1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media. Hello and welcome to the December twenty 2 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: twenty five Q and A episode of Weird Little Guys. 3 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: I was always planning to do a Q and A 4 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: episode this month. I think most of the shows in 5 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:25,600 Speaker 1: the Cool Zone Media family do one of these around 6 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: the end of the year, but this one is coming 7 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 1: a little early. You probably noticed that there was an 8 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 1: unexpected rerun a few weeks ago, and that's because I 9 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: was very sick. I had some sort of terrible virus 10 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:44,400 Speaker 1: and it knocked me out for like two weeks. The 11 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: worst part was the laryngitis. I was on total vocal 12 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: rest for more than a week, mostly because I couldn't 13 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: have made a sound even if I wanted to. It 14 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: was torture, not just because that's literally my livelihood, but 15 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: I love talking. I mean, I have to talk for work. 16 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 1: You can't make a podcast without talking, but I just 17 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: love talking recreationally. I never stopped talking, so it was 18 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 1: a nightmare. Anyway. I lost two weeks of my life 19 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: to the blanket fort on the couch. And then there's 20 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 1: the general messiness of the holiday season. So I'm all 21 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: mixed up in backwards but trying to get back on track. 22 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:32,640 Speaker 1: We will hit the ground running in the new year 23 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: with something fun and exciting, but this month is just 24 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: going to be a hodgepodge of different sorts of episodes. 25 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: The episode I have planned for next week is a 26 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: sort of Weird Little Guy round up, just catching up 27 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: with recent developments in the lives of some of the 28 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 1: weird Little Guys I've been checking in on from time 29 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: to time for years. I originally had this episode and 30 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: that episode switched on my calendar, but I think waiting 31 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: one more week might be enough time to get some 32 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 1: more updates in some of those stories. So for now, 33 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:13,639 Speaker 1: let's get to your questions. I put out a call 34 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: a few weeks ago, and I've sorted the questions you 35 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: all sent in into a few broad categories. Questions about 36 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: the process of making the show, questions about particular topics 37 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:29,920 Speaker 1: you'd like to see covered, and questions about me. I 38 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 1: won't be able to answer all of them specifically, but 39 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: I am going to try to get to at least 40 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,639 Speaker 1: one of every flavor of questions that you guys had, 41 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 1: And honestly, most of what you guys asked is about me. 42 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: There were relatively few questions about particular weird Little guys, 43 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:56,119 Speaker 1: or the actual content of the show, the overwhelming majority 44 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: of the questions, or about the nitty gritty details of 45 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: how I make the show, about my life and my 46 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: process and what I'm doing when I'm not writing the 47 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: words you hear me saying softly into your headphones every week. 48 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 1: I think part of that is just a built in 49 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: selection bias, Right. The kind of listener is going to 50 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,640 Speaker 1: bother to send in a question to a podcast isn't 51 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: necessarily representative of the overall audience, and those listeners are 52 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: probably more likely to be invested in knowing what goes 53 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: on behind the scenes. But as I was sifting through 54 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 1: those questions, I did spend some time ruminating on the 55 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: nature of the parasocial relationship that one sided relationship formed 56 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: in the mind of someone who consumes a piece of 57 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: mass media. You know, that feeling of friendship and emotional 58 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: intimacy you feel for someone you've never actually met. It's 59 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 1: not necessarily a bad thing. I'm not calling any of 60 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: you out. You're okay. It's perfectly normal to feel some 61 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: level of connection to the people that you see or 62 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: hear on a regular basis. I think the term has 63 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: a pretty nasty connotation because usually by the time you're 64 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:21,040 Speaker 1: talking about someone's parasocial relationship, it has gotten weird. Like 65 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,039 Speaker 1: John Hinckley Junior shooting Ronald Reagan because he was in 66 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 1: love with Jodie Foster levels of weird, you know. But 67 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:31,799 Speaker 1: I don't think there's anyone with access to the Internet 68 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: who doesn't have some low level emotional connection to someone 69 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: they've never met. If you've ever been sad because a 70 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 1: dog you follow on Instagram died, buddy, I got news 71 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: for you. You were in a parasocial relationship with a dog. 72 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: So as long as you're not neglecting your real life 73 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,919 Speaker 1: relationships in favor of spending time online obsessing over some 74 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,160 Speaker 1: stranger who's videos you like to watch, or letting that 75 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: online strain impact the way you live your life, and 76 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: you're not slipping into a delusion that they love you back, 77 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:11,680 Speaker 1: you're probably fine. The term was coined in the nineteen 78 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: fifties by a pair of sociologists who are exploring the 79 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: ways audiences form these relationships with TV and radio personalities, 80 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: and in the decades since the ubiquity of mass media 81 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: and the rise of online influencers, many of whom are 82 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:31,560 Speaker 1: intentionally cultivating that sense of intimacy with the audience. It's 83 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: only intensified the kinds of parasocial connections people are experiencing, 84 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 1: and with a podcast, it really is kind of like 85 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:44,320 Speaker 1: having a little friend in your ear. Right. We're walking 86 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,120 Speaker 1: around together and I'm telling you a story. It's just 87 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: someone chatting away with you while you're doing your dishes 88 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: or commuting to work. I've been making my living writing 89 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: for an online audience for almost a decade now, so 90 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 1: it's an interesting phenomenon that very much plays a role 91 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:06,280 Speaker 1: in my life. So I think it's fascinating. But that's 92 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,279 Speaker 1: not what we're here to talk about today. You know, 93 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: I can't resist reading a couple of journal articles for 94 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,000 Speaker 1: no reason, though, so I'll put a link in the 95 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: show notes to that original nineteen fifty six article that 96 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: invented the term, as well as a twenty nineteen university 97 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:26,159 Speaker 1: thesis about parasociality specifically in podcasting that I thought was interesting. 98 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:28,160 Speaker 1: So those will be there if you want to read 99 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: more about it. But as far as what we're talking 100 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: about here, I don't mind if you think of me 101 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: as the friend in your ear for an hour a week. 102 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 1: It's kind of nice, but like I say at the 103 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: end of every episode, just don't post anything that's going 104 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: to make you one of my weird little guys. Right, 105 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: And for the listener who asked if that sign off 106 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:55,680 Speaker 1: is a direct response to something someone already did, No, 107 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:00,279 Speaker 1: it's just a precaution. I've been online long enough to 108 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 1: have been on the weird end of a parasocial bond. 109 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,360 Speaker 1: But the listeners of this show have been pretty normal 110 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:13,040 Speaker 1: little guys so far, and I appreciate that about you. All. 111 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: All that to say, I did notice that trend in 112 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: the questions, but I'm happy to answer your healthy, boundary 113 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: respecting questions about the little voice in your ear. Just 114 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: don't get any weird ideas. Okay, all right, rapid fire, 115 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 1: let's knock out some of those questions about me. My docxins, 116 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: Buck and Otto are doing great. They turned nine in 117 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: July and they're still going strong. Otto actually just recently 118 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: celebrated his fourth anniversary as the dog who Conquered Death. 119 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: Back in twenty twenty one, he suffered a ruptured disc 120 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: in his spine, which is an unfortunate problem many docsins have, 121 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: and he was diagnosed with stage four intervertebral disease. There 122 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: was no precipitating injury. His brother doesn't have this problems. 123 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: It's just bad luck. And back when it happened, we 124 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: weren't sure he would survive his emergency surgery, and when 125 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:17,080 Speaker 1: he did, they told us he would never walk again. 126 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:20,760 Speaker 1: But after a few weeks of lying on a blanket 127 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: wearing a diaper, he got bored of being paralyzed and 128 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: he just stood up. So we celebrated the anniversary this 129 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: year by taking him to the beach so he could 130 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: run a million miles an hour in the sand. He's 131 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: doing great. Can you see a picture of my office? 132 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 1: Absolutely not, no, no, but only because it's disgusting. I 133 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 1: dumped every piece of clothing I own onto the floor 134 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,840 Speaker 1: about two years ago because I was about to start 135 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:55,679 Speaker 1: sorting through it so I could get rid of the 136 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:59,120 Speaker 1: stuff I don't wear anymore. But I never got to 137 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: the second step up. So my office has had a 138 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 1: foot deep pile of laundry that covers half the room, 139 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: and I've just been stepping over it for two entire years. 140 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: I am just days away from hanging those curtains I 141 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:16,080 Speaker 1: bought a year ago because I thought that would be 142 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 1: good for sound dampening or whatever. But at this point 143 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: I think the laundry pile is actually an integral part 144 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 1: of the acoustic environment of the show. I do have 145 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: a desk, but I do not sit at it because 146 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,480 Speaker 1: it has covered an old male. I write and record 147 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: the entire show in an Ikea chair I found next 148 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:39,679 Speaker 1: to someone's trash can, and one of the bulbs in 149 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 1: the overhead light has been burnt out since spring. I 150 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: think I just closed the door to my podcasting cave. 151 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: When people come over, no one is allowed to see it. 152 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: I think this question might have something to do with 153 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 1: the fact that Ed Zitron, the host of Better Offline, 154 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:03,559 Speaker 1: has posted pictures of the like incredible professional greed podcasting 155 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 1: studio he built inside of his home. I don't have that. 156 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,199 Speaker 1: I don't have what Ed has. That's phenomenal for him, 157 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 1: that's so weird. I love that for him. I have 158 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 1: an Ikea chair that I found on the curb. What 159 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,040 Speaker 1: is my go to snack and drink when I'm working 160 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:28,600 Speaker 1: on the show. Hmm, another disappointing answer. I fear the 161 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: windowsill next to my trash chair has at least four 162 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: cans of seltzer on it at all times, the cans 163 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:40,559 Speaker 1: are at varying levels of emptiness and flatness. Right now, 164 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,680 Speaker 1: there are four cans. None of them are the same 165 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: brand somehow, and one of them has definitely been open 166 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: since early November. I am going to finish it. I'm 167 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: not responsible for the food situation, thank god. My husband 168 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: usually tiptoes in to deliver these beautiful little snack plates 169 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 1: with fruit and cheese, and he's done pretty much all 170 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 1: of the cooking around here ever since the show launched, 171 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 1: and I became a round the clock computer gremlin in 172 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:16,199 Speaker 1: my podcasting cave, and that brings us to my husband. 173 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 1: Several of you asked about him. He's great. If you're 174 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:22,960 Speaker 1: a longtime listener, you know that I took some time 175 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:25,880 Speaker 1: off in May to get married and go on a honeymoon. 176 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 1: It was phenomenal. We went to Puerto Rico and I 177 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:35,080 Speaker 1: only got a little sunburned this time. I was careful 178 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:38,240 Speaker 1: because last year when we went to visit his family 179 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:42,199 Speaker 1: down there, I found out that some white people can 180 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 1: unlock a special, secret level of sunburn that makes you 181 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 1: very physically ill. So honestly, shout out to the Caribbean 182 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,960 Speaker 1: for developing a natural defense against the gringo. I have 183 00:11:56,040 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: no choice but to respect that for the moment part. 184 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:02,960 Speaker 1: When you hear a voice on the show that isn't mine, 185 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:08,120 Speaker 1: it's actual archival audio. I go to a lot of 186 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: trouble to make that true, so it's usually a real 187 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: recording of the weird little guy we're talking about. When 188 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 1: there is no audio of the quote that I want 189 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:21,040 Speaker 1: read in a voice that isn't mine, though, it's almost 190 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:25,719 Speaker 1: always either my husband or the show's editor, Rory. There 191 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: was an episode last year early this year, early twenty 192 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,280 Speaker 1: twenty five that had some quotes from the President, and 193 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:37,520 Speaker 1: Rory did a phenomenal Trump impression that made some of 194 00:12:37,559 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: you very mad. But what you may not have realized 195 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: is that when my husband is doing a voice, it's 196 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: also a carefully studied impression, right, like you recognize the 197 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:52,960 Speaker 1: Trump impression, but when he does some obscure white supremacist 198 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:56,199 Speaker 1: no one's ever heard of, you don't realize that he's 199 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:02,079 Speaker 1: actually doing an amazing impression. Weirdly good at them, and 200 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:05,080 Speaker 1: he is very excited for the day that he gets 201 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 1: to show off his upsettingly accurate impressions of William Luther 202 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:16,080 Speaker 1: Pierce and Jared Taylor just please don't ask him to 203 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: do his Alex Jones. He's really good at it and 204 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 1: I hate it. Okay. Someone asked what is my favorite dinosaur? 205 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 1: I don't have one, but I wanted to have a 206 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,760 Speaker 1: cool answer to this question, so I texted my brother 207 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: to ask what a cool dinosaur would be to say, 208 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,319 Speaker 1: is my favorite? Because he knows a lot about dinosaurs, 209 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:42,120 Speaker 1: and he gave me some good answers, you know, some 210 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: specific vibes that I could evoke with different choices. We're 211 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: very well thought out. But I realized it would be 212 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: dishonest to claim that dino knowledge as my own, so 213 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:56,559 Speaker 1: I am going to cheat and say my favorite dinosaur 214 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:03,679 Speaker 1: is that bird that Bitjyra Bolsnaro years ago. Birds are dinosaurs, 215 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:07,400 Speaker 1: and that bird, in particular, the one that bit Bolsnorow 216 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 1: really hard, is my favorite. I think it was a raya. 217 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:15,719 Speaker 1: It's like a small emu. It's not an emo. It's 218 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:17,599 Speaker 1: like a small guy that looks like an emu. I 219 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: think it was a raya. Anyway, he's my favorite. Quite 220 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,760 Speaker 1: a few of you submitted questions related to my physical 221 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:30,400 Speaker 1: safety and my mental well being, which is really sweet 222 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:35,200 Speaker 1: of you. I'm fine. I mean to the extent that 223 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: any of us are fine. Right, I live in the 224 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 1: United States. I could die in a mass shooting at 225 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 1: the grocery store tomorrow. As far as the possibility of 226 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 1: physical violence goes, Yeah, I guess I've probably got a 227 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 1: few more guys actively plotting my death specifically than the 228 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:00,960 Speaker 1: average person might. But they've it's mostly been keeping it 229 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 1: themselves lately, and I really appreciate that. There was an 230 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:09,120 Speaker 1: incident earlier this year where a weird little guy was 231 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: trying to like big dog me in a courtroom. He 232 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: sort of sidled up to me and said something he 233 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 1: probably thought about for an hour on the car ride there, 234 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 1: and that he hoped would be really startling and intimidating 235 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 1: to me. But at this point in my life, there's 236 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: nothing scary to me about a Nazi in poorly fitted 237 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 1: dress pants. I'm not going to pretend I'm bulletproof. I'm 238 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: not so naive that I think no harm can come 239 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:39,240 Speaker 1: to me. I know what these guys are capable of 240 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:42,040 Speaker 1: the kinds of things they want to do, the kinds 241 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: of things they talk about doing, the kinds of things 242 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: some of them have done. And I'll still be writing 243 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:49,720 Speaker 1: about it when one of them goes and does another 244 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:54,240 Speaker 1: unspeakable thing. I know that it's foolish to say that 245 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: they're all talk, but I also know a lot of 246 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 1: them are. A lot of them are a lot smaller 247 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:08,520 Speaker 1: in person. And I don't mean physically. I'm not talking 248 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:10,840 Speaker 1: about getting into a physical fight. I'm five feet tall 249 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: with my shoes on. But what I'm saying is there 250 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: were little guys. That's why the show's called that they're 251 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: so small in person. That's the whole point. They talk 252 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:27,120 Speaker 1: big when it's online or at a rally with high energy, 253 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:30,359 Speaker 1: or when they're with their friends, but in my experience, 254 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:34,360 Speaker 1: most of them get stage fright if they actually get 255 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:36,560 Speaker 1: the chance to say that shit out loud in a 256 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 1: quiet room. Back in twenty twenty three, I actually met 257 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: a guy who'd had some big talk about me online. 258 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,640 Speaker 1: I may have told the story before, forgive me, but 259 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 1: he was in town because he'd been charged with a crime, 260 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,200 Speaker 1: and that was something that really solidified for him that 261 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 1: being involved in the movement was a stupid way to 262 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:05,480 Speaker 1: spend his life. He's probably still not not a white supremacist, 263 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:09,159 Speaker 1: you know. I'm not saying he's reformed now, but he 264 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:12,120 Speaker 1: was disengaging from active involvement in the movement, and that's 265 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: the best you can hope for sometimes. So by the 266 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:18,879 Speaker 1: time we're standing there alone on the steps of the courthouse, 267 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 1: it had been a couple of years since he was 268 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 1: on a Nazi podcast talking with his Nazi friends about 269 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: the ways they would be interested in murdering me if 270 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: the opportunity presented itself. He look, I'm not gonna lie 271 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:35,159 Speaker 1: to you. When I heard that the first time, hunched 272 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:40,879 Speaker 1: over my computer alone late at night. Yeah, obviously it 273 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:45,080 Speaker 1: scared me a little bit, right. It was very graphic, 274 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:49,560 Speaker 1: and I didn't know exactly who those men were or 275 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 1: where they were. I didn't know if they had the 276 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:56,959 Speaker 1: means to do the things they were talking about. So 277 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 1: I found out and that made it easier. And when 278 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:05,160 Speaker 1: I finally met him in person, I wasn't afraid of him. 279 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:11,879 Speaker 1: He seemed maybe a little bit afraid of me. It 280 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: was just a weird little guy, kind of a sad one. 281 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:35,440 Speaker 1: Another question people ask a lot, is is it mentally 282 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:40,480 Speaker 1: destructive to do this kind of research. That's a fair question, 283 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: and the answer changes depending on when you ask me. 284 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:51,440 Speaker 1: I think, of course, it's horrible, right I'm a human being. 285 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,880 Speaker 1: Of course, it makes me sick to read about child 286 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 1: sexual exploitation and hate crimes and mass murder, domestic violence 287 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 1: and genocide, war crimes and all the other things the 288 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:06,159 Speaker 1: guys I write about are getting up to. It's not 289 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:10,160 Speaker 1: light reading. To spend all weeks sifting through gore forums 290 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:12,399 Speaker 1: trying to figure out who a mass shooter was chatting 291 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:17,440 Speaker 1: with online and accidentally seeing so many pictures of dead children. 292 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 1: It's not fun to spend days on nazi forums trying 293 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: to reconstruct the social media history of a man who 294 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,359 Speaker 1: killed his wife. I'm not going to tell you that 295 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:32,440 Speaker 1: feels good, obviously. I think you know that, and it's 296 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:34,919 Speaker 1: not something I would recommend that someone else do. I 297 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,679 Speaker 1: would be concerned if someone I cared about was doing that. 298 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 1: But I'm fine. You know. I'm not bragging about some 299 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:47,960 Speaker 1: kind of superior coping mechanism. I'm not better than you 300 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 1: or stronger than you. I don't even have any constructive 301 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:54,480 Speaker 1: advice for you if this is something you're struggling with. 302 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: I don't know how to advise anyone else who's dealing 303 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:03,800 Speaker 1: with vicarious trum of this kind of research. And that's 304 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:07,240 Speaker 1: why I hate this question. I mean no offense. It 305 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: makes sense that you would ask it. I just hate 306 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: that I don't have a good answer for you. I 307 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:14,920 Speaker 1: don't have any advice for you. I don't know why 308 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:16,919 Speaker 1: it works, and I don't want you to think I'm 309 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: a sociopath when I tell you that I actually don't 310 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: struggle with this that much. I can turn it off. 311 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,400 Speaker 1: But that's not to say I don't feel it. I'm 312 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,880 Speaker 1: not a robot, I'm not a monster. I feel it, 313 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:37,959 Speaker 1: and I feel it deeply when I'm allowing myself to 314 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 1: be in it. There are episodes where there is no 315 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:44,879 Speaker 1: clean take, and there's no way around the fact that 316 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:50,400 Speaker 1: I am audibly crying in the final edit, and that's okay, 317 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:54,120 Speaker 1: but I already know that the horrors are out there. 318 00:20:55,280 --> 00:21:00,280 Speaker 1: I can't go back to not knowing about this, So 319 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 1: for me, there's some comfort in knowing that I can 320 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 1: piece it together. I can try to understand it and 321 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 1: hopefully help you understand it. You know, I could sit 322 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:17,120 Speaker 1: here and be scared in the dark, or I can 323 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:21,639 Speaker 1: try to shine a light into that scary darkness. It's 324 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 1: still scary, but at least I have something to do. 325 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:31,160 Speaker 1: Like I said, I get asked this question every time 326 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: I'm in a position to be asked a question. I've 327 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:37,680 Speaker 1: been asked this question a thousand times, and I don't 328 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:41,080 Speaker 1: have a good answer for it, but I always land 329 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 1: more or less right here. It's ugly, and it's hard, 330 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 1: and I see things that I wish I hadn't seen, 331 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:54,400 Speaker 1: but I think it's important to do anyway, and that 332 00:21:54,480 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 1: feeling of purpose makes it a little easier. Okay, enough 333 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:05,959 Speaker 1: of that. By far, the most common type of question 334 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:10,040 Speaker 1: was a sort of open ended one about how the 335 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:13,479 Speaker 1: sausage gets made, how do I pick a guy, how 336 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 1: do I decide what the story is, how do I 337 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:17,679 Speaker 1: find out everything there is to know about him? And 338 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:21,359 Speaker 1: most importantly, how do I drag myself back to the 339 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: point of the story when it's so much more fun 340 00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 1: to find out what's going on with this strange little 341 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:28,800 Speaker 1: side character. I found halfway down a tangent about something 342 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:30,920 Speaker 1: that's barely even connected to the story. I was trying 343 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:33,479 Speaker 1: to tell you. A lot of you asked about that 344 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:36,640 Speaker 1: part of the process in particular, and I love that. 345 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,800 Speaker 1: Like I said, when I was sorting these questions into categories, 346 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:45,520 Speaker 1: I was a little puzzled by the scarcity of questions 347 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 1: that were about some specific story. You guys, didn't really 348 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,359 Speaker 1: ask me for more information about a story I already 349 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:56,800 Speaker 1: told you. You asked me really open ended questions about 350 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:01,800 Speaker 1: what kinds of things I haven't told you. And my 351 00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:05,920 Speaker 1: initial reaction to that was, like, I said, a reflection 352 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: on the nature of parasociality, right, Like why are those 353 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: the things you want to know? But I think there's 354 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:18,000 Speaker 1: a more fun explanation for this. You trust the process. 355 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 1: You believe me when I tell you that I was 356 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:24,000 Speaker 1: thorough in pursuing the interesting leads in the story I 357 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,680 Speaker 1: did tell, and you liked it enough that you want 358 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,720 Speaker 1: to know what cool stuff I couldn't cram into the episode. 359 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,440 Speaker 1: Maybe I'm making that up, but if that is what's 360 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:39,879 Speaker 1: going on, I like that. I know the show can 361 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:43,160 Speaker 1: be a little tricky to follow sometimes because the side 362 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:46,960 Speaker 1: quests are longer than the main journey. So I really 363 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,159 Speaker 1: like knowing that at least some of you love that 364 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:52,679 Speaker 1: as much as I do. I mean, look, if you 365 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 1: don't like it, if you just want dry facts in 366 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:56,879 Speaker 1: chronological order, I don't know what to tell you. I 367 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:00,160 Speaker 1: don't know why you're still here. I would tell you 368 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: you should just read a Wikipedia article or something. But 369 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,359 Speaker 1: most of the stories I'm trying to tell don't really 370 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:10,400 Speaker 1: exist anywhere else in that sort of format. We're going 371 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:15,600 Speaker 1: on an adventure together. But I do want to answer 372 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,719 Speaker 1: one question I did get that was a factual question 373 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:24,080 Speaker 1: about a recent episode. Someone on the Reddit posted this 374 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:28,920 Speaker 1: question a few weeks ago. They wrote, with the Frank 375 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:32,320 Speaker 1: Smith mini series wrapping up, I assumed you would revisit 376 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:36,280 Speaker 1: the fact that Rockwell shouted the Holy Father after a 377 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 1: previous attempt on his life. According to someone with him, 378 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:45,879 Speaker 1: is there anything more to investigate there? Okay, the answer 379 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 1: is we'll never know. I threw everything I had at 380 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:56,520 Speaker 1: this and I do have my own theory. But I 381 00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:00,879 Speaker 1: went digging for anything concrete to try to ulster that theory, 382 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:05,400 Speaker 1: and it was nothing but fistfuls of sand, just grabbing 383 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:09,040 Speaker 1: an innuendo and possibility and watching it slip through my fingers. 384 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,920 Speaker 1: To refresh your memory, that listener is asking about something 385 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,639 Speaker 1: that came up in the first episode about Frank Smith, 386 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:21,480 Speaker 1: the episode from October sixteenth. Frank Smith was a member 387 00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 1: of the American Nazi Party and he had extensive ties 388 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:29,400 Speaker 1: to organized crime in New England that whole arc from 389 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:32,720 Speaker 1: the episodes about John Patler, the man who assassinated George 390 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 1: Lincoln Rockwell, through the end of the Frank Smith arc 391 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:40,720 Speaker 1: was nine full length episodes and one minisode. It was 392 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:44,359 Speaker 1: over fifty thousand scripted words, and it took two months. 393 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:47,760 Speaker 1: So I won't retell the whole story here. If you're 394 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:51,520 Speaker 1: listening to me Naval Gaze like this, you surely listen 395 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:55,879 Speaker 1: to those episodes, But just to refresh some of the details. 396 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:00,639 Speaker 1: Remember from the John Patler episodes, he murdered George Lincoln 397 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:04,399 Speaker 1: Rockwell in August of nineteen sixty seven, and he was 398 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,200 Speaker 1: convicted of that murder a trial a few months later. 399 00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:13,199 Speaker 1: But two months before the murder, so in June of 400 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty seven, Rockwell survived another attempt on his life. 401 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:24,440 Speaker 1: Two months before he died, someone shot at him and missed. 402 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:29,600 Speaker 1: And this prior incident doesn't get a lot of ink 403 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 1: in the biographies of Rockwell that I read, which seems 404 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: kind of odd to me. In most accounts, it sort 405 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:43,439 Speaker 1: of vaguely implied that the most likely explanation is that 406 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:47,040 Speaker 1: the guy who actually shot and killed him was also 407 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: the guy who tried and failed to shoot him. The 408 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:56,040 Speaker 1: first time. That makes total sense, right, And as far 409 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,000 Speaker 1: as the lack of investigation into that in the biographies, 410 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:03,639 Speaker 1: I guess the fact that he actually got murdered really 411 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: overshadows anything else that happened to him that summer. But 412 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:13,040 Speaker 1: you know, I'm never satisfied. So I found and read 413 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:18,199 Speaker 1: the trial transcript. Patler appealed his conviction several times, so 414 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:21,719 Speaker 1: the entire trial transcript was reproduced in the appellate record, 415 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 1: and it's over a thousand pages. And here's the thing. 416 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 1: John Patler had a really solid alibi the day someone 417 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:37,480 Speaker 1: shot at George Lincoln Rockwell and missed. There's conspiracy theories 418 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:40,680 Speaker 1: about whether he actually killed Rockwell. I think he did. 419 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:42,920 Speaker 1: The evidence is pretty good that he actually did shoot 420 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:47,679 Speaker 1: him in August, but the evidence just isn't there to 421 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:50,840 Speaker 1: assert that he was the guy who tried the first time. 422 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 1: And the college student who was in the car with 423 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:57,840 Speaker 1: Rockwell when this happened in June told the authorities that 424 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:03,119 Speaker 1: as the bullet whizzed by them, Rockwell shouted something. He 425 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:09,879 Speaker 1: said the Holy Father. That boy doesn't have any reason 426 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:13,600 Speaker 1: to lie, at least none that seemed obvious to me. Right, 427 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:16,639 Speaker 1: And if you remember those episodes. A lot of the 428 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:20,240 Speaker 1: people in this story had very obvious reasons to lie. 429 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 1: This kid didn't, and he didn't know that what he 430 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:30,399 Speaker 1: heard Rockwell say wasn't just an exclamation. It was a name. 431 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:34,359 Speaker 1: It was the nickname that Rockwell had given Frank Smith, 432 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,800 Speaker 1: was a joke about the bullet holes in his chest 433 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:42,040 Speaker 1: from a botched mob hit in nineteen sixty five. So 434 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 1: in that first episode about Frank, I sort of teased 435 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:49,800 Speaker 1: the possibility that it was Frank who tried to shoot 436 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:53,880 Speaker 1: Rockwell in June of nineteen sixty seven. But I never 437 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:56,680 Speaker 1: came back to that. I just sort of left that hanging. 438 00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 1: And that's what this listener is asking about so intriguing. 439 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:07,520 Speaker 1: But there is absolutely fucking nothing there. There's nothing. It's bizarre. 440 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 1: I couldn't find any trace anywhere of anyone ever asking 441 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:18,160 Speaker 1: this question. What could it possibly mean that when Rockwell 442 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:22,959 Speaker 1: saw someone shooting at him, he yelled Frank's nickname. No 443 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 1: one's ever asked that. I can't find anything about it. 444 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:29,920 Speaker 1: There's no record of anyone raising the possibility that maybe 445 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:33,440 Speaker 1: Frank was there, that maybe the mafia had their own 446 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:38,160 Speaker 1: beef with Rockwell. Like I said, most material about the 447 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:42,400 Speaker 1: last few months of Rockwell's life just sort of breezes 448 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: past this kind of serious question who else wanted him dead? 449 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,600 Speaker 1: Most of the competing theories about his actual death center 450 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:58,680 Speaker 1: around the discord within the American Nazi Party. I won't 451 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:00,600 Speaker 1: recover all of this, it's in the upp but there 452 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:03,920 Speaker 1: were factions and rivalries and disagreements about the direction of 453 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:07,440 Speaker 1: the Nazi Party and who should lead them, And most 454 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 1: of the information we have about those internal divisions comes 455 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:15,920 Speaker 1: from the people involved in them. So the people pointing 456 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,080 Speaker 1: fingers at each other within the party all have their 457 00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:24,080 Speaker 1: own shit to hide. In the accounts produced in biographies 458 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:28,080 Speaker 1: of Rockwell, the authors spoke to those party members, including 459 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: people like Mantius Cole, the man who took over after 460 00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:35,600 Speaker 1: Rockwell died, and different biographers of Rockwell deal with these 461 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:40,080 Speaker 1: accounts with varying levels of credulity and sometimes point out 462 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:44,120 Speaker 1: that perhaps they have various motivations to tell versions of 463 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:48,960 Speaker 1: the truth, but there's nothing else ever offered, and the 464 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 1: accounts that they gave those biographers more or less match 465 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:54,840 Speaker 1: the kinds of testimony that was offered by American Nazi 466 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:59,280 Speaker 1: Party members at John Paller's trial and decades later, William 467 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:01,680 Speaker 1: Mouth their peers, gave his version of events to his 468 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:06,959 Speaker 1: own biographer. And all of these men have very particular 469 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:11,000 Speaker 1: motives for the versions of the truth that they're holding 470 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:16,680 Speaker 1: on to, and they're all dead now. So I spent 471 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: probably fully one hundred hours agonizing over the blurry, heavily 472 00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:27,840 Speaker 1: redacted pages of the FBI file for Raymond Patriarca, the 473 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:32,640 Speaker 1: head of the New England Mafia, and there's just enough 474 00:31:32,760 --> 00:31:37,880 Speaker 1: there to convince me that there's more there that I 475 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 1: don't have all the information about the extent to which 476 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:46,560 Speaker 1: the mafia was involved with the American Nazi Party. I mean, sure, 477 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,600 Speaker 1: we have memos about the times Frank Smith was reporting 478 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:55,600 Speaker 1: back to Patriarcha about his relationship with Rockwell, but I 479 00:31:55,600 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 1: think there was more, and I can't prove it. I 480 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:03,120 Speaker 1: don't like to tell you stuff I can't prove. I've 481 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:05,520 Speaker 1: worked too hard to earn your trust. I don't want 482 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:08,200 Speaker 1: to make stuff up and go tin foil hat on 483 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 1: you now. But you did ask, and I am dying 484 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: to speculate wildly. So here's my disclaimer. This does not 485 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:24,959 Speaker 1: have my usual stamp of certainty on it. I'm not 486 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:28,280 Speaker 1: stating this is fact. I can't support this with evidence. 487 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:34,200 Speaker 1: I'm going rogue. Sometimes it is fun to believe something 488 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:39,400 Speaker 1: a little crazy as a treat. So my conspiracy treat 489 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:43,400 Speaker 1: for myself in this story is that I choose to 490 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:46,000 Speaker 1: believe the mafia tried to have the head of the 491 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:49,800 Speaker 1: American Nazi Party killed, but they sent a half blind 492 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:54,720 Speaker 1: hit man to do it and he missed. Remember, Frank 493 00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:58,240 Speaker 1: had one glass eye for reasons I never discovered, and 494 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:00,960 Speaker 1: he almost lost the other when the mafia tried to 495 00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: have him killed in nineteen sixty five, so he does 496 00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:06,240 Speaker 1: not see well. And when he got into that shootout 497 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:09,840 Speaker 1: with Christopher Vidnyevitch in nineteen sixty eight, they fired at 498 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:13,000 Speaker 1: each other for half an hour and Frank never hit shit. 499 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:21,720 Speaker 1: Here's the thing. George Lincoln Rockwell was a snitch famously, 500 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 1: so he didn't even really try to hide it. He 501 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:28,520 Speaker 1: would tell you himself that he sometimes wrote letters to 502 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:31,440 Speaker 1: the FBI to make them aware of people in the 503 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:36,400 Speaker 1: movement whose activities he disapproved of. I found actual copies 504 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:39,920 Speaker 1: of letters he wrote to Jay Edgar Hoover himself, listing 505 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,280 Speaker 1: former members of his own party that he thought the 506 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:49,440 Speaker 1: Bureau should investigate. This is a more egregious example than 507 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:53,840 Speaker 1: I usually get. But this behavior is not actually uncommon. 508 00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:56,480 Speaker 1: There are a lot of guys in the movement who 509 00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:00,720 Speaker 1: are trying to inform on their rivals. I'm not even 510 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:05,280 Speaker 1: talking about paid, recruited informants. The movement's full of those two. 511 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:10,719 Speaker 1: I'm talking about guys who are just willingly freelance snitching 512 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:13,799 Speaker 1: because they think they can leverage the force of the 513 00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:16,799 Speaker 1: government to try to take out a guy they don't like. 514 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:21,040 Speaker 1: There's a fair amount of that going on to this day. 515 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:25,200 Speaker 1: But Rockwell is the absolute king of writing letters to 516 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:29,120 Speaker 1: the FBI to try to maneuver around within the movement. 517 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:34,960 Speaker 1: So we know that he is doing that, and it 518 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:38,560 Speaker 1: turns out the people he was dealing with did too, 519 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:43,760 Speaker 1: because buried about four seven hundred and sixty three pages 520 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:48,360 Speaker 1: into Raymond Patriarca's seventy nine hundred page FBI file is 521 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:51,520 Speaker 1: a memo about a conversation Frank Smith had with the 522 00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:56,239 Speaker 1: mafia boss in March of nineteen sixty five. He's trying 523 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,760 Speaker 1: to convince Patriarca that he needs to get into business 524 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:02,120 Speaker 1: with the Nazi Party. This was around the time Rockwell 525 00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:04,240 Speaker 1: decided he was going to run for governor of Virginia, 526 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:07,840 Speaker 1: and he had promised the mafia control of gambling and 527 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 1: loan sharking in the Naufolk area if he won. And 528 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:14,200 Speaker 1: Frank wanted to set up a fake Nazi church on 529 00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:16,399 Speaker 1: his land in Maine so he could funnel money from 530 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:19,520 Speaker 1: the mafia into the Nazi Party in a way that 531 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:22,719 Speaker 1: would protect everyone involved. Right. That was all in the 532 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:27,040 Speaker 1: episodes about Frank and he told Patriarcha at that meeting 533 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:29,680 Speaker 1: in March that if they were going to do this, 534 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:35,160 Speaker 1: they needed to be careful. Frank Smith was recorded on 535 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:39,719 Speaker 1: an FBI wiretap saying that Rockwell had warned him that 536 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:42,560 Speaker 1: he wouldn't hesitate to call the FBI if he found 537 00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:47,040 Speaker 1: out there was criminal activity going on. So Frank Smith 538 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 1: told Raymond Patriarca that they would need to be careful 539 00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:55,240 Speaker 1: not to reveal the extent of their illegal enterprise to Rockwell. 540 00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:00,920 Speaker 1: Two years later, someone took a shot at Rockwell and 541 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:04,719 Speaker 1: they missed. One of the other things I do when 542 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:08,040 Speaker 1: I'm researching an episode is I make a timeline. Just 543 00:36:08,239 --> 00:36:10,920 Speaker 1: anytime I have a date, I put it in a timeline. 544 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:12,400 Speaker 1: I don't know if all these things are going to 545 00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:14,560 Speaker 1: be relevant, but they all go in just a bulleted 546 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:19,879 Speaker 1: list in chronological order, And wouldn't you know, looking back 547 00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:23,960 Speaker 1: at that timeline, that failed hit on George Lincoln Rockwell 548 00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:30,400 Speaker 1: was a couple days after the FBI arrested Raymond Patriarca. 549 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:35,960 Speaker 1: So sure, it makes good narrative sense to assume that 550 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:40,879 Speaker 1: John Patler probably tried to kill Rockwell twice, But most 551 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:44,560 Speaker 1: stories about June of nineteen sixty seven don't tell you 552 00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:48,960 Speaker 1: that Rockwell had threatened to snitch on the mafia and 553 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:53,360 Speaker 1: that bullet just missed him the week a mob boss 554 00:36:53,360 --> 00:37:00,880 Speaker 1: got indicted. We'll never know, right, I mean, this version 555 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:03,000 Speaker 1: of the story has just as many holes as any 556 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:06,799 Speaker 1: of the others. There's no proving it either way. And 557 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:10,240 Speaker 1: I could tell you the same story with a different inflection, 558 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:13,120 Speaker 1: and we'd all leave just as convinced that some other 559 00:37:13,239 --> 00:37:17,400 Speaker 1: version of it was just as true. I do try 560 00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:20,759 Speaker 1: to be responsible with the facts, though, even when it's 561 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:25,160 Speaker 1: no fun. But you have to admit it's kind of 562 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:28,920 Speaker 1: fun to think about it this way, isn't it. I 563 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:32,360 Speaker 1: will say one last word on this subject. If you 564 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:35,719 Speaker 1: are the anonymous buyer who purchased a collection of George 565 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:40,600 Speaker 1: Lincoln Rockwell's personal correspondence, specifically a series of letters he 566 00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:43,880 Speaker 1: exchanged with a Massachusetts man named George Parker in nineteen 567 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:48,560 Speaker 1: sixty five. I will pay good money just to look 568 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,759 Speaker 1: at a photocopy of those letters. I don't know who 569 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:54,480 Speaker 1: bought them. There were two separate listings, so there's two 570 00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:58,359 Speaker 1: sets of these letters. God, I would love to see 571 00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:02,520 Speaker 1: them because the listing lies that they contain information about 572 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:07,040 Speaker 1: Rockwell's relationship with the mafia, and that someone in Massachusetts, 573 00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:12,480 Speaker 1: potentially this George Parker character, is leaking information to him 574 00:38:12,640 --> 00:38:18,120 Speaker 1: about a state investigation into that relationship. I can't find 575 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:20,440 Speaker 1: anything about this in the FBI files. I think it 576 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:23,600 Speaker 1: may have been a criminal investigation in the state of Massachusetts, 577 00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:28,400 Speaker 1: but I need the letters. There's more to this story, 578 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:32,439 Speaker 1: I'm sure, but I've exhausted my ability to track it down. 579 00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:36,279 Speaker 1: This one's staying in my pile of things I'll come 580 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:56,080 Speaker 1: back to. I'm not done in trying to figure this out. Okay, 581 00:38:57,120 --> 00:38:59,640 Speaker 1: on the subject of things I have or have not 582 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:03,480 Speaker 1: talked about on the show, let's go rapid fire through 583 00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:06,319 Speaker 1: some of the things you all want to hear more about. 584 00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:09,360 Speaker 1: Someone asked if I planned to cover any of the 585 00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:14,560 Speaker 1: weird little guys who participated in the January sixth insurrection. Yes, 586 00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:18,840 Speaker 1: there are two episodes that touch on that already. There 587 00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:21,880 Speaker 1: was a February sixth, twenty twenty five episode called a 588 00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:25,560 Speaker 1: Short Lived Pardon, followed by a brief update to that 589 00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:29,440 Speaker 1: same story a month later on March sixth. That episode 590 00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:32,319 Speaker 1: was about Matthew Huddle, the man who died after being 591 00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:35,360 Speaker 1: shot by police during a traffic stop just a week 592 00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:38,360 Speaker 1: after receiving his federal pardon for entering the Capitol on 593 00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:43,440 Speaker 1: January sixth. And before that, there was the October seventeen, 594 00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:47,960 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four episode called Burning Hate. That one was 595 00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:50,799 Speaker 1: about Tyler Diykes, a young man who marched here in 596 00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:53,320 Speaker 1: Charlottesville at the Unite the Right rally in twenty seventeen, 597 00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:56,839 Speaker 1: and he entered the Capitol on January sixth, twenty twenty one. 598 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:00,400 Speaker 1: He did jail time for both, which is toscussed in 599 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:03,960 Speaker 1: the episode. But what is not discussed in that episode 600 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,719 Speaker 1: but is coming up in next week's roundup is his 601 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:12,480 Speaker 1: recent announcement that he is running for Congress. And that's 602 00:40:12,600 --> 00:40:15,920 Speaker 1: kind of why I foresee more episodes in the future 603 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:19,880 Speaker 1: about January sixth, guys, because now that they're all pardoned, 604 00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:23,879 Speaker 1: we are unfortunately seeing a lot of them resurface. Right 605 00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:25,719 Speaker 1: They're either trying to get into media, they're trying to 606 00:40:25,719 --> 00:40:28,160 Speaker 1: get into politics. Some of them seem to be trying 607 00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:31,839 Speaker 1: to get back into prison. So I'm sure we will 608 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:36,840 Speaker 1: wind up back with some of those guys eventually. That 609 00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:39,279 Speaker 1: same listener asked if I plan to cover any weird 610 00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:41,920 Speaker 1: little guys who happen to be women, and the answer 611 00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:45,000 Speaker 1: to that is also yes, but I don't know when. 612 00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:48,920 Speaker 1: The South Africa episodes that ran from the end of 613 00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:52,600 Speaker 1: February through the beginning of May of this year, we're 614 00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:55,880 Speaker 1: all centered around the main character of a woman named 615 00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:59,279 Speaker 1: Monica Huggetts Stone, and I'm sure there will be other 616 00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:03,200 Speaker 1: stories in the few with a female main character. They 617 00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:06,360 Speaker 1: just tend to be less frequent for a variety of reasons, 618 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:14,839 Speaker 1: mainly right wing extremists are almost always violent misogynists. I'm 619 00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:18,000 Speaker 1: not saying women don't hold the same views as our 620 00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:21,640 Speaker 1: weird little guys, or that the movement doesn't include women. 621 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:28,120 Speaker 1: They do, and it does. They just typically don't rise 622 00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:30,839 Speaker 1: to positions of power in the movement, and they are 623 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:35,160 Speaker 1: less likely to carry out acts of extreme violence. The 624 00:41:35,239 --> 00:41:38,560 Speaker 1: movement has plenty of women in it, you just don't 625 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:42,160 Speaker 1: hear a lot about them. Part of that is because 626 00:41:42,719 --> 00:41:46,960 Speaker 1: women's stories just don't get told, not just when we're 627 00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:51,719 Speaker 1: talking about white supremacists, I mean generally, right, history has 628 00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:54,480 Speaker 1: just as many women as it does men. But what 629 00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:58,640 Speaker 1: kinds of history stories do you hear? Monica Huggett Stone 630 00:41:58,719 --> 00:42:01,680 Speaker 1: was the central figure that eight episode arc about Neo 631 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:05,080 Speaker 1: Nazi violence in the last decades of apartheid South Africa, 632 00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:07,719 Speaker 1: but it was much harder than it needed to be 633 00:42:08,200 --> 00:42:11,719 Speaker 1: to find actual information about this human woman at the 634 00:42:11,719 --> 00:42:16,160 Speaker 1: center of the story. People just aren't interested in what 635 00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:25,240 Speaker 1: women are doing. Will I cover Gary Louch? Great question. Yes, absolutely, 636 00:42:25,239 --> 00:42:28,200 Speaker 1: we're going to get to Gary. But a friend of 637 00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:30,799 Speaker 1: mine is writing a book that is definitely going to 638 00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:33,520 Speaker 1: feature Gary pretty heavily. So I think I'm going to 639 00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:36,719 Speaker 1: save myself the headache of doing the research myself and 640 00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:39,200 Speaker 1: just wait to buy a copy of her book, because 641 00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:42,200 Speaker 1: I know she has been deep in the archives, I 642 00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:45,880 Speaker 1: mean around the world in special collections archives, and she 643 00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:50,520 Speaker 1: even interviewed the farm Belt Feurer himself, So I should 644 00:42:50,520 --> 00:42:52,399 Speaker 1: ask her when that's coming out, Because I'm really looking 645 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:56,800 Speaker 1: forward to it, but we will get to Gary. Someone 646 00:42:56,840 --> 00:43:00,839 Speaker 1: also asked, when is the Matt Hale episode. I don't know. 647 00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:04,240 Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean there's gonna be one. There's 648 00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:10,440 Speaker 1: obviously gonna be one. Sometimes I find myself avoiding these 649 00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:14,040 Speaker 1: big name, weird little guys. You know, I haven't done 650 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:17,839 Speaker 1: William Luther Pierce. I haven't done Matthew Hale. I haven't 651 00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:21,600 Speaker 1: actually done Bob Matthews, right. I sort of mentioned him 652 00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:25,560 Speaker 1: in passing and then went somewhere else Entirely, I feel 653 00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:29,560 Speaker 1: like I'm skipping these really big ones because I know 654 00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:32,120 Speaker 1: what kind of can of worms it's gonna open, and 655 00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:35,400 Speaker 1: it's gonna take me months to dig myself out. Like 656 00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:38,680 Speaker 1: once I really get into the deep lore about Matt 657 00:43:38,719 --> 00:43:41,799 Speaker 1: Hale and the World Church of the Creator, I know 658 00:43:42,040 --> 00:43:44,480 Speaker 1: I'm gonna end up with thirty new, weird little guys 659 00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:46,959 Speaker 1: whose whole lives I'm gonna have to map out before 660 00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:50,879 Speaker 1: I can move on. There's a lot going on there, 661 00:43:50,920 --> 00:43:53,359 Speaker 1: and we will get there. Because Matt Hale is still 662 00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:57,959 Speaker 1: in prison and occasionally filing weird motions with the court, 663 00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:01,239 Speaker 1: I'm signed up for docor alerts for him, so I 664 00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:03,200 Speaker 1: do check in on him from time to time, but 665 00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:08,520 Speaker 1: I'm just not ready. Will I ever cover weird little 666 00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:12,680 Speaker 1: guys abroad? Actually got a bunch of these people asking 667 00:44:12,680 --> 00:44:19,240 Speaker 1: about particular British, Australian, Canadian, and European individuals and groups 668 00:44:19,320 --> 00:44:21,760 Speaker 1: that they'd like to hear more about. And the answer 669 00:44:21,840 --> 00:44:28,359 Speaker 1: is yes, Yes, definitely. I'm very intrigued by the fascist international. 670 00:44:29,360 --> 00:44:32,200 Speaker 1: Nothing exists in a vacuum, right, there are no lone wolves, 671 00:44:32,200 --> 00:44:36,319 Speaker 1: and it turns out the wolf pack is international. You know, 672 00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:40,560 Speaker 1: my existing subject matter expertise is white supremacists in the 673 00:44:40,680 --> 00:44:44,239 Speaker 1: United States over the last sixty years or so. But 674 00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:48,160 Speaker 1: it seems like if you dig deep enough in any story, 675 00:44:49,239 --> 00:44:52,040 Speaker 1: there's some kind of international connection, and that's something I'd 676 00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:56,520 Speaker 1: like to explore more. Earlier this year, I spent three 677 00:44:56,640 --> 00:45:00,160 Speaker 1: months writing about South African Nazis and that story ended 678 00:45:00,200 --> 00:45:03,920 Speaker 1: up taking us all over the world. There were German 679 00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:07,360 Speaker 1: mercenaries in Croatia, there were guns smuggled through a port 680 00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:10,600 Speaker 1: in England by a British Nazi group, a South African 681 00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:13,760 Speaker 1: man wanted for murder in Namibia currently hiding out in England. 682 00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:17,440 Speaker 1: And American lobbyists who took money from the apartheid government. 683 00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:20,640 Speaker 1: There were a lot of people and groups in that 684 00:45:20,719 --> 00:45:24,360 Speaker 1: story I'd like to come back to and read more about. 685 00:45:25,400 --> 00:45:27,000 Speaker 1: And then at the end of last year in the 686 00:45:27,040 --> 00:45:28,920 Speaker 1: beginning of this year, I did a series of episodes 687 00:45:28,920 --> 00:45:33,600 Speaker 1: about Dennis Mahon and that clansman spent some time in Germany, 688 00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:36,960 Speaker 1: which I did discuss on the show, but I didn't 689 00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:41,120 Speaker 1: get into his deep connections to fascist groups in Canada. 690 00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:45,360 Speaker 1: And I'd still planned to come back to that Australian 691 00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:48,520 Speaker 1: Nazi who was deported after he tried to attack John 692 00:45:48,560 --> 00:45:53,759 Speaker 1: Patler in court after Rockwell's murder. He died under rather 693 00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:58,520 Speaker 1: mysterious circumstances in Rhodesia a few years later. So we'll 694 00:45:58,560 --> 00:46:05,839 Speaker 1: explore some Australian Nazis soon. What I consider covering reformed 695 00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:13,600 Speaker 1: weird little guys. That one's complicated. The answer isn't. No. 696 00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:16,680 Speaker 1: I'm not ruling it out. I'm not saying I'll never 697 00:46:16,719 --> 00:46:19,960 Speaker 1: do it, but it's something I would want to approach 698 00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:26,440 Speaker 1: very carefully. Just in general, I have a pretty bad 699 00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:29,200 Speaker 1: taste in my mouth about a lot of the popular 700 00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:33,279 Speaker 1: narratives about formers. A lot of the guys out there 701 00:46:33,280 --> 00:46:36,120 Speaker 1: who are making money taking speaking engagements talking about how 702 00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:39,200 Speaker 1: they used to be a Nazi. Those aren't guys I 703 00:46:39,200 --> 00:46:42,200 Speaker 1: want to talk to. Those are not guys whose opinions 704 00:46:42,239 --> 00:46:47,040 Speaker 1: I think are worth talking about, not all of them. Right, 705 00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:49,320 Speaker 1: I'm not saying that every guy with a publicist is 706 00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:51,640 Speaker 1: a grifter and a liar who's using a redemption arc 707 00:46:51,719 --> 00:46:54,799 Speaker 1: narrative to sell himself as an expert on political extremism, 708 00:46:54,880 --> 00:46:57,640 Speaker 1: and the kind of extremism he keeps talking about is 709 00:46:57,680 --> 00:46:59,680 Speaker 1: actually how the left is just as bad as the 710 00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:03,680 Speaker 1: stuff he used to do. Right, But I'm saying there 711 00:47:03,760 --> 00:47:06,080 Speaker 1: is a lot of that, and I don't think those 712 00:47:06,080 --> 00:47:09,480 Speaker 1: guys are really formers. I think if every story you 713 00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:13,759 Speaker 1: have to tell about your decades as a Nazi is 714 00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:17,560 Speaker 1: actually about how Antifa are the real enemy, you're not 715 00:47:17,640 --> 00:47:21,520 Speaker 1: a former Nazi. But that's just a hang up I 716 00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:25,040 Speaker 1: have about a couple guys in particular. I'm not saying 717 00:47:25,480 --> 00:47:29,080 Speaker 1: formers themselves are always acting in bad faith or that 718 00:47:29,120 --> 00:47:33,799 Speaker 1: they don't really exist. They do. They absolutely do, And 719 00:47:33,880 --> 00:47:37,359 Speaker 1: I've met some very decent people who are working very 720 00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:42,839 Speaker 1: hard to quietly make amends and grow as people and 721 00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:47,319 Speaker 1: really leave their past behind. People can get better, right, 722 00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:51,520 Speaker 1: People can change and I think those stories are important, 723 00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:54,000 Speaker 1: and I would like to find a way to tell 724 00:47:54,040 --> 00:48:00,000 Speaker 1: them responsibly, because that change has to come from inside 725 00:48:00,239 --> 00:48:02,520 Speaker 1: something that can grow out of a press release written 726 00:48:02,520 --> 00:48:07,600 Speaker 1: by a publicist and approved by an attorney. So the 727 00:48:07,640 --> 00:48:12,960 Speaker 1: answer to that is maybe, probably even. But it wouldn't 728 00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:14,960 Speaker 1: just be a one off interview about how making a 729 00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:18,160 Speaker 1: black friend cured a klansman and he's nice. Now, that's 730 00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:21,600 Speaker 1: not my kind of story. That's not a story I 731 00:48:21,600 --> 00:48:24,799 Speaker 1: would subject you to. I've seen a guy try to 732 00:48:24,800 --> 00:48:26,680 Speaker 1: sell that shit to a judge and I didn't believe 733 00:48:26,719 --> 00:48:29,520 Speaker 1: it when it was presented a sworn testimony, So I 734 00:48:29,520 --> 00:48:33,719 Speaker 1: wouldn't expect you to believe it on a podcast. I 735 00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:36,279 Speaker 1: do have a couple of formers in mind that I 736 00:48:36,280 --> 00:48:38,160 Speaker 1: would like to do a little bit more research about 737 00:48:38,160 --> 00:48:41,000 Speaker 1: the kind of story I would want to tell with 738 00:48:41,080 --> 00:48:43,920 Speaker 1: their help. There are a couple of people that I 739 00:48:43,960 --> 00:48:47,319 Speaker 1: think would be valuable to talk to about this. I'm 740 00:48:47,360 --> 00:48:50,160 Speaker 1: just I'm just not ready to do that right now. 741 00:48:52,719 --> 00:48:55,400 Speaker 1: There were kind of a surprising number of questions that 742 00:48:55,440 --> 00:49:00,760 Speaker 1: were just invitations to do my favorite thing, to wander 743 00:49:00,800 --> 00:49:04,920 Speaker 1: off topic. I'm still kind of self conscious about the 744 00:49:04,960 --> 00:49:08,680 Speaker 1: meandering nature of these stories, even though at this point 745 00:49:09,040 --> 00:49:12,120 Speaker 1: I recognize it as something that's integral to the show. 746 00:49:13,160 --> 00:49:15,000 Speaker 1: So I was really charmed by how many of you 747 00:49:15,600 --> 00:49:17,640 Speaker 1: just want to hear how far I can get from 748 00:49:17,640 --> 00:49:20,879 Speaker 1: the plot. It sounds like some of you are trying 749 00:49:20,880 --> 00:49:23,719 Speaker 1: to challenge me to dig my deepest hole yet, just 750 00:49:23,760 --> 00:49:25,480 Speaker 1: so you can watch me try to get back out 751 00:49:25,480 --> 00:49:29,720 Speaker 1: of it. The problem with answering those questions right now 752 00:49:29,840 --> 00:49:35,000 Speaker 1: is it would take two to three hundred hours. The 753 00:49:35,040 --> 00:49:38,040 Speaker 1: stuff that gets cut, the tangents that I have to 754 00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:42,440 Speaker 1: cut myself off from, those all kind of end up 755 00:49:42,800 --> 00:49:44,520 Speaker 1: piled up in a tab at the end of my 756 00:49:44,600 --> 00:49:49,800 Speaker 1: notes for each episode. There's this terrible, little, incomprehensible mess 757 00:49:49,840 --> 00:49:53,200 Speaker 1: of these half formed thoughts that I swear I'm going 758 00:49:53,239 --> 00:49:55,480 Speaker 1: to come back to because there's probably a whole episode 759 00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:59,279 Speaker 1: in there, or four or ten if I just let 760 00:49:59,280 --> 00:50:03,160 Speaker 1: myself keep going. One example of that that comes to 761 00:50:03,239 --> 00:50:06,880 Speaker 1: mind right now is a recent one. It's about Barbara 762 00:50:06,960 --> 00:50:10,400 Speaker 1: von Getz. She was the secretary for the American Nazi 763 00:50:10,400 --> 00:50:12,880 Speaker 1: Party who lived at the party's headquarters in the early 764 00:50:12,920 --> 00:50:18,240 Speaker 1: to mid sixties. She was also George Lincoln Rockwell's mistress 765 00:50:18,719 --> 00:50:20,879 Speaker 1: and the mother of his two daughters, who both died 766 00:50:20,920 --> 00:50:25,239 Speaker 1: in infancy of a genetic disorder. I talked a little 767 00:50:25,239 --> 00:50:28,239 Speaker 1: bit about her and about Rockwell's daughters in one of 768 00:50:28,239 --> 00:50:32,120 Speaker 1: the Frank Smith episodes, but before I wrote I think 769 00:50:32,239 --> 00:50:35,840 Speaker 1: like two paragraphs about Barbara, I spent a day or 770 00:50:35,880 --> 00:50:40,440 Speaker 1: two learning about her. Pretty much anyone who's discussed beyond 771 00:50:40,480 --> 00:50:43,240 Speaker 1: a passing mention gets this treatment. In the research process, 772 00:50:44,160 --> 00:50:46,080 Speaker 1: I like to make a family tree and go through 773 00:50:46,080 --> 00:50:48,680 Speaker 1: old newspapers for any mention of the person or any 774 00:50:48,680 --> 00:50:52,200 Speaker 1: of their immediate relatives. I'll check court records and places 775 00:50:52,239 --> 00:50:54,680 Speaker 1: where they've lived, and look at property and tax records. 776 00:50:54,719 --> 00:50:57,760 Speaker 1: If I can find them, I just sort of sketch 777 00:50:57,760 --> 00:51:00,960 Speaker 1: out the broad strokes of their life. Where have they been, 778 00:51:01,600 --> 00:51:03,880 Speaker 1: What were they doing before they showed up in this story? 779 00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:07,240 Speaker 1: Where did they go afterward? Do they have any meaningful 780 00:51:07,239 --> 00:51:10,960 Speaker 1: connection to anything else we might be interested in. I'm 781 00:51:10,960 --> 00:51:14,880 Speaker 1: not really looking for anything in particular. I'm just browsing, 782 00:51:16,000 --> 00:51:20,279 Speaker 1: and mostly I use none of this. I have half 783 00:51:20,280 --> 00:51:23,600 Speaker 1: a biography on a thousand guys I didn't even need. 784 00:51:25,480 --> 00:51:29,800 Speaker 1: But Barbara was such a question mark for me throughout 785 00:51:29,800 --> 00:51:32,840 Speaker 1: this story, right because I spent two months writing about 786 00:51:33,000 --> 00:51:36,160 Speaker 1: the last year of Rockwell's life, and there's not a 787 00:51:36,200 --> 00:51:39,920 Speaker 1: lot about her. I mean, she was the mistress and 788 00:51:40,120 --> 00:51:43,200 Speaker 1: personal secretary of the commander of the American Nazi Party. 789 00:51:44,120 --> 00:51:47,200 Speaker 1: She gave birth to and buried two of his children. 790 00:51:48,680 --> 00:51:51,879 Speaker 1: But that's kind of all she ever is in any 791 00:51:51,920 --> 00:51:58,719 Speaker 1: story about him. Women's stories just disappear, right. So I 792 00:51:58,760 --> 00:52:01,560 Speaker 1: was really curious about how she ended up so close 793 00:52:02,280 --> 00:52:05,440 Speaker 1: to one of the big leaders in the movement. And 794 00:52:05,520 --> 00:52:09,720 Speaker 1: it turns out her whole damn family was a bunch 795 00:52:09,760 --> 00:52:14,040 Speaker 1: of Nazis. Her sister and one of her brothers were 796 00:52:14,120 --> 00:52:19,320 Speaker 1: close to Otto Strausser, an actual Nazi. Like Otto Strausser 797 00:52:19,400 --> 00:52:23,080 Speaker 1: joined the Nazi Party in Germany in nineteen twenty five. 798 00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:29,040 Speaker 1: He is one of the two Strassers of Strasserism, and 799 00:52:29,080 --> 00:52:32,480 Speaker 1: Barbara's other brother spent time in Rhodesia in the nineteen 800 00:52:32,520 --> 00:52:39,200 Speaker 1: seventies as a mercenary. Her Nazi sister was inexplicably the 801 00:52:39,280 --> 00:52:41,800 Speaker 1: secretary at a mosque in Washington, d c. In the 802 00:52:41,880 --> 00:52:45,880 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies, which I only know because she was taken 803 00:52:45,920 --> 00:52:49,320 Speaker 1: hostage at that mosque during the Hanafi Siege of nineteen 804 00:52:49,360 --> 00:52:52,560 Speaker 1: seventy seven, and her brother Karl, fresh off his stint 805 00:52:52,560 --> 00:52:55,880 Speaker 1: as a race war mercenary, tried to negotiate for her release. 806 00:52:57,520 --> 00:52:59,120 Speaker 1: He went on to have a whole second act as 807 00:52:59,160 --> 00:53:01,200 Speaker 1: a fairly well known way. It's a premacist in Canada 808 00:53:01,239 --> 00:53:04,680 Speaker 1: in the eighties, and Barbara's nephew, the son of her 809 00:53:04,719 --> 00:53:09,239 Speaker 1: other brother, was arrested on Christmas Eve last year for 810 00:53:09,320 --> 00:53:12,080 Speaker 1: pouring whiskey into the holy water during midnight mass at 811 00:53:12,080 --> 00:53:16,160 Speaker 1: a Catholic church in Maryland. So I wasted a lot 812 00:53:16,160 --> 00:53:18,839 Speaker 1: of time on this. Obviously, I know a lot about 813 00:53:18,840 --> 00:53:21,960 Speaker 1: this family that I did not need or use in 814 00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:25,560 Speaker 1: that episode. I left all of that out because I 815 00:53:25,560 --> 00:53:27,239 Speaker 1: think I need to come back to this to sort 816 00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:31,319 Speaker 1: out what the hell is going on there. So for 817 00:53:31,360 --> 00:53:34,200 Speaker 1: those of you asking how far afield I tend to 818 00:53:34,239 --> 00:53:39,040 Speaker 1: get while I'm writing, I always make the family tree, 819 00:53:39,120 --> 00:53:42,840 Speaker 1: and sometimes it's a waste of time. Usually it's a 820 00:53:42,880 --> 00:53:48,600 Speaker 1: waste of time, but sometimes there's a Rhodesian mercenary and 821 00:53:48,680 --> 00:53:52,440 Speaker 1: two siblings who have long complicated relationships with Otto Strausser. 822 00:53:53,960 --> 00:53:57,360 Speaker 1: And that is why I will never stop wasting my 823 00:53:57,440 --> 00:54:00,640 Speaker 1: time researching stuff that doesn't make it into the episode. 824 00:54:01,000 --> 00:54:06,120 Speaker 1: I'll come back to it one day, But That is 825 00:54:06,640 --> 00:54:10,520 Speaker 1: absolutely enough for now. Those of you who are just 826 00:54:10,600 --> 00:54:13,160 Speaker 1: here for the Weird Little Guys, I'm sorry if I 827 00:54:13,160 --> 00:54:16,600 Speaker 1: disappointed you this week. But for the real writer die 828 00:54:16,600 --> 00:54:19,440 Speaker 1: listeners out there, the ones who like hearing about my 829 00:54:19,520 --> 00:54:22,560 Speaker 1: struggle to translate a Hungarian Nazi newspaper published by a 830 00:54:22,560 --> 00:54:24,920 Speaker 1: guy in Cincinnati, even though that has nothing to do 831 00:54:25,000 --> 00:54:28,319 Speaker 1: with what we're talking about, I hope this scratched that 832 00:54:28,400 --> 00:54:32,319 Speaker 1: itch for you at least a little bit. Next week 833 00:54:32,360 --> 00:54:35,080 Speaker 1: will be another episode that doesn't quite fit the usual mold. 834 00:54:35,640 --> 00:54:37,439 Speaker 1: I'll be checking back in on some of the Weird 835 00:54:37,440 --> 00:54:41,319 Speaker 1: Little Guys whose stories aren't over yet. Some of them 836 00:54:41,360 --> 00:54:43,120 Speaker 1: have come up on the show before and will be 837 00:54:43,160 --> 00:54:45,839 Speaker 1: familiar to you, and some of them are guys whose 838 00:54:45,880 --> 00:54:49,840 Speaker 1: episodes I'm not ready to write yet, but I can't 839 00:54:49,840 --> 00:54:52,000 Speaker 1: wait that long to introduce them into the Weird Little 840 00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:57,200 Speaker 1: Guys extended universe. It's something different, but I think it'll 841 00:54:57,200 --> 00:55:00,000 Speaker 1: still be fun. I promise I won't make a habit 842 00:55:00,080 --> 00:55:02,600 Speaker 1: of straying from the classic Weird Little Guys format you 843 00:55:02,680 --> 00:55:05,239 Speaker 1: know and love, but I am going to try a 844 00:55:05,239 --> 00:55:08,359 Speaker 1: few new things to get a little variety, and if 845 00:55:08,400 --> 00:55:11,560 Speaker 1: I'm being totally honest, I'm trying to figure out what 846 00:55:11,760 --> 00:55:15,399 Speaker 1: works in terms of redistributing the workload a little bit. 847 00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:19,239 Speaker 1: I love making this show, but I have to find 848 00:55:19,280 --> 00:55:21,360 Speaker 1: a way to make it a little more sustainable in 849 00:55:21,400 --> 00:55:26,000 Speaker 1: the long run, because I don't think I'm ever gonna 850 00:55:26,040 --> 00:55:33,920 Speaker 1: run out of Weird Little Guys. Weird Little Guys is 851 00:55:33,920 --> 00:55:37,080 Speaker 1: a production of Cool Zone Media and iHeartRadio. It's research, written, 852 00:55:37,080 --> 00:55:40,120 Speaker 1: and recorded by me while I hunger. Our executive producers 853 00:55:40,160 --> 00:55:43,040 Speaker 1: are Sophie Lichtman and Robert Evans. The show is edited 854 00:55:43,040 --> 00:55:45,920 Speaker 1: by the wildly talented Wordy Gaigan. The theme music was 855 00:55:45,920 --> 00:55:49,080 Speaker 1: composed by Brad Diggert, and for the listener who asked 856 00:55:49,080 --> 00:55:51,160 Speaker 1: a question about that theme music, I will put a 857 00:55:51,160 --> 00:55:53,840 Speaker 1: link in the show notes to Brad's SoundCloud where you 858 00:55:53,840 --> 00:55:56,640 Speaker 1: can listen to the entire theme of the show. You 859 00:55:56,680 --> 00:55:58,960 Speaker 1: can email me at Weird Little Guys podcast at gmail 860 00:55:58,960 --> 00:56:01,360 Speaker 1: dot com. I will definitely read it, but I probably 861 00:56:01,360 --> 00:56:04,839 Speaker 1: won't answer. It's nothing personal. You can exchange conspiracy theories 862 00:56:04,840 --> 00:56:06,759 Speaker 1: about the show with other listeners on the Weird Little 863 00:56:06,760 --> 00:56:11,399 Speaker 1: Guys severad it, but as always, don't post anything that's 864 00:56:11,400 --> 00:56:12,840 Speaker 1: going to make you one of my Weird Little Guys