Speaker 1: Welcome to Unexplained Extra with Me Richard McClane Smith, where
Speaker 1: for the weeks in between episodes we look at the
Speaker 1: stories that, for one reason or other, didn't make it
Speaker 1: into the show. In the last episode, The Square, we
Speaker 1: stepped into the dimly lit streets and alleyways of London's
Speaker 1: Whitechapel District, bearing witness to a horrifically brutal and misogynistic
Speaker 1: series of murders. The killer of Martha Tabroam, Polly Nichols,
Speaker 1: Catherine Edoes, Elizabeth Stride, Annie Chapman, and Mary Jane Kelly,
Speaker 1: and perhaps others was never caught. Some have even speculated
Speaker 1: that there was more than one perpetrator. All, however, will
Speaker 1: forever be associated with the name Jack the Ripper. It
Speaker 1: is only too common that perpetrators of such acts achieve
Speaker 1: a certain level of notoriety, indirectly proportional to the memory
Speaker 1: of their victims. This has perhaps never been more the
Speaker 1: case than with the figure known as Jack the Ripper,
Speaker 1: a situation or the more ironic, since in truth, no
Speaker 1: such person ever existed. There is a course, no doubt
Speaker 1: that the crimes were committed. Jack the Ripper, however, is
Speaker 1: merely a pseudonym at best, with some believing it to
Speaker 1: have in fact been entirely fabricated by Central News Agency
Speaker 1: journalist Thomas Bulling. Whether true or not, there is certainly
Speaker 1: no doubting the significant role that the press played in
Speaker 1: terms of elevating the image of this particular serial killer
Speaker 1: into something approaching almost mythological proportions. That this occurred was
Speaker 1: due largely to the changing landscape of the British print
Speaker 1: industry at the time, specifically the birth of tabloid journalism.
Speaker 1: As a result, the type of acts perpetrated by the
Speaker 1: so called jack were not only the first in British
Speaker 1: history to receive daily, almost real time coverage, but they
Speaker 1: were also among the first to be subjected to the
Speaker 1: lurid and sensationalist manner of reporting that would come to
Speaker 1: define tabloid journalism. And there was one among all in
Speaker 1: the industry who, for better or worth, had instigated it.
Speaker 1: His name was William Thomas Stead. At the time of
Speaker 1: the Whitechapel murders, Stead was the editor of the Pall
Speaker 1: Mall Gazette, a forerunner of the London Evening Standard, and
Speaker 1: one of the most active papers in the reporting of
Speaker 1: the crimes Prior to that, Stead, who came from pious
Speaker 1: and humble beginnings, began his career at The Northern Echo,
Speaker 1: a liberal newspaper operating out of the northeast of England.
Speaker 1: Such was his talent and enthusiasm for the business, by
Speaker 1: the tender age of twenty two he had already been
Speaker 1: promoted to the position of editor. From the outset. Stead
Speaker 1: was driven by his faith in his determination to use
Speaker 1: the print media in a way that it had never
Speaker 1: been used before. At the time, most of the national
Speaker 1: press merely serviced the established orders of the day, being
Speaker 1: largely written by wealthy men for the benefit of wealthy men.
Speaker 1: What Stead was quick to realize, however, was that newspapers
Speaker 1: and their readers could be weaponized to challenge those same
Speaker 1: established orders. For Stead, journalism was a moral mission, and
Speaker 1: his mission above all was to help those he considered poor, outcast,
Speaker 1: and oppressed. When Stead first joined the Pawmal Gazette in
Speaker 1: eighteen eighty, it was a thoroughly conservative and reactionary newspaper,
Speaker 1: precisely of the sort that he had spent his formative
Speaker 1: years railing against. Shortly after he became the paper's editor
Speaker 1: in eighteen eighty three. It was immediately transformed into an
Speaker 1: eye catching page turning romp on a crusade to disrupt
Speaker 1: Victorian high society sensibilities and hold a mirror up to
Speaker 1: the reality of British life. To do this, Stead introduced
Speaker 1: a number of techniques that are familiar today but were
Speaker 1: revolutionary for the time, such as large fonted headlines and
Speaker 1: subheadings to catch the eye. He would also think nothing
Speaker 1: of blending his own opinions with those of his contributors
Speaker 1: and interviewees. One of Stead's first and by far most
Speaker 1: audacious campaigns was published in eighteen eighty five as The
Speaker 1: Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon. With it, Stead, in collaboration
Speaker 1: with feminist and social reformer Josephine Butler, set about exposing
Speaker 1: the industry of child prostitution, apparently running rampant in London,
Speaker 1: facilitated by corrupt officials who for too long had turned
Speaker 1: a blind eye to it. The most scandalous element being
Speaker 1: the final chapter documenting the purchase of a thirteen year
Speaker 1: old girl for nefarious purposes, with the report detailing all
Speaker 1: aspects of the sale, including the process of having the
Speaker 1: child's virginity verified before completing the deal. It remains one
Speaker 1: of the earliest and most shocking examples of investigative journalism.
Speaker 1: Almost as shocking was the revelation a few months later
Speaker 1: that it had been Stead himself, operating undercover, who had
Speaker 1: procured the child. He was later convicted for his involvement
Speaker 1: in the escapade known as the Eliza Armstrong case, and
Speaker 1: sentenced to three months in prison. Are you always taking
Speaker 1: care of your family? Do you often take care of
Speaker 1: others and not yourself. Now it's time to take care
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Speaker 1: Unexplained Podcast. One of Butler Instead's aims for the report
Speaker 1: was to force the government to raise the legal age
Speaker 1: of consent, which was only thirteen at the time, to sixteen.
Speaker 1: A few months later, due in no small part to
Speaker 1: the moral outrage caused by its publication, the Criminal Law
Speaker 1: Amendment Act of eighteen eighty five was introduced to do
Speaker 1: just that. Though few would likely disagree with this being
Speaker 1: a positive outcome, many might recognize the eighteen eighty five
Speaker 1: Amendment for very different reasons. For it was in section
Speaker 1: eleven of this Act, unopposed by Stead, that sex and
Speaker 1: by extension, homosexuality between men was formerly criminalized. It would
Speaker 1: be another eighty years before this was reversed. Such are
Speaker 1: the dangers of being guided by moralism, Since, regardless of
Speaker 1: whether you mean well or not, as Stead undoubtedly believed
Speaker 1: he did, what is considered right to one is not
Speaker 1: right to war. It is unlikely, too, that his righteousness
Speaker 1: extended to people of color or those who didn't adhere
Speaker 1: closely to the Christian faith. Nonetheless, Stead, as one of
Speaker 1: the very few men in power to do so, fervently
Speaker 1: supported the women's suffragette movement and was the first to
Speaker 1: employ journalists who were women on equal pay. Over the
Speaker 1: next few years, Stead continued to cement his reputation as
Speaker 1: a crusading maverick and a constant thorn in the side
Speaker 1: of the British establishment. Through the Gazette's reporting on the
Speaker 1: Whitechapel murders, Stead, albeit crudely, was able to draw attention
Speaker 1: to the plight of those struggling to make ends meet,
Speaker 1: forcing the government to provide better housing support. He was
Speaker 1: also a strong advocate of compulsory primary and secondary education
Speaker 1: for all. But there was another side to Stead that
Speaker 1: he had kept hidden from his more earthly journalistic pursuits,
Speaker 1: something he had been forced to keep hidden for fear
Speaker 1: of losing all his hard fought credibility. As a deeply
Speaker 1: religious man, it was hard for Stead not to take
Speaker 1: an interest in the growing spiritualist movement, most notably its
Speaker 1: claims to have mastered communication with the debt. In eighteen
Speaker 1: ninety three, he founded the magazine Borderland, which focused purely
Speaker 1: on adventures in spiritualism and psychical research. Not long after,
Speaker 1: Stead became convinced he was telepathic, believing that he was
Speaker 1: able to communicate with his assistant editor and renowned medium
Speaker 1: of the day, Ada Goodrich Freer by means of automatic writing,
Speaker 1: the process of writing words without conscious awareness, through which
Speaker 1: he believed he could channel his friend. Stead later became
Speaker 1: convinced that he was receiving communications from fellow journalist Julia Ames,
Speaker 1: who had died in eighteen ninety one. It was from
Speaker 1: these apparent communications that Stead got the extraordinary idea to
Speaker 1: set up a public bureau into which people could drop
Speaker 1: in and speak to dead loved ones in the manner
Speaker 1: of a telephone operator service. Julia's Bureau opened its doors
Speaker 1: in nineteen o nine, staffed by a number of mediums
Speaker 1: as well as a receptionist. Stead even set up an
Speaker 1: office for the deceased Julia, who was said to attend
Speaker 1: the bureau between the hours of ten and four PM.
Speaker 1: For where she was said to have spent the rest
Speaker 1: of her time was never revealed. In nineteen twelve, Stead
Speaker 1: was invited by then US President William Taft to attend
Speaker 1: a men and Religion Forward Movement meeting in New York
Speaker 1: to discuss the topic of world peace. It isn't known
Speaker 1: in what context Stead had agreed to attend. However, the
Speaker 1: movement was said, according to a twenty thirteen article written
Speaker 1: by Lucy D. Lapp and Maria Ducenzo on the contradictory
Speaker 1: nature of Stead, character, to be a movement critical of
Speaker 1: the influence of women in religion and explicitly excluded them
Speaker 1: from its meetings. On April tenth, Instead traveled to Southampton,
Speaker 1: on the south coast of England and boarded a steamliner
Speaker 1: bound for New York, setting off shortly after midday. For
Speaker 1: the next few days, Stead kept his friends and fellow
Speaker 1: passengers gaily entertained with his vast array of tales and
Speaker 1: anecdotes from years spent on the front line of the
Speaker 1: British press. On the fifth night, having finished off an
Speaker 1: especially thrilling story about the cursed Mummy of the British Museum,
Speaker 1: with had just gone ten thirty pm, Stead retired to
Speaker 1: his cabin and went to sleep. High up in the
Speaker 1: ship's crow's nest lookouts, Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee stood
Speaker 1: watch in the freezing night air, with no moon visible.
Speaker 1: Above the sea, was an obsidian carpet laid out before them,
Speaker 1: as dark as the night sky and filled with as
Speaker 1: many stars. Such was the effect it felt at times
Speaker 1: as if they were in fact floating in space. At
Speaker 1: eleven thirty PM, the pair spotted something peculiar in the distance,
Speaker 1: a slight haze sitting just above the water. Minutes later,
Speaker 1: their eyes widened in horror as something vast and looming
Speaker 1: emerged out of it below deck. Stead shot awake in
Speaker 1: his cabin with the strange sensation that the room had
Speaker 1: just been shaking. Somewhat alarmed, he hurriedly made his way
Speaker 1: to the top deck to find passengers and crew members
Speaker 1: dashing about and the ship now seemingly adrift in the
Speaker 1: vastness of the ocean. Moments later, he was informed at
Speaker 1: the terrifying news the ship had collided with an iceberg. However,
Speaker 1: such was the confidence in the vessel, he was advised
Speaker 1: that all was likely fine and to return to his cabin.
Speaker 1: Below the water line, however, a very different story was unfolding.
Speaker 1: Although the hull had not been directly punctured in the crash,
Speaker 1: the collision had dented the paneling at the seams, causing
Speaker 1: rivets to pop and the paneling to split apart. The
Speaker 1: ship began taking on water immediately, and before long it
Speaker 1: was cascading into the boiler rooms at a rate fifteen
Speaker 1: times faster than it could be pumped out. Within minutes,
Speaker 1: the ship's head was being pulled under the wa Just
Speaker 1: after midnight, the ship's captain, Edward Smith, ordered a complete evacuation.
Speaker 1: At twenty minutes past midnight, it was clear that the
Speaker 1: ship HMS Titanic was going down, and as Captain Smith knew,
Speaker 1: not everyone would be getting off alive. The ship, although
Speaker 1: carrying two thousand, two hundred and eight passengers, only had
Speaker 1: enough lifeboats for half of them. In the end, only
Speaker 1: seven hundred and six would survive. It was reported that
Speaker 1: as the Titanic sank, W. T. Stead did all he
Speaker 1: could to help others into the lifeboats, even giving up
Speaker 1: his own life jacket to help another passenger. He was
Speaker 1: last seen clinging to a raft before losing his grip
Speaker 1: and disappearing below the waves. It is strangely apt that
Speaker 1: Stead lost his life on the Titanic, since the event
Speaker 1: in itself is remembered in many ways as a microcosm
Speaker 1: of the very world that he had worked most of
Speaker 1: his life to confront, understand, and challenge. The vessel had
Speaker 1: been split into three tiers, with the third class ticket
Speaker 1: holders at the bottom, the second in the middle, and
Speaker 1: the first with the best access to escape routes, on
Speaker 1: the top. As it transpired, many in third class weren't
Speaker 1: even given the chance to escape the hatchways, leading into
Speaker 1: their section being closed and locked in on them in
Speaker 1: an attempt to keep the vessel afloat long enough for
Speaker 1: the others to escape. In thirty nine percent of first
Speaker 1: class passengers died, fifty eight percent of standard class, and
Speaker 1: seventy six percent of third The following day, as news
Speaker 1: of the disaster began to break, Stead's name was prominent
Speaker 1: among the list of well known passengers thought to have
Speaker 1: possibly died. It wasn't long after that attention was drawn
Speaker 1: to a peculiar coincidence in his dying. In eighteen eighty six, Stead,
Speaker 1: who claimed to experience premonitions, published the story How the
Speaker 1: Mail Steamer Went Down in the mid Atlantic. In it,
Speaker 1: he describes the sinking of an ocean liner that is
Speaker 1: only equipped with enough lifeboats to say half its passengers. Then,
Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety two, Stead published another story titled From
Speaker 1: the Old World to the New, in which a ship
Speaker 1: departing from England and bound for the US collides with
Speaker 1: an iceberg. The ship's only surviving passenger, having climbed on
Speaker 1: top of the iceberg, is then later rescued by another
Speaker 1: vessel captained by a man named Edward Smith. Start had
Speaker 1: based the character on the same Edward Smith, who would
Speaker 1: later captain HMS Titanic. This was the final episode of
Speaker 1: Unexplained season three, but fear not for we will return
Speaker 1: in January twenty nineteen for season four. Thank you once
Speaker 1: again to all who have taken the time to listen.
Speaker 1: If you enjoy listening to Unexplained and would like to
Speaker 1: help supporters, you can now go to Unexplained podcast dot
Speaker 1: com forward slash support. All donations, no matter how large
Speaker 1: or small, are massively appreciate. All elements have Unexplained are
Speaker 1: produced by me, Richard McClain Smith. Please subscribe and rate
Speaker 1: the show on iTunes, and feel free to get in
Speaker 1: touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've
Speaker 1: heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of
Speaker 1: your own you'd like to share, you can reach us
Speaker 1: online at Unexplained podcast dot com or on Twitter at
Speaker 1: Unexplained pod. Now. It's time to take care of yourself.
Speaker 1: To make time for you, Tell a doc gives you
Speaker 1: access to a licensed therapist to help you get back
Speaker 1: to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by
Speaker 1: phone or video anytime between seven am to nine pm
Speaker 1: local time, seven and days a week. Teledoc Therapy is
Speaker 1: available through most insurance or employers. Download the app or
Speaker 1: visit teledoc dot com. Forward slash Unexplained Podcast today to
Speaker 1: get started. That's teladoc dot com slash Unexplained Podcast