90. SHADOW BEFORE THE FLAME: Catherine Grace Katz on the Hindenburg, the Nazis, and the Birth of Breaking News
Podcast: In Walks a WomanPublished On: Sun Oct 25 2026
Description: You know how the Hindenburg story ends. Or you think you do.This week, historian Catherine Grace Katz, acclaimed author of The Daughters of Yalta, joins us to talk about her gripping new book, Shadow Before the Flame: The Hindenburg Disaster and the Prelude to War (Viking). Written in the vein of narrative history master Candice Millard, it reads like a thriller, even though you know exactly where it’s headed. Along the way, it’s full of surprises that may show you didn’t know this story as well as you thought.In this episode, we talk about:How a beloved Christmas movie and a tenacious little brother convinced Catherine to write the definitive history of the HindenburgHer no-outline writing process, and what Alfred Hitchcock and Agatha Christie taught her about building suspense when every reader knows the endingHow the great airship became a floating symbol of Nazi Germany’s ambitions as the world drifted toward warWhy so few people know the disaster happened in Lakehurst, New JerseyHow the reporters on the ground that night helped invent breaking news as we know itWhy mass tragedies are always deeply personal, told through the passengers and crew on boardThat brief moment in history when no one knew whether the future of air travel belonged to airplanes or airshipsShadow Before the Flame is available now from Viking wherever books are sold.Follow Catherine: @catherinegracekatz Links: Shadow Before the Flame · Catherine Grace Katz's Website
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