Host Dave Schlom delves into some familiar territory for him, the early space program, but with some fresh takes on the space race with author Jeff Shesol. His new book, Mercury Rising: John Glenn, John Kennedy and the New Battleground of the Cold War is an amazing journey back to a time when America was decidedly NOT first in space. With President Kennedy newly occupying the White House in 1961, NASA’s Mercury program is literally struggling to get off the ground and keep pace with the Soviet Union. With the April orbital flight of Yuri Gagarin, the US once again finds itself, as it had with the launch of Sputnik in 1957, in a very distant second place in space. Shesol, who was one of former President Clinton’s West Wing speechwriters, delves deeply into the story with astronaut John Glenn at the center of the narrative. Glenn has often been portrayed in print, film and television as one dimensional all American guy next door when in reality he was a fierce competitor in everything he did. And while the first flight into space for the US went to Alan B. Shepard, it was Glenn who rocketed to fame with the orbital flight of Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962. Shesol shares his own passion for discovery in this story as he tells of unearthing previously unknown letters and audio tapes from Glenn’s archives that reveal an astronaut that was convinced there was a very real possibility that he would not survive America’s first attempt at putting an astronaut into Earth orbit.
Airs Saturday, June 26, 2021 at 9am
More Posts for Show: Blue Dot
California’s rangelands are undergoing critical stress in a historic drought. How are ranchers coping with the lack of water and forage for their animals? Host Dave Schlom talks to Leslie Roche, the Director of the UC Rangelands program about how scientific principles combined with knowledge gained by California ranchers over decades is being used to combat the complex and seemingly intractable problem. Then Dave visits with Haven Kiers, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design about a unique experiment she and her team are conducting using sheep to mow, mulch and fertilize the UC Davis campus’s extensive lawn and field areas.
Cheating has a ripple effect. And in baseball’s steroid era, the lies and rule breaking extended far beyond the stars that sparked the scandal. Players at all levels of the game had to decide if they should use—and reap the benefits—or stay clean. In this hour-long special from Religion of Sports and PRX, we’ll learn how steroids took hold of baseball and meet two men whose choices reveal a story that Major League Baseball would rather forget.
Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot count down their favorite albums released in 2020. From blues to rap to dance pop to rock to alt-country, there was a wide range of great music released this year. Find out what albums took the top spots.