1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio, Hello and Happy Friday. I'm Tracy V. Wilson 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: and I'm Holly Frye. We talked about the Empress of 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: Ireland this week, a particularly sad shipwreck story of It's 5 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: a dark week for stuff you missed in History Class. 6 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: This dark dark week, we just minutes ago recorded the 7 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: behind the scenes for our other gruesome murder episode of 8 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: the week. And when I knew this was a sad shipwreck, 9 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: something about it just being everyone drowned in the cold 10 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: in the dark, I was like, this is extra sad, 11 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 1: and that is one reason why I did not put 12 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: a sad cat story. There's two reasons why I did 13 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: not include the sad cat story in this episode. One 14 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: is I found it in one source and I was like, 15 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: is this real? And the other was it just was 16 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,199 Speaker 1: too sad. So I'm going to give the sad cat story, okay, 17 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: but then I'm gonna follow it with a funny cat 18 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 1: story that sounds great. So sad cat story is that 19 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: in this one account that I read, the ship's cat 20 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: was named Emmy, and Emmy jumped off the boat in 21 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 1: Quebec City, and somebody found Emmy and brought her back, 22 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:33,640 Speaker 1: and Emmy left again but left her kittens on board 23 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:41,760 Speaker 1: and right, and the ship left without her. And later 24 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,479 Speaker 1: people were like, this was a terrible omen does seem 25 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: that way? And I was like, that is so sad 26 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: on this already very sad episode. And also I found 27 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: like this I couldn't find confirmation of it. I mean, 28 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 1: if there are lots and lots of survivor testimonies that 29 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: you can read, like first hand accounts, stories that people 30 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: have submitted of like their relatives who were on board, 31 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: things like that, I just I wasn't able to confirm that. 32 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:14,800 Speaker 1: So the sadness plus not being able to confirm it 33 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 1: here is the funny cat story. My cats don't get 34 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: on the keyboard that much. But in this case, Opel 35 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,080 Speaker 1: has a contribution to this episode that I am going 36 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: to read to everyone. The Empress of Ireland left Liverpool 37 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:37,639 Speaker 1: for a routine trip across the Atlantic on May fifteenth, 38 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 1: nineteen one hoo. For that is what Opel would like 39 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: everyone to now. Yeah, also likes to add a little 40 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: now and again to episodes, and I try to correct them, 41 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:59,079 Speaker 1: but sometimes letters that I don't think I even did 42 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: it entirely just this. It stretches the whole width of 43 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:07,639 Speaker 1: my screen. Another thing, As I was putting together Saturday 44 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: Classics for upcoming episodes of Saturday Classics, I realize we 45 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: have another episode we have already done on the ss Arctic. 46 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: That episode came out January fifteenth, twenty fourteen, so that 47 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 1: may sound familiar to longtime listeners of the show or 48 00:03:22,919 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: people who've been working their way through the whole back catalog. Holly, 49 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: I think he wrote that episode. I had no recollection 50 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 1: of it existing. It is very similar in terms of 51 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 1: ship's colliding and a lot of people then not surviving 52 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: the wreck, but it was not a case where the 53 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: ship sank so quickly. It wasn't. That was a case 54 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: where the ship took a while to think, but the 55 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: evacuation was chaos. And I did not pick that as 56 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: a Saturday Classic because I was like, no, this is 57 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: too much, too much sad to have another to follow, 58 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: right to follow this with a separate sad thing about 59 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: the same general topic. I'm really glad you did not 60 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: include the cat story because I think we all know 61 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 1: I'm not emotionally tall enough to ride that ride. Yeah, 62 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: had we actually had to talk about it in depth. 63 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: I don't really remember much about that other episode either. 64 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: I mean I didn't. I didn't remember it at all. 65 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:31,839 Speaker 1: I literally was going through the list of old episodes 66 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: and was kind of like, ss Arctic, what was that about? 67 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:36,359 Speaker 1: Is that something we should run as? And then I 68 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: read the synopsis and I was like, did I write this? 69 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 1: And then I listened to the first five seconds. I 70 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: think we've said this little inside baseball moment before. Whoever 71 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:48,359 Speaker 1: talks first in the episode wrote it? Yeah, I can't 72 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: think of any exceptions we've had to that. I don't 73 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,040 Speaker 1: think so, but yeah, you talk first on that. One 74 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:56,040 Speaker 1: says like, I guess I didn't write that, this thing 75 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,479 Speaker 1: that I have no recollection of from almost a decade ago. Yeah, 76 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: it's a long time. And we have said this before too, 77 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: like we don't retain everything. No, we really don't. And 78 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 1: I whole episodes. I have sometimes felt bad when someone, 79 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: like in a live show or an event, will ask 80 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: a question about an episode that's like five years old, 81 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: and I'm like, I don't know. I'm not from your country, 82 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: I don't know your ways, and I just kind of 83 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: run away and hide. Yeah, I I the brain something 84 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:33,120 Speaker 1: stick forever. Yeah, some fly away into the night. And 85 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:35,280 Speaker 1: like Tracy, I think we've both had that moment of like, 86 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: did I write them? I wrote this? I don't remember, 87 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 1: yes at all. I've definitely had whole episodes that I 88 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: wrote and I don't remember. And I for a long 89 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: time I thought this was just the nature of our jobs, 90 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: that you know, we are writing a new episode every 91 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: week and and like we have to mentally move on 92 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 1: to the next thing. That's the only way that it works. 93 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:59,160 Speaker 1: But for some reason, the TikTok algorithm has decided that 94 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: what I want to see when I look at TikTok 95 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: is clips from old episodes of Grey's Anatomy. I think 96 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:06,840 Speaker 1: I watched one of these once and TikTok was like, 97 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:08,960 Speaker 1: all right, this is what you want for the rest 98 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,920 Speaker 1: of your life. And it has showed me so many 99 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: clips of Grey's Anatomy that I have absolutely no recollection 100 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 1: of at all. Oh, I thought you were gonna say 101 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:22,279 Speaker 1: the opposite. Uh uh, Well, I mean sometimes it's stuff 102 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: that I do remember vividly, but like so much stuff 103 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,360 Speaker 1: that I have no recollection of at all whatsoever. And 104 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: I've seen every episode of that show so it's like, 105 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: I know I saw this episode, but I don't remember 106 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: that there was one about a person with toxic blood 107 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: and everybody passed out in the or this totally forgot 108 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 1: had did not ring any kind of bell. I think 109 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: I might sadly be the opposite. One of my friends 110 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:52,040 Speaker 1: offhandedly mentioned while we were at dinner the other night 111 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:55,160 Speaker 1: an episode, an older episode of Bob's Burgers, and I 112 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:57,800 Speaker 1: was just like, right, because then this and this happened. 113 00:06:57,800 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: I could see where that And she was just like, 114 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: when was the last time you watched this episode. I'm like, 115 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: I don't know, but you've seen it more than once 116 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,479 Speaker 1: I have. I also have fly paper in my brain. 117 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: If it relates to like Bob's Burger's, older episodes of 118 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 1: the Simpsons, you know certain I mean Star Wars, obviously, 119 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 1: certain Disney things like there are definitely things where I'm like, 120 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: I have no no valid reason to have retained this 121 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: information for so long yet I don't know where my 122 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: keys are or how old my father is. Like, yes, 123 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: so anyway, that's everyone's update about our memories. Uh yeah, 124 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:47,480 Speaker 1: this episode was very sad, as many of the shipwrecks, 125 00:07:47,560 --> 00:08:00,040 Speaker 1: but not all of them are Hey, sorry that we 126 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: started out dark, but then we got to talk about 127 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 1: Mary Summerville, who I think is a delight Yeah. We 128 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: often but not all the time. We record two episodes 129 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: a week, and those are the two episodes that come 130 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: out on a week together. Yeah, this is not the case. 131 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,240 Speaker 1: That was not the case this time, and we had 132 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 1: recorded a recording session that was just sadness all the 133 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 1: way through, and those episodes did not come out in 134 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: the same week Monday and Wednesday. But like we were 135 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: sort of talking about how there needed to be something 136 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:42,680 Speaker 1: a little lighter. Yeah, yeah, And I actually had not 137 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: intended for Mary to be that thing. M M. But 138 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: I was kind of bottoming out on the other thing 139 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: I wanted to do because I felt like I need 140 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,839 Speaker 1: more time for that one, because there's a book I 141 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: want to order and like, you know, all of that stuff. 142 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:59,440 Speaker 1: And then I stumbled across Mary, not on my primary 143 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: list but on another one that I had hand scribbled 144 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:04,439 Speaker 1: in a book while I was looking for other stuff, 145 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 1: and I was like, wait, let me revisit this, and 146 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:11,079 Speaker 1: I was like, I love her, so she's perfect. Her 147 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: memoir is a really, really delightful read. It is notated 148 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: a lot with her daughter Martha's work where her she 149 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: won't talk like she doesn't talk, as we said in 150 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 1: the episode, that much about her husband's death. But then 151 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,679 Speaker 1: Martha notes like, of course my mother was bereft, and 152 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: like it's more evident when you see the letters that 153 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 1: other people wrote her, saying like I know your world 154 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:40,679 Speaker 1: has just fallen apart. Essentially, yeah, please know we all 155 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 1: love you and we're thinking of you. But she I 156 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:46,320 Speaker 1: mean it came up also when she mentioned the passing 157 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:51,000 Speaker 1: of their other daughter, that she didn't ever seem to 158 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:52,840 Speaker 1: hover on that stuff. She would just say it and 159 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: be done and move on. And I think that was 160 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: probably part of how she mentally compartmentalized that while she 161 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: was doing other things. Sure, I'm not going to wallow 162 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:03,719 Speaker 1: in this moment. I'm going to acknowledge it and move 163 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:10,719 Speaker 1: to the next thing. Her writing, she mentioned in her 164 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:14,400 Speaker 1: writing towards the end that she didn't like to sleep 165 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: by herself ever, and this is something that she wrote 166 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:25,079 Speaker 1: about in various points during her life, and she wrote 167 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: about it so poignantly from the point of view of childhood. 168 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: That's the first time she remembered really being upset by 169 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:35,720 Speaker 1: the idea. And I want to read this passage because 170 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:39,439 Speaker 1: it's really like the best description of what that feels 171 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 1: like when you're a scared kid in a not scary way, 172 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: because it has distance on it. So I'm going to 173 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,679 Speaker 1: read this passage, which is quote, children suffer much misery 174 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: by being left alone in the dark. When I was 175 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:53,679 Speaker 1: very young, I was sent to bed at eight or 176 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:55,959 Speaker 1: nine o'clock, and the maid who slept in the room 177 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 1: went away as soon as I was in bed, leaving 178 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: me in the dark till she came to bed herself. 179 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:04,840 Speaker 1: All that time I was in an agony of fear 180 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: of something indefinite. I could not tell what. The joy 181 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 1: the relief when the maid came back were such that 182 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:14,680 Speaker 1: I instantly fell asleep. Now that I am a widow 183 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: and old, although I always have a night lamp, such 184 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,719 Speaker 1: is the power of early impressions that I rejoice when 185 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:25,439 Speaker 1: daylight comes, which is just such a I'm like, oh, 186 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 1: I know this, I know all of this. Like I'm 187 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 1: that kid that had night terror. So I'm like, I 188 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:33,440 Speaker 1: have the same thing, like when I can't sleep, daylight 189 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 1: breaks and I conquered out. I'm one of those people. 190 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 1: I'm like, Mary, I feel you. I really love the 191 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 1: idea that she was. We mentioned on an episode we 192 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:49,839 Speaker 1: did recently that there are autodidacts who become experts in 193 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:53,199 Speaker 1: their field, and she is such a strong example of that, 194 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:55,559 Speaker 1: where she's said, oh, no, I get it, I figured 195 00:11:55,600 --> 00:12:00,160 Speaker 1: it all out. I love It's easy to think, in 196 00:12:00,360 --> 00:12:04,840 Speaker 1: our hubris of the modern era that one, like people 197 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 1: doing science in the past were much simpler in their 198 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 1: understanding than we are. And it's one of the reasons 199 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 1: that I wanted to include that longish excerpt from her 200 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:22,360 Speaker 1: paper about how she did her needle magnetism experiment, because 201 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:27,000 Speaker 1: she's so clear about everything she's doing and it is 202 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:30,559 Speaker 1: not simple stuff, even though it's like the components of 203 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: it are simple, but her like talking about no, we managed, 204 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:37,200 Speaker 1: like with the prism, to continually move the needles so 205 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:39,560 Speaker 1: that the end only stayed in the violet light. And 206 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 1: that's like, I love all of it. I love the 207 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:46,720 Speaker 1: way she talks about science. She's like the precursor to 208 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,880 Speaker 1: Bill Nye and demystifying science. She's amazing well, and like 209 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: being a science communicator is a specific set of skills 210 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:02,320 Speaker 1: that has overlapped with being a scientist. But like not all, 211 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:08,760 Speaker 1: not all scientists are great science communicators for sure. Uh So, Yeah, 212 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: I don't know if we have ever talked about somebody 213 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,600 Speaker 1: on the show that like I would have categorized specifically 214 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 1: as a science communicator. Yeah, which I love because there 215 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:22,920 Speaker 1: are some science communicators in my life who are dear 216 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:25,560 Speaker 1: to me that I love what they do and how 217 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,679 Speaker 1: they do it. And so having this sort of historical 218 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: counterpart going back earlier than a time that I think 219 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:37,880 Speaker 1: I've really thought about science communicators, it's great. Speaking of 220 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: which there is a thing that I have seen people 221 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:45,680 Speaker 1: bickering about in various corners of the Internet where sometimes 222 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,200 Speaker 1: she will see a little factoid about her that says 223 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:54,200 Speaker 1: she is the reason the word scientist was coined, which 224 00:13:54,240 --> 00:14:00,319 Speaker 1: isn't entirely accurate. It gets misconstrued a little bit because 225 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:05,679 Speaker 1: it was coined in a review of her work that 226 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:11,760 Speaker 1: included some other stuff that was written by William wool 227 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:16,600 Speaker 1: who we talked about briefly, where he's kind of it's 228 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: it's prompted by her work, but it's a lot of 229 00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:25,480 Speaker 1: people are like because you know, there was no gender 230 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:30,240 Speaker 1: neutral way to talk about somebody who did science, and 231 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 1: that's that would sound great and it's a cool thing 232 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 1: to think about, but that's not really what happened. And 233 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: so it's kind of a false description of what was 234 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: actually going on because he was really like, we don't 235 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 1: have He wasn't so much separating it as like by sexes. 236 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 1: He was like, we just don't have a good word 237 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: for a person who does science. You know, we know 238 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: what a mathematician is, and we know what a chemist is, 239 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: and we know what a a naturalist is, and we 240 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: know what an artist is, but we just we need 241 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: we need a word. And so that's the first reference 242 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 1: in writing the word scientist that we know of. But 243 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:12,680 Speaker 1: it's not quite the feminist effort that sometimes people want 244 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:15,840 Speaker 1: to make it. It's still very cool, but just not 245 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:19,920 Speaker 1: quite accurate. So we only touched on a few of 246 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:24,800 Speaker 1: the people that she knew, but she knew everybody. She 247 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:27,640 Speaker 1: knew the Brownings. She tells a very funny story in 248 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: her book about the first time she met Elizabeth Barrett 249 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:33,840 Speaker 1: Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning kind of ignored her, and 250 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: then she meets them later again in Italy and she's like, 251 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: she's a completely different person. I love her now, look's 252 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:42,000 Speaker 1: I don't know what was going on at that earlier event, 253 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:46,640 Speaker 1: but now she's great funny. She also knew Joanna Bailey, 254 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,560 Speaker 1: who we talked about recently on the show, for her 255 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:54,080 Speaker 1: writing and the confusion about her initial anonymous work. She 256 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:58,760 Speaker 1: knew everybody everywhere she traveled. She met the scientists in 257 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:01,560 Speaker 1: that area. Everybody wanted to meet her. Everyone wanted to 258 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: know her. She sounds like she was a very good hostess. 259 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:08,160 Speaker 1: People loved to drop by her house, and she and 260 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:13,600 Speaker 1: William were, uncharacteristically for the time, casual about people just 261 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 1: stopping by. You did not have to send notice ahead 262 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: of time. You could just pop in and they would 263 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:20,240 Speaker 1: be like, all right, let's put out a spread and 264 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:22,520 Speaker 1: we'll talk about science and have some cognak or whatever. 265 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 1: I don't know that they had cognak. I'm just throwing 266 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 1: that in. But her life sounds so great, like the 267 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:33,600 Speaker 1: way she lived her life. I mean, the good fortune 268 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: to have a pension that basically sets you up for 269 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: life based on your pretty early work, and to be 270 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 1: able to cultivate that life that you want. The one 271 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: thing that I kept thinking while reading her memoir, though, 272 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:49,760 Speaker 1: the thing that I would struggle with in her life 273 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 1: is the constant bouncing around. Yeah, like I need a nest. 274 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:57,360 Speaker 1: I need a nest feathered with my weird stuff. I 275 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:01,560 Speaker 1: need my sewing room, I need my perhaps an indicator 276 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,639 Speaker 1: of my own problems. But they would just live in 277 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:07,720 Speaker 1: a different place every couple of months, And that sort 278 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 1: of nomadic lifestyle to me sounds like I would feel weird. 279 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:15,439 Speaker 1: But I think her home was in books, so she 280 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:19,320 Speaker 1: didn't care. She could carry them. But yeah, it's just 281 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:21,480 Speaker 1: it's always like And then we moved to Florence for 282 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 1: a minute, and then we were back in Rome, and 283 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:25,360 Speaker 1: then we decided we'd go to Sweden and hang out 284 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 1: for a while and then and they had two daughters 285 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:31,159 Speaker 1: with them through most of that, which is extra wild, 286 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:34,480 Speaker 1: but that seemed to be the way their family worked, 287 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 1: and they all seemed very happy and close. So yeah, yeah, 288 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:44,399 Speaker 1: could not could not fathom it. I now that I 289 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:47,919 Speaker 1: have done this research, I really want there to be 290 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:52,640 Speaker 1: a movie about her, like a good one, though you don't. 291 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:56,919 Speaker 1: You don't need to make it dramatic anymore so than 292 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: it is. You just make it a cool movie about 293 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:02,920 Speaker 1: a lady doing cool things, hanging out till she's ninety two. 294 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:06,360 Speaker 1: She's still doing her science Yeah. I love everything about that. 295 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:08,240 Speaker 1: I love it. I love the idea that she's like, well, 296 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: you know, I read. I read math in bed for 297 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:12,639 Speaker 1: four hours when I wake up, and then I go 298 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: do my writing elsewhere, and then I walk around the 299 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:21,040 Speaker 1: town and then I have supper. Great. That does sound 300 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: great living the dream Mary Summerville. So I'm very glad 301 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 1: we got to talk about her this week. I hope 302 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:29,960 Speaker 1: that if this is your weekend coming up, where you 303 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 1: have actual time off, maybe you sit in bed for 304 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,680 Speaker 1: four hours doing whatever you want, watching TV, reading books, 305 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:40,159 Speaker 1: you like, petting a cat or a dog, just hanging 306 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 1: out being happy if you can. If you don't have 307 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:45,200 Speaker 1: time off and you don't have the luxury of several 308 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:48,200 Speaker 1: hours to sit in bed, I hope that you still 309 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:50,680 Speaker 1: have a great time this weekend. We will be right 310 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:53,040 Speaker 1: back here tomorrow with a classic and then on Monday 311 00:18:53,440 --> 00:19:00,920 Speaker 1: with a brand new episode. If you missed in History 312 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 313 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 314 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.