1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,280 Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, This is Chuck on a Saturday and want 2 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: you to open your mind. I want you to go 3 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 1: back in time, jumping the way back machine and join me, 4 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: because it's June in my mind's eye. And on that 5 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: date we talked about one of my favorite podcast titles 6 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: and favorite incidents in the United States history, that Max 7 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:32,159 Speaker 1: Droom incident. Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production 8 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. 9 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:50,560 Speaker 1: I'm Josh Clark, There's Chuck Bryant, Jerry Roland. Pretty good, 10 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: it's pretty good. And this is Stuff you should Know. 11 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: Josh ed Room. Thank you you've been I saw you 12 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: over there with your earbuds today. You were working on 13 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: this all day, weren't you. I watched season one, episode 14 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: one of Max Headroom, like the last ten minutes is 15 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: still pending, okay, but it's crazy Like Max Headroam himself 16 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: doesn't show up until like forty minutes into the first 17 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: hour long episode, but when he does, it's dynamite. So 18 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: what are we talking about. We're talking about Max Headroom, 19 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: that's right. A huge shout out at the beginning of 20 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:31,399 Speaker 1: this two buis dot Com, specifically Motherboard, specifically Alex Pasternak, Yeah, 21 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:33,480 Speaker 1: who wrote the article on Motherboard, And we actually we 22 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: used to blog a little bit for them back in 23 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: the day. I remember that. Yeah. I don't think they 24 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: like to talk about that or acknowledge it publicly, you know, 25 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 1: I don't think so. Oh, I think it was mutually beneficial. 26 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 1: I'll bet you can't find those on motherboard anymore. I'm 27 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: trying to remember. I'm sure they were, like I think 28 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: I read one about driving a stick shift versus automatic 29 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: or something weird. That's a big one. Yeah. We started 30 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: out with an old fashioned recipe. I think, yeah, that 31 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: was you. They were like, let's do better than this 32 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: guy's and we said no, and then they said we 33 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: got our own people. Yeah, well let somebody come in 34 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: and ghost right for you. Yeah. So that Motherboard articles 35 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 1: the basis and from what I found, I mean, we 36 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: we used a lot of different sources on this, but 37 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: this article entitled the Mystery of the Creepiest Television Heck 38 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: is sort of the culmination like the Kuda gra kDa 39 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: Graw of Max Headroom incidental articles. Yeah, it actually really 40 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: good job past her neck, like very exhaustively investigated it 41 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 1: and turned up new information, got new new um, a 42 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: new understanding of it and basically contributed to the mythos 43 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 1: of it himself. So a way to go pastor neck right, 44 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 1: And what we're talking about is if you if you 45 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,640 Speaker 1: don't know who Max Headroom at all is, We're about 46 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: to set that up. Yeah, let's talk about Max headrom 47 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:57,919 Speaker 1: But if you were alive during the nineteen eighties, then 48 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: you probably know who Max had Room is because weirdly, 49 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:06,639 Speaker 1: for a brief few years it was kind of a 50 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:10,239 Speaker 1: big pop culture thing about four years by my by 51 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 1: my calculations. So starting in there was a movie called 52 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: Max Headroom Colon so you know his an important movie 53 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,920 Speaker 1: twenty Minutes in the Future, right, and it was a 54 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 1: kind of a cyberpunk movie, Um dys Topium future very 55 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: Terry Gilliam brazil ish um, and it was I'm not 56 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: I haven't seen that one, but it was basically where 57 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: the character of Max Headroom was born, right, And I 58 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: think it actually formed the basis for the TV show 59 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: later In between the later TV show that you and 60 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: I are more familiar with and that movie, Max Headroom 61 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: was a pop culture sensation. He was a pitchman for 62 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: New Coke. I went and watched an old ad. He 63 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: was in an ad with run DMC pitching you coke, 64 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: and I was like, doesn't get any more eighties than this? 65 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: But it was actually a pretty cool ad, right was it? 66 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: Did it say here's a little story A need to 67 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: tell about a new coke on the scene that he loved. 68 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: So well, that was exactly word for word how that 69 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:19,359 Speaker 1: ad went. So so let's back up a little more. Right, Okay, 70 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,599 Speaker 1: let's describe what Max Headroom is for the kids, because 71 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 1: I guarantee about eight percent of our our audience are like, 72 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: what's the eighties? What's new coke? Who's run DMC? Well 73 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: that's probably not true, but what so what was Max Headroom? 74 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: He was builed as like the first virtual um talk 75 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:41,479 Speaker 1: show host, right correct? Okay, yeah, so he was played 76 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: by guy named Matt Frewer, who, out of prosthetic makeup, 77 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 1: had that look anyway, very chiseled, square jawed. He was 78 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: not bald, but had he had a receding hairline. Okay, 79 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:58,480 Speaker 1: but he kept it really really short, so he kind 80 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,760 Speaker 1: of looks bald. Yeah, here, this will explain it to 81 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:02,720 Speaker 1: all the kids at home. He was a colleague of 82 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: Murphy Brown and the Murphy Brown Television. Yeah, they're like, 83 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: oh that guy, Yeah, not the painter, the other one, 84 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: the love interest. I don't think I knew that. I 85 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: never watched Murphy Brown though. Oh man, I hope that 86 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,200 Speaker 1: was him. I'm pretty sure it was him. Yeah. Yeah, 87 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: well he's been around, he's still acting today. But yes, 88 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: he played the character of Max Headroom, and the TV 89 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: show Max Headroom was actually pretty far ahead of its time, 90 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,919 Speaker 1: totally speaking. Yeah, So the whole, the whole premise of 91 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: the TV show The Last his big last, great gasp 92 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: that was actually the most serious of all of it 93 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:43,919 Speaker 1: was where in the future TV networks controlled the world, 94 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 1: and there was the station that network twenty three that 95 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:51,040 Speaker 1: Matt Frewer's character and later Max Headroom, who became his 96 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: alter ego, worked for. We're putting these things called blip 97 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: verts out. Yeah. His his character's name was Edison Carter 98 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: at first, and he was like an investigative journey list. So, um, 99 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:04,640 Speaker 1: he starts looking into these blip firts because the problem 100 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:08,280 Speaker 1: with blip firsts they are thirty second ads compressed into 101 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: three seconds, and it's meant to keep you from changing 102 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: the channel. The problem is that everybody watched so much 103 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:18,680 Speaker 1: TV by this time, they didn't move around, which meant 104 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,680 Speaker 1: that all of the electricity generated by their nerve endings 105 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,520 Speaker 1: wasn't burned off as how the how the show explained it. 106 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,679 Speaker 1: So when their brains were assaulted with these blip furts, 107 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,800 Speaker 1: they kind of short circuited, and all that electricity that 108 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:34,919 Speaker 1: was just hanging around their bodies because they weren't moving 109 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:38,920 Speaker 1: at all during the day, made them explode. The network 110 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,479 Speaker 1: really liked blip verts and they didn't want to get 111 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: rid of them, so they decided to instead get rid 112 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: of Edison Carter. Yeah, and the TV advertising at the time, 113 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 1: or advertising in general sort of not only did TV 114 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:53,919 Speaker 1: rule the world, but the ads behind it was really 115 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: the driving force. It sounds very familiar, it does. Everyone's like, 116 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: take a blip furture, give me a three second ad 117 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,840 Speaker 1: on the podcast guys, it will blow you up. So 118 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: what they what ended up happening was was the character 119 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: of Edison Carter eventually was there was an incident not 120 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 1: the Max Headroom, It's in it where he was left 121 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: in a coma in an episode the first episode, Oh yeah, 122 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: the pilot of course, and the last thing he sees 123 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: before falling into a coma is a sign that said 124 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: Max Headroom colon two point three meters uh, and so 125 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: that's how he got the name Max Heterom. Right. It 126 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:36,600 Speaker 1: was in like a parking garage and it was basically saying, 127 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: this is the overhead clearance. Is the way it's put 128 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: in the United States. Yeah, right, so that's the name 129 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: Max Headroum. Right. But he was an AI character, right, 130 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: So the the Evil TV network got ahold of him, 131 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 1: uploaded his brain um and they originally did this with 132 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: the intent of bringing Edison Carter because again he was 133 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: like their star reporter, bring him back in virtual forms. 134 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: They created an artificial intelligence. Well, it was kind of 135 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 1: glitchy and blippy and it looked weird, so they threw 136 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: it out. Well, some pirate broadcasters got ahold of this, 137 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 1: this database that that Max Hendrom lived on, and they 138 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: started broadcasting with him, and Max Hendrom was born. That's right. 139 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:23,600 Speaker 1: And you said glitchy and blippy, and that kids explains 140 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: your intro when you went to Josh. Yeah, yeah, I 141 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 1: was doing thank you for explaining that. Yeah, that bears 142 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: Josh was He's He's okay everybody. So that's what Max 143 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: Headroom did. It was jittery, it was blippy. Like you said, 144 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 1: the background was this weird sort of horizontal and diagonal 145 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:46,520 Speaker 1: line moving around thing, and that was all part of 146 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 1: this at the time sort of futuristic look. He was 147 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:54,560 Speaker 1: also really sarcastic and really catty, and he was really um. 148 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:57,720 Speaker 1: He poked fun at censorship, and he was just kind 149 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,439 Speaker 1: of like a cult hero just the character itself. Right. 150 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,520 Speaker 1: The awesome thing about him is in the real world 151 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:09,600 Speaker 1: of we didn't have any kind of computers that could 152 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 1: generate a c g I post, so they actually used 153 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:17,680 Speaker 1: like prosthetics, Like there's a four hour process to put 154 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 1: Matt frew Er into the Max Headroom makeup. So it's 155 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:23,080 Speaker 1: the guy acting and then you know, they messed with 156 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 1: the video a little bit. But it wasn't a c 157 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,640 Speaker 1: a c g I version of a guy. It was 158 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 1: a guy acting like he was a c g I 159 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:35,960 Speaker 1: version of himself, right, which is why if, for instance, 160 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:39,840 Speaker 1: if Max Headroom the character were to appear on say 161 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:44,040 Speaker 1: David Letterman, which he did, it would be Letterman interviewing 162 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,200 Speaker 1: a TV screen, which is what they did. But it 163 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 1: was actually Matt Freuer in another studio. He was probably 164 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: just backstage broadcast and it's really like, as a kid, 165 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 1: I did not get all this. No, I just thought 166 00:09:57,559 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: it was a I didn't you know what it was 167 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:01,959 Speaker 1: because I've never seen the show. I thought he was 168 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: the coke guy, right, right, And I think I've seen 169 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:06,079 Speaker 1: the show a little bit. I was like, this is 170 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,319 Speaker 1: way too grown up for me. Um, But I think 171 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 1: I just kind of took it on faith that he 172 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: was computer generated or something like that. I didn't really 173 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 1: think about it much. But now as an adult looking back, 174 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: I'm like, that is brilliant and really difficult. And the 175 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: fact that they did this and pulled it off as 176 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:24,560 Speaker 1: well as they did, it's it's it's a it's a 177 00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:27,000 Speaker 1: pretty amazing thing, right, And you can kind of understand 178 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:31,600 Speaker 1: how Max Headroom with all that information now became this 179 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 1: kind of cult icon, especially among cyberpunks at the time, 180 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: and what just keep saying cyberpunk. So so let me 181 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:45,120 Speaker 1: let me I'm I'm I'm not like particularly well versed 182 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:48,599 Speaker 1: in like what constitutes cyberpunk, but like it's like pornography 183 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 1: to a Supreme Court justice, Like I know it when 184 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:53,040 Speaker 1: I see it, right, Sure, So if you watch the 185 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:59,360 Speaker 1: Max Headroom show, you're like, that's cyberpunk. RoboCop is supposedly cyberpunk, right. 186 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:04,840 Speaker 1: It's like a bleak technological future where people are controlled 187 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:09,199 Speaker 1: by almost down to their minds, by the government or 188 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:14,480 Speaker 1: some corporation or some amalgamation of the two. That's pretty cyberpunk, right. 189 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 1: So at the time you had what are called geeks 190 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:23,640 Speaker 1: and nerds, but they are not really what you would 191 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 1: call the geek or a nerd today. Right, somebody who 192 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: wears like glasses that don't actually have prescription glass in them? 193 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:31,679 Speaker 1: Do people do that? That's some people do. I did 194 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:34,360 Speaker 1: that in the fourth grade. Well, then you were a 195 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: geek apparently. No. I was a prep and I wore 196 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:42,080 Speaker 1: those little tortoiseshell round uh preppy glasses because that was 197 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:45,000 Speaker 1: a cool look. And actually, when it's it's one of 198 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,080 Speaker 1: my least proud moments fashion wise, has actually bought fake 199 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 1: glasses and wore them around. You have photos of those. 200 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: I'd really have to dig through some boxes. I think 201 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:58,959 Speaker 1: I speak for everyone when I say started digging dig Yeah, 202 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:01,480 Speaker 1: it was not my proudest moment. Yeah, I'd like to 203 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: see that picture. So um, at the time, people who 204 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:11,440 Speaker 1: were geeks and nerds, that whole culture was very much 205 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:16,160 Speaker 1: derided and pushed around. I mean, look at the Revenge 206 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,680 Speaker 1: of the Nerds, right like they came out on top. 207 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: I watched a little bit of that just the other night. 208 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:24,440 Speaker 1: This is probably the earliest celebration of nerd culture. It 209 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: was not something that was like venerated or subscribed to 210 00:12:28,679 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: by anyone who wasn't a genuine nerd or geek. And 211 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: these were a very rarefied group of people who really 212 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:40,600 Speaker 1: knew what they were doing with computers at a time 213 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: when almost no one else did. Early adopters across the 214 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:46,599 Speaker 1: board very much so. Right, so, so Max Drum is 215 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:49,480 Speaker 1: kind of a cult hero to this guy, and um, 216 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 1: that kind of sets up what happened on November twenty 217 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 1: two in a little town called Chicago, Illinois, the city 218 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 1: of dusty city that doesn't ever sleep, never, the windy city. 219 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: That's it. There you go of all time, the windy 220 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:13,720 Speaker 1: city of all time. Yeah, so that sets the stage. 221 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: We know who who the character of Max Headroom was? Then? Yes? 222 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: Are you sure I set the stage? I think so? 223 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: Did we set the stage fully? Here? It looks nice? 224 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:28,880 Speaker 1: All right? Let's do so at pm on that November 225 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 1: night in Chicago, four days before Thanksgiving. Yeah, so everyone 226 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 1: was in that frame of mind. Put yourself there. I 227 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:39,280 Speaker 1: think that that helps a lot. It helped me at 228 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:43,040 Speaker 1: least football seasons going on. Yeah. As a matter of fact, 229 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 1: just that very day, the Bears had beat the Lions, 230 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 1: which you know, it's a long time ago. Because the 231 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: Bears won a football game, the people in the Windy 232 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: City of all time are not going to be happy 233 00:13:56,040 --> 00:14:00,079 Speaker 1: with you for that city time. Oh and there is 234 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 1: a sportscaster on local channel nine, uh Dan Rone r 235 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: A N and he was he was going over the 236 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:10,960 Speaker 1: highlights of that football game. Then all of a sudden, 237 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:17,240 Speaker 1: right in the middle, the broadcast signal goes, it makes 238 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: those noise noises. And then over at w g N 239 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 1: the control room, they were like, what's what's going on here? 240 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 1: We have no idea what this is. I think the 241 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 1: exact quote was a girl. So Um. What happened was 242 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: they eventually what what what they were doing at the 243 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:37,560 Speaker 1: time was. And this is how We're not going to 244 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:40,360 Speaker 1: go into the weeds here on how broadcast signals work. 245 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: But what they did back in the day was they 246 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: broadcast microwave transmissions to antenna's at the top of the 247 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 1: tallest buildings of whatever city that they were in for 248 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: local TV, for local TV, which is I mean there 249 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:55,440 Speaker 1: was cable at the time, but local TV still kind 250 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: of ruled, yeah, and in the well sort of in 251 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 1: the late eighties, right, So like darting to Segue, Yeah, 252 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 1: for sure, cable is you know, kind of a thing. 253 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: But you if you were a local TV station, you 254 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: still have a pretty big market share of it, right, 255 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:11,960 Speaker 1: especially w g N in Chicago. I mean it's like 256 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 1: Chicago station, right absolutely. So what you what I think 257 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: you're saying is that in a studio, whatever they're recording 258 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: or shooting or playing on their their little video tapes, 259 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:27,560 Speaker 1: they're they're beaming that from the actual studio to a transmitter, 260 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:30,000 Speaker 1: say atop a very tall building, and then that just 261 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: kind of bounces around to other transmitters. And that's how 262 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:36,080 Speaker 1: everybody in Chicago gets their w g N signal, right, Right, 263 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,880 Speaker 1: So all of a sudden, during the sportscast, it skits 264 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:41,960 Speaker 1: is out and then all of a sudden you see 265 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: a a guy in a suit, uh wearing a max 266 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: headroom mask and it was there was no audio that 267 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:57,440 Speaker 1: was I guess the problem with this first intrusion that 268 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: was called a broadcast intrusion. Yeah, but you couldn't hear anything. 269 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 1: But I'm sure it was certainly distressing to a viewer 270 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:06,960 Speaker 1: to see this kind of weird thing happened, especially if 271 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: viewer who wanted to know what the heck happened between 272 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 1: the Bears and the Lions that day. And Um, the 273 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:15,360 Speaker 1: whole thing lasted I think like eleven seconds or some 274 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:17,520 Speaker 1: very short amount of time. Yeah, this was a short 275 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: one before um, the w g N engineers went and 276 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: switched to the backup transmitter and and I guess transmitted 277 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: on a slightly different signal and brought the broadcast the 278 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: sportscaster back on and Dan Rone was like, uh, if 279 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 1: you're wondering what just happened, so am I right? There's 280 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 1: a chuckle in between. I wasn't going to do my 281 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: impression of it, but it's good. You should watch it, 282 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: like somebody just go look it up. Right. So Federal Investigators, 283 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: the FEC that is, was called in to investigate, um, 284 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:54,360 Speaker 1: what technically is well not technically, it's a crime to 285 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: do so. And then just a few minutes later they thought, well, 286 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,440 Speaker 1: this is probably coming from inside the building, and so 287 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:02,600 Speaker 1: that's the first place they started looking, they said, the 288 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:07,840 Speaker 1: intrusions coming from inside the building exactly. They didn't find anybody, though, 289 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:11,800 Speaker 1: I mean it was as you'll see after we explained further, 290 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:15,640 Speaker 1: it would make sense that you would look in the building, yeah, right, 291 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,720 Speaker 1: for something like this inside job. There apparently was not 292 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:21,960 Speaker 1: an inside job at least as far as the w 293 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:26,399 Speaker 1: g N Engineers Search was concerned. Right, right, So that 294 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,880 Speaker 1: was at nine fourteen. About two hours later, I think, 295 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: at eleven fifteen, on another channel in Chicago, w t 296 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:37,879 Speaker 1: t W, which was the PBS station, they were airing 297 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,920 Speaker 1: an episode of Doctor Who called the Horror on fang Island, 298 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: fang Rock, fang Rock, Horror of fang Rock. You have 299 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:48,520 Speaker 1: to say it like that, though, the Horror of fang Rock. 300 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:52,200 Speaker 1: Thank you. And this is the Tom Baker doctor. Okay, 301 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: that's the only one I recognize that. Really he's seventies, right, Hey, 302 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,159 Speaker 1: I'm no doctor who, guys, don't it looked like it 303 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: looked like the seven is what they cut in on. 304 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 1: Look pretty seventies. It didn't look eighty seven, so who 305 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 1: would think it would be seven? I'm guessing it was 306 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:10,800 Speaker 1: a rerun on PBS. That's what I think all right, 307 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:14,120 Speaker 1: we'll find out and oh man, we're going to find 308 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:17,160 Speaker 1: out too. Are that would have been super easy to check? Yeah, 309 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:21,199 Speaker 1: at any rate, um the the in the middle of 310 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: this Doctor Who episode, it suddenly cuts out again, and 311 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: now you've got what appears to be the full run 312 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:33,160 Speaker 1: of this Max headroom intrusion. Yes, instead of thirty seconds, 313 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,280 Speaker 1: this one was a minute in twenty two seconds. And 314 00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:40,560 Speaker 1: right now I would say, if you are somewhere where 315 00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 1: you can pause and go to a video online video 316 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 1: carrier of your choosing and type in Max headroom incident, 317 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:52,280 Speaker 1: spend the next minute in twenty two seconds watching it. 318 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:55,280 Speaker 1: We'll wait and we'll wait. We'll just in cert a 319 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 1: minute seconds of silence here. How about this, Let's take 320 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:00,600 Speaker 1: a break and then we'll come back, and then we'll 321 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: talk about exactly what happened during that minute in twenty 322 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:27,639 Speaker 1: two seconds. Okay, we're back. Did you watch it? Are 323 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:31,320 Speaker 1: you talking to me? Okay, look at you. I'm guessing 324 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:33,560 Speaker 1: that people people did watch it. A few people did, 325 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: smart ones did. Because this is really tough to describe, 326 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,960 Speaker 1: and we're going to try, but it's something you really 327 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:44,920 Speaker 1: have to see. You in here, it's genuinely disturbing sitting 328 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:48,000 Speaker 1: in an office years later watching it, and I can 329 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,360 Speaker 1: imagine if I was at home, I would have probably 330 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:55,640 Speaker 1: been a little freaked out. You found it disturbing, Yeah, 331 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 1: I found it hilarious in like a really juvenile way. 332 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:03,680 Speaker 1: It creeps me out. It was like watching David Byrne 333 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:05,919 Speaker 1: on acid at a talking head show. That's what I 334 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 1: think of when I saw that. You know, all right, 335 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:11,920 Speaker 1: so let's let's describe the scene here. Okay, so you 336 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:15,400 Speaker 1: got Max Headroom, Well, actually a dude wearing a rubber mask, 337 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: a rubber Halloween mask of Max Headroom. And this this 338 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:23,200 Speaker 1: is just genius to me. So you mentioned earlier about 339 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,199 Speaker 1: how the um Max headroom had like these kind of 340 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:28,680 Speaker 1: grid lines behind them at all times and they kind 341 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 1: of moved and adjusted. They were different colors to do 342 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: to to simulate that these guys had like a piece 343 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:40,360 Speaker 1: of corrugated metal, shiny metal, and I guess they had 344 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,280 Speaker 1: an attached somehow to something that rocked it back and forth, 345 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,480 Speaker 1: and they kind of somebody was clearly rocking it back 346 00:20:46,520 --> 00:20:49,679 Speaker 1: and forth here there erratically, And it really does a 347 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:52,640 Speaker 1: good job. It gets the point across that it looked 348 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: like the maxid Room TV show. The Yeah, the back 349 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:59,439 Speaker 1: of the character. Yes, but again I would say that 350 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:03,040 Speaker 1: this person is very very clearly on acid. Well, I 351 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:05,160 Speaker 1: think what disturbs me, and I need to make it clear. 352 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,600 Speaker 1: It is definitely funny and stupid, But what disturbs me 353 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:12,280 Speaker 1: is the sound of the voice, which is all garble. 354 00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: It's really like on YouTube. It has subtitles, thankfully because 355 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:17,879 Speaker 1: it's hard to make out, and a lot of times 356 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,480 Speaker 1: it just says can't you know understand what he's saying 357 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:23,840 Speaker 1: or whatever? Uh, and the garble quality and just the 358 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:29,199 Speaker 1: random weirdness that's going on. It's not like it was 359 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:32,440 Speaker 1: creepier to me than if V for Vendetta dude had 360 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: to come on, Guy Fox had to come on and said, 361 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:36,440 Speaker 1: you know, we are coming into your thing to tell 362 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 1: you this about this This was just so weird and 363 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:42,360 Speaker 1: all over the place. It was creepy to me. Yeah, 364 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,400 Speaker 1: well yeah, yeah, I see what you mean, Like you're 365 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: watching some somebody's brain slightly damaged. Yeah, felt watching somebody 366 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:54,200 Speaker 1: lose their mind. Right, Okay, yeah, totally get that. Um, 367 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: And here's here's what the guy did that would make 368 00:21:57,119 --> 00:22:01,320 Speaker 1: you feel like he lost his mind. Um, this is 369 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:04,359 Speaker 1: the weird thing to me. It's it's very targeted towards 370 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:08,919 Speaker 1: w g N, right, almost so much so that some 371 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,879 Speaker 1: people would say this was clearly somebody who had a 372 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 1: grudge against w g N. He makes fun of the 373 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:19,000 Speaker 1: bulls um sportscaster, the guy who worked for w g 374 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:21,960 Speaker 1: N at the time. He makes reference to how he 375 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: just made a masterpiece for the Greatest World's Newspaper Nerds, 376 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: which was a messed up version of w g n's 377 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,680 Speaker 1: call letters stand for World's Greatest Newspaper. He wields a 378 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,120 Speaker 1: rubber penis. That's one. Although it was great and almost 379 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:40,680 Speaker 1: every article it was referred to as a marital aid. 380 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:44,920 Speaker 1: Did you see that? No? But uh, I actually guessed 381 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,960 Speaker 1: it on Strickland's Tech stuff like four years ago, and 382 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 1: we covered this and I called it a marital aide, 383 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,680 Speaker 1: did you Okay? So I wanted to keep it clean. 384 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:58,400 Speaker 1: I realized that saying the word penis is okay, Well, 385 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,399 Speaker 1: it's clinical. I mean, we did a puberty episode, surely 386 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,440 Speaker 1: we have the chops to say penis. But marital aide 387 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: is hilarious, especially in this context like this crazy dude 388 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: on acid wearing a max headroom mask. Is has a 389 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:16,719 Speaker 1: marital aid. No, he doesn't, that's not what that is 390 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:20,119 Speaker 1: in that context. Yeah, and that's a new T shirt. 391 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 1: By the way, what we have the chops to say 392 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,680 Speaker 1: penis So that's a band name. Let's go ahead and 393 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 1: use some of the let's go and say some of 394 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,080 Speaker 1: the direct quotes. So he comes on and he goes 395 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:36,680 Speaker 1: he's a freaking nerd. I think I'm better than Chuck Swarsky, 396 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,760 Speaker 1: freaking liberal. That's a really good impression of it. And 397 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 1: Chuck Swarsky was the Bulls guy. Yeah, the sports announcer. 398 00:23:44,359 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 1: And this is a time too when like the Bulls 399 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: were um, this is the Jordan Pippen era. Still I 400 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,359 Speaker 1: mean well still was at the beginning of it was seven. 401 00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:53,560 Speaker 1: I thought it was like in the middle of it. 402 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:58,040 Speaker 1: M hmm. Was at the beginning pretty early earli ish. 403 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:00,760 Speaker 1: Let's say, I wish these days is that I would 404 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:05,679 Speaker 1: have been more cognizant and like more into basketball than 405 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 1: like I am. Now. See, that's when I was the 406 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 1: most into it was bird Jordan's magic toatch some of 407 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 1: those games. Yeah, that was good stuff because that's when 408 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:19,200 Speaker 1: the Hawks were good back then. Yeah, back then, Dominique, Hey, 409 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:21,720 Speaker 1: shout out to Kent bays Moore. You know he listens 410 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 1: to this show. Way, he's a fan. How did you 411 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:28,120 Speaker 1: find that out? Twitter? Yeah, that's great man. I love 412 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: base I know, how do you not love bases? He's awesome. Man, 413 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:34,560 Speaker 1: He's brought right right now. That's so cool. Alright. So, uh, 414 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: Chuck Sworski's freaking liberal. Uh. He's wielding the rubber penis 415 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: in the marital aide. He drops that. Then he picks 416 00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 1: up a new coke while you can't really tell if 417 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 1: it's oh was it okay? I couldn't really tell. He 418 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 1: picks up a can and but he says catch the wave, 419 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,639 Speaker 1: which is the new coke slogan. Right. Then he starts 420 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 1: humming it's so random. Then he starts humming the theme 421 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:02,800 Speaker 1: song to the sixty show Clutch Cargo, which is weird 422 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:05,200 Speaker 1: in and of itself. Sure, that's that one where it's 423 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 1: like animation, but for the mouths, it was just like 424 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:12,199 Speaker 1: a human mouth moving with that's disturbing. Yeah, that was. 425 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: If you've seen pulp Fiction, it was the scene where 426 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:17,360 Speaker 1: Bruce Willis was a kid and Christopher Walkin comes in 427 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:21,200 Speaker 1: with the wristwatch scene. Um, that Clutch Cargo is playing 428 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:24,560 Speaker 1: on TV when he's watching it, right, but it is 429 00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:26,879 Speaker 1: weird looking, right, so you would say, why did you 430 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:29,399 Speaker 1: do the Clutch Cargo theme? Well, again, this is a 431 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,280 Speaker 1: w g N thing and apparently that's where you saw 432 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 1: it as as a kid. Yeah, on UM in Chicago. Okay, 433 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:40,840 Speaker 1: so he says, also, your love is fading. I still 434 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:44,160 Speaker 1: see the X, which apparently is something from the last 435 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,560 Speaker 1: episode of Clutch Cargo. Yeah, that was the Big X 436 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:50,600 Speaker 1: or something. And then he says, what you're talking about earlier, 437 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,520 Speaker 1: I just made a joint masterpiece for all the greatest 438 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:57,399 Speaker 1: World Newspaper nerds. But he should have said world's Greatest 439 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 1: Newspaper Nerds w g in right, which you might find confusing, 440 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,920 Speaker 1: as I did too. But apparently the Chicago Tribune Company 441 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 1: owns w g N TV, so they called themselves World's 442 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:15,600 Speaker 1: Greatest Newspaper TV. Right. W it's all coming together. It's 443 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:19,840 Speaker 1: so fact though. There you go. Then finally, towards the end, 444 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:24,160 Speaker 1: the camera cuts to a different angle. Uh, this one 445 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:27,880 Speaker 1: has the dude bent over with his bare butt hanging out. 446 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,439 Speaker 1: His face is now off screen, but he's holding the 447 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,399 Speaker 1: mask still out like his head is in it, but 448 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,879 Speaker 1: it's not there is a person I say woman, but 449 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:39,960 Speaker 1: I don't know, but a person in a like an 450 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:42,560 Speaker 1: anti Oakley dress? Is that what it was? I didn't 451 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:46,040 Speaker 1: get that. Yeah, it looked like a prairie bonnet ensemble, 452 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:48,040 Speaker 1: but the bonnet kind of hides the face, so you 453 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:50,159 Speaker 1: don't know if it's a man or a woman. And 454 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 1: they are spanking the bare butt with a fly swatter, right, 455 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:57,520 Speaker 1: and he's worried about them coming to get him. They're 456 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:00,440 Speaker 1: going to get me, and then he says, come get 457 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,399 Speaker 1: me and uses a bad word, B word, the B word, 458 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,200 Speaker 1: and then it goes back to doctor Who. Yeah, as 459 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: as just like it when it came in went out 460 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: it just because it's like gone. Can you imagine seeing 461 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:15,680 Speaker 1: that live? And that while the people who saw it live, 462 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:18,040 Speaker 1: the next thing they would have heard was the doctor 463 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:21,359 Speaker 1: saying something like, oh, he died of an electric shock. 464 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:25,480 Speaker 1: Must have died instantly. And then and everybody's just sitting there, 465 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 1: mouths hanging open. It was Dr Who too, So it 466 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: was probably a bunch of Chicago nerds watching PBS. Yeah, 467 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:34,760 Speaker 1: so all right, my inmitation was okay, but let's just 468 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:36,679 Speaker 1: play at least like a couple of lines from the 469 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:55,240 Speaker 1: real thing. Yeah, all right, so you did a pretty 470 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:57,680 Speaker 1: good impression. I think everyone can agree now, right, it's 471 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,680 Speaker 1: so strange. So this was an enormous thing, right, Like, um, 472 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:07,000 Speaker 1: like people were watching this and we're aghast. Agog some 473 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,040 Speaker 1: people probably thought it was funny. Um. W g N 474 00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:12,920 Speaker 1: reporting on it all over the place the next couple 475 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 1: of days. Yeah, the newspapers had picked it up. Yeah, Um, 476 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:20,760 Speaker 1: there's this one. There's a compilation of w g M broadcasts, 477 00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:23,800 Speaker 1: or it might may be more than just w g 478 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:26,919 Speaker 1: N of people in the street being interviewed. What do 479 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:29,800 Speaker 1: you think about this? One guy's like it's it's kind 480 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:32,159 Speaker 1: of like Cooligans throwing a brick through your window, you know, 481 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:34,959 Speaker 1: to get your attention. There's a little kid who's like, 482 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 1: very very funny. The star of the news, though, was 483 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 1: this one doctor who fan uh, this lady who was 484 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 1: not at all amused by this, and I just want 485 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 1: to play her little segment. Okay, yeah, ann some viewers. No, 486 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:51,760 Speaker 1: I just thought it would be just a slight mess up, 487 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:53,959 Speaker 1: but that in the middle of it's going to be 488 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 1: we're gonna have to tape over it. I just think 489 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,000 Speaker 1: that's the funniest thing out of the whole, the whole thing. Well, 490 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 1: another guy said he wanted to smash his TV he 491 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 1: was so angry. Yeah, I didn't see that guy. I 492 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:08,240 Speaker 1: saw that in the Pastor Nech article. Yeah, he was mad. 493 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,120 Speaker 1: So there was a lot of mixed reaction. But the 494 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:15,080 Speaker 1: the the voice from on high that came from the FCC, 495 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,720 Speaker 1: who you said, we're called in pretty quickly. They were like, 496 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:21,400 Speaker 1: this is no laughing matter. You might think it's funny, 497 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 1: it's not very funny. Okay, it's kind of funny, but 498 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 1: not really. And you can get a hundred thousand dollar 499 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:29,040 Speaker 1: fine in a year in jail for this kind of thing, 500 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 1: so stop doing it. But at this point, by this point, 501 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: it was actually a federal offense. It was a felony, 502 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,640 Speaker 1: A felony offense. Wait what was that? Days and confused 503 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:44,840 Speaker 1: cantering with the mailboxes a filon. I was like, wait 504 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:47,120 Speaker 1: a minute, I know that from somewhere. So the FCC 505 00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:50,000 Speaker 1: gets involved in this, This is really interesting in this article. 506 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:52,200 Speaker 1: The f B I got involved, to FB I was involved, 507 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 1: Chicago p D like there was they were looking into it. 508 00:29:55,640 --> 00:30:00,640 Speaker 1: Apparently the um man I is become obvious to me 509 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: that I say the word apparently a lot, really a lot. 510 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:07,960 Speaker 1: I was listening to an episode, cueing an episode, and 511 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:13,000 Speaker 1: I was like stopped saying, apparently, Josh, yeah, I've started 512 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:15,880 Speaker 1: after ten years, I've started to notice some things about 513 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: my own self. It's like a tick. I tried to 514 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 1: just avoid it. I tried to too normally I can, 515 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:23,080 Speaker 1: but man, it just came welling up into my awareness. 516 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,959 Speaker 1: Apparently it's certainly I'm gonna have to get over it 517 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 1: at any rate. Um, the the there were a lot 518 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 1: of different agencies working on this, but the trail went 519 00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 1: cold pretty quick. And you remember how you said that. Um, 520 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:41,000 Speaker 1: the w g N engineers started looking around the station. 521 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:45,320 Speaker 1: I think what they were looking for was this somebody 522 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:51,680 Speaker 1: physically patching in to the transmission network the cable mask 523 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,040 Speaker 1: and yeah, either playing a videotape, which it's it seems 524 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 1: pretty obvious it was pre taped or doing something like 525 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:01,560 Speaker 1: in a studio, but but that they would have to 526 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 1: physically patch into w g n's transmission network. Yeah, it's 527 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 1: like when a car doesn't work and I opened the 528 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:14,479 Speaker 1: hood thinking I'm going to see a squirrel not gnawing 529 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:18,600 Speaker 1: on a cable two pieces now and frayed at the ends, right, 530 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:21,160 Speaker 1: now imagine that squirrel wearing a max hydroom mask and 531 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 1: being on acid, okay, with a maritalaide. So um, And 532 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:30,800 Speaker 1: at first the FCC and the FBI and anybody who 533 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:34,400 Speaker 1: was in the know basically said, this was a very 534 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:39,840 Speaker 1: sophisticated attack. It would have required a very very some 535 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:45,840 Speaker 1: very expensive equipment, a lot of electricity. Um, there's not 536 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:47,800 Speaker 1: a lot of ways that they could have done this. 537 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:50,080 Speaker 1: But later on in the pastor Neck article, and this 538 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:52,600 Speaker 1: is this is one of the ways Pastorne contributed to 539 00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 1: this whole thing. He talked to one of the SEC 540 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:59,239 Speaker 1: investigators and this guy basically did away with that that 541 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:03,640 Speaker 1: whole viewpoint that had lasted for almost thirty years, that 542 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:06,360 Speaker 1: it had to have been somebody with a hundred thousand 543 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:09,480 Speaker 1: dollar piece of equipment and you know, ten thousand dollars 544 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: worth of electricity. Over the minute and a half he 545 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:16,040 Speaker 1: was saying, No, you could probably have gotten the equipment 546 00:32:16,080 --> 00:32:19,400 Speaker 1: needed for this new for ten grand at the time, 547 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 1: or you could have probably bought it for use for 548 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,680 Speaker 1: just a fraction of that, and um, it would have 549 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:28,800 Speaker 1: taken very little electricity. It would have just taken um, 550 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:33,200 Speaker 1: some know how and good positioning. Really, Yeah, Basically, he 551 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:35,000 Speaker 1: was like you, it could have been done with like 552 00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:38,840 Speaker 1: the size of a direct TV dish today, and all 553 00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:40,960 Speaker 1: they would have had to do was get in a 554 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:46,600 Speaker 1: high enough location in between, like literally because they're beaming waves, 555 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:49,719 Speaker 1: are beaming microwaves through the air. So he's like, all 556 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,160 Speaker 1: they had to do was get in between the original 557 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:56,400 Speaker 1: studio and that initial tower on top of the I 558 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,600 Speaker 1: think it was a John Hancock building for w g N. Yeah, yeah, 559 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 1: and and have a stronger signal, right, so even just 560 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:07,200 Speaker 1: like a slightly stronger signal. So you remember how w 561 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:10,920 Speaker 1: g N has their studio transmission shooting up to the 562 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:14,240 Speaker 1: John Hancock building and then that transmitter shoots it out 563 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:17,320 Speaker 1: to everybody else in Chicago. What what what? What I 564 00:33:17,360 --> 00:33:19,120 Speaker 1: think you're saying is like if somebody was on the 565 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:22,920 Speaker 1: roof of another nearby building and they just shoot a 566 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:29,080 Speaker 1: transmission their own max headroom transmission at a stronger a 567 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:32,840 Speaker 1: stronger way or no, a stronger amplitude, that's what it is. 568 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:36,760 Speaker 1: Of the same frequency. You just overpower cancels out what 569 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 1: w g N is doing and instead it transmits your 570 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:42,160 Speaker 1: max headroom thing, and they would be closer to that 571 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:46,920 Speaker 1: broadcast towers yes, so, um, that would mean that it 572 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:49,480 Speaker 1: required far less electricity than you would think or that 573 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:53,320 Speaker 1: they originally thought, and a far less equipment to They 574 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:56,240 Speaker 1: also had a pretty good idea of where these people 575 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:59,800 Speaker 1: would have had to have done it, because they after 576 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:02,560 Speaker 1: they got shut out of w g M, they turned 577 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:05,280 Speaker 1: their attention to w t t W, the PBS station, 578 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:08,400 Speaker 1: and they hijacked their signal. Well, w t t W 579 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:13,960 Speaker 1: shot their studio link to the Sears Tower. So this 580 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,520 Speaker 1: would have been somebody who was on a roof somewhere 581 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:20,719 Speaker 1: that had a clear view of John Hancock Building and 582 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,840 Speaker 1: the Sears Tower and could transmit to either one of them. 583 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,719 Speaker 1: But that's basically what they think happened. Yeah, and the 584 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:29,440 Speaker 1: guy you were talking about, Dr Michael Marcus, who at 585 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:32,280 Speaker 1: the time was the Assistant Bureau Chief in the fcc 586 00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:36,120 Speaker 1: S Field Operations Bureau. He was a lead investigator, and 587 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:39,680 Speaker 1: he said that the guy in Chicago that was sort 588 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:42,680 Speaker 1: of in charge wasn't super like he was just sort 589 00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:46,480 Speaker 1: of used to traditional FEC investigations. He wasn't wanted to 590 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:50,280 Speaker 1: go knocking on doors and uh as to like investigate 591 00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:54,319 Speaker 1: some kind of weird, kind of maybe creepy criminal dudes uh, 592 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:56,399 Speaker 1: it may or may not have a marital aid in 593 00:34:56,440 --> 00:35:00,640 Speaker 1: his apartment. Just smack them on the whether and then uh. 594 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,839 Speaker 1: They also, you know, nobody was being hurt, No one 595 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:07,800 Speaker 1: got hurt in the end, it was it was almost 596 00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:11,360 Speaker 1: a victimless crime. So they didn't throw a ton of 597 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:13,239 Speaker 1: resources at it. They were kind of like, listen, we're 598 00:35:13,239 --> 00:35:15,640 Speaker 1: not gonna If you want to go investigate this, that's 599 00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:17,920 Speaker 1: great you should, but we're not going to assign a 600 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:21,920 Speaker 1: team of twelve people to try and crack this case 601 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,440 Speaker 1: of a bunch of nerds who did a weird thing 602 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,080 Speaker 1: for a minute seconds and I think the longer it 603 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:31,160 Speaker 1: went on and there was no more of these intrusions 604 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:34,799 Speaker 1: from these guys, the fewer and fewer resources they had 605 00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:36,480 Speaker 1: to work with, and it just kind of fell to 606 00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:41,799 Speaker 1: the wayside. Well, what's interesting is to at the in 607 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:44,800 Speaker 1: the beginning, they said it's gonna it would take somebody 608 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:48,640 Speaker 1: with a very expensive piece of equipment, a lot of electricity, 609 00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:51,239 Speaker 1: and a lot of know how, And today the only 610 00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:54,120 Speaker 1: one of those that's remaining is a lot of know how. 611 00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:56,839 Speaker 1: There wouldn't have been a lot of people running around 612 00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:00,160 Speaker 1: Chicago who would have known how to do something thing 613 00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:03,960 Speaker 1: like this. Yeah. Um, so it's kind of surprising, even 614 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:08,040 Speaker 1: with very few resources that no one has ever been 615 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:11,520 Speaker 1: really implicated in this one. I don't think we said no. 616 00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:14,480 Speaker 1: They still don't know who did this. It's an unsolved mystery. 617 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:20,680 Speaker 1: Like Dennis Farina and Robert Stack, I love this one. Uh. 618 00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:24,920 Speaker 1: The FBI, for their take, started concentrating on the actual video. 619 00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:27,879 Speaker 1: They had the technology at the time, which is kind 620 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:30,040 Speaker 1: of funny now to think about it, but they're the 621 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:31,960 Speaker 1: only ones who had the technology at the time to 622 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:36,879 Speaker 1: actually make enhance frames of this videotape and print out, 623 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:42,040 Speaker 1: you know, pictures enhance them. And they were kind of 624 00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:45,560 Speaker 1: focused on this upper right hand quadrant, as they say, 625 00:36:45,560 --> 00:36:48,600 Speaker 1: where the Antie Oakley was spanking with the fly swatter. 626 00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:52,680 Speaker 1: I don't know why they're so into that, but they said, 627 00:36:52,760 --> 00:36:54,600 Speaker 1: you know, we're trying to get clues on the actual 628 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:57,239 Speaker 1: location of the people who made the tape, not necessarily 629 00:36:57,560 --> 00:36:59,680 Speaker 1: where they broadcast it from, but where did they shoot 630 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:01,960 Speaker 1: the thing begin with. It was very little to go 631 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:05,799 Speaker 1: on aside from that spinning corrugated metal, and that could 632 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:09,040 Speaker 1: have been literally anywhere because it's a really tight shot, 633 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:12,719 Speaker 1: it really is. Yeah, and there was very little evidence 634 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:14,840 Speaker 1: given in the video. Yeah, I mean it says that 635 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,719 Speaker 1: they were looking at industrial warehouses and things, but that 636 00:37:17,719 --> 00:37:20,359 Speaker 1: could have been in an apartment living room. I mean, 637 00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:22,400 Speaker 1: it wasn't like the door was a text anything. It 638 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,719 Speaker 1: was freely spinning back and forth. So it didn't make 639 00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:30,960 Speaker 1: not the best lead, right, So um over time and 640 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:33,640 Speaker 1: again this is weird too. It's it's not so weird 641 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:36,279 Speaker 1: that the FCC or the FBI didn't find who did 642 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:39,200 Speaker 1: this if they weren't really looking very hard. Was really 643 00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:41,600 Speaker 1: weird is that no one has been like, it was 644 00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:45,319 Speaker 1: these guys. I was there, I know these dudes. It 645 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:48,080 Speaker 1: was these guys. Statute limitations is done, Like who cares 646 00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:52,760 Speaker 1: after these guys would have gotten all scott free because 647 00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:55,759 Speaker 1: the set of limitations for this one was five years, right. 648 00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:58,680 Speaker 1: I'm shocked that no one later said, hey, that was me, 649 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:02,960 Speaker 1: So I bomb. No one's done that, right. There was 650 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:09,240 Speaker 1: um some so very early forum like message boards stuff 651 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:14,200 Speaker 1: took the form of bulletin boards services. I think BBS 652 00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:18,560 Speaker 1: is really early geek culture, like like like Matthew Broderick 653 00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:21,120 Speaker 1: dialing something with his phone and then putting it on 654 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:24,759 Speaker 1: that weird little you know, commodore sixty four thing the 655 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:29,239 Speaker 1: motum Yeah, to like transmit the dial tone over the 656 00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:33,000 Speaker 1: telephone system, right, So, um, that's what that's what like 657 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:36,080 Speaker 1: the level of technology that these people were dealing with, 658 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:38,160 Speaker 1: but they were communicating with each other over like this 659 00:38:38,239 --> 00:38:42,319 Speaker 1: proto internet, these bulletin board systems. And two days after this, 660 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:46,440 Speaker 1: a guy named the Chameleon posted basically what you and 661 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:50,400 Speaker 1: I said about how all it took was these guys 662 00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:53,040 Speaker 1: to go up on a tall building and overwhelm the 663 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:56,120 Speaker 1: w g N and the w T t W studio links. 664 00:38:56,560 --> 00:38:59,520 Speaker 1: And it's so facto. I'm a big fan of that. 665 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:04,279 Speaker 1: By the way, Um, this this intrusion was successful, right 666 00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:08,120 Speaker 1: two days, not two years, not a year ago. Two 667 00:39:08,200 --> 00:39:11,200 Speaker 1: days after it, somebody was on there explaining how it 668 00:39:11,239 --> 00:39:15,960 Speaker 1: went out, So somebody knew this, right, But only two 669 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:18,560 Speaker 1: theories have really ever come to light as to who 670 00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:21,399 Speaker 1: it was. One you can basically just throw right out, 671 00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:23,680 Speaker 1: and the other one it turns out to have been 672 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:26,440 Speaker 1: a dead end. Yeah. The first one that you were 673 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:29,560 Speaker 1: talking about that doesn't really hold water was a and 674 00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:31,400 Speaker 1: this was a rumor online for a while. I was 675 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:36,799 Speaker 1: a musician named Eric Fournier or Fournier furnier. I had 676 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:41,319 Speaker 1: a friend in uh in pre school. I think, yeah, 677 00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:43,640 Speaker 1: that's how it was spelled. F O U R in 678 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:45,759 Speaker 1: I E R. Actually I don't know how it was spelled. 679 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:50,560 Speaker 1: I couldn't spell back then. Um. So this guy was 680 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:56,080 Speaker 1: in a band, uh, and he did this weird, super 681 00:39:56,120 --> 00:40:01,160 Speaker 1: creepy YouTube series called shay st John on s H 682 00:40:01,239 --> 00:40:03,560 Speaker 1: A y E. Did you watch it? Oh? Yeah, I 683 00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:06,000 Speaker 1: love it. Yeah, just I've knew that you would love 684 00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:10,399 Speaker 1: it if you're ally. But this is genuinely unsettling too. 685 00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:12,319 Speaker 1: I'm with you on that. So it kind of fit 686 00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:15,120 Speaker 1: and that he was doing these weird things. He had 687 00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:18,719 Speaker 1: this band, Uh. They were in Bloomington, Indiana, not too 688 00:40:18,719 --> 00:40:21,440 Speaker 1: far from Chicago, the Blood Farmers, Yeah, the bands of 689 00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:24,400 Speaker 1: Blood Farmers, and they did these weird music videos and 690 00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:26,680 Speaker 1: they thought this is the kind of guy that would 691 00:40:26,680 --> 00:40:28,719 Speaker 1: have done that. And the thinking was that he went 692 00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:31,839 Speaker 1: to go broadcast one of their weird music videos as 693 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:34,839 Speaker 1: a broadcast intrusion, but chickened out at the last minute 694 00:40:34,840 --> 00:40:38,040 Speaker 1: because they would have been found uh, and then ended 695 00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:40,439 Speaker 1: up just improving. That part makes a little sense, because 696 00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:44,800 Speaker 1: it definitely seems improved. It does, but it was also videotaped. Remember, 697 00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:47,360 Speaker 1: So that means he would have had two video tapes 698 00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:50,400 Speaker 1: with him. What do you mean? So if he was 699 00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:52,880 Speaker 1: gonna if he was going to play the music video 700 00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:54,640 Speaker 1: and said I'm not gonna do that, he would have 701 00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:58,239 Speaker 1: had to have brought this other video tape. The other 702 00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:02,080 Speaker 1: thing is apparently his. See I just said apparently again. 703 00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:06,680 Speaker 1: Alex Pastor Neck from Motherboard contacted some of Fernier's friends 704 00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:10,160 Speaker 1: because Fernier died in two thousand ten, but his friends 705 00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:13,120 Speaker 1: are like, absolutely not. Even some of the blood farmers 706 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:15,400 Speaker 1: are like, it wasn't him that, Like, I know what 707 00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:17,560 Speaker 1: you're saying, and yeah, he did the whole Sha St 708 00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:20,200 Speaker 1: John thing, but it was this was not him. It 709 00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:22,320 Speaker 1: was not quite there. He didn't know what he was 710 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:25,040 Speaker 1: doing with it. He wouldn't know any broadcast stuff or 711 00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:27,839 Speaker 1: video editing or anything like that. Yeah, so this other 712 00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:33,800 Speaker 1: one to me seems pretty promising. Uh So we flashed 713 00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:37,759 Speaker 1: forward to when did this actually happen? Was this like 714 00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:39,640 Speaker 1: by the time read it had to come around when 715 00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:41,680 Speaker 1: it't on Reddit? Yeah, I think it was about twenty 716 00:41:41,719 --> 00:41:44,719 Speaker 1: five years after, so it would have been in two 717 00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:51,440 Speaker 1: thousand seven. Yeah, so there's this guy two thousand. Sorry. 718 00:41:51,719 --> 00:41:55,200 Speaker 1: There was this guy named from Chicago named Bowie Pogue. 719 00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:59,120 Speaker 1: I didn't have any friends with that last name when 720 00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:01,160 Speaker 1: I was a kid, and he was one of the 721 00:42:01,239 --> 00:42:05,280 Speaker 1: kids hanging around those bbs is in the eighties in Chicago. 722 00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:08,319 Speaker 1: From the sounds of it, he was on the younger side. 723 00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:11,800 Speaker 1: He was thirteen, and even as a thirteen year old geek, 724 00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:14,640 Speaker 1: was very much intimidated by the older geeks in that crowd, 725 00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:18,359 Speaker 1: and so wasn't boisterous. He was sort of like, Hey, 726 00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:20,319 Speaker 1: I'm kind of hanging out here and not saying much 727 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:23,920 Speaker 1: and don't notice me. I just want to ingratiate myself 728 00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:27,640 Speaker 1: and you guys can give me drunk you want, and 729 00:42:27,680 --> 00:42:31,920 Speaker 1: then a party. He remembers this. Uh. He described him 730 00:42:31,920 --> 00:42:34,919 Speaker 1: as a small, peculiar man that he thought was about 731 00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:38,520 Speaker 1: in his thirties, and he had an older brother. They 732 00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:42,000 Speaker 1: lived in Chicago. So Poe is describing these two guys 733 00:42:42,040 --> 00:42:45,040 Speaker 1: who were in the same scene with him. Correct, Yeah, 734 00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:48,800 Speaker 1: and he had uh They lived with his girlfriend downtown 735 00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:52,400 Speaker 1: or about ten miles from downtown Chicago, and they had 736 00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:56,560 Speaker 1: the know how. They were super into computers. Early on you, 737 00:42:56,719 --> 00:42:58,360 Speaker 1: he said, you went to their apartment and it was 738 00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:01,800 Speaker 1: just like it looked like a computer hoarder, mess of 739 00:43:01,920 --> 00:43:06,880 Speaker 1: wires and computers and equipment like Neo's apartment. Yeah, why not? 740 00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:10,080 Speaker 1: Or what was the other one he was in before 741 00:43:10,160 --> 00:43:16,120 Speaker 1: the Matrix Johnny Neumonic, Yes, yeah, Bill and Ted Yeah, 742 00:43:16,400 --> 00:43:19,719 Speaker 1: Johnny Neumonic at Cyberpunk. Yes, right, yes, it is all right. 743 00:43:20,640 --> 00:43:23,600 Speaker 1: You could probably make the case that the Matrix is 744 00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:27,440 Speaker 1: as well there, right, sure. So he described him as 745 00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:32,120 Speaker 1: a stocky guy with tinted lens glasses in his early 746 00:43:32,200 --> 00:43:35,520 Speaker 1: thirties and odd dude his brother, he said. He described 747 00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:39,719 Speaker 1: it's just kind of normal. But he said that he 748 00:43:39,719 --> 00:43:41,279 Speaker 1: didn't make the connection at the time, but at a 749 00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:45,440 Speaker 1: party on November about the same day. Midday on November, 750 00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:48,480 Speaker 1: he was at a gathering of these dudes at the 751 00:43:48,520 --> 00:43:51,600 Speaker 1: brothers apartment and he heard them say something about doing 752 00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:54,200 Speaker 1: something big. Later that night, they went to Pizza Hut 753 00:43:54,239 --> 00:43:56,200 Speaker 1: and He's like, what are you guys talking about? What's 754 00:43:56,239 --> 00:43:59,960 Speaker 1: the big thing? And they said, hey, don't ask question, 755 00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:04,200 Speaker 1: but just watched Channel eleven tonight on that same day. 756 00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:06,000 Speaker 1: And I don't know how he didn't put it together 757 00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:09,040 Speaker 1: that that's the one thing that really strikes me as fish. 758 00:44:09,320 --> 00:44:12,319 Speaker 1: But he said that years later Now when he looks 759 00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:15,160 Speaker 1: at it, he's like, even with that mask on, I 760 00:44:15,239 --> 00:44:18,040 Speaker 1: see the body, I see what's going on. I hear that, 761 00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:21,879 Speaker 1: and it's it's that guy to me. But twenty five 762 00:44:21,960 --> 00:44:25,200 Speaker 1: years later he was there that day, they tell him 763 00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:27,800 Speaker 1: to watch that night, and he didn't put it together 764 00:44:27,840 --> 00:44:30,040 Speaker 1: for twenty five years. That to me is the one 765 00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:35,200 Speaker 1: fishy thing. Well, and he has been called out as fishy. Sure, 766 00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:38,040 Speaker 1: I'm sure he knows that it's kind of fishy. Yeah. 767 00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:42,319 Speaker 1: So that the guy the motherboard pastor Neck reached out 768 00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:44,439 Speaker 1: and he said, you can you still get in touch 769 00:44:44,440 --> 00:44:46,360 Speaker 1: with these guys all these years later? He said, he 770 00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:49,719 Speaker 1: sent them messages via Facebook. I don't even know if 771 00:44:49,719 --> 00:44:51,880 Speaker 1: they saw him. They didn't get back. Then in the 772 00:44:51,960 --> 00:44:54,919 Speaker 1: last sitch effort, he sent them a certified mail too. 773 00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:57,600 Speaker 1: He found out where they lived, never heard anything back, 774 00:44:57,640 --> 00:44:59,439 Speaker 1: and he was like, hey, it's clear that these guys 775 00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:01,680 Speaker 1: don't want to be talked to, so you want to 776 00:45:01,719 --> 00:45:25,040 Speaker 1: take a break, Yeah, let's do it, Okay. So that's 777 00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:28,560 Speaker 1: where it stands right now, like nobody knows who is 778 00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:33,160 Speaker 1: behind it still to this day, which it is crazy 779 00:45:33,560 --> 00:45:37,280 Speaker 1: and as a result, this Max Headroom hack has taken 780 00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:40,400 Speaker 1: its place in like the pantheon of geek culture and 781 00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:45,320 Speaker 1: of hacker culture, and rightfully so you know it's legendary 782 00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:48,399 Speaker 1: in its own way. That's right. You got anything else? 783 00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:51,680 Speaker 1: I got nothing else on this one, cool man. Well, 784 00:45:51,719 --> 00:45:54,440 Speaker 1: if you want to know more about Max Headroom, you 785 00:45:54,480 --> 00:45:58,480 Speaker 1: should start by checking out this amazing Motherboard article by 786 00:45:58,480 --> 00:46:02,120 Speaker 1: Alex Pastor Knack. And since I said amazing, it's time 787 00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:09,319 Speaker 1: for listener mail. I'm gonna go with let me go 788 00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:12,840 Speaker 1: with the Almond Brothers eat a Peach from a Munchee. 789 00:46:13,480 --> 00:46:16,160 Speaker 1: I don't know if it's true, but it's fine. I 790 00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:18,480 Speaker 1: wanted to talk about when Josh talked about the Almond 791 00:46:18,480 --> 00:46:22,600 Speaker 1: Brothers band factoid um because I think it's actually a 792 00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:26,160 Speaker 1: cool factoid. Dwayne Allman was once asked by a reporter 793 00:46:26,280 --> 00:46:28,480 Speaker 1: what he was going to do for the war effort 794 00:46:28,480 --> 00:46:31,279 Speaker 1: in Vietnam, and his response was, I'm going to eat 795 00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:36,280 Speaker 1: a peach for peace. Dwayne died not long after that album, 796 00:46:36,320 --> 00:46:40,640 Speaker 1: and Eat a Peach was released posthumously, so he contends 797 00:46:41,239 --> 00:46:45,480 Speaker 1: Jesse Godet that that is where the album title came from, 798 00:46:45,480 --> 00:46:50,360 Speaker 1: and the eat a Peach was not eata bid he 799 00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:53,080 Speaker 1: or she i guess Jesse could go either way. Yeah, 800 00:46:53,120 --> 00:46:55,240 Speaker 1: as always, keep up a good work. I'm currently brewing 801 00:46:55,239 --> 00:46:58,560 Speaker 1: beer and listening. Tell me where to mail some bottles 802 00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:01,719 Speaker 1: or come pick them up in Salt Lake City. All right, 803 00:47:02,120 --> 00:47:05,840 Speaker 1: we'll do both. It's like a challenge, right, they're too heavy. 804 00:47:05,960 --> 00:47:09,080 Speaker 1: I'm sure I can't pick him up. Thanks a lot, Jesse, 805 00:47:09,200 --> 00:47:12,480 Speaker 1: appreciate that, even though I still think I'm right. Um, 806 00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:15,560 Speaker 1: if you want to contend that something one of us 807 00:47:15,600 --> 00:47:19,080 Speaker 1: said is incorrect, we love that stuff. You can tweet 808 00:47:19,120 --> 00:47:22,000 Speaker 1: to us at s y s K podcast or movie Crush. 809 00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:24,680 Speaker 1: You can hang out with us on Facebook, dot com 810 00:47:24,719 --> 00:47:26,920 Speaker 1: slash Stuff you Should Know. You can send us an 811 00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:29,879 Speaker 1: email to Stuff podcast at how Stuff Works dot com 812 00:47:29,920 --> 00:47:31,920 Speaker 1: and has always joined us at our home on the web, 813 00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:37,440 Speaker 1: Stuff you Should Know dot Com. Stuff you Should Know 814 00:47:37,560 --> 00:47:40,360 Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio. 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