I am a historian who has worked on history-related passion projects for over twenty years. For my day job, which pays the bills, I have worked in public communications and media relations in the public sector for the past twenty-five years.

I’ve co-written five books on the history of Columbus, Ohio, appeared on WOSU TV in history vignettes, and given numerous local history tours, most recently through the Columbus Metropolitan Library. The Pan Am Museum Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2016 to promote the fascinating and influential history of Pan American World Airways.

Our museum's mission is to educate, celebrate, and inspire present and future generations by preserving the historical and diverse personal stories of Pan Am.

I am truly honored to receive this fantastic recognition and to have the opportunity to tell the stories of the legendary Pan American World Airways, an airline that practically invented commercial aviation as we know it today.

Through the incredible people who worked for Pan Am and their passengers, our podcast explores 20th-century history through the lens of this iconic airline, bringing this important aviation history to life in an engaging and entertaining way. It is both personally and professionally rewarding to have our work recognized.

When I joined the board of the Pan Am Museum in 2021, I immediately focused on the need for an oral history program to preserve the stories of aging Pan Am employees before it was too late. In developing this program, I realized that a radio show format might be more effective and appealing to a wider listener base that may not be familiar with Pan Am or aviation history.

That’s when the idea for a podcast was born. We set out to create a program that would be engaging and entertaining, yet also educational and interesting. For me, the story is the most important aspect of any project.

At the end of the day, I consider myself a storyteller. With the podcast format, there isn’t a time restriction or airtime slot to fill, so my core strategy is focused on the story, not the length of the episode. This freedom fosters creativity that might otherwise be overshadowed by project requirements. This means that if you have an interview with 30 minutes of good content, your episode is 30 minutes long.

If you have an interview that’s an hour and a half, your episode will be an hour and a half—and so on. The story drives the content and determines how long the episode should be. Plus, with the podcast format, listeners can pause and return at their leisure, whenever their time permits.

The Pan Am Podcast explores 20th-century history through the prism of an iconic American international airline. Our award-winning program has covered a variety of topics, from Pan Am’s crucial role in World War II supporting Allied forces in the 1940s, to the dawn of global terrorism in the 1970s, special missions for the U.S. government, such as evacuations from Saigon and Tehran, the Tenerife Airport Disaster, Lockerbie, and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s… to happier episodes, such as the jet age, White House press charters.

Pan Am in popular culture, uniform designer and Hollywood icon Edith Head, employee stories of flying around the world, and romances in the sky. The podcast has also featured special guests such as Star Trek actor and activist George Takei, ABC News veteran Sam Donaldson, actor Phillip Keene, and author Frank Abagnale.

One of my biggest challenges with The Pan Am Podcast is time. Believe it or not, this is all 100 percent volunteer work, and I am not paid in any way. It is a pure passion project. Therefore, all of my work is done outside of my day job, usually on the weekends. Each episode takes a lot of time to produce.

From conception to researching, interviewing, writing, editing, recording, and publishing, each episode requires at least 12-15 hours of work—often more. Since this is a history and humanities program, accuracy is extremely important, and fact-checking and research also take a lot of time.

Editing is particularly important (and frustrating) in any audio project. Most of us naturally speak with pauses, and to fill these pauses, some of us say things like “um,” “and so,” “you know,” and “like.” Often, we don’t even notice these phrases or nervous ticks in person. But in recorded audio, they are very noticeable and distracting.

That’s why it’s essential to do painstaking editing to produce something that people will want to listen to. This takes a lot of time and hard work. Shortcuts are very evident and can degrade the quality of the project. No shortcuts! Do the hard work, and you will be rewarded by your listeners!

My goal is to get one more person interested in history. If that happens, I’m happy. After winning an award of this caliber, my hope is that more people will discover The Pan Am Podcast and tune in to listen to the fascinating and influential history of this pioneering and iconic airline!

One of our listeners is a young person who started listening a few years ago when he was still in high school. He was so inspired by some of our stories that he tried to incorporate Pan Am into as many school projects as he could.

One of the most inspiring compliments I have ever received was when he wrote to tell me that The Pan Am Podcast was his favorite podcast and that he now loves history because of it. He recently posted this on social media: 'Congratulations to Tom Betti and the Pan Am Museum Foundation for receiving the 2025 MUSE Creative Award for The Pan Am Podcast!

I am so proud of everyone who helps make this podcast possible! It is one of my favorite programs, and it’s obvious it is a favorite of many more around the world.'

Another listener left a review that floored me: 'The most riveting, fascinating, spellbinding, and harrowing podcast I’ve ever listened to. What a triumph of professional storytelling, mixed with first-rate production content. Especially the CBS News clips. Five stars are not enough!'

Do your homework and avoid taking shortcuts. Focus on the story above all else, as it’s the story that captivates the listener’s attention. Don’t get discouraged—great ideas sometimes take time to grow and bloom. Want to interview someone famous on your podcast? Ask them! The worst that could happen is they say no, but they could say yes!

We are all in a state of change at every level of our lives, both at work and at home. New technologies are robust and fast, and the competition is fierce. Accepting change and new ways of doing things can be daunting and take us outside our comfort zones.

Many of us don’t like change because it is surrounded by uncertainty. However, my best advice is to cautiously embrace change while also holding onto proven strategies and theories. There’s always a level of risk, and without risk, there is often reward. But there is logic in being measured and deliberate with strategy.

When I first came up with the idea of a podcast about an old, defunct airline, people thought I was wasting my time, losing my mind, or both!

We all have to start somewhere! Look at me—I’m just some guy doing a podcast for free in my living room, and I beat out multi-million dollar companies that probably pay their podcast people three times my salary. Focus on your story and your audience. Don’t get distracted by what others are doing. That’s my best advice.

Again, it’s all about the story. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling shoes or sharing history. Potential customers and listeners want to feel part of something, and the way to connect with them is through a compelling story. Are you selling a new product? Talk about the story behind how it was made and who made it.

People want to feel connected on a personal level. How did the designer come up with this idea? What are the employees of this company like?

First and foremost, I would like to dedicate this award to all of our listeners. Without them, we would not be recognized for our work. The Pan Am Podcast first aired in the summer of 2021 and has since been downloaded over 162,000 times in 179 countries. I would also like to dedicate this award to all the Pan Am employees and their families. They truly made a dent in the universe and changed travel forever!

I am incredibly honored to be recognized for this award and hope that people will check out our podcast, be entertained, and learn something they didn’t know before.

Believe it or not, there are still plenty of Pan Am stories yet to be told! So, I will continue working on episodes of The Pan Am Podcast. The program is available wherever people listen to podcasts, such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

I will also continue my volunteer work for the Pan Am Museum, located just outside New York City. If you'd like to learn more about what we do, visit our website at www.PanAm.info and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Additionally, I serve as the online curator for our YouTube channel, Pan Am Musem which has almost 20k subscribers and close to 4 million views. The channel features Pan Am commercials, corporate and training videos, documentaries, employee and passenger home videos, and more.