that he could have built a device powerful enough to split the Earth in two and nobody dared him to prove it. Tesla also ordered the construction of the Wardenclyff Tesla Tower, a giant building shaped like an erect penis that would have housed the largest Tesla coil ever built. The massive structure, ostensibly designed to wirelessly transmit power, has been cited as a potential cause of the mysterious 1908 Tunguska event, a ten-megaton blast that detonated in the waste lands above central Russia, completely
But I wanted to see if it would still hold up if I went to the toughest, most aggressive, most hostile place I could find. So I asked a warden of a maximum security prison if I could come in to do magic for the inmates. And it was one of the most incredible events of my entire career.
I am that too. I am a fire warden . Just hold it very well.
came after the book was published and, therefore, is not in the book. When I was Sub-Warden of New College-- which everybody becomes Sub-Warden at some point-- and there was a terrible evening when I became aware
We actually went oystering together after a big rainstorm-- a huge rainstorm. And the shellfish warden came down. And he wasn't mad that we were getting the oysters.
Of people on, you know, two people that were on Death Row, that actually through a long and I'm sure arduous process, that they'll tell you about, were exonerated. And also a former warden at San Quentin that can show you that perspective. And of course Natasha's working very hard on a ballot initiative that she'll tell you about as well.
Jeannie: My name is Jeannie Woodford. I'm the Warden on the panel. But currently I'm the executive director of Death Penalty Focus.
It's the largest Death Row in the United States. When I became the warden in 1999. Let's just say, I feel like I've grown up with the death penalty, 'cause I've seen it from every point of view and from every position.
So I describe it this way. As the warden , you get up 30 to 60 days prior to a scheduled execution. You put on your clothes and you get ready to go to work.
And for me I drove the 28 miles to San Quentin, knowing that I was going there to carry out an execution. And as the warden it's not only your job to carry out an execution, it's your job to lead your staff through that process. And staff are involved in this process for many reasons.
in solitary confinement and, yeah. A prison warden , you know who was like very much understanding, you know, with hindsight. Just smuggle in a pen and this was written on top of a toilet paper. It's more about the pain of separation.
This is the greatest thing since sliced bread. There's his Wardenclyffe Tower.
His wife is trying desperately to find him, trying to seek pro-bono legal advice, being sort of turned down. And here is this corrupt white warden who's running this prison and trying to silence his opponent. So it also came to mind, here we had this famous prisoners chorus that occurs in the middle of the opera, how are we going to do that?
It does have to taste good. So they get a lecture from the warden on day one.
And then I became the chief deputy and then finally the warden . But when I became the warden in 1999, it became my responsibility to carry out executions. And so I've been involved in four executions.
I've always been morally opposed to the death penalty. But when you're the warden , you tell yourself it is your job to carry out the laws on behalf of the citizens of the state of California. But then I want you to think about that.
These problems happen here in California as well. Natasha: Let's ask the warden .
I stayed at San Quentin for over 26 years. Promoting up through the ranks until I became the Warden in 1999. And during that time, I saw Death Row grow from the eight inmates that were there when I started to where it is today.
As a counselor. As a captain. And then I became the chief deputy and then finally the warden . But when I became the warden in 1999, it became my responsibility to carry out executions.
I've never heard of a member of the mafia who ever finished high school. We had to make it an apartment because the block wardens would have detected it if we had tried to do it outside.
Beat me up if you want to. Our next and final selection is from "Fidelio.'" So Leah has just overheard the corrupt warden
Then when you get on the plane, you can take them off again. And when we went in, the warden of the prison required that I send a list of the songs that I was going to sing
Then when you get on the plane, you can take them off again. And who am I to not sing or not show up because the warden won't let me sing a song?
built by another developer, David Bohannon, or Levittown. So the City Attorney of Culver City called the meeting of all the air raid wardens and gave them a contract to distribute
team went to go play at Rikers and got housed-- housed, OK. But in most prisons, a lot of wardens do not like the inmates to play chess. And they often take the boards and pieces away from the inmates.
But they do. And it's real good clothing-- tactical. They changed into bunny suits, but not before the cookie warden had beckoned Sophia and Anne-Solenne over to the refreshment table and asked them, sotto voce, whether it was, for either of them, that time of the month.
But yeah. Did I answer your question? No, you mentioned you're a deputy and a fire warden ? Like, what?
And it's-- It must really be a trip for you too because Khalil plays the warden of the prison in the play, which is a whole other thing.
These problems happen here in California as well. So, I will tell you, as the warden of San Quentin I met every arriving, newly arrived death row inmate in what we call classification.
of prison life for the San Francisco Chronicle until he wrote one that was critical of the prison warden and they lowered the boom. Dannie said quote, "I committed bank robbery and
built by another developer, David Bohannon, or Levittown. The City Attorney of Culver City assembled a meeting, called a meeting of all of the air raid wardens during World War II in Culver City.
built by another developer, David Bohannon, or Levittown. During World War II, both here on the West Coast and on the East Coast, every city had air raid wardens whose job was
This is the greatest thing since sliced bread. With that money, Tesla builds, out on the North Shore of Long Island, about 60 miles from New York City, a new experimental station at Wardencylffe.
This is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Imagine, if you will, that outside every city is a transmission plant like Wardenclyffe.