Cigarettes & Rocket Fuel show

Cigarettes & Rocket Fuel

Summary: In the 50th anniversary year of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, fictional radio station KHCN-AM 4747 carries you back in time with a weekly podcast covering major news stories, social issues and Apollo activities in the spring and summer of 1969 as America enters the final sprint in the race against the Soviets to set foot on the moon.

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Podcasts:

 Bonus: ‘I’ve never missed a Holy Week’ | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 15:13

We hope you have found the series of Coronavirus Chronicle bonus episodes informative and entertaining. Follow the show on Apple Podcasts. Click subscribe — it's free — to receive fresh episodes daily.  The Rev. Hannah Atkins Romero, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Midtown, talks about the sense of loss experienced by Houston’s faith communities as an Easter Sunday without church services approaches. Plus: a special performance by April Sloan-Hubert and the Trinity Jazz Ensemble.

 Bonus: Journalist, artist, historian: a photographer's view of the pandemic | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 14:07

Today, we're sharing an episode of "Coronavirus Chronicle" with listeners. Previous episodes at available on Apple Podcasts. Houston Chronicle photojournalist Marie De Jesús illuminates the balancing act between keeping a safe distance and capturing the intimate, human moments that reveal just how profoundly life in Houston has changed.

 Bonus: Disaster expert Angela Blanchard on making the Covid crisis visible | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 21:42

Today, we're sharing an episode of "Coronavirus Chronicle" with listeners. Previous episodes at available on Apple Podcasts. Houstonians know all about hurricanes: Wind speed, the dirty side, the European models. But what do we need to track the coronavirus? Angela Blanchard discusses that and more with the Houston Chronicle’s Lisa Gray

 Bonus: Jobs are gone, but the rent is still due | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 14:29

As March turned into April and the Houston stay-at-home order was extended to the start of May, renters who found themselves suddenly unemployed by the coronavirus outbreak have been left to wonder how they will pay for housing. Landlords have their own concerns. Reporter Sarah Smith, who covers housing, homelessness and poverty for the Houston Chronicle, joins host Ferrill Gibbs to discuss the dilemma facing tenants and property owners alike.

 Editor Steve Riley: Crisis coverage and the virtual newsroom | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 13:50

As Houston Chronicle executive editor Steve Riley said recently in a letter to readers: Quite suddenly, your lives have changed. Your health, or the health of someone you love, could be at risk. Your job seems shakier than just days ago. Your church isn’t having services, your favorite bar has closed ... at the Houston Chronicle, we feel it, too. Host Ferrill Gibbs talks to Riley about coronavirus in Houston and about the unique challenge that covering it presents to local newsrooms.

 #StayHome | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 07:49

Listen to the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board's impassioned plea to Houstonians coping with the coronavirus -- "Stay home!" -- as expressed by editorial board member Monica Rohr.

 Splashdown | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 22:08

It's Monday, July 21, 1969 -- or is it? Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made historic bootprints on the moon, collected rock samples, took photographs and headed home. But that was 50 years ago. It's actually 2019, and this is the last show of the season for "Cigarettes & Rocket Fuel." But our space adventure is not over -- look for Alex Stuckey's podcast, "Space Junk" this fall. It will appear right here in this feed. Stay tuned!

 Tranquility Base | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 27:42

It’s Sunday, July 20, 1969, and we did it folks! With Michael Collins orbiting above, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin have landed on the moon. After a nail-biting descent to the surface, the heroic duo touched down this afternoon and are preparing to take those first steps on the surface. For everything you need to know about the astronaut's lunar activities, tune in tomorrow for a special Monday edition of Space Talk Sunday with Alex and Andy. 

 Good Luck and Godspeed | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 29:39

It's Sunday, July 13, 1969, and the Apollo 11 launch takes place in just three days. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins are reducing their training to ensure they are well rested for the big day, but the topic of germs remains a hot one.

 Fit to Fly | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 26:59

It's Sunday, July 6, 1969, and we have less than two weeks before the launch of Apollo 11, the mission that will attempt to land the first humans on the moon. All three astronauts have been declared fit to fly by a medical examiner, but NASA is taking every precaution to make sure it stays that way. Today is the last day the astronauts will get to spend time with their families until August. They'll be in isolation before and after the mission to the moon.

 Three Brave Men | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 24:08

It's Sunday, June 29, 1969, and today on "Space Talk Sunday," Alex and Andy discuss the three astronauts who will be aboard Apollo 11 for America's next trip to the moon and the planned lunar landing attempt: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins.

 Cosmonaut Jesus | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 25:31

It's Sunday, June 22, 1969, and NASA is moving full steam ahead on a July 16 launch of Apollo 11. Meanwhile, a Soviet philologist says that the Star of Bethlehem was a spaceship, and Jesus Christ was a visitor from another planet.

 Moon Buggies and ... Mars? | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 29:03

It's June 15, 1969, and the country is just 35 days from making history by putting the first men on the moon. But even as NASA continues to prepare for the landing attempt, it is gearing up for the future: a lunar vehicle and travel to Mars.

 Odds and Ends | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 22:59

It's Sunday, June 8, 1969, and KHCN-AM 4747 has learned a little more about the unexpected spin Gene Cernan and Tom Stafford took in the lunar module just a few miles above the moon's surface. NASA also is ironing out the communication problems Apollo 10 experienced near the moon’s surface so that everything can work perfectly for Apollo 11 in July.

 Moon Bugs?! | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 25:41

It's Sunday, June 1, 1969, and the Apollo 10 astronauts have returned to Houston after a flawless splashdown near American Samoa. Mission control flight director Glynn Lunney called the mission a "110 percent success." The astronauts' return was open to the public, but Apollo 11's won't be – NASA is placing them under a 21-day quarantine to ensure that "moon bugs" do not contaminate the planet.

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