June 19, 2002

10:11 AM

Nixon's Last SecretThe race is on to try to recover the missing 18 1/2 minutes of the infamous Tape 342. While it will be interesting to see what's on the tape (if it can be recovered) the big question is this: Why erase part of one tape and leave all the others intact?
posted by Irontom (14 comments total)

the big question is this: Why erase part of one tape and leave all the others intact?

My guess is someone realized what a massive job censoring years of tapes would be, and gave up soon after they started. I don't think those 18 1/2 minutes will be especially interesting.
posted by lbergstr at 10:23 AM on June 19, 2002

Yes, but the topic of conversation at the time of the erasure was clearly incriminating. And why start there? I suspect they got rid of the very worst and left enough to be distracting. Sort of like the $20 for mugger money.
posted by Red58 at 10:34 AM on June 19, 2002

Those are the 18 1/2 minutes in which Nixon came up with the idea for Crystal Pepsi, spray-on hair, Segways, The Magic Johnson Show, and AOL.
posted by Danelope at 10:37 AM on June 19, 2002

"(crackling sound)...(expletive deleted)...kill elvis...(expletive deleted)...nuke Peking...(expletive deleted)Kissinger(expletive) both my daughters...and my dog...(crackling sound)...fix voting machines in Florida...Roswell and Microsoft...pearls before Hoover (snickering). Just like June Cleaver...what the (expletive deleted) does this button do?..."
posted by joaquim at 10:39 AM on June 19, 2002

And why start there?

From what I remember from reading Wired last week, these 18 1/2 minutes are at the beginning of the first tape, chronologically. I shared lbergstr's outlook. It's a cool project, though!
posted by Marquis at 10:44 AM on June 19, 2002

Those are the 18 1/2 minutes in which Nixon came up with the idea for Crystal Pepsi, spray-on hair, Segways, The Magic Johnson Show, and AOL.

like the timewarp in contact where jodie foster met her aliendad!
posted by kliuless at 10:53 AM on June 19, 2002

Wait.. isn't Alice's Restaurant exactly 18 1/2 minutes long? Am I the first one to notice this? No?
posted by luser at 12:09 PM on June 19, 2002

luser: Arlo Guthrie has mentioned it, for one. But maybe someone else told him. ;)
posted by caveday at 12:17 PM on June 19, 2002

Nixon: May his name be erased forever.
posted by Mack Twain at 12:39 PM on June 19, 2002

Nixon: May his name be erased forever.

No, let's hope his legacy will handicap the GOP for another thirty years.
posted by Ty Webb at 1:16 PM on June 19, 2002

My guess?
It's just 18 1/2 mintues of someone saying "Is it recording? How do we know if it's recording? What does this button do? I think it's broken."
posted by Newbornstranger at 4:21 PM on June 19, 2002

My guess is that the missing 18 1/2 minutes will be available in MP3 format from most of the major file-sharing networks before the official release.
posted by mmoncur at 11:51 PM on June 19, 2002

Checkers--shut up! Or I'll feed you to the Chinese!
posted by smcniven at 4:59 AM on June 20, 2002

"I don't care if he's dead, I still want to impeach Nixon."
(Everything2 node)
posted by sheauga at 8:03 PM on June 20, 2002