1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,720 Speaker 1: From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies. History is 2 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:09,119 Speaker 1: riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,079 Speaker 1: learn the stuff they don't want you to know. A 4 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. Hello, welcome back to the show. 5 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: My name is Matt, my name isn't all they called 6 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: me Ben. We're joined as always with our super producer Alexis, 7 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:36,560 Speaker 1: Code Game doc Holiday Jackson. Most importantly, you are you. 8 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: You are here, and that makes this the stuff they 9 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 1: don't want you to know. As you're tuning in today, folks, 10 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: fellow conspiracy realists, this is the first listener mail of 11 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: August twenty two. We made it, folks. This is officially 12 00:00:55,080 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: the Conspiracy Stuff Show. Birthday month for your faithful correspondence. Uh, 13 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: Matt and Noel and whatever they call me. It depends 14 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:08,680 Speaker 1: on who day is, frankly, but yeah, this time we 15 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:12,039 Speaker 1: are going to explore. We got a lot of messages, 16 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: and for me, at least, this drove home some of 17 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: the communication I had recently drove home to me that 18 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: this is more than a show as as were as 19 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: it feels to say it, it's it's become quite a 20 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:30,040 Speaker 1: community and we learn about this. I think every time 21 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: we do listener mail with all the strange stories and 22 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: follow ups that we hear from around the world. Now, 23 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: so we're going to learn about a black market that 24 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: you may not expect if you are outside of the 25 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: auto industry. We're going to learn about a stunning mystery 26 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: that haunted us for years decades that has been solved 27 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: Asteris And you'll see what we mean there at the end. 28 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: But first we're gonna have some follow ups on on 29 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: the issue of trust and things that are connected to 30 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: the cloud. In last week's Strange News segment, we discuss 31 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:16,440 Speaker 1: how Amazon is snitching. It's snitching on you if you 32 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: have a ring camera. At least eleven times it's done this. 33 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: But that is just the beginning, because we recently received 34 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: um call a tasty email nol uh about another danger 35 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: of smart devices, very tasty from from an elf it 36 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 1: would seem, named keebler uh, the the titular elf of 37 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: cookie fame. Um, Hey, guys, you can call me Keebler. 38 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: Listening to your July twenty Strange News and the segment 39 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: about ring cameras being shared with god knows who reminded 40 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: me of a story I read this weekend on next 41 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: Door it's self worthy of an episode next Door, the 42 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 1: Hive of the Nosy Neighbor and the overreactive accurate. Uh. 43 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,640 Speaker 1: There is a jew one story on Vox about this 44 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 1: a different bit of smart technology Nest and they're smart thermostats. Uh. 45 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: The story is that power companies in Texas have been 46 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: using an app connected to the Nest thermostat to increase 47 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 1: their customers air conditioners settings a few degrees here and 48 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: there as a way to let them cut power consumption 49 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,960 Speaker 1: and preserve their too fragile power grid. The culprit is 50 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:26,960 Speaker 1: a program called Smart Savers Texas, which enters folks in 51 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 1: a five thousand dollar sweepstakes if they surrender some measure 52 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 1: of control to their smart thermostat. People were hot about 53 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: it on next door. Uh asten to be on next door? 54 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and also hot. One complained they had a 55 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: newborn baby who could not speak up about being too hot. 56 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 1: Another worried about the implications of northern climates in the 57 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:52,839 Speaker 1: cold winter. So some grist for the conspiracy Grinder, Thanks all, 58 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: and I love your show. Uh, thank you Keebler for 59 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 1: this this hot tip. I found the Vox article in 60 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: question from June twenty one of last year by Sarah Morrison. 61 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: How your power company can remotely control your smart thermostat um. 62 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: As I've mentioned recently, I I purchased a house and 63 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: the previous owners were a bit of a smart home 64 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: techie nerds, which I am too. I like all that stuff. 65 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: I have all the hue bulbs and all of that. 66 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,280 Speaker 1: I have had never owned a Nest system in my 67 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: previous rentals because there were rentals, but this place came 68 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: pre installed with one. And it's really cool. Um. It's 69 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: you can you know, set it for a schedule to 70 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: you know, have the air fluctuate depending on the time 71 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: of day, depending on if your home or not. There's 72 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:38,599 Speaker 1: all kinds of ways of doing it. And yes, I 73 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 1: understand the implications of all of this connectedness and and 74 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 1: cloud capabilities and the you know risk it may pose 75 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:49,719 Speaker 1: to privacy, but I've given all of that up long ago, 76 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: and I'm I'm happy to live in a futuristic home, 77 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: you know, for the privilege of getting away subsemblance of privacy. Um. 78 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:00,760 Speaker 1: And I'm not that worried about this whole snitching thing. 79 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 1: I do. I do think it's interesting and there are 80 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: implications also have a ring situation. My girlfriend brought over 81 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,160 Speaker 1: from her previous place, and my kid, who's old enough 82 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: now to stay home by herself, is a fan because 83 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: she can look at the cameras. We can monitor the cameras, 84 00:05:16,360 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 1: you know, remotely when we're away. UM, anytime someone is 85 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:21,840 Speaker 1: the front door, you get notification, and you can even 86 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: talk to the person of the front door when you're 87 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: not there. So there's some cool things about that. The 88 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:31,520 Speaker 1: Nest power company issue is a very interesting one UM, 89 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 1: and presumably it does require some sort of buy in, 90 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,040 Speaker 1: but it's again maybe one of those fine print kind 91 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: of situations. The Smart Savers Texas program, it accurately um 92 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 1: does involve a sweepstakes where you can win five thousand 93 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,240 Speaker 1: dollars off of your energy bill for the coming year. 94 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:50,920 Speaker 1: But a lot of these users didn't realize exactly how 95 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: much control they were giving UM to the power companies. 96 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: And so from the Vox article, uh quote the idea 97 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: of a power company turning up your them us that 98 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:04,720 Speaker 1: like a stereotypical electricity bill conscious dad might seem dystopian, 99 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 1: but it's also fairly common. Their programs like Smart Savers 100 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: Texas all over the country, from California to New England. 101 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: The idea behind them is to decrease power consumption to 102 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: alleviate stress on the electrical grid and avoid brownouts. UM. 103 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: Since customers aren't likely to volunteer to use less of 104 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 1: the power they pay for when they need it, most 105 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: these programs give them an incentive and the means to 106 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:28,080 Speaker 1: do so easily by proxy. Um. I'm just gonna keep going. 107 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: This is good stuff. Some programs provide better incentives than others. 108 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: When it launched in Philadelphia's Smart a c Saver program, 109 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 1: gay participants a one dollar bill credit, which was apparently 110 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:41,159 Speaker 1: too generous and was cut to just forty dollars in 111 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:45,120 Speaker 1: subsequent years. But Smart Savers Texas only offers this chance 112 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,600 Speaker 1: too for the sweet sticks, you know, to win um 113 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 1: this big prize and apparently, uh, the terms were super vague. Um, 114 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:59,039 Speaker 1: so you know, it's very interesting terms of service kind 115 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: of question here when you're entering into this. And also 116 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: just the fact that it is so easy to just 117 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: click the box and say yes, I accept, you know, 118 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 1: without actually reading the fine print. And it's one thing 119 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 1: if it's like a website or something like that, but 120 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: it's another thing when when these things actually infiltrate your 121 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: home um, and it really should give you pause and 122 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,679 Speaker 1: make you a lot more conscious about reading these types 123 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: of terms of service. And also I believe Nest is 124 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: owned Nest is owned by Google. Um you have to 125 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 1: use the uh, the the Google Home app to control 126 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 1: the Nest, which is a little weird because there's a 127 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: Nest app, but it makes you use Google Home. So 128 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,400 Speaker 1: I'm a little confused as to why they both exist. 129 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 1: It might just be a legacy thing. Um, So you 130 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: are kind of probably being monitored, whether it's just you know, 131 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,760 Speaker 1: for informational purposes, for statistics, you know, power consumption and 132 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: all that. But there are kind of far reaching implications 133 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: for what these kinds of programs could portend for the future. 134 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: You know, where within those terms of services you could 135 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: be giving away much more control over these smart devices 136 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:08,960 Speaker 1: than you realize without even entering into a sweepstakes of 137 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 1: some kind. I don't know what do y'all think? Is this? Uh? 138 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: Is this the tip of the iceberg? Is this the 139 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: beginning of that slippery slope? And to you know, having 140 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: your thermostat controlled by you know, some overlord, or is 141 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: this just you know, a clever way of trying to 142 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 1: reduce strain on the grid, which is technically good for 143 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: everyone in the long run. Full slip and slide. It's happening. 144 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: I mean, this is this is another indication of the 145 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:43,320 Speaker 1: overall trend towards removing the concept of ownership. Right. The 146 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: concept of privacy is already uh an endangered species, and 147 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: as we pointed out in the past, the modern understanding 148 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:57,160 Speaker 1: of privacy is itself a pretty recent development, So it 149 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:00,319 Speaker 1: makes sense that people would want to remove the idea 150 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: of privacy. But also removing the idea of ownership allows 151 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 1: you to sell something but never really give it to 152 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: the person and give them a service, right, and now 153 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: you can Now you can have increasing control over how 154 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: that service is delivered. So I think next things to 155 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: happen will see this increasingly. In autonomous vehicles. There's already 156 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 1: in some non autonomous vehicles there are complaints about having 157 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:35,560 Speaker 1: to pay extra to unlock features that already exist in 158 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: some cars. I believe BMW is a great example of that. 159 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: Tesla as well. Um, we're gonna see this increasingly. I 160 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:48,040 Speaker 1: think in consumer electronics we're already you know, it's it's 161 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: very common now for someone to not actually buy a 162 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 1: phone because they're pretty expensive for most folks, but instead 163 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:58,080 Speaker 1: to get kind of a layaway plan, and then that 164 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: layaway plan can also be an excellent entry point into 165 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,840 Speaker 1: UH into forcing people to have stuff because just like 166 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:09,560 Speaker 1: we said with Sesame credit, remember it was opt in 167 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: in the beginning, and this smart thermostat thing is opt 168 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: in at the beginning. That's that's where I think it's headed. 169 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: I also want to shout out real quick, I sent 170 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:21,160 Speaker 1: this story to you guys who might get to it 171 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: later on, but I want to shout out my pal 172 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: Rebel Devil on Instagram, who actually knows one of those 173 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,360 Speaker 1: eleven people involved in one of those eleven cases where 174 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:35,240 Speaker 1: Amazon was snitching. But yeah, no, I think it's I 175 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: don't even think it's the beginning. I think it's a 176 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: future that is closer and closer to becoming the present. 177 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: So I don't blame anyone who says they want to 178 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 1: go full analog, just be aware of it's going to 179 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:51,200 Speaker 1: be increasingly difficult to do that with each passing year. 180 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:55,200 Speaker 1: What what I first see is a tiered system, much 181 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 1: like PlayStation Network just did with their PlayStation Plus program, 182 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: where you can get the basics you can you can 183 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 1: have you know, your utilities, your powering, your gas, but 184 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:08,719 Speaker 1: we as the company get to control the levels you 185 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: get to exist within. Right, So, probably too hot for 186 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 1: many people, probably too cold for many people, but at 187 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,560 Speaker 1: that at this base level, you're gonna have. You know, 188 00:11:18,960 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 1: you're not gonna die. We're gonna keep you alive, right, 189 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 1: thank you, blessed Overlord. You pay a little more in 190 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 1: those margins come in a little bit closer, and if 191 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: you pay for the premium, you could do whatever the 192 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:36,320 Speaker 1: hell you want with your power and gas. But isn't 193 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 1: that frightening because that's what we're talking about tiered citizenship 194 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 1: ultimately not in all but name so like you can 195 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:46,920 Speaker 1: do you know who I am? My father is a 196 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:51,120 Speaker 1: premium Gold Medallion citizen and I'll be damned if you 197 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 1: talk to me this way in ah in a baskin Robbins. 198 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: That's interesting, Well, that's an interesting uh reference there have 199 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 1: been because with airline sky miles type programs is so 200 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:09,160 Speaker 1: opaque as to what a sky mile is actually worth. 201 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: That's controlled by the company and there's no transparency into 202 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: what that process is um and you know the miles 203 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 1: that you have to earn to get to that next tier. 204 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: It's also pretty vague. You have like a chart in 205 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:24,560 Speaker 1: your app that kind of tells you where you are 206 00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:27,679 Speaker 1: along the process. They're called m q ms or something 207 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: like that. Anyway, exactly, I'm a silver medallion status person 208 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:35,720 Speaker 1: and you know, we have friends that work for Delta, 209 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: and I've been told that as a trash status, uh, 210 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:40,600 Speaker 1: and that the people that work for the company make 211 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 1: fun of people with silver medallion said, I don't even 212 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,559 Speaker 1: get to go to the sky Lounge, and I this 213 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 1: is through thousands of miles of travel that that work 214 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 1: has paid for for the most part. You know, we're 215 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 1: very lucky we get to get those miles for our 216 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 1: personal you know, accounts. But as an individual, I never 217 00:12:57,679 --> 00:13:00,439 Speaker 1: would have spent that much on travel. So does the 218 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,160 Speaker 1: amount you'd have to spend on travel to get that 219 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:08,319 Speaker 1: diamond status is unbelievable over time, you know, and it 220 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:10,559 Speaker 1: resets every year. So I see what you're saying. These 221 00:13:10,559 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 1: are almost like especially with the smart card things you're 222 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,559 Speaker 1: saying then it's almost like an app purchases in either 223 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,600 Speaker 1: phone apps that are free to play, but but not 224 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 1: the whole thing. You You you don't get to unlock 225 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: all of the little bobbles, and then you know, once 226 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,840 Speaker 1: you're in the ecosystem, you're kind of like eating out 227 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:30,079 Speaker 1: of their hand to a degree, because you don't see 228 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:37,960 Speaker 1: an experience. Imagine if it is a micro transaction system. Look, 229 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 1: I've been playing a little bit of that Diabolo Immortal game, 230 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:44,240 Speaker 1: and my god, the micro transactions and that, but it's 231 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:47,240 Speaker 1: a yeah, it is, but still so much fun. Is 232 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: still Diablo. But anyway, imagine if every time you went 233 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: to your thermostat and you wanted to like, let's turn 234 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 1: let's say, turn it down one degree to seventies six 235 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:02,400 Speaker 1: or seventy five, you had to choose to make that 236 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: micro transaction at that moment, at that point of sale 237 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,440 Speaker 1: where you where you get, you get one degree. If 238 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: you want to degrees, it's gonna be a little more 239 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 1: expensive because two degrees. Right now, we're at peak hours, 240 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 1: so you're gonna have to spend a little more. And 241 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: instead of it just being a monthly thing that gets 242 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 1: calculated by the company, you are actually seeing it happen 243 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 1: and they're overcharging a bit more than they would. Do 244 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: you want uh signature or classic vote or are we 245 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:33,960 Speaker 1: going to go for comfort vote plus today, that will 246 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:37,400 Speaker 1: give you one point two of a vote. We have 247 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: two more openings today for comfort plus vot you can 248 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:45,600 Speaker 1: upgrade to premium vote. That is that does count as 249 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:52,280 Speaker 1: two votes premium doctor. Yeah, that's already a network out 250 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: of network. Yeah. And then you know you make a 251 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: good point that because tie that in again saying this 252 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:01,480 Speaker 1: more and more often, nothing exists in vacuum, despite what 253 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:04,960 Speaker 1: headlines seem to indicate. And that's not a ding on journalists. 254 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:07,360 Speaker 1: They have to report a narrow scope of a story 255 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 1: right ideally based on what they can prove. But what 256 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: we're seeing is already occurring in multiple other ways. One 257 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: of the huge investment categories right now that does well 258 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:26,600 Speaker 1: even even during economic downturns is uh medtech biotech medical monitoring. 259 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 1: You know, like you might be freaked out if you 260 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 1: haven't seen it right now. If you are a user 261 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,160 Speaker 1: of Chrome, you have a Google account, many many, many 262 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: many people do in the US and abroad. Just go 263 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: if you want to give yourself just a little bit 264 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: of a freaky feeling, then go to your go to 265 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 1: your little Google avatar, little thumbnail there in Chrome. If 266 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 1: you use Chrome, and then scroll down, you'll go to 267 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:57,240 Speaker 1: manage my account, and you'll see basic info, contact info, 268 00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 1: blah blah blah. And then go to data and prive 269 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 1: to see and you will see stuff about google fit. 270 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: You might not have opted into it. Uh, you will 271 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 1: have to opt into it, right, but google fit will 272 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 1: is already set up in the eCos. It's already part 273 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 1: of your account. It's to manage like to monitor your 274 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 1: medical history or like your well, really your physical habits. Right, 275 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,960 Speaker 1: it's still account me ten thousand steps kind of thing. Um. 276 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,640 Speaker 1: But you can also see monitoring of this sort on iPhones. 277 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: This it's there aren't grand announcements about it that are 278 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,880 Speaker 1: hitting the public sphere often maybe a couple of times 279 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: in a news cycle annually, but you will you will 280 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:49,480 Speaker 1: be surprised if you look by just how sophisticated the 281 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:54,200 Speaker 1: infrastructure and architecture is for monitoring you right now. And 282 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: it's not because it's not because of these companies. Think 283 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: of people like Pokemon. It want to collect everyone because 284 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:05,000 Speaker 1: it's fun. You don't get badges for it. They're going 285 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 1: to use the information. Like you said, no, I've long 286 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:12,959 Speaker 1: gone a record saying that terms of service are purposely 287 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:17,000 Speaker 1: up to at this point in many fields. That is 288 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:20,639 Speaker 1: by design. That is the world we are headed toward. 289 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,919 Speaker 1: And I feel like I've got a sandwich board walking 290 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:27,680 Speaker 1: and I'm walking around like the end of privacy is 291 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 1: nigh or whatever. But if I did that, my sandwich 292 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,879 Speaker 1: board would be cartoonishly outdated. The end of privacy already 293 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: occurred quite a while ago. Privacy now is a is 294 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: the domain of the very very well to do and 295 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: people living outside of the balands of conventional society. Unfortunate. Man. 296 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:52,439 Speaker 1: I did exactly what you said, and I went to 297 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 1: my my little Google person you know, went through the trees, 298 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,760 Speaker 1: and I went to manage my location his tree, and 299 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:03,280 Speaker 1: I went to things you've done and places you've been 300 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,440 Speaker 1: clicked on that because that sounds horrifying, and it's got 301 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: your history settings, your maps, and timeline, places you go, 302 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:14,400 Speaker 1: when you were there, how you got there. Thankfully, my 303 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:19,159 Speaker 1: history was turned off. But there was one location and 304 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:21,880 Speaker 1: it was an urgent care I went to I don't 305 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,640 Speaker 1: even know when, but he was in there, just hanging out. 306 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 1: I don't like this. Yeah, that's weird. And all the 307 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:30,960 Speaker 1: while we've been doing this, I've just been what you 308 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: guys have been talking. I just saw that I had 309 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:37,120 Speaker 1: a critical security alert on my Google account. UH there 310 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:39,560 Speaker 1: was some suspicious log in attempt and it's like, I 311 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: don't even know if it was me or not. Because 312 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:43,879 Speaker 1: you have to change your passwords so much, it's like 313 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:46,560 Speaker 1: maybe I just forgot and like tried too many random 314 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:49,199 Speaker 1: different pass words and I registered myself as a as 315 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: a security UH risk. But just to add this, to 316 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: close this out, Google Nest does have its own program 317 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,080 Speaker 1: called rush Hour Rewards UH that are leaked up with 318 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 1: different power companies. UM. You know, they vary depending on 319 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: where you live, so like, for example, kanned in New 320 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:08,480 Speaker 1: York offers up to eighty five dollars if you enroll UH. 321 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:12,320 Speaker 1: National Grid UH is giving out twenty five dollar gift cards, 322 00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: and some power companies actually offered discounts UH for your 323 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: power bill if you use a smart thermostat. But again, 324 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:24,720 Speaker 1: enrolling maybe gives them some access. Who knows. I don't 325 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:27,720 Speaker 1: know the details, but it does seem like that's certainly possible. 326 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 1: So there's so much to talk about here as as 327 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 1: as we've discovered. I think there might be episode material 328 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:35,800 Speaker 1: moving forward. But let's take a quick pause. I have 329 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 1: a word from our sponsor and then come back with 330 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:48,320 Speaker 1: another piece of listener mail. Welcome back everyone. We are 331 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 1: going to jump to the phone lines and hear a 332 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 1: message from Jack. Hey Matt, guys, this is Jack Collingen, 333 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 1: just listening to your episode on Academic Journal Corruption and 334 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,959 Speaker 1: guys made a passing joke about stealing Honda Civics and 335 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: I got a personal story. Um So, about a year 336 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:11,240 Speaker 1: and a half, two years ago, I bought a Honda 337 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: Civic and it's the newest car I've ever owned, and 338 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 1: at the time I didn't have a set parking spot 339 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 1: in my apartment complex, so I was parking down the street. Well, 340 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:26,280 Speaker 1: about a week and a half later, go out, go 341 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,920 Speaker 1: grab some KFC, and I noticed that my passenger window 342 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:34,880 Speaker 1: has been smashed in and my driver's steering wheels air 343 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:39,720 Speaker 1: bag has been stolen. Come to find out, after doing 344 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 1: some research into it, the Honda Civics air bag is 345 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:47,280 Speaker 1: notoriously easy to remove. There's just two screws that require 346 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:52,000 Speaker 1: a basic Alan key, and on the black market they 347 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:55,200 Speaker 1: can fetch upwards of a thousand dollars I'm not sure 348 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:58,840 Speaker 1: Canadian or American. Yeah, So they sell it to these 349 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:01,600 Speaker 1: dirty mechanics shop and the wait for people to come 350 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:05,640 Speaker 1: in who have either had an accident, uh and or 351 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: in my case, somewhere and stolen air bags, basically coming 352 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 1: in to get a new air bag installed. And half 353 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:16,200 Speaker 1: the time these dirty shops will actually use stolen airbags. 354 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 1: So just rent and repeat. It probably writes down the 355 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,760 Speaker 1: people's information to go back and steal it a few 356 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:33,240 Speaker 1: weeks later. Anyway, alright, take triggers. Oh boy, So Ben, 357 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:35,000 Speaker 1: I figured you would have lost to say here. You're 358 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:37,399 Speaker 1: the one that brought up Honda Civics are the cars 359 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: to steal apparently, And I had no idea. I really 360 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: thought it was going to be Odyssey's because I mean, 361 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:44,200 Speaker 1: everybody is in the market for those once you have 362 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:48,439 Speaker 1: a kid, and they're so freaking expensive. It's all the 363 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 1: others I know, so many couple olds. So yeah, Ben, 364 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,400 Speaker 1: what do you think about that statement from Jack about 365 00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:03,000 Speaker 1: airbag specifically? Jack, you are are on the money, my friend, unfortunately. 366 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: And it's something something we explored a little bit many 367 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:09,159 Speaker 1: years ago, our pal Scott Benjamin and I on a 368 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:14,200 Speaker 1: show called Car Stuff. Yeah, it's it's part of the 369 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:18,440 Speaker 1: part of the reason that the Honda air bags are 370 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:23,439 Speaker 1: so attractive to thieves and to the dirty shops that 371 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:27,960 Speaker 1: often contract out to them. Is it's exactly what you described. 372 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 1: But to go a little bit deeper on this, we 373 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:34,399 Speaker 1: should all note that one of the reasons that Honda 374 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:38,520 Speaker 1: Civics and parts of Honda Civics were stolen so often 375 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:43,440 Speaker 1: throughout the past couple of decades actually is because they 376 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:47,120 Speaker 1: didn't have a lot of anti theft technology that would 377 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 1: be common in other cars. It's also because there are 378 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,600 Speaker 1: already so many Honda Civics out there that there was 379 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,600 Speaker 1: a demand for the parts. You could easily fence and 380 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:00,040 Speaker 1: move them right a lot of different Yeah, if you 381 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,679 Speaker 1: were taking if you were like I only steal, I 382 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:08,479 Speaker 1: always steal proprietary components of exotic cars, then the you know, 383 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:10,719 Speaker 1: like the twelve people in your city who own that 384 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:13,840 Speaker 1: car are gonna know something's up. You got a feed 385 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,439 Speaker 1: from the larger herd. If you're a predator, right, and 386 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,399 Speaker 1: you gotta pick off the week and the disadvantage. The 387 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:21,840 Speaker 1: other thing I love that you nailed it, man um. 388 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:26,040 Speaker 1: That air bag is ridiculously easy to take out, which 389 00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 1: feels great if you're if you were like doing work 390 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,879 Speaker 1: on a car, that's awesome because a lot of times, 391 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:35,400 Speaker 1: as you know, there can be parts of a car 392 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:38,280 Speaker 1: that be a real pain in the butt to to fix, 393 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:43,040 Speaker 1: repair or replace that. The other safety features I want 394 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:46,160 Speaker 1: to be super difficult to take out and put back in, 395 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: Like an air bag that's gonna explode in my face, 396 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:52,639 Speaker 1: but it's only attached with two alan What makes you think, 397 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 1: like when when the engineers are brainstorming how many accidents 398 00:23:57,280 --> 00:23:59,240 Speaker 1: did they think this driver was going to get at, 399 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: they were like, this guy needs to replace this thing 400 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,040 Speaker 1: probably every three months. We should we you know what, 401 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 1: we should throw a couple extra in the trunk. There's 402 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:11,919 Speaker 1: actually a plot about this and uh the last season 403 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:16,439 Speaker 1: of The Sopranos where they're boosting air bags um and 404 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:20,840 Speaker 1: moving them through a friendly auto shop and they talk 405 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,240 Speaker 1: about getting you know, one to two dollars for them. 406 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:26,960 Speaker 1: And there's even a thing where one of the mobsters, uh, 407 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:29,480 Speaker 1: he's had a sort of a pinch, he sells he 408 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,080 Speaker 1: takes the one out of his personal car and sells it. 409 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:35,480 Speaker 1: And then also he gets in a car accident. Luckily 410 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,240 Speaker 1: die or anything, but it's something that this is like, 411 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 1: you know, fifteen years ago, this is something that's been 412 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:41,640 Speaker 1: going on for a long time. You think they would 413 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:43,440 Speaker 1: have made it a little more difficult to get these out. 414 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 1: It's sort of like, you know, the more modern equivalent 415 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,960 Speaker 1: of stealing car stereos. But this is even better because 416 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:50,679 Speaker 1: you don't know that it's been stolen. I think that's 417 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:52,600 Speaker 1: the idea, right, you you put it back and then 418 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,920 Speaker 1: people just are riding around in death traps. Well, yeah, 419 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 1: I think you would notice, right if you're bag is stolen, 420 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:04,880 Speaker 1: you would definitely notice at some point we gotta put 421 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:08,160 Speaker 1: it back. Yeah, we've got to talk about the the 422 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,719 Speaker 1: margins because they're enormous profit margins here. But I'm sure 423 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,520 Speaker 1: we'll get to that exactly. There are enormous profit margins. 424 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:16,639 Speaker 1: That's why it's happening so much. And I just wanna 425 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 1: go to your point, Nol. It's not just back then. 426 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,040 Speaker 1: It's still happening today, and it's not just you. Jack. 427 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:24,840 Speaker 1: Let me jump to a story from w u s 428 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 1: A channel nine, and I think that's CBS the Fighting nine. 429 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:33,760 Speaker 1: This is from May. The title is eleven Honda Civics 430 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:38,480 Speaker 1: burglarized and string of air bag thefts in Arlington. Police say, so, 431 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:42,399 Speaker 1: this is Arlington, Virginia. There were, in fact eleven Honda 432 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: Civic air bag stolen and there are a total of 433 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 1: thirty five air bags that have been stolen in the 434 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:52,720 Speaker 1: area over the course of three weeks. That's one area 435 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:54,680 Speaker 1: that's in May of this year. If we jump back 436 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:58,200 Speaker 1: to two thousand eighteen, there's a story in car buzz 437 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: that sites some serious statistics. Guys I had no idea 438 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:08,680 Speaker 1: of their specifically talking about Honda civics and accords and 439 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:13,040 Speaker 1: about stealing air bags, and they jumped down to some 440 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 1: numbers coming out of the National Insurance Crime Bureau, and 441 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 1: they estimate about fifty thousand air bags are stolen every year. 442 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,080 Speaker 1: But they don't they don't track trends about like what 443 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,159 Speaker 1: what model, what makeer model these airbags are being stolen 444 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:32,080 Speaker 1: out of, but Hondas are specifically targeted for the reasons 445 00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier. Uh, that's pretty crazy in Miami Dade County. 446 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:41,000 Speaker 1: This this article says thieves stole eight hundred and seventy 447 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 1: five air bags in oh And another interesting thing, just 448 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:50,080 Speaker 1: to talk about some of the math here, fellow fans 449 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:53,560 Speaker 1: automobiles in the audience might be saying, Hey, why is 450 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:57,720 Speaker 1: it the driver's side air bag that's being stolen? Because 451 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:01,000 Speaker 1: that's overwhelmingly like just getting taken bond is. It's because 452 00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:05,680 Speaker 1: it's the most likely to activate in any crash unless altercation. 453 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:10,439 Speaker 1: I don't think cars get into altercations just yet. Updates Tesla. 454 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:14,159 Speaker 1: But the the the idea is you can cut this 455 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:18,160 Speaker 1: out without that needing it right, And like you mentioned, Jack, 456 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:22,360 Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw some numbers from the US. Uh. They 457 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,399 Speaker 1: might not be one to one with Canadian numbers, but 458 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:27,680 Speaker 1: I imagine the margins are pretty close, and that's what 459 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,640 Speaker 1: we should be looking at. So buying it from the factory, 460 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:36,840 Speaker 1: you're looking at thousand bucks right, give or take. And 461 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:43,520 Speaker 1: if you buy it online without knowing the providence of it, 462 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,600 Speaker 1: you can get it for as little as three hundred dollars, 463 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:49,360 Speaker 1: like even two hundred dollars, and some things you don't 464 00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: ask too many questions. The cost of replacing this thing 465 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:57,920 Speaker 1: plus labor is two to three grand. So you get Yes, 466 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:03,000 Speaker 1: you're already making hundreds of dollars when you're selling a 467 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,120 Speaker 1: an old or a stolen air bag as a factory 468 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:09,879 Speaker 1: fresh one, and then on top of that you charge 469 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 1: the labor. And then to that other point, like Jack said, 470 00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:15,680 Speaker 1: why not I keep the information? You know you don't 471 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:18,040 Speaker 1: have to get your hands dirty. You can just let 472 00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:21,080 Speaker 1: it be known to a couple of folks who hang 473 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 1: out at the shop right that uh, there may be 474 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:27,040 Speaker 1: some opportunity and that you were paying three hundred bucks 475 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:30,720 Speaker 1: for air bags, no questions asked. And just to piggyback 476 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,119 Speaker 1: on that, and and go back to the Sopranos grift 477 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,720 Speaker 1: and the plotline that I mentioned. Um, they would further 478 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: increase their profit margins by taking these UM stolen air 479 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:44,320 Speaker 1: bags and putting them in cars that were being repaired 480 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 1: in the shop, UM that had deployed their air bags, 481 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:50,160 Speaker 1: and then charge the insurance company for a brand new one. 482 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:52,880 Speaker 1: UM like the insurance company is gonna ask to see 483 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:54,520 Speaker 1: the box or something like that, I guess, And that 484 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:59,320 Speaker 1: costs double. Seems that because the insurance fraud, specifically in 485 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:03,600 Speaker 1: this realm seems to be intense, I bet the insurance 486 00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 1: companies are highly incentivized to crack down on this. And 487 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:09,760 Speaker 1: it's weird to think about that this is all happening 488 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:12,880 Speaker 1: around the same time. Do you guys remember gosh, I 489 00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 1: want to say it was seventeen, maybe it was earlier 490 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,320 Speaker 1: than that. Honda specifically I think had an air bag 491 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:23,360 Speaker 1: recall and it was something crazy like million millions. I 492 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 1: think tens of millions, maybe fifty million air bags got recalled. 493 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:29,920 Speaker 1: And if they're not the only company that's had to 494 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:33,400 Speaker 1: deal with that, twelve million, twelve million, Chief pays for 495 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:35,800 Speaker 1: that if you if you own the car, you take 496 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 1: it back to the dealership and they just do it 497 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: gratis like what a what a screw up and unimaginable loss. 498 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 1: But it also speaks to how much money these companies 499 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: make that this wouldn't just like bankrupt them. If anybody's interested, 500 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:53,720 Speaker 1: check out checkout car stuff again. And I want to 501 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:56,200 Speaker 1: play it too hard. There's also a great episode on 502 00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:00,480 Speaker 1: how to find a mechanic you trust, because there are 503 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:04,280 Speaker 1: you know, there are unethical mechanics out there who have 504 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:08,120 Speaker 1: no compunction about trade on someone that they think they 505 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:12,240 Speaker 1: can swindle. Right like you you can see all the 506 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,000 Speaker 1: like just breaks has gotten in trouble with this that's 507 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:18,240 Speaker 1: a regional chain here in the US. We also see 508 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:22,320 Speaker 1: many stories that are that are easy to prove of 509 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 1: someone claiming apart is broken right whereby an alternator or something. 510 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:30,480 Speaker 1: They say, okay, that's what's wrong with your car. The 511 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:34,720 Speaker 1: alternators busted, But it's not the alternator. Your alternator is fine, 512 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:36,800 Speaker 1: you just didn't look under the hood. You got a 513 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:38,800 Speaker 1: mechanic to do it. And what they do is they 514 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 1: take that, they take that alternator that works, they swap 515 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:44,440 Speaker 1: it out, they put in someone else's car, and then 516 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:48,240 Speaker 1: they sell you a new alternator that they got for wholesale, 517 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:51,120 Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like, they're there are multitude 518 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:53,680 Speaker 1: of ways for this to happen, So this can be 519 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:56,520 Speaker 1: a grift. Jack, You're absolutely right, But the question is 520 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:00,400 Speaker 1: is it a fatal grift? And that's where I remember 521 00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:05,120 Speaker 1: learning Matt that um the FBI and the pretty much 522 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:11,200 Speaker 1: every traffic safety authority they don't really track air bag thefts. 523 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 1: And I think in the vast majority of times after 524 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:18,520 Speaker 1: a crash, if we're trying figure out whether someone got 525 00:31:18,600 --> 00:31:22,800 Speaker 1: killed by black market airbags or something, it's kind of 526 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:27,760 Speaker 1: tough because there's not really a lot of testing after 527 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:30,200 Speaker 1: a crash to say like, hey, is this a legit 528 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:33,200 Speaker 1: airbag or does this airbag look like it was torn 529 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:35,880 Speaker 1: out and putting a couple of different steering wheels. That 530 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: just doesn't just happen. Just to passion, how many air 531 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:42,440 Speaker 1: bags had to explode when they weren't supposed to explode. 532 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:45,880 Speaker 1: For a major car company or you know, airbag company 533 00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:49,720 Speaker 1: to recall twelve million of their units, there had to 534 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: be something. There had to be a ton of them 535 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:56,239 Speaker 1: before they were like, okay, we're gonna take that loss. Well, 536 00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:01,520 Speaker 1: it's a cost risk analysis, right, yeah, exact how likely 537 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,200 Speaker 1: are we when the when the amount of the lawsuits 538 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:06,880 Speaker 1: are going to exceed the amount that they will lose 539 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:12,400 Speaker 1: in doing the thing, that's when it happens. And uh, guys, 540 00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:16,280 Speaker 1: if you're going to you know, lube, if you're gonna 541 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:18,920 Speaker 1: go to a lube, take your time. Don't don't do 542 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:21,240 Speaker 1: it in a jiffy or spiffy or or whatever it is. 543 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:23,640 Speaker 1: Just take your time with the loop. You know. I 544 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 1: gotta say I was actually gonna bring this up. I 545 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:28,520 Speaker 1: recently went to a Uh, I went to a take 546 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:30,960 Speaker 1: five oil change and they do like a like a 547 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:33,680 Speaker 1: like a twelve minute oil change. They give you snacks 548 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:37,440 Speaker 1: and and water. And speaking to your point, been about 549 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:40,959 Speaker 1: finding a trustworthy mechanic. UM. You know, oftentimes I'll be like, oh, 550 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,719 Speaker 1: you need to change your filter. Even if you don't. UM, 551 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:46,320 Speaker 1: the guy helped. He pulled by filter out and showed 552 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:48,320 Speaker 1: it to me. And compared it to a clean one, 553 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:50,640 Speaker 1: and mine looked like trash, and I realized I probably 554 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:53,440 Speaker 1: have never changed it, so I did it. Yeah, you 555 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:57,200 Speaker 1: gotta be careful too sometimes, because there there are tricks. Again, 556 00:32:57,440 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 1: the majority of mek headics, at least in my ex 557 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:03,480 Speaker 1: arians and the research I've done, are fine there, fine, 558 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:05,960 Speaker 1: they're great people, and they're gonna be honest with you. 559 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 1: You just have to to be cognizant of as much 560 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:12,360 Speaker 1: as I bore the phrase the few bad apples. So 561 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:14,520 Speaker 1: in that case, we're gonna tell you some of the 562 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:17,520 Speaker 1: sith lord side of this stuff. What you do then, 563 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:23,280 Speaker 1: is you don't you don't open the hood in front 564 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:26,719 Speaker 1: of the customer and pull out the filter. What instead, 565 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:28,040 Speaker 1: what you do is you make them go sit in 566 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:31,720 Speaker 1: the lobby and you take the prop dirty filter that 567 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:34,680 Speaker 1: you keep around for cars like that, and you carry 568 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:36,640 Speaker 1: it in and say, this is what a clean filter 569 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:40,000 Speaker 1: looks like, this is what a good filter looks like, 570 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:43,360 Speaker 1: and we can replace it. No, No, you probably didn't. 571 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:46,000 Speaker 1: You probably didn't. I'm just saying that's how it can work. 572 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:49,560 Speaker 1: And anyway, it's it's really important to change your air filter. 573 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:52,880 Speaker 1: Oh my god, I'm going like dad mode, change your 574 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:58,320 Speaker 1: much filter. Jack. Everybody, watch out for your air bags. Okay, 575 00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:00,440 Speaker 1: it doesn't matter what kind of car you I if 576 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:03,440 Speaker 1: you've got an air bag, someone might want it. So 577 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:06,200 Speaker 1: I recommend you go read Why would someone want to 578 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:10,040 Speaker 1: Steal My air Bag? By Ed Grabbyanowski on how Stuff 579 00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:13,359 Speaker 1: Works dot Com. As I say, I think that's how 580 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:15,759 Speaker 1: you say his last name. I just know edg. But 581 00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:19,359 Speaker 1: go go read that article. Listen to car Stuff. It's 582 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:23,040 Speaker 1: still available and we'll be right back with more messages 583 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:32,960 Speaker 1: from you. And we have returned. Sorry guys, I got 584 00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:40,279 Speaker 1: sucked back into it. It's great. Uh man, I miss it. 585 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:42,400 Speaker 1: Even put on your little mechanics suit. You got your 586 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:45,680 Speaker 1: pencils in your pocket there and your air pressure gauge. 587 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:47,080 Speaker 1: And I mean it was it was. It was a 588 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:49,560 Speaker 1: thing to behold, a real transformation before our very eyes. 589 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:53,080 Speaker 1: We were vast, we contain multitudes, you know what I 590 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:57,239 Speaker 1: mean is right? But the okay, so this one, this 591 00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:00,600 Speaker 1: thing we're closing with today for this listener Males. Segment 592 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:04,320 Speaker 1: comes to us courtesy of many Many of our fellow 593 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:08,640 Speaker 1: conspiracy realist folks reached out to me directly, epen Bowling 594 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:12,560 Speaker 1: and Eppen Bowling hs W on Instagram and Twitter. Uh 595 00:35:12,719 --> 00:35:16,160 Speaker 1: folks emailed us at the show. UH folks posted on 596 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:20,719 Speaker 1: our Facebook group. Here's where it gets crazy, so much 597 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:24,839 Speaker 1: so that I had to just choose one person to thank. 598 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:27,239 Speaker 1: And this is out of out of all the people 599 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:30,480 Speaker 1: we can thank in Australia. As we're gonna see the 600 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:33,680 Speaker 1: Australian battalion of the stuff. They want you to know. 601 00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:37,440 Speaker 1: I don't like battalion. This a little militant Australian battalion 602 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:39,759 Speaker 1: there see. Maybe that's what it was, so that you 603 00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:42,680 Speaker 1: can have a rhyme with it. Um and if I 604 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:46,759 Speaker 1: say our Australian friends, I sound like a spy. Look 605 00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:51,399 Speaker 1: are all our fellow conspiracy realists in Australia were hip 606 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:53,239 Speaker 1: to this and some of the first people to tell 607 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:57,080 Speaker 1: us about it. I want to shout out specifically our 608 00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:02,080 Speaker 1: long time listener and dear into the show, Simon Workman. 609 00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:06,920 Speaker 1: Uh Simon, actually yeah yeah, Simon also reached out and 610 00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:12,800 Speaker 1: hip this to this because Simon is awesome, So thank you. Simon. 611 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:16,520 Speaker 1: Taste in music that very much so audio file with 612 00:36:16,719 --> 00:36:20,200 Speaker 1: no limit. So Simon, if you're hearing this, we're big, 613 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:22,399 Speaker 1: big fans. Of yours, man and hope you're doing well. 614 00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:26,880 Speaker 1: So with thanks to Simon and everybody else, like literally 615 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 1: dozens and dozens and dozens of people who sent us 616 00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:34,000 Speaker 1: to this story, we can finally say it. The identity 617 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:39,040 Speaker 1: of the mysterious Sumrton Man appears to have been revealed. 618 00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:45,759 Speaker 1: Through very clever work and with dday technology primarily researchers 619 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:49,680 Speaker 1: have finally solved the case. For brief recap for anybody 620 00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:54,640 Speaker 1: who doesn't know this case, the Summerton Man is a 621 00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:58,479 Speaker 1: corpse and it's also called the tom im Shut case. 622 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:02,120 Speaker 1: We covered this real years ago a couple of different 623 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:07,160 Speaker 1: times and a couple of different ways, because up until 624 00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:11,680 Speaker 1: now the case seemed incredibly difficult to solve. There was 625 00:37:11,719 --> 00:37:15,680 Speaker 1: a lot of tantalizing stuff there that implied tradecraft to 626 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:18,080 Speaker 1: pay on how you interpreted it. And then there was 627 00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:21,960 Speaker 1: a lot of uh stonewalling, like not an active cover up, 628 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:26,560 Speaker 1: just you couldn't find enough to get to the next step. Uh. 629 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:31,799 Speaker 1: This body was found on December one on Somerton Park 630 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:36,799 Speaker 1: Beach and could not be identified, identifying things that would 631 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:40,560 Speaker 1: have been useful for investigations at the time were gone. Uh. 632 00:37:40,719 --> 00:37:43,040 Speaker 1: It's called the tom On shut the case because of 633 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:47,680 Speaker 1: the Persian phrase tom unshut, which means is over or 634 00:37:48,040 --> 00:37:51,200 Speaker 1: is finished. Uh. And it was printed on a scrap 635 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:54,240 Speaker 1: of paper in the in a pocket of the guy's 636 00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:57,360 Speaker 1: pants and had been torn from the final page of 637 00:37:57,480 --> 00:38:03,160 Speaker 1: the Rubaiyat. So true, I'm tantalizing. Mystery possibly espionage related, 638 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:08,439 Speaker 1: many many theories over the years from two thousand and two. 639 00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:13,680 Speaker 1: But as you pointed out folks very recently, a guy 640 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:17,000 Speaker 1: named Derek Abbott from the University of Adelaide. Part of 641 00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:19,800 Speaker 1: my pronunciation there, Aussie friends, please tell us how to 642 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:23,440 Speaker 1: pronounce these towns. We all know Melbourne, we got Melbourne right, 643 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:29,040 Speaker 1: but Adelaide I'm stumbling over anyway. So Abbott says that 644 00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:33,040 Speaker 1: they found the identity of this person. It is Carl 645 00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:37,840 Speaker 1: Webb Charles to his friends, an electrical engineer and instrument 646 00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:42,959 Speaker 1: maker born in Melbourne in nineteen o five. They found 647 00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:47,560 Speaker 1: this by using DNA sequencing. Uh. And the way that 648 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:51,160 Speaker 1: they did the DNA is also really interesting because they 649 00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:53,600 Speaker 1: didn't take it directly from the corpse. They took it 650 00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:58,800 Speaker 1: from like a plaster death mask. And you guys, like 651 00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:01,719 Speaker 1: I think we all were members some of this uh, 652 00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:06,040 Speaker 1: some of the ins and outs of this thing. Professor 653 00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:09,480 Speaker 1: Abbott has been working on this since March of two 654 00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:14,840 Speaker 1: thousand and nine. Uh, and he he found things like 655 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:20,280 Speaker 1: assumptions police had made in the case. He found different 656 00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:22,920 Speaker 1: ways to look at objects that were found with the body, 657 00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:26,680 Speaker 1: such as particular brand of cigarettes or excuse me, the 658 00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:31,279 Speaker 1: cigarette packet itself was a cheaper brand, but there were 659 00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:34,880 Speaker 1: nicer cigarettes inside, right, curious or and curious or I 660 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:37,400 Speaker 1: mean I remember just all this speculation about him being 661 00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:40,120 Speaker 1: a spy because of little details like that. I mean, 662 00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:42,920 Speaker 1: the cryptic message that was as you mentioned, was found. 663 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:46,759 Speaker 1: But then just to take cigarettes that are better and 664 00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:48,480 Speaker 1: put them in a cheaper pack. Why would you do 665 00:39:48,600 --> 00:39:51,399 Speaker 1: that unless you're trying to blend in in some way 666 00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:54,080 Speaker 1: or trick people into thinking you don't have as much money. 667 00:39:54,400 --> 00:39:59,239 Speaker 1: There's just so much speculation there. Yeah, And also of 668 00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:03,000 Speaker 1: course things tags torn from clothings you can't really identify 669 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:08,319 Speaker 1: the brand, um all all sorts of stuff about the autopsy. 670 00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:13,040 Speaker 1: So he has been since two thousand nine, He, being Abbott, 671 00:40:13,239 --> 00:40:16,040 Speaker 1: has been trying to get like the body exhumed. Law 672 00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:18,319 Speaker 1: enforcement and the professor and his team kind of met 673 00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:23,120 Speaker 1: in the middle and the police eventually gave Abbott strands 674 00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:27,320 Speaker 1: of the man's hair that would have been trapped in 675 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:31,160 Speaker 1: a plastered death mask the police made of the summer 676 00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:34,959 Speaker 1: to man's face in the nineteen forties when the body 677 00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:41,040 Speaker 1: was discovered, and then he and his team worked to 678 00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:46,480 Speaker 1: build out a family tree. So they had the DNA information, right, 679 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:52,000 Speaker 1: but your genetic identity does not come with the things 680 00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:55,239 Speaker 1: human society puts on you, like a name. You know, 681 00:40:55,440 --> 00:41:00,560 Speaker 1: you don't. You don't have uh Jack or Keebler or 682 00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:03,759 Speaker 1: Simon Workman in your d N A. That's just what 683 00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:06,640 Speaker 1: everybody has agreed to call you. And so they did. 684 00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:09,400 Speaker 1: They had this DNA and that's a really unique thing 685 00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:12,400 Speaker 1: to have, right, But now they have to search the field. 686 00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:17,040 Speaker 1: And so they had already kind of had the name 687 00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:21,719 Speaker 1: Web in there. They've already clocked it because as they 688 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:24,800 Speaker 1: were trying to get this DNA information, they had already 689 00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:28,520 Speaker 1: built out this family tree of four thousand different names 690 00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:34,160 Speaker 1: and possibilities, narrowing it down to this Web character who 691 00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:38,479 Speaker 1: had always been interesting to them. Because this guy, Charles Webb, 692 00:41:39,120 --> 00:41:43,080 Speaker 1: did not have a date of death on record, they 693 00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:47,719 Speaker 1: they were able to track down a first cousin three 694 00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:52,040 Speaker 1: times removed on his mother's side, they say. And July 695 00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:55,759 Speaker 1: twenty three this year, they matched DNA from one of 696 00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:59,680 Speaker 1: those tested decades old hairs, more than half a century 697 00:41:59,719 --> 00:42:03,400 Speaker 1: old airs, and they matched it to one of Webb's 698 00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:09,000 Speaker 1: distant living relatives. So the odds against it, the odds 699 00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:13,000 Speaker 1: against it not being Webb, are enormous now, right, it's 700 00:42:13,239 --> 00:42:16,880 Speaker 1: pretty much pretty clear that this is the guy. For 701 00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:21,279 Speaker 1: a lot of people, this investigation satisfies their belief or 702 00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:24,480 Speaker 1: you know, satisfies their burden of proof. But why do 703 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:28,760 Speaker 1: we say it's an asterix it's a mystery solved asterix 704 00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:34,000 Speaker 1: in the beginning? Well, it's because, um, knowing who the 705 00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:38,680 Speaker 1: person is is huge and hopefully very worthwhile closure for 706 00:42:38,760 --> 00:42:43,920 Speaker 1: the family. But we don't really know what he was doing. Right, 707 00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:48,160 Speaker 1: Like if you if you saw a mystery person who 708 00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:51,719 Speaker 1: was dead in your neighborhood, in your street, and the 709 00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:55,680 Speaker 1: police investigated and they said, oh, yeah, it turns out 710 00:42:55,800 --> 00:43:00,480 Speaker 1: this guy's name is Patrick Flanagan. Okay, case closed. Uh, 711 00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:04,160 Speaker 1: you would probably still like say, well, why was he 712 00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:09,560 Speaker 1: here though? Did he die? Yeah? How did he die? Why? 713 00:43:09,840 --> 00:43:13,120 Speaker 1: Why does why did he have a horse saddle and 714 00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:15,719 Speaker 1: a riding crop with him there are no horses around here, 715 00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:18,520 Speaker 1: you know, like all this weird stuff. Yeah, there's something 716 00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:21,600 Speaker 1: interesting in the CNN article that at least that's how 717 00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:24,759 Speaker 1: I found out about this. Ben Abbott mentions that if 718 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:28,560 Speaker 1: this person Web is in fact the Somerton Man, that 719 00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:33,799 Speaker 1: that person that they've identified Web really like to bet 720 00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:38,120 Speaker 1: on horses, right, And they're like, they're thinking that that 721 00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:40,279 Speaker 1: has something to do with why that stuff was there. 722 00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:43,520 Speaker 1: And the remember the weird letters or like the codes. 723 00:43:44,200 --> 00:43:46,120 Speaker 1: It looks like code or something, but it was just 724 00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:48,399 Speaker 1: strange letters. There were some of them were marked out. 725 00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:51,600 Speaker 1: They're thinking that has something to do with horse bedding. 726 00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:56,759 Speaker 1: M MT it's it looks like mt B I AM 727 00:43:57,560 --> 00:44:00,480 Speaker 1: P A N E T p mm hmm what what 728 00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:05,840 Speaker 1: what could these be? Tend name? Yeah, I would just 729 00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:07,680 Speaker 1: think it would be more numerical if it was like 730 00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:10,960 Speaker 1: keeping track of races and wins and losses or horses 731 00:44:11,080 --> 00:44:13,320 Speaker 1: names or something. There's another one that says like m 732 00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:16,120 Speaker 1: L I A B O like none of these and 733 00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:18,080 Speaker 1: maybe it's yeah, you're right, maybe it's some kind of 734 00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:22,080 Speaker 1: cipher that like to keep his secret sauce a secret 735 00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:24,480 Speaker 1: or something. I don't know. And what if the secrecy. 736 00:44:24,719 --> 00:44:27,920 Speaker 1: What if the secret sauce was just you know, the 737 00:44:28,120 --> 00:44:33,160 Speaker 1: horses he was planning on betting on they don't want. Yeah, 738 00:44:33,560 --> 00:44:36,560 Speaker 1: that's that could be. Maybe there's extra letters or it's not. 739 00:44:36,600 --> 00:44:39,239 Speaker 1: I don't know, it's that there's there's it's all capital letters, 740 00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:41,400 Speaker 1: there's no I don't know what the code would be. 741 00:44:41,560 --> 00:44:44,120 Speaker 1: But who knows. Oh, the body was, by the way, 742 00:44:44,960 --> 00:44:51,000 Speaker 1: eventually exhumed in May of one, so they did. They 743 00:44:51,040 --> 00:44:55,400 Speaker 1: were at this point going entirely just on the death mask. 744 00:44:55,600 --> 00:44:57,960 Speaker 1: The hair from that does seem to be the proof. 745 00:44:58,560 --> 00:45:01,040 Speaker 1: So with this, you know, one of the questions we 746 00:45:01,160 --> 00:45:04,920 Speaker 1: have to ask now is how solved this? This? What 747 00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:12,000 Speaker 1: was Somerton doing? According to conclusions that we can see 748 00:45:12,080 --> 00:45:15,520 Speaker 1: and in things like that CNN article, the idea is 749 00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:19,160 Speaker 1: that he was not in fact a spy, as tantalizing, 750 00:45:19,239 --> 00:45:22,960 Speaker 1: as interesting as that is. Instead, he was a guy 751 00:45:23,480 --> 00:45:27,440 Speaker 1: who died one day alone on a beach. If that 752 00:45:27,719 --> 00:45:31,839 Speaker 1: is you believe the official conclusion, because it's it's hard 753 00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:34,920 Speaker 1: to close the door on that for a lot of people, 754 00:45:35,120 --> 00:45:38,040 Speaker 1: you know what I mean, it's true select the guide stones. 755 00:45:38,120 --> 00:45:42,560 Speaker 1: If we know the real story, mystery is all gone, right, Yeah, 756 00:45:42,600 --> 00:45:47,920 Speaker 1: I think we unfortunately have a relatively plausible answer for 757 00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:52,120 Speaker 1: that one. That's not a particularly good dude, but you know, 758 00:45:52,560 --> 00:45:55,680 Speaker 1: it is what it is. Well. It's also it reminds 759 00:45:55,719 --> 00:45:59,920 Speaker 1: me of the time I was talking to Bigfoot investigator 760 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:04,759 Speaker 1: who eventually said gave me the strong impression that they 761 00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:07,680 Speaker 1: didn't actually want big Foot to be found for them 762 00:46:07,719 --> 00:46:11,320 Speaker 1: most kind of about the journey. You know, certainly I 763 00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:14,960 Speaker 1: subscribe to that. I mean, you find got a regular feet, 764 00:46:15,120 --> 00:46:19,880 Speaker 1: that's kind of a letdown. He's like a racist, what 765 00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:22,880 Speaker 1: do you what do you find? Or he's insufferable about something. 766 00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:25,800 Speaker 1: He's one of those he's one of his well actually people, 767 00:46:26,200 --> 00:46:29,960 Speaker 1: or he's oh god, yeah, I I don't know. Maybe 768 00:46:30,040 --> 00:46:32,800 Speaker 1: that's it. Maybe we're all better not meeting Bigfoot, because 769 00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:37,120 Speaker 1: you know they say never meet your heroes, right, But this, 770 00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:39,840 Speaker 1: this does show us something really important. This is what 771 00:46:39,960 --> 00:46:41,719 Speaker 1: I wanted to end on. I think it's a point 772 00:46:41,800 --> 00:46:45,520 Speaker 1: that we can maybe all appreciate here and something we 773 00:46:45,560 --> 00:46:49,880 Speaker 1: can take away from uh this story. So one, especially 774 00:46:49,960 --> 00:46:53,560 Speaker 1: now and going forward, mysteries that were once considered unsolvable 775 00:46:54,320 --> 00:46:57,680 Speaker 1: are no longer impossible to crack. Summer to man, the 776 00:46:57,719 --> 00:47:01,279 Speaker 1: original night Stalker or the e. A. R. As he 777 00:47:01,400 --> 00:47:04,680 Speaker 1: was also called, was found uh. And then we can 778 00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:10,719 Speaker 1: secondly say that because humans are the stories they tell themselves, 779 00:47:11,280 --> 00:47:14,160 Speaker 1: it can be easy to fall into the most exciting 780 00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:18,840 Speaker 1: explanation even when that's not the case, because people like 781 00:47:19,239 --> 00:47:24,759 Speaker 1: exciting things. People don't like being bored. Right, So this 782 00:47:25,040 --> 00:47:29,840 Speaker 1: is this is an example of hard work and investigation 783 00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:33,719 Speaker 1: that just followed the truth, did not try to impose 784 00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:36,799 Speaker 1: a narrative, right, or a lack of a better word, 785 00:47:36,880 --> 00:47:40,680 Speaker 1: a sexier ending to the story. So thank you to 786 00:47:40,920 --> 00:47:43,920 Speaker 1: Professor Abbott and the team. Thank you again to everybody 787 00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:47,399 Speaker 1: who reached out to us regarding this. I can't wait 788 00:47:47,440 --> 00:47:49,439 Speaker 1: to hear from you. Hope all is well down under, 789 00:47:49,760 --> 00:47:55,000 Speaker 1: and perhaps most importantly, I want to hear your ideas 790 00:47:55,360 --> 00:48:00,440 Speaker 1: about other so called unsolvable mysteries that you think may 791 00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:05,320 Speaker 1: be solved in the future. What are they? Hopefully they're obscure. 792 00:48:05,440 --> 00:48:08,160 Speaker 1: Hopefully there's stuff we haven't even heard about on the show. 793 00:48:08,680 --> 00:48:12,360 Speaker 1: Can't wait to hear from you. Thanks of course to Simon, 794 00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:15,400 Speaker 1: Thanks to everybody wrote it in about Somerton. Thanks to Jack. 795 00:48:15,560 --> 00:48:20,239 Speaker 1: Thanks to you Keebler for that disturbing dystopian cookie of 796 00:48:20,400 --> 00:48:23,200 Speaker 1: smart surveillance. If you want to take a page from 797 00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:28,200 Speaker 1: their book, then why not. The time is now contact us. 798 00:48:28,440 --> 00:48:30,880 Speaker 1: We try to be easy to find online. That's right. 799 00:48:30,920 --> 00:48:33,239 Speaker 1: You can find us on Twitter, you can find us 800 00:48:33,320 --> 00:48:36,160 Speaker 1: on Facebook, and you can find us on what's it 801 00:48:36,239 --> 00:48:38,800 Speaker 1: called the youtubees that' said we exist in all of 802 00:48:38,840 --> 00:48:41,759 Speaker 1: those places at the handle conspiracy stuff on Instagram where 803 00:48:41,800 --> 00:48:45,399 Speaker 1: conspiracy stuff show. If you don't like social media, why 804 00:48:45,520 --> 00:48:48,480 Speaker 1: not consider giving us a phone call like Jack did. 805 00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:53,200 Speaker 1: By the way, Jack's full moniker is Jack Kelly, And 806 00:48:53,320 --> 00:48:55,719 Speaker 1: I really thought Jack was just giving us his full name. 807 00:48:55,960 --> 00:48:59,000 Speaker 1: Then I realized it's an always sunny reference, and I mean, 808 00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:05,560 Speaker 1: dam Jack Kelly. I'm a lawyer. We're talking about big feet. 809 00:49:05,600 --> 00:49:11,160 Speaker 1: We should be talking about big hands, right Jack? Seriously, Yes, 810 00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:13,400 Speaker 1: you can give us a call, just like Jack. Our 811 00:49:13,480 --> 00:49:16,400 Speaker 1: number is one eight three three st d w y 812 00:49:16,560 --> 00:49:19,920 Speaker 1: t K. It's super easy. You've got three minutes. Give 813 00:49:19,920 --> 00:49:22,120 Speaker 1: yourself a cool nickname. We don't care what it is. 814 00:49:22,560 --> 00:49:25,480 Speaker 1: Say whatever you'd like. We do ask that you include 815 00:49:25,880 --> 00:49:28,040 Speaker 1: whether or not you give us permission to use your 816 00:49:28,160 --> 00:49:30,960 Speaker 1: name and voice on the air. Really, that's it. Those 817 00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:33,359 Speaker 1: are the only rules. Unless you've got more to say 818 00:49:33,719 --> 00:49:35,840 Speaker 1: than can fit in that three minutes, because in that 819 00:49:35,960 --> 00:49:39,240 Speaker 1: case you should instead send us a good old fashioned email. 820 00:49:39,520 --> 00:50:01,680 Speaker 1: We are conspiracy at iHeart radio dot com. Stuff they 821 00:50:01,719 --> 00:50:03,600 Speaker 1: don't want you to know. Is a production of I 822 00:50:03,800 --> 00:50:06,839 Speaker 1: heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit 823 00:50:06,880 --> 00:50:10,000 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 824 00:50:10,040 --> 00:50:10,840 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.