1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:40,160 Speaker 1: Switching between roles is an essential part of any performer's work, 7 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:43,159 Speaker 1: but sometimes the line can blur between where a character 8 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,159 Speaker 1: ends and the real person begins. During World War II, 9 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: for example, Josephine Baker was one of the most famous 10 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 1: performers in Europe. She was a burlesque dancer and an 11 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: opera diva with a knack for shocking her audiences. As 12 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,240 Speaker 1: it turns out, though her star persona was just a 13 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: cover for her real career espionage. Josephine was born freeda 14 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: Josephine MacDonald in Saint Louis, Missouri, in nineteen oh six. 15 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: Early on, she saw dancing and singing as her way 16 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: out of poverty. While she was still a teenager, she 17 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: joined a traveling vaudeville troupe and appeared in an all 18 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: black revue on Broadway. She dreamed of becoming famous, but 19 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: found that in deeply segregated America it was nearly impossible 20 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:24,039 Speaker 1: for a black woman to be a star, and so 21 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: at the age of nineteen, when she was asked to 22 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,559 Speaker 1: appear in an all black burlesque in Paris, she jumped 23 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:33,119 Speaker 1: at the chance. France quickly proved to be everything America 24 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:37,040 Speaker 1: wasn't there, Josephine was an instant star. She performed in 25 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: outrageous ensembles of feathers and pearls and honestly not much else, 26 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: and she did well too. She strolled the streets of 27 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: Paris with Chiquita, her pet cheetah, on a leash studded 28 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 1: with diamonds, and in Paris she found the ability to 29 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:54,080 Speaker 1: write her own story, often making revisions. She told one 30 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: source that she was the daughter of an influential black lawyer, 31 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: and another that her father was a famous Spanish dancer. 32 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 1: I don't lie, she was quoted as saying, I improve 33 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: on life. A core part of Josephine's act was to 34 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: provoke a strong reaction, but with fascism on the rise 35 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: as the nineteen twenties came to a close, not every 36 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: strong reaction was a positive one. In nineteen twenty eight, 37 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: Josephine began a European tour in Vienna, Austria. As she 38 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: arrived in town, protesters shouted at her and street signs 39 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: labeled her a black devil. It wasn't a warm welcome, 40 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 1: and Josephine would later go on to say that it 41 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: brought her back to the racist riots that she saw 42 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,239 Speaker 1: in Saint Louis as a child. Over the next decade, 43 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:36,920 Speaker 1: Josephine found herself in the crosshairs of the German and 44 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: Italian governments, probably because Josephine was an incredibly successful, provocative, 45 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:44,800 Speaker 1: self made black celebrity, and it didn't hurt that her 46 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: husband was a French Jewish sugar merchant, and all of 47 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: this made the Nazi publish a leaflet against her in 48 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: the late nineteen thirties. According to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Gerbels, 49 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: Josephine was the face of degenerate art. At the same time, 50 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: she was banned from performance in Germany and Italy. So 51 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: when the French Resistance came knocking on Josephine's door in 52 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: the late nineteen thirties, they were a welcome company, and 53 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:11,959 Speaker 1: when their intelligence bureau suggested she act as a secret agent. 54 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: She jumped at the chance. She dined with dignitaries and diplomats, 55 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,640 Speaker 1: and despite the performance ban, she still had influential fans 56 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: in German, Italian and Japanese society. Everything Josephine did was big, loud, 57 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: and attention getting. Nobody would suspect her of being a spy. 58 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: She immediately got to work. She attended parties at Italian embassies, 59 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: writing down overheard secrets on her arms. She flew her 60 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: personal playing to drop aid and occupied French towns, and 61 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: smuggled Jewish fugitives to neutral Portugal. She traveled under the 62 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: guise of a European tour, pinning sensitive information to her 63 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: bra and underwear. She banked on the fact that no 64 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: one would subject the famous Josephine Baker to a strip search, 65 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: and she was right. In November of nineteen forty, Baker 66 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: arrived in Spain for a new performance. As she disembard arked, Spanish, 67 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: German and Italian officials crowded around her, desperate for an autograph. 68 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 1: None of them thought to check her bags. If they had, 69 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: they would have found a complete dossier on Nazi air 70 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: bases and plans all written in invisible ink on her 71 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: sheet music. By nineteen forty one, Josephine was in Morocco 72 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: helping to secure passports for Jews fleeing the Nazis. She 73 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: fell sick with perry and titus and inflammation of the 74 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: stomach lining, and spent the next year recovering in a 75 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 1: Casablanca clinic. Her hospital room quickly became a rendezvous for 76 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:33,359 Speaker 1: agents to meet and share information, all posing as fans 77 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: of Josephine. After the Allies won World War II in 78 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 1: nineteen forty five, Josephine returned to her beloved Paris as 79 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: a French national hero. For her work, she received two 80 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,480 Speaker 1: of the highest military honors that France awards while Josephine's 81 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: heart was in Paris. After the war, she continued her 82 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: fights in America. She protested against segregation, often publicly walking 83 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,720 Speaker 1: out of all white nightclubs, and she was even at 84 00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: the March on Washington in August of nineteen sixty three, 85 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,040 Speaker 1: where Martin Luther King Junior made his famous I Have 86 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:04,920 Speaker 1: a Dream speech. She gave a speech of her own there. 87 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,040 Speaker 1: Josephine Baker died in nineteen seventy five, after seventy one 88 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: years of being a provocateur both on and off the stage. 89 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: She remains the only American born person to be buried 90 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: with full French military honors. She was a chorus girl 91 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,479 Speaker 1: and a burlesque dancer, an opera singer, and a movie star, 92 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,480 Speaker 1: but her finest role was as an undercover agent, and 93 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: for that she should take a bow. He's an unsung 94 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:47,839 Speaker 1: hero of science and engineering. When we discussed the world's 95 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: greatest inventions, we talk about the light bulb, the movie camera, 96 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 1: and the phonograph, all of which are attributed to Thomas Edison. 97 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:56,719 Speaker 1: But if it wasn't for Nikola Tesla, we wouldn't have 98 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: wireless radios or the remote control. Was not appreciated when 99 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:04,039 Speaker 1: he was alive, but he certainly revered now for his 100 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:09,160 Speaker 1: scientific contributions. Born in modern day Croatia in eighteen fifty six, 101 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 1: Tesla came to America as an immigrant when he was 102 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: twenty eight years old. At the time, he was working 103 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:17,839 Speaker 1: for the Edison Machine Works, a manufacturing company owned by 104 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: his would be rival. He only spent six months there 105 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 1: before striking out on his own, allegedly over an unpaid 106 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: bonus that was denied by Edison himself. For the next 107 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: fifty years, Tesla worked on his own inventions, including a 108 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: motor that ran on alternating current, his famous Tesla coils, 109 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 1: and wireless lighting. He was building the future. But in 110 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:41,360 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty five, when he was seventy eight years old, 111 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: something odd happened. Time stopped. In other words, he met someone. 112 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 1: The stranger had wandered into the New York hotel where 113 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:51,719 Speaker 1: he'd been living. She was brought to his room on 114 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: the thirty third floor, as Tesla was known for taking 115 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,160 Speaker 1: in strays. By this time, he was in bad shape. 116 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: He was destitute and had already been evicted from anner 117 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: of hotels in the city, but that didn't stop him 118 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 1: from offering help where it was needed, and he quickly 119 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 1: noticed that there was something different about her. They were 120 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: connected somehow. They could talk to each other using only 121 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: their minds. During these telepathic chats, her eyes would emit 122 00:07:15,240 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: beams of light right at him. He cared for her 123 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: in a way that he had never cared for anyone 124 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: else before, and she remained by his side for a 125 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,520 Speaker 1: long time until one fateful night she came to him 126 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: while he was already in bed, ruminating on a problem 127 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: in his mind. She sat on his desk and they 128 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: spoke as they always had, one mind connected to another, 129 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: the light shooting from her eyes. This was how he 130 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,480 Speaker 1: found out the terrible news that she was dying. He 131 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: told his biographer John O'Neill. When that pigeon died, something 132 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: went out of my life. I knew my life's work 133 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: was finished. That's right. The woman that had captivated this 134 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: old scientist's heart was a pigeon. Tesla had actually been 135 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 1: obsessed with birds for a number of years. He made 136 00:07:57,480 --> 00:07:59,640 Speaker 1: his own bird seed and kept baskets in his room 137 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:03,120 Speaker 1: as man makeshift nests, and he never closed his windows. 138 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: They remained open at all hours so the neighborhood pigeons 139 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: could come and go as they pleased. He would walk 140 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: through the city at night and feed them as he 141 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: passed by. He also used a special whistle to call 142 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: them to him. They would fly over and perch themselves 143 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:18,920 Speaker 1: on his arms like pets. He even found himself in 144 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 1: trouble with the law because of his love for pigeons. 145 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: After trying to catch an injured homing pigeon in front 146 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:26,920 Speaker 1: of Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Tesla was taken to the local 147 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 1: precinct and held for processing. He did everything he could 148 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: to prove that he wasn't some random person on the street. 149 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 1: He was Nikola Tesla, the once famous inventor. But of 150 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 1: all the birds he cared for, it was this one 151 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,559 Speaker 1: female pigeon, white with great tipped wings that made him 152 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: forget the rest. No matter where I was, that pigeon 153 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: would find me, he said. When I wanted her, I 154 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:50,680 Speaker 1: only had to wish and call her and she would 155 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 1: come flying to me. She understood me, and I understood her. 156 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: I loved that pigeon. Nikola Tesla was a man of 157 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,839 Speaker 1: many eccentricities. For example, he had an obsession with the 158 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,480 Speaker 1: number three, and he hated pearls. In fact, he despised 159 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:07,440 Speaker 1: them so much that he refused to talk to any 160 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:11,200 Speaker 1: woman wearing pearls. He also never married, believing himself to 161 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: be unworthy of a woman's affections. Instead, he poured his 162 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: energy into science and inventions. But he did love one 163 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:22,320 Speaker 1: creature above all else, that white pigeon. Others may have 164 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,079 Speaker 1: seen it as just another wild animal, but to Tesla 165 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: it was so much more. Because of this bird, his 166 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 1: heart grew wings. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour 167 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, 168 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:44,640 Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 169 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:48,720 Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey 170 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,440 Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award 171 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, 172 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it 173 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:02,360 Speaker 1: over at the World of Lore dot com. And until 174 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:04,319 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.