Podcasts about greatest prison break

Michael is joined by David Widner, co-author of ‘Escaping Alcatraz: The Untold Story of the Greatest Prison Break in American History' & nephew of escapees John & Clarence Anglin, for the 60th anniversary of the actual ‘escape from Alcatraz'. In June 1962, inmates Clarence Anglin, John Anglin, and Frank Morris escaped from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, the maximum-security facility located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. By tucking papier-mâché heads resembling their own likenesses into their beds, the three broke out of the main prison building via an unused utility corridor.  They then departing the island aboard an improvised inflatable raft leaving numerous theories proposed by authorities, reporters, family members and amateur enthusiasts as to their fate. In 1979 the FBI officially concluded, on the basis of circumstantial evidence and a preponderance of expert opinion that the men drowned in the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay before reaching the mainland. However, the U.S. Marshals Service case file remains open & active with Morris and the Anglin brothers remaining on its wanted list.  Last week the agency released age-progressed photos of the three who would now be in their 90s, prompting new debate on whether the inmates managed to survive. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

March 23, 2020 - Adolf Hitler ... had a need for speed. After all, it was the key feature in blitzkrieg, lightning war. So the Nazis poured resources into developing the fastest engines, sleekest race cars, and best drivers. Who dared stand against them? We'll meet the Jewish driver who took on these would-be Aryan supermen in Faster: How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler’s Best. For this journey, we welcome a familiar face back into our time machine: Neil Bascomb. We previously caught up back in Norway with The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler's Atomic Bomb -- and -- The Escape Artists: A Band of Daredevil Pilots and the Greatest Prison Break of the Great War. Visit NealBascomb.com, follow @NealBascomb on Twitter, or like Facebook.com/NealRBascomb.      

February 11, 2019 - We welcome one of our favorite authors back into our time machine. It's Neal Bascomb. We last caught up with him in Nazi-occupied Norway for the bone-chilling tale of The Winter Fortress: The Epic Mission to Sabotage Hitler's Atomic Bomb. Neal's latest book is The Escape Artists: A Band of Daredevil Pilots and the Greatest Prison Break of the Great War. It's the tale of Allied airmen set out to defeat Kaiser Wilhelm's dreaded prisoner of war camp, Holzminden, and outwit its infamous commandant, Karl Niemeyer who swore that no one would get out alive. Dipping into memoirs and letters seen for the first time here, Neal Bascomb brings this forgotten story to life, in a rare bit of encouraging news for the home front during the darkness of the Great War. It's a legacy of innovation that not only taught captured allies escape in far greater numbers when World War 2 arrived, but that informs how we prepare military personnel for capture to this day. Visit our guest at NealBascomb.com, follow him @NealBascomb on Twitter, or like him on Facebook at Neal R. Bascomb.    

When you think of wartime prison escapes, what comes to mind? Probably the breakouts attempted by prisoners of war during World War II and the movie The Great Escape. But the escapees of WWII learned many of the tricks of the trade from their pioneering predecessors, who honed their courageous craft during the first World War. My guest today has written a book about their audacious exploits. His name is Neal Bascomb, and his book is: The Escape Artists: A Band of Daredevil Pilots and the Greatest Prison Break of the Great War. Today on the show, Neal describes what conditions were like for British POWs during WWI, and why prisoners wanted to escape the German camps, even when they were relatively comfortable. We also discuss Germany's most infamous POW camp, which was essentially a land-locked Alcatraz designed to hold the most escape-prone prisoners. While it was believed to be impossible to escape, Neal describes how the prisoners hatched an elaborate breakout plan anyway, and made a 175-yard tunnel towards freedom. We end our discussion with what Neal took away from the heroic exploits of these men. You're going to really enjoy this look at a fascinating slice of history. Get the show notes at aom.is/escapeartist.

Host Don Marsh talks with St. Louis native Neal Bascomb, author of "The Escape Artists: A Band of Daredevil Pilots and the Greatest Prison Break of the Great War."