Show notes
This week on Dopey’s Greatest Hits! What may be the greatest Dopey episode of all time: the unbelievable story of tattoo artist, punk-rock survivor, bank robber and Dopey legend Shane Enholm. Before the replay, Dave announces that DopeyCon is officially happening October 3, celebrates the publication of his kratom piece in Rolling Stone, and reads a listener’s story about Bristol’s open heroin market.
Then Shane’s story begins. Raised by an addicted mother, arrested alongside her at 12 and homeless as a teenager, Shane hitchhiked across America before finding punk rock in late-1970s Los Angeles. He crossed paths with Darby Crash and the Germs, became involved with Crash’s former girlfriend Casey, developed a devastating heroin addiction and began robbing pharmacies.
After entering adult prison at 18, Shane escaped a Synanon-style treatment program and returned to heroin, cocaine and crime. When Shane and Casey lost custody of their children, he robbed his first bank with a toy gun. Over the next six months, he became the FBI’s “Ponytail Bandit,” robbing 29 banks—including one $36,000 score—while financing an enormous heroin habit.
Shane describes robbing banks with his children in getaway cars, a dye pack exploding inside a taxi, his arrest in San Francisco and the eight years and 23 days he subsequently spent in federal prison. Inside, he developed another heroin habit, dealt drugs, swallowed and concealed balloons of heroin, and survived the violent racial politics of high-security federal institutions.
After prison, Shane found his daughters living in horrific conditions, regained custody and slowly attempted to rebuild his life. He survived hepatitis C, cirrhosis and bacterial endocarditis, found stability through methadone, recovery, tattooing and art, and eventually became a respected historian of antique tattoo machines.
The episode ends with Shane performing “Making Mud Pies,” the heartbreaking song he wrote in prison about Casey, followed by Trinity’s cover of “Good So Bad.”
Plus more! more! more! on the new old Dopey show!
