This is an iHeart Podcast. This Labor Day, say goodbye to spills, stains, and overpriced furniture with washable sofas.com, featuring Anibay, the only machine washable sofa inside and out, where designer quality meets budget-friendly pricing.
Sofas start at just $6.99, making it the perfect time to upgrade your space. Anibay's pet-friendly, stain-resistant, and interchangeable slip covers are made with high-performance fabric built for real life. You'll love the cloud-like comfort of hypoallergenic, high-resilience foam that never needs fluffing and a durable steel frame that stands the test of time. With modular pieces, you can rearrange anytime. It's a sofa that adapts to your life.
Now through Labor Day, get up to 60% off-site-wide at washablefas.com. Every order comes with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not in love, send it back for a full refund. No return shipping, no restocking fees, every penny back. Shop now at washable sofas.com.
Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions. may apply. iHeart presents the Big Three Playoffs. This Sunday, the remaining four teams battle to make their championship in the most physical, fierce, and competitive basketball league in the world. The action starts with the Big Three Monster Energy Celebrity Game.
Then Dwight Howard and his LA Riot take on Montrez Harrell and Dr. J Chicago Triplets. The finale will see popular Miami 305 with stars MVP Michael Beasley and Lamb Stevenson take on Nancy Lieberman's Dallas Power, who will make it to the Big Three Championship. The no-holds bought action starts Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern, 12 Pacific, only on CBS.
Lowe's has the Labor Day deals you need to give your home a new look. Buy one, get one free. Select interior paint via Visa gift card rebate. Then add the final touch with two for $8 on select 2.5 or 3 quart mums. Refresh your home and save big while doing it.
Lowe's, we help. You save. Valid through 9.3 mums offer in-store only. Selection varies by location. While supplies last.
More terms and restrictions apply. See Lowe's.com slash rebates for details. Good morning. Welcome to Today. From back to school to tackling your to-do list, the Today Show is your best start to the day.
It's a new season and every morning. We're here to help you take it all off. As the forecast calls for football all across the country. Blockbuster stars, live concerts, and so much more. Wake up to where it's all happening.
We're getting back to all of it and the best way to start is together. Watch the Today Show, weekday mornings at 7 a.m. on NBC. This is Danielle Fischel from Pod Meets World. Parents, quick question.
When is the last time you won snack time? The other day, I handed my son a perfectly portioned Pinterest-level snack and And he traded it for a Mott's applesauce pouch. I'm not mad, just impressed. And that's why Mott's no-sugar-added applesauce pouches are perfect to keep on hand. They're made with real apples, packed in a super easy pouch, perfect for tossing in a lunchbox, keeping in the car, or grabbing as you're running out the door.
Plus, they're a good source of vitamin C, and kids love them. Win-win! Make sure your kid wins snack time with Motts. Real apples make real good applesauce. Learn more at Motts.com.
And we continue with our American stories. Up next, the story of the most unexpected event of the 20th century in a way you've never heard it told before. While we all certainly know what happened after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Most of us don't know about the feelings of those calling the shots on the ground. and what happened leading up to our terrifying entry. into World War II.
Here to share the story is Steve Toomey. Author of Countdown to Pearl Harbor. Let's start this off. The story was of an individual man. His name is Husband Kimmel.
And on the morning of December 7th, he was supposed to go out and play golf. But about 8 a.m., a telephone call led him to leave his house on a small rise above the harbor. It was actually an extinct volcanic rim because this phone call had told him, in effect, to do so. And as he did that, he was watching dozens and dozens of Japanese warplanes pouncing on those ships in the harbor. Those were his ships.
He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet. And until that moment. He had enjoyed nearly 40 absolutely spotless years of service in the Navy. He had succeeded at everything he had done and risen steadily through the ranks. And if you ever see a picture of him, he looks exactly like you'd expect an admiral to look.
Handsome, impressive, confident. Standing with him. In his yard was a neighbor, the wife of one of his officers who had come out of her home. And together they stood there, and they could see a battleship in the harbor already starting to tip over. Everything that Kimmel knew about military logic.
Everything he knew about the Japanese and their ability. was being blown up before his eyes. All the decisions he had made were being nullified. And she said that his face was as white as the uniform he wore. I think that's one of the most poignant moments in American history.
Kimmel was standing there and realized Not only was this horrific disaster, happening. But it was going to be the end of his career. as it was. You have to remember the Navy was a bigger thing in nineteen forty one than it is now. Newspapers routinely printed stories about people being promoted and changes of command, and people were really aware of these giant battleships with their big guns.
And in that harbor took place the most catastrophically unexpected event. in American history to that point. It shattered the nation's sense of itself as a confident, safe, optimistic, superior country. and it shattered the Navy's reputation as unbeatable. But we have to remember that they didn't know December 7th was a famous day.
It hadn't happened yet. They had no awareness that along with July 4th or November 22nd, 1963, or September 11th. that that would be a famous date. It wasn't circled on their calendars. And this was the age before satellites.
There were no cameras parked up there in the sky. looking down, snapping photos. When 30 Japanese warships began silently sailing out of an absolutely obscure bay, cold, snowy, almost no people there. at the far northern fringe of the Japanese Empire. We did not know they had left because we had no means of knowing they had left.
Still, During this period, clues were building that something big was going to happen. We tend to think of Pearl Harbor as this bolt from the blue that the United States was minding its own business. and the Japanese came along and started World War II. But in fact, any American paying reasonable attention to the news knew that war with Japan was getting closer all the time. as well as war with Germany.
In the Atlantic Ocean, we were already fighting the Germans, even though we were technically at peace. We were escorting British convoys to England. And Roosevelt had given orders to shoot on site. any German ship they encountered en route. And the Germans were replying by shooting at our warships, and they had sunk at least two.
with loss of life in the Atlantic.
So people were really attuned to the idea that war was likely to happen, including war with Japan. The Roosevelt administration had been negotiating for months with the Japanese, to put it very simply, to get them to stop attacking countries in the Far East. The Japanese had been at war with China since 1937. They had taken over much of French Indochina. And in late November and December, Of 1941, it was obvious from the reports of consular agents, businessmen, spies, commercial ships on the ocean, it was obvious.
that the Japanese were moving warships and troop transports Toward Singapore, which was a British outpost and naval base. toward Malaya. towards the Dutch East Indies, towards Thailand. and towards the Philippines, which we owned. That move, that movement of troops and warships was so obvious.
that on November 27th, Washington sent A warning about the possibility of war to all of its Army and Navy outposts in the Pacific. And that said, war was imminent in a matter of days. The army was suddenly out on the streets of Honolulu. Guarding against sabotage by some of the residents of Hawaii of Japanese descent. There was something else that happened.
We listened to what the Japanese Navy was saying to itself. We could hear them talking ship to ship, ship to shore, shore to ship. And there were dozens of people whose job was to do that. You'd sit there all day with headphones on, listening to the Japanese talking to themselves. We didn't know what they were saying because they were speaking in a form of code.
It wasn't that it was Japanese, it was coded Japanese. But it's remarkable how just by hearing who is talking to who. You can figure out who's in charge. And who is moving where, and you might even be able to identify certain ships simply because every ship had an address, a phone number, if you will. called a radio call signal.
And so, if you got enough of those assembled, you could figure out. that something might be going on by the volume of talking. And who was in charge? The Japanese knew we listened to them. And in order to confuse the other side, you routinely changed everybody's address.
Usually every six months. And on November 1st, Right on schedule. the Japanese Navy changed all of its radio call signals. Then on November 30th, Something extraordinary happened. All the Navy listeners in Hawaii and also in the Philippines suddenly realized the Japanese had changed their radio call signals again.
only a month after they had done it before. They had never done that. And that was read immediately. as a desire by the Japanese. to really confuse us.
about something they were about to do. War was extremely close and we knew it. And not only that, We knew that Pearl Harbor, we had discussed for months that Pearl Harbor might be the subject of a surprise attack. before a declaration of war. And to understand that, I want to introduce you to Patrick Bellinger.
Naval Air Pilot No. 4. As that suggests, He had been around at the birth of naval aviation back in the teens. And you've been listening to Steve Toomey, author of Countdown to Pearl Harbor. And of course, we learn that the Japanese were changing up patterns, changing up signals.
And this was not a total surprise. that the Japanese, well, they were looking to strike At America. When we come back, more of the story of Pearl Harbor, the events leading up to it here. on our American story. This Labor Day, say goodbye to spills, stains, and overpriced furniture with washable sofas.com, featuring Anibay, the only machine washable sofa inside and out, where designer quality meets budget-friendly pricing.
Sofas start at just $6.99, making it the perfect time to upgrade your space. Anibay's pet-friendly, stain-resistant, and interchangeable slip covers are made with high-performance fabric built for real life. You'll love the cloud-like comfort of hypoallergenic, high-resilience foam that never needs fluffing and a durable steel frame that stands the test of time. With modular pieces, you can rearrange anytime. It's a sofa that adapts to your life.
Now through Labor Day, get up to 60% off site-wide at washablefas.com. Every order comes with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not in love, send it back for a full refund. No return shipping, no restocking fees, every penny back. Shop now at washablesofas.com.
Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. The reviews and ratings are in, and Ice Cube's Big Three is the surprise hit of the summer. And to cap off the season, iHeart presents the Big Three Basketball Championship and eighth annual Big Three All-Star Game this coming Sunday, August 24th, live from Orlando. The remaining two teams fight it out for the Big Three Championship Dr. Jake Trophy in the most physical, fierce, and competitive basketball league in the world.
Don't miss the wild conclusion of Big Three's eighth and most historic season ever. This is the game no one wants to lose, and there's no crying in the Big Three. The action starts with the Big Three eighth annual All-Star Game. Don't miss All-Stars Dwight Howard, Montrez Harrell, MVP Michael Beasley, Lance Will Make You Dan Stevenson, Jordan Crawford, Craig Monroe, Earl Clark, Nazi Erkor, and more show you why they are the best three-on-three basketball players in the world. Big Three's exciting All-Star Game plus the crowning of a new Big Three champion.
The No Holds Fart action starts Sunday at 2 p.m. Eastern, 11 Pacific, only on CBS. Yeah. Good morning, welcome to Today. From back to school to tackling your to-do list, the Today Show is your best start to the day.
It's a new season and every morning. We're here to help you take it all off. As the forecast calls for football all across the country. Blockbuster stars, live concerts, and so much more. Wake up to where it's all happening.
We're getting back to all of it. And the best way to start is together. Watch the Today Show, weekday mornings at 7 a.m. on NBC. This is Danielle Fischel from Pod Meets World.
Parents, let's talk snacks. If your mornings look anything like mine, one kid's trying to pile drive a pillow and the other is trying to zip themselves into a backpack.
Meanwhile, I'm trying to sign a permission slip with an eyeliner pencil because that's all I could find. That's why Mott's no sugar-added applesauce pouches are perfect to have nearby. These things are clutch and are perfect for moments of stress. Made with real apples, no sugar added, and the pouch? Genius!
It's mess-free and perfect for the car, the lunchbox, or after-school activities. This is a snack you can feel good about, and a good source of vitamin C too. Just tasty applesauce your kids will actually want to eat. The other day, I handed one to my son mid-meltdown. He took a deep breath, squeezed the pouch, and suddenly he was calm.
He had a tiny, apple-powered moment of zen. Trust me, your future self will thank you. Motts, rubber. Real apples make real good applesauce. Learn more at moths.com.
Candice Rivera has it all. In just three years, she went from stay-at-home mum to traveling the world, saving lives and making millions. Anyone would think Candice's charm life is about as real as unicorns. But sometimes the truth is even harder to believe than the lies. Not true.
There's so many things not true. You gotta believe. I'm Charlie Webster, and this is Unicorn Girl, an Apple original podcast produced by Seven Hills. Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts. And we continue with our American stories and with the story of what happened before bombs and torpedoes dropped.
At Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the day of infamy. When we last left off, Steve Toomey was about to share the story of Patrick Bellinger. one of America's earliest airmen. Let's return to the story. He really knew.
Flying. And in March of 1941, Bellinger had co-authored a report. And it's sort of like Michael J. Fox getting into the DeLorean and taking off. for the future.
He said that when times are tense and we're not getting along with Japan. It's possible the Japanese would attempt to move what he called a fast raiding force of one or more aircraft carriers into Hawaiian waters. And they would be able to do that without our knowing. And at about 300 miles away from Oahu, they would launch their planes. And those planes would arrive over Pearl Harbor.
Perhaps at dawn, and they would catch the fleet in the harbor. And if that happened, the results would be disastrous. He wrote that again in March of 1941. On November 30th, Bellinger had no knowledge of the war warnings because no one had told him. No one would tell him in the next few days either that the Navy listeners now couldn't find four of Japan's aircraft carriers.
So, the man who had forecast a raid under tense circumstances didn't know carriers were missing and didn't know the times were that tense. Which brings me to the third person I'd like you to meet. His name is Arthur McCollum. Arthur was the chief of the Far Eastern Section of Naval Intelligence. and he was a most unusual American.
because he had been born in Japan. His parents were missionaries. He spoke Japanese. He had served in Japan twice as a naval officer. McAuliman even taught the emperor how to dance American style.
So the Japanese respected McCollum and he respected them. That, however, was not the common opinion of most Americans in 1941. Americans tended to think of the Japanese as almost amusingly curious little people who were not particularly creative or innovative. Their weapons were thought to be not too good. Their ability with things mechanical was thought to be not too great.
They were even thought to have physiological defects that made them lousy flyers. In 1939, an author by the name of Fletcher Pratt A pretty well-known author. Had written this. The Japanese as a race. have defects of the inner ear, just as they generally are myopic.
Put them in an airplane, they're going to crash. McCollum Tried to convince people that, no, no, you've got it all wrong. They're actually quite good at what they do. But he later said it was impossible to penetrate this mindset because of what he called, quote, the constant daily drum fire from our press. that they are militarily amusing.
In the same vein, there was also a belief. That there was an attribute of Pearl Harbor that worked in their favor when it came to defending the island and defending the fleet. And that attribute was the depth of the harbor. When you drop a torpedo from an airplane, they're very heavy things and they plunge quite deeply into the water. If there isn't enough water, they simply go into the bottom.
Our own torpedoes needed considerably more depth. than was available in Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was about 45 feet. And we had concluded, therefore, the f ships in the harbor were safe. and didn't need nets strung around them.
that might catch torpedoes. It never seems to have occurred to anyone that the Japanese, who also knew the depth of Pearl Harbor, Rather than simply accepting that as a reality of life, would seek to solve the problem. But they did solve the problem. By adding fins to torpedoes, Which brings me to the final person I'd like you to meet. Sadawo Chagusa.
On November 30th, he was aboard one of those 30 warships plowing silently across the North Pacific. It wasn't until a few days before they left. that Chagusa not only found out who the enemy was, but where they were going. It's really remarkable how much debate there was within the Imperial Navy about conducting this attack. Many of the admirals and officers within the Imperial Navy didn't want to attack the Pacific Fleet.
They felt if the Americans challenge us after we do all these other things, let them sail towards us. Let's not sail towards them. But the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Navy, a man whose name was Isiroko Yamamoto. Insisted that the way to win the war, or at least have a chance to win the war. was to eliminate the only threat to the Imperial Navy that existed in the Pacific, and to do it before the war started in total surprise, hoping to destroy American morale.
The objections to that idea, though, were this. How was it possible to keep secret the movement of 30 warships across the Pacific on a mission that would take 12 days? They could be seen at any moment by a commercial ship, an American plane. And the worst part of that is that if they were spotted, they might not know it. they might continue sailing directly into an ambush that the Americans had prepared for them.
rather than the other way around. And the final objection, or a objection, I should say, to the attack was there was no guarantee the Pacific Fleet was going to be there when they got there. Again, it's the age before satellites. When they set out, They had no way of knowing whether their target would even be there.
So when Chagusa found out, oh, you're going to Hawaii. He thought that was the end of his life. He said he would die, quote, off Hawaii in the greatest and most desperate battle in our history. He sent a letter to his parents, bidding them farewell. He cut a snippet of his hair, stuck it in an envelope, and sent it to his wife and his children.
He was not alone among those men.
So when they arrived in the early morning darkness on December 7th, They were almost as surprised as the Americans were about to be that they had not been found. They had seen no one, no one had seen them. Chagusa wrote in his diary. that it was in effect a miracle. I really couldn't find any other better expression of our good fortune than the words.
the grace of heaven and the help of God. They had succeeded because they had been underestimated. In closing, I'd like to share The moment when all of those problems, when the assumptions that the Americans had made. We were being eviscerated, and when it became apparent that the Japanese had pulled off this thing that the Americans had thought they couldn't do. It was a moment late on December 7th in Washington at the old Navy Department.
And a man placed the telephone call. The man was named Harold R. Stark, the highest ranking uniformed officer in the Navy. Even the government was having trouble understanding the extent of the damage. And Harold Stark called Pearl Harbor and he reached an admiral named Claude Block.
Stark did have in his hands the first official report sent by Admiral Kimmel. And I'll briefly tell you what Kimball said. He said surprise attack by Japanese damaged all battleships except Maryland. He said the Arizona was a total wreck. The cruiser's Honolulu Helena and Raleigh unfit for sea.
The destroyers Shaw, Casson, and Downs were a complete loss. But he said, personnel behaving magnificently. in face of furious surprise. I don't know if you caught it, but twice in that note, Kimmel referred to surprise. As if he needed Washington to understand this wasn't incompetence, it was treachery.
So Stark had that information, but he wanted more. And so he called and reached Admiral Block.
Now, all this time, since the warning he had sent out, Stark had been under the assumption that the Pacific Fleet had gone to sort of defensive measures and was searching. To make sure it wasn't being approached by the Japanese. And here's what he said to Block. Did our patrol planes get them before they hit us? No, Block said.
And he began to ramble about another topic. But Stark wasn't going to let this topic go. He asked again, Can you tell me how many and how far out the search planes were scouting? No, I cannot. said block.
Do you know how many were out? What sectors they were in? No, I don't. Kimmel knows that.
Well, tell Kimmel I will be asking him these questions. that I want to know how far out they were and in what sectors. Actually, Block had a pretty good idea about patrol planes. because he finally confessed to Stark. The answers will be sad.
Very unsatisfactory. They caught us flatfoot. A special thanks to Steve Toomey. Also a special thanks to the U.S. National Archives for allowing us to access this audio.
The story of Pearl Harbor and the days and months leading up to it. Here. Our American stories. This Labor Day, say goodbye to spills, stains, and overpriced furniture with washable sofas.com, featuring Anibay, the only machine washable sofa inside and out, where designer quality meets budget-friendly pricing.
Sofas start at just $6.99, making it the perfect time to upgrade your space. Anibay's pet-friendly, stain-resistant, and interchangeable slip covers are made with high-performance fabric built for real life. You'll love the cloud-like comfort of hypoallergenic, high-resilience foam that never needs fluffing and a durable steel frame that stands the test of time. With modular pieces, you can rearrange anytime. It's a sofa that adapts to your life.
Now through Labor Day, get up to 60% off-site-wide at washablesofas.com. Every order comes with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not in love, send it back for a full refund. No return shipping, no restocking fees, every penny back. Shop now.
At washable sofas.com. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. iHeart presents the Big Three Playoffs. This Sunday, the remaining four teams battle to make the championship in the most physical, fierce, and competitive basketball league in the world. The action starts with the Big Three Monster Energy Celebrity Game.
Then Dwight Howard and his LA Riot take on Montrez Harrell and Dr. J Chicago Triplets. The finale will see popular Miami 305 with stars MVP Michael Beasley and Lamb Stevenson take on Nancy Lieberman's Dallas Power, who will make it to the Big Three Championship. The no-holds bought action starts Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern, 12 Pacific, only on CDS.
This is Danielle Fischel from Pod Meets World. Parents, quick question. When is the last time you won snack time? The other day, I handed my son a perfectly portioned Pinterest-level snack and And he traded it for a Motts applesauce pouch. I'm not mad, just impressed.
And that's why Mott's no-sugar-added applesauce pouches are perfect to keep on hand. They're made with real apples, packed in a super easy pouch, perfect for tossing in a lunchbox, keeping in the car, or grabbing as you're running out the door. Plus, they're a good source of vitamin C, and kids love them. Win-win. Make sure your kid wins snack time with Motts.
Real apples make real good applesauce. Learn more at Motts.com. Hi, it's Danielle Fischel from Pod Meets World. You know that moment when you're getting dressed and it's just total chaos? Your kid can't find a shoe, the dog's barking at his reflection, and all you need is a go-to outfit you can trust.
If you're tired of options that miss the mark, let me put you onto JCPenney. No, don't give me that. Wait, seriously? Look. They've got stylish, dependable pieces that feel effortless.
A perfect solution for busy parents. I just picked up an AA denim blouse and Liz Claiborne A-line dress, both easy wins for when I'm on the go and super affordable. And the best part? The shocked faces I get when I say, yeah, it's from JCPenney. Don't miss out.
Shop now at jeeppenny dot com. Yes, J C Penny. The song stands about an obsessed fan who's taking me too literal. From Eminem and the producers of 8 Mile. Never seen anything like Eminem fans.
This is the story of a fan base. I had to look in the mirror and be like, am I in one of these crazy stands? That created a culture. I do have an addiction to Eminem. I traveled the world for him.
Without Eminem, I wouldn't have the life I have right now. What's your first question? Stands, new documentary streaming August 26th on Paramount Plus. This is an iHeart podcast.
