Part 1: Ignition Starts

Norco 80

LAist Studios

True Crime

4.2 • 887 Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this first episode of "LA Made: The Other Moonshot": America aims for the moon. President John F. Kennedy stands proudly behind the mission to advance the country and welcomes a diverse team to get the job done. That team includes three Black engineers who have a studded background — Charlie Cheathem, Nathaniel LeVert and Shelby Jacobs. However, the three men quickly realize that social progress is slower than scientific advancement.

"LA Made: The Other Moonshot" is a production of LAist Studios with Reasonable Volume, and the third season of the LA Made franchise.

Visit BetterHelp.com/moonshot to get 10% off your first month.

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.

Transcript

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0:00.0	For ongoing coverage of the Southern California wildfires, download the new LASD mobile app so you can listen wherever you are.
0:07.0	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.
0:15.5	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.
0:23.0	It's February 8th at the Alex Theater. Tickets at LAS.com slash events.
0:29.0	See you there. LAIS Studios
0:42.8	The first time I met Charlie, he towered over me like a well-groomed giant, wearing a suit and a tie.
0:50.7	I was just a kid and his daughter, Claudia, and I were best friends.
0:55.0	Claudia and I spent a lot of time together, and I soon just a kid and his daughter, Claudia, and I were best friends. Claudia and I spent a lot of time together, and I soon became an honorary family member, a position I still hold today.
1:09.2	We lived for sleepovers, and they were magical at her house.
1:13.9	Claudia's parents, Charlie and Dolores, would throw the most amazing cocktail parties.
1:21.3	Claudia and I would sneak out of bed and sit at the top of the stairs and watch the guests dancing below.
1:29.3	The women wore cocktail dresses in rainbow tulle and the men were so elegant in their tuxedos and black suits. Charlie slowly became
1:38.4	like a second dad and he would often sit me down and talk to me about life and its lessons and about the choices we face as we pursue our dreams.
1:50.2	Everything in life is experienced.
1:52.8	If you haven't experienced something that likely, you don't know how to handle it.
2:00.3	That's Charlie today.
2:02.4	Charlie has had a remarkable life.
2:05.5	He was an aerospace pioneer.
2:07.6	He was an engineer on the Apollo program,
2:11.0	someone whose work helped America land on the moon.
2:15.5	He would tell me about how being one of the first black engineers in
2:18.8	aerospace affected him, how it still affects him. But frankly, I was young and I didn't really
	...

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