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The Joe Rogan ExperienceJoe Rogan Experience #1095 - TJ English & Joey Diaz
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At a glance
WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT
Cuban Crime, Politics, and Mysticism: Inside TJ English’s ‘Corporation’
- Joe Rogan, TJ English, and Joey Diaz discuss English’s book *The Corporation*, which chronicles a powerful Cuban‑American crime syndicate led by Bay of Pigs veteran José Miguel Battle. The conversation traces how illegal lotteries (bolita) funded a vast criminal empire intertwined with Italian mob families, U.S. politics, and Cold War covert operations. Diaz connects the history to his own upbringing in New Jersey’s Cuban enclaves, describing how numbers, corruption, and neighborhood codes of loyalty shaped daily life. The episode also dives into Cuban culture—Santería, Abakuá brotherhoods, music, and sexuality—showing how religion, ritual, and crime fused into a distinctive underworld ecosystem.
IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING
5 ideasIllegal lotteries functioned as both community glue and criminal goldmine.
Bolita gave poor immigrants hope and daily ritual—tying numbers to dreams and omens—while generating millions monthly for Cuban mobsters who ran hundreds of betting spots from New York to Miami.
José Miguel Battle leveraged war hero status to build a protected empire.
As a Bay of Pigs veteran and ex‑Havana vice cop with Mafia ties, Battle secured Mafia approval, government leniency, and immense loyalty, allowing The Corporation to operate for decades below the enforcement radar.
Political motives and personal revenge blurred inside organized crime.
Anti‑Castro ideology, humiliation from Bay of Pigs, and Cuban pride fueled not just terrorism against Cuban targets but also hyper‑personal vendettas, with Battle pursuing enemies for years and ordering elaborate killings.
Systemic corruption bound cops, politicians, judges, and gangsters together.
Diaz describes routine payoffs, staged arrests, and menu‑priced court outcomes, while English notes federal reluctance to prosecute Bay of Pigs vets—illustrating how criminal and official power structures interlocked.
Afro‑Cuban religions were weaponized as both faith and psychological warfare.
Santería rituals, divination, and talk of protective spirits shaped decisions and morale—mobsters tried to counter enemies’ “saints” with their own ceremonies, and believers saw uncanny alignments between rituals and real‑world events.
WORDS WORTH SAVING
5 quotesWhat I try to do with these books is to tell the macro story…and then get intimate and tell the interpersonal stories between the characters that actually live the story.
— TJ English
The idea was, you bet the number and you try to make your dreams come true. The boliteros…they’re the dream makers.
— TJ English
I’ve come to believe that it’s the American story—this process of going through organized crime and gangsterism before you become accepted as a full‑blown American.
— TJ English
I have a hundred stories I could tell you and a thousand I can’t.
— Joey Diaz
What we’re receiving as information on a daily basis…is a version of what’s happening. There’s a whole other version…and you usually only find out about it 30 years later.
— TJ English
High quality AI-generated summary created from speaker-labeled transcript.
