Not Your Century

Latest Episodes:

1962: The Prehistoric Google Bus Apr 19, 2019

Show notes

Commuters are taking private luxury buses to their jobs on the Peninsula, and people are fighting mad about it. It's a preview of the Google Bus fights of a later century. But without Wi-Fi.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1912: Scant News from the Titanic Apr 18, 2019

Show notes

Three days after the great ship sank, news is still scarce. The rescue ship Carpathia has gone silent. But word is filtering in over the wires about who survived — and who didn't.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1990: Chinatown Is Closed Apr 17, 2019

Show notes

Mayor Art Agnos wants to tear down the Embarcadero Freeway, badly damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake. Chinatown shuts down as its business leaders head downtown to fight for repair of the road they say is their lifeline of customers.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bonus: Mike Sager on Janet Cooke Apr 16, 2019

Show notes

Mike Sager worked with and dated Janet Cooke at the Washington Post and later wrote a book about her. The veteran author and magazine writer talks about his friend, "the fabulist who changed journalism."

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1981: Space Shuttle Soars, Janet Cooke Crashes Apr 16, 2019

Show notes

Real news: The inaugural flight of the space shuttle Challenger. Fake news: The Washington Post returns Janet Cooke's Pulitzer Prize after editors discover she made up her story about an 8-year-old heroin addict.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1891: A Lot of Ruckus Over Oranges Apr 15, 2019

Show notes

The people of Chicago are amazed! They're coming by the trainload to gaze at produce from California. The oranges are the star of the show. It's a precursor to the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, which in turn would lead to a giant fair in Golden Gate Park in 1894.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1923: General Theory of Relativity Confirmed Apr 12, 2019

Show notes

You'll be glad to know Albert Einstein was right. Astronomers at the Lick Observatory in San Jose confirmed it by examining photos of a 1922 eclipse. How did that confirm Einstein? We asked an astronomer at the Lick Observatory. Plus: The curse of the mummy’s tomb!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1906: Mount Vesuvius Erupts Apr 11, 2019

Show notes

Untold thousands died when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D., including Pliny the Elder. The death toll wasn't as high in 1906, but it was high. Vesuvius remains an active volcano. How am I going to be an optimist about this?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1952: Nationwide Labor Strife Apr 10, 2019

Show notes

Big Steel accuses President Harry Truman of being in bed with the labor unions after he nationalizes the industry to ward off a strike by steelworkers. There are huge strikes in industries across the country as labor battles the wage and price controls Truman had put in place at the beginning of the Korean War.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1975: Operation Babylift Apr 09, 2019

Show notes

85 Vietnamese orphans arrive at Travis Air Force Base in the latest flight of Operation Babylift — the massive, controversial evacuation of children from South Vietnam in the dying days of the Vietnam War. President Gerald Ford is there for a photo op.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected