Delorean Nights

Journey to the golden age of the confidence artist as legendary hustlers Titanic Thompson and The Yellow Kid plunder the rich and navigate the underworld of the rising metropolis of the Midwest. With Prohibition looming on the horizon, the battle for the soul of Chicago rages in City Hall under the helm of the infamous mayor Big Bill Thompson. Join us as we go back... to Chicago in the early twentieth century.

Casinos race to build the biggest and brightest lights as Las Vegas comes of age. Meanwhile, the United States is locked in another race to build the biggest and deadliest bombs known to man. Grab an atomic cocktail and pull up a chair to watch how Vegas lit up the desert sky in Atomic Neon. 

Sources for this episode:

The Strip: Las Vegas and the Architecture of the American Dream by Stefan Al

Bomb: The Race to Build -- and Steal -- the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin

The Money and the Power: The Making of Las Vegas and its Hold on America by Sally Denton

In our introductory episode we explore the impact the 1980’s has had on our culture. Before he drove the Delorean back in time, Michael J. Fox was in our homes as young Republican Alex P. Keaton. We’ll also explore Reagan’s battle to define the decades past and the power of weaponized nostalgia. 

References: Back to Our Future: How the 1980s Explain the World We Live in Now--Our Culture, Our Politics, Our Everything. By David Sirota