Thirty-one point two five G. For five seconds. This episode tells the story of R. Flanagan Gray’s ride in the Johnsville Centrifuge — "The Fuge" — a fifty-foot arm inside a 125-foot chamber that could push humans toward forty G to test the limits of pilots and early astronauts.

We trace the site’s unlikely roots from Brewster carriage and aircraft works to the Naval Air Development Center, explore how the centrifuge turned brutal physics into usable science and training, and follow the facility’s decline and rebirth today as a preserved landmark and event venue.

Welcome to Season 1, Episode 1 of Insights Into History — an introduction to a podcast that digs beneath the highlight reel to tell the overlooked stories, objects, and places that quietly shape the larger historical narrative.

The host explains their nonacademic background in technology and management, outlines the research approach, and uses the Resolute Desk as an example of how familiar objects can reveal surprising, far‑reaching histories.

We also get a quick roadmap for the eight-episode season and an invitation for listener feedback: comments at insights into things dot com or voicemail at 856‑403‑8788.