Into the Black Lair: V2 Rocket (Part 2)

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Pushkin Industries

History, Society & Culture

4.7 • 6.4K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2024

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the 1920s, Germany’s Society for Spaceship Travel boasted some of the sharpest scientific minds – like the incandescently brilliant young Wernher von Braun. But it had very little money, and progress was slow.

Then, in 1932, the army made a proposal: it would fund more serious research if the enthusiasts at the Society would develop a rocket weapon.

Despite a string of failures to launch, von Braun was able to convince key powerbrokers in Nazi Germany that they couldn’t afford to ignore rocket technology. How did he do it? And what happened when the murderous Heinrich Himmler made a play for the rocket program?

For a full list of sources for this episode, visit timharford.com.

Do you have a question for Tim? Send it to tales@pushkin.fm and we'll do our best to answer it in a Q&A episode.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Pushkin
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1:00.0	from Malcolm Gladwell, Dr. Lorry Santos and tons of other top hosts.
1:07.0	This is the second episode of a series.
1:10.0	You can appreciate it on a standalone basis, but if you've not heard episode one, you might prefer to listen to that first. The movie theaters in Germany in 1929 are all showing Frau Immond, the woman in the moon.
1:30.0	Germany is giddy about rocket ships and space travel.
1:33.4	There's even a society for spaceship travel
1:36.2	which aims to promote the exploration of space.
1:39.4	The society is led by a science writer named Vili Lai.
1:44.0	He'd received a letter from a young man keen to join the Society for Space ship travel.
1:49.0	He replied, instructing the aspiring applicant to present himself at the lay household.
1:56.6	On the appointed day, Vili lay was running a little late.
	...

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