This amazing story is going to give you chills.

It sure did for me when backstory listener Robert Rous Sr.

suggested it.

Robert Smalls was a young slave at the height of the Civil War.

He was brave and brilliant. He managed to steal a

Confederate supply ship, deliver it to the north, then fought on board that same ship

for the Union, eventually becoming its captain.

And that was all before the age of 25.

Later, he was a five-term congressman.

I'm Patty Steele.

A lifetime of accomplishment, courage, and remarkable compassion next on the backstory.

Up next we're getting some breaking...

There's so much news happening around the world that we're somehow supposed to stay on top of.

And with the constant flood of information coming at you,

it can feel impossible to make sense of it all.

That's why we launched the big take. It's a daily podcast from Bloomberg and I-Heart Radio that turns down the volume a bit to give

you some space to think.

I'm Wes Kossova.

Each weekday, I dig deep into one important story and talk about why it matters.

You'll hear from Bloomberg's journalists and analysts around the world and the people at

the center of the news that affects all of us.

And we do it in plain English.

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