Chasing Earhart

Candace Fleming awarded herself the Newbery Medal in fifth grade after scraping the gold sticker off the class copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond and pasting it onto her first novel—a ten-page, ten-chapter mystery called Who Done It? She’s been collecting awards (her own, not Elizabeth George Speare’s) ever since.Today, Candace is the versatile and acclaimed author of more than twenty books for children and young adults, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize honored The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of the Russian Empire; Boston Globe/Horn Book Award-winning biography, The Lincolns; the bestselling picture book, Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!; and the beloved Boxes for Katje.On the 43rd episode of the Chasing Earhart podcast, Candace joins us via Zoom to discuss her book "Amelia Lost: The Life & Disappearance of Amelia Earhart" Amelia's impact and legacy and why the title "Amelia Lost" doesn't mean what you think it means.

After 145 days, 22 countries visited across five continents, and 32 outreach events inspiring more than 3,000 young girls and boys, Shaesta Waiz completed her global solo flight on October 4, 2017, returning to Daytona Beach International Airport to mark the completion of this historic circumnavigation for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and aviation education. At the age of 30, Shaesta is the youngest woman to fly solo around the world in a single-engine aircraft.On the 42nd episode of the Chasing Earhart podcast, Shaesta joins us via Zoom to discuss her career thus far as an aviatrix, the role Amelia Earhart plays in the lives of women all over the world, the formation and ongoing work that Dreams Soar is engaging in on behalf of STEM and her unexpected role as an ambassador of hope for people all over the world.

Amelia Earhart was a pioneer of aviation, flying all over the world, breaking records and becoming a voice for women along the way. Among many of the questions often asked regarding Amelia's career is "How could she afford it?" How did Amelia raise the money needed to finance her groundbreaking flying career? It's a question that many have asked and few have answered. Until now. Tonight on the forty-first episode of the Chasing Earhart podcast, we sit down with author and project guest Barbara Schultz to discuss her book "Endorsed by Earhart: How Amelia Financed her Flying" to discuss the many creative ways that Amelia and her husband George Putnam used to finance her flying during the golden age of aviation. From being the face of countless products to having her own fashion and luggage lines as well as a growing public speaking career, Amelia Earhart invented ways to finance her passion while showcasing her other many talents to the world.

What is the most important aspect when it comes to the disappearance of Amelia Earhart & Fred Noonan? Is it confirmation bias? How about skepticism? Is it important to be skeptical of any information that is put out there when investigating a hypothesis? How about when it comes to your own? Tonight, on the 40th episode of the Chasing Earhart podcast, we sit down with project guest Brian Dunning of Skeptoid to discuss the Amelia Earhart case, why the world continues to be so invested in her and Fred Noonan's fate, confirmation bias and the importance of being skeptical of your own work as well as others.

One year ago, almost to the day of this recording I sent an email to Dr. Richard Jantz of the University of Tennessee. At the time of our initial conversation, Dr. Jantz was mid-way through his anthropological research and analysis of a set of bones originally found in 1941 on then Gardner island now known as Nikumaroro Island. Originally, examined by Dr. D.W. Hoodless, and determined to be male the bones were lost and to this day have yet to be located. Fast forward to 2018, and Dr. Jantz’ comprehensive analysis of the original Hoodless report; it is Dr. Jantz who has determined that in his opinion Dr. Hoodless had it all wrong and the bones that were originally examined many years ago were in fact that of woman. A woman that Dr. Jantz believes is none other than Amelia Earhart. Tonight, on the 39th episode of the Chasing Earhart podcast Dr. Jantz joins us via Zoom from his office in Tennessee do discuss and break down his paper "Amelia Earhart and the Nikumaroro Bones: A 1941 Analysis versus Modern Quantitative Techniques" in a worldwide exclusive interview. To quote from the abstract of Dr. Jantz’ paper"To address the question of whether the Nikumaroro bones match estimates of Amelia Earhart’s bone lengths, I compare Earhart’s bone lengths with the Nikumaroro bones using Mahalanobis distance. This analysis reveals that Earhart is more similar to the Nikumaroro bones than 99% of individuals in a large reference sample. This strongly supports the conclusion that the Nikumaroro bones belonged to Amelia Earhart."Is this case closed? Is the mystery of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan solved once and for all? You be the judge.

Just when you thought it was safe to stop talking about Amelia Earhart! Recorded just two days after episode thirty-seven, Scott and Forrest re-join us to discuss the latest developments in the Amelia Earhart case including the theft and recovery of Amelia's Terraplane in Los Angeles, the International Women's Day Amelia Earhart Barbie, and the paper that swept the world by storm by Dr. Richard Jantz. Join us for an un-expected continued discussion with Scott & Forrest!

Scott & Forrest have been called the 'Click and Clack of esoterica' by their listeners. Their mission is to take a look at legendary strange and unusual events from throughout history and interview people who've had close encounters with the unexplained. It was Astonishing Legends that gave Chris his model in early 2014 for what would eventually become the Chasing Earhart podcast. A hugely popular podcast focusing on the mysterious and unexplained, Astonishing Legends continues to capture the imagination and excitement of fans all over the world that are fascinated with mystery and intrigue. On the 37th episode of the Chasing Earhart podcast, Scott and Forrest join us via Zoom from Blanket Fortiana in Los Angeles, California, for our longest discussion yet, to discuss the robustness of the Amelia Earhart disappearance case and all of the aspects that make it Astonishing!

Andy Sherrell received his B.S. degree in Ocean Engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology and has over 15 years of experience in the oceanographic community. As a former employee of Oceaneering International, Inc., he has worked on numerous deep-sea search and salvage operations to depths of 20,000ft. His experience includes locating and recovering downed aircraft and various other lost items for both the commercial and military industries. Andy’s work has included being first on the scene to begin searching for an airplane’s ‘black box’ to working with film crews to find and document historic shipwrecks. He enjoys working as a mission planner, operator, technician, and engineer throughout all phases of these exciting operations. On the 36th episode of the Chasing Earhart podcast, Andy chats with us about deep sea exploration, the tools of the trade and the incredible work that the Waitt Institute has done in the search for Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan's Lockheed Electra.

“This is kind of like hidden history that I’m hoping to get out."Rob Ellos is the definition of a dedicated Amelia Earhart researcher, and he's put that dedication to good use. Over the years, Rob has become an Amelia Earhart presentation expert; giving his presentations to a variety of audiences; from kindergarten to retirees. Depending on the audience, Rob tailors his presentations by discussing Amelia's impact, legacy, and connection to children as well as the disappearance case and the Japanese capture hypothesis in unique and groundbreaking ways that leave a lasting impact on any audience that he presents to. In the thirty-fifth episode of the Chasing Earhart podcast, Rob joins us via Zoom from his home in Minnesota to discuss the art of the Amelia Earhart presentation, the Japanese capture hypothesis and it's many key witnesses and artifacts and why he believes he knows what really happened to Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan.

Rebecca Behrens lives and writes in New York City, where she also works as a copy editor. She is the author of When Audrey Met Alice, which BookPage called “a terrific work of blended realistic and historical fiction;” Summer of Lost and Found, which School Library Journal praised for its “deft writing;” and The Last Grand Adventure, which Kirkus recommends as “a quirky, heart-rending journey.” On episode thirty-four of the Chasing Earhart podcast, and the eve of her novel's release, Rebecca joins us via Zoom to discuss "The Last Grand Adventure", and why she believes Amelia Earhart is a great fit for young adult novels.