The Cold War, Prohibition, the Gold Rush, the Space Race. Every part of your life - the words you speak, the ideas you share - can be traced to our history, but how well do you really know the stories that made America? We'll take you to the events, the times and the people that shaped our nation. And we'll show you how our history affected them, their families and affects you today. Hosted by Lindsay Graham (not the Senator). From Wondery, the network behind American Scandal, Tides of History, American Innovations and more.You can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
https://wondery.com/shows/american-history-tellers/?utm_source=rss
episode 2: The Space Race | Playing Catch Up
Information sharing was normal in the global scientific community, but when it came to rockets, normal rules didn’t apply. If the details got passed along to civilian scientists, there was no telling where that intel might end up…
But for many Americans, the Eisenhower just wasn’t moving fast enough. Sputnik was still orbiting! The Soviets were winning! Eisenhower downplayed Sputnik,calling it “one small ball in the air,” but privately he was worried.
The U.S. had the ability to beat the Soviets to space. But they didn’t. And Eisenhower wanted to know why.
Warning: this episode is packed with as much explosive power as is packed in the warhead of a ballistic missile.
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