1 00:00:15,410 --> 00:00:28,130 Speaker 1: Pushkin. This week was Martin Luther King Junior Day, which 2 00:00:28,250 --> 00:00:31,330 Speaker 1: reminded me that one of my favorite ever episodes of 3 00:00:31,370 --> 00:00:35,650 Speaker 1: Cautionary Tales was about Martin Luther King Junior's most famous 4 00:00:35,690 --> 00:00:40,010 Speaker 1: speech and about an infamous speech given by a very 5 00:00:40,010 --> 00:00:45,730 Speaker 1: different character, Gerald Ratner. A confession. I am a public 6 00:00:45,770 --> 00:00:50,610 Speaker 1: speaking nerd. I competed in international debate competitions at school 7 00:00:50,650 --> 00:00:53,170 Speaker 1: and once had a career plan to write books about 8 00:00:53,210 --> 00:00:57,410 Speaker 1: public speaking. I find the art of public speaking fascinating 9 00:00:57,570 --> 00:01:01,250 Speaker 1: and much misunderstood. And the more I looked into the 10 00:01:01,290 --> 00:01:05,170 Speaker 1: story of these two speeches, each of which defined a 11 00:01:05,170 --> 00:01:09,050 Speaker 1: man's career, the more I thought to myself, we're thinking 12 00:01:09,250 --> 00:01:13,650 Speaker 1: about this all wrong. We have a marvelous slate of 13 00:01:13,770 --> 00:01:16,850 Speaker 1: Cautionary Tales coming in twenty twenty four, but I hope 14 00:01:16,890 --> 00:01:20,330 Speaker 1: you'll forgive me if I and the Cautionary Tales team 15 00:01:20,690 --> 00:01:24,570 Speaker 1: take a short rest to recharge our batteries. We will 16 00:01:24,610 --> 00:01:28,210 Speaker 1: be back with new episodes in February. But until then, 17 00:01:28,810 --> 00:01:32,330 Speaker 1: here is another chance to hear the astonishing talents of 18 00:01:32,450 --> 00:01:37,570 Speaker 1: Jeffrey Wright in Martin Luther King Junior, the Jewelry Genius, 19 00:01:38,050 --> 00:01:50,530 Speaker 1: and the art of public speaking. One late summer day 20 00:01:50,690 --> 00:01:55,490 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty three, thousands upon thousands of people gathered 21 00:01:55,490 --> 00:01:59,130 Speaker 1: on the Mall in Washington, d C. They had come 22 00:01:59,170 --> 00:02:03,530 Speaker 1: to America's capital for jobs and freedom, to show the 23 00:02:03,650 --> 00:02:09,170 Speaker 1: Kennedy administration that civil rights legislation must be pushed through Congress, 24 00:02:09,210 --> 00:02:14,570 Speaker 1: and to hear the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior speak. 25 00:02:15,130 --> 00:02:18,210 Speaker 1: The official program had been long and packed with speeches, 26 00:02:18,490 --> 00:02:21,530 Speaker 1: but a quarter of a million people defied the heat 27 00:02:21,690 --> 00:02:25,890 Speaker 1: as they waited. The crowd stretched back from the Lincoln Memorial, 28 00:02:26,330 --> 00:02:30,370 Speaker 1: packing the sides of the famous reflecting pool, swirling around 29 00:02:30,410 --> 00:02:33,930 Speaker 1: the base of the Washington Monument, and extending toward the 30 00:02:34,010 --> 00:02:39,970 Speaker 1: intransigent capital itself. The Mall usually dwarfs anything on a 31 00:02:40,050 --> 00:02:47,210 Speaker 1: human scale. Not that afternoon. The gospel singer Mahalia Jackson sang, 32 00:02:47,570 --> 00:02:51,770 Speaker 1: I've been butked and I've been scorned. Anticipation was building. 33 00:02:52,890 --> 00:02:57,930 Speaker 1: All three television networks switched to live coverage. Doctor King 34 00:02:58,290 --> 00:03:03,410 Speaker 1: stepped forward to speak to address not only the sweltering crowd, 35 00:03:03,770 --> 00:03:07,210 Speaker 1: but a national audience he had never had before and 36 00:03:07,370 --> 00:03:10,890 Speaker 1: might never have again. Doctor King had spent the night 37 00:03:11,090 --> 00:03:14,530 Speaker 1: laboring on his speech with a few trusted aids, weighing 38 00:03:14,690 --> 00:03:18,210 Speaker 1: every word of what he would say. For a few minutes, 39 00:03:18,370 --> 00:03:21,930 Speaker 1: the nation, even the world, would be focused on those 40 00:03:22,010 --> 00:03:26,130 Speaker 1: words from the Lincoln Memorial steps. Doctor King knew that 41 00:03:26,250 --> 00:03:32,170 Speaker 1: those words had to be perfect. But now let's leave 42 00:03:32,250 --> 00:03:36,570 Speaker 1: this iconic scene behind us and travel across time and 43 00:03:36,690 --> 00:03:41,650 Speaker 1: across the Atlantic. Twenty eight years later, a very different 44 00:03:41,730 --> 00:03:45,330 Speaker 1: man would give a very different speech in front of 45 00:03:45,370 --> 00:03:51,130 Speaker 1: a very different audience. This man's name was Gerald Ratner, 46 00:03:51,810 --> 00:03:55,170 Speaker 1: and he didn't have a dream. He had a nightmare. 47 00:03:56,250 --> 00:04:23,290 Speaker 1: I'm Tim Harford, and you're listening to cautionary tales. Gerald 48 00:04:23,370 --> 00:04:27,530 Speaker 1: Ratner's speech, to be clear, wasn't about civil rights. It 49 00:04:27,650 --> 00:04:31,410 Speaker 1: was about selling cheap jewelry. It became iconic because it 50 00:04:31,410 --> 00:04:35,330 Speaker 1: didn't go well. And as you've probably figured out by now, 51 00:04:36,050 --> 00:04:39,850 Speaker 1: I'm fascinated by things that didn't go well. But I'll 52 00:04:39,890 --> 00:04:43,850 Speaker 1: let you into a secret. I'm also fascinated by the 53 00:04:44,010 --> 00:04:47,650 Speaker 1: art of public speaking. I love doing it and i 54 00:04:47,690 --> 00:04:51,450 Speaker 1: love studying it. Public speaking is such a strange thing, 55 00:04:51,730 --> 00:04:56,170 Speaker 1: as natural as talking and yet wrenchingly difficult. And how 56 00:04:56,210 --> 00:04:59,730 Speaker 1: it was approached by these two men, Gerald Ratner and 57 00:04:59,850 --> 00:05:03,770 Speaker 1: Martin Luther King, and what happened to them could teach 58 00:05:03,810 --> 00:05:08,290 Speaker 1: us a lot. Dr King and mister Ratner are a 59 00:05:08,370 --> 00:05:12,450 Speaker 1: study in con trusts. Martin Luther King took the high 60 00:05:12,530 --> 00:05:17,290 Speaker 1: road through education, earning a doctorate in theology. Gerald Ratner 61 00:05:17,650 --> 00:05:20,930 Speaker 1: took the low road. Ratner was born in London in 62 00:05:21,010 --> 00:05:24,170 Speaker 1: nineteen forty nine and expelled from school at the age 63 00:05:24,170 --> 00:05:28,330 Speaker 1: of thirteen. When he was fifteen, he joined the family business, 64 00:05:28,650 --> 00:05:32,770 Speaker 1: a group of six jewelry shops. Ratner worked behind the 65 00:05:32,810 --> 00:05:36,010 Speaker 1: counter for ten years, but noticed that he didn't have 66 00:05:36,090 --> 00:05:39,610 Speaker 1: many customers his age or younger. Those people had no 67 00:05:39,730 --> 00:05:43,370 Speaker 1: interest in gold and diamond rings. They were spending plenty 68 00:05:43,370 --> 00:05:46,930 Speaker 1: of money on clothes and music. Shopping malls were busy. 69 00:05:47,610 --> 00:05:52,130 Speaker 1: Jewelers were not. They were dusty and intimidating. Nothing had 70 00:05:52,130 --> 00:05:54,810 Speaker 1: a price tag. The doors would be locked behind you 71 00:05:54,890 --> 00:05:59,770 Speaker 1: when you entered. Young Gerald soon had a management role 72 00:05:59,850 --> 00:06:04,410 Speaker 1: and steered the family business towards more informal shops, selling 73 00:06:04,410 --> 00:06:07,010 Speaker 1: products that would appeal to young shoppers on a budget. 74 00:06:07,570 --> 00:06:10,770 Speaker 1: It was a canny move. By the age of thirty five, 75 00:06:11,370 --> 00:06:16,170 Speaker 1: Ratner was a millionaire. He began a series of ambitious takeovers. 76 00:06:16,570 --> 00:06:20,330 Speaker 1: By the age of forty, he was running fifteen hundred stores, 77 00:06:20,330 --> 00:06:23,930 Speaker 1: in the UK and a thousand in the US. His 78 00:06:24,050 --> 00:06:29,690 Speaker 1: brands included k Watches of Switzerland and Ratner's itself. Gerald 79 00:06:29,770 --> 00:06:33,930 Speaker 1: Ratner had built the largest jewelry group on the planet, 80 00:06:34,930 --> 00:06:38,690 Speaker 1: and then he destroyed it in a matter of seconds. 81 00:06:44,130 --> 00:06:48,570 Speaker 1: Gerald Ratner had been asked to address the Institute of Directors, 82 00:06:48,610 --> 00:06:52,890 Speaker 1: a prestigious audience of six thousand British business leaders. The 83 00:06:52,970 --> 00:06:57,370 Speaker 1: venue was the Royal Albert Hall, vast and trimmed with 84 00:06:57,490 --> 00:07:03,650 Speaker 1: gold and red velvet, perhaps the grandest auditorium in London. Understandably, 85 00:07:04,050 --> 00:07:08,210 Speaker 1: Ratner started his speech looking nervous. He was a self 86 00:07:08,250 --> 00:07:12,010 Speaker 1: made man, a school dropout who now stood in front 87 00:07:12,050 --> 00:07:16,410 Speaker 1: of business royalty, and in fact, there were actual royalty 88 00:07:16,490 --> 00:07:20,970 Speaker 1: in the audience too. Ratner was rich and successful, to 89 00:07:21,010 --> 00:07:25,210 Speaker 1: be sure, but did he fit in? Three minutes after 90 00:07:25,250 --> 00:07:31,170 Speaker 1: starting his speech, he finds his theme mocking his own products. 91 00:07:31,530 --> 00:07:34,090 Speaker 2: We've got this imitation book that you lay on your 92 00:07:34,130 --> 00:07:39,610 Speaker 2: coffee table. Pages don't actually open, but they're beautiful, curled 93 00:07:39,690 --> 00:07:43,730 Speaker 2: up corners with imitation antique. Dust I knows you might 94 00:07:43,770 --> 00:07:47,210 Speaker 2: say it's not in the best possible taste, but we 95 00:07:47,290 --> 00:07:49,370 Speaker 2: sold a quarter a million of them last year. 96 00:07:50,090 --> 00:07:55,370 Speaker 1: The audience love it, They laugh, They clap. Ratner looks braver. 97 00:07:56,210 --> 00:08:00,410 Speaker 2: We also do this nice sherry to canter. It's cut 98 00:08:00,450 --> 00:08:04,730 Speaker 2: glass and it comes complete with six glasses on a 99 00:08:04,770 --> 00:08:08,410 Speaker 2: silver plated tray that your butler could bring you in 100 00:08:08,530 --> 00:08:09,690 Speaker 2: he serve you drinks on. 101 00:08:09,930 --> 00:08:12,770 Speaker 1: Oh you're too funny, Gerald. Some other people in the 102 00:08:12,810 --> 00:08:16,810 Speaker 1: audience would have employed butler's, but Ratner's customers certainly couldn't 103 00:08:16,810 --> 00:08:19,690 Speaker 1: afford one any more than they could afford a genuine 104 00:08:19,730 --> 00:08:23,970 Speaker 1: antique book, a decanter in a silver tray for your butler. 105 00:08:24,650 --> 00:08:26,250 Speaker 1: Nice one, and. 106 00:08:26,210 --> 00:08:29,890 Speaker 2: It's really only cost four pounds ninety five pence. 107 00:08:30,810 --> 00:08:33,250 Speaker 1: That's about twelve dollars in today's money. 108 00:08:33,810 --> 00:08:36,570 Speaker 2: People say to me, how can you sell this for 109 00:08:36,610 --> 00:08:40,610 Speaker 2: such a low price? I say, because it's total craft. 110 00:08:42,370 --> 00:08:47,970 Speaker 1: Moll laughter, more applause. Ratner's killing it on stage. He's 111 00:08:48,010 --> 00:08:52,250 Speaker 1: also just killed his own business empire. He didn't realize 112 00:08:52,250 --> 00:08:54,530 Speaker 1: it at the time. The speech had gone down very 113 00:08:54,570 --> 00:08:57,690 Speaker 1: well with the audience in the Royal Albert Hall, but 114 00:08:57,770 --> 00:09:02,010 Speaker 1: the newspaper reporters in the room smelled a story. The 115 00:09:02,130 --> 00:09:04,890 Speaker 1: jokes that have played so brilliantly on the day did 116 00:09:04,930 --> 00:09:08,370 Speaker 1: not go down so well when served up cold on 117 00:09:08,410 --> 00:09:11,850 Speaker 1: the front page age of the morning papers. At the time, 118 00:09:12,130 --> 00:09:15,650 Speaker 1: the UK was in the middle of a recession. Ordinary 119 00:09:15,650 --> 00:09:19,930 Speaker 1: people didn't take kindly to a multi millionaire standing in 120 00:09:19,970 --> 00:09:23,650 Speaker 1: front of his fellow one percenters and mocking his own 121 00:09:23,770 --> 00:09:27,330 Speaker 1: customers for their crass taste. And who would buy an 122 00:09:27,330 --> 00:09:30,810 Speaker 1: engagement ring from a company whose own boss had declared 123 00:09:30,890 --> 00:09:36,970 Speaker 1: their products were crap sales ebbed Ratner's group shares fell 124 00:09:37,090 --> 00:09:41,770 Speaker 1: nearly ninety percent between the speech in April and Christmas. 125 00:09:42,450 --> 00:09:47,450 Speaker 1: Ratner was sacked from his own company. Inevitably, they changed 126 00:09:47,490 --> 00:09:52,530 Speaker 1: the company name. Ratner's was a toxic brand, forever tarnished 127 00:09:56,450 --> 00:10:00,610 Speaker 1: to this day. In the UK, doing a Ratner is 128 00:10:00,730 --> 00:10:05,450 Speaker 1: part of the language, universally understood as committing a humiliating 129 00:10:05,810 --> 00:10:11,290 Speaker 1: career ending gaff. Ratner's name became its own one word 130 00:10:11,770 --> 00:10:18,490 Speaker 1: cautionary tale. The lesson seems obvious enough if everyone's watching, 131 00:10:19,490 --> 00:10:24,570 Speaker 1: choose your words with care, don't wing it. But what 132 00:10:24,650 --> 00:10:38,450 Speaker 1: if that lesson has the story completely backwards in retrospect? 133 00:10:38,890 --> 00:10:42,450 Speaker 1: The Reverend Doctor King had been preparing his whole life 134 00:10:42,530 --> 00:10:45,250 Speaker 1: to give the speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. 135 00:10:45,850 --> 00:10:49,650 Speaker 1: His memory had always been prodigious at the age of five, 136 00:10:49,730 --> 00:10:52,690 Speaker 1: he was learning Bible passages by heart. He told his 137 00:10:52,810 --> 00:10:55,250 Speaker 1: parents that when he grew up, he was going to 138 00:10:55,250 --> 00:11:00,170 Speaker 1: get some big words, so he did. Martin's father was 139 00:11:00,210 --> 00:11:02,970 Speaker 1: a preacher, and the boy took to the craft of 140 00:11:03,010 --> 00:11:07,290 Speaker 1: speechmaking early. At the age of fourteen, Martin traveled across 141 00:11:07,370 --> 00:11:10,970 Speaker 1: Georgia on a bus to compete in public speaking contest. 142 00:11:11,650 --> 00:11:16,610 Speaker 1: On the way home to Atlanta, things went sour, very sour. 143 00:11:17,970 --> 00:11:20,770 Speaker 1: King and his friend were sitting near the front of 144 00:11:20,810 --> 00:11:25,010 Speaker 1: the bus with their teacher, Sarah Grace Bradley. At a 145 00:11:25,010 --> 00:11:28,610 Speaker 1: busy stop, a rush of white passengers got on, and 146 00:11:28,690 --> 00:11:32,450 Speaker 1: the bus driver, also white, ordered King and his friend 147 00:11:32,890 --> 00:11:34,410 Speaker 1: to give up their seats. 148 00:11:34,970 --> 00:11:37,850 Speaker 3: You buys, move it, get yourself to the back. 149 00:11:37,690 --> 00:11:38,290 Speaker 4: Of the bus. 150 00:11:38,850 --> 00:11:42,170 Speaker 1: There was a pause. Dr King later said. 151 00:11:42,490 --> 00:11:45,250 Speaker 3: We didn't move quickly enough to suit him, so he 152 00:11:45,330 --> 00:11:46,650 Speaker 3: began cursing us. 153 00:11:47,450 --> 00:11:51,090 Speaker 1: The driver was now hurling every racist slur you can 154 00:11:51,130 --> 00:11:54,650 Speaker 1: imagine and threatening to call the police. 155 00:11:54,890 --> 00:11:59,330 Speaker 3: Harm Martin, Please do what he says. So we walked 156 00:11:59,330 --> 00:12:00,970 Speaker 3: to the back of the bus and I had to 157 00:12:01,010 --> 00:12:03,250 Speaker 3: stand all the way to Atlanta. 158 00:12:03,610 --> 00:12:07,610 Speaker 1: It was dark outside for ninety miles. There was nothing 159 00:12:07,610 --> 00:12:11,570 Speaker 1: to look at but the seat on the bus filled 160 00:12:11,570 --> 00:12:12,290 Speaker 1: with white people. 161 00:12:13,330 --> 00:12:15,450 Speaker 3: It was late at night, and I was tired, but 162 00:12:15,610 --> 00:12:18,930 Speaker 3: that wasn't the point. It was the humiliation. 163 00:12:20,490 --> 00:12:23,410 Speaker 1: Martin, remember, was just fourteen years old. 164 00:12:24,650 --> 00:12:27,170 Speaker 3: That night will never leave my memory. It was the 165 00:12:27,290 --> 00:12:31,890 Speaker 3: angriest I've ever been in my life. Suddenly I realized, 166 00:12:31,930 --> 00:12:35,210 Speaker 3: you don't count. You're nobody. 167 00:12:36,930 --> 00:12:40,890 Speaker 1: But Martin Luther King Junior wasn't destined to be nobody 168 00:12:41,170 --> 00:12:45,010 Speaker 1: for long. And the journey on the way to being 169 00:12:45,650 --> 00:12:49,370 Speaker 1: not just somebody, but somebody who made his mark on 170 00:12:49,570 --> 00:12:56,090 Speaker 1: history arguably began not with that unforgettable humiliation, but with 171 00:12:56,210 --> 00:13:07,170 Speaker 1: the triumphant day that had preceded it. The long and 172 00:13:07,250 --> 00:13:11,090 Speaker 1: infuriating bus journey of Martin Luther King Junior had been 173 00:13:11,130 --> 00:13:15,290 Speaker 1: on the way home from a public speaking competition. Martin 174 00:13:15,410 --> 00:13:18,490 Speaker 1: had won a prize at the contest, delivering his speech 175 00:13:18,730 --> 00:13:24,690 Speaker 1: titled The Negro and the Constitution entirely from memory. My 176 00:13:24,810 --> 00:13:27,890 Speaker 1: heart throbs anew in the hope that, inspired by the 177 00:13:27,930 --> 00:13:31,650 Speaker 1: example of Lincoln, imbued with the spirit of Christ, they 178 00:13:31,690 --> 00:13:36,530 Speaker 1: will cast down the last barrier to perfect freedom. That 179 00:13:36,690 --> 00:13:41,170 Speaker 1: speech showed off the teenage King's approach. He would research 180 00:13:41,930 --> 00:13:49,490 Speaker 1: draft redraft memorize, finally deliver with passion. King used the 181 00:13:49,530 --> 00:13:53,770 Speaker 1: same principles three years later, preaching for the first time 182 00:13:53,890 --> 00:13:57,130 Speaker 1: in a small meeting room at his father's church. He 183 00:13:57,290 --> 00:14:01,650 Speaker 1: was spectacular. The crowds kept coming until young Martin had 184 00:14:01,690 --> 00:14:05,250 Speaker 1: to move to the main auditorium. Martin won an oratory 185 00:14:05,250 --> 00:14:09,650 Speaker 1: prize in college. He used to practice imagined court testimony 186 00:14:09,650 --> 00:14:13,890 Speaker 1: in front of a mirror, dreaming of becoming a lawyer. Instead, 187 00:14:14,410 --> 00:14:16,730 Speaker 1: he applied for a job as a minister at a 188 00:14:16,770 --> 00:14:21,530 Speaker 1: Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama. As part of his application, 189 00:14:21,890 --> 00:14:24,410 Speaker 1: he had to give a sermon, and of course, he 190 00:14:24,530 --> 00:14:29,050 Speaker 1: used something meticulously crafted, a sermon he had preached several 191 00:14:29,130 --> 00:14:33,530 Speaker 1: times before practice don't just make it up as you 192 00:14:33,570 --> 00:14:37,770 Speaker 1: go along. Once he secured that job, he stuck to 193 00:14:37,810 --> 00:14:42,050 Speaker 1: that winning formula. King's responsibilities as a minister had to 194 00:14:42,090 --> 00:14:45,650 Speaker 1: be fulfilled while he was still finishing his doctorate in theology, 195 00:14:46,130 --> 00:14:50,210 Speaker 1: so he rose at half past five each morning, made coffee, 196 00:14:50,530 --> 00:14:54,650 Speaker 1: shaved his stubborn bristles into a neat mustache, then worked 197 00:14:54,650 --> 00:14:57,850 Speaker 1: on his doctorate for three hours before his pregnant wife, 198 00:14:57,930 --> 00:15:02,130 Speaker 1: Coreta woke to join him for breakfast. All the while 199 00:15:02,850 --> 00:15:07,650 Speaker 1: King lavished enormous effort on his sermons. He would begin 200 00:15:07,770 --> 00:15:11,730 Speaker 1: drafting on Tuesday and continued to research and draft throughout 201 00:15:11,730 --> 00:15:17,370 Speaker 1: the week, drawing ideas from Plato Aquinas freud Gandy. As 202 00:15:17,570 --> 00:15:20,650 Speaker 1: Sunday approached, he would write it all out on yellow 203 00:15:20,690 --> 00:15:24,250 Speaker 1: lined paper and commit it to memory, just as he 204 00:15:24,290 --> 00:15:27,370 Speaker 1: had done at the age of fourteen. He would bring 205 00:15:27,410 --> 00:15:30,770 Speaker 1: the script to church with him, but as he ascended 206 00:15:30,770 --> 00:15:33,210 Speaker 1: to the pulpit, he would leave it in his chair 207 00:15:33,450 --> 00:15:36,170 Speaker 1: and speak without notes for half an hour or more. 208 00:15:37,410 --> 00:15:42,290 Speaker 1: He was fantastic, people said. The congregation adored him and 209 00:15:42,410 --> 00:15:45,730 Speaker 1: the way he spoke with style about matters of substance, 210 00:15:46,490 --> 00:15:50,610 Speaker 1: and to achieve this mastery, the young Reverend King spent 211 00:15:51,010 --> 00:15:57,410 Speaker 1: fifteen hours or more crafting each sermon. Martin Luther King 212 00:15:57,890 --> 00:16:01,730 Speaker 1: was one of the greatest speechmakers to grace the English language, 213 00:16:01,850 --> 00:16:06,010 Speaker 1: and at first it might seem obvious why, as well 214 00:16:06,010 --> 00:16:10,330 Speaker 1: as being educated and prodigiously talented, he ensured that every 215 00:16:10,490 --> 00:16:16,170 Speaker 1: syllable of his oratory was meticulously prepared. Gerald Ratner could 216 00:16:16,170 --> 00:16:21,770 Speaker 1: have learned from doctor King's example, couldn't he, Well, the 217 00:16:21,810 --> 00:16:29,890 Speaker 1: truth is way more interesting than that, So why would 218 00:16:29,930 --> 00:16:34,130 Speaker 1: a public speaker set aside the script or memorized remarks 219 00:16:34,690 --> 00:16:38,610 Speaker 1: and speak off the cuff. I asked Charles Limb. He's 220 00:16:38,650 --> 00:16:43,250 Speaker 1: a neuroscientist, a surgeon, a jazz saxophonist, and one of 221 00:16:43,450 --> 00:16:50,290 Speaker 1: very few people who's actually studied the improvising brain. Lim 222 00:16:50,410 --> 00:16:55,690 Speaker 1: researches people as they improvise inside brain scanners called fmur 223 00:16:55,810 --> 00:16:59,770 Speaker 1: eye machines. Imagine sliding on your back so that your 224 00:16:59,850 --> 00:17:03,930 Speaker 1: head is surrounded by a giant, white plastic doughnut with 225 00:17:04,010 --> 00:17:07,810 Speaker 1: the feel of a vintage iPod. The scanner is generating 226 00:17:08,010 --> 00:17:12,730 Speaker 1: powerful magnetic fields to illuminate the contrast between oxygen rich 227 00:17:12,810 --> 00:17:16,050 Speaker 1: blood flowing to different areas of your brain and the 228 00:17:16,090 --> 00:17:20,810 Speaker 1: oxygen depleted blood flowing away. Again, your head is held 229 00:17:21,050 --> 00:17:25,170 Speaker 1: perfectly still. If you're a hip hop artist, you then 230 00:17:25,250 --> 00:17:28,330 Speaker 1: have to spit some rhymes in response to random words. 231 00:17:28,650 --> 00:17:30,970 Speaker 1: If you're a jazz musician, you have to tap out 232 00:17:31,050 --> 00:17:34,690 Speaker 1: riffs on a plastic keyboard lying across your knees and 233 00:17:34,730 --> 00:17:38,570 Speaker 1: no metal, Otherwise the magnetic field would rip the keyboard 234 00:17:38,570 --> 00:17:42,170 Speaker 1: apart and pull the shrapnel into the scanner with your head. 235 00:17:43,210 --> 00:17:49,330 Speaker 1: It's a tough gig. Through these experiments, Limb and other 236 00:17:49,410 --> 00:17:53,490 Speaker 1: neuroscientists have been discovering hints of what goes on in 237 00:17:53,570 --> 00:17:58,530 Speaker 1: an improvising brain. There's a distinctive pattern in the prefrontal cortex, 238 00:17:58,730 --> 00:18:02,770 Speaker 1: which seems to be the seat of consciousness, memory, morality, humor, 239 00:18:03,050 --> 00:18:07,170 Speaker 1: and even the sense of self. But the pattern isn't 240 00:18:07,410 --> 00:18:11,930 Speaker 1: that the prefrontal cortex is lighting up during improvisation. On 241 00:18:12,010 --> 00:18:16,810 Speaker 1: the contrary, broad areas of it shutting down the dorso 242 00:18:16,930 --> 00:18:19,610 Speaker 1: lateral areas either side of the top of your forehead 243 00:18:19,850 --> 00:18:24,650 Speaker 1: and the lateral orbital areas behind your eyes. Improvisers are 244 00:18:24,970 --> 00:18:29,810 Speaker 1: escaping their internal restraints. They're letting go. Most of us 245 00:18:29,850 --> 00:18:33,010 Speaker 1: go through our days holding back our mental impulses to 246 00:18:33,090 --> 00:18:36,570 Speaker 1: swear or lash out. All this requires a degree of 247 00:18:36,650 --> 00:18:41,370 Speaker 1: self control, so that filtering is a good thing. That 248 00:18:41,450 --> 00:18:44,330 Speaker 1: you can have too much of a good thing, says 249 00:18:44,410 --> 00:18:50,170 Speaker 1: Charles Limb. Too much filtering can squash our creativity. Improvisers 250 00:18:50,410 --> 00:18:53,930 Speaker 1: shut down their inner critics and allow new ideas to 251 00:18:54,010 --> 00:18:58,610 Speaker 1: flow out. The improvising brain is disinhibited, although not so 252 00:18:58,690 --> 00:19:02,650 Speaker 1: crudely as the drunk brain. That is why improvisers can 253 00:19:02,690 --> 00:19:08,570 Speaker 1: produce flashes of pure brilliance. It's also why improvisation feels 254 00:19:08,610 --> 00:19:18,130 Speaker 1: so risk. A script can seem protective, like a bulletproof vest, 255 00:19:19,090 --> 00:19:24,250 Speaker 1: but sometimes it's more like a strait jacket. Improvising unleashes creativity. 256 00:19:24,410 --> 00:19:27,810 Speaker 1: It feels fresh and honest and personal. Above all, it 257 00:19:27,890 --> 00:19:33,050 Speaker 1: turns a monologue into a dialogue. Miles Davis, the legendary 258 00:19:33,130 --> 00:19:37,850 Speaker 1: jazz trumpeter, talked about improvisation as the freedom and space 259 00:19:38,330 --> 00:19:42,450 Speaker 1: to hear things. That's a fascinating turn of phrase. Not 260 00:19:42,530 --> 00:19:45,930 Speaker 1: the freedom and space to play things or to do things, 261 00:19:46,690 --> 00:19:49,850 Speaker 1: but to hear things, to be more open to the 262 00:19:49,890 --> 00:19:52,810 Speaker 1: sound of your own instrument, the sound of the group, 263 00:19:53,490 --> 00:19:56,530 Speaker 1: And that matters for more than just music or rhetoric, 264 00:19:56,970 --> 00:20:01,170 Speaker 1: because we're scared of improvising, and we're not just afraid 265 00:20:01,210 --> 00:20:05,450 Speaker 1: to improvise on stage, we're also becoming afraid to improvise 266 00:20:05,770 --> 00:20:11,170 Speaker 1: face to face. The sociologist Sherry Turkle has been interviewing 267 00:20:11,210 --> 00:20:15,690 Speaker 1: young people about their communications through smartphone apps. It wasn't 268 00:20:15,730 --> 00:20:18,610 Speaker 1: just because the apps were convenient or addictive, although they 269 00:20:18,650 --> 00:20:24,690 Speaker 1: could be both. Texting is attractive because traditional conversations feel scary. 270 00:20:25,490 --> 00:20:27,210 Speaker 3: I'll tell you what's wrong with conversation. 271 00:20:27,770 --> 00:20:30,610 Speaker 1: One high school senior told Sherry Turkele. 272 00:20:30,610 --> 00:20:33,730 Speaker 3: It takes place in real time, and you can't control 273 00:20:33,770 --> 00:20:34,810 Speaker 3: what you're going to say. 274 00:20:35,090 --> 00:20:39,410 Speaker 1: What you're going to say. This student is so used 275 00:20:39,410 --> 00:20:43,210 Speaker 1: to being able to proofread every message that he's become 276 00:20:43,290 --> 00:20:49,250 Speaker 1: scared of simply talking and seeing what happens. But then 277 00:20:49,850 --> 00:20:53,930 Speaker 1: perhaps he's right to be scared. We should ask Gerald Ratner. 278 00:20:55,370 --> 00:20:59,770 Speaker 1: Gerald Ratner learned to laugh at himself a long time ago, 279 00:20:59,930 --> 00:21:03,570 Speaker 1: but he rejects the idea that somehow his mistake all 280 00:21:03,650 --> 00:21:06,730 Speaker 1: worked out for the best. People ask me if I'm 281 00:21:06,730 --> 00:21:09,850 Speaker 1: glad I said what I said. They're ridiculous. How could 282 00:21:09,890 --> 00:21:15,490 Speaker 1: I be grateful? I lost everything? Ratner plunged into depression. 283 00:21:15,970 --> 00:21:19,290 Speaker 1: He has bounced back in some ways. He had some success, 284 00:21:19,370 --> 00:21:21,570 Speaker 1: setting up a chain of health clubs and even an 285 00:21:21,650 --> 00:21:25,450 Speaker 1: online jewelry business. But the truth is that there was 286 00:21:25,530 --> 00:21:29,090 Speaker 1: nothing he could do, no success that he could achieve 287 00:21:29,690 --> 00:21:33,650 Speaker 1: that would ever be as famous as his gaff. The 288 00:21:33,690 --> 00:21:37,530 Speaker 1: search for a good joke destroyed his business, and it 289 00:21:37,610 --> 00:21:40,930 Speaker 1: nearly destroyed him. Who would want to risk the fate 290 00:21:41,010 --> 00:21:44,410 Speaker 1: of Gerald Ratner when they could follow the meticulous example 291 00:21:44,450 --> 00:21:47,770 Speaker 1: of the young Martin Luther King. It seems obvious that 292 00:21:47,850 --> 00:21:51,130 Speaker 1: when speaking in public, we should prepare as diligently as 293 00:21:51,250 --> 00:21:55,450 Speaker 1: King did when he drafted and memorized his sermons. But 294 00:21:55,690 --> 00:21:59,810 Speaker 1: the truth about Gerald Dratner's impromptu remark about his products 295 00:21:59,850 --> 00:22:07,330 Speaker 1: being total crap is this. It wasn't impromptu. He chose 296 00:22:07,410 --> 00:22:11,090 Speaker 1: those words with care to circulating drafts of the speech 297 00:22:11,130 --> 00:22:14,530 Speaker 1: to get comments. He had used the total crap joke 298 00:22:14,650 --> 00:22:18,450 Speaker 1: before without running into problems, and as he prepared to 299 00:22:18,490 --> 00:22:21,690 Speaker 1: deliver the speech on a larger stage, he sought advice. 300 00:22:22,290 --> 00:22:25,730 Speaker 1: His wife told him to be careful that others, including 301 00:22:25,770 --> 00:22:28,610 Speaker 1: a friend who was one of the most influential figures 302 00:22:28,610 --> 00:22:31,810 Speaker 1: in the advertising industry, encouraged him to tell even more 303 00:22:31,890 --> 00:22:36,250 Speaker 1: daring jokes. They thought Ratna would sound self deprecating and 304 00:22:36,290 --> 00:22:39,170 Speaker 1: that his audience would love the gags, which was true. 305 00:22:39,530 --> 00:22:42,130 Speaker 1: Those in the hall that day did love it. But 306 00:22:42,250 --> 00:22:46,090 Speaker 1: in the newspapers the next morning, Ratner simply sounded like 307 00:22:46,130 --> 00:22:55,850 Speaker 1: a millionaire mocking his struggling customers. When I listened back 308 00:22:55,890 --> 00:22:59,050 Speaker 1: to Ratner's speech, I don't hear the mockery at all. 309 00:22:59,490 --> 00:23:03,330 Speaker 1: I hear something else. Immediately after saying his own products 310 00:23:03,370 --> 00:23:06,330 Speaker 1: were crap, Ratner says are. 311 00:23:06,290 --> 00:23:10,810 Speaker 2: Ratner's shots will never win any awards. Design they're not 312 00:23:10,930 --> 00:23:13,850 Speaker 2: in the best possible taste. I admit that. In fact, 313 00:23:13,930 --> 00:23:16,170 Speaker 2: some people say they can't even see the jewelry for 314 00:23:16,210 --> 00:23:19,090 Speaker 2: all the banners and posters smothering the shot windows. 315 00:23:19,730 --> 00:23:23,530 Speaker 1: There's a different tone. Suddenly, there's a note of defiance, 316 00:23:24,010 --> 00:23:24,730 Speaker 1: even anger. 317 00:23:25,050 --> 00:23:29,330 Speaker 2: So it's interesting that these shots that everyone has a 318 00:23:29,330 --> 00:23:33,850 Speaker 2: good laugh about take more money per square foot than 319 00:23:33,890 --> 00:23:36,290 Speaker 2: any other retailer in Europe. 320 00:23:36,490 --> 00:23:39,490 Speaker 1: The hall is hush, now, nobody's laughing. 321 00:23:40,370 --> 00:23:44,850 Speaker 2: Why, because we give the customer what they want. 322 00:23:46,770 --> 00:23:52,450 Speaker 1: Gerald Ratner wasn't laughing at his customers. He identified with them. 323 00:23:52,730 --> 00:23:55,810 Speaker 1: He thought the business royalty in the hall were laughing 324 00:23:55,810 --> 00:24:01,090 Speaker 1: at his customers and his business ideas and him. This 325 00:24:01,690 --> 00:24:05,010 Speaker 1: was his response, You laugh at us, he was saying, 326 00:24:05,610 --> 00:24:09,090 Speaker 1: but my customers are happy and I'm rich, So who's 327 00:24:09,210 --> 00:24:15,090 Speaker 1: laughing now. Ratner's downfall wasn't caused by a lack of preparation, 328 00:24:15,850 --> 00:24:19,770 Speaker 1: but by a lack of judgment. Ratner did exactly what 329 00:24:19,890 --> 00:24:23,410 Speaker 1: he planned to do. He had simply failed to foresee 330 00:24:23,450 --> 00:24:30,250 Speaker 1: the consequences. Improvisation was not to blame. Improvising does expose 331 00:24:30,330 --> 00:24:34,810 Speaker 1: us to new and different risks, but even careful preparation 332 00:24:35,450 --> 00:24:53,130 Speaker 1: cannot remove Risks entirely. In December nineteen fifty five, Rosa 333 00:24:53,250 --> 00:24:56,490 Speaker 1: Parks was arrested after refusing to give up her seat 334 00:24:56,530 --> 00:25:00,130 Speaker 1: on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama to a white man. 335 00:25:01,210 --> 00:25:04,610 Speaker 1: As a local church leader with a reputation as an orator, 336 00:25:05,330 --> 00:25:09,250 Speaker 1: Martin Luther King was asked to organize a boycott of 337 00:25:09,290 --> 00:25:17,170 Speaker 1: Montgomery's buses. He hesitated. He was exhausted. His newborn baby daughter, Yoki, 338 00:25:17,410 --> 00:25:21,330 Speaker 1: wouldn't stop crying in the night. King asked for time 339 00:25:21,450 --> 00:25:24,330 Speaker 1: to mull over the idea of a bus boycott, but 340 00:25:24,450 --> 00:25:28,810 Speaker 1: an influential local activist, Edie Nixon, would have no delays. 341 00:25:29,490 --> 00:25:32,170 Speaker 1: You ain't got much time to think, said Nixon. You're 342 00:25:32,210 --> 00:25:35,570 Speaker 1: in the chair from now on. So it was that 343 00:25:35,690 --> 00:25:41,050 Speaker 1: King found himself bounced into leading the Montgomery Improvement Association. 344 00:25:41,930 --> 00:25:44,410 Speaker 1: He had to give an inaugural speech, and he had 345 00:25:44,410 --> 00:25:47,850 Speaker 1: to give it immediately. Rosa Parks was news. The bus 346 00:25:47,850 --> 00:25:52,330 Speaker 1: boycott was news. There wasn't time to spend days redrafting 347 00:25:52,410 --> 00:25:56,730 Speaker 1: or consulting the sayings of Plato or Gandhy. Doctor King 348 00:25:56,930 --> 00:25:59,450 Speaker 1: arrived home from the meeting with Edie Nixon and the 349 00:25:59,490 --> 00:26:02,730 Speaker 1: activists at half past six. He had to head to 350 00:26:02,770 --> 00:26:06,690 Speaker 1: the speech venue Holt Street Church at ten to seven. 351 00:26:07,250 --> 00:26:10,530 Speaker 3: I had only twenty minutes to prepare the most decisive 352 00:26:10,650 --> 00:26:14,650 Speaker 3: speech of my life. I became possessed by fear. 353 00:26:15,850 --> 00:26:19,050 Speaker 1: King knew that newspaper men would be there, perhaps even 354 00:26:19,090 --> 00:26:22,970 Speaker 1: television crews. And yet just as the stakes were highest, 355 00:26:23,450 --> 00:26:26,210 Speaker 1: the habit of meticulous preparation that had served him so 356 00:26:26,410 --> 00:26:31,850 Speaker 1: well all his life was useless. He couldn't research, draft, redraft, 357 00:26:31,930 --> 00:26:36,130 Speaker 1: and memorized. He had no time. King looked at his watch. 358 00:26:36,690 --> 00:26:40,490 Speaker 1: Already five minutes had ticked away while he fretted. Every 359 00:26:40,530 --> 00:26:43,650 Speaker 1: Sunday he delivered a sermon based on fifteen hours of 360 00:26:43,730 --> 00:26:46,610 Speaker 1: hard work. Now he was about to deliver the most 361 00:26:46,650 --> 00:26:50,130 Speaker 1: important speech of his life, and he had just fifteen minutes. 362 00:26:51,410 --> 00:26:54,450 Speaker 1: He sketched a couple of thoughts with his hand shaking, 363 00:26:54,930 --> 00:26:58,250 Speaker 1: pondering the delicate balance he had to strike between militancy 364 00:26:58,610 --> 00:27:03,530 Speaker 1: and moderation. Then he prayed that was all the preparation 365 00:27:03,650 --> 00:27:06,810 Speaker 1: he could spare before driving to the Holt Street Church. 366 00:27:12,250 --> 00:27:16,530 Speaker 1: Ten thousand people stood outside, unable to cram themselves in, 367 00:27:16,850 --> 00:27:19,770 Speaker 1: listening to the proceedings via a loud speaker on the roof. 368 00:27:20,370 --> 00:27:23,770 Speaker 1: The Montgomery police were their in force. So were the 369 00:27:23,810 --> 00:27:27,890 Speaker 1: television cameras pointing at the pulpit as King stepped up 370 00:27:28,170 --> 00:27:29,490 Speaker 1: and began to speak. 371 00:27:30,490 --> 00:27:33,770 Speaker 3: My friends, we're here this evening for serious business. 372 00:27:34,890 --> 00:27:39,370 Speaker 1: The speech is brilliantly described in Taylor Branch's biography of King. 373 00:27:40,210 --> 00:27:44,250 Speaker 1: Instead of the usual careful script, lovingly prepared and committed 374 00:27:44,290 --> 00:27:49,010 Speaker 1: to memory, King was groping his way towards the right words. 375 00:27:49,810 --> 00:27:52,850 Speaker 4: I think I speak with legal authority, not that I 376 00:27:52,890 --> 00:27:55,250 Speaker 4: have any legal authority, but I think I speak with 377 00:27:55,410 --> 00:27:58,810 Speaker 4: legal authority behind me. That the law, the ordinance, the 378 00:27:58,850 --> 00:28:01,570 Speaker 4: city ordinance, has never been totally clarified. 379 00:28:02,690 --> 00:28:06,010 Speaker 1: He had never in his life delivered a sermon with 380 00:28:06,130 --> 00:28:10,410 Speaker 1: a line as weak and confused as that one. Fifteen 381 00:28:10,530 --> 00:28:15,490 Speaker 1: hours of preparation always ironed out every wrinkle. But King 382 00:28:15,730 --> 00:28:20,370 Speaker 1: was finding something more valuable than time to prepare, in 383 00:28:20,450 --> 00:28:25,210 Speaker 1: Miles Davis's phrase, the freedom and space to hear things. 384 00:28:25,930 --> 00:28:29,810 Speaker 1: As he spoke, King listened to the crowd, feeling out 385 00:28:29,850 --> 00:28:34,090 Speaker 1: their response. Speaking in the moment. His early sentences were 386 00:28:34,130 --> 00:28:39,170 Speaker 1: experiments grasping for a theme, exploring how each sounded and 387 00:28:39,290 --> 00:28:43,330 Speaker 1: how the crowd responded. Each phrase shaped The phrase that 388 00:28:43,410 --> 00:28:47,330 Speaker 1: followed his speech was not a solo. It was a 389 00:28:47,450 --> 00:28:53,410 Speaker 1: duet with his audience. After a cautious opening, King talked 390 00:28:53,490 --> 00:28:57,970 Speaker 1: of Rosa Parks, of her character and Christian commitment, and. 391 00:28:58,090 --> 00:29:02,730 Speaker 3: Just because she refused to get up, she was arrested. 392 00:29:03,210 --> 00:29:07,410 Speaker 1: The crowd murmured their assent. After a pause for breath, 393 00:29:07,890 --> 00:29:10,410 Speaker 1: King changed irec you. 394 00:29:10,410 --> 00:29:13,770 Speaker 4: Know, my friends, there comes a time when people get 395 00:29:13,850 --> 00:29:17,170 Speaker 4: tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression. 396 00:29:18,770 --> 00:29:23,330 Speaker 1: And suddenly the avalanche began. A few yells of support 397 00:29:23,530 --> 00:29:27,250 Speaker 1: became a roar of approval and anger. The spirit of 398 00:29:27,290 --> 00:29:31,010 Speaker 1: the crowd was self sustaining, a torrent of emotion and sound, 399 00:29:31,050 --> 00:29:34,530 Speaker 1: which grew stronger. Just when it seemed the soundless fade, 400 00:29:35,050 --> 00:29:38,650 Speaker 1: further waves crashed in from the thousands of voices outside. 401 00:29:39,490 --> 00:29:44,410 Speaker 1: The cheering was everywhere. Then King spoke up again. With 402 00:29:44,490 --> 00:29:46,770 Speaker 1: the help of the crowd, he found his theme. 403 00:29:47,770 --> 00:29:50,250 Speaker 4: There comes a time when people get tired of getting 404 00:29:50,290 --> 00:29:54,130 Speaker 4: pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life's July and 405 00:29:54,250 --> 00:29:58,650 Speaker 4: left standing amidst the piercing chill of an alpine November. 406 00:29:59,210 --> 00:30:03,650 Speaker 1: Amid the sound of feet thundering on the church's wooden floorboards. 407 00:30:04,290 --> 00:30:09,650 Speaker 1: King was forced to pause as with any extemporaneous performance, 408 00:30:10,210 --> 00:30:14,610 Speaker 1: Kings was imperfect, with some meandering lines and a limp conclusion. 409 00:30:15,650 --> 00:30:20,850 Speaker 1: Despite all that, these improvised remarks were easily the finest 410 00:30:20,970 --> 00:30:23,890 Speaker 1: speech that King had yet given. People who had seen 411 00:30:23,970 --> 00:30:27,530 Speaker 1: him speak many times were astonished. He spoke with so 412 00:30:27,850 --> 00:30:34,050 Speaker 1: much force, Nobody, said one witness, nobody dreamed of Martin 413 00:30:34,210 --> 00:30:37,970 Speaker 1: Luther King being that sort of man under these conditions. 414 00:30:39,490 --> 00:30:43,330 Speaker 1: King himself, one suspects, had not truly understood what he 415 00:30:43,370 --> 00:30:47,170 Speaker 1: could unleash once he let himself go. He didn't want 416 00:30:47,250 --> 00:30:50,530 Speaker 1: to improvise the speech, preferred the script for when the 417 00:30:50,570 --> 00:30:54,330 Speaker 1: situation gave him no alternative. He came to understand what 418 00:30:54,490 --> 00:30:56,330 Speaker 1: older preachers had told. 419 00:30:56,170 --> 00:30:59,410 Speaker 3: Him, open your mouth and God will speak for you. 420 00:31:03,610 --> 00:31:06,970 Speaker 1: Seven and a half years later, in nineteen sixty three, 421 00:31:07,450 --> 00:31:10,290 Speaker 1: he found himself faced with see King to a quarter 422 00:31:10,450 --> 00:31:13,210 Speaker 1: of a million people who'd marched on Washington d C. 423 00:31:13,890 --> 00:31:17,130 Speaker 1: He knew he'd be live on every national television network. 424 00:31:17,770 --> 00:31:21,290 Speaker 1: This speech demanded the preparation of old It was too 425 00:31:21,330 --> 00:31:25,170 Speaker 1: important to be left to chance. Doctor King and his 426 00:31:25,250 --> 00:31:29,770 Speaker 1: aides had prepared a typewritten script, unpromisingly. 427 00:31:29,010 --> 00:31:31,690 Speaker 3: Titled almost Never Again. 428 00:31:32,890 --> 00:31:36,290 Speaker 1: King's team was trying to navigate complex waters with the 429 00:31:36,330 --> 00:31:39,370 Speaker 1: text of this address. King needed to reach out to 430 00:31:39,450 --> 00:31:43,050 Speaker 1: white allies, to rebut the hardline approach of Malcolm X 431 00:31:43,050 --> 00:31:47,290 Speaker 1: and others, and to respond to President Kennedy's Civil Rights Bill. 432 00:31:47,890 --> 00:31:51,330 Speaker 1: Was the bill to be criticized as inadequate or welcomed 433 00:31:51,370 --> 00:31:55,770 Speaker 1: as progress. There was much politicking behind the scenes, and 434 00:31:55,970 --> 00:31:59,570 Speaker 1: each speaker had been allotted only seven minutes. There was 435 00:31:59,570 --> 00:32:03,810 Speaker 1: no exception for Martin Luther King. All of these constraints 436 00:32:04,490 --> 00:32:08,770 Speaker 1: called for precise drafting. He knew that he would be 437 00:32:08,770 --> 00:32:13,090 Speaker 1: speaking King with a vast statue of Abraham Lincoln behind him, 438 00:32:13,410 --> 00:32:18,290 Speaker 1: one hundred years after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation had declared the 439 00:32:18,450 --> 00:32:23,890 Speaker 1: enslaved people of the United States to be free. So 440 00:32:24,410 --> 00:32:28,170 Speaker 1: King decided to open with an artful echo of Lincoln's 441 00:32:28,170 --> 00:32:32,610 Speaker 1: Great Gettysburg Address and referred to the Emancipation Proclamation as 442 00:32:32,650 --> 00:32:38,170 Speaker 1: a promisory note on which America had defaulted. As a 443 00:32:38,210 --> 00:32:43,250 Speaker 1: script normal scene never again was over formal and flawed. 444 00:32:43,970 --> 00:32:49,570 Speaker 1: Parts of it read like poetry. Others were clumsy legalese. 445 00:32:49,730 --> 00:32:53,050 Speaker 1: As King read out the speech, it did not stir 446 00:32:53,250 --> 00:32:58,250 Speaker 1: the soul, but then toward the end came a biblical flourish. 447 00:32:58,810 --> 00:33:03,570 Speaker 4: We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, 448 00:33:03,610 --> 00:33:07,570 Speaker 4: and righteousness like a mighty stream. 449 00:33:07,610 --> 00:33:12,130 Speaker 1: And as King said those words, approving cheers rippled up 450 00:33:12,210 --> 00:33:16,970 Speaker 1: and down the mall. Then King looked down at his script. 451 00:33:18,050 --> 00:33:22,130 Speaker 1: The next line was pretentious and limp. He couldn't bring 452 00:33:22,210 --> 00:33:26,690 Speaker 1: himself to say the words, and so instead he started 453 00:33:26,730 --> 00:33:29,770 Speaker 1: to improvise, telling the crowd go. 454 00:33:29,650 --> 00:33:32,890 Speaker 3: Back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama. 455 00:33:33,290 --> 00:33:37,890 Speaker 1: Behind him stood his friends and colleagues. They knew that 456 00:33:38,130 --> 00:33:41,690 Speaker 1: King had stepped away from the script, and at the 457 00:33:41,730 --> 00:33:46,770 Speaker 1: moment of maximum danger and maximum opportunity, the climax of 458 00:33:46,810 --> 00:33:51,370 Speaker 1: his speech, he was looking for something to say, something 459 00:33:51,410 --> 00:33:54,090 Speaker 1: that would touch the people there at the mall and 460 00:33:54,530 --> 00:33:56,010 Speaker 1: watching across the country. 461 00:33:56,530 --> 00:33:58,490 Speaker 2: Tell him about the dream. 462 00:33:58,450 --> 00:34:02,850 Speaker 1: Mine, yelled the singer Mahalia Jackson. It was a reference 463 00:34:02,850 --> 00:34:05,610 Speaker 1: to something doctor King had been preaching of late to 464 00:34:05,730 --> 00:34:09,930 Speaker 1: church congregations, a dream of a brighter future in which 465 00:34:09,930 --> 00:34:13,690 Speaker 1: whites and blacks lived in harmony. And as he stood 466 00:34:14,170 --> 00:34:19,010 Speaker 1: facing the television cameras and the vast expectant crowd looking 467 00:34:19,130 --> 00:34:24,290 Speaker 1: for inspiration, Martin Luther King heard Mahalia Jackson, and he 468 00:34:24,370 --> 00:34:27,850 Speaker 1: began to create on the fly one of the most 469 00:34:27,930 --> 00:34:32,490 Speaker 1: famous speeches of the century about how he had a dream, 470 00:34:32,690 --> 00:34:34,850 Speaker 1: a dream that America would live up to the. 471 00:34:34,810 --> 00:34:38,050 Speaker 3: Words all Men are Created. 472 00:34:37,690 --> 00:34:42,010 Speaker 1: Equal, A dream of an oasis of freedom and justice. 473 00:34:42,570 --> 00:34:46,650 Speaker 1: A dream that little black boys and black girls would 474 00:34:46,690 --> 00:34:49,050 Speaker 1: be able to join hands with little white boys and 475 00:34:49,090 --> 00:35:00,450 Speaker 1: white girls as sisters and brothers. Normalcy never again was forgotten. 476 00:35:02,050 --> 00:35:05,730 Speaker 1: The conclusion to the speech that shook the twentieth century 477 00:35:06,370 --> 00:35:18,890 Speaker 1: wasn't in the script. The best things usually aren't. Key 478 00:35:18,970 --> 00:35:24,050 Speaker 1: sources for this episode include Taylor Branch's book Parting the Waters, 479 00:35:24,090 --> 00:35:28,330 Speaker 1: Martin Luther King Junior's autobiography, and my own book MESSI 480 00:35:28,810 --> 00:35:32,730 Speaker 1: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives. For a 481 00:35:32,770 --> 00:35:39,490 Speaker 1: full list of references, see Timharford dot com. Cautionary Tales 482 00:35:39,570 --> 00:35:42,850 Speaker 1: is written by me Tim Harford with Andrew Wright. It's 483 00:35:42,890 --> 00:35:46,530 Speaker 1: produced by Ryan Dilly and Marilyn Rust. The sound design 484 00:35:46,610 --> 00:35:50,610 Speaker 1: and original music is the work of Pascal Wise. Julia 485 00:35:50,650 --> 00:35:55,130 Speaker 1: Barton edited the scripts. Starring in this series of Cautionary 486 00:35:55,170 --> 00:36:00,490 Speaker 1: Tales Helena Bonham Carter, and Jeffrey Wright, alongside Nizzar Elderazi 487 00:36:01,130 --> 00:36:07,570 Speaker 1: Ed Gochen, Melanie Gutteridge, Rachel Hanshaw, copenaholbrook Smith, Greg Lockett, 488 00:36:07,970 --> 00:36:12,410 Speaker 1: Messea Munroe, and Rufus Wright. This show wouldn't have been 489 00:36:12,450 --> 00:36:16,730 Speaker 1: possible without the work of Mea LaBelle, Jacob Weisberg, Heather Fine, 490 00:36:17,170 --> 00:36:23,810 Speaker 1: John Schnaz, Carlimgliori, Eric Sandler, Emily Rostick, Maggie Taylor, Aniela 491 00:36:23,890 --> 00:36:29,090 Speaker 1: La Khan, and Maya Kanig. Cautionary Tales is a production 492 00:36:29,650 --> 00:36:33,810 Speaker 1: of Pushkin Industries. If you like the show, please remember 493 00:36:33,850 --> 00:36:36,450 Speaker 1: to rate, share, and review.