1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, A production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello Owen, Welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:19,080 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Uh. This is another 4 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: one of those episodes that was intended to be an assortment, 5 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,319 Speaker 1: a collection of things, and then it became about just 6 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: one of those things. Yeah. I was planning to write 7 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: about three or maybe four very mundane things that we 8 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: use every day in our lives and their origins. But 9 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: then when I got to the story of the TV 10 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: remote control, I discovered there was a drama. Uh. In 11 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:47,520 Speaker 1: some ways, it's a one sided drama, but we'll talk 12 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: about it. This is one that's really relatable, I think 13 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: probably for anyone that has worked for a big company 14 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: and has felt like their contributions are lauded one moment 15 00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:59,280 Speaker 1: and forgotten the next. I think a lot of us 16 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: can relate to that. But it is also a story 17 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: about how two very different people perceive their work in 18 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: the same space, and how, in some cases that work 19 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: is perceived differently over time by those around them and 20 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:18,200 Speaker 1: even their employer. The initial time period where a TV 21 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:22,319 Speaker 1: remote control was being developed was actually pretty short. We 22 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:26,680 Speaker 1: recently talked about spray paint and how that had multiple 23 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,679 Speaker 1: options of people that get credited as the person that 24 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: are over literal decades. But this is like within eighteen months, 25 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: two people emerged, each of whom sometimes are called the 26 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: father of the remote control and one of those versions 27 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 1: that they created quickly supplanted the other. So we're going 28 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 1: to talk about those very early years and the way 29 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: that two inventors who were pivotal to the story have 30 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: been talked about in different ways by the company that 31 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: they both worked for. So we're starting a little earlier 32 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: than that, which is that in eighteen ninety eight, Nikola 33 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: Tesla received a patent for a remote control device. His 34 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:10,079 Speaker 1: patent called this method of and apparatus for controlling mechanism 35 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:14,799 Speaker 1: of moving vessels or vehicles. This invention was for quote, 36 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: controlling from a distance the operation of the propelling engines, 37 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: the steering apparatus and other mechanism carried by moving bodies 38 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,239 Speaker 1: or floating vessels, of which the following is a specification 39 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:30,799 Speaker 1: reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming part 40 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: of the same That remote is not specifically germane to 41 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: the technology that we're talking about today, but it's illustrative 42 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: of the ways that people were thinking about using remote 43 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:48,959 Speaker 1: controls well before televisions were even invented. We talked about 44 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:53,959 Speaker 1: TV's invention in our twenty thirteen episode on Filot Farnsworth, 45 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: So jumping ahead from that moment more than one hundred years. 46 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: A two thousand and six write up about Eugene Polly 47 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: in the Atlantic City newspaper The Press reads, quote, fifty 48 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 1: years ago, Polly invented the wireless remote. In return, he 49 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,320 Speaker 1: got one thousand dollars and a lifetime of gnawing irritation 50 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:18,399 Speaker 1: at being squeezed out of pop culture history. Now he's 51 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: trying to set the record straight. And in that article, 52 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: Polly told the paper quote, not only did I not 53 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:27,640 Speaker 1: get credit for doing anything, I got a kick in 54 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: the rear. So I stumbled upon this and said, what 55 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: is the backstory here? Suggest that there was drama? M 56 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: Eugene Theodore Polly was born on November twenty ninth, nineteen fifteen, 57 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: in Chicago. His mother, Vera Wachowski, was from a wealthy family, 58 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 1: but his father was a bootlegger. When Eugene was born, 59 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: Vera's family had cut off most contact with her because 60 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: of her connection to Eugene's father, but his father did 61 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: not stay around either. The two of them were separated 62 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 1: when Eugene was still really young. This is often described 63 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: as his father abandoning Vera and Eugene. His father's first 64 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 1: name is really never mentioned in any accounts of Eugene's life, 65 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: and later Eugene started using his confirmation name of Joseph 66 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: as his middle name. Yeah. I don't know if Theodore 67 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: was perhaps tied to his father in any way. That's 68 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 1: sheer speculation on my part, but there is definitely an 69 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:33,479 Speaker 1: unwillingness to include any of that kind of discussion in 70 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: any stories of his life. Finances were very, very tight, 71 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:41,279 Speaker 1: but Vera and Eugene got by together. And Eugene was 72 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: very clearly a super smart kid. He just had a 73 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: mind for all things mechanical. And after high school he 74 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: attended City Colleges of Chicago and then he went on 75 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:56,039 Speaker 1: to the Armor Institute to study engineering. The Armor Institute 76 00:04:56,080 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: is the Illinois Institute of Technology today. But Polly wasn't 77 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,600 Speaker 1: able to finish his studies and he didn't get his 78 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: engineering degree. The depression was making life harder and harder, 79 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: and his mother just needed help keeping their life together financially, 80 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: so Eugene joined the workforce. In nineteen thirty five, twenty 81 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: year old Eugene got hired by Zenith Radio Corporation and 82 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,239 Speaker 1: he started there as a parts clerk. He didn't stay 83 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:26,919 Speaker 1: in the stock room, though, he was eventually able to 84 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: move into the company's engineering department, and then he kept 85 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: moving up from there. He became a product engineer and 86 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:39,679 Speaker 1: eventually moved into management and the mechanical engineering group. Zena's founder, 87 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 1: another Eugene. That's Eugene McDonald, started pushing his engineers to 88 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:46,720 Speaker 1: come up with something that would enable viewers to not 89 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: have to endure commercials. This was in nineteen fifty. Apparently McDonald, 90 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 1: who had the nickname the Commander by his employees, uh, 91 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:59,479 Speaker 1: just hated commercials and he figured most other viewers did too. 92 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: That's usually how this is reported, and it sounds like 93 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:05,360 Speaker 1: kind of a feel good story about a captain of 94 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: industry fighting for the interests of his consumers. But it's 95 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:13,280 Speaker 1: a little more complicated than that. McDonald thought that ad 96 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:16,919 Speaker 1: supported television was not going to last, and moreover, he 97 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: did not want it to last, and that was in 98 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,599 Speaker 1: part because Zenith was developing an early pay per view 99 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 1: business model, which would have competed with ad supported programming 100 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: where viewers did not have to pay directly to watch things. 101 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:34,839 Speaker 1: Of course, his take on the potential of commercial driven 102 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 1: television proved wildly incorrect. There were radio remote controls of 103 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: various types going back to the nineteen twenties before the 104 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: rise of television, and they had evolved and improved significantly 105 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:51,520 Speaker 1: over just a couple of decades, so it seemed like 106 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: there had to be a way to control a TV 107 00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: with the remote too. There had already been an attempt 108 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: to control a TV remotely, but it was not really 109 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: all that helpful. That product was the Telezoom, which came 110 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:07,200 Speaker 1: out in nineteen forty eight, and as that name suggests, 111 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,920 Speaker 1: it let viewers zoom in on the picture. That was 112 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: the only thing that it did. I often zoom in 113 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:21,720 Speaker 1: on pictures on my phone. I can see times you 114 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: might want to do that on TV. Not that many times. 115 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: It did not really take off. Yeah, it's tricky. I 116 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: have seen some explanations that suggest that the idea for 117 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: it was that TV's were so small at the time 118 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: that people would want to zoom in. But I'm like, yeah, 119 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:39,679 Speaker 1: but it's a moving picture, so like what you zoom 120 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,400 Speaker 1: in on, yeah, may not be germane to the story. 121 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: It's a it's a moving picture. And the image quality 122 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: was also limited enough that it seems like zooming in 123 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: would quickly just be like blobs. Yeah, I could see why. 124 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: It was not a rousing success. But the first invention 125 00:07:57,560 --> 00:08:00,480 Speaker 1: that came out of the Zenith Engineering group to solve 126 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: this problem of being able to silence commercials with something 127 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: called a lazy Bones, which I love. This was a 128 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:11,440 Speaker 1: very simple remote. It was intended really just to silence 129 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: the TV during commercials, and Zenith advertised it that way, 130 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: hoping that it would help to hamper the use of 131 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:22,560 Speaker 1: commercials and kind of kneecap commercial television. After all, if 132 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: consumers didn't hear the ad messaging, what was the point. 133 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: The Lazybones advertising encouraged viewers quote television fans have fun. 134 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 1: Sit back in your chair, relax, keep Zeni's new Lazybone 135 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:39,920 Speaker 1: remote control handy to change stations, Press lightly with your 136 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:43,960 Speaker 1: thumb and presto, there's the program you want. But the 137 00:08:44,040 --> 00:08:47,680 Speaker 1: Lazy Bones was not a wireless device. It had a 138 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,680 Speaker 1: cable that users had to connect to their television and 139 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: it could turn the set on or off, or change 140 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: the channels, and it also was really good at tripping people. 141 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:02,200 Speaker 1: Eugene McDonald really thought they could do better. Additionally, almost 142 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:04,960 Speaker 1: as soon as the Lazy Bones hit the market, other 143 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: electronics companies started to make their own versions. So McDonald 144 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: really wanted something that could outperform all of those imitators. 145 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: And this is where Eugene Polly's inventive mind came up 146 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,839 Speaker 1: with a solution. We don't talk about that solution after 147 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:33,439 Speaker 1: we pause for a sponsor break. In nineteen fifty five, 148 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:37,360 Speaker 1: Eugene Polly developed a product that became the flash Mattic. 149 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,480 Speaker 1: The flash Matic used a beam of light to point 150 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: at sensors in the corners of the television to change 151 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 1: channels or activate the TV's power. It looked like a 152 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 1: ray gun or even the kind of gun you might 153 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: use to control a garden hose in terms of its form, 154 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:56,440 Speaker 1: and that form factor was not an accident. Polly later 155 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: said in an interview that he chose that design quote 156 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:03,600 Speaker 1: so people could shoot out the commercial. Polly's invention also 157 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 1: came equipped with what would become one of the most 158 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,840 Speaker 1: important features of all remote control devices going forward, a 159 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:14,559 Speaker 1: mute function. The flash Mattic was patented in Eugene Polly's 160 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: name under the title control system. The patent application notes 161 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: that it's trying to solve the danger issue of a 162 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,960 Speaker 1: tethered remote quote. In the past, many different remote control 163 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:30,359 Speaker 1: arrangements have been proposed for both radio and television receivers, 164 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,560 Speaker 1: some of which have been exploited commercially. Most of these 165 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:40,200 Speaker 1: remote control systems require physical interconnection between a remote control 166 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 1: station and the receiver, usually by a conductive wire or 167 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:49,800 Speaker 1: multiconductor cable. Although some of these systems have been relatively 168 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:53,440 Speaker 1: convenient and effective in operation, they are always subject to 169 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:57,440 Speaker 1: the principal disadvantage that the wire or cable linking the 170 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: remote control station to the rec receiver is not particularly 171 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: attractive in appearance and may often cause accidents when laid 172 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,679 Speaker 1: across a portion of the floor where people must walk, 173 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:12,960 Speaker 1: which seems like would be most setups right most of 174 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,199 Speaker 1: the time, the space between where you sit and your 175 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: television is where you walk to sit and watch television. Well. 176 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: Another technology that was also working this way around this 177 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:28,760 Speaker 1: time was hearing aids that were connected physically to the 178 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 1: television that also or a tripping hazard. I did not 179 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 1: personally see these, but like one generation back from me 180 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 1: and my family were like my great grandparents with their 181 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:45,280 Speaker 1: hearing aids that connected directly to the TV. Yeah, if 182 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,080 Speaker 1: you had two of these things going on, I shudder 183 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: to think at the danger level you were dealing with. 184 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:53,560 Speaker 1: And I say that in case that sounded funny with 185 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:58,680 Speaker 1: entire sincerity, because yeah, I would trip over everything. Early 186 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 1: ads for the flash mat touted its revolutionary nature. One 187 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 1: such full page newspaper ad had the headline, now, a 188 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:10,880 Speaker 1: flash of light without wires controls your Zenith TV from 189 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: across the room shoots off long, annoying commercials while picture 190 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: remains on screen. The rest of the ads copy explained 191 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: the device in more detail for consumers because this was 192 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 1: entirely new technology. Quote, Flashmatic tuning is built into the set. 193 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:31,319 Speaker 1: It's a Zenith development. No other set has anything like it. 194 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:34,720 Speaker 1: There are no wires, chords or connections of any kind. 195 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 1: You simply point the light from the flashmatic gun into 196 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: one of the four flashmatic windows. There's one window in 197 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:44,880 Speaker 1: each corner of the picture frame. The flashmatic light turns 198 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:48,440 Speaker 1: the set on or off, changes stations forward or backward, 199 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 1: shuts off annoying commercials. It's unbelievably simple to operate, harmless 200 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:58,160 Speaker 1: to humans, and built to last a lifetime. Many of 201 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:00,959 Speaker 1: the ads showed a beam of light that was going 202 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: from the remote all the way to the TV to 203 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 1: show consumers exactly what it was, and the accompanying copy 204 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 1: often called it quote a flash of magic light. The 205 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:14,800 Speaker 1: price point noted in the ad we just read from 206 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:19,239 Speaker 1: was somewhat staggering. For a twenty one inch Zenith Bismarck 207 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 1: model television that included this new technology, that was four 208 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:26,560 Speaker 1: hundred and nine dollars and ninety five cents, which would 209 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: be roughly like five thousand dollars today, so clearly the 210 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:36,320 Speaker 1: flash Mattic was considered a luxury item. Other similar ads 211 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:40,200 Speaker 1: leaned into the convenience of this new invention, noting quote, 212 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 1: you can turn the set on and off from your chair. 213 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:48,559 Speaker 1: One explained quote flashmatic is not an accessory or attachment. 214 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:54,360 Speaker 1: Sensitive photo cells and Zenith's famous fully automatic Bullseye tuning 215 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: circuits combined to make this television work like magic. Despite 216 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: that high cost, which retailers addressed by letting people buy 217 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:08,440 Speaker 1: new TVs on installment plans. Almost thirty thousand TVs equipped 218 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: with flash Mattos were sold. Eugene Polly got a one 219 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: thousand dollars bonus for the success of this new product. But, 220 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:19,440 Speaker 1: as is often the case with a brand new technology, 221 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: the user experience in the real world revealed some problems 222 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: that just were not immediately apparent when this product was 223 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:30,320 Speaker 1: tested in a lab. For one, there was just a 224 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:35,200 Speaker 1: basic issue of user memory. You had to remember which 225 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:37,560 Speaker 1: corner of the TV you had to shoot at for 226 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:41,320 Speaker 1: any given function, and that was not particularly intuitive, so 227 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: people got kind of frustrated. But the bigger issue was 228 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: that having a technology that is triggered by light in 229 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 1: people's homes where there are a lot of potential light sources, 230 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: led to a lot of problems. If a household had 231 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: a particularly bright lamp in a room, turning it on 232 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: might change the or volume settings, or turn the set 233 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:06,240 Speaker 1: on or off. Similarly, in cases where a home's windows 234 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:09,600 Speaker 1: weren't covered by curtains or shutters, the intense light of 235 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 1: sunrise or sunset could also cause the TV to act 236 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: as though it had received a user input. So owners 237 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:20,160 Speaker 1: of flashmatic sets had to carefully plan where their television 238 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:23,000 Speaker 1: set would be placed in the home without any light 239 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:26,920 Speaker 1: sources or mirrors that could reflect them in positions where 240 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: they might impact the television. Rooms also had to be 241 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: fairly dim for the flash Matic to work consistently, as 242 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: ambient light made it harder for the receptors in the 243 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 1: screen to detect the light beam from the remote pointed 244 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:44,320 Speaker 1: at them. Seeing that this idea could be further refined, 245 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:48,200 Speaker 1: McDonald asked for another team to come up with something different. 246 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 1: In addition to the need to create a device that 247 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:54,200 Speaker 1: would eliminate the light sensitivity issues of the flash Maatic, 248 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: the company wanted whatever new device came about to not 249 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:04,040 Speaker 1: require batter because apparently some users had panicked when the 250 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 1: batteries and their Flashmatic failed and they thought their entire 251 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: very expensive television set was broken, and that caused some 252 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 1: woes for the company. Yeah. I never found specifics, but 253 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:22,560 Speaker 1: I envision like a company switchboard, just getting constant calls 254 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:25,280 Speaker 1: of I spent so much money on this and now 255 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:27,240 Speaker 1: it's broken, and them going, no, you need to replace 256 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: batteries sometimes because batteries being used and everything was also 257 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:36,720 Speaker 1: not that common yet. So the year after Polly's invention 258 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: was finished, there was a second remote control developed at 259 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:44,000 Speaker 1: Zenith This one, called a space Command, was the result 260 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:48,360 Speaker 1: of a project led by researcher Robert Adler. Adler and 261 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:52,960 Speaker 1: Polly are often characterized when this story is told because 262 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:56,200 Speaker 1: of their differences so where Polly was from a poor 263 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: US family and had to leave college before he completed 264 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,200 Speaker 1: his advanced degree to get a job. Adler, who was 265 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:06,640 Speaker 1: born on December fourth, nineteen thirteen in Vienna, got his 266 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,879 Speaker 1: PhD in physics from the University of Vienna in nineteen 267 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 1: thirty seven. After that he moved to the US and 268 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,120 Speaker 1: then in nineteen forty one he was hired to work 269 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 1: at Zenith. In the years right after he joined the company, 270 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:24,640 Speaker 1: a lot of Adler's focus was in military applications. World 271 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:27,320 Speaker 1: War Two led to a lot of innovations, and Adler 272 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:31,840 Speaker 1: worked on projects like electro mechanical filters and high frequency 273 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: oscillators that were used for radios in US military aircraft. 274 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:39,720 Speaker 1: Like a lot of engineers, he worked on loan from 275 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:45,200 Speaker 1: Zenith to the US military. Meanwhile, Eugene Polly was also 276 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:48,840 Speaker 1: working on the war effort. His concentration was in bomb 277 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 1: fuses and radar technologies, and once the war was over, Adler, 278 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:58,160 Speaker 1: like Polly, continued on at Zenith working in television technology, 279 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:00,840 Speaker 1: and for Adler, a lot of his work focused on 280 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 1: improving reception in picture and in a lot of cases 281 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 1: Adler implemented and drew from concepts that he had just 282 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: finished working on in his military radio work. There's one 283 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:14,800 Speaker 1: newspaper reference that states that Adler was the person who 284 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: actually led the creation of the Lazybones tethered remote, but 285 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:21,720 Speaker 1: it doesn't seem as though that's accurate. In the twenty 286 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:25,720 Speaker 1: fifteen book Remote Control by Caitlin Benson Allett, the author 287 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:28,359 Speaker 1: states that no one at Zenith seemed to know who 288 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:32,280 Speaker 1: precisely came up with the Lazy Bones. According to some 289 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: write ups about early remote control history, Eugene McDonald went 290 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:40,119 Speaker 1: directly to Adler to come up with something that solved 291 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:44,080 Speaker 1: the problems of the flash mattic. That's another one that's unclear. 292 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,760 Speaker 1: But Adler's team developed the Space Command and the design 293 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: of it was very different from Polly's remote. The Space 294 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:56,040 Speaker 1: Command relied on high frequency chimes. The first model contained 295 00:18:56,200 --> 00:19:00,320 Speaker 1: two lightweight aluminum rods within the unit. A year user 296 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 1: pressed one of the buttons, the corresponding rod was struck 297 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:07,200 Speaker 1: and the resulting ultrasonic noise would send a sound wave 298 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:10,320 Speaker 1: that a microphone and receiver in the television picked up. 299 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:14,480 Speaker 1: Depending on which wave that was, the channel was changed 300 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:18,919 Speaker 1: or the sound was turned off. After the first model, 301 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: a four rod version was made, which could turn channels 302 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,679 Speaker 1: up or down, turn sound on or off, or switch 303 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 1: the power on or off. If you're old enough to 304 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,640 Speaker 1: have heard a remote control called a clicker that comes 305 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,160 Speaker 1: from the clicking of the buttons on the space command, 306 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: although the sound that carried the signal was not generally 307 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:44,800 Speaker 1: perceptible to human ears. Before the idea for aluminum rods, 308 00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:47,679 Speaker 1: one of the technologies that Adler had considered was the 309 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:51,600 Speaker 1: use of radio waves, a natural thought given how much 310 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,480 Speaker 1: of his prior work had been done in that field, 311 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:58,160 Speaker 1: But he had quickly realized that because radio waves could 312 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,359 Speaker 1: travel through objects, there isn't a way to ensure that 313 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 1: your remote control was not going to change your neighbor's 314 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 1: TV channel or the volume of the sound. Yeah, the 315 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 1: sound waves got dampened by the walls of the house, 316 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,879 Speaker 1: but not so sort of like people's neighbors baby monitors 317 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:22,359 Speaker 1: picking up on one another. Yeah, same problem. And unlike 318 00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:25,439 Speaker 1: the gun design of the flash Mattic, the Space Command 319 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:29,040 Speaker 1: was a small rectangular box with switches that were labeled 320 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 1: for their function. Adler's team had solved all of the 321 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 1: problems of the earlier model and without the need for 322 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:42,640 Speaker 1: batteries as requested, and this device worked consistently. There are 323 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 1: some stories of these sound based remotes being affected by 324 00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: sounds in the home, like keys or pet tags jingling, 325 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:53,680 Speaker 1: or even coins clicking together, but there are also accounts 326 00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:57,080 Speaker 1: that attribute those problems not to the Space Command but 327 00:20:57,160 --> 00:20:59,959 Speaker 1: to knockoffs of it that started appearing on the market. 328 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:04,080 Speaker 1: Adler's remote went to market so soon after the Flash 329 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:06,879 Speaker 1: Mattic that one of the incentives that was offered to 330 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,200 Speaker 1: consumers was the chance to trade in your flash Madic 331 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: enabled TV for a new Space Command model. Zenith also 332 00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 1: offered the Space Command technology on a wider range of 333 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,920 Speaker 1: TV sets, so consumers could still get a remote control 334 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,720 Speaker 1: if their budget did not allow for a full sized picture. 335 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:30,399 Speaker 1: ADS touted quote no electricity, no batteries or fuel of 336 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:34,479 Speaker 1: any kind, no wires, no tubes, no transistors, no radio 337 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,240 Speaker 1: waves that might interfere with the set next door. Some 338 00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:43,240 Speaker 1: even included the note no flashlights. Nineteen fifty seven. Ad 339 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:47,680 Speaker 1: even featured George Burns and Gracie Allen as celebrity spokespeople 340 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:52,240 Speaker 1: for the space Command. Yeah. Just to be clear too, 341 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:55,880 Speaker 1: that trade in was not like a freeb You would 342 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,360 Speaker 1: just get a lot of credit torture new television if 343 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:01,399 Speaker 1: you had just bought a flash matic Delewis. Zenith was 344 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 1: not giving away new TVs. But coming up, we're going 345 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 1: to talk about how Eugene Polly felt about things when 346 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,600 Speaker 1: Adler's invention was produced. But first we will hear from 347 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:14,399 Speaker 1: the sponsors that keep stuff you missed in history class going. 348 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:28,200 Speaker 1: Zenith put all of its advertising power behind Adler's design, 349 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:31,120 Speaker 1: and as a consequence, Adler got a lot of attention 350 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:34,679 Speaker 1: as the father of the remote control and that was 351 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:38,880 Speaker 1: something that bothered Eugene Polly from the beginning. He had 352 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,719 Speaker 1: pioneered the remote control space in a lot of ways, 353 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:44,040 Speaker 1: but he felt left out of the story as he 354 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 1: watched Adler give interviews and get awards. Adler was given 355 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,639 Speaker 1: the Outstanding Technical Achievement Award of the Institute of Radio 356 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:55,680 Speaker 1: Engineers in nineteen fifty eight because of it. Polly later 357 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:58,440 Speaker 1: told a reporter quote, a father has to be present 358 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: at conception, and if you're not, you're not the father. 359 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:07,280 Speaker 1: Even in the existing Zenith web page that still exists today, 360 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 1: in the list of the company's milestones, it lists the 361 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 1: two devices this way nineteen fifty five, first wireless TV 362 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:20,639 Speaker 1: remote control, flash Matic nineteen fifty six, first practical wireless 363 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: TV remote control, Space Command. In the twenty five years 364 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 1: that followed the Space Command's introduction, Zenith Solder reported nine 365 00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:35,600 Speaker 1: million of the ultrasonic remote controls. During that time, Zenith 366 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 1: had to fend off a lot of imitators. Just two 367 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: years after the Space Command's introduction, Zenith sued the Admiral 368 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:47,879 Speaker 1: Corporation for patent infringement. Admiral was not new to the 369 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:51,480 Speaker 1: remote control game, but after the Space Command was released, 370 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,879 Speaker 1: the company altered its sn R remote and even hired 371 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: a former Zenith engineer to work on it. Admiral lost 372 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: that suit, but it was not the only company that 373 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: tried to copy the design. A lot of those copycats, though, 374 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 1: were not nearly as effective, and Zenith continued to dominate 375 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:13,480 Speaker 1: the market. Within six years of the introduction of the 376 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:17,159 Speaker 1: Space Command, Robert Adler had become the vice president and 377 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:20,359 Speaker 1: director of Research at Zenith, and he stayed in that 378 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,640 Speaker 1: role for more than fifteen years before retiring in nineteen 379 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 1: seventy nine. But even after retirement, he remained involved with Zenith, 380 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:30,640 Speaker 1: and he served as a consultant for the company until 381 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:35,240 Speaker 1: the late nineteen nineties. Polly retired from Zenith in nineteen 382 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:39,640 Speaker 1: eighty two, after almost fifty years with the company. Some 383 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,199 Speaker 1: accounts listed nineteen eighty two as the year both he 384 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,919 Speaker 1: and Adler retired. By the time he ended his career, 385 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:49,200 Speaker 1: Eugene Polly was a widower, having lost his wife Blanche 386 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,400 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy six. He lived with his daughter Joan 387 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: in Lombard, Illinois, until Jones's death in two thousand and eight. 388 00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:00,560 Speaker 1: Ultrasonic technology was what everyone was doing for for twenty 389 00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 1: five years, but it didn't remain the standard for remote controls. 390 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:08,800 Speaker 1: In the nineteen eighties, around the same time that Polly 391 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: and Adler were retiring, a Canadian company called view Star 392 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:17,960 Speaker 1: developed the infrared remote control. Zenith partnered with Ustar to 393 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:21,160 Speaker 1: produce and market the device, and this was in part 394 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:25,760 Speaker 1: a reaction to other technological developments. When there was only 395 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:28,520 Speaker 1: a small range of channels a person could watch, a 396 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,719 Speaker 1: simple up and down channel changer was great, but as 397 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:36,040 Speaker 1: cable and satellite television services expanded the channel lineup from 398 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:41,000 Speaker 1: like thirteen into dozens and even hundreds of possible options. 399 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: A new remote technology was clearly needed, and this was 400 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:50,200 Speaker 1: a significant jump in requirements. They needed more detailed input, 401 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 1: like a numeric keypad so viewers could just type in 402 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:58,119 Speaker 1: channel numbers rather than scrolling through hundreds of them. Also 403 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 1: the capability to select different potential av inputs like cable boxes, 404 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:07,399 Speaker 1: LaserDisc players, that kind of thing. I remember when I 405 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:11,360 Speaker 1: was a kid and we had a VCR and an ATARI. 406 00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: We had a physical little switch that we flipped back 407 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:18,119 Speaker 1: and forth to do this. Infrared fit the bill of 408 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,639 Speaker 1: providing all of those different options. It enabled remotes to 409 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:26,120 Speaker 1: use pulse coding, that's binary. Each coded transmission has segments 410 00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 1: of light and absence of light that make up its signature, 411 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:32,720 Speaker 1: and each signature is unique to the assigned function. That 412 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,520 Speaker 1: light is pointed at the receiver, just like that the 413 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,239 Speaker 1: human eye does not perceive. So the remotes we use 414 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:42,159 Speaker 1: today are actually closer to Polly's flash mattic than to 415 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:47,480 Speaker 1: Adler's space command. In nineteen ninety seven, the National Academy 416 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:51,440 Speaker 1: of Television, Arts and Sciences gave an Emmy for pioneering 417 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:56,160 Speaker 1: development of wireless remote controls for consumer television, and both 418 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:00,399 Speaker 1: Polly and Adler jointly received that recognition of them Orton's 419 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:04,520 Speaker 1: of the remote control's invention. In two thousand, are write 420 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:07,720 Speaker 1: up in The Baltimore Sun celebrated fifty years of the 421 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: remote control, and in that article, Polly told the paper quote, 422 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:15,200 Speaker 1: it makes me think maybe my life wasn't wasted. Maybe 423 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,080 Speaker 1: I did something for humanity, like the guy who invented 424 00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:21,919 Speaker 1: the flush toilet. Although Polly stated in his interview for 425 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: the article that he and Adler were feuding, Zenith's historian 426 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:30,119 Speaker 1: John Taylor downplayed any conflict, stating quote, I think the 427 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:34,320 Speaker 1: feud is way overblown. One invention lasted one year, the 428 00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:38,359 Speaker 1: other twenty five years. The industry generally considers Bob Adler 429 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:42,520 Speaker 1: the father of the remote control. Remember the name John Taylor, 430 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:44,680 Speaker 1: because he's going to come up again in just a bit. 431 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 1: In a two thousand and four interview, Adler commented on 432 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:53,359 Speaker 1: his impact in the creation of modern television culture. He 433 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,320 Speaker 1: stated quote, people ask me all the time, don't you 434 00:27:56,359 --> 00:27:59,520 Speaker 1: feel guilty for it? And I say that's ridiculous. It 435 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:03,240 Speaker 1: seems reasonable and rational to control the TV from where 436 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:07,879 Speaker 1: you normally sit and watch television. Robert Adler died on 437 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,600 Speaker 1: February fifteenth, two thousand and seven, and before he died, 438 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:14,040 Speaker 1: he said that he felt that Polly had not gotten 439 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:18,199 Speaker 1: enough credit for his innovations in the remote control. He 440 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:20,639 Speaker 1: noted in a two thousand and six interview quote, I 441 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:24,119 Speaker 1: don't believe it has a single father, but the general 442 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:28,879 Speaker 1: public wants one name to attach to something. Adler also 443 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:33,000 Speaker 1: downplayed the importance of the invention overall, saying he that's 444 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:38,160 Speaker 1: Adler had invented other things that he thought were more important. Additionally, 445 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:41,560 Speaker 1: according to a quote his widow, Ingrid Adler, gave to 446 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:43,800 Speaker 1: the press in the wake of his death, Adler was 447 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:48,000 Speaker 1: not much of a TV watcher himself. She told reporters quote, 448 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,280 Speaker 1: he was more of a reader. He was a man 449 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:52,280 Speaker 1: who would dream in the night and wake up and 450 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 1: say I just solved a problem. He was always thinking science. 451 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:01,080 Speaker 1: While Polly had always wanted more recognition for inventing one 452 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:04,440 Speaker 1: of the earliest remote controls, Adler is said to have 453 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:08,120 Speaker 1: always wanted less. He felt that he invented a lot 454 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,120 Speaker 1: of other things that were more important, and he continued 455 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:14,640 Speaker 1: to invent right up until his death. The last patent 456 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:18,400 Speaker 1: application he filed was for a touch screen technology, and 457 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:21,840 Speaker 1: that patent was pending when he died. He had really 458 00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:26,160 Speaker 1: been a prolific inventor. Adler had more than one hundred 459 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:31,240 Speaker 1: and fifty patents to his name. Yeah, the exact number 460 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:33,720 Speaker 1: eluded me. I saw some articles that said like one 461 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:36,160 Speaker 1: hundred and twenty, others one hundred and eighty. And then 462 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:39,000 Speaker 1: when you go looking, there are so many Robert Adlers 463 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:42,959 Speaker 1: that do that have patents, and sometimes they get lumped 464 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:45,120 Speaker 1: together as though they're one person. That I was like, 465 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:47,920 Speaker 1: I don't have time to sort through this, so, but 466 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,480 Speaker 1: it was a lot. Although Adler did not think the 467 00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:56,000 Speaker 1: remote control was all that important, Eugene Polyscher did. He 468 00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: told a reporter when he was interviewed following Adler's death, quote, 469 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,360 Speaker 1: this this is the greatest thing since the wheel. We 470 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 1: did something for humanity. Polly also had quite a few patents, 471 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 1: although not nearly as many as Adler. Polly had eighteen. 472 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:14,320 Speaker 1: One of those was for a push button radio that 473 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:19,040 Speaker 1: was used in cars. Eugene Polly lived several years after 474 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:23,320 Speaker 1: Adler's death, and Polly died from pneumonia in twenty twelve 475 00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:27,880 Speaker 1: in Downersgrove, Illinois. After his death, the Los Angeles Times 476 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 1: ran an article about him and included quotes from Zenith 477 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:35,760 Speaker 1: historian John Taylor, who had different messaging than he did 478 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:39,960 Speaker 1: when speaking to The Baltimore Sun twelve years earlier. This 479 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:44,240 Speaker 1: time he acknowledged Polly's importance while also kind of straddling 480 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:48,320 Speaker 1: the line regarding the issue of attribution that Polly had 481 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 1: felt left out of for so many years. This time, 482 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,880 Speaker 1: Taylor stated, quote, it's hard to even fathom the world 483 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:58,360 Speaker 1: today without the remote control. Today it's not a luxury, 484 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:01,240 Speaker 1: it's not a convenience, it's an assse. I think there's 485 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,000 Speaker 1: no question that Gene Polly is the father of the 486 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:07,520 Speaker 1: wireless remote control. There are some news reports that made 487 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:10,720 Speaker 1: it seem like he was overshadowed by doctor Robert Adler. 488 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:16,360 Speaker 1: Zenith has always considered them the co inventors. And another statement, 489 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:19,280 Speaker 1: Taylor noted that Eugene always carried one of his splash 490 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:21,640 Speaker 1: maattics around with him to show people, and that he 491 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:24,840 Speaker 1: also loved new technology, saying quote, he was a proud 492 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:28,960 Speaker 1: owner of a flat screen TV and a modern remote. Yeah. 493 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 1: The messaging kind of changed there from one Lass in 494 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 1: one year one twenty five. Robert Edler is a father too. 495 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,320 Speaker 1: We always thought both of them were really the fathers. 496 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:43,920 Speaker 1: It's fine. As for Zenith, in the autumn of nineteen 497 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:49,200 Speaker 1: ninety five, LG Electronics Incorporated became the major shareholder of Zenith. 498 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 1: The Zenith brand had a refresh in nineteen ninety seven, 499 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,440 Speaker 1: but then restructured completely in nineteen ninety nine, and by 500 00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,480 Speaker 1: the end of that year it became a fully owned 501 00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:05,200 Speaker 1: subsidies of LG. In two thousand, Motorola acquired Zenus Network 502 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:08,880 Speaker 1: Systems Division in an effort to quote strengthen its digital 503 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:12,560 Speaker 1: satellite business by expanding its product lines and customer base, 504 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:18,479 Speaker 1: particularly in the international marketplace. Today Zenith exists, but it 505 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 1: is LG's research and development branch, operating out of a 506 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:28,160 Speaker 1: laboratory building in Lincolnshire, Illinois. It's now essentially impossible to 507 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:32,200 Speaker 1: buy a new television that works without a remote control. 508 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:36,080 Speaker 1: More than forty million televisions are sold in the US annually, 509 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:39,360 Speaker 1: with that number expected to reach fifty million by twenty 510 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:43,400 Speaker 1: twenty three, and all of them ship with remotes. Plus 511 00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 1: remotes are also sold separately for replacements or specialty uses 512 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:51,720 Speaker 1: such as universal remotes. This is a far cry from 513 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:54,760 Speaker 1: the thirty thousand units of the flash Mattic that's sold 514 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:58,960 Speaker 1: in the nineteen fifties. Yeah. Now, I can't imagine buying 515 00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:01,440 Speaker 1: a TV at not having remote in the box. Yeah, 516 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 1: mine our TV, I don't think you can. Yeah, Like, 517 00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:09,280 Speaker 1: our TV technically has buttons, but they're so built in 518 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:12,680 Speaker 1: to the like you can't even tell where they are. 519 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:15,600 Speaker 1: You have to know and fish around for them if 520 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,360 Speaker 1: you want to touch a button for some reason. Well, 521 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 1: and a lot of them have migrated to like the 522 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,520 Speaker 1: under edge of the screen or even in some cases 523 00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 1: right behind it. Yeah. So they're basically like, don't touch 524 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:29,000 Speaker 1: the buttons. You don't know what you do? No, Yeah, 525 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:31,240 Speaker 1: just don't mess with it. Don't mess with it. We 526 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:35,760 Speaker 1: can whax so rhapsodic about this on Friday. Yeah, I 527 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 1: have a listener mail which is about an episode that 528 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:42,360 Speaker 1: you did, but it is referring to behind the scenes 529 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:45,520 Speaker 1: things that I said. This is from our listener Kyle, 530 00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:48,239 Speaker 1: who writes, perhaps you'll get a lot of emails about this, 531 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:50,959 Speaker 1: and hopefully most, if not all, of them are not angry. 532 00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:52,960 Speaker 1: I just wanted to throw out there that when I 533 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,240 Speaker 1: wanted to get a vasectomy. The doctor wanted to know 534 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:58,200 Speaker 1: my wife was involved in the decision too. The way 535 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 1: I took it is that if you're married, usually should 536 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:03,480 Speaker 1: be making this decision together and not secretly doing it 537 00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 1: without your spouse's knowledge. Though I can't think of instances 538 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:08,759 Speaker 1: where this is not the case, but I took it 539 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:10,680 Speaker 1: as them wanting to confirm that I'm not making a 540 00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:13,080 Speaker 1: decision that will affect the whole family without at least 541 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:16,600 Speaker 1: my wife's knowledge. However, that being said, it does seem 542 00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:19,640 Speaker 1: much more culturally acceptable for men to make this decision 543 00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:22,360 Speaker 1: than women, and I'm sure there is often a but 544 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:24,719 Speaker 1: why don't you want to be a mother? Undertow and 545 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:27,480 Speaker 1: that men don't get so Hopefully the doctors you spoke 546 00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:30,520 Speaker 1: to mainly wanted to confirm that this was something agreed 547 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:33,720 Speaker 1: to by both spouses and not something hidden, though again 548 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:36,320 Speaker 1: I know men and women are treated differently in these areas, 549 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:38,759 Speaker 1: to the women's detriment. I love the podcast and listen 550 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:41,000 Speaker 1: all the time. Kyle Kyle. I love this email, and 551 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:45,479 Speaker 1: here's why, because you are right on the button. There 552 00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:48,320 Speaker 1: is a lot of I have a thing, and admittedly 553 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:51,440 Speaker 1: this is my soapbox. I don't want to make anybody 554 00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:54,719 Speaker 1: mad or feel like I am in any way denigrating 555 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,719 Speaker 1: anybody's choices. But there is a thing that happens when 556 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:03,799 Speaker 1: you are not a woman who wants kids, where you 557 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,719 Speaker 1: have to explain why all the time. And I will 558 00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,919 Speaker 1: say this, and again I'm not saying this. This isn't 559 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:12,399 Speaker 1: a trick to like make anybody feel bad. But when 560 00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:15,520 Speaker 1: you ask a parent, why did you want kids, they're 561 00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:18,919 Speaker 1: often a little stymied as to the answer. Uh huh. 562 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:23,920 Speaker 1: And but nobody ever asked that question is why? Yeah, 563 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:27,440 Speaker 1: it's always the other way around. So simultaneously kind of 564 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:32,960 Speaker 1: alluded to in this email, if somebody is trying to 565 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:35,600 Speaker 1: get a tubul ligation and they have not had a 566 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:40,760 Speaker 1: child and they're very young, it can be a laborious, 567 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:44,840 Speaker 1: uphill process to get any doctor to agree with that. 568 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:49,799 Speaker 1: That was me, Yeah, that was you. And like for 569 00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:52,839 Speaker 1: people who are not in a relationship with anyone will 570 00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:55,719 Speaker 1: go to a doctor and the like the question is not, 571 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:58,560 Speaker 1: you know, I would like to get a tubule ligation. Great, 572 00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:00,520 Speaker 1: when we can we schedule this? Like do you have 573 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:04,480 Speaker 1: medical contraindications for doing this of any sort? It's that like, oh, 574 00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:06,640 Speaker 1: are you sure you're not going to change your mind? Oh, 575 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:09,080 Speaker 1: are you sure you're not going to want kids later? Oh? 576 00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:11,520 Speaker 1: What if you get married and your husband wants kids. 577 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:17,280 Speaker 1: It is a huge uphill battle specifically for tubal ligations 578 00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:19,960 Speaker 1: in a way that does not apply to vasectomies, Like 579 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:22,680 Speaker 1: if a young person wants to go get a vasectomy, 580 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,000 Speaker 1: a lot of times it's like, okay, we're on board 581 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:30,279 Speaker 1: with that, And so there's a gender difference going on there. 582 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:33,640 Speaker 1: For sure, I did not have to personally deal with 583 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:38,360 Speaker 1: this because when I wanted a long term birth control option, 584 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 1: I went with an IUD, and my primary care doctor 585 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:48,319 Speaker 1: referred me to a gynecologist who only did gynecology, not 586 00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:54,640 Speaker 1: gynecology and obstetrics, right, And her focus was totally on 587 00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:58,319 Speaker 1: like the gynecological aspect of it, And there was no 588 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:03,160 Speaker 1: kind of like supposition that my partner needed to be involved. 589 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:06,520 Speaker 1: And since it is more reversible to have an IUD 590 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:10,680 Speaker 1: than to have a tubeligation, like that was just not 591 00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:14,879 Speaker 1: part of the conversation. Yeah, And I will say when 592 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:20,760 Speaker 1: I had the like discussions, it wasn't is your husband 593 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:23,520 Speaker 1: okay with this? It was we need to schedule your 594 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:26,040 Speaker 1: husband to come in and talk to us like it 595 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:29,280 Speaker 1: wasn't enough for me to go Yeah, he's totally on board. Listen, 596 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:31,319 Speaker 1: we're both the youngest in the family. We barely can 597 00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:33,000 Speaker 1: tie our own shoes, like we do not need to 598 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,960 Speaker 1: be in charge of other people. It was literally like 599 00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:39,399 Speaker 1: he needs to physically be here and have the discussion right, 600 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:46,840 Speaker 1: which Brian found hilarious because it is very silly. I 601 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:50,480 Speaker 1: will say too, this is like an overshare. But the 602 00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:56,080 Speaker 1: tube legation I got was a different method than I 603 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:59,800 Speaker 1: think is super common. This may have changed in the 604 00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:02,320 Speaker 1: this was quite a number of years ago, but I 605 00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:04,239 Speaker 1: will tell you why. I don't know how common it 606 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:08,600 Speaker 1: is still because I have clamps. It's not the tie 607 00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:12,200 Speaker 1: off of the tubes. It's a clamp that closes the 608 00:38:12,239 --> 00:38:15,759 Speaker 1: tube up. And then the idea is that if you 609 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:18,920 Speaker 1: change your mind within like a few years, they could 610 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:21,920 Speaker 1: potentially reverse it, but if you don't, it will just 611 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:26,919 Speaker 1: scar over and become more and more permanent. Sounds fine 612 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:30,600 Speaker 1: to me, and I know when I had it it 613 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:32,719 Speaker 1: was not common at all because my doctor at the 614 00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:36,719 Speaker 1: time was kind of pioneering in that usage. But the 615 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:39,120 Speaker 1: reason I think it is still not all that common 616 00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:43,640 Speaker 1: is that when I have had X rays, MRI, et cetera. 617 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:47,360 Speaker 1: In recent years, they'll go, there's something in your abdomen 618 00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:51,240 Speaker 1: and I'm like, yep, it's clamps. I mean they're little tiny, 619 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:55,080 Speaker 1: it's like a little tiny plastic, almost like the way 620 00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:58,640 Speaker 1: a handcuff works, but like Barbie size. It has come 621 00:38:58,719 --> 00:39:01,359 Speaker 1: up several times, and I'm like, if it's uncommon enough 622 00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:07,040 Speaker 1: that the modern radiology texts, doctors in some cases that 623 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:09,480 Speaker 1: I'm talking to are like, hey, what's that in your 624 00:39:09,520 --> 00:39:14,560 Speaker 1: apt Yeah, I'm presuming it's not still the most common way, 625 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:19,560 Speaker 1: but right, it's a weird thing. It's a weird thing. Yeah. Yeah. 626 00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:23,560 Speaker 1: I also, you know, listen, there is the other outlier 627 00:39:23,719 --> 00:39:26,920 Speaker 1: case that I think is important in all of this 628 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:32,480 Speaker 1: to mention, where there are people who may be in 629 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:38,200 Speaker 1: relationships where they feel very trapped and potentially unsafe and 630 00:39:38,239 --> 00:39:41,880 Speaker 1: they do not want a child. Yeah, and in that 631 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:46,839 Speaker 1: case to bring a spouse in could be very very dangerous, 632 00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:49,919 Speaker 1: extremely Yeah. And that's why I think, like, I don't 633 00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:52,360 Speaker 1: want to talk around that and not directly say this 634 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:57,160 Speaker 1: is a case issue where like doctors need to understand 635 00:39:57,440 --> 00:39:59,400 Speaker 1: and it's tricky because a lot of women are not 636 00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:01,720 Speaker 1: going to be. I mean, a lot of people would 637 00:40:01,719 --> 00:40:06,800 Speaker 1: not be willing to say, hey, my partner is abusive 638 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:09,120 Speaker 1: or dangerous and I'm so scared I want to have 639 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:12,000 Speaker 1: this done. But if they don't say that and then 640 00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:16,719 Speaker 1: that person comes in, you're putting them in incredibly harmful circumstances. Right, 641 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:18,960 Speaker 1: So this is one of the many ways that I 642 00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:24,000 Speaker 1: think people aren't thinking about why that conversation is a problem. Yeah, 643 00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:26,920 Speaker 1: but Kyle, thank you for your your thoughtful thing, and 644 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:30,480 Speaker 1: you're right. People don't don't do the same thing with dudes. 645 00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:34,680 Speaker 1: I even had two of the doctors that I talked 646 00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:37,440 Speaker 1: to you before I found the doctor who became my 647 00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:40,320 Speaker 1: regular doctor, who was like, okay, if and she asked, 648 00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:42,560 Speaker 1: is you know is your husband on board? She asked 649 00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:45,200 Speaker 1: me questions like is your household safe? Are you doing 650 00:40:45,239 --> 00:40:47,400 Speaker 1: this for a reason? Like I was like, okay, she 651 00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:50,839 Speaker 1: gets it. Yeah, I think do you feel safe at home? 652 00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:53,840 Speaker 1: Has become a standard screening question in a lot of 653 00:40:53,880 --> 00:40:56,600 Speaker 1: medical practices. That is something that my doctor asks me 654 00:40:56,680 --> 00:41:00,440 Speaker 1: every time I'm there. Yeah, but was definitely not always 655 00:41:00,440 --> 00:41:04,400 Speaker 1: the case. Is twenty two thousand, what year did I 656 00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:09,640 Speaker 1: have that done? I don't know. Here's two thousand was 657 00:41:09,719 --> 00:41:12,000 Speaker 1: not as common then, so that was like I said, 658 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:15,640 Speaker 1: she's a little cutting edge in many ways. But the 659 00:41:15,719 --> 00:41:18,360 Speaker 1: other two even said, well then why isn't your husband 660 00:41:18,360 --> 00:41:21,479 Speaker 1: considering of a sectomy? Like my value would go down 661 00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:27,920 Speaker 1: if I wasn't able to make babies. Yeah, it's a 662 00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:31,600 Speaker 1: very fraught topic. It's very hard to talk about because 663 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:35,560 Speaker 1: everybody that chooses a different path will sometimes feel like 664 00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:39,440 Speaker 1: their choice is being attacked. I just know what's right 665 00:41:39,480 --> 00:41:43,400 Speaker 1: for me. I'm not used for anybody else, right, everybody'd 666 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:46,080 Speaker 1: be cool. If you would like to write to us, 667 00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:49,560 Speaker 1: you could do so at History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 668 00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:52,040 Speaker 1: If you haven't subscribed to the podcast, where you'll get 669 00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:57,160 Speaker 1: history and surprise discussions of you know, sterilization and parenting choices, 670 00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:02,080 Speaker 1: you can do that on the iHeartRadio app or anywhere 671 00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:09,800 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. Stuff you Missed in 672 00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:13,560 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts 673 00:42:13,560 --> 00:42:17,720 Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 674 00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:19,280 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.