1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: back to the show Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always 3 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: so much for tuning in. Or should I say cheerioh 4 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: We hope this message finds you well. Uh, we hope 5 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 1: that you are a a fan of Franks and Italian food. 6 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: I guess that's our segue anyway, I'm Ben, I'm nolah 7 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: and should we say perhaps been spaghettio m as opposed 8 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: to cheer cheerio it suppos to spaghetti? Yeah, yeah, we 9 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: were talking off Mike. I have a bit of a 10 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: philosophical issue with canned spaghetti, uh and uh? And you 11 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: you chimed in, Ben and said that you quite enjoy 12 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: some of it, and I I mentioned, how does your 13 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: metal uh phobia conflict with that? And You're like, well, 14 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,119 Speaker 1: know you you beat it out of a bowl. Maybe 15 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: that's why you've been doing it wrong. I think you're right, Ben, 16 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: I think I need to re revisit canned spaghetti, perhaps, 17 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,319 Speaker 1: but certainly not my or I would think most people's 18 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: preferred method of consuming uh, this Italian delicacy. Would you 19 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: at least meet me halfway in that statement? I think 20 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,320 Speaker 1: it's easy to make spaghetti from scratch. It's all about 21 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: the sauce. For me. Uh, I think we're specifically talking 22 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: about the Chef Boy r D products. For me, it's 23 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: just installed Jeff for the ravioli in the can. But 24 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: I think a lot of us when we're making spaghetti, 25 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: we prefer to make our own sauce. That's the secret there. 26 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: But our super producer Casey Pegram off air when we 27 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: were talking about the earlier before we recorded, uh, we 28 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: went down a little bit of a rabbit hole with 29 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:10,080 Speaker 1: the famous Tim and Eric sketch, which is entirely just 30 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:12,959 Speaker 1: the guy is very bad at scaring people, jumping out 31 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: and yelling spaghette. Spaghett doesn't at some point you start 32 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:26,080 Speaker 1: kind of mangling the pronunciation and it becomes spook. What's that? 33 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: That's really the whole deal. He's just like he's just terrible. Yeah. 34 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: And then Steven Spielberg makes a feature film about it, 35 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: and he has to have like hair surgery. Yeah, and 36 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:38,359 Speaker 1: he's like bleeding from his scalp at some point, right, 37 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: and he's doing all this like green screen work. It's 38 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: it's great. I would love to hear the origin story. 39 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: I'd love to hear Tim Heidecker tell us how how 40 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: they managed to get that sketch from the idea staged rolling. 41 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: But today we're talking about something that's also a little 42 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: bit Tim and Eric. I think, uh, maybe the best 43 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: way to approve this is to first ask you guys 44 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: what you think of April Fool's Day. I'm I'm for it. Uh. 45 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: I think a good natured prank is absolutely a thing 46 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: of beauty, you know, as long as you're not doing 47 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:20,400 Speaker 1: like your mother died, you know, like, oh my god, 48 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: my mother she died April Fools Like, that's not cool, 49 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: that's not nice. But you know, something like a well 50 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: produced BBC panorama, uh news report about spaghetti growing on 51 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: trees in the Swiss Alps. Heck, yeah, all for that, sure, yeah, 52 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: if it's absurd, I'm personally, I personally think April Fool's Day, 53 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 1: at least in the modern age of rampant misinformation, can 54 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: be a pretty mean spirited thing. You know, a lot 55 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: of pranks, like there's a difference between a funny joke 56 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: prank and then something like hurt ful or mocking, you know. 57 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: And I I was famously part of a prank that 58 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: turned me against April Fool's Day on stuff you should 59 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: know several years ago. Uh they for the record, Josh 60 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: asked me to do that, folks, So please stop sending 61 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: me emails about it. It's been so long. But you're right, 62 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: you're right. Well this is this is interesting. There's a 63 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: little bit of a war the world's vibe. It turns 64 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:30,240 Speaker 1: out that on April one, seven, the British Broadcasting Corporation No, 65 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: most commonly as the BBC rocked the world, rocked their 66 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 1: viewership because they broadcasted a relatively short report on a 67 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: current affairs like news program called Panorama about exactly what 68 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: you described a spaghetti tree somewhere in the south of Switzerland. 69 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: And I think we actually have we should we just 70 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:55,159 Speaker 1: play a little bit of that clip to give people 71 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,280 Speaker 1: a sense of it. I think that's the smart move. 72 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: It isn't really in Britain that spring this year has 73 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,479 Speaker 1: taken everyone by surprise. Here in the Ticino, on the 74 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: borders of Switzerland and Italy, the slopes overlooking Lake Lugano 75 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 1: have already burst into flower, at least a fortnight earlier 76 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: than usual. But what you may ask, has the earlier 77 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: and welcome arrival of bees and blossom. To do with food, well, 78 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: it's simply that the past winter, one of the mildest 79 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 1: in living memory, has had its effect in other ways 80 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,479 Speaker 1: as well. Most important of all, it's resulted in an 81 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:35,559 Speaker 1: exceptionally heavy spaghetti crop. The last two weeks of March 82 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 1: are an anxious time for the spaghetti farmer. There's always 83 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:42,000 Speaker 1: the chance of a late frost, which, while not entirely 84 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: ruining the crop, generally impairs the flavor and makes it 85 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: difficult for him to obtain top prices in world markets. 86 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,600 Speaker 1: But now these dangers are over and the spaghetti harvest 87 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: goes forward. Okay, so let's let's pause there for a second. 88 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: That's a that's like Carneck BBC v O. Right. That 89 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,520 Speaker 1: narrator is someone who would have been really familiar to 90 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,040 Speaker 1: the audience at the top. And how does the BBC 91 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:09,720 Speaker 1: and still confidence and its listeners and viewers if not 92 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 1: through authoritative voiceover. You know, you gotta believe the words 93 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: that are coming out of those speakers. And and this 94 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: was no exception, and this would absolutely have been one 95 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: of the most well regarded voices or presenters. I guess 96 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: you could say in British broadcasting history. A man with 97 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:31,799 Speaker 1: a powerfully British name, Richard Dimbleby. Yeah. Yeah. He narrates, 98 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 1: as you can hear in the clip we we just 99 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 1: played a piece of He narrates this story of this 100 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: family from Tocino in Switzerland, and you can see video 101 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 1: of this as well. It isn't audio visual broadcast, so 102 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 1: you will see members of this family taking spaghetti off 103 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:57,680 Speaker 1: of a tree and laying it out to dry in 104 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:02,799 Speaker 1: the sun. Uh. Some people were angry about this because 105 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:06,280 Speaker 1: they were like, look, this is supposed to be presentation 106 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:10,119 Speaker 1: of facts, not farce and fancy. And then other people, 107 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: you know, rode in to see where they could find 108 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: their own spaghetti foliage, their own spaghetti bush or tree. Uh. 109 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: This is, according to the BBC itself, believed to be 110 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: one of the first times in history that television was 111 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: used to uh make an April Fool's Day prank. That's right. 112 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: And just you know, since this is obviously a not 113 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:38,520 Speaker 1: a televisual podcast, if you were watching this clip that 114 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: we're playing, you'll see buzzing bees pollinating the flowers and 115 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 1: trees and and these Sylvan kind of meadows and very 116 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: quaint villagery type, you know, harvesters pulling their spaghetti crop 117 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 1: from from the trees. Like you said, ben very idyllic 118 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: kind of stuff and also obviously accompanied by a very 119 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: idyllic score. So part of today's episode is about sort 120 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 1: of like the nature of of hoaxes of April Fool's 121 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: Day pranks and the reaction that they can elicit. I've 122 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,400 Speaker 1: certainly been on both sides of that, and it's easy 123 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:18,239 Speaker 1: for people to feel like they've been had or someone 124 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: was making fun of them or trying to pull the 125 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 1: wool over their eyes in a way that wasn't laughing 126 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: with them, but laughing at them. And that's that's all, 127 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: you know, par for the course of this kind of thing. 128 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: But well, we'll discuss a little bit of that along 129 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: the way, but first and foremost we should talk about 130 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: who the mastermind behind what I believe to be a 131 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 1: pretty ingenious April Fool's Day prank was. It was a 132 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:43,480 Speaker 1: guy by the name of Charles de Yeager who was Viennese. 133 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:46,719 Speaker 1: He was born in Vienna in nineteen eleven UM. He 134 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: was a freelance photographer before he moved to Britain in 135 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:52,960 Speaker 1: the thirties UM, and that's where he got a job 136 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:56,960 Speaker 1: working in a film unit of General Charles de Gaull's 137 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:01,640 Speaker 1: Free French Forces, so yeah, very on the ground running 138 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: and gunning type work. And then he joined the Babe 139 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: and throughout his long career Diyager had this uh. He 140 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: was very well known for being an a veterate jokester, prankster, 141 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: and early in his career with the BBC he even 142 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: tried to mess with the Pope a little bit. He 143 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: was supposed to interview His Holiness the Pope in the Vatican, 144 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:31,199 Speaker 1: which is a great gig if you can get it. 145 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: Scheduling was difficult. Turns out the Pope is is uh, 146 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: you know, it's kind of a busy dude. Often when 147 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,599 Speaker 1: he was told that His Holiness will see you on 148 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 1: Tuesday afternoon, the diyaker replied, yes, but is he a 149 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: man of his word, which, as you can imagine, the 150 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:51,719 Speaker 1: priest in the in the room did not find as 151 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:55,439 Speaker 1: as hilarious and witty as he did. He had a 152 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: couple of other pranks that he was kind of well 153 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:01,440 Speaker 1: known for, but the these were smaller things. These are 154 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: kind of like internal funny jokes with his colleagues. But 155 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: his idea for a spaghetti harvest hoax it turns out 156 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:14,920 Speaker 1: it was a It was a lifelong dream. He had 157 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: had this on his mind since he was a kid, 158 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 1: because once upon a time, when he's very young, one 159 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: of his teachers would often say to their class boys, 160 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:29,679 Speaker 1: you're so stupid, you'd believe me if I told you 161 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: that spaghetti grows on trees. Okay, first of all, abusive, Uh, 162 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 1: this is not how you engender intellectual growth and positivity 163 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:43,439 Speaker 1: and and self love and and budding young students. But 164 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 1: I guess as we know that you think of like 165 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 1: you know, like Pink Floyd's the Wall for example. Uh, 166 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:53,559 Speaker 1: British schools were not necessarily about positive vibes, if you 167 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: know what I mean, Casey Off, Mike, you were talking 168 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:59,599 Speaker 1: about the idea of spaghetti growing on trees as a 169 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:01,800 Speaker 1: concert app Yeah, it's like the kind of thing your 170 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:03,599 Speaker 1: parents say to you. Uh, when you're a kid and 171 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:05,319 Speaker 1: you just take spiety for granted. You say, what do 172 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:08,079 Speaker 1: you think, kid, speary grows on trees? Get a job, 173 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: joined the real world? You know, get a job, join 174 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: the real world, Casey on the case that's the That's 175 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:18,079 Speaker 1: that's the interesting part too, because we'll get into this 176 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 1: a little bit later. But I want to be very careful. 177 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:23,319 Speaker 1: I always make a big point of this. I want 178 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 1: to be very careful to note that the audience of 179 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:31,839 Speaker 1: the BBC there by no means unintelligent, right, it's we 180 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:36,560 Speaker 1: just have to remember, Uh, spaghetti wasn't pasta in general, 181 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 1: wasn't super common until fairly recently in in the majority 182 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,439 Speaker 1: of the UK culture. Right, that's right. Well, and you know, 183 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:48,080 Speaker 1: we we know the idea of if you've watched any 184 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 1: amount of British comedy or or you know British read 185 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: British fiction. Um, you know that tinned foods were very 186 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 1: popular before fresh foods kind of, so they would have 187 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 1: seen things like canned spaghettios. In fact, I was gonna 188 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 1: say earlier, but I'm glad to say until now. Um. 189 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:09,920 Speaker 1: And if you watch I think the Mighty Boush. But 190 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:12,160 Speaker 1: you hear a lot in different British shows, they don't 191 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:15,640 Speaker 1: call them spaghetti oh's over there. They call them spaghetti hoops, 192 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,400 Speaker 1: spaghetti hoops, and you know, the H has kind of 193 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: become silent, so it becomes spaghetti hoops. Um. But yeah, 194 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:24,719 Speaker 1: so that's the thing that they would have seen more of. 195 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:27,760 Speaker 1: And I want to just you know, backtrack ever so 196 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:29,719 Speaker 1: slightly and kind of make my case for why I 197 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,440 Speaker 1: find those to be disgusting. It's because of the sheer 198 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: amount of sauce. Like I like a space, like you know, 199 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: if we could share our spaghetti recipes, but I like, 200 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,319 Speaker 1: you know, to make my sauce where it coats the 201 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:42,959 Speaker 1: spaghetti and it's sort of got a thickness to it 202 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:45,080 Speaker 1: and like a new mommy and like has like chunky 203 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:47,679 Speaker 1: vegetables and meat and good stuff in there, but it's 204 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: not swimming in this watery, blood red kind of ooze. 205 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:54,600 Speaker 1: That's that's that's okay. I'm sorry if I've ruined can 206 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: spaghetti for anyone, but that's my two cents on that issue. 207 00:12:57,600 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: I don't think you've ruined it. I think you've got 208 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,160 Speaker 1: a person little preference is one that people might agree with, 209 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: and that you know, of course, if you look at 210 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 1: the sales of Chef Warrior D, millions of people disagree 211 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:11,360 Speaker 1: with they probably they clearly love it. Uh. But I 212 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: I unfortunately cannot disclose my top secret uh spaghetti and 213 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: pasta sauce recipes on air. But if you really want 214 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:21,559 Speaker 1: to know, folks, uh, just hit me up on the 215 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:24,240 Speaker 1: internet and I can. I can share some tips. I 216 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:26,959 Speaker 1: do have a secret ingredient that might surprise you. Ben 217 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,760 Speaker 1: Thai fish sauce. Just to dash, Yeah, I use it. 218 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: I have. I've got a fish sauce house. Yeah, just 219 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 1: just to dash. It gives it like a certain new 220 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: mommy and you know, it doesn't taste fishy, just gives 221 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:42,560 Speaker 1: it kind of a savory, little extra something that people 222 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: can't always put their finger on. It gives it some 223 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:49,439 Speaker 1: depth as absolutely as a salt replacement. So uh. Some 224 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:55,079 Speaker 1: people can become obsessed with the perfect pasta sauce. And 225 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:58,520 Speaker 1: this would have been somewhat familiar to de Jager, at 226 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:02,199 Speaker 1: least the idea of obsession, because he was obsessed. He 227 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 1: was like, let's tell people spaghetti grows on trees. Let's 228 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 1: make it a thing. And just like I have always 229 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:13,960 Speaker 1: been pitching crazy ideas to various bosses. Here how stuff 230 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,760 Speaker 1: works for I heart. He was always pitching this idea. 231 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,360 Speaker 1: So picture him in the writer's room, in the brain 232 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:23,520 Speaker 1: storming room at the news desk, and someone say, okay, um, 233 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 1: let's see we've got some pieces we should do on 234 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:30,320 Speaker 1: the Cold War, on East and West Germany. What else? 235 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: What else is in the news, we want some like 236 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: human interest stuff and then uh, Dieger raises his hand 237 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: and they go something that's real and not spaghetti on 238 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:41,960 Speaker 1: trees and he just like, damn it, next time it. 239 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:45,280 Speaker 1: So he did this for years. It wasn't until nineteen 240 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: fifty seven he was currently working as a cameraman for 241 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 1: Panorama that he was able to find some like minded 242 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: folks who thought this would be funny. Why is this 243 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: a big deal? Because Panorama was a big deal at 244 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: the time. Ten million people watched this show. Well and 245 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 1: it's still around to this day, if not to this day, 246 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 1: since very recently there is a fabulous Panorama documentary on 247 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: Church of Scientology. Uh they've covered everything from you know, 248 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 1: sending reporters into North Korea. Um, it's really been like 249 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:28,040 Speaker 1: a heralded show with a really cool, rich and deep history. UM. 250 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:32,480 Speaker 1: I believe it only had begun maybe less than ten 251 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: years before this. I think it was in like forty 252 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:38,880 Speaker 1: five or maybe even closer to fifty when Panorama actually debuted. 253 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: But yeah, the Yeager got a job as a cameraman 254 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:47,000 Speaker 1: on Panorama, and um, he had been pitching this spaghetti 255 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 1: you know, tree story to anyone that would hear him 256 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 1: and in jobs that he had occupied, he seemed like 257 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,000 Speaker 1: a real character. I want to find out more about 258 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:57,560 Speaker 1: this guy. But finally he he pitched it to a 259 00:15:57,640 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: supervisor that was all about it. And this would have 260 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 1: been the very first time that again being a relatively 261 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: new show, um and already well respected that uh, that 262 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:10,880 Speaker 1: Panorama would have ventured into the sort of satirical waters here. Um. 263 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 1: And we know that the Brits are are famous for 264 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:17,120 Speaker 1: their satire beautiful, beautiful sense of humor comedy Monty Python. 265 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 1: If you've ever seen the show look Around You, that's 266 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: sort of exactly what this kind of reminds me. A 267 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:23,960 Speaker 1: look Around You is sort of meant to look like 268 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 1: a kind of stodgy British news show about sort of 269 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:31,600 Speaker 1: dull things. Like they have a whole episode called Maths 270 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,600 Speaker 1: and it's about like math and mathematics, but it's all 271 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:39,520 Speaker 1: fake information and completely uh ludicrous, but presented as though 272 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:41,960 Speaker 1: it were real. Highly recommend that show. It's done in 273 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 1: like a sixties kind of BBC style with mog synthesizer 274 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 1: sounds and you know, expert scientists tapping their pencils on things. 275 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: It's just a wonderful show, but this would have been 276 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: kind of a prototype for that um and they really 277 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 1: pulled it off. As we've heard in the clip. They 278 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: really were trying to sell it like one of these 279 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:05,920 Speaker 1: classic news packages from the air. Keep in mind that 280 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,200 Speaker 1: if you are a British television viewer in the nineteen fifties, 281 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:14,880 Speaker 1: you have two choices of television program You have two channels, 282 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:19,760 Speaker 1: the BBC and I t V. So Panorama is the 283 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 1: biggest news program on the BBC. As I said earlier, 284 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: it has viewership of ten million. It was on weekly 285 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:31,879 Speaker 1: every Monday night at eight pm, and since about two 286 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:34,880 Speaker 1: years before this brank occurs, it had been hosted by 287 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:38,879 Speaker 1: that iconic Richard dem Bleby. He was one of the 288 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 1: most well known, revered public figures in the country. If 289 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:49,200 Speaker 1: he said it, people figured it must be true. So 290 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:51,880 Speaker 1: someone once said. One of his co workers once said 291 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: of Dimbleby, as quoted in Hoaxes dot Org, that he 292 00:17:55,920 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 1: had enough gravitas to float an aircraft carrier. And this 293 00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 1: is important because if it had been some other narrator, 294 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:09,120 Speaker 1: a lot of people probably wouldn't have taken this as gospel. 295 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: But because he was the guy saying it, people thought, uh, 296 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:17,199 Speaker 1: it had to be true, even if it sounded really, 297 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:20,479 Speaker 1: really strange. Now, as I said earlier, he had been 298 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:24,000 Speaker 1: pitching this idea for a long long time. It wasn't 299 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:27,800 Speaker 1: until nine seven that he was able to convince other 300 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:29,680 Speaker 1: people to go along with it. He couldn't do this 301 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 1: himself as just the cameraman. So the writer, David Wheeler, 302 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 1: loved the idea because you know, as you know, a 303 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:40,679 Speaker 1: lot of these narrators and news programs don't do their 304 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:45,000 Speaker 1: own researcher writing. So Wheeler was the writer of program. 305 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:46,960 Speaker 1: He loved it. And then they went to the editor, 306 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:50,040 Speaker 1: guy named Michael Peacock, and they said, let's make this 307 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:53,800 Speaker 1: weird thing happen. Peacock, of course, is is uh. He 308 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,040 Speaker 1: likes his co workers obviously, uh. And who doesn't like 309 00:18:57,119 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: a good joke. But they really have to sell it 310 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: to him, and Dieger stresses. Dieger talks Turkey, he talks 311 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:07,359 Speaker 1: the financial lens, which is always uh, I can assure 312 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:09,720 Speaker 1: you always a great way to start selling stuff in 313 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: a corporate gig. Uh. He said, you know it's gonna 314 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:15,760 Speaker 1: be cheap to create this. It's not gonna be It's 315 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 1: not gonna cost us a bunch I'm already gonna be 316 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:22,440 Speaker 1: in Switzerland, so we'll I'll just do that while I'm there. 317 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 1: You don't have to pay me extra. We don't have 318 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,280 Speaker 1: to pay anybody extra to do this. We can just 319 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:30,760 Speaker 1: also do it along with the real news. We were 320 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:34,440 Speaker 1: already planning on reporting, and Peacock went for it. Um 321 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: he you know, obviously it was a good, good humored dude, 322 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: and he gave them one hundred pounds with which to 323 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: uh to film this extra little side quest with which 324 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:47,159 Speaker 1: isn't a ton of money, but it was enough to 325 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,040 Speaker 1: you know, cover the cost of production of buying some 326 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:53,399 Speaker 1: some materials, you know, for our set dressing. We'll get 327 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 1: into it a little bit, but yeah. The writer for 328 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: Panorama was also clearly on board with this prank because 329 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: he wrote the script in that voice of the show 330 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: to add at that extra level of credibility. That was 331 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: just really hit home when Richard Dimbleby himself wrote the 332 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 1: three and fifty word uh script um in in those uh, 333 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: those dulcet tones that the British people knew so well 334 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 1: of Dimbleby that really um kind of imparted that level 335 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:25,520 Speaker 1: of authority to the whole proceeding and made it much 336 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:28,399 Speaker 1: more easy to believe that this is what you were 337 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:30,639 Speaker 1: what you were hearing was a real thing. Um. So 338 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:33,920 Speaker 1: they set out for Switzerland in March of that year. 339 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,359 Speaker 1: They have a few like a like a handler I 340 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:39,800 Speaker 1: guess from the Swiss Tourist office who had helped them 341 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:43,639 Speaker 1: scout some locations. Uh. It was kind of nasty weather. 342 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 1: It was cold and and drizzly, and unfortunately a lot 343 00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:51,880 Speaker 1: of the trees were bare. But they did eventually find 344 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 1: a spot that was suitable for the shoot. It was 345 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:57,919 Speaker 1: near a hotel in Caste Leon, off of the shores 346 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: of Lake Lugano, and was surrounded by some evergreen trees 347 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 1: laurel trees. So that was exactly what they needed to 348 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,680 Speaker 1: sell the effect, which was which was achieved with some 349 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 1: pretty great practicals. If you if you know what I mean. Yeah, 350 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: we get into uh we get into some proper work. Uh, 351 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:19,960 Speaker 1: the kind of problems that Casey, I know, you know 352 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:23,359 Speaker 1: this they could be very familiar to independent filmmakers. Uh, 353 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 1: if you've ever worked in something where you are trying 354 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: to make the perfect fake blood where you are you know, 355 00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:33,560 Speaker 1: I once had we had to this factor that we 356 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:36,400 Speaker 1: had to paint entirely blue in a way that looked 357 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: like he was blue or not just bade blue anyway. 358 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:41,840 Speaker 1: So Dieger runs into some stuff like this, where does 359 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 1: his budget go. Well, at least part of it goes 360 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:48,359 Speaker 1: to twenty pounds of uncooked homemade spaghetti. He tries to 361 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:52,680 Speaker 1: hang it from those laurel tree branches you mentioned earlier, Nold, 362 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:57,199 Speaker 1: and then he encounters some problems. First, spaghetti would dry 363 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:00,359 Speaker 1: out quickly, it wouldn't hang from the branches right they 364 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 1: have been kind of taping it up there. Then he said, okay, 365 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:04,879 Speaker 1: we'll cook it and then we'll hang it. But then 366 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:07,680 Speaker 1: if we cook it, it becomes too slippery and it 367 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: slides off the branches onto the ground, so you can't 368 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:13,639 Speaker 1: get the shot. And then the tourist rep from the 369 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,399 Speaker 1: Swiss tourist office who was hanging out with the acre there, said, okay, 370 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 1: let's put the uncooked spaghetti between these damp cloths. We'll 371 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: keep it kind of uh moist. I feel the way 372 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:29,840 Speaker 1: about the word moist that you feel about canned spaghettios, 373 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:32,159 Speaker 1: by the way, but that's another correct word. They keep 374 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:34,560 Speaker 1: it damp, they keep it moist. Uh. And then he 375 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:41,439 Speaker 1: hires some local young women to wear the traditional national 376 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:45,560 Speaker 1: costume of Switzerland, and he films them hanging spaghetti in 377 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 1: the trees, climbing ladders, will wicker baskets, and then playing 378 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:51,200 Speaker 1: the spaghetti in the sun. He gets the shots he 379 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:54,240 Speaker 1: needs pretty quickly once they figure out how to get 380 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:58,480 Speaker 1: spaghetti hanging from the trees. Spaghetti cultivation here in Switzerland is, not, 381 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:01,480 Speaker 1: of course, cut it out on anything like the tremendous 382 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:04,560 Speaker 1: scale of the Italian industry. Many of you, I'm sure, 383 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 1: will have seen pictures of the vast spaghetti plantations in 384 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:11,119 Speaker 1: the Po Valley. For the Swiss, however, it tends to 385 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,280 Speaker 1: be more of a family affair. Another reason why this 386 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,600 Speaker 1: may be a bumper year lies in the virtual disappearance 387 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:21,480 Speaker 1: of the spaghetti weevil, the tiny creature whose depredations have 388 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:26,120 Speaker 1: caused much concerned in the past. And then, because he's 389 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 1: a he seems like ultimately really nice dude. He says, hey, 390 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 1: you guys are doing such a wonderful job acting. Let 391 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:37,480 Speaker 1: me at least make you dinner, and he serves them spaghetti. 392 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:42,200 Speaker 1: M I think this is really funny, you guys. It's 393 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:44,960 Speaker 1: it's so it's it really does remind me of like 394 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:48,440 Speaker 1: a Monty Python sketch, like there's something there the absurdity 395 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: of this. I don't know, what do you think, Casey, don't, don't, 396 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:53,760 Speaker 1: I don't know. I find this delightful. Yeah, it has 397 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:56,520 Speaker 1: that kind of high absurdity and I love the mix 398 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 1: of that with the authority of the BBC behind it. 399 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:01,960 Speaker 1: It's sort of like the ultimate betrayal in a way 400 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 1: because they're sort of branding themselves as like objective truth 401 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:08,600 Speaker 1: and so to mess with people. There's probably people that 402 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:10,800 Speaker 1: were skeptical of it to begin with, but they thought, well, 403 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: it's the BBC, like what, They're not gonna mess with 404 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:18,320 Speaker 1: this exactly. So Yeah, it reminds me of a War 405 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:22,440 Speaker 1: of the worlds, you know, Casey on the case. So 406 00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:27,960 Speaker 1: here we go this, there's there's something else that's happening here. 407 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,280 Speaker 1: So while the footage is rushed back to London, while 408 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:35,560 Speaker 1: it's being edited, they're adding music. Uh, They're they're choosing 409 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:39,479 Speaker 1: the right kind of high minded tone for this. Uh. 410 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:44,359 Speaker 1: While that's happening. Concurrently, the editor of the show, Michael Peacock, 411 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:49,080 Speaker 1: has been sitting on his decision. He has not told 412 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: his bosses that they're gonna put this April Fool stage 413 00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:58,920 Speaker 1: joke in the nation's number one current affairs show because 414 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: he thought there's a very reasonable fear He thought that 415 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:05,840 Speaker 1: his bosses might say, what the hell are you doing 416 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:10,520 Speaker 1: where the number one news show in the entire country. 417 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,560 Speaker 1: We can't tell people this. Uh So at the last 418 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,680 Speaker 1: minute he tells his boss, Leonard Mile and nobody else 419 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 1: at the BBC knew it, which means that a lot 420 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:24,440 Speaker 1: of BBC employees were watching this when it came on, 421 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:29,120 Speaker 1: Which means that at least some of those BBC employees 422 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:32,600 Speaker 1: may have thought, dang, that's crazy, and you knew about 423 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:35,800 Speaker 1: spaghetti and trees. I must have missed that in the meeting. 424 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:40,199 Speaker 1: I mean, it really is perfectly primed for that response, 425 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:42,880 Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like you have you think 426 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,520 Speaker 1: of something like the BBC, especially a show like Panorama 427 00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 1: is like unimpeachable, and then you have that voice that 428 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:51,879 Speaker 1: just gives it this gravitas. And to see that, I 429 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,720 Speaker 1: think even modern audiences might do a double take as 430 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:58,520 Speaker 1: to like, maybe I didn't learn that part in school, 431 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:01,639 Speaker 1: you know. I honestly believe that that's the beauty of this. 432 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:04,159 Speaker 1: And I was listening to it another podcast about this 433 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:05,960 Speaker 1: when we were when we were doing research. I just 434 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:09,920 Speaker 1: it's just called Weird History Podcast by Joe Streckert. I 435 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,919 Speaker 1: believe it's a Patreon supported podcast, so check it out. 436 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,440 Speaker 1: It's a short They're like twelve thirteen minute episodes on 437 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 1: a little short nugget of goodness from history. And um. 438 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:22,680 Speaker 1: He made a really interesting point that this represents like 439 00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:25,960 Speaker 1: something a lesson that we could learn, like and take 440 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:29,240 Speaker 1: with us like today, the idea of fact checking and 441 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:32,159 Speaker 1: like not just believing something that's shoved in front of 442 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,159 Speaker 1: you just because it has an air of authority to it. Um. 443 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:37,520 Speaker 1: And and obviously this wasn't meant to keep people in 444 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:39,560 Speaker 1: the dark for long. I mean, it was obviously going 445 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:41,119 Speaker 1: to be revealed that it was a prank. That's how 446 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:44,080 Speaker 1: April Fools jokes work. And maybe you feel a little 447 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,800 Speaker 1: hurt momentarily of oh they got me, But then if 448 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:48,680 Speaker 1: you really take a little step back and have a 449 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,800 Speaker 1: little self awareness, maybe it taught you a lesson on 450 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:55,160 Speaker 1: how you should always think about things beyond what's presented 451 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 1: to you. So I think that's part of what makes 452 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:00,680 Speaker 1: April Fools interesting, at least in an intel legant prank 453 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:04,160 Speaker 1: like this. Yeah, I mean it's it's totally. It's played 454 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:08,680 Speaker 1: completely straight. After picking, the spaghetti is laid out to 455 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:13,680 Speaker 1: dry in the warm alpine sun. Many people are often 456 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,200 Speaker 1: puzzled by the fact that spaghetti has produced at such 457 00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:19,639 Speaker 1: uniform length, but this is the result of many years 458 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: of patient endeavor by plant breeders who succeeded in producing 459 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,200 Speaker 1: the perfect spaghetti. Just to give a context, here the 460 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:31,960 Speaker 1: lineup for the show that day, which again I love this, 461 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:35,320 Speaker 1: uh this article from Hoax's dot org. But there's a 462 00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 1: great article about the from the Guardian about this as well. Uh, 463 00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:44,120 Speaker 1: the lineup was pretty average. There was a segment about 464 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,399 Speaker 1: an archbishop who was leader of the Greek Cypriots at 465 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:51,159 Speaker 1: the time, a clip of the Duke in Edinburgh attending 466 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,879 Speaker 1: the premiere of a war film, and then uh, the 467 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: little piece about a wine tasting contest, and then the 468 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:02,800 Speaker 1: spaghetti harvest was the last segment. And after that it 469 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:06,800 Speaker 1: cuts back to to Dimbleby who and he says, just 470 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:10,280 Speaker 1: you know, now, we say goodnight on this first day 471 00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:13,720 Speaker 1: of April. So they put a clue in there that 472 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: this was April fools, right, Like British people may not 473 00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: have known the origin of spaghetti, but they knew what 474 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:22,440 Speaker 1: April Fools was. And that's kind of a hint. You 475 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,240 Speaker 1: can see in modern news pieces today where you'll read 476 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:30,960 Speaker 1: something and then you'll check the byline, especially around April, 477 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,280 Speaker 1: and you see it says April first, you know, or whatever. 478 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:38,240 Speaker 1: That's typically an indication that there's a that there's some 479 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,000 Speaker 1: Shenanigan read going on. How self works used to do 480 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:43,640 Speaker 1: it every year too, That's right, that's right. And and 481 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:46,800 Speaker 1: Chuck actually on on Movie Crash, did one one year 482 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 1: where he had, um, Kevin Pollock and uh pretending to 483 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:54,080 Speaker 1: be Christopher walking. Kevin Pollock is famous for his Christopher 484 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: walkin impression, and he did a whole episode with Chuck 485 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:00,760 Speaker 1: where he pretended to be Christopher walking. And uh, much 486 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 1: like the reaction to the spaghetti hoax that the BBC received. 487 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:06,960 Speaker 1: Some people were all about it and thought it was 488 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:10,160 Speaker 1: hilarious and felt in on the joke. Uh, some people 489 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:13,959 Speaker 1: felt taken for a ride and um, we're very upset, 490 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:17,120 Speaker 1: and they they communicated as such, because if there's one 491 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:18,920 Speaker 1: thing people love to do is to tell you when 492 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:22,760 Speaker 1: they're upset. Um. So yeah, as soon as the broadcast ended, 493 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:26,880 Speaker 1: immediately on that night, the BBC's switchboards started lighting up 494 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:30,280 Speaker 1: like crazy. One of the producers from the show walked 495 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: over to the what school was called the BBC's telephone 496 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:36,240 Speaker 1: exchange to see what was going on, and he wrote 497 00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: this about it. The calls came in increasingly somewhere from 498 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,160 Speaker 1: viewers who had enjoyed the joke, including one from Bristol 499 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,320 Speaker 1: who complained that spaghetti didn't grow vertically, it grew horizontally. 500 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 1: But mainly the calls request for the BBC to settle 501 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: family arguments. The husband knew it must be true that 502 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:54,600 Speaker 1: spaghetti grew on a bush because Richard Dimbleby had said 503 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:56,480 Speaker 1: it must be true, and the wife knew it was 504 00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:59,800 Speaker 1: made with flour and water, but neither could convince the 505 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:02,880 Speaker 1: I love that because the women had made it or 506 00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:05,120 Speaker 1: there they knew at least enough about the you know, 507 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: the process of making spaghetti that whereas a husband would 508 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:10,720 Speaker 1: have been the total numb skull about stuff like that. 509 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 1: And now the harvest is marked by a traditional meal. 510 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: Toasts to the new crop are drunk in these boccolindos, 511 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,960 Speaker 1: and then the waiters enter bearing the ceremonial dish. And 512 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:24,960 Speaker 1: it is of course spaghetti picked earlier in the day, 513 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:28,280 Speaker 1: dried in the sun and so brought fresh from garden 514 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:31,600 Speaker 1: to table at the very peak of condition. For those 515 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:35,680 Speaker 1: who love this dish, there's nothing like real home grown spaghetti. 516 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:48,800 Speaker 1: So at the time it is important for the story. 517 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 1: At the time, the BBC channel was not its winning 518 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:57,440 Speaker 1: four hour channel. It would cease transmission at a certain 519 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 1: hour and before transmiss sans closed for that evening, BBC 520 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:06,680 Speaker 1: already had turned around and due to the public outcry, uh, 521 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:11,560 Speaker 1: they had broadcasted an additional statement that came clean about 522 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:15,000 Speaker 1: the hoax, and it's uh, it's long, so I'm no, 523 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:16,720 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna make you sit here while I read 524 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:19,560 Speaker 1: the whole thing out loud. But essentially they said, we've 525 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:23,640 Speaker 1: received a mixed reaction to a spoof documentary about spaghetti 526 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:27,840 Speaker 1: crops in Switzerland. And then they describe it, and then 527 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:31,280 Speaker 1: they say some viewers failed to see the funny side 528 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:34,640 Speaker 1: of the broadcasting criticized the BBC for airing the item 529 00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 1: on what's supposed to be a serious factual program. Others, however, 530 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:40,840 Speaker 1: were so intrigued they wanted to find out where they 531 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:44,800 Speaker 1: could purchase their very own spaghetti bush. And then uh, 532 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 1: they they go on and talk about how spaghetti is 533 00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: not widely eaten in the UK at this time. Uh, 534 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:59,280 Speaker 1: they talk a little bit more about the program, and uh, 535 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:01,760 Speaker 1: they say, you know, there's a first time television has 536 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:05,440 Speaker 1: been used to stage in April Fool's Day hoax. But again, 537 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:09,280 Speaker 1: I think I've said this before on one episode or another. 538 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:13,360 Speaker 1: But again, people read headlines and retractions are printed on 539 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:17,240 Speaker 1: like page thirty seven, and oftentimes when you correct something, 540 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:20,280 Speaker 1: it's it's far too late. The lid of Pandora's jar 541 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:24,320 Speaker 1: has been unscrewed. So they had this confession on air. 542 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:28,920 Speaker 1: They had this statement, but people kept calling. They kept 543 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 1: calling and kept calling, and eventually the switchboard operators just said, 544 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:37,600 Speaker 1: we're gonna come up with our own form like boilerplate reply. 545 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:42,000 Speaker 1: So people would call them over the course of the 546 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:46,240 Speaker 1: days and then the following weeks, and these operators would 547 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:50,920 Speaker 1: eventually just say places sprig of spaghetti, an attentive tomato sauce, 548 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:53,400 Speaker 1: and hope for the best. When people are calling to 549 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 1: ask how to grow their own spaghetti tree, and then 550 00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:58,200 Speaker 1: the spaghetti ferry will come visit you in the night 551 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: and leave you a shining you pent sixpence or whatever. Um, yeah, 552 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:07,000 Speaker 1: this is great. It reminds me too of there there's 553 00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:09,680 Speaker 1: a really great show. It's someone that that Casey actually 554 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:11,680 Speaker 1: hit me too. I was aware of his work on 555 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:13,880 Speaker 1: a show called Um the I T. Crowd. He plays 556 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:16,000 Speaker 1: the boss on the first season of The I T. Crowds. 557 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:20,640 Speaker 1: Guy named Chris Morris. Uh he replaced he's his son, Yeah, Chris. 558 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:23,960 Speaker 1: Chris Morris plays the boss Um on the first season 559 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 1: of The I T. Crowd. But he actually comes from 560 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:29,400 Speaker 1: a really interesting tradition of radio satire and had a 561 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:32,320 Speaker 1: show called Jam that's like pre Tim and Eric, like 562 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:36,760 Speaker 1: psychedelic just terror comedy basically, and then they may get 563 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:38,960 Speaker 1: into a TV series. But the first season, I don't 564 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:40,600 Speaker 1: know if you know this case I think we talked about. 565 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:43,920 Speaker 1: It is literally just them lip syncing to the audio 566 00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:47,320 Speaker 1: from the radio version and it's just lue Blue Jam 567 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:49,280 Speaker 1: I think it's called Blue Jam was the radio show 568 00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:52,360 Speaker 1: that the show was called Jam. Highly recommended. But this guy, 569 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:55,400 Speaker 1: Chris Morris went on to do sort of a hard 570 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:59,600 Speaker 1: copy esque kind of satire show called brass I and 571 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:03,040 Speaker 1: it is very much from this tradition of that we're 572 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:06,880 Speaker 1: talking about here, but much more offensive and and uh 573 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:10,160 Speaker 1: sardonic and just way over the top and they do episodes. 574 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:12,840 Speaker 1: There's one about drugs, about the drug epidemics sweeping the 575 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 1: UK and uh, this is this made up drug called 576 00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:18,160 Speaker 1: cake that's like a rave drug, but it makes your 577 00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:22,120 Speaker 1: next swell up. It gives you a syndrome called check neck. Um. 578 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:24,440 Speaker 1: I guess like from the Czech Republic is where the 579 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:27,640 Speaker 1: drug from comes from. But there's one episode called Peto 580 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:33,319 Speaker 1: Mgeddon that's all about the pedophilia epidemic sweeping London, the UK, 581 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:37,720 Speaker 1: and it was so over the top offensive and again 582 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:41,360 Speaker 1: some people thought it was real. People wrote in and 583 00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,279 Speaker 1: called in because apparently the BBC switchboard still a thing 584 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:47,600 Speaker 1: you can call into complain and they pulled it so 585 00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:49,360 Speaker 1: you can only watch it on on YouTube and I 586 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:53,120 Speaker 1: if you're into some sicko comedy, highly recommend checking out 587 00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:57,440 Speaker 1: the brass eye episode called Peto Mgeddon. So earlier I 588 00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:01,600 Speaker 1: had said that there were members of the BBC themselves 589 00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:04,920 Speaker 1: and BBC employees who were fooled by the Spaghetti hoax. 590 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:07,879 Speaker 1: One of the people who was fooled was a guy 591 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:12,240 Speaker 1: named sir Ian Jacob. It's interesting that Surrey and Jacob 592 00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:15,720 Speaker 1: was fooled because he was the Director General of the BBC. 593 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:18,640 Speaker 1: He's the boss, the Emperor of the BBC. He's like 594 00:35:18,719 --> 00:35:23,320 Speaker 1: the Ted Turner of the BBC. And he had he 595 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:27,560 Speaker 1: had been sent a note telling him that the this 596 00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:31,040 Speaker 1: hoax was happening, as prank was occurring, but he had 597 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:35,160 Speaker 1: never received the note, and so when he saw the broadcast, uh, 598 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:38,680 Speaker 1: he wasn't he wasn't sure what to expect. And then 599 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:43,680 Speaker 1: someone on the team talked to Sir Jacob later and 600 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:45,880 Speaker 1: he had this to say, which I thought was pretty 601 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:49,440 Speaker 1: reasonable and actually reassuring for guys. The boss of the 602 00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:52,759 Speaker 1: BBC said, I always used to think monkey nuts grew 603 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:54,720 Speaker 1: on bushes till I went to serve in the Canal 604 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:58,080 Speaker 1: Zone Panama Canal and saw them growing on the ground. 605 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:01,080 Speaker 1: The moment I saw the spaghetti, I had him on Panorama. 606 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:03,759 Speaker 1: I said to my wife, I'm sure spaghetti doesn't grow 607 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:06,880 Speaker 1: on a bush. So he looked it up in Encyclopedia Britannica. 608 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:11,279 Speaker 1: Do you know Encyclopedia Britannica doesn't mention spaghetti. We had 609 00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:14,000 Speaker 1: to look up three books before he confirmed it. It's 610 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:16,799 Speaker 1: kind of reassuring that at least he's doing his due 611 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:20,040 Speaker 1: diligence and research you know. That is so fascinating, though, Ben, 612 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:22,520 Speaker 1: because when you when you first said, oh, the director 613 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:24,680 Speaker 1: of the b got caught wind of this, I thought 614 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:26,840 Speaker 1: and that people were heads were gonna roll, you know, 615 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:29,600 Speaker 1: as they say. But no, I think he appreciated the 616 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:33,560 Speaker 1: joke and even had enough humility that he didn't let 617 00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:35,680 Speaker 1: the fact that he was taken in by the gag, 618 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:39,399 Speaker 1: probably because he didn't read his memos um he didn't 619 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:42,160 Speaker 1: let that like Bruce's ego too much. I appreciate that 620 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:43,880 Speaker 1: in a boss, someone that has a little bit of 621 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:46,320 Speaker 1: self awareness and can can take a joke and be 622 00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:48,440 Speaker 1: the butt of the joke and not get all bent 623 00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:51,160 Speaker 1: out of shape. I love that. In fact, Sir Jacob 624 00:36:51,239 --> 00:36:54,279 Speaker 1: himself became a big fan of the hoax. He even 625 00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:57,160 Speaker 1: sent the Yacre a note saying that he thought it 626 00:36:57,280 --> 00:37:00,399 Speaker 1: was a splendid idea and that it caused a great 627 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:05,239 Speaker 1: deal of delight. Uh. There was some criticism. There were 628 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:07,960 Speaker 1: a couple of people who complained that the BBC had 629 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:11,920 Speaker 1: taken advantage of the trust of their audience. The Daily 630 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:16,239 Speaker 1: Telegraph published a piece a BBC fools About with Spaghetti, 631 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:20,759 Speaker 1: which is a weirdly British headline, and I did not 632 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:24,160 Speaker 1: know this, but apparently there was a rule for April 633 00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:27,880 Speaker 1: Fool's Day, at least in the UK, which was that 634 00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:31,440 Speaker 1: no jokes are supposed to be carried out later than noon, 635 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:35,000 Speaker 1: which I didn't know. Uh, casey, were you familiar with 636 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:37,400 Speaker 1: that one? I was not. That's hilarious to me that 637 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:41,240 Speaker 1: it's a very specific law. Yes, it was very pedantically British. 638 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:44,640 Speaker 1: I love that it sounds like somebody was it was 639 00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:47,280 Speaker 1: a little bit sore about getting fooled by a prank 640 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:50,600 Speaker 1: and then decided it quote unquote didn't count because it 641 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:53,120 Speaker 1: wasn't like one thirty or something. Well, and it's like 642 00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:55,640 Speaker 1: it's like the perfect invitation to publish your joke at 643 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:57,520 Speaker 1: like one in the afternoon or something, just to like 644 00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:00,239 Speaker 1: add a little extra own that well, it's afternoon, can't 645 00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:05,440 Speaker 1: possibly be true. Even though it was April Fools adjacent, 646 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,320 Speaker 1: no one would dare break the rules of the BBC, 647 00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:15,120 Speaker 1: the April Fools rules. Uh yeah. So so now we're 648 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:19,400 Speaker 1: in and uh we can look back at this and 649 00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:23,520 Speaker 1: it seems kind of uh silly, a bit whimsical, but 650 00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:27,360 Speaker 1: it is relevant today, especially when we think about just 651 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:30,800 Speaker 1: how many points of information are out there for the 652 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:35,080 Speaker 1: modern person online every single day. You know, there's there's 653 00:38:35,160 --> 00:38:40,840 Speaker 1: a huge controversy about whether social media platforms should fact 654 00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:45,279 Speaker 1: check the articles that their users are disseminating and the 655 00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:52,320 Speaker 1: claims that they're making. We see a lot of conspiracy theories, pranks, hoaxes, misinformation, 656 00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:59,520 Speaker 1: and disinformation. Misinformation is when you're sincerely, unknowingly incorrect about something. 657 00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:05,880 Speaker 1: Disinformation is where you're purposely misleading people. And uh, you 658 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:09,120 Speaker 1: have to wonder what Dieger would think of all this. He, 659 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:13,840 Speaker 1: by the way, passed away May nine, two thousand's, so 660 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:17,080 Speaker 1: he would have been well aware of of uh, the 661 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:20,400 Speaker 1: of online communication for sure. And I just want to 662 00:39:20,440 --> 00:39:22,359 Speaker 1: double down again just because I'm just such a fan. 663 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:26,040 Speaker 1: I really do feel like this had to have laid 664 00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:28,680 Speaker 1: the groundwork for a lot of these British satires that 665 00:39:28,719 --> 00:39:31,160 Speaker 1: we're talking about. This is pre Monty Python, This was 666 00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:34,840 Speaker 1: pre brass I pre Chris Morris, pre all that stuff. 667 00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:37,439 Speaker 1: And uh, look around you. I love that it really 668 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:41,799 Speaker 1: uh And and American audiences agreed. Um. Actually, Jack Parr 669 00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:46,760 Speaker 1: h in the sixties, UM and Johnny Carson later aired 670 00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:50,480 Speaker 1: the Spaghetti Hoax segment on The Tonight Show. UM and 671 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:54,000 Speaker 1: then also got nasty letters from people who thought it 672 00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:56,960 Speaker 1: was real and didn't appreciate it, and they thought they 673 00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,600 Speaker 1: were being they were making fun of farmers or something 674 00:39:59,719 --> 00:40:02,120 Speaker 1: like that. Uh. And Carson, apparently a week or so 675 00:40:02,200 --> 00:40:06,239 Speaker 1: after playing the segment, Um had to make a retraction 676 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:08,839 Speaker 1: of subsort on on the show where he held up 677 00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:11,640 Speaker 1: a box of spaghetti and read off the ingredients to 678 00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:16,160 Speaker 1: prove that spaghetti was in fact made and quote not born, 679 00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:21,520 Speaker 1: which I love. And so Panorama retired from the April 680 00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:25,440 Speaker 1: Fool's Day game. They just did the one to international 681 00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:28,840 Speaker 1: acclaim and criticism, and they never did a sequel, but 682 00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:32,560 Speaker 1: it became kind of an in joke in the world 683 00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:36,200 Speaker 1: of television. You can see reports that are all kind 684 00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:40,520 Speaker 1: of uh, paying tribute or homage to this, the Australian 685 00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:44,400 Speaker 1: spaghetti crop, the dim Blebee pickle farm, which is the 686 00:40:44,719 --> 00:40:47,560 Speaker 1: same thing as spaghetti on trees, bes pickles on trees, 687 00:40:48,520 --> 00:40:52,920 Speaker 1: the pickle ranch harvest. It goes on and on. But 688 00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:56,920 Speaker 1: we do have to say that just because Panorama never 689 00:40:57,040 --> 00:41:00,920 Speaker 1: did another April Fool's Joke, that doesn't mean that the 690 00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:04,759 Speaker 1: BBC itself never did something. I think it was back 691 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:09,200 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty the world Service. The BBC World Service 692 00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:13,640 Speaker 1: News reported gave a lot of people some conneptions when 693 00:41:13,680 --> 00:41:17,839 Speaker 1: they reported that the famous clock tower Big Ben would 694 00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:21,840 Speaker 1: be given a digital display. Can you imagine that that 695 00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:25,719 Speaker 1: would be insane? Uh? And here's here's the coolest part though. 696 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:28,680 Speaker 1: When they announced this, they said not only was it 697 00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:32,280 Speaker 1: going to be given a digital display, but the hands 698 00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:34,879 Speaker 1: of the clock would be given away to the first 699 00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:38,320 Speaker 1: four people who called the station. I love it. I 700 00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:41,600 Speaker 1: love it. You think people would know, uh, and and 701 00:41:41,680 --> 00:41:43,520 Speaker 1: most people do. And the brit You know, the Brits 702 00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:47,560 Speaker 1: are are very uh, witty people, as you can tell 703 00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:49,680 Speaker 1: again by some of their pop culture stuff. I mean 704 00:41:49,719 --> 00:41:52,320 Speaker 1: there's always a great amount of wit and kind of 705 00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:55,279 Speaker 1: sardonic edge to It's a lot of British comedy. Um. 706 00:41:55,719 --> 00:41:58,680 Speaker 1: But even still some people get taken in. It's it's 707 00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:02,640 Speaker 1: fascinating and I absolutely of it. Now I'd like to 708 00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:05,480 Speaker 1: to pass this over to you folks. Maybe there's a 709 00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:10,840 Speaker 1: conversation we can continue on the internet, on Facebook, on Twitter, Instagram. 710 00:42:11,160 --> 00:42:15,360 Speaker 1: What are your favorite April Fool's Day pranks? Either the 711 00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:18,719 Speaker 1: big ones that got national attention, or maybe just some 712 00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:21,400 Speaker 1: of your favorite ones that are a little more close 713 00:42:21,520 --> 00:42:23,960 Speaker 1: to home in your own life. When of the best 714 00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:28,440 Speaker 1: places to share these stories is our Facebook page Ridiculous Historians, 715 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:32,600 Speaker 1: which has been having some top tier meme posts lately. Ah, 716 00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:35,880 Speaker 1: the memory abounds for sure. All you gotta do is 717 00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:38,520 Speaker 1: go to Facebook dot com and search for Ridiculous Historians 718 00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:41,120 Speaker 1: and just like, name me or Casey or or Ben 719 00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:44,640 Speaker 1: or whomever, anyone associated with the show, any little ref 720 00:42:44,800 --> 00:42:46,879 Speaker 1: from the show, just to lets. Sometimes we have people 721 00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:48,920 Speaker 1: who are honest and say, I don't know anything about 722 00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:51,400 Speaker 1: the show, but this seems like a fun group. I 723 00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:53,920 Speaker 1: I I'll even let those people in. Sometimes it's not 724 00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:56,480 Speaker 1: it's not about being exclusive. It's just we want to 725 00:42:56,520 --> 00:42:58,440 Speaker 1: make sure you're not like some kind of Russian boty. 726 00:42:58,560 --> 00:43:02,040 Speaker 1: You can also find us the social media as individuals. 727 00:43:02,520 --> 00:43:05,799 Speaker 1: That's right. You can find me on Twitter at Ben 728 00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:09,920 Speaker 1: Bowlen h s W, where I am currently reveling in 729 00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:14,200 Speaker 1: my fascination of corvids. You can also find me on Instagram, 730 00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:16,920 Speaker 1: where I have in a number of misadventures as at 731 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:21,040 Speaker 1: Ben Bowlen. That's Corvid is not COVID's right, Yeah. Corvid 732 00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:24,360 Speaker 1: is a group name for things like crows and magpies 733 00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:26,560 Speaker 1: and so on. I kid Ben I know about your 734 00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:30,040 Speaker 1: obsession with these little rascals, which is funny considering that 735 00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:33,879 Speaker 1: you're anti metal and these guys love shiny objects. Isn't 736 00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:37,920 Speaker 1: that the thing? Sure? Not just metal. Corvids are very 737 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:41,239 Speaker 1: well known for forming bonds and friendships with humans, and 738 00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:46,520 Speaker 1: so they try to maybe pay for food and favors 739 00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:49,800 Speaker 1: by giving humans what they see as human things. So 740 00:43:49,920 --> 00:43:53,360 Speaker 1: I could be like a button or a coin, or 741 00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:56,919 Speaker 1: I I don't know, a shoe string. They just find 742 00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:00,680 Speaker 1: stuff and they're like that looks like human stuff's currency 743 00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:03,360 Speaker 1: for them. I love the idea of you perhaps commanding 744 00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:06,360 Speaker 1: sort of like a crew of of of corvette that 745 00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:08,200 Speaker 1: can bring you things and assist to you in your 746 00:44:08,239 --> 00:44:10,120 Speaker 1: in your day to day sort of like uh, it's 747 00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:14,080 Speaker 1: Cinderella gets her dress made by the woodland creatures. That's 748 00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:16,919 Speaker 1: very kivy. Yeah. I got very close at our old 749 00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:21,200 Speaker 1: office to befriending some crows who lived in the parking 750 00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:24,759 Speaker 1: lot of a mall in Heck. While you're online, why 751 00:44:24,760 --> 00:44:27,040 Speaker 1: don't you tell us a little bit more about any 752 00:44:27,120 --> 00:44:30,480 Speaker 1: of your interactions with corvids. I personally would love to 753 00:44:30,600 --> 00:44:33,480 Speaker 1: hear them. No, old people can find you online as well, right, 754 00:44:33,800 --> 00:44:37,520 Speaker 1: They can there's zero corvidd activity on my social media 755 00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:40,239 Speaker 1: feed at how now Noel Brown on Instagram as many 756 00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:43,160 Speaker 1: of you know, and and rag me about pretty regularly 757 00:44:43,239 --> 00:44:45,600 Speaker 1: on the Internet. I am I am a bit a 758 00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:49,040 Speaker 1: feared of birds corvids in particular, but Ben, you're bringing 759 00:44:49,080 --> 00:44:52,040 Speaker 1: me around. I love this friendship aspect of these creatures. 760 00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:55,440 Speaker 1: That's that's fascinating and very humanizing. Um. Huge thanks to 761 00:44:55,440 --> 00:44:59,120 Speaker 1: super producer Casey Pegram Alex Williams, who composed Arthene Christopher 762 00:44:59,160 --> 00:45:02,239 Speaker 1: Haciotes here in spirit. Big big thanks of course to 763 00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:05,400 Speaker 1: our Pure podcast or Eve's Jeff Coach. She's got some 764 00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:08,080 Speaker 1: great stuff on the waist, stay tuned for her, and 765 00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:11,120 Speaker 1: of course thanks to our own walking April Fools Brank 766 00:45:11,239 --> 00:45:15,880 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland, a k a. The Quizter. I think that's 767 00:45:16,040 --> 00:45:19,080 Speaker 1: all for us today. We've never done in April Fool's 768 00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:23,440 Speaker 1: uh prank episode on ridiculous history, have we. Let's just 769 00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:27,600 Speaker 1: hope everybody forgets by April next year. I'm down. We'll 770 00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:36,680 Speaker 1: see you next time, folks. For more podcasts for my 771 00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:39,360 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, 772 00:45:39,480 --> 00:45:41,600 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.