The Wright Brothers & How American Innovation Changed the World

0:00This episode is brought to you by Nordstrom. For 125 years, Nordstrom has been part of your story. The stylists who found the perfect outfit for your big interview. The first pair of walking shoes for your one-year-old. The tomato soup you shared with your sister at the cafe. These are the moments that make Nordstrom. Nordstrom. Bigger a small. We're here for all of it. Celebrating 125 years with new moments still add. Discover it all in Nordstrom stores and at Nordstrom.com. Nikki Glazer. This stunning tour. The thoughts of death I don't like to dwell on them for longer than like 10 or 15 hours a day. So... November 19th. Yamabah Theater. No wonder women rushed to have kids were being trained for it since we were kids. They're like, here's a baby doll. Here's an easy-bait coffin. I got one of those. I stuck my head in it. I was like, I want out of this narrative. Tickets on sale now at Yamabah Theatre.com. Don't miss Nikki Glazer. Yamabah Theatre.

1:00I'm Lydia Hu from the Fox Business Rundown every Monday and Friday. We cut through the noise to help you. Figure out what matters for your money. Subscribe to the Fox Business Rundown podcast on Apple Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. I'm Will Cain. I'm Dana Perina. I'm Greg Jarrett and this is the Fox News Rundown. Friday, October 9th, 2026. I'm Tonya J. Powers. This year, Americans have been taking a look back at the 250 years since our country was founded. And this evening's guest has written more than a few books about figures that loon large in that story. He says some of his books aren't only about the history of our country, but about persevering in the face of obstacles. I want to my daughter to hear that story, one of my sons to hear that story. I wanted everyone to know if you dream big and you work hard and you have a good side order of stubbornness. You can do anything in this world. This is the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition.

2:04This episode is brought to you by Nordstrom. For 125 years, Nordstrom has been part of your story. The stylist who found the perfect outfit for your big interview, the first pair of walking shoes for your one year old, the tomato soup you shared with your sister at the cafe. These are the moments that make Nordstrom, Nordstrom, bigger or small, we're here for all of it. We've been reading 125 years with new moments still at. Discover it all in Nordstrom stores and at Nordstrom.com. Brad Meltzer has made a career out of storytelling. He's written 13 thriller novels as well as nonfiction books and his kids' books series even inspired the PBS Kids Show Xavier Rittle in the Secret Museum. His I Am series, which he calls digestible history, has turned out to be much more than that. The author says the stories are examples of what he likes to put out into the world. Empathy, kindness and courage. He dropped by the Fox Studios in New York City to tell me how his latest title we are the Wright Brothers was chosen and which of his other I Am titles recently brought back some

3:08emotional memories. This is the 40th book in our kids series. And we gave America the chance to vote. We said pick what hero you want. I thought for sure they're going to pick someone famous like LeBron James. Brad Meltzer is a number one New York Times best selling author and creator of the I Am book series. And instead they picked the Wright Brothers. These two brothers from the middle of the country who've used nothing but teamwork and ingenuity and perseverance to change the world. And I was like, that's a book worth doing. I love that. Okay. So so the let's start with let's talk. I we've got several topics to get to. Let's talk about we are the Wright Brothers. Is this the first we book? I know we are the Beatles series. Right. But we are the Beatles. So this is the second we. So tell me what I know you have so many of these to pick from like you like we said you've already done you know 40 of these 39 not counting this one. How do you how do you come up with a with a story what is the thing that makes you go that one that's what that's what I want to do. This one I know it sounds crazy.

4:09It may be my favorite historical story we've ever told in fact that inspired the whole kids book series. A friend of mine Simon sent a told me this story about the Wright Brothers. Is it every time the Wright Brothers will go out to fly their plane they will bring enough extra materials for multiple crashes which means every time they went out they knew they would fail and they would crash and rebuild and crash and rebuild and that's why they took off and I love that story. I want to my daughter to hear that story one of my sons to hear that story I wanted everyone to know if you dream big and you work hard and you have a good side order of stubbornness you can do anything in this world. And I said that's the book I want to write that's where we are the Wright Brothers came from. I love the fact that you have taken so many of your projects and we'll get to the adult thrillers that you have the list the New York Times best sellers list of thrillers and other books that you've written I want to get to those in a minute. But I love the fact that you have these lessons. They're not books the kids books are not books that hit you over the head with a lesson.

5:12They kind of go this is what this person or these people have done and here's what you can take from that here's the positive here's the good little thing that you can remember from that. There's this quote that's been haunting me and it says be the reason people believe in good and that's all this book series is it's me trying to not talk about history but to show you and your kids how you can change history how you can make history and that to me is something that's worthwhile that's what we have to that's what our kids are owed today our kids see so much fighting so much anger they're in this we're in this age of division this age of just being angry and I think we need to give our kids and show them that there's an age of inspiration out there. Those values are important for reason believe it or not we do have values in this country that we all share and I think we need to follow the lessons of these two brothers in Ohio and use our own sense of teamwork our own sense of community our own sense of ingenuity

6:16and show kids how to build a better world. I love the fact that one of the things that you include in your books is a focus on empathy and kindness. The kindness thing jumped out at me because for some reason it reminded me of another person who was a literary icon wrote a book or more than one but I know that this person affected you as well and it was for her work and literacy as well as everything else Dolly Parton who that was the through line when I saw kindness and empathy for that you have in your books I was like that is exactly the kind of thing like these are the people these are the things that bring people together because when she died everybody was talking about how kind she was and what a great person she was there was not division of what who did you vote for and maybe I'll agree with you that she was a kind person that was not anywhere in this is that is that how we get out of that of it's the only way out of it you know Dolly

7:18Parton helped us with our I am Dolly Parton book and and the things that she added to were always on that message of being inclusive to other people and as it says at the end of the book you know people kept saying to me how do we honor Dolly Parton I wrote the book I am Dolly Parton so I looked in the book and the last page says from our book if you go to a Dolly Parton concert and you look around everybody's there there's old people and young people city folk and country folk black and white gay and straight whatever you are she accepts you for who you are as long as you accept yourself and if you want to honor Dolly Parton you got to act more like Dolly Parton be kinder and nice to each other don't just download nine to five and I'll enter the stream which are great songs but actually be like her show people that empathy that she showed everybody else that's how you change the world and I love the fact that even Dolly Parton died it was my young daughter and my wife any generation wherever you were was morning her and we weren't just

8:21morning the songs we're a morning this woman who accepted everybody and showed kindness and empathy to everyone that to me is her greatest legacy we've been speaking with New York Times best selling author Brad Meltzer more after this this episode is brought to by Nordstrom for 125 years Nordstrom has been part of your story the stylists who found the perfect outfit for your big interview the first pair of walking shoes for your one year old the tomato soup you shared with your sister at the cafe these are the moments that make Nordstrom Nordstrom bigger small we're here for all of it celebrating 125 years with new moments still had discover it all in Nordstrom stores and at Nordstrom dot com I love the fact that now we have the the book that she actually I didn't know she worked on it as well. Oh yeah we've had we had Jane good all helped us with I am Jane good all Billie Jean King helped us with I am Billie Jean King we had Dolly Parton helped us with I am Dolly Parton and John Lewis helped us with our doctor King book I you know and it has been

9:25amazing to work with sometimes the real person who has their book and it's humbling because you know John Lewis I remember said to me like wow what a great book and I was like no no you did it you lived the life I we know we're just telling the story and but having Dolly Parton way in on I am Dolly Parton oh my gosh no one was more excited than I was I also have to give a shout out to the illustrator of all these amazing books Chris Eliopoulos Chris Eliopoulos is the secret sauce of the ordinary people change world books and why how many books have been written about Dolly Parton and Rose of Parks and George Washington Abraham Lincoln but the reason why people go to the I am books is Chris's art and it looks like an art style between Charlie Brown meets Calvin and Hobbes and kids love it because it looked just they look just like them they always draws them as little kids and we are the Wright brothers you can see that Orville has a little mustache right even though he looks like a seven year old boy and Chris's art draws people in and he always

10:26jokes it like you know he's the he's the sugar that makes the medicine go down right like and that's what he is he takes these stories of history and then kids look at it and say I want that tell me more about that he's a great artist he really and it's also the nicest that night he may be the nicest person on the planet he is a really nice guy I was privileged to meet him at Comic Con a couple of years ago and just fan girl I'll admit it I was I was very I think I'll with him I mean he is just I mean every time he comes to my house he goes to my kids and he says who do you want and whoever they say whatever superhero whatever super villain whatever super anything he will draw and it's he does it so quickly and then my kids go how come you can't do that dad and I'm like of course I love so we love one Chris visits I want to talk a little bit more about your the thrillers that you have for adults to read the all is how many of them are there now 13 Wow 13 I love the fact that we can segue from thrillers and murdering people to children's

11:29books and back and forth that's really good I mean you know it's it's talent it is talent what that is the one you have coming out is a nonfiction you actually are had asked for people to vote on the cover of this yes you're a very democratic kind of guy I believe in democracy small D democracy let's listen plainly put this out there so what is the new one it the Hitler conspiracy yes so we've done and I've spoken to you before we've done the linking conspiracy the Nazi conspiracy about a plot to kill FDR Stalin and Churchill to had a war war two we did the JFK conspiracy about a secret plot to kill JFK three years before Lee Harvey Oswald we are now doing the Hitler conspiracy it's about a secret plot to kill Adolf Hitler at the key parts of World War II everyone knows the story or many people know the story about the Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie we found two more plots to kill him before that that almost nobody's ever heard of wow and it's an amazing look not just into this plot to kill Hitler

12:30but what's really going on in Hitler's life at the time and you will never look at Adolf Hitler the same way again when you're done and I want to stress the fact this one is not one of the fiction no this really happened it's real is a real is a real plot to kill Adolf Hitler by his own by the members of his own army and they are looking around and seeing where they are and seeing where he's left them and seeing how unprepared they are you know Hitler takes control of the military he's like I know better than anybody all the military people like you don't know anything your nego maniac is what you are and all you do is just sit around and think about yourself and how you can promote yourself and we've had it and a group of Germans in the military like it's time to kill him and you won't believe the story when you read it you're going to be like I and it's not even because listen you can make lots of plans right every every sci-fi movie with a time machine says you got to go back and kill Hitler they were doing it and you will not believe how close

13:30they come and they literally put the bomb on the plane Hitler gets on the plane it takes off into the sky and all it has to do is go boom and I won't ruin because I just ruined chapter one for you but I won't ruin why it doesn't but I'm telling you're not going to believe the story I and I will warn listeners when you when you get a hold of one of these the conspiracy books that he was just talking about you will go down a rabbit hole far beyond this it will take you I can't tell you how many books I read on FDR after the Nazi conspiracy after the Nazi conspiracy because I had to know more about all of this it's a great if nothing if nothing else is a nice little refresher course in history that you may have slept through in high school but then these are these are books that have you on the edge of your seat much like your thrillers do what's can I ask you what the next are we getting Zigg and Nola back again Zigg and Nola coming back we after the viper which we just did the viper so the viper comes out in just after the

14:32new year in paperback and then in March and then in April is the Hitler conspiracy and then after that we do another kids book and then I need a nap. Yeah I would I would imagine so all right good good good all right we get to come back and talk to us about that I can't wait no we'll come back for the Hitler one I appreciate that I'll always always a good chat with you thank you for coming in always good to be here. New York Times best-selling author Brad Melzer thank you for joining the Fox News rundown evening edition. You're the best. You've been listening to the Fox News rundown and now stay up to date by subscribing to this podcast at FoxNewsPodcasts.com listen ad free on Fox News Podcasts plus on Apple Podcasts and prime members can listen to the show ad free on Amazon to the minute news go to FoxNews.com

15:49tickets on sale now at Yamabah Theatre dot com don't miss Nikkeek laser Yamabah Theatre