0:00

From Disney. So I look up

0:02

at the stars to guide me. Be

0:05

careful. I wish. And

0:07

throw. What you wish for.

0:08

Last night I made a wish

0:10

on a star. And the star answered.

0:13

What did you wish for? From the studio

0:16

that brought you Frozen. A squirrel

0:18

just said good morning

0:19

to me. I have a few thousand questions.

0:22

Starting with how is this possible? Disney's

0:24

Wish. Rated PG. Parental guidance suggested.

0:27

Only in theaters November 22nd. Tickets available

0:29

now. Hey, hop in. We're

0:32

cruising down the highway for our newest Brains

0:34

on Universe field trip. The Snacktacular

0:37

Road Trip. This is like a mini movie

0:39

where Molly, Mark Sandon, and I go on

0:41

an adventure. We've done two others,

0:44

but this new one is my fave. Because

0:46

Molly Boom and I spend the whole ride

0:48

together. Lucky. We'll

0:51

taste some sandwiches shaped by history. Learn

0:54

a snacktastic fact about beaver butts. And

0:56

more. The shows

0:58

are on November 30th, December 1st, and

1:00

2nd. Get your ticket today at brainson.org.

1:04

Slash field trips.

1:07

In

1:09

a world where history

1:12

is always happening. Where

1:14

donuts are good and mayonnaise is

1:17

disgusting.

1:19

One woman dares. Da

1:21

da da da da da da da da da da da da da

1:24

da da da da. One weird

1:26

woman dares to host a

1:29

history podcast. Aluminum,

1:31

linoleum, aluminum, linoleum. A

1:34

podcast that is more powerful

1:37

than a locomotive.

1:38

Faster

1:41

than a school bus on a Monday morning.

1:46

Slow down. Wait. Please hold

1:48

the door. And more factual than

1:50

your uncle at the dinner table.

1:52

I'm telling you Bigfoot

1:54

is out there and I know. Because

1:57

I saw him. One strange

1:59

woman. along with her trusty

2:01

co-host, will bring you a brand

2:04

new batch of episodes where

2:06

they explore topics like Thanksgiving,

2:09

libraries, and gum. Look

2:11

how big I can blow my bubble gum! Aliyah! Look

2:15

at me! Are you watching? Aliyah! One

2:18

woman who is desperate for attention. Hey,

2:21

Aliyah! Look at me! Aliyah!

2:22

Aliyah! Aliyah! Aliyah! Aliyah!

2:25

Aliyah! For you, her

2:27

special superpower is to chart the

2:29

uncharted. Superpower is

2:31

like reading really fast. If

2:33

your daddy's name is Jim, and if Jim

2:35

swims, and if Jim's slim, the perfect Christmas gift

2:37

for him is a set of slim Jim Slimskins. Drinking

2:41

really spicy soup. That's

2:44

soup-er spicy. Get

2:46

it? Soup-er soup-er.

2:48

And pulling the popcorn out

2:51

of the microwave at just the

2:53

right time. And...done!

2:55

Joy,

2:58

hold on. These

2:59

aren't special superpowers. These

3:02

are just weird things that you're good at. I

3:04

know, but I wanted to make a trailer because you

3:06

do that dramatic movie voice so well.

3:09

Maybe that's your superpower. We

3:12

are both super! Let's end

3:14

this really dramatically. Let's do it! Never

3:18

bore. Uncovering lore. 2 plus 2

3:20

is 4. It's

3:24

time to explore the

3:26

before. Hello!

3:36

You're listening to Forever Ago from APM

3:38

Studios. I'm Joy Dolo, and my

3:40

co-host today is Aliyah from Tennessee.

3:43

Hi, Aliyah! Hi, Joy!

3:45

I'm so happy to be back. Aliyah,

3:48

in honor of the first episode of our fourth

3:50

season... Hooray for us!

3:53

Hooray indeed! I've decided

3:55

to create a superhero who

3:56

has all the powers of a Forever Ago

3:58

episode. Ooh! So

4:01

they're super curious?

4:03

Yeah, and super

4:05

smart. Also, they have x-ray

4:07

vision to see into the dusty forgotten corners

4:09

of history, and super strength to

4:11

carry all these books I checked out from the library

4:14

for research. Oof, heavy.

4:16

I love it. What's the superhero gonna

4:19

be named? I'm thinking Forever

4:21

a Girl? Or maybe

4:24

The Fantastic Four Ever? Or

4:27

a history podcast for kids and families?

4:29

Woman. Mmm, doesn't

4:32

exactly roll off the tongue. That

4:34

it doesn't,

4:34

no. Mm-mm.

4:36

Hi, friends! Oh, hey, it's Brain's On

4:38

host Molly Bloom. What's up, Molly? Well,

4:41

I couldn't help overhearing that you're trying

4:43

to create a brand new superhero. Molly,

4:46

we've talked about this. The eavesdropping.

4:49

But, Joy, I can't help it that I have

4:51

such excellent hearing and that you talk so

4:53

loud. It's true. My mom

4:55

just texted me from the parking lot with

4:57

a suggestion for a superhero name. She

5:00

heard us all the way through the building's

5:02

double-paned windows and her

5:05

super-thick windshield. Okay,

5:07

fine. It's actually pretty

5:10

special, come to think about it. Let's

5:12

add super loud voice to my

5:14

list of superpowers.

5:16

So your superhero has lots of cool

5:18

powers, but what's their origin

5:20

story? Well,

5:23

um,

5:25

you see, it's actually...

5:30

Uh, what's an origin story?

5:33

Oh, Alia, I'm so glad you asked. An

5:36

origin story is the story of how your superhero

5:38

came to be so gosh-darned super in the first place.

5:41

Ooh, fun! Okay, let's start

5:43

brainstorming. How about a long

5:46

time ago, in a galaxy

5:48

far, far away? Oh,

5:51

I've heard that one before. I've

5:53

got a super-original one in

5:55

West Philadelphia, born and raised.

5:58

I'm pretty sure I've heard that one.

5:59

want one too. What if you look

6:02

to your own stories for inspiration? Oh,

6:04

I don't know. I'm just a normal, super talented,

6:07

and charismatic podcast host. Not sure

6:09

if that translates into a superhero. Well,

6:12

what if I told you that the very first

6:14

superhero was created and inspired

6:17

by the lives of two regular kids in

6:19

the 1930s? I'd be very

6:21

interested to hear that story. Well,

6:24

that's great news because that's what this episode

6:26

is all about. Wait, did you say

6:29

the very first superhero? That's

6:32

gotta be Superman! That's

6:34

right. Superman was the very

6:37

first costume superhero. If

6:39

you like Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Batman,

6:41

or any other caped, masked, or spandex

6:44

superhero, you have Superman to

6:46

thank for paving the way.

6:49

Superman! He wears a tight blue

6:51

shirt and a pair of blue tights with a

6:53

red pair of underpants on top. He

6:56

has matching red boots and a long,

6:58

flowing red cape. Emblazoned

7:00

on his chest is a giant red S.

7:03

His powers are super strength,

7:05

super speed, blazer eyes, freezing

7:08

breath, and he

7:10

can leap tall buildings

7:13

in a single bound. Born

7:15

on a distant planet, he was sent to Earth

7:17

as a baby and raised by a kind human

7:20

family. In order to live a normal

7:22

life, he hides his super self

7:24

behind another identity. That's

7:27

of Clark Kent, a shy,

7:29

nerdy reporter

7:30

at the local newspaper.

7:32

No one knows, he is Superman.

7:38

Wow, Chills. So

7:40

good you

7:40

two. Thanks. But how

7:43

was that story inspired by two normal

7:46

kids?

7:46

Were they aliens? Oh my

7:48

gosh, they were aliens? From Krypton?

7:52

Um, no, not aliens.

7:54

They were Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

7:56

And they lived in Cleveland. Cleveland?

7:59

They lived in Cleveland. lived in Cleveland

8:01

in Ohio? Not

8:03

sure that needs the same astonishment

8:06

as the alien idea, but I

8:08

like your enthusiasm, Joy. Yes,

8:10

Jerry and Joe lived in Cleveland. They

8:13

met in high school there in the early 1930s.

8:18

In the early 1930s, people

8:20

didn't have computers or cell phones. Right,

8:23

there were phones that plugged into the wall. They

8:26

had a base with a round dial and a piece

8:28

you held in your hand and put it up to your face.

8:30

One end for your ear, the other for your mouth.

8:33

There were no TVs or video

8:35

games, but there were magazines and

8:37

newspapers and radios and

8:40

movie theaters. It was also the beginning

8:42

of the Great Depression, a time when

8:45

many businesses were struggling

8:46

and it was hard to find jobs. A lot of

8:48

people didn't have much money. Absolutely,

8:51

and both Joe and Jerry's family struggled

8:53

to make ends meet. The two boys helped

8:55

where they could, and in their free time, they

8:57

threw themselves into their passions. For

9:00

Jerry, it was writing, and specifically,

9:02

writing science fiction. He

9:04

was always turning out stories.

9:06

And Taurus was

9:08

a cruel and unyielding world to any soul

9:10

unfortunate to land there. And

9:12

for Joe,

9:13

it was drawing. He would pour

9:15

over the Sunday comics that came in the weekly

9:17

newspaper. Inspired by the gorgeous

9:20

art, he'd draw for hours.

9:22

Well, as anyone who's

9:25

been to school knows,

9:25

you're often alphabetized by your last

9:27

names. Definitely in the yearbook,

9:30

but maybe your locker or your desk, too. Well,

9:33

Jerry and Joe found themselves alphabetized together.

9:36

Hi, I'm Joe, Joe Schuster. And

9:38

I'm Jerry,

9:38

Jerry Siegel. They realized

9:41

they both loved reading science fiction magazines. Hey,

9:44

Joe, I gotta show you this thing I wrote. I have a

9:46

few sketches you

9:47

might want to see. They quickly became more of a fan.

9:51

They quickly became best friends, and

9:54

pretty soon, also a writing

9:56

team. Jerry described it in

9:58

a later interview as...

9:59

When Joe and I first met, it was like the right

10:02

chemicals coming together. Okay,

10:04

so it's always wonderful to meet a friend who gets

10:06

you, especially in high school.

10:08

But Molly, where is my superhero inspiration?

10:11

I need help with my origin story. Yeah,

10:14

origin stories don't grow on trees, Molly.

10:17

You're right, you're right, okay. So when Joe

10:19

and Jerry met, they realized they both loved

10:21

sci-fi and they both loved to

10:23

tell stories. So they teamed

10:25

up. Jerry would write the words

10:28

and Joe would create the images. And

10:30

then they came up with Superman? Not

10:33

quite yet. The first comic strip

10:35

they made together was called Interplanetary

10:38

Police. Let me guess, it was about

10:40

police who fought crime in

10:42

space?

10:42

2000 years,

10:46

fantastic aircraft star of our head. It

10:49

is the year 3000 AD. With

10:52

interplanetary travel came a new minute.

10:55

Space pirates. And in their wake. Policemen

10:57

of the stars.

11:03

We're still figuring it out. While

11:05

they were in high school, they printed a magazine

11:07

called Popular Comics, full

11:09

of comic strips the two created together, such

11:12

as the comedy duo, Stupi and Smiley.

11:16

Smiley, when that lady dropped her handkerchief,

11:18

you permitted her to retrieve it herself. Now

11:21

why didn't you pick it up? I

11:23

had one of my own. There was a

11:25

Tarzan parody called

11:26

Goober the Mighty. Goober

11:29

slips and falls. The bee zooms down

11:31

for the death rust. Will the princess

11:33

be too late to save Goober? Of course she

11:36

won't. Next, Goober's Revenge.

11:40

And there were lots more. Inko,

11:43

Public Pest, Louisville Lil, Gloria

11:46

Glamour. I could go on, but I won't.

11:48

I was going to ask her if I went for them,

11:51

but since I haven't heard of any

11:53

of those comic strips, I'm guessing

11:56

not great. Yeah, people

11:58

weren't buying Public Pest.

11:59

comics.

12:00

I do appreciate that name though,

12:03

definitely trying to manifest

12:04

their dreams through words.

12:06

Like if I started calling myself chili

12:08

cook-off winner Joy or Olympic

12:12

gymnast Joy or

12:14

Beyonce level famous Joy.

12:16

But then in 1933 before their senior

12:20

year of high school, Joe and Jerry came

12:22

up with the idea that would make them famous.

12:26

Superman! Finally

12:28

the origin story! The way

12:30

Jerry told the story later in life makes

12:32

it sound like something out of a dream.

12:34

Here's how he remembered it.

12:37

The air was still and heavy.

12:40

Clouds drifted past the moon. Up

12:43

there was wind. If only I could fly.

12:45

If only. And Superman was conceived.

12:48

Not in his entirety. But little by

12:50

little throughout a long and sleepless

12:52

night.

12:54

As the legend goes, Jerry plotted

12:57

out this new character's story and rushed

12:59

over to his friend Joe's first thing in the

13:01

morning. They sketched out a pitch for his

13:03

new comic idea and sent it to some

13:05

comic book publishers in Chicago. And

13:08

then overnight success! Superman

13:11

cereal, Superman lunch boxes, Superman

13:13

underwear. Um, no. The

13:16

pitch failed. We were both so

13:18

mad! How could they look at such brilliance

13:21

and just cast it aside? How could

13:23

they? Well, the comic wasn't

13:25

quite there yet. It was a bit rushed

13:28

and missing some of the crucial elements we

13:30

would come to know as important parts

13:32

of the Superman backstory. A

13:34

lot of that would come when Joe and Jerry added

13:36

a little bit of their own backgrounds into

13:39

Superman's

13:39

origin story.

13:40

Finally! But, Joy,

13:42

I understand you have something important to take

13:44

care of first? Oh, the suspense.

13:47

But I sure do. It's time

13:49

for... Five Big

13:52

Sends!

13:56

Okay, let's put these superheroes in the

13:58

order they were created. Spider-Man,

14:01

Batwoman, and Black Panther. Okay,

14:03

Aaliyah, which do you think came first, which

14:06

came second, and which came most recently

14:08

in history? I feel like Spider-Man

14:11

was kind of like the middle.

14:13

Yeah. Because it wasn't

14:16

like the earliest, but it wasn't

14:18

the newest either. Mm-hmm, good

14:20

guess. Have you seen any Batwoman

14:22

comics or TV

14:23

shows or anything like that? I used to watch

14:26

it with my cousin when I was really young,

14:28

so I can't really remember a lot

14:31

of it, but I think

14:33

Batwoman, Spider-Man,

14:35

and then Black Panther. Yeah,

14:38

have you seen any of the Black Panther movies? Yes,

14:41

I saw both. Yeah,

14:42

I saw them too, they were so good. So good. I

14:44

loved it. I love whenever they run across a field.

14:47

Yes. I feel like I'm running, even though I'm

14:49

just sitting and watching. But I agree with this

14:51

order, I think

14:51

this is right. So we'll hear the answers

14:54

after the credits. Here

14:58

at Forever Ago, we love talking about the

15:00

surprising history

15:02

behind some of our favorite inventions. Like

15:04

remember how the microwave was invented totally by accident?

15:08

Or how the person who invented Velcro

15:10

came up with the idea after his

15:12

dog came home covered in sticky little

15:15

birds. Listeners, we wanna hear from

15:17

you. Do you have an invention you

15:19

wanna shout out for being totally awesome? It

15:22

could be something unusual or something

15:24

totally new. It could be something

15:27

unusual or something totally common

15:29

that you think deserves more love. Send

15:31

us a recording of yourself sharing your favorite

15:33

invention and what's

15:34

great about it at foreverago.org

15:37

slash contest.

15:38

Aaliyah, what's an invention you feel like you

15:40

couldn't live without? Ooh, that's

15:42

a hard one. I know. Because there's

15:45

a lot of inventions that have been made

15:47

and I really, really, really love. That's

15:51

really hard. I know it's hard. I

15:54

feel like today I couldn't live without

15:56

my backpack because I put

15:59

everything inside of it. I put so

16:01

much stuff in there because I have to like

16:03

switch between like

16:04

two glasses and it's

16:07

um yeah it's a lot

16:09

going on but my backpack or like pens

16:12

like because I love this color and drawing stuff like

16:14

I don't think I could live without that is there something like

16:17

that for you?

16:17

I really like art and stuff

16:19

I can't live without fab but I think

16:21

the main thing is like toothbrushes.

16:25

That is a great answer brushing

16:28

your teeth is necessary. So

16:30

necessary. Yeah we can't

16:32

wait to hear your invention mentions

16:35

too send them to us at forevergo.org

16:37

slash contact and we'll be right back.

16:45

From Disney. So we'll

16:47

go bet the stars to guide

16:49

me.

16:50

Be careful. I wish. And

16:52

for what you wish for. Last

16:54

night I made a wish on a star and the star

16:57

answered. What did you

16:59

wish for? A new studio that brought you

17:01

frozen. A score of just said good

17:03

morning to me. I have a few

17:05

thousand questions starting

17:07

with how is this possible?

17:08

Disney's Wish rated PG parental

17:11

guidance suggested only in theaters November 22nd.

17:13

Tickets available now.

17:15

It's that time of year again. Time

17:18

for family and love and snow.

17:20

A whole lot of snow. My

17:23

holiday season also includes both of my

17:25

parents birthdays, my husband's birthday

17:27

and a holiday doggy celebration in my living

17:30

room which we take very seriously.

17:31

And although the holiday season can be rough,

17:35

make your life a little easier and a little tastier.

17:37

Find nutritious convenient meals to keep you

17:39

energized on jam-packed days.

17:41

Factor America's number one ready

17:43

to eat meal delivery service can help you fuel

17:46

up fast for breakfast, lunch and dinner

17:48

with chef prepared dietician approved ready

17:50

to eat meals delivered straight to your door.

17:53

Factor meals are super yummy.

17:55

I love the smoothies. I love the flavor-packed

17:58

vegetarian meals and it's just

17:59

delivered right to my door. Head

18:02

to factormeals.com slash forever50 and

18:05

use code forever50 to get 50% off. That's

18:08

code forever50 at factormeals.com

18:10

slash forever50 to get 50% off.

18:15

Hey, Elise, I've

18:17

got a riddle for you. Ooh,

18:20

I love a riddle, let's hear it. Okay,

18:23

what do boomerang, ballet

18:25

flats,

18:26

and forever ago all

18:28

have in common?

18:30

Uh, they're all

18:32

three syllables? Wait, no,

18:34

forever ago is five

18:35

syllables. All of them start with

18:37

B. Wait,

18:38

wrong again, I got it. They're

18:41

some of Joy Dolo's favorite things? No,

18:44

I need more art support than a ballet flat can offer.

18:46

Come on, Elise, come on. They're

18:48

all coming back, get

18:51

it? Because forever ago is back on November

18:53

8th. Oh, I should have known.

18:56

I am co-hosting an episode of this

18:59

season after all. Okay,

19:01

Joy, I've got a riddle for you. What

19:04

does chewing gum, Superman, and

19:06

children's libraries have in common?

19:08

Ooh, I know this one.

19:10

They're all topics we cover in the next

19:12

season of forever ago. That's right, whee! So

19:16

set your alarms, tell your friends, and

19:19

get excited. Because forever

19:21

ago is back with a new season

19:23

November 8th.

19:35

You're listening to forever ago. I'm Joy.

19:38

And I'm Aaliyah. Okay, Molly,

19:40

we're ready to hear about how Superman's origin

19:42

story reflects the lives of his creators.

19:45

Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

19:47

I asked Brad Ricca for help on this. He's

19:50

a writer and historian.

19:51

Everyone knows Superman's

19:53

origin. You know, as a

19:55

baby, he has rocketed from

19:58

the planet Krypton and comes to Earth. for

20:00

a new life. I mean this is the the immigrant

20:02

story.

20:03

Brad wrote a book about Joe and Jerry called

20:06

Superboys and he's from Cleveland too.

20:08

Cleveland? He's from Cleveland

20:11

in Ohio? Yes, Cleveland.

20:14

And Brad says you can draw a direct line

20:17

from this new Superman origin story

20:19

they came up with to Joe and Jerry's

20:21

experiences as first-generation immigrants.

20:24

Hey I'm a first-generation immigrant

20:26

too. That means my parents moved here from

20:28

a different country but I was born here,

20:30

the first generation to be born in this

20:33

new country. Where did your family

20:35

immigrate from, Joy? Why did they come

20:37

to the US? My

20:38

parents came to the United States from Liberia

20:41

which is a country in West Africa and

20:43

they came in the early 80s. They came because

20:45

they wanted to give us a life with lots of opportunities.

20:48

That's really cool. Both Joe

20:50

and Jerry's parents immigrated to the US

20:52

from Eastern Europe, specifically

20:55

from land controlled by Russia. They

20:57

were Jewish and those areas were really

21:00

hard to live in if you were a Jew. There

21:02

was a lot of anti-Semitism.

21:05

Anti-Semitism is a word

21:07

for when people hate someone just because

21:09

they're Jewish. When Joe and Jerry's parents

21:12

were growing up in the late 1800s and early

21:15

1900s, Jewish people faced a lot

21:17

of violence. Sometimes

21:20

groups of Christian

21:20

Russians would raid Jewish

21:22

villages or neighborhoods, burning buildings

21:25

and killing people. Police and

21:27

the military did nothing to stop them or

21:29

sometimes even took part in the violence

21:32

themselves. These acts of violence

21:34

were called pogroms which is Yiddish

21:36

for destruction and devastation. Some

21:39

Jews like Jerry's dad Michal were

21:41

forced to join the Russian army. He

21:44

and other Jews were bullied and looked

21:46

at as less than human. Jerry's

21:48

and Joe's parents scraped together enough money

21:51

to flee the violence in their homelands, both

21:53

eventually landing in Cleveland where

21:56

their American sons, Joe and Jerry,

21:58

created

21:58

Superman.

22:01

Joe and Jerry used a similar story for

22:03

their new hero. But instead of

22:06

fleeing to a new country, Superman's

22:08

parents sent their kid to a different planet

22:11

to avoid destruction. Okay, this is

22:13

super cool. I see the similarities now.

22:16

And there's more. When he arrives on Earth,

22:18

Superman gets a new identity that helps

22:20

him blend in. Oh, right. He becomes

22:23

Clark Kent, a seemingly average

22:25

American guy. It's a way

22:27

to hide his true background. Exactly.

22:30

Joe and Jerry kind of did the same thing.

22:33

But rather than having an alter ego,

22:35

they blended in by becoming more American.

22:38

They didn't dress or act like their parents did

22:40

in their home countries. Clark Kent has glasses,

22:43

he's shy, he has a crush on someone

22:45

who doesn't like him back. Which also describes

22:47

Joe and Jerry in high school. That's the

22:50

identity Superman puts on to blend

22:52

in with humans. By his super-powered

22:55

self, that's him representing

22:57

his home planet. Exactly.

23:00

And he has to juggle these two identities and

23:02

try to keep them separate. Something

23:04

American Jews like Joe and Jerry were

23:06

very familiar with. Here's Brad

23:09

again.

23:09

And we hear this from tons

23:12

of first-generation Americans

23:14

of trying to find their way with their

23:17

foot in one old culture

23:19

and the other foot in the new culture

23:21

of America. And that's Superman.

23:25

Joy, does that ring true to

23:27

you as a first-generation

23:29

immigrant? Absolutely. I

23:32

grew up with a

23:32

lot of African families in my neighborhood

23:35

and my school was predominantly white.

23:37

I felt like I didn't belong with the African

23:39

Americans either. Our culture

23:41

was so different from the United States. We ate

23:43

different foods, we had different hairstyles,

23:46

and my parents have accents.

23:48

I felt like I was in a maze, like I had to pick

23:50

what world I belonged to. That

23:52

feels similar to me. Really? What

23:55

do you mean? Sometimes in my

23:57

older schools, like when I was younger, I feel like I was

23:59

in a maze.

23:59

I felt like I wasn't,

24:02

I couldn't fit in because

24:04

usually there wasn't a lot of my

24:07

skin color kids or just black kids in general

24:09

there. But

24:11

now, there's a lot of

24:14

kids who are my skin color are black now

24:17

that I'm in fifth grade. Oh,

24:19

how does it make you feel? It makes me feel really

24:21

good.

24:21

It makes me feel like

24:24

I belong there. Yeah, yeah, it's good.

24:26

Because it's hard when you're just kind of on your own, it

24:28

gets kind of lonely. And it's hard

24:30

to just walk up to people that maybe you

24:33

might think might not understand you or know what

24:35

you're trying to, a lot of people didn't

24:37

get my jokes. And

24:39

they wouldn't understand things. But yeah, it

24:42

takes some time just to get comfortable in your own skin

24:44

and then it's easier to kind of make friends

24:46

with anyone. So I hear

24:48

you, I get it.

24:49

So Joe and Jerry graduated high school and

24:52

eventually got jobs writing and drawing

24:54

comic books. But they were still

24:56

waiting for someone to publish Superman.

24:59

They kept at it, pitching it over

25:01

and over again. And then about

25:04

five years after they first dreamed

25:06

up Superman, he made his official

25:09

comic book debut.

25:10

Superman,

25:13

champion of the oppressed. The physical

25:16

marvel was sworn to devote his existence

25:18

to those in need.

25:23

Superman was a huge hit. He went

25:25

on to be in radio shows.

25:27

Presenting Superman. ["Superman

25:29

Theme"]

25:32

Up in the sky, look, it's

25:35

a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman.

25:38

Television programs. It's

25:40

a sky, it's a bird. It's a plane. It's

25:43

Superman.

25:45

Action figures and lots

25:47

of movies.

25:48

Superman,

25:50

Superman. You mean, you

25:53

think I'm Superman.

25:56

He's truly an American icon,

25:58

definitely. And he

26:00

was drummed up and made famous by kids.

26:03

Here's my friend, Bradigan.

26:05

These two kids who had nothing

26:07

created this. And what a

26:09

story that is. And it is a big corporate

26:12

logo now, but Superman started

26:14

in somebody's bedroom on

26:17

a piece of paper with a pencil. So many

26:19

of those kids reading him in the 30s

26:22

were first-generation Americans too,

26:24

and they knew what it felt like.

26:26

And it just so happens, I know one of these kids

26:29

pretty well. He's not a kid anymore

26:31

though.

26:32

My name is Richard

26:34

G. Huggs,

26:36

but I'm known as Dick or Dickie.

26:38

My grandpa Dickie is 92 years old, and

26:41

his parents and grandparents came to the US

26:44

around the same time Joe and Jerry's parents came,

26:46

also fleeing antisemitism

26:48

in Europe. My mother was born

26:50

in a small town in Poland. The

26:53

town that she grew up in was probably 70

26:55

or 80

26:56

percent Jewish.

26:58

So when and

27:00

why did her family come to America?

27:04

Well, clearly it was due to

27:06

pogroms that would occur from time to time

27:08

in that area of Poland. Did

27:10

your parents

27:11

speak Yiddish to each other? They spoke English?

27:13

My parents spoke English. But

27:16

if they didn't want me to understand what they were talking

27:19

about, they would speak Yiddish. Of

27:21

course that led me to understand that Yiddish.

27:26

And they didn't realize that they

27:28

were educating me at the time. Sneaky.

27:32

So sneaky. It was very, very tricky.

27:35

Because I didn't let on, I knew it was all about.

27:39

It's interesting, I remember my mother

27:41

telling me the story when she first came to

27:43

this country. And the

27:46

school system enrolled her in kindergarten.

27:49

But she was really, really

27:52

offended because she was seven

27:54

years old. She

27:56

could read, write, not

27:58

English.

28:00

And that's why they put her

28:03

in the kindergarten class because she's bigger

28:05

than everybody else and older. And

28:10

assigned things that were

28:12

too simple for her.

28:13

So she was really offended by that. She

28:16

worked very hard to learn English in

28:18

order to get into the proper

28:20

grade. So I said, Mom, you

28:23

didn't need to be ashamed. She said I didn't

28:26

speak the language. I said, well,

28:28

no, but you spoke a lot of other languages. You

28:31

spoke Polish. You spoke

28:33

Ukrainian. You spoke German.

28:35

You spoke Yiddish. And you

28:38

could read and write in all those languages. My

28:41

parents were very patriotic

28:43

for

28:43

America. And they

28:45

recognized the difference, especially

28:48

my mother, from where they came and where they ended up.

28:50

Dickey and his friends grew up in a primarily

28:53

Jewish Minneapolis neighborhood. They

28:55

heard stories about Europe and carried

28:58

on in the same Jewish traditions. At

29:00

the same time, they were embracing America

29:03

and Superman.

29:05

He looked like he was a really cool guy. I

29:07

couldn't get my hair to quite look like

29:09

that though. Or my

29:12

muscles.

29:13

And you

29:16

dressed as him for Halloween?

29:18

Yes, I decided I would be Superman.

29:21

My mother helped me find the Superman

29:23

outfit. But the custom

29:25

then was to wear white socks. So I wore white

29:28

socks over my booties.

29:32

I think it detracted a little bit

29:37

from being Superman.

29:41

But the girls at the

29:43

party all thought it was daring. And

29:45

the guys all thought I was silly.

29:48

My grandpa

29:51

Dickey and his friends felt a special

29:53

connection to Superman.

29:54

We identified the authors,

29:57

the story writer and the artist.

30:00

as a couple of young Jewish guys.

30:03

So they became heroic in their

30:05

own way, to me at least. How did

30:07

you know they were Jewish? By their names.

30:12

So if you had the last name Siegel and Schuster,

30:14

you were Jewish.

30:14

Yes, I did. And that was easy to

30:16

identify with

30:18

the fact that

30:19

it was written by a couple

30:21

of young Jewish guys and

30:24

I could understand what was going through their minds.

30:27

Superman resembled

30:29

a

30:30

huge,

30:31

powerful

30:32

guardian against

30:35

crime, against

30:37

evildoers, protected

30:40

the innocent. It was easy to identify

30:42

with a hero like that.

30:44

There were kids like Dickie all over

30:46

the U.S. and they loved Superman.

30:50

Comics featuring Joe and Jerry's creation

30:52

were flying

30:53

off the shelf. You

30:56

have action comics, what was Superman?

30:58

Sure do kid, that'll be 15 seconds.

31:01

Superman was an instant hit,

31:03

but back then there were no computers or social

31:06

media to see how well something was doing. So

31:08

how did they know it was an instant hit? Well

31:11

my friend Brad Ricke has

31:13

a story. So there's this story that

31:16

the head of the comics company

31:18

at the time wanted to know how

31:21

Superman was doing. So he had a tried

31:23

and true method of doing this. He

31:25

would leave his plush

31:28

office and walk downstairs in

31:30

New York City, walk to the corner

31:32

and he would go to the newsstand and

31:34

he would ask the guy who ran the newsstand

31:37

what's selling and he said

31:40

the one with Superman. And he

31:42

asked him who's

31:44

buying it? It's the kid. Excuse

31:47

me, do you have the comic with Superman?

31:50

Sure do kiddo. And

31:52

it was kids who got Superman

31:54

off the ground and to where

31:56

he is today. Even though superheroes

31:59

are run by. giant corporations now.

32:02

They were put there by kids first.

32:08

Okay, that is a super

32:10

de-duper cool origin story.

32:13

Thanks for sharing it with us, Molly. My pleasure.

32:16

I'm feeling really inspired now,

32:18

so I've written my own origin

32:20

story.

32:24

Joy was a little child in Tennessee.

32:27

Her parents moved to Minnesota when she was 10.

32:29

It was really hard, and Joy was

32:31

quite

32:31

sad. But then her mentor,

32:34

Kevin Dutcher, invited her to do a play,

32:37

and it changed her life. Now

32:39

she is an actor and a podcast host by

32:41

day, and a super cake-eating,

32:44

super dog-walking, super puzzle-making

32:46

genius by night.

32:47

Maybe I should get a cake.

32:54

Alia, what would your superpower

32:56

be? I have been waiting this

32:58

question all my life. I

33:02

literally have been thinking about

33:04

it for the longest time.

33:06

Oh my gosh, the anticipation!

33:09

Okay, so I feel

33:12

like my superpower would

33:14

have something that would involve

33:16

my

33:17

favorite color.

33:19

I like this

33:21

type of light purple, and

33:23

I feel like it would involve maybe something

33:26

glittery or shiny. So

33:29

it'd be like a color that would just

33:31

turn everything into that color? Yeah, kind

33:34

of like... Have you guys

33:36

seen the TV show Avatar? I've

33:38

heard of it. I don't think I've seen it. Basically,

33:40

it would look like air superpowers

33:42

from a TV show, but purple. Okay,

33:47

I get it. That's a pretty cool superpower, and there's

33:49

glitter involved, so I'm in. Love

33:52

glitter.

33:56

written

34:00

by Molly Bloom. We had help from Nico Gonzalez-Whistler,

34:03

Sandin Totten, Shayla Farzon, and Aaron Woldes-Lossie.

34:05

Anna Goldfield, Rosie DuPont,

34:07

Ruby Guthrie, and Anna Wagle. Sound

34:09

design by Rachel Breeze. Theme

34:11

music by Marc Sanchez, Beth Perlman,

34:14

is our executive producer. We had engineering

34:16

help from Alex Simpson, Anna Hoverman,

34:18

and Dave Walton. The executives in charge

34:21

of APM Studios are Chandra Cavati,

34:23

Joanne Griffith, and Alex Shaffert. Special

34:25

thanks to LuLu, Coco, Andy Doucette,

34:27

Bair Tortorello, and Caleb Wall.

34:30

If you want access to ad-free episodes

34:33

and special bonus content, subscribe

34:35

to our Smarty Paths. Check it out

34:37

at foreverago.org slash contact.

34:40

OK, Aaliyah. Ready to hear the answers

34:42

for first things first? Yeah, y'all.

34:45

Yeah, yeah. OK, so as a reminder,

34:47

we're putting these superheroes in the order they were

34:49

created. And you chose Batwoman,

34:53

Spider-Man, and then the Black Panther.

34:56

Drum roll, please. Doo,

34:58

doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo.

35:00

Oh my gosh.

35:01

Do you want to hear something nutty? You

35:04

were absolutely right.

35:06

What?

35:07

Yes,

35:08

you are a super

35:10

podcast person. Oh,

35:12

yeah. Oh, yeah. Pump it up. Pump

35:14

it up. So first, it was Batwoman.

35:17

She made her comic debut in 1956. And

35:20

like Batman, she has no superpowers,

35:22

but is very wealthy. I am all about that

35:25

life. She's also a former circus

35:27

performer. She decided to use her acrobatic

35:29

skills and money to imitate Batman and

35:31

become a costumed crime fighter, which

35:33

is amazing. And

35:36

then second was Spider-Man, who

35:38

made his debut in 1962. He

35:41

was a regular

35:41

teenage boy until he got bitten by

35:43

a radioactive spider, which gave him super

35:46

spidey powers, which we're all kind of familiar

35:48

with. I love Spider-Man. Me too. Yeah.

35:50

And then third, last but not least,

35:52

was the Black Panther, who first appeared

35:54

in 1966. His

35:56

superpowers come from the ability to harness

35:59

a powerful substance. called Vibranium

36:01

found in his homeland of Wakanda and

36:04

a magical herb that gives him superhuman strength

36:06

and senses. So what do you think about

36:08

that? You did it. You're so

36:10

smart. Well, first of all, I'm

36:12

really surprised because I've

36:15

never got first things

36:17

first right before. It's a

36:20

big day. Yeah, you... Well,

36:24

the thing is too, we were

36:24

talking about Black Panther and how we both

36:27

saw the movies.

36:27

I didn't know that it came out in the 60s. I

36:29

didn't either. Yeah, that's like a long time though. I thought it

36:32

came out in the mid 2000s. Yeah,

36:35

yeah,

36:35

but I guess it's been around for a long time.

36:38

And I'm going to have to do some research on Batwoman because

36:41

that sounds like the life I want to live. Yes.

36:45

We'll be back next week with an episode all

36:47

about the history of Thanksgiving. Thanks

36:50

for listening.