Branden Cook & Josiah Cross, Tuskegee Airmen and D-Day | Making Masters of the Air
98The National WWII Museum's Making Masters of the Air podcast dives deeper into the making of Masters of the Air and explores the history behind the new Apple TV+ series. The Making Masters of the Air podcast is co-hosted by Playtone’s Kirk Saduski and Donald Miller, author of the book Masters of the Air.
In this episode, actors Branden Cook and Josiah Cross explain the importance of carrying on the legacies of Second Lieutenants Richard Macon and Alexander Jefferson and the 332nd Fighter Group. Historian Matthew Delmont discusses the history of the Tuskegee Airmen, and hosts Kirk Saduski and Don Miller also sit down with historian Conrad Crane to detail the historical context of D-Day in Part Eight.
Based on the best-selling book by Donald Miller, Masters of the Air is an Apple Original series from the executive producers of Band of Brothers and The Pacific. Now streaming on Apple TV+.
Special thanks to Apple TV+ for clips and musical score for this podcast.
Topics Covered in This Episode:
• Prisoner-of-War Camps
• Tuskegee Airmen
• D-Day Invasion
• The Eighth Air Force
• 100th Bomb Group
Listen now on Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.
FEATURED GUEST: JOSIAH CROSS
Josiah Cross, who portrays Tuskegee Airman Second Lieutenant Richard Macon in Masters of the Air, was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He made his film debut in King Richard.
FEATURED GUEST: BRANDEN COOK
Branden Cook is an up-and-coming actor from Toledo, Ohio. Cook portrays Tuskegee Airman Second Lieutenant Alexander Jefferson in Masters of the Air. He most recently appeared in the 2022 Hulu series, Tell Me Lies.
FEATURED GUEST: MATTHEW DELMONT, PhD
Matthew Delmont is the Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor of History at Dartmouth University. He wrote the book Half American: The Heroic of African Americans Fighting in World War II at Home and Abroad.
FEATURED GUEST: CONRAD CRANE, PhD
Conrad Crane is the Senior Research Historian at the Strategic Studies Institute of the Army War College. He’s the author of American Airpower Strategy in World War II: Bombs, Cities, Civilians, and Oil detailing American strategic bombing in World War II.
CO-HOST: DONALD MILLER, PhD
Best-selling author and historian Donald Miller, PhD, is well known to friends and members of The National WWII Museum for his works such as Masters of the Air: America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany; D-Days in the Pacific; and The Story of World War II.
CO-HOST: KIRK SADUSKI
Playtone executive and producer Kirk Saduski was the executive-in-charge for HBO’s Band of Brothers, co-producer of HBO’s The Pacific, and co-producer of Apple TV+’s Masters of the Air.
About Making Masters of the Air
From the executive producers of Band of Brothers and The Pacific comes Masters of the Air, a new series from Apple TV+ following the airmen of the 100th Bombardment Group during World War II. Join The National WWII Museum each week for the Making Masters of the Air podcast to dive deeper into the making of Masters of the Air and explore the history behind the series. Hear from special guests from the series as you get to know the American bomber crews who risked it all fighting the air war over Europe and forged a brotherhood through courage, loss, and triumph. The Making Masters of the Air podcast by The National WWII Museum is co-hosted by Playtone’s Kirk Saduski and Donald Miller, author of the book Masters of the Air.
The National WWII Museum's Making Masters of the Air podcast is presented by Boeing.