There really was a golden age of hijacking...

It’s hard to imagine today, but there was a golden age of hijacking.  Over a five-year period, starting in 1968, commercial jets we hijacked nearly once a week, using guns, bombs, and jars of acid. Some hijackers wished to escape to Cuba, or Saigon.  Many,  imagined being hailed as heroes; others aimed to swap hostages for sacks of cash. Their exploits mesmerized the country.

But perhaps the the story that captures the nation's attention on many levels was the the young lovers at the heart of Brendan I. Koerner’s  story of this period told in his his book The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking.

My conversation with Brendan Koerner: