where angel was stashing his drug cash and managed to steal 18 grand only to go and blow it all on furniture. Furniture. Alec and Freeze were renovating their apartment. Angel was pissed, and rightly so. Angel Melendez showed up at the Riverbank west luxury apartment complex where Michael Alec was holed up with Robert freeze Riggs on March 17, 1996, demanding his money back. Michael mocked him and insisted on more heroin. Freeze told angel that he and Alec only let him hang around because he had drugs. This enraged Angel. A struggle ensued. Angel bit Michael and threw him into a china cabinet. A huge shard of glass from the cabinet pierced his back. Blood spewed everywhere. Freeze then grabbed a nearby hammer and swung hard at angel, coming down on his head three times. More blood. Angel fell to the ground.
- [25:16]
Ryan Seacrest
Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's Stock Up Savings time now through March 31st spring in for storewide deals that earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hunts, Nerds, Pillsbury, Lowry's, Breyers, Quaker and Culture Pop. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more Enjoy savings on top of savings when you shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pick up or delivery restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions.
- [25:47]
Public Investing Announcer
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comdisclosures we all have different styles.
- [26:51]
Poshmark Advertiser
I may be into Levi's and you may be into Fendi or Miu Miu, but we all should be into poshmark.com right? Because we can all find exactly what we want to fit our size style. Poshmark has millions of new and pre lived pieces. Vintage, luxury, men's, women's, children's, everything from Carhartt to coach. Download the Poshmark app and sign up with code podcast10 and get $10 off your first purchase.
- [27:18]
Danielle Roubaix
This is Danielle Robay from Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club. Nothing compares to the anticipation of something new. A new start, a new year, a new home, or a new car. When it's time to get a new car, where do you start? Car shopping can honestly be a little overwhelming, but it should be fun. Buying your next car should be exciting. And it can be if you remember one thing. Cars.com cars.com has the tools and expert advice to help you figure out what vehicle is right for you. Their advanced search filters allow you to explore 2 million new and used cars so that you can find the perfect car. The site is so easy to use. Looking for an electric vehicle with a third row and leather seats for easy cleanup, Cars.com has you covered. A variety of tools and badges are used to help shoppers understand the price of a vehicle and find the best deal. And every review is written by a real person reflecting a real life experience, so don't take any chances. Do car shopping the easy way. Start your search with cars.com where to next?
- [28:21]
Jacob Goldstein
This is Jacob Goldstein from what's yous Problem? When you buy business software from lots of vendors, the costs add up and it gets complicated and confusing. Odoo solves this. It's a single Company that sells a suite of enterprise apps that handles everything from accounting to inventory to sales. Odoo is all connected on a single platform. In a simple and affordable way. You can save money without missing out on the features. You need to check out odoo@o d
- [28:48]
Jake Brennan
o o dot com.
- [28:51]
Jacob Goldstein
That's o d o o dot com.
- [28:54]
Jake Brennan
Michael pounced. He wrapped his hand in a sweatshirt and began pummeling angel in the face. Then he strangled him. At that point, one of them grabbed the Drano. They held angel down and poured it into his throat. To be sure that he swallowed it. They duct taped his mouth shut. Exhausted, Michael and Freeze flopped on the couch while angel lie on the floor, choking to death. The official cause of death was asphyxiation. After a brief rest, Michael and Freeze dragged Angel's body to the bathroom tub. In an effort to mask the coming smell of Angel's dead body, they covered him in ice, baking soda and more Drano. Then they get down to the business of getting high as fuck. Turns out when you kill your drug dealing friend, you inherit a stash. And what a stash it was. For eight days, Michael and Freeze sat around the apartment doing nothing but heroin while Angel's body sat in the tub, rotting. The stench became unbearable. Something had to be done. So it was decided that Freeze would head down to Macy's to buy some butcher's knives. When he returned, he and Michael did more heroin to blunt the reality of what they were about to do next. Stumbling into the bathroom through the haze of rotting flesh and swarming flies, Michael Alec, king of the club kids, got down on his knees and wielding his mace butcher knife, began sawing the limbs off of his friend, Angel Melendez. He started with the legs, removing them from the tub and placing them into a duffel bag. They placed them along with the torso into an empty television box and secured it shut with their trusty duct tape. The box was then placed in the living room where it briefly doubled as a coffee table to mask the smell. Man, that smell. They sprayed Calvin Klein Eternity everywhere. The irony. Eternity to mask the stench of death. Needless to say, the flies remained. But the flies couldn't stop the drug binge. There was too much heroin to do. Friends came by and remarked on the smell. Alec blamed it on faulty sewage in the building. And when friends inquired to Angel's whereabouts, Alec would casually mention that he killed him, chopped him up and stuffed him in a box. Look, that box right over there. As a matter of fact, no one believed him. So Michael, Alec did what he did best. He kept the party going. According to multiple sources, in the days and weeks following Angel Melendez's death, Michael Alig was telling anyone who would listen that he had killed him. But nobody thought it was true. This was, after all, the guy who promoted a club night called Blood Feast, where people were literally drinking their own urine on stage, showing up dressed as serial killers or in costumes with bloodied, dismembered limbs. So when Michael started telling fellow club kids the grisly details of the crime he just committed to one of their friends, people thought it was all a put on. But Village Voice nightlife columnist Michael Musta thought otherwise. He knew where Michael Alec lived, on the corner of narcissism and drugged out madness, right between unhinged reality and the gaping hole of insecurity. And so Musto published a blind item in the village voice on April 23, 1996, called nightclubbing. In it, he addressed the swirl of scandal surrounding Alex in Fries's rumored crime against Angel Melendez. Page Six then picked it up. The Voice followed up a couple months later with their own cover story. At this point, Alex started to realize the gravity of the situation and began denying his earlier claims, telling people that it was all a ruse, a prank. But the heat intensified. So Alex took the money he'd made from selling the furniture he'd bought with the money he'd stolen from angel and hit the road. NYPD detectives were on him in no time. They found him holed up in a sleazy New Jersey hotel. And so Michael Alig and Robert Freeze Riggs played nice with authorities and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. They were sentenced to 10 to 20 years. Alig served 16 of them. Released in 2014. Michael Alig is, well, Michael Alig. He's up on YouTube with a show called PU, where he and fellow club kid Ernie Glam super serve nostalgic clubland fans with decadent tales from the 90s and where they promote Alec's recent ventures, like his new club night at Manhattan's mega club Space Ibiza. And where they dispute rumors about Alec, like his supposed purposeful spreading of hiv, as claimed by Lucian Winch. And where they set the record straight about Alex's recent drug bust, the one where he was busted in a Bronx park at 2 in the morning with Special K, valiantly on his way to return the drugs to a drug dealer from a friend supposedly trying to get clean. What a guy rehabilitated, worthy of parole after mercilessly dismembering the body of his friend. You be the judge. One thing I know to be true is that Michael Alec is definitely still Michael Alec. Even post prison watching the YouTube videos, it's easy to catch a glimpse of the 20 something provocateur in Alex more world weary eyes as he attempts to make use of modern technology to shock and engage an audience and most of all, remain relevant. The smartass is still there. Sure, it's without the assless chaps, but if Aleg feels any real remorse, the YouTube videos make it hard to build the case that prison had any real rehabilitative effect on his character. I wonder how members of Angel Melendez's family feel about all of this when that late night unprocessed grief knocks and they head to social media to catch a glimpse of their loved one. Maybe they punch Angel Melendez club kid into the YouTube search box and head down the rabbit hole. There's angel on Geraldo. Big red angel wings, big eyes, big boots, Brando biker hat. And There's angel with RuPaul at a burger King outlaw party. You click on the Joan Rivers link, but no angel, because search algorithms are insensitive beasts. They know so much about us, but how can they possibly know about our grief? They can't. Which is why below the Joan Rivers clip, there's a clip from Macaulay Culkin's feature film on Angel's death party monster. And below that are a couple of shockingly graphic documentaries that you'd rather not watch again. And finally, at the bottom of the search, more general club kid videos start to pop up. And there's 2017. Michael Alec, three years out of jail and look, looking barely worse for wear. He's got a fresh new haircut, a trendy T shirt that is a size too small, and is drinking what must be an $8 coffee from some hot gentrifying barista. He's regaling us with fabulous details from his latest trip to west wherever the fuck and imploring us to come party with him at his new dance night in Manhattan, where you and thousands of his closest friends can live out impossible to imagine decadent fantasies in real life. You can do that. You can. Michael Alec gets to do that. Angel Melendez does not get to do that. He's dead. He's no longer stuffed in a duct taped TV box. His remains have been interred somewhere more respectable. Close by though, right over there is a man, matter of fact, and Michael Alig. He's still doing what he does best, keeping the party going. I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgraceland. Disgraceland was created by by yours truly and is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be found on the show notes page@gracelandpod.com if you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And if not, you can become a member right now by going to Disgracelandpod.com membership members can listen to every episode of Disgraceland Ad Free. Plus you'll get one brand new exclusive episode every month, weekly unscripted bonus episodes, special audio collections, and early access to merchandise and events. Visit disgracelandpod.com membership for details, rate and review the show and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook Disgracelandpod and on YouTube@YouTube.com Disgracelandpod Rocka Rola
- [38:49]
Danielle Roubaix
He's a bad, bad man.
- [38:53]
Ryan Seacrest
Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's Stock Up Savings time now through March 31st. Spring in for store wide deals that earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hunts, Nerds, Pillsbury, Lowry's, Breyers, Quaker and Culture Pop. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more. Enjoy savings on top of savings when you shop in store or online for easy drive up and go, pick up or delivery restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions.
- [39:29]
Public Investing Announcer
With BALI from Ishares, you get access to both monthly income and growth potential in one simple etf. It's the best of both worlds. Discover Bali Ishares Large Cap Premium Income Active ETF ETF iShares the market is yours. Visit www.ishares.com to view perspectives for investment objectives, risks, fees, expenses and other information that you should read and consider carefully before investing. Risks include principal loss and the use of derivatives, which could increase risks and volatility. Monthly income is not guaranteed. Prepared by BlackRock Investments, LLC.
- [39:55]
LifeLock Announcer
It's tax season, and by now we're all a bit tired of numbers. But here's an important one you need to $16 billion. That's how much money in refunds the IRS flagged for possible identity fraud. But it's not all grim news. LifeLock monitors millions of data points per second and alerts you to threats you could easily miss on your own. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it. Guaranteed. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com iheart Terms apply.
- [40:26]
Poshmark Advertiser
We all have different styles. I may be into Levi's and you may be into Fendi or Miu Miu. But we all should be into poshmark.com right? Because we can all find exactly what we want to fit our style. Poshmark has millions of new and pre lived pieces, vintage, luxury, men's, women's, children's, everything from Carhartt to coach. Download the Poshmark app and sign up with code podcast10 and get $10 off your first purchase.
- [40:55]
Jake Brennan
This episode is brought to you by Choiceology, an original podcast from Charles Schwab.
- [41:01]
Public Investing Announcer
Hosted by Katie Milkman, an award winning behavioral scientist and author of the best
- [41:06]
Jake Brennan
selling book how to Change. Choiceology is a show about the psychology
- [41:10]
Public Investing Announcer
and economics behind our decisions.
- [41:13]
Jake Brennan
Hear true stories from Nobel laureates, authors, athletes and everyday people about why we
- [41:19]
Public Investing Announcer
make the choices we do and how to make better ones to help avoid costly mistakes.
- [41:25]
Jake Brennan
Listen to choiceology@schwab.com podcast or wherever you listen.