Chasing Earhart
HistorieThe world's only dedicated Amelia Earhart podcast. Part of the Chasing Earhart project.
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- S3 Ep30: The Aviator & the Showman: A Conversation with Laurie Gwen Shapiro (01:26:32)
So much of Amelia Earhart’s story lives in the spaces between facts—the hours unaccounted for, the voices never heard again, the enigmatic whispers of survival. Those unanswered questions keep us chasing, keep us listening for what might still be found. Over this rebrand, we’ve traced radio logs, scoured sonar scans off remote atolls, sat with the families who watched the world collectively hold its breath in July of 1937. We’ve pushed beyond accepted timelines, challenged the orthodox accounts. Each step has carried us further from the airport in Oakland and closer to the moment when time itself seemed to slip through her fingers. Today, we shift our focus—not to new sonar anomalies or grid searches—but to the power of storytelling itself, and the women who champion it. We welcome a guest whose entire career has orbited around truth-telling. She’s a journalist, writer, and documentarian - someone who has long been fascinated by how stories shape us—and how we shape them in turn. Her work spans genres, subjects, decades. Whether she’s exploring women's inner lives or investigating hidden histories, her lens is always clear, and always curious. In her new book, she turns her attention to reckoning with the unknown—not in search of wreckage or coordinates, but to dig into the emotional fallout, the cultural aftershocks that reverberate long after an airplane ever disappears. She’s been asking questions like, "How do we grieve someone we never knew?" "How does a myth persist when facts remain elusive?" Over the last season, we’ve heard from explorers, navigators, and forensic experts all alike. We’ve tracked timelines, re‑evaluated eyewitness accounts, and examined cryptic newspaper clippings reeking of both desperation and hope. All the while, we’ve felt the pull of Earhart’s silhouette—her strength, her ambition, her solitude, and the void she left behind. Tonight, we step back. We step into the stories left untold: letters never sent home, journals never written, and the echo of words like ‘we’re running low’ drifting in static. We’ll talk about mortality, myth-making, and memory. About how the flight of one aviatrix became a collective heartbeat for generations. Tonight's guest journey into that runway of remembrance might just teach us more about our own need to chase—to connect, to understand, to grieve. It’s part reflection, part excavation. But we’re not chasing debris this time. We’re chasing meaning. So, whether you’ve been with us since the very first broadcast, or this is your first descent into Earhart’s world, stay with me. Because these are the stories that don’t end in a disappearance. They begin to live anew—in the telling. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. From New York City, this is Laurie Gwen Shapiro. LINKS: Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING: Laurie's Official Website The Aviator & the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam, and the Marriage that Made an American Icon @ Amazon Laurie on Instagram Laurie on Twitter Laurie on Facebook 'Amelia Earhart’s Complicated Legacy and Horrible Husband' @ The NY TImes ‘The Aviator and the Showman’ Review: A Marriage in the Clouds' @ WSJ
- S3 Ep29: Amelia Earhart Myth & Memory: A Conversation with Amy Lutz (00:56:58)
When I say the Amelia Earhart/Fred Noonan case is a monster, you know I’m telling the truth. In 2017, I began my journey into this case publicly. And if there’s one thing I discovered right away, it’s that this case? The one we’ve been covering for well over a hundred episodes now? It’s full of misinformation. It’s gotten so bad that it becomes overwhelming when you start to look at it. And if you choose to answer the why to that question, you might find that maybe we’re all partially to blame for where this case currently stands. So how do we shift the narrative? Where in the world do we begin to dismantle even one of these theories? As it turns out the answer came a couple of months ago, when one of our listeners Becky Ott, posted a photo in our Facebook discussion group for Vanished. The photo was taken outside the St. Charles Missouri County Library and it was of a sign that read Discover the Past Amelia Earhart: Myth & Memory. The presenter that night is also tonight's guest. I’ve believed in synergy all my life, but I can’t explain how it works. It just does - and it almost always occurs at just the right moment, doesn’t it? Thanks to Becky’s post and her follow up with more information, I was able to connect with a guest that’s making her Chasing Earhart debut right now. And she’s about to pull the linchpin on everything you thought you knew about the Amelia Earhart case. You’re not ready for this, but we’re gonna give it to ya anyway. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. By way of St. Louis Missouri, This is Amy Lutz. LINKS: Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING: Amelia Earhart Myth & Memory by Amy Lutz @ UMSL.edu Amy Lutz on X Amelia Earhart Lives @ Amazon The Search for Amelia Earhart @ Amazon Amelia Earhart: Does Photo Show she Died a Japanese Prisoner? @ BBC Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence @ Wikipedia The Japanese Government’s Offer of Assistance to Help Find Amelia Earhart, July 1937 @ The National Archives Flight for Freedom @ Wikipedia 'Flight for Freedom,' a Film Speculation on Fate of Woman Flier, With Rosalind Russell in Lead, at the Music Hall @ The NY Times Facts and Fiction in the Search for Amelia Earhart @ Air & Space
- S3 Ep28: The Ghost of Gardner Island: A Conversation with John Kada (00:51:41)
We’re 27 episodes into my little experiment with this rebrand now - I never thought we’d still be going. It continues to baffle me. One of the things I really wanted to do when I decided to bring the show back was to make sure I brought new voices into the ongoing conversation that we’ve been having for decades. If you follow the pattern closely though, these last 27 episodes tell a bigger story. And if you’re really keen, you might notice that I like to do my best to manifest guests on this show. My manifesting must have been working overtime, because tonight’s guest has been a long time coming. You might have heard of his blog - It’s called the Ghost of Gardner Island. And there are an awful lot of people that will tell you that the work that’s featured there is nothing short of a master-class in research. Tonight, we run through the details of an investigation that began with little more than a follow up question and ended with a reversal in direction for one of Castaway's marquee artifacts - one thought to have belonged to navigator Fred Noonan. Some might call him a disrupter of sorts - a man whose own work has rattled the cages of one of this case's biggest summations. Others refer to him as one of the brightest Earhart researchers to come along in decades. And I tend to side with those guys. If we’ve done our best to showcase why castaway makes sense for the ultimate explanation of Earhart and Noonan’s demise, consider tonight a rebuttal of sorts and then, you tell me. Say his name, and he shall appear. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. From New York City, this is John Kada. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING John's The Ghost of Gardner Island Blog The 1940's Sextant Box Identified? @ Tom King's Blog Bushnell Sextant Box @ TIGHAR's Official Website Luke Field Inventory @ TIGAHR's Official Website BVARC Dec 2020 Tom NY0V An HF Systems Engineering Approach in the Search for Amelia Earhart’s L10E @ YouTube Richard Blackburn Black, USNR @ USAS1939 Amelia Didn’t Know Radio by Captain Almon A. Gray, U.S. Naval Reserve (Retired) @ The U.S. Naval Institute's Official Website
- S3 Ep27: In the Palaces of Crowded Kings: A Conversation with Kenton Spading (00:41:08)
Several years ago, I started hearing about a man making his way through the Amelia Earhart/Fred Noonan disappearance case. What caught my attention wasn’t just his research—it was the way his name kept coming up. From the moment I became involved in this story, I’ve been drawn to the lesser-known nuances that make up the towering mystery of Amelia Earhart. As I got to know people in the field, one name surfaced repeatedly. No matter the theory, no matter the angle, everyone seemed to be talking about the same guy. He’s written books, published papers, and contributed to nearly every version of this story—including his appearance on Vanished: Amelia Earhart, where he explored a well-known collection of bones discovered on Nikumaroro. That discovery, made by British colonial officer Gerald Gallagher, remains one of the most hotly debated pieces of evidence in this case. Were those bones the final remains of Amelia and Fred, stranded castaways on a remote Pacific island? Or is the truth something else entirely? When I looked into his work, I immediately understood why he was so widely respected. He doesn’t care about being right. He thinks bigger. His neutrality has allowed him to move freely across this story, collaborating with some of the most prominent figures in the investigation—people who sit in opposing camps, defending starkly different theories. How does someone do that? How do you keep an open mind in a case that seems determined to pull you down an endless rabbit hole? Tonight, we find out. It’s time to open your ears and your mind. We’re making stops on Nikumaroro, Orona, and Buka—by way of St. Paul, Minnesota. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. This is Kenton Spading. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING A Lost Sailor or Amelia Earhart? Lost Norwich City Crewmen: Potential Sources of the Human Remains Discovered on Gardner Island (now Nikumaroro Island) in 1940 @ Academia.edu St. Paul employee part of team searching for Amelia Earhart @ US Army Corps of Engineers Null Hypothesis @ Wikipedia Amelia Earhart's Shoes: Is the Mystery Solved? @ Amazon Vanished: Amelia Earhart "Left for Dead" (Part Two) @ Spotify The Chater Report @ TIGHAR's Official Website
- S3 Ep26: Let A Million Flowers Bloom: A Conversation with Dr. Tom King (00:24:16)
If you’ve ever heard me guest on other podcasts or in media of any kind, you’ve heard the story of how this podcast all started for me. But just in case you haven’t, here it is. The Chasing Earhart project (which this podcast is a part of) officially launched in 2017. But nine years before that, I started what I often refer to as the pre-research phase - a part of the project that lasted a little bit longer than the time we’ve been public. During that time, I made a list of 25 original guests that I felt I needed to convince to come on board and help me tell the most robust version of this story that, at that time, I felt I could. When we decided to go public, I began sending out emails, making cold calls and trying to pull strings as a nobody with no experience and no recognizability in relation to the case. I contacted everyone on my list with basically the same request. Come on my show, talk to me about your research and give me an opportunity to give you a platform that I felt would end up being unique once we gained some traction. Of all the people I reached out to, perhaps one man stood out more than most when it came to his approach and his notoriety in the case. He’s a decorated archaeologist with one of the most impressive resumes that I’ve ever seen. And we had a connection through the University of California Riverside, from which he earned his PhD in anthropology in 1976. In his teens, he organized the Society for California Archaeology and he’s the former senior Archaeologist for the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, better known to this audience by its famous acronym TIGHAR. He’s authored countless papers, written a pair of books - both fiction and non fiction and is perhaps the most well versed authority on the island of Nikumaroro. He was also the very first guest I ever featured on this podcast, over seven years ago. When I reached out to him initially, I remember telling my wife that we’d likely never hear back. After all, what business did someone like me have, in having a conversation with a man of his stature for a case I was so fascinated by? To my surprise, he said yes and we went on to have what is still the most listened to episode of this entire podcast. Since then, he’s gone on to guest on the show a couple more times, and he was also the first guest I asked to appear on our Chasing Earhart Discussion panel in Atchison, Kansas in 2018. When I came calling again for Vanished, he was in, and he gave some of the most important testimony that, that series has ever seen. I owe a lot to him. And tonight, after six years away from the show, he’s returned to catch up with me in what I’m referring to as a career retrospective when it comes to his involvement in the Amelia Earhart/Fred Noonan disappearance case. I didn’t know it when I started this rebrand 25 episodes ago, but coming full circle has become a dominating theme throughout. Tonight, in perhaps one of the most special conversations I’ve had on this show, I welcome him back into the fold to discuss his thoughts on castaway, and gain some surprising insight into his feelings on the case to be made for Nikumaroro. He’s one of the most highly respected people in his industry and his name will forever be synonymous with Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan. Listen to the following conversation closely - you’re all about to learn something valuable. And I hope you take it to heart. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. From Silver Spring, Maryland, this is Dr. Tom King. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING Dr. Tom King's CRM Plug Blog "The Continuing Search for Amelia Earhart: An Interview with Tom King" @ The Archaeology Channel Dr. Thomas King Lecture on Amelia Earhart Recorded November 11, 2009 @ Texas State University Amelia Earhart Unrescued @ Amazon Amelia Earhart's Shoes: Is the Mystery Solved? @ Amazon Thirteen Bones @ Amazon Amelia Earhart on Nikumaroro: A Summary of the Evidence @ Academia.org Chasing Earhart: The Discussion Panel @ Chasing Earhart on YouTube Castaway: A Conversation with Dr. Tom King @ Chasing Earhart Niku IX Recap: A Conversation with Dr. Tom King & Andrew McKenna @ Chasing Earhart Amelia Earhart Unrescued: A Conversation with Dr. Tom King @ Chasing Earhart
- S3 Ep25: The Taraia Object: A Conversation with Dr. Richard Pettigrew (00:40:18)
In 2021, I had a conversation with brothers Mike and Robert Ashmore regarding a highly curious satellite image they’d discovered in a lagoon on an island that’s gotten a lot of play in this Earhart investigation over the years. It’s been some time since that interview and the wheels of this case turn slowly……but they do turn. Tonight, in a follow up to that episode, I welcome a man that has been on my radar for years, and over those years, we’ve talked off and on about him being a project guest but we wanted to wait until just the right moment for him to make his debut. Fortunately, now is that moment, and we owe it to that conversation with the Ashmore brothers from over 3 years ago. That satellite image they stumbled across? Now has a name and a true blue expedition out to Nikumaroro to investigate it. It’s called the Taraia object. He’s been named dropped for years by multiple guests. Tonight, one of the most decorated archeologists we've ever had on the show makes his Chasing Earhart debut to discuss a brand new expedition out to a very familiar place with an entirely new goal. This case has a way of bringing things full circle, and boy are we completing one of those tonight. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. From Eugene Oregon by way of the Archeology Channel, this is Dr. Richard Pettigrew. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING The Taraia Object: Amelia Earhart’s Aircraft? Official Expedition Website The Archaeology Channel's Official Website "New Expedition Hopes to Find Amelia Earhart's Plane" @ Inside Edition on YouTube "Oregon archaeologist to embark on expedition to find Amelia Earhart’s long-lost plane" @ The NY Post Heritage Broadcasting's Official Website "The Last Flight: Local Organization Searching for Amelia Earhart" @ KLCC "The Continuing Search for Amelia Earhart: An Interview with Tom King" @ The Archaeology Channel "The Road to Amelia: A Conversation with Mike & Robert Ashmore" @ Chasing Earhart RECON Offshore's Official Website Aerial Tour of Nikumaroro @ TIGHAR's YouTube Channel Lost & Found - 1938 Nikumaroro New Zealand Images @ TIGHAR's Official Website
- S3 Ep24: The Amelia Six: A Conversation with Kristin L. Gray (00:23:27)
If you’ve ever attended the annual Amelia Earhart festival in Atchison Kansas, then you're familiar with an event that’s been a staple of that weekend every year since its inception. It’s called Breakfast with the Books. An event that brings Amelia Earhart authors to the town where the legend began to present their stories and discuss AE’s enduring legacy. A couple of years ago, while I was holding my event for Rabbit Hole, my next guest was there as a featured author for Breakfast with the Books in presentation of a story that we’ll be discussing tonight. She’s crafted one of the most clever ideas for a work of fiction that I’ve ever read and if you’re an Amelia Earhart fan, you’ll be absolutely thrilled at the way it’s presented and the attention she’s paid to all the little details that have helped make Earhart’s legend grow for almost 90 years. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like for Amelia Earhart to meet Nancy Drew or Clue, get ready, because this is a mystery within a mystery, and it’s set in one of the most iconic Earhart landmarks in the entire world. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. This is Kristin Gray and The Amelia Six. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished on Facebook Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING Kristin Gray's Official Website The Amelia Six @ Amazon The Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum's Official Website Discover Amelia Earhart's Goggles @ Google Arts & Culture Kristin on Facebook Kristin on X Kristin on Instagram Kristin on Goodreads
- S3 Ep23: Recovery: A Conversation with Bill Snavely (00:52:17)
In August of 2017, I helped introduce the world to a man that had been quietly working on an idea that could blow the wheels off the Amelia Earhart/Fred Noonan story. He’d recently put out a book via the Paragon Agency called Tracking Amelia Earhart: Her Flightpath to the End. I happened to know the publisher of that book, Doug Westfall, who I’d met just a few months earlier and it was at that meeting that I first learned of tonight’s guest. Once I got his number, I gave him a call, and then I read that book. There aren’t too many moments in this whole thing that I can remember my exact thoughts at an exact point in time. But this one? I know because I wrote it down. A singular question. And here it is. “Why doesn’t everybody know about this?!” At the end of tonight, you’ll know two things. One - we have an aircraft off the coast of Buka, sitting a little over 100 feet down with a remarkable set of similarities to the holy grail of aviation. That’s a fact. And it’s inescapable now. And two - we’re gonna go get it. And in doing so, we’re going to mount the most incredible cross theory expedition this case has ever seen. They do say it takes a village. You’ve heard from everyone around him, some of the key names involved in Buka III, and you’ve even heard from some detractors who’ve certainly shared their skepticism on what’s become a very curious wreck site in an area of the world that nobody had ever looked in, until he started looking over 15 years ago. We have a plane to catch. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. From Salisbury, Maryland, this is Bill Snavely. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished on Facebook Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING Project Blue Angel's Official Website (Updating Soon!) Tracking Amelia Earhart: Her Flightpath to the End @ Specialbooks.com Lost in Flight: Amelia Earhart Giving Cover as a Decoy for a Spy Plane @ Specialbooks.com Tracking Amelia Earhart: Her Flightpath to the End @ Chasing Earhart Buka III: Bill Snavely, Chris Williamson & the Dependable Engines Association @ Chasing Earhart The BEA Official Website
- S3 Ep22: The Plot Thickens: A Conversation with Tony Romeo (00:32:31)
Nearly a year ago, the Amelia Earhart story was rocked by a mysterious and compelling sonar image produced by ocean exploration company Deep Sea Vision. The suspiciously plane-shaped image taken in an area out in the Pacific near Howland Island, rattled the case to its core, and forced a full investigative stop while the world anxiously awaited a confirmation. As history was potentially unfolding, I welcomed Deep Sea Vision’s CEO, Tony Romeo to the podcast in his Chasing Earhart debut - and we discussed the possibility of his find being the beginning of the end for the Amelia Earhart/Fred Noonan disappearance case. Well, you know how that goes. Tonight, 10 months after that episode was recorded, Tony returns to look back in retrospect on that conversation, and discuss the most recent developments in the deep ocean search for the holy grail of aviation. You know, people say this case is cursed. You think there’s something to that? Just when you think the investigation may be over, it throws us yet another curve ball and puts us all right back where we were before. The plot thickens, indeed. Let’s get to work. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. Fresh back from deep in the Pacific Ocean, this is Tony Romeo. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished on Facebook Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING Is This Amelia Earhart’s Long-Lost Plane? @ The Wall Street Journal Deep Sea Vison's Official Website Ocean exploration company's possible proof of Amelia Earhart's wrecked plane nearly vanished: report @ Fox News Researchers Thought They Found Amelia Earhart’s Missing Plane. It Turned Out to Be a Plane-Shaped Pile of Rocks @ Smithsonian Magazine The Beginning of the End: A Conversation with Tony Romeo @ Chasing Earhart
- S3 Ep21: Turning Point: A Conversation with Tom Dettweiler (00:40:42)
We’ve all been on a pretty incredible run lately. This little rebrand idea for the show I had about a year ago, was only supposed to be a couple of new episodes. Never in a million years did I think we’d still be going with more debuts, returning guests and new revelations. The last year has been one of the most tumultuous years in the history of this Earhart game and I’ve learned that in this story, the twists and turns are never over. There are very few people whom I consider to be giants in this case. And tonight’s guest is certainly no exception. He’s got dual master’s degrees in marine science and ocean engineering with a year of his education coming courtesy of Purdue University, interestingly enough and he’s used those degrees to go on to create perhaps the most impressive resume ocean exploration has ever seen. He worked with Jacque Cousteau on the search for the world famous Calypso, and was the operations manager for Bob Ballard’s historic Titanic discovery. And in 1999, he was also instrumental in the discovery of the Dakar - an Israeli submarine that had been missing without explanation for decades. Incidentally, that was the same year that Dana Timmer led the first deep ocean expedition in an attempt to locate Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan’s lost Electra which at that time, had been missing for 62 years. When they say it can’t be done - when they say it’s impossible, Tom Dettweiler says, “well, we’ll just see about that.” 6 years after his debut on the show, he returns to us now to discuss the status of the white hot deep ocean search for Earhart & Noonan, the state of the case as a whole and to give us all a much needed dose of his legendary eternal optimism. And we could all use some of that right now. Fresh back from the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean, this….is Tom Dettweiler. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter Vanished Facebook Group SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING Tom Dettweiler at the Official Website for the film, DAKAR Tom Dettweiler on LinkedIn Nauticos Official Website
- S3 Ep20: One More Good Flight: A Conversation with Ric Gillespie (00:54:32)
The longer this rebrand goes, the more I continue to be surprised. Years ago, I reached out to a man that was a part of my original 25. He’s perhaps the most well known name in the entire Earhart case. Some people also consider him to be a bit of a polarizing figure. When I reached out, I was a nobody - I had no contacts, no experience except my own handful of years in pre-research and I had no expectations about receiving a response. To my surprise, he reached right back out and we began a dialogue. We’ve had our differences over the years, but to his credit, and my surprise, he’s now returned to the show after a 6 year hiatus to discuss the case for the castaway hypothesis, and his new book that is being discussed as his swan song to the Amelia Earhart story. This is a sentence I thought I’d never utter on this show again. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. From TIGHAR HQ in Oxford PA, this is Ric Gillespie. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter Vanished Facebook Group SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING One More Good Flight: The Amelia Earhart Tragedy @ Amazon Finding Amelia: The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance @ Amazon TIGHAR's Official Website The Post - Loss Radio Signals @ TIGHAR's Official Website The Radio Logs of the USCG Itasca @ TIGHAR's Official Website Have We Really Found Amelia Earhart's Bones? @ The Guardian Did Amelia Earhart land on Gardner Island? TIGHAR explains hypothesis in-depth | LiveNOW from FOX @ YouTube Finding Amelia with Hard Facts and Sound Science - Ric Gillespie at NEAM @ YouTube Post Loss Radio: A Conversation with Ric Gillespie @ Chasing Earhart
- S3 Ep19: Howland Island Landing: A Conversation with Dana Timmer (00:26:17)
Over 15 years ago now, I sat down to make a list of dream participants for what would become the Chasing Earhart project. I came up with a list of 25 names and on that list was a man who’s been associated with the search for Amelia Earhart since the first deep ocean expedition for her took place in 1999. In fact, he’s the man who led that search almost 25 years ago. In that time, every search that's included the pacific ocean near Howland, has come calling - requesting consultation on their efforts in the potential discovery of the holy grail of aviation. He’s a pilot, navigator, sailor and adventurer. And he’s a giant in the story of the search for two missing aviators, lost to history. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. From Mission Bay San Diego, this is Dana Timmer. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished on Facebook Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter Vanished Facebook Group SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING This man is asking for $2 million on Kickstarter to Find Amelia Earhart’s Plane @ The Verge An Exploration Team Believes They Found Amelia Earhart’s Missing Plane. Here’s Why @ Amelia Earhart's Official Website Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea @ Amazon
- S3 Ep18: Parallels: A Conversation with Amelia Rose Earhart (00:38:47)
In 2014, as this project was in pre-research, the world was fixated on an around the world flight that dominated the media and much of the aviation related conversation that year. Chief among the many reasons why was the pilot - a woman who shares a namesake with the biggest aviation icon to ever fly the skies. On July 11th, 2014 Amelia Rose Earhart completed her world flight without incident and touched down on the same runway in Oakland, Ca where her namesake departed 77 years earlier. In many ways, Amelia Mary Earhart got her second chance and returned home that day. It’s been 10 years since that historic world flight, and tonight an absolute force for aviation enters the conversation with a literal one in a million perspective. A woman that shares so many parallels, you’ll swear you’re hearing from a modern day counterpart for the biggest aviation icon of all time. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. This is Amelia Rose Earhart. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished on Facebook Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter Vanished Facebook Group SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING Amelia Rose's Official Website Learn to Love the Turbulence: “Flight lessons” on Becoming the Pilot in Command of Your Own Journey @ Amazon Signed Copies Here 2024 Amelia Earhart Pioneering Achievement Award Revealed @ Atchison Globe Amelia Rose Earhart’s Flight Around the World and Into History @ Observer.com
- S3 Ep17: 76 Brooks Street: A Conversation with Margie Arnold (00:50:50)
One of my very favorite parts of the rebrand for this show has been the flood of new voices that we’ve been able to bring into the ongoing conversation regarding the life, legacy and disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Over the years, a lot of attention has been paid to AE’s upbringing in Atchison, Kansas - and for good reason. Every year, thousands and thousands of visitors flock to the beautiful Earhart home positioned on the Missouri River that served as home base during Amelia’s early years. If Atchison helped form Amelia, the girl, then 76 Brooks Street in West Medford Massachusetts, helped form Amelia the legend. And that is where tonight’s guest enters the chase. For over 15 years now, Margie Arnold has been studying the life and legacy of Amelia Earhart with a recent particular interest in the home AE was living in, when her life and aviation history changed forever. Tonight, we shine the spotlight on a period of Amelia’s life that will shape how you’ll see her, in more ways than one. You’re all about to take part in a master class on the legacy of Amelia Earhart in one of the most passionate debuts this show has ever seen. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. This is Margie Arnold. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished on Facebook Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter Vanished Facebook Group SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING Amelia Earhart & the Denison House @ The Social Welfare History Project Amelia Earhart got her flying start in Medford @ ItemLive Amelia Earhart and the mayor of Medford @ Universal Hub Trophy, City of Medford, Amelia Earhart @ Air & Space The Amelia Earhart Murial @ Medford Arts Council Around Quincy, aviator Amelia Earhart was just 'Miss Amelia' @ The State Journal Register
- S3 Ep16: The Circumnavigator’s Paradox: A Conversation with Liz Smith (00:50:53)
“It is interesting to note that because of Earhart and Noonan’s particular course, they did cross local midnight on their flight path causing the local date to move forward one day and, for several hours, the pair was alive on July 3rd – one day after they officially disappeared.” Over the last few months of recording this show, I’ve started hearing from dozens of people either by email or by phone that have all been asking me to check out a blog that’s flown under the radar of constant Earhart sites I scour on a regular basis. Old school pilots, navigators, HAM radio operators, people with extensive military and government backgrounds have all emailed, called, and praised her work and her approach. Now tonight, she’s finally arrived. Her name is Liz Smith. Remember that name. Because after tonight, you’ll never forget it. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. This is Liz Smith. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished on Facebook Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter Vanished Facebook Group SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING Liz Smith's Date Line Theory Blog Liz Smith @ LinkedIn Liz Smith @ Nautilus Live Marine Robotics Company Hopes It Has Solved Amelia Earhart Mystery @ AirOnline Amelia Earhart: The Mystery Solved by Elgen & Marie Long @ Amazon
- S3 Ep15: Sky Walker: A Conversation with Bram Kleppner (00:27:01)
You know, anytime I get the chance to sit down and record another conversation for this show, I consider it an honor. I try to never forget why I’m doing this. The reasons are very important to me. In all the conversations we’ve had for this show, we’ve only ever had one of Amelia’s family members as a guest - that was back in 2018 when Amy Kleppner - daughter of Muriel Earhart Morrissey and the niece of Amelia Earhart appeared on the show to talk about the incredible lives of both Amelia and her sister Muriel. Tonight, I’m proud to say that another of Amelia’s family has finally arrived. Bram Kleppner is Amelia Earhart’s great nephew and he’s also become the spokesperson for the Earhart family’s position when it comes to everything from Amelia’s legacy to the many disappearance theories that often crop up in the news - most recently, the potential discovery of the world’s most famous missing aircraft by Tony Romeo and Deep Sea Vision. One of the most asked questions I get is for me to speculate on how AE’s family might feel about a given story, idea or piece of information. Well, why hear it from me? I’ve got a better idea. This is Bram Kleppner. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished on Facebook Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter Vanished Facebook Group SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING "Amelia Earhart's relative says new sonar images could be aviator's vanished plane" @ Business Insider Episode 8: Amelia Earhart Part II: The Lady’s Legacy @ Nat Geo
- S3 Ep14: The Beginning of the End: A Conversation with Tony Romeo (00:37:12)
About 2 years ago, my book Rabbit Hole: The Vanishing of Amelia Earhart & Fred Noonan was released, and I could only think of one place to launch it - Atchison Kansas, during the Amelia Earhart festival. It remains as one of my very favorite moments of this entire crazy ride. I knew then, that a deep ocean search was about to take place somewhere off the coast of Howland island - a destination that has now become both ground zero for crash and sink, and this investigation as a whole. While we were there, we met tonight’s guest. Two weeks ago, Deep Sea Vision, and its CEO Tony Romeo produced a sonar image of what appears to be a mysterious object 16,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific - and that image has the entire planet talking. Tonight, in a conversation that will rattle this story to its core, Tony makes his Chasing Earhart debut to discuss crash and sink, the legacy of Amelia Earhart and a piece of evidence that could spell the beginning of the end for this story and stop the chase, forever. The wait is over. The time is now. Welcome back to the Chasing Earhart podcast. This is Tony Romeo. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished on Facebook Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter Vanished Facebook Group SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING Is This Amelia Earhart’s Long-Lost Plane? @ The Wall Street Journal Deep Sea Vison's Official Website Ocean exploration company's possible proof of Amelia Earhart's wrecked plane nearly vanished: report @ Fox News
- S3 Ep13: Sharpshooter: A Conversation with Jennifer Taylor (00:35:31)
Of all the people I’ve met during my experience running the Chasing Earhart project, there is one person that you may be surprised to know has never been on this show, despite how close we’ve become over the years. We’re about to right that wrong, right now. In 2019, when I reached out to her, she had no iron in this fire, and very little knowledge on just how big this story had become. But she dove head first into it anyway, working alongside me on a project that would become the foundational season for our show, Vanished. Listeners of that show will be very familiar with who’s about to enter the chat. And if you’ve never heard her before, get ready. Because Jennifer Taylor is about to hit you - HARD. Welcome back to Chasing Earhart. This is Jen Taylor. LINKS Our Website Vanished on Twitter Vanished on Instagram Vanished on TikTok Vanished on Facebook Vanished Facebook Discussion Group Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter Vanished Facebook Group SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING Is This Amelia Earhart’s Long-Lost Plane? @ The Wall Street Journal Liz Smith’s Dateline Theory Blog Tantalizing Theories About the Earhart Disappearance @ History Expedition Amelia @ Disney Plus
- S3 Ep12: The Truth is How You See It: A Conversation with Chris Hare (01:02:35)
Several years ago, during the first season of Vanished, I met a historian and researcher out of the UK that immediately caught my interest. Tonight, you’ll see why. We’ve got a very kindred fascination and love for the Earhart story, and some of the behind the scenes work he’s been quietly doing is the exact representation of what historical research should look like. Chris Hare is a digger. And tonight, we’re all about to get a lesson on how a modern day researcher investigates a monster of a case. Here’s a little tease. It begins, like all things with, how you see it. Tonight, we’re across the pond in the UK. And we’re bringing the bombshells. This is Chris Hare. LINKS Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter Vanished Facebook Group SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING Letter from P. V. H. Weems to Amelia Earhart Offering Navigational Instruction @ The Smithsonian The Chater Report @ TIGHAR's Website Kelly Johnson @ Linda Hall Library Professor Dame Sue Black @ St. John's College Oxford The Cross/Wright Report: The Nikumaroro bones identification controversy: First-hand examination versus evaluation by proxy — Amelia Earhart found or still missing? The Jantz Report: Amelia Earhart and the Nikumaroro Bones: A 1941 Analysis versus Modern Quantitative Techniques Earhart and the French Connection @ Mike Campbell's Blog
- S3 Ep11: A Little Push: A Conversation with Jill Meyers (00:37:00)
Jill Meyers is a public speaker, mentor, aerospace engineer and so much more. You can learn more about her and tonight's conversation at: LINKS & SHOW NOTES Her Official Website Jill Meyers on LinkedIn Jill Meyers on Instagram SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING 'Katharine Wright Trophy Honors Jill Meyers, Aeronautical Engineer and Pilot' @ Flying Magazine's Official Website 'AeroTime names latest Aviation Achievement Award recipient as Jill Meyers' @ AeroTime's Official Website Project Blue Angel Trailer @ YouTube Jill's First Appearance on Chasing Earhart from 09/15/18 Jill's Appearance on 'Rooted & Unwavering' from 12/08/23 Vivaldi: The Four Seasons by Nadja Salerno @ Spotify
- S3 Ep10: A Big Job: A Conversation with Dick Spink (00:33:11)
For years, I’ve been discussing a dream expedition that would bring some of this case's brightest minds together in a collaboration that could rewrite history forever. Sometimes, when you’re investigating a scene like the one unfolding in Buka, you get lucky enough to pull an ace. And boy have we ever got one for you tonight. Dick Spink is one of my very favorite people in all the Earhart story. He’s a real life Indiana Jones - a now retired high school teacher that has spent his time out of the classroom, running investigative trips all over the Marshall Islands. He’s one of the most connected people in this entire story, the face of History’s Lost Evidence, among many others, and one of the loudest voices in the room when it comes to the Japanese Capture Hypothesis. But what you don’t know is, since they originally met in 2018, Dick Spink and Bill Snavely have been talking. We’ve been name dropping his involvement for months. Now, tonight, he makes it Official. This, is Dick Spink. LINKS Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter Vanished Facebook Group Indies Trader's Official Website SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING Amelia Earhart Mystery May Have New Clue In Never-Before-Seen Photo @ YouTube
- S3 Ep9: The Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum: A Conversation with Heather Roesch (00:33:22)
If you know me, you know how much I adore the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum in Atchison Kansas. It’s a place that’s special to me for many reasons. Back in 2017, my wife and I brought our production for the Chasing Earhart documentary there, and we were welcomed with open arms. So much so, that we were allowed to shoot over 20 interview segments there over the course of that year’s Amelia Earhart Festival. At the time, the museum was in the shadow of its recently retired director and caretaker Lousie Foudary, for whom tonight’s conversation is lovingly dedicated. Six years later, I have the honor of sitting down with Executive Director for the museum Heather Roesch, who in my opinion, is doing a wonderful job of carrying the legacies of not one woman, but two. Tonight is a conversation 6 years in the making. This is Heather Roesch of the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum. LINKS The AEBM Official Website The AEBM on Facebook The AEBM on TikTok The AEBM on Instagram Amelia Earhart Stories Podcast @ Spotify SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING Could Earhart be Interred in her Birthplace’s Cellar? @ Mike Campbell's Blog
- S3 Ep8: Buka III: Bill Snavely, Chris Williamson & the Dependable Engines Association (00:40:51)
You know what’s really wild? You never know when to stop pursuing something. When it seems hopeless - sometimes, you get a hand from a source you never dreamed possible. The following audio is only possible because of the folks over at Pratt & Whitney’s Dependable Engines Association who were kind enough to invite project guest Bill Snavely to discuss the latest discoveries out at Buka - and a mysterious crash site that’s become the center of the Amelia Earhart Investigation. You’ve been asking me for years. Now, in a very special episode of the show, all that was discovered during Buka 2 is finally revealed. This is myself and Bill Snavely in a conversation with Pratt & Whitney’s Dependable Engines Association. LINKS Pratt & Whitney's Official Website SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING Lost In Flight: Amelia Earhart, Giving Cover as a Decoy for a Spy Plane @ Special Books Tracking Amelia Earhart: Her Flightpath to the End @ Special Books Rabbit Hole: The Vanishing of Amelia Earhart & Fred Noonan @ Amazon Chasing Earhart: The Discussion Panel @ YouTube Project Blue Angel Trailer @ YouTube
- S3 Ep7: Retrospective: A Conversation with Chris Williamson (00:59:59)
For over 100 episodes of this show, I’ve sat behind my microphone and asked some of the biggest names in the Earhart world for answers to the questions that have been burning in my mind all my life. Never in a million years did I ever think the show could flip the format and pull off what we’re about to do. Tonight, in a very different approach to our show, my good friends Sean Keatts and Bri Kupfer turn the tables and interview me. I said nothing was off limits. What you’re about to hear is something I never imagined would happen on this show. This is me - uncensored. For the most part. Enjoy.
- S3 Ep6: The Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum: A Conversation with Karen Seaberg & Jacque Pregont (00:31:21)
About five years ago, we visited Atchison, Kansas to film segments of our documentary during the Amelia Earhart festival. While we were there, we met two women that would become an integral part of Chasing Earhart project, working with us on events and helping us gain a sense of credibility in the Earhart historical record. While they both prefer to be behind the camera, current events have now pushed them out in front of everyone as the faces for Amelia’s legacy in Atchison and in aviation. On the eve of the grand opening for the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum in Atchison, they finally sit down with me in a conversation that for this show, is over five years in the making. This is Karen Seaberg and Jacque Pregont. LINKS Chasing Earhart on Facebook Chasing Earhart on Twitter Chasing Earhart on Instagram SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING The Official Website for The Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum AEHM on Facebook AEHM on Instagram AEHM on Twitter City commission looks ahead to Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum Grand Opening @ Atchison Globe Inside the new Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum in Kansas @ Runway Girl The International Forrest of Friendship Official Website The Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum Official Website The Amelia Earhart Festival Official Website Muriel @ the AEHM Official Website