I Was There When Podcast

Maria talks with Shirley Brooks-Jones, a passenger on one of the 38 planes headed for the U.S. on 9/11/01 that was re-routed to a tiny, unprepared town in Newfoundland, Canada - where they waited for six days.

On August 1, 2007, the I35W Bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis collapsed during rush hour, sending dozens of cars plummeting downward. Lindsay Walz was in one of those cars and tells Maria her story in this chilling but uplifting new episode.

Award-winning journalist Graeme Wood of The Atlantic talks with Maria about his experience in Tahrir Square during the Egyptian Revolution in 2011.

Maria talks with Pat Looney, the man who *almost* became the most hated man in Chicago.

We're halfway through Season 1 of the I Was There When Podcast. We're taking a brief intermission, but here's a sneak peak of our next 6 episodes!

An American Economics professor shares with Maria about the time he met, drank, and joked with a mysterious, brand new Russian President named... Vladimir Putin.

A modest Catholic University in northeastern Ohio boasts that visitors have walked in the footsteps of a Saint. In this episode, we hear from Walsh University's President about the day the world's most beloved and memorable nun - Mother Teresa - came to visit.

John Markoff has been writing about technology for The New York Times for 30 years. He was there when Steve Jobs unveiled the first ever iPhone... and that wasn't even the first time he'd seen it.

Call to Action by Journalist Maria Baer

Marty Schladen witnessed a failed prison execution first-hand. Marty is a Public Affairs reporter for The Columbus Dispatch and was in the room when prison officials tried - unsuccessfully - to execute convicted multiple-murderer Alva Campbell, Jr. in November 2017. He saw Alva walk to his death - and then walk back out of the death house, alive.

In October 2011, a Zanesville man set loose nearly 60 (!!!) exotic animals on his property. There were dozens of lions, tigers, bears and more. Maria interviews the local Sheriff and two officers who were called to the scene and forced to shoot to kill.

Alan Canfora shares his story of being shot at the Vietnam War Protest at Kent State University on May 4, 1970. Moments after waving the black flag, Canfora was shot in the wrist by the National Guard. Then, he saw his roommate and best friend shot in the leg. Later, he saw the dead.