The full account of the July 7, 1989 US Marshals & FCC raid on Pirate Radio WHOT Brooklyn.

6:41 – Origin story: housing project, first Penny Lane broadcast proof 8:40 – Scaling power, Radio New York International ship (1987) 9:05 – Arch-nemesis FCC engineer Judah Mansbach introduced 11:15 – Local talk radio vs. syndicated Larry King takeover 12:35 – Classic WFAT station IDs & sweepers 17:48 – Hank’s time as producer/screener on the syndicated Lionel show 22:06 – July 7, 1989 raid begins (7:30 a.m. pajamas story) 24:46 – Agent Rolph kicks in the door with gun drawn 26:26 – Judah Mansbach enters the bedroom; warrant & equipment seizure 29:44 – FCC agent gets shocked by the tube transmitter 35:33 – Rooftop antenna cut-down with Judah 40:00 – Later letter from Assistant US Attorney & court appearance 57:03 – Parents notice Channel 7 interference → recording Judah’s stakeout 1:00:05 – Binoculars view of the FCC car outside the window 1:01:35 – Play & breakdown of Judah’s surveillance tape (ice-ball window, 100-watt claims, Van Wyck, audience reports) 1:06:08 – FOIA file revelations: near-misses, building painting, goodbye-for-now show 1:10:04 – Ham radio operator’s false “overthrow the government” letter in the file 1:14:12 – Judah’s compliment: clean signal, no interference with licensed stations 1:17:05 – Henry Paulison (NY field office chief) mentioned; earlier bust visit 1:19:57 – East Coast task force (47–49 agents), World Trade Center stakeout, helicopter standby

00:00 – The pirate radio origin story08:00 – Buying the first real Electro-Voice microphone28:00 – The Beatles breakup that sparked the radio dream38:00 – Broadcasting to neighbor Mary46:00 – The FCC bust stories & dramatic escapes1:01:00 – The Golden Era of marathon shows & ship radio1:18:00 – Pete’s Pizza Hake Program & Jim’s Tuesday show info

After the FCC shut them down 50 years ago, the duo turned to late-night prank calls, lighting up Long John Nebel & Candy Jones on WMCA, Larry King, phone operators, random strangers, and more.