Useless Information Podcast

93-year-old Marvin Lautzenheiser was the lead cryptanalyst for the FBI team that deciphered the microfilm message contained in the Hollow Nickel (Podcast #168) and was asked to testify at the trial of Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. In this first segment, Marvin discusses growing up during the Great Depression and how a chance question at his college graduation led him to the FBI.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The long-forgotten story of a major battle that took place over Los Angeles just a few months after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was but a brief blip in the global conflict, yet the US used all its might in an attempt to shoot down the enemy planes that were detected overhead. The sky was set ablaze with exploding shells as searchlights focused their beams and tracked the enemy aircraft high above. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy was a tragic day for the United States. But what else was happening on November 22, 1963? This first episode of the Useless Information YesterCast explores the rest of the happenings of that day, including the top movies, songs, and TV shows. Included are a number of quirky and offbeat stories, including that of a man who took an ad out in the newspaper seeking an elephant, a man who mistook a boy for a squirrel and shot him, a bank robbery in which the bank earned money, an escapee who had been in jail nearly the entire time he was supposedly on the run, and so much more. Images, links, & transcript: https://uselessinformation.org/yestercast-1-november-22-1963-podcast-180/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, my wife Mary Jane joins me to review the 1944 classic movie "Gaslight." Starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotton, and Angela Lansbury (in her film debut), it is from this movie that the term “gaslighting” originated. It’s a psychological thriller in which the viewer is witness to a woman being intentionally driven to madness by her husband so that he can carry out his sinister plan. Images, links, and transcript: https://uselessinformation.org/bad-apples-4-gaslight-podcast-179/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russell Sage was once one of the wealthiest men in the world. He was ruthless in business and was said to hate philanthropy, upper education, and women. When he passed away in 1906, his wife Olivia got even by giving away nearly every penny of his fortune to the causes that Sage despised. Historian Kathy Sheehan joins me to tell the true story of Russell Sage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode: A man who claimed that he had eloped with another man’s wife because she had fed him a delicious piece of cake, a dead woman who sat up in her coffin just as the undertakers began to pour ice over her body, smog changes the color of a California man’s tie, and much more! Tim Harford of Cautionary Tales cohosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1941, the Plainfield Teachers College football team was unstoppable. That was until a reporter exposed a shocking secret about the team and their storybook season was brought to a grinding halt. Images, links, and transcripts: https://uselessinformation.org/the-rise-fall-of-the-celestial-comet-podcast-176/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode: A mystery man speaks an unknown language, a boy gets his head stuck in a toilet seat, a woman slips on a bar of soap and flies out the window, and much more! Madison Newton cohosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just what happens when your airplane crashes high up in the Himalayan mountains and there is no chance that anyone will ever find you? This happened to pilots Joe Rosbert and Ridge Hammell during World War II as they attempted to pilot a cargo plane over “The Hump.” It’s an amazing story of perseverance, survival, and a lot of luck. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode: The United States once banned the sale of sliced bread, the State of Oregon attempted to ban popcorn in movie theaters, women were using fly swatters to swat away their excess pounds, and much more! Matt Breen of The Explorers Podcast cohosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re shaking things up today and sharing a preview from Car Show!, a new podcast from our friends at Pushkin Industries. Longtime Car and Driver editor Eddie Alterman tells the stories of the vital cars — the ones that have changed how we drive and live, whose significance lies outside the scope of horsepower or miles per gallon. In this episode, Eddie talks about the military background of the Jeep, a vehicle made for the battlefields of World War II, and its lasting popularity in America decades after the war. You can listen to the full episode and more from Car Show! at https://podcasts.pushkin.fm/carshow?sid=useless. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1915, American industrialist Henry Ford announced that he was willing to use his entire fortune to bring an end to World War I. So, he chartered a ship to take many of the prominent peace activists of the day to Europe and convene a peace conference to mediate an end to the European War. So, hop aboard the Peace Ship! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arbor Day is 150 years old! Learn the origins of the day, plus how one small upstate New York town continues the annual celebration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode: A woman dumps her fiancé at the altar to marry the minister, a jealous husband who used rattlesnakes to keep men away from his wife, the unlikely suspects in a case of truck tire sabotage, and much more! Retrosponsor: Kraft Mayonnaise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s hard to believe, but when the first words were spoken on radio, it was dismissed as a novelty. It seems as if everyone thought that Morse code was the future. Nearly everyone except for Reginald Fessenden. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1953, paperboy Jimmy Bozart was counting his newspaper subscription money. He dropped the coins and one nickel split open, revealing a piece of microfilm. This led to the arrest of a high-ranking Soviet spy.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode: A live baby is auctioned off, a carnival knife thrower accidentally hits his human target, a West Virginian dog warden with an unusual approach to keeping thieves out of the pound, and much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1936, superstar Eddie Cantor asked his radio listeners to write an essay describing how the United States could avoid war. The prize was a full college scholarship. With no set rules, something was certain to go wrong. And something did go very wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode: A man falls out of a window and is saved by a flagpole, seven tonsillectomies done in an assembly line fashion, the last cigarette commercial on US network television, a baby born in a well, and much more! Retrosponsor: Dr. Caldwell’s Syrup Pepsin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Edna Kirby spent more than a decade in Hollywood appearing in silent movies for Paramount Studios. While she never became a movie star, Edna drew large crowds in nearly every town that she visited. That’s because Edna Kirby lived in a glass house. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices