On February 27, 2015, the world lost Leonard Simon Nimoy. Actor, photographer, poet, soldier, singer, role model, friend to hundreds of millions he never met — and millions as yet unborn. He was much more than Star Trek’s Spock, and Spock was named one of TV Guide’s 50 greatest characters. We say goodbye to one of our childhood heroes, and Owen describes his brush with greatness, on this Angry History Extra.
NASA just published dozens of audio clips from space, letting us hear galactic events like the lightning storms of Jupiter for the first time. Episode #30 looks back at humanity’s baby steps into that final frontier, from the first Soviet flight and the Eagle landing, to Owen’s uncle piloting the Curiosity rover to the red Martian sands. From JFK to James T. Kirk, on the Angry History Show.
Our Man in Normandy just marked the 70th Anniversary of the Allied landings in France. As a prelude to debriefing him, we listen to the voices that speak to us from those blood-soaked sands, including those of beloved entertainers who did their bit to free Europe. It’s June 6, 1944, and the greatest armada in history hurls itself across the English Channel at Hitler’s Atlantic Wall. This is D-Day.
In this Angry History Extra, Owen and Dean discuss two movies just released for home viewing: “Star Trek Into Darkness” and “World War Z”. The guys dive into the follow-up to the 2009 Trek reboot and the Brad Pitt film that shares only a title with the epic novel by Max Brooks. And, as always, there’s some history along the way.
In January 1788, eleven ships arrived in Botany Bay, Australia, after an arduous journey from Great Britain. Those on board would be forced to tame a continent, or die in the attempt. Australian Letham Burns joins us to discuss the legacy of the convicts, aged 9 to 82, exiled for often absurdly petty crimes aboard that First Fleet. It’s a tale of hardship, violence, and Vegemite — and of a starship named Botany Bay.
