Good evening, everyone. Im im the Senior Pastor you are in a relatively new space but congregation is 277 years old. So we love history too. And im so grateful that we were able to host this event with our really good friends at the curious iguana. And this is also being sponsored tonight by Frederick County public and mr. Meltzer you when i go into the i go down rabbit hole i find this thread and that thread and that thread and the next thing know its 10 hours later. But i dont think itll be as an Exciting Book is what you just wrote so were grateful to you here today it is my pleasure to introduce to you, scott riley is a Circuit Court judge. Frederick, and many of you may have remembered that about ten years ago he was a costar with brad meltzer in the decoded series. So scott. How are you doing . Good. Ten years ago, no way. Now you know how i know. Its ten years ago. I actually have a poster or promo poster of decoded in my basement. And when my friends come over and see it, they like, oh, thats right, youre on that Television Show, man. You look young. And im like, that was all airbrushing and makeup. But anyway, thank for coming out to have brad meltzer in our hometown. My hometown of frederick is quite honor for me. Only took me about 12 years to get him to come here. He come to maryland a lot, said brad. You got to come to, frederick. Youve got a lot of fans, a lot of friends there. And i think tonight youve shown us that is absolutely, unequivocally true. I was on decoded for two seasons with brad, 23 episodes and the first question people ask me is, what was it like to be on a show with brad meltzer and what is brad meltzer like . I got a real quick story about what like to be on a show with brad meltzer. We were up in Northern California investigating this place called the bohemian grove. And its this weird place where people do weird things. And we were trying to sneak in and see the heck was going on in there, that kind of thing. We had this guy named alex jones, us, who they stuck in my kayak because i had water experience and anyway, finally figure were going to get in there by air or sea and it turned out to be by sea and as you remember, if you saw that episode we actually snuck onto the property and buddy mckinley got arrested only because they dont run as fast as scott does im running away from the cops this is this is a former prosecutor, military officer running from the police going. How in the hell did this happen . We finally i finally get away with alex jones, get the camera crew out of there. Buddy mckinley are in jail. The director of decoded calls brad in the middle of the night. Breathless said we got a big problem. Buddy in mckinley have been arrested. Theyre in jail. Its terrible. What do we do . Brads question. Did you get it on camera. So thats what working with brad meltzer is like. But what is he like . He brad meltzer is probably the most humble guy you would ever want to meet. He is famous. He doesnt like to have that set about him. But obviously done great things with his life. But he is as easy to talk to as any of you. Its just like to one of your friends. We had dinner tonight. We talked about everything, but this kind of stuff. Hes just an outstanding down to earth person who is obviously brilliant writer. I will say his mind is always working. Hes always thinking about, next thing ben franklin came up for some reason tonight. So youre probably going to read a book about ben franklin at some point, but that wont be a bad thing. So it is an unbelievable to have him in frederick. It was the honor of my life to be on a Television Show with brad meltzer. How did that happen . Its a long that i wont bore you with tonight, but it was an incredible experience. One that ill never forget. So i am absolutely honored and thrilled have in Frederick County tonight, New York Times bestselling author mr. Meltzer. Can hear for judge Scott Raleigh on is the judge. So the most important thing im going to say is thank you thank for coming out tonight. I lived maryland voted in maryland love being in maryland is a hometown its truly a hometown for me and is not lying that he always said come back here. And i was like, you know, can you really get all these people in one room. He said, i can and you are proof that he is right. So thank you for that. Even those of you who are sitting behind pillars and cant even see me, i there are empty seats there, but i really appreciate it and thank you. Thank you. You a special thanks to curious iguana. Lets hear it for them for putting this all together and for the Amazing Church who held us together. I have start by just saying we can. I just can steal this one moment. Can i steal this . This one . So you got to when you go to an event and a doll of you in the front row. And so i brought this home. This is brad. This is the greatest cartoon character all time on our tv show. And what i love is that when this came to house, my kids were like, get that of the house . So i immediately ordered three for each of my children. Thank you for having them. I appreciate it. So what were going to talk about tonight is were going to talk at a huge also a huge thank you to whos here tonight. And we really appreciate that. Theyre here to film it. So and we love cspan because. It shows us how the government actually works and doesnt work. And we know that in maryland. Right. And what were going to talk about is the nazi conspiracy secret plot to kill fdr and stalin and churchill at the height of World War Two. And i just love everyone brought their children to this talk tonight to talk about the nazis. And i love you even more. And storys an incredible story. Its true story. It all really. And its to just paint the picture. Its the height of World War Two. Its 1943. Its a moment where Joseph Stalin wants us to invade continental europe. Hes invaded by the nazis, the soviet union is getting decimated. Were as United States are sending armaments to them. But hes like, no we need real help. You need to invade from east. Whats eventually, of course, going to be normandy. And hes like you need to help us here and fdr realizes we got to get on the same page. Everyone has to get together, look each other in the eye. Big three, Joseph Stalin, winston, fdr need to sit in the same, look each other in the eye and get together. This meeting must take place. Millions of lives are truly at stake. And fdr is the middle man. Because Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill hate each other. And what happens is its in tehran, iran of all places. Thats where it takes place, because stalin went in the beginning. They said to him listen. We want to have all these different places maybe well take out a ruler. They take out a ruler, a measure lets go equidistant from all of us. Well meet you in. No. How about we meet here . No, no, no, no. Just on will. Not be anywhere but in tehran. He knows that tehran has an embassy for the british has an embassy for the soviets. They have a railroad there. So they have Security Forces there. And stalin also knows that the desert there means that itll keep their secrecy. So now you know they dont want the meeting leaking out early but the meeting gets announced announced the publics they all know fdr. His motorcade comes through the center of the city everyone of course wants to fdr, the president of United States has traveled across the globe and theyre all waving and craning their necks to look in the president s inside waving at them. What none of those people know is that the person inside that motorcade is not fdr. Its a secret service decoy. The real fdr is actually sitting in a sedan, a dusty old sedan, on the opposite side of the city, racing through the back streets, hidden down, ducking down and hiding because theyre worried that theres a nazi whos about to murder him. And i just ruined chapter one of the nazi conspiracy for you. That is did. Its on me. Chapter ones on me. Ill it to you but that is literally the opening chapter and josh mentioned i my coauthor who is also an Award Winning documentarian. We did this book together and for us we wanted to answer that question, you know, that was what struck us. Why is fdr ducked down in the back of a sedan. Why is the president , United States, hiding in . Whos he hiding from and whos going to try and kill him . And that was the question that really drove book. And we loved researching the its obviously amazing to watch all of it and the fun of it. Of course is is you know playing the what if game of what would happen but we know the stories of fdr. We all know stories of Winston Churchill. We know the stories of joe stalin. What i was fascinated by, what im always fascinated by are the stories we dont know and the people we dont know. And their roles are no less important than the biggest names that you do know, because we all to tell the story in that we punch the nazis in the jaw and we save the day for democracy and we did it all great. But it was never that winning the World War Two was not a foregone conclusion. It took fdr. You know, ive done weve now done a book on George Washington did the first conspiracy about the secret plot to kill George Washington. We did the lincoln conspiracy about the secret plot to kill Abraham Lincoln at the start of his presidency. And then, of course, we did this book, the nazi conspiracy. And as i looked now studying of our greatest president s, what they have in common, what makes greatest president s when we think of greatest president s, is not the person who makes the speech. Its not the person who makes the best promises. Its the person who, when a disaster strikes x, they know how to pivot and deal with that disaster. It is. Thats what makes George Washington so incredible thats what makes, of course, Abraham Lincoln. So in the civil war and to me, what makes fdr so incredible, because fdr believes in one thing and one thing only more than just about anything else. His own ability to charm else. He literally like, im going to take care of stalin, churchill style makes me way better than you and, he says, the churchill, im going to take care of churchill because know you like me better than stalin. And a friend of mine who read the book early. To me, i love the mean girls kind vibe that the big three have in this book, but there are theyre like one day away from a burn, you know . Theyre just, i love all of you who got that joke, by the way. I love you. Marry me. And so to me, you forget, you know, these people arent icons. Theyre not flawless. Theyre human beings. Theyre completely them. Theyre and they egos. And they have, you know. Theyre theyre totally sometimes cheap and sometimes theyre brilliant and sometimes theyre scared and sometimes theyre incredible and like all of us, we all are. It just what day you catch us on. And so when you. Yes, we know those stories but the stories that i love in the book are the people youve never heard of. Theres a nazi named, Otto Skorzeny in the book and Otto Skorzeny gets paige to come to adolf hitlers secret headquarters called the wolf slayer. I mean, its like a supervillain its called the wolfs layer. It has the layer in the title right. And you go to the wolfs layer, you know, stuffs going down, right . And he gets paige to go to the wolfs layer, this is all true. Adolf hitler brings together some of his top special operations fighters because he wants to find the very best one. He lines them all in a room like this size, shoulder to shoulder. Theyre all standing there. And adolf hitler poses this one question as a quiz. He says what do you think of italy and all the special operations are . Tell him, oh, we you know, well fight strong italy. They you know, they are on our side well fight to the death with them. And Otto Skorzeny shouts above everybody else. One voice shouts above everyone. He says, i am from austria, my fuhrer, and its a gamble skorzeny because he knows that hitler is from austria. And if youre truly from austria, you have deep resentment for italy. Because in world war one, in the first world war, italy took a key of austria, never gave it back. And adolf hitler turns at that moment and it looks at Otto Skorzeny. Hes like, youre my guy. And he sends Otto Skorzeny on a secret mission. I dont want to ruin this part of the book because just worth reading and its a secret mission that is so crazy. This nazi mission, i promise you youve never heard of and its so bananas that we asked josh and i asked the we said we need to pay money to put a real photograph of this moment in the book because if you see it for yourself, youre not going to believe its real. And did we put that photograph in there . In fact, my my son is reading the nazi conspiracy now. And the other day, obviously, i able to secure an early copy for him. And but hes reading the and he gets to the part of Otto Skorzeny is his dad is this town is going up like its true. Hes like it really happened. Im like, turn the page and he turns the page and theres a picture. Its like, oh my gosh, it really happened. Im like, i know i wrote the book and when you to that point youll see the story of otto. Youll see the story of franz mayor, whos a 20 late in his late twenties nazi whos working in tehran. Hes there at the start of the war and went to iran flips over to the allied side. The truth is that that the nazis think hes been murdered they think hes been kill these despise a nazi spy. They think must have been caught a few years go by and he actually not been caught. Hes been underground building groups like minded nazis bringing them together, this underground network. And he finally gets message out to berlin and he gets this message out to berlin and he says, listen, i have a drop zone. I have a place can bring me weapons. You can send me money i have a code that you can send me on the radio. Ill know you got my message. Just put this code on this channel at this time. And when berlin gets this message, they suddenly have the nazis. The greatest thing that anyone has in a fight, an opportunity because soon the big three are coming to tehran and now theyve got man on the ground. And now theres a real opportunity there because assassin nation at that point in time was a real weapon. World war two, right. When we you know the stories and some of youve stories of adolf hitler in the alps being or on the train that they were going to, you know, explode, depending on what tom cruise movie you want to watch. Right. Like theres all these stories, but theres stories of us using that as well. When admiral yamamoto. Who is the key architect behind the bombing of pearl harbor, the japanese architect of pearl harbor, we found out where he was flying. We found there his location. They went to fdr. They said, you want to kill him . What do you want to do . He knows assassinate an israeli risky because, you know, he tried it before early in the war and you know people theres repercussions right when the chinese helped us the war the japanese went in and slaughtered ordered anyone who helped the United States. In that moment, fdr doesnt know what to do. Its a hard moment. But when he finds out where yamamoto fdr famously says, they say, do you want to do . And he said, quote, get yamamoto and we do, we assassinate him. And theres a moment where the nazis shoot a commercial plane out of the sky because think Winston Churchill is on it. And of course, hes not there. Its just some other guy whos equally handsome, right. And this is a weapon thats being used. So the idea of the big three coming to tehran together at once is, a tantalizing target for the nazis of itd be crazy not to take a shot and now theyve got a guy on the ground and again i wont ruin the book for you because its obviously fun is in reading it but youll see that franz maier, this young has a girlfriend too. Hes not there just out of the love of being a nazi. Hes in love. Love. And this woman, hes with this woman named lily son gary is from a wealthy local family and hes telling her when theyre in bed together, all his great secrets. And what he has no idea is that lilys sleeping with someone else. And that person happens to be american guy thats undercover. So this book, if we have nazis and sex, we got it all right. And its an amazing story and i obviously love telling the story. And but the real question is is why tell story right. And i know titillating to come up here and say we you know were going to tell you the secret plot and tell you things that people know about this plot to kill the big three. But what josh and i always do at the beginning of every book is we say, whats the book about . And for me, thats the key question. Thats the question why were here tonight. Whats the book really . Because you can read all that. You dont need me to tell you that. But youll see in there, you know, and lets were in maryland, right when charlottesville and there were nazis here in america, when kanye west goes and shoots mouth off with a. C. Minnick remarks, we wring our hands and we just cant believe that in 2023 were still fighting not to wring our hands. I cant believe this is happening in america. That seems like something that should be in germany all those years ago. Should be in europe, but not here. And then when we were researching the book, we found out that there was actually a an amazing cant believe this happened, but there was a nazi that took place in Madison Square garden and World War Two, 20,000 nazis came together to cheer in front of these big banners of George Washington surrounded by swastikas, the first speaker of the night says that if George Washington were alive, he would be friends with. Adolf hitler. Right. Its unbelievable to me. So why are we telling the story . Because if you dont learn your history, you repeat it. This is not a new story. America. Nazis have been here for years and were still fighting them 2023. And to me what we have to remember is the holocaust doesnt start with death camps the holocaust, as people have pointed out before, starts with slogans and rallies and propaganda and book bans. And then it takes a group native born white germans who identify some group that says these people are the ones responsible for our economic problems. These people, the ones to blame. And when you hear those words, those people, those people did this, those people did that. Thats a code its a code thats used decade after decade, generation after generation. And yes, in world war, its the jewish community. And you can see it in the sixties in civil rights movement. Its the black community. In the seventies they targeted the Gay Community and over and over. Its the immigrant community. You pick which one it is, but when you see those words, those people, thats when you have to use your voice and speak up, thats when you have to use voice and say, enough. The thing that struck me researching this book is its not about, you know, telling you those those amazing details about the nazis. Its the mundane details at the wannsee conference early on in the war. Theres a mundane, boring government meeting filled with bureaucrats, walks in and has their file folder. They all grab a pen or pencil from pencil cup. They sit around a big board, a big boardroom table, and it looks like theyre going to be discussing things that Government People discuss. You know, whether like, you know, what robes, roads, were going to pave, but instead what theyre discussing in this boring, boring meeting is how many there are in europe and whats the most efficient to kill them, as if its any thursday and to me, thats whats scary. You know, we blame adolf hitler. We love to blame adolf hitler, love to kind of find the super villain and point the finger at one person. But all those in all those meetings did nothing. They all went along with it. All of them. And thats why we tell this story. Thats why the story is vital to me. The American Dream is not about just making money. To me, the American Dream is about when you see someone being picked on, when you someone whos being targeted, you, your voice, and you speak up and you say, enough, enough and as someone whos jewish thats why we tell these stories. Thats why we never forget and thats why the nazi conspiracy is a book is so vital to me. Its not just to tell you that story the past, because its no fun to just tell old history stories. The only reason History Matters is when it informs where we are today. And thats what i love the most about this book is will not believe. I mean, theres things i cant even plan when we wrote the book, obviously over the past two years and the was done a year ago and a key part in the book that shows you the holocaust is taking place in the ukraine. And as i was proofing the book a few months back, it took this paragraph that we wrote two years ago, took on a whole a whole new meaning when you see now what the nazis are doing in the ukraine, exactly what youre watching, the do now. And they had fought against the soviets have fought against and now russias doing right now its the same story has moved to different players innocent people hiding for their lives in the same place another group being targeted those people the cause of these problems and so to me thats why we tell these stories what i love to do more than anything is rather than talk to you just about the book is, answer your questions. Thats the fun of being here together. And you can ask about anything, especially brought kids, you can ask about kids books, you can ask about the tv shows, you can ask about scott. Ill tell you anything and all this horrible stuff about because hes one of my favorite people and i did want save this part is i will tell you scott is one of the nicest people on this planet and you are so lucky to have as a judge in your community and. This is actually i wrote this book solely so. We can have this meeting to reelect scott here at this moment when we have registered voters in one place. So but i do, i love that man. And hes always one of the nicest, sharpest he has that that that legal brain that always like a just a knife for all us. And i just am so that i get to be around that. So i love and i want to say it in front of everyone. I love you, pal, but anything you want about anything, of course, about the book, about anything else we do. And and then answer some questions and well have lots fun. Oh, and if you can talk oh yes. Cspan is telling me if you go up to the microphone that would be great. And i know some of you are now like, i dont want to my question, i got to go to the microphone. You guys are like the people in miami. Im from right . Like in miami. Its like, oh, all the way over there. Thats too far. Im going to stay here. But if you shout out your question, i repeat it. Cspan dont worry. So if you just want, raise your hand. If your kid does not want to go to the microphone. Just tell me. Yes, you got a question . Okay. Read your email recently and to a freshman in College Parents are excited you are oh this is a question. So the question is for someone whos on mailing list, if you go and join our rallies, i just revealed in our mailing we do one, you know, we do these letters to everyone is on our mailing list now my daughter just got accepted to college and no thanks for clapping that. No, no, no, no, no. I dont want your pity clap now you save your pity clap. These are the only two people who care about my daughter. None of you. I dont care about any of that. My daughter just got into college and the question was, whos more excited . Me or her . Im heartbroken. Im going to lose my daughter next year. Are you kidding me . Im heartbroken. Im thrilled for her because shes going to her first choice college. Shes going to the university of pennsylvania. So were very excited for her. She is so excited because shes me and my wife. My wife, my wife, my daughter to tell you about my daughter because this will be great because will be broadcast on cspan. Ill make her watch and she wont know is my daughter said to me when she was little said, you know, dad, i hate to read. And i said to her, you do know i do for a living, right . You know what feeds you every single day. And then recently she said to, me . Why does anyone want you to sign their books . And i was like, you dear, i really appreciate that it. And yesterday it was on Kelly Clarkson show and at the end i put on on instagram a picture of me they always take pictures backstage and so i took a picture that Kelly Clarkson the people took there and i posted on instagram and my daughter private messages me okay i got tell this story i love the fact i get this year the story and it literally is the picture of me i posted and then her she says this scares. So i wrote back and i said, do you want it in a small size or post size for your room . So definitely making a poster for her. But thank you for asking about her. Yes. Other questions. Okay. Yes. Xavier in the front. Yeah. The question is, what is my favorite i am book that i wrote. And for those who dont know chris ali and i do the ordinary people change the world series. Its i am series weve done i am Amelia Earhart, am Abraham Lincoln. I am rosa parks, am dr. King, my son. Sports we that i am Jackie Robinson formed Abraham Lincoln right there for the kids out here. Anyone have raise your hand if you have five i am books raise your hand if you have with us a lot. Okay, theres five. Okay. Raise your hand if you have ten, raise your hand. If you have of them. Those are the good parents right there. Right there. I can identify them all and you have the t shirt. So thats a winner right there . So so yeah, we are now on number 30. We just came out with and im going to tell you something is up. Favorite answer just to answer the question first and im going to tell you a great secret that no one knows and you cant tell anyone im telling you everyone. We can take a blood oath here. So get your knives ready. My favorite am books that weve done. I love i am abraham. I see you have it there because Abraham Lincoln is the one who lives up to the hype. I wrote these books to give my kids better, to look up to, to teach them how to kind, to teach them generosity, to them. Perseverance to teach them humility. Remember, humility was a Great American value, right . Weve lost that. We now Pay Attention on social media to people who write in all caps and exclamation points. Im tired of. That nonsense, right . We need to teach our kids better values. And i wrote this book series just to give my kids those heroes. So abraham, i love i also love. Im helen keller. Because in helen keller, when she goes blind, the pages of the book go black and it says, heres how i see the world. Cover your ears. Heres how i hear the world. And then put real braille into the book and it says, close your eyes. Heres the braille alphabet is my name. My name is helen. Whats your name . I watch my son with his eyes closed and hes feeling the dots and walk in as hes doing this. And he says to me, dad, this ones actually good. And im like, actually. Again, shows you what its like in my house. But my, my probably love i am jim henson because because jim hensons again maryland im not saying that the song i, i just remember where i was i love jim henson for the muppets of course but i think my favorite one weve ever done is i am and frank. And i went into my Editors Office and i said, i want to do a book about, the holocaust for kids. And i thought she was going laugh me out of there. And she said no, i think its now the right time. And we work with the Holocaust Museum here in washington, dc and they gave us an advisor to work with we work with some of the anne frank associations, help us with the book and that is just an important and sadly so relevant book today. How to talk an age appropriate level to your kids about such an important and amazing topic. So you know that to me, those are my answers. Heres where i tell you, because you ask that brave question. Im going to tell you what the next am books are. But the only thing i ask im very serious about dont tell anyone. All those people who did not come here tonight, we screw them. We do not. We dont care about them. We dont even like those people, right . Forget them. Im going to tell you. Just dont put it on social media. Im serious. You are all nice people, right . You came here tonight. Dont put it on social media. Dont tell my editor if she hears she can be so mad at me because. They want to have a big announcement. So heres the story. So we just did. I am dolly parton was the one that came out, which was really fun to do. And we did superman and batman, so we did that, which was really fun to do. But coming up next on tuesday is i am john lewis, which is the great obviously civil rights icon. And what people dont know is john lewis was a really amazing supporter of the am books when we did i am rosa parks, he told me how much he enjoyed the book and so when we were doing i am Martin Luther king jr, i went to him and i said, you i know you were there with dr. King. Would you would be the advisor on this book and here was the advisor on our dr. King book. And i wish i would have known, obviously, because he, of course, died. I wish i would have told him that we were doing the book on him. I wish i had that opportunity. But book is all about getting in good trouble and its really about teaching your that there is good trouble. Theres just what he called necessary trouble. And when he was little, if you were black and there was someone who was white walking down the street, you had to look across to the other side of the street because you had to just that was what was expected. And as parents, you say, dont trouble dont its okay. Just keep it low, low key. And his grandmother was very different. She was built differently. And her belief was is im not standing up for those not standing for those rules. And she will respectfully just be like, im walking where i am. You. Im going to keep walking my way. And he saw that lesson and he saw the lessons of rosa parks, saw the lessons of dr. King, and he learned that, you to, you know, sometimes get in that good trouble. And what i love about the book is they asked him, he said the number one thing he was always asked, you know, would spit on them and curse them and they would fight him and they would come at him and he would never raise his hand in violence, never lose his temper. And people used to say to him, how do you do that in the face of . All that anger and animosity. And again, think we all talk to each other today in america, especially those on the opposite side of wherever your politics are and said that the way he did it was his faith and when you ask him what his faith was he said things to him was you believe in something so strongly that you want to make a way out of. No way. And i that idea making a way out of no and so youll see the book i am john lewis comes on tuesday and im very excited to read that but heres the ones that and then were doing after it our first autistic hero is im Temple Grandin. And Temple Grandin helped us with the book and she was just spectacular as she was telling us exactly what got wrong about her and corrected it and she was i mean, its so it was amazing. But heres the one that no one knows. And ill tell you and you the first ones to hear it, were doing, although i think maybe some people know this. We do. I am wonder woman at the end of the year, but the ones that no one knows about is were doing next year comes out i am mr. Rogers and along with that i am ruth bader ginsburg. So we get to do both of those. So theyll really fun. So got them. Okay, other questions and will tell you more things. Yes. Michigan you wear a michigan jersey, you get called on. Theres a microphone right there. People. How long does it usually take you to make a book start from finish . Yeah. The question is, is how long does it take to make a book from start to finish and for me and by the way, i went to the university of michigan, i took my son to the semifinals game. We just got slaughtered. So anyone who shows up in a michigan jersey gets my love. Today. My son is still mad, by the way, i should note the nazi conspiracy came on the day that michigan could have played in the national championship. That was it was monday night. It was, of course, tcu and georgia played. And my son to me, dad, if we win this game, im not going to your book signing so very loyal in my family because he wanted to watch the Football Game but for me it depends to answer the i am books. It will take me months, you know of research and writing. It takes chris about two months to draw the right, three months to draw the art. It takes us about four months total to do one, maybe five months, depending on how hard it is and how complex it is and what the rights issues are. The Mister Rogers book is spectacular. Ill tell you one thing about it thats so good. But again, dont say anything is every book opens am i am Abraham Lincoln . I am rosa parks. And i said i cant open it with am Mister Rogers, what are the first pages of i am Mister Rogers to be . Its a Beautiful Day in this neighborhood, so we got the rights to the song. I got the chills as i tell it. For the first time, and you get to see him sing, the song to you, and then you turn the page and he says. Hi, neighbor. Im mr. Rogers and that you know chris had to draw the whole scene and hes you know when he did john lewis in march it took him a long time because hes like, i got to draw all these people marching. Im like, yes, you got to draw all the people marching. There was a big you got to draw them all at selma. So he was very mad at me that they the thriller is take me a long time. Those take me about 2 to 3 years to do. And the books like the nazi conspiracy also take about two years to do because theres so theres at least year of research and then another year of writing. Okay. Other questions. Yes, you. See how long does it take until you just cant about. Yeah, the question is after you work on a book like the nazi conspiracy how long does it take where your brain is just dead . Like you cant think of anything immediately is the answer. No. I mean, whats to me is, you know, i write obviously im very different genres, right . Im here to you about kids books and then about nazis, the same breath. Its a great transition for all the children out here. But for me, if i said to you what kind of movies do you like . And you said, oh, i love superhero movies, its a great you can only watch superhero movies for the rest of your Life Eventually youre like, well, going to not like superhero movies pretty quickly. And to me thats how writing is. If i just have if i was just writing thrillers or if i was writing kids books or i was just writing, you know, the adult nonfiction books, like the nazi conspiracy, id kind of want to do something else. And each one of those things, when i jump to the new project, makes me want to go back to the other ones. So it really recharges me. I know a theres a very, very famous author of one of the biggest authors in the whole who writes thrillers. And he once said to me, if i have to write this character as a super famous character, if i have to write this character again, i want to put a gun in my mouth. And i was like, oh my gosh, i never want to be you. I mean, hes so, so many more books than i do, but hates what he does. And i say never want to be you. And i love the fact doing the kids books and doing the adult nonfiction books charged me up to go back to the thrillers and always feel like im fresh in them and working on the news again. No one now. So thats the next book thats up. Okay, other questions i saw back there by the microphone. Oh, sorry. I never see you there. Im sorry. The one guy who follows directions, people. And im literally like, forget him. Lets hear from the one brave soul and. By the way, everyone clap. Yeah. So this better be the best question. The whole plan. Im going back a little bit. Im the fifth assassin. I listen to audio. I drive down to see my daughter in college in tennessee. So i listen to it and it has some bad spots on in the fifth. Did you ever say how my sugar burned. I know youre going to ask that. So you know you havent gotten into the third one. So if its no. So the question is, is and i thank you for doing this is a book i wrote called the fifth assassin. Theres a character whos burned in the book and everyone that reads the book asked me how to get burned. Its a key part of his character. And the answer is, im not telling you, it is not being told what i love, though, as you said that you would listen to it. And so you use assume that you fell asleep at the wheel and you missed it as opposed to that know but the truth is i think that for me you know when you meet someone and you talk to someone new, you know, we make these instant where we think, okay, now i know that person, but you dont know that person. Theres they have a million experiences. And i thought to myself, okay, i talked to all these burn victims who help me with crafting this character. They all said they never want to be just the burn victim. Theres so much more to them. And so i just thought, im not going to tell that thats another layer to be pulled out. Its not in the third book either. So you dont have to worry. Okay. Also, real quick, how many books to early in the morning, how many books do i mention . So tomorrow if you are listening, im going on late in the morning tomorrow, which would be really fun. I know a lot of people have come from have joined us here today and elliot is one of my dearest friends. If you dont know how i met elliot and i dont know if i ever told the story out loud, but ill tell it here because its perfect is i met elliot years ago when he tried to break into my house. Im not joking he did. I was in los angeles, california, and he had just read the book called, the first council, which is my first book ever wrote about the white house, a thriller set in the white house. And he and its five in the morning there. Im sleeping and my phone rings in the hotel and i, you know, is pre cell phones. And i go to my like, oh, my gosh, someone must have died at home. Theyre calling me at this time. Its my wife. And i said, whats she says . And shes at work on the couch in u. S. Capitol. And she says, elliots the air right now. He just read book and he loves it. And he said, theres someone out someone out there has brad meltzer home address. Find it for me. I want to go find the guy. And then he sends his sidekick to my house and theyre knocking the door. And so theyre like, you got to call the Radio Station. So i call the Radio Station five in the morning. Its 8 00 here and im on hold. And they said, hey, say, hey, its brad meltzer. They say, prove it. I said, i dont know how you want me to prove it. I said, are you at my house . And i could hear on the hes on the air and hes like, yeah, i can see in his house. And i said, i said, you want to know what color carpet i have . They go, yeah, color carpet you have. And i told my colored carpet theyre, its him. And im like, you cant break my house on live radio. And of course, i knew at that moment this is my lifelong friend. So hes been my one of my dear friends for all these years. So im going to be on tomorrow morning. How many books, how many that what have i been on for . I think ive been on every book except for the first two. So i think its i dont know. Well, its a good one. I think it should be like a 48 if you count all the kids books is. Oh the hes in. Oh miss. I do hide him in books right now. By the way. I hide late in the morning in books. Hes probably been in like six or seven. But i always hide him in some embarrassing ways. So ill sometimes put like at a strip club. Theyll be in late in the morning Bumper Sticker on the strip club. So just really, im looking for ways to embarrass him now. But yeah. Yes. Other questions . Yes, maam. This is your parents. Thats a beautiful question. The question is, which of your books that youve written do you wish parents could have seen . My both passed away. This is someone who knows me well, and i thank you for that. I miss my parents. And in fact, when daughter got in the college, we were all celebrating. Were all jumping up and down. And i had the moment like 10 seconds in where my thought it was a, you know, i miss my parents every day. But it was one of those moments where i was like, oh, i just want to tell them today. It just it just gutted me. Right . There was a gutting. And for me, thats a good question. Let me think about that. My parents never saw they never saw any of the im series. They never saw what i put out there for my own kids. And i dont i dont care about it because people love the series and they use it to build libraries for their and their grandkids, their nieces, their nephews. I dont care about that part of it. What i care about the that series is that is my love for my children. That series is built out of love for my kids and wanting to give them something good. And i will say, i know my parents would love the nazi conspiracy because they would love nothing more than great irony of a jewish person making money off of nazis like my parents would be like. Thats the big middle finger to the nazis and my mother would love that. So i think that one im going to say im going to with that one. But thank you for asking such a thoughtful question. Yes, well take a couple more and then the. Okay. Yes, right here. And then we get this. Will i have to read about hazel nash again . Yeah, hazel nash, not right now, shes from the house of secrets. The question. So. Oh, yeah. So the question is, is hazel ill tell you about it. People always ask me about beecher is he coming back or hazel coming back. I love to bring all back right now. Im just working on digging. Nola and the lightning rod is, one of my favorite books we did escape artist, and then we did the lightning. The lightning rod opens up with a guy who is brings car to the valet at a fancy restaurant and he goes into the fancy and he leaves the keys with the valet. The valet, the car, and instead parking the car in the parking lot. He hits a little gps button on the phone and he says the magic words go home on the on the steering wheel. And now the car plots a route to the mans house. The valet has the car keys, so hes got the mans house. And now hes plotting a route to the mans house. And this is not a valet and this is not a parking job. This is a robbery. And he drives to the mans house he goes into the mans house as he walks into the house theres a man waiting with a gun who says you really think we didnt know what you were doing . And he kills the valet and the body goes to our hero. In the book, zig and i just ruined chapter one of the lightning rod for you. Also, but thats chapter one in zig and nola, who im working on now. I love to bring, of course, hazel nash. And id to bring beecher in and i have a funny feeling theyll make their way there sooner or later. But right now its all zig in nola and the german actually had a secret message or code in the inner circle. Oh, thats a good question. Is there a secret or code in the inner circle . If read the inner circle, i hid a secret message in code in that book a dozen years ago. Only person cracked it. It to the reward and he got the reward. And he said, know what, brad . We should leave that for someone else to crack it too. And so we put it back. Its still there. So if you crack it, youll know youll find it. Im not giving you any hints. It is hidden in the pages, but its out there. Its a good one and dont think youre going. Im giving you 1,000,000. Im not giving you 1,000,000. Yes, i saw this young man. Yes, yes, yes. Money back. You. Can you make a book about you can i make a book about me. Oh my gosh. Thats the question. A sweet kid im going to give you like bucks now. You know what i cant do if im going to wait for you to write that book . All these kids, by the way, that i get so many people that have written im brad meltzer books and they give them to me and theyre all so good because theyre better. What i do and they are always like, i am brad meltzer and way smarter than you. Im like and im like, this is a great book. I love this book. Like this fantastic. Yes, sir should we should talk. Have you ever found out any Additional Information you you could go back and add. Yeah. You said you did finish it. Oh, sorry to. Oh, after you finish it. Yeah. Oh thats a good question. So the question is, is after finished some of the nonfiction books, do you ever wish you can go back . Have you found anything else out . And the answer is yeah. When we did. Um, the first conspiracy, one of the bad guys in the book, we actually didnt do the follow up on him because we didnt actually think anyone would care. Hes minor guy. Hes one of the bad guys and his family me and said, we have information about our relative and i was like, oh my gosh, want to do that. So we added a little chapter in one of the books, but they contacted after paperback came out. But yeah, thats the one i would go back and add some stuff on. So if theres relatives of any bad guys in here, come see me. I would like to talk to you. Yes. Every time you come visit. Wait, wait for the microphone. Here we go. Okay. I ask you this time you come in, visit again, do any more History Channel shows . Yeah. I love you for asking. So the question is, is it decoded coming back, scott . Not coming back. Will dakota be reloaded . By the way, that should totally be our title. Dakota reloaded. I talk to them all the time. Theyre such nice people. Theres no plans right now. The truth is, is you love decoded . Thats what these books are. Thats its me doing decoded in book form and thats what the nazis conspiracy is the lincoln conspiracy is the first conspiracy is. Those are the stories that i would love tell. But we get to tell them in long form with the real proof behind them. And thats what i love doing, you know, we do something again. Sure. You have to tell them. Tell History Channel, you want to go to back. Thats how youll get it back. And i love all you have. Yes, in a way, way, way back. To do your research, it seems like you go down a rabbit hole. How do you know where to stop and say, yeah, the question is, as you do all this research, you go down the rabbit hole, how do you know when to stop. I dont, my friend. Do not know. Because you know what the best thing of all is, is when you do research, you dont to write the book that day. So, you know. But that is the problem is there is a point where my wife knows. Shell say to me, its time for you to start writing because i just love the research. I could do it forever. I could literally just sit there and learn. But at some point you have to pull the trigger and start and write the book. Writing books is sitting there. Okay, ill do two more questions real quick and then well go. Yes i see in the sweater. Yes, yeah. How many. After you recover from lost history, how many artifacts recovered were recovered . Lost history is the question. So for those dont know. We did a show on lost on History Channel called lost history on two and we would go after historical artifacts that were and i was telling scott this at dinner. So on the very First Episode, they said to me, are you going to find anything . Brad . And i said, i promise you were going to find something. But i also promise you we have no idea what were going to find. Whatever we think were going to find, never find. Whatever we think is never going to show, is going to be what shows up. The very First Episode i went on National Television and i said the flag from 911 that the firefighters raised at ground zero that went missing within 24 hours. No one knows where it is. I told story from that famous photograph where you see the firefighters raise it and what one knew and i couldnt say for a year is three days or four days after it happened, show aired, a man walked into a fire station in everett, washington in state, and he said, i saw the show lost history. I have the 911 flag. I want to bring it back. I told them, i said, well give you a 10,000 reward. We spent nearly so long, six months authenticating the flag to make sure was the flag where was from everything about it . The former head, the fbis art crimes unit who work with us, said me this flag is now more authentic than most rembrandts in museums. And i was like, whats wrong with the rembrandt some museums right. Im super paranoid and and so i brought 911 flag back. I got to unveil it on the anniversary of 911 is now on display in the 911 museum that was the first artifact we look for and. We brought it back. It was incredible what. I told scott at dinner, is that they canceled the show after one year because each too became the bice and they just got rid of all their shows regardless of their ratings or anything. But what was amazing is we had leads on single item. We were looking for brand new. I said, im like i, if i could, funded myself, id do it myself. But i wish thats the that i really loved doing because we were things. It was amazing. Okay. Yes. Last question you got it. Yeah. Okay. Do you who . Marsha p johnson is. Marsha p johnson. I dont know more. She was a person who was a big part of the stonewall riots. And i was wondering if you would ever do an i am book for her because, you know, mean i will tell you so we have so many people who ask about, you know, who we consider for the next time book and thank you for asking that we keep a giant list when. I went to pitch the series. I said to the public, they said, oh, you want to do a i Amelia Earhart and you want to do i am Abraham Lincoln. Thats so nice to books. Thats great. And i said, no, no, no, i want to do 100 books. I want to build a library and they didnt laugh. They said, great. So i, im going to look up. But, you know, theres people, theres so many people we want to do whats great is at every one of these events kids will bring me the of who i should do but its not they dont ask its a letter of demands. Right. And theyre just like here is my dad. Im like, i dont negotiate with terrorists, but they bring their letters, i keep them. And the only thing i keep is i keep letters. And, you know, we the number one request we had for a while was kids were writing me hispanic kids were writing me and saying, wheres your hispanic hero . And and thats what we did. I am sonia sotomayor. And thats when we did i am frida kahlo. And then all these kids that were asian were writing me saying, youve done black, youve done what youve done indian, youve done native american. Wheres our hero. And i hear that. I do hear that. And to me, its vital that, you know, a friend of mine who is a guy who created morales. Right. Whos the new spiderman, whos half black, half latino. And he told this amazing story that when he created miles morales, all these people wrote to him. And so when they were little to finally have a black spiderman, when they were little, they used to always pretend when theyre playing superheroes wanted to be spiderman, because spiderman was the only character you couldnt tell what his skin color was, right . You could see batmans jaw. You could see supermans face. See, wonder woman looks like captain america. Obviously, iron man, you could see a little, you know, he has the armor, but but spiderman, you couldnt tell and that really stuck with right that idea of representation and knowing that some of the heroes we do arent going to be for everybody but for some kid is the most important here in the world thats where i am. Okay. When we did i am pay came from, i talked to my friends and said, who do you want and i came back who was, of course, the great architect of the louvre. We made that book and its a pop up books. You can actually see them by the loo pops up out of it. It costs us like more money than were ever going to make on the book, but i was like, i dont care. Its going to be the coolest thing. And so we did that and to me, i love the fact that we, you know, we used to look for a while. Our kids, we, of course, pick famous people. But what we do is we look and see what the world needs. And thats where john lewis came from. For me, its just looking around and realizing how much were fighting, how much were just venomously and, you know, we theres so many better ways to communicate and theres so many ways we need to teach our kids to stand up to something when they see that theres an injustice in this world. So ill leave you with this one. A huge thank you to curious iguana for hosting us tonight. But also want to leave, you know, clap from there the best. We love them. And i know they have the kids books. They have other books and im happy. Of course, well sign and well have fun and. By the way, anyone asked to leave early . I signed many books. So if you just want a signature, dont wait in line. They have them there. If youre a member of the invisible army and you have your cut the line thing, you come up, you know the secret code for those you dont know. That is you join our mailing list and you get secret stuff. So go to brad meltzer dot com. Get your secret stuff. Got your secret stuff. I see it there and that lets you cut the line and have everyone hate you. Its really, really fun. But i want leave you again with this message of the nazi and to me again, please, please use your voice. You so much power. I really do believe. You know, there are some people who write history about this sweeping of history, the great themes of history. And those are all beautiful. I love them. And those are wonderful books. Those and thats what i do, what i do is tell the story of people. And i believe people have real power, i believe ordinary people change the world. I know fdr and stalin and, churchill are amazing, but all of the stories of these people, you never hear of those stories are just as vital to me. And they have just as great an impact youll see in the book because to me what all of us are is we are walking stories. We hold ourselves out in our communities. We hold ourselves out to each other and we form ourselves as a story. And we hold it together and say, this is who i am. This is the story im going to tell about myself. And you will believe it. And we take parts of our story that we share with no one and we hold those parts of our stories. Right . But thats a powerful thing to do. Your story is a powerful thing. And you have more power than you realize. So in this great time of great in america, you can either driving us apart or use power and bring us together. Use your power when you see injustice, speak up. Use your power and say enough. When you see someone picked on. If i leave you with nothing else, i hope i leave you with that. And you for supporting the nazi conspiracy. You for bringing your kids to this event. Thank you for supporting us in every endeavor we it means a great deal. And thank you to cspan for broadcasting this to the world. We it thank