In this episode, Dave interviews James R. Hansen, author of First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong -- the first and only authorized biography of Neil A. Armstrong, the commander of Apollo 11 and the first human being to set foot on another world. Hansen had unprecedented access to the famously reticent astronaut and conducted over 50 hours of deeply personal interviews and unfettered access to Armstrong's family and friends.
Hansen's biography was immediately snapped up by hollywood and Universal Studios, with the cooperation of NASA, is about to release a major motion picture First Man, directed by Damien Chazelle (La La Land) and starring Ryan Gosling as Armstrong with Claire Foy as his wife Janet. Armstrong's incredible life is a story that many think they know -- but the real story is a sweeping panorama of a quintessentially American story during the latter half of the 20th century. Hansen goes into amazing detail in recounting just how dangerous the Apollo program was and how Neil Armstrong was the perfect person to command what was probably the most unique crew of the entire moonshot enterprise. It's a truly epic story and literally one for the history books!
