History on Air

Youtube Time Machine

Found a cool site and thought you would like it to. This site Youtube Time Machine (YTTM), finds videos from specific years and you can browse through them. I went to 1979, the year I was born and found a cool video with Christopher Reeve on the Johnny Carson show. You can see it below.

He is being interviewed for his role in Superman (only $10 on blu-ray right now!). They talk about the amazing graphics. It was a pretty cool watch. A while back I was asked to do a podcast on Superman and I think I ended up doing the history of the comic book for the most part. Mostly and origin story, but it occurs to me that really for my generation Christopher Reeve was Superman. I want to read his autobiography Still Me, or actually I really want to listen to it since he reads it. It was written in 1999 only four years after his near fatal accident. An amazon.com description says:

Christopher Reeve begins his heroic reading of Still Me with a special introduction, including this message: “Now, this audiobook allows me to communicate with you in a very personal way, second only to being in the same room.” Personal indeed. Hearing Reeve tell his account of the near-fatal riding accident on Memorial Day 1995 is a life-altering experience.

Another book on the to-read list. This blog is really starting to hurt my chances of getting through the ones that are already on there. This one is audio so it should go fast. Reeve followed up Still Me with another book in 2004 called: Nothing is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life. It has 4.5 stars our of 42 reviews. Sounds pretty good too! There is an audio version of this that Reeve reads himself again. I love it when authors do that.

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This weeks New York Times Non-Fiction Bestsellers

Looking for something to read?  We’ve got you covered.  I love reading.  I thought it would be nice and easy to let you all know that bestseller’s this week.  I have unfortunately only read one of the books on the list below.  Outliers was an amazing book and I highly recommend it.  I’ve read all (I think) of Gladwell’s books, and I must say he is a talented writer!  Have you read any of these?  Let us know in the comments.

1. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

2. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

3. Decision Points

4. Autobiography of Mark Twain, Vol. 1

5. Cleopatra: A Life

6. Life

7. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

8. Decoded

9. The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and Al-Qaeda

10. Outliers: The Story of Success

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Broken Arrow

Found this definition on Wikipedia:

Broken Arrow refers to an accidental event that involves nuclear weapons, warheads or components, but which does not create the risk of nuclear war. These include:

• Accidental or unexplained nuclear detonation.
• Non-nuclear detonation or burning of a nuclear weapon.
• Radioactive contamination.
• Loss in transit of nuclear asset with or without its carrying vehicle.
• Jettisoning of a nuclear weapon or nuclear component.
• Public hazard, actual or implied.

I received this email from Frank yesterday:

Jason,

I recently listened to your podcast about the only atomic bomb dropped on the US.  We had a hydrogen bomb dropped on Albuquerque in the 50′s near the runway of the airport.  What I’ve been told is that the hight explosives went off and spread radioactive material around the site, and it created a large crater.  There was a cleanup, and the crater was filled in with cement.  Supposedly it is still there today and there is a fence around it.

http://www.hkhinc.com/newmexico/albuquerque/doomsday/clui/index.htm

FYI,

Frank

Hi Frank,

Thanks for writing and for listening to the podcast.  I’m glad it is still getting listens.  I wish I had more time to record new podcasts.  Anyway, I remember when I was researching for this podcast.  Right after I published it I found more information online.  More information about additional bombs dropped in the US.  Can’t find that website now, but I did find this list [warning pop-up advertisements at this site]:

Read more…

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I’m Famous!

Check it out!  Mr. Beardyman has done a write-up about the podcast.  Not bad.  I’m very happy to see that there are people still listening to the podcast.  I wish I had more time to create new episodes, but as it is I barely have enough time to write this post.

History on air is hosted by Jason Watts and he is a amateur historian. He does a good job in researching all of his topics and also provides all the relevant sources/links to all of his podcasts. The sound quality of the podcasts are somewhat poor in the first few episodes though over time it improves thanks to a investment on a decent microphone…

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Jon-Erik Hexum

How very sad!  I didn’t know about Jon-Erik Hexum’s terrible death, that S posted in the comments.  For those who also don’t know here is the exerpt from Wikipedia:

On October 12, 1984, between filming scenes on the set of Cover Up, Hexum was critically wounded after he placed a .44 Magnum prop gun loaded with blanks to his temple and pulled the trigger. The accident happened during the filming of a scene where Hexum’s character (Mac Harper) was supposed to unload a handgun and replace the bullets with blanks—as the script required. The shooting was, however, delayed due to a technical difficulty and Hexum fell asleep on the set. Hexum awoke approximately fifteen minutes later and, realizing the scene was still not ready to be shot, began playing with the gun. Police later reported that Hexum had been playing Russian roulette, having loaded three empty cartridges and two blanks into the cylinder. He eventually placed the gun to his head and, after saying, “Let’s see if I’ve got one for me!” pulled the trigger.

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America: The History of Us

This past Sunday (4/25) AMERICA THE STORY OF US premiered on History at 9/8c.  This epic 12-part series is a grand cinematic vision of how this country was built.  AMERICA THE STORY OF US focuses on the people, ideas and events that built American nation, covering 400 years of American history. New episodes will air every Sunday through Memorial Day. Buy on iTunes.

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You Camouflaged my Battleship!

Seen in the center of the image is the ABRAHAM CRIJNSSEN, covered in branches and made to look like an island.  The captain of the vessel did this to evade capture after the battle of the Java Sea in Feb. 1942 during WWII.  They went right through Japanese naval lines in this disguise.

Image credit: Historic Naval Ships Association

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Oral History

Found this on the AHA site.  Its a list of oral history project websites.

Image credit: Editor B

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Harry Truman

I recently found this short audio clip on This I Believe.  Here is a short description below.  Follow the link to listen to the audio.

President Harry Truman explains the beliefs that influenced his two decades of public service, and he encourages Americans to correct the remaining imperfections in our democracy. [This I Believe]

Image credit:  Wiki Commons

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Federal Air Marshals

Did you know you might have been sitting next to a person with a gun on your last flight?  What if I told you they had that gun on the flight legally.  Air Marshals have been flying with us since 1963.    On 9/11/2001 there were only 33 Federal Air Marshals active.  Now, although the official number is classified, the number is believed to be in the thousands.  The current budget for Air Marshals is 800 million annually.  Federal air marshals rollup under the TSA.

How many terrorists did the FAMs stop with this $800 million? Zero, according to a CNN Special Investigation (though agents did make four arrests last year – which averages some $200 million per arrest). OC Register

Read more about the federal air marshal program at wikipedia.

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