WEBVTT - Listener Mail: Halloween Hangover 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:05.280 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:10.719 My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind. 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:14.280 Listener Mail. My name is Robert Land, and I'm Joe McCormick, 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:18.040 and this is the inaugural of our recurring series of 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:21.159 weekly listener mail episodes. If you've been listening to the 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:23.840 show for a while, we have. We've had a tradition 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:26.880 for several years now of sort of rounding up listener 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:29.600 mail every couple of months. But now we're going to 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:32.080 turn this into a weekly episode. So these will be 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:35.240 shorter than our normal episodes, but we'll be trying to 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:39.000 to check in with your your feedback and and reach 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:43.519 into the mail bag on a on a more regular basis. Yeah, 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:45.599 so let us know if this is good, if this 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:49.280 is bad, it's it's new. That's that's that's for sure. 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:52.320 But yeah, we're gonna you know, I guess the idea 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:54.040 is that if we do it every week, that the 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:57.160 the upside is it's more of a continual exchange of 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:01.000 ideas between uh, you the listener and UH and us 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:04.000 the host, as opposed to just sort of touching base 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:06.840 every month or two. Now, in this first one, I'm 0:01:06.840 --> 0:01:09.039 gonna say, we're still going to be playing some catch 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:11.360 up because there was a bunch of mail that we 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:14.000 tried to get into in our last full listener Mail episode. 0:01:14.360 --> 0:01:16.960 We didn't even come close. So we're still rounding up 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:20.920 some responses to our Halloween season episodes. This is gonna 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:24.080 be a sort of Halloween hangover a Listener mail. But 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:26.959 I would say in the future, we're gonna try to 0:01:27.120 --> 0:01:30.480 be getting into mail that is about more recent episodes, 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:33.120 so hopefully within the you know, past couple of weeks 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.840 before each episode airs. All right, well, let's go ahead 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:39.319 and uh and see what the mail boat has for 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:47.080 us this time. Uh, let's see. Do you want to 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:49.560 take this one, Joe or shall I sure I can 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:52.200 read this one here? From James. This is in response 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:54.880 to our episode about the Leshy, the creature of Slavic 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:57.600 mythology who's kind of a I think I called him 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:01.240 a malevolent trickster end. He's a spirit of the woods 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:06.240 who's somewhat beast of the forest, somewhat tree himself and uh, 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:09.840 and is generally bad and we'll do bad things to you. 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:13.600 So this is what James had to say, Hi, Robert 0:02:13.639 --> 0:02:16.280 and Joe, I love the Lessie episode, and I never 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:18.880 heard of the Lessie prior to listening. I'm glad you 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:22.800 made the connection to swamp Thing. Since reading Alan Moore's 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:25.520 saga of the swamp Thing on a plane once, it 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:27.800 is always stuck with me that swamp Thing is a 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:30.079 much deeper character than some of those he had been 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.680 paired with over the years. For example, I had a 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:36.960 Hulk Versus swamp Thing comic as a kid. Uh, Rob, 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:39.520 do you know that one? I don't. I'm I'm pretty 0:02:39.560 --> 0:02:42.960 much only familiar with the Alan Moore run of the comic, 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:45.280 as well as some of the other stuff that he 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:49.560 was up to on you know, various TV and film incarnations. Um. 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:51.680 But yeah, I always thought that swamp Thing was was 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:54.520 pretty deep. I mean, I'm not about to cast out 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:56.520 on the depth of the Hulk, because I know that 0:02:57.000 --> 0:02:58.799 the Hulk has been around a while, so I'm sure 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:03.760 there have been some some some deeper treatments of that character. 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:06.799 But yes, swamp Thing, especially as presented by Alan Moore 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:10.359 as a is a wonderfully rich character. Okay, James continues, 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:13.840 the discussion about getting lost reminded me of something that 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:16.320 happened when I was very young. It was certainly not 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:19.080 a life threatening moment, but here goes. My cousins and 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:21.640 I were at a beach with a coastal woodland behind 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:24.720 the dunes. I was the oldest, about twelve years old, 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:27.400 and we decided we should explore the woodland, being sure 0:03:27.440 --> 0:03:29.639 we would only need to turn around and head straight 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.280 back to the beach when we needed to. After a 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:35.320 few minutes of crawling under logs and pushing through bushes, 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:37.880 the adults on the beach called for us to come out. 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:40.840 We could hear them and headed in what we thought 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:43.800 was their direction. We seemed to be bashing through the 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:46.360 bush far longer than we had on the way in. 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:49.680 We realized we weren't going the right way and we're lost. 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:53.280 Several times we stopped and listened, then changed direction to 0:03:53.360 --> 0:03:56.000 move toward the voices on the beach. It felt as 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:58.960 though every direction we chose was wrong and we were 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:01.600 beginning to freak out. I was sure that if we 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:04.400 looked for open sky, it would signify the edge of 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:07.800 the woodland. Time after time, this theory was proven wrong. 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:10.800 After what might have been about thirty minutes, my cousin 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:13.800 caught a glimpse of something and following her lead. Within 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:17.279 a few strides, we'd step back onto the dunes. Needless 0:04:17.320 --> 0:04:19.400 to say, the adults were relieved to see us, and 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.920 I was not the favorite nephew that afternoon. I couldn't 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:26.520 understand how it repeatedly got it so wrong until listening 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:30.119 to Joe's explanation of the science of being lost. Most 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:33.240 likely I was leading us in circles just meters from 0:04:33.279 --> 0:04:36.640 the edge. More recently, my partner and I were walking 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:39.279 back from the same beach as a storm was approaching. 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:42.039 It's a place I still often go for holidays and 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:44.960 is very familiar to me, less so to her. The 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:48.919 houses and narrow roads i'll sit amongst a remnant coastal woodland. 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:52.040 I suggested we take a new route back to the house, 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:54.480 just to see what it was like. As we headed 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:56.880 down the different route, the wind picked up and the 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:00.280 tall trees lining the street were swaying dramatically under a 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:04.000 dark gray sky. We were startled by a loud screeching 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:06.880 sound and looked up to see several yellow tailed black 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:11.080 cockatoos just above us. They were clinging to the swaying branches, 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:14.440 screeching while the wind buffeted them to and fro. We 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:17.440 hadn't spotted any of these birds at all until that moment. 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:20.839 Up close, they're very large, and each of them firmly 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:23.480 held one eye on us, even as they were tossed 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:26.359 around by the oncoming storm. All we could hear was 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:29.799 wind in the trees and their sharp screeches cutting deeply 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:33.040 into us. We felt very intimidated by the whole scene, 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:35.719 and when my partner asked to turn back, I agreed, 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:38.920 even though it meant doubling back and staying out slightly longer. 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:41.480 I should say that I am not frightened of wild 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:44.680 life at all, and of experienced handling wild animals, including 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:48.480 large birds. At no time were we in any danger whatsoever, 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:51.680 and these cockatoos are beautiful birds that I love observing 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:55.040 when I get the chance. However, there was something profoundly 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:58.280 wild about the scene that made us feel very unwelcome. 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:01.000 It felt as though we were being told we had 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:03.760 stayed out too late, we shouldn't pass that point in 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:07.560 the road, and the storm, speaking through dark winged messengers, 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:10.680 was commanding us to return to the house. I got 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:13.240 the feeling that all of nature at that time was 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:16.560 one conscious force, which is not my usual belief. My 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:19.479 rational mind recognizes that this is simply a quirk of 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:23.919 being a human and feeling exposed in unfamiliar surroundings. I 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:26.800 can only imagine that if I was actually lost, like 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:30.760 I had been years earlier, not far from this encounter, Uh, 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:33.359 this would have been really frightening rather than just a 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:37.160 bit spooky. Listening to the leshy episode connected these memories 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:39.280 for me, and I can really see how a spirit 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:41.800 of the forest could manifest in the mind of people 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:45.080 losing their way in the wild. It almost did for me. 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:50.200 Thanks for introducing me to a fascinating idea once again, James. Oh, 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:53.440 I love that that especially. I especially love that having 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:56.240 just returned from a few days with nine with just 0:06:56.279 --> 0:07:00.240 my immediate family. Uh. Tybee Island here in Georgia, because 0:07:00.279 --> 0:07:02.640 they have some very desolate kind of coastlines there that 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:06.040 always Uh not that I ever thought it felt like 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:08.680 I was getting lost, but you can imagine yourself getting 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:12.760 lost out there beside the dunes where the ghosts of 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:15.640 the forest and the ghosts of the waters mingle. Yeah, 0:07:15.720 --> 0:07:18.560 there's a lot of wild country there to consider. Yeah, 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:26.000 we're really great email, James, Thanks for sharing. All right, 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:29.840 here's another Leshy email. This one comes to us from Adam. Hi, guys, 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:33.240 Happy Halloween from Massachusetts. Um. I mean you can look 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:36.280 at that either way. Either it's a late happy Halloween 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:38.400 or it's a it's a really early one, depending you know, 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:42.239 based on when we're reading this anyway, Uh, they continue. 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:44.480 We we take plenty of pride and scares, thrills and 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:46.640 traditions of this holiday, and I know you both enjoy 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:48.720 it as much as anyone. I'm a massive fan of 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:50.960 the podcast and love all of your content, but this 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:53.160 is the first time I finally willed myself to write 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:55.520 in on a topic. I just listened to your Leshy 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:58.880 podcast and found it extremely fascinating and informative on forest 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:01.640 myths and legends. However, I would like to politely critique 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:03.800 your description of the green Man and how it pertains 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:06.960 to European traditions. The podcast discussion encouraged me to do 0:08:07.040 --> 0:08:09.040 some research of my own, and it was very difficult 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:11.560 to come across a consensus about how related, if it, all, 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:14.680 the various green Man figures of Europe were. In particular, 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:17.480 you commented that we find this green man carved into 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:19.960 Christian churches dating back to at least the sixth century, 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:24.200 hinting at a clear inspiration from, or even direct reference 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:27.160 to pre Christian folklore. I've included a link to an 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:30.119 article by Emily Tesh below. This was a tour article 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:33.359 toward dot com uh that suggests the green men folklore 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:35.640 we think of today is actually a product of the 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:39.120 twentieth century, due to a poorly researched amalgamation of various 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:42.199 European myths by Lady Raglan in a nineteen thirty nine 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:46.720 edition of Folklore, a writing that relies more on speculation 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:50.559 than hard facts. While there I was certainly a multitude 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:53.000 of similar forest spirits in pre Christian folklore, it seems 0:08:53.040 --> 0:08:54.600 to be taken as a fact that this is why 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:57.240 the Christian architects were carving forest men into the churches, 0:08:57.480 --> 0:09:00.959 without much evidence to support the theory. It could very 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:03.240 well be true, but it should be pointed out when 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:06.040 speculating that this idea is by no means conclusive. The 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:08.600 article below does a nice job of showing that in 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:11.040 the past few centuries that has become quite common for 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:14.920 one folklore author to quickly inspire a quote unquote canonical myth. 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:17.640 An idea you touched on in the Minotaur podcast that 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:21.120 combines and oversimplifies ancient stories, traditions, and legends to make 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:25.240 them easier for mainstream consumption and pop cultural reference. Thought 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:28.360 you would find the read interesting as well. Thank you 0:09:28.440 --> 0:09:31.760 for all the entertainment, education, and inspiration you constantly provide. 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.880 All the best. Adam from Boston. Well, Adam, thanks for 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:36.920 writing in. I think this is this is a fabulous 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:40.760 point and I'm glad you, uh you you made it here. Um. 0:09:41.040 --> 0:09:43.760 On one hand, I would love to return to The 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:45.480 Green Man in the future. I've actually wanted to do 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:48.959 a Green Man episode for a long time. Um. I 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:53.280 guess it. It probably goes back to finally remembering catching 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:56.400 catching bits of the movie The Green Man starring Albert 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:59.000 Finney on on cable back in the day. I think 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:01.480 they would show it on any like on the middle, 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:04.240 like the dead middle of a Sunday afternoon, and I 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:06.880 always found that intriguing, and then of course I would 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.280 occasionally catch that I figured what it was called. But 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:12.120 there was a movie where Sean Connery played the Green 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:16.960 Night uh you know, his head gets cut off and everything. Um. 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:20.600 But yeah, it's it's my understanding that when we talk 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:25.160 about the green Man, we're really were oversimplifying, and we're 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:28.800 bringing together a whole bunch of different ideas um and 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:31.080 it would be it would be fun to research that 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:33.320 in greater depth in the future. And of course I 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:36.440 totally agree with this point about the dangers of forming 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:41.360 a canonical myth. I've been reading a book about Egyptian mythology, 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:43.480 and the author of that book makes many of the 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:45.599 same points, and one of the well one of the 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:47.400 ways that that she puts it in that book is 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:51.040 that is that when you consider a myth, you have 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:54.960 to consider all versions of the myth. The myth is 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:57.320 all versions of the myth, which I think is a 0:10:57.360 --> 0:10:59.880 wonderful point to make. Like, you can't you can't pick 0:10:59.880 --> 0:11:02.600 an choose, you can't carve it down, you can't limit 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.760 it to just one narrative. It is all of it. 0:11:05.760 --> 0:11:07.959 It is all of the uh, you know, the the 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:10.920 the the weird things that don't line up, the things 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:13.720 that don't really work together. It is the you know, 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:16.719 it is the version of the story that has been 0:11:16.720 --> 0:11:19.080 retold recently. It is also the version that was told 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:22.120 long ago. It is all these things that you you 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:24.800 have to incorporate or not even incorporate. You just have 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:28.480 to identify them as the myth and and you should 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:32.520 you should be hesitant to incorporate them all and try 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:35.880 and cobble together something that you would call canon. That's 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:39.640 a very good point, and it also it introduces difficulties 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:43.200 in reconciling how we view a myth as I don't know, 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:45.960 like the subject of academic study, versus how we view 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:49.000 a myth as a story to be retold, Because if 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:50.880 it's a story to be retold, you have to tell 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.000 it one way, like you have to pick away to 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:56.480 tell it, even though that's sort of antithetical to the 0:11:56.520 --> 0:12:01.080 best way to really study and understand a mythological tradition. Yeah, yeah, 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:02.920 so this is all important stuff to keep in mind, 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:05.640 um when because yeah, it's hard to you know, on 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:07.680 one level, you know, you want to engage with the 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:10.280 myth um you know, accurately, and talk about where it 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:12.040 came from and how it changed and how it is 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:14.800 still changing. But on the other hand, yeah, these are 0:12:14.800 --> 0:12:17.720 these are at the heart. You often have stories that 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:20.480 stick with us, characters and settings that stick with us, 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:24.040 and we have that narrative impulse. It's hard to resist anyway, 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:25.920 if you want to check out that article that I mentioned. 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:28.040 It is titled The Green Man When a is a 0:12:28.080 --> 0:12:30.680 myth not a myth? Uh. This was published in Tour 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:40.000 back in twenty nineteen. It is by Emily Tesh. All right, 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:42.679 we got a short message from nol in response to 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:46.520 our episode about melting. You remember the Melt movie episode, 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:50.880 and Noel says, Hi, first time getting in touch. Listening 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.679 to your recent podcast on melting, I was reminded of 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:56.280 when my daughter Millie was very little and she came 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:58.960 running to us in horror that she had discovered that 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:02.480 quote the wind does are melting. We then had to 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:06.040 explain the while while trying to gather some composure while 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.600 in fits of laughing, that everything was okay and what 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:13.440 she found was condensation on the windows. Love the show, knoll. Uh, 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:16.840 that is great. That's wonderful child logic, you know. Speaking 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:19.800 of the Melt episode, I think at one point in 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:22.680 that we said are there any songs about melting? And 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:25.880 it was subsequently pointed out to us by numerous listeners. 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:30.760 Uh that, of course we're forgetting the modern English British 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:34.000 New wave song I Melt with You, which is a 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:36.760 great track. Um, I don't know why that didn't rattle 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:39.000 in either of our heads. But but yeah, there's a 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:41.360 melt song for you, and it is a positive melt song. 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:45.439 It's about melting with somebody, you know, losing these destructive 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:48.440 boundaries in our life and just becoming this uh, this 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:51.640 pure ideal. So it's a great song for some reason. 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:53.520 For a long time, I think I thought that one 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:55.800 was by The Cure. I don't know why that's I'll 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:58.560 stop the world and melt with you. I thought it was, like, yeah, 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:02.120 on that same album with love song and pictures of 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:05.000 you and stuff. It has a very similar sound as 0:14:05.040 --> 0:14:07.400 being someone who's kind of I love The Cure, but 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:10.480 I'm very much a The Cure Greatest Hits kind of listener. 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:13.400 Uh So, I I kind of had it loosely grouped 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:15.080 in there with them. Oh, I kind of like to 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:17.720 go deep on the weird Cure songs, so you know, 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:28.680 the hanging gardens and all that stuff. Oh cool, All right, 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.440 here's one that comes to us from Aaron responding to 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:35.200 our anthology of horror episodes. Hi, Robert and Joe. I 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:37.960 enjoyed the podcast greatly, and I've been working again through 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:40.960 the back catalog of your shows. I'm currently listening to 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:44.240 the old episode Anthology of Horror volume three from last year, 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:47.320 and I want to comment on the whole sixth finger thing, 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.720 the idea of having six fingers. On one hand, um uh, 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:55.600 polydactually is actually a dominant trait in humans and more animals. Actually, however, 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:59.920 it is rarely expressed because the recessive gene for five 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:03.080 digits is the dominant gene in the population. That being said, 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:05.840 if one of your parents had the dominant gene and 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:08.480 passed it on to you, it would be expressed. So 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:11.280 having six digits is not a birth defect as was 0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:14.840 stated in the podcast. So considering that polydactically is the 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:18.120 dominant trait, it could in theory come into dominance in 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:21.120 expression if we were to do some selective breeding that 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:24.480 would produce more people who have this gene as dominant. 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:27.720 Of course, that would be horrific as you would essentially 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:30.360 have to perform eugenics to do this. Since the recessive 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:34.160 gene is is the dominant expressed gene and to increase 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:36.280 the number faster, you would want your breeding stock to 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.520 have two copies of the dominant gene. So I feel 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:41.960 that you you kind of missed out on the horrific 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:46.680 implications of the evolved form of the character having six fingers. 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:48.960 A whole lot of bad crap had to happen to 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:52.880 get there. Uh. There was also another episode where you 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:56.440 talked about somebody who damaged their hearing by something happening 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:58.240 in their mouth. I'm sorry, but I don't remember the 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:00.800 name of the episode. I immediately under if the damage 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:04.200 occurred from a pressure wave passing from the mouth up 0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:07.040 the eustacean tube into the inner ear. Lots of people 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:10.160 forget about this design in our anatomy and that the 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:13.080 issues that can be caused from this connection to the 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:16.280 inner ear. I think this was in reference to our 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:20.560 episode on the eggs. Remember exploding eggs where if you 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.960 that's right, cases where somebody microyve the hard boiled egg 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:27.160 and then bit into it and it exploded like a 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:30.640 bomb in their mouth. Finally, and one of the Anthology 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:33.280 of Horror episodes who referred to the Simpsons episode with 0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:36.280 Kane and Kodos wanting to cook humans. That was one 0:16:36.320 --> 0:16:38.280 of one of the early of not the first tree 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:41.200 House of Horror episodes. Kang and Kodos subduct the Simpsons 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:44.360 when they are in the backyard barbecuing, Lisa becomes suspicious 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:47.320 of the aliens and ultimately finds the alien cook's cookbook 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:49.960 that implies that they are fattening up the Simpsons to eat. 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:53.040 Much hilarity and sues as each side continues to blow 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:57.480 space dust off the title until they reveal that they 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:00.000 had no intention attention of eating the Simpsons. It's still 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:02.000 one of the best King and Kotos stories in my 0:17:02.120 --> 0:17:06.000 honest opinion. Anyway, keep up the great work and stay safe. 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:09.800 Aeron um. Yeah, I recently rewatched the very first tree 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:11.920 House episode and this is one of them. This is 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:14.520 back when it's it's Kane and Kodos, but also a 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:19.200 third alien whose name I don't remember, but it's the chef, 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:23.320 and it's voiced by James Earl Jones. Oh wow, I've 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:26.440 completely forgotten that that's not in my memory at all. Yeah, 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:29.000 I think James Earl Jones. Like they started off having 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:31.480 a tradition of James Earl Jones being a voice actor 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:34.480 in their tree House episodes, but it only lasted like 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:37.000 the first couple of episodes, maybe three episodes, I'm not sure. 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:40.760 Because of course he's the voice of of of of 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:45.480 the Baby of Maggie and Time and in the Time 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:54.080 of Punishment episode. Yeah, alright, this next message comes to 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:58.840 us from Robin. I believe it's a paleontologist. Robin says, Hi, 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:02.280 Joe and Rob and Seth listening to your Saturday Vault 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:06.000 episode Anthology of Horror volume two. Joe expressed that he 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:08.840 very much like the Twilight Zone episode that was discussed 0:18:08.880 --> 0:18:11.280 shadow play. Remember that was the one about the the 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:14.000 guy who is being sent to the execution and he 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:17.080 tells everybody around him, you can't execute me because you're 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:19.240 in my dream right now. If you kill me, you 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:22.800 will all cease to exist. Um. And Robin goes on 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:25.120 to say, you went on to discuss some really interesting 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:28.480 thoughts about theory of mind and the nature of consciousness. Uh, 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:31.160 and I remember we talked about the possibility of like, 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:34.640 what if you could have a conscious mind inside your 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:37.639 conscious mind that's separate from your mind. You know, the 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:41.240 brain is capable of generating consciousness. We that that seems 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:43.360 to be observable. What if it can generate more than 0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:47.960 one consciousness? It's hard to rule something like that out. Um, 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:51.400 So Robin continues, I believe I've written in to recommend 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:53.760 this book before, but I will happily recommend it again. 0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:57.480 I Am a Strange Loop by Douglas Hofsteader. It goes 0:18:57.520 --> 0:18:59.800 into quite a bit of exploration into just what you 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:02.800 were discussing in that segment. Joe mentions the idea of 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:07.680 simulating another consciousness within your own while practicing theory of mind, 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:11.040 and Rob talks about simulating those in our lives that 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:14.000 we know best. Well, the person that we know best 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:18.520 is ourselves. Yes, we can simulate other consciousnesses in our 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:21.960 mind to greater or lesser degrees, but the highest fidelity, 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:26.520 best simulation is your own eye. You are the eponymous 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:29.600 strange Loop. We are nothing more than the pattern of 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:34.600 our thoughts and actions. And when idiosyncratic characteristics like speech, mannerisms, 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:39.080 philosophical positions, taste in music, et cetera, are picked up 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:43.480 by other surrounding consciousnesses and continue after the original person 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:46.399 has died, it is very much the case that a small, 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:50.480 pixelated version of that consciousness continues to live on in 0:19:50.480 --> 0:19:53.760 the remaining person or people. Anyway, I very much think 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:56.200 you folks would enjoy the book, and I would recommend 0:19:56.280 --> 0:19:58.680 picking up a copy over the holiday season to read. 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:03.040 Not too dense, very read bull fairly quick. Cheers Robin. Well, 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.399 thanks Robin. Yeah, this is really interesting and yeah, I 0:20:05.440 --> 0:20:08.160 think we've talked about that idea before that in some 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:12.200 strange sense, your your personality does actually live on in 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:14.959 the memory of of other people. It's like a you know, 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:20.000 a sort of vhs uh second generation copy of your personality, 0:20:20.040 --> 0:20:23.280 but it can be simulated by other people's brains. Yeah, 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:30.800 very cool. All right, here's another one. This is another 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:35.360 Anthology of of Horror listener mail from Matt. Good Day, 0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:38.600 Robert and Joe very much enjoyed your fourth Horror Anthology 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:41.680 episode and all October episodes. Of course, I've written you 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:43.840 a couple of times about farming food production, and this 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:45.960 time I just wanted to briefly expand on one of 0:20:45.960 --> 0:20:50.600 the things you mentioned regarding pathogen transmission from plants to humans. Specifically, 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:55.280 you mentioned fungal infestations in crops, vomit, toxin, and consequential 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:59.160 health concerns associated with elevated levels. You were absolutely correct 0:20:59.160 --> 0:21:02.679 that we farmers scalt and apply controls fungicides if we 0:21:02.720 --> 0:21:06.040 see fungal pressures in our fields, not all the time. 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:08.280 The infection has to be serious and widespread enough to 0:21:08.280 --> 0:21:11.120 warrant a control, but it can be a solution. How 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:14.280 much disease pressure uh one has in their fields is 0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:17.760 usually determined by every farmer's favorite gambling buddy, the weather. 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:21.400