1 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:13,399 Speaker 1: and iHeartRadio. Guess what, Mary, what's that? 3 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 2: My gosh? 4 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: So, do you know that in medieval times bad musicians 5 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: were punished with something called the shame flute? 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 2: Wait, medieval times the theme restaurant, or medieval times the 7 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:23,560 Speaker 2: historical period. 8 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:26,279 Speaker 1: Which is a good distinction, but I'm talking about the 9 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: historical period, and shame flutes were the super weird form 10 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: of medieval punishment, which I'm kind of obsessed with now. Basically, 11 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:37,239 Speaker 1: it was a heavy clarinet looking thing that was made 12 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:40,479 Speaker 1: of iron and attached to a metal collar. So if 13 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: you're forced to play the shame flute, the color would 14 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: hang around your neck, and then to hold it up, 15 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: your hands would actually be like clasped or locked into 16 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:51,520 Speaker 1: place around the keys of this non playable clarinet. So basically, 17 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: for offenders, it looked like you were holding up this 18 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: ridiculous flute and playing it. 19 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 2: So do you know what kind of musical crime would 20 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 2: cause you to get sentenced to wear the shame flute? 21 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:03,040 Speaker 1: I don't really. There are a bunch of these shame 22 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: flutes in various museums across Europe. A medieval crime museum 23 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: in Rothenberg, Germany, and there's Amsterdam's Torture Museum, but they 24 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: don't really specify the crimes. They mostly say it was 25 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: for bad musicianship, so maybe it was just invented by 26 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,640 Speaker 1: medieval tiger parents to get their kids to practice more. 27 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: But getting classed into a so called flute of shame 28 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: was only part of the punishment, because after we were 29 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: locked in, offenders would be paraded around the streets where 30 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: the public could taunt them by throwing rotten fruits and 31 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: vegetables at them. But that's just the first of nine 32 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: essential flute facts we've got today, so let's dive in. Hey, 33 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: their podcast listeners, welcome part time genius. I'm Mungishtigula, and 34 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: today I've got my good friend Mary Philip Sandy sitting 35 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: in the studio with me and on the other side 36 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 1: of the soundproof glass wearing a novelty T shirt that, 37 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,520 Speaker 1: for some reason says my other flute is a shame flute. 38 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:17,800 Speaker 1: That's our pal Ramsey. What a bizarre shirt anyway, Mary, 39 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: I am thrilled you're here. For listeners who don't know 40 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 1: Mary is a quadruple hyphen It She was my savior 41 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:26,160 Speaker 1: on Skyline Drive and a few other shows that we 42 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 1: made last year, and she's done everything from writing to 43 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: researching to producing. And she's also the host extraordinaire of 44 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 1: one of my favorite podcasts, ever, Let's Talk About Cats, 45 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: And today I managed to wrangle her into the studio 46 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: to talk about flutes. So, Mary, did you ever play 47 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: the flute? 48 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 2: So my musical ability is really limited in general and 49 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 2: specifically to stringed instruments with no more than four strings. 50 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:52,519 Speaker 2: That's it, That's all I could do. I played the 51 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 2: violin and the bass. I could not handle anything more 52 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 2: complicated than that was it for me. 53 00:02:57,360 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 1: And no ukuleles, innemics. 54 00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 2: Oh man, I should have thought how that? 55 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:00,519 Speaker 1: No? 56 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 2: I didn't. I didn't. 57 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: I didn't. 58 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 2: Maybe, you know what, I'll take it up this summer. 59 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:05,799 Speaker 1: Do your kids play any instruments? 60 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 2: My son Julian just started playing the saxophone. 61 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 1: How's that going? 62 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:10,519 Speaker 2: It's really annoying. 63 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: I know. I think about all the instruments that like, 64 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: we played in our house, and you know, we started 65 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: on piano young, but every other instrument must have just 66 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: been awful for my parents and for my dog, who 67 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: used to howl when we played the violin or the. 68 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 2: Clarinet in pain or like cheering you on. 69 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: You know, I used to think it was dueting, but 70 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 1: I think it's more paid. So why don't we get started? 71 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: So very part of the reason I wanted to do 72 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: an episode on flutes is that I know basically nothing 73 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: about flutes, and also I feel like flutes are vaguely 74 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,800 Speaker 1: in the culture. Like I recently learned that Terry Cruz 75 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:51,160 Speaker 1: from Brooklyn nine to nine fame played the flute as 76 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: a kid. Lizzo had that big incident where she got 77 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 1: to play James Madison's crystal flute. Do you remember that? 78 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 2: How could I forget? 79 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: Yeah? You know what I didn't realize is Downy Madison 80 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: I think saved that flute from the White House from 81 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: a burn. 82 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 2: It was one of the things that she grabbed when 83 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 2: she was running out. 84 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: And the library or Congress, which is where that flute 85 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: is now has one of the largest flute collections in 86 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: the world apparently, which is surprising. And of course there 87 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: was Andre three thousand who put out that all flute 88 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:17,359 Speaker 1: solo album after I've read some quote where he was saying, like, 89 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 1: what am I going to wrap about now? As a 90 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:22,479 Speaker 1: middle aged man like my colonoscopy, so he leaned into 91 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 1: his flute instead, which I really love. So where do 92 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:27,360 Speaker 1: you want to start today? 93 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:30,880 Speaker 2: How about with a fact about recorders, which are the 94 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 2: original flute. And well most of us know and probably 95 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:38,360 Speaker 2: dread recorders as an instrument of torture. Recorders are actually 96 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 2: some of the oldest instruments we have. Some of them 97 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 2: date back to the thirteen hundreds. They were made out 98 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 2: of bone or wood or ivory, and they were the 99 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 2: dominant type of flute for a very long time. King 100 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 2: Henry the Eighth, when he wasn't divorcing people, kept a 101 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,840 Speaker 2: collection of seventy five recorders. He even used to compose 102 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 2: recorder music, including a banger called if Love Now Reigned, 103 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 2: maybe dedicated to one of his many wives, I don't know. 104 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 2: And despite the way recorders are abused in elementary schools 105 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 2: across the country, very serious composers like Bach, Handel and Vivaldi, 106 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 2: they all wrote music for the recorder. 107 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: So I've heard all of them, and I really had 108 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: no idea that the recorder was this like serious classical instrument. 109 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: It always feels like like kind of a joke to me. 110 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: So why isn't the recorder taken seriously today? 111 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,239 Speaker 2: Things started to change for the recorder. When the transverse flute, 112 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 2: you know the ones where you hold it horizontally and 113 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 2: you blow across it. It's the thing you think of 114 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 2: when you hear the word flute. Once those arrived from 115 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 2: Asia in the fourteenth century, they kind of supplanted the recorder, 116 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 2: and by the mid eighteen hundreds, recorders were no longer 117 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:45,960 Speaker 2: a part of orchestras or chamber music groups. 118 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: Oh that's interesting. So I guess this gets into another fact. 119 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: But do you know how recorders got into schools? I mean, 120 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: I love my kids, I love my music. I love 121 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: that my kids play music. But every year, and I 122 00:05:58,080 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: don't know if you do this, I dread when I 123 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: get that note from the school that the kids are 124 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: going to learn the recorder. Has Julian done this too? 125 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 2: No? No, he never got a recorder. He never got 126 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:08,000 Speaker 2: a recorder, straight to the saxophone. 127 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: You are so lucky because I feel like I feel 128 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: like our house is filled with these like squeaking nursery 129 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:16,359 Speaker 1: rhymes or it was. And I'm kind of embarrassed in 130 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: with this, but we have this like one bookshelf that's 131 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,839 Speaker 1: particularly high. And I bet if you looked up there now, 132 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 1: they're like three or four dusty recorders, just like it 133 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,719 Speaker 1: hidden because I got so sick of hearing all the squeaking. 134 00:06:28,839 --> 00:06:32,479 Speaker 1: But so tell me how they got into schools. 135 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, So, like I was saying, the recorder kind of 136 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 2: disappears in the eighteen fifties, but then in the nineteen 137 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 2: hundreds it gets rediscovered, and by the nineteen sixties it 138 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,479 Speaker 2: finds its way into pop music, like Paul McCartney plays 139 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,279 Speaker 2: it on the Beatles song Fool on the Hill. It 140 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 2: gets used in some experimental and avant garde music. But 141 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:53,480 Speaker 2: there are kind of three main reasons that you find 142 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 2: them in schools. One, they're simple to play. You can 143 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 2: make a reasonably good sound by just blowing into it right. 144 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 2: It's not like the trumpet where you need some technique 145 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 2: to get it going to get a real sound. There's 146 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 2: also this composer named Carl Orf who started advocating for 147 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 2: the recorder in the mid nineteen hundreds. He was a 148 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 2: big influence on musical education, and his whole thing was 149 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 2: that if an instrument is easy to play and easy 150 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 2: to understand, and if it's easy to mimic with your voice, 151 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 2: like instead of rote memorization, if you can hear something 152 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 2: and then play it, it helps with musical development. 153 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 1: Which makes sense. 154 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 2: It does, it really does. But then the third thing 155 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 2: was the proliferation of plastic because suddenly you could get 156 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 2: this instrument that schools could purchase for a few dollars 157 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 2: or at bulk rates for even less. All of that 158 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 2: made recorders the starter instrument of choice. 159 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, which I'm sure is what the graduate they were 160 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: alluding to with that one last plastics. 161 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 2: The hidden meaning was recorders. 162 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: So I've got a gross fact, and it's probably the 163 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 1: grossest fact I've ever told on this show, and one 164 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: I can't help from telling you. It's about this guy 165 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 1: named Le Petomine, aka the Fartist. Do you know what 166 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:00,360 Speaker 1: this guy? 167 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 2: Shockingly I don't. 168 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: So he's a flatulence artist who, in I guess the 169 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 1: late eighteen hundreds only nineteen hundreds, became the highest paid 170 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: performer in France. Apparently he was making over twenty thousand 171 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,240 Speaker 1: francs per show. But he used to appear at places 172 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,320 Speaker 1: like the Mulan Rouge and he'd just kill He would 173 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: show up in a tux and then he had a 174 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 1: whole routine of fart impressions he would do, from using 175 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: the rude sound to imitate roosters to toads, to a 176 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: dog whose tail got stuck in a door, to a 177 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: mother in law. It just went on and on. But 178 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: for his finale, according to slay dot com, he would 179 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: quote play a flute backwards and then proceed to blow 180 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: smoke rings out of it, which is all very strange. 181 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: This is what Slate writes about it. Quote. Women in 182 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,520 Speaker 1: the audience, especially those wearing corsets, often laughed so hard 183 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 1: they passed out. One man had a heart attack. The 184 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: Mulan Rouge took advantage of this by stationing nurses around 185 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 1: the theater and by posting warnings of how dangerous the 186 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:04,559 Speaker 1: show was, which of course only made people more eager 187 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 1: to attend. And lest you feel guilty for giggling over 188 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:10,680 Speaker 1: toilet humor here orre too stuffy to see what's so funny, 189 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: know that La Petromain hobnob with Renoir and Matisse, and 190 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: that Revel adored him. It's high society. In fact, friendly 191 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: Sigmund Freud was so obsessed with him that he kept 192 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: a picture of him on his wall, which is so bizarre. 193 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,680 Speaker 2: I think that's an understatement. Well here's the fact that 194 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:32,679 Speaker 2: is a little more savory, but still a little scandalous. 195 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 2: In two thousand and nine, a super devoted music student 196 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 2: planned out this crazy museum heist just so that he 197 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 2: could buy himself a new flute. 198 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,960 Speaker 1: So this sounds crazy already, But how expensive was this flute? 199 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,839 Speaker 2: Like tens of thousands of dollars. It was a serious flute. 200 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 2: So the flute player's name is Edwin rist And in 201 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 2: two thousand and nine he was studying at London's Royal 202 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 2: Academy of Music. But according to news articles, he was 203 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 2: also completely obsessed with James Bond, sure as one does. 204 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 2: And he figured that a good way to make money 205 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,560 Speaker 2: is to boost something that isn't that important to science anymore, 206 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,440 Speaker 2: but that is still valuable. So he set his sights 207 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 2: on a collection of bird skins at the Natural History 208 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 2: Museum at Tring in Hertfordshire, his reasoning being that these 209 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 2: are feathers and skins from over one hundred years ago. 210 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 2: Any scientific knowledge he can actually get from those things, 211 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 2: it's been extracted decades ago. But there's an incredible market 212 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 2: for eggs, feathers and skins in England. It's called the 213 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:36,199 Speaker 2: Feather Underground. That's a real thing. And Edwin knows he 214 00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 2: can sell these things online for a lot of money, 215 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:41,680 Speaker 2: so he takes time, He makes a plan, he scouts 216 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 2: it all out. He pretends to be a grad student 217 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:46,800 Speaker 2: at Oxford and gets permission to go to the museum 218 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:50,079 Speaker 2: photograph the collection, maps out the layout of the building, 219 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:52,520 Speaker 2: and then he breaks in one night by throwing a 220 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:55,840 Speaker 2: brick at a window and sneaks in with latex gloves, 221 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 2: a box cutter, a suitcase and fills up the suitcase 222 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:01,080 Speaker 2: with as many days birds as he can. 223 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:05,040 Speaker 1: Wait, so I feel like he's so James Bond that 224 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: he breaks a window by throwing a break through. 225 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:10,560 Speaker 2: Wait, it gets even more, It gets even more Bond. 226 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:12,880 Speaker 2: Listen to this. He tries to make his get away, 227 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 2: but he misses his train home, so he ends up 228 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:18,960 Speaker 2: having to sleep in the train station overnight, which definitely 229 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:21,640 Speaker 2: is the thing James Bond would do. But the thing 230 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:23,719 Speaker 2: is Edwin got away with it for like seven or 231 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 2: eight months. It took the cops that long to catch 232 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:26,559 Speaker 2: up with him. 233 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:29,200 Speaker 1: And so how does everyone know about his flute obsession? 234 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:32,080 Speaker 2: Well, his eBay handle for selling all of this stuff 235 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:34,720 Speaker 2: online was Flute Player nineteen eighty eight, so that was 236 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:37,880 Speaker 2: that was the first clue. Sure, But when he was caught, 237 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 2: he admitted that all his money had gone to a 238 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:42,920 Speaker 2: flute and he pleaded guilty to both the burglary and 239 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 2: money laundering. But what's interesting is the judge took pity 240 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 2: on him. He never really did serious jail time. He 241 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:53,079 Speaker 2: just graduated from music school, moved to Germany, and started 242 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:57,760 Speaker 2: making heavy metal flute videos on YouTube. You can find them. 243 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,800 Speaker 2: They're all there. He even doesn't all flute cover of 244 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,079 Speaker 2: Metallica's Master of Puppets. 245 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 1: That's amazing. I feel like we need to make a 246 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:07,920 Speaker 1: Spotify list at the end of this for sure of 247 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:11,880 Speaker 1: heavy metal flute. So here is a dumb one. One 248 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: of my favorite things is looking at ridiculous theories about instruments, 249 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,439 Speaker 1: Like there's this old theory from eighteen ninety six where 250 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:21,840 Speaker 1: American newspapers began declaring that they finally figured out what 251 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: was causing male pattern baldness, and it turns out the 252 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: culprit was brass instruments like marching bands and trumpets and 253 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 1: traumbone sections. Or of the reason that America was going bald, 254 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:37,560 Speaker 1: and this kind of thing occurs for every instrument. This 255 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:40,200 Speaker 1: is from the site fizz dot org, but it claims 256 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:42,559 Speaker 1: that in the seventeen twenties, when the flute was more 257 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: commonly played like a recorder like you were talking about, 258 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: women were banned from playing the instrument, not just because 259 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:51,320 Speaker 1: it looked indecent, but also because it took away many 260 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:54,480 Speaker 1: of the juices better suited to wet ones, appetite, and 261 00:12:54,679 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: advanced digestions. So for better digestive health, you don't want 262 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: to play the flute. But flutes weren't just seen as detrimental. 263 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:04,559 Speaker 1: Other cultures, like the ancient Greeks, thought the flute had 264 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:08,200 Speaker 1: healing powers, and doctors of that time would claim that 265 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:10,720 Speaker 1: if you alternated listening to sounds from a flute and 266 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,320 Speaker 1: a harp, you could cure yourself of gout. 267 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,400 Speaker 2: That is a great tip, and we have got more facts, 268 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:32,520 Speaker 2: but before we get to them, let's take a break. 269 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 1: Welcome back to part time Genius. We're talking about flutes. So, Mary, 270 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:38,559 Speaker 1: what do you have up next? 271 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:43,360 Speaker 2: Well, continuing on my bird theme, here's one. Here's one 272 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 2: that's fun and I'm sure you've heard of, or maybe 273 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 2: you haven't. Have you heard of liar birds. 274 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, they're kind of like mocking birds, or really good mimics. 275 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:51,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's right. And in fact, one of the things 276 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 2: that's interesting is that for decades now, liarbirds have been 277 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 2: mimicking a song that they heard someone play on the flute. Apparently, 278 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 2: in the nineteen sixties, this Australian park ranger named Sidney 279 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:07,079 Speaker 2: Curtis heard some lyrebirds singing what sounded like the hook 280 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,080 Speaker 2: or fragments of songs. He started looking into it and 281 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 2: realized that a farmer in New South Wales had played 282 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 2: these two popular songs from the nineteen thirties. One of 283 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 2: them was called the keel Row and another was called 284 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 2: the Mosquitoes Dance. He played them for birds in his 285 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 2: backyard on the flute, and for some reason, the birds 286 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 2: loved it. He must have been really good. As one 287 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,560 Speaker 2: ornithologist wrote in two thousand and six, quote today the 288 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 2: flute song has been heard one hundred kilometers from the 289 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 2: original source. A human tune is spreading through the lyre 290 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 2: bird world as they've decided through generations to prefer just 291 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:46,080 Speaker 2: two shards of our particular music that's. 292 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:49,120 Speaker 1: Really funny, right, like instead of repeating things like who 293 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:51,960 Speaker 1: Let the Dogs Out? Or the Thong song. They've chosen 294 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: these songs from the thirties to perpetuate. It's really wonderful. 295 00:14:55,840 --> 00:15:00,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, even birds get earworms. So all right, you have 296 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 2: for your last fact. 297 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:04,320 Speaker 1: Well, I had been thinking about it talking about Lizzo 298 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 1: and that flute collection at the Library of Congress, but 299 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: instead I think I'm going to talk about the hyper 300 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 1: bass flute, which is this massive flute that bends in 301 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:17,640 Speaker 1: all directions. It kind of looks like someone's playing an anaconda, 302 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 1: like it's super thick, and it's twenty six feet of 303 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:24,600 Speaker 1: flute that's bent into geometric shapes, and it is so 304 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 1: rare that there are only two of them. I don't 305 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: know why I'm so obsessed with it, but it's partially 306 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:32,960 Speaker 1: because the sounds are so low that it occupies an 307 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: octave below a piano. 308 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 2: Wait, that's fascinating. What kind of music can you play 309 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:38,440 Speaker 2: on it? 310 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:40,720 Speaker 1: Then I read that's so low pitched that some of 311 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: the tones can't even be heard by human ear, which 312 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 1: is crazy. But I was curious, and I found a 313 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: video of this guy, Peter Sheridan, who is a low 314 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:54,680 Speaker 1: flute specialist. That's a job. It's also an amazing thing, 315 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 1: and it's so sweet. He's got a whole video series 316 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: of him showing off different types of loaf flutes. But 317 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:02,880 Speaker 1: it doesn't really sound like music. It almost sounds like 318 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: percussive and low pitch breaths. I mean, you can tell 319 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:10,400 Speaker 1: the distinct tones, but it's often apparently paired with electronic 320 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 1: music and loops. And my favorite part of this whole 321 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: thing is that Sheridan has this album of electronic, avant 322 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 1: garde hyper based flute. It's called Groaning Oceans, which is 323 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:23,640 Speaker 1: I think a fair description of what the music sounds like. 324 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:27,400 Speaker 2: Okay, so here's my last fact, which I think is 325 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 2: kind of sweet. In twenty fifteen, more than fifty thousand 326 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 2: people tuned into a college flutist's recital after his Facebook 327 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 2: invitation accidentally went viral. So I found this story in 328 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 2: The Independent. But twenty fifteen, this amateur flutist, a student 329 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,480 Speaker 2: at the University of California, made a Facebook event, as 330 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 2: one did back then, for his senior flute recital, and 331 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 2: with it, he included this photo of him with his flute. 332 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:54,560 Speaker 2: He's sort of standing there smiling. He's got the flute 333 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 2: over his shoulder, he's got a sweater. He looks just 334 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:01,600 Speaker 2: so wholesome and so happy, and the invitation reads, the 335 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 2: year's coming to an end soon and I will be 336 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 2: performing my final senior recital. Exclamation point. Please come out 337 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:10,959 Speaker 2: and support if you can. You will hear some beatboxing, jazz, 338 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,960 Speaker 2: and may even see some dancing. Plus there will be 339 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:18,560 Speaker 2: some refreshments. Who can say no to that? So he 340 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,440 Speaker 2: sends this out to maybe seventy people that he hopes 341 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,680 Speaker 2: will show up, you know, family and friends. But suddenly 342 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:26,480 Speaker 2: the number of attendees just starts to grow. It goes 343 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:28,399 Speaker 2: up to one hundred and forty people, and then it 344 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,239 Speaker 2: catches fire overseas. People in the UK get obsessed with it, 345 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 2: and all of a sudden, there are memes of this guy. 346 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:36,879 Speaker 2: His name is a Zem. There are memes of a 347 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:40,959 Speaker 2: Zem with Oasis, him getting knighted by the Queen. Twitter 348 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 2: goes wild too. People are tweeting things like if you 349 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 2: aren't going to a Zem senior flute recital, I don't 350 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 2: want to know you. And so many people are jumping 351 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:50,760 Speaker 2: on the bandwagon now that he's blown up. How many 352 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:53,600 Speaker 2: of you were at the junior recital? So by this 353 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:57,119 Speaker 2: time there are a hundred I'm sorry, this is so funny. 354 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:02,640 Speaker 2: By this time, there were one hundred and four thousand 355 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:06,199 Speaker 2: people signed up to attend this thing, and when it 356 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:10,440 Speaker 2: actually live streamed, there were fifty thousand computers tuned in. 357 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:14,239 Speaker 2: There were people throwing viewing parties all over England. And 358 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 2: for his part, a Zeem was super chill about the 359 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 2: whole thing. He just thought the attention was really funny, 360 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:23,520 Speaker 2: and he was delighted that one super fan even traveled 361 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 2: all the way from the UK to see his forty 362 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,120 Speaker 2: four minute flute performance live in person. 363 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:32,960 Speaker 1: That is incredible. Yeah, and it feels like a time 364 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 1: when the Internet was kind of like a kinder, gentler place. Yeah. 365 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: I mean, I think as much as I love my 366 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,439 Speaker 1: shame flute fact and the one about the French artist, 367 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 1: I think the story wins you this week's trophy. Do 368 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:46,719 Speaker 1: you want to give a speech or thank anyone? 369 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 2: Well, I want to thank Azim. I just want to 370 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 2: thank Azeem for being a Zeem. 371 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:54,960 Speaker 1: That's it, Well makes sense. Well, I want to thank 372 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: you for being here to discuss what's obviously one of 373 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:01,160 Speaker 1: the most important and pressing topics of our time. And 374 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:03,240 Speaker 1: I've got to give a special thank you to Anna 375 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 1: Green for the research help on this episode. That is 376 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,440 Speaker 1: it for this week's Part Time Genius. Thank you all 377 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:12,719 Speaker 1: so much for listening. That's such a great fact. 378 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 2: It's amazing. 379 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: It feels like everything now is so manufactured. 380 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 2: It does right exactly. It would be branded now. 381 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:34,920 Speaker 1: Part Time Genius is a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. 382 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:39,400 Speaker 1: This show is hosted by Will Pearson and me Mongashtikler 383 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 1: and research by our good pal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's 384 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,720 Speaker 1: episode was engineered and produced by the Wonderful of Dylan 385 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:50,480 Speaker 1: Fagan with support from Tyler Klang. The show is executive 386 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:54,040 Speaker 1: produced for iHeart by Katrina Norvell and Ali Perry, with 387 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:57,879 Speaker 1: social media support from Sasha Gay, trustee Dara Potts and 388 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 1: Viney Shore. For more podcast from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit 389 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:06,679 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 390 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.