Podcasts about air disasters

What does it take to keep your voice—and your purpose—strong through every season of life? In this episode of Unstoppable Mindset, I sit down with my friend Bill Ratner, one of Hollywood's most recognized voice actors, best known as Flint from GI Joe. Bill's voice has carried him through radio, animation, and narration, but what stands out most is how he's used that same voice to serve others through storytelling, teaching, and grief counseling. Together, we explore the heart behind his work—from bringing animated heroes to life to standing on The Moth stage and helping people find healing through poetry. Bill shares lessons from his own journey, including losing both parents early, finding family in unexpected places, and discovering how creative expression can rebuild what life breaks down. We also reflect on 9/11, preparedness, and the quiet confidence that comes from trusting your training—whether you're a first responder, a performer, or just navigating the unknown. This conversation isn't just about performance; it's about presence. It's about using your story, your craft, and your compassion to keep moving forward—unstoppable, one voice at a time. Highlights: 00:31 – Hear the Flint voice and what it takes to bring animated characters to life. 06:57 – Learn why an uneven college path still led to a lifelong acting career. 11:50 – Understand how GI Joe became a team and a toy phenomenon that shaped culture. 15:58 – See how comics and cartoons boosted classroom literacy when used well. 17:06 – Pick up simple ways parents can spark reading through shared stories. 19:29 – Discover how early, honest conversations about death can model resilience. 24:09 – Learn to critique ads and media like a pro to sharpen your own performance. 36:19 – Follow the pivot from radio to voiceover and why specialization pays. 47:48 – Hear practical editing approaches and accessible tools that keep shows tight. 49:38 – Learn how The Moth builds storytelling chops through timed, judged practice. 55:21 – See how poetry—and poetry therapy—support grief work with students. 59:39 – Take notes on memoir writing, emotional management, and one-person shows. About the Guest: Bill Ratner is one of America's best known voice actors and author of poetry collections Lamenting While Doing Laps in the Lake (Slow Lightning Lit 2024,) Fear of Fish (Alien Buddha Press 2021,) To Decorate a Casket (Finishing Line Press 2021,) and the non-fiction book Parenting For The Digital Age: The Truth Behind Media's Effect On Children and What To Do About It (Familius Books 2014.) He is a 9-time winner of the Moth StorySLAM, 2-time winner of Best of The Hollywood Fringe Extension Award for Solo Performance, Best of the Net Poetry Nominee 2023 (Lascaux Review,) and New Millennium "America One Year From Now" Writing Award Finalist. His writing appears in Best Small Fictions 2021 (Sonder Press,) Missouri Review (audio,) Baltimore Review, Chiron Review, Feminine Collective, and other journals. He is the voice of "Flint" in the TV cartoon G.I. Joe, "Donnell Udina" in the computer game Mass Effect, the voice of Air Disasters on Smithsonian Channel, NewsNation, and network TV affiliates across the country. He is a committee chair for his union, SAG-AFTRA, teaches Voiceovers for SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Media Awareness for Los Angeles Unified School District, and is a trained grief counsellor. Member: Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA, National Storytelling Network • https://billratner.com • @billratner Ways to connect with Bill: https://soundcloud.com/bill-ratner https://www.instagram.com/billratner/ https://twitter.com/billratner https://www.threads.net/@billratner https://billratner.tumblr.com https://www.youtube.com/@billratner/videos https://www.facebook.com/billratner.voiceover.author https://bsky.app/profile/bilorat.bsky.social About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well on a gracious hello to you, wherever you may be, I am your host. Mike hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. Today, we get to have a voice actor, person, Bill Ratner, who you want to know who Bill Radnor is, go back and watch the old GI Joe cartoons and listen to the voice of Flint.   Bill Ratner ** 01:42 All right. Lady Jay, you better get your battle gear on, because Cobra is on their way. And I can't bring up the Lacher threat weapon system. We got to get out of here. Yo, Joe,   Michael Hingson ** 01:52 there you go. I rest my case Well, Bill, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Bill Ratner ** 02:00 We can't rest now. Michael, we've just begun. No, we've just begun.   Michael Hingson ** 02:04 We got to keep going here. Well, I'm really glad that you're here. Bill is another person who we inveigled to get on unstoppable mindset with the help of Walden Hughes. And so that means we can talk about Walden all we want today. Bill just saying, oh goodness. And I got a lot to say. Let me tell you perfect, perfect. Bring it on. So we are really grateful to Walden, although I hope he's not listening. We don't want to give him a big head. But no, seriously, we're really grateful. Ah, good point.   Bill Ratner ** 02:38 But his posture, oddly enough, is perfect.   Michael Hingson ** 02:40 Well, there you go. What do you do? He practiced. Well, anyway, we're glad you're here. Tell us about the early bill, growing up and all that stuff. It's always fun to start a good beginning.   Bill Ratner ** 02:54 Well, I was a very lucky little boy. I was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1947 to two lovely people, professionals, both with master's degree out at University of Chicago. My mother was a social worker. My father had an MBA in business. He was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. So I had the joy of living in a better home and living in a garden.   Michael Hingson ** 03:21 My mother. How long were you in Des Moines?   Bill Ratner ** 03:24 Five and a half years left before my sixth birthday. My dad got a fancy job at an ad agency in Minneapolis, and had a big brother named Pete and big handsome, curly haired boy with green eyes. And moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was was brought up there.   Michael Hingson ** 03:45 Wow. So you went to school there and and chased the girls and all that stuff.   Bill Ratner ** 03:54 I went to school there at Blake School for Boys in Hopkins, Minnesota. Couldn't chase the girls day school, but the girls we are allowed to dance with certainly not chase. Michael was at woodhue dancing school, the Northrop girls from Northrop girls school and the Blake boys were put together in eighth grade and taught the Cha Cha Cha, the waltz, the Charleston, and we danced together, and the girls wore white gloves, and we sniffed their perfume, and we all learned how to be lovers when we were 45   Michael Hingson ** 04:37 There you are. Well, as long as you learned at some point, that's a good start.   Bill Ratner ** 04:44 It's a weird generation. Michael,   Michael Hingson ** 04:46 I've been to Des Moines before. I was born in Chicago, but moved out to California when I was five, but I did some work with the National Federation of the Blind in the mid 19. 1970s 1976 into 1978 so spent time at the Iowa Commission for the Blind in Des Moines, which became a top agency for the Blind in well, the late 50s into the to the 60s and so on. So   Bill Ratner ** 05:15 both my parents are from Chicago. My father from the south side of Chicago, 44th and Kenzie, which was a Irish, Polish, Italian, Jewish, Ukrainian neighborhood. And my mother from Glencoe, which was a middle class suburb above Northwestern University in Evanston.   Michael Hingson ** 05:34 I Where were you born? 57th and union, north, south side, no, South   Bill Ratner ** 05:42 57th union is that? Is that west of Kenzie?   Michael Hingson ** 05:46 You know, I don't remember the geography well enough to know, but I know that it was, I think, Mount Sinai Hospital where I was born. But it was, it's, it's, it's a pretty tough neighborhood today. So I understand,   Bill Ratner ** 06:00 yeah, yeah, my it was tough, then it's tough now,   Michael Hingson ** 06:03 yeah, I think it's tougher, supposedly, than it was. But we lived there for five years, and then we we moved to California, and I remember some things about Chicago. I remember walking down to the local candy store most days, and had no problem doing that. My parents were told they should shut me away at a home somewhere, because no blind child could ever grow up to amount to anything. And my parents said, You guys are you're totally wrong. And they brought me up with that attitude. So, you   Bill Ratner ** 06:32 know who said that the school says school so that   Michael Hingson ** 06:35 doctors doctors when they discovered I was blind with the   Bill Ratner ** 06:38 kid, goodness gracious, horrified.   Michael Hingson ** 06:44 Well, my parents said absolutely not, and they brought me up, and they actually worked with other parents of premature kids who became blind, and when kindergarten started in for us in in the age of four, they actually had a special kindergarten class for blind kids at the Perry School, which is where I went. And so I did that for a year, learn braille and some other things. Then we moved to California, but yeah, and I go back to Chicago every so often. And when I do nowadays, they I one of my favorite places to migrate in Chicago is Garrett Popcorn.   Bill Ratner ** 07:21 Ah, yes, with caramel corn, regular corn, the   Michael Hingson ** 07:25 Chicago blend, which is a mixture, yeah, the Chicago blend is cheese corn, well, as it is with caramel corn, and they put much other mozzarella on it as well. It's really good.   Bill Ratner ** 07:39 Yeah, so we're on the air. Michael, what do you call your what do you call your program? Here I am your new friend, and I can't even announce your program because I don't know   Michael Hingson ** 07:48 the name, unstoppable mindset. This   Bill Ratner ** 07:51 is unstoppable mindset.   Michael Hingson ** 07:56 We're back. Well, we're back already. We're fast. So you, you, you moved off elsewhere, out of Des Moines and all that. And where did you go to college?   Bill Ratner ** 08:09 Well, this is like, why did you this is, this is a bit like talking about the Vietnam War. Looking back on my college career is like looking back on the Vietnam War series, a series of delusions and defeats. By the time I the time i for college, by the time I was applying for college, I was an orphan, orphan, having been born to fabulous parents who died too young of natural causes. So my grades in high school were my mediocre. I couldn't get into the Ivy Leagues. I got into the big 10 schools. My stepmother said, you're going to Michigan State in East Lansing because your cousin Eddie became a successful realtor. And Michigan State was known as mu u it was the most successful, largest agriculture college and university in the country. Kids from South Asia, China, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, South America all over the world came to Michigan State to study agricultural sciences, children of rich farmers all over the world and middle class farmers all over the world, and a huge police science department. Part of the campus was fenced off, and the young cadets, 1819, 20 years old, would practice on the rest of the student body, uniformed with hats and all right, excuse me, young man, we're just going to get some pizza at eight o'clock on Friday night. Stand against your car. Hands in your car. I said, Are you guys practicing again? Shut up and spread your legs. So that was that was Michigan State, and even though both my parents had master's degrees, I just found all the diversions available in the 1960s to be too interesting, and was not invited. Return after my sophomore year, and in order to flunk out of a big 10 University, and they're fine universities, all of them, you have to be either really determined or not so smart, not really capable of doing that level of study in undergraduate school. And I'd like to think that I was determined. I used to show up for my exams with a little blue book, and the only thing I would write is due to lack of knowledge, I am unable to complete this exam, sign Bill ranter and get up early and hand it in and go off. And so what was, what was left for a young man like that was the theater I'd seen the great Zero Mostel when I was 14 years old and on stage live, he looked just like my father, and he was funny, and if I Were a rich man, and that's the grade zero must tell. Yeah, and it took about five, no, it took about six, seven years to percolate inside my bread and my brain. In high school, I didn't want to do theater. The cheerleaders and guys who I had didn't happen to be friends with or doing theater. I took my girlfriends to see plays, but when I was 21 I started acting, and I've been an actor ever since. I'm a committee chair on the screen actors guild in Hollywood and Screen Actors Guild AFTRA, and work as a voice actor and collect my pensions and God bless the union.   Michael Hingson ** 11:44 Well, hey, as long as it works and you're making progress, you know you're still with it, right?   Bill Ratner ** 11:53 That's the that's the point. There's no accounting for taste in my business. Michael, you work for a few different broadcast entities at my age. And it's, you know, it's younger people. It's 18 to 3418 years to 34 years old is the ideal demographic for advertisers, Ford, Motor Company, Dove soap, Betty, Crocker, cake mixes and cereals, every conceivable product that sold online or sold on television and radio. This is my this is my meat, and I don't work for religion. However, if a religious organization calls, I call and say, I I'm not, not qualified or not have my divinity degree in order to sell your church to the public?   Michael Hingson ** 12:46 Yeah, yeah. Well, I, I can understand that. But you, you obviously do a lot, and as we talked about, you were Flint and GI Joe, which is kind of cool.   Bill Ratner ** 13:01 Flynn GI Joe was very cool. Hasbro Corporation, which was based in Providence, Rhode Island, had a huge success with GI Joe, the figure. The figure was about 11 and a half inches tall, like a Barbie, and was at first, was introduced to the public after the Korean War. There is a comic book that was that was also published about GI Joe. He was an individual figure. He was a figure, a sort of mythic cartoon figure during World War Two, GI Joe, generic American soldier, fighting man and but the Vietnam war dragged on for a long time, and the American buying public or buying kids toys got tired of GI Joe, got tired of a military figure in their household and stopped buying. And when Nixon ended the Vietnam War, or allotted to finish in 1974 Hasbro was in the tank. It's got its stock was cheap, and executives are getting nervous. And then came the Great George Lucas in Star Wars, who shrank all these action figures down from 11 and a half inches to three and a half inches, and went to China and had Chinese game and toy makers make Star Wars toys, and began to earn billions and billions dollars. And so Hasbro said, let's turn GI Joe into into a team. And the team began with flint and Lady J and Scarlett and Duke and Destro and cover commander, and grew to 85 different characters, because Hasbro and the toy maker partners could create 85 different sets of toys and action figures. So I was actor in this show and had a good time, and also a purveyor of a billion dollar industry of American toys. And the good news about these toys is I was at a conference where we signed autographs the voice actors, and we have supper with fans and so on. And I was sitting next to a 30 year old kid and his parents. And this kid was so knowledgeable about pop culture and every conceivable children's show and animated show that had ever been on the screen or on television. I turned to his mother and sort of being a wise acre, said, So ma'am, how do you feel about your 30 year old still playing with GI Joe action figures? And she said, Well, he and I both teach English in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania school system, and last year, the literacy level of my ninth graders was 50% 50% of those kids could not read in ninth grade. So I asked the principal if I could borrow my son's GI Joe, action figures, comic books and VHS tapes, recordings of the shows from TV. And he said, Sure, whatever you want to try. And so she did, and she played the video tapes, and these kids were thrilled. They'd never seen a GI Joe cartoon in class before. Passed out the comic books, let him read comics. And then she said, Okay, you guys. And passed out notebooks and pens and pencils, and said, I want you guys to make up some some shows, some GI Joe shows. And so they said, Yeah, we're ready. All right, Cobra, you better get into the barber shop, because the barber bill is no longer there and the fire engines are in the way. And wait a minute, there's a dog in the street. And so they're making this up, using their imagination, doing their schoolwork, by coming up with scenarios, imaginary fam fan fiction for GI Joe and she raised the literacy level in her classroom by 50% that year, by the end of that year, so, so that was the only story that I've ever heard about the sort of the efficacy of GI Joe, other than, you know, kids play with them. Do they? Are they shooting each other all the time? I certainly hope not. I hope not. Are they using the action figures? Do they strip their guns off and put them in a little, you know, stub over by the side and and have them do physical battle with each other, or have them hump the woods, or have them climb the stairs, or have them search the trees. Who knows what kids do? Same with same with girls and and Barbies. Barbie has been a source of fun and creativity for lots of girls, and the source of of worry and bother to a lot of parents as   Michael Hingson ** 17:54 well. Well, at the same time, though, when kids start to react and relate to some of these things. It's, it's pretty cool. I mean, look what's happened with the whole Harry Potter movement and craze. Harry Potter has probably done more in the last 20 or 25 years to promote reading for kids than most anything else, and   Bill Ratner ** 18:17 that's because it's such a good series of books. I read them to my daughters, yeah. And the quality of writing. She was a brilliant writer, not only just the stories and the storytelling, which is fun to watch in the movies, and you know, it's great for a parent to read. If there are any parents listening, I don't care how old your kids are. I don't care if they're 15. Offer to read to them. The 15 year old might, of course, say mom, but anybody younger than that might say either, all right, fine, which is, which means you better do it or read, read a book. To me, sure, it's fun for the parent, fun for the kid, and it makes the child a completely different kind of thinker and worker and earner.   Michael Hingson ** 19:05 Well, also the people who they got to read the books for the recordings Stephen Fry and in the US here, Jim Dale did such an incredible job as well. I've, I've read the whole Harry Potter series more than once, because I just enjoy them, and I enjoy listening to the the voices. They do such a good job. Yeah. And of course, for me, one of the interesting stories that I know about Jim Dale reading Harry Potter was since it was published by Scholastic he was actually scheduled to do a reading from one of the Harry from the new Harry Potter book that was coming out in 2001 on September 11, he was going to be at Scholastic reading. And of course, that didn't happen because of of everything that did occur. So I don't know whether I'm. I'm assuming at some point a little bit later, he did, but still he was scheduled to be there and read. But it they are there. They've done so much to help promote reading, and a lot of those kinds of cartoons and so on. Have done some of that, which is, which is pretty good. So it's good to, you know, to see that continue to happen. Well, so you've written several books on poetry and so on, and I know that you you've mentioned more than once grief and loss. How come those words keep coming up?   Bill Ratner ** 20:40 Well, I had an unusual childhood. Again. I mentioned earlier how, what a lucky kid I was. My parents were happy, educated, good people, not abusers. You know, I don't have a I don't have horror stories to tell about my mother or my father, until my mother grew sick with breast cancer and and it took about a year and a half or two years to die when I was seven years old. The good news is, because she was a sensitive, educated social worker, as she was actually dying, she arranged a death counseling session with me and my older brother and the Unitarian minister who was also a death counselor, and whom she was seeing to talk about, you know, what it was like to be dying of breast cancer with two young kids. And at this session, which was sort of surprised me, I was second grade, came home from school. In the living room was my mother and my brother looking a little nervous, and Dr Carl storm from the Unitarian Church, and she said, you know, Dr storm from church, but he's also my therapist. And we talk about my illness and how I feel, and we talk about how much I love you boys, and talk about how I worry about Daddy. And this is what one does when one is in crisis. That was a moment that was not traumatic for me. It's a moment I recalled hundreds of times, and one that has been a guiding light through my life. My mother's death was very difficult for my older brother, who was 13 who grew up in World War Two without without my father, it was just him and my mother when he was off in the Pacific fighting in World War Two. And then I was born after the war. And the loss of a mother in a family is like the bottom dropping out of a family. But luckily, my dad met a woman he worked with a highly placed advertising executive, which was unusual for a female in the 1950s and she became our stepmother a year later, and we had some very lovely, warm family years with her extended family and our extended family and all of us together until my brother got sick, came down with kidney disease a couple of years before kidney dialysis was invented, and a couple of years before kidney transplants were done, died at 19. Had been the captain of the swimming team at our high school, but did a year in college out in California and died on Halloween of 1960 my father was 51 years old. His eldest son had died. He had lost his wife six years earlier. He was working too hard in the advertising industry, successful man and dropped out of a heart attack 14th birthday. Gosh, I found him unconscious on the floor of our master bathroom in our house. So my life changed. I My life has taught me many, many things. It's taught me how the defense system works in trauma. It's taught me the resilience of a child. It's taught me the kindness of strangers. It's taught me the sadness of loss.   Michael Hingson ** 24:09 Well, you, you seem to come through all of it pretty well. Well, thank you. A question behind that, just an observation, but, but you do seem to, you know, obviously, cope with all of it and do pretty well. So you, you've always liked to be involved in acting and so on. How did you actually end up deciding to be a voice actor?   Bill Ratner ** 24:39 Well, my dad, after he was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine in Des Moines for Meredith publishing, got offered a fancy job as executive vice president of the flower and mix division for Campbell within advertising and later at General Mills Corporation. From Betty Crocker brand, and would bring me to work all the time, and would sit with me, and we'd watch the wonderful old westerns that were on prime time television, rawhide and Gunsmoke and the Virginian and sure   Michael Hingson ** 25:15 and all those. Yeah, during   Bill Ratner ** 25:17 the commercials, my father would make fun of the commercials. Oh, look at that guy. And number one, son, that's lousy acting. Number two, listen to that copy. It's the dumbest ad copy I've ever seen. The jingles and and then he would say, No, that's a good commercial, right there. And he wasn't always negative. He would he was just a good critic of advertising. So at a very young age, starting, you know, when we watch television, I think the first television ever, he bought us when I was five years old, I was around one of the most educated, active, funny, animated television critics I could hope to have in my life as a 56789, 1011, 12 year old. And so when I was 12, I became one of the founding members of the Brotherhood of radio stations with my friends John Waterhouse and John Barstow and Steve gray and Bill Connors in South Minneapolis. I named my five watt night kit am transmitter after my sixth grade teacher, Bob close this is wclo stereo radio. And when I was in sixth grade, I built myself a switch box, and I had a turntable and I had an intercom, and I wired my house for sound, as did all the other boys in the in the B, O, R, S, and that's brotherhood of radio stations. And we were guests on each other's shows, and we were obsessed, and we would go to the shopping malls whenever a local DJ was making an appearance and torture him and ask him dumb questions and listen obsessively to American am radio. And at the time for am radio, not FM like today, or internet on your little radio tuner, all the big old grandma and grandpa radios, the wooden ones, were AM, for amplitude modulated. You could get stations at night, once the sun went down and the later it got, the ionosphere would lift and the am radio signals would bounce higher and farther. And in Minneapolis, at age six and seven, I was able to to listen to stations out of Mexico and Texas and Chicago, and was absolutely fascinated with with what was being put out. And I would, I would switch my brother when I was about eight years old, gave me a transistor radio, which I hid under my bed covers. And at night, would turn on and listen for, who knows, hours at a time, and just tuning the dial and tuning the dial from country to rock and roll to hit parade to news to commercials to to agric agriculture reports to cow crossings in Kansas and grain harvesting and cheese making in Wisconsin, and on and on and on that made up the great medium of radio that was handing its power and its business over to television, just as I was growing As a child. Fast, fascinating transition   Michael Hingson ** 28:18 and well, but as it was transitioning, how did that affect you?   Bill Ratner ** 28:26 It made television the romantic, exciting, dynamic medium. It made radio seem a little limited and antiquated, and although I listened for environment and wasn't able to drag a television set under my covers. Yeah, and television became memorable with with everything from actual world war two battle footage being shown because there wasn't enough programming to 1930s Warner Brothers gangster movies with James Cagney, Edward G   Michael Hingson ** 29:01 Robinson and yeah   Bill Ratner ** 29:02 to all the sitcoms, Leave It to Beaver and television cartoons and on and on and on. And the most memorable elements to me were the personalities, and some of whom were invisible. Five years old, I was watching a Kids program after school, after kindergarten. We'll be back with more funny puppets, marionettes after this message and the first words that came on from an invisible voice of this D baritone voice, this commercial message will be 60 seconds long, Chrysler Dodge for 1954 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I watched hypnotized, hypnotized as a 1953 dodge drove across the screen with a happy family of four waving out the window. And at the end of the commercial, I ran into the kitchen said, Mom, mom, I know what a minute. Is, and it was said, it had suddenly come into my brain in one of those very rare and memorable moments in a person's life where your brain actually speaks to you in its own private language and says, Here is something very new and very true, that 60 seconds is in fact a minute. When someone says, See you in five minutes, they mean five times that, five times as long as that. Chrysler commercial, five times 60. That's 300 seconds. And she said, Did you learn it that that on T in kindergarten? And I said, No, I learned it from kangaroo Bob on TV, his announcer, oh, kangaroo Bob, no, but this guy was invisible. And so at five years of age, I was aware of the existence of the practice of the sound, of the magic of the seemingly unlimited access to facts, figures, products, brand names that these voices had and would say on the air in This sort of majestic, patriarchal way,   Michael Hingson ** 31:21 and just think 20 years later, then you had James Earl Jones,   Bill Ratner ** 31:26 the great dame. James Earl Jones, father was a star on stage at that time the 1950s James Earl Jones came of age in the 60s and became Broadway and off Broadway star.   Michael Hingson ** 31:38 I got to see him in Othello. He was playing Othello. What a powerful performance. It was   Bill Ratner ** 31:43 wonderful performer. Yeah, yeah. I got to see him as Big Daddy in Canada, Hot Tin Roof, ah, live and in person, he got front row seats for me and my family.   Michael Hingson ** 31:53 Yeah, we weren't in the front row, but we saw it. We saw it on on Broadway,   Bill Ratner ** 31:58 the closest I ever got to James Earl Jones. He and I had the same voice over agent, woman named Rita vinari of southern Barth and benare company. And I came into the agency to audition for Doritos, and I hear this magnificent voice coming from behind a closed voiceover booth, saying, with a with a Spanish accent, Doritos. I thought that's James Earl Jones. Why is he saying burritos? And he came out, and he bowed to me, nodded and smiled, and I said, hello and and the agent probably in the booth and shut the door. And she said, I said, that was James Earl Jones. What a voice. What she said, Oh, he's such a nice man. And she said, but I couldn't. I was too embarrassed. I was too afraid to stop him from saying, Doritos. And it turns out he didn't get the gig. So it is some other voice actor got it because he didn't say, had he said Doritos with the agent froze it froze up. That was as close as I ever got to did you get the gig? Oh goodness no,   Michael Hingson ** 33:01 no, you didn't, huh? Oh, well, well, yeah. I mean, it was a very, it was, it was wonderful. It was James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer played Iago. Oh, goodness, oh, I know. What a what a combination. Well, so you, you did a lot of voiceover stuff. What did you do regarding radio moving forward? Or did you just go completely out of that and you were in TV? Or did you have any opportunity   Bill Ratner ** 33:33 for me to go back at age 15, my brother and father, who were big supporters of my radio. My dad would read my W, C, l, o, newsletter and need an initial, an excellent journalism son and my brother would bring his teenage friends up. He'd play the elderly brothers, man, you got an Elvis record, and I did. And you know, they were, they were big supporters for me as a 13 year old, but when I turned 14, and had lost my brother and my father, I lost my enthusiasm and put all of my radio equipment in a box intended to play with it later. Never, ever, ever did again. And when I was about 30 years old and I'd done years of acting in the theater, having a great time doing fun plays and small theaters in Minneapolis and South Dakota and and Oakland, California and San Francisco. I needed money, so I looked in the want ads and saw a job for telephone sales, and I thought, Well, I used to love the telephone. I used to make phony phone calls to people all the time. Used to call funeral homes. Hi Carson, funeral I help you. Yes, I'm calling to tell you that you have a you have a dark green slate tile. Roof, isn't that correct? Yes. Well, there's, there's a corpse on your roof. Lady for goodness sake, bring it down and we laugh and we record it and and so I thought, Well, gee, I used to have a lot of fun with the phone. And so I called the number of telephone sales and got hired to sell magazine subscriptions and dinner tickets to Union dinners and all kinds of things. And then I saw a new job at a radio station, suburban radio station out in Walnut Creek, California, a lovely Metro BART train ride. And so I got on the BART train, rode out there and walked in for the interview, and was told I was going to be selling small advertising packages on radio for the station on the phone. And so I called barber shops and beauty shops and gas stations in the area, and one guy picked up the phone and said, Wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Are you on the radio right now? And I said, No, I'm just I'm in the sales room. Well, maybe you should be. And he slams the phone on me. He didn't want to talk to me anymore. It wasn't interested in buying advertising. I thought, gee. And I told somebody at the station, and they said, Well, you want to be in the radio? And he went, Yeah, I was on the radio when I was 13. And it just so happened that an older fellow was retiring from the 10am to 2pm slot. K I S King, kiss 99 and KD FM, Pittsburgh, California. And it was a beautiful music station. It was a music station. Remember, old enough will remember music that used to play in elevators that was like violin music, the Percy faith orchestra playing a Rolling Stone song here in the elevator. Yes, well, that's exactly what we played. And it would have been harder to get a job at the local rock stations because, you know, they were popular places. And so I applied for the job, and   Michael Hingson ** 37:06 could have lost your voice a lot sooner, and it would have been a lot harder if you had had to do Wolfman Jack. But that's another story.   Bill Ratner ** 37:13 Yeah, I used to listen to Wolf Man Jack. I worked in a studio in Hollywood. He became a studio. Yeah, big time.   Michael Hingson ** 37:22 Anyway, so you you got to work at the muzack station, got   Bill Ratner ** 37:27 to work at the muzack station, and I was moving to Los Angeles to go to a bigger market, to attempt to penetrate a bigger broadcast market. And one of the sales guys, a very nice guy named Ralph pizzella said, Well, when you get to La you should study with a friend of mine down to pie Troy, he teaches voiceovers. I said, What are voice overs? He said, You know that CVS Pharmacy commercial just carted up and did 75 tags, available in San Fernando, available in San Clemente, available in Los Angeles, available in Pasadena. And I said, Yeah. He said, Well, you didn't get paid any extra. You got paid your $165 a week. The guy who did that commercial for the ad agency got paid probably 300 bucks, plus extra for the tags, that's voiceovers. And I thought, why? There's an idea, what a concept. So he gave me the name and number of old friend acquaintance of his who he'd known in radio, named Don DiPietro, alias Johnny rabbit, who worked for the Dick Clark organization, had a big rock and roll station there. He'd come to LA was doing voiceovers and teaching voiceover classes in a little second story storefront out of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. So I signed up for his class, and he was an experienced guy, and he liked me, and we all had fun, and I realized I was beginning to study like an actor at 1818, who goes to New York or goes to Los Angeles or Chicago or Atlanta or St Louis to act in the big theaters, and starts acting classes and realizes, oh my goodness, these people are truly professionals. I don't know how to do what they do. And so for six years, I took voice over classes, probably 4050, nights a year, and from disc jockeys, from ex show hosts, from actors, from animated cartoon voices, and put enough time in to get a degree in neurology in medical school. And worked my way up in radio in Los Angeles and had a morning show, a lovely show with a wonderful news man named Phil Reed, and we talked about things and reviewed movies and and played a lot of music. And then I realized, wait a minute, I'm earning three times the money in voiceovers as I am on the radio, and I have to get up at 430 in the morning to be on the radio. Uh, and a wonderful guy who was Johnny Carson's staff announcer named Jack angel said, You're not still on radio, are you? And I said, Well, yeah, I'm working in the morning. And Ka big, get out of there. Man, quit. Quit. And I thought, well, how can I quit? I've always wanted to be a radio announcer. And then there was another wonderful guy on the old am station, kmpc, sweet Dick Whittington. Whittington, right? And he said at a seminar that I went to at a union voice over training class, when you wake up at four in the morning and you swing your legs over the bed and your shoes hit the floor, and you put your head in your hands, and you say to yourself, I don't want to do this anymore. That's when you quit radio. Well, that hadn't happened to me. I was just getting up early to write some comedy segments and on and on and on, and then I was driving around town all day doing auditions and rented an ex girlfriend's second bedroom so that I could nap by myself during the day, when I had an hour in and I would as I would fall asleep, I'd picture myself every single day I'm in a dark voiceover studio, a microphone Is before me, a music stand is before the microphone, and on it is a piece of paper with advertising copy on it. On the other side of the large piece of glass of the recording booth are three individuals, my employers, I begin to read, and somehow the text leaps off the page, streams into my eyes, letter for letter, word for word, into a part of my back brain that I don't understand and can't describe. It is processed in my semi conscious mind with the help of voice over training and hope and faith, and comes out my mouth, goes into the microphone, is recorded in the digital recorder, and those three men, like little monkeys, lean forward and say, Wow, how do you do that? That was my daily creative visualization. Michael, that was my daily fantasy. And I had learned that from from Dale Carnegie, and I had learned that from Olympic athletes on NBC TV in the 60s and 70s, when the announcer would say, this young man you're seeing practicing his high jump is actually standing there. He's standing stationary, and the bouncing of the head is he's actually rehearsing in his mind running and running and leaping over the seven feet two inch bar and falling into the sawdust. And now he's doing it again, and you could just barely see the man nodding his head on camera at the exact rhythm that he would be running the 25 yards toward the high bar and leaping, and he raised his head up during the imaginary lead that he was visualizing, and then he actually jumped the seven foot two inches. That's how I learned about creative visualization from NBC sports on TV.   Michael Hingson ** 43:23 Channel Four in Los Angeles. There you go. Well, so you you broke into voice over, and that's what you did.   Bill Ratner ** 43:38 That's what I did, darn it, I ain't stopping now, there's a wonderful old actor named Bill Irwin. There two Bill Irwin's one is a younger actor in his 50s or 60s, a brilliant actor from Broadway to film and TV. There's an older William Irwin. They also named Bill Irwin, who's probably in his 90s now. And I went to a premiere of a film, and he was always showing up in these films as The senile stock broker who answers the phone upside down, or the senile board member who always asks inappropriate questions. And I went up to him and I said, you know, I see you in everything, man. I'm 85 years old. Some friends and associates of mine tell me I should slow down. I only got cast in movies and TV when I was 65 I ain't slowing down. If I tried to slow down at 85 I'd have to stop That's my philosophy. My hero is the great Don Pardo, the late great   Michael Hingson ** 44:42 for Saturday Night Live and Jeopardy   Bill Ratner ** 44:45 lives starring Bill Murray, Gilder Radner, and   Michael Hingson ** 44:49 he died for Jeopardy before that,   Bill Ratner ** 44:52 yeah, died at 92 with I picture him, whether it probably not, with a microphone and. His hand in his in his soundproof booth, in his in his garage, and I believe he lived in Arizona, although the show was aired and taped in New York, New York, right where he worked for for decades as a successful announcer. So that's the story.   Michael Hingson ** 45:16 Michael. Well, you know, I miss, very frankly, some of the the the days of radio back in the 60s and 70s and so on. We had, in LA what you mentioned, Dick Whittington, Dick whittinghill on kmpc, Gary Owens, you know, so many people who were such wonderful announcers and doing some wonderful things, and radio just isn't the same anymore. It's gone. It's   Bill Ratner ** 45:47 gone to Tiktok and YouTube. And the truth is, I'm not gonna whine about Tiktok or YouTube, because some of the most creative moments on camera are being done on Tiktok and YouTube by young quote influencers who hire themselves out to advertisers, everything from lipstick. You know,   Speaker 1 ** 46:09 when I went to a party last night was just wild and but this makeup look, watch me apply this lip remover and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, no, I have no lip.   Bill Ratner ** 46:20 You know, these are the people with the voices. These are the new voices. And then, of course, the faces. And so I would really advise before, before people who, in fact, use the internet. If you use the internet, you can't complain if you use the internet, if you go to Facebook or Instagram, or you get collect your email or Google, this or that, which most of us do, it's handy. You can't complain about tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. You can't complain about tick tock or YouTube, because it's what the younger generation is using, and it's what the younger generation advertisers and advertising executives and creators and musicians and actors are using to parade before us, as Gary Owens did, as Marlon Brando did, as Sarah Bernhardt did in the 19 so as all as you do, Michael, you're a parader. You're the head of the parade. You've been in on your own float for years. I read your your bio. I don't even know why you want to waste a minute talking to me for goodness sakes.   Michael Hingson ** 47:26 You know, the one thing about podcasts that I like over radio, and I did radio at kuci for seven years when I was in school, what I really like about podcasts is they're not and this is also would be true for Tiktok and YouTube. Primarily Tiktok, I would would say it isn't as structured. So if we don't finish in 60 minutes, and we finish in 61 minutes, no one's gonna shoot us.   Bill Ratner ** 47:53 Well, I beg to differ with you. Now. I'm gonna start a fight with you. Michael, yeah, we need conflict in this script. Is that it The Tick Tock is very structured. Six. No,   Michael Hingson ** 48:03 no, I understand that. I'm talking about podcasts,   Bill Ratner ** 48:07 though, but there's a problem. We gotta Tone It Up. We gotta pick it up. We gotta there's a lot of and I listen to what are otherwise really bright, wonderful personalities on screen, celebrities who have podcasts and the car sucks, and then I had meatballs for dinner, haha. And you know what my wife said? Why? You know? And there's just too much of that. And,   Michael Hingson ** 48:32 oh, I understand, yeah. I mean, it's like, like anything, but I'm just saying that's one of the reasons I love podcasting. So it's my way of continuing what I used to do in radio and having a lot of fun doing it   Bill Ratner ** 48:43 all right, let me ask you. Let me ask you a technical and editorial question. Let me ask you an artistic question. An artist, can you edit this podcast? Yeah. Are you? Do you plan to Nope.   Michael Hingson ** 48:56 I think conversations are conversations, but there is a but, I mean,   Bill Ratner ** 49:01 there have been starts and stops and I answer a question, and there's a long pause, and then, yeah, we can do you edit that stuff   Michael Hingson ** 49:08 out. We do, we do, edit some of that out. And I have somebody that that that does a lot of it, because I'm doing more podcasts, and also I travel and speak, but I can edit. There's a program called Reaper, which is really a very sophisticated   Bill Ratner ** 49:26 close up spaces. You   Michael Hingson ** 49:28 can close up spaces with it, yes, but the neat thing about Reaper is that somebody has written scripts to make it incredibly accessible for blind people using screen readers.   Bill Ratner ** 49:40 What does it do? What does it do? Give me the elevator pitch.   Michael Hingson ** 49:46 You've seen some of the the programs that people use, like computer vision and other things to do editing of videos and so on. Yeah.   Bill Ratner ** 49:55 Yeah. Even Apple. Apple edit. What is it called? Apple? Garage Band. No, that's audio. What's that   Michael Hingson ** 50:03 audio? Oh,   Bill Ratner ** 50:06 quick time is quick   Michael Hingson ** 50:07 time. But whether it's video or audio, the point is that Reaper allows me to do all of that. I can edit audio. I can insert, I can remove pauses. I can do anything with Reaper that anyone else can do editing audio, because it's been made completely accessible.   Bill Ratner ** 50:27 That's great. That's good. That's nice. Oh, it is. It's cool.   Michael Hingson ** 50:31 So so if I want, I can edit this and just have my questions and then silence when you're talking.   Bill Ratner ** 50:38 That might be best. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Bill Ratner,   Michael Hingson ** 50:46 yep, exactly, exactly. Now you have won the moth stories. Slam, what? Tell me about my story. Slam, you've won it nine times.   Bill Ratner ** 51:00 The Moth was started by a writer, a novelist who had lived in the South and moved to New York City, successful novelist named George Dawes green. And the inception of the moth, which many people listening are familiar with from the Moth Radio Hour. It was, I believe, either late 90s or early 2000s when he'd been in New York for a while and was was publishing as a fiction writer, and threw a party, and decided, instead of going to one of these dumb, boring parties or the same drinks being served and same cigarettes being smoked out in the veranda and the same orders. I'm going to ask people to bring a five minute story, a personal story, nature, a true story. You don't have to have one to get into the party, but I encourage you to. And so you know, the 3040, 50 people showed up, many of whom had stories, and they had a few drinks, and they had hors d'oeuvres. And then he said, Okay, ladies and gentlemen, take your seats. It's time for and then I picked names out of a hat, and person after person after person stood up in a very unusual setting, which was almost never done at parties. You How often do you see that happen? Suddenly, the room falls silent, and someone with permission being having been asked by the host to tell a personal story, some funny, some tragic, some complex, some embarrassing, some racy, some wild, some action filled. And afterward, the feedback he got from his friends was, this is the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life. And someone said, you need to do this. And he said, Well, you people left a lot of cigarette butts and beer cans around my apartment. And they said, well, let's do it at a coffee shop. Let's do it at a church basement. So slowly but surely, the moth storytelling, story slams, which were designed after the old poetry slams in the 50s and 60s, where they were judged contests like, like a dance contest. Everybody's familiar with dance contests? Well, there were, then came poetry contests with people singing and, you know, and singing and really energetically, really reading. There then came storytelling contests with people standing on a stage before a silent audience, telling a hopefully interesting, riveting story, beginning middle, end in five minutes. And so a coffee house was found. A monthly calendar was set up. Then came the internet. Then it was so popular standing room only that they had to open yet another and another, and today, some 20 years later, 20 some years later, from Austin, Texas to San Francisco, California to Minneapolis, Minnesota to New York City to Los Angeles. There are moth story slams available on online for you to schedule yourself to go live and in person at the moth.org as in the moth with wings. Friend of mine, I was in New York. He said, You can't believe it. This writer guy, a writer friend of mine who I had read, kind of an avant garde, strange, funny writer was was hosting something called the moth in New York, and we were texting each other. He said, Well, I want to go. The theme was show business. I was going to talk to my Uncle Bobby, who was the bell boy. And I Love Lucy. I'll tell a story. And I texted him that day. He said, Oh man, I'm so sorry. I had the day wrong. It's next week. Next week, I'm going to be back home. And so he said, Well, I think there's a moth in Los Angeles. So about 15 years ago, I searched it down and what? Went to a small Korean barbecue that had a tiny little stage that originally was for Korean musicians, and it was now being used for everything from stand up comedy to evenings of rock and roll to now moth storytelling once a month. And I think the theme was first time. And so I got up and told a silly story and didn't win first prize. They have judges that volunteer judges a table of three judges scoring, you like, at a swim meet or a track beat or, you know, and our gymnastics meet. So this is all sort of familiar territory for everybody, except it's storytelling and not high jumping or pull ups. And I kept going back. I was addicted to it. I would write a story and I'd memorize it, and I'd show up and try to make it four minutes and 50 seconds and try to make it sound like I was really telling a story and not reading from a script. And wish I wasn't, because I would throw the script away, and I knew the stories well enough. And then they created a radio show. And then I began to win slams and compete in the grand slams. And then I started submitting these 750 word, you know, two and a half page stories. Literary magazines got a few published and found a whole new way to spend my time and not make much   Michael Hingson ** 56:25 money. Then you went into poetry.   Bill Ratner ** 56:29 Then I got so bored with my prose writing that I took a poetry course from a wonderful guy in LA called Jack grapes, who had been an actor and a football player and come to Hollywood and did some TV, episodics and and some some episodic TV, and taught poetry. It was a poet in the schools, and I took his class of adults and got a poem published. And thought, wait a minute, these aren't even 750 words. They're like 75 words. I mean, you could write a 10,000 word poem if you want, but some people have, yeah, and it was complex, and there was so much to read and so much to learn and so much that was interesting and odd. And a daughter of a friend of mine is a poet, said, Mommy, are you going to read me one of those little word movies before I go to sleep?   Michael Hingson ** 57:23 A little word movie, word movie out of the   Bill Ratner ** 57:27 mouths of babes. Yeah, and so, so and I perform. You know, last night, I was in Orange County at a organization called ugly mug Cafe, and a bunch of us poets read from an anthology that was published, and we sold our books, and heard other young poets who were absolutely marvelous and and it's, you know, it's not for everybody, but it's one of the things I do.   Michael Hingson ** 57:54 Well, you sent me pictures of book covers, so they're going to be in the show notes. And I hope people will will go out and get them   Bill Ratner ** 58:01 cool. One of the one of the things that I did with poetry, in addition to wanting to get published and wanting to read before people, is wanting to see if there is a way. Because poetry was, was very satisfying, emotionally to me, intellectually very challenging and satisfying at times. And emotionally challenging and very satisfying at times, writing about things personal, writing about nature, writing about friends, writing about stories that I received some training from the National Association for poetry therapy. Poetry therapy is being used like art therapy, right? And have conducted some sessions and and participated in many and ended up working with eighth graders of kids who had lost someone to death in the past year of their lives. This is before covid in the public schools in Los Angeles. And so there's a lot of that kind of work that is being done by constable people, by writers, by poets, by playwrights,   Michael Hingson ** 59:09 and you became a grief counselor,   Bill Ratner ** 59:13 yes, and don't do that full time, because I do voiceovers full time, right? Write poetry and a grand. Am an active grandparent, but I do the occasional poetry session around around grief poetry.   Michael Hingson ** 59:31 So you're a grandparent, so you've had kids and all that. Yes, sir, well, that's is your wife still with us? Yes?   Bill Ratner ** 59:40 Oh, great, yeah, she's an artist and an art educator. Well, that   Michael Hingson ** 59:46 so the two of you can criticize each other's works, then, just   Bill Ratner ** 59:52 saying, we're actually pretty kind to each other. I Yeah, we have a lot of we have a lot of outside criticism. Them. So, yeah, you don't need to do it internally. We don't rely on it. What do you think of this although, although, more than occasionally, each of us will say, What do you think of this poem, honey? Or what do you think of this painting, honey? And my the favorite, favorite thing that my wife says that always thrills me and makes me very happy to be with her is, I'll come down and she's beginning a new work of a new piece of art for an exhibition somewhere. I'll say, what? Tell me about what's, what's going on with that, and she'll go, you know, I have no idea, but it'll tell me what to do.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:33 Yeah, it's, it's like a lot of authors talk about the fact that their characters write the stories right, which, which makes a lot of sense. So with all that you've done, are you writing a memoir? By any chance, I   Bill Ratner ** 1:00:46 am writing a memoir, and writing has been interesting. I've been doing it for many years. I got it was my graduate thesis from University of California Riverside Palm Desert.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:57 My wife was a UC Riverside graduate. Oh, hi. Well, they   Bill Ratner ** 1:01:01 have a low residency program where you go for 10 days in January, 10 days in June. The rest of it's online, which a lot of universities are doing, low residency programs for people who work and I got an MFA in creative writing nonfiction, had a book called parenting for the digital age, the truth about media's effect on children. And was halfway through it, the publisher liked it, but they said you got to double the length. So I went back to school to try to figure out how to double the length. And was was able to do it, and decided to move on to personal memoir and personal storytelling, such as goes on at the moth but a little more personal than that. Some of the material that I was reading in the memoir section of a bookstore was very, very personal and was very helpful to read about people who've gone through particular issues in their childhood. Mine not being physical abuse or sexual abuse, mine being death and loss, which is different. And so that became a focus of my graduate thesis, and many people were urging me to write a memoir. Someone said, you need to do a one man show. So I entered the Hollywood fringe and did a one man show and got good reviews and had a good time and did another one man show the next year and and so on. So But writing memoir as anybody knows, and they're probably listeners who are either taking memoir courses online or who may be actively writing memoirs or short memoir pieces, as everybody knows it, can put you through moods from absolutely ecstatic, oh my gosh, I got this done. I got this story told, and someone liked it, to oh my gosh, I'm so depressed I don't understand why. Oh, wait a minute, I was writing about such and such today. Yeah. So that's the challenge for the memoir is for the personal storyteller, it's also, you know, and it's more of a challenge than it is for the reader, unless it's bad writing and the reader can't stand that. For me as a reader, I'm fascinated by people's difficult stories, if they're well   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:24 told well, I know that when in 2002 I was advised to write a book about the World Trade Center experiences and all, and it took eight years to kind of pull it all together. And then I met a woman who actually I collaborated with, Susie Florey, and we wrote thunder dog. And her agent became my agent, who loved the proposal that we sent and actually got a contract within a week. So thunder dog came out in 2011 was a New York Times bestseller, and very blessed by that, and we're working toward the day that it will become a movie still, but it'll happen. And then I wrote a children's version of it, well, not a children's version of the book, but a children's book about me growing up in Roselle, growing up the guide dog who was with me in the World Trade Center, and that's been on Amazon. We self published it. Then last year, we published a new book called Live like a guide dog, which is all about controlling fear and teaching people lessons that I learned prior to September 11. That helped me focus and remain calm.   Bill Ratner ** 1:04:23 What happened to you on September 11,   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:27 I was in the World Trade Center. I worked on the 78th floor of Tower One.   Bill Ratner ** 1:04:32 And what happened? I mean, what happened to you?   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:36 Um, nothing that day. I mean, well, I got out. How did you get out? Down the stairs? That was the only way to go. So, so the real story is not doing it, but why it worked. And the real issue is that I spent a lot of time when I first went into the World Trade Center, learning all I could about what to do in an emergency, talking to police, port authorities. Security people, emergency preparedness people, and also just walking around the world trade center and learning the whole place, because I ran an office for a company, and I wasn't going to rely on someone else to, like, lead me around if we're going to go to lunch somewhere and take people out before we negotiated contracts. So I needed to know all of that, and I learned all I could, also realizing that if there ever was an emergency, I might be the only one in the office, or we might be in an area where people couldn't read the signs to know what to do anyway. And so I had to take the responsibility of learning all that, which I did. And then when the planes hit 18 floors above us on the other side of the building, we get we had some guests in the office. Got them out, and then another colleague, who was in from our corporate office, and I and my guide dog, Roselle, went to the stairs, and we started down. And   Bill Ratner ** 1:05:54 so, so what floor did the plane strike?   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:58 It struck and the NOR and the North Tower, between floors 93 and 99 so I just say 96 okay, and you were 20 floors down, 78 floors 78 so we were 18 floors below, and   Bill Ratner ** 1:06:09 at the moment of impact, what did you think?   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:13 Had no idea we heard a muffled kind of explosion, because the plane hit on the other side of the building, 18 floors above us. There was no way to know what was going on. Did you feel? Did you feel? Oh, the building literally tipped, probably about 20 feet. It kept tipping. And then we actually said goodbye to each other, and then the building came back upright. And then we went,   Bill Ratner ** 1:06:34 really you so you thought you were going to die?   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:38 David, my colleague who was with me, as I said, he was from our California office, and he was there to help with some seminars we were going to be doing. We actually were saying goodbye to each other because we thought we were about to take a 78 floor plunge to the street, when the building stopped tipping and it came back. Designed to do that by the architect. It was designed to do that, which is the point, the point.   Bill Ratner ** 1:07:02 Goodness, gracious. And then did you know how to get to the stairway?   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:04 Oh, absolutely. And did you do it with your friend? Yeah, the first thing we did, the first thing we did is I got him to get we had some guests, and I said, get him to the stairs. Don't let him take the elevators, because I knew he had seen fire above us, but that's all we knew. And but I said, don't take the elevators. Don't let them take elevators. Get them to the stairs and then come back and we'll leave. So he did all that, and then he came back, and we went to the stairs and started down.   Bill Ratner ** 1:07:33 Wow. Could you smell anything?   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:36 We smelled burning jet fuel fumes on the way down. And that's how we figured out an airplane must have hit the building, but we had no idea what happened. We didn't know what happened until the until both towers had collapsed, and I actually talked to my wife, and she's the one who told us how to aircraft have been crashed into the towers, one into the Pentagon, and a fourth, at that time, was still missing over Pennsylvania. Wow. So you'll have to go pick up a copy of thunder dog. Goodness. Good. Thunder dog. The name of the book is Thunder dog, and the book I wrote last year is called Live like a guide dog. It's le

They seems to happen from time to time.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today's segments blend the astonishing and the alarming—from the miraculous survival of a man in a catastrophic Air India crash to deep political analysis charging the Democrat party with aiding foreign adversaries like Iran and China. Fear of flying morphs into a metaphor for national instability, as listeners share phobias and strategies for airplane survival, while hosts spotlight concerns over immigration, college campus radicalization, and foreign influence campaigns. Tying it all together is a sense of urgency—about personal safety and national sovereignty—framed through gripping storytelling and unflinching political commentary.

Chris and Sean open the episode with a somber reflection on the Air India crash, offering prayers for the victims and diving into a broader conversation about airline safety — including Boeing's ongoing 787 Dreamliner troubles and Sean's personal “Kyl Rule”: two engines, two pilots, no exceptions. Then, they turn to the erupting riots in Los Angeles. Who's really behind the chaos? Chris and Sean argue it's not about immigrants — it's about white liberal agitators being manipulated by organized groups that thrive on disorder, hijacking the issue and undermining public support. The show closes with a heartfelt Father's Day segment, honoring the vital role of dads in families and society. Planes, protests, and parenthood — all in one packed episode. Follow Light Beer Dark Money on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightbeerdarkmoney/ Follow Light Beer Dark Money on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LBDMshow Follow Light Beer Dark Money on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/light-beer-dark-money/ Link to the Light Beer Dark Money Blog: https://lightbeerdarkmoney.com/hypocrisy-and-the-aoc-oh-sandy/

Current Program 1056 Week Commencing March 21st 2025 Marcia Quinton – Spiritual Guidance & Messages From The Other Side  Website: marcia.net.au  Richard Giles – Air Disasters & The Year of The Wooden Snake and March Madness Download PROGRAM 1255 *** RadioOutTherehttp://bluesoulearth.com is also available as an Apple Podcast…and also on Google, PODash, Pocket Casts and Tunein Podcasts!  […]

Joy Reid leads this episode of the ReidOut with a recap of Donald Trump's first weeks in office and the flurry of chaos, fear, and devastation that have ensued. Joy and her guests discuss DOGE slashing government agencies, purging watch dogs groups, and interfering with the justice department. Plus, Joy speaks to a recently fired maternal healthcare medicaid worker on her past 48 hours, and her fears for the future of some medical research. All this and more in this edition of The ReidOut on MSNBC.

In this episode, Tudor reflects on the recent tragic air disasters and the emotional toll they take on families and communities. She speaks with Heidi Snow Cinader, who lost her fiancé in the TWA Flight 800 disaster. Heidi shares her personal journey of grief and the importance of support networks for those affected by sudden loss. The conversation highlights the role of media in such tragedies, the significance of remembering loved ones, and the creation of Access, an organization dedicated to providing long-term support for families impacted by air disasters. Learn more here: AccessHelp.org. The Tudor Dixon Podcast is part of the Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Podcast Network.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rich talks with former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Victoria Coates about the delays in President Trump's tariffs against Canada and Mexico. Former assistant chairman at the Council of Economic Advisors, Tomas Philipson, also discusses tariffs and the beefing up of troops at the U.S. southern border. Plus, Air Force Lt Col (ret.) Tony Grady, author of "American Values: Another Voice: A Pilot's Perspective on Living the American Dream," gives his take on last week's tragic plane crashes in Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The conversation covers a range of pressing issues, including recent air disasters in the U.S., the implications of new tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, the dynamics within the Democratic Party following recent elections, military actions taken against ISIS, the education crisis highlighted by the Nation's Report Card, and a cultural commentary on knife regulations in the UK. The discussion emphasizes the interconnectedness of these topics and their impact on American society.

G'day Folks, On this episode of the General Knowledge Podcast I'm joined by my brothers-in-arms for the first time this season Andy & Ethan to go over the latest. We first go through some of the latest chaos happening in the United States. We're seeing a whole bunch of aerial disasters happening including a Black Hawk helicopter crashing into a United Airlines passenger plane over DC. Plus the small Lear Jet medical flight crashing in Philadelphia. From what we can discern these disaster are indeed real. Not staged or fake as unfortunately that crops up from time to time to muddy the waters. Andy gives us his take on these scenes as an experienced pilot himself and Ethan raises the point that there are in fact many air disasters that occur in the U.S each year but we rarely heard of them. So why now? Now that Trump is in power we're seeing the newsfeeds in overload. People all of a sudden now care about politics, what the President says or thinks, DEI etc...Something to keep an eye on. We switch gears soon after to discuss the recent moves in Australia to once again censor Australian's and remove our rights to free speech under the guise of a rise in Antisemitism. Ethan recently published the article (link below) 'Inquiry Calls for Establishment of a National Hate Crimes Database'. This proposal raises concerns over the blurring of the lines between hate speech and hate crimes, potentially leading to a crackdown on free speech. The governments approach follows a familiar pattern of Problem - Reaction - Solution as a method of social control where a perceived rise in extremism is used to justify increased surveillance and regulation. Without clear definitions, the database could be weaponized to silence dissenting opinions under the guise of combating "Hate". This leads us into the next article by Ethan at TOTTnews.com 'Meta's Fact-Checking Services will Remain Active in Australia'. Again we see the Australian government going the opposite direction to the U.S in terms of allowing more open and free discussion on social media. Just like England we will begin to see citizens targeted for their own thoughts that they have shared online. Fact-checkers will crackdown on those diverting from the established narrative. I'll say it again, grab the popcorn folks. 2025 is going to be a wild ride. https://tottnews.com/2025/01/13/national-hate-crimes-database/ https://tottnews.com/2025/01/20/fact-checking-to-stay-australia/ +++++++++++++++++ Remember the Bonus Content shows are available now to all Patreon supporters for just AU$8 a month! Now 44 Bonus shows are available just for those who see value in what we do. Including a 5 part series on the Port Arthur Massacre, The Electric Universe with Physicist Wal Thornhill, The Moon Landing Hoax & The Titanic Conspiracy! PLUS!!!... every Patreon member gets a video version of every episode of the regular show too! Instead of donating money to a charity that most likely won't pass on your full donation to whomever needs it, why not sign up as a patron over at our Patreon account for all the bonus content and extra podcasts! https://www.patreon.com/RealNewsAustralia   PayPal donations can be made me here at RealNewsAustralia.com to help pay for costs associated with bringing you this show if you don't want any extra bonus content for your support.   As always make sure you subscribe and give us a 5 star rating on iTunes with a nice little review to help us out! Please consider sharing on social media to ensure we reach a bigger audience!    We're relying on YOU!   Links:  https://www.patreon.com/RealNewsAustralia - Join Today! BUY ME A COFFEE! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/GeneralMaddox/membership http://paypal.me/LeeMaddox79- Support today!  

Captain John Cox has been in aviation for over 54 years and man of those, dedicated to safety. This includes focussing on investigating air incidents and accidents.  Trigger warning.   We will be discussing, quite openly, the names of some incidents that have happened over the years.  However, if you can bear it, you should find his level of expertise and investigative skills very reassuring for the nervous flyer.  www.lovefly.co.uk/courses/ FB - Lovefly  Insta - @loveflyhelp  #fearofflying #lovefly #flyingwithoutfear #johncox    Intro music 'Fearless' Daniel King   More information: Captain John Cox is the President and CEO of Safety Operating Systems LLC, and is a veteran major airline, corporate and general aviation pilot. Capt. Cox has flown over 14,000 hours with over 10,000 in command of jet airliners. Before founding Safety Operating Systems LLC, Capt. Cox acted as Executive Air Safety Chairman for the Air line Pilots Association International for 3 years. Captain Cox has worked with the NTSB on numerous accident investigations. Capt. Cox received his Masters in Business Administration in Aviation Management in July 2010 from Daniel Webster College, and received the Aviation Safety Certificate from USC Aviation Safety & Security Program in 1996. Captain Cox received a postgraduate degree in Aviation Safety Command from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California in 1998. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and his most recent article is entitled “Aeroplane Upset Recovery Training, History, Core Concepts & Mitigation.” He authors the “Ask the Captain” column for USA Today, serves as the Aviation Analyst for NBC News, and provides expertise to numerous other media outlets. He also frequently appears as an expert on the television programs Air Disasters and Why Planes Crash.  

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On this week's episode of Patriot's Nation, I start off with the news of the week such as: a Boeing whistleblower was found dead, a Canadian law would allow life in prison for online “hate speech”, and much more. I then further discuss why Boeing is having the airplane disasters they have been having for months. If you enjoyed this episode, follow my podcast and share it with your friends and family. Watch on Rumble: www.rumble.com/patriotofficial Watch on Odysee: www.odysee.com/@patriotofficial Listen on Android: https://bit.ly/3echndR Listen on Apple: https://apple.co/3wD7qfQ Listen on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3ASA5ks Listen on Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/3i2YDic Listen on iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3kfy8ZH Listen on Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/en/show/2131212 Read my blog, My Fellow Patriots: https://patriotofficial.substack.com/ Follow me on Gab: https://gab.com/PatRiotOfficial Follow me on CloutHub: https://clthb.co/xF3B5yync1Ar1DAf7 Follow me on Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/patriotofficial Follow me on FrankSocial: https://franksocial.com/u/PatRiotOfficial Follow me on TruthSocial: https://truthsocial.com/@PatRiot_Official Comments or questions? Email me at Pat.Riot.Offical@Gmail.com Here is my list of sources: https://thepostmillennial.com/boeing-whistleblower-john-barnett-found-dead-from-apparent-suicide https://www.breitbart.com/law-and-order/2024/03/14/justin-trudeaus-canada-proposed-law-may-allow-life-imprisonment-for-online-speech-crimes/ https://www.breitbart.com/law-and-order/2024/03/14/justin-trudeaus-canada-proposed-law-may-allow-life-imprisonment-for-online-speech-crimes/ https://townhall.com/tipsheet/spencerbrown/2024/03/14/another-inflation-gauge-shows-hotter-than-expected-increase-n2636497 https://stream.org/the-tiktok-ban-is-the-patriot-act-part-ii-another-trojan-horse-for-deep-state-tyranny/ https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2024/03/16/trump-says-this-issue-is-a-top-concern-for-choosing-his-vice-president-n2636502

Holmberg's Morning Sickness - Tuesday March 5, 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Holmberg's Morning Sickness - Tuesday March 5, 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Holmberg's Morning Sickness - Tuesday February 20, 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Holmberg's Morning Sickness - Tuesday February 20, 2024 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The genius comedian Brent Sullivan joins us from DTLA to talk travel, traditional family atheism, Hinge, Air Disasters, and Christian rock.

Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024: As many as 10 people are reportedly dead after a plane crashed near Fort Smith, N.W.T., Donald Trump beats Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire primary and several Canadians are being recognized on Hollywood's biggest stage.

Presented by 3CHI. Fan Mail, MonkeyPox, Spanish Flu, Tommy Lee, Taiwan (26:07), Air Disasters, and more ...

Episode 124 John and Greg have get-real conversation about alarming trends in aviation safety. Accidents are increasing, even among experienced pilots. At the same time, the NTSB has scaled back on investigations and is issuing reports with superficial findings. Are more air disasters in the making? Pilot shortages are leading to a push for training volume over quality. The college requirement has been removed and there is a push to reduce the flight hours for qualification. “NTSB findings often talk about the importance of experience and pilot training but they have been silent now that there is a push to lessen the requirements,” Greg notes. Listen as the Flight Safety Detectives outline many indicators that aviation safety is in jeopardy. John and Greg will be at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. See them at the Avemco Insurance booth on Thursday, July 28 at 2 p.m.  

Pat found an "Air Disasters" buddy. He also learned something new about driveways. JT threw out a new conspiracy theory, and talked about stores that aren't requiring you to return items in order to get a refund. Amazing.Welcome to our new podcast partner Centris Federal Credit Union!Get our email newsletter! --> HEREYou can rep our show! Buy some Pat and JT Podcast swag HERE!Subscribe, rate, and review our podcast wherever you get your podcasts so you don't miss an episode! Also follow up on Facebook, Twitter, and InstagramA Hurrdat Media Production. Hurrdat Media is a digital media and commercial video production company based in Omaha, NE. Find more podcasts on the Hurrdat Media Network and learn more about our other services today on HurrdatMedia.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hope you're not getting on a flight any time soon because this might make you hesitant! The Queen had a bit of a scary encounter on a flight this week. Love you guys x Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hope you're not getting on a flight any time soon because this might make you hesitant! The Queen had a bit of a scary encounter on a flight this week. Love you guys xSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For more than five years, Lindsay Ellis produced https://www.youtube.com/c/LindsayEllisVids (video essays on YouTube), analyzing everything from the Transformers movies to Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals to popular tropes in film and TV. And in 2020, after more than a decade of wanting to be an author, she published her first book — the bestselling sci-fi novel https://read.macmillan.com/lp/axioms-end/ (Axiom's End), which was informed by that same attentiveness to pop culture. After 9/11, she noticed, popular alien invasion stories had shifted from "goofy" stories to "dead serious" ones, like Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds. "It's an alternate history that takes place in the late 2000s," she says of the first book, which is getting a sequel in October called https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250274540 (Truth of the Divine). "Basically, it's what if first contact happened during the Bush administration? ... It's a thought experiment of how would we react if civilization has to keep on trucking the way we have, but now we have this great existential quandary that, at least in the universe of the book, is heavily politicized." On today's podcast, Lindsay talks about four people she loves to follow on YouTube: A https://www.youtube.com/c/ToddintheShadows (pop music analyst) who breaks down one-hit wonders, band-breaking records, and more; a https://www.youtube.com/c/AmandatheJedi/ (prolific video essayist) who wears her enthusiasm on her sleeve; an https://www.youtube.com/c/DisasterBreakdown/ (aviation expert) who explains the history of air disasters; and a https://www.youtube.com/c/DrewGooden1/ (former Vine star) who cooks up brilliant video ideas like it's nothing. You can get bonus follow recommendations every week — including an extra follow from Lindsay — when you https://www.patreon.com/followfriday (back Follow Friday on Patreon), starting at just $1 a month. Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Sylnai. Follow us: - Follow us @followfridaypod on https://twitter.com/followfridaypod (Twitter), https://www.instagram.com/followfridaypod/ (Instagram), and https://www.tiktok.com/@followfridaypod/ (TikTok) and find clips from the show on our https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVlDOyFjj9ulmiIrsBJlMqg (YouTube channel) - Follow Eric https://twitter.com/HeyHeyESJ (on Twitter @heyheyesj) This show is a production of Lightningpod.fm, hosted and produced by Eric Johnson Music: https://www.fiverr.com/yonamarie (Yona Marie) Show art: https://www.fiverr.com/dodiihr (Dodi Hermawan) Social media producer: Sydney Grodin

Strong winds and more torrential rain for Australia's east coast. The new warning for Australia from Ukraine's President. And the vintage baby names set to make a return. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My guest tonight is Jamie from New York is here to share some amazing tales of premonitory dreams related that predicted several major air disasters. We also dive Ito ESP and other paranormal phenomena! Support The Show!!!https://www.patreon.com/paranormalworldproductions

My guest tonight is Jamie from New York is here to share some amazing tales of premonitory dreams related that predicted several major air disasters. We also dive Ito ESP and other paranormal phenomena! Support The Show!!!https://www.patreon.com/paranormalworldproductions

Writer and artist James Hannaham joins Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher to discuss his most recent book, Pilot Impostor, a mix of prose, poetry, and visual collage. James is the author of the award-winning novels Delicious Foods and God Says No. His short stories have appeared in One Story, Fence, and Bomb, and he was for many years a writer for the Village Voice and Salon. Pilot Impostor was partly inspired by a trip to Cape Verde and Lisbon, right after Trump's election in 2016. The book brings together disparate influences like the work of Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa, the TV show Air Disasters, and current events. Through shifts in form, narrative, and style, Hannaham asks some of the biggest questions about the self, identity, the failure of leadership, history, and the nature of consciousness. Also, film critic Melissa Anderson, author of Inland Empire, returns to recommend Jean Stein's depiction of Hollywood, West of Eden.

What can agile software development teams learn from Air Disasters? On this special "what can we learn" episode, Brian Orlando looks at the history of the research done to increase the safety of modern commercial aviation through training air crews to better work together.0:00 Intro0:19 Poor Decisions1:02 Effectiveness vs. Efficiency1:49 Some Background2:22 Concepts3:13 Theories of Practice & of Situation5:13 Role Restrictions & Over-Differentiation6:42 Advocacy & Inquiry7:53 Questions to Ask When Things Go Wrong8:48 Learning New Theories10:11 Working with Overly Restrictive Roles11:10 Advocacy & Inquiry Exercise 113:06 Advocacy & Inquiry Example 213:59 Advocacy & Inquiry Example 315:01 Summary & A Caution Word16:24 Wrap= = = = = = = = = = = = Also available on YouTube:https://youtu.be/NmnUuBgUdEcPlease Subscribe to our YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8XUSoJPxGPI8EtuUAHOb6g?sub_confirmation=1= = = = = = = = = = = = Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agile-podcast/id1568557596Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xNzgxMzE5LnJzcwSpotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/362QvYORmtZRKAeTAE57v3Amazon Music:https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ee3506fc-38f2-46d1-a301-79681c55ed82/Agile-PodcastStitcher:https://www.stitcher.com/show/agile-podcast-2= = = = = = = = = = = = AP36 - What can Software Development Teams learn from Air Disasters?

GUYS, asking the question "what went wrong in the air" elicited some HECTIC stories!E-Chayne is back with another rap - this time turning Snoop Dogg into Top Dog!Monkey Bars are hard, holes are in walls and there's a cow on a waterslide.Enjoy!

https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6513735/2021-Discover-Pods-Awards-Nominations (Please nominate Follow Friday in the "New/Debut Podcast" and "Interview-Style Podcast" categories in the Discover Pods Awards!) ~ https://followfridaypodcast.com/lindsay-ellis (Click here to read a full transcript of this episode) ~ For more than five years, Lindsay Ellis has been producing https://www.youtube.com/c/LindsayEllisVids (video essays on YouTube), analyzing everything from the Transformers movies to Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals to popular tropes in film and TV. Last year, after more than a decade of wanting to be an author, she published her first book — the bestselling sci-fi novel https://read.macmillan.com/lp/axioms-end/ (Axiom's End), which was informed by that same attentiveness to pop culture. After 9/11, she noticed, popular alien invasion stories had shifted from "goofy" stories to "dead serious" ones, like Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds. "It's an alternate history that takes place in the late 2000s," she says of the first book, which is getting a sequel in October called https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250274540 (Truth of the Divine). "Basically, it's what if first contact happened during the Bush administration? ... It's a thought experiment of how would we react if civilization has to keep on trucking the way we have, but now we have this great existential quandary that, at least in the universe of the book, is heavily politicized." On today's podcast, Lindsay talks about four people she loves to follow on YouTube: A https://www.youtube.com/c/ToddintheShadows (pop music analyst) who breaks down one-hit wonders, band-breaking records, and more; a https://www.youtube.com/c/AmandatheJedi/ (prolific video essayist) who wears her enthusiasm on her sleeve; an https://www.youtube.com/c/DisasterBreakdown/ (aviation expert) who explains the history of air disasters; and a https://www.youtube.com/c/DrewGooden1/ (former Vine star) who cooks up brilliant video ideas like it's nothing. You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including an extra follow recommendation from Lindsay, coming early next week — when you https://www.patreon.com/followfriday (back Follow Friday on Patreon), starting at just $1 a month. Follow us: - Follow Lindsay on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/LindsayEllisVids (@LindsayEllisVids) (and don't follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/thelindsayellis (@thelindsayellis), she asks) - Follow us @followfridaypod on https://twitter.com/followfridaypod (Twitter), https://www.instagram.com/followfridaypod/ (Instagram), and https://www.tiktok.com/@followfridaypod/ (TikTok) and find clips from the show on our https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVlDOyFjj9ulmiIrsBJlMqg (YouTube channel) - Follow Eric https://twitter.com/HeyHeyESJ (on Twitter @heyheyesj) Theme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by https://www.fiverr.com/yonamarie (Yona Marie). Show art by https://www.fiverr.com/dodiihr (Dodi Hermawan). Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, and Elizabeth This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy Support this podcast

The guys discuss new aircraft deliveries and debate what is the best type rating to have [00:30] // Flight Advice: New CFI struggling to find work [20:45] // NBAA's Phil Derner joins us to share the latest on NBAA BACE and why attending is a great investment of time and resources [31:00] // Phil explains the world of planespotting [49:30] // We ask Phil what it was like to be an aviation consultant for national TV networks and appear Air Disasters and other shows [101:37] Show resources: NBAA BACE 2021 Info Phil Derner's LinkedIn | Aviation Photos 21.Five Podcast's LinkedIn Get your 21.Five Coffee Cup by donating $85 here Our sponsors: Harvey Watt, offers the only true Loss of Medical License Insurance available to individuals and small groups. Because Harvey Watt manages most airline's plans, they can assist you in identifying the right coverage to supplement your airline's plan. Many buy coverage to supplement the loss of retirement benefits while grounded. Visit harveywatt.com to learn more! Advanced Aircrew Academy enables flight operations to fulfill their training needs in the most efficient and affordable way—in any location at any time. We do this by providing high-quality professional pilot, flight attendant, flight coordinator, maintenance, and line service training modules delivered via the web using a world class online aviation training system. Visit aircrewacademy.com to learn more!  Do you have feedback, suggestions, or a great aviation story to share? Email us info@21fivepodcast.com Check out our Instagram feed @21FivePodcast for more great content and to see our collection of aviation license plates. The statements made in this show are our own opinions and do not reflect, nor were they under any direction of any of our employers. 

Astrologer Shelley Overton discusses the rash of air disasters this week, and the weekly astrology. Shelley Overton has been studying astrology for 30+ years, and a professional astrologer for 20. Shelley can help you find your birth triggers, the best times to initiate projects and when you will have an easier time relating, and finding love, career decisions, and all areas of your life. PATREON: www.Patreon.com/astroshelley READINGS: http://www.AngelicZodiac.com www.AngelicZodiac.com Contact Shelley at so@angeliczodiac.com on Facebook: angelic zodiac on Instagram: @angeliczodiac and @artfulshelley Podcast: www.soundcloud.com/astroenergyshow

Surströmming, RNR 13, The Day The Music Died, British Airways Flight 5390, Large Death Experience, Air France 447, USS Indianapolis, The Robertson Family, Large's Vacation, Gilligan's Island, and more ...

In this experience (congratulations to us on reaching 40!) we know that during the holiday season, people will be watching movies. We decided to take a look at a number of aviation movies. How can we make a connection to aviation films and our fortieth experience? The classic comedy Airplane! turned forty in 2020 – so that's where we made the link. "Surely you can't be serious. I am serious and don't call me Shirley." There were so many serious airplane crash and hijacking incidents that happened through the 1970s and movies that played up the terror. Airplane! decided to take it all on with a full comedic tour de force. It gave Leslie Nielsen a chance to pivot into comedy – and Police Squad and Naked Gun fans are eternally gracious. We're not analyzing the technicalities of the films that much, there are other people out there reviewing the pure technical aspects of movies and their accuracy. Cast Away – We look at this film from Tom Hanks, the crash sequence, and even how much one of the volleyballs ended selling for. Vinod shares a memory of listening in to a FedEx 777 flight conversation as he flew over Memphis. Die Hard 2 – We edited the signature line a bit to keep this podcast as family friendly as possible. We discuss the volatility of jet fuel and also the reality of fighting on a moving wing - this film takes creative license with both of these. Additionally, the film pays homage to two iconic aircraft – the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar and Boeing 747. We look back nostalgically to when planes had phones in the galley or in the seat backs. The Terminal - This movie based on a true story gives us a chance to talk about the old Montreal Mirabel airport, but also the incredible work that was done to make the terminal seem as real as possible. Up in the Air – This one's for the road warriors out there. There is a scene in the film that impacted the way that Vinod pulls his carry-on luggage to this day. Sully – Another film with Tom Hanks (there seems to be a theme here?) which shows the incredible action taken during the 2009 Miracle on the Hudson caused by striking a flock of birds. We discuss how this film gets the flight deck details right – but many films (and press in general) don't get pictures to match the reality. The control takeover scene is very accurate – but safety harnesses (in this film and many others) are not that accurate. Pilots will not put them on until they absolutely have to. 7500 – The squawk code for a hijacking, this is a well written film that is based on the flight deck point of view. The film was a three-country co-production. Executive Decision – A crash, bang, boom 1990s movie, with Hollywood license taken with secret passages, cargo holds and B1 Bombers and a short field landing sequence. Catch Me If You Can – A movie that included Pan Am and filmed partly at the TWA terminal at JFK. Geoff was there in January 2020 – one day maybe we'll record an experience there. Flight – Keeping the blue side up with Denzel Washington. Saving his passengers on a crash landing, but then having to deal with his substance abuse challenges. Passenger 57 – A 1990s movie with lots of explosions and shootouts. There is an implausible scene of getting into the airplane through the landing gear. Vinod shares his experience of leaving Cuba where the police would escort the plane to prevent stowaways running to escape in the landing gear. Air Force One - Geoff has seen the real thing on the tarmac, and no, the vehicles don't travel with it. Alive – The harrowing story of the crash of a Uruguayan Rugby team flight in 1972 and subsequent battle for survival. Mountain flights for small planes in that era were often dangerous. Planes, Trains and Automobiles – A crazy journey across America with Steve Martin and John Candy. We look back at a couple of Vinod's crazy experiences that we've discussed previously. Airport – A film series of disaster movies in the 1970s, with George Kennedy playing in all four films of the series. Final Destination – It is thanks to this plane that Vinod checks to see if plane wings are greasy. Con Air – A late 1990s prisoner transport movie starring Nicolas Cage, and a Fairchild C-123 which causes us to ask why are they landing on The Strip in Las Vegas? Non-Stop – Liam Neeson puts in a good performance, but the movie misses on a number of technical issues. Flight of the Phoenix – We look briefly at the 2004 remake of the film. Air America – We look at the bush flying that is highlighted in this movie, and also wonder when planes break apart in Hollywood films, why aren't there more cables visible? Twilight Zone – We discuss the original "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" from 1963, the 1983 movie starring John Lithgow, and The Simpson's 1993 animated parody. Finally, we recommend the television series Mayday (also known as Air Crash Investigation; Air Emergency; or Air Disasters in various countries) for those who are interested in air crashes, near-crashes, hijackings, bombings, and other disasters. The integrity of the technical aspects varies depending on the movie - some aim for facts, while others have information that can be debunked. We share the Simple Flying story from October that an ex British Airlines 747 will be saved as a film set just outside of London. News Items: aerointernational.de article (translated from German) "Traveler with 350,000 euros in underpants and shoes". independent.co.uk article "€280,000 painting found in bin after owner leaves it at airport.". businesstraveller.com article "easyJet launches free at-home trolley service". breakingtravelnews.com article "Emirates unveils new Christmas menu" If you have a story about your favourite aviation films, a question, or other experience that you would like to share, please email us at stories(at)seat1a.org or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Patreon. Show notes are available online at http://podcast.seat1a.org/ (Sleighbells sound FX from GowlerMusic edited and mixed with other sound FX https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

In this week's episode, Lewis opens with the shocking story of the 1972 Eastern Airlines plane crash in the Florida Everglades and the equally surprising aftermath, including his role as a lawyer in the lawsuits that followed. After that, he discusses everything from airline bankruptcy to Supreme Court rulings. You never know what you'll hear on Miami Memoirs!   PRESS RELEASELewis Ress has just released his second book "Miami Memoirs: Including the Maharani's Ring" in paperback. It is now available at: https://amzn.to/3pM7ZSeYou can also find Lewis first book, Strange Cases and Wild Tales at: http://bit.ly/StrangeCasesWildTalesCredits: Intro/outro music: https://www.free-stock-music.com/jazz-street.html

CO Front Range News Hour - 2020-8-31 Previous generations didn't muzzle against cooties.  FAA sanctioned drone package delivery -> new/future episodes of "Air Disasters" on Smithsonian Channel? See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Everyone is at the airport, doing what people at the airport do. But the plane is going to crash! Can the donut worker and the traveler save the day?!?!? Created by Nora, Hazel, Zoe, Fabi, Annie, Jane and Melina at Play in a Zoom: Musical!

Right Intentions, Right Speech, Right Action...right?What is the right next step? How can we explore My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem together? Rev. Mike suggests using cans with string, Malayna thinks we should learn sign language. How exactly do we proceed? We need to keep checking in with our inner guidance, and take the next best step. How do we move forward while looking out for each other? Is this a great time for introverts? Quotes about right action from Alexander Pope, and a reference to The Da Vinci Code. Being frozen in inaction, indecision, fear of ridicule or mistakes. Mention of Sky Nelson-Isaacs and his book Living in Flow: The Science of Synchronicity and How Your Choices Shape Your World. Why did Einstein do a better job of thinking from the One Mind? A teaser of the July 5th talk. Looking back at history and identifying how far we need to look for the root of the healing. We are one race, all expressing the results of the violence of being alive throughout time. Being willing to be uncomfortable, make mistakes, take responsibility, say I'm sorry. Remembering indigenous people, LGBT rights, climate change. If it's not a mindful action,sometimes it's an unconscious reaction. How can we shift from outrage to change? We could apply the highest journalistic values and integrity to what we choose to post on social media -- fact check. Confederate statues and the power of the stories we build our identities upon. Is there a George Washington statue in England? (Yes! https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g186338-d13896178-Reviews-George_Washington_Statue-London_England.html) Is it okay for our leaders to be good at leadership and not faultless people? Do statues glorify hubris? We don't want to erase history, but learn from the mistakes. Air Disasters happen because several failures line up. We need to look at the whole picture to learn forward. Teach and communicate. Statues of Harriet Tubman - there are lots. Can defacing statues be cathartic? Portland has a statue of Joan of Arc. Why? There's a story. We're adjusting our connection to symbols. The black bodies and white bodies imply a soul to soul connection is the way to healing. Statue to the father of gynecology and the ethics of working with slaves. Always more to the story. Lucy, Anarcha and Betsey deserve our thanks, shift the focus to gratitude. May not need to relitigate the past, but we also can't gloss over it. Simon Sinek, Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari, Ken Wilber,shifting from work to data, information, consciousness and technology. We are more than a machine. Elijah McClain - https://www.thecut.com/2020/06/the-killing-of-elijah-mcclain-everything-we-know.html Conversation Salaam and Malayna participated in from Paley Center for Media - check @malaynadawn on Facebook. We can save the planet, we start with our own healing and loving those around us.

It’s a nightmare all of us occasionally have. As the plane taxies down the runway, as it starts to lift off into the air, as the ground drops further and further away… the faint, unstoppable fear that the next thing you feel might be gravity grabbing hold and dragging you down to a fiery grave. That’s the reason horrific air disasters tend to stick in our minds. It’s all too easy to imagine how those poor people on the Hindenburg, or on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, or in the planes in the Tenerife Airport disaster must have felt.

The crash of TAROM Flight 371 on March 31, 1995 resulted in the death of all 60 people on board. The pressure was on the government to come up with answers. The latest in science, culture, and history from Smithsonian Channel.

On October 7, 2008, passengers and crew on Qantas Airlines Flight 72 were pulled up from their seats. Immediately after, the plane went into a dangerous and uncontrolled nosedive. The latest in science, culture, and history from Smithsonian Channel.

When it comes to aviation, there is no such thing as useless information. If you've read this story on my author website, you will read how seemingly useless information saved my life 50 years ago. A recent episode of Air Disasters highlighted the crash of Atlantic Airways Flight 670. In that accident, the BAE-146 aircraft was attempting to land with a slight tailwind on a short damp runway which had a major drop-off at each end. The airplane was unable to stop, and went off the end of the runway into a ravine and burst into flames. Four of the 16 passengers lost their lives. The accident board found that, when the spoilers failed to extend upon landing, the Captain selected the emergency brakes. A relatively innocuous entry into the airplane flight manual notes that when the emergency brakes are engaged, the anti-skid system is deactivated. What you may remember from your studies is the phenomenon of reverted rubber hydroplaning. When a lock tire skids over a damp surface, it heats up and the heat turns the water to steam. This layer of steam lifts the airplane off the runway, and the brakes become relatively ineffective. In the case of Atlantic Airways Flight 670, seemingly unimportant information - the lack of antiskid protection when using the emergency brakes, and the potential for reverted rubber hydroplaning - led to this accident. Takeaway: there is no such thing as unimportant information in aviation!

Two ‘men’.  Four lies. Two truths.  Why not take a break from the real world and come wrap your ears round this weekly comedy gameshow? It’s clean too, so your kids and pets can listen and, add this to the sales pitch, it’s British; so that’s fun. Marvel at the morsels of pirate knowledge you never had, gasp at hitherto ungrasped info about bees and, best of all, why not play along yourselves?  Keep it down if you’re on the train mind, don’t be that guy. Twitter: @liehardshow Email: paul@liehardshow.com or rick@liehardshow.com

Samme Chittum is an award-winning writer of fiction and nonfiction, and is currently a writer for Smithsonian Channel's Air Disasters series. She has a PhD and two Masters Degrees. Samme started her journalistic career as a police reporter, covering crimes and accidents. Her first nonfiction book about an air accident was The Flight 981 Disaster: Tragedy, Treachery, and the Pursuit of Truth, the story of the Turkish Airlines DC-10 air disaster that occurred in 1974.   Her book Southern Storm: The Tragedy of Flight 242 recounts the tragic crash of Southern Airways Flight 242, a DC-9 that lost power of both engines due to massive water and hail ingestion.   Her book about the crash of the Concorde, Last Days of the Concorde: The Crash of Flight 4590 and the End of Supersonic Passenger Travel is now available for pre-order.

The Catastrophe Vortex with TC Kirkham #10 - March 12 2018 COMMUNICATE WITH US! We want to hear from YOU! Email - cv@pnrnetworks.com Speakpipe - https://www.speakpipe.com/SubjectCINEMA Patreon Friends -join up now! We Need YOU! http://patreon.com/PNRNetworks I AM SO SORRY! I will have episodes up this week and next week, but then will be off until April 2 - I explain why at the end of the show... THIS WEEK: This week and next, it's countdown time - this week, I count down my favorite episodes of the longest-running disaster series currently on television anywhere in the world - "Air Disasters" as it's known on Smithsonian Channel, "Mayday" in Canada!     About our Patreon - guys, it's more vital than ever that you become a Patreon sponsor now;  please become a Patreon sponsor and help us out! Check out the full info at http://patreon.com/PNRNetworks - remember, a $2/month donation is all you need to do -but more is available and we've got some great perks too! PNRNetworks Shows Subject:CINEMA Platinum Roses’ Garden (seasonal) Cavebabble Three Minute Weekend Front Row Five And Ten Tuesday Digidex Catastrophe Vortex Comic Grotto Ring Around The Rosie PNRNetworks sites eCinemaOne eCinemaBoston Platinum Roses' Garden Cavebabble Catastrophe Vortex The Kirkham Report Planet BiblioMusica Comic Grotto Ring Around The Rosie PNRNetworks Original Production: Manhattan Hammerdown - As It Happened

Air Disasters with special guests, Captain Karlene Petitt, Christine Negroni and George Jehn. Please join us for this informative show by experts in the field as well as published authors of several aviation books - both fiction and non-fiction.  We leave the Gate at 7:00 pm ET, Monday February 27th on Flight 307-Heavy.  See you on-board. 

The Catastrophe Vortex with TC Kirkham #01 - February 1 2017 COMMUNICATE WITH US! We want to hear from YOU! Email - cv@pnrnetworks.com Speakpipe - https://www.speakpipe.com/SubjectCINEMA Patreon Friends -join up now! We Need YOU! http://patreon.com/PNRNetworks THIS WEEK: On the debut of The Catastrophe Vortex, I delve into some of the coolest (and most awful) disaster films of all time. I'll also set up the show, what I'm about, and what you can expect to hear each week! I certainly hope you'll enjoy what you hear, and keep coming back for more each week! CLASSIC CATASTROPHES - "Airport" (1970) VIDEO VORTEX - "When Havoc Struck" (1978) DISASTER DIAMONDS - "Titanic" (1943) NOT YET CATASTRO-PHIZED - The Great Boston Molasses Flood MISFORTUNATE MELODIES - "Timothy" by The Buoys (1970) CRAPTASTIC CATACLYSMS - "When Time Ran Out (1980) DEVESTATION DEPOSITORY - "The Stewardess Is Flying The Plane" ERRATA: It's the first show, folks...bound to have little mistakes creep in... In the cast list for "Airport": Barbara Hale plays Vernon Demerest's wife and Mel Bakersfeld's sister, not the other way around as I indicate on the show "Air Disasters" airs on Smithsonian Channel, not National Geographic (although it USED to air there under the title "Air Emergency") IN the plot discussion of "When Time Ran Out", William Holden's character is hoping that Jacqueline Bisset's character will become his SEVENTH wife, not his second. Sheesh...it will get better, but at least these were mainly me being super excited about debuting the show! YAY! SHOW NOTES: Check back in a couple days for extensive links to all the various films and topics discussed! About our Patreon - guys, it's more vital than ever that you become a Patreon sponsor now;  please become a Patreon sponsor and help us out! PNRNetworks Shows Subject:CINEMA Platinum Roses’ Garden (seasonal) Cavebabble Three Minute Weekend Front Row Five And Ten Tuesday Digidex Catastrophe Vortex PNRNetworks sites eCinemaOne eCinemaBoston Platinum Roses' Garden Cavebabble Catastrophe Vortex The Kirkham Report Planet BiblioMusica

Being strapped in the seat of a plane as it plunges into a nose dive mid-air is everyone's worst nightmare. Listen to the staggering thoughts of a woman who's plane crashed in Atlanta, Georgia. "Bracing For Impact: True Tales of Air Disasters and the People Who Survive Them" by Robin Holleran.

Earlier this week the leader of the Green Party in the UK Natalie Bennett was put through the wringer in an interview on LBC Radio. It's been described as the worst party leader interview ever given in the UK. But she's not the first person to suffer a tough interview. Our reporter Liam Geraghty has been looking back through some other ones.....

Eastern Flight 304 Lake Pontchartrain crash; Malaysian Flight 370; Games Our Paarents Played are all topics for Monday, March 10th broadcast.  Join your hosts, call-in with your thoughts as we depart the Gate at 7:00 PM EDT. 

Our memory each year at this time goes back to 9/11 and that day that will "live in infamy."  Listen in or call-in for your remembrance of this significant day in American history.  Your hosts will recall thoughts of many that cared to share their thoughts and how it changed their lives. Special music for this shocking event we all will not forget for the rest of our lives.  Tune in at 7:00 pm EDT, Monday, September 9th.   

"PUSH FORWARD....PUSH FORWARD......PUSH FORWARD !!! might have been the last words of the crew flying a recent Boeing 747 all-cargo flight just before it crashed into the ground killing all aboard.  Our show tonight discusses what might have gone wrong to cause an unrecoverable flight attitude.  Join us and call in with your own thoughts.  213-816-1611.  We depart the Gate at 7:00 p.m. EST.