{"podcast":{"title":"History Dispatches","slug":"history-dispatches-7236148","podcast_index_feed_id":7236148,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/ARML6613457202","website_url":"https://historydispatches.com","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/1607f9de-dabb-11ef-a28f-837d166c2ed7/image/2311d0d11b0bdda63fef19e10a34c43c.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Matt and McKinley Breen","episode_count":371,"summary":"History Dispatches is a daily history show hosted by father and son duo Matt and McKinley Breen. The show covers people, places, events and even objects from throughout history. While any topic is fair game, Matt and McKinley hold a soft spot for the offbeat and wacky stories that most people don’t know about.","last_synced_at":"2026-09-06T04:21:47.994387+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-dispatches-7236148"},"episode":{"title":"Rocket Mail: when the Postal Service attempted to deliver mail via cruise missile","slug":"rocket-mail-when-the-postal-service-attempted-to-deliver-mail-via-cruise-missile","published_at":"2026-09-04T07:10:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-dispatches-7236148/rocket-mail-when-the-postal-service-attempted-to-deliver-mail-via-cruise-missile","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-dispatches-7236148","url":"https://pdrl.fm/ccb7c9/rss.pdrl.fm/ccb7c9/tracking.swap.fm/track/YfZO4tERxneauNcW9Fgn/mgln.ai/e/211/traffic.megaphone.fm/ARML7601560561.mp3","audio_url":"https://pdrl.fm/ccb7c9/rss.pdrl.fm/ccb7c9/tracking.swap.fm/track/YfZO4tERxneauNcW9Fgn/mgln.ai/e/211/traffic.megaphone.fm/ARML7601560561.mp3","summary":"There are many ways that we deliver mail today: car, truck, ship, plane, on foot. But one thing mail doesn't do is travel via rocket. Except for when the US Post Office tried to do so in 1959 by loading 3,000 letters onto a cruise missile. This is the story of Rocket Mail. Sources https://www.postalmuseum.org/blog/experimenting-with-rockets/ https://postalmuseum.si.edu/collections/object-spotlight/regulus-missile-mail-letter https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/fad-to-fundamental-airmail-in-america-historic-airplanes-unusual-and-experimental/missile https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mail-delivery-rocket-never-took-180963557/ Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Missilemail.jpg History Dispatches is part of the Airwave Media Network: www.airwavemedia.com Interested in advertising on History Dispatches? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"There are many ways that we deliver mail today: car, truck, ship, plane, on foot. But one thing mail doesn't do is travel via rocket. Except for when the…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1305,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/history-dispatches-7236148/episodes/rocket-mail-when-the-postal-service-attempted-to-deliver-mail-via-cruise-missile/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-dispatches-7236148/rocket-mail-when-the-postal-service-attempted-to-deliver-mail-via-cruise-missile.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}