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We’re back! In the Season 6 premiere episode Alex looks at the extraordinary life of Akron, Ohio native NASA astronaut, Judy Resnik. We analyze the causes behind her tragic death in the Challenger Disaster on Jan. 28, 1986. On this 35th anniversary we take a fresh look at Judy’s career and NASA’s role in the loss of Challenger.

Our guests include Helene Norin, Judy’s cousin to discuss the Resnik family, Judy’s youth in Akron and her journey to becoming the 2nd American female astronaut in space. Steven Leckart joins the show to talk about his excellent Netflix documentary, Challenger: The Final Flight. The 2020 documentary brings the Challenger crew and the controversy surrounding its final flight to millions of viewers. https://www.netflix.com/title/81012137

Lastly, we sat down with author and Columbia University professor Dr. Diane Vaughan to debunk some of the myths surrounding Challenger and her 1996 book Challenger Launch Decision. Click here to buy her award-winning book. https://www.amazon.com/Challenger-Launch-Decision-Technology-Deviance/dp/0226851761

This episode is in honor of Judy Resnik and Allan McDonald who passed away before we could complete our interview earlier this year. Allan was the “whistleblower” when it comes to the Challenger Disaster. We play some of Allan’s testimony to the Rogers Commission following the accident and discuss his role in exposing the cover-up by some NASA administrators. Special thanks as well to friend of the show, Eric Hall, guitarist for the great Ohio band Red Wanting Blue. The music from today’s episode was from Eric’s new side project, Tick Tick Tick. Check out their debut EP at https://tick-tick-tick.bandcamp.com

Ohio v. the World: An American History podcast is now part of the Evergreen Podcast Network. Go to https://evergreenpodcasts.com to check out all our past episodes and dozens of other great podcasts. Don’t forget to rate and review our show and we’ll read your reviews on the air in a future episode. We’ll be releasing episodes every other Tuesday this season, great to be back and thanks for listening.