The Pan Am Podcast

Send us Fan Mail The Pan Am Podcast enters an exciting new chapter as we welcome Ken Andersen as the new host of the program. Since its launch, the Pan Am Podcast has become one of the Pan Am Museum Foundation's most successful educational initiatives, sharing the remarkable stories of the people, aircraft, destinations, and historic events that made Pan American World Airways one of the most...

Send us Fan Mail In this final episode of Season Five, host and producer Tom Betti reflects on five years of preserving the stories of Pan Am, answers the question he has asked guests since the very first episode, and says farewell to the listeners who made this program what it became. After five years, 66 episodes, more than 95 hours of history and humanities content, and over 200,000 downloads i...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we are joined by Admiral William O. Studeman, United States Navy, retired, and his wife Diane, former Pan Am stewardess and one of the most gracious ambassadors the airline ever had. Their connection to Pan Am runs deeper than most. Diane grew up in Milford-on-Sea in Hampshire, England. The navy and aviation were not just a backdrop to her childhood but its very f...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we are joined by two women who gave the best years of their careers to Pan American World Airways, and who have remained close friends for more than four decades since the airline closed its doors. Florette H. Vassall was born in New York City, the daughter of immigrants from Cuba and Panama. Aviation was a constant in her life from the very beginning. Her father...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, host Tom Betti is joined by three special guests - Pan Am flight attendant Karen Walker Ryan and adoptees Carol Mason and Dr. Matt Steiner - to mark the 51st anniversary of Operation Babylift, the frantic evacuation ordered by U.S. President Gerald R. Ford of Vietnamese war orphans in the final days of Saigon in 1975. But this episode is about more than history. I...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we are joined by Al Gilbert, known by his friends and family as Ace, a former Pan Am reservations employee and the author of Pan Am Stories: You Can't Make This Up . Al's career at Pan Am gave him a front-row seat to one of the most remarkable chapters in aviation history, and the stories he collected along the way are as funny, surprising, and human as...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we are joined by Laurie Gwen Shapiro , a bestselling author, journalist, and adjunct professor at NYU's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.  A member of the Explorers Club, her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The New York Times. She is the author of The Stowaway , the true story of a teenager who stowed away on a ship bound for An...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we are joined by Cheryl Boone Isaacs, a former Pan Am stewardess from 1972 to 1974 who went on to build an extraordinary career in Hollywood.  Her journey is a remarkable one that spans aviation, Hollywood, and film education. She began her professional career as a Pan Am stewardess from 1972 to 1974, an experience that gave her a global perspective and a deep app...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re joined by Tania Anderson, who served as a Pan Am flight attendant from 1986 to 1991, navigating a pivotal era of transition, resilience, and global adventure for the world’s most iconic airline.  Today, she still flies, carrying forward the spirit of Pan Am on international charter missions, and she is usually flying on a Boeing 747! But Tania’s story reache...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re joined by screenwriter Jack Epps, Jr. and his student, up and coming screenwriter Kate Ginley, who is writing a screenplay about Pan Am and Tenerife. Jack is now a professor and Chair of the Writing for Screen and Television Division at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, also known as USC.  But you probably already know of him...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we are joined by two special guests, Steve Ford (the youngest son of President and Mrs. Ford) and adoptee Thuy Williams to mark the 50th anniversary of Operation Babylift, the frantic evacuation ordered by U.S. President Gerald R. Ford of Vietnamese war orphans in the final days of Saigon in 1975.  The Pan Am Museum, in partnership with the Gerald R. Ford President...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we are joined by Donald Devito who worked for the Pan Am board of directors from the early 1960s until the end of the airline. Also, joining us is his son, Dr. Donald DeVito, a renowned musical educator.  The senior DeVito will share stories working for the Central Intelligence Agency in the 1950s and being hired by Pan Am in the early 1960s to work for the corpora...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we explore Operation Pedro Pan, the clandestine operation of the U.S. Government, the Catholic Church and Pan American World Airways to relocate over 14,000 children out of Cuba to the United States between 1960 and 1962.  Our guest for this episode is Pan Am veteran Yvonne Conde who wrote the book Operation Pedro Pan: The Untold Exodus of 14,048 Cuban Children . S...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Host Tom Betti shares insights on his recent trip to Japan where he met Charlie, a purser with United Airlines, on his inbound flight to Tokyo and on his outbound flight from Osaka met United flight attendants Leslie and Lynn who both worked for Pan Am from 1977 to 1986 until the Pacific Division was sold to United. Tom also shares some personal travel stories and...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we are joined by Gary Bartelings, a supporter of the Pan Am Museum and founder and managing director of Bartelings, a company dedicated to unique travel experiences by private jet.  We also welcome back to the program our good friend Becky Sprecher. She has been a frequent guest and contributor to this podcast. Becky brings great history to this episode about the f...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we learn about the life of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, who was a pilot for Pan Am from 1945 to 1948. Then we will be joined by a very special guest, George Takei , a legendary actor, NY Times Best Selling author, and activist. He knew “Star Trek” creator and Pan Am pilot Gene Roddenberry well for over 25 years playing Mr. Sulu in the 1966 televi...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we explore the first transatlantic passenger flights of Pan Am’s Boeing 314 flying boats in the late 1930s and we welcome back to the program Pan Am flight attendant and author Becky Sprecher who will share her insights -and family history– of these flying clippers! Becky was our guest in Episode 7: Flying the Line and Episode 29 AIDS Epidemic of the 1980s, Remembe...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we explore the life of Kathleen Clair, executive assistant to Pan Am founder and chairman Juan T. Trippe for over 32 years from 1948 to 1980. We will also hear a personal and private memories of Mr. Trippe and Kathleen.  We are joined by two special guests that knew Kathleen well: Wendy Trippe Barr, the granddaughter of Juan and Betty Trippe and John Luetich, a boa...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we explore the life of legendary Hollywood costume designer Edith Head who designed uniforms for Pan American World Airways introduced in 1975 and used until the early 1980s.  Then we will be joined by actor Susan Claassen who plays the Hollywood legend in her one-woman production called A CONVERSATION WITH EDITH HEAD . In her storied career in Hollywood, Edith Hea...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we celebrate the Archer’s...a family of aviators.  89-year-old Pan Am Captain Stu Archer joined the airline in 1965 as an engineer after serving in the U.S. Air Force. Stu began flying the 727 and then was promoted to captain on the 747 and later Airbus A300 and A310. He stayed with Pan Am until 1991 and then went on to work for Delta Air Lines as a captain.  When...

Send us Fan Mail The Pan Am Museum Foundation recognizes the month of May as Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and in this episode we explore the history of Pan Am’s “Nisei” Stewardesses with Dr. Christine R. Yano, retired professor of anthropology at the University of Hawai’I and author of the book, Airbourne Dreams: “Nisei” Stewardesses and Pan American World Ai...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we welcome back to the program Captain Mike Bannister, the chief pilot of British Airways' Concorde fleet from 1995 to 2003. He is also the author of a recently published book titled Concorde . This book is available through your favorite bookstore or online retailer. Also coming out to great fanfare in 2023 was a special Lego set of the Concorde designed to b...

Send us Fan Mail Pan American World Airways acquired National Airlines in 1980 and preserving the history of National is now the responsibility of the Pan Am Museum and we take this duty seriously. In this episode we explore the fascinating history of National Airlines. Then we will be joined by four veterans of National Airlines: Captain Roy Berube and flight attendants Fran Smith Boros, David Hi...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode we will be exploring the incredible life of Pan Am Captain Robert Ford, a trailblazing flying boat aviator that found international fame with an unscheduled flight round the globe. And we welcome back to the program Pan Am 747 Captain John Marshall that knew Pan Am legend Captain Robert Ford and recorded an interview with him in 1994 shortly before he died....

Send us Fan Mail This is a special memorial edition of this program and recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Rome airport attack. We are  joined by two survivors that were on a Pan Am plane that was firebombed at the Rome airport on December 17, 1973: Pan Am Flight Engineer Ken Pfrang and Pan Am passenger B.J. Geisler. B.J. is the author of the recently published book, Terror on Pan Am Flight 11...