Futility Closet

In 1925, Kentucky caver Floyd Collins was exploring a new tunnel when a falling rock caught his foot, trapping him 55 feet underground. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the desperate efforts to free Collins, whose plight became one of the first popular media sensations of the 20th century. We'll also learn how Ronald Reagan invented a baseball record and puzzle over a fatal breakfast. Sources for our feature on Floyd Collins: Robert K. Murray and Roger W. Brucker, Trapped!, 1979. Gary Alan Fine and Ryan D. White, "Creating Collective Attention in the Public Domain: Human Interest Narratives and the Rescue of Floyd Collins," Social Forces 81:1 (September 2002), 57-85. "Floyd Collins Is Found Dead," Madison Lake [Minn.] Times, Feb. 19, 1925. Associated Press, "Sand Cave Is to Be Grave of Explorer," Feb. 18, 1925. Associated Press, "Floyd Collins Will Be Left in Sand Cave for His Last Sleep," Feb. 18, 1925. Associated Press, "Ancient 'Floyd Collins' Found in Mammoth Cave,"