WEBVTT - Making a Splash

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of

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<v Speaker 1>iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild.

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<v Speaker 2>Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history

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<v Speaker 2>is an open book, all of these amazing tales are

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<v Speaker 2>right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.

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<v Speaker 2>Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. In the early eighteen eighties,

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<v Speaker 2>a man known as Doc Carver rode his horse across

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<v Speaker 2>the open plains of Nebraska, lost in thought. Carver was

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<v Speaker 2>a drift He was an expert sharpshooter, and he'd spent

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<v Speaker 2>the past few years traveling around the world in touring

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<v Speaker 2>exhibitions in vaudeville shows. He had even teamed up with

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<v Speaker 2>another famous showman, Buffalo Bill Cody, to start their own

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<v Speaker 2>traveling circus, but they had had a bitter falling out,

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<v Speaker 2>and now Carver was striking out on his own once again.

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<v Speaker 2>He wanted to start his own show, but he was

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<v Speaker 2>having trouble finding a hook that people would be drawn to.

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<v Speaker 2>He needed a fresh idea, something that no other circus

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<v Speaker 2>was doing. As he crossed a bridge over the Platte River,

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<v Speaker 2>his mind wandered with possibilities. Then all of a sudden,

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<v Speaker 2>he heard a deep groan. The bridge was collapsing. There

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<v Speaker 2>was a loud snap, and Carver and his horse both

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<v Speaker 2>tumbled down toward the river with a graceful arc. The

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<v Speaker 2>horse s dove down and splashed into the water. Carver

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<v Speaker 2>clung to its back as it swam toward the banks.

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<v Speaker 2>As he climbed onto the grass, Carver hopped down to

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<v Speaker 2>check the horse for injuries, and amazingly, they had both

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<v Speaker 2>made it out unscathed. As Carver remounted his horse and

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<v Speaker 2>navigated it toward the road, an idea began to form

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<v Speaker 2>in his mind. Everyone had animals in the circus, but

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<v Speaker 2>no one else had animals doing water tricks. Soon enough,

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<v Speaker 2>at a fairgrounds in Saint Louis, Missouri, a curious audience

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<v Speaker 2>gathered around a tall, wooden ramp that rose at the

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<v Speaker 2>edge of a deep tank of water. Dot Carver greeted

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<v Speaker 2>the crowd and told them to prepare for something they

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<v Speaker 2>had never seen before, a high diving horse. And then

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<v Speaker 2>he mounted a sleek mare named Black Bess, patted her back,

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<v Speaker 2>and led her up the ramp. Once they had reached

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<v Speaker 2>the top, Carver got Black Best into position on a

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<v Speaker 2>small wooden platform, waited for the crowd's anticipation to reach

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<v Speaker 2>its peak, and then tapped his legs against the horse's sides.

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<v Speaker 2>On command, Black Best dove down into the tank of water.

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<v Speaker 2>The audience gasped as they fell. They splashed into the

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<v Speaker 2>fourteen foot deep pool, and as they bobbed to the

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<v Speaker 2>surface and Carver shook the water out of his ears,

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<v Speaker 2>he heard the crowd cheering and whooping.

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<v Speaker 1>Horse diving was an instant hit. Over the next few years,

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<v Speaker 1>droves of curious spectators poured in to see Carver's traveling exhibition.

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<v Speaker 1>He gradually exped band of the operation until he had

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<v Speaker 1>a total of six horses performing in various cities all

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<v Speaker 1>across the country. Carver passed away in nineteen twenty seven,

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<v Speaker 1>but the show, as they say, must go on. His son,

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<v Speaker 1>Al took over, and just a year later Al married

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<v Speaker 1>Sarna Webster, one of the first female horse divers in history,

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<v Speaker 1>who had worked for Al's father. Under their guidance, a

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<v Speaker 1>permanent horse diving attraction was opened on the boardwalk at

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<v Speaker 1>Atlantic City's Steel Pier in nineteen thirty one. However, tragedy

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<v Speaker 1>struck when Sonora lost her balance and hit the water

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<v Speaker 1>with her eyes wide open. The impact caused her retinas

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<v Speaker 1>to detach, causing instant blindness. Despite this, though, she continued

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<v Speaker 1>to dive riding horses off the platform and into the

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<v Speaker 1>tank without being able to see, just like Daredevil, only cooler.

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<v Speaker 1>Sonora retired in nineteen forty five, but the act kept

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<v Speaker 1>going strong until the nineteen seventies. That's when the audiences

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<v Speaker 1>gradually dwindled, helped along by animal rights groups that had

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<v Speaker 1>begun to protest the shows, and so in nineteen seventy eight,

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<v Speaker 1>the last diving horse took its final leaps off steel

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<v Speaker 1>pier before the exhibit was shuddered for good. In the

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<v Speaker 1>decades since, there have been two attempts to revive this

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<v Speaker 1>bizarre sport, neither of which got off the ground. No

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<v Speaker 1>pun intended, I swear, and in nineteen ninety one, the

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<v Speaker 1>story of Sonora's miraculous career was turned into a movie

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<v Speaker 1>called Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. She passed away in

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand and three, less than five months shy of

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<v Speaker 1>her one hundredth birthday. Horse diving certainly was a curious

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<v Speaker 1>bit of entertainment, but just like the vaudeville shows and

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<v Speaker 1>sharpshooters of the wild West. It's one that might best

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<v Speaker 1>be left a thing of the past. The famous theorem

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<v Speaker 1>that's taught in geometry classes everywhere, A squared plus B

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<v Speaker 1>squared equals C squared. It's meant to help us find

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<v Speaker 1>the hypotenuse of a right angle, and it was named

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<v Speaker 1>for the famous Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras. Now it's

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<v Speaker 1>easy to picture him as a sage robed scholar lecturing

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<v Speaker 1>a class of engaged students about his chosen field. But

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<v Speaker 1>if you did that, you'd only be getting a fraction

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<v Speaker 1>of the truth. To get a much clearer picture, you

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<v Speaker 1>have to also include a few other strange angles. His

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<v Speaker 1>belief that souls wandered between humankind and the animals, the

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<v Speaker 1>secrecy around his mathematical discoveries, and of course, his absolute

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<v Speaker 1>refusal to eat beans. The school of Pythagoras founded gives

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<v Speaker 1>us the first clue of his peculiarities. It wasn't merely

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<v Speaker 1>a lecture hall. What he created instead was more of

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<v Speaker 1>a commune where his students lived and ate together and

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<v Speaker 1>took an oath swearing them to absolutely secrecy. To be inducted,

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<v Speaker 1>one had to pass through secret rites, and the oath was,

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<v Speaker 1>in Pythagoras's mind, protective to keep the world from learning

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<v Speaker 1>truths that might destabilize the established order. This suppression of

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<v Speaker 1>knowledge was key to a culture of silence that has

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<v Speaker 1>kept much of the mathematician's life and works mysterious to

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<v Speaker 1>this day. We do know that Pythagoras was obsessed with

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<v Speaker 1>numerology and believe that numbers constituted the very core of reality.

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<v Speaker 1>He taught as students that the distance between planets and

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<v Speaker 1>stars created a type of cosmic music that he alone

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<v Speaker 1>could hear. He also taught that a triangular arrangement called

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<v Speaker 1>a tatractus could be used to align one's soul with

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<v Speaker 1>the greater universal order. He would conduct rituals wherein his

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<v Speaker 1>initiates would arrange and rearrange small objects into the tatractus pattern,

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<v Speaker 1>which he believed could channel that heavenly order into the

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<v Speaker 1>material realm. The philosopher also insisted upon on a strict

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<v Speaker 1>dietary regimen, including forbidding that any of his disciples eat beans.

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<v Speaker 1>There was a practical reason for this, He said he

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<v Speaker 1>believed that lagume caused flatulence could be a distraction to

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<v Speaker 1>his teachings. It's hard to focus on sacred geometry when

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<v Speaker 1>the lecture hall stinks. But there was a stranger, more

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<v Speaker 1>mystical reason for disallowing beans, the belief that within them

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<v Speaker 1>dwelled the souls of the dead. And yes, I get it,

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<v Speaker 1>it's quite weird. But this view came from his belief

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<v Speaker 1>in metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls, and it led

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<v Speaker 1>him and his followers into a life of strict vegetarianism.

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<v Speaker 1>By avoiding the killing of animals, he hoped not to

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<v Speaker 1>harm the souls that were transmitted between beast and man,

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<v Speaker 1>and in this way he could extend his beliefs into

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<v Speaker 1>a practical, everyday application. Although it's unclear to this day

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<v Speaker 1>why beans were also spiritually excluded. There are a host

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<v Speaker 1>of other peculiarities about the guy. For instance, tales of

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<v Speaker 1>the mathematician won walking around in golden sandals. It kept

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<v Speaker 1>his footfalls silent, they say, as well as allowing him

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<v Speaker 1>to walk a path of spiritual virtue. There were also

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<v Speaker 1>rumors that he could tame wild animals, stop a raging

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<v Speaker 1>bull in its tracks, and predict earthquakes by sensing the

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<v Speaker 1>deep vibrations of the Earth before they struck, and in

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<v Speaker 1>all these rumors, along with the cult like behavior of

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<v Speaker 1>his students and the deep secrecy around his teachings, gave

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<v Speaker 1>him a mystical air. This mysterious persona was further supported

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<v Speaker 1>by his students, who warned of a terrible curse that

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<v Speaker 1>would befall any man who dared spread his secret teaching.

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<v Speaker 1>You see, the Pythagoreans believe that the universe was a

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<v Speaker 1>living tapestry. It was woven out of the souls, numbers,

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<v Speaker 1>and harmonies hidden too most of humankind. They guarded this

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<v Speaker 1>tapestry fiercely. Their belief that the cosmos sang in precise

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<v Speaker 1>ratios made ordinary mathematics a sacred art, while their dietary

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<v Speaker 1>bands and mystical rituals turn daily life into a continual

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<v Speaker 1>right of devotion. Even the discovery of an irrational number

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<v Speaker 1>was treated as a sort of philosophical crisis to hide

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<v Speaker 1>from those who could not or would not understand, lest

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<v Speaker 1>the spread of that knowledge publicly unravel their entire worldview.

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<v Speaker 1>And so as time passed by, the legend of Pythagorasts

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<v Speaker 1>grew the beam shunning soul traveling mystic who claimed to

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<v Speaker 1>hear the music of the planets became a cultural archetype,

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<v Speaker 1>a symbol of the uneasy marriage between rational inquiry and

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<v Speaker 1>mystical belief. Modern scholars today, armed with archaeological fragments and

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<v Speaker 1>ancient testimonies, continue to untangle fact from fiction, but the

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<v Speaker 1>weirder elements persist because they illuminate a world in which

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<v Speaker 1>mathematics was not a neutral tool, but a pathway to

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<v Speaker 1>the divine. I hope you enjoyed today's guide tour through

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<v Speaker 1>the Cabinet of Curiosities. This show was created by me

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<v Speaker 1>Aaron Manke in partnership with iHeart Podcasts, researched and written

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<v Speaker 1>by the Grim and Mild team, and produced by Jesse Funk.

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<v Speaker 1>Learn more about the show and the people who make

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<v Speaker 1>it over at Grimandmild dot com slash Curiosities. You'll also

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<v Speaker 1>find a link to the official Cabinet of Curiosity's hardcover book,

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<v Speaker 1>available in bookstores and online, as well as ebook and audiobook.

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<v Speaker 1>And if you're looking for an ad free option, consider

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<v Speaker 1>joining our Patreon. It's all the same stories, but without

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<v Speaker 1>the interruption for a small monthly fee. Learn more and

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<v Speaker 1>sign up over at Patreon dot com slash grimandmild, and

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<v Speaker 1>until next time, stay curious.