1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to 2 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so much 3 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: for tuning in. Let's hear it for the man, the myth, 4 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: the super producer, mister Max Williams. 5 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 2: La la, There goes Max. 6 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 3: He looks so fine with his amazing like you know, 7 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 3: like deep smoker voice today. 8 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: Oh really, yeah, the weather's on top of all of us, 9 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: right yeah, And don't worry, Max is not taking up 10 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: a trendy smoking habit. Max. What does your shirts say? 11 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: It's on that shirt? 12 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 3: Oh oh oh, it's it's the newest shirt from my 13 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 3: Michigan blog, I follow and go blog. It says they 14 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 3: have to learn how to lose, which is what Khalil 15 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 3: Molling said to reporters on the field in Columbus a 16 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,679 Speaker 3: couple couple of weeks back when Michigan pulled a massive 17 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 3: upset and Ohio States players response to losing the football 18 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:24,960 Speaker 3: game was We're going to assault those people and rip 19 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 3: their flag up and then get the flag stolen from us. 20 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 3: And then it has the score of all four games 21 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 3: in a row that they've lost because they don't know 22 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:32,760 Speaker 3: how to lose. 23 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:34,680 Speaker 2: And say you get for asking questions. 24 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:37,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I was gonna say, look at us, Noel, 25 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 1: furrowing our brows and nodding, meaningfly together as still we 26 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:46,480 Speaker 1: have very idea. That's mister Noel Brown. They called Noel. 27 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,280 Speaker 4: Burry the flag Brown. I'm giving myself that that nickname. 28 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 2: That's good. Yeah, that's good. 29 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:55,760 Speaker 1: That's your super k for today. They called me Ben Bullen. 30 00:01:55,960 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: In various parts of the world. We are journeying together 31 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: through the concept that sounds wild when you first explain it. 32 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: Like if an alien landed on the planet Earth and 33 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:16,920 Speaker 1: you said, how do I explain a world's fair? You 34 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:21,920 Speaker 1: would essentially have to say, what if all the nations 35 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: of the world had a big science fair? And the 36 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:29,079 Speaker 1: alien would say, what is going on with you folks? 37 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:31,800 Speaker 4: What's the science fair? Is probably what the alien would say. 38 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 4: For me to come up with a little more of 39 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 4: a common language with the alien, maybe numbers. 40 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 2: Maybe we'll first math, yeah. 41 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: Math, yeah, the universal language. Also, it's crazy in such 42 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: an unfair civilization that we call something a world's fair 43 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:53,519 Speaker 1: in the first place. Please check out episode one. Thanks 44 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,800 Speaker 1: to our research associate Wren, we learned about some of 45 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: the winds in the affairs of world Fairs, and in 46 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: this follow up episode we are going to learn about 47 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: the times that, to Max's shirt, the World's Fair took 48 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:14,679 Speaker 1: a big swing and did lose. 49 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 2: And then maybe a bit of a dive. 50 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 4: We are starting today's episode in the fair city of 51 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:22,079 Speaker 4: Los Angeles, which, as we record this is dealing with 52 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:27,639 Speaker 4: horrific disasters related to wildfires there. And I know, Ben, 53 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 4: you've been checking on some of your pals there and 54 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 4: I have as well, and Max, I think you have too, 55 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 4: And I think our hearts collectively go out to everyone 56 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 4: that's dealing with loss of homes and property and livelihood, 57 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 4: you know, during this really awful situation. 58 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: Agreed and well said, we're keeping you in our thoughts. 59 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 4: Not to put a damper on today's topic, but we 60 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:50,600 Speaker 4: just thought it was, you know, worth mentioning right up 61 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 4: front here. So let us venture back to the golden 62 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 4: age of Hollywood in the year of nineteen twenty three 63 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:00,000 Speaker 4: at the Motion Picture Exposition. 64 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:14,240 Speaker 1: Yes, Hollywood is, as ever experiencing a public relations crisis 65 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:19,600 Speaker 1: because the world of entertainment is often not as shiny 66 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: as it may appear to the audience. For some context, 67 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:29,599 Speaker 1: we must remember a film director named William Desmond Taylor, 68 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:34,799 Speaker 1: most well known today for the adaptation of Tom Sawyer 69 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: by Mark Twain real name Samuel Clemens. Check out our 70 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:44,480 Speaker 1: earlier episodes on Mark Twain. This guy, unfortunately was murdered 71 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: in his bungalow and there are some pretty crazy rumors 72 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 1: about what went down. 73 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 4: Yeah, this is exactly the kind of stuff that our buddy, 74 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,600 Speaker 4: Jordan Runtog is super fascinated by. 75 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:58,559 Speaker 1: Oh, I can't wait for folks to meet Jordan. 76 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,720 Speaker 4: He is also another one of our fantastic new research 77 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 4: associates for Ridiculous History and a podcaster in his own right. 78 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 4: Check out his show TMI Too Much Information and also 79 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:11,920 Speaker 4: Stone's Touring Party, which is the show that we did 80 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 4: together about the Rolling Stones exile on Main Street era. 81 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,160 Speaker 4: But he is fascinated with the dark side of Hollywood 82 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 4: and the kind of true crimey noir ish parts of 83 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 4: that city's storied history, a lot of which is quite dark. 84 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:28,159 Speaker 4: And yes, Ben, you're right, rumor has it that he 85 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 4: was William Desmond Taylor was having an affair with an 86 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:37,320 Speaker 4: underage person, an underage young woman named Mary Miles Minter. 87 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 4: Her nightgown was found in his bedroom along with a 88 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 4: love letter. 89 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 2: But officially this case. 90 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 1: Does you know, fall under the category of unsolved today unsolved? Yea. 91 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,239 Speaker 1: And then we have to go to Roscoe Arbuckle, better 92 00:05:54,320 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: known as Fatty Arbuckle, who was in his day a 93 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:04,840 Speaker 1: pre eminent comedian. He was the kind of guy you 94 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: would compare to Charlie Chaplin, who has his Charlie Chaplin, 95 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: by the way, has his own dark backstory. Yeah. 96 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 4: And if I'm not mistaken, we talked about both of 97 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 4: these fellas on a joint episode with our pals at 98 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 4: the Tossed Popcorn podcasts. 99 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:27,039 Speaker 1: Absolute legends, Yes, and neither toss Popcorn nor Ridiculous History 100 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 1: has ever engaged in the unclean acts that we have 101 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:37,720 Speaker 1: to describe. We are ethically required to be honest. Fatty 102 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: Arbuckle was charged with manslaughter after an actress died as 103 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: a consequence of something that happened during his known drunken 104 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: hotel ragers, all occurring during Prohibition. This is all what 105 00:06:56,560 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 1: we're giving you here is the context in which the 106 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: motion picture exposition occurs. So there's another piece to add 107 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: to the fire here. Mabel Norman, another very well known 108 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: person in the entertainment industry of the time, she ended 109 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:21,560 Speaker 1: up in the tabloids and the muckraker yellow press for 110 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: a dangerous drug habit, and then she. 111 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 2: You know, the media can be so. 112 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: Brutal, you guys. She was also apparently perhaps having an 113 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: affair with William Desmond Taylor. And then in a separate incident, 114 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 1: her driver took her own gun and shot and not fatally, 115 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: but shot and wounded an oil tycoon. So look, the public, 116 00:07:55,480 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: like the theater going public, is increasingly having a moral 117 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: panic about the creators of their favorite shows. Movie ticket 118 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:13,320 Speaker 1: sales are super down, local censorship boards and morality police 119 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 1: are are trying to hold someone accountable. Yeah, this era 120 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 1: would have been akin to what was you know, portrayed 121 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 1: in the film La Confidential. Danny DeVito's character runs kind 122 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: of a muck raking tabloid. I believe it's like hush 123 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 1: hush maybe, or that was the motto, keep it on 124 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: the hush hush. But this is you know, the early 125 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:35,959 Speaker 1: days of like paparazzi kind of feeding frenzy and certainly 126 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: hasn't gotten any better. But you know, folks in those 127 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: days would go to extreme lengths higher private detectives, you know, 128 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: to bust a celebrity for something like this cocaine habit 129 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:48,959 Speaker 1: that Mabel Norman had, and it was really just. 130 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,479 Speaker 2: Kind of a dark time in the history of Hollywood. 131 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 4: But to your point, Ben, this required maybe a bit 132 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:58,120 Speaker 4: of a pr effort on the part of the major 133 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:01,680 Speaker 4: film studios to sort of draw the attention away from 134 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 4: some of these scandals that we're breaking and maybe uh 135 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 4: reintroduce the public to the magic of the pictures. 136 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:07,840 Speaker 2: You know. 137 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, let's let's imagine one of those studio heads do 138 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: tune in to our stuff. They don't want you to know. 139 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: Series on the Dark Side of Hollywood, by the way, 140 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:23,559 Speaker 1: But imagine one of those studio heads, you know, chopping 141 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 1: his cigar and slamming his fist and going, we need 142 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:32,520 Speaker 1: something wholesome, We need something wholesome. We'll lose in Oklahoma. 143 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 1: So to your point, Noel, the major film studios banded together. 144 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: They created something called the mpp DA motion Picture Producers 145 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: and Distributors of America, and they created this organization to 146 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:57,599 Speaker 1: present what they called the Motion Picture Exposition in Los Angeles. 147 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,959 Speaker 1: And they said, all right, we're going to we're gonna 148 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: make this legit. We're going to pitch to middle America 149 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: as they called it, and we are going to pull 150 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:12,000 Speaker 1: in some government guys to help us out. 151 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 4: And lets you be asking yourself, wait a minute, this 152 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,360 Speaker 4: doesn't sound like a World's fair, a world's expo, and 153 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 4: you would be absolutely correct. But it really is akin 154 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 4: and on the same scale as a World's fair, and 155 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,439 Speaker 4: a first of its kind for highlighting, you know, the 156 00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:28,160 Speaker 4: entertainment industry in Hollywood. 157 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 2: So we thought it was worth mentioning. 158 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:35,719 Speaker 1: Definitely an exposition and to the point of chasing credibility 159 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 1: as as these folks were wont to do. The point 160 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:44,680 Speaker 1: I was making here is they pull in a Postmaster 161 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:49,760 Speaker 1: General named will Hayes to give them a patina of 162 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 1: credibility and to make it seem a little bit less 163 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 1: like a pr stunt. 164 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 2: It was. 165 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: It was trying to bring Holly Would the kind of 166 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:07,319 Speaker 1: wholesome culture that a lot of people thought Hollywood lacked. 167 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 2: You know. 168 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 1: They wanted highbrow art exhibits, they wanted middle brow kind 169 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 1: of everyman entertainment like pageants, lectures on morality. So in 170 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:26,359 Speaker 1: a very real way, this attempt by America's entertainment industry 171 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 1: echoes the earlier ideas from England when Prince Albert built 172 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: a crystal palace to impress people with England and the 173 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:42,920 Speaker 1: idea of the Industrial Revolution. Hollywood tried to do the 174 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: same thing with this Motion Picture Exposition. And just for 175 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: another moment of clarification here, the Motion Picture Producers and 176 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 1: Distributors of America, the MPPDA, didn't want to be directly 177 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,760 Speaker 1: linked to the world, to the World's Fair, to that 178 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:03,080 Speaker 1: governing body. 179 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 2: Legally right. 180 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:07,760 Speaker 1: They very much wanted to capitalize on the kind of 181 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:11,560 Speaker 1: excitement and sort of match the kind of scale that 182 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: the expo is known for. The like buying air jorbans 183 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 1: on Timu Yeah, like transmorphers the movie Yeah yeah, or 184 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: auto Gods. We could do this all day. Oh my gosh, 185 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:30,080 Speaker 1: I want so many more. I want so many more, 186 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:37,440 Speaker 1: Like slightly off brand products. Let's see instead of Apple. Wait, 187 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:42,880 Speaker 1: Snapple's already a thing. Moving on, these guys decide the 188 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:49,320 Speaker 1: exhibit they're holding will be a celebration, because again they're 189 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:53,679 Speaker 1: searching for legitimacy, and they say, what shall we celebrate, 190 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:58,120 Speaker 1: How do we connect with the zeitgeist? Well, it's the 191 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:03,959 Speaker 1: one hundredth headiverse of the Monroe Doctrine, which is where 192 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 1: former President James Monroe decided he would fight against European 193 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:14,760 Speaker 1: interference in the Americas and the Caribbean. Yeah, that's pretty 194 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: I don't know, it's a little it's a bit of 195 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:19,360 Speaker 1: a yeah. 196 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:23,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's like ground and not find out that's what 197 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:28,200 Speaker 3: it is, because everyone's like, okay, James, boy okay. 198 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:31,719 Speaker 1: Well, also, the Monroe doctrine, if I could just take 199 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: a step here, the Monroe doctrine is cartoonishly hypocritical. Yeah, 200 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: it's not great. Certainly, this is one hundred years right, 201 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: This was one hundred years the so even by then 202 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 1: history has sort of you know, shaken out. 203 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,080 Speaker 2: Maybe there are some issues with the Monroe doctrine. 204 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, the la exposition occurs in nineteen twenty three, when 205 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:59,000 Speaker 1: James Monroe was president. He first pitched the idea of 206 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:04,280 Speaker 1: the Monroe doctor were in eighteen twenty three. So it 207 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 1: feels like they were looking for any sort of. 208 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 2: Tye in a hook, as they call it. 209 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:16,959 Speaker 1: Yeah, and so that's what they did, the super relevant 210 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: and super accessible statements of a dead president. 211 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 4: And in another pretty Hollywood move, the MPPDA actually bribed 212 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:30,760 Speaker 4: Congress to mint the commemorative nineteen twenty three Monroe Doctrine 213 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 4: centennial half dollar. They made seventy five thousand of these, 214 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:38,840 Speaker 4: but only twenty seven thousand of them were purchased ahead 215 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 4: of opening day. That's like kind of an early like 216 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 4: crypto scam almost right, It. 217 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,360 Speaker 1: Is like a puppet up. Oh my gosh, I didn't 218 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 1: think about that, Nol. You nailed it to me. It 219 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: calls to mind those late night TV commercials of old 220 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:56,479 Speaker 1: with a commemorative coin. 221 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 4: One hundred percent, you know what I mean, target it 222 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 4: at you know a lot of time older folks that 223 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 4: would maybe be willing to pump their life savings into 224 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:07,200 Speaker 4: these kind of things. Yeah, it almost reminds me of 225 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 4: the pump and dumps camera just happened with the Haktua girl. 226 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:12,680 Speaker 4: Only twenty seven thousand were purchased and the rest of 227 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 4: them were returned to circulation, which effectively made them worthless 228 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 4: in terms of like their extra cachet right. 229 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: Right right, because legally they would be a half dollar, 230 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: they would be fifty cents, and they would have more 231 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: value if they were exclusive. So when they all enter 232 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 1: into the public sphere, the remaining hundreds of thousands of 233 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 1: bribery coins celebrating the Monroe Doctrine, they do become less valuable. 234 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: You can buy one now for any fan of coinage. 235 00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:00,840 Speaker 1: You can buy one now for about seventy eight dollars 236 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 1: and sixty three cents on Amazon. As Ren points out, 237 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:10,480 Speaker 1: they have rave reviews four point five out of five. 238 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 4: Not bad, not bad. But this already doesn't particularly bode well. 239 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, they start exploring different names even before they open. 240 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:28,080 Speaker 1: They end up calling it the American Historical Review and 241 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:33,600 Speaker 1: Motion Picture Exposition. It opens on July second, nineteen twenty three. 242 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:39,680 Speaker 1: They had a thing. I've laughing because they one of 243 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: their big tent attractions was supposed to be something they called, 244 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 1: in a burst of creativity, the location. 245 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 2: Ooh, that's very high hush. It's like the condition right. Yeah, 246 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 2: it's vague and a little bit odd. 247 00:16:53,840 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: It was an area of the grounds that twenty five 248 00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 1: film companies demonstrated the technology behind film production, displaying actual 249 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 1: film sets and costumes for major motion pictures. 250 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:10,119 Speaker 4: The public would have very much been aware of the time. However, 251 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 4: the media were a lot more interested in the historical 252 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:16,200 Speaker 4: exhibits that the exposition had to offer, including the opening 253 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:20,040 Speaker 4: night tableau of Washington crossing the Della, where they were 254 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:22,960 Speaker 4: really leaning into the raw raw America. 255 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,120 Speaker 1: Of it, all right, because if you have a problem 256 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:28,440 Speaker 1: with our show, you have a problem with America. That's right, 257 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:30,640 Speaker 1: that's the implication they're going for. 258 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 4: They had some other kind of dramatizations, Lincoln freeing the slaves, 259 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:37,920 Speaker 4: and of course, you know, a callback to maybe our 260 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:42,000 Speaker 4: Colombian exhibition, Columbus landing in the Americas. 261 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: Crystal Baul Cologne is still very, very famous in that day, 262 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: and I think perhaps today most well known for being 263 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:53,080 Speaker 1: mentioned in an episode of The Sopranos. 264 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, but. 265 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,200 Speaker 1: This is a Christopher Columbus and also maybe now a 266 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 1: little bit more known for being a bit of a 267 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:07,639 Speaker 1: war criminal. Yeah yeah, I agreed, absolute monster. The public, however, 268 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:11,640 Speaker 1: is not interested in what the studios are attempting to sell. 269 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:16,840 Speaker 1: They They're like people who go to a fan convention. 270 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:19,920 Speaker 1: Yeah we can go here a lecture. Yeah, we can 271 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:23,720 Speaker 1: go here at Ted talk and learn about Washington crossing 272 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: the Delaware, et cetera, et cetera. But we're really here 273 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:33,119 Speaker 1: to party and meet our favorite celebrities. The problem is 274 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 1: the studios mess up. I'm just gonna be honest. They 275 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: did not get all the celebrities they wanted. They did 276 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: not anticipate the public demand. So at the very last minute, 277 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: they pulled in a few actors, primarily based on the 278 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: incredibly strange studio contracts that all actors had. You know, 279 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:08,720 Speaker 1: it's similar to like K pop today. You have a 280 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:12,520 Speaker 1: governing body that can just tell you to jump around, 281 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:14,159 Speaker 1: jump around. 282 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:15,680 Speaker 2: Get out your seat, and check out the stuff I 283 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 2: don't want you. 284 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:17,920 Speaker 1: An episode that we mentioned earlier, we go into a 285 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,080 Speaker 1: lot of his contract stuff and how the big studios. 286 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 4: Really had a stranglehold on a lot of their talent. 287 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 4: But unfortunately, in this case, it would seem their stranglehold 288 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,080 Speaker 4: was not tight enough to get the top earners, the 289 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 4: top performers to show up. And so at the end 290 00:19:30,600 --> 00:19:33,399 Speaker 4: of the day, they had one final hail Mary that 291 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:36,080 Speaker 4: were hoping was gonna, you know, get the butts in 292 00:19:36,119 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 4: the seats or the feet on the location, and it 293 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 4: was President Warren Jay Harding, Everyone's favorite president. 294 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:46,080 Speaker 2: I guess he was supposed to show up. 295 00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: He was scheduled to make an appearance at this event, 296 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: but in a continuing series of unfortunate events, he died 297 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:57,120 Speaker 1: just before his scheduled appearance on August second, nineteen twenty three, 298 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:01,840 Speaker 1: of a heart attack. Yeah, and that Hail Mary being 299 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 1: unsuccessful was really the the financial and optic nail in 300 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 1: the coffin for the MPPDA. And this exposition that is 301 00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:20,359 Speaker 1: not legally associated with the World's Fair but is definitely 302 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: trying to make you think of the World's Fair. They 303 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:27,280 Speaker 1: were two hundred thousand dollars in debt as a result 304 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 1: of this strange debacle. Could we get an inflation calculation 305 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:39,800 Speaker 1: and a dude, two hundred thousand dollars in nineteen twenty 306 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:46,679 Speaker 1: three money is the equivalent of drum roll, thank you 307 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: max three million, six hundred and eighty nine thousand, nine 308 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:57,399 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy six dollars and sixty one cents in 309 00:20:57,480 --> 00:20:58,399 Speaker 1: twenty twenty. 310 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:02,640 Speaker 4: Four sixty one centsage? Really is that insults injury? So yeah, 311 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:07,720 Speaker 4: I mean even that amount. We know movie flops today 312 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,119 Speaker 4: lose way more than that, so it's still kind of 313 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 4: a modest loss by today's standards, even when you figure 314 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:17,199 Speaker 4: inflation into the mix. But not a good look. The 315 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:19,959 Speaker 4: whole thing came off as quite a flop. 316 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:25,679 Speaker 1: Yeah, And speaking of belly flops, we have to note 317 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,359 Speaker 1: that if you go to the governing body of the 318 00:21:28,359 --> 00:21:33,720 Speaker 1: World's Fair, the Bureau of International Expositions. You'll see that 319 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: they do not acknowledge this strange, ridiculous and doomed LA Exposition. 320 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:48,640 Speaker 1: You will see other belly flops like the Louisiana World Exposition, 321 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 1: which is recognized by the governing body and happened happened 322 00:21:55,200 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 1: just before our ridiculous history cut off in chronology. Noel, 323 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 1: can you take us to nineteen eighty four? 324 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:06,800 Speaker 4: Well, travel with me too, the lovely city of New Orleans, 325 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:08,640 Speaker 4: New Orleans, New Orleans. 326 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 1: Smell that you know, Smell that beignet, smell that coffee. 327 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:17,240 Speaker 4: Smell that horse crap, the vomit and stale beer smell. 328 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: No. I love New Orleans, but it's got some sensory 329 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,240 Speaker 1: overload opportunities, let's say it. One of my buddies, who 330 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,879 Speaker 1: is not from the United States, was attempting to be 331 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 1: diplomatic with me, and she described New Orleans as quote 332 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: a very specific city. It very much does love it 333 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,479 Speaker 1: or hate it. I've only been once and I very 334 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:41,520 Speaker 1: much enjoyed myself. 335 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:43,960 Speaker 4: Though since I've stopped drinking, I don't know if I 336 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:46,240 Speaker 4: would enjoy it quite as much, but we'll see. 337 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,239 Speaker 2: Who knows. I'd love to visit and try so. 338 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:53,480 Speaker 4: As described by Time magazine writer Michael Demarest, the soul, spirit, 339 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:57,280 Speaker 4: and stomach of the World's Fair is the city itself, 340 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:02,320 Speaker 4: brooding and flamboyant, raucous and bane, devouts and dissolute. 341 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 2: That is good right. 342 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 1: The Fair stirs together the razmatazz of Marti Gras, the 343 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:13,680 Speaker 1: harmony of New Orleans, elegant old buildings and French, Spanish, African, Italian, Irish, German, Creole. 344 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:15,160 Speaker 2: Cajun, gumbo, gusto. 345 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,920 Speaker 1: Those are all hyphenative, yes, sure are of its every day, 346 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:22,919 Speaker 1: every night street life. Good on you, Michael Demerz, what 347 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,720 Speaker 1: a turn I could turn a phrase. Very well done. 348 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:30,879 Speaker 1: And having been to New Orleans, if you have the chance, 349 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:35,400 Speaker 1: please go. I am also no longer a partier and 350 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:40,040 Speaker 1: I love the place. The history is amazing, the culture 351 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:43,800 Speaker 1: is different. Also side note nothing to do with the 352 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: World's Fair. You can buy a parade in New Orleans. 353 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 1: You can buy a personal parade. A lot of folks 354 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:55,960 Speaker 1: don't know that it's super affordable. Just go nuts, you 355 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 1: know what I mean. Take the money you want to 356 00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:01,000 Speaker 1: spend at the bar and get yourself good squad with 357 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:02,680 Speaker 1: a tuba. 358 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 2: I can't wait to go back. Yeah, I mean parades 359 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,199 Speaker 2: are like life there in New Orleans. 360 00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,080 Speaker 4: If anyone's familiar with, you know, New Orleans funerals, I 361 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:12,639 Speaker 4: mean there's a parade involved in that. 362 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:14,679 Speaker 1: It really is just kind of ingrained in the culture 363 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 1: of that city. Yeah, we can't wait to go back. 364 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:22,760 Speaker 1: We should also do a history of Marti Gras. That's cool. 365 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,680 Speaker 1: We won't get too true detective with it. So the 366 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 1: Louisiana World Exposition takes place what we would call the 367 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:37,680 Speaker 1: New Orleans metro area. The main location is the Warehouse District. 368 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 1: At this point, the Warehouse District is defunct. It's burned down. 369 00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:47,400 Speaker 1: You know, the city doesn't really care about it, and 370 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:52,240 Speaker 1: they gentrify it. Let's be honest, they gentrify eighty four 371 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:56,080 Speaker 1: acres or renovate, they would call it. At first, this 372 00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 1: fair is defined by a garish color scheme. They got 373 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:04,760 Speaker 1: a series of statues. There's a mermaid, they're alligators. And 374 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 1: then I know you'll love this nol. They have a 375 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:15,600 Speaker 1: wacky collection of temporary facades veneers and they call this 376 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 1: together the Wonder Wall, which is why you know it 377 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 1: reminds us of Episode one where Chicago's World's Fair. The 378 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 1: Colombian one had a bunch of white plaster over things, 379 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:32,920 Speaker 1: and they called it the White Cities. So now Louisiana 380 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,359 Speaker 1: and New Orleans responds with the wonder Wall. 381 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:39,960 Speaker 4: Yeah, after all this, maybe I don't know a hundred 382 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:40,960 Speaker 4: of Oasis knew about this. 383 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:41,720 Speaker 2: It's hard to say. 384 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,080 Speaker 1: I'm sure. I'm sure Liam and nol spend a lot 385 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: of time on the lyrics. 386 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 2: Probably well, you know, I mean it's people like them. 387 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 2: It's kind of like them. 388 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure, they've got some bangers, no question about them. 389 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 4: I just never need to hear that song ever again. 390 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:02,000 Speaker 4: But this was another example of kind of trying to 391 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:07,440 Speaker 4: gussy up something that maybe was not as appealing otherwise, 392 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:09,159 Speaker 4: sort of like trying to put a little bit of 393 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:14,480 Speaker 4: a shiny veneer on what might be considered by visitors 394 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:16,680 Speaker 4: as like a little bit more of a rundown kind 395 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:17,399 Speaker 4: of Look. 396 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:21,159 Speaker 1: It's rough, right, is it a hat on a hat? 397 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:27,080 Speaker 1: Are we unnecessarily jushing up things? The fair had some 398 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,560 Speaker 1: big ticket, big tent items. There was a three hundred 399 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:37,360 Speaker 1: foot French gondola gondola that connected the Warehouse district to Algiers. 400 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,960 Speaker 1: There was an example of the space shuttle, the Enterprise 401 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,879 Speaker 1: not the cool one, the real one flown in on 402 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:48,959 Speaker 1: the back of a seven forty seven. There was the 403 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:54,000 Speaker 1: International Women's Pavilion. There were all these, again global exhibits, 404 00:26:54,640 --> 00:27:01,400 Speaker 1: thankfully nothing exploiting indigenous people. But there was an Italian village, 405 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:05,679 Speaker 1: there was a German beer garden, and there was a 406 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:12,680 Speaker 1: Louisiana swamp ride. By the way, fellow ridiculous historians, this 407 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: was unsuccessful. The exposition was a huge poop in the pants. 408 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 4: Yes, it was such a financial failure that many, many, 409 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 4: many years later, in nineteen ninety nine, Congress implemented twenty 410 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:33,320 Speaker 4: two US Code two forty five to be international expositions, 411 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 4: which prevented the Department of State from using funds for 412 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,679 Speaker 4: a United States pavilion or other major exhibit at a 413 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 4: World's Fair. Because this event was seen as such a 414 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 4: waste of tax payer money, that served as a precedent 415 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:49,120 Speaker 4: to ultimately make sure something like this didn't happen again, 416 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:50,920 Speaker 4: though it certainly took a while for them to get 417 00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:51,199 Speaker 4: to it. 418 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:54,159 Speaker 1: But you know, I love justice, I love it. It 419 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 1: is peak ridiculous history. Uncle Sam lost so much money 420 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:04,320 Speaker 1: that that we decided to make it illegal to lose 421 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:09,880 Speaker 1: that money. That way again, that's how much money we lost. 422 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:15,480 Speaker 1: The total cost of this exposition was about three hundred 423 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:19,520 Speaker 1: and fifty million dollars at the time nineteen eighty four. 424 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: So uh Noel, if we could return to our inflation calculator, 425 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:27,600 Speaker 1: I'm gonna set you up with a boop and then 426 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 1: let us know how much money America lost in twenty 427 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,200 Speaker 1: twenty four and a dude spoop. 428 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 4: The total cost of the expedition was around three hundred 429 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:43,960 Speaker 4: and fifty million dollars in nineteen eighty four, money which 430 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 4: today would be a whopping one billion, sixty two million, 431 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,600 Speaker 4: seven hundred and seventy seven thousand, one hundred and eighty 432 00:28:55,720 --> 00:29:00,240 Speaker 4: nine dollars. Could have made three Avatar movies for that amount. 433 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:03,840 Speaker 1: Right, and we have to wonder whether you could pay 434 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:08,240 Speaker 1: part of that off an with a Monroe Doctrine centennial 435 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 1: half dollar. The news is still developing, so this is 436 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 1: a quagmire, right, this is a boondoggle. Attendance is forty 437 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: percent lower than they had hoped. The Louisiana World Exposition 438 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:30,080 Speaker 1: is the only World's Fair in all of history to 439 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:34,920 Speaker 1: declare bankruptcy while it was still happening. And it's a 440 00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 1: sad story. You know, we're taking the piss a bit, 441 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:41,000 Speaker 1: as our British friends like to say. But the exposition 442 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:44,640 Speaker 1: was meant to do good things. It was meant to 443 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:49,480 Speaker 1: revitalize the economy of the overall region. If you cast 444 00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 1: your memory back there to the nineteen eighties in the Gulf, 445 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:58,720 Speaker 1: you'll see that they were in dire straits, not the band. 446 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 1: They were situated in the Gulf of Mexico. There was 447 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:08,120 Speaker 1: a lot of offshore drilling. Louisiana was even more heavily 448 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:14,800 Speaker 1: dependent on the oil industry, and oil has often been 449 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:20,959 Speaker 1: a geopolitical leverage point. In a very quick summation here, 450 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:25,040 Speaker 1: we can tell you, as several of our fellow ridiculous 451 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 1: historians will recall, the United States and Iran sometimes don't 452 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:36,840 Speaker 1: get along. So I wish I could say it wasn't so, 453 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:38,000 Speaker 1: but that's the case. 454 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:38,160 Speaker 2: No. 455 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 1: In nineteen seventy nine, in particular, President Carter, Jimmy Carter, 456 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:51,360 Speaker 1: a fellow resident of Atlanta, God Bless, he embargoed oil. 457 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 2: Trade with the nation of Iran. 458 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:58,040 Speaker 1: The US public panicked because they thought there would be 459 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:02,720 Speaker 1: no oil, no gas for car The price skyrocketed, and 460 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, Louisiana was in an economic bubble. However, 461 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:13,280 Speaker 1: we know how bubbles work. First a bubble forms, and 462 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:23,880 Speaker 1: then a bubble. The bubble burst in the nineteen eighties, 463 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:29,240 Speaker 1: or in nineteen eighties, specifically, when Uncle Sam renewed ties 464 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:32,880 Speaker 1: with the Middle Eastern nation of Rock so they could 465 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 1: still keep pulling in oil. Louisiana was left out in 466 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 1: the cold and a lot of people lost their jobs. 467 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 1: So the fair organizers would were hoping that the exposition 468 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:53,240 Speaker 1: could bring tourism in, could somehow bring other industries right 469 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:57,680 Speaker 1: that were not oil dependent. It didn't work out. I mean, 470 00:31:57,880 --> 00:31:59,760 Speaker 1: break it down for us man, what went? 471 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 2: Yeah. 472 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:04,760 Speaker 4: By nineteen eighty four, the World's Fair structure had really 473 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,640 Speaker 4: kind of become something very different from what it was 474 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:13,240 Speaker 4: originally intended to be, which was, of course a showcase 475 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:17,800 Speaker 4: of invention and innovation and progress. It seems to have 476 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:22,320 Speaker 4: kind of devolved into a much more commercial state fair 477 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:28,840 Speaker 4: kind of situation without that draw of new revolutionary technology being. 478 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:33,080 Speaker 1: Right, where's our telephone, where's our tell? Where's our television? Right? 479 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:34,280 Speaker 2: Our flying car? 480 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:38,560 Speaker 1: Where's our Ferris Will? So this, yeah, this is an 481 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:47,000 Speaker 1: excellent point there. The exposition occurs often in step with 482 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:51,000 Speaker 1: the Olympics. So at this point, right, we talked about 483 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:55,080 Speaker 1: the nineteen oh four stuff in a previous episode. The 484 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:57,960 Speaker 1: Olympics in nineteen eighty four are taking some of the 485 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:03,720 Speaker 1: public's front of my space from the exposition, and it's 486 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:07,600 Speaker 1: taking money from sponsors. So imagine you're a big to 487 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: do kind of guy. Right, you have some money, but 488 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:15,320 Speaker 1: not all the money. You can help fund the nineteen 489 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: eighty four Olympics, or you can help fund this exposition 490 00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:25,360 Speaker 1: in Louisiana. A lot of people decided to focus on 491 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:28,960 Speaker 1: the Olympics. Now, we can't blame them, We're just telling 492 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:35,280 Speaker 1: you what happened. There were a series of competing international events. 493 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:37,600 Speaker 4: Yeah, and like we mentioned in the first episode, there's 494 00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:41,360 Speaker 4: a reason for the World's Fair not seeming to have 495 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:42,080 Speaker 4: the same. 496 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:44,880 Speaker 1: Prominence as the Olympics does today. And this may have 497 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:46,320 Speaker 1: been the beginning of that back slack. 498 00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:49,440 Speaker 4: Actually, it probably began quite a bit before the nineteen 499 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:50,760 Speaker 4: eighty four World's Fair. 500 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,000 Speaker 2: This is sort of a good example of where it landed. 501 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:57,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, and then adding on to the complication something we 502 00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:01,600 Speaker 1: mentioned in episode one of the World's Fairs, we were 503 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:05,360 Speaker 1: talking about the wins, there was another big win in 504 00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:10,240 Speaker 1: Florida that also competed with Louisiana. It is disney World's 505 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:13,080 Speaker 1: newest theme park, Epcot. 506 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:13,839 Speaker 2: Oh ed. 507 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:18,000 Speaker 1: Also, we should point out there was a recent World's 508 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:22,520 Speaker 1: Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, just two years before nineteen eighty four, 509 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:27,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty two. So like the World's Fair is 510 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:29,880 Speaker 1: supposed to be for the world, people who were worlds 511 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:32,560 Speaker 1: fared out a little bit yet it were I think 512 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,680 Speaker 1: that's fair to say. And now you're thinking, I've been 513 00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:38,520 Speaker 1: to Knoxville, which is a great town. I'm required to 514 00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:43,840 Speaker 1: say that. No spoilers. And we also we have to 515 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:48,920 Speaker 1: imagine the tourists, right, the people with money to travel, 516 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:54,520 Speaker 1: money and time to travel. They're saying, we've been to America, 517 00:34:54,760 --> 00:35:00,279 Speaker 1: we visited Knoxville. What shall we return to Louisiana If 518 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:05,040 Speaker 1: we go again to the Americas, we must. 519 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:08,120 Speaker 4: Go to Epcot because it was built as a permanent 520 00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:10,719 Speaker 4: World's Fair. It's sort of that quintessential city of the 521 00:35:10,760 --> 00:35:13,640 Speaker 4: future kind of look with the what is it Spaceship Earth. 522 00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:16,360 Speaker 2: I love all of that. It's pretty cool even still today. 523 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:19,200 Speaker 4: I've visited a couple of years ago and I had 524 00:35:19,239 --> 00:35:21,880 Speaker 4: a good old time, and it really is a neat attraction, 525 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,400 Speaker 4: especially with all of the international areas, you know, and 526 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:29,600 Speaker 4: the different cuisine and you know, sort of recreations of 527 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:33,600 Speaker 4: all of these incredible architectural feats, you know, from everywhere 528 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:38,080 Speaker 4: from China to South America, India and beyond. So what 529 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:40,040 Speaker 4: do I need to go to Louisiana for when I 530 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:42,200 Speaker 4: can just pop over to Epcot and then hit the 531 00:35:42,239 --> 00:35:45,279 Speaker 4: Magic Kingdom for you know, some tea cups and in 532 00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:49,319 Speaker 4: the photo off with Cinderella mister Toad's Wild Ride as 533 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:49,840 Speaker 4: a banger. 534 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:55,000 Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, I love Epcot, folks, I oh my gosh, 535 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:58,719 Speaker 1: I'm such a fanboy for it. To top all of 536 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:03,680 Speaker 1: this off the cop locations for this exhibition in New Orleans. 537 00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:08,680 Speaker 1: The federal government usually subsidizes these events, and Noel we 538 00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:15,760 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier that this was such a disaster that Uncle 539 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:19,160 Speaker 1: Sam decided to make a law saying they will not 540 00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:23,600 Speaker 1: pay for these sorts of things. But even before stuff 541 00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:28,839 Speaker 1: was getting rolling, the US government had slashed its contribution 542 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:33,440 Speaker 1: to the cause by ten million dollars. So the exposition 543 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:40,320 Speaker 1: found itself over one hundred million US dollars in debt 544 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:44,960 Speaker 1: by the day they closed. But I mean, look, not 545 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:49,120 Speaker 1: everything's going to work. That's the spirit of the World's Fair, right, 546 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:53,000 Speaker 1: It's a great drawing board, and the idea is, you know, 547 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:56,279 Speaker 1: some things are going to be a television, some things 548 00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:59,680 Speaker 1: are going to be electro the smoking robot. Not everything's 549 00:36:59,719 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 1: going to. 550 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:02,120 Speaker 4: And forgive me if I'm repeating this, but I just 551 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:05,040 Speaker 4: think it's maybe it bears repeating. This was the only 552 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:10,200 Speaker 4: Worldfair to ever actually declare bankruptcy while in progress. 553 00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:14,600 Speaker 1: M hmm, yeah, that's absolutely true. Now we've given you 554 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:19,839 Speaker 1: two examples of when things went wrong, but we want 555 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:25,640 Speaker 1: to be positive offens, so let's close on a positive note. 556 00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:31,080 Speaker 1: The United States has started submitting bids again. Enough time 557 00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:35,080 Speaker 1: has passed, Enough water under the bridge, so our buddies, 558 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:40,880 Speaker 1: the country we live in has started started asking the 559 00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:45,640 Speaker 1: Bureau of International Expositions for another chance. You know what 560 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:49,319 Speaker 1: I mean, take us back in les. Let's go get coffee. 561 00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:52,920 Speaker 1: They've submitted a bid to host what is called a 562 00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:56,600 Speaker 1: specialized expo. So you know how there are TED talks 563 00:37:56,960 --> 00:38:00,279 Speaker 1: and then there are ted X talks. Yeah, the spinoff 564 00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:04,400 Speaker 1: specialized Expo is kind of like the ted X to 565 00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:06,520 Speaker 1: the World's Fair TED Talk. 566 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:09,680 Speaker 4: Yeah, And the theme under which they are taking these 567 00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:14,360 Speaker 4: submissions is healthy people, Healthy planet. Although the United States 568 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:18,319 Speaker 4: ultimately did lose this bid to Serbia. 569 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:21,480 Speaker 2: Serbia, I know, Serbia, you never see them coming. 570 00:38:21,520 --> 00:38:25,440 Speaker 4: Hopefully we may one day have a World's Fair in 571 00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:28,080 Speaker 4: the States again. And you know, something that occurs to 572 00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:30,319 Speaker 4: me now, Ben that we maybe didn't mention it, the 573 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:34,920 Speaker 4: idea of this singular event for showcasing all of the 574 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:38,360 Speaker 4: new tech and innovations or whatever. It makes sense that 575 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:41,120 Speaker 4: it would be difficult to maintain that with all of 576 00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:45,200 Speaker 4: the fragmented little expos that take play. And I say little, 577 00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:47,880 Speaker 4: I mean you're huge things like CEES for example, or 578 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:50,560 Speaker 4: G three, you know, for like video games. Every kind 579 00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:53,919 Speaker 4: of industry has their own World's Fair, you know that's 580 00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:58,000 Speaker 4: specifically surrounding a certain genre of innovation, So you just 581 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:00,279 Speaker 4: can't really compete with that. 582 00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:05,960 Speaker 1: That's a great point because the current world expos tend to, 583 00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:12,080 Speaker 1: as a result, go broad right CESG three, They specialize 584 00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:15,680 Speaker 1: in certain things, just like the Defcon conference in. 585 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:18,520 Speaker 2: Cases, which is a hacker kind of thing. Right, Well, 586 00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:19,200 Speaker 2: let's see me. 587 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:27,200 Speaker 1: Internet enthusiasts, thank you, enth yeah, yeah, because I don't 588 00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:30,440 Speaker 1: want them to get us. So just in case, folks, 589 00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:35,759 Speaker 1: you want to learn more about World expos tell us 590 00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:39,879 Speaker 1: what you're doing later, because this year the World Exposition 591 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:44,440 Speaker 1: will be held in Osaka, Japan. Going to our point 592 00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:48,480 Speaker 1: about keeping things broad, the theme of the idea here 593 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:56,200 Speaker 1: NOL is designing future society for our lives. That's so broad. 594 00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:57,279 Speaker 2: What does that mean? 595 00:39:57,880 --> 00:40:01,640 Speaker 1: Designing future society for our lives? It's going to be 596 00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:04,640 Speaker 1: a banger. We're working with accounting right now to see 597 00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:08,279 Speaker 1: if we can take ridiculous history there. Just that's what 598 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:10,879 Speaker 1: we call a big swing. Yeah, for sure, for sure. 599 00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:13,480 Speaker 4: And what would be a ridiculous history episode if we 600 00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:17,880 Speaker 4: didn't wrap up with a couple of related, unrelated adjacent 601 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:22,640 Speaker 4: bits of tangents and trivia. Angus Young, you know, the 602 00:40:22,719 --> 00:40:26,359 Speaker 4: lead guitarist of the aussy rock band ac DC. 603 00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:28,840 Speaker 2: He's the guy that wears dresses like a little schoolboy. 604 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:31,600 Speaker 2: You know what music? That is? The question? 605 00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:35,400 Speaker 4: Ben Well, he thinks, you know, music is shredding on 606 00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:39,600 Speaker 4: the electric guitar they apparently are. Angus himself proposed the 607 00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:42,719 Speaker 4: group's name after his sister in law pointed out that 608 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:47,279 Speaker 4: the alternating current direct current symbol on her sewing machine 609 00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:50,759 Speaker 4: looked kind of cool, and so the band adopted that 610 00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:53,319 Speaker 4: name because they felt a symbolized the raw power of 611 00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:57,760 Speaker 4: rock that they hoped to bring across in their music. 612 00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:04,440 Speaker 1: Yeah. Man, there's so many there's so many interesting pathways 613 00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:08,560 Speaker 1: about like related to the World's Fair. Do you wanna 614 00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:11,840 Speaker 1: do you want to kick us one more callback before 615 00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:12,520 Speaker 1: we end the show. 616 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:16,080 Speaker 4: Yeah, we talked about that kind of really dark period 617 00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:19,520 Speaker 4: in the Golden Age of Hollywood causing the producers of 618 00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:23,520 Speaker 4: motion pictures to band together to create some kind of distraction. 619 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:29,400 Speaker 4: We mentioned William Desmond Taylor being murdered in his bungalow. 620 00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:30,760 Speaker 2: Well. 621 00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:35,759 Speaker 4: Mary Miles Mintor, who I believe was his mistress, confessed 622 00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:41,000 Speaker 4: in her unpublished autobiography that she and her mother were 623 00:41:41,080 --> 00:41:44,280 Speaker 4: at William Desmond Taylor's bungalow the night he was murdered, 624 00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:48,719 Speaker 4: and another Hollywood player, King Vedoor, known for films such 625 00:41:48,760 --> 00:41:52,680 Speaker 4: as Warren Peace with Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda, claims 626 00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:57,279 Speaker 4: Mentor once admitted that her kind of helicopter mother, a 627 00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:00,439 Speaker 4: bit of a control freak, was actually the one who 628 00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:04,040 Speaker 4: pulled the trigger when she came across her daughter and 629 00:42:04,239 --> 00:42:09,560 Speaker 4: Taylor perhaps engaged in some hanky panky there in his home. 630 00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:14,600 Speaker 1: And lest we leave you on a negative note, We'll 631 00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:18,480 Speaker 1: give you just just a couple more fun facts about 632 00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:24,480 Speaker 1: the expo occurring in October of twenty twenty five. Nol, 633 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:28,120 Speaker 1: you know how we lost to Serbia? Osaka won the 634 00:42:28,160 --> 00:42:33,000 Speaker 1: new one here, I know, I know Serbia. The countries 635 00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:39,600 Speaker 1: that the countries that Japan went against were Azerbaijan and Russia. 636 00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:45,440 Speaker 1: The Azerbaijani theme was developing human capital, building a better future. 637 00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:50,880 Speaker 1: The Russian pitch was changing the world innovations, better life 638 00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:56,319 Speaker 1: for future generations. I gotta tell you, I hope we 639 00:42:56,400 --> 00:43:00,680 Speaker 1: can convince accounting to take us to OSA. Wouldn't that 640 00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:02,680 Speaker 1: be cool? How do we pull that off? Like you're 641 00:43:02,680 --> 00:43:05,040 Speaker 1: a people person, can you make that happen for us? 642 00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:07,600 Speaker 1: I'll see if I could put my people person powers 643 00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:11,040 Speaker 1: to good use. Oh I love that alliteration, dude. Okay, 644 00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:13,839 Speaker 1: So when you talk to Accounting Noel, please and thank 645 00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:17,400 Speaker 1: you in advance. Tell them we're not just going to 646 00:43:17,920 --> 00:43:23,040 Speaker 1: explore designing future society for our lives. Tell them also 647 00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:28,080 Speaker 1: the sub themes of the Next World Expo are saving lives, 648 00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:33,040 Speaker 1: empowering lives, and connecting lives. And then if they're still 649 00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:35,759 Speaker 1: on the fence about it, bro toss them one of 650 00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:37,080 Speaker 1: those Monroe coins. 651 00:43:37,640 --> 00:43:40,359 Speaker 2: Indeed, exactly, that's a great call. 652 00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:46,320 Speaker 4: Huge thanks to our incredible research associate Extraordinaire Wren Jones. 653 00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:50,359 Speaker 4: Huge thanks to super producer Extraordinaire Max von Williams. 654 00:43:50,920 --> 00:43:54,879 Speaker 1: Yes, big, big thanks to you, Research associate renfest Hope 655 00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:58,479 Speaker 1: you like the sobri quet, the monoka, the nickname. Big 656 00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:02,640 Speaker 1: big thanks of course to our pal mister Max Williams, 657 00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:07,359 Speaker 1: as well as his biological brother Alex Dijuano Williams, who 658 00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:10,560 Speaker 1: composed this slap and bop. Who else, who else? Who else? 659 00:44:10,960 --> 00:44:12,200 Speaker 2: Oh, you know the usual. 660 00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:15,320 Speaker 1: Christ Frasciotis needs, Jeff codes Here, a Spara, Jonathan Strickland, 661 00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:20,640 Speaker 1: the Quizitor, a j Bahamas, Jacobs the Puzzler, Rachel Big 662 00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:26,359 Speaker 1: Spinach Lands, everybody who has gone to a world exposition, 663 00:44:26,600 --> 00:44:31,160 Speaker 1: and everyone who is tuning in to join us on 664 00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:36,160 Speaker 1: the show today. Perhaps most importantly, mister nol Brown. 665 00:44:36,960 --> 00:44:39,880 Speaker 2: You as well, Ben. We'll see you next time. Folks. 666 00:44:47,080 --> 00:44:50,880 Speaker 4: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 667 00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:53,080 Speaker 4: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.