WEBVTT - How Can Mudlarking Turn Trash Into Treasure?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff. Lauren

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<v Speaker 1>Bogelbaum here. Sifting through the junk stuck in the mud

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<v Speaker 1>of the Thames may sound unpleasant to some, but in

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<v Speaker 1>doing so, one is almost guaranteed to find a curious

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<v Speaker 1>and possibly valuable artifact. Uncovering a piece of Roman pottery,

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<v Speaker 1>a sixteen fifties era tobacco pipe, or a small, well

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<v Speaker 1>preserved wax seal dating back to the time of King Richard.

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<v Speaker 1>The third is just the kind of thing that keeps

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<v Speaker 1>mudlarkers mudlarking. Mudlarking is essentially digging through exposed riverbanks for

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<v Speaker 1>lost and forgotten objects, small treasures among shoreline rubbish. A

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<v Speaker 1>dirty job, yes, but a fun one for hobbyists and archaeologists.

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<v Speaker 1>For the article this episode is based on how Stuff Work.

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<v Speaker 1>Spoke with Maryland heritage scholar Henry M. Miller, PhD. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>it's the excitement. You never know what you're going to find.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just like all of archaeology. It's the thrill of

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<v Speaker 1>the discovery. Oh what am I going to find next?

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<v Speaker 1>And what is it going to tell me about people

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<v Speaker 1>in the past. That's the exciting thing. The concept of

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<v Speaker 1>mud larking originated in these seventeen or eighteen hundreds and

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<v Speaker 1>referred to a time when low income people, including kids,

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<v Speaker 1>would pour over the shoreline of the Thames at low tide,

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<v Speaker 1>collecting lost coins if they were lucky, but also spare nails,

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<v Speaker 1>pieces of coal, and anything else they might sell or trade.

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<v Speaker 1>There was and still is plenty to find there. For

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<v Speaker 1>thousands of years, the Thames served as a dumping ground.

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<v Speaker 1>A miller explained, people would throw their daily garbage in

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<v Speaker 1>the river and the tide would distribute it and it

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<v Speaker 1>would essentially disappear from sight. It was nasty, especially as

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<v Speaker 1>London's population grew and the Thames became increasingly it. Sixty

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<v Speaker 1>years ago, the Thames was so polluted from centuries of

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<v Speaker 1>dumping that it was declared dead. Since then, intense efforts

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<v Speaker 1>have been made to clean up the river, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>now considered one of the world's cleanest, but its polluted

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<v Speaker 1>past has made it one of the best places to

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<v Speaker 1>go mudlarking. The Thames holds literally thousands of years of

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<v Speaker 1>trash from the prehistoric era to the modern day, and

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<v Speaker 1>as the old adage goes, one man's trash is another

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<v Speaker 1>man's treasure. Mudlarkers can dig up a host of interesting artifacts,

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<v Speaker 1>including things like Venetian glass beads, a tudor money boxes,

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<v Speaker 1>medieval pilgrim badges, and sixteenth century shoes. Dumping all that

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<v Speaker 1>stuff into the Thames certainly got it out of sight,

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<v Speaker 1>but it didn't really disappear. It settled into the mud

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<v Speaker 1>at the river's bottom. Durable materials like pottery, nails, tobacco pipes,

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<v Speaker 1>and glass bottles get to humbled around a bit, but

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<v Speaker 1>last pretty well, along with some softer materials that may

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<v Speaker 1>surprise you. But Miller said, what's cool is there's an

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<v Speaker 1>anaerobic condition, which means things like wood and bone and

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<v Speaker 1>cloth and leather actually survive, sometimes in pretty pristine condition.

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<v Speaker 1>I found the top to a wine bottle, probably from

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<v Speaker 1>the late seventeen hundreds, with the cork still intact. He

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<v Speaker 1>visited in twenty sixteen to help create a comparative collection

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<v Speaker 1>of known London artifacts for archaeological analysis of early American sites.

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<v Speaker 1>The tides of the Thames create a perfect situation for

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<v Speaker 1>unearthing artifacts that many other waterways don't have. For starters,

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<v Speaker 1>its tide has a surprisingly large range. It can rise

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<v Speaker 1>and recede up to twenty four feet that's around seven meters,

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<v Speaker 1>with two low tides and two high tides every day,

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<v Speaker 1>leaving behind a vast swath of exposed river bottom at

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<v Speaker 1>each low tide. Here in the US, like the Hudson,

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<v Speaker 1>do experienced tides, but it might only drop about three

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<v Speaker 1>feet or a little less than a meter. The Thames

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<v Speaker 1>tide also comes in fast, upward of five miles an

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<v Speaker 1>hour that's about eight kilometers an hour. This enables the

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<v Speaker 1>current to scour the river bed and push out a

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<v Speaker 1>literal treasure trove of valuables toward the shoreline, where they're

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<v Speaker 1>left behind as the tide more gently recedes. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>technically you can mudlark the shores of any river in

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<v Speaker 1>the world, but if you want to mudlark in the Thames,

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<v Speaker 1>you've got to get a permit from the Port of

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<v Speaker 1>London Authority. That process takes at least four weeks and

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<v Speaker 1>costs about thirty five pounds a day for a standard license.

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<v Speaker 1>With that license, you're allowed to dig about three inches

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<v Speaker 1>or seven and a half centimeters into the mud and

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<v Speaker 1>are expected to replace the ground you disturb to help

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<v Speaker 1>preserve the environment and food chain. For the river's wildlife,

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<v Speaker 1>protecting the foreshores, natural and agricultural resources, and keeping mud

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<v Speaker 1>larkers and other citygoers safe is of utmost importance. Thus

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<v Speaker 1>there are some zones where digging isn't allowed. Restricted areas

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<v Speaker 1>include public infrastructure like passenger piers and gas pipelines of

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<v Speaker 1>plus historic sites like the shore along the Tower of

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<v Speaker 1>London and Queen Hive, which is a former Roman dock

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<v Speaker 1>area that was later developed by the Saxon king Alfred

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<v Speaker 1>the Great in the seven hundred CE. No permits are

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<v Speaker 1>required to mudlark in the US. You may find objects

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<v Speaker 1>of interest, but won't find the quantity and only very

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<v Speaker 1>rarely the quality that you can find along the Thames.

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<v Speaker 1>Miller said, we don't have, unfortunately, massive quantities of Roman

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<v Speaker 1>artifacts exposed here. Regardless of where you mudlark, you may

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<v Speaker 1>overlook a valuable artifact as junk or mistakeo worthless piece

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<v Speaker 1>of debris for a valuable treasure. Finding lost treasures takes

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<v Speaker 1>a trained eye and a good working knowledge of antiquities.

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<v Speaker 1>Remember that wine bottle stopper Miller had the thrill of

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<v Speaker 1>finding during his mudlarking excursion in the Thames. Some might

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<v Speaker 1>have assumed it was trash, but Miller knew it was

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<v Speaker 1>from the late seventeen hundreds because of the style of stopper.

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<v Speaker 1>He explained, on handmade bottles from that time, there's an

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<v Speaker 1>applied piece of glass just below the opening at the

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<v Speaker 1>top called a string rim. That's where they tie a

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<v Speaker 1>cord or wired to secure the cork in place. The

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<v Speaker 1>style has changed over time, so knowing the style of

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<v Speaker 1>the string rim, that's how I was able to date

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<v Speaker 1>the wine stopper. Luckily, for those of us who aren't

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<v Speaker 1>professional archaeologists, England has a system for identifying found objects.

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<v Speaker 1>Your permit to Mudlark allows you access to collect, but

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<v Speaker 1>it also explicitly says that you must give any fines

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<v Speaker 1>over to an authority for evaluation. That authority is your

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<v Speaker 1>local Finds Liaison officer, who has access to experts who

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<v Speaker 1>can help identify what a found object is. These objects

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<v Speaker 1>are also recorded in the Portable Antiquity Scheme, which is

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<v Speaker 1>a project of the British Museum to track all historical

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<v Speaker 1>artifacts that are found in the Thames and other locations

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<v Speaker 1>across the UK. Miller said England has a Treasure's law

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<v Speaker 1>on stuff like gold or silver or something like a

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<v Speaker 1>complete Roman sword. Stuff that's really rare because that's the

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<v Speaker 1>property of the people of England. If someone does find

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<v Speaker 1>something of great value, museums have the right to purchase

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<v Speaker 1>the item, for which the finder would be compensated. However,

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<v Speaker 1>it's really lucky to hit that kind of jackpot, Miller said.

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<v Speaker 1>Things like tobacco pipes, pieces of a bottle, a pig's jaw,

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<v Speaker 1>a specimen of medieval pottery, or a thimble are so

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<v Speaker 1>common and such domestic debris that museums already have thousands

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<v Speaker 1>or millions of those specimens in their collection. If an

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<v Speaker 1>item is reviewed and deemed not to be a treasure,

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<v Speaker 1>the mudlarker can have it back. In the US, if

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<v Speaker 1>you find something and are curious about its value, you

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<v Speaker 1>can contact your state archaeologist or an archaeologist at your

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<v Speaker 1>local college or university. The rules aren't as explicit here,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's still a good thing to do, especially if

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<v Speaker 1>you think you might have something uncommon on your hands.

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<v Speaker 1>A university or museum might be interested in purchasing it,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's really only polite, Miller said. As an archaeologist,

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<v Speaker 1>I must emphasize that for things that are exceptionally rare

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<v Speaker 1>that are part of our collective history. It really would

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<v Speaker 1>be appropriate to notify the State Historical Trust or archaeologist

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<v Speaker 1>about them. Trudging along riverbeds may sound harmless enough, but

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<v Speaker 1>mudlarking can be dangerous, especially along the Thames with such

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<v Speaker 1>tidal action. People have become so caught up and looking

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<v Speaker 1>for objects that some have become stranded and swept off

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<v Speaker 1>by the tide and had to be rescued. Other hazards

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<v Speaker 1>include slipping on rocks, getting hit by speedboats or garbage barges.

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<v Speaker 1>We're syncing into mudholes. You may also be at risk

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<v Speaker 1>for Vile's disease nasty bacterial infection that can spread through

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<v Speaker 1>rat urine in the water. Whether you find that an

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<v Speaker 1>acceptable risk or not is up to you, but if

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<v Speaker 1>you don't already have a permit, it may be a

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<v Speaker 1>while before it matters. The part of London Authority only

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<v Speaker 1>allows four thousand standard permits to be in play at

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<v Speaker 1>any given time, each vallid for one year. Those are

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<v Speaker 1>currently all accounted for. They do have a wait list,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's currently capped at ten thousand. Perspective Mudlarkers, Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on the article mudlarkers pull historical artifacts

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<v Speaker 1>out of riverbank muck on HowStuffWorks dot Com written by

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<v Speaker 1>Jennifer Walker. Journey brain Stuff is production of by Heart

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<v Speaker 1>Radio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com and is

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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