Journalist, author and filmmaker Crash Barry podcasts from the foothills of western Maine. Season One features Devils and Dirtbags, his on-going true crime investigation of the criminal priests and bishops of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Massachusetts. Season Two, aka Tough Island, is his comparatively light-hearted but still gritty tales of living and working on a remote Maine island when he was a much younger man. Season Three includes in-depth looks at Disinfomaniacs, along with interviews, conversations and independent journalism focused on the intersection of culture and politics.
Thirteen year old altar boy Danny Croteau was murdered on April 14, 1972. And a Catholic priest was the sole suspect.
Episode Two begins with an apocalyptic Catholic doomsday cult with odd sexual practices. Meanwhile, the suspected murderer priest continues to molest altar boys.
Father Richard Lavigne gets arrested for multiple counts of child molestation and child rape. Will he ever be punished?
Father Charles Sullivan was punished for his drunkenness, his whore-mongering and for threatening to shoot the Bishop. And he died alone, in disgrace, abandoned by the church.
The first of four episodes about a priestly serial molester of altar boys who never was punished and went on to work as a drug and alcohol counselor.
The second of four episodes about a priestly serial molester of altar boys who never was punished and went on to work as a drug and alcohol counselor.
Using the element of surprise, and a bottle of 100 proof bourbon, Crash gets Father X to tell his tale of woe.
Father X, under the influence of bourbon and a willing listener, reveals all about his sordid family history... and why he turned out to be so evil.
How could men like Richard Lavigne, Father X and Charles Sullivan, plus dozens of other Springfield priests, get away with such evil criminal behavior? Well, when the person in charge of a group is depraved, then, usually, the whole damn organization is rotten. For over 25 years, Thomas Dupre held a...
Both Father James Scahill and reporter Bill Zajac knew Bishop Thomas Dupre was evil. How could they stop him?
Crash knocks on the door of Richard Lavigne and the child molesting ex-priest has a lot to say.
We hear from Danny Croteau's youngest sister, an inspirational woman named Cat, on how the 1972 murder of her brother impacted her entire family.
In the season finale of Devils and Dirtbags, we tie up some loose ends and visit the spot where Danny Croteau was murdered on April 14th, 1972.
On the night of May 21, 2021, the suspected murderer Richard Lavigne died at the age of 80 from COVID complications. The local DA claimed he was getting ready to arrest the former priest and charge him with Danny Croteau's murder, but since Lavigne was dead, he now considers the case closed. On this...
We hear a sad tale from "Sarah," the long-suffering wife of one of Richard Lavigne's victims. She tells us about her husband's abuse at the hands of the murderer priest and the impact it had their family.
After getting out of the U.S. Coast Guard in 1991, Crash moves to Matinicus, Maine's most remote inhabited island to work as a sternman aboard a lobster boat, The Dotted Eye. And he meets his new boss, Captain Donald, and his wife, Mary-Margaret. She was 100 percent gray. Her short hair. Her sunken ...
In Chapter 2, Crash moves into his room in Captain Donald’s fishhouse. Also, he goes for a motorcycle ride. And we meet Deputy Jerold Day, the first cop to ever live on Matinicus, Maine's most remote inhabited island.
In Chapter 3 of Tough Island, Knox County Sheriff’s Deputy Jerold Day gets run off the island and Crash almost crashes Captain Donald’s boat. Plus, an underwater graveyard and how to dispose of an old vehicle or an ancient washing machine, island-style.
Crash wrestles with a cougar, Captain Donald rescues mariners-in-distress and a flock of puffins surround a shipwreck.
Crash trades cigarettes with some Russian sailors, scratches Captain Donald’s truck and almost gets stranded on a deserted island.
The “Perfect Storm of 1991” strikes outer Penobscot Bay, Crash almost dies (a couple of times) and the story of the January 1992 sinking of the tugboat Harkness during a winter gale. Luckily, Captain Vance Bunker, a true hero, willingly heads into the storm.
Crash realizes he can’t pass the Able-Bodied Seaman’s drug test, Mary-Margaret gets in trouble and so does Captain Donald.
Crash and Captain Donald have a disagreement, Crash ends up working on a presidential campaign and someone Crash loves, dies.
One of Crash’s partying pals decides to return to church, only to experience God’s wrath. Thanks to Captain Edward and Nan, (and some psychedelics) Crash’s life gets better.
CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains cats, poetry and a bizarre suicide. Also, Crash's wife sings a sonnet by Edna St. Vincent Millay.
A tragedy strikes the sheep living on Wheaton Island and a perfect Matinicus wedding where Captain Edwin and Crash show up wearing the same outfit. Content warning: this episode contains the death of animals and domestic abuse.
While camping with Alice on an even more remote Maine island, Crash is introduced to Carlos Castaneda. Then Crash’s parents visit Matinicus. Also, a scary Halloween tale of gunfire and whiskey.
In this penultimate chapter, Crash hitchhikes to Portland and gets a sweet lift. Also, we learn how radio ruined the island. And Crash shaves his beard and moves off Matinicus, headed to the University of Southern Maine.
In the series finale, Crash returns to Matinicus, twice. Also, Mary-Margaret confronts Crash again, 20 years later.
Disinfomaniacs is a podcast about the liars, grifters and fascist charlatans intent on destroying democracy and, ultimately, civilization. Crash Barry, Nathan Bernard and Andy O'Brien report how propaganda trickles down to negatively impact local communities so they can expose, debunk and pre-bunk t...
Crash and John McDonald were pals for a quarter century, first working together in talk radio back in the mid-1990s. John died on Dec. 20, 2022. This is Crash's tribute to him, one Maine storyteller to another.
Coastie is the prequel to Crash Barry's Tough Island. During Coastie, you’ll sail from the Gulf of Maine to the Gulf of Mexico aboard a 210 foot Coast Guard cutter, during the late 1980s drug war and war on Haitian refugees and witness the misadventures and mistakes of Seaman Barry, a 20-year-old st...
In the second episode of Disinfomaniacs, we take a deep dive into the group of Christian Nationalists who staged a coup d'etat on January 28 and seized control of the executive committee of the Maine Republican Party. Andy O'Brien explains the background of new chairmen Joel Stetkis, while Nathan Be...
Crash interviews his pal, Maine rock icon (and Grammy-winning songwriter) Dave Gutter, after they both smoked a bunch of OG Kush. Topics included Dave's musical relationships with David Bowie, Aaron Neville and Eric Krasno. Also, stories from the road with his band Rustic Overtones and the REAL reas...
Here's the story of a neo-Nazi influencer and itinerant tattooist who goes by the name “Hammer” who claims to have plans to build a “tiny house compound” for neo-Nazis and their families, in Maine, on 10 acres of land he owns in a little town an hour northeast of Bangor. Also, Hammer is the dude spo...