The Triumph and Tragedy of Nikola Tesla

It’s 1943, and a tall moustached man is crossing the road to his hotel in New York City, pausing only to feed the birds. He rides the elevator up to the 33rd floor, and heads to his room, 3327. He is nothing more than an old man whose life is clouded by unpaid debts and whose only real interest seems to be caring for pigeons. It's hard to believe that this is a man who once changed the world.   In this episode we follow the story of Nichola Tesla. The father of the modern electricity system, the showman who dazzled audiences of hundreds, and a true visionary of the modern age. A life seemingly straight out of the script of a Hollywood blockbuster; he rose from nothing, had the world at his feet, and then lost it all.  He was unknown to most of the world and yet the father of our modern age. Most would accredit the great technological advancements of the modern world, such as electricity and radio, to the famed inventors of Thomas Edison and Guglielmo Marconi, but it was the work of Tesla that created the foundations for it all. A true visionary who was born to the wrong century, a man who dreamt of sending images to watches while the world still came to grips with the light bulb.   So how did an obscure young man from Serbia create the modern world? And why did someone to whom we still owe so much today end his life destitute and alone?    Cast List:  Alan Butler  A writer, researcher, and recognized expert in ancient cosmology and astronomy.   The Reverend Lionel Fanthorpe  A journalist, author, lecturer, and former editor of the Fortean Times magazine.   Andrew Gough  A Researcher, writer, and the editor of the Heretic Magazine.   Keith Tutt  A historian and author whose previous works include “Unexplained Natural Phenomena” and “The Search for Free Energy”.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices