Coffee With Jeff

In 1941, Germany surprisingly attacked the Soviet Union. The Russian people were outraged. Everyone wanted to do their part, even hundreds of female pilots. Eventually, through the work of Marina Raskova, three regiments were created, all entirely staffed by women. One of these, the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, was given outdated bi-planes and told to bomb the Germans in the darkness of night. They did their job so well; the Germans began calling them Nachthexen, the Night Witches.

Sources
The Female Soldier
Marina Raskova - Wikipedia
Meet the Night Witches, the Daring Female Pilots Who Bombed Nazis By Night
Night Witches — Film by Gunilla Bresky
Not Just Night Witches
Night Witches
Night Witches: How the USSR’s Female Flying Aces Took the Fight to Berlin
Night Witches - Wikipedia

Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City
By Greg Grandin
“Assembly Line Americanization:” Henry Ford’s Progressive Politics
"Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City" Democracy Now 7/2/09
The Amazon Awakens
Henry Ford Documentary MOST Influential AMERICAN Innovator Ford's Model T
Ford and The American Dream
Fordlândia-Wikipedia
Fordlandia: The Failure Of Ford's Jungle Utopia

Back in the recent past, there was a man who made films. He worked with actors such as was John Carradine, J. Carrol Naish, Russ Tamblyn, Kent Taylor, Scott Brady, Brodrick Crawford, Aldo Ray, Robert Livingston, Yvonne De Carlo, The Ritz Brothers, and Lon Chaney Jr. He directed over 30 films in less than 20 years. And after a long career, he was brutally murdered in his own home. Today I have the story of filmmaker Al Adamson on the 194 episode of Sunday Morning Coffee with Jeff.

Sources for this Episode
Interviewed by George R. Reis & Keith Crocker, The Exploitation Journal
“AL AND I CALLED HIM ‘ZIGGY’”: PRODUCER SAM SHERMAN REMEMBERS THE EARLY DAYS OF VILMOS ZSIGMOND
The Imperfect Podcast Ep May 2017
Wild Beyond Belief!: Interviews with Exploitation Filmmakers of the 1960s and 1970s
Stuntman Stories: Gary Kent at Spahn Ranch
"Producing Schlock" - The Career of Al Adamson
Independent-International: What You Didn't Know
Horror Film Director Found Slain, Buried Under Floor

Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson

A long time ago, in the early part of the twentieth century, there was a group of people who were cut off from the modern world. They lived in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. Without roads, electricity, and even books, their world was way behind the rest of the USA. Many of these mountain folk didn’t know how to read. But the world was changing, and education was vital. A government program to provide work during the great depression allowed people to bring books and magazines to these folk, and it changed their world.

Today I have the story of the Packhorse Library Project on the 193 Sunday Morning Coffee with Jeff.

Horse-Riding Librarians Were the Great Depression’s Bookmobiles

The New Deal - Wikipedia

Pack Horse Library Project - Wikipedia

The WPA Packhorse Library Project and the Social Utility of Literacy, 1883-1962

The book women of Kentucky: the WPA Pack Horse Library Project, 1936-1943 Author: Donald C. Boyd

Good Reads in Wild Places: The WPA’s Pack Horse Librarians

Reaching Out to the Mountains: The Pack Horse Library of Eastern Kentucky by Jeanne Cannella Schmitzer

Female Librarians on Horseback Delivering Books, ca. 1930s

That Book Woman

The Art of Harvey Kurtzman (MAD Magazine)
Wiki-Mad (magazine)
Mark Arnold on the legacy of Harvey Kurtzman and Mad Magazine.
The Man Who Changed Humor in America Forever
Bill Gaines on Later with Bob Costas
The 8 Ages of Comic Books (1897-Present) by Alex Grand
The moral panic that almost destroyed the comic book business
Mad Magazine: Inside Look Behind the Scenes (1987)

It’s holiday time again! In this episode, I tell the tale of Santa’s most famous Reindeer. Written as an assignment from his work, Bob May created a story and character that all generations know and love. First a little booklet, then a song, and then the 1964 holiday special.

I hope everyone enjoys it, even those that don’t make Christmas part of their winter celebrations. So, to all, no matter what you choose to celebrate, or even those that don’t celebrate anything at all, I hope you have a fantastic December.

Show notes and links:

• Robert L. May – Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
• FACT CHECK: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (snopes.com)
• The Original Red-Nosed Manuscript : NPR (npr.org)
• Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’s Surprisingly Sad Origins (time.com)
• 12 ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ facts for its 50th anniversary (mashable.com)
• Gettysburg Times – Google News Archive Search (google.com)
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The True Story (youtube.com)
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)

Once upon a time, there was an actor. He was in the biggest film franchise in history, but he wasn’t happy. He thought that those who hired him were taking advantage of him. At the same time, one of the stories he was acting might not have been written by the name who man who said he had written it. Together, the real author and the disgruntled actor would team up to make a film to compete with the franchise.

Today I have the story of the Thunderball saga and how two James Bond films were released in the same year. All this, an more, in the 190th episode of Sunday Morning Coffee with Jeff.

Show notes and links:

• Thunderball (novel) – Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
• Everything Or Nothing – Part 1 (youtube.com)
• Kevin McClory – Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
• The Guardian Lectures: Sean Connery Talks to Iain Johnstone about Never Say Never Again 1984 (youtube.com)
• sean connery tonight show 1983 (youtube.com)
• Film ’83 Never Say Never Again Special Interview Sean Connery (youtube.com)

Once upon a time there was a scientist who was introduced to a drug that made him feel wondered, made him feel complete, and knew that this drug could help many people all over the world. Soon, however, the government decided that no one should have this drug, not even scientist or doctors. In response the scientist told everyone who wanted to know, how to make it themselves.

Today I have the story of a remarkable man named Alexander Shulgin on the 189th episode of Sunday Morning Coffee with Jeff.

Show notes and links:

• Dirty Pictures (2010 Documentary, 720p HD) (youtube.com)
• Alexander Shulgin – Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
• MDMA Healing I AM REBEL THE LOVE DRUG S01E03 alexander sacha shulgin Documentary (youtube.com)
• Dr. Ecstasy – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
• Shulgin was known to many as the “Godfather of ecstasy” | NZ Drug Foundation (drugfoundation.org.nz)
• Ann and Sasha Shulgin – Pihkal and Tihkal: A Chemical Love Story (youtube.com)
• My Lunch with Psychedelic Chemist “Sasha” Shulgin (RIP) and His Wonderful Wife (scientificamerican.com)

Once upon a time, some strange objects were found by a rancher and it was reported that a flying saucer had crashed! Years later, a man claimed to have actual footage of an autopsy of one of the creatures found at the sight.

It became a worldwide phenomenon – and then he said he was lying, but also that it wasn’t a hoax.

I have the story of the 1995 Alien Autopsy Film on the 188th episode of Coffee With Jeff.

Show notes and links:

• Alien autopsy – Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
• Before Independence Day: The Hoax That Captivated the World (time.com)
• Roswell Alien Autopsy – 2/4 – Eamonn Investigates (youtube.com)
• Welcome to Fortean Times Magazine (forteantimes.com)
• Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction? [HQ] (youtube.com)
• Bull Shit. Regards; Don Ecker
   UFO Magazine (archive.org)
• The Alien Autopsy – YouTube (youtube.com)
• Episode 32 – Alien Autopsy Part 1 with Spyros Melaris (conman.com.au)
• #32 – Alien Autopsy Interview (acast.com)
• Inside the Outer Limits – Spyros Melaris (youtube.com)

Once upon a time there was a large poplar tree on the border between North and South Korea. The South Koreans, with the help the United States, wanted it chopped down. The North Koreans wanted it to stay. Not only did this disagreement cost the lives of two American soldiers, but almost started a major war.

On this episode I tell a tale tell a tale of the Korean axe murder incident and Operation Paul Bunyan and the 187th episode of Coffee With Jeff.

Show notes and links:

• Axes of Evil — The Atavist Magazine (atavist.com)
• At Korean summit in DMZ, ‘deranged’ ax murders still cast a shadow (washingtonpost.com)
• Korean axe murder incident – Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
• Korean Demilitarized Zone – Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
• The DMZ ‘gardening job’ that almost sparked a war (bbc.com)
• The North Korean Axe Murders That Almost Started a War (theatlantic.com)
• A Brief History of: The Poplar Tree Incident (youtube.com)