Redditors can’t get enough firsthand World War II stories.
This week, they were fascinated with an Air Force hero who ferried supplies into a recently-bombed Berlin right after the war ended.
“They were a defeated foe, but they suffered a lot of hardship. Their city was destroyed, as was their country and most of their men, but they were people in need of help,” he wrote.
Otherwise, they questioned an eclectic mix. Freddie Wong, one of YouTube’s most famous action stars, answered nearly everything except how much he makes (YouTube contracts forbid it). A Native American in Canada came and dispelled myths (“I had a lot of non-native friends who weren’t allowed to come to my house[…]The funny thing is, I have a nice house and live a five minute walk from the beach.”) And Adam Corolla, of The Man Show fame, condescended to a guy who didn’t know how to cut PVC pipe.
Below, we’ve compiled the top seven posts (seven being our lucky number) from Reddit’s r/IAmA this week, as voted by redditors themselves. We’ve also included a sample question and answer from each. For the complete list, check here.
A note on terminology: AMA stands for “ask me anything,” while “IAmA” is simply “I am a;” AMAA means “ask me almost anything.”
Q.What was the most memorable thing that happened during your career? (phughlett)
A. Always going to be the Airlift or Das Luftbrucke. You can imagine that the Berliners thought themselves to be dead. Americans on one side, Soviets on the other. Like a mouse stuck between two sharp claws. The start of the Lift was political in nature, but the people of Berlin didn’t care. The skies no longer rained death, but compassion and a way to survive. You could fly over the city and see people, mostly women and children because so few men were left, waving and cheering.
2) I drove with friends from England to Mongolia – 10,529 miles – AMA
Q. Any funny stories? (Cheehu)
A. On the border between Armenia and Iran we had to help the border control people with our passports, because they had never seen UK passports and didn’t know what to do. Joe ended up behind the desk, putting our information into the computer system, guessing at what information goes where.
Shortly after this we were forced to line up at gun point. It turned out that the guards just wanted to look at our piercings (my friends and I have facial piercings – eyebrow, gauged ears (not too big), etc…) The guards were cringing and giggling like girls whilst looking at them. They thought it was hilarious and gross that I had a 1 cm hole in my ear. Strange to see a man with an AK hiding his face in his hands and giggling like a school girl….
3) I am Freddie Wong. I make YouTube videos. AMA!
Q. How much does it cost on average to make the videos? (mubashir1337)
A. Assuming you don’t count what we would pay ourselves if we weren’t doing those jobs ourselves, or factoring cost of equipment/electricity/etc. (i.e. raw production costs) anywhere from $0 (shot on our alley) to $1000 or so (Medal of Honor cat – cat trainer was expensive). This is our typical weekly YouTube video costs.
4) I am a 18 year old Native American, born and raised on a native reserve in Canada. AMA
Q. Have you ever gotten into an argument with someone about “immigrants” when they are an immigrant them-self? (cleagles)
A. I, personally haven’t gotten in an argument with anyone over this subject but I know my mother has. I was shopping at the grocery store one day with her when there was an older man in line, talking to who I presume was his son. He started very loudly complaining about the Hispanic woman working the till and how she should be “either doing my gardening, learning better English, or moving back to Mexico instead of stealing jobs.” My mom, being extremely outspoken looked at the man and said, “If that’s the case, I think you should either be giving out smallpox, learning Ojibwe, or hopping on a boat and moving back to England, instead of stealing land.”
5) I’m Alicia Witt – Actress (Dune, Cybill, Friday Night Lights) and musician – AMA!
Q. How did meeting David Lynch in your early life influence you? Or did it? (against_justice)
A. YES! hugely… i really think if i hadn’t made Dune at the age of 7, and if david hadn’t been my 1st director.. who knows if i ever would have become an actor. he set the bar really high… i ended up working with him 2x more (on twin peaks and the HBO trilogy ‘hotel room’) and still to this day he is one of the most grounded, most appreciative, most level-headed directors i’ve ever worked with. he understands actors so extremely well. has a way of explaining what he means that no one else has. i hope i get to work with him again …
6) Adam “Lakers” Carolla Here – Ask Me Anything
Q. I am a huge fan of Crank Yankers. What was your favorite call that you personally made? (RanksUrLawls)
A. Favorite call was one that never made it to air. Called a moving company to transport my morbidly obese wife from the bay window I’d removed in the living onto a flatbed and to the hospital for the lap band surgery. I explained that the ambulance company wanted $3600 and it wasn’t covered under insurance. I also mentioned that if she hung out over the stakebed we could flag her. The guy was laughing about it with his buddy, I got indignant and said “Excuse me she has a disease called morbid obesity and I’d appreciate it if you’d show some respect” He quickly gathered himself, apologized and said “I know what it’s like to live with someone with a disability. I have a 3 year old daughter with a trach hole.” I said “Well she was obviously a smoker so she brought that on herself. This is a real disease.” He went nuts and threatened to kill me.
7) I am Robert Briscoe, the artist behind indie game Dear Esther AMA
Q. Generic as hell question but what advice would you give to someone trying to get into the industry as an environment artist? (matseffect)
A. pick a scene from a movie, a piece of concept art or something that inspires you, and recreate it in a game engine like Unreal or CryEngine. It makes you learn a lot about the art pipeline and scene composition, lighting etc.
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