548 - It's Like, Whoa

This is exactly right. Hello, we have incredible news. The exactly right store is having an end of summer sale from September 3rd through September 7th. You can save up to 30% off store-wide on my favorite murder and exactly right merch. The more you spend, the more you save. Now's the time to grab that shirt, tote, hat, koozy, whatever else has been sitting in your card for the last three months. Had to exactly right store.com and use code SummerSale for up to 30% off store-wide. Some exclusions apply. Goodbye. Good bye. Welcome aboard season 6 of The Girlfriends. Flight or fight, which takes place 30,000 feet in the sky. A beautiful woman smiles and hands you a scotch, but you have no idea just how messed up her job actually is. It was the most sexist job I think you could have. Until one day, a group of stewardesses spark a revolution that reshapes America. Listen to The Girlfriends, Flight or Fight, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Nancy Glass, host of The Birdon of Guild season 3 podcast. This is a story about a horrendous situation that destroyed two families. It's a scorched earth war that shows just how far someone will go to get what they want. Cindy said I had to choose between the truth and my family, and I had to choose the truth. Listen to season 3 of Birdon of Guilds on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The exactly right store is having an end of summer sale. From September 3rd through September 7th, you can save up to 30% off store-wide on my favorite murder and exactly right merch. Now's the time to grab that shirt, tote, hat, koozy, whatever else has been sitting in your cart for the last three months. Find exactly right store.com and use code SummerSale for up to 30% off store-wide. Goodbye. Hello, and welcome to my favorite murder. That's Georgia Hardstar. Thank you. That's Karen Calcara. You're welcome. And here, we are presenting you what we call a solo episode. It's a gift to ourselves. That's right. Essentially. That's right. We get to take a little break. We record in advance. We do extra work in advance so that the future is brighter. We've all sat by a pool and said, "Hey, isn't this nice?" Yeah. We want that in our lives. That's right. A pool or a stream? A fucking running sink would be fun. Just stand near the sink, put your hands in the water. But you can't do that if you're podcasting so we got to take a break. That's right. You have to work before you relax. That's right. That's the patriarchy. And so. And so do it. No. We're the literal business owners. We love this. This is one thing we can't like and blame on the patriarchy. Unfortunately. This is the Astriarchy. Oh. I love that. Okay. Let's end it. The Astriarchy. That gave me pause. Right? Three point back. Three point back. So sick of her. God. If she would only shut up. She just can't help herself. This week it's me who can't help herself and can't shut the fuck up by telling you a solo story. Let's see if I can't shut the fuck up. I probably can't. And listen. It can't all be true crime all the time. Turn yourself in at no time to no person. I'm doing it. That's true. Oh, is this for the Astriarchy? Well, they say not good enough. Yeah. Actually. She does. She can say that. Oh. She does. She's so tough. She's so mean. She talks a lot. Yeah. It's because she's a little sister. Yeah. That's right. No one listens. So today I'm going to do a story about a sports legend. Okay. Great. One of your favorite sports. Oh, yeah. Baseball. You would argue that this sports legend, Babe Ruth, no, wedged open the door for the Civil Rights movement. What? This is the story of baseball legend Jackie Robinson. Hell yeah. Do you know anything? I know. I don't talk about it. Well, absolutely. And I've definitely watched a lot of documentaries with my dad that I would not myself have otherwise chosen. Yeah. But then when I watched, I'm like, I'm so glad I watched that. It's because Ken Burns can do no wrong. Yeah. Oh, right. One source of the story is the Ken Burns documentary Jackie Robinson and the rest of the sources can be found in the show notes. Incredible. So Jack Roosevelt Robinson is born January 31st, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia, to Mali and Jerry Robinson. And Theodore Roosevelt had died earlier in the month that Jack is born. So that's why his middle name is Roosevelt to the tribute to theater Roosevelt. Oh, Jack is. It's weird to think that they were existed right at the same. They like did a fold overlapped, right? Well, and I'm glad. Jack is the youngest of five children and his father works as a sharecropper. At least two of Jack's grandparents had been enslaved. And I looked it up in the year he's born at least 21 African Americans are hanged in Georgia alone. So we're deep in it. It's 1919, you know, and they're not easy. And there's so much more that I've left out of this just for time purposes. So definitely watch the Ken Burns documentary. Everyone's like, yeah, we're going to be, we're going to just listen to you. This is not where we get this. This is going to be only about playing this in schools. Yeah. So the father, Jerry, winds up abandoning the family right around when Jack is six months old. And so left with five kids and there are a few options. Mali has to come up with a plan to take care of her family. So when Jack is a year old, Mali moves the family to Pasadena, oh, like right down the street from us. Yeah. Right around the corner. And like back then it was like all orange grows and it is a really lovely community. So Mali's brother lives there and so Mali moves there with their children helping to find a better life, more opportunities and less outright racism than is baked into the culture in Georgia. And while Pasadena is certainly less deadly, it's still very racist. Mali works as a maid in a white family's house. And only two years after moving to Pasadena when Jack is three, Mali has saved up enough money to buy her own house. And she buys one in Pasadena on a street called Pepper Street, which is predominantly white. And so the neighbors are not welcoming. And in quaint little Pasadena, they burn across on her front lawn. I was going to say because I remember, we talked about something else and I remember learning that Glendale was a sundown town and that lots and lots of places. Yeah. It's a lie we tell ourselves that California somehow was filled with a bunch of cool hippies that loved everybody. It's like no sundown towns left, right and center, I mean, just horrifying. Yeah. 100%. I mean, it's why Altadena exists is because they were pushed on the Pasadena. Also the neighbors call the cops on Jack's older brother when he's roller skating on the sidewalk, just not good. But Mali makes it known that she has no intentions of moving. And eventually Jack himself falls in with what's called the Pepper Street gang, which is a group of kids from a neighborhood from minority backgrounds. They stick together, they get into low level mischief. They're playing baseball on the street and that kind of thing. Yeah. When Jack is around 10, his classmates start to notice that he's an incredible baseball player. And so they start sharing their lunches with him in order to get him to play on their team. But Jack isn't the first star athlete of the family. This is so interesting. Jack's older brother, Mack, is a track star and he competes on the 1936 US Olympic team in Berlin. The one that Jesse Owens, another lack athlete, wins four gold medals. Yes. And he in the 200 year dash, Mack comes in second to Jesse Owens. Wow. Wow. I know. What a standard to set. Exactly. I mean, for everyone to see that and be like, that's and also there was so mad. Yes, I know. I love that. So good. But it also just makes me think about it and I'll just say this very quickly. But I just had this very old white lady realization. People talk about black excellence. It's because when you marginalize any group and you basically are just like, oh no matter what you do, you won't be good enough, then it's just like, then the levels go up and up and up. Right. You can't just be okay. It's something you have to be the actual very best to get anyone to take you seriously. He had to win the Olympics. So everyone on Pepper Street was cool with the Robinson family. Totally. Had to exactly right store.com and use code summer sale for up to 30% off store-wide, some exclusions apply. Goodbye. - So Jack starts going to school at Pasadena Junior College and plays football, baseball, and basketball. His athletic abilities draw immediate attention and he's recruited by basically any university that will accept black students. So a wealthy Stanford college alum offers to pay Jack's tuition at any school that he wants to go to as long as that school doesn't play against Stanford. So you can't go here, but we really don't want to ever play against you. That's how good you are. - But hold on a second. Don't you think this is a little bit of an insight into the way rich people have been rigging the game? - Absolutely, no, it's absolutely impossible. - But I've never heard of that. - Yeah. - That's cheating. This is fucking crazy. And it's not like, well, why not just let black people in. No, we just don't-- - No, no, no. - No, no, no, no. We don't do that. For other reasons and because this would rule it, many major West Coast schools, Jack turns the offer down and attends UCLA where he plays football, basketball, and baseball, but in the spring during the baseball season, he also runs track. So he's doing everything at UCLA where the bar is high. You have to be good at everything. - Yes. - But also then that's great conditioning. In between your sport, you're just doing more sports. - Totally. So that's four sports. He letters in all of them. Okay, so Ali wrote this in the research. On one occasion during a football game, he had a 65 yard punt return. And I was like, I don't know what that means. And I don't know how to know if that's good or not. So I turned to this and then I go, Vince, what's a good punt return number? And he gave me some numbers and then he goes like, he got like, quote, 40 is like, whoa. So I've said, so 65 yard punt returned. - His voice, like, is like a double wow, yeah. And the University of Washington fans who are playing UCLA, they join in giving him a standing ovation when he does that against their team because it's so unheard of. - I know a lot of things make me cry. - Yeah. - But when the opposite team starts cheering and they go above and beyond, like, just competition. - This is, yeah. - You have to give it up for this. It's so amazing. - And oh, he told me the average is nine to 10 in pro and 40 is like, whoa. - Nine to 10 yards? - Yeah, for a proper turn. - Ask your dad. - I love learning. - It's during his college sports career that the press gives him the name Jackie. Although his family always calls him Jack. So Jackie is just a nickname that he doesn't even use. - Okay. - Just so interesting. But I'm gonna call him Jack's and that's his name. - Okay. - While they're covering his incredible talent, they often add in incredibly offensive racist tropes in their writing, which surprises no one. During Jack's senior year, he meets a freshman nursing student named Rachel Isom and she's the daughter of a disabled world war one vet. Actually, you wanna see some pictures? - Yes, please. - So let's see some pictures of Jackie sportsy pictures. There's like some good close-up photos of, yeah, there we go, that one. - Wow. - I know. I mean, it's so hard to be get at every sport. - Totally. - It's so crazy. - This is Jack with Rachel Isom, which will be his future wife. Look at her. Is she not the cutest? - They both have such perfect faces. - I mean, they're gorgeous. - They're so gorgeous. - So sorry, you get to be good at every single sport and hot? - And super hot, and then get the cutest wife on the planet. So she's a nursing student, Rachel. She's the daughter of a disabled world war one vet. And her mom owns her own very successful catering business. And at this point, there's a small number of black students at UCLA, Rachel being one of them. And she knows of Jack, of course, because he's locally famous as the athlete. And she had expected him to be cocky and annoying because of this. Someone wanted to set them up. She's pleasantly surprised. Their first date is at the UCLA Homecoming Dance at the built-more hotel. - Ooh. - And they quickly fall in love and become a serious couple. - I mentioned going to like a dance with the guy that's the star of every single sport and game. - Yeah, she talks in the Ken Burns documentary. And there's so much more about her. I'm unhappy to have to leave out for time, but she talks about her expectations of him and how wrong she was because he was so great. - Yeah. - After Jack graduates, he moves to Honolulu to play for a regional football team called The Bears. He leaves Honolulu on December 5th, 1941, which you know is two days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. We're gonna say that. I wasn't, I wanted to interrupt you so badly. So he's at sea, like coming back home on a fucking ship when Pearl Harbor is attacked. - Wow. - So he enlists in the army shortly after long story there, but in the end he asks to leave the military and is granted an honorable discharge. After leaving the army, Jack goes to play baseball in what's called the Negro Leagues. While many of the players, Jackie comes across are incredibly talented in this league. He's frustrated by the lack of resources available to the teams. He's equally frustrated by the racist treatment his team gets when traveling. So there are some gas stations that won't allow black people to use the bathrooms. And so he implements this tradition where if they won't let us use the bathroom, we're not purchasing gas from them. - Yeah. - And you know, it's the 30s and 40s. Money is needed for these gas stations. And so they end up getting to use the bathroom a lot of times because of this rule because they stand up for themselves. Although the 30s and into the 40s, there's been discussion about integrating major league baseball. Mostly there's been pressure from black sports writers and progressive groups, but not a huge amount of interest within the MLB or many of the team managers, of course. There isn't an official rule keeping black players out of the major leagues, but there's an unspoken one. So a man named Branch Ricky, the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, what was then the Brooklyn Dodgers. And later to become the Los Angeles Dodgers. - So what if I didn't know that? - You've been to so many games, you had no idea. - Actually have a Brooklyn Dodgers shirt, they like put out old-timey ones. - That's cool. - Really cute. - It's cute, that's why I got it. - It's cute and I love fashion. - So this guy, Branch Ricky of the Brooklyn Dodgers, wants to be the first manager to sign a black player. He wants this for a few reasons. The first is that he's a devout Christian and he thinks it's the right thing to do. The second is that he sees the caliber of athletes that are playing in the Negro leagues and he wants those athletes playing on his team. So he's not a racist like everybody else essentially. - Yeah, he's normal. - The third is that he thinks having black players will bring more people to the ballpark. He knows that they have this huge audience in black baseball fans that are not spending their money watching baseball. - No value in the segregation whatsoever. There's no reason. - Exactly. - And this is at odds with the attitude over at the Yankees, also in New York, of course, who specifically do not want black baseball fans at the park and they make no secret of this. So Ricky starts to focus on Jack specifically. He's heard about his several brushes with the law that Jack he's had in the past. And he's actually drawn to this because he knows that whoever the first black player is in the major leagues is going to face significant pushback. So he wants someone who has experience with this and someone who can take it in a way and has the urge to fight back but also has the strength to temper this urge. So has been tested and has come out a better person for it. - So what's any black player? - I mean, who had a leg? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that's a good point. Meanwhile, Jack and Rachel get married in February of 1946. He's 26 and she's 23. And for a season, he plays in Montreal with the Royals, which is the Dodgers farm team, kind of like a tryout team. And then later that year, he and Rachel have their first child together named Jackie Jr. What are you laughing at? - When you said, "Royal," like that, I was gonna say "Royal" with cheese. - I know. - I always thought it stopped talking. - Stop it. (upbeat music) - Hello, we have incredible news. - The more you spend, the more you save. - Head to exactlyrightstore.com and use code SummerSale for up to 30% off store-wide. - Some exclusions apply. - Goodbye. - Goodbye. - When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. - They take matters into their own hands. - I vowed I will be his last target. - He is not gonna get away with this. - He's gonna get what he deserves. - We always say that. Trust your girlfriends. (upbeat music) - Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the iHotRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. (upbeat music) - I'm Nancy Glass, host of the Burden of Guild season three podcast. - Cindy said I had to choose between the truth and my family and I had to choose the truth. - Listen to season three of Burden of Guild on the iHotRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. - For the following season in the spring of 1947, Jackie is called up to the major leagues and makes his debut at Ebbets Field with the Dodgers on April 15th. He was opening game against the Boston Braves who would later move to Milwaukee and later Atlanta. You knew that? - I knew that whole journey. - Same. Jackie does not get a hit, but he also doesn't strike out. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Jackie tries to bunch a runner ahead, which would judge literally result in him being thrown out, but he's, I don't know what I'm saying right now, but he's so fast, he forces a throwing error and gets on base because of that. So we're just crazy. - We're just crazy. - Yeah, it's big. - He ends up scoring the go ahead run, and then it says in Ali wrote, "The run that breaks a tie, putting the batting team in the lead, got it, and the Dodgers win five to three." So he does win his first game, even though he didn't score up. - Well, it sounds like he was kind of the reason that stuff scored though. - Yeah, exactly, that's good. - And it should be mentioned that the Dodgers at this time are often bad, beginning each season with high hopes and generally ending in disappointment. But the previous season they had placed second in the national league, and the hope is that this will finally be their year. So teams vote to strike about the integration, but ultimately though, no teams actually strike. Instead, they play the games as scheduled, but this means Jackie faces constant physical and verbal abuse from opposing players and fans. When the Phillies come to Ebbets Field, their manager Ben Chapman not only joins his players and taunting Jackie from the dugout, but he leads the taunts. He relentlessly yells racist cheers at him throughout the entire game. So he's playing against that too, you know? He also encounters physical abuse on the field, pitchers throw the ball at his head. When he's batting, Jackie has to be moved from second base to first base to make it less likely that runners will purposely slide into him with their spikes, 'cause you know you slide into second. I know that. - Into third, second and third. - Oh, they moved to first. - But it still happens several times during that first season, even though it's not fucking necessary. - Yeah, no one sliding into first and somehow he's still getting him with the exactly. - Jackie's performance grows steadily better and better over the course of the season. I mean, he's the guinea pig. - He's the Ruby Bridges of baseball. - Right, and he's like, well, I'm gonna, but he's not six years old. - I'm gonna prove that, right. - Yes, yeah. He's getting hits and the Dodgers are winning games. Jackie plays with a level of speed and daring that is unusual in the major leagues, but is more common in the Negro leagues where he first played professionally. So this is nothing for him. He's known for stealing bases, particularly for stealing home, which isn't normal. It requires perfect timing and judgment, but this summer the Dodgers are in first place in the National League. Jackie is a local hero in New York and he's a national hero on the road attracting new black fans who want to watch him play in every city the Dodgers go to. - That must have been so exciting. - Yeah, I think we've got some photos from that era. - Showman is military uniform. - Oh my God, I know. - Wow. - Oh, the photo of him stealing a base. Yeah. - Oh my God. - So good. - It almost makes you want to follow sports or something. (laughs) - So it seems like they're doing exciting stuff over there. - That's crazy. - Yeah, that's crazy. - So that same summer, Cleveland, an American league team, also signs of black player, Larry Dobby. Now Major League Baseball is integrating in both leagues 'cause you know there's two and then they play against each other and then two of them. - That's right. - And I know that. - I sure do know that. - After winning a series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Dodgers become the National League champions. Jackie has the most home runs, doubles, runs scored and has the most stolen bases in the entire National League. - AKA, fuck you. - Exactly. Come at me, bro. - Yeah. - The World Series ends in heartbreak, though, when the Dodgers lose in seven games to the Yankees. Oh, that had a, yeah, but they got there. - That was so much further than they were. - That's right. - In the 1948 season, Jackie hits about as well as he had previously, but he has fewer stolen bases and the Dodgers don't do as well. But in 1949, they once again win the National League pennant, but lose to the Yankees again in the World Series. In 1950, Jackie plays himself in the movie, the Jackie Robinson story, and this, to some extent, in trying some of the myths that are bandied about, about Jackie never fighting back and whatnot. In reality, during this era in his baseball career, he was actually becoming more bold in challenging empires when they made bad calls against him, which were likely influenced by racism. - Yeah. - Yeah. - My God. - At this point, there was a handful of black players scattered across the Major League and several on the Dodgers. On one occasion, an anonymous letter threatens to kill Jackie Robinson and Don Newcom, another black player, if they enter the field in Cincinnati. FBI agents position themselves all over the stadium, but nothing happens. Throughout the first half of the 1950s, the Dodgers have some great seasons, but never get that World Series win. Jackie's also faced with a setback of being diagnosed at the age of 33 with diabetes and heart disease. He doesn't bring this diagnosis up with the team and with treatment, he's still playing well. He and Rachel have two more children at this point, Sharon and David. Actually, let's see the family photo. It's so cute. - Oh my God. - So cute. - That was trophies too. - Yeah. - There's a lot of pressure. It's like your uncle was an Olympian. - Right. - Right. - Father is the best baseball player ever now. - Right. - Well, the Dodgers keep losing the World Series to the Yankees. Robinson is critical of the team as a racist institution and points out in interviews that they have yet to integrate the Yankees. Well, at this point, many other teams in baseball have. And Rachel herself says she finds this northern flavor of racism even more insidious than in the South because it pretends not to be racist. - That's fucking right on. - Yeah. - She encounters it repeatedly when they try to buy a house in Westchester and in Connecticut and sellers either refuse to show their homes or yank them off the market when the Robinson's make an offer. - Wait, I think you're about to tell my favorite story. - About Carly's Ivan's family. - Yeah. - Oh my God. - I saw a TikTok and it was just like, wait, what? And then I was like, is this real? - It's real, finally. - Yay. - Singer Carly Simon's mother, Andrea Simon, this blew my mind too, whose husband is co-owner of Simon and Schuster. - Yeah, she's big money. - Yeah. - That's the publishing company. - I had no idea. So this Carly Simon's family helps the Robinson's buy property in Stanford, Connecticut. And the Robinson's live with the Simons while their house is being built. - So essentially, they went in and basically did all the paperwork as if they were the ones doing it and got everything approved. - And then let them live there. - Yeah. - It's so incredible. - That's like beyond just being friendly. - Yeah, it's exact. - Well, you have your eyes on a real future of how it's supposed to be as opposed to what it's like right now and then you're doing something to try to get there. - Boom, exactly. The Robinson kids are the first black kids in their school and they are excluded from country clubs, hockey ranks and dance schools. - Hello, we have incredible news. From September 3rd through September 7th, you can save up to 30% off store-wide on my favorite murder and exactly right March. Now's the time to grab that shirt. Tote, hat, koozy, whatever else has been sitting in your cart for the last three months. - Head to exactlyrightstore.com and use code summer sale for up to 30% off store-wide. - Goodbye. They take matters into their own hands. - We always say that trust your girlfriends. Trust me, babe. (upbeat music) - I survived nine months in captivity and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. - I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the survivor files. - Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHotRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. - In 1955, the Dodgers once again faced the Yankees in the World Series. Jackie and his mid-30s at this point is not as fast as he once was. I guess, in baseball, that's old. - It's very important. - Yeah, mid-30s. - Mm-hmm. - But he steals home for the 19th time in his career during this series. In game seven, the Dodgers win, earning the Dodgers, their first championship, and their 72 year history. - I just realized that in the other two times, when they lost to the Yankees, that was Brooklyn versus New York City. - Yeah, that'd be a funny thing. - That's so intense. - That had to be wild. - Crazy. - And they do it with roughly equal numbers of black and white players in the lineup against the all white Yankees. - Yeah, that had to be so good. - So good. - I wish I was there. - I know, that's good. - Jackie plays one final season with the Dodgers, helping them once again, win the National League Championship, and they lose to the Yankees in the 1956 World Series, unfortunately. Jackie retires at the age of 38. His legacy has opened the door for some of baseball's greatest players like Willie Mays. - Willie Mays. - And Hank Aaron, who will become legendary. - In 1958, the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles because they don't agree with New York City planner, Rob Moses' plan to move the stadium to Queens. Moses' vision for New York was car-centric, and achieving this vision to move to Queens would destroy a lot of minority neighborhoods. But let's talk about Chavez, ravine for a hot minute. - But it's how they do it every time. [BLANK_AUDIO] going to put this freeway. Yeah, like that's not what this is about today, but let's not forget Chavez-Rubin, which is a vibrant working class Mexican-American community in Los Angeles at one point. Anyway, in 1962, Jackie is inducted into the baseball hall of fame and his first year of eligibility. Throughout the 1960s, he participates in the Civil Rights Movement, joining Martin Luther King, Jr. for many events and speaking engagements. The whole Robinson family attends the march on Washington in August of 1963. Jackie Wright's newspaper comms expressing his support for candidates, whom he thinks will further civil rights causes. Jackie also helps open the Freedom National Bank, a black owned bank that focuses on securing loans for black people who were discriminated against by other financial institutions and the banks of big success. In 1971, Jackie Robinson, Jr., his first child dies in a car accident at the age of 24. He had fought in Vietnam, struggled with and overcame a drug addiction after returning home and had become a counselor for other people battling addiction. It's tragic. Just one year later, Jackie Robinson dies at the age of 54 of a heart attack in October of 1972. His life, the amount of stress that man had to just deal with for his entire career in life is wild. For sure. Crazy. Well, he's having a heart attack. He comes running out of his room, hugs Rachel and says, I love you to her as he sinks to the floor. Oh, she was the love of his life. Oh, God. Just nine days before his death, he had thrown out the ceremonial first pitch at the World Series in Cincinnati, the city where he had received death threats 30 years earlier. God. Jackie had made a brief speech at the appearance saying, quote, I'm extremely proud and pleased to be here this afternoon, but must admit, I'm going to be tremendously more pleased and more proud when I look at that third base coaching line one day and see a black face managing in baseball. End quote, this will happen a few years later in 1975. Many people believe that the integration of baseball was a pivotal moment that helped give rise to the later civil rights movement. In the Ken Burns documentary, President Barack Obama says, quote, Jackie Robinson laid the foundation for America to see its black citizens as subjects and not just objects. It meant that there were six and seven and eight year old boys who suddenly thought a black man was a hero. End quote, Jackie's wife Rachel Robinson is still alive and recently celebrated her 104th birthday. What? In this past July, 2026, did she still live in in her house in Connecticut? I don't know. In 1973, after her husband's death, she started the Jackie Robinson foundation, which provides scholarships and mentoring opportunities to minority students. She did this in addition to being a psychiatric nurse, like your mom, and assistant professor at Yale, and a director of nursing at the Connecticut Mental Health Center. So this woman on her own is just legendary. If she's anything like my mother, she's not fucking around. She never remarried. Oh, don't. I know. I know. It's hard. In 1997, Jackie's number 42 is retired from all of baseball, meaning that no player can wear it again. It's common for individual teams to retire a number for one of the grades. I didn't know this, but Jackie's the only player to have his number retired across all of baseball. She's going to cry, you guys. Well, I was going to yell, fuck all y'all, but that's because I really just want to cry, because this is a man who then he had to be the cutting edge. He had to be, he was the tool by which all of that integration happened. And then he got to live to see the day where it was happening and it was real. On April 15th, each year, the anniversary of Jackie's first major league game, all major league players wear special uniforms with his number 42 in observance of Jackie Robinson Day. And that is the story of baseball legend Jackie Robinson. Well, I mean, I think this change of pace suits us. Yeah. Because we get to enjoy a new thing. We get to meet a hero. I've watched some stuff on Jackie Robinson, but it is just so incredible to hear the details of what a difficult life adds up to. Yeah. The thing you can't imagine or think about or rarely do when you're in the shit. Yeah. Is that the shit is the stairs by which you climb up to the top. Yeah. And you got to get in there and do it. Yeah, definitely. And the inspiration, you can be to other people. You can play first base Jordan. Yes, or third. No, thank you. Yes, you can. I'll get a hot dog. Put your hand up. Share it on. Put your. No, I don't. I'm on this team. Get serious. Um, amazing. Well, that was great job. Thank you so much. I was excited to do that one. That is a solo episode. When will it come out? Who knows? What will happen? Oh my God. Well, until that happens, stay sexy. And don't get murdered. Goodbye. Elvis, do you want a cookie? This has been an exactly right production. Our managing producer is Molly Smith. Our consulting producer is Kate Schellmbach. Our creative lead is Alison Agosti. Our associate producer is Tessa Hughes and our editor is Aristotle Acevedo. This episode was mixed by Leonis Kualači. Our researchers are Aaron McLashan and Ali Elkin. Email your hometowns to my favorite murder at gmail.com and follow the show on Instagram at my favorite murder. Listen to my favorite murder on the iHeart Radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Or watch new episodes every week on Netflix. Search for my favorite murder, add us to your list and hit the double thumbs up button. Goodbye. Tote, hat, kuzi, whatever else has been sitting in your cart for the last three months. Head to exactlyrightstore.com and use code SummerSale for up to 30% off store-wide. Goodbye. Welcome aboard season six of The Girlfriends. A beautiful woman smiles and hands you a scotch. But you have no idea just how messed up her job actually is. Listen to The Girlfriends, flight or fight on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey Portlandia fans. Kerry Brownstein and Fred Armason here. The dream of the 90s is alive in podcast form. We're launching Podlandia A.O. Rewatch, our brand new podcast where we revisit every episode of Portlandia together. Breaking down sketches, going deep on our iconic characters, and pulling back the curtain on how it all got made. And we'll also be joined by the people who helped bring it all to life. guest stars, collaborators, and friends, including director Jonathan Kreisel, the mayor himself Kyle McLaughlin, legendary musician Amy Mann, and many more. Kyle is going for it here. You fully improvised not just words, but a song about it. I thought you were all going to write a song. I remember you thinking that. Listen to Podlandia A.O. Rewatch on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.