Lissa Townsend Rodgers
Media Stuff…
Lectures & Panels
In March, I did a reading/lecture based on Shameless at the Mob Museum. I also appeared there on a panel about the Flamingo back in 2022.
TV Appearances
I did a two-part appearance on KLAS channel 8 at 6 and 11 pm to talk with George Knapp about Shameless, Virginia Hill and Geri Rosenthal.
Radio Appearances
I appeared on Coast to Coast AM in a two-part conversation about Shameless: Women of the Underworld. I also discussed Shameless and books in general on Las Vegas’ KNPR.
Podcasts
I appeared on this season of the Wicked Women podcast for a discussion about Bonnie Parker, Virginia Hill, Stephanie St. Clair and the rest of the women of Shameless.
Interviews & Reviews
I did an interview with Las Vegas Weekly about Shameless. Also, veteran reporter John L. Smith reviewed the book, calling it .”intriguing” and “irresistible.”
Buy the Book(s)
You can get Shameless: Women of the Underworld at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Shameless: Women of the Underworld
Kathryn Kelly was a farm girl whose criminal husbands were her means to the good life; she gave the last one, “Machine Gun” Kelly, his nickname and weapon. Bonnie Parker was a baby-faced honor-roll student who fell hopelessly in love with Clyde Barrow and their star-crossed love affair propelled the pair into legend. Black, female, and foreign, Stephanie St. Clair had three strikes against her when she arrived in New York, but she rose to become queen of Harlem’s underworld.
Virginia Hill fought her father’s abuse as a child and that fearlessness helped her handle other brutal men as she worked her way through three Mafia organizations, turning sexual power into just plain power. Showgirl Geri Rosenthal married Las Vegas’ most powerful mobster and had an affair with its most vicious hitman, helping to bring down the Mafia’s empire in Sin City. High-spirited bombshell Liz Renay became an actress, artist, and author, but her time as mob courtesan threw a shadow into the spotlight she craved.
Articles: both recent & greatest hits
.I recently wrote a cover story on the legendary 70s TV movie/series Kolchak: The Night Stalker for Devoid Magazine.
“what raised Kolchak: The Night Stalker above the archetype he so brilliantly embodied were the subjects he investigated and wrote about. A shape-shifting Native American spirit driving socialites to suicide. A woman who maintains eternal beauty by sacrificing college students to Greek gods. A werewolf running amok on a singles cruise. Carl Kolchak encountered a herd of characters from spellbooks and fairy tales, pursuing them with the same “just the facts” doggedness he would a mayoral candidate or hospital CEO. “
I also write regularly for Desert Companion in Las Vegas and occasionally for places like Food & Wine and New York Magazine.
“It’s Craptacular!” Film Blog
A blog about so-bad-they’re-good movies, from the obscure to the well known, musical to horror, Joan Crawford to Nicholas Cage.
About me…
I have worked as a journalist in New York City and Las Vegas for more than two decades.
Social Media
On Instagram at @lissatownsendrodgers and on BlueSky at @lissatrodgers.