1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 2: Welcome back to the show, fellow Ridiculous Historians. Thank you 3 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 2: so much as always for joining us. Let's hear it 4 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 2: for the man, the myth, our one and only super producer, 5 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 2: mister Max Williams. 6 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 3: It's me. 7 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 4: No, I don't actually have the crazy voice any longer. 8 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 4: I am well again. 9 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 5: Oh no, oh yeah, I'm sorry. I said no. 10 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 3: I'm glad that you're feeling better Max, that you're on 11 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:52,479 Speaker 3: the other side of the weather. Is that a thing? 12 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, the other side of the massive Atlanta snowstorm. 13 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 5: Oh jeez, yeah. 14 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, well not quite a snow apocalypse, because thankfully 15 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:09,199 Speaker 2: our fair metropolis has dealt with it better than they 16 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 2: did in the past. Now you may be asking yourself, 17 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 2: if you're listening for the first time, who was that 18 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 2: person with a handsome voice who chimed in to talk 19 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 2: with Max. Why it's none other than mister Noel Brown. 20 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 2: It was me alone, very guisers say. They also called 21 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 2: me ben Bollen pretty often. It's a thing I can't shake. 22 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 2: We are back from a holiday break, and, as our 23 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:43,839 Speaker 2: super producer Max alluded to, we all survived. I would 24 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 2: say we thrived during the recent snow in Atlanta. 25 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 3: Oh absolutely, And to your point, Ben, are city managers 26 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 3: or powers that be or whatever they seem to have 27 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 3: learned from the aforementioned previous snow apocalypse, which was pretty awful, 28 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:00,120 Speaker 3: and I think they may be overdated this time. I'm 29 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 3: letting us know that the inclement weather was coming and 30 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 3: getting their six salt trucks out on the streets, because 31 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 3: I drove around the next day and it was totally fine. 32 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:09,919 Speaker 5: So it was perfectly pleasant. 33 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:12,360 Speaker 2: And what were you saying, Bro, You were telling me 34 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 2: earlier that you felt you had received maybe too many 35 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:20,639 Speaker 2: emergency notifications. 36 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 3: Yeah, there were three. I think I was at IKEA. 37 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 3: Actually it's one of those things where you hear everybody's 38 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 3: phone go off at the same time. It was a 39 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 3: very wordy warning about winter weather. I did not intend 40 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 3: that to be as illiterative as it was, but I'm 41 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 3: here for it. But better to overworn than underworn. So yeah, 42 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 3: I think it was overall a weather success. We weathered 43 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 3: the weather successfully. 44 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 4: And I would say, like, you know, one thing that 45 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 4: is beneficial from like you know, the COVID days is 46 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 4: working remote for many of us, especially here at our company, 47 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 4: is quite easy. I mean, it's like I remember Snowpocalypse 48 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 4: is back when I was still a bartender and they 49 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 4: found out I lived near a Morta. 50 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,239 Speaker 5: Station which Martyr was running, and I worked every day 51 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 5: for Snowpocalypse. 52 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 3: It was fun. I bet well. I heard the italics. Indeed, well, 53 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:15,799 Speaker 3: good good on you, Max. You were what they call 54 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,919 Speaker 3: an essential worker. Said that in italics a little bit too. 55 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yes, I hope we think. 56 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 3: They're not essential, Max. I just mean the idea of 57 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 3: essential workers was a little bit of a middle finger 58 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 3: kind of thing, because you know, they're essential when they're needed, 59 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 3: but they don't really get treated well other times of 60 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:34,079 Speaker 3: the year. 61 00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 2: Shout out to the firefighters in Los Angeles area. So 62 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 2: we are kicking off part of our new year with 63 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 2: a continuing series. You'll recall previously on Ridiculous History, our 64 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 2: exploration of inventors who, one way or another died at 65 00:03:55,240 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 2: the hand of their own creations or discoveries, and full 66 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 2: disclosure please be my account of Bill of Buddies here, guys, 67 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 2: I I one hundred percent thought it would be a 68 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 2: one off episode, and then just the fact that so 69 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 2: many inventors died trying to fly may part one, a 70 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 2: two part series. 71 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, a real Icarus kind of situation. 72 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 2: Huh yeah, yeah, one hundred percent. In today's exploration, we're 73 00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 2: going to start with some inventors you may not have 74 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 2: heard of. At least one we can ease into it. 75 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 2: I thought we'd all enjoy this with a man who 76 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 2: was often called the worst inventor ever, and not without good. 77 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 3: Reason, but also not because he was some kind of slouch. 78 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:57,480 Speaker 3: I mean, the guy was brilliant. We're talking about Thomas 79 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,040 Speaker 3: Midgley Junior born May eighteenth of eighteen nine and a 80 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 3: lovely little burg called beaver Falls in Pennsylvania. Really idyllic 81 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 3: little community, I imagine. I've never been there, but it 82 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:10,719 Speaker 3: just you can't have a place called beaver Falls and 83 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 3: it not be a lovely, little family kind of town. 84 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:16,280 Speaker 3: But this guy had some big ideas, and he's known 85 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:19,840 Speaker 3: universally pretty much as one of the world's worst inventors. 86 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:22,840 Speaker 3: Not because he was bad at inventing. He was quite good, 87 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:25,239 Speaker 3: as we mentioned. The problem is some of the stuff 88 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 3: this guy decided to focus his immense talents on have 89 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:33,600 Speaker 3: created long lasting health ramifications for just about everyone. 90 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 2: Yeah. The thing is Tommy is really talented. His talents 91 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 2: are focused on creating inventions that are insidious. He specializes 92 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:52,040 Speaker 2: in poisonous chemicals. It is not hyperbole to say his 93 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 2: inventions haunt the global population today, animals, humans, plants. We're 94 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,839 Speaker 2: all involved. We have all been infected by this inventor. 95 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:05,839 Speaker 2: We still don't know the full consequences of all the 96 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:10,239 Speaker 2: crazy family show, of all the crazy poop he made. 97 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:12,840 Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's not to say that he set out 98 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 3: to destroy the world. 99 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,119 Speaker 5: Quite the opposite. He set out to improve the world. 100 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 3: It's just as often as the case when inventions become 101 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:27,360 Speaker 3: so incredibly valuable so quickly, often those ramifications or the 102 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 3: future fallout of said inventions are the last thing on 103 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 3: people's minds. So what are we talking about here? 104 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, great point, Noel. To understand just how wild 105 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 2: this guy's story is, we have to learn a little 106 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 2: bit about automobiles, specifically internal combustion engines. Let's dawn our 107 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:54,040 Speaker 2: old car stuff caps for a moment. Harnessed explosions, Yes, exactly, Max, 108 00:06:54,080 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 2: give us some crazy propaganda music, perfect behold the automobile. 109 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 2: Each day, billions of these contraptions harness explosions from a 110 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 2: special juice made of long dead plant and animal matter 111 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:18,880 Speaker 2: powering the modern world. Look that cut the music perfect. Look. 112 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 2: If we try to explain the process of internal combustion 113 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:28,480 Speaker 2: engines to any alien visiting Earth, the idea that we 114 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:33,119 Speaker 2: take small amounts of high energy density fuel, we push 115 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 2: it into a very small space and ignite it and 116 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 2: make an expanding gas to explode, they would think we 117 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 2: were stupid. 118 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, when you describe it like this, it sounds like 119 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 3: something that you'd see in like a wily coyote cartoon, 120 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 3: like made by Acme, like some sort of like wheel 121 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 3: with a series of rockets mounted on the outside of it. 122 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 5: Somehow, it's still what we use today. 123 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 3: There have certainly been improvements in the efficiency of combustion engines, 124 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 3: et cetera. But it's still you in that same dead 125 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 3: plant and animal juice, and it's still harnessing those same 126 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 3: many explosions. 127 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's still a work in progress. Humanity is 128 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 2: figuring out the kinks of this, and I mean kinks 129 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 2: as in malfunctions. Back in the day, these engines could 130 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:23,920 Speaker 2: be incredibly loud, and they would experience something called engine. 131 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 3: Hello, who's dare knock? 132 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, these engines could make sounds that for the driver 133 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 2: would appear to be knocks or taps, and our guy, 134 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 2: Tommy Midgley Junior, he took that personally, as the meme say, 135 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:45,560 Speaker 2: he looked into it. He figured out a compound tetra 136 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:50,600 Speaker 2: ethyl led. He discovered, yeah, could be added to gas 137 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 2: and it would make the engine run a bit more smoothly. 138 00:08:55,080 --> 00:09:00,319 Speaker 2: It would prevent that engine knocking in automobiles. That's right, 139 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:03,439 Speaker 2: He's the guy who put lead in gasoline. 140 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 3: It's because of this guy that we still to this 141 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 3: day weirdly, sort of like ashtrays on airplanes, see unleaded 142 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 3: gas on the gas pump, like just in case we 143 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 3: need to be reminded of this very dark time in 144 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 3: the history of the automobile. Because yeah, it's nothing special 145 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 3: about it. It's just led, the same stuff that poisoned 146 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 3: the Romans and apparently, according to a recent study, was 147 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 3: responsible for lowering their IQ over the course of generations. 148 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 3: This stuff is no joke. It is straight up poison 149 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 3: and has been phased out, I would say, nearly entirely 150 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:41,199 Speaker 3: from American society, oh one hundred percent. 151 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 2: It also led to oh gosh, keep it. It led 152 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:55,440 Speaker 2: to perhaps certain aspects of violence in the United States 153 00:09:55,480 --> 00:10:01,079 Speaker 2: and other previous civilizations. Our buddy Tommy is not done yet, Noel. 154 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 2: He also figures out that a certain chlorofluorocarbon makes an 155 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:09,079 Speaker 2: excellent refrigerant CFC's. 156 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:14,040 Speaker 3: I believe he learned about those in ecology class, you know, 157 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 3: back in middle school, and at first people loved it. 158 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 3: Thomas received lots of metals, you know, and accolades for 159 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 3: his innovation, his work as a chemical company executive and researcher, 160 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:30,119 Speaker 3: first for the chemical anti knock agent, also the extraction 161 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:33,240 Speaker 3: of bromine from seawater what could go wrong? 162 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 2: Sure? 163 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 3: And also the use of fluorine to produce refrigerating compounds. 164 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:42,360 Speaker 3: All of these were very popular at the time, but 165 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 3: much like asbestos, turns out they were not good. 166 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:48,360 Speaker 5: For people's long term health. 167 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:50,719 Speaker 3: And yet at the time, I don't know, Ben, do 168 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:53,040 Speaker 3: you think it was because the technology didn't exist to 169 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 3: look into these types of health ramifications or did people 170 00:10:57,320 --> 00:10:58,280 Speaker 3: just not care? 171 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:04,960 Speaker 2: I mean, I would say ninety percent the former, ten 172 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:11,200 Speaker 2: percent the latter. The answer is so easy right for 173 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,320 Speaker 2: people living at the time, that the question becomes why 174 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:16,559 Speaker 2: would we look too deeply into this? 175 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:17,080 Speaker 3: Sure? 176 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 5: And we got this was known as a miracle material 177 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:20,320 Speaker 5: you know. 178 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 3: I mean that was literally what it was referred to 179 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:27,559 Speaker 3: as in marketing, and I'm sure these innovations from Midgley 180 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:29,840 Speaker 3: were treated much the same way. Like this guy is 181 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:32,319 Speaker 3: single handedly propelling us forward into the future. 182 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 2: Absolutely, and to be fair, we can look back with 183 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:41,200 Speaker 2: the benefit of retrospect and say, yes, his inventions and 184 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:45,800 Speaker 2: discoveries were bad. It's important to realize at the same time, 185 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 2: Tommy himself is not an on purpose evil dude. In fact, Noel, 186 00:11:50,960 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 2: he was kind of a renaissance man to your earlier point. 187 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,080 Speaker 2: He simply did not grock the full effects of the 188 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 2: things he created, and he never imagined the scale at 189 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:08,800 Speaker 2: which his inventions would be deployed, which means he could 190 00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 2: not logically understand the consequences involved. But what do we 191 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 2: mean whill we say he's a renaissance man despite being 192 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:23,560 Speaker 2: an accidental sith lord Folks, Mitchelli is one of the 193 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:25,600 Speaker 2: most creative chemists who ever lived. 194 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, that's true. Not only that, he was a poet, 195 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:31,120 Speaker 3: and I think he knew it. I'm never gonna not 196 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 3: make that joke. It's not gonna do it. Whoa that 197 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:36,400 Speaker 3: kind of rhyme? Anyway, here's an example of some of 198 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:39,439 Speaker 3: his work, which lends us a little bit of insight 199 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 3: into the dark future that he had a hand in creating, 200 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 3: a little foreshadowing here, Ben, you found this Jim Dandy 201 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:46,800 Speaker 3: piece of work. 202 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 5: Why don't you bless us with a reading? 203 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 2: Ooh, let's round robin it. There's a there's a bit 204 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:57,520 Speaker 2: of a excerpt here. M would I feel old age 205 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:02,199 Speaker 2: approaching and it's his intended And my nerves are growing 206 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 2: roughten and my breath is growing short. 207 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 3: And my eyes are growing dimmer, and my hair is 208 00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:13,200 Speaker 3: turning white. And I lack the old ambitions when I 209 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 3: wander out at night. 210 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:20,720 Speaker 2: Too many men, my senior may remain when I am gone. 211 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:25,920 Speaker 2: I have no regrets to offer, just because I'm passing on. 212 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 3: We did a little Scottish brogue there, man, I like that. 213 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:34,520 Speaker 3: Wrapping it up, bring it home. Let this epitaph be 214 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 3: graven on my tomb in simple style. This one did 215 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 3: a lot of living in a mighty little while. 216 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:43,880 Speaker 5: Huh. 217 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 3: Not really highly of himself there too, Huh yeah, so 218 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 3: best poet nah. 219 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:51,959 Speaker 5: But a rhyme he could he could turn a he 220 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 5: can you can bust out a rhyme? 221 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:54,480 Speaker 2: He could pat a couple. 222 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 5: Yeah, as a poetry is supposed to be right. 223 00:13:56,920 --> 00:14:01,959 Speaker 3: It's got a rhyme, Come at me, come out of 224 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 3: the Internet. 225 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:07,960 Speaker 2: So it was not lead poisoning from his gasoline experiments 226 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,679 Speaker 2: that killed Tommy. Tommy is fifty one years old and 227 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:15,920 Speaker 2: he contracts polio and loses the use of his legs. 228 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 2: And I want to shout out our pal Dylan Tennessee 229 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:22,320 Speaker 2: pal Fagan from stuff. They want you to know who 230 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 2: was talking with me about this? This guy gets polio. 231 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:31,480 Speaker 2: Polio is disastrous in his era, so he puts his brilliant, 232 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:36,240 Speaker 2: tony starkish mind to the problem and he invents a 233 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:40,720 Speaker 2: Pulley system over his bed. The idea being he can 234 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 2: lift himself into a sitting position and then from there 235 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 2: he can get into whatever apparatus he's using for mobility. 236 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 2: Unlike his other inventions that wrecked the human world, this 237 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 2: one had immediate, observable consequence, and so it came to pass. 238 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 2: On November second, nineteen forty four, Thomas Midgley Junior got 239 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 2: caught up in the ropes of the system he invented 240 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 2: and was strangled to death. 241 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,440 Speaker 3: I can't put my finger on it, but I've seen 242 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:23,520 Speaker 3: this exact scenario like parodied in film and maybe TV, 243 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 3: like somebody you know having some sort of contraption that 244 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 3: was designed to help lift somebody you know what it 245 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 3: was in Twin Peaks. I recently saw it in an 246 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 3: episode of the first season of maybe the second season 247 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 3: of Twin Peaks, where a character built a doctor character 248 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 3: I can't remember the names, built something like this and 249 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 3: it had hilarious and disastrous consequences. Did not go well. 250 00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:49,360 Speaker 3: It's rife for physical comedy. But no, it did in 251 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:53,600 Speaker 3: fact end the life of Thomas Midgley Junior. He seems 252 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 3: like he should be a Sir Thomas Midgley Junior. 253 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, well we can. 254 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 5: Night him popously, can we? Can you do that? The 255 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 5: knighthood of ridiculous history bad Inventors? 256 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 2: All right, there we go, yes, and before we feel 257 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:13,040 Speaker 2: too bad, the guy is only fifty five years old. 258 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:17,360 Speaker 2: His early death is definitely a tragedy for his loved ones. 259 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:25,640 Speaker 2: Consider this again. His inventions, his big breakthroughs, greatly contributed 260 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:30,560 Speaker 2: to the environmental problems everyone hearing this show faces today, 261 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:35,440 Speaker 2: so much so that we still do not know the 262 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 2: full consequences of this. He poisoned three generations of children. 263 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,000 Speaker 2: He increased the risk of skin cancer and other skin 264 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:49,040 Speaker 2: problems related to the exposure of ultraviolet light. He is 265 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 2: a big player in the world of global warming, even 266 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 2: though he did not know that's what he was doing. 267 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 3: Well, And you mentioned Ben that he was also like 268 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,360 Speaker 3: a chemical company executive. There's part of me that feels 269 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 3: like we maybe shouldn't always, you know, condemn the inventor 270 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:10,919 Speaker 3: of the thing, but maybe more so the industry that 271 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:13,399 Speaker 3: you know, took it and ran with it. And we 272 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:17,439 Speaker 3: certainly know that there are inventors that often wish or 273 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:21,359 Speaker 3: have mixed feelings about their inventions, like Oppenheimer. You know, 274 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,280 Speaker 3: he certainly did not feel great about the way the 275 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:27,879 Speaker 3: atomic bomb was used and had a very complicated relationship 276 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:30,720 Speaker 3: with that legacy. So I don't know, Ben, was Thomas 277 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,800 Speaker 3: Middley Junior also out there like pushing this stuff hard 278 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:35,679 Speaker 3: in his role as an executive. 279 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 2: M Yeah, it's a great question. Being an expert, even 280 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 2: world class in one discipline of science, say chemistry, does 281 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:51,280 Speaker 2: not automatically make one a world expert in other fields 282 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 2: of science, such as ecology. 283 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 3: It's a very American story kind of I don't know. 284 00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:56,560 Speaker 3: I just. 285 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,680 Speaker 2: And with this we're going to go to a story 286 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 2: that you have doubtlessly heard, perhaps not in full of 287 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:15,680 Speaker 2: another inventor who died by their own hand. Noel, could 288 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:16,960 Speaker 2: you do the honors? 289 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 5: Yeah, we're talking about Marie Curry. 290 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:23,960 Speaker 3: And if anybody saw that just okay, Beetlejuice sequel that 291 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:29,320 Speaker 3: came out late last year, the character of Lydia Dietz's 292 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 3: daughter dresses up as Murray Currey for Halloween, or sort 293 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:35,119 Speaker 3: of as the ghost of Marie Currey. 294 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:36,399 Speaker 2: I haven't seen that one. 295 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:38,680 Speaker 5: It was okay, it was fine. It's a cute movie. 296 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:40,760 Speaker 3: I've enjoyed it more than a lot of what Tim 297 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:42,520 Speaker 3: Burton has been putting out there lately. 298 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:45,639 Speaker 5: But it wasn't the best. But I did think that 299 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:46,760 Speaker 5: this costume was kind of. 300 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:50,159 Speaker 3: Cute and very on brand for the demure gothy character 301 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,320 Speaker 3: played by Jenna or Tega. I think she did a 302 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 3: fine job. So. Marie Currey born Maria Solemia Skladawska on 303 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:02,359 Speaker 3: November seventh, eighteen sixty seven was a poish chemist, and 304 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 3: she and her husband essentially altered the course of humanity 305 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:13,040 Speaker 3: when they discovered not just radium, but also polonium. 306 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 2: Yeah. 307 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:19,239 Speaker 5: Two very useful and deadly elements. 308 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 2: One hundred percent. I think about this, How crazy is it? 309 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:29,880 Speaker 2: How significant is it? How monumental is it to discover 310 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,439 Speaker 2: an entirely new element, something that goes up on the 311 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:37,919 Speaker 2: periodic table let alone? Two right right? Not once but 312 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 2: twice they did this. Ed Marikirie is the person who 313 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 2: coined the term radio active. Speaking of a two for 314 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 2: this scientist won the Nobel Prize not once, but twice, 315 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 2: first Nobel Prize nineteen oh three, when he and her 316 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,920 Speaker 2: husband Pierre get the Nobel Prize in physics, and then 317 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:05,160 Speaker 2: again in nineteen eleven when she wins the Nobel Prize 318 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:11,359 Speaker 2: in chemistry. Everybody is over the moon about this, but 319 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:17,080 Speaker 2: they're only supporting her after she becomes sort of a 320 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 2: scientific winner. Her original life was anything but cozy. Let's 321 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 2: go to our friends at grunge dot com, who have 322 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:32,560 Speaker 2: a fantastic summation of the misogyny Cie faced pretty much 323 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 2: until she won that first Nobel Prize right. 324 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:38,000 Speaker 3: Growing up in a time when new governments had banned 325 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 3: women from attending higher education facilities, Marie Currey was determined 326 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 3: to receive an education. Even though she was the top 327 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:47,200 Speaker 3: of her class in Warsaw she was unable to continue 328 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 3: her education at the university. She sought education through a secret, 329 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:54,800 Speaker 3: underground series of classes designed for continuing education for Polish women, 330 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,439 Speaker 3: known as the Floating University. Working at a deal with 331 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:00,800 Speaker 3: her sister where one would work and send the other 332 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:03,480 Speaker 3: to college and then reverse roles, she was eventually able 333 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:07,919 Speaker 3: to attend the Sorbonne in Paris, France, Sorbonne University, very 334 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,199 Speaker 3: very famous institution of learning. 335 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 2: Dude, she prestiged it. No spoilers for prestige. I love 336 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,880 Speaker 2: this quote you're sharing because she's a woman in a 337 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:24,440 Speaker 2: male dominated field where dudes hate women. And you may 338 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:29,880 Speaker 2: be asking yourself, as stute ridiculous historians, why did Marie 339 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:34,800 Speaker 2: Curie and her husband win that first Nobel Prize? Why 340 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:39,440 Speaker 2: did she win it herself in nineteen eleven. It's because 341 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 2: between that time her husband died in a street accident. 342 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:47,359 Speaker 2: It was nineteen oh six, and so now, on top 343 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:53,760 Speaker 2: of being discriminated against for her biological identity, she's also 344 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:56,880 Speaker 2: a single mom. She's left to raise her their two 345 00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:01,119 Speaker 2: children alone, without a dad to walk down the street 346 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,439 Speaker 2: for a second here. I recently read something nol that 347 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,240 Speaker 2: really stuck with me. I don't think we should call 348 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:13,359 Speaker 2: single parents single parents because they're doing twice the work, right, 349 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 2: So I think we should call them double parents. 350 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:18,560 Speaker 3: I love it, Ben count me in. So of course, 351 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:24,200 Speaker 3: her groundbreaking discoveries ultimately led to her early passing. Similar 352 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 3: to Thomas Midgeley, Currie wasn't fully aware of what she 353 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:34,160 Speaker 3: was playing with the consequences involved in the discoveries. After 354 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 3: her husband died, Currie took over his teaching position and 355 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 3: became the first female professor at Sorbonne, where she was 356 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,399 Speaker 3: wholly committed to her research and is often known to 357 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:48,960 Speaker 3: carry around test tubes of radium on her person, tucked 358 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 3: in her lab coat. Her work with radium ultimately led 359 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:54,760 Speaker 3: to the discovery of the first portable X ray machine, 360 00:22:54,760 --> 00:23:02,280 Speaker 3: but she did not know the deadly ramifications of radioactive exposure. 361 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:08,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, in nineteen thirty four, this groundbreaking scientist dies from 362 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:14,080 Speaker 2: a condition we call a plastic anemia. It was look, 363 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 2: I'm supposed to say, almost certainly, but it was definitely 364 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 2: caused by the high radium exposure that she experienced throughout 365 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:25,760 Speaker 2: her research. If you go to the Mayo Clinic, you'll 366 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:30,520 Speaker 2: learn that a plastic anemia is a rare bone marrow disease. 367 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:36,160 Speaker 2: It's essentially your bone marrow, which is supposed to produce 368 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:40,720 Speaker 2: all your red blood cells. It stops, it falls short. 369 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 2: When you have this condition, and without having these red 370 00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:50,040 Speaker 2: blood cells, you'll get fatigue, shortness of breath, we're bruising, 371 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:54,120 Speaker 2: other nasty symptoms. This is a true story. No, When 372 00:23:54,359 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 2: Marie Curi dies as a result of her own discoveries, 373 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:05,320 Speaker 2: her body is so riddled with radioactive atoms that she 374 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 2: is buried in a casket made of lead, and the 375 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:13,600 Speaker 2: public doesn't Yeah, right, and the public doesn't know about 376 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 2: this until way, way after the fact. 377 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:17,760 Speaker 5: Yeah, that's right. 378 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:20,880 Speaker 3: Because the French government wanted to move the curious bodies 379 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:24,680 Speaker 3: to be honored at the Pantheon to celebrate them as 380 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:29,720 Speaker 3: French history icons. However, when they approached the grave, they 381 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:33,320 Speaker 3: detected traces of radium and polonium, which were the elements 382 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:38,719 Speaker 3: that Curis studied. Workers initially came across a wooden coffin, 383 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:42,480 Speaker 3: but when they opened them they saw an intact lead 384 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:44,360 Speaker 3: coffin inside. 385 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:50,919 Speaker 2: And this was nineteen ninety five when this was discovered. Yeah, 386 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:58,080 Speaker 2: the boffins look into the trace amounts of radium and polonium, 387 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 2: and they say, look, this is not enough to harm 388 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:06,800 Speaker 2: anyone else. So thankfully, the authorities decide to move this 389 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 2: posthumous married couple to wooden caskets for burial at the 390 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:18,760 Speaker 2: aforementioned pantheon. The curies changed the world. There's there's no 391 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:23,640 Speaker 2: two ifs ands or butts about it. But oh there's 392 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:26,639 Speaker 2: another butt, the third butt we've got. I think we 393 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:32,280 Speaker 2: have time for one more story, which is super metal, 394 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,360 Speaker 2: like metal in terms of vibe the horns. 395 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:45,359 Speaker 3: Yeah, the name, this guy's name should be written in 396 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 3: illegible font let's just put it that way least. See 397 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:54,000 Speaker 3: and the five pains trigger warning for anyone that doesn't 398 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 3: like nastiness. This is about torture, okay, And so if 399 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 3: you don't want to go on this, feel free to 400 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:04,240 Speaker 3: skip ahead and will actually just feel free to maybe 401 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:08,560 Speaker 3: get off right now. In two twenty one BCE, China unify, 402 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:13,159 Speaker 3: putting an end to a chaotic period of warring states 403 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,640 Speaker 3: and various fiefdoms, combining all of them under the control 404 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:18,520 Speaker 3: of the Shin dynasty. 405 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:23,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, and one of the pivotal figures in this expansion 406 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,919 Speaker 2: in the rule of this dynasty is a guy named 407 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:33,160 Speaker 2: Li Shi He's born to commoners, everyday people around two 408 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:37,400 Speaker 2: to eighty BCE. Now, I love every day people. I 409 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 2: am everyday people. You are too. So on paper, this 410 00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:47,600 Speaker 2: guy's absolute success story. He starts off as a simple 411 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:53,160 Speaker 2: clerk in local government and against all odds, he ascends 412 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:58,240 Speaker 2: through the strict paranoid hierarchy of China at the time 413 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:02,119 Speaker 2: to become one of the most most influential men in 414 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:05,840 Speaker 2: the imperial court. He had the riz that's the best 415 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:07,919 Speaker 2: thing we could say. He's a smooth talker. 416 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:11,480 Speaker 3: He was early. He was the proto rizzler, in fact, 417 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:15,760 Speaker 3: a real cool customer at least. She gained a lot 418 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:20,720 Speaker 3: of influence over the first Emperor Xiang, and he essentially 419 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:24,840 Speaker 3: was kind of whispering in this dude's ear Machiavelli style. 420 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 3: He convinced the king to do all sorts of I 421 00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:34,239 Speaker 3: guess political maneuvers. He was responsible for all kinds of 422 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:38,440 Speaker 3: innovations and political inventions, such as bribing enemies who could 423 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,840 Speaker 3: be bought and assassinating the ones that couldn't. Also was 424 00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:45,400 Speaker 3: a big fan of tricking neighboring states into you know, 425 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:51,119 Speaker 3: getting under the thumb of the emperor through just outright 426 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 3: subterfusion lies. He was also a fan of controlling information. 427 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:02,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, he was. It's a huge advocate of collecting 428 00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:06,360 Speaker 2: and burning all books that were counter to the narrative 429 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:11,119 Speaker 2: of jan. He said, the only books we got to 430 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:18,160 Speaker 2: keep are the books about medicine, divination, and agriculture, essentially 431 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:21,680 Speaker 2: for their time, the stem books, right. 432 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 5: Yeah, put it that way, but you're right. 433 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:27,679 Speaker 2: Yeah. The king, by the way, was super down with 434 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:32,320 Speaker 2: all of this. It's ethically disgusting, but it does kind 435 00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:35,639 Speaker 2: of make sense. Given the fragility of the new Empire. 436 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 2: They wanted to erase competing versions of history, and Leashi 437 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:43,000 Speaker 2: was super good at doing that. 438 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:45,560 Speaker 5: And you know how we see this all the time. 439 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 3: The kind of closer you are to a king figure 440 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 3: like this, the harder you fall when you fall out 441 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:59,960 Speaker 3: of favor with said powerful individual. One thing that Lisha 442 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:02,160 Speaker 3: she a little four shouting there. One thing that least 443 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:06,800 Speaker 3: she is most remembered by in Chinese history. In addition 444 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:11,320 Speaker 3: to his political savvy was his inventiveness when it comes 445 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:17,280 Speaker 3: to methods of torture and execution. Enter the five Pains. 446 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 3: The five p's pretty gnarly. It looks like we're gonna 447 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:28,920 Speaker 3: describe what well in your mind resemble an Accountibal Corpse 448 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 3: album cover. 449 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:33,280 Speaker 2: It is so gross. All right. So around this time 450 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 2: as he's as he's rising up in the ranks and 451 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:41,480 Speaker 2: doing dangerous whispers. It's sometime between twenty nineteen and twenty 452 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 2: thirteen BCE when he becomes chancellor. He is one of 453 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:51,160 Speaker 2: the two highest ranking non royal family members in the land, 454 00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:56,920 Speaker 2: and he pitches the following to the dynasty. He says, Look, 455 00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:00,200 Speaker 2: if we got a bad criminal, weset an example. So 456 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:04,479 Speaker 2: the first thing is we cut off their nose, okay, one, 457 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 2: and then we cut off and then we cut off 458 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:08,960 Speaker 2: a hand. 459 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:11,080 Speaker 3: Just one okay, two pains? 460 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, and then we cut off a foot. 461 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:17,000 Speaker 3: The same foot as the hand or opposite side or 462 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 3: a dealer's choice. 463 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:21,120 Speaker 2: Interesting, right, So what makes it worse? 464 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,280 Speaker 5: Yeah, you're not gonna walk away from this spoiler alert. 465 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:24,760 Speaker 2: So that's three pains. 466 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:26,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, we got three pains down. 467 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 2: Yeah. The next one is we cast treat them okay cool? Yeah. 468 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:33,040 Speaker 3: So they cut it like like the dela Phosaurus in 469 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:34,040 Speaker 3: the Jurassic Park. 470 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:38,080 Speaker 2: Not what an interesting reference for that. 471 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:40,320 Speaker 3: Sorry, I always remember that they didn't do it in 472 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:44,080 Speaker 3: the movie, but in the book. Uh Nedrie gets his 473 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:48,400 Speaker 3: guts handed to him. Yeah, and that scene always stuck 474 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:50,280 Speaker 3: with me. So that's four pains down. 475 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:56,440 Speaker 2: Yeah. The fifth and final pain is death not not 476 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:02,080 Speaker 2: any reasonable form of death, literally cutting the body in half, a. 477 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 5: Little baroque adding insult to injury if you. 478 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:09,440 Speaker 2: Will, an example. Right, And so the five pains is 479 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:16,560 Speaker 2: used multiple times to quell, you know, dangerous religious ideologies, 480 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:21,920 Speaker 2: et cetera. Any outside forces find their leader, subject them 481 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:25,960 Speaker 2: to the five pains, you know, and it is quite 482 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:32,400 Speaker 2: successful in securing the or i should say, cementing the 483 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:33,880 Speaker 2: power of the empire. 484 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:34,280 Speaker 1: Yeah. 485 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:37,440 Speaker 3: It's weird though. Is it really loyalty if you are 486 00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:40,560 Speaker 3: just operating with fear? 487 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:44,120 Speaker 2: Right? Is it really love if you're operating out of fear? 488 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 5: And Ben, I mean I just wanted to bring up too. 489 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:49,440 Speaker 3: I mean, in your studies of geopolitics and stuff, and 490 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 3: I know that you are very up on Chinese politics, 491 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,640 Speaker 3: it's very interesting to me that this kind of tamping 492 00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,640 Speaker 3: down of descents and this type of tamping down and 493 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:01,920 Speaker 3: control of information, it's. 494 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:02,960 Speaker 5: Not really that different. 495 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:05,960 Speaker 3: I mean, they don't do the five pains anymore, but 496 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 3: it's still information is kept under lock and key over there. 497 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:14,120 Speaker 2: Yes, sir, they're a little touchy. I think it's okay 498 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:18,200 Speaker 2: to say that the PRC is a big fan of 499 00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:24,280 Speaker 2: a single, unified narrative. And this is what we're getting to. 500 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:33,240 Speaker 2: Everything is swell from Leashy's perspective until about two eight BCE. 501 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:39,520 Speaker 2: This guy is convicted of treason. His crimes are to 502 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:45,040 Speaker 2: be held to account, says the governing power. He is 503 00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 2: sentenced to death, ed Noel max Fellow ridiculous historians. Dare 504 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:53,840 Speaker 2: we guess the manner of his execution? 505 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:56,240 Speaker 3: Isn't it ironic? Yeah? 506 00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:57,200 Speaker 2: I don't think. 507 00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:00,640 Speaker 3: I really do think you got it his own invention, 508 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:05,440 Speaker 3: the five Pains woof ouch, because he. 509 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:09,760 Speaker 2: Was alive long enough to think about it. They cut 510 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:13,200 Speaker 2: off his nose and he's probably thinking, damn. 511 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,080 Speaker 3: This is familiar, not just despite his face, despite his 512 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:19,000 Speaker 3: entire existence, his entire body. 513 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:22,280 Speaker 2: Get a hand and he's like, ah, maybe this is 514 00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:26,800 Speaker 2: just some wackado coincidence. Then they get a foot, then 515 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:31,320 Speaker 2: they go for his Australia Dirty way to die. 516 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:34,720 Speaker 3: Not good, not good. Fine, I think we navigated that 517 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:38,040 Speaker 3: grizzly topic just fine. Ben, It wasn't I think it 518 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:41,000 Speaker 3: was too gratuitous. But yeah, not cool weird thing to 519 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,880 Speaker 3: be known for and also a really weird and horrific 520 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 3: way to die that you yourself were responsible for him. 521 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 2: Yes, and in the spirit of continuing our explorations, we 522 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:56,800 Speaker 2: want to tell you the following. First, there are many 523 00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:01,720 Speaker 2: inventors who invented many amazing things and did not die 524 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:08,000 Speaker 2: as a result of their explorations. Second, there's a smaller 525 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:14,239 Speaker 2: yet significant population of inventors who did indeed expire as 526 00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:18,680 Speaker 2: a result of their discoveries. Thinking of more recent examples 527 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:24,560 Speaker 2: like James W. Hezelden in September of twenty ten, the 528 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:28,080 Speaker 2: guy who bought the segue Company and then drove a 529 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:29,440 Speaker 2: seguey off. 530 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:33,280 Speaker 3: A cliff off a cliff in equally wily coyote fashion. 531 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:35,960 Speaker 5: Yeah, quite acme, it's true. 532 00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:39,640 Speaker 3: It's very acne indeed. But man, I think we got 533 00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:42,040 Speaker 3: a couple that we didn't get to today that I 534 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:45,320 Speaker 3: think of being an ongoing series. Let's keep adding to Ben. 535 00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:47,719 Speaker 3: But thanks for bringing these to us today, Bud. 536 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:52,120 Speaker 2: And thanks for tuning in, fellow ridiculous historians. Big big 537 00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:56,440 Speaker 2: thanks to our super producer, mister Max Williams, Big big 538 00:34:56,480 --> 00:35:01,200 Speaker 2: thanks to our our whole team of re search associates, 539 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:05,680 Speaker 2: as well as Alex Tiajuana Williams, who composed this slap 540 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:08,640 Speaker 2: and bop and has not died of a result of 541 00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:10,000 Speaker 2: his musical. 542 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:14,480 Speaker 3: Acumen no no, nor from driving a segue off a cliff. Thankful, 543 00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:15,640 Speaker 3: We love that guy. 544 00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:16,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, agreed. 545 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:19,319 Speaker 3: Huge thanks to Chris Frasciotis and Nave's chef cos Here 546 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:23,239 Speaker 3: in Spirit, aj Bahamas, Jacobs the Puzzler, Jonathan Strickland the quiztor. 547 00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:29,319 Speaker 2: Big thanks to Rachel Big Spinach Lance, I should say, 548 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:32,080 Speaker 2: Big Spinach thanks to Rachel Big Spinach Land. 549 00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:33,880 Speaker 3: Ooh ooh, and let's do a new thing we've been 550 00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:36,239 Speaker 3: doing for the new year, since we still haven't gotten 551 00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:39,600 Speaker 3: the keys back to our social media accounts for ridiculous 552 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:41,920 Speaker 3: history as a show. Why not check us out as 553 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:44,560 Speaker 3: individual human people because we are those and we exist 554 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:48,040 Speaker 3: on the Internet. I am exclusively on Instagram at how Now, 555 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:50,680 Speaker 3: Noel Brown, Ben. Where can folks find you? 556 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:54,160 Speaker 2: Well, first off, say the right words to a mirror 557 00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:58,640 Speaker 2: in the dark, or call my name at a crossroads. Yeah, 558 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:02,279 Speaker 2: I'll come back to you. Also, you can find me 559 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:06,640 Speaker 2: at Ben Bullen. In a burst of creativity on Instagram 560 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:12,000 Speaker 2: or some derivation thereof wherever apts are used. We also 561 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:15,880 Speaker 2: want to thank our fellow rude dudes over Ridiculous Crime 562 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 2: and you know Noel Max. You guys, thank you for 563 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:25,840 Speaker 2: not killing yourselves with these wonderful inventions. 564 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:27,000 Speaker 3: You're welcome. 565 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:28,920 Speaker 5: We'll see you next time, folks. 566 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:39,680 Speaker 3: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 567 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:41,920 Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.