1 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:10,920 Speaker 1: Before we had New York City, there was Pompeii. You 2 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: might know it as the longest ongoing archaeological dig site 3 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 1: in the world. But in its heyday it was cosmopolitan, international, exciting. 4 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: You went there to have a lot of fun. From 5 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: what scholars can tell, it seems that life there was good. 6 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: Pompei was just one jewel in the crown of the 7 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 1: Roman Empire, and as such benefited from all the spoils 8 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:39,880 Speaker 1: of conquest. It had just about everything, entertainment, restaurants, public baths, temples, brothels, 9 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: you name it. There were beautifully manicured gardens, kept animals. 10 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: The climate was temperate, and agriculture was abundant. Pompeiis eleven 11 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,279 Speaker 1: thousand person population was small by today's standards for what 12 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: we might call a city, but for a little perspective, 13 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: scholars believe that only about a hundred people lived in 14 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: the Roman and Hires london I um London's forerunner around 15 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:06,760 Speaker 1: the same time. Compared to many other places. Pompeii was 16 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: a city. But as the saying goes, all good things 17 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: must come to an end. Mount Vesuvius had created the 18 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: physical geography of Pompeii with an eruption and would put 19 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:19,400 Speaker 1: an end to all of it with just one more 20 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: in She did just that. In the aftermath, Pompeii probably 21 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:28,320 Speaker 1: looked like something between a lunar landscape and a nuclear 22 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: fallout zone. The city would fade from memory, becoming something 23 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: of myth and legend until it was accidentally found again 24 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: fifteen centuries later. And while Pompeii had become best known 25 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:44,039 Speaker 1: for how its story ended, archaeologists have busied themselves with 26 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: trying to understand the city before the eruption, and one 27 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: of the ways we've gone about this has been through 28 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: discovering how the city eight. Just a few years ago, 29 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: a team from Ohio was digging around in the remains 30 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: of fast food stalls. They found evidence of a standard 31 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: Mediterranean diet it legooms, olive pits, nuts, seeds, that sort 32 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: of thing. But they also found salted fish which would 33 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: have been a product from Spain, and different kinds of 34 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: shellfish not native to Italy. And as a side note, 35 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,519 Speaker 1: I have a lot of questions about transporting shellfish overseas 36 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: in the days before reliable refrigeration, but those are going 37 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:22,959 Speaker 1: to have to wait for another day. And among all 38 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: this tasty debris, they came upon something very exciting. Lying 39 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 1: in a trash pit was a butchered leg joint of 40 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: a giraffe. The question, of course, is how an exotic 41 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:38,080 Speaker 1: animal like a giraffe ended up on the dinner menu. 42 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: After all, giraffe meat isn't exactly essential eating for anyone 43 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: just trying to scrape by. It points to consumption by 44 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 1: a refined pellet, perhaps someone or some people's with a 45 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 1: desire for novelty, and this was something that the city 46 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:55,959 Speaker 1: of Pompeii, poised on the seaside and doing a brisk 47 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: international trade, was able to afford itself. We humans have 48 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: long been interested in things that wow us. We love 49 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: to marvel and get our kicks. Many of us orient 50 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 1: our lives towards newness and discovery, and when we find 51 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,520 Speaker 1: these things, we celebrate them in the form of gaudy 52 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:20,959 Speaker 1: displays of wealth, announcing scientific discoveries, embracing new sensory experiences, 53 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: or by curating unique collections. I'm Aaron Manky, and welcome 54 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 1: to the side show. If Ptolemy, the second Philadelphist, was 55 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: around today, he probably would have loved fast cars, expensive vacations, 56 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: and bottle service. That's all to say he was a 57 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: hedonist of the highest regard. So when he ascended to 58 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: the throne, he decided to throw himself a parade, and 59 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: it was going to be big, really big. In fact, 60 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: he wanted to create one of the most extravagant and 61 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: elaborate festivals in history. The city of Alexandria was soaked 62 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: with sun and anticipation that February day in two b C. 63 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:17,480 Speaker 1: Thousands of people poured into the city from around the Mediterranean. 64 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: Packing the wide column line boulevards. They craned their necks 65 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,120 Speaker 1: Joscelyne each other ancy to get a view. We can 66 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: imagine all of this some two thousand years before Macy's 67 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:32,840 Speaker 1: ever launched a single Thanksgiving Day float. The heart of 68 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:36,360 Speaker 1: Ptolemy's festival was going to be his collection of animals. 69 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: They were big and exotic, and they were set to 70 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: march two by two through the city. Too many in 71 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: the crowd. These were alien other life forms. Most people 72 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: had never seen such things before. In a cloud of dust, 73 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:55,240 Speaker 1: twenty four elephants drawing chariots came into view. According to 74 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: one eye witness, they pulled and I quote, billy goats, 75 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:04,679 Speaker 1: hornless antelope oryx is Boubaila's ostriches, two thousand, four hundred, 76 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 1: Indian dogs, Ethiopian cows, a white bear, leopards, wildcats, carrat calls, 77 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:15,799 Speaker 1: a giraffe, and a rhinoceros, as well as captive human 78 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:20,040 Speaker 1: spectacles from across the continent. The non human animals, though, 79 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:24,159 Speaker 1: had a curious purpose. They weren't domesticated pat creatures, and 80 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:28,040 Speaker 1: they weren't pets either. They were somewhere in between owned 81 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: and no longer wild, but not domesticated either. These animals 82 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:36,040 Speaker 1: were commodities, and their captivity suggested something that whoever owned 83 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: them had enough wealth to maintain them and, perhaps more impressively, 84 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:44,159 Speaker 1: power over the lands from which they came. As the 85 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,839 Speaker 1: world modernized and urban centers grew, people began to feel 86 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: more disconnected from nature. There was a desire to recreate 87 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,159 Speaker 1: natural settings, but in a more convenient kind of way, 88 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:59,919 Speaker 1: so people began designing gardens, importing plants, seeds, and bulb 89 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: weren't too hard to transport after all. The animals, though, 90 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:07,280 Speaker 1: they were more finicky, but people with money they could 91 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: have anything they wanted. Collection rivalry seems to have developed 92 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: early on. Why well, just typical neighbors trying to keep 93 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: up with the Joneses. You could say, these days, if 94 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,680 Speaker 1: you have a midlife crisis, you might buy a shiny jaguar. 95 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,520 Speaker 1: Back then, you bought a literal one. And we know 96 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: that this impulse to collect animals existed in almost every 97 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: ancient civilization. In fact, one of the earliest collections appeared 98 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,919 Speaker 1: long before Ptolemy's Parade, right around b C. In Egypt, 99 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 1: their rulers kept various creatures. They would teach them to 100 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: dance and obey orders. In a way, you can think 101 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: of this as one of the very earliest forms of 102 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,920 Speaker 1: using animals for entertainment. Ramsey's the Second, for example, had 103 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,920 Speaker 1: a tamed lion which would accompany him wherever he went 104 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:58,360 Speaker 1: in battle. Lions kept in cages and pits and meant 105 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: to impress important visitors, were also popular in upper crust Mesopotamia. 106 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: Mesoamerican civilizations are thoughts to have held their collections for 107 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: ritual and aesthetic purposes. In ancient Greece, they were traveling 108 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: shows that featured dancing bears. As Greco Roman infrastructure crumbled, 109 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: many animal collections were likewise dismantled. However, many European rulers 110 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: kept on with their own, and over the years, animal 111 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: collections became popular attractions, not just for the wealthy as 112 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: they had been, but for the pain public as well. 113 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 1: These animal collections, it seems we're here to stay along. 114 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: Dead European once joked that the only reason the America's 115 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 1: had animals was due to Noah's flood. The idea was 116 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: that the shipwrecked animal cargo was on its way not 117 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: to salvation, but to European menagerie's. The word menagerie itself 118 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:00,600 Speaker 1: is thought to be rooted in an old French word 119 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:05,160 Speaker 1: for farmyard. Menagerie's as we understand them today didn't develop 120 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:09,560 Speaker 1: as a form of public entertainment until about the sixteenth century, 121 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 1: but a hundred years later they seem to be everywhere. 122 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: In the history of menagerie's, there are a few that 123 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:19,680 Speaker 1: stand out, and it's from these collections of creatures collected 124 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: like pokemon, that people began to realize their potential for 125 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 1: helping us understand the greater world. They were proto zoos, 126 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: if you will. Zoos, of course have an educational and 127 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: scientific mission. They weren't quite there yet, but the idea 128 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: was coming. Now, let's take a brief tour you've probably 129 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: heard of our first stop before, but maybe as a 130 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: place for condemned prisoners and executions, the Tower of London. 131 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: But it was also home to one of Europe's oldest 132 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,320 Speaker 1: and longest continually running menagerie's. It was established in the 133 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:54,440 Speaker 1: thirteenth century during the reign of King Henry the Third, 134 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:57,839 Speaker 1: after he was gifted three leopards Leopards, by the way, 135 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: that you can still find on the Royal coat of 136 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: Arms of England. In twelve fifty two, at the king's orders, 137 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: a budget was set aside for animal maintenance, which by 138 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: this point had already expanded to include a polar bear. 139 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:13,520 Speaker 1: It said that the bear was allowed to fish for 140 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:15,840 Speaker 1: its food in the Thames, even if it had to 141 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 1: wear a muzzle while doing so. Rumor has it that 142 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: today the grounds are haunted not just by Anne Boleyn 143 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: and her unfortunate contemporaries, but by a spectral bear, whose 144 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 1: appearance is said to have caused at least one member 145 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 1: of the Palace century to die of fright. Our next stop, 146 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: the Jardin des Plants in France, might also ring a 147 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: bell from earlier episodes in our series. It was an 148 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 1: institution rooted in two distinct establishments, Louis the thirteenth Garden 149 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:48,319 Speaker 1: of Medicinal Herbs and Louis the sixteenths Menagerie. It became 150 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: the first place to combine plants and creatures into exhibits, 151 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 1: and at its height boasted over two hundred species of wildlife. 152 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: And we can't forget about the menageries that took to 153 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 1: the road try Leveling Animal acts of all kinds have 154 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: been present throughout history. However, a few things had to 155 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 1: intersect for the industry to flourish as it did. Combine 156 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 1: an interest in private animal collections, rising scientific curiosity, and 157 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 1: the entrepreneurial showman, and you get a potent cultural moment 158 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:21,680 Speaker 1: at a very hungry market. And of course, the largest 159 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:25,559 Speaker 1: and most famous name associated with traveling menageries during their 160 00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:31,079 Speaker 1: boom in nineteenth century England was George Womble. George's entrance 161 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:34,240 Speaker 1: into the world of traveling animal collections, if the legends 162 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,760 Speaker 1: are true, may well have been an accident. Like many 163 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,440 Speaker 1: rural folks, he had come to London at some point 164 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: around eighteen hundred in search of a city job. He 165 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 1: found one, and one day, while most likely working as 166 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: a cage maker, he went down to wander London's docks. 167 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: It was here that he met two Boa constrictors, freshly 168 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: delivered from across the ocean. He purchased them for the 169 00:10:57,320 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 1: hefty sum of seventy five pounds and then with them 170 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:03,960 Speaker 1: on display at a small scale local venue. Doing so 171 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 1: made him a small fortune, which he used to acquire 172 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 1: even more animals. He then established his own menagerie at 173 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:16,240 Speaker 1: where else but Piccadilly Circus in eighteen o eight. Eventually, though, 174 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: he took the show on the road. One story tells 175 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:21,480 Speaker 1: of him preparing for a big trip while loading a 176 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:25,200 Speaker 1: caged Bengal tiger onto a horse drawn carriage. The horse 177 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: got spooked and bolted. The cage busted open, and the 178 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: tiger escaped off into the streets of London, much to 179 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:36,960 Speaker 1: the dismay of George and everyone else involved. It was recaptured, 180 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:42,600 Speaker 1: but many hours later. George's acts and one's just like his, 181 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:47,600 Speaker 1: eventually evolved to showcase the relationships between animals and humans, 182 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: echoing back to those dancing bears in Greece and animals 183 00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:54,840 Speaker 1: fighting in Rome and some of the earliest English menagerie's. 184 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: For example, elephants were trained to perform tricks like kneeling 185 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: or picking up small object x. The spectacles soon became 186 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 1: more elaborate and a lot more violent. Lion tamer acts 187 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:11,960 Speaker 1: were developed, showcasing human control and domination. Animals also came 188 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 1: to be used in elaborate shows and pantomimes I think, 189 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: dramatized in a theater or re enactments of famous battles. 190 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 1: In these cases, horses and elephants were even trained to 191 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: play dead. However, it was one of Wombell's most infamous 192 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,280 Speaker 1: acts that would firmly cement his place in the history books. 193 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:35,679 Speaker 1: On July he advertised a lion fight to take place 194 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 1: in Warwick, England. There he promised to pit his lion 195 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: Nero against six dogs. Nero, a docile creature, was at 196 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 1: a disadvantage. He was totally ravaged. Witnessing this, wom Bell 197 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 1: called the fight off before it was over, leaving the 198 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:57,080 Speaker 1: crowd incensed their thirst for blood hadn't been sated. George, 199 00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 1: a man of his word, it seems, promised to make 200 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 1: it up to them. The following nights he invited the 201 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: crowd to gather once again. This time George pitted a 202 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 1: new lion, Wallace against three dogs and Wallace was a 203 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:13,559 Speaker 1: fighter for the price of about seventy dollars. Today, spectators 204 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 1: had the pleasure of seeing the lion slaughter the three 205 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: dogs in less than a minute. We can imagine it 206 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:23,080 Speaker 1: was a ghastly spectacle of carnage. The newspapers catching word 207 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:26,880 Speaker 1: of this were appalled, and they said as much. The 208 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 1: scene would surely make for some angry tweets and live 209 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:33,840 Speaker 1: streams today. Over the course of an evening, George Wombell, 210 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:39,320 Speaker 1: already famous, suddenly became infamous. And if you're shuddering, here's 211 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:42,839 Speaker 1: some balm for your heart. Some people believed that these 212 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 1: events never actually happened, that they were just one more 213 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:51,280 Speaker 1: clever albeits horrifying publicity stunt, engineered for the sake of 214 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: the mighty dollar, a trick pulled right from the playbook 215 00:13:55,320 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 1: of the world of traveling curiosities. All good origin stories 216 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:12,680 Speaker 1: help us make sense of our present. When deployed correctly, 217 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:15,720 Speaker 1: origin stories can help us draw a linear thread through 218 00:14:15,760 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 1: our lives, and sometimes we can sell these stories for profits. 219 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,560 Speaker 1: Isaac van Amberg was one of these people. In the 220 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: case of his life, he claims that it all came 221 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:30,040 Speaker 1: to his mother in a dream. She was pregnant with him. 222 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 1: He said, when she dreamt of an old barn, she 223 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 1: walked inside, and there found rows of bubbling cauldrons. When 224 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: she peered inside them, she found boiling lion parts, and 225 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:46,000 Speaker 1: in true Goldilocks fashion, she took a taste of each. Finally, 226 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: she arrived at the last pot and found a simmering 227 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 1: lion's head. She plucked it out of its stew and 228 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:53,920 Speaker 1: put the whole thing in her mouth. It was then, 229 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 1: according to Isaac's retelling, that she awoke with a fright. 230 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:03,080 Speaker 1: What could this mean for her unborn child? Fild for him. 231 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 1: In his early teens, he went to New York City 232 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:07,880 Speaker 1: to work as a clerk at a warehouse for a relative, 233 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:11,000 Speaker 1: But at some point in the early eighteen twenties he 234 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:13,360 Speaker 1: was hired to work as a cage cleaner for the 235 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: New York Zoological Institute. It said that the headline tamer 236 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:20,840 Speaker 1: there was killed while trying to move a line from 237 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 1: one cage to another. It was then that Isaac offered 238 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: to the end I quote, tame the spirit of the animal, 239 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: which he did with a crowbar. This decision was based 240 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:35,920 Speaker 1: on a strange act of faith. You see, he recalled 241 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: the biblical Daniel escaping from the lions den and resolved 242 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: that he wouldn't be the one to run away from danger. Instead, 243 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:46,560 Speaker 1: he would run toward it. By the mid eighteen thirties, 244 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: Isaac had risen through the ranks, becoming famous as an 245 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:52,400 Speaker 1: animal tamer in his own right. People came to his 246 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,320 Speaker 1: shows not just wanting to see animals in cages, but 247 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,680 Speaker 1: also to see people carousing with them. And they came 248 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 1: to see man triumph over nature because it helps them 249 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 1: feel good about their place in the world. They wanted 250 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,360 Speaker 1: to be shocked and odd, to feel close to danger 251 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:11,200 Speaker 1: without having to touch it. This is a very human feeling, 252 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:15,320 Speaker 1: after all. So with a large cage filled with wild animals, 253 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 1: a lion, panther, a tiger, and a leopard to be exact, 254 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: Isaac would boldly enter, dressed in a costume that broadcast 255 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: his authority. He would stand tall as the animals quivered 256 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 1: before him and the audience would gasp. It was then 257 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 1: that the lion would come over and lick his hand 258 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: and lay at his feet, as did the leopard. The 259 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:38,560 Speaker 1: tiger rolled on its side and Isaac would step on 260 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:41,240 Speaker 1: the animal's neck. Then he would sit down with his 261 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 1: back against the cage, calling the animals to him. Not surprisingly, 262 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:50,480 Speaker 1: people wondered how Isaac was able to instill spontaneous peace 263 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: in his animals, But it was all just a facade. 264 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: This piece had been gained through exceptional cruelty, both behind 265 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 1: the scenes and sometimes on the stage itself. He later 266 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:05,000 Speaker 1: described his process of taming the animals in part by 267 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:07,439 Speaker 1: saying that he spoke to them as though they were humans. 268 00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:10,320 Speaker 1: He said, they believe that I have the power to 269 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: tear every one of them in pieces if they do 270 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:15,679 Speaker 1: not act as I say. I tell them so, and 271 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:19,320 Speaker 1: have frequently enforced it with a crowbar. Isaac went on 272 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 1: to appear in London in the summer of eighteen thirty eight. 273 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 1: His lions and tigers arrived on a separate boat, and 274 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:28,439 Speaker 1: when he reunited with them, the local press reported that 275 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 1: the animals recognized him immediately, crouching and wagging their tails. 276 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: His newest act that season was a play. In it, 277 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:39,680 Speaker 1: Isaac played the role of a man condemned to death 278 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:44,000 Speaker 1: for plotting an emperor's assassination. As punishment, he was thrown 279 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 1: into the den with two lions, a tiger and a leopard. 280 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:50,640 Speaker 1: Then he would force them all into submission and bring 281 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 1: out a lamb to lie down with the lion. The 282 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,000 Speaker 1: piece to resistance of the whole act, though, was when 283 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: he pried the lion's jaws apart and put his head inside, 284 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:04,359 Speaker 1: the first person thought to have ever done so, and 285 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 1: an echo of what his mother had once dreamed, and 286 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:12,520 Speaker 1: the title of that play, The Brute Tamer of Pompeii. 287 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: Our fascination with animal people relationships continues today. We are 288 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:33,359 Speaker 1: curious creatures. Much of our curiosity is perhaps motivated by 289 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:36,400 Speaker 1: the pursuit of knowledge about the world for its own 290 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:39,639 Speaker 1: sake or for us to better care for it, but 291 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:43,320 Speaker 1: we also remain interested in the seemingly pairing of opposites, 292 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 1: of the transcending boundaries, and the expression of human superiority, 293 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 1: and all of this is captured in the Animal side show. 294 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:55,600 Speaker 1: We've also continued to see interest in animal trainers and acts. 295 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,520 Speaker 1: For example, popular television shows like Tiger King have traced 296 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: the expand of an interesting, oftentimes dubious animal conservation movement 297 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:07,399 Speaker 1: that allows you to get up close and personal with 298 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:12,160 Speaker 1: these creatures. The practice of wealthy folks amassing large collections 299 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:16,480 Speaker 1: of animals for their own enjoyment also continues. Infamous drug 300 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 1: lord Pablo Escobar established his own elaborate menagerie, some of 301 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:24,679 Speaker 1: which escaped following his death. His collection has since become 302 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 1: a public zoo. And then, of course there was Roy. 303 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:32,160 Speaker 1: You probably already know him. It was just another fall 304 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:34,359 Speaker 1: day in two thousand three when he went to work. 305 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 1: He had been at this gig for decades, but this 306 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:40,280 Speaker 1: day would be his last. While under the hot lights 307 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,520 Speaker 1: of a Las Vegas stage, Roy's longtime friend Monticore viciously 308 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:48,000 Speaker 1: attacked him. Why well, it was hard to get an 309 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,679 Speaker 1: alibi from him, but we can certainly guess. Roy was 310 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: left with debilitating, career ending injuries, but Monticore would get 311 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:59,720 Speaker 1: off the hook later dying of natural causes. They were 312 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:02,880 Speaker 1: never were able to charge him with the crime, because well, 313 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:07,359 Speaker 1: montcor was a tiger and the performance of Siegfried and 314 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:18,760 Speaker 1: Roy would never be the same. If you're anything like me, 315 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: this episode has made it easy to reflect on the 316 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:24,879 Speaker 1: relationship we have with our own four legged friends. I know, 317 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:27,280 Speaker 1: around the grim and mild office, one of the things 318 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:29,680 Speaker 1: you can count on seeing every day in our group 319 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 1: chat our photos of our furry companions. But we're not 320 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: quite done discussing the connection between animals and the side show. 321 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:40,360 Speaker 1: Stick around through this brief sponsor break to hear one 322 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:48,760 Speaker 1: more tale At that intersection. Joseph Merrick had seen a 323 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:53,240 Speaker 1: lot of spectacles on this night, though at the Theater 324 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:58,200 Speaker 1: Royal in London, something special was happening to him. Hidden 325 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 1: in a private balcony box, he was able to be 326 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:04,920 Speaker 1: an audience member for that year's Christmas play. It was 327 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:09,199 Speaker 1: an opportunity he was rarely given. Considering how he was 328 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: the one who is used to being watched, his ambitions 329 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:19,399 Speaker 1: certainly weren't unusual. He wished for friends, a family, to 330 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:23,560 Speaker 1: move about freely. We can imagine that he also wished 331 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:30,320 Speaker 1: for kindness. Years later, after he died, the same man 332 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:34,000 Speaker 1: who conducted inquiries into the Jack the Ripper murders would 333 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,919 Speaker 1: call for an investigation of Joseph's death. It was a 334 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 1: sad end. Really, he was only seven and his life 335 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:47,720 Speaker 1: had been very complicated. When it comes to the Side Show, 336 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 1: the truth is that the institution itself is complicated. Each 337 00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:56,679 Speaker 1: individual came into it with circumstances that set them on 338 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: a specific trajectory in life. The sideshow itself was home 339 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:05,760 Speaker 1: to a spectrum of experiences. It was neither all good 340 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 1: nor all bad. For some, this was the only place 341 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: where they were going to find work because of how 342 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:17,520 Speaker 1: they looked. For others, they altered their looks because they 343 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:21,679 Speaker 1: wanted to join the ranks. Many were trafficked because of 344 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:25,040 Speaker 1: their physical appeal. And for the rest, it was a 345 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: combination of all of those things, a sticky mess that 346 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 1: called into question the idea of agency, power, self determination 347 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 1: and the almighty dollar. Joseph was born in Leicester, England, 348 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:42,800 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty two. He was the son of a 349 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:47,119 Speaker 1: working class family and lived fairly normal childhood. By the 350 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:51,000 Speaker 1: time he turned five, though, something started to happen. He 351 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 1: began developing patches of grayish, lumpy skin all over his body. 352 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 1: After that came the fleshy tumors in the bony growths, 353 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:05,160 Speaker 1: and most notably of all was a long, fleshy protrusion 354 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:08,240 Speaker 1: that began to grow and dangle beneath his upper lip. 355 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:11,600 Speaker 1: His hips ached, and he began to walk with a cane. 356 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:17,960 Speaker 1: His speech also became impaired. With every passing year, his 357 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:21,520 Speaker 1: body continued to morph in ways no one had seen before. 358 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,720 Speaker 1: Doctors couldn't slow his condition, and people began to grow 359 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:29,200 Speaker 1: afraid of him, and the physical demands of his job 360 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:33,359 Speaker 1: in the workhouse made it unsustainable, so at the age 361 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,639 Speaker 1: of twenty two, he decided to enter the sideshow trade 362 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:41,160 Speaker 1: and see if he could sell his body. He came 363 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: into contact with a man by the name of Sam Tor, 364 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,679 Speaker 1: who ran a human oddity show. It was here that 365 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,359 Speaker 1: Joseph got his new billing. He would from here on 366 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:56,280 Speaker 1: out be known as the Elephant Man, and in the 367 00:23:56,359 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 1: long tradition of side shows, they created a story to 368 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:03,320 Speaker 1: go with him. They said that his deformities were a 369 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:06,240 Speaker 1: result of his mother being frightened by an elephant while 370 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: he was still in utero. It was a concept known 371 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:15,040 Speaker 1: as maternal impression and fairly popular at the time. The 372 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:18,959 Speaker 1: lecturer would be sure to remind the audience of his humanity, 373 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:21,960 Speaker 1: claiming that if you were to cut Joseph, you would 374 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: bleed the same blood as quote yours or mine. Even so, 375 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,439 Speaker 1: women were discouraged from visiting his exhibit for fear that 376 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:36,040 Speaker 1: they would become upset or that their children would be 377 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:41,480 Speaker 1: born looking like him. Towards the end of his life, 378 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,359 Speaker 1: Joseph lived at a hospital in London. He dreamt of 379 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:50,920 Speaker 1: the outside world, reading novels and picking flowers. There, he 380 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:57,320 Speaker 1: spent time thinking about what could have been a doctor 381 00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:01,159 Speaker 1: who had taken care of him. Later said, it was 382 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:04,640 Speaker 1: not until I came to know that Merrick was highly intelligent, 383 00:25:05,160 --> 00:25:09,920 Speaker 1: that he possessed an acute sensibility, and worse than all, 384 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 1: a romantic imagination, that I realized the overwhelming tragedy of 385 00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 1: his life. His story, you see, doesn't have a happy ending, 386 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,520 Speaker 1: although at this point in our series you know that 387 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,840 Speaker 1: they all won't. They can't. And there are many trite 388 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:33,320 Speaker 1: things to say here about judging a book by its cover, 389 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 1: about being kind of strangers, about everyone fighting their own battle, 390 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:42,280 Speaker 1: but we shouldn't have to be confronted with such an 391 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:47,560 Speaker 1: extreme case of mothering to have compassion for human and 392 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 1: non human creatures alike. Sideshow was written by Robin Miniter 393 00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 1: with narration by me Aaron Manky. Research for the series 394 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:03,680 Speaker 1: was by Robin Minator, Taylor Haggard Dorn, and Sam Alberty, 395 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 1: with production assistants from Josh Than, Jesse Funk, Alex Williams, 396 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 1: and Matt Frederick. Grim and Mile Presents was created in 397 00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. You can learn more about 398 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:16,680 Speaker 1: this show and everything else from Grim and mild over 399 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:20,760 Speaker 1: at grim and mild dot com, and as always, thanks 400 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:21,360 Speaker 1: for listening.