Malcolm Gladwell: 'Bomber Mafia' Looks At A Great Untold Story From WWII

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  • Опубликовано: 20 дек 2024

Комментарии • 112

  • @christophersnyder1532
    @christophersnyder1532 2 года назад +5

    For all who serve, all who are serving, and all who will serve, my heartfelt respect for them.
    And I am glad that the Sammy B. was also discovered.
    Take care, and all the best.

  • @joannebattersby8365
    @joannebattersby8365 2 года назад +9

    Canadians are justified in our pride in Malcolm Gladwell. He is the most incredible person.

    • @htoddgriffin4787
      @htoddgriffin4787 2 года назад +1

      All the really good stuff comes from the US. Malcolm must be American. Canadians have hockey and that should be enough.

  • @JamesOO7p
    @JamesOO7p 2 года назад +8

    I recommend this book to everyone regardless of political affiliation. It’s just a great book.

    • @reason6835
      @reason6835 2 года назад

      Handmaid's Tale is the only book left wingers read.

    • @LilyS1031
      @LilyS1031 2 года назад

      Definitely got to check it out. 👍

  • @Aubrey_Harris
    @Aubrey_Harris 2 года назад

    Listening to this and thinking of my great-uncle’s work as a physicist on the team that developed the Dambuster…

  • @markhonea2461
    @markhonea2461 2 года назад +2

    The only accurate prediction the Norton bombsight could realistically predict is how far away from your target the bombs would land.

  • @thomasmcgivney4519
    @thomasmcgivney4519 2 года назад +10

    Without the 8th Airforce "The Mighty 8th" there would have been no D-day. They eliminated the German Airforce.

    • @ivandaly3679
      @ivandaly3679 2 года назад +3

      The American airforce destroyed the Luftwaffe?
      Never heard anything so ridiculous.

    • @thomasmcgivney4519
      @thomasmcgivney4519 2 года назад

      @@ivandaly3679 Where were they on D-day. Not a plane in the sky.

    • @scottkrater2131
      @scottkrater2131 2 года назад +1

      @@ivandaly3679 and how many RAF fighter squadrons escorted American daylight raids over Germany? The American fighter escorts didn't destroy the entire Luftwaffe, but they did gut it so there was barely any German aircraft left in France, to oppose Overlord. So destroyed isn't to far off.

    • @scottkrater2131
      @scottkrater2131 2 года назад +1

      Too bad they sacrificed the bombers to do it. They were the bait. The fighters weren't there to protect them, but shoot down fighters.

    • @thomasmcgivney4519
      @thomasmcgivney4519 2 года назад

      @@scottkrater2131 That was the plan. And it worked.

  • @DocProcRealm
    @DocProcRealm 2 года назад +12

    The stuff that's not on the History channel anymore¡

    • @MorpheusOne
      @MorpheusOne 2 года назад +2

      Yeah! I haven't really watched the History Channel in any consistent capacity for many years now and the main reason for that is because it has become flooded with _`cOnSpIrAcY tHeOrY`_ garbage. They cater to the _`Erick von Däniken`_ demographic of FAKE & anti-science, anti-reality and post-truth.

    • @juanitadaleslusher9628
      @juanitadaleslusher9628 2 года назад +3

      Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! You are correct, Doc Proctor!

  • @kevinjenner9502
    @kevinjenner9502 2 года назад +2

    Leader of the aerial assault on Pearl Harbor, Mitsuo Fuchida, became postwar life long friends with Jacob DeShazer, bombardier of B-25 number 16 of the Doolittle Raiders.

  • @bullettube9863
    @bullettube9863 2 года назад +7

    The idea that "the Bomber will always get through" was an idea that had great favor in the 1930s when many bombers were faster and flew higher then the fighters of the day. The B-17 Flying Fortress was supposed to be able to defend itself, but the German s quickly proved that belief wrong, with horrific losses to the US 8th Air Force. The idea of pin point bombing of course was also proven wrong as the 8th barely hit 10% of their targets. Even today's modern air forces barely break 30%. The Iraq war supposedly proved pin point bombing, but the US lied, they missed a lot and only showed their hits on TV.

    • @Iquey
      @Iquey 2 года назад

      When it comes to things like "pinpoint bombing" we have stuff like drones now....that shoot right at civilian houses in the middle east, as Chelsea Manning leaked for the American public. Firebombing is a costly strategy that I think just makes the arms dealers rich. It only makes sense if you want to destroy an entire town or city blocks.

    • @scottkrater2131
      @scottkrater2131 2 года назад

      Hey now that's a lie. The first bomb almost or did hit the target every time. It's the one's that came after that weren't so accurate. From smoke and and debris that canceled out their guidance systems.

    • @bullettube9863
      @bullettube9863 2 года назад

      @@scottkrater2131 What lie? BTW- Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades! Having a guidance system that can easily be fooled by smoke must be good news for your enemies!

    • @scottkrater2131
      @scottkrater2131 2 года назад

      @@bullettube9863 I didn't say they all worked but the first one hit the target. That was precision. I agree the rest missed. It's a white lie. Maybe a little sarcastic.

    • @bullettube9863
      @bullettube9863 2 года назад

      @@Iquey Yes even drones cannot be considered "precision weapons"! The targeting of civilians is a matter of poor intelligence and hubris. The fire bombing of Tokyo and Yokohama killed over 250,000 Japanese with three raids. In both cities the civilians lived in houses made of wood and the winds caused by the initial fires fanned the flames across both cities. The fire bombs were made at the airbases from steel drums filled with wood and oil and a small detonator from a mortar shell. No arms dealers were involved!

  • @stevewindisch7400
    @stevewindisch7400 2 года назад +1

    There is controversy now with modern military historians about the impact and significance of the Norden bombsight. Perhaps the most obvious fact of it was that the on-the-ground real world performance of it was lackluster, and about the same as other bombsights from other countries. In 1943 it was shown to have about 1,200 feet of error in combat, compared to the pre-war claims of 75 feet radius from a target.

    • @ivandaly3679
      @ivandaly3679 2 года назад

      The RAF generally flew lower than the USAF and were "more accurate", but until laser guidance arrived nobody bombed with any precision. It didn't really matter as precise targeting wasn't necessary. You couldn't just dial in Liebestrasse 25 and expect to get the payload thru the letterbox.

    • @therealrobertbirchall
      @therealrobertbirchall 2 года назад

      The German luftwaffe captur5a Norden bomb sight, they thought it was a joke.

  • @jessfrankel5212
    @jessfrankel5212 2 года назад +1

    Gladwell also talks about the bombers dropping H-bombs on Japan...H-bombs came after WW2. That kind of error shouldn't have been made.

    • @jessfrankel5212
      @jessfrankel5212 2 года назад

      @@donofon101 I checked in his book...it's around page 120 or so. He's usually a fine researcher, but he boo-booed that one.

  • @adcrane
    @adcrane 2 года назад

    It’s a great listen. One of his best in my opinion.

  • @bauhnguefyische667
    @bauhnguefyische667 2 года назад +4

    Gladwell is an interesting guy, you get to find out about a lot about the folks who left impressions.
    Even spaghetti sauce.

  • @kateskeys
    @kateskeys 2 года назад

    I love malcom

  • @CoreyANeal2000
    @CoreyANeal2000 2 года назад

    This, but Artillery could work to take out precise targets. Including tanks.

  • @celticman1909
    @celticman1909 2 года назад +5

    I'm a bit older than Joe, but I as well poured over those history books concerning the Allied bombing campaigns of WWII. Because our country did it, and the estimated numbers of people killed were listed like a bland footnote, the immensity of the thing was sort of lost on us.
    Now as a 60 year old man I am horrified as to the actual reality of all that.
    Watch "German History Archives" here on RUclips, the period film of the blackened civilian bodies piled up on wooden cremation pallets in Dresden. Thousands of them. A city with no military resources or credible targets. Our country did that. It doesn't sit well with me.

    • @deborahfreedman333
      @deborahfreedman333 2 года назад +3

      The real tragedy is that allied forces refused to bomb the railroads, taking people to death camps, not Dresden.

    • @jgaffney567
      @jgaffney567 2 года назад +3

      The real tragedy is 100k dead and 1million made homeless in one night in Tokyo and most are unaware

    • @jorgegonzalez-larramendi5491
      @jorgegonzalez-larramendi5491 2 года назад

      hiroshima nagasaki while stalin kept secret the japanese surrender..

    • @bipolarcollie
      @bipolarcollie 2 года назад +6

      It's really easy to look back & do Monday night quarterbacking. There's absolutely no way anyone who was born after 1945 can grasp & understand the global intensity of the war.
      Case in point: War was supposed to be "civilized" - every country had war colleges. There were Codes of Conduct as to what was permissible and what wasn't (mostly regarding civilians). In WWII Germany & Japan blew up the codes of conduct, switching to fight everything or die trying. Germany's devastating bombing of London & the havoc they left in their wake in Europe had one main goal - demoralize civilians by attacking them, hoping they'd pressure their leaders to surrender. Or hope the leaders would surrender to avoid more civilian deaths & destroyed cities.
      Dresden was the Allies response. In addition, the allies did not want the retreating German military to find supplies & places to dig in to continue fighting.
      As for Japan, the Allies were preparing to invade Japan. Japan's code of conduct applied to every person, including children - fight or die. Civilians were ordered to fight with whatever they had - pitchforks, clubs. Anyone who wouldn't fight would be executed. Surrender was not an option.
      The casualties for an invasion of Japan was estimated to be 6 million - mostly Japanese civilians but our soldiers would have to fight for every inch & a million or more would die. (Look up the total war casualties - Japan is much higher than the Allies - the Japanese weren't allowed to surrender, ever.) Troops were being moved from Europe to. Asia.) The atomic bombs were devastating, but they ended the war.
      My Dad's unit had just moved up to Korea, preparing to land in Japan. They were told only 1 of them would survive - maybe.
      Blame war on the leaders. Once aggression starts, it can only be stopped by aggression.
      Case in Point: Would Putin have stopped invading the Ukraine if the Ukrainians didn't fight back?

    • @bipolarcollie
      @bipolarcollie 2 года назад +2

      @@deborahfreedman333 they bombed plenty of bridges, roads, railroad tracks, factories & dams. The trains moving people to the death camps were deep into Europe - further then bombers could reach until the Allies were able to start getting deeper into Europe. Russia was closer to the RR Lines but they spent most of the war without much supplies & were fighting a German invasion themselves.
      And, accurate information about the camps was slim at first, and Allied leaders didn't fully believe any country would be that evil.
      Read some real history books.

  • @lynnrunningdeerB4
    @lynnrunningdeerB4 2 года назад

    Redtails? Were they responsible for escorting them?

  • @reason6835
    @reason6835 2 года назад +9

    Another book commercial, brought to you by MSNBC.

    • @SwiftJustice
      @SwiftJustice 2 года назад +7

      Lol MAGA hates books

    • @roberthollingsworth8940
      @roberthollingsworth8940 2 года назад +5

      @@SwiftJustice but they love coloring books..

    • @bobevans9955
      @bobevans9955 2 года назад +1

      @@roberthollingsworth8940 look at you trying to hit on that guy you two are on the wrong website

    • @roberthollingsworth8940
      @roberthollingsworth8940 2 года назад +3

      @@bobevans9955 jealous Bobby?

    • @bobevans9955
      @bobevans9955 2 года назад +1

      @@roberthollingsworth8940 I'm not a homosexual so now I'm not jealous about you trying to pick up another guy you probably need to get yourself some help though

  • @Raven-ug8uw
    @Raven-ug8uw 2 года назад

    IDK how Carl Norden is being touted as such a pivotal person when his device didn't work?

    • @deborahfreedman333
      @deborahfreedman333 2 года назад +2

      The Norden bombsight was the best, the technology of the day could produce. Using gyroscopic stabilizers, and an analog computer, it wasn't super accurate, but better than using visual sighting. Once Texas Instruments developed integrated circuits, and those were used instead of the analog computer, it acquired the desired accuracy, in Vietnam. Of course technology improved, and laser sighting systems and GPS replaced it.

    • @Raven-ug8uw
      @Raven-ug8uw 2 года назад +2

      @@satorarepo744I'm pretty consoled just knowing I can understand and question what I'm being fed. I don't just take my hero's as given. Maybe, u shouldn't just read but read and apply critical analysis. U would be so upset by those who don't accept ur idols.

    • @Raven-ug8uw
      @Raven-ug8uw 2 года назад +2

      @@deborahfreedman333 it actually sounds just that Borden just needed an ability to make faster calculations--and I guess a more consideration. Just TI innovation is that which allowed NASA to make the calculations otherwise made by Hidden Figures.

  • @jimallen8186
    @jimallen8186 2 года назад

    This book is trash while the impact of bombers has been exaggerated throughout history. Tactical bombing would have been a much better use of resources. The Blitz actually helped Britain as the focus shifted from aircraft and airfields in the preceding Battle of Britain to cities. Bombing of cities had little impact to Germany’s war effort while blotting out Japanese cities did little to dissuade them; what finally brought them to heel? Naval blockade plus Soviet entry into the war. You should read Gar Alperovitz, Ward Wilson, Charles Kenny, Richard Overy. Gladwell is a hack.

  • @nathanlurie2602
    @nathanlurie2602 2 года назад

    very cool but wrong

  • @imjustamen2531
    @imjustamen2531 2 года назад

    👀 🙈🙉🙊 💬 💨💨💨

  • @MediaFaust
    @MediaFaust 2 года назад

    Adolf Hitler was the Elon Musk of World War 2. Bomber dude was more like the guy who invented WhatsApp.

  • @JB-uv4hm
    @JB-uv4hm 2 года назад +1

    Old story puffed up by a journo who’s fast and loose with the facts. Kudos to him making a mint on a repackage.

    • @deborahfreedman333
      @deborahfreedman333 2 года назад

      Historians do that all the time, making the past interesting to modern people. He's a lot like Barbara Tuchman.

    • @rogerthat4545
      @rogerthat4545 2 года назад

      Huh?

    • @JB-uv4hm
      @JB-uv4hm 2 года назад

      @@deborahfreedman333 not really, as she was actually a historian. Call me when MG wins a pulitzer. Lol.

  • @pedroguerra1755
    @pedroguerra1755 2 года назад

    I’m first, and i get to say, hello.

    • @Raven-ug8uw
      @Raven-ug8uw 2 года назад +2

      No, please don't do that.