312 - Ad Infinitum

This week, Georgia and Karen cover the kidnapping of Jody Plauché and the life of Bessie Coleman. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Hello and welcome. I'm never murder. That's Georgia Hartster. Think
that's Karen Kilgaraff.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
You're welcome as always, you know, week after week, truly
you're welcome. Yes, thank you. Still, how's it going? I
found Ted Lasso? So what do you think of Ted Lasso?

Speaker 1 (00:43):
Good? Vince. I realized that we had accidentally started it
on like episode six, so we were like, this is dumb.
And then you know, yeah, because basically deep down you're like,
I'm so confused. I don't get it.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Well, you know, it was the feel good hit of Quarantine,
Like it served that purpose so perfectly, and the idea
of it of like unrelenting, unflagging optimism and positive behavior
is really it is kind of innovative.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Yeah, it's that Midwestern niceness that sometimes we just need
in our lives. Yep, So what's up with you?

Speaker 2 (01:21):
This was very exciting. Six months ago I bought tickets
to go see this unbelievable classical pianist Igor Levitt who
was playing at Disney Hall. And because I was like,
I never do anything, and I want to do something
I'd actually be excited to do. Yeah, instead of going
to concerts with people and trying to be excited when

(01:43):
I'm actually very rarely excited. Yeah, so I got these
tickets and then I just kept thinking they were going
to get canceled because of the COVID wave and the
COVID surge and Omicron and everything. And then it came
up to the date the show and it hadn't been canceled.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah, so I grab the Great Bridge or Wineger and
we go to Disney Hall and we went to essentially
we went to the Symphony. It was the most like
hilariously fancy thing. We were totally we felt like fish
out of water. And then we realized that it's not
what you think it is, right, it's everyone's putting on

(02:24):
their best outfit. So it's not like they always dress
like that. I know, I didn't see that. I think
it's much more casual than people assume. It's not like
a night at the opera style, you know, with the
lorn yetes in the first Yeah, none of that was happening.
And it's like gown and the long gloves up to
there and like your jewels come out of your safe

(02:48):
or whatever it was. I saw almost no jewels. But
the presentation that we did see was absolutely one of
the most magical things I've ever witnessed in my life.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
It was like jaw droppingly amazing. He's the best pianist
I've ever not that I've seen that many classical pianists,
but I was just like, how someone doing that? It
was thrilling, And he got like three he got a
consistent standing ovation.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
He had to come back out three times. Oh my god.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
People were literally yelling Bravo like a movie of something
happening at the symphony.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
It was amazing. It was amazing. The thing I'm most
impressed about, and that whole thing is impressive, is that
you decided six months before that you knew what you wanted,
and you'd still be interested in doing it in six months.
I know. I'm such a like, we'll think about it
closer to Like Vince is a planner. He'll get like
up in the morning when there's like, you know, the
pre sale and get to be at six Sam or

(03:47):
it's gonna say he takes care of that, and I'm
just like, yeah, I want to go to that concert,
because knowing that a week before is when I really
know if I'm going to want to go or not.
Right yes, night before well, and I think that's kind
of always the attitude I have about it, where it's
like it's kind of a social thing. It's kind of
a where everyone else is going but for this, because
my dad and I saw this guy on sixty Minutes,

(04:10):
like he got well known because he was supposed to
go on tour in twenty nineteen and all of his
big you know, it was supposed to be like his
maybe a fancy you know, his album debut kind of
like here he is and I all got canceled because
of the pandemic. So he started giving concerts from his

(04:31):
apartment that would that were like on par So all
these people who normally would never be watching classical music
or anything along those lines suddenly started watching because it
was like yeah, as we're saying, like that's as we
all know how it was in Quarantine, where you're just
suddenly like, yes, I am interested in that. Yeah, And

(04:52):
I cannot keep watching the same things I'm watching, yes,
that are bad news constantly. I need some kind of
soul lifting fucking experience.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
And we I think everyone learned in Quarantine how the
arts save us they really just do, and that the
people that really are amazing who have dedicated their lives
to it. It's a wonder. It's a human wonder to
see it.

Speaker 1 (05:16):
So, but I was raised listening to classical music because
my dad is a total Beethoven head. Oh, Jim, Jim
is mister Beethoven. We have like paintings of Beethoven at
our house, so Jim right, So I knew.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
I was like, I may you all know these songs
if i'd jo all know the.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
Hits singing along? So yeah, I was like, Tarlie, I
was fate conducting. It was just a really it made
me realize it's like, after so long of being trapped
inside and especially in my head, it felt so healthy
to do something, not only to do something in public.

(05:58):
Everyone was masked up.

Speaker 2 (05:59):
There's all kinds of checks and stuff, checks and balances,
but then the actual experience of it is like, that's
why people are upset is because that that experience being
taken away, and some people you know, really need it
and really like really rely on it. And so to
be back in that room or I shouldn't say I'm

(06:20):
not back, I've never been there before.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
Yeah, it was and it was funny because then you
texted me right as I was sitting there and I
know You're like, you're never in my life do I
expect to text someone how are you and get a
photo of the symphony back like never ever. And at
the moment, I'm like, oh, cool, I went to the symphony.
Oh that's cool, Like I am at look at this photo.
I am at the symphony, which, by the way, I
don't think youre allowed to take photos at Disney Hall,

(06:44):
so I love, I appreciate you. I will use me.
Beforehand people were doing it, so I got one in
and it was while they were kind of like warming up,
and yeah, I got shit for doing that. The only
time I've been there to secresly Bear was it during
their performance though, Uh no, it was beforehand, and I
was so taken aback by the beauty of the room. Yeah,

(07:07):
and I sure came up and was like, put your motherfucker.
I was like, oh shame. Well. That was my favorite
part is that I get a type from Georgia that's like, hey, hey,
how are you, and I go I'm at the motherfucking symphony.
And then just it's a picture of the inside of
Disney Hall, which is the craziest thing you've ever seen. Yeah,
and then the second one is Bridger next to you,

(07:27):
smiling at the camera, which of course is just like
a joyous photo, just as joyous as the symphony to
see right, smiling face, who better asked? Smiling faces? Smiling face,
but also who better like? Because I was thinking, I
don't know anyone that would want to go with me.
This is very much my this is something I've cooked up.
And then I was like, yes, I do know someone,

(07:49):
Yes you do, Bridger. It was great. We had a
really good time. And also it went by so fast.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Really, I thought it was gonna feel really long or
like stuffy or something, and it was thrilling.

Speaker 1 (08:05):
It felt like twenty minutes. It was amazing. What's his
name again? The conductor? You love it? Igor love it?
The pianist, Yes, I think you say pianist. I think
so too, but I don't care. Rad Oh so I'm
not watching Game of Real quick Game of Thrones update,
oh mailed, I'm not bailing. I just like needed a

(08:25):
minute because it was just like so clangy with the
fucking swords, and also I'm not that into Skeleton's sword fighting.
I think it's I think you're watching Jason and the
Argonauts I think something happened you turn the channel. No, No,
the White Walkers are like skeletons. Oh, I just reminds
you of like Pirates of the Caribbean movies, which I

(08:47):
fucking can't stand, and like skeletons sword fighting. It just
like looks so stupid and surreal to me. It's so
a hard time with that. So I'm just kind of
watching like Antenan increments. Sure. And then I found out,
hold on, are you looking up a name? I am? Yeah,
if you're waiting for the twenty year anniversary to watch
Game of Thrones, this will be a spoiler. This is

(09:08):
a spoiler. Okay. So when John Snow's one true love,
Egret died, was of course heartbroken. Yeah, and then someone
commented that they're married in real motherfucking life, and I
almost lost my mind. I looked up photos and was
just like so overjoyed to see them on red carpets.

(09:29):
All that can clean. That's why that love affair was
so compelling on screen is because it was actually happening
in real life. Oh. I love those, I love those
love it love that she calls them John Snow first name,
last name. I've always been a job fan at all. Yep,
John Snow, it's good, so good, so good. So that

(09:50):
was That's a highlight for me. I'll get back into it.
I'm I'm just it's dragging in the middle. What's the
last episode season that everyone hates? Is it seven or nine?
I have no idea. Well, we'll get there. Wait.

Speaker 2 (10:04):
Have you seen the part where John Snow where there
he goes into battle and he's the first one on
the battlefield and they they.

Speaker 1 (10:11):
Come toward him.

Speaker 2 (10:12):
Have you got you would know it if you've seen
sword fighting, skeletons No oh no, uh.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
The like underlings or whatever. I don't where he's like,
he's protecting the wall to take over.

Speaker 2 (10:28):
You just watch him. It's almost like first person you
are going into battle.

Speaker 1 (10:32):
Oh no, I guess not.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
Okay, you have something coming up that is one of
the most no joke like, profound experiences I've ever had
watching television. The way they shoot this thing and how
it happens is I can't believe how they did it.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
It's so brilliant. Okay, I'll get there. Yeah, yeah, I'll
let you know. But it's it's too clanging right now.
Like I the other night was in such a spot
that the only thing I could figure out to watch
was all Creatures great and small. I would just I
went back in because I was like, it's perfect. I
need it to be quiet, I need it to be green. Yeah,

(11:08):
I need some British accents.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
And then yeah, maybe someone may like the late that
housekeeper that makes them dinner all the time. Is just
like yes, all that, this is what I need.

Speaker 1 (11:18):
Absolutely. Oh I found another thing. Wait.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
Oh the show that I love be Foreigners on HBO Max. Yes,
and I told you about it.

Speaker 1 (11:27):
So there's like a it's it's a guy who's from
normal from now times. He's a detective and then people
start showing up in the bay right, and they're from
three different time periods and what Some are vikings summer cavemen,
and some are from like the eighteen hundreds. Yes, there's
now a season two and I just found out like

(11:49):
a couple days ago. Nice, and I'm so excited because
they always do that like European television where they do
six episodes and you never see again, right like after
Life was like that. Yes, yeah, that sounds like in
Sino Man. Honestly, it's almost like detective in Sino Man,
but not there's less cavemen characters, and it's basically a

(12:12):
guide detective and then a Viking warrior detective. Okay, it's
a female Viking warrior detective. Oh cool, So it's pretty great.
That's what I was going to say too, is that
Ted Lasso is just this the plot of Major League
made into British a British thing? Am I wrong? I
am not wrong? You are not wrong? Right, Here's majorge

(12:38):
was one of my favorite movies as a kid. So
I'll go, I'll take it. But what about Hatty the
hottest person on the planet? God damn it, Lee shit,
I mean, it's so crazy, the appeal of that person's
I know it too, and I just can't It's like blank.

(13:01):
Everybody calls you know, everyone calls him at Goldstein. The
character name. His name is Roy Kent. Kent, fucking Roy Kent.
Is it? Wait? Is Jewish? Goldstein? If he's Jewish, I
think he is lose my mind because we get to
claim him, which is always fun. I think you do

(13:21):
get to claim him also a British Jew exciting, very fun. No,
he's amazing, and just him and his niece, it's so good,
Oh my god. And he's such a meany. It's so
fun to like watch him be soft when he and mad.

Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yes, it's great, but then like there's one scene where
he tells his needs to fuck off, but he's saying
it conversationally.

Speaker 1 (13:48):
It's so hilarious, so good. I love that character.

Speaker 2 (13:52):
My sister forced me. I have to say, I resisted
to lasso for a long time because I didn't want
to be common. I didn't want to be a people,
a person that needed tepasso.

Speaker 1 (14:04):
Yeah, it's like needing an you know, prime time like
Sit Calm. It's like I don't need big bang theory.
Like I watch heady fucking British shit, and then you're
watching like I could see the appeal of this entirely well.
And my sister. My sister does a thing where like
there's some things where she'd be like, you'll really like it,
but she'll let it go.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
But she would not let this go. And I was like, Laura,
and she's like, it's Christmas. You know you're stressed out,
blah blah blah, you need to watch this, And she
forced me to do it. And then of course then
I was watching episodes without her. She was getting we
were getting into fights because I wasn't waiting for her.

Speaker 1 (14:43):
Oh you're really fun ship. That's so funny. That's like
a boyfriend girlfriend relationship, but sisterly. Yeah, well sisters and holidays.
It's just like she had been waiting for me because
she had stopped at some halfway through and then I
just plowed pass. Was like, oh, I didn't realize pretending it.
I didn't know she was waiting for me. You just

(15:03):
made me realize have a different relationship with my family
than you because I don't. I live in the same
city as so I don't have to spend more than
four hours with them at a time, even at the holidays.
Like being stuck in a house together, being having to
be stuck in a house, which the wording tells you everything.
Do you mean staying in a house, enjoy being together

(15:26):
and then joining ones each's company like I haven't. Yeah,
it doesn't happen. I bet it's different. It is what
definitely is different.

Speaker 2 (15:36):
I mean, I'll say this, my sister and I are
we live very differently. So like by the time I
leave her house, she's so glad I'm leaving because she's
the kind of person that doesn't just clean her kitchen
every single night, but she wipes it down and then
like clorox wipes it down like she's like a weird
It's like she maybe.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
From working in restaurants or something. She's real clean. She's
like probably yes, yeah, then she's just a neat nick.
So by the time you know, week two, she's like,
I thought you said you were going to dad's. I'm
cleaning up after another teenager name my sister sirically where
I'm like, I picked up those harshy kisses rappers. What

(16:18):
do you want?

Speaker 2 (16:22):
What else I found? Okay, this will be my last
TV recommendation. This is on brit Box. I stumbled upon
this the other night and or last night. I compared
this to It was like watching Sister Wendy, except for
for ancient civilization.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
I don't know what that would be called. Yes, tell
all our child listeners, Oh yes, what Sister Wendy was
to us.

Speaker 2 (16:50):
Sister Wendy is this ass kicking British nun. She's an
art I think I don't know. She's not professor, she's
not historian.

Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yeah, this isn't this. This isn't a sitcom. By the way,
this isn't like a real person. This is a real
person who walks you through the louver like all the
great museums of the world, pointing at and showing you
and teaching you about what's amazing about like great class paintings. Yeah,

(17:19):
and she's like your British grandma. And it's like, you know,
you just when you're younger, you get stone and you
watch it or it's just like nice to put on
the background. But she doesn't. I have to say this.

Speaker 2 (17:32):
You think a Catholic nun is going to talk a
certain way about say, like you know, a nude or whatever,
and she's like, there's the way the light touches the body,
like she is about it.

Speaker 1 (17:46):
And she doesn't shy away from like the sex and
paintings or the sex in art or any.

Speaker 2 (17:52):
All the stuff that I expected. Where the first episode
I watched, I was like, go, sister, Whendy, you're doing
it for all of us.

Speaker 1 (17:59):
Yes, yeah, that's a good one to put on if
you need, Like I think nowadays it's I'm sure you
can find it on YouTube. That and we also started
watching Two Fat Ladies, which you could only find on YouTube.

Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeahing that some of those British I can't find Sister
Wendy on streaming, Like, I don't if somebody knows where
she's ciding, I think you probably have to buy it
in some way, right, But so this show that I
found is called Civilization spelled with a nests because it's
British with Kenneth Clark, and it's a dude in a
very Sister Wendy esque way, basically explaining to you how

(18:33):
we learn about ancient civilizations through art, but he's talking
as much about what was going on in the world.
So it's basically kind of like art, architecture history. I
can't even explain it because I'm not smart enough to,
but I felt like I was becoming smarter because I
watched Civilization with Kenneth Clark definitely.

Speaker 1 (18:55):
On BritBox, like like what that art meant to that
civilization and why it was profound or why whatever?

Speaker 2 (19:02):
Right exactly like it was you know, the the like
the things that are chiseled over the doorway in a
cathedral have meaning to the culture who built that cathedral
what was And he's telling you what the meaning is
and what it's based on. And it's fascinating. I mean,

(19:23):
it's unbelievable. It's just like, you know, good for those
of us who have gigantic gaps in our education.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
Yeah. And then another bonus of that is that when
like someone your dating comes over and looks at like
your watch history, they'll be like, whoa, this this person
is smart, right, look at how smart she is? Right,
and then they're just like, it's only British television all
the way across, all the way across. Should we do
exactly right? Corner? Yeah, corner, corner corner, Remember that corner corner, corner,

(19:56):
corner corner that was so long ago. The amount of
and quotes that have lived and died on the podcast,
I mean, it's crazy. It is what it's all about.
Let's see Deity to do. Oh well, great news, and
I'm very excited about this. Our podcast, our movie podcast,

(20:17):
I Saw What You Did, has been on hiatus and
they are back now. Millie and Danielle are coming back
to talk about movies, the genres, the artists, and everything
topics related to Black History Month. So they're coming back
in this month of February and their shows are going
to be centered around Black History Month, which is super cool.

(20:38):
Welcome back, you guys. We're so happy that you're back
very much. And also this podcast Will Kill You is
continuing their coverage of hepatitis and then this time they're
focusing on how discrimination impacts those experiencing the disease.

Speaker 2 (20:51):
So another fascinating lesson. Oh, also, don't forget they're in
the fan call their MFM mini minisodes so you can
get two extra hometown stories that are just for the
fan cult members. If you want to join the fan cult,
there's it's called exclusive content. We know all about it
and we provide it.

Speaker 1 (21:11):
That's right. And then also like they don't come down,
so you could there's many of them up right now,
so you could listen to mini minis fucking ad infinite
infinite all day long. Well, I think we've been doing
it for like what a year and a half. Yeah,
what's that? More infinium? Are you talking about? Infinity infinium?

(21:34):
Isn't that a word?

Speaker 2 (21:35):
Infinitum? Is that it ad infinitum? Like you can watch
you can watch them mad or listen to them ad infinitum.

Speaker 1 (21:43):
Yeah, how you say it? Yes, you need the it's
a Latin phrase, so I think you need the ad
part at the beginning. Well, that's cool. I took typing
instead of Latin in high school. I'm a real fast typer,
like one hundred and buck and twenty words a minute.

Speaker 2 (21:58):
That's and also that's you're big reader, so you get,
you get, you make up your pronunciation for reading.

Speaker 1 (22:04):
So there's merch too. There's some new patches for your
genes or your backpack. There's a fuck the Patriarchy one.
There's a locker fucking door patch, so check that out
if you want.

Speaker 2 (22:17):
Yeah, that's there's the corner for you. Corner, corner, corner,
boom boom. All right, so you're going first tonight, first today.

Speaker 1 (22:26):
On this one today and tonight add infinium. Sounds like
something from like a sci fi show, it does, or
somewhere Mian on this planet.

Speaker 3 (22:42):
Oay, all right, well today I am doing one of
these stories that you know how sometimes like places will
post like ten photos that have crazy backgrounds or whatever,
like crazy meanings.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
Yeah. I saw this one and it does have a
crazy background which IM going to tell you about. It's
the kidnapping of Jody Ploche. Trigger warning, there's some sexual
abuse of a child hit this story. The sources use
in today's episodes are a Washington Post article by Art Harris,
two ap staff articles, a son article written by Henry
Holloway Jody Ploche's website, and two all That's Interesting articles,

(23:25):
one by Tim Brinkoff and one by Kayleen Fraga, and
an advocate article written by George Morris. So here we go.
We're in the early eighties. The Ploche family is living
a pretty normal life in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The family
consists of the father, Gary. He's a heavy equipment salesman

(23:48):
and a little league baseball coach. His wife, June, had
once been an aspiring nightclub singer, but had given that
up to raise the couple's three sons and one daughter.
In early nineteen eighty three, the Ploches enrolled their sons
in this Korean style karate school run by a man
named Jeff dose It. He's a twenty four year old

(24:10):
ex marine, and immediately the boys love karate. They love him,
They feel like Jeff is their best friend, and he's
known around town as the fun loving karate teacher coach.
In August of nineteen eighty three, Gary and June separate,
partly because Juna is felt stifled for their whole marriage
because she had to give up this huge career that

(24:32):
was starting to grow, and Gary moves out of the
family home and then the karate instructor, Jeff, he starts
spending more time at the Pluchet house. June is thankful
for this extra attention that Jeff gives the family. She says, quote,
the kids like being with Jeff. He's kind and considerate.
He's a good friend who provides emotional support. It's rumored

(24:53):
and I read in some articles that June and Jeff
started a romantic relationship. It's never confirmed for sure, but
it is said that she kind of leaned on him
emotionally during this really difficult divorce. But soon June starts
to think that Jeff is spending too much time, specifically
with her eleven year old son Jody. He quit playing

(25:14):
football and basketball, so he just focused all his time
on karate, which is his favorite, and spending all his
time with what he says is his best friend, Jeff. Meanwhile, Gary,
the dad, hears disturbing news from the father of another
karate student that Jeff had been acting inappropriately with his kid.

(25:36):
The student and the father had to remove him from
the karate school. And then Gary finds out that this
isn't the only student who's been removed. There are at
least six other parents with similar stories. That's not that's
a pattern. Yeah. Gary starts telling Jeff to stay away
from his family, but Jeff ignores him, and then on

(25:57):
the morning of February nineteenth, nineteen eighty four, Jeff asks
June if he can take Jody to the school. He
wants to show them his excuses. He wants to show
them the new carpet that he's laying down at the school,
and June, totally trusting this friend of hers, says, of course.
They say they'll be back in fifteen minutes and they leave,

(26:17):
but hours later, Jody, Little Jody, and Jeff haven't return,
and June starts to worry. She calls Jeff's relatives, who
she knows she's met them before because they're very close friends.
At this point, they're in Port Arthur, which is four
hours away, and she finds out that Jeff and Jody
had been there that day, and so June calls her brother,
who's a deputy sheriff, and then she drives the four

(26:39):
hours to Port Arthur, but by the time she arrives,
Jeff and Jody are gone. And she has no idea
where they went. So June spends the next four days
thinking that Jody and Jeff will return and just hoping
for JODI's safe return. But they don't show up, and
so she finally tells Gary what happened, and they call
the authorities, who get a hold of the FBI. A

(27:00):
week later, Jeff calls June and asks her not to
tell anyone he had called. Jeff has no idea that.
Of course, the authorities are there waiting by the phone
with her, and they tell her to play along, and
so Jeff tells June that she has to bring the
other kids to la and meet him there, bring their
school transcripts, almost like they're running away, you know, and

(27:21):
starting a new life, and she wants him to come
with him. And then, on advice of authorities, June replies
that her husband ex husband, Gary might use this, you know,
craziness to get custody of all the children if you
don't bring her son back right, he says, quote, if
the court gives Gary the kids, I'll get them from him.

(27:42):
I'm tired of people saying I'm insane, and if you
say I am, you'll never hear from me. Again. So
over the next few days, June continues to play along
with Jeff anytime he calls, and then on February twenty ninth,
Jeff allows little Jody to call his mom to talk
to her for a little bit, and so authorities are

(28:03):
finally able to trace the call and they trace it
to the Samoa Motel in Anaheim, just a few blocks
from Disneyland. So they went from Baton Ridge, Louisiana and
took a bus to Anaheim. Oh my god, I know.
FBI agents raid the hotel room and arrest Jeff without incident.
Jody is returned home to his parents and Jeff is
indicted for aggravated kidnapping. So investigators speak with Jody in

(28:27):
hopes of kind of figuring out exactly what happened to him,
And as Jody talks to them, investigators quickly realized Jody
had been groomed by Jeff for some time. Jody told
them that once he was comfortable around Jeff, that's when
the inappropriate behavior began. Jeff started quote testing the boundaries.
He'd tell Jody that they needed to stretch that way,

(28:50):
if he touched Jody's genitals, then it'd be he could
say it's just an accident. If they were in the car,
then maybe Jeff would try to put his hand on
Jody's lap and then say, oh, it didn't mean to
do that, kind of like testing the boundaries. Eventually, Jeff's
starts molesting Jody, who didn't tell anyone because he thought

(29:10):
if his parents found out, they'd be really upset, and
he didn't want to get his but he still thought
of his best friend in trouble. You know. That's yeah,
because he was because the pedophile made him believe that
they were best friends. That's right. He's groomed to believe
that and protect this monster. Yep. The abuse continued escalating

(29:31):
until that day in February nineteenth, when Jeff took Jody,
you know, allegedly to see this new carpet. Jeff asked
Jody if he wanted to go to California, and Jody
said yes, and Jeff said, okay, let's you know, he says,
let's let's go, and that evening they take a bus
to Los Angeles, and along the way, Jeff shaves off
his own beard and dies Jody's blonde hair black so

(29:52):
he could pass Jody off as his son, and once
they're in LA they check into the motel. Investigators are
telling June and Gary about what Jeff did their son.
Of course, it's every parent's worst night. When Gary finds out,
he's horrified and says, I'll kill that son of a bitch.
Investigators also speak to Jeff, who openly tells them what

(30:14):
he did to Jody. He explains that he himself was
molested for years as a child. That's what led him
to become an abuser himself. When investigators are done talking
to Jeff, he continues sitting in jail awaiting extradition, which
is scheduled for March sixteenth. On that evening of March sixteenth,
Gary goes to his local bar. He's been in a

(30:36):
deep depression ever since this ordeal, and he's been hanging
out at this bar the past few nights. That night,
three states away from him, at the bar is this
executive of a local news station where Gary had once
worked as a cameraman, so they were buddies. Gary and
the bartender and this executive start talking about Jeff's extradition.

(30:58):
They find out that he's due back that evening, and
the executive calls the station to find out his exact
time that Jeff's supposed to arrive at the airport, which
is nine oh eight that night. Gary, here's the time,
and he takes off to the airport. He knows some
of the news station employees who are at the airport
waiting to film this pedophile, you know, coming back, and

(31:21):
the police officers waiting at the airport might also recognize him,
because you know, they're all local. So he puts on
a baseball cap and dark sunglasses, and he still has
to wait a little while for Jeff's plane to land,
so he gets a cup of coffee, then it goes
to the bar and has a beer, and then paces
the lobby while the camera crews set up to live
broadcast Jeff's arrival. When Gary realizes Jeff is about to

(31:46):
get off the plane, he goes to like a bank
of payphones calls a friend of his so his back
is to the camera while the group of escorting officers
are bringing Jeff in, And just as Jeff and the
police start to walk by Gary, Gary says into the
phone to his friend, I'm pulling the gun out of
my boot. You're going to hear a shot. Oh my god.

(32:07):
Gary doesn't even hang up the phone before he turns,
points the gun at Jeff's head and pulls the trigger.
And this is the photo that I saw online of
It's just like, I don't think you'd really know what
was going on. It's like, you know, the eighties, so
it's kind of grainy, and then when you know what's
happening in this photo, it's horrifying. Jeff falls to the

(32:29):
ground and Gary slams down the phone. As soon as
Major Mike Barnett sees who shot the gun, he says
to Gary, his friend quotes, son of a bitch. Why Gary,
why'd you do it? And then Gary begins to get
handcuffed and he replies if somebody did it to your kid,
you'd do it too. And camera crews have broadcast the

(32:51):
entire incident live. Oh my god, fucking imagine that's just,
oh yeah, horrible. Jeff's rushed to the hospital and he dies.
The next day. Gary's charge was second degree murder. He
tells his attorney, I just didn't want him to do
it to other kids. The next day, Gary's out on

(33:12):
one hundred thousand dollars bond, and this attorney has him
committed to a psychiatric hospital. The attorney tells the media
that Gary was pushed into a quote psychotic state after
learning exactly what Jeff did to his son, and this,
he says, left Gary unable to tell right from wrong.
So Batton Muru's residence and so many of the public

(33:33):
don't think Gary should be charged at all. Local bartender
Linda Boyd tells the Washington Post, quote, I'd have shot
him too if he'd done what they said he'd done
to my boys, only I'd a gut shot him three
or four times and he'd suffered before he died. Like
everyone is on Gary's side, you know, yeah, yeah, well

(33:55):
because I mean obviously, and that kind of like that
vengeance mentality not only is of course natural, especially for
a parent, but that's the media eats it up. So
they're not going to go and find somebody that says,
although this is horrible and I would you know, I

(34:16):
don't know what I would do if this happened to me,
it's also wrong to take a life. They're they're actually
stirring it up because, you know, especially back then, there's
I remember a couple of these stories happening where it
was like courthouse murders, yes of convicted pedophiles. There was
there was one in California, like in northern California, right,

(34:38):
it was like a two. Yeah. So here's, you know,
someone who's discussing these things, these hard facts that we're discussing.
Assistant prosecutor tells the Washington Post that they am a dilemma.
He says, quote, if we say what he did isn't wrong,
do we open the door for the husband of a
right victim or the mother of a murdered child to

(34:59):
do the same thing. Do we declare open season on
child molesters than rapists, than burglars. If the grand jury says, Gary,
what you did is forgivable, what do we do about
the next victim's revenge? Where do you draw the line?
So obviously slippery slope right there? Yeah. Yeah. Meanwhile, Jody's
dealing with the fact that his father shot and killed

(35:20):
his abuser. Jody later tells the son how he felt
about his dad killing Jeff. He said, quote, at first,
I was upset with what my father did because, at
age eleven, I just wanted Jeff to stop abusing me.
I did not necessarily die. Jody says the murder put
a wedge between him and his dad, because he's still
grappling with what exactly happened to him and what it means.

(35:43):
He's eleven and up until recently, this had been his
best friend, and like Mint, trauma upon trauma.

Speaker 2 (35:50):
That's the other piece of it, where it's revenge that
is being enacted, of course, because of the love a
father has for a son, right, but he's actually not
thinking about about the real effect that right it would
have on a child exactly.

Speaker 1 (36:04):
Jody says the murder put a wedge between him and
his dad, But finally, after a few months, Jody forgives
his father and things seemingly go back to normal. But
Jody has and never will condone Gary's behavior. So on
May sixteenth, nineteen eighty five, thirty nine year old Gary
pleads no contest to manslaughter. Three months later, he sentenced

(36:26):
to five years probation and three hundred hours of community service,
So the only jail time he spends is when he
was first arrested that weekend before he got out on bond.
The judge says sending Gary to prison won't help anyone
because he isn't at risk to commit another crime. Even
before he's finished serving his probation, Gary's life is back
to normal. He and June actually stay together after this,

(36:49):
and he spends his time fishing and cooking, and he
never regrets what he did to Jeff and says he'd
do it again if he had to. So Jody becomes
an act of it, and he turns his story into
something he could use to help others. He graduates from
Louisiana State University with miners in psychology, speech, communications, and

(37:10):
philosophy and starts working in violence prevention. For years, he
worked at a victim services center, serving as a sexual
assault counselor and prevention educator. He provided crisis intervention to
sexual assault victims, facilitated sexual violence risk reduction programs from
pre K to college, and trained police officers, hospital staff,

(37:33):
school administration, and parents on how to handle situations like his.
He said to the advocate quote, I wanted to give
victims hope, I wanted to give parents knowledge, and I
wanted outsiders to get a general understanding about sexual violence
and sexual abuse. Jody urges parents to be involved with
their children and be wary of an adult, including a

(37:55):
family member or close friend, who pays an unusual amount
of attention to the Chai, he says, and I think
this is a great quote. If someone wants to spend
more time with your kids than you do, that's a
red flag. Yeah. No, best friends between adults and eleven
year olds. It's just nope, doesn't you just that's not necessary. No.

(38:17):
On October twenty first, twenty fourteen, sixty eight year old
Gary Pliche passes away due to complications from a stroke
caused by diabetes. Following his father's death, Jody decides that
he's ready to finish of writing a book about his
experiences from over thirty five years before. He wants to
help other parents by writing it. In twenty nineteen, he

(38:38):
publishes the book, which is titled Why Gary, Why, which
is what the police officer said to Gary when he
shot Jeff. Today, he continues to present professional and college
training throughout the country about his father's actions. Jody said, quote,
I cannot and will not condone his behavior. I understand
why he did what he did, but it is more

(39:00):
important for a parent to be there to help support
their child then put themselves in a place to be prosecuted.
And that is the harrowing story of the kidnapping of
Jody Ploche. Will. That's such a good point too. It's
like that kid needed his father to be around, not
to be then in the system, and in a way, yeah,

(39:22):
he could have potentially been sent away for decades and
Jody has to deal with that trauma as well. What
I mean, it's a really good story to tell, even
though that's such a difficult like topic to talk about,
and I think such a flashpoint because it is such
it is such a difficult and horrible thing that people

(39:46):
go through. Yeah, totally, totally, and like this this kind
of like, you know, would I do the same thing
as Gary in that situation? Like I bet every fucking
parent who's been through that wants to. Of course, you
know it, it's so hard to admonish Gary for doing that.
But at the same time, yeah, we can't take justice

(40:06):
into our own hands or the whole fucking already fucked
up system collapses, right, agreed? Agreed?

Speaker 2 (40:17):
Ah, Well, it's Black History Month. It is February, the
shortest month of the year, and Black History Month. When's
that going to change? That comes up every year? Yeah, yeah,
but until it does, it is now Black History Month.
And so a long time ago, I did the story

(40:39):
of Eugene Bullard, who was the first black pilot, and
he it's his whole insane life story of going over
to France and becoming a pilot and fighting in not
only World War One but World War Two and all
the other stuff that that guy did. So in the
same thread, and I saved it when I I saw

(41:00):
it in the same thread where people were talking about
Eugene Bullard, and like how no one knew who he was.
Another name came up in that thread of a basically
kind of an unknown black hero. And so I am
today going to tell you the story of the life
of Bessie Coleman, America's first black and native female pilot,

(41:22):
whoa and her picture is so her like first pilot's
license picture is the best it is. She's wearing, you know,
a pilot's kind of like helmet from back in the day,
because it's the twenties. It's really good. So let's see
sources on this. There's a New York Times. Basically they

(41:45):
were doing a series in the New York Times called
Overlooked No More where they basically gave obituaries for people
that were not given proper obituaries the first time around,
which is super cool. Yeah, So, Daniel el Slotnik was
the writer for The New York Times for that for
Bessie Coleman's Overlooked No More. There's also the book Queen

(42:08):
Bess Daredevil Aviator by Doris l.

Speaker 1 (42:11):
Rich. There's an LA Times article by Maria Lynn Toff,
a Wikipedia page on her. The National Women's History Museum
has an article by Kerrie Lee Alexander, and the Smithsonian
National Air and Space Museum has an article about Bessie Coleman. Okay,
so it starts in nineteen nineteen. Twenty seven year old

(42:31):
Bessie Coleman is a manicurist at the White Sox barber
shop on the South Side of Chicago. So her brother
John shows up to the barber shop. He's a little drunk,
and he's reminiscing about being stationed in France during World
War One and being in the army, and he starts
teasing Bessie, giving her shit for being a manicurist and

(42:55):
saying that women in France had way more opportunities than
women in the United States, especially black women. And they
start talking about aviation and John tells Bessie black women
ain't never going to fly not like those women I
saw in France. But Bessie just smiles. She basically looks

(43:15):
at him and says, that's it. You called it for me.
She accepts her brother's challenge, and she starts saving her
money for flight lessons. No one can fucking needle you
like a sibling, right, an older brother who's a little
buzzed and acting like he's the big man because he
already served for the army in World War One. So

(43:36):
not surprising that finding someone to teach her to fly
proves harder than she first thought. She applies to program
after a program in the United States, but no flight
school here would accept her, just like her brother John
had told her, there's not a flight program in the
United States that will admit black people or women of

(43:57):
any color. But Bessie has friends and high places. One
of them is a man named Robert s Abbott, who
is the founder of the most widely circulated black owned
newspaper in the country at the time, the Chicago Defender,
and Abbot knows a thing or two about making your
way in the world when you're a quote unquote outsider,
so he encourages Bessie to apply to aviation schools in

(44:19):
France where she will be allowed to learn, and then
once she gets her pilot's license there, she can bring
her expertise back home. So he doesn't just give her
this advice, he offers to help pay for her travel
and for her school. He even puts an ad about
Bessie's plan to learn to fly in the Defender, calling

(44:40):
for more donors for her cause, and a successful black
Chicago banker named Jesse Binga comes forward and he just
immediately pays for the remainder of everything. Oh my god,
I love So she's immediately on her way, so she
has the money she needs. There's still one problem. She
has to apply to French flights applications, which means her

(45:02):
applications need to be written in French, and she doesn't
speak French. So she quits her job as a manicurist
and she takes a higher paying job as the manager
of a chili restaurant, and she basically starts saving money,
and when she finally has enough, she enrolls herself in
night classes in French at Chicago's Berlitz Language School. What's

(45:22):
the fuck? Like? Yeah, talk about kutzpa like that is that's.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
Next level she knows what she wants to do, yeah,
which is to basically make her brother John fete crow.
And she studies French for a year, basically becomes fluent,
and then she fills out all her applications and she's
finally accepted to the Kudran Brother's School of Aviation in Lacretoi, France.

(45:50):
So on November twentieth, nineteen twenty, Bessie gets on a
boat and she makes her way to the northern coastal
town of Licrotoi, where she begins a seven month aviation
course that will change her life forever. I'll give you
a little bit of Bessie's background. She was born Elizabeth
Bessie Coleman on January twenty sixth, eighteen ninety two. She

(46:11):
is the tenth of thirteen children. Her family lives in Waxahachie, Texas,
and her family is a mix of African American and
Cherokee heritage, and they work as sharecroppers in Texas. Bessie
stands out as one of the brightest students in her
class at school. She's an avid reader and she excels

(46:32):
at math. Her and her brothers and sisters have to
walk four miles each way to school, so when she
comes home from school, before she even sits down to
do her homework, she has to help the family with
the chores.

Speaker 1 (46:47):
And all the farming responsibilities. So in nineteen oh one,
her father, George, tells her mother that he wants to
move the family to what's now Oklahoma, but back then
was called Indian Territory. George's time, I heard of the
racism that he and his family have to deal with
in Texas, and since he's part Cherokee, he believes they
can find a better quality of life up north. But Susan,

(47:10):
his wife, doesn't want to leave Texas, so George ends
up leaving on his own, leaving twelve year old Bessie
and all her siblings behind. Still, Bessie excels in school
and she earns a scholarship to the Missionary Baptist Church School,
and after graduating there, she gets into college at the
Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University in Langston, Oklahoma, which

(47:33):
still exists. It's now just called Langston University. But because
she didn't get a college scholarship, she goes away to school,
but soon runs out of money and she ends up
having to withdraw after one term because I think she
probably tried to work and go to school at the
same time and couldn't do both. Okay, So now it's

(47:53):
nineteen fifteen and Bessie's brothers decide that they're going to
move from Texas up to Chicago to find more opportunity
for themselves, and Bessie also wants opportunities, so she follows
them up there. But then soon after this World War
One breaks out and her brother's enlistened in the army,
so Bessie's ends up getting left behind in Chicago to

(48:14):
make her own way, so she enrolls Chicago's Burnham School
of Beauty Culture, she gets her manicurist certification, and she
lands her job at the White Sox barber Shop. It's
the strength and perseverance that enables her to overcome any
obstacle that comes up in her life. She's basically like, here,
I am, I've got to make this work.

Speaker 2 (48:34):
What do I got to do to make it work?
And then she does it. She executes, and she's clearly
really really smart. Yeah, she can strategize and plan ahead. Okay,
so now we're back in twenty seven. Here's what I
love too, Bessie went away to France to go to
aviation school when she was twenty seven.

Speaker 1 (48:54):
Wow, that's banana, yes, yeah, yeah, especially back then where
nineteen fifteen, year twenty and you're supposed to have five
kids kind of like you know, be married or whatever.

Speaker 2 (49:03):
So she's like really living her life. Okay, So she
gets her start flying what's called a Newport Type eighty
two by plane. It's twenty seven feet long, it has
a wingspan of forty feet, and it evolved from a
military reconnaissance plane from World War One, and basically it's

(49:25):
flown by a steering system that consists of a vertical stick,
which is basically the thickness of a baseball bat in
front of the pilot and a rudder bar under the
pilot's feet. So basically this means there's no steering wheel
and there's no brakes, so when you want to stop
the plane, you have to land it and then engage

(49:46):
what's called a metal skid piece that's connected to the
tail that like drags along the ground and slows the
plane like an anchor. Yeah, but just like slowly, yeah,
slowly dragging it. The braver it takes to fly these
planes is above and beyond anything that I mean today,
it would be scary enough, but these things were like

(50:08):
the Ripe brothers had just like wiped the sweat off
their brow, and Bessie was like, get me in there.

Speaker 1 (50:13):
They're made out of like toothpicks and like tissue paper
and hopes and dreams.

Speaker 2 (50:20):
Okay, so this plane is incredibly fragile, so Bessie has
to inspect it carefully before each flight during her seven
month training. Failure to pay attention to the smallest detail
could easily result in Bessie's death. But she's learning more
than just flying. She's also learning stunts like bank turns,

(50:41):
tail spins, and loop d loops. These maneuvers that Bessie
and her fellow aviation students being taught are obviously really dangerous.

Speaker 1 (50:51):
Yeah, I also want to say she's learning all of
this in a language she learned part time for a year. Yes,
it's in your native language. This is probably next impossible
and incredibly scary. Yeah. You'd be like, are you sure
you're so sorry I hit this button right here, and
then she says yes or no just now, because I

(51:12):
don't know this language that seaboo play. But she I
think it's also it actually is kind of a testament
to the Berlitz School of languages because you learn that
fast on it and mostly to her brain, like she
wants to do it, and she's like, well, then I'm
just doing it and I have to just learn French
real quick so I can go learn how to fly
a plane real quick. Yeah, Okay.

Speaker 2 (51:33):
You know people like that where they're like, well, I'll
get there and then I'll just be immersed and then
I'll learn it that way where I would be like,
I need to list the problems, yeah, and then stay
here and watch TV. So one point in this course
that she's taking, Bessie witnesses another student who's killed mid
flight in a terrible accident. So it truly is dangerous,

(51:56):
like not just conceptually, but she actually witnessed that, and
she would later re count it this crash, saying, it
was a terrible shock to my nerves, but I never
lost them. In fact, she becomes known for her nerves
of steel, and she earns the nickname Brave Bessie. She
completes the course on June fifteenth, nineteen twenty one, and
she earns her pilot's license, and she's the first woman

(52:18):
of color to accomplish this. So, because the commercial flight
is not available yet, Bessie knows that the only way
that she can earn a living now that she's a
pilot back in America is with her stunt flying skills, right,
So she actually she sticks around France for another couple
months after she gets her license, and she continues her

(52:40):
training with an ACE pilot in Paris. So she is
fucking living the coolest life of all time essentially, like
why would you want to go back absolutely absolutely be
a female pilot in Paris and then go to the
Moulin rouget right?

Speaker 1 (52:58):
Like hell yes.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
When Bessie returns to the US in September of nineteen
twenty one, she arrives to a media frenzy and the
reporters are welcoming her as a quote of full fledged
aviatrix said to be the first of her race. That
was an ap via the New York Times. So people
were going like people knew about this and heard about it.
So Bessie uses the publicity to get herself work as

(53:22):
a barnstormer, which is like a daredevil pilot travels the
country performing stunts for crowds and often lodging in farmers
barns while they're on the road.

Speaker 1 (53:33):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (53:34):
Yeah, But she comes to find out that the barnstorming
business is highly competitive and the stunts her fellow pilots
are performing here at home are way more advanced than
Bessie's used to. In addition to the normal loop de
loops and tailspins, these pilots include parachuters and wing walkers,
which are basically pilots who get out on the wing

(53:56):
of their plane mid flight.

Speaker 1 (53:58):
We've seen those photos. Is I cannot and I will not,
and I will not and you cannot make me. I
won't even go bungee jumping, like truly the level of risk.

Speaker 2 (54:11):
It's like when you're sitting in the plane, there's a
very high level of risk, and then it's like I'm
going to go out there. Hey, but get out there,
you know, because it's the weekend and these people are
at an air show, so why not.

Speaker 1 (54:21):
Even getting up from a commercial flight to pee is
a little harold really frightening.

Speaker 2 (54:26):
So Bessie learns that if she wants to compete with
these aviators, she needs more lessons. But again, still, even
with the welcome home and everything else, no one will
admit her into US flight programs, any US flight programs,
she's proven, she's done it. The US says no ye.

(54:47):
So in February of nineteen twenty two, Bessie goes back
to France. She takes a two month advanced training course there,
and then she makes her way to the Netherlands, where
she meets with renowned aircraft designer Anthony Though her so
Fokker is primarily known for creating have.

Speaker 1 (55:04):
To pause and acknowledge and just and then take and
cry that she went and she met the Fowkers. Yeah
that's right, Okay, why not are adults kind of So
this Anthony Fokker is known for creating the Iindecker, which
was a single seat fighter monoplane that the Germans used

(55:25):
in World War One. So after Bessie meets him, he
sends her to Germany where she trains with the top
pilot at the Fokker Corporation.

Speaker 2 (55:36):
So she again, it's like that thing where she's so
smart because she's like, I want to do this, So
who do I have to know and who do I
have to meet? And who would have to be friends with?
And then she makes it happen. So Bessie returns to
the US again in the summer of nineteen twenty two,
and on September third, she gets her first job, flying
in an air show on Long Island to honor the

(55:56):
New York Army National Guards three hundred and sixty ninth
Infantry Regiment of World War One. So, the three hundred
and sixty ninth was an all black regiment nicknamed the
Harlem hell Fighters. So this event is sponsored by you
remember Robert s Abbott, Bessie's friend and the owner of
the Chicago Defender, and Abbot puts an ad for the

(56:17):
event in the Defender, singling out Bessie out of the
nine pilots who are participating in the event in this
quote unquote flying circus, and he calls her, quote the
world's greatest woman flyer. Now do you think she brought
a copy of this to her brother and kind of
just crammed it in his face.

Speaker 1 (56:39):
I want to see that, she said, hold still, John,
holdste slowly shoved it literally into his face. How about
you choke on it? Like the feeling, the sibling rivalry
satisfaction that she must have had.

Speaker 2 (56:54):
Truly, Yeah, it's the greatest. Okay, So, so her stunt
work at this air show lands her another job six
weeks later in Chicago, and this air show is honoring
the three hundred and seventieth Infantry Regiment of World War One.
Given the press that she received from her show in
New York, the Hometown Girl, Yeah, the quote unquote hometown

(57:16):
Girl draws a big crowd and the audience watches in
amazement as Bessie pulls off daring loop de loops and
figure eights and more, all with her particularly flamboyant style.
She quickly gets more air show work and builds up
her reputation, and she earns herself a new nickname, Queen
bess Yes, way better than the other one.

Speaker 1 (57:38):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (57:39):
While she dazzles crowds across the country, it's no surprise
that there are many reporters who are critical of her,
writing articles about her being cocky and opportunistic. Also, if
you can do a loop dy loop in like a
plane in a plane that was made in nineteen twenty two,
you get to be cocky.

Speaker 1 (57:58):
Yes, hey, hey, that's up. Shut the fuck up. Okay.

Speaker 2 (58:04):
This trash talk doesn't bother Bessie. She knows the only
way to be successful in this business is to stand out,
and she knows she's got the guts and the brains
to do it. As she gets more successful, Bessie saves
her money and in nineteen twenty three, she finally has
enough to buy her own plane, so she gets a
military surplus Curtis JN four, which is also known as

(58:27):
the Jenny biplane. The cellars in Santa Monica, so when
Bessie goes to pick up the plane, she schedules a
show in la for the same month. But just as
Bessie is taking off to fly to the fairgrounds to
participate in the air show, the plane's motor stalls at
three hundred feet up. It nos dives, and it sends

(58:48):
Bessie crashing to the ground below. She survives this crash,
but her leg is broken, she has fractured some ribs,
and her new Jenny is completely destroyed.

Speaker 1 (58:58):
Oh my god, first flight. Yeah, yeah, I know, it sucks.
It sucks. Ye. When the medics arrive, Bessie pretends like
she's fine and she tells him just to quote patch
her up so she can get into the show. Oh
my god. They don't listen to her. Of course, they
take her straight to the hospital. She stays positive despite

(59:20):
this setback and issues a public statement saying as soon
as I can walk, I'm going to fly. But it
takes her two years to fully recover from this crash,
But just as promised, the moment the doctor clears her,
she gets back into that plane again, flying in an
air show in Texas on June nineteenth, nineteen twenty five.

(59:41):
So Bessie continues her barnstorming career over the next few years,
but as she becomes more and more popular, she also
gets into public speaking. She's booked all over the United States,
speaking at schools, churches, and theaters to encourage other black
people to take up flying. She firmly believes that aviation
is a vital growing field that can open doors for

(01:00:04):
black people, declaring quote, we must have aviators if we
are going to keep pace with the times. Bessie refuses
to fly or speak at any event where the audience
is segregated.

Speaker 2 (01:00:16):
Nice so badass back then imagine yeah that and it
limits you very very much.

Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:00:23):
At one occasion, Bessie's set to perform at an air
show in Texas, but when she finds out that the
entrances to the venue will be segregated.

Speaker 1 (01:00:30):
She pulls out of the show. She speaks with event
coordinators and demands that everyone be allowed to enter the
venue through the same gate or she won't perform, and
they give in, and then Bessie goes on to like,
wow everybody and put on an amazing show. So, because
of Bessie's status as a rising star, she's offered the

(01:00:52):
lead role in a feature film about her life called
Shadow and Sunshine. Oh my God.

Speaker 2 (01:00:58):
So an opportunity like this, of course, would be a
huge help in promoting her career as a stunt flyer,
but will also earn her the money that she needs
to live her dream of starting her own flight school.
So she gladly accepts the role. But when she finds
out in the first scene of the movie she's supposed
to be it's like supposed to be about her upbringing.

(01:01:20):
She's supposed to wear quote tattered clothes, carry a walking
stick and a pack on her back, she pulls out,
what the fuck yeah. Doris Rich, the author of Queen
bess later writes, opportunist though she was about her career,
she was never an opportunist about race. She had no
intention of perpetuating the derogatory image most whites had of

(01:01:44):
most blacks end quote. In an interview with Billboard magazine,
Bessie was quoted as saying, no Uncle Tom stuff for me,
so she just was like bye, hello it. So by
April nineteen twenty six, Bessie earns enough money to buy
herself a new plane. She gets another surplus Jenny By
plane in Dallas, Texas, and with the help of her

(01:02:06):
publicist mechanic co pilot twenty four year old William D. Wills,
she gets to go back to flying. Her next air
show schedule on May first, is in Jacksonville, Florida, and
she and William fly there together, but the plane has
a mechanical issue and the duo have to make three
forced landings so that they can do maintenance on the

(01:02:28):
plane during the trip. They finally make it to Jacksonville
on April thirtieth, nineteen twenty six, and Bessie and William
take to the sky in Bessie's new plane to look
for a good parachuting area for the show. So they
basically have to like scout out the airfield and find
where she's going to parachute out of the plane. So
William is taken over in the main cockpit, and Bessie

(01:02:49):
is sitting in second position, unbuckled and peering over the
side of the plane, looking for a good landing spot.
But ten minutes into the flight, at three thousand feet
in the air, the plane engine seizes and nose dives,
throwing the pair into a devastating tailspin. Bessie, who's still unbuckled,
flies out of the plane at two thousand feet and

(01:03:10):
crashes to the ground to her death.

Speaker 1 (01:03:12):
Oh my God. Williams buckled in, but he never manages
to regain control of the plane. The plane crashes and
bursts into flames, killing William as well.

Speaker 2 (01:03:21):
God, Bessie Coleman is dead at just thirty four years old.

Speaker 1 (01:03:25):
My God.

Speaker 2 (01:03:27):
So because William Wills is a white man, the mainstream
media mostly focuses on his death rather than Bessie's, but
black newspapers commemorate Bessie and most make her death front
page news. Memorial services are held in both Florida, where
Bessie died, and in Chicago, where she primarily lived, and
journalist I to b Wells leads both ceremonies, and about

(01:03:51):
ten thousand mourners come to pay their respects for the
fallen hero.

Speaker 1 (01:03:55):
I covered I b Wells remember, yes you did. Yeah,
my god. The weird Bie Wells was there like repping
Bessie Coleman and basically speaking at her funeral to talk
about what a hero she was. After her services, Bessie's
buried in Chicago's Lincoln Cemetery with a headstone commemorating her

(01:04:16):
as quote, one of the first American women to enter
the field of aviation. Before her tragic death, Bessie dreamed
of one day opening her own flight school in the US,
with her primary mission being to empower black people, especially
black women, through flying. She never got the chance to
realize that dream, but to honor her achievements and to

(01:04:37):
encourage more black people to fly, Chicago automobile businessman William J.
Powell establishes an aviation club called the Bessie Coleman Aero
Club in the early nineteen thirties. In his nineteen thirty
four book Black Wings, Powell credits Bessie with something much
bigger than just giving black people the opportunity to fly, saying, quote,

(01:04:59):
because Bessie Coleman, we have overcome that which was worse
than racial barriers. We have overcome the barriers within ourselves
and dared to dream. There was a postage stamp in
nineteen ninety five that was released with Bessie Coleman's image
on it. A small scale reproduction of her yellow biplane,
The Queen Bess is on display at Atlanta, Texas's Regional

(01:05:22):
History Museum. Bessie Coleman was inducted into the National Women's
Hall of Fame in two thousand and one, the National
Aviation Hall of Fame in two thousand and six, and
the International Air and Space Hall of Fame at San
Diego Air and Space Museum in twenty fourteen. And in
twenty twenty one, when Juneteenth became a federal holiday, a

(01:05:43):
flyover was held in Colorado to honor both her and
the new holiday. But one of the most notable honors
took place in nineteen ninety two, when astronaut Made Jamison
became the first black woman to travel to space. This
gets me yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:06:00):
On that mission, Jamison carried a photo of Bessie Coleman
with her to honor Bessie's groundbreaking legacy as America's first
Black and first Native American female pilot. All Hail Queen
Bess And that's the amazing, inspiring story of Bessie Coleman.

Speaker 1 (01:06:20):
Oh my god, I've never heard of that. That's incredible.
How about that badass? How about Queen Bess as the badass?
Imagine how many little girls at her air shows or
inspired and became something bigger than they would have ever
imagined because of her. I bet there's so many. Imagine

(01:06:42):
seeing that. If it's like the twenties and you're just
some kid that lives on a farm and you look
up there and see somebody doing that, like that unbelievable achievement. Yeah, yeah,
it's amazing. So good. No, great job, Yeah, right, a
little something, you know, a little something upbeat? Yeah, to

(01:07:04):
kick the month off with sure, great, Yes, for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:07:08):
Thank you, well awesome, Thank you for being here with
us this week, and thank you for your continued support.

Speaker 1 (01:07:17):
We appreciate it and we appreciate you. Thank you guys
so much, and stay sexy and don't get murdered. Goodbye, Elvis.
Do you want a cookie? This has been an exactly
right production. Our producer is Hannah Kyle Crichton. Associate producer
Alejandra Keck, Engineer and mixer Steven Ray more researchers j

(01:07:40):
Elias and Hailey Gray.

Speaker 2 (01:07:41):
Send us your hometowns and your fucking prays at my
Favorite Murder at gmail dot com.

Speaker 1 (01:07:46):
And follow the show on Instagram and Facebook at my
Favorite Murder and Twitter at my Fave Murder. And for
more information about this podcast, our live shows, merch or
to join the fan called, go to my Favorite Murder
dot com. Rate reviews, scribe,