The Tower Record

In this episode: stealing Saddam's gold! With a series of executive orders, lax organization, and a network of eager participants, the United States liberates another nation of its resources and dares the world to take notice — a familiar story, at this point, no? Follow The Tower Record everywhere:  https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord New episodes every Tuesday morning. Music by Rrrrrose Azerty. Rec...

Sensitive content warning: Harrowing audio throughout. On September 11, 2001, at 9:54 am, Kevin Cosgrove laid in the northwest corner of the 105th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, and he called 911. Five minutes later, he died, killed with almost a thousand other people as the tower succumbed to damage and collapsed. This, annotated with detail by TTR, is the audio of his final...

The Callery pear tree (or Bradford pear tree) saved from the wreckage of Ground Zero has been called  " the last living thing pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center." In this episode, TTR presents its complete history, bookended by an elaborate examination of the appeals and pitfalls of easy metaphors, pop science, and other claptrap. Follow The Tower Record everywhere:  https://linktr.e...

TTR doesn't have a subscribers-only bonus feed yet, so when S&K talk for ten minutes about their top 5 Arnolds in the middle of a discussion on an otherwise on-topic, post-9/11 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, everybody gets to hear it, if they want.  Follow The Tower Record everywhere:  https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord Follow Arnold Schwarzenegger here: https://www.instagram.com/schwarzenegger/ New e...

A firefighter suffers immense tragedy when terrorists strike on American soil one dark day. It's not real life — it's Collateral Damage, the 2002 (née 2001) action-thriller movie starring TTR fave Arnold Schwarzenegger, delayed and edited in response to the events of 9/11! They shoulda blown this movie up with a bomb.  Follow The Tower Record everywhere: https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord New episod...

On 9/11, terrorists struck, and President Bush just sat there, reading a children's story to a classroom in the nation's hour of need. Or did he? TTR digs into the truth about the oft-repeated meme, laying out the reality of a widely-misunderstood story. Follow The Tower Record everywhere:  https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord Music by Rrrrrose Azerty. Recorded March 21, 2026 in Astoria, Queens.

Award-winning writer Tom Junod joins TTR to discuss his memories of working as a journalist in post-9/11 New York, researching and writing "The Falling Man" for Esquire with Andrew Chaikivsky in 2003, and his masterful new memoir, "In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man." Follow The Tower Record everywhere:  https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord Read "The Abortionist" by Tom Junod...

In which The Tower Record and TTR's mutual friend come back from the bar and go shopping on eBay for the never forgettiest items the nation ever forgot about. Play along: Kevin's list: September 11th 15th Anniversary Never Forget Tribute Sculpture Lights Up Thomas Kinkade commemorative lighthouse Diecast Tony Stewart 9/11 Nascar livery 9/11 Crystal flag sculpture September 11th Remembrance Limited...

The Tower Record breaks from chronology to take a giant leap forward, analyzing and reacting to Donald Trump's 2026 State of the Union address, a quarter-century into the post-9/11 era. Unlike the SOTU, the podcast also discusses, exhaustedly if not exhaustingly, the US and Israel launching their war on Iran. Follow The Tower Record everywhere: https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord Music by Rrrrrose Az...

The Tower Record examines two pivotal post-9/11 addresses from President George W. Bush. In one, he appeals to the world for its sympathy. In the next, he lays out for that same world a detailed plot to destroy it.  Follow The Tower Record everywhere:  https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord New episodes every Tuesday morning. Recorded February 7, 2026 in Astoria, Queens. 

The Tower Record discusses and reminisces about Grand Theft Auto III — a landmark piece of video game history, an extremely fun experience, and an unforgettable cultural touchstone of the post-9/11 era. Follow The Tower Record everywhere: https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord New episodes every Tuesday morning. Recorded February 7, 2026 in Astoria, Queens. 

The Tower Record discusses the first post-9/11 Super Bowl in 2002, analyzing the rise of the security state, the treacly U2 halftime show, and the startlingly paranoid commercials.  This is an NYC-Boston alliance podcast. Go Pats. Follow The Tower Record everywhere: https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord Music by Rrrrrose Azerty. Recorded January 25, 2026 in Astoria, Queens and South Slope, Brooklyn. SC...

"The sky was so blue that day." In this episode, The Tower Record runs the gamut from meteorology to memoir to poetry to culture at large, examining every imaginable angle of September 11's indelible clear blue sky. Follow The Tower Record everywhere: https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord Read "Hum" by Ann Lauterbach here:  https://poets.org/poem/hum Music by Rrrrrose Azerty. Recorded January 25, 2026...

The Tower Record becomes the Tarot Record as Sarah drags Kevin to the sacred altar to divine the future and make sure 9/11 never happens again.  Normal eps resume next week! Follow The Tower Record everywhere:  https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord Music by Rrrrrose Azerty. Recorded January 19, 2026 in Astoria, Queens and South Slope, Brooklyn.

Taking a break from the holiday break, Sarah takes the Zoom on a walk in Green-Wood Cemetery, reflecting on a few of the ways the grounds have intersected with the events of September 11, and American history at large. Follow The Tower Record everywhere:  https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord Recorded January 5, 2026 in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn. 

In a five-part series, The Tower Record discusses the life and career of the 107th mayor of New York City — America's Mayor — Rudy Giuliani. In this final episode: Failed ambitions and the deal with the Devil. Follow The Tower Record everywhere:  https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord Recorded December 7, 2025 in South Slope, Brooklyn. V'entrar con voi pur ora, ed i miei sogni usati e i bei sogni miei,...

In a five-part series, The Tower Record discusses the life and career of the 107th mayor of New York City — America's Mayor — Rudy Giuliani. In this episode: Rudy's grip on the city weakens as his second term slouches to a close. His future feels unknowable — until the attacks of September 11 recast him as one of the most honored, trusted figures in the entire world. Content warning: this episode...

In a five-part series, The Tower Record discusses the life and career of the 107th mayor of New York City — America's Mayor — Rudy Giuliani. In this episode: Leveraging the fulcrums of crime and racial anxiety, Rudy campaigns and triumphs in his quest for elected office. But who will bear the cost to realize his vision of a safe, right, and well-behaved city? Follow The Tower Record everywhere:  h...

In a five-part series, The Tower Record discusses the life and career of the 107th mayor of New York City — America's Mayor — Rudy Giuliani. In this episode: It's not what you know, it's who you know – and who you will let transform you. From New York to Washington to Miami and back again, Rudy meets the friends and foes who will make him one of the most famous U.S. Attorneys in the history of the...

In a five-part series, The Tower Record discusses the life and career of the 107th mayor of New York City — America's Mayor — Rudy Giuliani. In this episode: Born from recent immigrants, a family breaks two ways — one to the fringes of the New York Mafia, one towards the doorstep of the nation's halls of power. Follow The Tower Record everywhere:  https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord Recorded December...

Rise a knight! Not too long after the movie's 20th anniversary, The Tower Record discusses one of their favorite movies — Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut). Ignored in theaters, and butchered by its theatrical presentation, its restored version has endured as one of the most remarkable films of the immediate post-9/11 era. Here's why. Follow The Tower Record everywhere:  https://li...

After the traumatic events of September 11, 2001, The Tower Record goes to the movies for a respite, finding the end of an era is happening in more ways than one. Movies discussed: Hardball, The Glass House, The Musketeer, Two Can Play That Game, The Others, Rush Hour 2, Jeepers Creepers, American Pie 2, Rat Race, and Rock Star. Follow along with the findings:  https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weeken...

Amid threats to go and reclaim it, Kevin and Sarah discuss the by turns embarrasing, enraging, absurd and dark world of American-occupied Bagram Airfield in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan.  Follow The Tower Record everywhere: https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord Music by Rrrrrose Azerty. Recorded November 13, 2025 in Astoria, Queens.

In honor of the release of the new Arcadia Archive Edition from Temporary Residence Records, Kevin and Sarah discuss the pre-and-post-9/11 origin story of one of the most remarkable works of experimental music ever made: The Disintegration Loops, by William Basinski.  Follow The Tower Record everywhere:  https://linktr.ee/thetowerrecord Check out the album here:  https://www.temporaryresidence.com...

In a spooOooky Halloween episode of The Tower Record, Kevin, Sarah, and Amelia discuss the purported case of a purported boy who purportedly came to realize that he is the purported reincarnation of a victim of the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11. Could it be true? Could it be... not? Amelia makes the case, Kevin listens considerately, and Sarah goes off. Follow The Tower Record everywhere:  ht...