0:00

Hi friends, Molly here. The Brains On

0:02

crew is hard at work on our

0:05

next batch of episodes and we'll be

0:07

back in your feed on January 16th

0:09

with an electrifying episode about lightning.

0:12

Stay tuned. Until then, I hope

0:15

you'll consider checking out our history

0:17

show, Forever Ago. It's

0:19

hosted by our friend Joy Dolo and

0:21

it looks into the fascinating past of

0:23

things we take for granted. In

0:26

fact, Joy invited me to come

0:28

on the show to share the

0:30

origin story of Superman that you've

0:32

probably never heard. Let's

0:34

take a listen. In

0:37

a world where history

0:40

is always happening, where

0:42

doughnuts are good and mayonnaise is

0:45

disgusting, one

0:48

woman dares. One

0:53

weird woman dares

0:56

to host a history podcast.

0:58

Aluminum, linoleum, aluminum, linoleum. A

1:02

podcast that is more powerful

1:05

than a locomotive, faster

1:08

than a school bus on a

1:10

Monday morning. Slow

1:15

down. Wait, please hold the door.

1:17

And more factual than your uncle

1:19

at the dinner table. I'm

1:21

telling you Bigfoot is out there and

1:23

I know because I saw him. One

1:26

strange woman, along with her

1:29

trusty co-hosts, will bring you

1:31

a brand new batch of

1:33

episodes where they explore topics

1:35

like Thanksgiving, libraries and gum.

1:37

Look how big I can

1:40

blow my bubble gum. Alia,

1:43

look at me. Are you watching, Alia?

1:45

One woman who is desperate for

1:47

attention. Hey, Alia, look, look at

1:50

me, Alia, Alia, Alia, Alia,

1:52

Alia, Alia, Alia, Alia. Will

1:54

use her special superpowers to

1:56

chart the uncharted. Superpowers

1:59

like. really fast. If your

2:01

daddy's name is Jim and if Jim swims and

2:03

if Jim swims the perfect gift for him is

2:05

a set of slim Jim swims hints. Drinking

2:08

really spicy soup.

2:10

That's super spicy.

2:14

Get it? Soup-er soup-er.

2:17

And pulling the popcorn out

2:19

of the microwave at just

2:21

the right time. And done.

2:25

Joy, hold on. These

2:28

aren't special superpowers. These are just weird

2:30

things that you're good at. I know

2:32

but I wanted to make a trailer

2:34

because you do that dramatic movie voice

2:37

so well. Maybe that's your superpower. We

2:39

are both super. Let's end

2:42

this really dramatically. Let's

2:44

do it. Never bore.

2:46

Uncovering lore. Two plus

2:49

two is four. It's

2:52

time to explore the

2:55

before. Hello!

3:04

You're listening to Forever Ago from

3:06

APM Studios. I'm Joy Dolo and

3:08

my co-host today is Aaliyah from

3:11

Tennessee. Hi Aaliyah! Hi Joy! I'm

3:13

so happy to be back. Aaliyah,

3:15

in honor of the first episode

3:18

of our fourth season. Hooray for

3:20

us! Hooray indeed! I've decided to

3:22

create a superhero who has all

3:25

the powers of a Forever Ago episode. Ooh,

3:28

so they're super curious.

3:31

Yeah, and super smart. Also

3:33

they have x-ray vision to see into

3:35

the dusty forgotten corners of history and

3:38

super strength to carry all these books

3:40

I checked out from the library for

3:42

research. Oof, heavy. I

3:45

love it. What's the superhero gonna

3:47

be named? I'm thinking Forever a

3:49

Girl? Hmm, or

3:51

maybe The Fantastic Four Ever?

3:53

Or a history podcast

3:56

for kids and families? Woman. Hmm,

3:58

doesn't exactly roll

4:00

off the tongue. That it doesn't,

4:02

no. Mm-mm. Hi

4:05

friends! Oh hey, it's Brains On host

4:07

Molly Bloom. What's up Molly? Well I

4:09

couldn't help overhearing that you're trying to

4:11

create a brand new superhero. Molly,

4:14

we've talked about this. The

4:16

eavesdropping. But Joy, I

4:18

can't help it that I have

4:20

such excellent hearing and that you

4:22

talk so loud. It's true. My

4:24

mom just texted me from the

4:26

parking lot with a suggestion for

4:28

a superhero name. She heard us

4:30

all the way through the building's

4:32

double-paned windows and her super thick

4:34

windshield. Okay, fine. It's

4:36

actually pretty special come to

4:38

think about it. Let's add super

4:41

loud voice to my list

4:43

of superpowers. So your

4:45

superhero has lots of cool powers,

4:47

but what's their origin story? Well,

4:51

um,

4:53

you see, it's actually...

4:56

a what's

4:59

an origin story? Oh, Alia, I'm so

5:01

glad you asked. An origin story is

5:03

the story of how your superhero came

5:05

to be so gosh darn super in

5:07

the first place. Ooh,

5:09

fun! Okay, let's start brainstorming.

5:12

How about a long time

5:14

ago in a galaxy

5:16

far, far away? Oh, I've heard

5:18

that one before. I've got

5:21

a super original one in

5:23

West Philadelphia, born and raised. I'm

5:26

pretty sure I've heard that one

5:28

too. What if you look

5:30

to your own stories for inspiration? Oh,

5:32

I don't know. I'm just a normal

5:34

super talented and charismatic podcast host. Not

5:37

sure if that translates into a superhero. Well,

5:39

what if I told you that

5:42

the very first superhero was created

5:44

and inspired by the lives of

5:46

two regular kids in the 1930s?

5:48

I'd be very interested to hear

5:50

that story. Well, that's great news

5:53

because that's what this episode is

5:55

all about. Wait, did you say

5:57

the very first superhero? That's gotta

5:59

be... Superman!

6:02

That's right, Superman was the

6:04

very first costume superhero. If

6:07

you like Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Batman,

6:09

or any other caped, masked, or

6:11

spandex superhero, you have Superman to

6:13

thank for paving the way. Superman!

6:17

He wears a tight blue shirt

6:20

and a pair of blue tights

6:22

with a red pair of underpants

6:24

on top. He has matching red

6:26

boots and a long, flowing red

6:28

cape. Emblazoned on his chest is

6:31

a giant red S. His powers

6:33

are super strength, super speed, blazer

6:35

eyes, freezing breath, and he

6:38

can leap tall buildings

6:41

in a single bounce. Born

6:43

on a distant planet, he was sent to Earth

6:45

as a baby and raised by a kind human

6:47

family. In order to live

6:50

a normal life, he hides his

6:52

super self behind another identity. That's

6:54

the story of Clark Kent, a

6:57

shy, nerdy reporter at the

6:59

local newspaper. No one knows he

7:01

is Superman.

7:06

Well, chill. So good

7:08

you two. Thanks. But

7:11

how was that story inspired by

7:13

two normal kids? Were

7:15

they aliens? Oh my gosh,

7:17

they were aliens? From Krypton? Um,

7:20

no, not aliens. They were Jerry

7:22

Siegel and Joe Schuster, and they

7:25

lived in Cleveland. Cleveland? They lived

7:28

in Cleveland? In Ohio? Not

7:31

sure that needs the same astonishment

7:34

as the alien idea, but I

7:36

like your enthusiasm, Joy. Yes,

7:38

Jerry and Joe lived in Cleveland. They met

7:40

in high school there in the early 1930s.

7:46

In the early 1930s, people

7:48

didn't have computers or cell phones. Right.

7:50

There were phones that plugged into the

7:52

wall. They had a base with a

7:54

round dial and a piece you held in your

7:56

hand and put it up to your face. One end

7:59

for your ear. the other for your mouth. There

8:01

were no TVs or video games,

8:04

but there were magazines and newspapers

8:06

and radios and movie

8:08

theaters. It was also the beginning of

8:11

the Great Depression, a time when many

8:13

businesses were struggling and it was hard

8:15

to find jobs. A lot of people didn't

8:17

have much money. Absolutely. And both

8:19

Joe and Jerry's family struggled to

8:21

make ends meet. The two boys

8:23

helped where they could and in

8:25

their free time they threw themselves

8:28

into their passions. For Jerry, it

8:30

was writing, and specifically writing science

8:32

fiction. He was always turning out

8:34

stories. And Taurus was

8:36

a cruel and unyielding world to any

8:38

soul unfortunate to land there. And

8:40

for Joe, it was drawing. He would

8:42

pour over the Sunday comics that

8:45

came in the weekly newspaper. Inspired

8:47

by the gorgeous art, he'd draw

8:49

for hours. Well,

8:54

as anyone who's been to school knows,

8:56

you're often alphabetized by your last names.

8:59

Definitely in the yearbook, but maybe your locker

9:02

or your desk too. Well,

9:04

Jerry and Joe found themselves

9:06

alphabetized together. Hi, I'm Joe,

9:08

Joe Schuster. And I'm Jerry, Jerry

9:10

Siegel. They realized they both

9:13

loved reading science fiction magazines. Hey

9:15

Joe, I gotta show you this thing I wrote. I have

9:17

a few sketches you might want to see. They

9:19

quickly became best friends, and

9:21

pretty soon, also a writing

9:23

team. Jerry described it in

9:26

a later interview as, When

9:28

Joe and I first met, it was

9:30

like the right chemicals coming together. Okay,

9:32

so it's always wonderful to meet a friend

9:34

who gets you, especially in high school.

9:36

But Molly, where is my superhero inspiration?

9:38

I need help with my origin story.

9:41

Yeah, origin stories

9:43

don't grow on trees, Molly. You're right.

9:45

You're right. Okay. So when Joe and

9:47

Jerry met, they realized they both loved

9:49

sci-fi and they both loved to tell

9:51

stories. So they teamed up. Jerry

9:54

would write the words and Joe would

9:56

create the images. Not

10:01

quite yet. The first comic

10:03

strip they made together was

10:05

called Interplanetary Police. Let

10:07

me guess, it was about police who

10:09

fought crime in space? Two

10:13

thousand years, fantastic aircraft star of our

10:15

head. It is the year 3000 AD.

10:20

With interplanetary travel came a new

10:22

minute. Space pirates. And

10:24

in their wake... Police none of the

10:26

stars! They

10:31

were still figuring it out. While they

10:33

were in high school, they printed a

10:35

magazine called Popular Comics full of comic

10:38

strips the two created together, such as

10:40

the comedy duo Snoopy and Snally. Smiley!

10:44

When that lady dropped her handkerchief, you

10:46

permitted her to retrieve it herself. Now

10:49

why didn't you pick it up? I

10:51

had one of my own. There was

10:53

a Tarzan parody called Goober the Mighty.

10:56

Goober slips and falls. The bee zooms

10:58

down for the death thrust. Will

11:01

the princess be too late to save Goober? Of

11:03

course she won't. Next,

11:05

Goober's Revenge. And

11:09

there were lots more. Inko,

11:11

Publicpess, Louisvillelil, Gloria Glamour. I

11:13

could go on, but I

11:15

won't. I was going to

11:17

ask how I went for them, but

11:19

since I haven't heard of any of

11:21

those comic strips, I'm guessing

11:24

not great. Yeah, people

11:26

weren't buying Popular Comics. I

11:29

do appreciate that name though. Definitely

11:31

trying to manifest their dreams through

11:33

words. Like if I started calling

11:35

myself Chili Cook Off

11:38

Winter Joy, or Olympic

11:40

Gymnast Joy, or Beyonce

11:42

level Famous Joy. But

11:45

then, in 1933, before their senior year

11:47

of high school, Joe and Jerry came

11:50

up with the idea that would make

11:52

them famous. Superman!

11:54

Finally, the origin story!

11:56

The way Jerry told the

11:58

story later in life. makes it sound like

12:01

something out of a dream. Here's

12:03

how he remembered it. The

12:06

air was still and heavy. Clouds

12:08

drifted past the moon. Up

12:10

there was wind. If only I

12:13

could fly. If only. And Superman was

12:15

conceived. Not in his entirety,

12:17

but little by little throughout a long

12:20

and sleepless night. As

12:23

the legend goes, Jerry plotted out this

12:25

new character's story and rushed over to

12:27

his friend Joe's first thing in the

12:29

morning. They sketched out a pitch for

12:31

his new comic idea and sent it

12:33

to some comic book publishers in Chicago.

12:36

And then? Overnight success!

12:38

Superman cereal, Superman lunchboxes,

12:40

Superman underwear! Um,

12:43

no. The pitch failed. We

12:45

were both so mad! How could they

12:47

look at such brilliance and just cast

12:50

it aside? How could they? Well, the

12:52

comic wasn't quite there yet. It was

12:54

a bit rushed and missing some of

12:56

the crucial elements we would come to

12:58

know as important parts of the Superman

13:01

backstory. A lot of that would

13:03

come when Joe and Jerry added a little bit of

13:05

their own backgrounds into Superman's origin

13:07

story. To

13:14

hear the rest of the episode, including an interview

13:16

with my grandpa, search for

13:18

Forever Ago wherever you listen

13:20

to Brains On. I hope you enjoy it.

13:23

Again, that's Forever Ago, a show

13:25

where we explore the before. Thanks

13:28

so much everyone. We'll be back next month

13:30

with more Brains On. Bye!