You Don't Say...

Send us feedback! A red Monte Carlo noses down Blue Island Avenue and Billy knows there’s no version of tomorrow where he walks away the same. Memory hits first—Sunday sauce, laughter stretched thin, a name that chills a kitchen—then the nightwork begins. Pilsen turns into a living map of alley mouths, bar shifts, and weak garage locks. Billy studies Kiko Delgado’s swagger, Mickey Torres’s noise, and the prideful way that car parks nose-out like it’s daring someone. Watching becomes deciding. Before patience turns into action, Billy calls on Frank Calebrese—not for forgiveness, just weather. The sanction comes clean: no speeches, no umbrellas for the other side, and no illusions about what this buys back. You don’t get Janey back. You don’t get your mother back. You do get ownership of the lives you end. From threads and hinges to a quiet Tuesday alley, Billy moves moves in the shadows, ever closer to crossing his Rubicon—forced to choose whether he can live with the ledger, or be swallowed by it. Subscribe to receive new episodes (roughly) every first and third Thursday, and share with a friend who loves gritty, character-driven crime fiction… Also, don’t forget to leave a review to tell us: where do you draw the line between justice and correction? VenmoPayPalInstagramLinkedin© Drew Zagorski. All rights reserved. Published under the pen name Drew Glass. The Make Right Man – The Legend of Billy Shitpants is a work of fiction and part of You Don’t Say… Stories from the Drew Zagorski Files, produced by LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing.

Send us feedback! The night smells like wood smoke and wet asphalt as Billy’s ledger finally speaks out loud. We open on the South Side—clean hits, quiet exits, and a cardiganed capo named Frank Calabrese who prefers indications over blessings. Billy’s gift isn’t muscle; it’s control. He moves cash and messages through Bridgeport with surgical precision, turning violence into administration and mercy into math. For a while, the neighborhood loves the results. So does he. Then Sunday dinner brings the reckoning. In Rosie’s time-capsule kitchen a name gets dropped. Billy take the origin story out to the firepit with Karp—Janie’s assault, the campus indifference, and the vow that turned rage into bookkeeping. Balance becomes his religion. But grief doesn’t balance, and money doesn’t absolve. In the present, Billy admits the books were rigged. Mercy isn’t soft; it’s labor. And the next act is coming into focus: the Monte Carlo. Crafted. Measured. Cold. If this story moved you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find The Make Right Man. Your words help keep these stories alive. VenmoPayPalInstagramLinkedin© Drew Zagorski. All rights reserved. Published under the pen name Drew Glass. The Make Right Man – The Legend of Billy Shitpants is a work of fiction and part of You Don’t Say… Stories from the Drew Zagorski Files, produced by LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing.

Send us feedback! A quiet envelope lands on a dorm desk and sets off a chain reaction that stretches from Milwaukee hallways to South Side bars. With Ellen unraveling and Janey holding things together, Billy is forced to decide what kind of man he is once the numbers start to work in his favor. A simple “message job” at Connie’s pays a semester’s tuition and reveals a dangerous truth: when doing what you already believe starts paying real money, the line between right and wrong doesn’t snap — it smears. As Billy’s reputation grows, so does the code he tells himself he’s enforcing. A violent dealer gets checked. A landlord backs off. Stolen toys find their way home. It feels righteous, almost clean, but the costs start hiding in the margins. Janey sees both the glow and the shadow, while the narrator slides from witness to participant, keeping separate ledgers for conscience and survival. By the time blood, smoke, and family dinners loom on the horizon, Billy’s name is written in ink — and every rule now comes with a fine. If you’re drawn to character-driven crime fiction, moral gray zones, and stories where love and loyalty wrestle with consequence, press play. Then tell us where you’d draw the line, subscribe for the next chapters, and leave a review to keep this story in the light. VenmoPayPalInstagramLinkedin© Drew Zagorski. All rights reserved. Published under the pen name Drew Glass. The Make Right Man – The Legend of Billy Shitpants is a work of fiction and part of You Don’t Say… Stories from the Drew Zagorski Files, produced by LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing.

Send us feedback! A porch light flickers, a kiss lands, and a kid wired for payback has to choose which voice to follow—the one that wants the last hit, or the one that says drop the pipe. This episode tracks the night Billy finds Janey Dunne under a streetlamp, the alley where rage begs for one more swing, and the decision that starts to rewire his legend from pure survival into something closer to service. From Donovan Park’s glow to dorm stairs in Milwaukee, the story refuses to stay tidy. Rosie lays down the line—respect her, no means no—and Billy learns the hard math of restraint. Janey becomes both anchor and mirror: a nurse in training drawn to his loyalty, wary of his edges. As Billy’s side work sharpens into a quiet code—clean fixes, no noise if he can help it—the question tightens: can a weapon learn to be a guardian without breaking what it’s meant to protect? Subscribe for new chapters on the first and third Thursdays, share with someone who loves gritty coming‑of‑age stories, and leave a review to tell us: when does making it right become getting it wrong? VenmoPayPalInstagramLinkedin © Drew Zagorski. All rights reserved. Published under the pen name Drew Glass. The Make Right Man – The Legend of Billy Shitpants is a work of fiction and part of You Don’t Say… Stories from the Drew Zagorski Files, produced by LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing.

Send us feedback! Summer hums along in Bridgeport until a torn pharmacy bag and the clang of a garbage can lid redraw the map. We find Billy at Morrie's, tracing the line from Rusty’s hard lesson to the alley where self-defense stops being instinct and starts becoming a code. Word spreads. Small asks turn into quiet transactions. A returned radio. A stopped shakedown. Billy’s name shifts—from insult to promise—because he never goes first, never goes halfway, and always closes the account. Then Rebar steps in. Calm. Precise. Relentless. Their fight lasts two minutes and echoes for years, stripping bravado down to bone. Billy learns power has limits, and sometimes the win is walking away breathing. The ledger changes after that—less about scores, more about balance. He moves quietly, feeds a stray named Butch, and carries restraint like a tool. Hit play to hear how payback becomes principle, how a legend is built without swagger, and why knowing your limit might be the strongest move you make. If the story resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review—what part of Billy’s code would you carry into your own life? VenmoPayPalInstagramLinkedin © Drew Zagorski. All rights reserved. Published under the pen name Drew Glass. The Make Right Man – The Legend of Billy Shitpants is a work of fiction and part of You Don’t Say… Stories from the Drew Zagorski Files, produced by LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing.

Send us feedback! Some legends shout; this one learns to whisper. We walk Bridgeport with Billy, a kid handed a nickname meant to break him, and watch him turn it into cover, leverage, and eventually a code. What matters isn’t the punch—it’s the pause after: timing, restraint, and the price of making things right without making a scene. At home and in school, pressure teaches cadence as much as consequence, and a small, almost-forgotten library incident becomes the first entry in a ledger that values clean outcomes over noise. Problems end quietly. The room resets. A reputation takes shape. Then it deepens. A summer away, a woman who understands limits, and a cat that can’t help being a cat introduce the rule that governs everything after: instinct needs mercy, and power needs aim. That lesson echoes through games, hallways, and side-street conversations with men who don’t smile much. Favors turn into currency, and the neighborhood adjusts to having a quiet custodian of balance. Not a hero. Not a bully. Just someone who knows how to end a problem before it becomes a headline—and knows there’s always a ceiling waiting. VenmoPayPalInstagramLinkedin © Drew Zagorski. All rights reserved. Published under the pen name Drew Glass. The Make Right Man – The Legend of Billy Shitpants is a work of fiction and part of You Don’t Say… Stories from the Drew Zagorski Files, produced by LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing.

Send us feedback! Larry Karpinski, Karp, comes back to Bridgeport telling himself he’s just passing through, maybe closing a loop. That’s the lie guys use when they don’t want to admit they miss a place. But neighborhoods like that don’t do casual visits. The streets remember you whether you’re ready or not. And Billy’s still there — right where you’d expect — like time took a swing at him and missed. Seeing him again isn’t nostalgia. It’s a reminder that some people never put the old rules down, even when the rest of the world pretends they expired. Billy Szczepanek didn’t grow up in a quiet house. It was loud, crowded, full of people learning early how to stand their ground or get stepped over. Love was there, sure — just not the gentle kind. Somewhere along the way, all that pressure had to come out, and one day it did. A moment that should’ve ended clean didn’t, and a name was born. Not as a joke. Not as a dare. Just something that stuck. Episode One traces how a kid from a packed house became the kind of man people whispered about — and how carrying a name like Billy Shitpants was never about fear… it was about whether you could carry the weight and keep walking. VenmoPayPalInstagramLinkedin © Drew Zagorski. All rights reserved. Published under the pen name Drew Glass. The Make Right Man – The Legend of Billy Shitpants is a work of fiction and part of You Don’t Say… Stories from the Drew Zagorski Files, produced by LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing.

Send us feedback! Some names you only say when the easy answers run out. The Make Right Man is a serialized story set in Chicago’s Bridgeport, where the streets remember, the bars keep score, and one nickname became the neighborhood’s quiet alarm bell. Larry “Karp” Karpinski comes home with his life thinning out at the edges, telling himself it’s temporary. Bridgeport doesn’t do temporary. He's wondering about an old friend, Billy Szczepanek—Billy Shitpants—and if he's still carrying the same gravity he had when they were young, still standing where time left him. This series traces how a legend forms and what it costs to wear it. Told through Karp’s reflective voice and Billy’s measured, watchful one, the story moves through kitchens, parks, and front rooms where truth finally sits because it’s run out of places to hide. This isn’t a clean crime story or a hero’s tale. It’s about friendship that stands the test of time, family that holds even when it hurts, a love so deep it survives the worst that life can throw at it, and a neighborhood that knows some problems don’t fix themselves. When Billy’s name gets whispered, the clock starts. Every favor counts. Bridgeport watches—because it always does Subscribe now, share with a friend who loves gritty, character-driven stories, and leave a review to help others find The Make Right Man. Tell us: what would your old neighborhood remember about you? VenmoPayPalInstagramLinkedin © 2025 Drew Zagorski. All rights reserved. Published under the pen name Drew Glass. The Make Right Man – The Legend of Billy Shitpants is a work of fiction and part of You Don’t Say… Stories from the Drew Zagorski Files, produced by LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing.

Send us feedback! In thinking through which classic to watch this holiday season, I landed on the Mario Puzo - Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece, The Godfather. That got me wondering about Corleone, Sicily and who that city was actually named after. Professor Enzo Tontodonato of St. Bonaventure University took me down a very unexpected path, to the life and times of a 15th century "family" man, named 3 Ball Bartolomeo Colleoni. VenmoPayPalFacebookInstagramLinkedin

Send us feedback! I got to thinking about who was the first person to jump from a ledge or flying machine using a parachute. I mean, who invented the first parachute, when was that, what were the circumstances – was it a thing of necessity in some horrible moment – and why would anyone ever want to step out of a flying machine or off a cliff when it’s hundreds, if not thousands of feet in the air using an untested accessory? There are a lot of people who own a piece of designing the first parachute, including Taccola, DaVinci, and a French fella named Andre-Jacques Garnerin. VenmoPayPalFacebookInstagramLinkedin

Send us feedback or a suggestion for a new episode! Who doesn't love a big juicy burger? But where did this glorious gastronomic culinary creation come from? Who invented it and how did they dream it up? And what about that go-to condiment mix of mayo and ketchup? Or how did Thousand Island Dressing land on a Big Mac? And what about McDonald's and Ronald McDonald? Doucette de la Croix, the Provost of the Culinary Arts University of America filled me in on all of this need to know history for every hamburger fan. VenmoPayPalFacebookInstagramLinkedin

Send us feedback or a suggestion for a new episode! There's a lot that's been uncovered about the first Thanksgiving. Based on the research of Dr. Louis Pazgassian, a professor of Colonial North American and U.S. History and chair of Georgetown University’s history department, we're sharing the totally true facts of the holiday's origin, including a cast that includes Squanto, Massasoit, William and Mary Brewster, Edward and Susan Winslow, and the unheralded hero of the day, Olaf Dijksgeffen. This stuff really happened... it's totally true. VenmoPayPalFacebookInstagramLinkedin

Send us feedback or a suggestion for a new episode! Super heroes are great, but it's the super villains who make those stories so compelling. Thinking about super villains brought me to the James Bond franchise from Ian Fleming, and specifically a villain who made his debut in Thunderball - Ernst Stavro Blofeld. So, where did the total truth of this villain's character come from? I did a deep dive and found the source, and some startling true facts about his progeny, who is making a name for himself in current times. DISCLAIMER - Totally True Facts episodes are parodies. Let me say that again – parodies. Names have been changed in most cases to protect the innocent, though in others, the names of totally real people are used for the purpose of presenting the as mentioned parody. I hope that you’ll latch on to one of these facts and look up the totally, totally true facts on your own. This episode brought to you by LeftBrainRightBrain Marketing and Layerly VenmoPayPalFacebookInstagramLinkedin

Send us feedback or a suggestion for a new episode! Back in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico, a flying saucer crash landed in the desert. The Air Force secured the spacecraft as well as a handful of surviving aliens, including a petulant toddler alien, and the government decided to make the event a social experiment. Problem is, it became entangled with Bugsy Siegel, Roy Cohn and a mechanic who is now telling all. DISCLAIMER - Totally True Facts episodes are parodies. Let me say that again – parodies. Names have been changed in most cases to protect the innocent, though in others, the names of totally real people are used for the purpose of presenting the as mentioned parody. I hope that you’ll latch on to one of these facts and look up the totally, totally true facts on your own. VenmoPayPalFacebookInstagramLinkedin

Send us feedback or a suggestion for a new episode! We're introducing a new series for You Don't Say... It's called Totally True Facts. One of the things that alternate facts have caused is a whole lot of unnecessary violence, strife and mischief. Alternate facts have made the world a very stressful and dangerous place. So I decided to create Totally True Facts. These vignettes will offer a grain of truth or reality about what actually happened either in current times or times gone by, but by and large I’m surrounding them with a mess of alternate facts that I hope at the very least will give you a reason to grin, if not have a laugh, and to just get away from the reality of an all too factually messed up world. These are parodies. Let me say that again – parodies. I will change names in most cases to protect the innocent, though in others, I will use the names of actual people, for the purpose of presenting the as mentioned parody. My hope is that you’ll latch on to one of these facts and look up the totally, totally true facts about it on your own. Our first installment of Totally True Facts presents the origin story of Chicago's Bubbly Creek and the ancestry of a guy named Jeff Chłapowski. VenmoPayPalFacebookInstagramLinkedin

Send us feedback or a suggestion for a new episode! I'm past being tired of gun violence. So much that I'm also past being on board with the 2nd Amendment. In this episode I'm laying down facts and data on the most common arguments gun owners make in defense of their guns. But that's not all, I'm also providing what I believe are logical solutions that might allow a gun owner to have a shootin' iron, while controlling a lot of the problems of gun ownership. Links Murders by Weapon UsedChief Justice Warren Burger's Reading of the 2nd AmendmentThe Problem with Jon Stewart - Gun Control (Apple TV+)Submit Your Story Idea! Keep the episodes coming! Donate to the podcast today! VenmoPayPalFacebookInstagramLinkedin

Send us feedback or a suggestion for a new episode! Pulling Back the Curtain at the Funeral Home... Nobody wants to think about dealing with a mortician. But when you need one, you want one with a human touch. Not someone that’s more like Lerch from the Addams Family, or a used car salesman. Ron & Deborah Threadgill bring an uncommon personal touch and a unique approach to the services they render. We’re talking with them about that and what goes on behind the curtain at the funeral home… and that home might just be your own. Links Threadgill’s Memorial ServicesThreadgill’s Memorial Services Last Ride – The Harley HearseNational Home Funeral AllianceDissolving the Dead: A Look Inside Portland’s First Aqua Cremation Machine, Portland Mercury, May 9, 2019, by Ciara DolanFox 12 Portland feature on Aqua Cremation, April 12, 2018Submit Your Story Idea! This Episode Sponsored by: Buzzsprout - Must Love Dogs NW - Squarespace (SAVE 10% on your first website subscription when you enter PARTNER10 at checkout!) - Theresa Springer, Movement Mortgage VenmoPayPalFacebookInstagramLinkedin

Send us feedback or a suggestion for a new episode! Here are the facts on the things we heard from both voters… Mary and Mark had a lot to say, respectively, about Joe Biden and President Trump. In this episode we dig into their comments on all the topics we covered and have presented a fact check on their information. Whatever your political stripe, I hope that what both guests had to say and the information in this episode will help to inform your vote. And maybe, more importantly, I hope that it allowed you to hear a different perspective than that which we all tend to hear over and over in our own bubbles and social media silos of like-mindedness. We cannot move our country ahead if we aren’t even willing to hear one another out, and yes, compromise to reach goals that will benefit all of us. Get out there and vote! Links Register to VoteTrump 2020 CampaignBiden 2020 CampaignFact Check Media Sources Ratings for the sources below, if available, were collected from Allsides.com for bias / adfontsmedia.com media bias chart analysis and reliability Submit Your Story Idea! This Episode Sponsored by: Theresa Springer, Movement Mortgage - Must Love Dogs NW – Nest Bedding Easy Breather Pillow VenmoPayPalFacebookInstagramLinkedin