Episode Details

Wes Oakley joins Talk About It with Franjez for an unforgettable ride through Yonkers/Hastings history, Hollywood hustles, and wild Prohibition lore. Growing up in Hastings on Hudson, Wes moved to LA in the ’90s, worked across film/TV/music videos, and now creates science storytelling at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and La Brea Tar Pits. We dive into his grandmother’s jaw-dropping stories from “The Big Egg” speakeasy on Nepperhan Ave mobsters, secret doors, bathtub gin, and the larger-than-life figures of Dutch Schultz, Arnold Rothstein, and “Legs” Diamond plus early DVD/streaming days, Adobe/Premiere workflows, and even Wes’s stint in a cult-classic wrestling league. Highlights • Hastings roots → LA leap to film/TV • The true story of Yonkers’ famed “Big Egg” rock & tavern cover • Prohibition era Yonkers: candy shop fronts, safe houses, mob ties • Natural History Museum LA & La Brea Tar Pits: science films & fossils vs. asphalt preservation • Early DVD & pre broadband streaming experiments • Incredibly Strange Wrestling: “Stash Stevens, the Polish Wonder” • Why these stories deserve a book or series set in Yonkers Chapters (approx.) 00:00 Intro & Wes’s Hastings roots 04:10 Grandma’s birthday, The Big Egg legend 12:45 Prohibition stories: Dutch Schultz & secret tavern door 23:30 Moving to LA in ’93: gigs, animation, post-production 34:15 Early DVD & proto-streaming projects 41:50 Natural History Museum LA & La Brea Tar Pits 51:20 Wrestling stories & live show energy 57:00 Why this should be a film/book + final takeaways If you enjoyed this episode, like, comment, and subscribe. Drop your favorite moment or Big Egg memory below, and tell us if you’d watch a Yonkers Prohibition series! #TalkAboutItWithFranjez #WesOakley #Yonkers #HastingsOnHudson #BigEgg #Prohibition #DutchSchultz #LaBreaTarPits #NYhistory #podcast