Resurfaced from the archives, this episode originally aired Jan. 29, 2025.

Love Wicked? This guy probably inspired The Wizard of Oz. This story of a whimsical professor is also a tribute to Altadena, a city recently devastated by the wildfires this month.

Andrea Antony-Morr is on the podcast this week discussing Professor Thaddeus Lowe who, after being a balloon spy (yes, a balloon spy!) for President Lincoln, went on to attempt to build a luxury resort above Altadena that would have been absolutely utopian if it had just lasted a little longer...

Our source material can be found at these links:

https://medium.com/@alysedbeale/historys-most-famous-forgotten-man-professor-lowe-94ee496a12dd

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mount_Lowe/JoS9XJEzaXIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&kptab=getbook

https://search.worldcat.org/title/2524711

https://www.thaddeuslowe.name/BWearlyyears.html

https://henry-ellis-fowler.com/2021/08/05/the-fowler-family-and-the-balloon-landing-of-1861/#:%7E:text=In%20the%20early%20morning%2C%20pre,of%20Union%20County%2C%20South%20Carolina

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCQ3F7jzc3E

https://www.thaddeuslowe.name/

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