WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: DC Comics’ Mister Mind

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

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lambin. This is the Monster Fact,

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<v Speaker 2>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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<v Speaker 2>focusing in no mythical creatures, ideas and monsters in time.

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<v Speaker 2>We just came off a five part series on various

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<v Speaker 2>monsters and mutants from the world of Marvel Comics, so

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<v Speaker 2>now we're going to dive into the world of d

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<v Speaker 2>C comics with another five selections to discuss. Most of

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<v Speaker 2>the ones I'd picked out for this runner fairly well known,

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<v Speaker 2>but I thought i'd start with a more obscure pick.

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<v Speaker 2>My thanks to former Stuff to Blow Your Mind co

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<v Speaker 2>host Christian Seger for bringing this one to my attention.

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<v Speaker 2>Meet mister Mind, a tiny Venusian worm or caterpillar to

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<v Speaker 2>be clear. He has legs with enormous power at its disposal.

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<v Speaker 2>Created in DC comics in the early nineteen forties by

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<v Speaker 2>Auto Bender and C. C. Beck, Mister Mind stands as

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<v Speaker 2>one of the primary supervillains of Captain Marvel. Not the

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<v Speaker 2>Marvel Captain Marvel, but the DC Captain Marvel. Minds you.

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<v Speaker 2>This is the one that moviegoers may know best as Shazam.

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<v Speaker 2>Mister Mind also makes a couple of cameo appearances in

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<v Speaker 2>those films. Now, mister Mind boats incredible psychic powers and

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<v Speaker 2>a genius level intellect to back those powers up, so

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<v Speaker 2>he's gotten into all sorts of mischief over the years,

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<v Speaker 2>including founding the Monster Society of Evil. He also employs

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<v Speaker 2>at least two key bits of technology, special classes and

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<v Speaker 2>an audio amplifier to interact with the larger world, because again,

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<v Speaker 2>despite his powers, he is a tiny worm or caterpillar.

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<v Speaker 2>But what I want to focus on is his old

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<v Speaker 2>and frankly odd origin story from the Silver Age of comics,

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<v Speaker 2>in which he makes the interplanetary void from Venus to

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<v Speaker 2>Earth in order to meet ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's dummy Charlie McCarthy.

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<v Speaker 2>This was Slash is a real ventriloquist dummy. Mister Mind,

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<v Speaker 2>you see, had heard Charlie McCarthy on Earth's radio program

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<v Speaker 2>Transmissions and apparently mistook fiction for reality. He was, of

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<v Speaker 2>course disappointed upon learning the truth. It's a common sci

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<v Speaker 2>fi trope explored on Futurama and elsewhere. Extraterrestrials pick up

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<v Speaker 2>on transmissions from Earth and either misunderstand the difference between

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<v Speaker 2>fiction and reality, or simply lack the ability to tell

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<v Speaker 2>the difference. There are even more sci fi works that

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<v Speaker 2>explore the larger idea of intercepted Earth transmissions, most notably

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<v Speaker 2>Carl Sagan's nineteen eighty five novel Contact the Si. In

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<v Speaker 2>the sci fi here is, of course that for more

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<v Speaker 2>than one hundred years we've been busting out commercial radio

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<v Speaker 2>transmissions here on Earth. However, is Robert Matthews points out

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<v Speaker 2>in a BBC Science Focus article. Most of these signals

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<v Speaker 2>were absorbed by the atmosphere or drowned out by solar

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<v Speaker 2>radio transmissions, so our radio leakage as a planet was

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<v Speaker 2>perhaps minimal. However, Matthews stresses that Cold War military radar

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<v Speaker 2>transmissions are strong enough to have already broadcast our presence

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<v Speaker 2>out to anyone listening within sixty light years. There have

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<v Speaker 2>also been deliberate radio transmissions aimed at communicating our existence,

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<v Speaker 2>such as the nineteen seventy four Arecibo message sent to

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<v Speaker 2>Messia thirteen, or at least in the spirit of such communication,

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<v Speaker 2>but the basic idea of such transmissions either emanating from

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<v Speaker 2>US or potentially picked up from an extraterrestrial source, has

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<v Speaker 2>garnered much discussion and debate over the decades, how likely

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<v Speaker 2>is alien reception or our reception of an alien transmission

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<v Speaker 2>based on the vast distances involved in limits of possible

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<v Speaker 2>travel speeds as we know them, How should we approach

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<v Speaker 2>such long term concerns, and just how careful should we

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<v Speaker 2>be when it comes to such radio transmissions or even

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<v Speaker 2>our radio leakage. Because while our most optimistic views of

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<v Speaker 2>extraterrestrial contact are rosy, indeed some of the more pessimistic models,

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<v Speaker 2>based in large part on Earth's own history of outside contact,

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<v Speaker 2>situations in which one culture encounters a technologically superior one

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<v Speaker 2>are perhaps best avoided. And then there's the mister Mind model,

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<v Speaker 2>in which we manage to attract a caterpillar supervillain to

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<v Speaker 2>our planet with our tantalizing nineteen forties radio comedy shows.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank goodness, we have so many Captain Marvels to deal

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<v Speaker 2>with that sort of thing. Tune in for additional episodes

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<v Speaker 2>of The Monster Fact each week, and if you want

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<v Speaker 2>to check in on the work of Christian Sager, visit

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<v Speaker 2>Christiansager dot org. That's hr S t I A n

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<v Speaker 2>SA ger dot org. As always, you can email me

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<v Speaker 2>at contact at stuffd blow your mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

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