WEBVTT - Listener Mail: Time Passages 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:05.280 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:11.360 My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:15.400 Listener mail. This is Robert Lamb and this is Joe McCormick, 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:17.640 and today we are reading back some of the messages 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:21.239 that you've sent in over the past week or two. So, Robbi, 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:23.520 if you're ready, I think I'll jump right into one 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:32.600 of these messages about our episodes on tears. Right. Okay, 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:34.960 So this one comes from a listener who did share 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:37.040 her name, but I think I'm gonna keep this one 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:40.040 anonymous just in case because it gets into some potentially 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:42.440 dicey territory. But but this was a good one. So 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:46.040 this listener says, Hey, I wanted to share a funny 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:50.320 story about crocodile tears. My husband and I had only 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:52.879 been dating for a few weeks when he accompanied me 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:56.200 to a pawn shop. I needed money and decided to 0:00:56.280 --> 0:01:00.800 sell my engagement ring from my ex fiance. While haggling 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:03.160 with the pawn shop employee, who was, of course trying 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:05.880 to give me as little as possible, I started crying 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:08.760 and giving a sob story about how sad I was 0:01:08.840 --> 0:01:11.720 to part with it, and so on. My husband's jaw 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:15.240 hit the floor, and he was quietly fuming. He hated 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:18.240 my ex and had thought I did too. He certainly 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:21.160 didn't think I cared a spit about this sad little ring. 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:23.679 I managed to get a few more dollars from the 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:26.520 pawn shop guy, and when we walked outside, my husband 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:29.520 turned to me, probably ready to break things off, and 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:32.640 with my cheeks still wet with tears, I just started laughing. 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:37.440 He stared at me, dumbfounded. You're not upset, he asked me, God, No, 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:39.840 why would I be. I just needed as much as 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.400 I could possibly get. I told him, have you ever 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:45.360 done that to me? He asked, not yet? I told him, 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:47.440 and we both had a good laugh. He still loves 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:50.000 to tell that story because he totally fell for it 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:52.600 as we stood in the pawn shop. Well, that that's 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:54.360 that sounds like a scene from a movie. I feel 0:01:54.360 --> 0:01:56.520 like I would see that on a like a drama 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.360 TV show. Yeah, totally, But I have more questions. I 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:01.760 feel like I'm one to know, like did you plan 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:04.800 to do this or did it just kind of happen spontaneously? 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:08.359 Like what what's the approach on that? I I think 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:12.600 I can honestly say I have never uh as an 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:18.680 adult at least used tears in an intentionally persuasive manner. Uh. 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:20.320 And I don't know if I would be able to 0:02:20.360 --> 0:02:23.360 do so if I tried. Yeah, I mean, of course, 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:26.440 I mean we all do things with our delivery and 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:31.800 our our body language at times to try and influence 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:35.080 these sorts of encounters. I mean, we've all I think 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:38.160 read about, you know, the supposed benefits, and occasionally I 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.360 think I've seen some criticism of this idea too, of 0:02:40.360 --> 0:02:44.400 of taking on the like the humble brontosaurus pose. Uh 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:49.080 when say, dealing with uh with a with a person 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:52.000 of sort of bureaucratic authority, or even if you've been like, 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:54.680 you know, pulled over that sort of thing. What is 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:58.600 the humble brontos source pose. It's sort of a I 0:02:58.639 --> 0:03:01.360 forget the details of, but it's like, imagine you are 0:03:02.280 --> 0:03:05.440 a Saara pod uh and one that is humble and 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:07.639 not threatening. It's sort of like taking on this sort 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:13.800 of uh, this this humble body language approach to not 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:16.360 so much too direct conflict, I think, but sort of 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:20.800 these these milder forms of interaction where you could potentially 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:23.600 be shut down by somebody and you you maybe want 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.720 like a little bit more help, uh than than they 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:29.560 definitely have to give you. But like I said, if 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:31.680 if memory serves, I think there's been some back and 0:03:31.720 --> 0:03:34.360 forth on that, and it's certainly it certainly is not 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:37.880 something that's gonna be applicable to to every scenario. Okay, 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:39.760 I just looked it up. I think the phrase you've 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:44.440 used for this before is the kindly browntosaurus. Okay, kind 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:48.120 of not humble. Yeah yeah, well maybe humble, maybe not, 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:50.600 but it's sort of, uh, sort of the the head 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:53.480 is bent down a little bit and then the front 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:57.040 arms are sort of clasped, the hands are clasped together 0:03:57.120 --> 0:03:59.880 in front of you. Uh, it looks very it looks 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.520 very humble and supplicant. Yeah. Yeah, So I mean, not 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:05.680 so much to really back up the pros and cons 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:09.200 of that specifically, but just in general, of course, we 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:11.920 all do things that are maybe not quite at the 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:17.320 level of a summoning, uh you know, the orchestrated tears 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:21.000 of some form or another, but doing things to lean 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:26.840 into creating a certain emotional ambiance that we want someone 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:29.839 else to pick up on. Like what happens Joe if 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:33.800 you have to go into a hardware store in a 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.360 let's say, a small southern town. Do you find things 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:40.960 happen to your voice? Oh that's a good question. Uh, 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:43.320 that may indeed be true. I don't know. I've never 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:47.360 consciously monitored myself for that, but I suspect I may 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:50.040 shift back into my East Tennessee roots a little bit 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:53.919 more depending on the context. Yeah. I think I have 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:57.000 at times caught myself becoming like a little folks here 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:00.719 in interactions like that. So so basically, what I'm trying 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:03.240 to say is, though even though quote unquote fake tears 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:07.600 may seem like an extreme manipulation I mean to to some, 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:09.800 I don't think it's really that extreme when you take 0:05:09.800 --> 0:05:12.720 into account all the various other ways that we augment 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:22.280 our emotional ambiance for others. Yeah, yeah, totally. Okay, So 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:24.560 if we do this next message from Matthew, I just 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:27.200 wanted to preface this by saying this touches on some 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:30.320 of the same Dune content mentioned by a previous listener, 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:32.600 but kind of expands on the idea. So, rob do 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:36.080 you want to do this one? Sure? Uh, they write, Hey, 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:38.800 Robert and Joe. One interesting example of cultural meaning of 0:05:38.800 --> 0:05:40.880 tears can be found in the Dune series I guess 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:44.120 at some point during his initial stay at the taveris 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:46.839 speech or seeched. I never know how to say this. 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:50.480 There's so many words and phrases and dune that they 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:54.240 kind of just ricochet through through my brain and I'm 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:57.720 not necessarily using them in everyday conversation anyway. Paul weeps 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:00.559 for the man whom he has recently killed than a duel. 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:03.320 The Fremen are deeply touched by his tears. In the 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:08.400 harsh desert environment of Aracus, wasting vital bodily fluid for 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:12.200 someone or somebody can be seen as an honest signal 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:15.400 of commitment and emotional investment. I was surprised that you 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:17.359 hadn't mentioned it, since I know both of you are 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:21.320 big fans of Doone. Yeah, so this expands. Another listener 0:06:21.440 --> 0:06:24.800 wrote in about the scene and Done, where where Paul 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:27.599 cries after he has has killed one of the firm 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.320 in a in a duel um. But Yeah, I like 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:35.120 the idea that the stakes of the water content of 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:39.799 someone's body being so high in the environment of Done 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:43.320 makes the tear signal especially important, and you could view 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:48.080 it as consequently honest, like an honest signal to a 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:52.640 much greater extent because water is so precious in this environment. Uh. 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:55.039 And and this does kind of relate to the idea 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:58.279 I I pondered in one of the Tier episodes. Again, 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:00.479 this is not something that I know of any direct 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:02.360 evidence for. Is just something I was kind of wondering 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:06.159 out loud about, which was, what if adult tears could 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:10.600 in part be an adaptation, uh to the complexity of 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:15.400 the human capacity for deceit. So because humans can lie 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:19.160 not only about external matters of fact, but about internal 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:23.360 subjective states. So for example, you can claim to care 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:27.760 about someone when in fact you don't. Tears being difficult 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.560 to fake could help serve as an honest signal of 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:34.400 an internal emotional states that could help bonding and trust 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:37.520 between humans. And I remember when I was researching tears. 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:39.720 One one way this occurred to me, I think, was 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:43.120 I was reading several stories of someone who said they 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:46.239 had been planning to break up with a romantic partner 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:49.280 and you know, thinking that that partner didn't really care 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:53.040 about them until that partner began to cry during the 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:56.000 breakup conversation they were having, and then they changed their mind. 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:58.560 They changed their mind and decided they wanted to stay 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:01.280 with that person. Uh and you know, you could all 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:03.960 argue that there could be all kinds of reasons for that, 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:07.559 But one could be that something about the crying makes 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:11.640 it look like their emotional commitment to you is more real, 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:16.760 you can trust it more m hmm. Interesting, they continue. Also, 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:19.280 one could argue in favor of the view of the 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:22.880 function of emotional tears as making us seem more childlike 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:26.200 on the basis that we are already a highly neotenic 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:30.320 species compared to our closest relatives like chimpanzees or even 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:34.400 more archaic subspecies of the genus Homo. We retain many 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:39.040 juvenile characteristics into adulthood. Shedding emotional tears could be just 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:41.720 one more such factor, maybe even making a case for 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:45.480 humans being uniquely high on on the otany in the 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:49.040 entire animal kingdom. And then they close up by saying also, 0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:53.560 the expression crocodile tears is also very common in Polish, 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:55.920 but I had no idea what it meant until I 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:59.439 listened to your episode. Best regards, Matthew. All right, well, 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:01.640 thank you, matt f you. Um let's see, I'm gonna 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:05.800 move on to a message about nail biting from a 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:09.760 listener another Matthew. This one's named Matt uh. And this 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:12.840 is funny because this is Matt responding to a third listener, 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:16.400 also named Matt. So the Matt we have, Mats have 0:09:16.480 --> 0:09:19.200 plenty of cornucopia of Matt's here in the in the 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:26.920 Stuff to Blow your Mind verse. But Matt says Robert 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:29.079 and Joe, Hello, my name is Matt, and I'm writing 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:32.000 in response to another person named Matt. He had written 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:34.920 to tell you how he randomly quit biting his nails. 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:37.880 I also was a nail biter for the first twenty 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:41.400 five years of my life, but I quit. I can 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:44.880 point to naval boot camp as the catalyst of my quitting. 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:48.280 In boot camp, the drill instructors are always yelling at 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:51.360 people for touching their faces. This makes a lot of 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:53.760 sense because of the large numbers of people living in 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:57.480 close proximity to one another. They don't want to spreading disease. 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:00.160 So anyway, we were issued nail clippers, and I was 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:02.880 motivated to use them to keep my nails too short 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:05.080 for me to bite them. I love you guys in 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:07.640 the show. You've got me into watching old horror movies 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:10.040 and enjoying them much more than I ever thought I would. 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:13.760 Science is awesome, and so are you. It was very, 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:24.960 very very sweet, Matt. Thank you. All right, let's jump 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:27.240 ahead of some weird house cinema feedback here. This one 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:29.680 comes to us from Susan. Hey, guys, I just wanted 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:32.959 to write in about Time after Time. I almost didn't 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.880 listen to this episode because I remember seeing the movie 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:38.040 at the cinema with my parents when I was about 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:41.840 eight years old. I had nightmares for months. The scene 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.920 that got me was when Wells goes into an apartment 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:48.040 and it's a complete blood bath. Now, more than forty 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:50.600 years later, I can picture that severed arm and it 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:54.120 still gives me chills. Of course, after that introduction to horror, 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:56.720 I spent the nineteen eighties watching all the now classic 0:10:56.800 --> 0:10:59.760 flasher films. Thanks for a fun travel through time to 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:02.800 the early days of scary movies. Funny, I don't remember 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:07.360 the love part of that movie, just the blood. No love, 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:10.640 only blood. Yeah. I mean, it is kind of a 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:13.280 shocking scene when you get that, because there hasn't really 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:15.520 been much blood in the film at that point, I 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:17.920 mean a little here and there, but but then suddenly, yes, 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:21.440 severed arm. Uh. I could see where that would definitely 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:24.240 be a lot of you were eight years old. Yeah, yeah, 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.080 well I think we mentioned this in the Time Aftertime episode, 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:29.520 But it's kind of amazing what could get a PG 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:33.720 in nineteen nine. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a it's a 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:37.040 it's a it's in late seventies PG. So it's certainly 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:39.920 anybody looking to pick that up to think about it. 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:42.080 But I guess it follows a trend that you know, 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:45.000 has been widely observed for a long time that for 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:49.319 some reason, the people who issue ratings classifications for movies 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:53.560 tend to be far more motivated to kick up ratings 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:57.160 in response to, say, harsh language or sexuality than they 0:11:57.160 --> 0:11:59.880 do in response to violence. So you can get away 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.720 with a big, bloody dismemberment as long as people aren't 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:06.719 saying the bad words. Yeah. I'm always I'm always fascinated 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:08.720 when people share their stories about what was like the 0:12:08.760 --> 0:12:11.360 first or one of the first scary movies to really 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:14.680 kind of you know, get to them when they were kids, 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:18.320 Because for me, it was it was almost certainly Toby 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:21.880 Hooper's poulter Geist. I remember seeing part of that when 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:25.400 I was a kid, and uh bathroom mirror scene who 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:29.440 uh I don't know if it was that's and I 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:31.959 don't even know how I was watching it per se um, 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:34.520 but there was I don't know, just stuff. Some of 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:36.839 it was probably not even like the really grizzly stuff, 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:40.440 but just like scenes of children being afraid in dark rooms. 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.560 You know, like some of that can really get to 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:45.880 you at a at a young age. I mean, it's 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:49.360 it's surprising, how you know, how scary certain concepts and 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:51.200 ideas can be to young children. I was trying to 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:54.679 tell my son about the duck that said that there 0:12:54.679 --> 0:12:58.040 were recordings of the duck speaking and saying you bloody fool, 0:12:58.559 --> 0:13:00.280 and he was like, that's too much. He I got 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:02.680 upset that I was telling him this before bed, and 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:05.319 I was like, wow, I didn't think about the speaking 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:08.400 ducks saying you bloody fool would be nightmare material. But 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:10.320 I don't know. Maybe so, I mean, who am I 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:13.040 to argue with this reaction here? What about Billy Bass? 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:16.280 He'd probably be amused by Billy bass um, but I 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:19.760 have not introduced him to that technology either. Billy Bass 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:22.760 will haunt your dreams. It's funny what you're talking about. 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:25.240 It makes me remember one movie that I got very 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.800 freaked out by as a kid. I remember was the 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:31.400 movie Cat's I in which there it's a sort of 0:13:31.960 --> 0:13:34.800 horror anthology film or I don't know if it's all horror. 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:37.080 At least one of the segments is horror and features 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:40.480 this little weird, creepy gremlin running around in a bedroom 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:44.000 that does battle with a cat. Uh. And I remember 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:46.679 that gremlin really creeped me out. Yeah they had it 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:54.600 was a great design on that critter. Okay, This next 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:57.600 weird house cinema response comes from Simon. This is a 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:01.200 very long email, so I'm doing some regiments in editing. 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:05.640 So Simon says, hey, fellas, welcome from the royal town 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:11.000 of Sutton Coalfield, West Midland's UK birthplace of ken Gt, 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:14.640 forty miles uh from I guess this is somebody from 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:18.240 Ford versus Ferrati, which which I haven't seen. Um. But 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:22.000 Simon says it's also mentioned in Shakespeare when fall Staff says, 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:25.880 Bardolf get thee before to Coventry, fill me a bottle 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:29.680 of sack. Our soldiers shall march through wheel to Sutton 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:33.560 coal Field tonight. And then finally Simon says it is 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:37.080 the location of a shower of Frogs in nineteen fifty four. 0:14:37.240 --> 0:14:40.680 I think to look that one up, but Simon says, 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:42.880 apologies in advance for the long email. I guess an 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:46.200 epic podcast deserves epic feedback. I love stuff to blow 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:48.800 your mind and the content that you provide. I store 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:52.080 up episodes to play while I undertake my artwork at home. 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:55.120 Weird how cinema is especially my favorite as a long 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:59.480 term cinephile myself. Beloved movies that I have collected include 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:03.560 ref Madness from nineteen thirty six, The Outlaw from nineteen 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:06.640 forty three, the movie for which Howard Hughes designed the 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:11.360 cantilever bra and Carry On Up the Kaiber from sixty eight, 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:14.240 the ninety nine greatest British movie of all time and 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:16.800 one of the funniest. I think. Actually the only one 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:22.200 of those I've seen is read for Madness, But Simon says, 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:24.680 I'm mainly writing a response to your reference to the 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:28.280 TV movie The Day After in your Weird House Cinema 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:31.960 episode on Time after Time. Remember that was the another 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:34.640 film that was made by Nicholas Meyer, the writer and 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:39.160 director of Time after Time, which was a television film 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:42.320 about what would happen in the aftermath of a nuclear 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:45.480 war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Simon 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:48.920 goes on, you reference the cultural impact of the Day After, 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:51.280 but I guess that you're already aware of the UK 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:55.640 film that it is constantly compared to Threads from nineteen 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:59.840 eighty four, the UK BBC DOCU drama about the horrific 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:03.320 of effects of and after a nuclear war. Scariest movie 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:06.160 ever made by a country mile directed by the man 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:11.040 who would later direct The Bodyguard. Um massively well researched, 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:14.920 with input by Carl Sagan. Interesting in its comparison to 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:17.600 the U S movie The Day After, which, although had 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:21.920 a higher budget, has nowhere near the nightmare depicted by Threads. 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:25.560 Plus the latter does tend to eschew drama for information. 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:28.760 Not an easy watch, perhaps undermined a little by use 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:32.880 of stock footage and televisual feel, but utterly essential viewing. 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:35.920 I own both movies, but only Threads keeps me awake 0:16:35.960 --> 0:16:39.280 at night, uh per and then uh Simon includes a 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:41.840 quote from The New York Times. The film is not 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:45.440 a balanced discussion about the pros and cons of nuclear armaments. 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:49.640 It is a candidly biased warning, and it is as calculated, 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:54.800 unsettlingly powerful. I like the New York Times warning you 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:57.480 that it that it does not reveal the prose of 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:04.359 nuclear war um. The director of this, Mike I'm sorry, 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:07.480 Mick Jackson, not a guy I'm that familiar with. But 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:12.800 he also directed Volcano in and uh The Temple Grand 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:16.040 and Bio that came out in two thousand ten starring 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:20.680 Claire Danes. Oh. Okay, well, anyway, Simon goes on to say, obviously, 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:24.560 the input of Carl Sagan and the almost documentary feel 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:27.480 of the film make this irrelevant subject for consideration by 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:32.040 you chaps. Science the Cold War psychology of fear, paranoia, 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:35.399 and mutually sure destruction. The final scene of the birth 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:38.439 of a child born of rape and fallout is beyond 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:41.840 terrifying and is reminiscent of the effects of depleted uranium 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:46.040 ordinance on unborn children in recent wars. On a personal note, 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:49.080 my grandfather was part of the Allied occupation of Japan 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:52.560 in nineteen forty five and experienced firsthand what was left 0:17:52.560 --> 0:17:56.960 of Hiroshima. It happened to be the forty anniversary five 0:17:57.080 --> 0:17:59.680 that he began to describe it to me The same year. 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:02.920 I leave that Threads was shown on TV. It took 0:18:02.960 --> 0:18:05.600 me from age fourteen to forty five to summon the 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:07.720 courage to watch it, and that thirty one years of 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:12.719 preparation was essential, as I was by now a father's stuff. 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:16.240 Yes it is. But from here the message gets lighter. 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:18.840 Simon goes onto list and suggest a bunch of movies 0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:21.760 that he thinks we would be interested in. For weird House, 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:23.320 I'm not going to go through the whole list here, 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:25.840 but I'll read one of them that's on the lighter 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:30.199 side of the nuclear cinema uh catalog, he says. On 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:33.760 a connected theme, can I suggest the fantastic Protect and 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:38.159 Survive UK information films? They are terrifying and hilarious in 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:41.920 their naivety. Don't forget to brush the fallout from your jacket. 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:45.520 It's pure public service nostalgia for Cold War addicts, and 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:48.680 he includes some some links for us to view. I've 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:51.919 watched at least one of these clips and and the 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:53.520 one of the parts that stuck out to me is 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:57.280 this very dry British radio voice saying, uh, if someone 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.639 has died, move their body to another room. Cover it 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:05.640 in poly eurythene I, I seem to recall that there 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:07.880 was a parody of this on The Young Ones back 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:11.680 in the day. Oh yeah, I think in fact, even um, 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:15.840 I think Simon may mention that later in his email. Okay, sorry, Simon, 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:17.720 that is still in your thunder here. But I think 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:20.040 I think that's all we're doing from Okay, alright, so 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:23.440 well I'm not stealing your thunder then well I'm completely 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:25.320 stealing it, I guess, because then we're not even reading 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:29.120 where you mentioned that. But um, telepathically you're robbing him 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:33.159 at any rate. Yes, it is my understanding, uh, and 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:37.359 my faint memory that it is lampooned on The Young Ones. 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:47.520 All right, the fantasy Bomba Deal casting continues. We heard 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:50.959 from Casey. Casey right right, wrote in and says hello, 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:53.000 I've been listening to you guys since around the time 0:19:53.000 --> 0:19:55.320 of the Bicameral Mind episodes that have been a regular 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:58.280 listener ever since. I often think about writing in, but 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:01.560 usually dissuade myself from it. However, in light of the 0:20:01.600 --> 0:20:04.800 ongoing Bomba Deal debate, I decided I had better speak up. 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:08.199 In general, I think adaptations are a bad idea. The 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:10.720 particular impact of a story is often bound up with 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:14.520 the specific medium it's told in and something always gets 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:17.560 lost in translation, no matter how well executed. Because bomba 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:19.320 Deal is one of my favorite parts of the books, 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:22.320 I'm glad he hasn't been realized on the screen. All 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:24.760 the same, if I had to pick a human bomba Deal, 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:29.720 one could do worse than the wayfaring stranger himself. Burl Ives. 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:34.360 He's jovial, plump and sings in a friendly, folksy style. Anyway, 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:38.000 thanks for continuing to deliver interesting, engaging, and eclectic content, 0:20:38.119 --> 0:20:42.840 Casey burl Ives, Okay, interesting option, Yeah, yeah, I mean 0:20:43.080 --> 0:20:48.720 when he's he's in that uh the Rudolph Um animated 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:52.159 Um show, as I recall, he's the narrator in that 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:55.080 and plays the what the Snowman, So he's already we 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:59.560 already know that he can play a musical elemental force. 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:02.679 This sort of stands outside of the story, so it 0:21:02.680 --> 0:21:05.280 makes sense. I would say, you want to make sure 0:21:05.320 --> 0:21:07.919 that he's not in cat on a hot tin roof mode, 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:11.879 because although bomba Deal maybe a sort of god or elemental, 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:15.160 he is no big Daddy. We'll tell me this, Joe, 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:18.320 I know you're a big Jim Steinman fan. If Jim 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:23.119 Steinman had adapted The Fellowship of the Ring. Uh do 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:25.560 you think you could have seen meat Loaf as bomba 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:29.880 Deal without a word? Oh that's the sweet spot. Yeah, 0:21:30.200 --> 0:21:32.640 I could see that kind of a rock Obomba Deal. 0:21:33.040 --> 0:21:40.399 Hey don Mary do? Oh? Yeah? R I p Jim Steinman. 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:42.879 He passed away just earlier this year. The world is 0:21:42.920 --> 0:21:52.240 a less melodramatic place without him. All right, how about 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:55.720 I read this one from Hannah also about Bomba Dill's subject, 0:21:55.880 --> 0:21:59.199 and keep it coming right Bomba dil opinions. I like 0:21:59.240 --> 0:22:02.360 how this is the new subgenre of listener mail, Hi, 0:22:02.520 --> 0:22:05.360 Robert and Joe. If I could pluck any actor from 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:07.600 any point in their career to play Bomba Deal, I'd 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:11.200 pick top All exactly as he was in Fiddle around 0:22:11.200 --> 0:22:14.760 the Roof ninety one. I've always pictured Tom Bomba Dill 0:22:14.840 --> 0:22:18.520 with a similar playfulness and warmth to his character. Uh. 0:22:18.960 --> 0:22:21.639 That's a great idea, Hannah, But then she goes on 0:22:21.800 --> 0:22:24.919 along that train of thought. But considering the annoying limitations 0:22:24.920 --> 0:22:27.840 of the passage of time or whatever, I went looking 0:22:27.880 --> 0:22:30.399 for some actors who are still currently working and have 0:22:30.480 --> 0:22:33.160 tavy on their resumes and came up with two interesting 0:22:33.200 --> 0:22:38.480 but very different possibilities. Alfred Molina and Harvey Firestein thoughts 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:42.720 all the best, Hannah. Uh yeah, both great, both great choices, 0:22:43.040 --> 0:22:45.760 great actors in their own regard. You know, Harvey Fierstein, 0:22:46.440 --> 0:22:49.240 uh did a voice of one of the Skexis on 0:22:49.359 --> 0:22:53.199