1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. A reputation can make or break your career. 7 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: Do the right things and make good choices, and you'll 8 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: go far. People will vouch for you, doors will open 9 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:48,880 Speaker 1: that normally would have been locked. But if you miss 10 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: deadlines or you prove difficult to work with, your reputation 11 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: will suffer, and the people who used to stand behind 12 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: you will get as far away from you as possible. 13 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: You might think someone who wrote children's book for a 14 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: living would be a pleasure to work with. Someone who 15 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: spun fantastical tales of giant peaches and big friendly giants 16 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: couldn't have been a nightmare to work with. Right wrong. 17 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:15,120 Speaker 1: British author Rawl Dahl rose to fame with books that 18 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:18,400 Speaker 1: became iconic works of literature and continue to be read 19 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: by children all over the world. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 20 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,960 Speaker 1: James and the Giant Peach, and the Witches are all 21 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:29,960 Speaker 1: beloved for their colorful storytelling and memorable characters. However, a 22 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: shadow has followed these tales and their author since their publication. 23 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: Doll was often described as being racist, anti Semitic, and 24 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,200 Speaker 1: misogynistic in both his personal life and in his stories. 25 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: And how we approached problematic literature, especially literature written for children, 26 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: is as complicated as the man who wrote them. Just 27 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: ask those who were responsible for bringing his words to 28 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: the world. They often dealt with him across the ocean, 29 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: and even that wasn't enough. Sometimes. Doll had grown up 30 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: embodying his nickname of the Apple, which he'd earned due 31 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: to his mother's adoration for him compared to her other children. 32 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: He attended boarding school from a young age and dabbled 33 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: in writing, but his imagination proved far more developed than 34 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:17,639 Speaker 1: his literary skills at the time. Still, he enjoyed coming 35 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 1: up with stories and conjuring new ones based on his 36 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: experiences at school. Doll went on to enlist in World 37 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:26,520 Speaker 1: War Two with the Royal Air Force. After sustaining an 38 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: injury during a crash, he healed up, flew several more missions, 39 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 1: and eventually went home to start his new life as 40 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: a civilian. He married American actress Patrician Neil in nineteen 41 00:02:36,639 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: fifty three, and together the couple had five children. It 42 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:43,720 Speaker 1: was during her fifth pregnancy, though, when Neil suffered three 43 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: cerebral aneurisms. Her husband took over caring for the family, 44 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: but he also treated her horribly. As she recovered, he 45 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: implemented a cruel recovery regimen to get her back into acting. 46 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,920 Speaker 1: When she wanted something but couldn't remember what it was called, 47 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 1: he would refuse to give it to her, tell she 48 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: used its correct name, and this went on for ten months. 49 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: Several years later, Doll began an affair with another woman. 50 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: You see, there was a reason why his wife referred 51 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:14,359 Speaker 1: to him as rolled the rotten Doll was also notoriously 52 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: arrogant about his work and the money he made with it. 53 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,959 Speaker 1: At a party thrown by playwright Tom Stoppard, Dall met 54 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: Kingsley Amos, a novelist who wrote adult fiction. Dall told 55 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: him that if he really wanted to earn money with 56 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: his work, he should start writing children's books instead. The 57 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 1: two men then had an awkward conversation before Dahl left 58 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: the party. In his private helicopter. Amos despondently wrote about 59 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: the evening later saying, I watched the television news that night, 60 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: but there was no report of a famous children's author 61 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: being killed in a helicopter crash. Doll just had that 62 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: kind of effect on people, But it was how he 63 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: treated the ones who published his novels that nearly ended 64 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,920 Speaker 1: his career. Publishing house Alfred A. Knoff had been putting 65 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: out Doll's books for many years. In nineteen eighty, the 66 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: editor in chief, Robert Gottlieb, received a frantic letter from 67 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: the author, claiming he was running out of his favorite pencil, 68 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: the American made Dixon Ticonda roga. He demanded, someone competent 69 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: and ravishing, if those were his words, not mine, send 70 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,679 Speaker 1: him a box of six dozen Taikonda rogas. Gottlieb brushed 71 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 1: the letter off as a joke and tossed it aside, 72 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: only to find out a few months later that Doll 73 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:27,160 Speaker 1: had most certainly not been playing around. So Gottlieb's assistant 74 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: sent him some pencils of a different variety instead, but 75 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: this only incensed the author further. He wrote back, demanding 76 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,040 Speaker 1: not only the pencils he had asked for, but several 77 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:39,840 Speaker 1: other accommodations as well, and if Gottlieb didn't acquiesce, Doll 78 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: was prepared to go to another publisher. The editor had 79 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: had enough. He composed a letter of his own, in 80 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: which he called Doll uncivil and accused him of bullying. 81 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 1: He would no longer tolerate Tantrum's or rudeness either, and 82 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: Gottlieb ended his letter by providing Doll with an ultimatum 83 00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:59,160 Speaker 1: of his own. Unless you start acting civilly to us, 84 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: there is no possibility of our agreeing to continue to 85 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: publish you. The day the letter went out, everyone in 86 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 1: the office got up on their desks and cheered. Rawl 87 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,720 Speaker 1: Dahl had become the villain of his own story, and 88 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: he had just been defeated. War is frenetic, with bombs 89 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: going off and guns firing from all directions. It can 90 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 1: be hard to tell which way is up. Throw in 91 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: the unpredictable nature of an opposing force, and it's only 92 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: a matter of time before a wrong decision turns deadly. 93 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 1: Wars aren't new, nor are their effects on those who 94 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 1: fight them. Trauma, disorientation and PTSD have affected soldiers for hundreds, 95 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: even thousands of years. Back in, for example, soldiers faced 96 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: one of the most heated battles of the Austro Turkish War. 97 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: Thousands were left dead or injured because they had no 98 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: idea what was going on. It was the night of 99 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: September twenty one, and roughly one thousand Austrian forces had 100 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: entered the Romanian town of karen Sabis. They'd been fighting 101 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,479 Speaker 1: the Ottomans, namely the Turks, and had come to the 102 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:18,720 Speaker 1: town in order to maintain control of the nearby Daniebe River. 103 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,359 Speaker 1: Turkish forces were close by, and the Austrians wanted to 104 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,560 Speaker 1: be prepared. To make sure their position was secure. A 105 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: small cavalry contingent scouted the area for Turks. Everyone else 106 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:31,279 Speaker 1: stayed back at the camps to get ready for the 107 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,640 Speaker 1: next day's fight. The cavalry crossed the nearby Timis River, 108 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 1: hoping to surprise the enemy. What they actually found was 109 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: a different kind of trouble. They came upon a group 110 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: of Romani travelers who invited the men to stop and 111 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:46,920 Speaker 1: take a load off. They offered them schnops, of which 112 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,160 Speaker 1: the Austrians were only too happy to partake. After all, 113 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:52,720 Speaker 1: they had a long day made longer by their night 114 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: of patrolling. The cavalrymen drank for much of that night, 115 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: knowing tomorrow would be a day of bloodshed for both sides. Eventually, though, 116 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:04,160 Speaker 1: they were confronted by a unit of Austrian infantry soldiers 117 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: who gazed upon the scene in both disbelief and jealousy. 118 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: They demanded the cavalry share the snaps with them, but 119 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 1: the men were drunk, too drunk to make good decisions 120 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: so late in the night, and they told them no, 121 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: and rather than share their drinks, they barricaded themselves using 122 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: empty barrels. A fight broke out, fists were thrown, and 123 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: then someone somewhere fired a single shot across the river. 124 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 1: The Austrians back at the camps believed the shot to 125 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: have come from the Ottoman army. They shouted a warning 126 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: of Turks Turks, which caused the partying soldiers across the 127 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: river to panic. To them, it seemed like the Ottoman 128 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: army had reached their camps, so they ran back to help. 129 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 1: But the Austrian forces had one major problem. Not all 130 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: of them were actually from Austria. Their army was made 131 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: up of Austrians, Germans, checks Croats, Serbs, and soldiers from 132 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: other European in countries, nobody spoke the same language, so 133 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: communication was difficult. This led to quite a few misunderstandings, 134 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: including a big one on this night. You see, as 135 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: the cavalrymen and infantrymen retreated back to their camps across 136 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: the river, awaiting officer shouted halt in German, meaning stop. 137 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 1: Some of the approaching men, who did not know German, though, 138 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: thought he was yelling Allah. A pronouncement like that could 139 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: only have come from a Turkish soldier the enemy. After that, 140 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 1: an Austrian commander ordered artillery fire on the incoming soldiers, 141 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,440 Speaker 1: believing them to be the Ottomans. Scared and unsure of 142 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 1: what was going on, the drunken cavalrymen and infantrymen began 143 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: firing back, also under the impression that they were shooting 144 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: at the Ottomans. In other words, each side thought that 145 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: the other was the enemy, and a firefight ensued in 146 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:53,840 Speaker 1: what came to be known as the Battle of karen Sabez. 147 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:56,679 Speaker 1: They waged war all night, and by the time the 148 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:59,440 Speaker 1: battle was over the following morning, as many as ten 149 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 1: thousand Austrian soldiers had either been killed or wounded. A 150 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: few days later, the Ottoman army actually showed up, and 151 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:10,280 Speaker 1: without a proper Austrian army to oppose them, they easily 152 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 1: took over Karen Seves. Some historians believe the battle to 153 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:18,080 Speaker 1: have never taken place, since it wasn't officially recorded until 154 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: forty years after the fact. However, it's also possible that 155 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: no one wrote it down for a reason that just 156 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 1: about all of us can sympathize with cheer embarrassment. I 157 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,479 Speaker 1: hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 158 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 159 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:43,520 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 160 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how 161 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 162 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 163 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World 164 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:01,199 Speaker 1: of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.