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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Hey, it's Latif. Today we have a story about someone attempting a crime so big and so brazen that if they had pulled it off, it would no doubt have changed the world. But they didn't pull it off because one random guy stopped it. And instead of changing the whole world, it just changed the world for this one guy. The story took place in the 1970s. We originally reported it back in 2017.
But people keep attempting this same crime as of this taping literally twice in the last month. I'm being vague on purpose just so I don't spoil the surprise, but it'll all make sense in a second. Here we go.
You're listening to Radiolab.
Radio from WNYC. Rewind.
Just a quick note. This story contains some profanities. Here and there. Here and there. A couple. So just know that before we get going. Hey, I'm Jad Abumrad. I'm Robert Krolich. This is Radiolab. And today we are going to start. Okay, so let's start. With our producer, Latif Nasser.
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Chapter 2: What unexpected event did Oliver Sipple experience on September 22, 1975?
Yeah.
Well, let's just go back to San Francisco on a particular day at a particular time. And a particular woman. Hello. Hi. Is this Sarah Jane? Yes, it is. A woman named. Sarah Jane Moore. Sarah Jane. Okay. So this is San Francisco. The particular day was September 22nd. The particular time. 1975. It's a Monday morning. It was a nice day.
Oh, yeah. I don't remember anything different. So I assume it was a nice day. I was kind of, you know, in my own head.
So Sarah Jane, on this Monday morning, she wakes up early, drops her nine-year-old off at school, runs a few errands. Then she drives downtown to this big fancy hotel. What was the name of the hotel?
I think it's the St. Francis, isn't it?
I'm 87 years old. Don't expect me to remember little details like that.
Okay. All right. Fair enough.
Yeah. But at any rate, you know, I parked in the parking garage across, right across from the hotel as a park, but there's a parking garage underneath. Walked over and walked across the street. There were sidewalks on both sides of the street. There were people on both sidewalks.
She joins the crowd across the street from the hotel. It was very crowded. A couple thousand people. It's like a big scene.
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Chapter 3: How did Sarah Jane Moore's actions lead to a national crisis?
When Oliver got to San Francisco, reconnected with his old friend.
Harvey was, shall we say, evolving into. A huge figure there. A gay public figure.
Ken was actually friends with Harvey, worked on one of his campaigns. But this, I'm sorry. No, no, no. And I'm just thinking like one of the things we were talking about on the phone was about sort of the kind of two different schools or two different.
I was just about to segue to that. Oh, perfect. Yeah, yeah. Go for it. This older, other, I would say older, but other generation. of gay, mostly men, was that they were content to go to tea with the mayor or public official of some kind.
They would show up to like a rally.
Wearing jackets and ties.
And like ask for their rights politely.
They really weren't, shall we say, activists.
Because according to Ken, the activism came... When in the late 60s, early 70s, you had young gay men and women... who came out of the Vietnam War protests into the world. Took a look around.
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Chapter 4: What role did Oliver Sipple play in saving the President's life?
Some to that effect, we're going to kill you.
Both violently and nonviolently.
Got up in the middle of the street, they knocked me down and started beating me with their hands and their feet, their elbows. Tried to muffle my screams.
And after a while, a body of people get to a point where they just will not take oppression anymore.
So in came the activists like Harvey.
Ponytail, mustache. He was a banker turned hippie.
You know you're lying.
You know you're changing the statements around. He was very outspoken. I question what is your real motive behind it? Very militant. And stop this phony issue that you know is a phony issue. And to Harvey. We are saying that a gay person...
Gay people were living in a half-life opportunity. Not being able to be who they were.
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Chapter 5: How did the media portray Oliver Sipple after the assassination attempt?
I'm very emotionally shook up and I just, I feel very sorry for my family too. It's awful. Just awful. But nothing more to say.
Can you tell us the story of the letter? Well, I wish I would have brought it. I do have it, but I didn't bring it today. The same day as that press conference, which was three days after the assassination attempt, Gerald Ford actually did write a letter to Oliver Sipple, which was then released publicly. It's a nice letter. It's White House stationery, White House envelope.
It's basically Ford telling my uncle that, you know, he's thankful to him for this heroic deed.
And he signed it Jerry Ford, which I've been told that Gerald Ford signed different ways. So if he signed Jerry Ford, it meant something. It was like a personal touch.
Wow.
Well, there's this other chapter where your uncle says to the president, I guess writes to the president. Yeah, so we found a letter. We found a letter in the Gerald Ford Library. It's from your uncle to the president. Wow. Yeah.
I did not know about that letter.
Really? I have the letter right now. So the date on it is September 30th, 1975. So here's what it says. Dear Mr. President— Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Yeah.
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Chapter 6: What impact did the press have on Oliver Sipple's personal life?
I know that your schedule is heavily occupied, but I respectfully request that you take the time to see my family or at least call my family. The telephone number is 313... Zero, I love my family, and I do not want to be separated from their love and companionship. Your help will be gratefully appreciated. Respectfully, Oliver W. Sibyl.
Wow.
That's sad. Sadder to think that nothing came of it. You know? Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah.
We tried really hard to find out if Ford ever made that call. The archivists at the Ford Library, they went through his call logs, and there was no evidence that he ever made that call. And then we talked to George Jr., and he talked to everybody in his family, and they don't remember it either. Anyway, you can't say for sure, but as far as we can tell, that call never happened.
But we did find out that the same day that Oliver sent that letter back to Ford— he and his lawyer filed a $15 million lawsuit against the press. Really? Saying what? That the newspapers, when they publicized that he was gay without his consent, they violated his privacy. Okay, walking out of Civic Center, Burt.
It's just, it's one of those cases where it pulls your head in one direction and it pulls your heart in the exact opposite direction. And so we wanted to get into the legal case files and we could not find them. We looked and looked and looked and then we found them. You found them? We found them. Where'd you find them? So the clerk's office is, I guess, not surprisingly, right off City Hall.
They were at this court in San Francisco. And so we recruited this guy, this researcher, historian of the, you know, gay movement in San Francisco, great name, Joey Plaster.
And he... Okay, so I'm going to need your ID.
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