The Memory Palace

Host: Nate DiMeo
Episode: 236 – The Times
Date: September 7, 2025

Overview

In this powerful episode, Nate DiMeo delves into a dramatic and nearly forgotten chapter of American labor history: the 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles Times building. Through vivid storytelling, he explores the rise of time bombs as tools of labor warfare, the complicated figure of publisher Harrison Gray Otis, and the tragic fallout of a night when technological progress and brutal conflict collided. The episode reflects on the labor movement’s struggle, the ruthlessness of early 20th-century industrialists, and the price paid by those caught between.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Invention and Rise of Time Bombs

[03:08 – 05:12]

• DiMeo explains how, during the Civil War, the concept of timed explosives was born—initially crude but inspiring to saboteurs, militaries, and labor activists.
• By 1910, experienced bombers like John McNamara traveled the country, “men whose job was to place time bombs…get on a train and be long gone by the time it went off.”
• The practice became so common that “the only real worry was that the thing might not blow up, that someone might find a bomb that had failed to explode.”
  (05:27) “The cops didn’t even seem to care anymore. People were blowing things up all the time.” – Nate DiMeo

2. Labor Wars and the McNamara Brothers

[05:40 – 09:38]

• Much of the bombings targeted non-union construction sites, aiming to pressure owners to hire union labor.
• The McNamara brothers, deeply embedded in the Iron Workers’ Union, orchestrated hundreds of such attacks. The violence was systematic and widespread, largely ignored by law enforcement.
• "McNamara's brother was high up in the Bridge and Structural Iron Workers union…behind many of the bombings that occurred around the United States right after the turn of the century. There were hundreds." (06:15)

3. The Complicated Figure of Harrison Gray Otis

[09:42 – 12:40]

• Otis, owner of the LA Times, began as a union man but became an aggressive anti-labor figure in booming Los Angeles.
• His paper became a “sensational” mouthpiece against unionism, while he worked to unite business interests against labor.
• (11:54) “From then on, 1890, he was one of America’s most prominent and effective anti-labor activists, working tirelessly to unite business owners…in the cause of suppressing wages and breaking unions.”

4. The Night of the LA Times Bombing

[12:41 – 16:31]

• J. B. McNamara believed the Times building would be empty as he planted the bomb. He was mistaken: over a hundred people worked late for a special edition.
• The explosion killed 21, with survivors and those lost poignantly described: “typesetters—men like Otis had once been—were thrown against walls, torn to ribbons by metal letters turned to shrapnel.” (15:56)
• A tragic chain reaction: the bomb ignited ink barrels, which fueled further explosions due to an undetected gas leak.
• For months, rumors of conspiracy abounded—some claimed Otis orchestrated a “false flag” attack, but this was unfounded.

5. Aftermath and Legacy

[17:00 – 18:55]

• J. B. McNamara confessed, maintaining he never intended any deaths—but regretted that Otis had not been present.
• The event crushed the labor movement’s momentum for two decades: “The one at the LA Times changed everything for a while, put the labor movement on its back heels for two whole decades.” (18:32)
• Many were imprisoned, including both McNamara brothers.
• The story is memorialized in a monument at LA’s Hollywood Forever Cemetery, which “calls them martyrs who died in the cause of liberty, as defined by Otis as the freedom not to be in a union.” (19:13)
• DiMeo reflects on the shifting meanings of “liberty” and “martyrdom” in American memory.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “They could suddenly control time. It changed everything.” [03:00] – Opening the narrative with a sense of technological awe and menace.

• “If you want this building to go up, you hire union men. It was highly effective.” [06:10] – On the purpose and impact of the labor bombings.

• “He was an owner then, maybe it was as simple as that.” [11:27] – DiMeo on the transformation of Otis from unionist to strikebreaker.

• “The building was typically empty at 1 in the morning. But it wasn’t when the bomb went off and what was supposed to be a modest blast wasn’t…” [14:12] – The moment the plan fails, leading to tragedy.

• “It says that the men in their deaths would never be forgotten.” [19:45] – DiMeo, at the memorial, pondering public memory.

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|--------------------------------------| | 03:00 | Introduction to time bombs | | 05:40 | The McNamara brothers’ operations | | 09:42 | Otis’s rise and anti-union activism | | 12:41 | Planting and explosion at the Times | | 16:31 | Confession, aftermath, and arrests | | 18:32 | Long-term impact on labor movement | | 19:13 | The Hollywood Forever Cemetery monument |

Final Reflections

This episode masterfully connects technological change, personal ambition, and the collective struggles of workers to a spectacular, tragic event. Nate DiMeo’s quietly piercing narration brings human dimension to both the bombers and their victims, questioning how—and for whom—we memorialize history.

(End of summary)