This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. The countdown is on for the 2026 NFL Draft presented by Bud Light. Catch all seven rounds three days live from Pittsburgh, April 23rd through 25th. Watch every pick live on NFL Network, ESPN, and ABC.
NFL Network is also streaming with NFL Plus. It all starts tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern. Visit nfl.com slash draft for more information. Subscription required for NFL Plus.
Visit plus.nfl.com for terms. We've been duped, hoodwinked, conned for 50 years. The lawn care industry sold us toxins in a bag and made our yards more toxic than a bad relationship. Sunday helps you ditch the chemicals and feed your lawn the good stuff: soybean proteins, iron, seaweed, molasses, ingredients that get your soil giggling like an overserved mom at the block party. Sunday uses clean ingredients in real science for thicker, greener grass.
Order today and get your custom Sunday yard plan for the season ahead. Sunday for a smarter, healthier yard. GetSunday.com. You know the fastest way to ruin a great adventure? Getting dehydrated?
For real. That's why you always gotta plan ahead with some Liquid IV hydration multiplier. Veteran move. You're basically your own hydration coach at that point. Just one stick and 16 ounces of water hydrates you faster than water alone.
Boom! Back in the game. Hydration multiplier powered by Liquid IV HydroScience, which is fancy talk for a smart science-backed mix of electrolytes and essential vitamins doing the dirty work to keep you going strong. Go to liquidiv.com and use the code NutHouse for 20% off your first purchase. Do you want to find a stress-free way to buy your next car?
Start a CarMax and shop your way. If you want to browse with confidence, get pre-qualified online with no impact on your credit score and shop cars within your budget, from luxury cars to family rides. Yeah. CarMax has options for almost every price range, including more than 25,000 cars priced under $25,000.
So hey, wanna get started? Just head to CarMax.com for details and get pre-qualified today. Wanna drive? CarMax. Uh This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people.
And we love our listeners' stories. If you have one, share it with us at ouramericanstories.com. That's ouramericanstories.com. They're some of our favorites. When we talk about the United States nuclear navy, or even the widespread use of nuclear reactors to generate power, we need to talk about one man, Admiral Hyman Rickover.
A man whose active duty service spanned 63 years may be Making him the longest-serving naval officer as well as the longest-serving member of the U.S. Armed Forces in history. Despite Rickover's impressive length of service, he is more known for his unorthodox interview tactics. Here is retired Navy Captain Bill Tody. to tell us about his experience with the kindly old gentleman.
The time was about seven PM. after a series of very long days. Like the others, This day was filled with tests and interviews and hours of metal intensity. interrupted by hours of mind numbing boredom. I was a first-class midshipman.
at the U.S. Naval Academy. and this was the singular event. that would determine the course of my professional life. For the previous few hours, a combination of fatigue and nervous energy had been building.
and I had become riveted. torn between the awe of the moment and fear of screwing this up. We had heard many tales about what I would soon encounter. Most of these stories were presumed to be tall tales. For example, several different renditions of the Make Me Mad story had been circulating.
where Admiral Hyman Rickover dared a midshipman to do something that would anger him. purportedly to see how willing the midshipmen would be to follow an order.
Some midshipmen were said to have complied, by clearing the Admiral's desk with a single arm suite. Then there were the various confinement tales of being locked up in a small space or tiny closet for hours. This apparently was one of the Admiral's famous tests for claustrophobia. to see if the midshipman had what it would take to become a submarine officer. Uh The only anecdote I heard from our current round of interludes had supposedly involved A classmate of mine just a few hours earlier.
As the breathless rumor went, The Admiral had been berating him. for a particularly poor performance. in a certain course of study. What would your mother think if she knew you were goofing off like this? the Admiral had supposedly asked my classmate.
who reportedly replied My mother's dead. The Admiral's alleged response?
Well, it's a good thing she is, or she would die of embarrassment. This is how the legends usually spread. most of them were unbelievably over the top. Each was uncorroborated. I had been running through my potential reactions to these various scenarios when it happened.
I was ushered in to see the kindly old gentleman. The K O G. of nuclear power lore. Uh The year was 1979. Since the Admiral was born in 1900, it was never difficult to calculate his age.
The man was 79,000. and of almost mythical stature. I walked into his office, and something seemed vaguely familiar. Mm. I couldn't quite place it.
But I'd witnessed this scene before. I looked around, searching for a clue of why I had this sudden bout of dreamlike familiarity. And as my backside hit the seat of a sadistically teetering wooden chair, Designed, it was said, to keep the midshipmen off balance, the first of the rumors I could now actually validate, it hit me. The room was right out of the holiday movie. It's a wonderful life.
He was mister Potter. And I was George Bailey. He was about to offer me a job and hand me a cigar. And then the Admiral, without ever looking up. muttered the only words I would hear, During round one, of Tody vs.
the Admiral. I can't use a philosophy major with a 3-0 average. Get out! My assigned shepherd, a prospective commanding officer or PCO student. grabbed my elbow and yanked hard enough to overcome my inertia.
Suddenly, we were standing outside the Admiral's office, the visit having lasted less than 30 seconds. As the door closed behind me, I broke through the mental fog enough to proclaim But I'm a physics major. Clearly weary of playing advocate to a bunch of wide-eyed midshipmen. he led me off to parts unknown. He pointed to a door and said I'll see what I can do.
Waiting here. My holding pen was a very small office with bare walls and dust, and filled nearly to capacity. by a large metal desk. After a couple of the most excruciatingly tedious hours of my life, The door opened, and the same commander said Come. Yeah.
We retraced our steps down the now familiar corridor, into the Admiral's office, and I threw myself back onto that demon of a chair. Admiral Rickover was gazing hard at a file. occasionally muttering to himself, I was surprised. How old and frail the great man looked. His desk was stacked high with files of various sizes.
I could barely see him behind this morass. After what seemed an eternity, Again, without looking up, he said You got a C in philosophy. Why? That philosophy again. And you've been listening to Navy Captain Bill Tody.
tell the pretty traumatic story of his first interview with a living legend and a curmudgeon. And back in the day, there were a lot more interviews like this.
Now you'd get arrested for this stuff or thrown in the stockade. When we come back, more of Captain Tody's story. about coming face to face. with the nuclear Abe Lincoln. Admiral Hyman Rickover.
Here on Our American Stories. Lee Habib here, and I'm inviting you to help OurAmerican Stories celebrate this country's 250th birthday, only a short time away. If you want to help inspire countless others to love America like we do, and want to help us bring the inspiring and important stories told here to millions for years to come, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Our American Stories. Go to OwamericanStories.com and click the donate button. Give a little, give a lot.
Any amount helps. Go to OwlAmericanStories.com and give. The countdown is on for the 2026 NFL Draft presented by Bud Lyke. Catch all seven rounds three days live from Pittsburgh, April 23rd through 25th. Watch every pick live on NFL Network, ESPN, and ABC.
NFL Network is also streaming with NFL Plus. It all starts tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern. Visit nfl.com slash draft for more information. Subscription required for NFL Plus.
Visit plus.nfl.com for terms. People don't listen to radio ads. While you're driving or making a sandwich, your subconscious pays full attention.
So relax. Let it take over. Sunday makes yard care simple with a custom plan based on your soil, climate, and yard size. No pesticides, no harsh stuff. Custom Sunday Lawn Plan.
Order today and get your Custom Sunday Lawn Plan. Ready for the season ahead. Sunday, a smarter, healthier yard. This is Julian Edelman from Games with Names. You know, I always got something going on: lifting, chasing my kid.
Or heading on a family road trip where I'm somehow both the snack guy. And the DJ. But no matter what's going on in my schedule, one thing never changes. I make sure I stay hydrated. That's where Liquid IV shows up clutch.
We've said it before. It's the key. You gotta have a liquid IV on you. Jim bag. Glove box.
The pantry you swear is organized. Toss one in, just a stick and 16 ounces of water hydrates you faster than water alone. Boom. Efficiency. It's powered by Liquid IV Hydroscience.
Sounds like a playbook term, but it's an optimized ratio of electrolytes, vitamins, and clinically tested nutrients, turning water into a game changer. Worried it tastes like science? Don't. Liquid IV hydration multiplier flavors are delicious. Lemon lime, popsicle firecracker, and cotton candy, plus sugar-free favorites like white peach and rainbow sherbert.
That's a win. Tear, pour, and joy. Even I can handle that. Go to liquidiv.com and use the promo code NutHouse for 20% off your first purchase. You're a pro at running your life, at committing to your workout, at showing up every day.
At Bombus, we're pros too, pros at making socks. Our sport assortment has specialized socks for whatever sport you're committed to: running, hiking, golf, Pilates, and so much more. Made with sweat-wicking yarns, blister fighting details, and targeted art support. Bombus Sport is pro-level socks from the pros of socks. For another pro, you.
Go to bombus.com/slash audio and use code audio for 20% off your first purchase. That's bombus.com and use code audio. Ah. And we're back with Our American Stories and retired Navy Captain Bill Tody's experience with the father of the nuclear Navy, Admiral Hyman Rickhov. After accusing Tody of being an underperforming philosophy major, he was actually a physics major.
Brickover brought Tody back into his office. To grill em once again. After what seemed an eternity, Again, without looking up, he said You got a C in philosophy. Why? That philosophy again.
Thus began my rant, which went something like this. Uh My professor was a product of Yale University and didn't believe in grades. He would frequently say, I can lead you to philosophy, but I can't make you think. Our grade was dependent on the number of papers we submitted, rather than the quality of our work. while the other students submitted four two-page papers to get an A, I submitted one very good sixty page paper essentially daring him to give me a C.
And he did. I gambled and lost. I could see the rage starting to build. I think it started somewhere in his neck. But maybe it started lower than that.
I couldn't really tell. because his lower regions were obstructed by the stack of papers. By the time this passion had risen to his head, it had grown to what can only be called Riccovarian proportions. And his eyes The fire in his eyes was not that of an old man. This was a young visceral anger.
That's bull He stood halfway up, spittle shot out of his mouth as he yelled. Summarizing a much longer tirade, the gist of what he screamed was I've heard a lot of bulls in my day, but have never ever heard such bulls before. I want you to know, young man, that you now haul the bull record. Get out of here. Get the hell out of my office.
At this point in my life, I would not have called myself an overachiever. And I kind of gloried in the possibility that now after all these years I might finally Hold a record at something. And I had earnestly, simple mindedly, stupidly wondered what I could have said, or done to earn such wrath. I also honestly began to wonder if I really had the stuff he was looking for. Would I be accepted into the program that was?
At the time. the most prestigious the Navy had to offer? I followed the PCO down the hall to what I presumed would be the same office. And to my surprise, When I stared through the door, I was looking into... A closet.
The Closet of Legend. I would now have the honor of referring to myself as one of the Closet survivors. In there, the PCO said. And then he left. I wondered about the criteria for putting malcontents in the last barren office.
as opposed to this closet. My Catholic upbringing provided the answer. I concluded that the office was sort of a nuclear purgatory. saved for those innocents who were guilty only of original sin. That is.
Those who through no fault of their own, were simply stupid by birth. The closet, on the other hand, was reserved for those truly despicable characters who had actively if not knowingly, sinned against him. those who were actively stupid, not merely passively so. It all made sense. in a nuclear justice sort of way.
But it wasn't the kind of closet I had imagined. when hearing that miscreants had been banished to the closet. In my mind, The place of banishment was a coat closet. or a storage room of some sort. Instead, My current station was actually one of those janitorial closets.
with brooms and bad smells in a deep sink. For almost two hours I considered my plight. while pondering the intangibles of his closet. I contemplated the fine art of dust mop construction. I remembered the many times I had been trusted with operating such equipment in my first real job.
when I was still too young to drive. sweeping and mopping floors. And although I was successfully killing time, I was completely missing the point. Maybe it was because of the boredom. Or maybe a couple of stray neurons in my brain collided In a freak.
Vision like accident. But eventually I began to think. I trace the sequence of events in my life. that have led to the stay. I began to recall the drive that caused me to toss off the constrained dreams.
of a young Steeltown boy and apply for an appointment to the Academy. And while searching for my motivation, I began to ponder my heritage. My grandparents were immigrants who escaped from Italy to avoid the unhappy fate of a poor dirt farmer in a poor dirt land. Yeah. At one point, my father's father found employment in his new homeland.
by digging ditches for a living. Happy to drill sewer lines. Through solid Ohio sandstone with nothing more than a pickaxe. and a hard steel shovel. My mother's father had toiled his entire life shoveling coal, and working the steel mills.
I remembered that even at a very early age, I understood the travails of a hard life. And so While still just a young boy, I made a commitment to myself that for me, it would be different. And suddenly They're in that janitor's closet. among those mops and brooms, I had an epiphany.
So when the door finally opened, I rose from my deep-sink sofa and walked into the Admiral's office with confidence. Are you ready to tell me the truth? he asked. Um Admiral, it doesn't matter what grade I got in philosophy. What matters is that I could have worked harder but didn't.
and by not giving my best effort. I betrayed myself and I betrayed the investment the country was placing in me. And although I didn't say it, I also knew that I had betrayed my past. And amazingly, For the very first time the Admiral looked at me. The rage was gone.
The fire was gone. And it was now after eleven PM. All I saw was an old man with the weight of the greatest submarine force in the world on his shoulders. That's right, he said. If you give less than you're able to, you'll let everyone down.
Me? your ship, your navy, your country. I can't use people like that. I can only use people who have the courage and discipline to give everything they've got. I can be one of those people, Admiral.
You better be. or you'll never survive my program. And that is how I was accepted into Admiral Rickover's nuclear training program. I have since commanded one of the submarines the Admiral brought into this world. and I've served as commodore of a submarine squadron.
And after all these years I'm still not sure if Admiral Rickover intended for that simple janitor's closet to serve as his Mecca of wisdom and humility. Was that confinement merely a sadistic ruse, as some have said? Or did he really intend for those cleaning tools to be symbols of what my life might have been. Tangible touchstones, to our collective past. I hear people frequently say that the Admiral's methods were trivial or petty.
But I don't believe that. I'm one of those who think there was a method to his madness. After all, I found truth in a closet. And in so doing, I found myself. And a terrific job on the production by Robbie, and a special thanks.
To Captain Bill Tody, his book From CO to CEO, A Practical Guide for Transitioning from Military to Industry Leadership, is available wherever you buy your books. And what a story he told about being in that closet and having to come to terms with who he really was. and having to tell the truth. Too well a legend. I could have worked harder and didn't.
I betrayed myself and my past. His life began on that day. The story of Admiral Hyman Rickover and Captain Bill Tody here. on our American stories. The countdown is on for the 2026 NFL Draft presented by Bud Light.
Catch all seven rounds three days live from Pittsburgh, April 23rd through 25th. Watch every pick live on NFL Network, ESPN, and ABC. NFL Network is also streaming with NFL Plus. It all starts tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Visit NFL.com slash draft for more information. Subscription required for NFL Plus. Visit plus.nfL.com for terms. People don't listen to radio ads. While you're driving or making a sandwich, your subconscious pays full attention.
So relax. Let it take over. Sunday makes yard care simple with a custom plan based on your soil, climate, and yard size. No pesticides, no harsh stuff. Custom Sunday Lawn Plan.
Order today and get your Custom Sunday Lawn Plan. Ready for the season ahead. Sunday, a smarter, healthier yard. In football, you've got guys from everywhere. Different backgrounds, different beliefs, all of it.
You don't agree on everything. but you got each other's backs. That's how it works. And right now, off the field, hate's going up everywhere. Different communities, different ways.
And Jewish communities are getting hit hard. That's not how a team operates. The Blue Square is just one way of showing you've got people's backs. Go to bluesquarealliance.org, grab one, share it, be a good teammate. This is Sarah Spain with a huge congratulations to WNBA top draft pick and amazing iHeart podcaster AZ Fudd.
From all of us here and your friends at Geico, we know your life is about to change. New city, new locker room, new home. It's a lot. But you're not doing it alone. You've got friends, family, and teammates.
You've got all of us at iHeartWomen's Sports, and you've got Geico with you every step of the way. Congrats again, AZ. Listen to AZ's podcast, but around and find out wherever you listen to podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast, guaranteed human. Mm-hmm.
