1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: to the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you as always for 3 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:36,279 Speaker 1: tuning in. Uh, it's a lovely day here in Atlanta, Georgia. 4 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: The Ridiculous History crew is pretty excited for a number 5 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:46,240 Speaker 1: of reasons, but one just to gently brag about ourselves here, guys. Uh, 6 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:52,080 Speaker 1: we're actually temporarily somewhat just a little bit getting ahead 7 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:56,319 Speaker 1: in our recording schedule. How nuts is that? Hi? I'm Ben, Hey, 8 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:00,120 Speaker 1: I'm no Ben. I completely credit the narwhal horn that 9 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: we've been crushing up and uh uh topically applying to 10 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: to various key areas. Um for this boost of energy. 11 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:10,479 Speaker 1: It's allowed us to to really get ahead of the curve. 12 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:14,200 Speaker 1: Peek behind the curtain, you guys. Um, nine times out 13 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: of ten we are like just on the seat of 14 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: our on the seat of our pants. By this the 15 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:21,399 Speaker 1: seat of our that's the one. In terms of our 16 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: episode buffer, um, you know, a lot of shows just 17 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: do one episode a week, but that's not enough for us. 18 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: We have to bring you two episodes a week of 19 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:32,119 Speaker 1: original content live and direct, not live at all. But 20 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: it's a little hard to keep up sometimes and both 21 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:36,679 Speaker 1: Ben and I took vacation last week, and you would 22 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,039 Speaker 1: think that would mean our buffer would be burned, but 23 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:42,319 Speaker 1: instead we actually made a couple of cool two parters 24 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: that I'm very proud of with Joe Piazza. Uh, and 25 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: we're ahead of the game. So yeah, congrats to us. 26 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: And we should also mention we owe a lot of 27 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: thanks to our super producer, Casey Pegrum. Casey, you were 28 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:00,559 Speaker 1: on vacation too. You know. As as the show continues, uh, 29 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:06,560 Speaker 1: super producer Casey's demands and his writer get longer and longer, 30 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: more elaborate. Uh. You know, recently, Uh, Casey, I think 31 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: you you said that you were gonna stop drinking out 32 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: of any regular cups. They all had to be unicorn cups. 33 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: Is that correct? That? Yeah, that is correct. And of 34 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: course the standard eminem green eminem writer kind of thing. 35 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: Um yeah, no eye contact in the hallway. Um. These 36 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:30,800 Speaker 1: are just some of the few demands that I that 37 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: I attached to that writer. Those are pretty standard though, honestly, 38 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's it's it's the it's the heated 39 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: uh six packs of white socks that really threw me 40 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: for a loop. I'm like, you know, I know you 41 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,919 Speaker 1: want fresh socks, Casey, but we're all staying home. You 42 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: don't really have to ad it's a comfort thing. And 43 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: then that you have to arrive to you piping hot 44 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: directly from the laundromat. Yeah, you know, and who does 45 00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:59,079 Speaker 1: it appreciate a good set of socks there? Uh, Casey, 46 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,800 Speaker 1: I gotta say, I know we're giving you a little 47 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: bit of a hard time, but but you've you've earned 48 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: this position. You know, we're lucky to have you on 49 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: this show. And even with all of your let's say 50 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 1: specific or particular requirements, Uh, you're a tremendously swell guide 51 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: to work with and pretty easy to work with, especially 52 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,799 Speaker 1: in comparison to I don't know, Null Royalty because they 53 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: have some weird demands. In fact, today's episode, Uh, today's 54 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: episode has uh some cameos by Weird Royalty and their 55 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: weird demands. We are talking about one of the most 56 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: famous mythological creatures in human history, and personally, just between 57 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: us guys, one that never made a ton of sense 58 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: to me. We're talking about the unicorn. Why didn't it 59 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: make sense to you? Ben? I know, man, it's just 60 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: I think it's because when you read about monsters and 61 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: and I love monsters. When you read about them, they 62 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: usually have superpowers that are somehow offensive. They have offensive powers. 63 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: But unicorns have this weird relationship with um what is 64 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:18,039 Speaker 1: it virginity. Um. They have curative powers, but when when 65 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: it comes to protecting themselves, unicorns just you know, they 66 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: have a head stick. Yeah. I always think of when 67 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:27,159 Speaker 1: I think of unicorns, I think of the movie Legend 68 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:31,640 Speaker 1: with a very young Tom Cruise and a uh, once 69 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: again absurdly made up Tim Curry playing I don't know, 70 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: they'll call him the Devil, but he's basically the devil 71 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: and he's got some crazy horns onto himself that are 72 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: like the width of a man's forearm, you know. But yeah, 73 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 1: that that movie centers around these unicorns and the quest 74 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,559 Speaker 1: for them and their magical powers. Um. And it's something 75 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,920 Speaker 1: that has persisted throughout history. The myth of the unicorn 76 00:04:55,960 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: goes all the way back to classical antiquity UM and 77 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: the idea of being able to kind of like siphon 78 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:08,719 Speaker 1: off their powers in their horn by removing it. And 79 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: we even have evidence of a trade of unicorn horn 80 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,720 Speaker 1: that happened from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance by 81 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 1: vikings who claimed to have killed these mythical creatures. We're 82 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,679 Speaker 1: gonna get to what they actually were in a little bit, 83 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: but first, why don't we talk a little bit about 84 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: the history of the unicorn and their first appearance in 85 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: in in literature. Yeah, yeah, that's a great place to start, 86 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: because I know what you're thinking here, ridiculous historians hang 87 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 1: on a unicorn trade. Come on, guys, unicorns aren't real. 88 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,040 Speaker 1: Wait for it. We'll get there. So you're right. The 89 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: myth of the unicorn is very, very old. This is 90 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:55,120 Speaker 1: not a recent thing. The first written mention of what 91 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 1: we would call the unicorn today occurs in a book 92 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: called Indica I n d I A k A. This 93 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: is written by a guy named Testius, a fifth century 94 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: Greek scholar, and in his story, the unicorn is basically 95 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: a very fast magic donkey, and it's from India, and 96 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 1: it has this single horn that has curative powers. It's 97 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: like um, it's it's like a panacea. It can purify water, 98 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: it can banish poison in food. But notice there that 99 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: this is not a creature of Greek myth. Instead, it's 100 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 1: a creature, at least in this story of Indian myth. 101 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: But people took people took this book seriously. They did 102 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,279 Speaker 1: not think it was fanciful. They thought it was natural history. 103 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 1: They thought it was true. You're talking about Indica. Yeah, yeah, 104 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:49,800 Speaker 1: I'm more of a sativa guy myself, but that's just 105 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: personal preference. Um. And you know, and then in the 106 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: Greeks did kind of co opt this, this myth, uh 107 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: in the form of the Pegasus, which is the more 108 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 1: badass version of the unit corn in my opinion, because 109 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:03,360 Speaker 1: as we know, the pegasus has wings and has all 110 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:06,240 Speaker 1: of those same curative magical abilities, but also can fly, 111 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 1: which you know is on the top of most people's 112 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: superpower wish list. I know that you take issue with that, Ben, Wait, 113 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: wait does the does the pegases have curative powers? Well, 114 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 1: I would assume if it's got all the other, you know, 115 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: abilities of the unicorn, But maybe that's just me editorializing. 116 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: I would hope that it doesn't just like get give 117 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: up all of those powers and exchange for wings. I 118 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: would hope it's like a double threat. I think it 119 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: might just be the wings though, man bummer, Oh well, 120 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: you can't have it all. I guess pegasys. But yeah, 121 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: medieval scholars like you said, really took what was printed 122 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: in this book by Tessius in the fifth century BC, 123 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: as you know, the truth and um, you had really 124 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 1: smart people like Aristotle and Leonardo da Vinci all referring 125 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: to the unicorn as though it were a real thing, 126 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: and even uh Middle Ages physicians talking about all of 127 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:04,200 Speaker 1: the curative powers of unicorn horn and its ability to 128 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: detect and cure poison, like it was this kind of 129 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,200 Speaker 1: like one stop shop for all that ails you and 130 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: gives you vigor and and and can protect you against 131 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:17,239 Speaker 1: the darkness. Yeah, and this was a booming business for 132 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: a while. During the Middle Ages, the trade really took 133 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: off because there was a little bit of religious syncretism 134 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: that came into play, and people began associating the unicorn 135 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: with Christianity. They thought of the unicorn as this symbol 136 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ and it made it an almost holy animal. 137 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: And by the age of the Renaissance, people were paying 138 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: out the nose or should I say, up the horn 139 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:53,199 Speaker 1: for unicorn material and the cost of what was sold 140 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: as a unicorn horn or unicorn dust or unicorn bits 141 00:08:57,160 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: or however they sold it. Uh. It inflated to te 142 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:04,960 Speaker 1: in times their weight in gold or more. I do 143 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: want to give a shout out, by the way to 144 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 1: one of my favorite childhood animations, The Last Unicorn. Did 145 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:15,839 Speaker 1: you guys ever see that one? So sad, so sad? Uh. 146 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,200 Speaker 1: It's there's a devil character in that one too, isn't 147 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: there kind of like an evil demon overlord kind of 148 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: creature if I'm not mistaken, the evil witch Mommy Fortuna. Yes, yes, 149 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:30,000 Speaker 1: And there's like a circus situation, like the Unicorns traveling 150 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 1: with a circus, and yeah, really really cool. Um. I 151 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 1: really quite enjoyed the band The Unicorns of early two 152 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:41,720 Speaker 1: thousands fame. They sort of burned out bright with one 153 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 1: really cool record called who Will Cut Our Hair When 154 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: We Are Gone? Um? And they have a song called 155 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:50,319 Speaker 1: I don't think it's called I Was Born in Unicorn 156 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: and it just says we're the unicorns, were more than horses, 157 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 1: were the Unicorns, and we're people to um, which I 158 00:09:58,120 --> 00:09:59,679 Speaker 1: quite love. So if you haven't checked that out, I 159 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: reck ammended. Also the band Islands that was offshoot of 160 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: that band. It's definitely more hi fi. Yeah, it's very 161 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: very good. But something about that Unicorns record is really 162 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: plucky and kind of low fi and just a lot 163 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:15,840 Speaker 1: of fun. I highly highly recommend it. Get this. Uh, 164 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: this is crazy. Jeff Bridges was in the Last Unicorn 165 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:22,720 Speaker 1: and it was a ranking bass film. That that explains 166 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:24,640 Speaker 1: why it was so good. I don't know if it aged. 167 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: If it aged well, I haven't seen it for a 168 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,360 Speaker 1: long time, but let us know if you've seen it recently. 169 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:30,880 Speaker 1: I saw it a couple of years ago and I 170 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 1: quite enjoyed it. But I love the ranking bass style 171 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 1: of animation. It's very Uh, it's sort of like the 172 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 1: next best thing to Disney in a lot of ways. 173 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:41,439 Speaker 1: They don't really get a lot of credit. But people 174 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: forget too that The Land Before Time was a ranking 175 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,079 Speaker 1: bass film and everyone always assumes that it's Disney because 176 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 1: it came out and had that same wide release. Uh, 177 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:51,160 Speaker 1: and it had like the toys you could get a 178 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 1: Burger King, but it was a ranking bass film. I've 179 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,760 Speaker 1: been on a Gibli kick pretty uh for a while now, 180 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:03,440 Speaker 1: an HBO HBO Max. Yeah, I got like grandfathered into that, 181 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:06,680 Speaker 1: so I've been catching revisiting the jib Ley stuff. I 182 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:08,719 Speaker 1: was trying to get to the museum in Japan back 183 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: when people could travel, but uh, story for another day. Anyway, 184 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:18,959 Speaker 1: we digress, So let's progress into the question we established earlier, Right, 185 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 1: how do you sell a unicorn horn in a world 186 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:28,240 Speaker 1: where no unicorns exist? This is crazy because we're talking 187 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 1: about a widespread what counterfeiting ring, a widespread hoax? What 188 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: would you say? What? What were they actually selling and 189 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,080 Speaker 1: calling a unicorn horn? Yeah? Totally. It all goes back 190 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:44,120 Speaker 1: to the Vikings, those bloodthirsty rape and pillagers of of 191 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:48,000 Speaker 1: of antiquity of history. And they are also turns out 192 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:52,719 Speaker 1: we're pretty crafty, uh salespeople. Um. And they they had 193 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: a bit of a hustle going on with this whole 194 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 1: unicorn horn business. Um. It can be traced back to 195 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 1: their tradeing with the Inuit of both Canada and Greenland. Greenland, 196 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: excuse me, um, who harvested the tusks of narwhal, which 197 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,199 Speaker 1: I have to tell you, I'm gonna be completely honest here. 198 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 1: If I thought nar walls were imaginary, too real, they're not. Yeah, 199 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: they're not. And I'll and and I can tell you why. 200 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: It's because they just don't make any sense. You look 201 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 1: at a nar wall, it's like a little tiny not tiny, 202 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:29,280 Speaker 1: but compared to like a great blue whale, pretty tiny 203 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,680 Speaker 1: with this massive tusk. It's a tooth. It's a single 204 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: tooth protruding from its forehead, basically like a unicorn. But 205 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:41,560 Speaker 1: it has this really cool almost like braided kind of 206 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: spiral design. Um. And and that it became incredibly sought after. Uh, 207 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:51,400 Speaker 1: largely I think because if it's you know, used as 208 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: counterfeit unicorn horn. Yeah, I'm wondering. I don't think it's 209 00:12:56,559 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: quite a credulated horn. But as you said, it's not 210 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 1: only a horn at all. It's the upper left canine 211 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:08,559 Speaker 1: of the narwhal's mouth. So everyone listening, imagine if your 212 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: upper left canine, you know, the canine one of your 213 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:15,679 Speaker 1: vampire teeth, if it was just huge and pushed closer 214 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:19,520 Speaker 1: to your forehead and protruded out. No, I can't blame you. 215 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:23,080 Speaker 1: It does seem, um, it does seem a bit whimsical, 216 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:27,440 Speaker 1: a bit Susian. And in terms of design. Uh. Yeah. 217 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:32,959 Speaker 1: So the Vikings or other hoaxters would sell sometimes rhino 218 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:37,880 Speaker 1: or walrus horn, but narwhale quickly became sort of the 219 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 1: gold standard or should we say, the unicorn standard here, 220 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 1: and it is because Vikings had this extensive trade network. 221 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:48,320 Speaker 1: They also had control of the market because we have 222 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,439 Speaker 1: to remember the people in Europe. We're not going up 223 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: to the northern wilds near as often, right, the people 224 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: who are the customers here. Um, when Vikings were roaming 225 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 1: the seas, let's say Ballpark around one thousand a d. 226 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:07,840 Speaker 1: They were also, as he said, hunting and harvesting narwhald, 227 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:10,959 Speaker 1: you know, for the meat, but also primarily for the horns. 228 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: And they did something very clever because when they sold this, 229 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 1: they never revealed the origin. Because the last thing you 230 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 1: want is somebody else hopping on a boat and muscling 231 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:26,760 Speaker 1: in on your territory. We should also bust some Viking stereotypes, 232 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 1: right Did you guys ever see that show Vikings. I 233 00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 1: never watched it, but I heard it was okay but 234 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 1: a little problematic. Maybe I'm not sure what was your 235 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: thinking then? You know, I didn't watch the entire run. Um, 236 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 1: I can see how it would be problematic. But we 237 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: have to bust some Viking stereotypes right now. I do 238 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 1: know about that torture mechanism they used, called the blood Eagle, 239 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: or maybe it wasn't torture. I would kill you or 240 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: they would split your back open and hang you by 241 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 1: like your lungs. I think they would pull your lungs 242 00:14:57,840 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: out through your back and make it look like you 243 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: had wings. And that was actually done in an episode 244 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: of the really weird and interesting uh TV series Hannibal. Um, 245 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,200 Speaker 1: where one of the one of the psycho murderers that 246 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 1: exist in that world, you know, made these blood eagle Hannibal. 247 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:19,720 Speaker 1: The cinematography is so beautiful, good shots and the and 248 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: the murders scene shots. I watched it just for those. Casey, 249 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: have you seen that show? Have you just just from 250 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: the visual aspect. I'd love to hear what you think 251 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 1: about it. No. I've seen like little clips and stuff 252 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: of Hannibal, and I've heard the cinematography is really interesting, 253 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: but I have not really seen the series. Not to 254 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 1: get too far off track, but it's as interesting as 255 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:39,880 Speaker 1: the showrunner and the creator of that was the same 256 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: guy that did that show. Um. I think it's called 257 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: Pushing Daisies. That was sort of about like it was 258 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: almost this Dr Susie and kind of world. Um. It 259 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: also had murder, but it was much more tongue in cheek. 260 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:53,320 Speaker 1: But it's interesting that he went from that to this 261 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 1: really really dark and just gloriously filmed series highly recommend. 262 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:02,600 Speaker 1: Also The Amazing Mad's Michelson Um plays plays Hannibal Mads. 263 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:06,840 Speaker 1: Michelson also played a Viking in a Nicholas Winding Refin movie. 264 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: What was that one called Casey Valhalla Rising? I think yep, yes, right, 265 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: that's right, and he plays this kind of wandering one 266 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 1: eyed viking and the Vikings to your point, ben um 267 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 1: really quickly. By the way, the normal horn can reach 268 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: up to nine feet in length, which is insane. And 269 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 1: they're big and they're very very sharp. They're not like 270 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,200 Speaker 1: a blunt instrument. They're very like pointy and um. Like 271 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,760 Speaker 1: you said, Ben, the Vikings, we would interact with the 272 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: Inuit which were kind of like you know, Eskimo types 273 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: basically that lived in the frozen waste of Canada and Greenland. 274 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: And the legend actually of the narwhale and its origin 275 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:47,640 Speaker 1: is an Inuite legend that an Inuit woman was dragged 276 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:51,240 Speaker 1: into the water by her harpoon rope that she had 277 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:54,280 Speaker 1: tied to her waist when she was spearing a whale, 278 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: and that she was transformed into the narwhale with her 279 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 1: hair uh turn and into that spiraling tusk um. And 280 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:04,639 Speaker 1: it's only the male in our walls that that have 281 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:06,359 Speaker 1: the horn, by the way, so that's really interesting that 282 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 1: it was over that it was a woman. Um. But yeah, 283 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: the Vikings, as we you know, I know, you want 284 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 1: to bust some myths. They there's definitely some truth to 285 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:18,400 Speaker 1: how ruthless they could be, um and that they would 286 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 1: do these raids, and they would you know, steal things 287 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:26,159 Speaker 1: from um ships and they would board you know, merchant vessels. 288 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,920 Speaker 1: They were in fact incredible navigators and like we said, 289 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 1: also very smart traders. But what was what were some 290 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:41,359 Speaker 1: of the Viking myths you wanted to bust, ben So 291 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 1: first wanting to bust the idea that these are knuckleheads. 292 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:50,040 Speaker 1: This couldn't be further from the case. Uh. Secondly, there 293 00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: was never really a unified quote unquote Viking empire, right, 294 00:17:55,320 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: These were a lot of inter related but relatively autonomous groups. Uh. Also, 295 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: and I don't I don't know why this got to me. 296 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: This is a misconception I had for a long time. 297 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:10,919 Speaker 1: Vikings didn't wear horned helmets. First off, they're kind of 298 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:13,800 Speaker 1: a terrible idea because it makes it really easy to 299 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:15,919 Speaker 1: remove a helmet in a fight if you could just 300 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: grab the horn Uh. And also uh that that idea 301 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 1: is really recent. It goes back to one of an 302 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,720 Speaker 1: opera cycle that I think we all like Wagner The 303 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 1: Ring of the niebel Lung in eighteen seventy six of 304 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:34,399 Speaker 1: production of that. Uh. And they weren't all barbarians to 305 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,960 Speaker 1: your point. They were very shrewd traders, and that's how 306 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: they capitalized on the unicorn industry. They knew something that um, 307 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:48,040 Speaker 1: the advertising industry uses all the time today, and it's 308 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: this simple, brilliant understanding. When you are selling something to people, 309 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:56,680 Speaker 1: you are not just selling them a physical object. You're 310 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 1: selling them an idea. Right, You're selling them something aspirational. 311 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:04,920 Speaker 1: People aren't buying or Rolls Royce just because they think 312 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:08,280 Speaker 1: it's a dependable car. They're buying it because they associated 313 00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:12,760 Speaker 1: with success. And so people were buying these quote unquote 314 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 1: unicorn horns because they saw the transaction is one where 315 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: they were also purchasing prestige, you know what I mean. 316 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:25,880 Speaker 1: Like like you said, no, they got they got into 317 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: this business from trading with Inuit communities. And then sometime 318 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,280 Speaker 1: in the past, we don't know exactly when, but sometime 319 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:38,240 Speaker 1: in the past, a Viking trader sold one of these 320 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:42,720 Speaker 1: horns to a European trader, and at first this Viking 321 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:46,120 Speaker 1: trader didn't lie to them, didn't give them a smoke show. 322 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:48,359 Speaker 1: They just sold them a horn. And it was the 323 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 1: European trader who was like, hang on, I've heard of unicorns, 324 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,640 Speaker 1: and he told his buddies I have a unicorn horn, 325 00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,400 Speaker 1: and everybody else said I want one? Is it true? 326 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:01,520 Speaker 1: They cured his ease. We'll get to that part, but 327 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: it took off like gangbusters from there. I just I 328 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 1: want to put that out there. The first Viking who 329 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:09,119 Speaker 1: sold a horn to European trader probably didn't lie and 330 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:11,640 Speaker 1: say it was a unicorn, but they went with it. Well, 331 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: it's like that historical game of telephone we always talk 332 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,399 Speaker 1: about two where it's like, oh, all of a sudden, 333 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:19,119 Speaker 1: people are expecting to be able to get unicorn horn 334 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 1: because maybe they heard someone else got one, and then 335 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:24,879 Speaker 1: before you know, that's where the demand shifts. To write, um, 336 00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:28,720 Speaker 1: super super interesting the way we see this throughout history. Yeah. Yeah, 337 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,480 Speaker 1: And one interesting economic note here. As soon as this 338 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:37,679 Speaker 1: stuff started to become really expensive, obviously, the vast majority 339 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:42,000 Speaker 1: of people living in Europe could not afford to buy 340 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:45,639 Speaker 1: a unicorn horn from a Viking. What are they like. 341 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:48,160 Speaker 1: We're talking about a time when people lived and died 342 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,720 Speaker 1: very close to where they were born. Not a ton 343 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:52,879 Speaker 1: of people had a ton of money. So that means 344 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: that there is a niche market for the unicorn horn. 345 00:20:56,359 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 1: That niche market is royalty. Casey, I'm sorry we busted 346 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:04,080 Speaker 1: your chops a little bit about that writer and and 347 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:09,359 Speaker 1: your various demands for the show, because hearing about the 348 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,920 Speaker 1: lives of kings and queens man, they must have been 349 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:15,640 Speaker 1: difficult to work with. They also had a tough job, 350 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:23,160 Speaker 1: right now, that's some warm feet, Casey on the case. Yeah, 351 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 1: And as we've we've been episodes on this in the 352 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: past about how popular poisoning was uh during the Age 353 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:34,879 Speaker 1: of Enlightenment. So a lot of royalty were super paranoid. 354 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,439 Speaker 1: The idea of food tasters and all of that, you know, 355 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:39,880 Speaker 1: is something that you see, you know, in pop culture 356 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: a lot. But they were always looking for ways to 357 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:48,119 Speaker 1: protect themselves against this silent killer, um and and with 358 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:51,000 Speaker 1: good reason. It was definitely something to be concerned about. 359 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:55,840 Speaker 1: We've certainly seen successful cases of poisonings throughout history. Um And. 360 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 1: One of the ways they thought they could do that 361 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:03,280 Speaker 1: was to pay quite exorbitant sums of money for various 362 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:07,920 Speaker 1: magical objects um that they thought would protect them against 363 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:13,120 Speaker 1: being poisoned or somehow um indicate that there was poison 364 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,679 Speaker 1: in something, you know, like without having to kill your 365 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:18,959 Speaker 1: food taster, or that it would you know, be an 366 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,600 Speaker 1: antecdote antidote to it, or what have you. But the 367 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 1: most highly prized of these was unicorn horn um. And 368 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:28,879 Speaker 1: it was actually also known by the name alicorn. And 369 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,359 Speaker 1: this was like in the age before um we really 370 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:36,360 Speaker 1: had much understanding of science or of the chemical makeup 371 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 1: of things, of why something would do the thing that 372 00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:41,240 Speaker 1: it would do. We just were able to like look 373 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,280 Speaker 1: at uh, you know, firsthand experience and say, okay, this 374 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,359 Speaker 1: herb has this effect. We don't really know why, but 375 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: we know it does. Um. And then also like the 376 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:53,800 Speaker 1: placebo effect is still a very real phenomenon. So folks 377 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 1: would certainly maybe take things and convince themselves that it 378 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:58,920 Speaker 1: did a good job because they imbued it with these 379 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: magical properties and magical powers. So also you paid a 380 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 1: crapload of money for it, so nobody wants to spend 381 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:06,960 Speaker 1: that kind of loot. And then thinking they're getting built, 382 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: so that probably helped continue this myth circulating. But we 383 00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: have some interesting information from Eleanor herman Um in her 384 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:19,040 Speaker 1: book The Royal Art of poison Or. She says, before 385 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:21,560 Speaker 1: chemistry was a thing, people believe that many objects and 386 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:25,640 Speaker 1: food stuff had magical virtues or properties. Ruler believes such 387 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,320 Speaker 1: items would protect them because that is what the most 388 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:31,600 Speaker 1: learned men of the time told them. These days, world 389 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:34,720 Speaker 1: leaders have their secret service agents. Back then, they had 390 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 1: their food tasters. Yeah, so this is this is a 391 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:41,120 Speaker 1: really great point, and this is a myth, another myth 392 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:44,440 Speaker 1: I'd like to bust here. I know it sounds silly 393 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:49,040 Speaker 1: that people might believe in the curative powers of a 394 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:52,040 Speaker 1: rare animal, right, and they also believed unicorns were real. 395 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:57,160 Speaker 1: But they're no different from people today, right. We we 396 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:02,160 Speaker 1: work with the information we have available, right, And it's 397 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,920 Speaker 1: just so it's so condescending to look back and think, Wow, 398 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:09,120 Speaker 1: these people were real dunder heads. Uh. No, these were 399 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: smart people. These were world leaders. Uh. The European rulers, 400 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: of course, pretty out of touch with the common people 401 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,560 Speaker 1: of the world. They became obsessed with owning that magical 402 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:25,120 Speaker 1: unicorn horn. It's the aristocratic version of keeping up with 403 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:29,879 Speaker 1: the Joneses. And even today there's so much advertising stuff 404 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,439 Speaker 1: that goes into her, so much market psychology because you know, 405 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: even today you'll see that people who pay more for 406 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: something tend to feel better about it, right, And that's 407 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,600 Speaker 1: what's happening with unicorn horns. The Vatican is also not 408 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,399 Speaker 1: immune to this. In fifteen thirty three, Pope Clement the 409 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:53,280 Speaker 1: seventh gave King Francis of you know, France, magnificent horn. 410 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:57,639 Speaker 1: But this was super fancy. This wasn't just a unicorn 411 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,359 Speaker 1: horn or a c unicorn as they called it some times. 412 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:04,840 Speaker 1: This horn was mounted in solid gold. Ivan the Terrible 413 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:07,440 Speaker 1: that's a great name, by the way, had a staff 414 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:10,560 Speaker 1: made from one, which is such an amazing move. Now 415 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:13,640 Speaker 1: I want to horn staff if it didn't mean I'd 416 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: kill a unicorn for it. You deserve when Ben, and 417 00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:18,600 Speaker 1: I'm gonna make a note of that for for your 418 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:21,160 Speaker 1: next birthday, which is coming up. Actually we both share 419 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:24,880 Speaker 1: the same birthday week. Um, so be on the lookout 420 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:30,640 Speaker 1: for a sweet gilded unicorn horn scepter worthy of your station, 421 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 1: my friend and podcast. Um oh no need to no 422 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 1: need to guild it. You know, I'm terrified of metal. Yeah, okay, okay, 423 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:43,080 Speaker 1: I'll get back to you. I'm gonna mount it then. Um. Yeah, 424 00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:45,639 Speaker 1: it's interesting too. I have to say, backing up to 425 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 1: the Vatican, like, wasn't the power of Christ enough for them? Man? 426 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: They had to have like magical artifacts like unicorn horns. 427 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:57,200 Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't understand all of this mythology 428 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 1: is fascinating. Um. But yeah, so phil at the seconds 429 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,159 Speaker 1: apparently had twelve of them, just like a whole like 430 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: you know, cadre of unicorn horns, and he probably kept 431 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: in some kind of gilded cabinet. Um. By the way, 432 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:11,199 Speaker 1: a lot of this is coming from one of our 433 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: favorite sites, History dot com. I mean, you know they 434 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:15,840 Speaker 1: who how do you even get that that you are 435 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:18,359 Speaker 1: l They must have been really early to the game 436 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,560 Speaker 1: of internet addresses to get History dot com. But they 437 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 1: earned it, my friend, because they have some really great 438 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 1: reporting on all kinds of stuff, and we crib from 439 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 1: them quite often. This one's called unicorn Horns, Royal Protection 440 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:35,359 Speaker 1: and poison anecdotes. Completely unfounded speculation here. I'm pretty sure 441 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:39,520 Speaker 1: that it actually the website actually began as like high story, 442 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,359 Speaker 1: like high Commas story, and they would just tell stories 443 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:44,159 Speaker 1: and then they they sort of stumbled into it. They 444 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:46,520 Speaker 1: fell upward. You know, I love it. That's a good 445 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:48,720 Speaker 1: way to fall if, I mean, it defies the laws 446 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:51,560 Speaker 1: of gravity. But if that's how you know you're doing 447 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:54,600 Speaker 1: a good job. Um. But yeah, the Habsburg family, we 448 00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:58,359 Speaker 1: know all about them. They yeah, no, no good. They 449 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,680 Speaker 1: had a guilded uh quote unquote unicorn horn mounted in 450 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:06,199 Speaker 1: a giant scepter, covered in in in precious stones and 451 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:10,119 Speaker 1: gems and rubies. Um. And uh, you know, Queen Elizabeth 452 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 1: the first of England um also fully on board the 453 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:19,040 Speaker 1: unicorn horn train. Um. She bought a lot of these 454 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:22,680 Speaker 1: and one of them went for ten thousand pounds UM, 455 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:26,680 Speaker 1: which was the cost of an entire castle around four 456 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:31,040 Speaker 1: to five million pounds today um for one unicorn horn. 457 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:33,919 Speaker 1: It's it's kind of sickening if you think about the 458 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,359 Speaker 1: absurd wealth that has been squandered over the centuries on 459 00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:43,120 Speaker 1: you know, bullcrap. Basically, Yeah, it's it's insane. It's it's 460 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:53,680 Speaker 1: especially wasteful to to to a defensive degree. The thing is, though, 461 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:58,679 Speaker 1: that people really did believe this stuff worked. You know 462 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:00,680 Speaker 1: what I want to see, guys, I want to see 463 00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:06,480 Speaker 1: the Viking Billy Mays in the Viking unicorn horn commercial 464 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 1: where he's just going like, but wait, there's more. You know, 465 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:15,080 Speaker 1: Sprinkle this tusk on wounds, swallow it to cure diseases. Oh, 466 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:17,760 Speaker 1: do you like knife handles. We can make them out 467 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:22,120 Speaker 1: of horn or goblets or amulets to wear around your throat. Hey, 468 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:25,119 Speaker 1: you can get a chip of unicorn horn and just 469 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:27,639 Speaker 1: drop it in your wine, drop it in your food 470 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:31,440 Speaker 1: if you can't afford a whole goblet of unicorn horn, 471 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 1: because this will tell you whether or not there is poison. 472 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 1: Here's the thing. The entire time this this trade is occurring, 473 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:48,400 Speaker 1: there is not one case of proven, successfully detected poison. 474 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:53,400 Speaker 1: It literally had zero results and people loved it. Well, 475 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:56,080 Speaker 1: I have a question for you, Ben, for the ridiculous 476 00:28:56,120 --> 00:29:00,280 Speaker 1: historians at home. Um, you know, it's sort of like, yeah, 477 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:04,160 Speaker 1: you don't think at some point they somebody escalated at 478 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:08,440 Speaker 1: some super rich royal is like the horn is not enough. 479 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: I want an actual unicorn. And the fact that no 480 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 1: one had ever seen one of these mythical creatures didn't 481 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,040 Speaker 1: like tip any red flags, like, well, what do you 482 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:19,160 Speaker 1: think the reasoning was when someone would go to a 483 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: tradesman you know who was trading in unicorn horn and 484 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:25,640 Speaker 1: say I want you to bag me a proper unicorn 485 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:29,160 Speaker 1: that I'm gonna keep in my stables. I mean, that's 486 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:32,400 Speaker 1: a good question. And we see this situation crop up 487 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:36,760 Speaker 1: more more than once in the story of trade. If 488 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:39,680 Speaker 1: I had to guess, and this is just a guess here, folks, 489 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:42,200 Speaker 1: if I had to guess, I would say that there 490 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:46,880 Speaker 1: was supply side repression, by which I mean the Vikings 491 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: knew that it was not in their best interest to 492 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:54,120 Speaker 1: give people the source right to let them know about 493 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:56,880 Speaker 1: the norm wall. The same way maybe that during the 494 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:03,160 Speaker 1: during the silk trade, silk worms were closely guarded species 495 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 1: right or closely guarded life form. Ben, I think your 496 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:08,000 Speaker 1: spot on that makes perfect sense. And can we make 497 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 1: this a segment now wild speculation. This is where we 498 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,040 Speaker 1: we just conjecture and we have a little music bump. 499 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:17,960 Speaker 1: What do you think, Casey? It alright? Okay with us, Ben? 500 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:36,880 Speaker 1: Unfounded speculation. That's unfounded speculation. So we got high story 501 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:39,880 Speaker 1: dot com and then we got uh yeah, and then 502 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:43,200 Speaker 1: we've got this speculation. But we we also here, well, 503 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 1: we have we have proof of the discovery of these 504 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:51,520 Speaker 1: quote unquote curative powers right, Because it turns out one 505 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:55,880 Speaker 1: British explorer did actually make it to the Arctic and 506 00:30:56,040 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 1: did seem to find a unicorn of sorts, asked Martin Frobischer, 507 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,920 Speaker 1: who we've we've reported on before, if I'm not mistaken, 508 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:08,400 Speaker 1: a very well known British explorer who went to the 509 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:12,720 Speaker 1: Arctic in fifteen seventy seven. Um, And when he returned, 510 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:16,040 Speaker 1: he brought with him a six foot long uh tusk 511 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: that he had found on what he referred to as 512 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:23,600 Speaker 1: a dead sea unicorn um and he tested this is great. 513 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:28,560 Speaker 1: He tested the tusk's medical potency by putting spiders inside 514 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 1: of it. When the spiders died, he declared that the 515 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:38,800 Speaker 1: horns were effective and neutralizing their poison. Brilliant deduction there. 516 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 1: And then he gave it to Queen Elizabeth as a gift, 517 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:44,440 Speaker 1: and she, um, you know, respected this guy and thought 518 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:46,760 Speaker 1: that his methods were sound, and she was so impressed 519 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:51,880 Speaker 1: that she ordered that it be preserved alongside the British 520 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: crown jewels, which is like a phrase that we used 521 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:58,440 Speaker 1: to refer to any of the like highest regarded, you know, 522 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:03,480 Speaker 1: very very tightly guarded things in any you know, situation. 523 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:07,400 Speaker 1: The Crown Jewels of automobiles. This is the Crown jewels, 524 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:11,800 Speaker 1: and then the narwhale horn was right alongside it. Um. 525 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:14,200 Speaker 1: And in the late sixteen hundreds we have Christian the 526 00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:18,000 Speaker 1: fifth of Denmark. Uh. He had his throne like a 527 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:22,800 Speaker 1: game of thrones fashion made out of unicorn horns that 528 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,880 Speaker 1: had to have been pricey um. And that was used 529 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:30,440 Speaker 1: for coronation ceremonies. Yeah. And now now we're getting to 530 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:36,240 Speaker 1: a an important turn in our story, because we understandably 531 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:40,600 Speaker 1: have to wonder, right, did everyone take this at face value? 532 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:45,840 Speaker 1: Did literally nobody test the product here? Uh? It turns 533 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:49,960 Speaker 1: out someone did. After Elizabeth King James, the first takes 534 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,720 Speaker 1: the throne, and according to Nigel Suckling, the author of 535 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:58,320 Speaker 1: a book named Unicorns, King James was a little bit skeptical. 536 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:00,400 Speaker 1: He was a little bit more of a critical thinker, 537 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: perhaps a little bit less credulous. And he purchased a 538 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,240 Speaker 1: horn and he said, look, I spent so much money 539 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:09,960 Speaker 1: on this, I dropped so much scratch. I gotta try 540 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:12,880 Speaker 1: this out. So the way, the way that he did it, 541 00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 1: which is not super ethical, is this. He poisoned one 542 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:21,360 Speaker 1: of his servants and then he gave them an antidote 543 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:24,640 Speaker 1: made of this powdered unicorn horn. Keep in mind, this 544 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:27,720 Speaker 1: is supposed to be the cure for any and all 545 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:32,600 Speaker 1: things poisonous. Uh. The servant died, and so James's conclusion 546 00:33:33,320 --> 00:33:39,880 Speaker 1: was not not necessarily that unicorn horn didn't work. Uh. Instead, 547 00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:42,520 Speaker 1: he thought maybe he bought a fake one, which to 548 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:44,720 Speaker 1: me is, I know, someone died, and I don't want 549 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,920 Speaker 1: to be a terrible person, But that's that's kind of ridiculous, right, 550 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:50,400 Speaker 1: It's fine, man, it's been long enough. We can we 551 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:52,520 Speaker 1: can poke a little fun at it, because it is ridiculous. 552 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,160 Speaker 1: I wonder if he did it like knowingly, you know, 553 00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:57,360 Speaker 1: with the claim believing that he was going to be 554 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:00,080 Speaker 1: cured by the unit of the powdered unicorn horn. And 555 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:02,080 Speaker 1: he was like, you know, what's the work. It was 556 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 1: consensual poisoning. Consensual poisoning. Isn't King James the first Bible guy? 557 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:10,640 Speaker 1: He's the Bible guy? Right? Yeah, that's correct. Uh, the 558 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:16,000 Speaker 1: King James version of the Bible. It's a it's a 559 00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:18,839 Speaker 1: story all its own, it's its own episode. But long 560 00:34:18,840 --> 00:34:23,880 Speaker 1: story short. Back in six four, King James, sometime around 561 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:28,000 Speaker 1: the time he was, you know, consentually poisoning servants. During 562 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:32,680 Speaker 1: his reign, he authorized a new translation of the Bible. Uh, 563 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:36,759 Speaker 1: totally too, you know, shore up his own his own 564 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:40,439 Speaker 1: power structure. So he was a smart guy. Again, maybe 565 00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:44,719 Speaker 1: not super ethical. Um, but here's the deal. We see 566 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:49,320 Speaker 1: this test fails, right, so he assumes I gotta counterfeit horn. 567 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:54,439 Speaker 1: But there's a reason we're not really trading unicorn horn 568 00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 1: for curative properties today, and that is that two forces 569 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:04,240 Speaker 1: spelled the end for the gradual decline of the unicorn trade. 570 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:08,200 Speaker 1: One was wider exploration and the other was good old 571 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:11,319 Speaker 1: fashioned science. Yeah, the Vikings had you know, done a 572 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:15,319 Speaker 1: really fantastic job of creating this demand. However they did 573 00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:18,560 Speaker 1: it how whatever game of historical telephone created this notion 574 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:22,120 Speaker 1: that the unicorn horn was some kind of magical uh 575 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:26,960 Speaker 1: you know, cure all um and, and they created a 576 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:30,520 Speaker 1: market for it um and a demand for it that 577 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:33,480 Speaker 1: made it worth its weight in gold more than its 578 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:37,000 Speaker 1: way in gold um and. And it was all based 579 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:40,759 Speaker 1: on belief. Because even in the one instance we have 580 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:44,880 Speaker 1: of testing, uh, it's still the belief persevered. Where King 581 00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:47,719 Speaker 1: James was like, ah, man, somebody sold me, you know, 582 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:50,520 Speaker 1: a bunk unicorn horn. But he didn't think to like 583 00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:54,200 Speaker 1: question the oover the whole structure of the deal, right. Uh, 584 00:35:54,280 --> 00:35:57,719 Speaker 1: same with with Frobisher putting spiders inside the horn, Like 585 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 1: it's you know, there is testing being done. But be 586 00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:02,959 Speaker 1: like you said, science wasn't really a thing. But once 587 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:06,080 Speaker 1: the Enlightenment comes along and brings in all of these 588 00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:09,520 Speaker 1: advances in the scientific method and experimentation, by the late 589 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:13,560 Speaker 1: seventeenth century, magic and alchemy and all of that stuff 590 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:17,080 Speaker 1: was kind of going by the wayside because it was 591 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:20,880 Speaker 1: being replaced by stuff that was much more actually effective 592 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:25,600 Speaker 1: and could be tested. And unicorn horns and other magical 593 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:30,280 Speaker 1: objects that would repel poison or you know, uh protect 594 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:33,440 Speaker 1: you against the dark arts or whatever. All of that stuff, 595 00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:35,640 Speaker 1: which as we know now it seems so obvious, is 596 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:38,680 Speaker 1: based around superstition, that all began to take a back 597 00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:41,520 Speaker 1: seat to uh to the new ways which were based 598 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:45,760 Speaker 1: around science and rigorous kind of study. Yeah, that's absolutely correct. 599 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:50,080 Speaker 1: Real quick, I want a laundry list some other purported 600 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:52,960 Speaker 1: poison cures of the time. Have you guys ever heard 601 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:55,840 Speaker 1: of bezi wars? No, certain, it's so gross. I found 602 00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:58,319 Speaker 1: out about I think I found out about this in 603 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:02,360 Speaker 1: uh the US in graphic novel series The Sandman. A 604 00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:06,640 Speaker 1: bezoar is a solid mass of undigested food or even 605 00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:10,160 Speaker 1: hair that you find in digestive tracts of animals and 606 00:37:10,239 --> 00:37:15,120 Speaker 1: fish and humans. And so people thought that bezo wars 607 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:19,399 Speaker 1: could cure poison. They also thought that, uh they also 608 00:37:19,440 --> 00:37:24,759 Speaker 1: thought that pearls were powerful antidotes. Anyway, we're just saying 609 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:27,319 Speaker 1: that unicorn horns were the only example. They were just 610 00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:31,160 Speaker 1: one of the most expensive. The science just wasn't there 611 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:33,720 Speaker 1: for unicorn horns. As people did more and more research 612 00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:40,360 Speaker 1: and explorers found nar walls. Eventually, late in the age 613 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:46,000 Speaker 1: of exploration, European naturalists and adventurers traveled north. You know, 614 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:48,600 Speaker 1: the nar whall only lives in the Arctic, and they 615 00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:52,600 Speaker 1: saw this SNAr wall in its natural environment, and this 616 00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:57,040 Speaker 1: was a real death knell for the superstition of the 617 00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:00,720 Speaker 1: unicorn kind of as a as a horse, right, because 618 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:04,720 Speaker 1: the narwhale, you know you mentioned this before, the tusk 619 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:08,640 Speaker 1: or the horn can grow to a huge size. These 620 00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:12,520 Speaker 1: things themselves can be more than uh five meters long, right, 621 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:16,480 Speaker 1: they're big. You can clearly tell that that's the source 622 00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:18,960 Speaker 1: of the horn. If you had seen a horn before 623 00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:21,160 Speaker 1: in Europe. And then also, of course we have to 624 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:25,919 Speaker 1: point out, Uh, the Europeans learned about this, but it's 625 00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:28,840 Speaker 1: not fair to say they quote unquote discovered it because 626 00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:32,080 Speaker 1: many other communities knew about nar walls for a much 627 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:37,520 Speaker 1: longer time. Uh. There's a physician and zoologists with an 628 00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:42,920 Speaker 1: awesome name. He's Danish. His name is old worm or 629 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:45,239 Speaker 1: old verm. What do you think? Oh? I like old 630 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:48,680 Speaker 1: worm better, but you know, yeah, if it's Danish, the 631 00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:51,879 Speaker 1: w is probably a V sound. But old worm that's 632 00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:55,480 Speaker 1: a really good like DJ name DJ old worm like 633 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:59,920 Speaker 1: that very very much. Um, Oh my gosh, what are 634 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:02,640 Speaker 1: of thinking of? There's a oh I know what it is. 635 00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:04,480 Speaker 1: It's a it's a it's a it's a show sketch 636 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:08,240 Speaker 1: where it's a senator tanker bell and he's at a 637 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:11,239 Speaker 1: like a like a kind of a pioneer arts and 638 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:15,080 Speaker 1: Crafts fair. And there's someone it's like he's like, I'm 639 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:20,160 Speaker 1: a whole swirlow and this is the Ozark Mountain tradition 640 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:27,279 Speaker 1: of song story in and he goes, okay, old I 641 00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:30,239 Speaker 1: love the notion of old being someone's first name. So 642 00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:32,799 Speaker 1: now we're definitely gonna go with old worm. I have 643 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:35,719 Speaker 1: I have one of those walking things, you know, the 644 00:39:35,719 --> 00:39:41,120 Speaker 1: one that David Crosses character. Yeah. Yeah, it's a good stuff. 645 00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:45,400 Speaker 1: Anybody who hasn't that really rewatched or rediscovered or discovered 646 00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:47,960 Speaker 1: for the first time, Mr show. Um, all that stuff 647 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:50,240 Speaker 1: is on HBO streaming. They have all all the seasons 648 00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:53,920 Speaker 1: on their high highly highly recommended. Um. Yeah. But ol 649 00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:58,080 Speaker 1: uh discovered the Narwall's himself, UM and and he that's 650 00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:00,800 Speaker 1: when he realized in eight that hey, this is that, 651 00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:02,799 Speaker 1: this is the thing, this is what these horns looked like. 652 00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:05,879 Speaker 1: Oh no, we've put two and two together and we've 653 00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:09,440 Speaker 1: been had for low these many years. UM. It's crazy. 654 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:12,880 Speaker 1: This this, this practice of selling, buying and selling unicorn 655 00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:16,759 Speaker 1: horns um for exorbitant amounts of money um in the 656 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:21,479 Speaker 1: highest echelons of of royalty and royal society, completely dried 657 00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:24,799 Speaker 1: up after a hundred years. More than a hundred years UM. 658 00:40:24,880 --> 00:40:30,479 Speaker 1: In seventeen forty six, Uh, it was still vaguely being used. 659 00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:33,719 Speaker 1: Some British doctors were prescribing alcorn as some kind of 660 00:40:33,800 --> 00:40:37,279 Speaker 1: miracle cure UM. And today you can see some of 661 00:40:37,320 --> 00:40:39,719 Speaker 1: the holdovers from the from these collections, Like we talked 662 00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:42,600 Speaker 1: about the one that that Elizabeth held in in the 663 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:45,160 Speaker 1: in the in the tower with the with the crown jewels, 664 00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:47,520 Speaker 1: and some of the ones that were you know, kept 665 00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:51,480 Speaker 1: in these in these antiquity cabinets of curiosity, right um. 666 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:54,239 Speaker 1: And you can find those at some museums around the 667 00:40:54,239 --> 00:40:57,120 Speaker 1: country to to this day. And so there you have it. 668 00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:04,359 Speaker 1: Ridiculous historians, the the story of the the bustling centuries 669 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:10,239 Speaker 1: long unicorn trade. This you know, history doesn't repeat, right, 670 00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:13,880 Speaker 1: but it does rhyme as as the old saying goes. 671 00:41:14,120 --> 00:41:19,239 Speaker 1: And unfortunately, there is still a bustling illegal trade in 672 00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:24,080 Speaker 1: narwhal tusk or horns today. Uh people don't think it's 673 00:41:24,120 --> 00:41:27,160 Speaker 1: the horn of a unicorn anymore. But the average price 674 00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:31,400 Speaker 1: of a narwall tusk now is around uh three thousand 675 00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:35,600 Speaker 1: to twelve thousand pounds. There's also the rare double tusk 676 00:41:36,160 --> 00:41:41,239 Speaker 1: that is around thirty one dollars US. And and it's 677 00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:45,000 Speaker 1: strange because you know, again to that point of um 678 00:41:45,040 --> 00:41:48,720 Speaker 1: of how easy it is to look back on people 679 00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:51,279 Speaker 1: and communities of the past and think that they were 680 00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:54,080 Speaker 1: maybe not as smart as us. We have to remember 681 00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:59,560 Speaker 1: there's still a booming trade in uh illegal animal parts 682 00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:02,799 Speaker 1: and in a large part of it still is motivated 683 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:07,120 Speaker 1: by the idea that some of these things have curative powers, right, like, 684 00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:09,840 Speaker 1: think about all the think about all the animals poached 685 00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:14,720 Speaker 1: today because somebody part of theirs is considered for some reason, 686 00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:18,239 Speaker 1: and aphrodisiac. You know this, This hasn't really stopped. We 687 00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:20,880 Speaker 1: just don't call them unicorns anymore. Oh no, what is 688 00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:25,480 Speaker 1: it that's really big for aphrodisiacs. I believe it's um. Well, 689 00:42:25,719 --> 00:42:28,640 Speaker 1: sea horses is one, like crushed up sea horses is 690 00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:31,480 Speaker 1: a big one. But then there's also rhino horn is 691 00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:33,480 Speaker 1: a is a big one that I think any of 692 00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:37,800 Speaker 1: these exotic horns that you know typically come from endangered animals, 693 00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:41,399 Speaker 1: which makes them usually quite illegal. But there's also like 694 00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:46,239 Speaker 1: um dear antler, for example, is still um considered to 695 00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:50,360 Speaker 1: be a very effective aphrodisiac. But again, sometimes I wonder 696 00:42:50,480 --> 00:42:52,560 Speaker 1: is it just the placebo effect. If you think you're 697 00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:55,920 Speaker 1: gonna get randy from snorting a line of deer antler, 698 00:42:56,560 --> 00:43:00,600 Speaker 1: maybe that's just self fulfilling prophecy. And I'm not that 699 00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:03,319 Speaker 1: you that's not necessarily how you would take this place, 700 00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:07,960 Speaker 1: like the snake wine exactly exactly um. But now these 701 00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:11,839 Speaker 1: kinds of superstitions while a little more fringe and uh 702 00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:14,680 Speaker 1: and under the radar, absolutely still a thing and it 703 00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:20,440 Speaker 1: all came um from this uh, this historical hustle. Yeah, agreed. 704 00:43:20,680 --> 00:43:24,160 Speaker 1: And one cool thing I want to point out because 705 00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:27,439 Speaker 1: I know that I know I was able to talk 706 00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:30,640 Speaker 1: to you guys into going with me on a Russian icebreaker, 707 00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:33,960 Speaker 1: the fifty let poboty. When we go to the Arctic 708 00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:36,799 Speaker 1: on it will be in our whall country. We can 709 00:43:36,840 --> 00:43:42,319 Speaker 1: see these for ourselves. I'm so down, so am I 710 00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:45,480 Speaker 1: so am I Casey, I saw I saw a nod 711 00:43:45,600 --> 00:43:49,359 Speaker 1: that looked to be affirmative on your side of the zoom. Absolutely, 712 00:43:49,400 --> 00:43:53,160 Speaker 1: this trip is getting better and better. And speaking of trips, 713 00:43:53,280 --> 00:43:56,879 Speaker 1: we are going to hit the digital road today. Thank you, 714 00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:00,600 Speaker 1: as always so much for tuning in. Big, big thanks 715 00:44:00,640 --> 00:44:05,160 Speaker 1: to our super producer, uh the Emperor of Green Eminem's 716 00:44:05,239 --> 00:44:09,680 Speaker 1: Casey Pegram. Huge thanks of course to Christopher hasci Otis 717 00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:12,680 Speaker 1: massive thanks to Alex Williams who composed our theme. Jonathan 718 00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:15,440 Speaker 1: Strickland and his alter ego the quiz Sir. So the 719 00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:16,960 Speaker 1: last time we had him on he kind of bounced 720 00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:18,600 Speaker 1: back and forth a little bit. I'm kind of worried 721 00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:20,680 Speaker 1: about old strick. Um, so we're gonna have him on 722 00:44:20,719 --> 00:44:24,160 Speaker 1: and give him a little more zoom comfort during his core. Um. 723 00:44:24,560 --> 00:44:27,960 Speaker 1: Huge thanks to Ease Jeff Coast. Check out her podcast 724 00:44:28,239 --> 00:44:31,160 Speaker 1: This Day in History, available now wherever you get podcasts, 725 00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:33,360 Speaker 1: and hey, you know, while you're looking at podcasts and 726 00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:36,040 Speaker 1: you're on that whole Apple podcast platform, why not leave 727 00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:39,400 Speaker 1: us a nice review. Um. It really helps people discover 728 00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:41,759 Speaker 1: the show and it makes us feel good in our 729 00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:45,840 Speaker 1: little hearts, which occasionally we need during these dark times. Yeah, 730 00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:49,840 Speaker 1: every time that, every time that we get a good review, 731 00:44:50,360 --> 00:44:53,040 Speaker 1: the president of our company, I don't know if he 732 00:44:53,080 --> 00:44:54,480 Speaker 1: does this to you guys, but the president of our 733 00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:57,719 Speaker 1: company calls me and says, I'm just a little bit 734 00:44:57,760 --> 00:45:00,920 Speaker 1: closer than not getting fired. So he ferstally, I greatly 735 00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:03,759 Speaker 1: appreciate it. Not to mention that every time you leave 736 00:45:03,800 --> 00:45:07,080 Speaker 1: a good review for Ridiculous History, a narwhal gets its 737 00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:18,560 Speaker 1: horn technically a tooth. See you next time, folks. For 738 00:45:18,640 --> 00:45:20,759 Speaker 1: more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the I Heart 739 00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:23,719 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your 740 00:45:23,719 --> 00:45:24,480 Speaker 1: favorite shows.