WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: El Coco

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of

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<v Speaker 1>My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and

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<v Speaker 1>this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>and monsters in time. Spanish artist Francisco Goya's seventeen nine

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<v Speaker 1>collection Los Capricios consists of eighty different prints, each critiquing

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<v Speaker 1>a different folly of contemporary Spanish society. While number forty three,

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<v Speaker 1>The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, is perhaps the most

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<v Speaker 1>famous selection from this album. Today, I'd like to talk

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<v Speaker 1>about Capriccio number three. Here comes the boogey Man or

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<v Speaker 1>care Vienna el Coco. In the illustration, a hooded figure

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<v Speaker 1>approaches a mother whose children's squirn and horror. The mother's faith, however,

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<v Speaker 1>is not possessed by fear. She seems eager, even as

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<v Speaker 1>described on met museum dot org. The image is thought

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<v Speaker 1>to express Goya's criticism of the indoctrination of Spanish children

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<v Speaker 1>into the terror of supernatural beings in both the home

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<v Speaker 1>and the educational system at large. But who or what

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<v Speaker 1>was El Coco? In Carol Rosa's Giants, Monsters and Dragons,

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<v Speaker 1>The folkloreist described it as a kind of ogre used

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<v Speaker 1>to scare children into good behavior. Better be good children,

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<v Speaker 1>or El Coco will come and take you away. Better

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<v Speaker 1>listen to mother, or el Coco will come and eat you.

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<v Speaker 1>The figure also appears in Portuguese traditions as well as

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<v Speaker 1>throughout the Spanish and Portuguese speaking world. Its female counterpart

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<v Speaker 1>was known as the Kuca. Descriptions of the monster's appearance

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<v Speaker 1>are terrible but vague, often invoking shagginess, burning eyes, novel size,

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<v Speaker 1>and comparisons to skulls or disembodied heads. In fact, the

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<v Speaker 1>old Portuguese word coco meant head or skull. When Portuguese

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<v Speaker 1>and Spanish explorers ventured amid the Pacific Islands, they discovered

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<v Speaker 1>something most unusual, a shaggy head shaped object with three holes,

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<v Speaker 1>reminiscent of a human skull. This, of course, came to

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<v Speaker 1>be known as the coconut. So the next time you

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<v Speaker 1>enjoy a coconut water or a perhaps a pina colada,

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<v Speaker 1>give a thought to El Coco, the terror of children

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<v Speaker 1>for centuries and propagator of supernatural anxiety. Tune in for

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<v Speaker 1>additional episodes of the Monster fact each week. As always

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<v Speaker 1>You can email us at contact at stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 1>your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts for

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