For ongoing coverage of the Southern California wildfires, download the new LASD mobile app so you can listen wherever you are.

You can also stream us on LAS.com or listen live on LASD 89.3. LAS will be there with you every step of the way.

Hey, it's just me, Paula Poundstone, and I'm coming to Glendale for a special live taping co-presented by L-Aist and Martin Media.

It's February 8th at the Alex Theater. Tickets at LAS.com slash events.

See you there.

L.A. LAS Studios In the last episode, we focused on the plight of Chen Chu Shen.

In previous episodes, we centered on Frank Molina and Jack Parsons.

Well, today we're going to take a bit of a turn.

That's right.

It's time for Nazis in space.

I am actually being serious because the involvement of Nazis in the U.S. space program,

the secret involvement of Nazis, I want to emphasize, and not just a couple, but a ton of them,

is one of the darkest, most important chapters of modern rocket science.

And it arguably influences the fate of the suicide squad as much as the Red Scare or anything else.

Let's start here, the V2 rocket, the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile developed in Nazi Germany.

It was called the V-2 missile, and it was one of their, quote, vengeance weapons.

Yes, V for vengeance.

The V-2 is almost 50 feet tall, weighs about 14 tons, and was the first rocket to reach space.

But unlike Molina's rocket, which was more than twice as small as the V2,

it was designed to attack allies cities, terrorize populations, and ultimately kill thousands.

In the eyes of the U.S. military, the V2 had the potential to change the course of the war.

So the U.S. military invited Fung Kahnman to study the German efforts through the intelligence information,

...