Hey, mom and dad are fighting listeners. We're off for Labor Day, but we wanted to share this wonderful episode from Slate's Dakota Ring podcast. It's about a father and son's journey to build a hovercraft that was advertised for years in Boys Life magazine. I'm going to turn it over to host Willa Paskin and senior producer Evan Chung. We'll see you back here with a very exciting episode on Thursday. You won't want to miss it.

Back in the 20th century, science fiction promised us all sorts of exciting technology, like teleportation devices and jet packs and tractor beams.

But there's one device that Slate Senior producer Evan Chung dreamed about more than all the others.

I always wanted a hovercraft.

When I say hovercraft, I don't mean something crazy like a flying Jetson's car.

I'm talking about a personal vehicle that glides over the ground while levitating a perfectly

reasonable amount, like enough to avoid potholes but not disrupt the migratory patterns

of waterfowl.

I wanted something like Luke Skywalker's land speeder.

Might be our little R2 unit. Hit the accelerator.

I know for me, the quintessential hovercraft was in Back to the Future, too, when

Marty McFly zips around on a levitating skateboard.

He's not a hoverboard!

In the real world, people have been attempting to make vehicles like these for decades.

One of the most unusual recent developments is the flying platform.

The operator is standing directly above two revolving ducted fans.

This is from a 1957 documentary. An astonishing new principle of flight.

Within the next few years, these drawings will become realities.

Despite these promises, personal hovercraft are still not available to the average citizen.

Except Evan Swear said back in the 1990s, when he was growing up, he could have had one.

And it wasn't some sci-fi novel telling me this.

It came from a perfectly legitimate source

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