The Missing Chapter Podcast

Some of the most amazing discoveries in history happened by accident.  We have talked about many of those discoveries, so I won’t be redundant and share them again with you now, but I will say, they still amaze me.  On today’s episode of the Missing Chapter, that amazement still holds true.  One of the biggest discoveries in archaeological history not only happened by accident, but the danger involved added an element that sounds more like an Indiana Jones movie than non-fiction.  So let’s go deeper, deeper into the past, and deeper into the cave that was discovered over 25 years ago.  And let me be crystal clear, the size and scope of this discovery will challenge what you thought you knew about the world we live in.  Welcome to the Missing Chapter.

Do you remember the days of developing film?  Wind up your disposable camera, take a peek through the foggy piece of plastic and click - did you get it right, was it in focus, did it come out the way you wanted it?  Uh, you won’t know for about a week unless you go to the new one hour photo down the street!  That was the old way of taking pictures.  And as funny as it sounds now, that’s exactly the way it was!  But what if you wanted to do that, say on a grander scale?  Like the United States government spying on an adversary across the globe.  Did you get the right pictures?  Was it all in frame and focused?  Well, I guess they won’t know until they send the film back…and yes, I mean physically sending it back.  We love our Cold War history on this podcast and we got another one for you.  Let’s hope you can “catch” what we’re about to tell you because it seems like it’s out of a sci-fi movie.  Welcome to the Missing Chapter.

Phil and I pride ourselves on The Missing Chapter Podcast by giving you, the listeners, the stories that history has overlooked and that, up until now, have been filed away in obscurity. So why is it… that my episode today sounds very familiar and very famous?

A young woman born into darkness – unable to speak, unable to hear, unable to see. But despite these incredible obstacles, her determination and her perseverance, as well as those who loved and worked with her; was able to overcome these tremendous obstacles, to live a long and fruitful life, full of relationships and fulfillments.

If this plot sounds familiar, it should. But if I disclosed the identity of the girl whose life is being described… chances are, it would not. 

An inspirational story of a true pioneer whose life and work would inspire countless of lives after hers. A life of darkness that would come to shed light on the world for all of those around her… on today’s Missing Chapter Podcast. 

Well, everyone, it’s time for a quick story…what happens when you combine 2 co-teachers, 2 podcast hosts, 2 different families, 2 separate schedules, and the happiest place on earth?  An unplanned, welcoming surprise of your podcast hosts running into each other in the middle of Hollywood studios.  Yes, that did happen.  And yes, that inspired today’s episode.  So travel with us today, as we take you beyond the rides, beyond the shows, beyond the skyliner, beyond the $22 churros, and go deeper, into the parts of Disney that are unseen.  Today on The Missing Chapter, we're going behind the scenes of Walt Disney World to uncover some of the strangest, coolest, and downright weird facts about the most famous theme-park destination in the world.  And we're saving the biggest surprise for the end.  Because when you find out what Walt Disney originally wanted to build in Florida...you might realize that Disney World isn't what he originally imagined at all.

We are all familiar with the phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but could the development of these pictures tell us… even more? Here in Upstate New York, we’re renowned for many famous businesses and corporations. Maybe none so more than the Eastman Kodak Company, located in Rochester.

 In 1945, no one in the world knew of the highly secretive workings of the U.S. military, outside of a few chosen officials in the federal government and those associated with the Manhattan Project. Or did they? On July 16, 1945, the United States conducted the world's first test of a nuclear bomb. The Trinity test sent fallout well beyond the desert of New Mexico, though, and an unlikely source discovered it. Invisible to the naked eye, no one in New Mexico, much less any other state in the country, had any idea what floated in the air around them. It was, however, at this point, that the X-ray film being developed at Eastman Kodak’s plant started to display a peculiar, “foggy” phenomena. 

Do you know what pairs well with our beloved coffee?  Chocolate.  My wife and I love indulging in those chocolate samplers you get for holidays.  Each bite starting with curiosity, and ending with either elation, or a swig of water to wash out a failed attempt to mix chocolate with something that it should never be paired with.  Sounds fun, right?  It is, but if we were in World War II, I’d be skeptical.  Why?  Well, you know how your parents tell you never to take candy from strangers?  Turns out, that might have been excellent wartime advice because militaries weren't just building tanks and bombs, they were inventing gadgets, disguises, and secret weapons so ordinary that no one would ever expect it.  Today on The Missing Chapter, we're telling the bizarre true story of one of the strangest assassination plots of World War II - a Nazi plan so absurd, so clever, and so diabolical that British intelligence initially had trouble believing it was real.  Welcome to the Missing Chapter Podcast, where we prove that sometimes, history can be more entertaining than fiction.

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Let me ask you a question: How many things do you "know" about history...that aren't actually true?

Did Magellan really circumnavigate the globe? Did Marie Antoinette really say, "Let them eat cake"? Did Napoleon really spend his entire life trying to compensate for being short? And did Van Gogh really slice off his ear? The scary thing is that some of history's most famous stories aren't famous because they're true. They're famous because they're memorable. And sometimes a good story survives much longer than a boring fact. Today on The Missing Chapter, we're looking at some of history's biggest myths—the stories we've repeated for years that simply aren't what we thought they were. Because sometimes the most interesting thing about history...is how wrong we've gotten it.  Welcome to the Missing Chapter.

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When you think of deadly natural disasters, you probably think of earthquakes. Tsunamis. Volcanoes. Hurricanes.

Things that at least have the ability to look dangerous.

But what if I told you that one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history came from...A lake. Not a giant, stormy lake. Not a lake filled with deadly piranhas or some sort of mutant alligators. Just a quiet lake sitting peacefully existing in the mountains of Africa. No warning. No explosion. No earthquake or giant wave.  Just innocent people going to bed one night, and some waking up the next morning to the terrible sight of what silently  happened the night before.

Today on The Missing Chapter, we're talking about a bizarre, scientific phenomena that terrified entire communities, baffled scientists, and forced engineers to solve a problem that sounds like it belongs in a science-fiction movie.

Because sometimes the craziest things in history are the things that look completely harmless.  Welcome to the Missing Chapter.

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You’ve had this plate before… a famous person with a second life or a second career beyond what they’re most renowned for. This story has the ingredients for another one of those surprise dishes; the cook who you think you know, but whose real story will surprise. A touch of mystery, a dash of intrigue, and a healthy dose of, “oh, come on!” This episode will surely have you asking for more.

Pour yourself a coffee and put in your earbuds and tie on your apron. We have a recipe for success and entertainment. The restaurant you can’t get enough of… The Missing Chapter Podcast.

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Imagine you're a cartoonist in 1951. You've spent months creating a comic strip about a mischievous little boy. The artwork is finished. The name is perfect. The newspaper is ready to publish. Everything is set and then you wake up one morning and discover that someone, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, has created...the exact same character with the exact same name. And they're publishing it the exact same day. Remember, no emails, no internet, no social media, and no way to copy each other overnight. Yet somehow, two cartoonists separated by thousands of miles managed to create one of the strangest coincidences in pop culture history. Today on The Missing Chapter, we're telling the bizarre story of a character that became a household name, a comic strip that conquered newspapers, and a bizarre mystery that unfolded across two continents at exactly the same moment. Because as it turns out, one of America's favorite troublemakers had a British twin at the exact same time. And somehow nobody planned it. It’s insane, bizarre, and this is what you have come to expect from the Missing Chapter Podcast.

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