Why Jesse Owens Saved Hitler's Mysterious Trees (PTFO Vault)

Pablo Torre Finds Out

Pablo Torre, Le Batard & Friends

Sports

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Adolf Hitler gave the legendary runner a gift: four potted oak-tree saplings — one for each gold medal that Owens won, while surrounded by Nazis, in one of the greatest sports performances ever. Correspondent David Fleming examines what Owens did with The Hitler Oaks... and why his decision remains an enduring act of American defiance. (This episode originally aired June 8, 2024.) • Subscribe to Pablo's Substack for exclusive access, documents and invites https://pablo.show/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Okay, so hello, it is me, Pablo, entering, invading even your ears because I have done something I have not done before, which is take the advice of someone who once told me that if people wish to support you financially, if they wish to support your journalism, your very strange future of journalism, meaning your newsroom,
0:22.5	your ambitions, your desire to investigate things, people don't want you to investigate.
0:27.0	You should let them.
0:28.6	And so I am.
0:30.7	On substack, my newsletter at www.pablo.com.
0:35.3	We'll put a link in the show notes of this episode.
0:37.8	I have turned on paid subscriptions.
0:39.7	And if you didn't know I have a substack, guess what?
0:42.3	It's free.
0:43.1	And that's still there for you, and it's worth it.
0:45.2	But the paid subscribers who support this show and us will get legitimately cool,
0:52.0	personalized benefits to come.
0:54.6	We will make it worth your while.
0:56.3	We are figuring out here at PTFO our post-Draft King's future.
1:01.2	And, you know, more good news on that front, I hope to come.
1:05.0	But in the meantime, Pablo.com is where you sign up.
1:08.5	Click the link in the show notes.
1:10.0	Help support us. Please. Thank notes help support us please thank you
1:12.1	thank you thank you thank you on that front and this this episode today is a handpicked
1:17.3	episode from deep inside the ptFO vault that we sincerely hope you enjoy welcome to pablo
1:26.0	tore i am pablo tore and today we're going to find out what this sound is.
1:31.3	When I first met the tree in probably 2016, I thought it was a perfect treat.
	...

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