1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome 2 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,320 Speaker 1: back to the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always 3 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: so much for tuning in. Let's hear it for one 4 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 1: of the founding fathers of Ridiculous History, our super producer, 5 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: Mr Max Williams. That makes no sense, it doesn't. No, No, 6 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: we're not spending too much time on a Max. They 7 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: called me Max. It's the show is called ridiculous, So 8 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: I think we're allowed to make wild claims with no 9 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: basis in reality. Well, I mean, Alex was part of 10 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: the founding so I mean, by bye, blood, have you 11 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: guys ever seen alexan On in in the same room you 12 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: know what? Now that you mentioned it? Yes, I have, 13 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: But but maybe you're just one very quick person. Uh no, 14 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: will you raise a great point here? Um, I do 15 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:12,320 Speaker 1: want to say on the founding fathers thing, it's really 16 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: just a question of how long we keep our show going, 17 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: because if we do this for like fifty years, then 18 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: you know, anybody involved before thirty is like a founding member, right, 19 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: I mean, I think would be even more generous than that. 20 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: You know, we probably just include anyone who's ever been 21 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: involved as founding fathers and mothers and and and and 22 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:33,400 Speaker 1: whatever else you want to you want to go by. 23 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,759 Speaker 1: But you know what today's episodes about ben alleged serial 24 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: killer Benjamin Franklin. I was gonna I was gonna be 25 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: silly and say that it was all about the Benjamin's 26 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: hundred dollar bills, y'all. You know, cash money that rules 27 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: all the things in my purview, I mean, aka everything, Yeah, exactly, 28 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: cream um cream is it acronym? Is it not? It is? 29 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: Cash rules every thing around me. The song Oh my God, 30 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: what a fool I am? No, I'll tell you he 31 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,799 Speaker 1: wasn't a fool though. Was was was old Benny Frank's. 32 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: He was kind of a dick, a bit of a womanizer, 33 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: bit of a lotario again, you know, a bit of 34 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: a grave robber at times, uh, bit of a thief 35 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: of intellectual property, but also creator of a lot of it. 36 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: Uh and and and talking about founding fathers, he was 37 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: sort of the founding father of our whole idea of 38 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: intellectual property in some ways, you could argue. And and 39 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: of all the things he did, printing was kind of 40 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:39,959 Speaker 1: the thing that he believed in the most, it would 41 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: seem everything else kind of sprang from that he really 42 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: believed in the power of the printed word, especially when 43 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 1: it was his printed word. As we'll see, Benjamin Frankling, 44 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: a Titan in the days of the early United States, 45 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: actually went up against the real life Titan in a 46 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,639 Speaker 1: very sneaky, underhanded way. And when we say life Titan, 47 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: we mean his almanac rival, a guy named Titan Leads, 48 00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: which is a very cool name. So like, like we said, 49 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:16,359 Speaker 1: Franklin really loved the printed word, and he wanted to 50 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: be known as a publisher, and he didn't have too 51 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 1: much compunction about out of the box pr stunts. Uh. 52 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: He used to you know, he did Poor Richard's Almanac. 53 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: We all know about that, and yet that was an 54 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: alias Ben Franklin used Poor Richard Saunders. And in his Almanac, 55 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 1: Poor Richard Saunders a k a. Benny f claimed that 56 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: astrological calculations would prove a guy named Titan Leads would 57 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:54,360 Speaker 1: die in seventeen seventy three, and then a hilarious, uh, 58 00:03:55,280 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: hilarious argument occurred. I think maybe maybe we start though 59 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: with the story of titans father, who has a much 60 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: more garden variety name, Daniel Leeds. Daniel Leeds is the 61 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: guy who made the first almanac in the American colonies. 62 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: But you don't hear about him very much, do you. No, 63 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:17,599 Speaker 1: not so much. You don't. You don't hear about really 64 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: either of them. And there's a good reason for that. 65 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: So by the sevent thirties, his two sons inherited his business, 66 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: and you know, sort of like the the what is it, 67 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,840 Speaker 1: the Dostler brothers, you know, with Audi Das and Puma Um. 68 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: They started to compete with each other and eventually split 69 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,600 Speaker 1: entirely into two different companies, which also we're competing. And 70 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: right around then there were other authors that had jumped 71 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: into the whole almanac field. Right, Yeah, absolutely, this was 72 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: a great business to be and not just because you 73 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: can make some money, but also because you became sort 74 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:57,720 Speaker 1: of the voice of the people. You became the voice 75 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:01,479 Speaker 1: on record, and so everybody wanted to make an almanac. 76 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: The market became saturated, sort of like how a few 77 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: centuries later podcasts would become kind of saturated. Just so 78 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 1: the people's that were were part of the people here 79 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 1: in in podcast then ben an almanac. I mean there 80 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,040 Speaker 1: were initially like different kind of more niche almanacs. Right, 81 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:17,839 Speaker 1: there would be like a farmer's almanac, you know, with 82 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,160 Speaker 1: different like seasons and all of that stuff, things that 83 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: would pertain to a particular industry. Was was the idea 84 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: to be as inclusive as possible and have these be 85 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:29,600 Speaker 1: kind of as like broadly applicable um as as as 86 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:32,640 Speaker 1: as could be as to like kind of maximize profits. Yeah, 87 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:36,040 Speaker 1: the the very first printed almanac comes around in the 88 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:40,920 Speaker 1: mid fifteenth century. So Ben Franklin and daniel Leeds they're 89 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,280 Speaker 1: they're taking this original idea and they're just putting their 90 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: own spin on it. We have to remember that reading 91 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:51,719 Speaker 1: matter was comparatively scarce. People didn't have a lot of books, 92 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: not near as many as the average person might have today. 93 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 1: So you would have this almanac that had this calendar 94 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: that helped you in a grariy in economy, understand the 95 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:05,279 Speaker 1: passage of the seasons, and had recommended advice about crops 96 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,480 Speaker 1: and crop rotation. But then they would also have other 97 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:14,880 Speaker 1: like tangents and trivia, entertaining information stories maybe useful tips 98 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:19,160 Speaker 1: on various aspects of daily life, and they got really popular. 99 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:21,920 Speaker 1: You know. We see this kind of popularity again in 100 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: the Sears Roebuck Catalog, which became like a reading material 101 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 1: for the everyday person in the US. Remember that one. Yeah, 102 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:34,679 Speaker 1: it was essentially like an aspirational guide to the American dream. Yeah, 103 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:38,480 Speaker 1: that's well put. I think at this time, as these 104 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: almanacs are proliferating throughout these seventeen thirties and and later decades, 105 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 1: the most popular almanac author in the colonies is Titan 106 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:52,720 Speaker 1: leads that one son, and he was beefing, like you said, 107 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 1: with his other brother. Maybe there's nominative determinism. Maybe the 108 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:02,040 Speaker 1: name Titan was just too tight form not to succeed absolutely. 109 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:04,160 Speaker 1: I mean that's gotta go to your head a little bit, 110 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: you know, especially with terms like titans of industry being 111 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: bandied about. Willie Nilly. So, as we said before, back 112 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: to Franklin, like he he really did kind of achieve 113 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: a lot of success in multiple disciplines. He we know, 114 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: he was a postmaster. You know, he invented things like 115 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: the Franklin stove, which he like weirdly didn't patent because 116 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 1: he believed that ideas oftentimes should belong to the people. Um, 117 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: which we're gonna get into it that that applied that 118 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: kind of was a two way street. That you gotta 119 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: give him credit for that, because he definitely lifted some 120 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: things from others, but he also allowed his stuff to 121 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: be lifted, so it was sort of like, you know, 122 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: a fair play kind of situation. Uh. He achieved a 123 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: lot of success in fame as an author, as a scientist, 124 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: of course a statesman. He was, in fact, never president. 125 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: I always remember Andy Daly. I think he is in 126 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: an episode of the Office where he plays like a 127 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: Ben Franklin impersonator and he's like flirting with Pam and 128 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: he goes As it turns out, I actually was never 129 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: the president, because I think Michael Scott accused him of 130 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: having been the president, to which he retorts. But printer 131 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: was what he ultimately listed himself as, like in in 132 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: in how he wanted to be remembered when he died, 133 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 1: like in terms of like the record, like he he 134 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: was Benjamin Franklin Printer. And with that, the most successful venture, uh, 135 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: and the most probably memorable thing that he contributed to 136 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: the culture of America would be Poor Richard's Almanac, which 137 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: was a smashing success and is forever to this day, 138 00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: you know, associated with Ben Franklin, even though he didn't 139 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: necessarily write everything in it, right, Yeah, And A lot 140 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 1: of what we're pulling here comes from the Pennsylvania Center 141 00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: for the book an excellent article by Lisa Morgan titled 142 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:53,840 Speaker 1: the Prominent and prodigiously popular Poor Richard. I love a 143 00:08:53,840 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 1: good I love yeah. So this this is interesting because 144 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: is his work as a printer was the inspiration for 145 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: the vast majority of his early work as a writer, 146 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: and he loved writing the Pennsylvania Gazette and Poor Richards almanacs. 147 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,959 Speaker 1: His most famous part of these early publications were the 148 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:22,080 Speaker 1: proverbs of Poor Richard, which he just took from people. 149 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 1: He just said, you know who cares, I'll just take it. 150 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 1: It's for the folks. And he learned to be a writer. 151 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: This is kind of inspiring, I think for any budding 152 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 1: writers in the audience today. He learned to be a 153 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:38,760 Speaker 1: writer by taking articles in a publication called The Spectator 154 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 1: and just copying and recopying those articles word by word, 155 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: thinking through it. And other writers have done this before, 156 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 1: like just rewriting uh don Quixote, for example, which is 157 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: a long thing to rewrite, literally just verbatia, right, Like 158 00:09:56,880 --> 00:09:59,959 Speaker 1: he was just duplicating these, So I guess I get 159 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: how that would maybe like improve his penmanship. How do 160 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:06,000 Speaker 1: you think that's contributed to like coming up with original 161 00:10:06,040 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 1: ideas and why the writing is there something kind of 162 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:12,280 Speaker 1: like visceral and almost like some kind of osmosis involved 163 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 1: with putting pen to paper and like writing and committing 164 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,559 Speaker 1: an idea, you know, down to paper, and then at 165 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:19,400 Speaker 1: the same time you're kind of like processing it in 166 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 1: your brain. Yeah, because different areas of your brain are 167 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: activated right by different modes of learning. So that's why 168 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaker 1: writing something down helps you remember it better than repeating 169 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:34,079 Speaker 1: it to yourself. This probably gave him a really good 170 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 1: firsthand sense of how to structure different things he wanted 171 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:41,680 Speaker 1: to write. He was living through the format, but you 172 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:45,720 Speaker 1: know he he was going gangbusters, like you said, after 173 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 1: the Pennsylvania Gazette, Poor Richard was the most profitable enterprise 174 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:54,400 Speaker 1: that Franklin had as a publisher. It's sold ten thousand 175 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: copies a year, which is huge. There are a lot 176 00:10:56,880 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: of books who can't do that in the modern day 177 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: and time. You know, like you said, the truth is 178 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: out now. In most of the material there was not 179 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:11,200 Speaker 1: actually written by him. It was collected and published by him. Uh, 180 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 1: And let's get to part of this hoax. We'll call 181 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:26,120 Speaker 1: this the hoax. We said he predicted a death. Uh, 182 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:30,760 Speaker 1: poor Richard hits Philadelphia, big splash, even in a crowded market. 183 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:35,839 Speaker 1: And Benjamin Franklin, who is smarter than the average bear, says, 184 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 1: this Titan Leads guy might be eating my lunch. His almanac, 185 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:44,120 Speaker 1: which was called an American Almanac, is by far my 186 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 1: number one competitor. So I am going to take a 187 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,880 Speaker 1: lesson from the author of Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift. And 188 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 1: in the preface to the seventeen seventy three edition of 189 00:11:55,960 --> 00:12:02,560 Speaker 1: Poor Richard's Almanac, Poor Richard Saunders reports on the death 190 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:05,160 Speaker 1: of Titan Leads. Yeah. I mean it was really kind 191 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: of like a very clever publicity stunt. They probably started 192 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,440 Speaker 1: out as being like maybe in good fun, but boy, 193 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,079 Speaker 1: oh boy, did it snowball? And um, this is a 194 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:16,120 Speaker 1: little more text and we usually read, but this is 195 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,679 Speaker 1: an exert from Poor Richard's audition that that that that 196 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:23,440 Speaker 1: put forth this speculation. Um, and I think we should 197 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:25,679 Speaker 1: read the whole thing. Shall we round Robin and Ben 198 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:28,040 Speaker 1: or just to take it half these? Uh, let's take 199 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,000 Speaker 1: it half these, let's double dragon. Yeah, I love it. 200 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 1: Why don't you lead off my good man, Thank you, sir, 201 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: very well. Poor Richard says, indeed, this motive would have 202 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: had force enough to have made me publish in Ormanac 203 00:12:42,679 --> 00:12:45,599 Speaker 1: many years since, had it not been overpowered by my 204 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 1: regard for my good friend and fellow student, Mr. Titan Leads, 205 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 1: whose interest I was extremely unwilling to hurt. But this obstacle, 206 00:12:55,559 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: I am far from speaking of it with pleasure, is 207 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:01,600 Speaker 1: soon to be removed. Since it trouble Death, who was 208 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: never known to respect merits, has already prepared the mortal dot. 209 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 1: The fatal Sister has already extended her destroying shears, and 210 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:16,720 Speaker 1: that ingenious fan must soon be taken from us. Hot 211 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 1: prose of the fatal Sister has already extended her destroying shears. Oh, 212 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,400 Speaker 1: I love to see how he says. Uh, he capitalizes death, 213 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:36,400 Speaker 1: but then he also capitalizes merit and Jesus, yeah, it's fantastic. 214 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:38,520 Speaker 1: I love it. It's so clever. Here we go, he 215 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 1: goes on, and then he dawns. By my calculation made 216 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:48,920 Speaker 1: at his request on October seventeen, seventeen thirty three, three 217 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:53,040 Speaker 1: twenty nine post Meridian, at the very instant of the 218 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:58,599 Speaker 1: conjunction of the Sun and mercury. By his own calculation, 219 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: he will so far till the twenty six of the 220 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 1: same month. This small difference between us we have disputed 221 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: whenever we have met these nine years past. But at 222 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 1: length he is inclinable to agree with my judgment which 223 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: of us is most exact. A little time will now 224 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:23,960 Speaker 1: determine beautiful, beautiful rendition, if I do say so, myself 225 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: and Max Hoping we have different flavors the same. We're 226 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 1: not the same poor Richard. But poor Richard was like 227 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:32,680 Speaker 1: not a real thing anyway, So we're just kind of 228 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: channeling our particular spirits of poor Richard. Yeah, I think 229 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 1: I went a little more sinister, but you see, you 230 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: get the gist. Record scratch please, Max, There's one problem. 231 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 1: Titan Leads is very much alive, and he also reads 232 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:53,480 Speaker 1: almanacs and newspapers. He sure does. Yeah, you know, as 233 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:55,720 Speaker 1: as is probably a smart move for his profession, to 234 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 1: keep up to speed with all the competition and all that. 235 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 1: You know, it doesn't decay that he was necessarily like 236 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: immediately enraged, but he certainly was a little bit mystified. Again, 237 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:08,160 Speaker 1: I what do you think, Ben, Like, are we meant 238 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: to read this and interpreted as satire, because it's like 239 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 1: there was a lot of satire in Poor Richards. Again, 240 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,240 Speaker 1: the character is is not real. People knew that, right 241 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: or did they not know that? I think they knew that, 242 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: if there at least those that looked close enough. I 243 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 1: think a lot of people were probably split. Many folks 244 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: who were in the know surely knew that Poor Richard 245 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 1: was just another version of of Ben Franklin. But I 246 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:36,960 Speaker 1: wouldn't be surprised if there were people in the colonies 247 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: who thought there really was a Poor Richard, you know. 248 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: But I'm certain they're not. Yea, So I guess what 249 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: I'm getting at those like a lot of those little missives, 250 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,640 Speaker 1: those little what you call them proverbs or whatever, there's 251 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:49,200 Speaker 1: some snark and tongue in she can all of that. 252 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:51,800 Speaker 1: I think there were probably some people maybe saw this 253 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: and we're like, ha ha ha, that's a funny little 254 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 1: jab at that at your you know, competition. Maybe not, 255 00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: though maybe it really wasn't meant to be. Taking at 256 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: face value, I have a hard time taking the temperature 257 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: of the time where we sit here in the present. 258 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,240 Speaker 1: But what we do know is that Leeds was was 259 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:11,880 Speaker 1: understandably irritated, let's just say, and he decided he wanted 260 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 1: to clear the air and make sure that everyone knew 261 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: that he was in fact, very much alive, so he 262 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 1: posted or posted yeah, like it's a blog. He responded 263 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,440 Speaker 1: in his own publication, The American Almanac, with a c K. 264 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 1: By the way, the year seventeen thirty four. And I 265 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:31,240 Speaker 1: don't want to read this one too, band it's pretty good. Yeah, 266 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 1: why don't you start this one? Awful? All right, kind reader, 267 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: Perhaps it's maybe expected that I should say something concerning 268 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,800 Speaker 1: an almanac printed for the year seventeen thirty three, said 269 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:46,480 Speaker 1: to be written by Paul Richard or Richard Saunders, who, 270 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:48,800 Speaker 1: for want of other matters, was pleased to tell his 271 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 1: readers that he had calculated my nativity and from thence 272 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: predicts my death to be the seventeenth of October seventeen 273 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:00,440 Speaker 1: thirty Okay, first, let me stop he real quick. This 274 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 1: isn't announcing his death. This is a Now, this is 275 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 1: like predicting his death like Nostradamin style. So anyone that 276 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: didn't think that poor Richard had somehow mastered necromancy or 277 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:15,280 Speaker 1: whatever probably should have seen that this was what was 278 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:17,439 Speaker 1: he basing it on like he's he's talking about all 279 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:20,359 Speaker 1: these mystical things and like the fates and their scissors 280 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,879 Speaker 1: and all of that. Like, I just don't think anybody 281 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 1: that was, you know, intelligent, would have would have thought 282 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:29,200 Speaker 1: that this was true. But again a lot of people 283 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: that we were probably weren't super intelligent. So he goes 284 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 1: on to say October seventeen thirty three and twenty two 285 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 1: minutes past three o'clock in the afternoon, and that these 286 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:40,960 Speaker 1: provinces may not expect to see any more of his 287 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: himselves performances. And this precise predictor, who predicts to admit its, 288 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: proposes to succeed me in writing of almanacs. But notwithstanding 289 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: his false prediction, I have, by the mercy of God, 290 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,360 Speaker 1: lived to write a diary for the year seventeen thirty four, 291 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: and to publish the folly and ignorance of his presumptuous author. Nay, 292 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 1: he adds another gross falsehood. It he said, Almanac viz. 293 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 1: That by my own calculation, I shall survive until the 294 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 1: twenty six of the said month, which is October, which 295 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:17,840 Speaker 1: is as untrue as the former, for I did not 296 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:21,920 Speaker 1: pretend to that knowledge. Though he has usurped the knowledge 297 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:26,119 Speaker 1: of the Almighty herein and manifested himself a fool and 298 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 1: a liar. And by the mercy of God, I have 299 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:33,200 Speaker 1: lived to survive this conceited scribblers day and minute, whereon 300 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: he has predicted my death, And as I have supplied 301 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:40,479 Speaker 1: my country with almanacs for three seven years by past 302 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 1: to general satisfaction, so perhaps I live to write when 303 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: his performances are dead. Thus much from your annual friend, 304 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 1: Titan Leagues, October eighteen, seventeen thirty three, three hours, thirty 305 00:18:55,240 --> 00:19:00,480 Speaker 1: three minutes pre I live for this beef, I swear 306 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: to go. Not only do I live for the beef, 307 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: I live for the format of this, this this era 308 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:10,600 Speaker 1: of discourse. Kind reader, Oh dude, it's so good. I mean, 309 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:13,359 Speaker 1: it's just like, just say the thing you could mean. 310 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:17,160 Speaker 1: And I'm joking. I love the dancing around and all that, 311 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:20,680 Speaker 1: but we've really lost this flowery prose, you know. I mean, 312 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:22,880 Speaker 1: with Twitter, it's like you're literally limited in the number 313 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:25,880 Speaker 1: of characters you can use. But this, all of this 314 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,680 Speaker 1: giant paragraph to say I am in fact not day right, 315 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:32,760 Speaker 1: you know, and all of the first ones to say 316 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,400 Speaker 1: this guy is going to die on this date, but subtext, 317 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:39,600 Speaker 1: I always think about this Benjamin Franklin, love him or 318 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: hate him, he would have been an absolute beast on 319 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: Twitter man totally densest tweets ever. Yeah right, because he 320 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:50,760 Speaker 1: would have had to learn to pare down and use 321 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:53,440 Speaker 1: economy of language. But he would have just made fire 322 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,320 Speaker 1: like like moon Rock level tweets. In terms of like 323 00:19:57,400 --> 00:19:59,199 Speaker 1: the density of the meaning. I think you would have 324 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 1: just readed on threads. I don't know if he would 325 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 1: have done single tweets, but we know I speculate that 326 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 1: Ben Franklin, clearly this is a pr stunt. Clearly he 327 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: knows this is going to get back to Titan Leads. 328 00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:15,879 Speaker 1: He's just sort of tweaking his nose a bit and uh. Leads, 329 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: by the way, releases that response the next year, and 330 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 1: Franklin then responds by saying Leads is too well bred 331 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: to use any man so indecently and so scuriously. Franklin 332 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,479 Speaker 1: doubles down, and he basically says, it's not Leads who 333 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 1: is writing this, because Titan Leads is a good dude, 334 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:38,399 Speaker 1: and whoever's talking this trash is an impostor. Yeah. He 335 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:40,840 Speaker 1: doubles down and continues to double down for several years. 336 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 1: He does the thing that any good cult leader worth 337 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,320 Speaker 1: their salt who predicts like an apocalyptic event does, They 338 00:20:47,359 --> 00:20:49,439 Speaker 1: just kind of kicked the can down the road and 339 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:53,640 Speaker 1: never actually admit that they've made a mistake. That's the key. 340 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:56,000 Speaker 1: You never say you're sorry. If you never say you're sorry, 341 00:20:56,359 --> 00:20:59,560 Speaker 1: and never like you know, admit that you've you've you've goofed, 342 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,040 Speaker 1: then to enough people you might as well have not 343 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: goofed to just have the confidence of the strident late, 344 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:11,800 Speaker 1: wrong lie big. So this is uh. He says that 345 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:14,840 Speaker 1: despite the fact that it's clearly a cover up and 346 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:19,640 Speaker 1: his friend, his dea friend, Titan Leads, has passed away, Uh, 347 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: he's gonna He's gonna keep going because that's what Titan 348 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:26,400 Speaker 1: Leads would have wanted for poor Richard's almanac. And when 349 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:28,919 Speaker 1: he puts this out, it's like five pence a copy. 350 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:32,000 Speaker 1: When he's talking this smack. People love it. It sells 351 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,200 Speaker 1: out in less than a week, and like two days 352 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: it sells out. Franklin has to make three runs of 353 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:42,399 Speaker 1: the almanac. He prints three iterations of it just to 354 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 1: keep up with sales. And then the kicker, the like 355 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,600 Speaker 1: ultimate nail in the coffin, if you will, Leads does 356 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:54,160 Speaker 1: eventually die for reals uh in seventeen thirty eight, at 357 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 1: which time Benjamin Franklin, as Saunders Princes a letter from 358 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:05,119 Speaker 1: Leads got saying, actually I did die at precisely the 359 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,760 Speaker 1: moment and hour that you mentioned, with a variation of 360 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:12,880 Speaker 1: five minutes fifty three seconds. Wow, that's hot, sput. I mean, 361 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,639 Speaker 1: that's not super classy, Ben, I have to say. And 362 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,159 Speaker 1: I'm a fan of Bends. And you know, the American 363 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:25,080 Speaker 1: Almanac continued and up through its seventeen forty six issue, 364 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: which you can read this online, the ghost of Titan 365 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:35,000 Speaker 1: Leeds was hovering in the imprint of the issue. And 366 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 1: this is because seventeen forty six is supposed to be 367 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: the final year he had calculated the calendar before actually 368 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:48,640 Speaker 1: passing away. So this is slick. This is slick, dangerous 369 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: satire and and got pretty dirty, especially when someone's actual 370 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:54,760 Speaker 1: death was involved. But this was just one of Ben 371 00:22:54,800 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 1: Franklin's many hoaxes. He perpetrated several others, especially from an 372 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: early age. Right, you heard a silence do good? Yeah, 373 00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:15,800 Speaker 1: now not so much, tell us tell us about silence 374 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 1: do good? Okay, So there's this thing called the New 375 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:23,840 Speaker 1: England Korate, and between April and October seventy two, it 376 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: starts receiving and printing a series of letters by someone 377 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,960 Speaker 1: claiming to be a middle aged widow called Silence do Good, 378 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,960 Speaker 1: which very much doesn't sound like a real name, And 379 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:39,520 Speaker 1: she's basically writing this onion style send up of life 380 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:45,400 Speaker 1: in colonial America, talking about drunk locals, religious hypocrites, how 381 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:50,000 Speaker 1: society is terrible to women, how were who petticoats are? 382 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,800 Speaker 1: All this stuff. This would have been stuff that locals 383 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,280 Speaker 1: would recognize to like, almost like a gossip rag, you 384 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,439 Speaker 1: know what I mean, like a gossip column, because this 385 00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:01,479 Speaker 1: would have been a small community. Also, I love this 386 00:24:01,520 --> 00:24:06,879 Speaker 1: part the pretensions of Harvard College, right, And these became 387 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:09,960 Speaker 1: a smash the silent dude. It's hard to even say. 388 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:13,880 Speaker 1: It's a real mouthful. Silence do Good letters became quite popular, 389 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:18,480 Speaker 1: and apparently, uh, she was quite popular with the fellas 390 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:21,560 Speaker 1: who were like, shinla, I mean, how do I get 391 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:24,240 Speaker 1: a date with this broad? And they got catfish that 392 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: back then, they got catfish so hard. It turned out 393 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:35,080 Speaker 1: that Silence do Good was actually Benjamin Franklin, a sixteen 394 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 1: year old teenage Benjamin Franklin, who was working as an 395 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:43,760 Speaker 1: apprentice at his brother James's print shop in Boston. So 396 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 1: he goes to show that that Franklin came by satire 397 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:52,040 Speaker 1: and a love of printing honestly, like from a very 398 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,480 Speaker 1: early age, like working as an apprentice in his brother's shop, Like, 399 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:59,200 Speaker 1: he saw the potential, the possibilities of of the written word, 400 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:02,439 Speaker 1: and he obviously used it to great effect. Um and 401 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,680 Speaker 1: was also a real jokester initially though apparently he did 402 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: not tell his brother. You know, he didn't give up 403 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:11,400 Speaker 1: the ghost, not not an actual ghost this time, but 404 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:13,520 Speaker 1: he didn't tell his brother that it was him, in fact, 405 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:15,600 Speaker 1: because he was worried that his brother would be cross, 406 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:20,200 Speaker 1: which in fact he was, because he believed that, um, well, 407 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 1: a couple of things. He probably believed that you know, 408 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: if it came out of that, you know, this was 409 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,640 Speaker 1: this was like totally made up, that the people wouldn't 410 00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:30,560 Speaker 1: he would lose credibility, especially if it was something that 411 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:33,399 Speaker 1: was printed as like this is real. But he he 412 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:37,240 Speaker 1: also was concerned that all of these compliments, it's kind 413 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 1: of weird because a lot of them were sort of 414 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,720 Speaker 1: like it's sexual in nature, right, they were like men saying, 415 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 1: how about hubba silence, do good? I want to marry that, 416 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 1: I want a wife that. Uh. He was worried that 417 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,960 Speaker 1: it would make Ben young Ben Franklin vain, which, as 418 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: we know, he did grow up to be quite a 419 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:58,159 Speaker 1: vain man. So maybe there was some some truth to 420 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:02,880 Speaker 1: that or some sand to those concerns. Yeah, yeah, there 421 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,119 Speaker 1: was possibly some sand to it. Uh. And this was 422 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:09,440 Speaker 1: just one of the many hoaxes that he would he 423 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:13,159 Speaker 1: would participate in. And you know, I love culture, Jammy, 424 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:17,080 Speaker 1: I love doing like I put missing Boomerang photos up 425 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:18,960 Speaker 1: and stuff like that. I just think it's a it's 426 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 1: a fun way to kind of get your rascal rascal, Ben, 427 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 1: your irascible rascal, didn't you. I gotta show you guys 428 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 1: this one. I had put them up around the area 429 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:32,480 Speaker 1: of our old office right that we have to say 430 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:35,680 Speaker 1: old office now, where it was just like missing boomerang. 431 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:40,119 Speaker 1: Just stand here for a minute. I don't know if 432 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:43,640 Speaker 1: anybody ever actually stood there. I'm sure not. Someone could 433 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:47,080 Speaker 1: have gotten hurt Ben, either physically or at the very 434 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:50,280 Speaker 1: least emotional emotions. What happens in that boomerang never comes around. 435 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:53,159 Speaker 1: I know we all learned. How do you trust anyone 436 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:56,639 Speaker 1: ever again? Right? Uh? So we know that. All right, 437 00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:00,960 Speaker 1: Poor Richard's almanac had other weird things that is especially 438 00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:07,160 Speaker 1: relevant to your earlier pointnel about how any classic would 439 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:10,080 Speaker 1: be profit. We'll just sort of move the goalpost of 440 00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:13,960 Speaker 1: their predictions. Uh he Yeah, in seventeen thirty sevent he's 441 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:18,360 Speaker 1: been making this almanac for five years now. He includes 442 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:23,720 Speaker 1: what he calls enigmatical prophecies in the almanac, and uh, 443 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:28,840 Speaker 1: they're pretty wild. They sure are. Let's see. Uh. He 444 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:32,080 Speaker 1: predicted a great storm would flood all of the major 445 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:36,440 Speaker 1: cities of North America, causing them to be completely underwater. Yeah. 446 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 1: He also said a great number of vessels fully latent, 447 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,399 Speaker 1: will be taken out of the ports by a power 448 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,720 Speaker 1: with which we are now at war. Also that an 449 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:51,080 Speaker 1: army of thirty thousand musketeers will land and sorely annoy 450 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:57,000 Speaker 1: the inhabitants lightly. Yeah, a year passes. None of this 451 00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 1: appears to come true, at least the way that the 452 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:04,280 Speaker 1: reader's interpret it. People are about to label Benjamin Franklin 453 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:08,320 Speaker 1: a you know, a flam flam artist, but then he 454 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:12,560 Speaker 1: pops back in and says, actually, all three of these 455 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:17,560 Speaker 1: prophecies have come to pass. M hmmm. Yeah. Apparently rainstorms 456 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:24,800 Speaker 1: had placed every city underwater, get it under Also that 457 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,600 Speaker 1: the power of wind, as in the you know, the 458 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:31,920 Speaker 1: blowy the blowy bits, had taken fully laiden vessels out 459 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:35,560 Speaker 1: of ports, you know, through filling their sales and propelling 460 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:38,960 Speaker 1: them in a forward movement. Uh yeah, And what about 461 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,880 Speaker 1: the musketeers, he said, Well, more than thirty thou musketeers 462 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:48,800 Speaker 1: or mosquitoes have definitely annoyed the inhabitants of the colonies grown. 463 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 1: But is he is he implying that musketeers and musquiteers 464 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:58,120 Speaker 1: are like it was like a pronunciation joke. Maybe he 465 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:06,760 Speaker 1: musket muskets. I think it might be muskets muskets. We 466 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:11,400 Speaker 1: got well done, Ben, you got us so totally. There 467 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 1: isn't there isn't a second e at the end. Yeah, 468 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:16,840 Speaker 1: that's how that's how he gets us. It's because he's 469 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:21,720 Speaker 1: not spelling it right. By the way, speaking of of 470 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:26,160 Speaker 1: of hilarious uh and and maybe often overlooked misspellings, I 471 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: went to a hair metal concerts yesterday for a work 472 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:32,800 Speaker 1: related thing at the Brave Stadium. It was it was 473 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,920 Speaker 1: Poison Motley Crue, Joan Jet and the Black Carts and 474 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,640 Speaker 1: death Leopard. But can either of you, without looking online, 475 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:43,200 Speaker 1: tell me how deaf Leopard is spelled uh d E 476 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: f l e P p r D r D. I 477 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:53,160 Speaker 1: think there's just one P, but I I always would 478 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:55,760 Speaker 1: ever I've written it, I've just spelled it d e 479 00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 1: A f l e O p A r D. It 480 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:01,440 Speaker 1: is two piece. It is too bees. You guys win 481 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:05,400 Speaker 1: absolutely nothing but my undying adoration. But I don't know 482 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: the sound cues going on right now. Stay we want 483 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:11,320 Speaker 1: a lot. Definitely, you definitely did. But my question is like, 484 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,880 Speaker 1: what's being accomplished here, Like is this meant to be 485 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 1: like we're crazy, we spell words weird. Um, it's a 486 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:22,960 Speaker 1: similar sensibility to what what you know. I mean, it's 487 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,840 Speaker 1: all about the malleability of the of the English word, 488 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:28,600 Speaker 1: and you can do fun things with spelling and interject 489 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 1: little puns and kind of create your own ways of 490 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:35,760 Speaker 1: spelling things. But I digress. I think what Franklin did 491 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 1: was both genius and like he was kind of one 492 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:41,160 Speaker 1: of the original trolls, you know, such a troll, such 493 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:43,720 Speaker 1: a troll up. There was swift for sure. I think 494 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:47,200 Speaker 1: we should do an episode on on Swift uh trolling 495 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:49,440 Speaker 1: because he took it to a new level, Jonathan Swift. 496 00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:53,800 Speaker 1: So let us know what other historical trolls you would 497 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:57,360 Speaker 1: like to hear about. Get the two, the Facebook's or 498 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 1: the twitters and find us on Ridiculous History. Find us 499 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 1: on Ridiculous Historians. We do love to hear from everyone 500 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:06,920 Speaker 1: on there. Also, you can find us not just as 501 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:11,000 Speaker 1: a show, but as individuals. Yeah, we're people, We exist 502 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:15,400 Speaker 1: outside of this show. Yeah that's fair. What do you 503 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 1: always say, Ben, You're a thing that happens to people? 504 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 1: Kind of Yeah, I like it. I like it when 505 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:21,960 Speaker 1: you happen to me, and I think that the Ridiculous 506 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:25,120 Speaker 1: Historians would agree. They also like it. Like being caught 507 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:27,959 Speaker 1: up in your wake. But you can find me if 508 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:29,640 Speaker 1: you want to get caught up in my Internet wake, 509 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:33,400 Speaker 1: exclusively on Instagram at how Now Noel Brown? How about yourself? 510 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:37,000 Speaker 1: Ben Well, you can get a preview of all the 511 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:40,880 Speaker 1: strange things I'm working on, both for Ridiculous History and 512 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:45,000 Speaker 1: many other podcasts that I touch over on Instagram where 513 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:47,440 Speaker 1: I'm at Ben Bowling bo w l I N or 514 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:50,280 Speaker 1: over on Twitter where I'm at Ben Bowland h s 515 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 1: W and while you're on Twitter, be sure to swing 516 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:57,000 Speaker 1: by and give a good ridiculous historian hello to our 517 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:01,320 Speaker 1: own Mr Max Williams. Yeah, come check me out. I 518 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,600 Speaker 1: will be on there, I don't know, maybe tagging Jonathan 519 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:08,920 Speaker 1: Strickland and Ben's posts, because why not? Why not bring 520 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:11,280 Speaker 1: more of him into our lives? Do what thou wilst? 521 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:13,520 Speaker 1: But yeah, you can find me on Twitter at at 522 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,800 Speaker 1: l underscore Max Williams, and that's where all that fun 523 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:20,320 Speaker 1: and excitement will be Thanks as always, Max, Thanks to 524 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:25,320 Speaker 1: our composer Alex Williams. Thinks, of course, to another founding 525 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,880 Speaker 1: member of the show casey Pegram, who I was delighted 526 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:32,920 Speaker 1: to see in person quite recently. Spoiler alert folks, he 527 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:37,160 Speaker 1: may be returning for a guest spot pretty soon. Thanks 528 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:41,120 Speaker 1: also to our very own favorite troll, Mr Jonathan Strickland 529 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:51,320 Speaker 1: a k. The Quister. We'll see you next time, folks. 530 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:53,440 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the I 531 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:56,400 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to 532 00:32:56,440 --> 00:32:57,360 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.