In the latest in-depth and evergreen author interview on Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick, I speak with historical non-fiction biographer Teresa Wilhelm Waldof, author of Wilhelm’s Way: The Inspiring Story of the Iowa Chemist Who Saved the Manhattan Project.
If you’re interested in the new Oppenheimer movie and another side of the true story of the Manhattan Project, you’ll want to hear this conversation!
Together Teresa and I discuss dogged commitment, the importance of a steadfast support network, external validation, and the responsibility to sustain a legacy for the sake of family and for the benefit of history.
This episode was recorded on July 26th, 2023, the same day the world discovered Sinéad O’Connor had died. I talk a little bit about that before the interview.
The conversation with Teresa Wilhelm Waldof was recorded on May 28th, 2023.
About Teresa Wilhelm Waldof
Teresa Wilhelm Waldof is the world’s leading expert on the Ames Project section of the Manhattan Project. An independent scholar, her in-depth research provides for trade publication the first-ever account of the life of chemist Harley Wilhelm and the critical Manhattan Project work he led on the Iowa State campus. That book is Wilhelm’s Way.
Winner of the Iowa Historical Society Iowa History Awards Certificate of Merit and the Minnesota Book Award, Teresa holds a BA in speech communications and an MBA from the University of Minnesota. She lives in Rochester, Minnesota, with her family. You can find more about Teresa Wilhelm Waldof on her website.
Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode
- My day job? I’m a creative services provider helping authors, podcasters and other creators. How can I help you?
- Sinéad O’Connor.
- The Manhattan Project.
- The Ames Project.
- Rochester Writers Group.
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The Music!
The opening theme song of Sonitotum is “Anastasia” written, performed, and recorded by yours truly, Matthew Wayne Selznick.
The closing and interstitial music is a little ditty I call “Gwinton,” also by yours truly, Matthew Wayne Selznick. It’s super-short and really just a looping thing.
On both songs, I play a 1972 Gibson Ripper bass guitar and a Fender “Bullet” Squire electric guitar. On “Anastasia,” the drums are performed on an Akai Professional MPD218 MIDI drum pad controller. For “Gwinton,” the drums are royalty-free loops found in the excellent Mixcraft Pro Studio software, which was also used to record, mix, and master both “Anastasia” and “Gwinton.”
Podcast Production and Hosting
Sonitotum is usually recorded using an Aurycle a460 large diaphragm studio condenser microphone through a Behringer U-Phoria UMC202HD (audio interface for directly connecting microphones and musical instruments to a computer). Outdoor / remote episodes are often recorded using my Audio-Technica ATR-3350IS omnidirectional condenser lavalier mic. The show is edited and produced in Cakewalk by Bandlab. The episode files are hosted and delivered by Amazon Lightsail; the website is hosted by Dreamhost.
Interested in starting your own podcast? Need help managing your existing show? I can help you like I’ve helped The What Matters Most Podcast, The Possibility Podcast with Mel Schwartz, and Writing with Coach McCoach, among others. Reach out!
Affiliate Declaration
Many of the links in these show notes are to products and services with which I have an affiliate relationship. This means that when you purchase that product or engage in that service, or, in some cases, related products or services, I may receive a modest commission at no extra expense to you. This is a great way to help support Sonitotum and my related creative endeavors, so thanks for doing business with these companies!
Licensing
Sonitotum, including the Sonitotum podcast media, is released under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License. You are free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
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- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
The full license can be found here.