1 00:00:15,316 --> 00:00:23,876 Speaker 1: Pushkin. No one living within earshot of the enclosed yard 2 00:00:23,916 --> 00:00:28,596 Speaker 1: at twenty nine Hanbury Street reports hearing anything particularly untoward 3 00:00:28,676 --> 00:00:34,516 Speaker 1: in the night. No scuffle, no cries, no screams. A 4 00:00:34,636 --> 00:00:38,876 Speaker 1: neighbor thinks he hears someone say no. But when residents 5 00:00:38,876 --> 00:00:42,916 Speaker 1: awake on Saturday, September eighth, they catch sight of Annie 6 00:00:43,036 --> 00:00:48,076 Speaker 1: Chapman's body. A local tradesman goes to fetch a canvas 7 00:00:48,076 --> 00:00:52,316 Speaker 1: sheet to throw over Annie and her horrific wounds. When 8 00:00:52,316 --> 00:00:55,716 Speaker 1: he returns, the police have arrived and a crowd has gathered. 9 00:00:56,316 --> 00:01:00,796 Speaker 1: Is that woman who sells her crochet work at the marketing? 10 00:01:04,756 --> 00:01:08,196 Speaker 1: Thank you very much. The gentlemen of the press are 11 00:01:08,356 --> 00:01:12,956 Speaker 1: not far behind. A painful sensation was created all over 12 00:01:13,036 --> 00:01:15,596 Speaker 1: London today when it was known that early this morning, 13 00:01:15,636 --> 00:01:20,436 Speaker 1: another shocking murder was perpetrated. Again. The victim is a woman. Again, 14 00:01:20,476 --> 00:01:24,156 Speaker 1: there has been a fearful mutilation of the body. Journalists 15 00:01:24,156 --> 00:01:28,516 Speaker 1: swarm Whitechapel, and soon the grim details of Annie's death 16 00:01:28,636 --> 00:01:33,876 Speaker 1: are splashed across newspapers hundreds even thousands of miles away. 17 00:01:34,756 --> 00:01:37,796 Speaker 1: The head of Annie Chapman had been nearly severed from 18 00:01:37,796 --> 00:01:41,116 Speaker 1: her body by one stroke of a sharp knife, and 19 00:01:41,236 --> 00:01:44,356 Speaker 1: her mangled remains have been disposed about her in a 20 00:01:44,396 --> 00:01:47,276 Speaker 1: way that suggested a delight in the slaughter for the 21 00:01:47,356 --> 00:01:51,676 Speaker 1: slaughter's sake. Panic grips the east End and it spreads. 22 00:01:52,316 --> 00:01:55,276 Speaker 1: A murderer is on the loose, and he's not just 23 00:01:55,516 --> 00:01:59,676 Speaker 1: roaming Whitechapel in print. He lurks in the homes of 24 00:01:59,796 --> 00:02:06,236 Speaker 1: readers everywhere. But are they getting the facts or fiction? 25 00:02:08,636 --> 00:02:13,316 Speaker 1: I'm ribbin Holt, you're listening to bad Women. The Ripper 26 00:02:13,436 --> 00:02:17,316 Speaker 1: retold a series about the real lives of the women 27 00:02:17,436 --> 00:02:20,396 Speaker 1: killed by Jack the Ripper and how we got their 28 00:02:20,436 --> 00:02:29,356 Speaker 1: stories so wrong. One side, money plenty, and friends too. 29 00:02:29,676 --> 00:02:39,116 Speaker 1: By the score. Then fortune smile upon me. Now one 30 00:02:39,476 --> 00:02:54,996 Speaker 1: pass my time, Anny, and not well her lie seems 31 00:02:55,156 --> 00:03:10,876 Speaker 1: to larn me. I'm com free root. The story of 32 00:03:10,916 --> 00:03:14,916 Speaker 1: Annie Chapman's life is a tragedy. Interludes of hope and 33 00:03:15,036 --> 00:03:17,876 Speaker 1: good fortune were crushed by the loss of her father 34 00:03:17,996 --> 00:03:22,116 Speaker 1: to suicide, her siblings and children to sickness, and her 35 00:03:22,196 --> 00:03:27,676 Speaker 1: husband and home to the shame of addiction. Lighted by alcoholism. 36 00:03:27,756 --> 00:03:31,756 Speaker 1: Annie was penniless, alone and sick were tuberculosis when she 37 00:03:31,796 --> 00:03:35,636 Speaker 1: curled up in a White Chapel yard That was where Jack, 38 00:03:35,636 --> 00:03:40,956 Speaker 1: the ripper found her. There is nothing in Annie's story 39 00:03:40,996 --> 00:03:43,796 Speaker 1: that might explain what happened after her body was discovered. 40 00:03:44,436 --> 00:03:47,876 Speaker 1: A police officer writing up as initial report listed her 41 00:03:47,916 --> 00:03:53,756 Speaker 1: occupation as guess what, prostitute. The police, who were inclined 42 00:03:53,796 --> 00:03:56,796 Speaker 1: to call almost any woman out alone at night a prostitute, 43 00:03:57,196 --> 00:04:00,676 Speaker 1: already had a theory the White Chapel murders were being 44 00:04:00,716 --> 00:04:03,796 Speaker 1: committed either by a gang that was extorting money from 45 00:04:03,876 --> 00:04:07,596 Speaker 1: prostitutes or by a lone killer on a murderous campaign 46 00:04:07,676 --> 00:04:12,476 Speaker 1: to punish them. A grimly predictable move, they immediately linked 47 00:04:12,516 --> 00:04:16,516 Speaker 1: Annie Chapman with the sex trade across the Atlantic. The 48 00:04:16,556 --> 00:04:19,356 Speaker 1: New York Times even took up the story. The latest 49 00:04:19,396 --> 00:04:22,796 Speaker 1: murder is exactly like its predecessor. The victim was a 50 00:04:22,796 --> 00:04:27,316 Speaker 1: woman streetwalker of the lowest class. Annie's murder came right 51 00:04:27,396 --> 00:04:31,076 Speaker 1: on the heels of Polly Nichol's death. These similar killings 52 00:04:31,116 --> 00:04:35,596 Speaker 1: whipped the papers into a frenzy. The blood of the 53 00:04:35,676 --> 00:04:39,196 Speaker 1: murdered women in the East End still cries for vengeance. 54 00:04:39,676 --> 00:04:42,516 Speaker 1: If the murderer is still at large, and if, as 55 00:04:42,516 --> 00:04:45,356 Speaker 1: there is every reason to suppose, he is a maniac, 56 00:04:45,836 --> 00:04:49,076 Speaker 1: we may look for fresh deeds of blood at his hands. 57 00:04:49,716 --> 00:04:53,396 Speaker 1: As the press reports multiplied, so too did theories about 58 00:04:53,396 --> 00:04:57,516 Speaker 1: the murderer's identity. According to coverage of the autopsy, the 59 00:04:57,636 --> 00:05:01,036 Speaker 1: killer had removed Annie's womb and part of a bladder, 60 00:05:01,356 --> 00:05:03,236 Speaker 1: so some were certain that he had to be an 61 00:05:03,236 --> 00:05:07,396 Speaker 1: expert with a knife. A shadowy figure called leather apron, 62 00:05:07,756 --> 00:05:12,796 Speaker 1: a slipper maker, became the prime suspect. Leather workers, after all, 63 00:05:13,036 --> 00:05:16,036 Speaker 1: used wickedly sharp knives to ply their trade, and a 64 00:05:16,156 --> 00:05:19,356 Speaker 1: leather apron had supposedly been found in a yard near 65 00:05:19,396 --> 00:05:23,596 Speaker 1: Annie's body. One newspaper gave the following description of him. 66 00:05:24,356 --> 00:05:26,876 Speaker 1: He is five feet four or five inches in height. 67 00:05:27,156 --> 00:05:30,436 Speaker 1: He's thick set and has an unusually thick neck. His 68 00:05:30,596 --> 00:05:34,036 Speaker 1: hair is black and closely clipped, his age being about 69 00:05:34,076 --> 00:05:37,316 Speaker 1: thirty eight or forty, He has a small black mustache. 70 00:05:37,516 --> 00:05:41,116 Speaker 1: The distinguishing feature of his costume is a leather apron, 71 00:05:41,276 --> 00:05:44,316 Speaker 1: which he always wears and from which he gets his nickname. 72 00:05:44,676 --> 00:05:48,676 Speaker 1: His expression is sinister. His eyes are small and glittering. 73 00:05:48,876 --> 00:05:51,556 Speaker 1: His lips are usually parted in a grin which is 74 00:05:51,596 --> 00:05:55,996 Speaker 1: not only not reassuring, but excessively repellent. He's a slipper 75 00:05:56,036 --> 00:05:59,196 Speaker 1: maker by trade, but does not work. His business is 76 00:05:59,276 --> 00:06:02,836 Speaker 1: blackmailing women late at night. He has never cut anybody 77 00:06:02,916 --> 00:06:06,196 Speaker 1: so far as is known, but always carries a leathern knife. 78 00:06:06,836 --> 00:06:10,156 Speaker 1: Local leather worker John Piser was front and center in 79 00:06:10,196 --> 00:06:14,356 Speaker 1: the leather apron theory. According to the Penny Illustrated Paper, 80 00:06:14,756 --> 00:06:18,476 Speaker 1: Pyser was arrested and then released. He later gave a 81 00:06:18,516 --> 00:06:20,716 Speaker 1: full account of his whereabouts at the time of both 82 00:06:20,716 --> 00:06:23,676 Speaker 1: Annie and Polly's murders to the coroner, with a long 83 00:06:23,716 --> 00:06:26,356 Speaker 1: list of those able to back his version of events. 84 00:06:27,036 --> 00:06:29,916 Speaker 1: It is only fair to say that the witness's statements 85 00:06:29,996 --> 00:06:35,436 Speaker 1: can be corroborated. The press swiftly backtracked on the significance 86 00:06:35,476 --> 00:06:39,156 Speaker 1: of that leather apron discovery. A large knife stained with 87 00:06:39,236 --> 00:06:42,076 Speaker 1: blood and a leather apron, it was at first reported, 88 00:06:42,236 --> 00:06:45,196 Speaker 1: were discovered near the body. But this is not so. 89 00:06:45,876 --> 00:06:48,756 Speaker 1: There was, it's true, an apron, but that belonged to 90 00:06:48,796 --> 00:06:51,396 Speaker 1: a young man who lives in the house and uses 91 00:06:51,396 --> 00:06:55,076 Speaker 1: it in his work. The apron theory had been attempting one. 92 00:06:55,436 --> 00:06:59,836 Speaker 1: It played to powerful Victorian prejudices that a Jewish tradesman 93 00:07:00,156 --> 00:07:03,676 Speaker 1: was bound to be behind the murders. Readers sitting at 94 00:07:03,716 --> 00:07:06,276 Speaker 1: home in their parlors were soon coming up with their 95 00:07:06,316 --> 00:07:09,996 Speaker 1: own replacement theories and writing into the papers to share them. 96 00:07:10,516 --> 00:07:14,156 Speaker 1: Armchair detectives, it turns out, aren't just a modern phenomenon. 97 00:07:14,796 --> 00:07:17,356 Speaker 1: I think that the murderer is not of the class 98 00:07:17,436 --> 00:07:20,996 Speaker 1: of which leather apron belongs, but is of the upper 99 00:07:20,996 --> 00:07:25,236 Speaker 1: class of society. Sir, I would suggest that the police 100 00:07:25,236 --> 00:07:28,116 Speaker 1: should at once find out the whereabouts of all cases 101 00:07:28,116 --> 00:07:31,956 Speaker 1: of homicidal mania which may have been discharged as cured 102 00:07:32,276 --> 00:07:36,076 Speaker 1: from metropolitan asylums during the last two years. The slaughter 103 00:07:36,116 --> 00:07:40,196 Speaker 1: ground of the East End abounds with lodging houses, each 104 00:07:40,276 --> 00:07:42,836 Speaker 1: victim of the last six months being an inhabitant of 105 00:07:42,836 --> 00:07:46,316 Speaker 1: one or other, and their murderer is probably at this 106 00:07:46,516 --> 00:07:54,356 Speaker 1: moment sheltered in this alsatia of the East. The murderer 107 00:07:54,436 --> 00:07:57,636 Speaker 1: is a leather worker. He's a rich man or an artist. 108 00:07:57,876 --> 00:08:01,196 Speaker 1: He's a ruffian. He's an escaped lunatic. He's a doctor. 109 00:08:01,356 --> 00:08:06,516 Speaker 1: He's a foreigner, an outsider, a jew. For some whoever 110 00:08:06,556 --> 00:08:10,076 Speaker 1: he was, he was doing good work by murder during prostitutes, 111 00:08:10,556 --> 00:08:14,636 Speaker 1: like a surgeon cutting out necrotic tissue. To the editor 112 00:08:14,636 --> 00:08:19,676 Speaker 1: of the Times, Sir, the horror and excitement caused by 113 00:08:19,676 --> 00:08:24,396 Speaker 1: the murder of the Whitechapel outcasts imply a universal belief 114 00:08:24,436 --> 00:08:27,636 Speaker 1: that they had a right to life. If they had, 115 00:08:28,036 --> 00:08:29,996 Speaker 1: then they had the further right to hire a shelter 116 00:08:30,116 --> 00:08:32,796 Speaker 1: from the bitterness of the English knight. If they had 117 00:08:32,876 --> 00:08:35,316 Speaker 1: no such right, then it was on the whole a 118 00:08:35,436 --> 00:08:38,876 Speaker 1: good thing that they fell in with an unknown surgical genius, he, 119 00:08:39,036 --> 00:08:42,196 Speaker 1: at all events, has made his contribution towards solving the 120 00:08:42,236 --> 00:08:45,916 Speaker 1: problem of clearing the East End of its vicious inhabitants. 121 00:08:48,956 --> 00:08:52,436 Speaker 1: I'm not actually interested in Jack the Ripper's identity. I 122 00:08:52,556 --> 00:08:55,556 Speaker 1: never have been. But it's hard to research the lives 123 00:08:55,596 --> 00:08:58,556 Speaker 1: of these women without coming across all of these theories. 124 00:08:58,996 --> 00:09:01,956 Speaker 1: I wondered about the primary evidence that was out there, 125 00:09:02,476 --> 00:09:05,236 Speaker 1: What gave rise to all of these theories. It had 126 00:09:05,236 --> 00:09:08,916 Speaker 1: to be something incredible, right, So I looked. I looked, 127 00:09:09,516 --> 00:09:14,596 Speaker 1: and I found nothing. Nothing credible. That is, the official 128 00:09:14,636 --> 00:09:17,596 Speaker 1: transcripts of what were said at Annie's inquest, as well 129 00:09:17,636 --> 00:09:22,836 Speaker 1: as most of the police documentation, hasn't survived. Pretty Much 130 00:09:22,876 --> 00:09:26,196 Speaker 1: everything we think we know to day about Annie Chapman's 131 00:09:26,236 --> 00:09:30,076 Speaker 1: time in Whitechapel and about her murder is drawn from 132 00:09:30,076 --> 00:09:34,676 Speaker 1: the newspapers can we actually trust anything they say or 133 00:09:34,796 --> 00:09:40,556 Speaker 1: was it all fake news. Let's start with some of 134 00:09:40,556 --> 00:09:44,116 Speaker 1: the most simple details that the press got wrong. In 135 00:09:44,196 --> 00:09:47,076 Speaker 1: the Observer and the Pall Mall Gazette, that friend of 136 00:09:47,076 --> 00:09:52,436 Speaker 1: Annie Chapman's from Whitechapel, Amelia Palmer, is misnamed as Amelia Farmer. 137 00:09:53,196 --> 00:09:55,676 Speaker 1: She's quoted as saying that Annie was not in the 138 00:09:55,756 --> 00:09:59,756 Speaker 1: habit of frequenting the streets. Instead, Annie eked out a 139 00:09:59,836 --> 00:10:03,836 Speaker 1: living by selling flowers, matches and decorative fabric covers for chairs. 140 00:10:04,356 --> 00:10:08,676 Speaker 1: By contrast, the Star newspaper quotes Amelia as saying, quite 141 00:10:08,716 --> 00:10:11,836 Speaker 1: the is it? I am afraid the deceased used to 142 00:10:11,836 --> 00:10:14,636 Speaker 1: earn her living partly on the streets, And in the 143 00:10:14,756 --> 00:10:20,316 Speaker 1: Daily News Amelia says Annie is out late. Sometimes we 144 00:10:20,396 --> 00:10:23,556 Speaker 1: may see this as a euphemism for prostitution, or we 145 00:10:23,676 --> 00:10:26,676 Speaker 1: may not. There are many reasons for such disparities in 146 00:10:26,756 --> 00:10:31,276 Speaker 1: reporting in eighteen eighty eight, including physical distance between reporters 147 00:10:31,276 --> 00:10:33,836 Speaker 1: and their subjects. There's a lot of different ways that 148 00:10:33,956 --> 00:10:37,316 Speaker 1: news travels in the nineteenth century. There are many hundreds 149 00:10:37,356 --> 00:10:39,996 Speaker 1: of newspapers just in England alone. Every town has its 150 00:10:39,996 --> 00:10:43,196 Speaker 1: own newspapers, and usually several newspapers what obviously they can't 151 00:10:43,196 --> 00:10:46,236 Speaker 1: do is have a journalist in every location. Historian Bob 152 00:10:46,356 --> 00:10:50,436 Speaker 1: Nicholson is an expert in nineteenth century journalism. Newspapers across 153 00:10:50,476 --> 00:10:52,956 Speaker 1: the world were hungry to report on the Ripper case, 154 00:10:53,316 --> 00:10:56,116 Speaker 1: but without their own journalists on the ground in Whitechapel, 155 00:10:56,236 --> 00:10:58,756 Speaker 1: they will clip directly from other newspapers. That's why you 156 00:10:58,876 --> 00:11:01,036 Speaker 1: cut and pacers we now think about on computers is 157 00:11:01,236 --> 00:11:04,476 Speaker 1: describing a literal historical practice done with citizen glue. And 158 00:11:04,516 --> 00:11:07,156 Speaker 1: that's where you see word for word the same things 159 00:11:07,156 --> 00:11:10,476 Speaker 1: appearing in newspapers on opposite sides of the country. Because 160 00:11:10,476 --> 00:11:13,996 Speaker 1: they're part of this network of news, provincial editors had 161 00:11:14,116 --> 00:11:17,196 Speaker 1: no way to query or fact check these reports. This 162 00:11:17,236 --> 00:11:20,516 Speaker 1: helped inaccuracy blossom and spread. They are taking it on 163 00:11:20,556 --> 00:11:22,436 Speaker 1: trust in much the same way that we do when 164 00:11:22,436 --> 00:11:24,396 Speaker 1: we see these things online now, and it's so easy 165 00:11:24,396 --> 00:11:27,076 Speaker 1: for misinformation to spread when things go viral or move 166 00:11:27,116 --> 00:11:30,076 Speaker 1: around the internet. It's exactly the same in the nineteenth century. 167 00:11:30,156 --> 00:11:32,756 Speaker 1: Once at context, at connection with the original source has gone. 168 00:11:32,796 --> 00:11:35,996 Speaker 1: How do we know By eighteen eighty eight, the electric 169 00:11:36,036 --> 00:11:39,516 Speaker 1: telegraph was being used to transmit information all over Britain. 170 00:11:39,676 --> 00:11:43,876 Speaker 1: The Empire and beyond. As a result, the Whitechapel murders 171 00:11:43,916 --> 00:11:47,276 Speaker 1: became a shared experience for millions. It's not just something 172 00:11:47,276 --> 00:11:49,596 Speaker 1: that's happening in London and then trickles down many weeks 173 00:11:49,676 --> 00:11:52,036 Speaker 1: later to the rest of the country. It's almost live. 174 00:11:52,356 --> 00:11:54,476 Speaker 1: It's almost as rapid as we would experience with the 175 00:11:54,476 --> 00:11:57,396 Speaker 1: Internet or with twenty four hour news. There are telegraph 176 00:11:57,476 --> 00:12:00,956 Speaker 1: cables under the Atlantic Ocean two, which means that The 177 00:12:01,076 --> 00:12:04,236 Speaker 1: New York Times could report on Annie Chapman's murder the 178 00:12:04,396 --> 00:12:08,396 Speaker 1: day after her body was found. All day long, Whitechapel 179 00:12:08,436 --> 00:12:12,476 Speaker 1: has been wild with excitement. The detectives have no clue. 180 00:12:12,796 --> 00:12:16,676 Speaker 1: The London police force is probably the stupidest in the world. 181 00:12:17,716 --> 00:12:22,636 Speaker 1: This technology was revolutionary. Distant events were suddenly much closer, 182 00:12:22,956 --> 00:12:26,956 Speaker 1: the world smaller. When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in eighteen 183 00:12:27,036 --> 00:12:29,956 Speaker 1: sixty five, people in Britain were unaware of his death 184 00:12:30,036 --> 00:12:33,036 Speaker 1: until a ship brought the news. Fast forward to Andrew 185 00:12:33,076 --> 00:12:36,716 Speaker 1: Garfield shooting in eighteen eighty one, and journalists were telegraphing 186 00:12:36,836 --> 00:12:40,476 Speaker 1: hourly updates across the ocean. Within the space of fifteen years, 187 00:12:40,476 --> 00:12:42,916 Speaker 1: we go from America been a week and a half away, 188 00:12:42,996 --> 00:12:44,596 Speaker 1: to a point where you can feel the pulse of 189 00:12:44,596 --> 00:12:47,436 Speaker 1: a dying president in the Times every couple of hours. 190 00:12:48,076 --> 00:12:51,516 Speaker 1: But rapid coverage of the Whitechapel murders also meant feverish, 191 00:12:51,796 --> 00:12:56,036 Speaker 1: frenzied coverage. Every journalist was searching for a unique angle 192 00:12:56,076 --> 00:12:58,756 Speaker 1: on the story. At this point, They've got to file 193 00:12:58,756 --> 00:13:01,276 Speaker 1: that copy. They've got to get that story in within hours. 194 00:13:01,276 --> 00:13:03,636 Speaker 1: Every day. You've got to feed the beast. That press 195 00:13:03,716 --> 00:13:05,956 Speaker 1: needs a new story, It needs another fact, it needs 196 00:13:05,956 --> 00:13:10,996 Speaker 1: another theory. Some journalists were cross differencing and corroborating their facts, 197 00:13:11,276 --> 00:13:14,276 Speaker 1: but some were simply intent on filing the story that 198 00:13:14,316 --> 00:13:18,956 Speaker 1: would sell, creating the perfect environment for rumors, guesswork, and 199 00:13:19,116 --> 00:13:22,556 Speaker 1: mistakes to creep in. And all of this means that 200 00:13:22,636 --> 00:13:27,476 Speaker 1: these newspapers simply cannot offer us a perfect representation of 201 00:13:27,516 --> 00:13:34,396 Speaker 1: the events of eighteen eighty eight. The ripper retold will 202 00:13:34,436 --> 00:13:44,716 Speaker 1: return shortly. The marketplace for and competition among newspapers also 203 00:13:44,796 --> 00:13:47,956 Speaker 1: helps to explain the coverage of the Whitechapel murders. The 204 00:13:48,036 --> 00:13:50,676 Speaker 1: eighteen eighties was the dawn of what at the time 205 00:13:50,916 --> 00:13:55,756 Speaker 1: was described as the New journalism. Growing literacy rates and 206 00:13:55,796 --> 00:13:59,356 Speaker 1: improved printing technologies had given rise to a new mass 207 00:13:59,396 --> 00:14:03,276 Speaker 1: reading public. In Britain. It was also cheaper to produce newspapers. 208 00:14:04,116 --> 00:14:06,956 Speaker 1: The government stopped taxing them, which meant you could buy 209 00:14:06,956 --> 00:14:10,436 Speaker 1: a paper for a penny, placing them within most people's reach, 210 00:14:10,756 --> 00:14:15,636 Speaker 1: and that public was clamoring for news. You had all 211 00:14:15,636 --> 00:14:18,316 Speaker 1: that stuff together and it basically mounts to an enormous 212 00:14:18,356 --> 00:14:20,276 Speaker 1: gold rush of people trying to get in on this 213 00:14:20,316 --> 00:14:22,636 Speaker 1: new market, trying to be the ones who are going 214 00:14:22,636 --> 00:14:25,596 Speaker 1: to sell a paper. And there are an astronomical number 215 00:14:25,596 --> 00:14:27,676 Speaker 1: of papers in Britain at this time, in every town, 216 00:14:28,156 --> 00:14:29,836 Speaker 1: and a lot of them are incredibly short lived. They'll 217 00:14:29,876 --> 00:14:31,396 Speaker 1: last for a couple of weeks and then die. They're 218 00:14:31,396 --> 00:14:33,036 Speaker 1: a bit like you know, blogs or podcast There are 219 00:14:33,036 --> 00:14:34,676 Speaker 1: all sorts of the things now. Everybody's rushing in to 220 00:14:34,676 --> 00:14:37,076 Speaker 1: get into that market, and some of them last, some 221 00:14:37,116 --> 00:14:39,076 Speaker 1: of them make a hit, others, you know, wither away 222 00:14:39,116 --> 00:14:44,316 Speaker 1: straight away. If you were in London in eighteen eighty 223 00:14:44,356 --> 00:14:46,876 Speaker 1: eight and you walked up to a newsstand, you would 224 00:14:46,876 --> 00:14:50,916 Speaker 1: see dozens of papers all covering the same story. Publishers 225 00:14:50,956 --> 00:14:54,716 Speaker 1: had to compete. For some newspapers, like The Times, that 226 00:14:54,836 --> 00:15:00,396 Speaker 1: all important selling point was accuracy. For others, it was sensationalism. 227 00:15:00,756 --> 00:15:03,276 Speaker 1: The Times has been around since, you know, the seventeen eighties. 228 00:15:03,316 --> 00:15:05,956 Speaker 1: By this point, why do people buy something else instead, Well, 229 00:15:05,956 --> 00:15:09,596 Speaker 1: it's because it's more entertaining, it's because it represents their politics. 230 00:15:09,596 --> 00:15:11,596 Speaker 1: When you cut that kind of public hysteria around the 231 00:15:11,596 --> 00:15:15,476 Speaker 1: Whitechapel murders, where everybody's clamoring for information that intensifies, you've 232 00:15:15,476 --> 00:15:18,676 Speaker 1: got to be the paper that has that latest discovery. 233 00:15:18,836 --> 00:15:21,636 Speaker 1: You don't have that somebody else will. In some cases 234 00:15:21,716 --> 00:15:26,156 Speaker 1: what filled the column inches with pure invention. Lurid illustrations 235 00:15:26,156 --> 00:15:29,556 Speaker 1: were often given prominence over words. You could now illustrate 236 00:15:29,596 --> 00:15:33,156 Speaker 1: a knife plunging into someone's chest, or draw the bodies 237 00:15:33,156 --> 00:15:35,676 Speaker 1: of these women and print them on the front page. 238 00:15:36,076 --> 00:15:39,556 Speaker 1: The most famous example of this was the Illustrated Police News, 239 00:15:39,956 --> 00:15:44,036 Speaker 1: a lowbrow paper that served up extended a breathless coverage 240 00:15:44,036 --> 00:15:46,196 Speaker 1: of crime. So they basically said, we know people like 241 00:15:46,316 --> 00:15:48,996 Speaker 1: reading about crimes, Let's make an entire paper out of it. 242 00:15:49,036 --> 00:15:51,516 Speaker 1: And the front page of the Police News was packed 243 00:15:51,556 --> 00:15:53,996 Speaker 1: with lurid illustrations of whatever have been going on in 244 00:15:54,036 --> 00:15:57,956 Speaker 1: the world of crime. That front page would be pasted 245 00:15:57,956 --> 00:16:00,996 Speaker 1: in shop windows and crowds would gather to gork at 246 00:16:01,036 --> 00:16:05,036 Speaker 1: the images. At one point, the illustrated Police News does 247 00:16:05,076 --> 00:16:08,836 Speaker 1: it before and after of Annie Chapman's face, that is, 248 00:16:09,276 --> 00:16:12,716 Speaker 1: before and after her murder, and even though no one 249 00:16:12,796 --> 00:16:15,716 Speaker 1: really knew what the ripper looked like. The paper also 250 00:16:15,796 --> 00:16:19,596 Speaker 1: depicts suspects, some of them mustachioed and wearing bowler hats, 251 00:16:19,956 --> 00:16:23,836 Speaker 1: others hook nosed and bearded. An enormous amount of the 252 00:16:23,876 --> 00:16:31,036 Speaker 1: paper's content was pure fabrication. They covered the White Shoper 253 00:16:31,076 --> 00:16:33,756 Speaker 1: murders every week for months, and a lot of the 254 00:16:33,796 --> 00:16:35,756 Speaker 1: images actually that you will now find if you search 255 00:16:35,876 --> 00:16:38,516 Speaker 1: for images linked to the case, come from that newspaper. 256 00:16:38,676 --> 00:16:42,276 Speaker 1: How we imagine the Whitehoper murders now has been shaped 257 00:16:42,276 --> 00:16:45,996 Speaker 1: in an enduring way by those incredibly lurid, sensational illustrations 258 00:16:46,036 --> 00:16:49,076 Speaker 1: that they produced. Papers such as The Police News had 259 00:16:49,156 --> 00:16:52,796 Speaker 1: their critics even in eighteen eighty eight. Some in the 260 00:16:52,956 --> 00:16:57,476 Speaker 1: establishment were convinced it was a corrupting force that glamorized 261 00:16:57,556 --> 00:17:01,116 Speaker 1: violence and agitated legions of new readers. A lot of 262 00:17:01,116 --> 00:17:03,156 Speaker 1: the things that we now see as being very modern 263 00:17:03,316 --> 00:17:06,516 Speaker 1: anxieties over how information spreads, who has access to it, 264 00:17:06,516 --> 00:17:08,996 Speaker 1: who gets to have a public platform, All of the 265 00:17:09,276 --> 00:17:11,516 Speaker 1: things are being explored and played out in the nineteenth 266 00:17:11,556 --> 00:17:13,956 Speaker 1: century too. What happens if you live in a society 267 00:17:13,956 --> 00:17:17,276 Speaker 1: where suddenly millions of people are reading who weren't reading before. 268 00:17:17,836 --> 00:17:19,796 Speaker 1: A lot of these people now have the vote who 269 00:17:19,876 --> 00:17:21,916 Speaker 1: didn't have it before, And just like now, we might 270 00:17:21,916 --> 00:17:24,116 Speaker 1: be worried about the influence of Facebook, how is that 271 00:17:24,156 --> 00:17:26,476 Speaker 1: shaping our elections? In the eighteen eighties, people are also 272 00:17:26,476 --> 00:17:29,316 Speaker 1: worried about how journalism might be changing the fabric of 273 00:17:29,396 --> 00:17:32,396 Speaker 1: British politics and culture, because suddenly it's reaching people in 274 00:17:32,436 --> 00:17:36,316 Speaker 1: a whole new way. Some newspaper owners relish the opportunity 275 00:17:36,596 --> 00:17:39,196 Speaker 1: not just to make profits, but to push their own 276 00:17:39,236 --> 00:17:44,596 Speaker 1: moral and social agendas. One pioneer of new journalism, WT Stead, 277 00:17:44,956 --> 00:17:48,356 Speaker 1: talked about using newspapers to channel the steam of public 278 00:17:48,396 --> 00:17:53,156 Speaker 1: opinion and thereby force social change. Although readership was opening 279 00:17:53,196 --> 00:17:56,716 Speaker 1: up in the eighteen eighties, newspapers still tended to reflect 280 00:17:56,836 --> 00:18:01,196 Speaker 1: middle class values and agendas. Reporters were generally drawn from 281 00:18:01,236 --> 00:18:05,436 Speaker 1: society's more respectable wrongs, and they brought their class prejudices 282 00:18:05,436 --> 00:18:07,876 Speaker 1: along with them. This is not the view of people 283 00:18:07,916 --> 00:18:10,236 Speaker 1: who've lived in Whitechapel, who understand it, who are part 284 00:18:10,276 --> 00:18:12,356 Speaker 1: of that community. These are papers from the West End, 285 00:18:12,476 --> 00:18:15,996 Speaker 1: journalists who had stable homes, a good education. They're literate, 286 00:18:16,076 --> 00:18:19,236 Speaker 1: they're working, and they're reporting on the lives of people 287 00:18:19,676 --> 00:18:23,396 Speaker 1: who haven't had those opportunities. At all times, one who 288 00:18:23,436 --> 00:18:27,396 Speaker 1: strolls through this quarter of town, especially by night, must 289 00:18:27,436 --> 00:18:30,476 Speaker 1: feel that below his ken are the awful deeps of 290 00:18:30,476 --> 00:18:35,156 Speaker 1: an ocean, teeming with life, but enshrouded in impenetrable mystery. 291 00:18:35,316 --> 00:18:37,356 Speaker 1: As he catches here and there a glimpse of a 292 00:18:37,436 --> 00:18:40,876 Speaker 1: face under the flickering, uncertain light of a lamp, the 293 00:18:40,956 --> 00:18:44,636 Speaker 1: face perhaps of some woman bloated by drink and distorted 294 00:18:44,676 --> 00:18:48,276 Speaker 1: by passion, he may get a momentary, shuddering sense of 295 00:18:48,316 --> 00:18:51,196 Speaker 1: what humanity may sink to when life has lived apart 296 00:18:51,676 --> 00:18:55,876 Speaker 1: from the sweet, health giving influences of fields and flowers, 297 00:18:55,916 --> 00:18:59,916 Speaker 1: of art and music and books and travel, and intercourse 298 00:19:00,196 --> 00:19:07,596 Speaker 1: with the educated and the cultured. And in many cases 299 00:19:07,716 --> 00:19:10,316 Speaker 1: these are people who would ordinarily never go to Whitechapel. 300 00:19:10,356 --> 00:19:13,436 Speaker 1: They would never go east. It is described in so 301 00:19:13,516 --> 00:19:15,836 Speaker 1: many of these reports as if it's a foreign country. 302 00:19:15,956 --> 00:19:19,196 Speaker 1: The comparison that Victorian reporters often make in their language 303 00:19:19,476 --> 00:19:22,596 Speaker 1: is with deepest, darkest Africa. They see it as almost 304 00:19:22,636 --> 00:19:25,956 Speaker 1: this kind of imperial frontier, another place inhabited by another people. 305 00:19:26,956 --> 00:19:30,556 Speaker 1: The White Chapel of the newspapers as a one dimensional portrait, 306 00:19:30,796 --> 00:19:34,756 Speaker 1: a place of social danger and destitution. But while many 307 00:19:34,756 --> 00:19:37,876 Speaker 1: people in Whitechapel were poor and had no fixed address, 308 00:19:38,396 --> 00:19:42,676 Speaker 1: others had permanent homes and open businesses and restaurants. The 309 00:19:42,756 --> 00:19:45,836 Speaker 1: sun shined in White Chapel occasionally, right, people fell in love. 310 00:19:45,956 --> 00:19:48,036 Speaker 1: They had all sorts of rich and complex lives. But 311 00:19:48,116 --> 00:19:52,036 Speaker 1: in the press it's depicted as just a place that's dangerous, 312 00:19:52,036 --> 00:19:54,436 Speaker 1: and a danger that might spill out into somewhere else. 313 00:19:55,276 --> 00:19:58,116 Speaker 1: It's worth noting that these weren't the first murders and 314 00:19:58,156 --> 00:20:02,396 Speaker 1: Whitechapel to be reported in the press. Previous stabbings, poisonings, 315 00:20:02,396 --> 00:20:06,756 Speaker 1: and beatings were retold with relish. One paper even describes 316 00:20:06,796 --> 00:20:10,116 Speaker 1: the Ripper killings as a culmination of horror. Jack the 317 00:20:10,236 --> 00:20:14,316 Speaker 1: Ripper simply cemented White Chapel in the popular imagination as 318 00:20:14,356 --> 00:20:21,516 Speaker 1: the archetypal hotbed of crime, murder, and disease. When the 319 00:20:21,516 --> 00:20:24,716 Speaker 1: first journalists arrived to report on the White Chapel murders, 320 00:20:24,756 --> 00:20:27,196 Speaker 1: they already knew the type of women they were likely 321 00:20:27,236 --> 00:20:29,996 Speaker 1: to encounter there, they were almost certain to meet the 322 00:20:30,036 --> 00:20:32,916 Speaker 1: fallen woman, who could be found in the popular fiction 323 00:20:32,956 --> 00:20:36,516 Speaker 1: of the era, in the books of Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Dickens, 324 00:20:36,596 --> 00:20:38,876 Speaker 1: and George Elliott. All it takes is for a woman 325 00:20:38,916 --> 00:20:40,836 Speaker 1: to slip up in some kind of way, to have 326 00:20:40,876 --> 00:20:44,076 Speaker 1: an affair, or to to do anything that steps outside 327 00:20:44,076 --> 00:20:47,276 Speaker 1: the boundaries of respectable living. She ends up dead in 328 00:20:47,356 --> 00:20:50,436 Speaker 1: all of these things, in melodramatic paintings, in poetry, in stories, 329 00:20:50,476 --> 00:20:53,196 Speaker 1: either her guilt drives her to throw herself off a bridge, 330 00:20:53,396 --> 00:20:56,436 Speaker 1: or her continual sort of bad decision making, as they 331 00:20:56,436 --> 00:20:58,876 Speaker 1: would put it, leads her into a situation where she 332 00:20:58,996 --> 00:21:01,516 Speaker 1: might be murdered. By the time the White Chapel murders happened, 333 00:21:01,556 --> 00:21:04,036 Speaker 1: people know this narrative. They've seen it a hundred times. 334 00:21:04,476 --> 00:21:08,076 Speaker 1: Journalists naturally drew on these stereotypes to explain the deaths 335 00:21:08,076 --> 00:21:12,756 Speaker 1: of the Ripper victims. These women would doubly outcast, doubly fallen. 336 00:21:13,076 --> 00:21:15,716 Speaker 1: Not only were they out alone at night rather than 337 00:21:15,756 --> 00:21:18,796 Speaker 1: by the hearth with a husband, they had also been 338 00:21:18,876 --> 00:21:24,156 Speaker 1: exiled to hellish Whitechapel, a place beyond the pale. Crucially, 339 00:21:24,396 --> 00:21:28,756 Speaker 1: these tropes for the needs and the agendas of newspaper proprietors. 340 00:21:29,196 --> 00:21:32,836 Speaker 1: They could tease these events into narratives that would channel 341 00:21:32,876 --> 00:21:36,596 Speaker 1: the steam of public opinion and force politicians to act. 342 00:21:37,036 --> 00:21:39,996 Speaker 1: If you're interested in social reform, or if you're interested 343 00:21:40,036 --> 00:21:43,556 Speaker 1: in trying to rescue sex workers, all of this plays 344 00:21:43,556 --> 00:21:46,236 Speaker 1: into that, and the actual lived reality of these women 345 00:21:46,276 --> 00:21:48,956 Speaker 1: become secondary to the kind of symbolic role they play 346 00:21:48,996 --> 00:21:52,276 Speaker 1: in explaining the wider social problems. At the time, readers 347 00:21:52,356 --> 00:21:55,876 Speaker 1: were also accustomed to murder reports that followed a set routine. 348 00:21:56,356 --> 00:21:59,396 Speaker 1: The discovery of a crime was followed by the apprehension 349 00:21:59,436 --> 00:22:02,156 Speaker 1: of the criminal, then there was a trial, and then 350 00:22:02,236 --> 00:22:06,316 Speaker 1: in execution everything would be neatly wrapped up. What was 351 00:22:06,396 --> 00:22:09,276 Speaker 1: quite different about the Whitechapel murders, of course, famously, is 352 00:22:09,316 --> 00:22:11,556 Speaker 1: that we don't know who committed them, whether it was 353 00:22:11,596 --> 00:22:13,756 Speaker 1: one person, multiple people, whether all the same person. We 354 00:22:13,796 --> 00:22:17,076 Speaker 1: don't know. It's a void, it's a silence, and into 355 00:22:17,156 --> 00:22:19,956 Speaker 1: it flooded all of the things that Victorians society was 356 00:22:19,956 --> 00:22:24,196 Speaker 1: worried about, their fears, their anxieties, their politics. It fills 357 00:22:24,196 --> 00:22:26,236 Speaker 1: that gap. It's a blank canvas on which they can 358 00:22:26,236 --> 00:22:29,996 Speaker 1: paint all of these different priorities, anxieties, thoughts and feelings. 359 00:22:30,036 --> 00:22:33,076 Speaker 1: So whether it's about anxieties about immigration in the East End, 360 00:22:33,196 --> 00:22:35,596 Speaker 1: now you can speculate, could he be Jewish, Maybe he 361 00:22:35,596 --> 00:22:37,556 Speaker 1: could be a doctor, what if he's an upper classman. 362 00:22:37,636 --> 00:22:41,316 Speaker 1: It leaves this incredibly open space for people to speculate. 363 00:22:41,676 --> 00:22:45,636 Speaker 1: In their speculation, journalists and their readers reveal truths not 364 00:22:45,716 --> 00:22:50,596 Speaker 1: about Annie Chapman, but about themselves, their own prejudices, obsessions, 365 00:22:50,716 --> 00:22:53,996 Speaker 1: predilections and fears. There are two things in parallel. Here 366 00:22:53,996 --> 00:22:56,356 Speaker 1: we have the reality of the White Chapel murders and 367 00:22:56,396 --> 00:22:58,116 Speaker 1: the reality of the lives that these women lived and 368 00:22:58,156 --> 00:22:59,836 Speaker 1: what happened to them. And then we have something else 369 00:22:59,836 --> 00:23:02,036 Speaker 1: happening in parallel, which is Jack the Ripper. If you 370 00:23:02,116 --> 00:23:04,876 Speaker 1: need any more convincing that the Ripper was a myth 371 00:23:04,956 --> 00:23:08,596 Speaker 1: spawned by the Victorian press, then look no further than 372 00:23:08,636 --> 00:23:13,196 Speaker 1: the or of that immortal Moniker. In the wake of 373 00:23:13,236 --> 00:23:17,196 Speaker 1: Annie's death, a letter written in blood red ink arrived 374 00:23:17,236 --> 00:23:21,996 Speaker 1: at London's Central News Agency. In faltering sentences. It mopped 375 00:23:21,996 --> 00:23:26,236 Speaker 1: the police investigation. The arrest and release of John Pyser, 376 00:23:26,596 --> 00:23:31,596 Speaker 1: the Leather Apron suspect, prompted particular mirth. That joke about 377 00:23:31,596 --> 00:23:35,476 Speaker 1: a leather apron gave me real fits. The author knew 378 00:23:35,556 --> 00:23:39,476 Speaker 1: Piser was innocent because the author said that he was 379 00:23:39,516 --> 00:23:43,516 Speaker 1: the killer. Grand work the last job was. It was 380 00:23:43,556 --> 00:23:47,596 Speaker 1: signed by Jack the Ripper. The note was handed to 381 00:23:47,636 --> 00:23:52,036 Speaker 1: Scotland Yard, but also swiftly published in the papers. The 382 00:23:52,156 --> 00:23:57,156 Speaker 1: letter was boastful, graphic and callous. It was also apparently 383 00:23:57,316 --> 00:24:01,276 Speaker 1: a hoax, a journalistic fabrication to keep the story going 384 00:24:01,276 --> 00:24:05,116 Speaker 1: and sell more papers. But the catchy name of Jack 385 00:24:05,196 --> 00:24:09,836 Speaker 1: the Ripper stuck, as did the letters. Meeting capsulation of 386 00:24:09,876 --> 00:24:14,236 Speaker 1: the murders armed down on oars and our sharp quick 387 00:24:14,316 --> 00:24:18,356 Speaker 1: ripping them, the Ripper be told, will be back in 388 00:24:18,396 --> 00:24:32,596 Speaker 1: just a moment. Somehow, the stories told in the newspapers 389 00:24:32,596 --> 00:24:36,276 Speaker 1: of eighteen eighty eight, with all of their competing, contradictory 390 00:24:36,436 --> 00:24:40,796 Speaker 1: and confusing quotes, have over time haddened into the facts 391 00:24:40,796 --> 00:24:44,276 Speaker 1: of the case, with no proper evidence from the case files, 392 00:24:44,676 --> 00:24:48,436 Speaker 1: deeply flawed newspaper reports on the basis of all kinds 393 00:24:48,476 --> 00:24:51,876 Speaker 1: of theories. Jack the Ripper was a German sailor, a 394 00:24:51,996 --> 00:24:57,036 Speaker 1: royal doctor, a post Impressionist painter, a Polish barber. An 395 00:24:57,036 --> 00:25:00,716 Speaker 1: absence of reliable evidence from primary sources has left gaps, 396 00:25:01,156 --> 00:25:04,636 Speaker 1: and colorful invention has rushed into fill these empty spaces. 397 00:25:05,076 --> 00:25:07,636 Speaker 1: It's not just cranks who are pumping out these theories. 398 00:25:07,996 --> 00:25:11,676 Speaker 1: Foremost among Ripper sloths is the crime writer Patricia Cornwell, 399 00:25:11,916 --> 00:25:16,116 Speaker 1: the creator of the forensic genius K Scarpetta. Her website 400 00:25:16,116 --> 00:25:20,316 Speaker 1: says she sold over one hundred million books. She also 401 00:25:20,436 --> 00:25:23,196 Speaker 1: has her own pet theory about Jack the Ripper's identity. 402 00:25:23,716 --> 00:25:27,236 Speaker 1: The Ripper says Patricia was none other than German born 403 00:25:27,276 --> 00:25:32,436 Speaker 1: painter Walter Sickert, and her evidence includes Sicott's own paintings, 404 00:25:32,436 --> 00:25:36,716 Speaker 1: which depict violence against women. Patricia also says she spent 405 00:25:36,836 --> 00:25:39,916 Speaker 1: roughly seven million dollars on her quest to solve the 406 00:25:39,996 --> 00:25:43,276 Speaker 1: Ripper case. I'm not sure what this endless naming of 407 00:25:43,356 --> 00:25:46,836 Speaker 1: suspects really achieves. In an effort to get my head 408 00:25:46,876 --> 00:25:49,596 Speaker 1: around it, I sat down to watch a documentary that 409 00:25:49,676 --> 00:25:53,276 Speaker 1: Patricia made back in two thousand and two, Patricia Cornwell 410 00:25:53,516 --> 00:25:56,916 Speaker 1: Stalking the Ripper. It interweaves scenes of her real life 411 00:25:56,956 --> 00:26:01,716 Speaker 1: investigation of Siccot the dramatization of the Whitechapel killings. One 412 00:26:01,836 --> 00:26:07,396 Speaker 1: particularly gruesome scene focuses on the fifth victim, Mary Jen Kelly. 413 00:26:08,596 --> 00:26:12,996 Speaker 1: So we've got a reenactment of a man walking down 414 00:26:14,276 --> 00:26:18,716 Speaker 1: a dirty East end lane with lots of women selling 415 00:26:18,756 --> 00:26:24,916 Speaker 1: their bodies, A laughing woman opening the door to her 416 00:26:25,796 --> 00:26:28,996 Speaker 1: one room. This is Mary jan Kelly lighting a candle, 417 00:26:29,636 --> 00:26:33,796 Speaker 1: and the ripper takes off his cloak and reveals himself. 418 00:26:34,516 --> 00:26:42,396 Speaker 1: Oh oh dear, lots of blood, lots of stabbing, candle 419 00:26:42,436 --> 00:26:49,236 Speaker 1: flickers the moon. Patricia is on a mission to bring 420 00:26:49,316 --> 00:26:52,316 Speaker 1: justice to Jack the rippers victims. The only way she 421 00:26:52,356 --> 00:26:54,836 Speaker 1: knows how to do that, she says, is to identify 422 00:26:54,876 --> 00:26:58,316 Speaker 1: the person that committed these murders. At one point, she 423 00:26:58,476 --> 00:27:01,036 Speaker 1: reconstructs what she believes would have been the action of 424 00:27:01,036 --> 00:27:04,676 Speaker 1: the ripper's blade as it plunged through his victim's clothing. 425 00:27:05,436 --> 00:27:09,076 Speaker 1: She does this on a kitchen table with sides of meat. 426 00:27:09,196 --> 00:27:11,596 Speaker 1: Lay us a cloth and a knife, and I'm going 427 00:27:11,636 --> 00:27:13,996 Speaker 1: to cut open a little bit here. Oh my god, 428 00:27:14,676 --> 00:27:18,436 Speaker 1: gross out everybody. I'll stick a little bit of soft tissue, 429 00:27:18,716 --> 00:27:22,636 Speaker 1: soft tissue in here. We'll put something yucky in here 430 00:27:22,716 --> 00:27:26,476 Speaker 1: like this. Okay, Now what we're gonna do is she 431 00:27:26,596 --> 00:27:29,156 Speaker 1: had on about six layers of clothing. Oh my god, 432 00:27:29,196 --> 00:27:33,116 Speaker 1: this is insane. And all of these are natural fibers 433 00:27:33,156 --> 00:27:35,036 Speaker 1: because they did not use Oh my god, Oh my god, 434 00:27:35,076 --> 00:27:39,156 Speaker 1: this is what shocked me. She's piling meat on a 435 00:27:39,276 --> 00:27:42,116 Speaker 1: table and then putting clothes over it, and she's going 436 00:27:42,156 --> 00:27:45,796 Speaker 1: to stab through it. This is all through clothing. If 437 00:27:45,916 --> 00:27:51,076 Speaker 1: this person cut through clothing as opposed to ripping through it, 438 00:27:51,276 --> 00:27:54,036 Speaker 1: what is this telling us? This is telling us nothing. 439 00:27:54,556 --> 00:28:00,156 Speaker 1: What are we learning from this? If I'm really honest, 440 00:28:00,756 --> 00:28:05,316 Speaker 1: Patricia's documentary left me feeling quite confused. To me, this 441 00:28:05,396 --> 00:28:08,756 Speaker 1: quest for justice, with its focus on blood and dead bodies, 442 00:28:09,196 --> 00:28:11,916 Speaker 1: didn't seem to offer the victims any sort of dignity. 443 00:28:12,476 --> 00:28:16,116 Speaker 1: Each woman was so much more than a stack of meat, 444 00:28:16,476 --> 00:28:20,396 Speaker 1: and surely justice for each woman lies in knowing who 445 00:28:20,476 --> 00:28:24,276 Speaker 1: she truly was. That documentary is roughly twenty years old. 446 00:28:24,756 --> 00:28:27,556 Speaker 1: Since its release, Patricia has published a new book on 447 00:28:27,636 --> 00:28:30,556 Speaker 1: Walter Sicket, but perhaps a position on justice for these 448 00:28:30,636 --> 00:28:35,116 Speaker 1: victims has changed over time. Whenever Patricia talks about the Ripper, 449 00:28:35,436 --> 00:28:39,436 Speaker 1: the world listens. A plan was forming in my mind, 450 00:28:40,076 --> 00:28:43,956 Speaker 1: So I rang my producer, Alice. She's clearly interested in 451 00:28:43,996 --> 00:28:46,436 Speaker 1: the victims and sees herself as being a kind of 452 00:28:46,436 --> 00:28:48,516 Speaker 1: a voice for them. It's just you're approaching it from 453 00:28:48,636 --> 00:28:52,276 Speaker 1: very different angles. I just disagree with her, and I 454 00:28:52,356 --> 00:28:55,556 Speaker 1: respect her as a person. I don't understand. I mean, 455 00:28:55,556 --> 00:28:57,676 Speaker 1: what this comes down to is I really really don't 456 00:28:57,756 --> 00:29:03,276 Speaker 1: understand why she's taking this position on Jack the Ripper, 457 00:29:03,956 --> 00:29:07,636 Speaker 1: what logic she's using. I don't understand the obsession. Does 458 00:29:07,676 --> 00:29:11,356 Speaker 1: this documentary make you interested in talking to her? I 459 00:29:11,396 --> 00:29:14,516 Speaker 1: want to know what justice really means in her perception, 460 00:29:14,756 --> 00:29:17,836 Speaker 1: and I would also really like to see if I 461 00:29:17,876 --> 00:29:22,316 Speaker 1: could help change her mind, or even if she'd be 462 00:29:22,396 --> 00:29:26,956 Speaker 1: interested in meeting me halfway and maybe direct some of 463 00:29:26,996 --> 00:29:33,076 Speaker 1: her efforts towards some sort of restorative justice for the victims. 464 00:29:33,116 --> 00:29:36,876 Speaker 1: In other ways, some sort of interest in what the 465 00:29:36,956 --> 00:29:40,116 Speaker 1: victims legacy is, because that is something we can do 466 00:29:40,196 --> 00:29:45,956 Speaker 1: that is actionable today. In eighteen eighty eight, newspapermen hurriedly 467 00:29:46,036 --> 00:29:48,756 Speaker 1: set down a version of the Whitechapel murders that was 468 00:29:48,876 --> 00:29:52,836 Speaker 1: full of inaccuracies. But pick up a newspaper today and 469 00:29:52,916 --> 00:29:57,476 Speaker 1: you'll still read the same old, recycled mistakes. Whenever Patricia 470 00:29:57,516 --> 00:30:00,956 Speaker 1: Cornwell tells journalists she's closer to cracking the case, the 471 00:30:01,076 --> 00:30:03,916 Speaker 1: victims are always described in a way which would have 472 00:30:03,996 --> 00:30:07,516 Speaker 1: been totally familiar to a Victorian reader. If that's ever 473 00:30:07,636 --> 00:30:11,436 Speaker 1: going to change, it require the help of people like Patricia, 474 00:30:12,436 --> 00:30:26,316 Speaker 1: So I've decided I need to track her down. Bad 475 00:30:26,356 --> 00:30:28,276 Speaker 1: Women The Ripper Were Told is brought to you by 476 00:30:28,356 --> 00:30:31,796 Speaker 1: Pushkin Industries and me Hallie Rubbinhold and is based on 477 00:30:31,836 --> 00:30:34,956 Speaker 1: my book The Five. It was produced and co written 478 00:30:34,956 --> 00:30:38,036 Speaker 1: by Ryan Dilley and Alice Fines, with help from Pete Norton. 479 00:30:38,556 --> 00:30:41,956 Speaker 1: Pascal Wise Sound designed and mixed the show and composed 480 00:30:41,956 --> 00:30:45,236 Speaker 1: all the original music. You also heard the voice talents 481 00:30:45,236 --> 00:30:49,396 Speaker 1: of Soul Boyer, Melanie Guttridge, Gemma Saunders and Rufus Wright. 482 00:30:50,116 --> 00:30:52,636 Speaker 1: The show also wouldn't have been possible without the work 483 00:30:52,676 --> 00:30:58,356 Speaker 1: of Mia LaBelle, Jacob Weisberg, Jen Guerra, Heather Fane, Carlie Migliori, 484 00:30:58,796 --> 00:31:03,636 Speaker 1: Maggie Taylor, Nicole Morano and Daniella La Khan were special 485 00:31:03,676 --> 00:31:22,236 Speaker 1: thanks to my agents Sarah Ballard and Ellie Karen Do