WEBVTT - Let's Kiss the Cod in Newfoundland! 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:17.919 You're listening to part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:19.040 and iHeartRadio. 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:25.120 Yes, well, what's that mango? 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:27.760 So you know how small towns like to beef up 0:00:27.760 --> 0:00:31.080 their tourism by advertising a weird claim to fame, Like 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:35.320 how Riverside, Iowa prides itself as the future birthplace of 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:38.880 Captain Kirk. I really love that's right, And how Montpelier, 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:42.080 Vermont claims to be the rotten sneaker capital of the World. 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:45.120 Yeah, though I'm not convinced that gross old sneakers are 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:45.920 that much of a draw. 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:46.640 Maybe it's just me. 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:49.559 I don't know. Well, sometimes I think it pays to 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:52.400 think outside the box, and that's especially true on the 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:56.280 remote island of Newfoundland. The top three attractions in the 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:01.480 Canadian province are icebergs, whales, and puffin. But since visitors 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:04.000 can experience all of those things in just about every 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:07.280 coastal town there, having a unique offering can really help 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:09.880 the smaller town stand out from the crowd, and one 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:12.160 of the best examples of this I found is a 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:15.360 tiny fishing village called Elliston at the tip of the 0:01:15.440 --> 0:01:19.200 Bonavista Peninsula. For the last twenty five years, Elliston has 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:23.279 touted itself as the uncontested root seller capital of the world. 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:26.640 It has more than one hundred and thirty documented root 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:29.720 sellers built into hills and banks all over town, and 0:01:29.800 --> 0:01:32.600 about half of them are still in use today. That 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:35.199 means that with a population of about three hundred people, 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:38.840 there's one active root seller for every five residents. 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:41.160 Sell I mean, I got to say, I'm surprised more 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:44.480 people haven't visited just to see all those root sellers. 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:46.959 Mango speaking, which what what's a root seller? 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.720 I mean, it's basically a cold, underground storage spot for 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:56.000 storing root, vegetables and sometimes fruit. The oldest sellers are 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:58.840 nearly two hundred years old, and from the outside they 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:02.800 look like cozy, little hobbit homes built right into the hillside. 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:05.480 And while it might sound strange to take a tour of, 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:08.800 you know, a bunch of random root sellers, the underground 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:12.519 structures actually reveal a lot about the story of Newfoundland. 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:16.600 For centuries, European settlers relied on root sellers to survive 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:19.480 the harsh winters, and as a result, many of the 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:22.520 region's most famous dishes are based on the foods that 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:25.240 were stored in them. For example, the traditional Sunday meal 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:31.519 in Newfoundland is Jigs dinner, which consists of boiled carrots, turnips, potatoes, cabbage, 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:34.360 peas pudding, which is a savory pudding made of slit 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:37.760 peas and salt beef. And no trip to Newfoundland would 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:40.360 be complete without trying it. And the truth is you 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:42.440 kind of appreciate the meal a little more once you 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:43.240 visit a cellar. 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:45.080 Yeah, I have to met, you're winning me over with 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:47.359 the dinner angle here. But you know, if Jigs is 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:50.440 a regional dish, then I'm guessing root sellers aren't exactly 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:52.960 unique to Elliston, right, Yeah. 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:55.640 So underground sellers are scattered here and there throughout the province, 0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:58.799 but Elliston is definitely home to the highest number of them. 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:01.480 It's also the town that still makes most use of 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:04.440 them today, not only as a tourist attraction, but as 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:07.760 a part of daily life. So many local families still 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:10.920 depend on the food that's stored in their cellars, whether 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:14.000 for their own subsistence or as a commodity to sell 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:17.760 to you know, neighbors or to tourists. And because underground 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:20.600 storage is one of the greenest methods of preserving food. 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:24.680 Between the hyper local ingredients and a zero power storage system. 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:28.000 Elliston's eco footprint is about as small as it gets. 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:28.840 That's pretty cool. 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:29.120 You know. 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:31.560 It's funny because root sellers seem very much like a 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:33.480 thing of the past, but if you think about the 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:35.560 residents of Ellis ten, it's like they're using them to 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:38.160 make the community more sustainable going forward. 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:41.520 Yeah, and actually that's a very new Finland approach to 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:44.560 cultural traditions. Like the whole spirit of the region is 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:47.520 sometimes likened to a fisherman in his boat. He moves 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:51.760 the vessel forward to his destination, but he sits backwards 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:54.440 while rowing. And the idea is that sometimes in order 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:55.920 to get where you want to go, you kind of 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:57.800 have to keep your sight on where you came from. 0:03:58.040 --> 0:03:58.240 Yeah. 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:00.600 I like that, And I'm guessing by now our listeners 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:04.280 have probably figured out our next destination. Newfoundland is one 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:07.240 of those mysterious places that we've always been curious to visit, 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:09.680 and today we are finally getting that chance. 0:04:10.480 --> 0:04:12.200 Yeah, I mean the US and Canada I haven't been 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.440 getting along too lately, but it's a country we adore 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:18.080 here on the show. So in the spirit of friendship, 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:20.640 we thought we'd spotlight one of the country's most unique 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:22.520 and far flung destinations. 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:23.279 So let's dive in. 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:46.880 Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome the part time genius. I'm 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:49.120 Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:52.000 friend Mangesh Ticketer. On the other side of that soundproof 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:56.839 glass showing off his Royal Order of Screecher's Certificate, that's 0:04:56.880 --> 0:05:00.160 our friend and producer Dylan Fagan. Now he claims the 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:03.960 certificate makes him an honorary Newfoundlander, but it looks like 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:06.120 the kind of thing you could just print out online. 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:08.400 So I'm a little bit skeptical. I always want to 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:10.640 trust Dylan, but this one seems a little fishy. 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:13.320 Yeah, so I read up on this and taking part 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:17.120 in a screech in ceremony is pretty obscure and wonderful, 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:19.600 And of course it's no surprise that our show's most 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:22.000 interesting person, Dylan, has screeched. 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:24.400 Wait wait, wait to back up a second. What is 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:25.000 a screech in? 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:28.400 So getting screeched is basically a tongue in cheek tradition 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.640 for welcoming visitors to Newfoundland. It started in the capital 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.720 city of Saint John's back in the nineteen seventies, and 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:38.159 while the exact ritual varies from one pub to the next, 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:41.440 it mostly consists of three parts. First, you recite a 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:45.640 vaguely vulgar oath loaded with maritime lingo. Then you take 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:50.360 a shot of locally bottled Jamaican run called screech, and lastly, 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:55.279 you plant a big wet kiss on a frozen codfish. 0:05:55.360 --> 0:05:58.160 You are lobbying hard for that trophy for this week's 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:01.800 episode with just that fact. What a ridiculous tradition and 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:04.960 I love it, But does getting screeched have any basis 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:07.160 in the region's history year Is it just some drunken 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:08.920 nonsense and fish kissing. 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:12.200 A little both? Actually, there are stories of Newfoundland sailors 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:15.240 performing similar joke initiations, and this goes back to the 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:17.839 nineteen forties. And as for the rum of the fish, 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:20.520 that's a nod to the region's colonial history, when French 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:24.279 and British settlers traded salted codfish in exchange for rum 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:27.440 from the West Indies. Now, I'm not sure exactly how 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:29.919 kissing got added to the mix, but I'm guessing a 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:32.080 lot of rum definitely had something to do with that. 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:34.800 Only you, though it sounds like tourists are the ones 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:37.840 who are kissing the cod. I know that Newfoundlanders are 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:41.040 pretty fond of the fish themselves. So for hundreds of years, 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:44.240 codfishing was the backbone of the region's economy, and even 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.160 though the Canadian government put a stop to commercial codfishing 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:50.159 from nineteen ninety two all the way to twenty twenty four, 0:06:50.560 --> 0:06:53.440 the lean whitefish still holds an outsized place in the 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:56.159 local food culture. In fact, I read that cod is 0:06:56.200 --> 0:06:59.680 so ubiquitous there that when Newfoundlanders say the word fish, 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:02.680 they really just mean cod, like that's the default. 0:07:02.600 --> 0:07:04.480 Kind of How like coke is a word for soda 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:04.920 in the South. 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:06.039 Yeah, I don't know what other words. 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:08.479 And when you say what kind of coke do you want, 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:09.760 the answer is always great bica. 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:14.040 Salmon is a salmon and tuna is a tuna. But 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:16.440 fish only is ever caught there. 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:19.040 Yeah. I love that, And it also highlights just how 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:22.960 crucial cod was to New Finland's development. Like think about 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:26.120 an indigenous group settled there thousands of years ago because 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.680 of the rich cod filled waters, and then English, Irish 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:32.840 and French settlers did the same throughout the sixteenth all 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:35.760 the way to the nineteenth centuries. Cod was so tasty 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.120 and so abundant that it lured people from all over 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:40.520 the world and convinced them to plant roots in this 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:44.040 really rugged and honestly very isolated area. 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:44.960 Yeah, for sure. 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:46.920 I mean the lure of the codfish is a big 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:49.840 reason why Newfundland is the cultural melting pot that it 0:07:49.920 --> 0:07:52.800 is today. But for all of our fish reverse listeners 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.640 out there, don't worry. Even though seafood is king on 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:58.440 the island, there are plenty of other local delicacies that 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:02.720 don't have fins, chief among them moose meat and in particular, 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:04.240 moose baloney. 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:05.320 What do you think about that, mango? 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:07.400 I've never heard of moose bolony. 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:10.400 I had not either before we were talking about this episode. 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:13.240 The largest member of the deer family was introduced to 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:16.200 the island in the early twentieth century. This was back 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:19.160 when Nufouland was still a British colony, and its meat 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:22.800 quickly became a staple and mini island kitchens and moose 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:26.320 boloney proved especially popular with the locals, not only due 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:28.880 to its low cost and long shelf life, but also 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:32.440 its versatility. So today people there serve up moose boloney 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:36.280 in every way you could think of fried baked barbecue, stewd, 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:38.600 canned curried, you name it, They've got it. 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:41.920 So is all this bolooney on the island moose bolooney 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:45.520 in the same way all fish is shorthand for a cod. 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:48.440 I mean moose BOLONEI is definitely the default, but you 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:51.360 might not see it called that on a menu. Instead, 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:53.800 people there have their own joking nickname for it. They 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:55.280 called it noofy steak. 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:56.360 Oh I like that. 0:08:56.600 --> 0:08:58.839 And you know there's another unique island cuisine I want 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:00.640 to tell you about. But before that, let's take a 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:18.520 quick break. Welcome back to part time genius. Okay, Well, so, 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:21.040 going back to what you said about Newfoundland being a 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:23.600 melting pot, did you know the island has its own 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:24.959 style of Chinese food? 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:26.880 You know, I actually saw something about that in the 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:29.400 research and it seems kind of an outlier for an 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:31.800 island in the North Atlantic. So I'm curious what the 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:32.360 story is. 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:35.400 Yeah, So this goes back to the late eighteen hundreds 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:38.240 when a large number of Chinese immigrants came to Canada 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:41.599 to work on the Canadian Pacific Railway and many of 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:45.240 the families stuck around once construction was completed, and because 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:47.480 the laws were racist at the time, and they barred 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:51.079 Chinese men from working most professions. A lot of them 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:54.160 wound up opening their own restaurants. Now, just like in 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:56.839 the States, Chinese immigrants weren't able to find many of 0:09:56.880 --> 0:10:00.120 the ingredients that they were used to cooking with. They 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:02.960 kind of had to improvise and develop new dishes to 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:06.160 cater to their Western customers, and this resulted in this 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:10.040 whole slew of regional fusion dishes, including things like peanut 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:14.480 butter dumplings in Montreal, ginger beef in Alberta, and stir 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:16.319 fried macaroni in Quebec. 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:19.480 I mean, that actually sounds pretty incredible, I know, and 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:22.080 I'm surprise there hasn't been like a Canadian Chinese place 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:25.800 that opened in Brooklyn like that. Sure there is one actually, 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:31.119 but those improvised dishes, which became known as Chop suey cuisine, 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:34.640 were served all over Canada by the mid twentieth century, 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:37.720 and as chefs continued to expand into more remote regions, 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:40.640 the search for Chinese ingredients got even tougher. 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:43.760 That was especially true in Newfoundland, where it was next 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:47.360 to impossible to even get the basics like soy sauce, 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:51.040 bock choi or things like egg noodles, you know, which 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:53.880 were hard to ship onto the island, and this meant 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:56.559 that tried and true dishes couldn't be prepared as they 0:10:56.559 --> 0:11:00.000 were in other parts of Canada. So once again China, 0:11:00.120 --> 0:11:03.319 these restaurant tours got creative and gave the island their 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:07.520 own regional specialty, New Finland style chow Maine. 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:10.960 But actually I'm thinking about this. Chow main literally means 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:13.600 fried noodles, So how do you make it without egg noodles? 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:17.480 Well, apparently you substitute cabbage, or at least that's the 0:11:17.520 --> 0:11:20.480 solution that one of their resourceful early chefs came up with. 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:23.120 He sliced the cabbage into long, thin strips so that 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:25.520 they'd at least look like noodles, and then he stir 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:29.319 fried them with veggies and chicken, and whil New Finland 0:11:29.480 --> 0:11:32.360 style chow Maine was worn. The dish proved such a 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:34.800 hit with locals that it was quickly added to Chinese 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:36.360 menus all over the island. 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:38.600 And is this something you can still get today? 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:41.440 Yeah? So these days it's obviously much easier to import 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:43.920 noodles to the island. But just like with cod and 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:47.760 moose boloni, this new Finland original remains the default. So 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:50.960 if you order chow Maine there, you'll absolutely get a 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:53.880 big bowl of cabbage strips. But if you want noodles instead, 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:55.560 you have to ask for them specifically. 0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:58.880 I do love that they serve fried noodles without the noodles, 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:01.760 and nobody thinks that's we somehow, and it does make 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:04.199 me wonder though, like, is there the same stigma surrounding 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:06.920 Canadian Chinese food as there is with you know, like 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:09.720 American Chinese food, because we always hear that our take 0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:13.240 on the cuisine is inauthentic and shouldn't really be considered Chinese. 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:15.320 I'm curious is it the same up North? 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:19.600 Yeah, Canadian Chinese chefs definitely feeled many of the same criticisms, 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:22.600 But it really comes down to what someone means by 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:26.480 real Chinese food. Like there's this book called Chop Suey Nation. 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:30.360 It's by this Chinese journalist and we and in it, 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:33.080 she goes on this big road trip to small town 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:36.679 Chinese restaurants in Canada, including the ones in Newfoundland, And 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:39.640 while she starts out kind of dismissive of this food, 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:42.920 the island's take on cho main ultimately wins her over. 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:46.120 She said the cabbage actually made the dish more flavorful 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:50.079 than the traditional version, and that realization makes her completely 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:53.640 rethink her stance on Chop suey cuisine. In fact, she 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:57.000 writes quote, this dish, from its origin story to its 0:12:57.120 --> 0:13:02.120 ingredients to its execution, was utterly completely Newfoundland. It told 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:03.280 the story of this place. 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:04.360 It was as. 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:07.320 Canadian as it was Chinese. The families behind it had 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:12.319 created cuisine that was a testament to creativity, perseverance, and resourcefulness. 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:16.280 It wasn't fake Chinese, but instead the most Chinese of all. 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:18.440 The most Chinese of all. Wow, that's pretty cool. 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:20.520 Well, I'd say that's a pretty strong endorsement, and it 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:22.720 does make me want to give this noodle free noodle 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:23.480 dish a try. 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:25.120 I just somehow can't get past this. 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:27.640 But all right, now that we've covered some of Newfoundland's 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:30.200 history and food culture, feel like we should run through 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:33.120 a few of the favorite activities to try while visiting 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:35.360 the island. After all, we don't want to spend our 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:38.680 entire vacation hanging out in root sellers. So beyond food, 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:41.560 Newfoundland really has a lot to offer, and visitors to 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:44.320 the island are especially spoiled for choice. When it comes 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:47.560 to wildlife watching, You've got puff and breeding season in 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:50.360 the spring and summer. You get whale migrations in the 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:52.920 summer and then early fall. And if you want to 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:55.120 see a moose, apparently you can just go out to 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:57.920 the highway at dusk and you'll probably find a few 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:01.160 that'll be there licking season off the pavement. 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:03.640 Oh I love that, and it really sounds kind of spectacular, 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:06.280 all this wildlife, you know. I actually checked to see 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:09.079 if there was a good moose watching tour I could book, 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:12.200 But it turns out that's not a thing. Like moose 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:14.440 are just such a normal part of the scenery there 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:15.959 and you don't have to go out of your way 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:19.440 to spot one, Which brings me to my next travel tip. 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:20.200 If you want to. 0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:22.360 Blend in with the locals, don't let on that you're 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:23.600 excited to see a move. 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:25.400 I don't know. 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:27.120 That may be hard for me to do, but I 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:29.600 also know we've got a couple non moose related sites 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:32.000 to recommend. Before we get to that, let's take another 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:49.760 quick break. You're listening to part Time Genius and we're 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:52.760 sharing our muscye stops while touring Newfoundland. 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:53.760 All right, Mengo. 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.120 So, staying on the subject of animals that evoke a 0:14:56.200 --> 0:15:00.000 profound sense of awe, there's a sign on Newfoundland's code 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.560 called Mistaken Point, and it's actually the final resting place 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:06.880 of the earliest ancestral animals on the planet. They're known 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.560 as Eddiacrin organisms because they date back to the middle 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:14.000 of the Eddiachrn period, which, as you know very well, 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:18.560 was roughly six hundred million years ago, and they represent 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:23.440 the earliest examples of large biologically complex life forms, you know, 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:25.480 kind of an important leap and evolution here. 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:28.760 So I assumed these guys were some kind of sea creature. 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:31.600 But you said there's a fossil site, So what exactly 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:32.280 did they look like? 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:32.600 All right? 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:35.640 Well, based on the more than ten thousand fossil impressions 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:39.480 found along the coastline of Mistaken Point, Eddiochrins ranged in 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:43.000 size from a few centimeters to nearly two meters in length. 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:46.880 They were soft bodied creatures that lived on the deep seafloor, 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:49.800 and they had several different body types, all of which 0:15:49.840 --> 0:15:51.280 were incredibly bizarre. 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:52.800 Mango, that is so rude. 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.840 Well, we don't body shame on this episode. 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:58.720 I'm just saying I just can't help it. 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:02.600 And some of them were tubular blobs, others look like 0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:05.440 fern leaves. But the strangest of the bunch had to 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:07.560 be one of the ones that looked like these flat 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:10.320 ribbed pancakes. So here's a fossil photo so you can 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:11.280 see what I'm talking about. 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:13.400 Yeah, that's definitely a pancake with. 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:15.080 Ribs, exactly what it is. 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.880 But the really cool thing about mistaken point is that 0:16:18.120 --> 0:16:21.480 hundreds of fossil impressions are readily visible on the surface 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:24.320 of the rock, including ones left behind by those pancake 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:27.000 looking guys. Now, if you look closely, some of the 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:30.920 impressions actually formed trails. They're sort of like footprints. 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:34.000 Wait, so did eddie acrans have feet? 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:34.760 They did not. 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.160 In fact, feet did not exist at that point, either 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:40.600 did walking or swimming or really any form of locomotion. 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:43.800 So most living organisms just sort of floated along wherever 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:46.560 the currents took them and ate whatever bits of food 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.760 happened to pass by. But that's what's so amazing about 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.360 these fossil trails in Newfoundland is that they're thought to 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.520 be the earliest known examples of an animal moving on 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:58.960 its own. Oh wow, some bold little diocrans figured out 0:16:58.960 --> 0:17:02.560 how to move their muscles and move intentionally really from 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:05.720 one place to another. This was an adaptation that forever 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:06.960 changed life on Earth. 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:10.760 And this is all going off those ancient proto footprints. 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.240 Yeah, I mean, thanks to the research of paleontologists Alexander 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:18.000 lou we now know that the crescent shaped impressions left 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:20.800 in the rock were likely made by this suction cup 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:23.480 like appendage that some of these creatures may have had, 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:26.359 and they used it to adhere to these flat surfaces, 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:28.600 just like you know, see an enemies and other creatures 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:31.119 like that. And in some areas of Mistaken Point you 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:34.000 can actually see a whole bunch of those crescents nested 0:17:34.040 --> 0:17:36.440 together in a line. So the thinking is that those 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:39.520 impressions were left behind by an ediocran that managed to 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:42.159 stretch out its suction cup foot and kind of drag 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:45.200 itself forward like one shaky step at a time. 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:45.920 Cool. 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:48.280 Anyway, next time you're in Newfoundland and you want to 0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:51.520 mix a little science history and your animal sight seeing, 0:17:51.880 --> 0:17:54.199 you should check out the fossils at Mistaken Point and 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:57.119 tip your hat to the planet's og travelers. 0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:00.320 All right, Well, eddie Acrians might be embedded in for 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:02.520 the whole world to see. But there's another kind of 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:06.720 island wildlife that is far more elusive. And I'm talking 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:08.400 about the Newfoundland faerry. 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:11.359 And I'm guessing that Newfoudland fairy was just another word 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:12.679 for cod No. 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:15.800 It turns out the province is home to a surprisingly 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:19.520 rich fairy folklore tradition. Fairy sightings in the region date 0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:22.960 back to long before the rival of Europeans, when indigenous 0:18:23.000 --> 0:18:27.520 groups told stories of reclusive little people with supernatural powers 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:31.959 who supposedly lived alongside them. Then, when settlers from Celtic 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:35.520 cultures came to Newfoundland in the sixteen hundreds, they added 0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:37.960 to the island's lore by drawing on the fairy legends 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:41.800 of their hometowns in Ireland, England and Scotland as well. 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:44.040 This sort of proves our earlier point that Newfoundland is 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:46.760 much more of a melting pot than you might expect exactly. 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:49.320 And the result of all that cultural blending is this 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:54.080 distinct oral tradition and folklore that really doesn't exist anywhere 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:57.479 else in Canada. So even though Newfoundland fairies don't actually 0:18:57.480 --> 0:18:59.600 exist as far as we know, there's still a super 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:02.760 important part of the island's culture. Most locals have at 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:05.080 least a few fairy stories to tell you, many of 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:08.000 which have been handed down through their families for generations. 0:19:08.080 --> 0:19:10.480 And I'm curious, though, what are these stories about, Like, 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:13.159 are they cautionary tales or adventures or what? 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:16.439 So the main through line in all these legends is 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:18.960 that fairies are mischief makers, so a lot of the 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:22.639 stories are recountings of people's supposed encounters with fairies and 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:24.919 the different pranks they like to play on humans. Some 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:28.720 of the fairi's favorite tricks include knocking over stacks of firewood, 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:32.680 braiding together the tail of all horses in a stable, 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:36.920 and confusing berry pickers by conjuring a bunch of trees 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:38.560 in the middle of a pathway. 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:39.520 As little trouble makers. 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:42.199 Like it's more like a leprechaun than your typical Disney 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:43.440 fairy or something like that. 0:19:43.640 --> 0:19:47.280 Yeah, and another difference is that Nuflin fairies don't have wings. 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:50.160 In fact, their physical appearance changes depending on the story, 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:53.040 and sometimes they look like children or knee high adults, 0:19:53.400 --> 0:19:56.520 so again much like leprechauns. But in other cases they 0:19:56.600 --> 0:19:58.480 just appear as glowing lights or. 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:00.120 Even as animals. 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:02.720 They can use their shape shifting power to play some 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:06.200 pretty mean tricks too. Like there's this old belief that 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:09.280