The Children of Gaza, Flo Meiler - 90yr old Decathelete, Bob Newhart Remembered

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now.

Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Finding great candidates to hire can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You get too many resumes and not enough qualified candidates. But not with ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter finds amazing candidates for you fast. ZipRecruiter's technology starts showing you qualified people for your job immediately. Ditch the other hiring sites and let ZipRecruiter help you find the needle in the haystack. Try it free at ziprecruiter.com slash zip daily. That's ziprecruiter.com slash z-i-p-d-a-i-l-y. The less your business spends, the more margin you keep.

But today everything costs more. So, smart businesses are graduating to NetSuite by Oracle. NetSuite is the number one cloud financial system, bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, HR, into one proven platform, helping you reduce IT costs, maintenance costs, and manual errors. Over 37,000 companies have already made the move to NetSuite, backed by popular demand. NetSuite has extended its one-of-a-kind flexible financing program for a few weeks more. Head to NetSuite.com slash cbsnet.

NetSuite.com slash cbsnet. Good morning. Jane Pauley is off today.

I'm Mo Rocca, and this is Sunday morning. The Olympics kick off later this week in Paris, where the United States will have the world's biggest team, 592 athletes, and is poised to finish with the most medals of any country for the eighth consecutive summer games. But some pretty remarkable athletes won't be competing at the Olympics, and this morning, Ted Koppel will introduce us to one of the greatest. When these Olympics get underway in Paris, it'll be the first time that women athletes are almost on an equal footing with the men, and a 90-year-old superstar from Vermont is going to highlight exactly what's still missing. Boy oh boy, I'm really pushing for the ladies decathlon, I'll tell you. Meet Flo Miler, U.S. champion decathlete in the 90 to 94-year-old bracket.

Coming up on Sunday morning. Bruce Springsteen is best known for his rock anthems, backed by the big sound of the East Street Band. But perhaps none of his albums captures his true spirit better than Nebraska, which he recorded almost by accident. Our Jim Axelrod accompanied the boss back to where it all began. This is the room where it happened.

One January night, more than four decades ago, Bruce Springsteen walked into this bedroom, picked up his guitar, and sang. If I had to pick one album out and say this is going to represent you 50 years from now, I'd pick Nebraska. The surprising story behind Nebraska, later on Sunday morning. This past week, all eyes were on Milwaukee, where Republicans nominated Donald Trump and J.D.

Vance to be their party's standard bearers. You might say it was a gathering custom made for party animals, a very particular party animal. Hence this trunk show from Faith Salie.

We all know an elephant never forgets, but that's just one of the remarkable traits this prominent pachyderm seems to possess. Does this taste sweet to her? It's sugar cane?

Sugar cane, yep. Ahead on Sunday morning, a look back at the GOP's big week and its proud party animal. Also ahead this Sunday morning, Tracy Smith has a troubling report on the impact of the war between Israel and Hamas on the vulnerable children of Gaza. We'll remember beloved entertainer Bob Newhart, plus a summer catch-up with Josh Seftel and his mom, Pat.

And more, this Sunday morning for the 21st of July, 2024, and we'll be back after this. Hiring is challenging, especially when you're a business owner with a lot on your plate. Thankfully, there's a place you can go for help. ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter does the work for you to make hiring fast and easy. Immediately after you post your job, ZipRecruiter's powerful matching technology starts showing you qualified people for it. Experience faster, easier hiring with ZipRecruiter. Try it free at ziprecruiter.com slash zip daily.

That's ziprecruiter.com slash z-i-p-d-a-i-l-y. Ready to start talking to your kids about financial literacy? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app that teaches kids and teens how to earn, save, spend wisely, and invest with your guardrails in place. Parents can send instant mail to their parents or their parents. With your guardrails in place, parents can send instant money transfers, automate allowance, and more. Plus, keep an eye on spending with real-time notifications. Join more than 6 million parents and kids building healthy financial habits together on Greenlight. Get your first month free at greenlight.com slash wondery.

That's greenlight.com slash wondery. The Olympic games get underway later this week in Paris, where many of the world's greatest athletes will go for the gold. This morning, senior contributor Ted Koppel introduces us to a woman who won't be among the competitors, though she's a champion just the same. Florence Myler, known throughout Vermont and beyond as Flow, is a regular feature on Burlington High School's athletic fields. The little red wagon is loaded with some of the gear she'll need to train for an upcoming decathlon.

Let that sink in for a moment. Flow, who lacks any support staff, is training to compete in 10 events over two days. That will include the hurdles, the shot put, the discus, the javelin, the 100 meters, the 400 meters, and 1,500 meters. Before she can even practice the high jump, or the long jump, or the pole vault, she has to pull back the tarp that protects each of these venues against the weather, and she'll put it all back when she's done. As for the actual jumps, let's put things in the proper perspective. Did I mention Flow's age? On this particular morning in May, she is still 89 years old.

I did it! So keep in mind as you watch Flow vault and jump to relatively modest heights, look at the sky, because that helps you throw it further, that many people her age can use a little help just getting out of an armchair. Now you're not a big woman across the short bed. It must require a lot of strength. But you know, being brought up on the farm, I was used to lifting up these heavy, heavy bales.

I had a lot of muscles. You're strong. I'm not going to take you on, Flow. Don't worry about it.

Flow is an extraordinary athlete. What's a good distance for me to be beyond where you're going to land? Oh, you're safe. You're safe.

Well, not that safe. Sometimes I... With the proper training and coaching 60 or 70 years ago, she might have attained Olympic caliber. Yes! Wow! I did it! I won all these medals in Poland.

The window frames and walls of the lakeside home that she and Jean, her husband of 64 years occupy, grown under the weight of her accomplishments. How many of these medals you got? Oh, about 1,500, I think. Quite a few. Do we have to open up a Flow Myla Memorial Hall?

Probably. It's hard to believe Flow's senior track and field career only began 30 years ago. I was playing tennis with my husband. It was the Vermont Senior Games and Barbara Jordan, my best friend, said, Flow, we're desperate for track people. I would like you to come and try the long jump. You know, I'm saying, Barb, are you kidding me? I'm 60 years old.

And she said, oh yeah, you'd be good at it. Which brings us to a blistering hot weekend at the end of June in Charlottesville, Virginia, the site of the USA Masters Combined Events Championship, which includes the Women's Decathlon. It's 99 degrees in the shade.

The actual temperature of the track, almost 142 degrees. 13 women are competing across all different age categories. A few weeks ago, Flow celebrated her 90th birthday. Flow's competition in the 90 to 94 category?

Nobody. I was thinking the Olympics are going to be in late July in Paris. I don't know if it's going to be as hot as this, but it's going to be hot. That's pretty brutal, isn't it? Boy, oh boy, I'm really pushing for the ladies decathlon, I'll tell you.

If I can do this at 90, we have a lot of other ladies who can do it in their 20s. Damn right. Right?

Yeah, absolutely. What Flow is referring to is the fact that there is no decathlon for women at the Olympic Games. The winner of the men's decathlon is widely considered the greatest athlete in the world.

Women, they have to make do with a seven event alternative called the heptathlon. So you're pissed. I am. That's an understatement. Why? Women still aren't allowed to do this event at the international level. There's no women's decathlon at the World Championships Olympic Games.

And that's a problem. Lauren Koontz, herself a decathlete, is also part of a growing movement to overcome the one hurdle that keeps women from competing in the decathlon in international competition. Historic sexism. There was a belief really early on in track and field that women were not able to do a lot of the events.

And all of that individually has been proven wrong. Like one of the big ones was women are too weak to pole vault. They don't have the upper body strength. Women have been pole vaulting in the Olympics now since 2000. The one last event that women still are not allowed to do is the decathlon. World athletics is the governing body that could change that. The answer we tend to get is current heptathletes like the heptathlon. And we don't want to get rid of that. And it's basically a one or the other. And the response we always give is, well, the young women, the younger generation, they're the ones that want to do a decathlon. And like phase it out then, right? Like set a date, set it 2028 or 2032 and say this is when we're transitioning.

Everybody has enough time to make adjustments. When did you do your first decathlon? Two years ago when I was 13. 15 year old Sophie Knudsen says she took up the decathlon because her father and brother were doing it. Explain to an audience that may not have any idea of just how rough it is. What is so difficult about the decathlon? You should go from one event to another. It's like physically hard on your body because you're just doing a lot. But it's also mentally.

Like if you do bad in one event, it's hard to, you know, pick yourself back up and go to the next. Which event do you worry about the most? Do you worry at all? The 1500. The 1500. I don't. And I wouldn't worry about it if it wasn't hot, but it's going to be so hot.

The heat just zaps you. On this second day of the decathlon, before the 1500, Flo has done the hoodies, the hoodies, the discus, the javelin, and the pole vault. 90 year old Flo in slow-mo. But it won't qualify as a world record until referee Bruce Wilson says so. When Flo jumped 113, I grabbed the measuring stick and instantly another official and I measured it with a steel tape to verify that it was 113. Right.

And we'll put that in writing, photographs, send it to the appropriate officials and they will verify it. Bottom line is what? My understanding is Flo is the world record holder for a 90 year old at pole vault. 113. She's having a good day. She's having a great day. What a good coach. You have something to go for.

On your marks. What is so demoralizing about the decathlon, especially on a day like this, when it feels like way above a hundred degrees, is that final event, the 1500 meters. Four times around the track, a shade under a mile. Flo only has to complete the race. There's no one in her age group, even competing. She can walk it. And for the first three laps, she does. And then when she comes around that last turn, other women decathletes line up behind Flo in sort of an honor guard. And in a final burst of energy, Florence Myler runs the last 100 meters of the women's decathlon. There will not be a women's decathlon when the Paris Olympics get underway in a few days.

In the women's 90 to 94 year old age group. But four years from now, Florence Myler. 2028 in Los Angeles. Who knows? We get support from Dove. Hey, y'all.

It's your girl, Kiki Palmer, host of the Wondery podcast, Baby, This is Kiki Palmer. Let me cut to the chase. Did you know that in many states across the US, it's still not illegal to discriminate against people based on the way their hair grows out of their head? To deny Black folks from jobs and opportunities because they have braids, locs, twists, or bantu knots?

That's messed up. And today's sponsor, Dove, agrees. That's why Dove co-founded the Crown Coalition in 2019 to advocate for the passage of the Crown Act. Crown stands for creating a respectful and open world for natural hair. And the Crown Act is legislation which prohibits race-based hair discrimination in workplaces and schools in the US. Dove is driving awareness by advocating for petition signatures and supporting the Crown movement to create a society where Black hair is not only accepted, but respected and celebrated in all of its beauty. Join Dove in taking action to help end race-based hair discrimination by signing the Crown Act petition at dove.com slash crown.

That's dove.com slash crown. Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. Recently, I asked Mint Mobile's legal team if big wireless companies are allowed to raise prices due to inflation. They said yes. And then when I asked if raising prices technically violates those onerous two-year contracts, they said, what the **** are you talking about?

You insane Hollywood ****. So to recap, we're cutting the price of Mint Unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. $45 upfront for three months plus taxes and fees. Promote for new customers for limited time. Unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month. Slows.

Full terms at mintmobile.com. As you've probably heard, on Thursday, comedy legend Bob Newhart died at 94. Hello, Mr. Carlin.

In this scene with Suzanne Plachette from the Bob Newhart show, it's pretty easy to see why he was adored. Oh, I'll take that. That's an old address book. Yeah.

Didn't you know any guys? Yeah, but I memorized all their numbers. How come Marjorie Killam has four stars after her name? Marjorie Killam. Oh, her father was a, was a general. The Illinois raised Newhart, who early on worked in accounting, didn't become a legend by telling jokes in his deadpan, unassuming manner. He told stories. I certainly would not say that what I do is the most important thing in the world. Um, but I can't imagine, uh, doing anything that would bring me more joy. He once imagined how a media consultant would have shaped the image of Abraham Lincoln.

You change, you change four score and seven to 87. His 1960 debut album was the first comedy album to win the Grammy for album of the year. His standup led to two hit TV series and beloved movie roles.

As silly as it sounds, a lot of people down South don't believe in Santa Claus. What? It was Ginny, his wife of six decades, who thought up one of the most memorable moments in TV sitcom history, the finale of Newhart. For eight seasons, Mary Fran had played Bob's wife on the series, but at the last moment, he won't believe the dream I just had. He woke up with Suzanne Plachette, his wife from his earlier show. All right, Bob, what is it? I was an innkeeper in this crazy little town in Vermont. Thank you, Bob Newhart, for so many laughs.

And I say, uh, it was my pleasure. Big Island of Hawaii, uncovering government secrets alongside the protagonists of eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson, all without leaving your couch with audible. There's more to imagine when you listen as an audible member, you choose one title a month to keep from their entire catalog. New members can try audible free for 30 days.

Visit audible.com slash wondery pod or text wondery pod to 500 500 that's audible.com slash wondery pod or text wondery pod to 500 500. Ever wonder how you can stay sharp and focused in our never ending new cycle. If you're having trouble keeping up with it all, there's something that can help symbiotic. They offer cutting edge supplements that boost energy focus and overall health ideal for anyone looking to enhance cognitive functions or improve gut health. They're formulated with high quality plant-based ingredients. Symbiotic is transparent about how and where they source ingredients to ensure you get the best products possible. Their formulas don't have any seed oils, preservatives, toxins, or artificial additives. Plus their supplements taste great.

None of that chalky, sulfuric taste you get with other brands. Symbiotic genuinely cares about its customers, and you can really see the difference in how you feel and function. Unlock your full potential with Symbiotic today.

Feel more energized, alert, and balanced with high quality supplements. Head over to symbiotic.com and use code CBS for 20% off plus free shipping on your subscription order. The fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas is now in its 10th month. Tracy Smith examines the plight of some of the conflict's youngest victims.

And we warn you, some of what you're about to see is not easy to watch. It's hard not to smile watching two-year-old Jude Damo feeding giraffes at the Brookfield Zoo near Chicago. But this is just a moment of joy in a lifetime that's already seen too much pain. On December 26th, Jude's family was living in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip when it was hit by an Israeli airstrike. Jude's father, Ahmed, says he found his son screaming with his right leg crushed and his wife, Jude's mother, dead. She was hugging Jude. She protected Jude with her body. She saved his life.

Yeah. Could you get medical treatment for Jude in Gaza? We have reached a point where there are no doctors and there are no medicines. All I felt for Jude was that he would never be able to walk on his foot again. I was imagining that he would reach the point where his foot would be amputated. A photo of Jude bleeding from his body was taken. A photo of Jude bleeding on a dirty hospital floor went viral. And after weeks of coordination, the nonprofit Palestine Children's Relief Fund rescued Jude and Ahmed, bringing them some 6,000 miles away to Chicago for medical care. UNICEF calls Gaza the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. The Palestinian territory has been under assault by Israel since October 7th of last year, when Hamas led a brutal surprise attack that killed 1,200 people and took roughly 250 hostages. 116 of those hostages remain in Hamas captivity.

Israel launched a counter-attack. And in the violence, more than 38,000 Palestinians, a number that includes civilians and militants, have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. Of those deaths, they say more than 14,000 are children. UNICEF says the death toll is likely much higher. And UNICEF reports hundreds of thousands of children have been killed. But Israel has destroyed most of Gaza's hospitals, saying Hamas stores weapons in them and hides beneath them. It's a reality that has left thousands of children trapped, desperate for help. Doctor, please.

The bone is exposed. Please don't leave me here. These are voiceless messages I receive on a daily basis. Tarek Halit is the head of the Treatment Abroad Program for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, an organization working to get children like Jude Damo medical care. To date, Halit's team has evacuated more than 200 children from Gaza. This is the list of where we have all our children that we're trying to evacuate.

What's the red? So the red are the children that they've passed away, waiting. All of these children have died? All of them. While they were on the waiting list?

Yes. What are children who need medical treatment doing now? Sadly, the real answer is they're dying. A broken leg here in the United States is not the same as a broken leg in Gaza. A broken leg in Gaza means that most likely you're going to have that leg amputated, which means that most likely you're going to get an infection post that amputation, which most likely means that you're going to die. Getting a child out of Gaza can take months. The only way to evacuate is through Egypt, and Israel requires multiple background checks before it will allow a child, who must be accompanied by a guardian, to leave. In May, Israel sees the Rafah border, the last remaining crossing point between Egypt and Gaza. Aid workers say that's made rescuing children almost impossible. When were you in Gaza?

End of April for the first couple weeks of May. Dr. Mark Perlmutter, an orthopedic surgeon from North Carolina and vice president of the International College of Surgeons, volunteered in Gaza. So of all the disaster zones you've seen, how does Gaza compare? All of the disasters I've seen combined, combined, 40 mission trips, 30 years, ground zero, earthquakes, all of that combined doesn't equal the level of carnage that I saw against civilians in just my first week in Gaza. And when you say civilians, is it mostly children? Almost exclusively children. I've never seen that before.

Never seen that. I've seen more incinerated children than I've ever seen in my entire life combined. I've seen more shredded children in just the first week. Shredded? Shredded.

What do you mean? Missing body parts, being crushed by buildings, the greatest majority, or bomb explosions, the next greatest majority. We've taken shrapnel as big as my thumb out of eight-year-olds, and then there's sniper bullets. I have children that were shot twice. You're saying that children in Gaza are being shot by snipers?

Definitively. I have two children that I have photographs of that were shot so perfectly in the chest I couldn't put my stethoscope over their heart more accurately and directly on the side of the head in the same child. No toddler gets shot twice by mistake by the world's best sniper, and they're dead center shots. In fact, more than 20 doctors recently in Gaza also told Sunday morning about gunshot wounds to children. One American doctor told us he even reviewed CT scans to confirm what he saw because he, quote, "...didn't believe that this many children could be admitted to a single hospital with gunshot wounds to the head." Some shootings have been captured on video. The Israel Defense Forces declined our requests for an on-camera interview, but in an email, a spokesperson told CBS News, quote, "...the IDF has never and will never deliberately target children," adding, quote, "...remaining in an active combat zone has inherent risks." And the IDF stressed that it calls for the evacuation of civilians from combat zones. The UN reports that to date, more than 80 percent of Gaza's population has been displaced and the majority of its buildings destroyed. A reality which has taken its own toll on the well-being of children. What about the emotional wounds? How can you measure that?

I can't measure my own. How do you be an orphan watching your family, you know, melted in front of you, and shredded in front of you? How do you fix that, ever fix that? In fact, so many Palestinian children have had family members killed that doctors created a shorthand term, WCNSF, Wounded Child, No Surviving Family. We're very proud and honored to be able to bring... Last month, speaking in Washington, D.C., other American doctors echoed Dr. Perlmutter's calls for help. We've described it as a catastrophe, a nightmare, a nightmare, a hell on earth, it's all of these and worse.

We didn't even have his hand sanitizer or alcohol or soap most of the time. And while we're there, we're listening to, you know, aid is getting in, we're taking care of civilians, they're not being targeted, and yet we're witnessing a completely different story. For dozens of miles, we saw 18-wheelers parked bumper to bumper, engines off outside of Gaza, food or health care could not get in. How many kids are in danger of starvation in Gaza?

All of them, absolutely all of them. United Nations experts have accused Israel of carrying out a targeted starvation campaign. But Israeli officials say they've allowed the delivery of more than 600,000 tons of food and supplies, quote, with the goal of bringing as much aid into the Gaza Strip as possible. Injured children continue to trickle into the United States. Last weekend, we were there when a 13-year-old girl, Jenna Yassine, arrived in Los Angeles. Despite the warm welcome, these kids are only scheduled to stay until their treatment is complete. As for Jude Damo, he's regained his ability to walk but still has months of medical treatments ahead of him. His father, Ahmed, says he's grateful for the help of people like Tarek Halet from the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, even though there are some wounds that can never be made whole. All the children of Gaza suffer like Jude, whether they are injured or wounded or not. They are all suffering. Jude is just one of them. Jude is just one of them.

Jude is just one. Have you ever covered a carpet stain with a rug? Ignored a leaky faucet? Pretended your half-painted living room is supposed to look like that?

Well, you're not alone. We've all got unfinished home projects. But there's an easier way. When you download Thumbtack, it's easier to care for your home from top to bottom.

Pull out your phone and in just a few steps, you can search, chat and book highly rated pros right in your neighborhood. Plus, you'll know what to tackle next because Thumbtack is the app that shows you what to do, who to hire and when. So say goodbye to all those unfinished home projects and say hello to caring for your home the easier way. Download Thumbtack and start a project today.

The robots have gotten pretty good at what they do, but they can't pour passion into what they make or give them a human touch. On Etsy, you can find something handmade, hand-picked or designed by independent sellers who pull from their unique experiences and bring their whole hearts to their small shops. Shops that prove that when you do what you love, you can help others find things that bring more joy to their lives. Discover hand-blown glassware, reclaimed furniture, personalized jewelry, hand-picked vintage pieces, custom-designed artwork and so much more. The fingerprints Etsy sellers leave behind reveal who they are. Human beings determined to make human connections. So the next time you're shopping for yourself or someone special, choose extraordinary items handmade, hand-picked or designed by small businesses. Keep commerce human.

Discover small businesses on Etsy. With the Republican convention now in the books and next month's Democratic convention ahead in Chicago, it's time for a close-up look at some true party animals. Our Fait Saleh has a trunk show. Last week, there was an elephant in the room. The Republican Party.

Formed in 1854, its first president was Abraham Lincoln. The elephant became the party symbol in part because Civil War soldiers described combat as seeing the elephant. The prodigious pachyderm grew to be all but synonymous with the Grand Old Party after famed satirist Thomas Nast used it in political cartoons in the 1870s. The elephants in this room, however, are not political. How surprised do you think people would be to find out that elephants were once the size of ponies? What is an elephant? It's big, right? It's always got to be big.

And that's not the case at all. This is one of the smallest that we know of from Sicily. The Secret World of Elephants, the new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, opens our eyes to the diversity of these ancient mammals, like this woolly mammoth that roamed the Americas as far south as Kansas. They were all over, and in fact, they were probably somewhere between 15 and 17 species, living as recently as a few thousand years ago.

Now we're down to three, two living in Africa, one in South Asia. To curator Ross McPhee, the appendage that makes the elephant an evolutionary marvel is as plain as the nose on his face. An elephant's trunk is a nose, an arm, a finger, a communication system? And a straw.

And a straw! It's the Swiss army knife of organs! Yes, it's the most wonderful organ that has evolved in mammalian. With more than 40,000 muscles, what might get lost is that this powerful proboscis can actually smell, too, way better than any animal we know of. Their trunks can sense water up to 12 miles away and sniff out the only predator elephants really have. Yep, human beings. They can detect whether a person that they see walking along is likely to be a farmer, because that person is going to have the smell of plants or of earth.

Perhaps a hunter. They can smell cartridges. They can smell other things that tell them that that's a dangerous person to be close to. That danger goes both ways. Living near these creatures can be perilous. But having lost 90% of their former habitat to humans, what are elephants to do? They're not going to stop just because you've got a nice fence around your maize field. They're going to say, I can eat that. And they're going to go in and destroy the farmer's livelihood. It's hard for us in America to understand that, because we don't have elephants on our back doors wanting to eat the peonies. Does this taste sweet to her? It's sugar cane?

Sugar cane, yep. Here at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., there's no danger seeing elephants up close. And to zookeeper Robbie Clark, the seven Asian elephants are each one of a kind. I would say Nei Lin is brave. Truong Nhi is cautious. Swarna, I would say, is calm. Ronnie's fast-paced. She's the go-getter. Bozy's quite loyal when other elephants give her a chance to be.

Our male Spike, I would say, is patient, especially because he does spend a lot of time with our females. So there is elephant drama? Yes, yes, there's elephant drama. We could have our own reality TV show. Good girls.

Good girls. That drama within this close-knit herd is always unfolding, even if we can't hear it. That's because researchers now believe elephants communicate by producing low-frequency rumblings, vibrations that travel through the earth to other elephants miles away. And other elephants will then accept that message through their toenails into their inner ear. And I've noticed as we've been standing here that she's talking to perhaps the other elephants right now. I can see it on top of her forehead right here when she's sending it out. Truong. Exactly what she's saying remains a mystery to Clark. Steady.

All right. But he's all ears. They're all gathering at the water in the city. The crowds back in New York are paying attention too. For such a large and revered animal, it's amazing how little we know about elephants. Uncovering their secrets and learning to coexist might be the only way we can keep them safe. These are the most remarkable beasts on the planet.

They deserve special protections and they deserve a special place in our pantheon of animals that we can't do without. That's Bruce Springsteen from his sold-out concert Thursday night in Stockholm. Hard to believe he's turning 75 this fall. Reason enough to revisit Jim Axelrod's recent conversation with the boss about what he calls his proudest musical achievement. This is where the magic happens. This is the room where it happened.

That's right. It may not look like much, but this small bedroom in Colts Neck, New Jersey. This is the orange shag rug that was here 40 years ago.

This is the same bed. Good Lord. Is where Bruce Springsteen made what he considers.

That's all we're standing. His masterpiece. On the front lawn. Nebraska. Just a twirling. Ten songs.

Her butt on. Dark and mournful. From the town of Lincoln, Nebraska. If I had to pick one album out and say this is going to represent you 50 years from now, I'd pick Nebraska. Through to the badlands of Wyoming.

I keep the everything in my bag. Written 42 years ago at a time of great upheaval in Springsteen's inner life. I just hit some sort of personal wall that I didn't even know was there.

It was my first real major depression where I realized, though, I've got to do something about it. Coming off a hugely successful tour for the River album, he'd had his first top 10 hit. He was 32, a genuine rock star, surrounded by success and learning its limits. Your rock and roll meds, singing in front of 40,000 people, all that is is anesthesia.

Yeah, and it worked for me. I think in your 20s, a lot of things work for you. Your 30s is where you start to become an adult. Suddenly, I looked around and said, where is everything? Where's my home? Where is my partner? Where are the sons or daughters that I thought I might have someday?

And I realized none of these things are there. So I said, OK, the first thing I've got to do as soon as I get home is remind myself of who I am and where I came from. I lived in this house exactly half a lifetime ago.

Home at the time was a fixed up farmhouse he was renting. I enjoyed it here because I liked the access to this reservoir. I think they keep the canoes.

My canoe remains is still there. Here, he would try to understand why his success left him so alienated. This is all inside of me.

You can either take it and transform it into something positive or it can destroy you. There are records, films, books that don't just come in the front door. They come in the back door, they come up through a trap door and stay with you in life. Author Warren Zane's recent book, Deliver Me From Nowhere, offers a deep and moving examination of the making of Nebraska. Here's Bruce Springsteen making a record from a kind of bottom in his own life. Springsteen's pain was rooted in a lonely childhood.

They were very poor. And then he becomes Bruce Springsteen. He felt that his past was making his present complicated and he wanted to be freed of it. For Springsteen, liberation had always come through writing. While he filled notebook after notebook, the album didn't come together until late one night when he was channel surfing and stumbled across Badlands. I believe I shoot people every now and then.

Not that I deserve a medal. Terrence Malick's film about Charles Starkweather, whose murder spree in 1957 and 58 unfolded mainly in Nebraska. In a serial killer, Springsteen had found a muse. There's a meanness in this world. That explains everything Starkweather's done.

Yeah, I tried to locate where their humanity was as best as I could. In a surge of creativity, he wrote 15 songs in a matter of weeks. This is pretty much the setup, I think. I had a little chair here. Mike was over there with this tape player.

And one January night in 1982, it was time to record. The acoustics of this room. Not bad. The orange shag carpet makes it really dead. You know, there's not a lot of echo. So not just beautiful to look at. Not only was it beautiful, it came in handy. One of rock's biggest stars sat in this bedroom alone and sang.

Getting exactly the sound he was looking for. Some songs explore the confusion left from childhood. Mansion on the Hill, My Father's House, Used Cars. They're all written from kids' perspectives. Children trying to make sense of the world that they were born into.

Others profiled adults left out or left behind. There's that very stark, dark, lonely sound. It's austere.

Very austere, very bare bones. On a broken down boombox, Springsteen mixed the songs onto a cassette tape he carried around in his pocket. I don't think I had a case. I'm lucky I didn't lose it. The band would record what he had on the cassette, but bigger and bolder wasn't what he was looking for. It was a happy accident. I had planned to just write some good songs, teach them to the band, go in the studio and record them. But every time I tried to improve on the tape that I had made in that little room, it's the old story, if this gets any better, it's going to be worse. Did any part of you worry, oh my goodness, what am I putting out there?

I knew what the Nebraska record was. It was also a signal that I was sending that I've had some success, but I do what I want to do. I make the records I want to make.

I'm trying to tell a bigger story and that's the job that I'm trying to do for you. A few more songs that didn't make the cut? Well, you probably heard them later.

Born in the USA, Pink Cadillac. All stuff that didn't make it. Songs the guy in the leather jacket, who'd written of chrome-wheeled fuel-injected suicide machines, kept in this binder with Snoopy on the cover.

Boy, I'm glad we can see it. People wouldn't believe it otherwise. In that small bedroom, Springsteen, the rocker, made an album that fleshed out Springsteen, the poet.

Imagine if he hadn't. And then people might be assessing a career and say, oh, it was great, man, 70,000 people singing Rosalita in the stadium. But that might have been closer to where it ended in considering what you've done. Yeah, I mean, I was just interested in more, in more than that.

You make sure my pretty baby is sittin' right there on my land. If they want to enjoy your work, try anything. If they want to understand your work, go to Nebraska. Yeah, I'd agree with that.

I'd definitely agree with that. My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for Career Day and said he was a big ROAS man. Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend.

My friends still laugh at me to this day. Not everyone gets B2B. But with LinkedIn, you'll be able to reach people who do. Get $100 credit on your next ad campaign. Go to LinkedIn.com slash results to claim your credit. That's LinkedIn.com slash results. Terms and conditions apply.

LinkedIn. The place to be. To be. Hi, I'm Lazlo, director and producer of the new audio fiction series A Better Paradise, written by Dan Houser, the writer and creative director of the Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto series. A Better Paradise is a story set in the near future about the creation of an ambitious and advanced but addictive video game world led by inventor and psychologist Dr. Mark Tyburn, played by Andrew Lincoln from The Walking Dead. As the company and project fell apart, the game world and the superintelligence within was left abandoned, dormant and undiscovered.

Until now, things have evolved. Listen to the first episode right now and make sure you follow A Better Paradise on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and everywhere you listen so that you'll never miss an episode. With summer in full swing, it seems like the perfect time to take stock with Josh Seftel and his mom. Hello. Hi, Mom.

Wait a minute, I'm just combing my hair. Hello. So do you have hearing aids now? I do. It helps. Really?

Oh, I'm so grateful. You know, you feel isolated when you're missing out on what people are saying, especially if you're kind of nosy like me. I want to ask you about the summer. How are you feeling about this summer?

Hot. How do you stay cool? I stay cool. How do you stay cool?

I stay inside. Do you drink a lot of water? I do. You know, the Olympics is starting soon.

The Olympic flame arrived in Marseille, France today. The swimmers were on the other night. Do you like to swim? I used to, sure. Can you do that thing when they get to the wall, they flip and go back around? No, you mess up your hair. This is going to be the first Olympics ever that has gender equality.

There will be the same number of women as there are men. Competing. Oh, I didn't know that. And what's that sound? I drink.

Can I take another drink? What do you think of that? Well, I'd say it was about time. What event would you like to compete in? And if you could pick any event.

What would I compete in? Oh my God. When they do the jump and there's a pole and then you throw your body up over the wall. Yeah. Why not? What about rowing? Then you could just sit in the boat.

The question is once I get in, who's going to get me out? Right. You know, Taylor Swift is touring in Europe this summer. That's good. What does that mean? I mean, I don't care. Oh, you don't? But I would like to know, is her boyfriend going to go with her? The football player. What do you think about them as a couple?

I'd be interested in how long it's going to last. Would you want to go to win a Taylor Swift concert? Sure. Why not?

Would you take your hearing aids out? Properly have to. What would you rather listen to than Taylor Swift? A good Broadway show. Today is national ice cream day. Are you planning to celebrate? Well, I didn't know what it was, but in any reason to get ice cream, I'm for it. I'm going to take another drink.

Okay. What are your favorite summer memories? Going to Cape Cod. Going on trips with the family, visiting people. There were a lot of good ice cream stores in Schenectady. Yeah. We went out for ice cream almost every night in the summer. Do you feel like time is passing quickly?

Yes, it does seem to be going fast. What do you want to do with the summers ahead of you? I would really like to travel, but with my knee, it's a problem. Are you looking forward to getting together this summer in August? I can't wait. What advice do you have for people this summer? Try to stay cool.

Enjoy yourself as much as you can. While you will, and you're able to go and do, do it. Don't say, should I do it? Do it. Don't put it off.

If you want an ice cream cone, get it. Thanks for listening. I'm Mo Rocca.

Please join Jane Pauley when our trumpet sounds again next Sunday morning. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery's podcast, American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in U.S. history, events that have shaped who we are as a country and continue to define the American experience. We go behind the scenes looking at devastating financial crimes, like the fraud committed at Enron and Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. American Scandal also tells marquee stories about American politics. In our latest season, we retrace the greatest corruption scheme in U.S. history as we bring to life the bribes and backroom deals that spawned the Teapot Dome scandal, resulting in the first presidential cabinet member going to prison. Follow American Scandal on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge this season, American Scandal, Teapot Dome, early and ad-free right now on Wondery Plus. And after you listen to American Scandal, go deeper and get more to the story with Wondery's other top history podcasts, including American History Tellers, Legacy and even the Royals. Paramount Podcasts