Chasing Earhart

Von Hardesty is a former curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. He has written widely on aerospace history. His books include Great Aviators and Epic Flights; Lindbergh: Flight's Enigmatic Hero; Air Force One: The Aircraft that Shaped the Modern Presidency; and Epic Rivalry: The Inside Story of the Soviet and American Space Race. On the 46th episode of the Cha...

Jay Faerber is a critically-acclaimed writer of comic books and television. He has co-created and written such titles as Elsewhere, Copperhead, Noble Causes, Dynamo 5, and Near Death at Image Comics, and has worked on such iconic titles as Green Lantern, X-Men, and Superman. He has also written for the TV series Zoo, Ringer and Star-Crossed, and the animated series Avengers Assemble. On the 45th e...

After finding a previously-unknown 1932 film of Amelia Earhart at Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, project guest Bill Zuk began a long odyssey across Canada, which has taken him to the places in Canada where Amelia had visited or lived. From serving in the First World War as a Nurse's Assistant in Toronto to using Newfoundland as the "jumping-off" point on her two transatlantic flights, over seven oth...

Candace Fleming awarded herself the Newbery Medal in fifth grade after scraping the gold sticker off the class copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond and pasting it onto her first novel—a ten-page, ten-chapter mystery called Who Done It? She’s been collecting awards (her own, not Elizabeth George Speare’s) ever since. Today, Candace is the versatile and acclaimed author of more than twenty books for...

After 145 days, 22 countries visited across five continents, and 32 outreach events inspiring more than 3,000 young girls and boys, Shaesta Waiz completed her global solo flight on October 4, 2017, returning to Daytona Beach International Airport to mark the completion of this historic circumnavigation for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and aviation education. At the age...

Amelia Earhart was a pioneer of aviation, flying all over the world, breaking records and becoming a voice for women along the way. Among many of the questions often asked regarding Amelia's career is "How could she afford it?" How did Amelia raise the money needed to finance her groundbreaking flying career? It's a question that many have asked and few have answered. Until now. Tonight on the for...

What is the most important aspect when it comes to the disappearance of Amelia Earhart & Fred Noonan? Is it confirmation bias? How about skepticism? Is it important to be skeptical of any information that is put out there when investigating a hypothesis? How about when it comes to your own? Tonight, on the 40th episode of the Chasing Earhart podcast, we sit down with project guest Brian Dunnin...

One year ago, almost to the day of this recording I sent an email to Dr. Richard Jantz of the University of Tennessee. At the time of our initial conversation, Dr. Jantz was mid-way through his anthropological research and analysis of a set of bones originally found in 1941 on then Gardner island now known as Nikumaroro Island. Originally, examined by Dr. D.W. Hoodless, and determined to be male t...

Just when you thought it was safe to stop talking about Amelia Earhart! Recorded just two days after episode thirty-seven, Scott and Forrest re-join us to discuss the latest developments in the Amelia Earhart case including the theft and recovery of Amelia's Terraplane in Los Angeles, the International Women's Day Amelia Earhart Barbie, and the paper that swept the world by storm by Dr. Richard Ja...

Scott & Forrest have been called the 'Click and Clack of esoterica' by their listeners. Their mission is to take a look at legendary strange and unusual events from throughout history and interview people who've had close encounters with the unexplained. It was Astonishing Legends that gave Chris his model in early 2014 for what would eventually become the Chasing Earhart podcast. A hugely pop...

Andy Sherrell received his B.S. degree in Ocean Engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology and has over 15 years of experience in the oceanographic community. As a former employee of Oceaneering International, Inc., he has worked on numerous deep-sea search and salvage operations to depths of 20,000ft. His experience includes locating and recovering downed aircraft and various other lost...

“This is kind of like hidden history that I’m hoping to get out." Rob Ellos is the definition of a dedicated Amelia Earhart researcher, and he's put that dedication to good use. Over the years, Rob has become an Amelia Earhart presentation expert; giving his presentations to a variety of audiences; from kindergarten to retirees. Depending on the audience, Rob tailors his presentations by discussin...

Rebecca Behrens lives and writes in New York City, where she also works as a copy editor. She is the author of When Audrey Met Alice, which BookPage called “a terrific work of blended realistic and historical fiction;” Summer of Lost and Found, which School Library Journal praised for its “deft writing;” and The Last Grand Adventure, which Kirkus recommends as “a quirky, heart-rending journey.”  O...

For the first time in Chasing Earhart history, we release two episodes of the podcast on the same weekend! Episode thirty-three of the show is also a Chasing Earhart first as we welcome back project guests Dr. Tom King and Andrew McKenna of TIGHAR to recap the summer 2017 Niku expedition. Among the topics discussed are the unique twist of bringing forensic dogs to Niku, as well as Dr. Tom King's f...

We have spoken to a lot of guests on this show in the first 31 episodes. We’ve spoken with researchers, authors, historians, and experts in aviation and aerospace. However, there is one area that has eluded us thus far. Family. While we have spoken to a lot to the extended families of Amelia Earhart, Fred Noonan, and George Putnam we have never had the opportunity to have them as a Chasing Earhart...

Nicole Swinford is an author, writer, historian, videographer, and broadcaster – she is a Historyteller. Nicole's first book Amelia Earhart's Last Photo Shoot was published by The Paragon Agency in May 2015. Based on a never-before-seen film of Amelia's last photo shoot as she prepares to leave on her fatal World Flight, the book and film were featured on outlets such as Fox News Business and Nati...

David S. Ferriero was confirmed as 10th Archivist of the United States on November 6, 2009. Early in 2010, he committed the National Archives and Records Administration to the principles of Open Government—transparency, participation, and collaboration. To better position NARA to fulfill these goals, Mr. Ferriero initiated an agency transformation in 2010. The transformation restructured the organ...

Many hypothetical explanations of the disappearance and demise of Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan and the Lockheed Electra aircraft with which she hoped to circumnavigate the globe have been proposed. This is another, very similar to some others, but different in that it answers one important question; how did the radio broadcasts from the Phoenix Islands originate without more eviden...

"It's impossible, but if it were possible, how could it be done?" ​With that question, Rockwell Collins engineer Tom Vinson threw his hat into the Amelia Earhart disappearance case. Working with Nauticos and alongside his fellow Rockwell Collins engineers, Tom has been responsible for some of the most groundbreaking engineering work that the Amelia Earhart disappearance case has ever seen. In epis...

Jessica Cox is the Master of Adaptation. She believes that having the skill of adaptability is the most significant stepping stone to success and champions the mindset of infinite adaptability to break down perceived barriers! Described as a speaker “no one will ever forget," Jessica shows audiences around the globe how success is built on a culture that embraces challenges. She teaches organizati...

Brad Meltzer is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Inner Circle, The Book of Fate, and nine other bestselling thrillers including The Tenth Justice, The First Counsel, The Millionaires and The President’s Shadow. In addition to his fiction, Brad is one of the only authors to ever have books on the bestseller list for Non-Fiction (History Decoded), Advice (Heroes for My Son and Heroes...

We all have pivotal moments in our lives. A moment that plants the seeds for the person that we'll become. For Amelia Earhart, that moment came when she was a little girl in Atchison, Kansas. For episode twenty-five of the Chasing Earhart podcast, we sit down with educator, author and project guest Mark Weakland to discuss "When Amelia Earhart Built a Roller Coaster." We'll discuss this single eve...

For those who are in the know, and perhaps more importantly for those that aren’t, Amelia Earhart has one talent on her resume that is not widely known or circulated. Poet. Using the art of poetry to often express her most intimate thoughts, Amelia Earhart would reach generations with her words as much as her flying. On episode 24 of the Chasing Earhart podcast, we sit down with poet and author He...

He grew up watching "In Search Of" and someday wanting to search for Amelia Earhart. Fast forward to present day, and he's doing just that. An archeologist with TIGHAR, and an Emmy award winner for “Indy in the 60s”, Gary Quigg has a fascinating back story and an area of expertise that makes him an incredible asset to the Chasing Earhart project. For episode twenty - three of the podcast Gary chat...

She has written one of the most iconic and influential biographies on Amelia Earhart of all time. The inspiration for the 2009 film "Amelia" starring Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, and Ewan McGregor, "East to the Dawn" traces Amelia all the way back to her grandparents to give us one of the deepest biographical dives ever put on paper. In episode twenty - two of the Chasing Earhart podcast, we welcom...