1 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:15,600 Speaker 1: Pushkin the Collock Street tears around the clay circle with 2 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: a spoon of the wind, increasing his lead with every stride. 3 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,880 Speaker 2: Also, about four thousand athletes competed in the nineteen thirty 4 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 2: six Olympic Games, but Jesse Owens is the one people remember. 5 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 3: Streak Jesse Owens in one hundred meters. 6 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:34,519 Speaker 1: The yata go out in front of that cap of 7 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:38,560 Speaker 1: coming second up on him. 8 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 2: Jesse Owens was born in Alabama, the son of a sharecropper, 9 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 2: self effacing, soft spoken, and an unbelievable athlete. In nineteen 10 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:49,839 Speaker 2: thirty five, as a twenty one year old, he had 11 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 2: already set three world records in a single day, all 12 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 2: in the same hour. With a bad back, Where's mister 13 00:00:57,960 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 2: runner makes the others look as if they're working? 14 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,639 Speaker 3: He wins the final and equals the worlds record time, and. 15 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,839 Speaker 2: In nineteen thirty six even the Germans were expecting something 16 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 2: great from him. 17 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 4: Now, how many broad medals do you hope to win? 18 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 4: The two cord metimes? 19 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,680 Speaker 5: It's to desire very athlete to win a first place. 20 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:20,559 Speaker 4: In the an Olympic Games. 21 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 2: In nineteen thirty six, he was slated to compete in 22 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 2: three events, and since I'm in three events. 23 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 3: I hope to you emerge with three victories. 24 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 5: I hope one meets one hundred meters two hundred. 25 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 2: Meters and rogum one hundred meters two hundred meters and 26 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 2: the broad jump. Later they added a fourth event, the 27 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,480 Speaker 2: four by one hundred meter relay. He would win gold 28 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 2: in all four, the only person to win four gold 29 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 2: medals in the Berlin Olympics. And that is why you 30 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 2: know the name Jesse Owens. But it all could have 31 00:01:56,560 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 2: turned out differently because of that broad jump. You've seen 32 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 2: a broad jump before today it's called the long jump, 33 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 2: and it's one of the more dramatic Olympic sports. The 34 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 2: jumpers sprint down the runway, hit a take off board 35 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 2: and they look like they're flying and then they land 36 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 2: in a huge spray of sand. So the morning of 37 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 2: August fourth, nineteen thirty six, ten thirty am in the 38 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:27,839 Speaker 2: reichs sport Feld, it's the long jump qualifying rounds. Best 39 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:31,079 Speaker 2: jumpers go on to the final. Owens had just run 40 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 2: his heat in the two hundred meters immediately after he 41 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 2: headed over to the pit. It was the third day 42 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 2: of the Games, and by then he already had his 43 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 2: first gold medal, so it was a surprise when he 44 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 2: botched his first jump. By some accounts, he thought it 45 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 2: was a practice run no sweat, though he had two 46 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 2: more tries, so he lined himself back up and started 47 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 2: jogging down the runway. He took off and came up short. 48 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,640 Speaker 2: He had one jump left. If he screwed up that 49 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 2: last jump, he'd have been out of the contest, and 50 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 2: he'd have gone from being the only athlete to win 51 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 2: four gold medals in nineteen thirty six to one of 52 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 2: three athletes who'd won three golds, right up there with 53 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 2: Conrad Frey and Hendrika Mastenbroke, who actually would have had 54 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 2: more total medals than him. And I ask you, be honest, 55 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 2: have you ever heard of Conrad Fray and Hendrika masten Broke. No, 56 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 2: And probably if he'd missed that final qualifying jump, you 57 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 2: wouldn't have heard of Jesse Owens either. So after the 58 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 2: first two misses, Owens was rattled. But then something miraculous happened, 59 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 2: something that changed the course of Jesse Owens's life and 60 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 2: made him a legend. 61 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 6: I'm Malcolm Gladwell. Welcome to revisionist history about things overlooked 62 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 6: and misunderstood in this episode, Ben and Aph Haffrey and 63 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 6: I are talking about one of the biggest stories to 64 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 6: emerge from the Berlin Games. A story about two athletes 65 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 6: making good on the promise of the Olympics, cross cultural understanding, 66 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:22,719 Speaker 6: sportsmanship against all odds. A moment that became key to 67 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 6: the Olympic mythology and to the legend of Jesse Owens. 68 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:32,480 Speaker 6: A powerful, incredibly important story that's hiding a very big secret. 69 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,280 Speaker 2: It was cool that day in August. Clouds had rolled 70 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 2: in over the stadium. Around one hundred thousand people were 71 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 2: in the stands watching in America's most famous athlete, Jesse Owens, 72 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 2: was screwing up badly, which makes no sense. All he 73 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 2: had to do was jump seven point one five meters 74 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 2: to qualify. He already had a world record for jumping 75 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 2: a meter farther than that, So what was going wrong? 76 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 2: Malcolm and I had decided to ask an expert a legend. 77 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 3: Actually it was about ten years ago, so the age 78 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 3: is sixty five, I think, and I jumped further than 79 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 3: my high school mark is sun right, yeah, and. 80 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 6: You're the first American who jump fifty seven feet. 81 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:27,159 Speaker 2: Yeah, one of the greatest American triple jumpers of all 82 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 2: time Milan Tiff. 83 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 3: I actually jumped sixty feet but they didn't wouldn't recognize 84 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,799 Speaker 3: it because I jumped out of the pit And. 85 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:37,720 Speaker 6: Where did you do that? 86 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 7: Right here? 87 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 3: You say wow, and I jump. I completely jumped over 88 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 3: the sand pit and landed on the grass. I had 89 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 3: grass stands all over the back of me. 90 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:50,679 Speaker 2: Going to see Milan was Malcolm's idea. 91 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,600 Speaker 6: So when I was in high school, starting at the 92 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 6: age of twelve, I became a competitive runner, and I 93 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,159 Speaker 6: was obsessed with track and field, and I subscribe to 94 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 6: Track and Field News, the Bible of the sport, as 95 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 6: it's called. And Miller Tiff was this extraordinary. First of all, 96 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,600 Speaker 6: he was astonishing looking. He looked there was something kind 97 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 6: of ethereal about him, and he had as a kid, 98 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 6: he couldn't walk because he had I think polio or something. 99 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,840 Speaker 6: And he was also an artist, really really bright colors 100 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 6: and kind of wildly imaginative and a little bit psychedelic. 101 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 6: But I was I was just obsessed with him as 102 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 6: this kind of like this this strange, otherworldly figure. And 103 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 6: he was a favorite in nineteen eighty. Had we not 104 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:42,520 Speaker 6: boycotted the nineteen eighty Games, he might well have won 105 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,360 Speaker 6: a gold medal. Anyway, I cannot wait. He's going to 106 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 6: be He's going to be a little bit. He might 107 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 6: be a little I don't know, but I have a 108 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 6: sense that he might be. He might be a little 109 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 6: out there. 110 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:58,160 Speaker 2: This turned out to be pretty prescient. After meeting the 111 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 2: lawn Tiff, I felt like I had take in some 112 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:03,160 Speaker 2: kind of intense psychedelic the effects of which I've yet 113 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 2: to wear off. 114 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 3: The first humans. It's unbelievable. 115 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 2: I understood that to walk is just to take a 116 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 2: number of tiny, long jumps. I found myself transfixed by 117 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 2: an actually gorgeous painting of Milans portraying a pair of 118 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 2: empty tidy whities suspended in a blue abstract space called 119 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 2: mysteriously palm springs, and. 120 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 3: The birds and the trees would all fly down. They're 121 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 3: just tapped into the same frequency as I have when 122 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 3: I'm running and jumping. 123 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 2: We flew out to Los Angeles, where he lives, so 124 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 2: he could take us out to the UCLA track, And 125 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 2: when we got there there were several helicopters hovering above 126 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 2: us the whole time, which only made everything a little 127 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 2: more surreal. And Olympic legends just walking up to him 128 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 2: literally bowing down. This I think because they wouldn't normally 129 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 2: see him. He told us he prefers to run in 130 00:07:53,200 --> 00:08:00,280 Speaker 2: the morning, by which he meant three am. Tif us 131 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 2: out to the broad jump pit to help us get 132 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,680 Speaker 2: inside Jesse Owens's mind, which we thought he could do 133 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 2: because he's a master of the approach the part Jesse 134 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 2: Owens was screwing up, but also because so you actually 135 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 2: knew Jesse Owens when you were a kid. 136 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:20,679 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you know that sit and he tell the stories, yeah, 137 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 3: and not hear all the stories. And you know, he 138 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:25,840 Speaker 3: talked about his experience in Berlin. 139 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 2: You know, we asked him to tell us about how 140 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 2: you're supposed to approach a jump. 141 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:34,719 Speaker 3: Yeah, you gotta have a gidea up first, that kind 142 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 3: of rockings. You have to have some or a jiggle 143 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:39,080 Speaker 3: where you will call it. Yeah, you have to have 144 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 3: a jiggle or a gide up before you even get 145 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 3: into your run. 146 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,559 Speaker 2: Yeah, that adjustice your run. Is that why this is 147 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 2: obviously the broad jump but lose long. I noticed he 148 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 2: does this sort of like hitch in his leg before 149 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 2: he starts running. 150 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:55,199 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's like a dance. It's like it's like a preparation. 151 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 2: Can you show us what your gidea up. 152 00:08:56,880 --> 00:08:59,560 Speaker 3: Was, Well, it's like a one, two, three, four five, 153 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 3: then you start your run. 154 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:01,680 Speaker 2: Yeah. 155 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 3: And I told it to Willie Banks world record, taught 156 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:05,719 Speaker 3: it to. 157 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 2: Bike Pile world record. We gave it a shot on 158 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,439 Speaker 2: the track where at the very same time actual Olympic 159 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:18,160 Speaker 2: athletes were practicing for this year's games. Was it embarrassing? 160 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 2: It was mortifying. Did we set a world record? Not 161 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:26,000 Speaker 2: even close. Did we become friends with any Olympians they 162 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,439 Speaker 2: were otherwise occupied. But this is the kind of dedication 163 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 2: that deep historical investigations demand. What was Did Jesse Owens 164 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:34,680 Speaker 2: have a gidayup? 165 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:37,960 Speaker 3: No, he had a stand start because he was a sprinter, 166 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 3: you see. Yeah, that's why he was losing the steps 167 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 3: all the time. He didn't have a jiggle, well, he 168 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:47,360 Speaker 3: didn't have a che No, he didn't have a jiggle 169 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 3: or a get. 170 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 2: Yeah. 171 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,600 Speaker 3: And it took his competitor to say, man, come on, 172 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 3: you gotta do something first. 173 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 2: Jesse Owens's competitor, facing down the pit through export fold 174 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 2: Long Lutzlong was Germany's champion broad jumper, Hitler's champion, and 175 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:11,080 Speaker 2: he looked the part a fine ak line nose framed 176 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 2: by your classic blonde hair and blue eyes. As Owens 177 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 2: wrote later, Hitler was in the stadium that morning to watch. 178 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 2: Owens knew that he'd like nothing better than to see 179 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 2: a black man lose to an Arian. The thought was 180 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:28,240 Speaker 2: nanging at him, messing up his focus. And then he'd 181 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:30,680 Speaker 2: looked up at the box where Hitler had been watching 182 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 2: the games and saw that when Owens's turn came, Hitler 183 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:40,240 Speaker 2: had just left. It made his blood boil. That's why 184 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 2: he was fouling out. He was psyched out by all 185 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:46,400 Speaker 2: of it, distracted, and when he saw how amazing Lutslong 186 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 2: was at the broad jump, he began wonder if there 187 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:52,600 Speaker 2: was something true about all this Arian stuff. He was 188 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:56,640 Speaker 2: down to his last jump, and then came the miracle. 189 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 2: In an autobiography he published in nineteen seventy eight, Owens wrote, 190 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,319 Speaker 2: suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was 191 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 2: Lut's Long. Look. 192 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 4: There is no time to waste with manners. What has 193 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:12,120 Speaker 4: taken your goat. 194 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 2: Obviously we had to reenact this. 195 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 4: I had to smile a little in spite of myself 196 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 4: hearing his mixed up American idiom ah. Nothing I said, 197 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 4: you know how it is. He was silent for a 198 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 4: few seconds. Yes, he said, finally, I know how it is. 199 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:33,440 Speaker 4: But I also know you are a better jumper than this. 200 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 4: Now what has taken your goat? I laughed out loud 201 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 4: this time, but I couldn't tell him him Above all, 202 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 4: I glanced over at the broad jump pit I was 203 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 4: about to be called. Lutz didn't waste words, even if 204 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 4: he wasn't sure of which ones to use. Is it 205 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:57,560 Speaker 4: what reichkanze Hitler did? He asked. I was thunderstruck that 206 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:02,000 Speaker 4: he'd say it. I start to answer, but I didn't 207 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 4: know what to say. I see, he said, Look, we 208 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:09,679 Speaker 4: talk about that later. Now you must jump and you 209 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,960 Speaker 4: must qualify. But how I shot back? 210 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 2: I have thought? 211 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:18,079 Speaker 4: He said, you are like Aya. You must do it 212 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:20,280 Speaker 4: one hundred percent correct. 213 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 2: I nodded. 214 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 4: Yet you must be sure not to foul. I nodded again, 215 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 4: this time in frustration, And as I did, I heard 216 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:33,320 Speaker 4: the loudspeaker call my name. Lutz talked quickly. Then you 217 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:37,080 Speaker 4: do both things, Jesse. You remeasure your steps, you take 218 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:40,520 Speaker 4: off six inches behind the foul board. You jump as 219 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:43,640 Speaker 4: hard as you can, but you need not fear to foul. 220 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 4: All at once, the panic emptied out of me like 221 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 4: a cloudburst. 222 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,360 Speaker 2: Owens jogged up to the line and laid a towel 223 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 2: to mark where Long had told him to jump. He 224 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,440 Speaker 2: lined up on the runway, maybe wiped his hands on 225 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:04,439 Speaker 2: his jersey, and then he ran one step, two steps, 226 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,320 Speaker 2: closer and closer to the pit, and then he hit 227 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 2: that mark on the towel, leapt into the air. 228 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 3: And when he finally got that, he qualified. 229 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:15,720 Speaker 2: And later that day, with Hitler back in the stands, 230 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 2: in the metal event itself well record, he set an 231 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 2: Olympic record. And that's when Lootes along the aryan poster 232 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:29,680 Speaker 2: child who had just lost to Jesse Owens, hugged him 233 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:31,839 Speaker 2: in front of Adolph. 234 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,200 Speaker 3: Hitler, and the Hitler was pissed man. 235 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:40,440 Speaker 2: But Long didn't just embrace him. According to Jesse Owens, 236 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:45,200 Speaker 2: later that night they met up in the Olympic village. 237 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,439 Speaker 2: The hours ticked on and they stayed up late, talking 238 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 2: about their lives, the state of the world, and the 239 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,439 Speaker 2: uncertain future. Some kind of strange bond had been formed 240 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 2: between the men that day, because then the next day 241 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:04,160 Speaker 2: they did it again, and after that, again and again 242 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 2: and again. Every single night of the games, they met 243 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 2: up to talk. They became friends. The dream of the 244 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 2: Olympics was real for them. They bridged an unbridgable gap 245 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 2: between two cultures, two races. Something unbreakable had bound them. 246 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 2: After the Games, when Owens was back in America and 247 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 2: Lutzlang was still in Nazi Germany, they wrote letters to 248 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 2: each other, even after long was serving in the Wehrmacht 249 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 2: the Nazi army, back and forth across the Atlantic for years. 250 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 2: They kept coming until right before Lutzlang was killed in 251 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 2: the war. He was stationed in the deserts of North Africa. 252 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 2: On some lonely desert hour, he sat down to write 253 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 2: one last letter to his friend. 254 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 4: I am here, Jesse, where it seems there is only 255 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:00,760 Speaker 4: the dry sand and the wet blood. I do not 256 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:04,360 Speaker 4: fear so much for myself, my friend, Jesse. I fear 257 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:07,680 Speaker 4: for my woman, who was at home, and my young son, Karl, 258 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 4: who has never really known his father. My heart tells me, 259 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 4: if I be honest with you, that this is the 260 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 4: last letter I shall ever write. If it is so, 261 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 4: I ask you something. It is something so very important 262 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:30,080 Speaker 4: to me. It is you go to Germany when this 263 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 4: war done. Someday find my Carl. And tell him about 264 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 4: his father. Tell him, Jesse, what times were like when 265 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 4: we were not separated by war, I am saying, tell 266 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,640 Speaker 4: him how things can be between men on this earth. 267 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,320 Speaker 2: There are tears in your eyes. You would not be alone. 268 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 2: This story is a big part of the legend of 269 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:03,560 Speaker 2: Jesse Owens. If you look up Jesse Owens in the 270 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:08,000 Speaker 2: Encyclopedia Britannica, there's the story when they made a star 271 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:12,080 Speaker 2: studded Hollywood film about Jesse Owens's life. Lutslog and that 272 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 2: qualifying jump are the pivotal moment. Retelling this story would 273 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,880 Speaker 2: help launch the career of the greatest Olympic documentarian of 274 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 2: all time, Bud Greenspan. And I'm not an auctioneer, but 275 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:26,720 Speaker 2: I think it is the reason why Lutslog's silver medal 276 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 2: sold for nearly half a million dollars two years ago, 277 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 2: about five times the amount earned for any other silver 278 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 2: medal at auction. It's arguably the most important story in 279 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:42,800 Speaker 2: Olympic history. It is proof of the Olympic Dream. It 280 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,560 Speaker 2: made the case that it was good that America went 281 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 2: to the vilin Games because it made possible this improbable 282 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 2: friendship that transcended even the Second World war a story 283 00:16:54,040 --> 00:17:15,120 Speaker 2: that was just too good to be true. This entire series, 284 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 2: we've been telling stories about the way people made sense 285 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 2: of having the Olympics in Nazi Germany, the distortions, the myths. 286 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 2: And when I kept hearing about Jesse Owens's friendship with Lutzlong, 287 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:27,239 Speaker 2: I thought, we got to do an episode on this. 288 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 2: Here's two people who saw each other clearly through all 289 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:34,560 Speaker 2: that moral fog. So I wanted to read more of 290 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,120 Speaker 2: what Owens and Long wrote to each other in those letters. 291 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,240 Speaker 2: I wrote to the Jesse Owens Archive at the University 292 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:42,359 Speaker 2: of Ohio for copies of the letters, and they didn't 293 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,600 Speaker 2: have any. They suggested I write to the family, but 294 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 2: they didn't have any either. It seems strange to me 295 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,280 Speaker 2: that no one had kept them. So then I thought, 296 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 2: maybe I'm just looking in the wrong country. 297 00:17:55,800 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 8: My name is Gelindre. I was living in Leipzig, working 298 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 8: in Leipzig for more than thirty years, and the last 299 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:09,160 Speaker 8: twenty five years as the director of the Sports Museum 300 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 8: in Leipzig. 301 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:16,120 Speaker 2: And Leipzig has a connection to Long's life, right, that's right. 302 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 8: Lutslan was born in Leipzig nineteen thirteen and he lived 303 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:26,840 Speaker 8: there almost till the end. 304 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 2: Rhor and her colleague, the sport historian Volker Kluge, have 305 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:34,160 Speaker 2: looked more deeply into the Jesse Owens luteslong story than 306 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 2: anyone else. 307 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 8: We got a lot of questions from all over the 308 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 8: world about the legend. 309 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:43,719 Speaker 2: Jesse Owens told this story a lot of times. There 310 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:46,240 Speaker 2: are a few different versions, but Roor dug through the 311 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 2: official reports about the games. They're over a thousand pages long. 312 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:56,879 Speaker 8: There is a very good documentation about the Olympics called 313 00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:02,640 Speaker 8: Official Report of the nineteen thirty six Olympics, and they 314 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 8: describe it very exactly what happens and where. 315 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 2: Alongside that official report, the most important bit of documentary 316 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:16,440 Speaker 2: evidence is an article Kuga turned up written by Lutzlong himself. 317 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 2: He was published about a week into the Games, and 318 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:23,440 Speaker 2: it's called Mine kamfmit Owens, My Struggle with Owens, which 319 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:27,199 Speaker 2: I suspect is a deliberate reference to Hitler's memoirs, but 320 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 2: homages to Hitler aside. The article was part of the 321 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:34,080 Speaker 2: surprisingly positive press coverage in Germany about Jesse Owens's win, 322 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:39,159 Speaker 2: including a series of photographs of Jesse Owens and Lutzlog 323 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 2: lying together in the grass of the Reichspoortfeld smiling. The 324 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:46,879 Speaker 2: photos are sometimes billed as having been taken after the 325 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:50,680 Speaker 2: competition when Owens won and Long hugged him. Long's wearing 326 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:53,000 Speaker 2: a dark turtle neck sweater and it looks like he's 327 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 2: cracking a joke. Owens is beaming at him and wearing 328 00:19:56,240 --> 00:19:59,600 Speaker 2: his Team USA crew neck. In the photo, they're so 329 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 2: close it almost looks like they're touching. They look like 330 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:06,600 Speaker 2: real friends. So Gerlinda Ror and I turned our attention 331 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:07,119 Speaker 2: to that. 332 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:13,960 Speaker 8: So between the first three jumps and the final three jumps, 333 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,119 Speaker 8: these photographs were doing. 334 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 2: Oh so these photos are taken even before Jesse Owens 335 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 2: wins the gold Yes, oh wow, so it's even its prior. 336 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:29,439 Speaker 2: There's a good chance that photo was taken or at 337 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:33,199 Speaker 2: least commissioned by Lenny Riefenstahl, the legendary filmmaker for the 338 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,440 Speaker 2: Third Reich. The photos float freely around the Internet now 339 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:38,639 Speaker 2: you can find them on Getty Images. But at the 340 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 2: time they were part of the Nazi propaganda push, meant 341 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 2: to show that the Nazis weren't as prejudiced as they seemed. 342 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:48,480 Speaker 2: So we know that Lutes Along and Jesse Owens met 343 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,159 Speaker 2: at least for the time it took to take that photo, 344 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,480 Speaker 2: and they smiled at each other. Who knows what they said. 345 00:20:56,320 --> 00:21:01,160 Speaker 2: But here's the strange thing. In his articles, Long mentions 346 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 2: Jesse Owens's difficulty qualifying. He describes each of the three 347 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:09,119 Speaker 2: jumps he took, but he doesn't say anything about helping 348 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,919 Speaker 2: him with the approach, which is strange because that's the 349 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:16,879 Speaker 2: most important detail in the whole story. Owens is Long's 350 00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 2: biggest competitor. Owens is what stands between Long and the gold, 351 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 2: and yet Long goes out of his way to help 352 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,199 Speaker 2: Owens get to the final You would think in an 353 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,439 Speaker 2: article about the Olympic Spirit, Long would mention that they 354 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 2: were trying to prove that they were unprejudiced. Also, in 355 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:33,600 Speaker 2: Nazi Germany, it would have been a way for an 356 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,199 Speaker 2: arian to take credit for a black man's success. But 357 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:41,719 Speaker 2: he doesn't mention it. Okay, So maybe all the meaningful 358 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:44,280 Speaker 2: stuff happened in those Long talks in the Olympic village. 359 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:48,720 Speaker 8: What about those I didn't think that. It cannot be 360 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:52,960 Speaker 8: because Lukslong didn't live in the Olympic village. Oh really, 361 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:59,119 Speaker 8: he didn't live here. I know from his family and 362 00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:06,199 Speaker 8: from photographs and from a diary of his mother that 363 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:11,159 Speaker 8: after the opening of the Olympic Games he went back 364 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:13,520 Speaker 8: home from Berlin to Leipzig. 365 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 2: And did he go home to Leipzig after the broad jump? 366 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 2: He wasn't. He would go home at the end of 367 00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 2: each day. 368 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:25,840 Speaker 8: No, not each day. After his competitions started. He lived 369 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,360 Speaker 8: in Berlin in another hotel. 370 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:32,640 Speaker 2: All right, So the Long talks seem less likely, though 371 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:36,040 Speaker 2: there are two pieces of evidence that cut the other way. First, 372 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:38,919 Speaker 2: a few days after the broad jump, a newswire service 373 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:42,760 Speaker 2: wrote that quote something like a damon and pytheis friendship 374 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:46,639 Speaker 2: has sprung up between Ludslog and Jesse Owens. Though I 375 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 2: think that's just a reference to the hug on the 376 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,520 Speaker 2: field that all the reporters would have seen. But then 377 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,199 Speaker 2: there's an athlete who, decades after the Games claimed that 378 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:56,600 Speaker 2: she went out drinking in Berlin with Owens and Long. 379 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:00,199 Speaker 2: But Volker Kluga thinks the timing of her story is 380 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:04,360 Speaker 2: implausible given her events schedule. Also, I can't find any 381 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,639 Speaker 2: record of it in Owens's Olympic diaries. Owens is on 382 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:10,399 Speaker 2: the record saying quote, I didn't get a chance to 383 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,200 Speaker 2: go out of the Olympic village. In fact, I never 384 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:16,320 Speaker 2: did leave the village. The only time that I was 385 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,880 Speaker 2: ever out of the village was at the time when 386 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,400 Speaker 2: we went to the Olympic Stadium to compete. I mean, 387 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:25,760 Speaker 2: they had some intense schedules to keep. Actually, even Hitler 388 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,439 Speaker 2: couldn't keep up with their schedules. The fearor liked to 389 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,199 Speaker 2: sleep late. He famously slipt through a lot of d 390 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 2: day and probably for the same reason, he wasn't even 391 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 2: in the stands the morning of the broad drum qualifiers, 392 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,119 Speaker 2: which is why it's not actually possible that he walked 393 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:48,159 Speaker 2: out on Owens. That leaves us with the letters. So 394 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 2: then the final piece of the legend is these letters, 395 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,960 Speaker 2: these sort of beautiful letters that Letslong writes to Jesse 396 00:23:56,080 --> 00:24:00,880 Speaker 2: Owens from the front, from the battle fields of the war. 397 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,200 Speaker 2: And I've not been able to find any archival record 398 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:05,960 Speaker 2: of those letters, have you. 399 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 8: I asked his middle when she was living still in Hamburg, 400 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 8: and she said there were letters. We got to our atlas, 401 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 8: and she never saw a letter from Jesse Owens. No 402 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:32,959 Speaker 8: one in the family knows about letters from Jesse Owens 403 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 8: to Lutz. 404 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:37,200 Speaker 2: Owens at one point cites nineteen thirty nine as the 405 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,560 Speaker 2: date of Lutslang's last letter. He says that in it 406 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 2: Long writes about his wife and son, but Volkar Kluga 407 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,720 Speaker 2: points out that Long didn't even marry his girlfriend until 408 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 2: nineteen forty one, and by the way, his son wasn't 409 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,040 Speaker 2: born till then either, And okay, well, then there's that 410 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:55,440 Speaker 2: other account featuring a letter from Long on the front 411 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 2: lines of North Africa after he was married and after 412 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 2: his son was born, except he didn't serve in North Africa. 413 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 2: He died in Sicily. Also, you couldn't even send letters 414 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 2: from the Nazi front lines to American citizens. I mean, 415 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:16,439 Speaker 2: they were fighting a war against each other, so then 416 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:20,399 Speaker 2: they really wouldn't have been speaking really beyond the competition itself. 417 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:22,800 Speaker 2: So probably the moment they spoke was when they were 418 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:23,760 Speaker 2: taking those photos. 419 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:30,439 Speaker 8: The only time they met each other was during the 420 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:36,520 Speaker 8: long jump competition in this stadium, the only time, never before, 421 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:37,880 Speaker 8: and never often. 422 00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:42,960 Speaker 2: I looked through Jesse Owens's diary from the nineteen thirty 423 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:46,520 Speaker 2: six Games. In the back he keeps a list of addresses, 424 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:50,359 Speaker 2: presumably of people he wants to write to, and there's 425 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:54,159 Speaker 2: no address for Lutslang in there. It was starting to 426 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:58,719 Speaker 2: look like this amazing Olympic story just wasn't true. But 427 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:02,280 Speaker 2: then I was left for the new question. If it's 428 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:07,800 Speaker 2: not true, how did it catch on? We'll be right back. 429 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:19,159 Speaker 2: What are the ingredients of a good Olympic story? 430 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:22,359 Speaker 6: Well, I mean I would start with the mathematics of 431 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:26,440 Speaker 6: the games, which are tremendously appealing from a storyteller's perspective, 432 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 6: which is that you have whatever I forgot, how many 433 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:35,120 Speaker 6: sports fifty going on simultaneously with athletes from all over 434 00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:39,159 Speaker 6: the world, So you have an infinite number of stories 435 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 6: to choose from. 436 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:41,359 Speaker 2: Like a farm system. 437 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 6: It's a farm storytelling, so every year a different one 438 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:49,080 Speaker 6: bubbles up. You know, Mark Spitz, a dentist whins seven golds? 439 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:52,200 Speaker 6: Now do you come in each a kind of beautiful 440 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:56,080 Speaker 6: waif from Romania. It's this kind of wonderful natural experiment 441 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,480 Speaker 6: in myth making. It just has it. It has a 442 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,399 Speaker 6: an almost strategic advantage with the other big sports spectacles 443 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 6: World Cup, super Bowl, those are monocultures. 444 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:08,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's totally true, and like in the 445 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 2: myth making thing, you have this ancient aura to it. 446 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:18,680 Speaker 6: Yes. The other thing is it's this playground for uh, 447 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:23,120 Speaker 6: for healthy prejudice. So the the flying fin, the kind 448 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:26,240 Speaker 6: of mysterious Pavunermi who comes from like the woods of 449 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:30,359 Speaker 6: and like you know, a baby Beequila running barefoot through 450 00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:32,480 Speaker 6: the streets of Rome and to in the marathon in 451 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:36,160 Speaker 6: nineteen sixty. Of course he's barefit. Right, it's Ethiopia right 452 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 6: on and on your your you, you take on the 453 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 6: characteristics of your of your country, and that's like, it's 454 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:50,280 Speaker 6: this kind of really fun exercise in multicultural ethnocentrism. 455 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:53,880 Speaker 2: It's like, what's what's in the water over there? Yes, 456 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:58,720 Speaker 2: that's right. Did you ever cross paths with Bud Greenspan? No, 457 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:04,800 Speaker 2: but green Span the most legendary Olympic storyteller of all time. 458 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:07,359 Speaker 9: There are those who believe in the core values of 459 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:12,439 Speaker 9: the Olympics, no one more so than filmmaker Bud green Span. 460 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 2: At some point in this project, I got a little 461 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,800 Speaker 2: distracted from Jesse Owens and got obsessed with Bud Greenspan. 462 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:22,119 Speaker 2: He looked like the Buddha, if the Buddha had been 463 00:28:22,119 --> 00:28:24,680 Speaker 2: born far sighted on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. 464 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 2: He was bald and typically wore his black, thick framed 465 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:31,160 Speaker 2: glasses on top of his head like his brain was stargazing. 466 00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:34,919 Speaker 6: Do you ever look at that unappealing negative side of 467 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:36,119 Speaker 6: the Olympics in your films. 468 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:37,880 Speaker 9: I've been asked that many times, Jane. 469 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:39,840 Speaker 5: I think I'd rather spend one hundred percent of my 470 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:42,200 Speaker 5: time and a ninety percent that's good, and a lot 471 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 5: of my colleagues who spent one hundred percent of the 472 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:45,920 Speaker 5: time in the ten percent that's not so good. 473 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:49,320 Speaker 2: Here, I should just acknowledge that he's talking about us 474 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 2: in our nine part series on Hitler's Olympics, which that 475 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,960 Speaker 2: is fair. I defer to him because Bud Greenspan basically 476 00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:00,600 Speaker 2: invented modern uplifting Olympic storytelling. When Bob he cost us 477 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:03,600 Speaker 2: the voice of the Olympics on NBC first got the 478 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 2: big job, you watched like sixteen hours of Bud Greenspan 479 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:08,880 Speaker 2: documentaries just to get the feeling right. 480 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,240 Speaker 9: Though criticized at times for looking at the games like 481 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:17,120 Speaker 9: a young boy through rose colored glasses, he has been 482 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:20,040 Speaker 9: making films on the Olympics for over fifty years. 483 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 2: That, by the way, is from an ESPN tribute to 484 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 2: Bud Greenspan, which is why there was all those angelic 485 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:30,000 Speaker 2: voices in the background. Green Span started reporting on the 486 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:33,680 Speaker 2: Olympics in the late nineteen forties. He was at every 487 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:37,680 Speaker 2: single Olympic Games from nineteen eighty four until he died 488 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:41,400 Speaker 2: in twenty ten. He won eight Emmys a Lifetime Achievement 489 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:44,880 Speaker 2: Award from the Director's Guild. Everyone knew Bud Greenspan, and 490 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,320 Speaker 2: even if you don't know his name, you know his style. 491 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 10: Here's one story. 492 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,640 Speaker 2: Nancy Beffa, Bud Greenspan's partner in life and film. 493 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:56,520 Speaker 10: Okay, we're at the metropol and Opera, which he adored, 494 00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:02,080 Speaker 10: and intermission and having a glassish campaign and managing editor 495 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:04,960 Speaker 10: of Time magazine, you know, comes up to us, and 496 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:07,760 Speaker 10: it does Bud, and he goes, what are you doing here? 497 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:11,920 Speaker 10: As if you know, oh, you should be at Yankee 498 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:13,280 Speaker 10: Stadium or something. 499 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:17,160 Speaker 2: Oh, there is something so operatic about Olympic stories. So 500 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:20,960 Speaker 2: well yeah, so why am I telling you about Bud 501 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 2: Greenspan Because his love for sport and his love for 502 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 2: operatic storytelling came together in the holy grail of all 503 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 2: Olympic stories, the nineteen thirty six Games and Jesse Owens. 504 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 10: They were friends. So like when Jesse would come into 505 00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:40,719 Speaker 10: New York, maybe he stayed at his apartment, they'd certainly 506 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 10: see each other. I remember Bud telling these stories about 507 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:49,480 Speaker 10: how he would take Jesse out to dinner and maybe 508 00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:52,160 Speaker 10: it was like a tennis or racket club in New 509 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:56,080 Speaker 10: York City and they were still segregated, but he talked 510 00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:58,480 Speaker 10: his way into the dining room, and I remember the 511 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,920 Speaker 10: matre g called but just as long as Jesse sits 512 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,400 Speaker 10: with his back to the door, the front door. 513 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:09,000 Speaker 2: In the nineteen sixties, during the Civil Rights movement, Greenspan 514 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:11,160 Speaker 2: got the idea for a film that fit the era. 515 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 2: He convinced Jesse Owens to return to Berlin to shoot 516 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,640 Speaker 2: an hour long TV documentary to narrate it too. A 517 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:20,760 Speaker 2: lot of the film is made up of archival footage 518 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:23,920 Speaker 2: that Lenny reefinstall shot of the games, but it's framed 519 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 2: with these scenes of an older Jesse Owens in a 520 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:29,120 Speaker 2: suit walking around the reich sport Feld. And for one 521 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:33,280 Speaker 2: of the film's pivotal scenes, Bud Greenspan invited Lutsloan's Sun 522 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 2: Kai to meet Jesse Owens on the track and that's 523 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 2: when this happened. 524 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:43,040 Speaker 5: Kyle, you probably don't know it, but your father was 525 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:45,920 Speaker 5: greatly responsible for my winning the broad Jump in nineteen 526 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:46,560 Speaker 5: thirty six. 527 00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:49,200 Speaker 7: Well, Jesse has been a very important part in my life, 528 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 7: and I'm very often seen pictures from you and the 529 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 7: photographs of my father. Please tell me about this competition 530 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,480 Speaker 7: here in the stadium, because I have my father only 531 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:01,440 Speaker 7: seen for three times. I was found nineteen forty one 532 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:03,240 Speaker 7: and my father has died to ninety forty three. 533 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:05,800 Speaker 5: Well, it all happened on the other side of the 534 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:08,120 Speaker 5: field here, but we had the premonaries for the running 535 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:11,760 Speaker 5: broad jump, and on the first two gymps, I followed 536 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:13,640 Speaker 5: on one and didn't go far enough on the other. 537 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:17,120 Speaker 5: And your father came to my assistance and he helped 538 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,600 Speaker 5: me measure a footback of the takeoff board, and he 539 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,080 Speaker 5: helped the tape until I measured a foot back as 540 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:24,960 Speaker 5: far as my takeoff was concerned. And then I came 541 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:27,800 Speaker 5: down and I hit between these two marks, and therefore 542 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:30,280 Speaker 5: I qualified, and that led to the victory in the 543 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:31,120 Speaker 5: running broad jump. 544 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:36,160 Speaker 2: The film was a huge hit, and it was written, 545 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:40,560 Speaker 2: directed and produced by Bud Greenspan, So I figured case closed. 546 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,040 Speaker 2: Greenspan took that hug on the field and he just 547 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:44,920 Speaker 2: made up the rest of the myth about LuSE loan. 548 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:50,480 Speaker 2: But Nancy Befer said, not so fast. Bud Greenspan believed 549 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:54,520 Speaker 2: that story because he'd heard it from Jesse Owens. 550 00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:56,640 Speaker 10: But going back, why didn't he make it up? I 551 00:32:56,680 --> 00:33:01,480 Speaker 10: don't know. I can't really speculate on that particular thing. 552 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,920 Speaker 10: But obviously you need a storyteller and then a recipient. 553 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:12,400 Speaker 10: So people must have wanted to hear that story, you know, 554 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:15,760 Speaker 10: and the note I mean, so I don't know, and 555 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:19,560 Speaker 10: but I mean the most important thing was until he died, 556 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:25,200 Speaker 10: didn't know that Jesse made up that story. 557 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:28,840 Speaker 2: The story came from Jesse Owens, and he first told 558 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,560 Speaker 2: it long before he made that film in the nineteen sixties. 559 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:34,520 Speaker 2: Ki Long at first heard it from Jesse Owens too, 560 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:35,600 Speaker 2: a decade earlier. 561 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:42,360 Speaker 8: Oh, when I first talked to ky Long, he said, 562 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:48,920 Speaker 8: for him, it was a completely unexpected situation. 563 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:51,720 Speaker 2: Again, sport historian Gerlinda Rhorr. 564 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:55,440 Speaker 8: He was ten years at the time when Jesse Owens 565 00:33:55,480 --> 00:34:02,080 Speaker 8: came to Germany, and suddenly ky Long was in a 566 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:09,360 Speaker 8: lot of journalists and photographs, and he didn't know what 567 00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:13,840 Speaker 8: happened because he couldn't remember his father. He was only 568 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:19,040 Speaker 8: two and a half year old when Lutzlan had to 569 00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:25,080 Speaker 8: leave the family for the war, and so it was 570 00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:32,040 Speaker 8: a completely new situation for this young boy. Of course 571 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:36,560 Speaker 8: he believed it because he didn't know what really happened. 572 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:38,680 Speaker 8: He couldn't ask his father. 573 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:43,800 Speaker 2: Never Griwinda told me that as Kai Long grew older 574 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,280 Speaker 2: and reporters kept asking him about Jesse Owens and his father, 575 00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:52,040 Speaker 2: Kai started to wonder about the myth, which eventually had 576 00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:56,080 Speaker 2: begun to involve Kai too. In a TV interview, Owen 577 00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:58,640 Speaker 2: said that Kai had his letters' salutes in his scrap 578 00:34:58,719 --> 00:35:00,759 Speaker 2: book fifty one. 579 00:35:01,120 --> 00:35:03,640 Speaker 5: I had the privilege of meeting his son and after 580 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:04,440 Speaker 5: showing the. 581 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:07,520 Speaker 9: Pictures and letters that he had the scrap book that I. 582 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:08,279 Speaker 1: Had written as father. 583 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:11,000 Speaker 3: Well as a result of that, today. 584 00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:14,120 Speaker 2: I know there is no evidence that that's true. Kai 585 00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:16,799 Speaker 2: published a book in twenty fifteen about his father, full 586 00:35:16,840 --> 00:35:20,839 Speaker 2: of family photos and documents. It's in German and impossible 587 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:24,080 Speaker 2: to find, but the publisher sent me a copy and 588 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:28,160 Speaker 2: there are just no letters from Omens to Long in it. Surely, 589 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:31,600 Speaker 2: if Kai had those letters in that scrap book, he'd 590 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:33,200 Speaker 2: have included them in this book. 591 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:41,680 Speaker 8: And so he started to think about what's the truth 592 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:47,959 Speaker 8: and what really happened. When he was an adult and 593 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:53,239 Speaker 8: he was asked all the time from journalists, and when 594 00:35:53,480 --> 00:36:00,719 Speaker 8: he told them, oh, maybe it couldn't be or their 595 00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:06,520 Speaker 8: aren't letters to me, he said, I can tell what 596 00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:13,840 Speaker 8: I want. They want to hear the legends. And so 597 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:22,000 Speaker 8: he said once to me, Oh, missus, Raw, isn't it 598 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:29,279 Speaker 8: nice for people to live with this story? Do you 599 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:31,600 Speaker 8: want to destroy this story? 600 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:35,879 Speaker 2: Honestly, I don't want to destroy this story. And let 601 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:39,440 Speaker 2: me say again, a meaningful part of it is clearly true. 602 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:43,239 Speaker 2: Lutslang and Jesse Owens were true sportsmen. They were good 603 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:46,440 Speaker 2: to each other on the field. But this whole series 604 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:49,040 Speaker 2: we're doing is about what happens when we failed to 605 00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:51,360 Speaker 2: see the truth of what is right before our eyes. 606 00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:55,080 Speaker 2: And this legend of the Owens long friendship has started 607 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:57,480 Speaker 2: to seem to me like one of the biggest examples 608 00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:00,760 Speaker 2: of failing to see what's right before you. First, because 609 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:03,600 Speaker 2: in so many ways it doesn't add up. And second, 610 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:06,600 Speaker 2: because it doesn't just involve one or two daffy members 611 00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:10,040 Speaker 2: of the IOC, but so many of us for a 612 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:14,359 Speaker 2: long time now. But why would Jesse Owens make this up? 613 00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:31,760 Speaker 2: The truth at last? Next Week Revisionist History is produced 614 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:35,760 Speaker 2: by me Ben Mattahaffrey, dalli Emlin and Nina Bird Lawrence. 615 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:40,200 Speaker 2: Our editor is Sarah Nix. Fact checking on this episode 616 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:44,920 Speaker 2: by J. L. Goldfein. Original scoring by Luis Garratt, mastering 617 00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:49,800 Speaker 2: by Sarah Briguer and Jake Korski. Engineering by Nina Bird Lawrence. 618 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:54,919 Speaker 2: Our executive producer is Jacob Smith. Special thanks to Karen 619 00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:58,000 Speaker 2: Schakerji rufus Wright, who read the excerpts of Jesse Owens 620 00:37:58,040 --> 00:37:59,600 Speaker 2: autobiography and J. D. 621 00:37:59,760 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 1: Land. 622 00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:03,680 Speaker 2: I'm then out of Haffery.