The Titanic | The Obsession | 4
American History Tellers
Wondery
4.7 • 18.3K Ratings
🗓️ 2 October 2024
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After the RMS Titanic sank in 1912, the ocean liner's fame only continued to grow. Today, Lindsay is joined by journalist Daniel Stone to discuss how generations of people searched for the sunken Titanic, the holy grail of wrecks. He charts the ship’s fandom, from mere enthusiasts to an obsessive who claimed ownership of the vessel. Daniel Stone is the author of Sinkable: Obsession, the Deep Sea, and the Shipwreck of the Titanic.
Order your copy of the new American History Tellers book, The Hidden History of the White House, for behind-the-scenes stories of some of the most dramatic events in American history—set right inside the house where it happened.
Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Wunderry Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American history tellers early and |
| 0:05.1 | ad free right now. Join Wundery Plus in the Wundery app or on Apple Podcasts. Imagine it's a warm spring day in 1914 and you're standing in the lobby of a bank in |
| 0:27.3 | Manhattan. You're an architect and amateur inventor and ever since the Titanic sank |
| 0:32.3 | two years ago you've been obsessed with finding a way to raise the wreck from the ocean floor. |
| 0:37.0 | Now you're convinced you've figured it all out. |
| 0:40.0 | All you need is a fleet of ships, a few hundred men, and about one and a half million dollars. |
| 0:46.0 | You turn to see your banker approaching and he escorts you to his office, |
| 0:51.0 | where he takes a seat behind a large desk as you begin to roll out your |
| 0:54.8 | plans. Well thank you so much for agreeing to meet with me today. I think once you've |
| 0:59.4 | seen my proposal you'll agree that this is a worthy endeavor. |
| 1:03.0 | The banker nods, but you can sense his skepticism. |
| 1:06.0 | In these drawings, you'll see I propose using electromagnets connected to a submarine to determine the location of the Titanic wreckage. |
| 1:14.0 | I imagine that it should take approximately one month. |
| 1:17.0 | One month, I see, but a submarine, at that depth, wouldn't it be crushed by the weight of the ocean? |
| 1:26.0 | No, no, my submarine will be built to withstand a pressure of 40 tons a square foot. |
| 1:31.0 | That's more than enough to account for the maximum depth I |
| 1:33.8 | calculated would need to dive to. And once the exact location of the wreck is |
| 1:37.7 | determined, a fleet of ships will anchor above the site and then using |
| 1:41.5 | winches mounted on the ships will slowly raise the |
| 1:44.6 | Titanic to the surface. And then what? I'm sorry I just I'm not sure I |
| 1:50.7 | understand what the purpose is. Well we'll tow her to New York so she could be repaired and put back into service. |
| 1:56.7 | And what do the ship's owners at White Star have to say about this? |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in -177 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wondery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Wondery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.