217 - WW2 Race Against the Nazi Enigma Machine

Timesuck with Dan Cummins

Breaking an unbreakable code to save, at the very least, millions and millions of lives. To possibly stop Hitler from taking over the world. That was the unimaginably stressful task assigned to a select group of codebreakers during WW2. And, the codebreaking all-stars were initially primarily composed of a group of POLISH mathematicians - I know, right? JK. And then later, British, French, and Americans helped them. They were all racing against the clock to deconstruct the most powerful encoding machine of their day - the Enigma machine. The Enigma machine allowed its operator to type in a message and then scramble it into a code that many deemed totally unbreakable. But Allied codebreakers, lead by genius Alan Turning, did break it. Over and over again. And every time they did, the Nazis created a new, advanced model. Back and forth it went for years. The Nazis used Enigma Machines for ALL their most important military communications: ambushes, bombing raids, U-boat attacks in the North Atlantic on Allied supply lines, and more. And if the codebreakers hadn't kept beating the Enigma, the war would've claimed an estimated 14 to 21 million additional lives. And Hitler might have won. THIS is our epic tale for today. Hail Nimrod!
In honor of Veteran’s Day, November 11th, we are making a Bad Magic Productions donation of $10,000 to https://veteransfoodpantry.org/. Thank you Space Lizards!
Allen and Linda Erickson founded the NW Montana Veterans Pantry & Stand Down over twenty years ago to serve the veteran community in the Flathead Valley and North West region of Montana. They have since expanded their operations to include a variety of other veteran services.
To find out more, visit: https://veteransfoodpantry.org/

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