1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:04,760 Speaker 1: I guess what will? What's that mango? So do you 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: know that Peppi Lapew was based on a real person, 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: Peppe Lapew. I haven't heard that name a long time. 4 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:13,039 Speaker 1: You're talking about the cartoons scum. Yeah, the French skunk 5 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:15,880 Speaker 1: who's such a romantic So I'm not sure if you 6 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: remember any of his lines. I looked them off, but 7 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,239 Speaker 1: you're a couple of them. Z Cabbage does not run 8 00:00:21,280 --> 00:00:25,239 Speaker 1: away from Z corned beef. And you may call me 9 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: street car because of my desire for you, which is 10 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: such a great, terrible pickup line. Yeah, I should have 11 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: used some of those. Those are pretty much the worst 12 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:36,879 Speaker 1: best lines ever. Well, actually, did you know the name 13 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: of the kitten that he was always trying to chase? 14 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: I was trying to remember this, Yeah, so I was 15 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 1: curious about that. I totally forgotten that it's a Penelope 16 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 1: pussy cat. But according to this book, the Godfather was 17 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: a girl. Pepe was based on this cartoonist named Ted Pierce, 18 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: who was absolutely certain that all the ladies used to 19 00:00:56,040 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: dig him, despite very little evidence suggesting that. So he's 20 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: the self declared ladies man. He'd go partying all night 21 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: and then coming to the office just totally smelly, and 22 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:08,560 Speaker 1: he'd put in a full day's work and then go 23 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,039 Speaker 1: straight to hopelessly wooing again. And of course, you know, 24 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: his office mates took notice. They decided to memorialize his 25 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,039 Speaker 1: efforts by drawing this love Struck cartoons skunk in his honor. 26 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 1: I feel like maybe we worked with that guy at 27 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 1: some Yeah, but that's the first of a ton of 28 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 1: fictional characters we're covering today who are all based on 29 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: real people. Let's dive in. Y Hey their podcast listeners, 30 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as 31 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: always I'm joined by my good friend manes Hot Ticketer 32 00:01:55,880 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: and sitting behind the soundproof glass. He's been working on 33 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: this list for a couple of days is now, and 34 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: I didn't know exactly what it was. It turns out 35 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: it's a long list of comedians. He thinks Seinfeld might 36 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: be based on I think, but that's our friends and 37 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: producer Tristan McNeil. Tristan, the show is based on Terry Seinfeld. 38 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: It's in the name. You don't have to overthink. He 39 00:02:16,639 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: is always overthinking, but that's just I guess it's just 40 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: part of his genius. But thinking about this, it is 41 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:25,640 Speaker 1: funny how so many books and characters are based on 42 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: real events and people's lives, and I guess that shouldn't 43 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 1: be that surprising. But I know, we were talking recently 44 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: about our friend John Green when he wrote his first book, 45 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: Looking for Alaska. You know, some of the pranks that 46 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: took place in that book were real pranks that he 47 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: or his friends had participated in back in high school. 48 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: And even the school itself was based very much on 49 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,679 Speaker 1: the school Indian Springs in Alabama, where John went to 50 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: high school, and it was definitely informed by his experience there. Yeah, 51 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: I mean, you see that in first novels, especially like 52 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 1: where people tend to write very autobiographically. But you know, 53 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: I'm always made when writers keep pulling from the things 54 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: around them. And you see that in Dickens, like where 55 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,960 Speaker 1: people have actually um traced all these characters from Great 56 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: Expectations or some of his other famous books to real 57 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: people that Dickens used to interact with. And we're going 58 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:16,080 Speaker 1: to see a lot of that in today's show. Yeah, 59 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: that's right. I know there are a lot of guesses 60 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:20,360 Speaker 1: as to who Miss Havisham might actually be, or like 61 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: which house inspired the setting of the book and you 62 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 1: know things like that. Yeah, and you know, settings that 63 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: are a funny thing too, Like I remember when I 64 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,520 Speaker 1: was I was really getting into writing, and I first 65 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: realized that people did this with entire worlds as well. 66 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: Like I went to this talk where this author said 67 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: he couldn't figure out how to make a believable South 68 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: American city and he didn't have I guess that like 69 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: tolkin Ish quality of being able to just invent worlds. 70 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: So he took this old map of Bolivia or someplace, 71 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: and he crossed out the names of a little town 72 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: and put in his own fictional street names and whatever. 73 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: And it's kind of clever. I mean, that's pretty ingenious, actually, yeah, 74 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: And so he could actually visualize every time, like you know, 75 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: where mountain passes where, or borders between areas would be. 76 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,119 Speaker 1: And you know, this is a little different, but there's 77 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: actually this great story on this American life where this 78 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: kid really falls in love with science fiction and this author, 79 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: Pierce Anthony. Have you ever read any Pierce Anthony? Do 80 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: you know? I don't. I mean that doesn't say a 81 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: whole lot. I don't read a ton of science fiction, 82 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: but no, Yeah, so I was only familiar with him 83 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:21,680 Speaker 1: because my dad was really into science fiction, and Pierce 84 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:24,160 Speaker 1: Anthony wrote this fantasy book called A Spell for Chameleon, 85 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: which was really popular when I was younger. But um, 86 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,839 Speaker 1: Pierce Anthony had all these fantasy stories that were set 87 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: in this world called zanth and his books were filled 88 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 1: with puns, pretty easy to read. But you know, this 89 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,279 Speaker 1: high school kid figured out that zan was actually using 90 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: all these context clues this little town in Florida, and 91 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:44,679 Speaker 1: he came up with this theory that, you know, Pierce Anthony, 92 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: his family must live there. So he decided to run 93 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: away from home to find them, and he took a 94 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: boss I think or he charged his mother's credit card 95 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: to get there. It's a long story, but it's ultimately 96 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,719 Speaker 1: really sweet because the author and his wife take this 97 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: young fanboy in, they feed him, they let crashed on 98 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: the couch, and you know, and then they convince him 99 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,359 Speaker 1: to call his mom and step dad to let him know, 100 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:08,159 Speaker 1: you know, he's safe. But um, you know that this 101 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: whole idea that you can create a whole secret fantasy 102 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: world that's based on these very real landmarks around your 103 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,560 Speaker 1: little hometown, that's just kind of an amazing idea to me. 104 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: Yeah it is, and it's actually not something i'd really 105 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,160 Speaker 1: thought about. But but speaking of that realm of fantasy, 106 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: you've kind of put us there. So it makes me 107 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:27,200 Speaker 1: think we should kick this off with one of my 108 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: favorite fictional characters, and that Severest Snape. Now, if you're 109 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 1: a fan of Harry Potter, you probably have I don't know, 110 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: like me, pretty complicated feelings about the Potions Master, and 111 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:40,919 Speaker 1: because you know, he's both a good person at heart 112 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:45,039 Speaker 1: but also very much a Slytherin, and he obviously takes 113 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:48,280 Speaker 1: pleasure in berating and putting down his students. And one 114 00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 1: of the things I didn't realize until we were reading 115 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:52,600 Speaker 1: up for this week was that J. K. Rolling based 116 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 1: her character on one of her actual teachers. It was 117 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: this chemistry professor named John Nettleship. So I'm definitely curious 118 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:01,839 Speaker 1: about this because I love Harry Potter, and it's almost 119 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: funny that she didn't use the name Nettleship, because you know, 120 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:07,039 Speaker 1: it sounds like such a name from Harry Potter. I 121 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: know it definitely does, so Rolling quietly wrote this character 122 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: into her books. But what's funny is that everyone realized 123 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 1: that the Snape character was based on Nettleship except for him. 124 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: So there's all these accounts of this online, but I 125 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: kind of like the way Quirk Books puts it, So 126 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,839 Speaker 1: let me just read this says when people started asking 127 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: him if he was Professor Snape, it was his wife 128 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:31,360 Speaker 1: who had to let him down gently by explaining, of 129 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: course you are, but I didn't want to tell you. 130 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,159 Speaker 1: Like apparently, he just been enjoying the books like everybody 131 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,159 Speaker 1: else until this was pointed out to him. That's so 132 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: funny that it was his wife who saw the connection 133 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: and then that she hit it from him. Yeah, and 134 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,599 Speaker 1: of course, you know, he was horrified by this at first. 135 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: He was even quoted as saying, I knew I was 136 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: a strict teacher, but I didn't think I was that bad. 137 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 1: And then, you know, he realized the similarities were pretty glaring. 138 00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: He was this short tempered chemistry teacher, had the long hair, 139 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: and this not tory like gloomy lab and it did 140 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,800 Speaker 1: take him a little while to adjust to this legacy. 141 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: But of course then when he saw Alan Rickman playing 142 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 1: him on screen, he suddenly grew to like the character 143 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: much more, which makes a ton of sense. That's pretty 144 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: great and what a legacy. So I'm curious. We've covered 145 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: Harry Potter, now a little bit of pepular Pew. Where 146 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: do you want to go from here? Well, I know 147 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 1: you were looking into some of the comic characters we have, 148 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: of course started with pepular Pew, But do you want 149 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: to run down a few more? I know you looked 150 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 1: up a bunch of them. Yeah, definitely. So Scrooge mctock 151 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 1: is one. You know, he's a miser. He very much 152 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 1: worked his way up from nothing, and he is built 153 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: on the idea of Andrew Carnegie. Um Tony Stark or 154 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: iron Man is based on Howard Hughes, who I guess 155 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 1: was inventing things for the Defense Department at the time 156 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: that the comic was made. Yeah, Charlie Brown is based 157 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 1: on the creator, Charles Schultz. He was apparently super precocious. 158 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 1: He was actually promoted a half grade twice, so he 159 00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: was very young for his class, and he was also 160 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 1: a little depressed. But um, there's a story about him 161 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:04,360 Speaker 1: that his dad would start giving him a haircut because 162 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: he was a barber, and then customers would walk into 163 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: their store and he just have to walk around for 164 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:11,880 Speaker 1: the rest of the day with half a haircut. His 165 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: dad was finally freed up to finish him. You know, 166 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: it sounds like a very Charlie Brown thing. Peppermin Patty 167 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: was actually his athletic cousin, and Schroeder I found out 168 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:25,720 Speaker 1: was based on his friend's mom, who every time they 169 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: went over she was always annoyingly playing Beethoven in their house. 170 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: She wrote that you wrote that end of the comic strip. 171 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:37,079 Speaker 1: But you know, Batman's kind of interesting. He was based 172 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: on a number of characters. He was based on Zoro Dracula, 173 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:44,199 Speaker 1: a movie about a bat whisper. But you know, the writer, 174 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:49,439 Speaker 1: Bob Kaine's major inspiration was actually Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci. 175 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: I wouldn't have guessed that, yeah, me either, because you know, 176 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:56,920 Speaker 1: Batman seems more like a crime fighter than an artistic type. 177 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,200 Speaker 1: But I guess as a teenager, Bob Kine found this 178 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: book of Da Vinci inventions, and he was especially enamored 179 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: with all the flying inventions, so he'd like trace them 180 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:09,079 Speaker 1: or draw them out, and one of them was this 181 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: giant pair of wings that could be attached to a 182 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 1: man's back to fly, and obviously that gets roped into 183 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: the whole Batman series. But there's a lot of fun 184 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,400 Speaker 1: stuff out there. One I really want to talk about, though, 185 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 1: is Tintin, which I read it as a kid. Did 186 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: you ever read this as a kid? I didn't, but 187 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 1: I know you've you know, mentioned them a lot before. Yeah, 188 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: and you know I was hooked. My son is now hooked. 189 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 1: And for anyone who doesn't know, Attintan is this wonderful 190 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: Belgian comic about a reporter. He travels the world with 191 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: his dog Snowy, ends up sucked into all these amazing 192 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 1: adventures and ends up trying to have to stop crimes. 193 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 1: But it was actually only this week that I learned 194 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:48,200 Speaker 1: that Tintin maybe based on a real person. So apparently 195 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: in this Danish newspaper wanted to honor Jewels firm, so 196 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:55,240 Speaker 1: they created a contest where one lucky teen would get 197 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 1: to travel the world for forty six days unaccompanied. And 198 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: out of this stack of applications, this fifteen year old 199 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: boy named Pal hauled one and the press just fell 200 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:10,160 Speaker 1: in love with him immediately. He got to travel to Canada, Japan, Korea, China, 201 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: the Soviet Union. Apparently the Soviet Union wasn't friendly to 202 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 1: tourists and it was a big deal that he went there. Um, 203 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:19,320 Speaker 1: he went to Germany lots of places before returning to 204 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: Copenhagen forty four days later. And it was such a 205 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: phenomenon that there were crowds kind of there to meet 206 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: him at every pit stop. But when he got back 207 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,199 Speaker 1: to Copenhagen there were twenty two thousand people waiting for 208 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 1: him to return, and in fact, it was so crowded 209 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: that the police crowd served him just to get him 210 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:41,080 Speaker 1: to safety. Unbelievable, twenty two thousand people. So they both 211 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,680 Speaker 1: traveled the world, but where where there were there similarities 212 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:47,679 Speaker 1: beyond that, so I mean there were some Tintins. Obviously, 213 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:51,559 Speaker 1: this fresh faced character with unruly hair, Pal was the same. 214 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:55,520 Speaker 1: They also dressed suspiciously alike like Pal, were breeches and 215 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,559 Speaker 1: the page boy hat, and I guess a similar overcoat. 216 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 1: But the biggest of it might just be the timing. 217 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 1: Tintin debut a few months after the teenager returned home, 218 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: so everyone just assumed Pal was Tintin. And in fact, 219 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,160 Speaker 1: when Pale died, his obituaries and these were everywhere from 220 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:13,440 Speaker 1: like the Telegraph to the Observer to the New York Times, 221 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 1: they all noted how his adventure had sparked the comics series, 222 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:21,720 Speaker 1: but her Je, who was Tintin's creator, completely denied the story. 223 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,959 Speaker 1: And there's another person that some Tintin fans think might 224 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,199 Speaker 1: have inspired the character, and who's that. So it's a 225 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: French photojournalist who I've never heard of, named Robert Sex, 226 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 1: and uh, these people might be right. So Sex also 227 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 1: had unruly hair. He traveled on a motorbike like Tintin, 228 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 1: took his dog with him, which is also true to 229 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 1: the comics. Snowy, who was Tintin's dog, is called Millow 230 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 1: in French, and Sex's best friend in real life was 231 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: Rennee Melo. But the biggest evidence is just where this 232 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:53,960 Speaker 1: guy traveled. So his adventures took him to Moscow, out 233 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:57,839 Speaker 1: to the Belgian Congo, to the US, and those ended 234 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: up being the settings for the first three Tintin book books. 235 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,320 Speaker 1: But you know, the hardest thing for Belgian fans to 236 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: swallow about this theory is that, uh, it would actually 237 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:11,080 Speaker 1: make one of Belgium's most famous characters French. And perhaps 238 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:14,679 Speaker 1: that's why I Hear was always denying this theory as well. Huh, Well, 239 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 1: I mean, you know you mentioned Jules Verne in there 240 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 1: and around the world in eighty days. And related to that, 241 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:22,839 Speaker 1: did you realize that Phileas Fogg, the main character from 242 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,720 Speaker 1: the book, is also based on a real person. No, 243 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: I mean, I do think it's funny that, like, if 244 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:31,760 Speaker 1: you dig deep enough, it feels like every character has 245 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:34,480 Speaker 1: a background somewhere. Like, uh, I read that the lamb 246 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:36,200 Speaker 1: from Mary Had a Little Lamb is based on a 247 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: real lamb, which is so insane because that lamb doesn't 248 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:43,840 Speaker 1: have that much personality but it does nothing. But I 249 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:46,959 Speaker 1: cut you off, Well, what's the story with Phileas Fogg? No, 250 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:48,800 Speaker 1: I just want to go back to talk about this lamb. 251 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: That's the most boring story ever. No, that's pretty great. Well, 252 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: he's apparently based on this rich, eccentric named George Francis 253 00:12:56,960 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: Train who decided a campaign for I think it was 254 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:03,280 Speaker 1: the eighteen seventy two presidential election, and he did this 255 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 1: by going across the world in eighty days for some reason, 256 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: and he had this campaign slogan, get on board. And 257 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: obviously this wasn't a great way to campaign though, since 258 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: he virtually disappeared for those months. But what's amazing is 259 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:20,840 Speaker 1: that he did actually make it back in eighty days, 260 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:24,240 Speaker 1: and so Jules Verne claimed that the idea was entirely original. 261 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,760 Speaker 1: But there are all these similarities in the stories, including 262 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 1: how Train hires a private train along the way and 263 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 1: finds himself in prison, and part of it. Train was 264 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:36,640 Speaker 1: actually insulted that he didn't get any credit and often 265 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:40,040 Speaker 1: yelled about how quote Verne stole his thunder, which is 266 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:42,840 Speaker 1: just kind of funny to imagine him yelling this. But anyway, 267 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:46,640 Speaker 1: Phileas Fogg and Trained stories ended very differently, though, so 268 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: while Fogg found love at the end of his journey, 269 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 1: Train was always on the edge of being put in 270 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:56,559 Speaker 1: an asylum. His next campaign was actually to be dictator 271 00:13:56,679 --> 00:13:59,400 Speaker 1: of the United States, which you can imagine didn't go 272 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 1: over well, and he actually was put in jail briefly 273 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 1: for obscenity and and you know, he spent his final 274 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 1: few years handing out dimes to passers by at Madison 275 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 1: Square Park and it's it's a very weird story. But 276 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: he actually had the strict policy of only having conversations 277 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: with children and animals, which sounds like a really great 278 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:25,200 Speaker 1: voting demographic, right, children's animals. That's the way to campaign, 279 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:27,320 Speaker 1: So I know, We've got a number four stories to 280 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: get to, but before we do, why don't we take 281 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:45,440 Speaker 1: a quick break. Welcome back to Part Time Genius, where 282 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:47,920 Speaker 1: we're talking about the real people some fictional characters were 283 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 1: based on. So well, I know you want to talk 284 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: about Olivia Pope because you are such a fan of Scandal, 285 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: but I think he said you had another famous female 286 00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 1: you wanted to get to first. That's right. I don't 287 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: want to talk about a Levia just yet. I actually 288 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:03,800 Speaker 1: want to talk about Miss Piggy. And you know, I 289 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: think we all want to believe that the Diva is 290 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:10,360 Speaker 1: one original, but this is actually a pretty interesting story 291 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 1: because it turns up Miss Piggy was created as this 292 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 1: homage to a jazz singer who was named Peggy Lee, 293 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:20,080 Speaker 1: and in fact, Miss Piggy's original name was actually Miss 294 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: Piggy Lee. So I'm curious, like, why don't I know 295 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 1: this story? Because I feel like I know stories about 296 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: like animal being based on the Who's drummer Keith Moon. 297 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:32,800 Speaker 1: There's that story about the Swedish chef who's based on 298 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:35,080 Speaker 1: a real Swedish chef who was on Good Morning America 299 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 1: and got so nervous that he was shaking and even 300 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 1: mumbling strange words that he didn't recognize. And you know, though, 301 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: the Muppets have never shied away from telling those origin stories, 302 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,119 Speaker 1: So why don't I know this one? Well, the muppeteer 303 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 1: who created her was named Bonnie Ericsson, and and Bonnie 304 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:53,480 Speaker 1: loved the singer Peggy Lee growing up in North Dakota, 305 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:55,600 Speaker 1: and her mom was also a huge fan, and so 306 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 1: Bonnie grew up viewing Peggy as kind of this strong 307 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 1: and independent an artist. So in a way, calling the 308 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: muppet Piggy Lee was It was really more of a 309 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: sweet joke to honor the singer. But then as Miss 310 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:10,840 Speaker 1: Piggy got more and more popular, no one really wanted 311 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:13,320 Speaker 1: to offend the star. And this was partially because she 312 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: had gained a little bit of weight later in her 313 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:18,359 Speaker 1: career due to some health problems, but was still performing 314 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:20,920 Speaker 1: in some of those original tight outfits from her youth, 315 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: so they decided to back off on the comparison understandably. 316 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: But any speaking of Bonnie Erickson, and this is an aside, 317 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 1: but did you know that she didn't just work on 318 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 1: Muppet character She also designed some famous mascots, including one 319 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:37,400 Speaker 1: of our favorites, the Philly fanatic. I feel like I'm 320 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:40,720 Speaker 1: a Phillies fan. I love the fanatic, but I had 321 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 1: no idea that there was a Muppets connection there. Well, 322 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: that might be her most successful one. She also had 323 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: some duds along the way, as we all do. So 324 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: she designed a Dandy mascot for the Yankees, which is 325 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:54,560 Speaker 1: a little strange. He was kind of this cute looking, 326 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 1: heavily mustachio New Yorker. But he only lasted three seasons 327 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 1: and as part it because he was never allowed out 328 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: of the nosebleed section, so he he wasn't allowed to 329 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:08,480 Speaker 1: do appearances because the management was worried that he might 330 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: distract players for some reason. That's really funny. And looking 331 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:15,959 Speaker 1: at some of her other designs, she designed these kind 332 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,159 Speaker 1: of sweet, weird animals for the Chicago White Sox. Their 333 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: name were Ribby and rue Barb. So I don't understand this, 334 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: Like the White Sox feels like you should be designing 335 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,360 Speaker 1: like White Sox characters. Like why Ribby and Rubarb, who 336 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: I've never heard of? Like were they popular? Now? They 337 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:35,919 Speaker 1: definitely weren't popular. Actually, I was doing some reading on it, so, 338 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 1: as Espionation puts it, quote, the two fuzzballs look like 339 00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:42,760 Speaker 1: the product of a bad experience with lsd. Ribby was 340 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: a purple and eater, and Rubarb look like the love 341 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:49,879 Speaker 1: child of the San Diego Chicken and a swiffer. I 342 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 1: feel like I like them even more now and I 343 00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 1: almost want like a T shirt with them. But uh, 344 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,240 Speaker 1: how long did they last? Well? Unfortunately, not very long. 345 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:00,439 Speaker 1: And that's parson because of when they were a mission. 346 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 1: I mean it was this was at a time where 347 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:05,640 Speaker 1: there was this unofficial mascot name Andy the Clown, who 348 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 1: was still working the crowds at that time. And for 349 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:12,119 Speaker 1: some reason, there were seriously strong allegiances to Andy. And 350 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:15,160 Speaker 1: this was despite the factor, maybe because he told these 351 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,159 Speaker 1: dirty jokes as he walked around the stadium. And anyway, 352 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:21,320 Speaker 1: kids and adults didn't take kindly to Ribby and Rhubarb, 353 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: invading on what they saw as Andy's turf and and 354 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:27,359 Speaker 1: and there are stories of fans of all ages just 355 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: verbally abusing Ribby and Rhubarb and it it sounds pretty horrible. 356 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: So finally the Socks management had to, you know, find 357 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:37,680 Speaker 1: a way to humanely put the characters out of their misery. 358 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:39,960 Speaker 1: But I don't know, just just this fact that the 359 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 1: White Sox took a chance on these giant muppet like 360 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:45,399 Speaker 1: beasts for a little while. Is is pretty great and 361 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: it kind of makes me respect those that they decided 362 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: to give this a shot. But actually, I'll have to 363 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,800 Speaker 1: find some photos for you because they're pretty great. Oh. 364 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: I love that. I feel like we should start to 365 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,520 Speaker 1: bring back Ribby and Rubart campaign. It is good. So 366 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,880 Speaker 1: I feel like we're on a little with women characters. 367 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:04,200 Speaker 1: We've got Miss Piggy. We're gonna get to the Olivia 368 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,720 Speaker 1: Pope story. But before we do that, I I didn't 369 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 1: want to talk about two other female characters I think 370 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 1: are interesting. And these examples both come from the book 371 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:14,280 Speaker 1: The Godfather Was a Girl by em and Evans. We 372 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:16,680 Speaker 1: leaned on this book for the episode and it's really terrific. 373 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:20,199 Speaker 1: But the first is The Godfather from the movies and 374 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: Mario Puzzo's book. And while there are plenty of gangsters 375 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 1: and mafios in that series that are based on real criminals, 376 00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 1: like there's a character based on Bugsy Siegull, there's one 377 00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:32,640 Speaker 1: based on Mayer Landski. The voice of Don Corleone is 378 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:37,879 Speaker 1: actually based on Mario Puzzo's mother, and I had never 379 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:41,119 Speaker 1: heard this before, but as the book puts it, quote 380 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:45,080 Speaker 1: Puzzo was partially inspired by an illiterate Neapolitan immigrant who 381 00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 1: had raised him and his levin siblings single handedly amid 382 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:51,639 Speaker 1: the squalor of the New York slums. Quote, whenever the 383 00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,000 Speaker 1: Godfather opened his mouth, Puzzo said, in my own mind, 384 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:58,280 Speaker 1: I heard the voice of my mother, A wonderful, handsome woman, 385 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:02,159 Speaker 1: but a fairly ruthless This person. I mean, you know, 386 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:04,920 Speaker 1: you think about this, Raising twelve kids in that era 387 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,400 Speaker 1: of New York definitely couldn't have been easy. And as 388 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:10,399 Speaker 1: interesting as the Godfather is, I'm almost more interested in 389 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:13,040 Speaker 1: her story and and like just how ruthless she could be. 390 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: Totally the use of that word ruthless is important. And 391 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: so that's one character. The second person who I guess 392 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 1: gets an unfair wrap, according to the book, is actually 393 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:25,400 Speaker 1: Lady Macbeth. And thanks to Shakespeare, you know, her name 394 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:29,199 Speaker 1: is synonymous with ambitious women, but also women who were 395 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:33,200 Speaker 1: like cold hearted and cunning and you know, duplicitus. But 396 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,919 Speaker 1: I I didn't realize this. That depiction was basically created 397 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:39,359 Speaker 1: to flatter the royals at the time, and according to 398 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:43,160 Speaker 1: the book, the real wife of Macbeth, was quote universally 399 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: acclaimed as a Saint lean popular figure. We know, for instance, 400 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:49,159 Speaker 1: that she donated money and land to monks, and from 401 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:51,480 Speaker 1: the very fact that she was the first Scottish queen 402 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: to be named in history, she had to be popular. Also, 403 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: the book wanted to point out that the real McBeth 404 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,840 Speaker 1: became King of Scotland after killing Duncan on the battlefield, 405 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,639 Speaker 1: and the author points out in ten forty that was 406 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 1: basically akin to winning an election. So I guess that 407 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 1: means the next time you hear someone using the word 408 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:10,639 Speaker 1: lady Macbeth like an insult, be sure to correct them, 409 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:14,040 Speaker 1: because they probably mean a lady Emelda Marcos. Yeah, I'm 410 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 1: sure that's exactly what I mean. There's actually one more 411 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 1: woman who gets a bad rap that I feel like 412 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,919 Speaker 1: we should probably cover, and that's the Wicked Witch of 413 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,760 Speaker 1: the West. And you know, the the the idea of 414 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:27,560 Speaker 1: her may have changed just a little bit because of 415 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: the popularity of the musical Wicked, But there's a great 416 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:33,680 Speaker 1: line that emm and Evan uses that quote. History shows 417 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:38,320 Speaker 1: us that geniuses were sometimes underappreciated in their own lifetimes. Feminist, 418 00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 1: on the other hand, were always under appreciated, And of 419 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:43,919 Speaker 1: course the wicked Witch was based on a feminist. There 420 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:46,639 Speaker 1: was this woman named Matilda Gauge, and she was the 421 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 1: founder of the National Women's Suffrage Association, and she was 422 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:54,240 Speaker 1: publicly and unfairly seen as this man hater. Now, she 423 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:56,320 Speaker 1: was a tough woman, but she also happened to be 424 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,399 Speaker 1: l Frank Baum's mother in law. And the story is 425 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:02,400 Speaker 1: she was not an easy mother in law, but OZ 426 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:05,920 Speaker 1: appreciated her idealism, and the theory is that she inspired 427 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,480 Speaker 1: both the good and the wicked witches in OZ. In fact, 428 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: Gage wrote quite a bit about the persecution of witches 429 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: in medieval times, and that may have actually inspired the writer. 430 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:19,040 Speaker 1: It's funny because I had actually heard that the Yellow 431 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:21,960 Speaker 1: Brick Road was from this military school that he'd attended 432 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:24,760 Speaker 1: in New York, and that, uh, that OZ was based 433 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,880 Speaker 1: on the World's Fair in Chicago, you know, this giant, 434 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,480 Speaker 1: tented city. But I'd never actually heard the mother in 435 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:34,000 Speaker 1: law thing, which which is really interesting. Yeah, I thought 436 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:36,440 Speaker 1: so too. All right, so we've covered some women who 437 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,240 Speaker 1: have gotten a bad rap. You know, we've got a 438 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:41,280 Speaker 1: queen who didn't deserve her wicked legacy. We had the 439 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,159 Speaker 1: struggling mother who ended up voicing a mob boss, and 440 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:46,640 Speaker 1: you know, a feminist who was made into a fictional 441 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,000 Speaker 1: witch or two. But I actually wanted to talk about 442 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,640 Speaker 1: a character that even if you don't like her, you've 443 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:54,159 Speaker 1: got to admire her. And you mentioned this earlier, but 444 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 1: that is Olivia Pope from Scandal. So if you watch 445 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: the show, you know that Pope is kind of ultimate 446 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:04,680 Speaker 1: in crisis management. I mean, she's basically this mercenary who 447 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:08,320 Speaker 1: fixes political scandals and situations. But one of the things 448 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,399 Speaker 1: I didn't realize until we started researching for the episode 449 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:14,280 Speaker 1: is that Olivia Pope is actually based on a real person. 450 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:17,520 Speaker 1: It's this DC insider named Judy Smith, who used to 451 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:21,199 Speaker 1: work for George H. W. Bush. Now, unlike Pope, she 452 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:24,520 Speaker 1: hasn't hooked up with or slapped a president, but she 453 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,359 Speaker 1: gives a consultant for the show in addition to running 454 00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: her own firm, and Neely Tucker at The Washington posted 455 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,080 Speaker 1: this incredible profile of her. But I'll just give you 456 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:36,640 Speaker 1: a little bit of background here. So for starters, she's 457 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,840 Speaker 1: really tough to find. Like her company isn't in any 458 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,919 Speaker 1: phone directories, it doesn't have a website. She has no 459 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: business cards, her numbers unlisted, and if you want to 460 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:49,720 Speaker 1: meet with her, she comes to you. And you know, 461 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,400 Speaker 1: since Scandal has come out, there are more photos of her, 462 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 1: but she's notoriously good at staying off the mic and 463 00:23:56,119 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: off the camera, and when one of the producers of 464 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:00,679 Speaker 1: Scandal tried to find a photo of there was actually 465 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:04,159 Speaker 1: only one on the Internet at the time. So I 466 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,439 Speaker 1: feel like she's basically a ghost or almost operates like 467 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,959 Speaker 1: a CIA operative, I mean pretty much. But even if 468 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:14,320 Speaker 1: her fingerprints aren't on at her work is all over 469 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:17,239 Speaker 1: the place. So she was working for Bush during the 470 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,119 Speaker 1: Clarence Thomas trial, which kind of makes you wonder how 471 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:22,640 Speaker 1: much dirt she might have been covering up for him. 472 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:26,119 Speaker 1: And actually, the list of her other clients is unbelievable. 473 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: You've got Michael Vick BP after the oil spill in run, 474 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 1: the Attorney General's office during the first Mary and Barry trial, 475 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,160 Speaker 1: Larry Craig and the Men's Room, the Chandra Levy family, 476 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 1: and even Monica Lewinsky. I mean, you feel a little 477 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:44,399 Speaker 1: ill looking at that list, but then you realize, like, 478 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:47,000 Speaker 1: if her specialty is crisis management, she has to have 479 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:51,080 Speaker 1: people with crisis is right, right, right. It does feel 480 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 1: like she's that word you mentioned, a mercenary. Yeah, and 481 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,120 Speaker 1: she's really good at her job. In fact, there's only 482 00:24:57,119 --> 00:24:59,440 Speaker 1: one mentioned in the news of her not being poised, 483 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 1: and this was when she was deputy Press secretary for 484 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:04,520 Speaker 1: the White House. She was written about as being quote 485 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,800 Speaker 1: a little flustered and combative. But I mean, the thing is, 486 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,080 Speaker 1: we have to remember how stressful it is to be 487 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:12,920 Speaker 1: in that position. In fact, her boss, Marlon Fitzwater, spoke 488 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 1: about how hard it was being in the press room, 489 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:18,120 Speaker 1: and he said that he actually installed a full length 490 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,400 Speaker 1: podium so that reporters couldn't see his knees shaking. So 491 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:25,119 Speaker 1: being a little combative isn't the worst thing. So I 492 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,240 Speaker 1: am curious. Are there any stories about how she works? 493 00:25:28,280 --> 00:25:30,639 Speaker 1: I mean, it feels like she does this all behind 494 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:33,639 Speaker 1: closed doors, right. Well, the only thing I could find 495 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,480 Speaker 1: was during the height of the Clinton impeachment scandal, she 496 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:39,480 Speaker 1: was working to keep Lewinsky away from the tabloids and 497 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:42,639 Speaker 1: the TV cameras, but she had to keep her in town, 498 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: so she decided to hide her in this church's homeless 499 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:48,639 Speaker 1: outreach program because she knew no one would think to 500 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:51,639 Speaker 1: look there. But you know, her job is not all tricks. 501 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,080 Speaker 1: I mean, as she told the Washington Post, sometimes the 502 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:57,320 Speaker 1: key is just the sincere apology and then returning to 503 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,480 Speaker 1: what you do well and of course years of living 504 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:03,639 Speaker 1: that example, and that seems to be her advice for 505 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: some people you think about, like Michael Vick as an example. 506 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: And as Smith puts it, quote, a wonderful quality about 507 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:13,159 Speaker 1: America is that we love redemption stories. Were quick to 508 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,160 Speaker 1: lash out and assign blame, but we also draw from 509 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,919 Speaker 1: deep reservoirs of forgiveness. And as the article puts it, 510 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:23,440 Speaker 1: she views her role as taking these extremely flawed clients 511 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:27,159 Speaker 1: and ushering them into this kinder, better second act. So 512 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:29,880 Speaker 1: I appreciate her skill, and I kind of wanted dislike her, 513 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:32,119 Speaker 1: but then what you said about forgiveness makes me like 514 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:34,399 Speaker 1: her even more. So She's obviously very good at this 515 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:36,879 Speaker 1: thin stuff. But uh, you know, I know we've got 516 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 1: a few more stories I want to get to you. 517 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:40,399 Speaker 1: But before you do that, let's take a little break. 518 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:56,880 Speaker 1: Welcome back to Part Time Genius. Okay, Mango, we've talked 519 00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:00,200 Speaker 1: about muffets and scandals and Harry Potter, So where do 520 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:02,119 Speaker 1: you want to go from here? So I was thinking, 521 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:04,200 Speaker 1: why don't we each tell one of our favorite stories 522 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:06,080 Speaker 1: and then we can get to the fact off. All right, 523 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:08,400 Speaker 1: that sounds good, so I'll let you go first. Where 524 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:11,320 Speaker 1: do you want to start? How about with the little 525 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:13,840 Speaker 1: Roll Doll? And as you know, I'm a huge Roll 526 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:18,520 Speaker 1: Doll fan. I loved Boy Danny, the Champion, the World Twits, Matilda, Fantastic, 527 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 1: Mr Fox. I could list them forever. And I thought 528 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:23,359 Speaker 1: you were going to for a second there. But you know, 529 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:26,520 Speaker 1: I always figured there was a little autobiography in like 530 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,720 Speaker 1: how much he disliked principles or certain adults or whatever. 531 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:32,560 Speaker 1: But one thing I didn't imagine was that the bf 532 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,000 Speaker 1: G or the Big Friendly Giant would be based on 533 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:37,560 Speaker 1: a real person. Oh that's interesting, And actually I just 534 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,760 Speaker 1: saw the movie recently. But how is that? So? I 535 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:43,720 Speaker 1: found the story in the Telegraph. But do you know 536 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:47,359 Speaker 1: how Roll Doll had this little writing cottage behind his place? No, 537 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:50,199 Speaker 1: I didn't, so he would go back there. It was 538 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,439 Speaker 1: this tiny little shed. He'd put a blanket on his 539 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:53,879 Speaker 1: legs and sit in a chair and right for a 540 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:56,880 Speaker 1: few hours every day and sort of this like legendary thing. 541 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:00,119 Speaker 1: And and uh, but the BFG is actually based on 542 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,119 Speaker 1: this guy named Wally Saunder, who was this giant of 543 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:06,359 Speaker 1: a man and this sweet natured builder who Doll had 544 00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 1: actually befriended and also commissioned him to make this hut. 545 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:13,520 Speaker 1: And uh, Wally apparently was super super nice. He had 546 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:16,480 Speaker 1: this long, brinkly face, a big nose, and ears, and 547 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: as Doll put it, quote, huge hands like a bunch 548 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:25,480 Speaker 1: of bananas. He also had this thick Norfolk accent where, um, 549 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:27,600 Speaker 1: he would speak but no one could really understand him, 550 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,080 Speaker 1: and he jumbled his words and phrases a lot, just 551 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:34,560 Speaker 1: like the VFG. But Dal particularly noticed when his granddaughter 552 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: Sophie started up this friendship with this gentleman, and uh, 553 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: that's sort of what the whole book is based on. 554 00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:43,480 Speaker 1: I didn't know that, and I really like that actually, 555 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 1: So what's where are you gonna end with? I'm just 556 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:48,720 Speaker 1: going a pretty different direction. I want to talk about 557 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:51,959 Speaker 1: the real life Cramer back to the sign fell the idea. 558 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: But obviously there's a ton of real stuff and Sign felt, 559 00:28:55,080 --> 00:28:57,760 Speaker 1: despite what Tristan may believe, it is based on Jerry 560 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:01,400 Speaker 1: Seinfeld's life. Uh, there of course was a real soup 561 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 1: Nazi um Elaine's character is loosely rooted and Carol Leefer, 562 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:08,800 Speaker 1: who Seinfeld dated, and then I think a lot of 563 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,440 Speaker 1: people know this, but but obviously George is very much 564 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,040 Speaker 1: based on Larry David, who really did move in with 565 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:18,160 Speaker 1: his parents. He entered a contest like the infamous Contest episode, 566 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:21,280 Speaker 1: even quit a job and realized he needed the money, 567 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 1: so he just showed up at work the next day 568 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,600 Speaker 1: and pretended like he hadn't quit, which is just think 569 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:29,200 Speaker 1: is hilarious. But these are all real things. But the 570 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,000 Speaker 1: most interesting character to me, maybe when you think about 571 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 1: the real life situation is probably Kramer, who is very 572 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,920 Speaker 1: much based on a guy named Kenny Kramer, who's Larry 573 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:43,000 Speaker 1: David's neighbor and there are so many great stories about him. 574 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:47,760 Speaker 1: Kenny Kramer is a comedian and an entrepreneur and unsuccessfully 575 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 1: ran for office. He also apparently runs this really terrible 576 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 1: bus tour on the real Seinfeld experience. It's called Kramer's 577 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:58,080 Speaker 1: Reality Tour and it just sounds terrible. So he's a 578 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:01,320 Speaker 1: licensed New York tour guide, but the tour often involves 579 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,160 Speaker 1: him pointing at a gay person on the street and 580 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 1: then the entire bus singing together. Not that there's anything 581 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,560 Speaker 1: wrong with that, So it sounds like it makes me 582 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:13,120 Speaker 1: even embarrassed to just like read it. But you know 583 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:15,960 Speaker 1: they'll they'll use other catchphrases from the show on the tour. 584 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: And he's always looking for these money making schemes, like 585 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,160 Speaker 1: when this one book company went out of business, he 586 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,400 Speaker 1: bought their Seinfeld Universe books for ten cents a book, 587 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 1: signed them, and then resold them. So he's basically the 588 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:32,840 Speaker 1: character on the show with very little embellishment to it. 589 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:35,400 Speaker 1: But I think my favorite story about him is just 590 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 1: the one where Larry David told him that he was 591 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:40,960 Speaker 1: creating a Seinfeld pilot and then he wanted to base 592 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:42,920 Speaker 1: a character on him, and so here, let me just 593 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:47,280 Speaker 1: read you this account of it. So it was very Seinfeld. 594 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:50,520 Speaker 1: I in. He came and asked, permission, Kramer, I'm writing 595 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:53,160 Speaker 1: a pilot with Seinfeld. I want to base a character 596 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,920 Speaker 1: on you and call him Cramer. Is that okay? I said, certainly, 597 00:30:56,960 --> 00:30:59,160 Speaker 1: it's okay, as long as I get to play Kramer. 598 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,040 Speaker 1: He says, you can't be Kramer. I said, but I 599 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:04,760 Speaker 1: am Kramer. And he says, look, Kenny, I'm just writing 600 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 1: a pilot. I have no say, but there's no way 601 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:08,840 Speaker 1: in hell, you're gonna be Cramer. So that's just the 602 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: way it is, which honestly feels like I've seen that 603 00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:16,040 Speaker 1: scene on Signful before. Yeah, that's pretty great. Well, you know, 604 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:18,760 Speaker 1: the only difference I've read is that Kramer claims Larry 605 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:21,520 Speaker 1: David used to take food from his fridge and not 606 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,800 Speaker 1: the other way around, which also sounds like a Kramer 607 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:27,320 Speaker 1: thing to say. All right, well, now we've gotten a 608 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:30,120 Speaker 1: little roll Doll and a little Cramer out of our systems, 609 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:32,240 Speaker 1: so I think it's time for the fact off. Mango 610 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:43,440 Speaker 1: sounds great, So here's a quick one. I love Judy 611 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 1: Bloom and her books, especially at the Tales of Fourth 612 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 1: Grade Nothing and super Fudge. And I've heard that the 613 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 1: character Fudge was based on her son Larry. It's actually 614 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:53,800 Speaker 1: why she dedicated a book to him, and and she's 615 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 1: always talked about him diplomatically, like apparently he sucked four 616 00:31:57,480 --> 00:31:59,920 Speaker 1: fingers on his hands, just like the character he refused 617 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:03,200 Speaker 1: where shoes through these ridiculous tantrums. But the way he 618 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:05,040 Speaker 1: always talked about him was just to say he was 619 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,160 Speaker 1: quote a very interesting child. But I have to note, 620 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:10,120 Speaker 1: did he ever swallow a turtle like he did in 621 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:13,000 Speaker 1: the book. Yeah, I was curious about that too, but 622 00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:17,080 Speaker 1: apparently not she She actually got that from newspaper articles 623 00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,040 Speaker 1: that appeared at the time. She was writing about this 624 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:21,920 Speaker 1: boy who swallowed a turtle land. I guess every day 625 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,600 Speaker 1: for a week, the newspaper kept following up with this kid, 626 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,680 Speaker 1: and and it just got into a psyche. It's been 627 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,720 Speaker 1: a slow newsweek. Alright. Well, here's one that I like. 628 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,000 Speaker 1: The real inspector Clusseau from the Pink Panther movies was 629 00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:38,240 Speaker 1: actually a great athlete. So in eighteen seventy, Captain Matthew 630 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,760 Speaker 1: Webb heroically dived off a ship and he saved this 631 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:45,720 Speaker 1: drowning passenger. So then he uses this publicity to do 632 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:48,760 Speaker 1: all these other stunts, like one of his daredevil feats 633 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,000 Speaker 1: was to cover himself in dolphin blubber for some reason 634 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:55,480 Speaker 1: and then swim the English Channel. But he made quite 635 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:59,640 Speaker 1: a name for himself until he finally swam under Niagara Falls, where, 636 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:02,640 Speaker 1: sad like, things didn't end well for the Daredevil. But 637 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:05,320 Speaker 1: he had all of these sponsors, and and one of 638 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:08,840 Speaker 1: them was this matchbox company, and they would put his 639 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:12,160 Speaker 1: picture on the box. And when Peter Sellers lit a 640 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:14,600 Speaker 1: cigarette with one of the matches and then saw the 641 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 1: picture of this guy was sporting this ridiculous giant mustache 642 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:20,880 Speaker 1: and posing in a man kini and this kind of 643 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:24,680 Speaker 1: serious but also buffoonish pose. It gave him the idea 644 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: for this new character. Huh, that's really interesting. So Mario 645 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,720 Speaker 1: from Super Mario Brothers is actually based on Nintendo's Landlord 646 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:35,400 Speaker 1: in Seattle, and apparently the staff was working on a 647 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:37,680 Speaker 1: character called Mr. Video at the time. I thought he 648 00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:40,120 Speaker 1: was called jump Man, but I guess he was called 649 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:44,360 Speaker 1: Mr Video when Mario Segal came in wearing these overalls 650 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:48,000 Speaker 1: sporting his trademark mustache, and he got very, very animated, 651 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 1: just hopping up and down about that month's rent check 652 00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:56,000 Speaker 1: being late. And as a reward for that display, they 653 00:33:56,040 --> 00:34:00,400 Speaker 1: renamed their character Mario. And of course Mario this day 654 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:03,080 Speaker 1: is not happy about that. He actually is a duck hunter, 655 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:07,120 Speaker 1: so he was maybe twice the inspiration for their games. Uh. 656 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:10,080 Speaker 1: He told the Seattle Times that he's still waiting on 657 00:34:10,200 --> 00:34:12,279 Speaker 1: his royalty checks. I do think he got his rent 658 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:16,280 Speaker 1: checks though. So the book That Godfather Was a Girl 659 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:19,640 Speaker 1: has this great little bit on que from James Bond. 660 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:23,560 Speaker 1: Apparently the gadget Whiz was based on a real person, 661 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,960 Speaker 1: Charles Fraser Smith, who was this missionary and also a 662 00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:31,160 Speaker 1: dairy farmer, but more interestingly also spent World War Two 663 00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:35,320 Speaker 1: at the UK Ministry of Supplies, Clothing and Textile Department. 664 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:38,319 Speaker 1: Now that's just code for m I six, where he 665 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:42,160 Speaker 1: was crafting these gadgets for secret agents. But the real 666 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:45,520 Speaker 1: que was a little lower tech than his on screen counterpart, 667 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 1: and he was mostly quote putting things in other things 668 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:50,880 Speaker 1: like and then some of these are pretty interesting, like 669 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:54,120 Speaker 1: stuffing a mini camera to a cigarette lighter, or a 670 00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:57,319 Speaker 1: mini compass into a golf ball, or figuring out how 671 00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:00,160 Speaker 1: to put a tiny saw in an agent shoes. I mean, 672 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:04,040 Speaker 1: they're pretty funny stuff. That's pretty cool. So did you 673 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 1: know that there's actually a real Ferris Bueller And his 674 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:11,760 Speaker 1: name is Edward McNally. He grew up on John Hughes's block, 675 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:14,440 Speaker 1: who is the director of Ferris Bueller. And apparently this 676 00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 1: kid was a legend in in one marketing period, he 677 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:21,120 Speaker 1: supposedly skipped school twenty seven times. The fact that everyone 678 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:24,279 Speaker 1: knows this is kind of incredible. He even pulled off 679 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 1: that same card trek from the movie where he borrowed 680 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:29,880 Speaker 1: his friends dad's car drove a hundred thirteen miles in 681 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:32,680 Speaker 1: it and then tried to run the miles off by 682 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:35,680 Speaker 1: putting it in reverse, and apparently it also ended badly. 683 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:39,680 Speaker 1: But it's funny because you know, you probably wonder like 684 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:42,279 Speaker 1: where his career went from this. He actually ended up 685 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:45,040 Speaker 1: going to law school, he became a Republican, and he 686 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:48,840 Speaker 1: ended up being senior counsel to George W. Bush. Oh way, 687 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:51,279 Speaker 1: I mean, it is actually kind of funny how many hits, 688 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:55,560 Speaker 1: shows and movies have come out of the Bush administration. Yeah, 689 00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:57,840 Speaker 1: well here, unrelated to that, here's a quick one that 690 00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 1: I think you might like. Have you heard that Chaka 691 00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:04,640 Speaker 1: is based on George Lucas's dog, Indiana. So his pup 692 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:08,040 Speaker 1: is this massive Alaskan malamute, and he used to ride 693 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:11,160 Speaker 1: Shotgun when Lucas drove around town, so he thought maybe 694 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:15,319 Speaker 1: Han Solo could use a similar companion. And also, that's 695 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:18,359 Speaker 1: pretty funny. I'm guessing Indiana is the name he gave 696 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:20,919 Speaker 1: to Indiana Jones as well. That's right, So his dog 697 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:24,160 Speaker 1: is like doubly important, So pretty pretty big deal here. 698 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 1: But apparently the inspiration for the Millennium Falcon was served 699 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:31,319 Speaker 1: up to Lucas at a diner. He was brainstorming what 700 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:34,200 Speaker 1: the ship would look like, and he was then served 701 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:37,080 Speaker 1: a hamburger with an olive on the side, so there 702 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:41,799 Speaker 1: was where inspiration struck. It is funny because that ship, 703 00:36:41,920 --> 00:36:44,000 Speaker 1: I guess, does look like a hamburger with an olive 704 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:46,920 Speaker 1: on the side. I feel like that's what I'm going 705 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:49,279 Speaker 1: to picture every time I see the Millennium Falcon from 706 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:52,960 Speaker 1: now on. I do think that fact plus the dog fact, 707 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:55,920 Speaker 1: wins you this week's trophy. Though. Yeah, well, thank you 708 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:58,000 Speaker 1: so much that you know there are obviously so many 709 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:01,080 Speaker 1: great characters based off of real people. I know there's 710 00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:03,120 Speaker 1: a ton that we left off that we thought about 711 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:05,960 Speaker 1: talking about today, so we'd love to hear about those 712 00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:08,440 Speaker 1: from You can always email us part Time Genius at 713 00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:10,879 Speaker 1: how stuff Works dot com or hit us up on 714 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:27,600 Speaker 1: Facebook or Twitter. But thanks so much for listening. Thanks 715 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:29,920 Speaker 1: again for listening. Part Time Genius is a production of 716 00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:32,720 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works and wouldn't be possible without several brilliant 717 00:37:32,719 --> 00:37:35,120 Speaker 1: people who do the important things we couldn't even begin 718 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:38,479 Speaker 1: to understand. Tristan McNeil does the editing thing. Noel Brown 719 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:40,759 Speaker 1: made the theme song and does the mixy mixy sound thing. 720 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:44,520 Speaker 1: Jerry Rowland does the exact producer thing. Gabeluesier is our 721 00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:47,920 Speaker 1: lead researcher, with support from the Research Army including Austin Thompson, 722 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:50,560 Speaker 1: Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams and Eve. Jeff Cook gets 723 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:52,640 Speaker 1: the show to your ears. Good job, Eves. If you 724 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:54,560 Speaker 1: like what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe, And if 725 00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:56,480 Speaker 1: you really really like what you've heard, maybe you could 726 00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:58,520 Speaker 1: leave a good review for us. Do we do? We 727 00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:05,400 Speaker 1: forget Jason? Jason who constab