1 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, a low Ridiculous Historians, thank you so much for 2 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: tuning in. Uh, my name is Been. I have a 3 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: question for you as well as my compatriots. Lay it 4 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: on est brother alright, Noel super producer Casey Pegrham. Here's 5 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,840 Speaker 1: the question. I noticed recently that we have been doing 6 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,879 Speaker 1: a lot of cool stuff with US states, and today 7 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: we're going to look at another U s state, a 8 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: large one, a big one, and it inspired me to 9 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: pitch the following idea. I propose that we Ridiculous History 10 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: endeavor to do an episode at least one about every 11 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: US state, like Sufian Stephens style. Yeah, but we'll actually 12 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: do it. You think we will them? Yeah, because we're 13 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 1: not making a whole album, that's true, and we do 14 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: kind of have to do the show until we keel over. 15 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: So it's in our contract. That's the language which we 16 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 1: signed in blood. I'm okay, Ben, I'll raise you one. 17 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:28,400 Speaker 1: Let's do one on every state and territory. Every state 18 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: and territory. Historical territories are current territories. I don't know 19 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: what the difference is. You know what will be there? 20 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: I bet you will. We'll wrap up our fiftieth state 21 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: episode and then we'll say we want to do more territories. 22 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,559 Speaker 1: It'll be a learning adventure, it will be, and we're 23 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: off to the races. We are traveling today in spirit, 24 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: in mind to a place that both of us love, 25 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: the state of California. I'm a huge fan of California 26 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: and I love it despite the traffic. Am I all? Right? Now? 27 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: Bumper to bumper, the one the five four oh five 28 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: on you know what? That's not real? Yours was real. 29 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: I gotta tell you, though, Uh, Los Angeles makes me tired. Well, 30 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 1: it's such sprawl that it's like it takes forever to 31 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:18,359 Speaker 1: get anywhere. I mean, not that we're not used to 32 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: that here in Atlanta. The traffic is quite bad, but 33 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: the geography of of Los Angeles very spread out, and yeah, 34 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: it's it's a bit of a slog to get anywhere. 35 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 1: But boy do I enjoy it when I find a 36 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: cool area that I that I dig like. I've got 37 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: a friend who was in Highland Park. Really like that 38 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: whole area and like Silver Lake and all that stuff. 39 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: And we actually have a studio there um with our 40 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: comedy division that's right in the heart of Hollywood Boulevard. Yes, yes, 41 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 1: it's headed by our pal Jack O'Brien, who was the 42 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: founder of cracked dot com. I wonder if Jack O'Brien 43 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:56,080 Speaker 1: knows the mythical history of California the name. At least 44 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: he might. He's one smart hostess, Cupcake, but he uh, 45 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: if he knows this history, he is an exceptional person 46 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,639 Speaker 1: because this was new a hazard to both of us. 47 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: Hazard away because you're right, yeah, so, uh. One one 48 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:17,360 Speaker 1: thing that I think occurs to many school children here 49 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: in the States, uh, is this moment of epiphany where 50 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 1: you're looking around at the name of the state in 51 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 1: which you reside, or the names of other states, and 52 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: you go, hey, that's a weird word. You know, Oklahoma, 53 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: for instance, that's a weird word, right. Uh, California we 54 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: just all accept as normal. But it's a strange word 55 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: it is. And I think, Um, there's this overarching notion 56 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: that most of the weird word states just come from 57 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: Native American words, right, But that's not entirely true, especially 58 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: not in today's case. Yes, today we are exploring the 59 00:03:54,440 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: strange story of how California became, you know, California, California, California. 60 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: I love that sketch. Yes, so right now, it's used 61 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,080 Speaker 1: by the term California is used by three different places. 62 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: It's used here in the US. It's the name of 63 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: the state of California. In Mexico, there are two states. 64 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: One it's called Baja California and then Baja California. Sir, 65 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: so like South California. That's right. I think originally, um, 66 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:31,840 Speaker 1: California was called Las California's province of the Vice Royalty 67 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:36,839 Speaker 1: of New Spain. Ye mouthful doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, No, 68 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,039 Speaker 1: it doesn't. But but where do all this California business 69 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: come from? Then? We we were startled to find Uh. 70 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: There were several explanations, but one of the strongest, and 71 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: the one we want to focus on today, is the 72 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: idea that the name California came from a work of fiction, 73 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:04,039 Speaker 1: A work of fiction by a gentleman by the name 74 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:08,279 Speaker 1: of Garcia Rodriguez de Montevallo. Um, I think that's okay, 75 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,599 Speaker 1: case cases Now, we're not gonna consult casey on. He's 76 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: a Francophone, he's not a span Spano phone. Is that 77 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:23,240 Speaker 1: a word doesn't matter? And he um wrote a novel, 78 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: a romantic, uh, swash buckling kind of epic part of 79 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: a series called Las sergas Esplandion, which means the exploits 80 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: or Adventures of Esplandi. Yeah. This was around the turn 81 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: of the sixteenth century and largely thought to be inspired 82 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: by real life stories of explorers traveling to what they 83 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:46,960 Speaker 1: called the New World in the fourteen hundreds. No, as 84 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,359 Speaker 1: you said, this is part of a five part series. 85 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: This was the final book and it featured a specific land. 86 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: We can go ahead and let's see you want you 87 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:01,359 Speaker 1: want to hear quote? We got at quote about this 88 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: from the book. Quote away, my man, all right, I 89 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:06,599 Speaker 1: know that on the right hand from the Indies exist 90 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: in island called California, very close to a side of 91 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 1: the earthly Paradise, and it was populated by black women 92 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: without any man existing there because they lived in the 93 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: way of the Amazons. They had beautiful and robust bodies 94 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 1: and were brave and very strong. Their island was the 95 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: strongest in the world, with its steep cliffs and rocky shores. 96 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,039 Speaker 1: Their weapons were golden, and so were the harnesses of 97 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: the wild beast that they were accustomed to taming, so 98 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: that they could be written. Because there was no other 99 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 1: metal in the island than gold. That, my friend, was 100 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,159 Speaker 1: a summary of the recent d C comics film A 101 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:47,719 Speaker 1: Wonder Woman. Right, there are some there are some clear parallels. Yeah, 102 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:51,720 Speaker 1: that is from the Exploits of Esplandian, which, as we said, 103 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:54,839 Speaker 1: turn in the center. You published it in severe in. 104 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: In fact, it's actually it. It pre dates Don Quixote 105 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: by Cervantes, and it's it's cited in that work as 106 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: a list of one of the books in don Quixotes library. 107 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: So it was a very popular work. Um, and folks 108 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: like uh oh, I don't know her. Non Cortes, the 109 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: famous conquistador, would have been intimately familiar with this story, right, 110 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: Hernan Cortes, who was a conquistador who led the expedition 111 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 1: that brought about the fall of the Aztec Empire and 112 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:33,560 Speaker 1: brought lots of what is modern day Mexico under the 113 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 1: rule of Spain. He would have been aware of this book. 114 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: And when the Spanish forces were exploring California, they originally 115 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: thought that southern peninsula that they ran into, right, and 116 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: they thought it was an island exactly. I think it was. 117 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: It was quite a long time before they realized there 118 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: was more. It was a long time, and you can 119 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: you can see maps from the mid sixteen hundreds, and 120 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: so that depicted as an island, a sort of um 121 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 1: just imagine the peninsula as if the rest of the 122 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: top of California doesn't exist exactly. And Cortes was in 123 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: fact the governor of Mexico at the time, and he 124 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: sent an expedition to the western coast of California. Um 125 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: pilot fortune himenez Um. Actually there was a mutiny too, 126 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: involving the murder of the expedition leader, Diego Bassera. Um. 127 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,400 Speaker 1: But this was the first European to sail near what 128 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 1: you just described ben Baja, California. This was in the 129 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 1: year fifteen thirty four, and as you said, mistook it 130 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:40,680 Speaker 1: for an island and decided to call it California. Why 131 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: why Ben We talked about the story a minute ago, 132 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:47,320 Speaker 1: did we Did we name the character the Queen Ah? Yes, 133 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:52,439 Speaker 1: the queen We mentioned her in the quotation Khalifa Khalifa. 134 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,280 Speaker 1: And the island is called California, and it is ruled 135 00:08:56,320 --> 00:09:03,280 Speaker 1: by this badass Amazonian type men um with weaponized Griffins 136 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: and all kinds of crazy golden armor and spears. And 137 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: I think there was a there was a note about 138 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 1: they only allowed men to come to the island one 139 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: day a year so they could procreate, and if ever 140 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: an offspring was a male, they would they would give 141 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,600 Speaker 1: it the axe or the spear right or drowned in 142 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: the sea. I don't know. They would cut the kid's 143 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,240 Speaker 1: life off very early time. And here's one of the 144 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: fascinating things. This was a work of fiction, right, that's 145 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:38,840 Speaker 1: we know clearly it was a work of fiction, but 146 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 1: it's still inspired Cortes enough two to think of this 147 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: later as California. Now, it's not clear if California had 148 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:54,440 Speaker 1: already been named at the time when Cortes lad that expedition, 149 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 1: but we do know that he had. Originally he had 150 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 1: also thought it was Nighil, and he named it Santa Cruz, 151 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 1: but the historical records pretty soon after that referred to 152 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 1: it as California, named after the fictional land in Rodriguez's book. 153 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: And there's there's another weird part here. For a long 154 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: time afterward, it would appear that the connection between this 155 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:24,680 Speaker 1: fictional novel and the state what would become the state 156 00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 1: of California was lost to history. The novel languished, it 157 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 1: was obscure, nobody connected it with the name of California 158 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: until around eighteen sixty. Interesting. Yeah, a guy named Edward 159 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 1: Everett Hale was translating this novel for the Antiquarian Society, 160 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: and this translation they did was printed in the Atlantic. Uh. 161 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:56,199 Speaker 1: And so Hale was trying to figure out how this 162 00:10:56,360 --> 00:11:00,160 Speaker 1: caliph entered uh, the author's mind at all, and he 163 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: was thinking, well, maybe it was he was taken a 164 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 1: term for a leader of an Islamic community. Oh, you 165 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 1: mean like a caliph. Yeah, that's right. There's actually two 166 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 1: different ways you'll see its spelled UM. One is Calafia 167 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:15,840 Speaker 1: s A l A f I A. Sometimes you'll see 168 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:20,000 Speaker 1: it Califia UM. But it does date back to that 169 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:22,960 Speaker 1: term caliph, which the Arabic is spelled k h A 170 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:26,080 Speaker 1: l I f a H and then we um mangle 171 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:28,319 Speaker 1: it up to b c A l I p h 172 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:30,920 Speaker 1: here in English. Um. But that would be the leader 173 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:33,840 Speaker 1: of an Islamic religion or a group or a state, 174 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,920 Speaker 1: which is interesting. A lot of times religious leaders end 175 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 1: up being political leaders as well in that culture. Yeah. 176 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 1: And you can read in depth about the Conquistador in 177 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:49,800 Speaker 1: California in a book by W. Michael math Is called 178 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:57,320 Speaker 1: The Kenquistador in California. This strange relationship between fiction and 179 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:01,440 Speaker 1: fact reminds me a little bit of the inspirations we've 180 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: seen in earlier episodes. But let's stick with Cortes for 181 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: a second, because he did not have the happiest of lives, 182 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: not at all. And just a quick aside um, Spain 183 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,080 Speaker 1: does have a big relationship with the Islamic culture. The 184 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:20,120 Speaker 1: Iberian Peninsula was actually invaded by Muslim forces um in 185 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 1: the year seven eleven um, and we're we're eventually conquered 186 00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: the peninsula. So it would make sense that that language 187 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: would be floating around in the in the ether there, 188 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: and there would be what are called loan words, right 189 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:37,160 Speaker 1: that came from Arabic and were incorporated into Spanish. Absolutely, 190 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: And you know, I really appreciate you bringing up that point, 191 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 1: because for a long time from what seven eleven, well, 192 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:50,480 Speaker 1: at various times between seven eleven and four two, there 193 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:54,839 Speaker 1: was a caliphate of Cordoba, right, and Islamic Iberia is 194 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:58,199 Speaker 1: another name you'll here thrown around. Uh, this was not 195 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:02,160 Speaker 1: a solidly spanning place now, and four two, as it 196 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 1: turns out, was when a Montevallo wrote the book in 197 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 1: question to give us Cortez, my friend Cortes, his unhappy life. Yeah, 198 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:16,720 Speaker 1: so this expedition to California is one of his last 199 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: big plays. This in the fifteen thirties. You'll hear anywhere 200 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:25,200 Speaker 1: between fifteen thirty four to fifteen thirty six. He was 201 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:29,920 Speaker 1: not super popular in Spain. He returned a few years later. 202 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:32,199 Speaker 1: It's just an aside because I just want to show 203 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:36,760 Speaker 1: that it wasn't all trumpets and angel farts for this guy. 204 00:13:37,320 --> 00:13:40,040 Speaker 1: When he returned to Spain in fifteen forty one, he 205 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:44,760 Speaker 1: kept trying to get the Emperor to meet with him, 206 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:47,760 Speaker 1: things like I've won so much land for Spain, have 207 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:52,440 Speaker 1: conquered so much territory for you, and no one would 208 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:55,000 Speaker 1: talk to him. And we got so bad that he 209 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:59,400 Speaker 1: had to follow the Emperor's carriage through town one day 210 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:02,320 Speaker 1: and there was a crowd surrounding him. He forced himself 211 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 1: through the crowd. He jumped up on the carriage, which 212 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: you know, imagine presidential motorcade and having and seen someone 213 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: run up and try to jump in the car It's 214 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 1: essentially what he did. And the Emperor said, who is 215 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:22,840 Speaker 1: this man? Who is this incredibly uh I guess uh rude, 216 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:26,760 Speaker 1: audacious fellow and Cortes, according to the record, said I 217 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: am a man who was giving you more provinces than 218 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: your ancestors left you cities. He spent a lot of 219 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:37,200 Speaker 1: his own money to finance his expeditions. He was heavily, heavily, 220 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 1: heavily in debt, and when he died in fifteen forty seven, 221 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: his body would later be moved multiple times after his burial, 222 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 1: around eight times insult to injury, and when Mexico became independent, 223 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,720 Speaker 1: it was thought that his body might be desecrated. Just 224 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 1: just a couple of Cortes facts here. The strangest thing, though, 225 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:07,000 Speaker 1: is that when we think of this idea of an 226 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,440 Speaker 1: island that's so close to the Garden of Eden, right, 227 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: and it's full of gold, we know the Spanish expeditions 228 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:19,160 Speaker 1: were very, very focused on finding those material riches, right. 229 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,880 Speaker 1: It seems strange though that they would name this island 230 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 1: after something that they had to know to be fictional, right, Yeah, 231 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: I mean it's it's sort of the way. Recently went 232 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:37,440 Speaker 1: to a wrestling match out in kind of a rural 233 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:40,280 Speaker 1: part of of Georgia, um and I really got the 234 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 1: sense that some of the folks there did not know 235 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:47,160 Speaker 1: that it wasn't real, and and they were acting accordingly. 236 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:51,320 Speaker 1: So you've gotta wonder back in these days, even if 237 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 1: something was a quote unquote work of fiction, was there 238 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 1: may be a sense that it was written from a 239 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: place of of real discovery and this was like a 240 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 1: myth the land they could find, because that's certainly what 241 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: I'm seeing, um, that they saw this island and they 242 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: were like, surely this is the place of note from 243 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:13,400 Speaker 1: this the story, right, yeah, Because it's not as if 244 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:16,680 Speaker 1: they could hop on snopes dot com or something and 245 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:20,520 Speaker 1: check whether this was real. And we know that the 246 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 1: idea of an Amazonian legend would have been very familiar 247 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 1: to people. We also have to remember that at this 248 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 1: time it was much much more difficult to differentiate fiction 249 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: from fact, and there were a lot of allegorical works 250 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: of antiquity that were taken to be literal truths. Tell 251 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:44,400 Speaker 1: you what else is interesting about the book, it's actually 252 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:49,280 Speaker 1: pretty radical. Monta Vallo really injected the story with a 253 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:52,600 Speaker 1: lot of characteristics that kind of mirrored the experience of 254 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 1: conquered indigenous people and colonized indigenous people throughout the America's 255 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:02,680 Speaker 1: um Later in the novel uh Calafia actually converts to 256 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:07,120 Speaker 1: Christianity coming from much more of a pagan tradition. It's 257 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:09,359 Speaker 1: hard to say if he was doing this the writer 258 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:12,480 Speaker 1: in in protest or as like satire in some way, 259 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:16,640 Speaker 1: or if it was sort of meant to be almost um, 260 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 1: that's the word propaganda, because that was certainly what the 261 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 1: Spanish conquisators were all about when they found these indigenous people, 262 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:26,480 Speaker 1: was setting up all these missions, you know, all the 263 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 1: missions that are in California and the Prestidios and the like, 264 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 1: all about converting the native people to Catholicism. So pretty 265 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:39,640 Speaker 1: interesting trajectory the story has, Yeah, and we also can 266 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:45,040 Speaker 1: see how this would have been seen as inspirational to 267 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,960 Speaker 1: Spanish explorers because they had expelled at the time the 268 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:53,719 Speaker 1: the dominant Muslim forces that were ruling Spain, and there 269 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:56,159 Speaker 1: was nothing left to conquer unless they set out to 270 00:17:56,280 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 1: find a western route to India. But no, uh, why 271 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,880 Speaker 1: don't we learn a little bit more about Montaulvo's book, 272 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:08,520 Speaker 1: because he's a relatively obscure author himself in real life. 273 00:18:08,560 --> 00:18:10,399 Speaker 1: But we know a little bit about his character, right, 274 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: we do. And I have not read it myself, but 275 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:14,160 Speaker 1: I learned a lot of really cool stuff from an 276 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: article on Miss Magazine's blog from a Beanie Marino entitled 277 00:18:20,040 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: Calafia reappropriating the Amazon Queen and um, there's a pretty 278 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: incredible quote here. Um. So apparently later in the story, 279 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: Calafia gets married, and um, she gives her title of 280 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,359 Speaker 1: queen to one of her bodyguards, and then this is 281 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,200 Speaker 1: what she says to her. Uh. She says, you shall 282 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:42,760 Speaker 1: be my senor, and you shall rule over my state. 283 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:45,280 Speaker 1: On account of you, the island will change the style 284 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,520 Speaker 1: of living. Whereas the island has been isolated from men 285 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:51,679 Speaker 1: for many ages, henceforth it will adopt the practice of 286 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: natural generation of men and women. So this idea of 287 00:18:56,080 --> 00:19:00,399 Speaker 1: uh being outside of the patriarchy and kind of there 288 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:02,400 Speaker 1: was even like when they're in battle, they would take 289 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:05,400 Speaker 1: men as their prisoners and execute them um or keep 290 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,600 Speaker 1: them around for approcreation purposes. Now they're kind of opening 291 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,320 Speaker 1: up their borders um to allow men to live amongst them. 292 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,200 Speaker 1: And there's this sense that a lot of this had 293 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:20,480 Speaker 1: to do with Montavallos need to kind of tame the character. 294 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 1: So it is I think less, I think unfortunately, it 295 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,919 Speaker 1: is less of a satire and a little more of 296 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,720 Speaker 1: the propaganda vibe that I was talking about earlier, where 297 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:34,040 Speaker 1: he kind of has this strong female character that don't 298 00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:36,919 Speaker 1: need men and turns it to the point where they 299 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:41,120 Speaker 1: kind of become more beholden to men and also um, 300 00:19:41,359 --> 00:19:46,400 Speaker 1: more Christian ideology. Oh and speaking of appropriation, very important 301 00:19:46,400 --> 00:19:50,159 Speaker 1: point here. Montabo did not write all of the books 302 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:52,679 Speaker 1: in that series. The first three books were written by 303 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 1: unknown author. He picked it up, wrote the fourth book 304 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: and the fifth book, which would be the Exploits or 305 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:03,280 Speaker 1: the Adventures, and then after him the saga continued. There 306 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:06,760 Speaker 1: was a sixth novel, a seventh novel, an eighth, and 307 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 1: a ninth novel that we know of. And it's strange 308 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:14,720 Speaker 1: when we think of it alternating between different authors, you know, 309 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,920 Speaker 1: especially when those first three books are unknown today. Could 310 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: you even get away with it? All? Right? My my 311 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:23,239 Speaker 1: dyslexia is showing I don't really have dyslexia. But um, 312 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:26,360 Speaker 1: I've been mispronouncing this man's last name entirely and correctly 313 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:28,360 Speaker 1: for the entire episode, which is fine when we need 314 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:29,760 Speaker 1: to correct it. I'm just gonna go ahead and say 315 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,040 Speaker 1: it right now. I said a Manta dallo and it's Montalvo. 316 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: But I just I switched up the the V and 317 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 1: the and the A. It's fine, it's fine. I just 318 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:41,879 Speaker 1: wanted to put it out there now, fix it from 319 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:44,760 Speaker 1: here on out. But um, just don't email us about it. 320 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: I didn't, you know. I think you're beating yourself up. 321 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 1: I I did not from my part notice. But what 322 00:20:51,920 --> 00:20:54,520 Speaker 1: I did notice, no, is that there were a couple 323 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 1: of other competing theories about the etymology of California's name. Yeah, 324 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:01,440 Speaker 1: there's one of like a a poem, I think, yes, 325 00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:03,680 Speaker 1: the Song of Roland. Yeah, give it to us. Also 326 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 1: the inspiration in part for Stephen King's The Dark Tower 327 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:12,480 Speaker 1: series or a thing based on that child roll. Yeah. 328 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:17,280 Speaker 1: So the Song of Roland is an eleventh century old 329 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: French epic poem, and people who believe that it inspired 330 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:26,119 Speaker 1: the name California. I can't not say it California like 331 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 1: I'm in the Sorry. Uh. Please do check out the 332 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,280 Speaker 1: Californians on Saturday Night Live. You heard it? Great show? Yeah, right, 333 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:40,680 Speaker 1: you should really check it out. It's a it's a 334 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:44,680 Speaker 1: weekly sketch show in case anybody somehow doesn't know be 335 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,880 Speaker 1: running since like the seventies at the at least. Right, So, 336 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,160 Speaker 1: this poem, the Song of Roland, is about the defeat 337 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 1: of Charlemagne's army by the Muslim army in a battle 338 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: in the Pyrenees in seven seventy eight. And in if 339 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:06,120 Speaker 1: let's get specific, in line two, thou the poem again, 340 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:10,639 Speaker 1: it's an epic poem. In verse two oh nine, the 341 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:15,720 Speaker 1: word califerne c a l I f e r n 342 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,200 Speaker 1: e is one of the lands that's mentioned. But they 343 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,680 Speaker 1: don't say in the poem where it is. They don't 344 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 1: tell you what it's next to, or you know, it's 345 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 1: named after a reference to what people believe is Africa. Cool. 346 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:34,000 Speaker 1: So people are saying, maybe Montalvo found that somewhere, and 347 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:38,160 Speaker 1: maybe that's where he found the name California. And then, uh, 348 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 1: there's the other idea that the term could derive from 349 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:45,680 Speaker 1: us a Spanish phrase, an old Spanish phrase call it fourne, 350 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 1: an alteration of the old Latin term khalida fornax, which 351 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:54,120 Speaker 1: means hot furnace. I don't you know what, I think 352 00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 1: we stick with the novel. I think that's the most 353 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:59,680 Speaker 1: interesting answer. Yeah. I think the thing too is um 354 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:01,400 Speaker 1: it's it's it really is kind of up in the air. 355 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:04,639 Speaker 1: It's not clear when California was named, and there was 356 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:08,719 Speaker 1: no like documentation. If I hear my name this land California, right, 357 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:10,720 Speaker 1: you know, like like like like the way you get 358 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:13,680 Speaker 1: in other um foundings. You know, it's much more of 359 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:15,639 Speaker 1: a thing like that Mitchell and web sketch that we 360 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:19,160 Speaker 1: keep referencing add nauseam. Go to Ridiculous Historians and join 361 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,200 Speaker 1: our Facebook group and you can see it for yourself, 362 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:23,639 Speaker 1: or you know, just google it. It's not it's not 363 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:26,600 Speaker 1: ad nauseam yet. It's ad nausea if I think if 364 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:27,959 Speaker 1: we do it four times, oh no, I think it's 365 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 1: I I think it's it applies because it really is. 366 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:34,040 Speaker 1: It's very much like I will call this the West Indies, 367 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,639 Speaker 1: like why does it make sense? Or this shall be 368 00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:43,920 Speaker 1: named hence Fath New Connecticut or no, not North Wales, 369 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:49,840 Speaker 1: no South Wales. But yeah, this what's interesting here is 370 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: that it's also a story of cartography because maps were 371 00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 1: bibles of geography right at this time, and they didn't 372 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:05,320 Speaker 1: agree nearly as often as maps do nowadays. And maps 373 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:07,359 Speaker 1: don't agree near as often as you might think even 374 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:09,480 Speaker 1: in the modern day. For sure, I want to Backtige. 375 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:14,080 Speaker 1: It's a little bit too to Montalvo. I'm on the 376 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:21,880 Speaker 1: right track. Um. He absolutely eroticized and um exoticized this 377 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: woman and people and her her body and her strength 378 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:29,640 Speaker 1: and and the like in almost a fetishistic kind of way. Um. 379 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:32,840 Speaker 1: There's a quote in this fabulous article, um from a 380 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:36,680 Speaker 1: blog called afro dot com, um that that reads as such, 381 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:39,359 Speaker 1: and this is a little rough language, but I just 382 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 1: want to it also is it's it's quite racist. He 383 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 1: was quite racist. Um. So here here it goes. He 384 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 1: describes Queen Califia as such as a queen quote, queen 385 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:54,879 Speaker 1: of majestic proportions, more beautiful than all others. And in 386 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,760 Speaker 1: the very vigor of her womanhood, she was not petite, 387 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:03,159 Speaker 1: nor blonde, nor golden haired. She was large and black 388 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:08,120 Speaker 1: as the ace of clubs. That's rough. That's a hard oof. 389 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: That's a big oof. And just I'm just saying I 390 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,679 Speaker 1: think it really it makes sense that this would have 391 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 1: been written in such a way as to take these 392 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:23,640 Speaker 1: characters and twist them to this particular kind of worldview 393 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:26,720 Speaker 1: of of of the Spanish at the time. He would 394 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,520 Speaker 1: have been around during like the Spanish Inquisition, and a 395 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:32,919 Speaker 1: lot of the kind of medieval thinking around some of 396 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:37,359 Speaker 1: this stuff. And uh, it shows Yeah, it calls to 397 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:42,240 Speaker 1: mind the person for whom both New World continents are 398 00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 1: named after. America is named after Amerigo Vespucci. Not a 399 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:52,840 Speaker 1: good guy, not the best, not the best one. But luckily, 400 00:25:53,440 --> 00:26:00,320 Speaker 1: California as a modern state has moved well beyond the 401 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:06,720 Speaker 1: mothering racist descriptions found in Mao's novel and become not 402 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:11,800 Speaker 1: only one of the most progressive states in the United States, 403 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 1: but also the largest economy I believe, Oh my God, 404 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 1: for sure. And here's a one more thing from this 405 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:24,159 Speaker 1: afro dot com piece. Um it talks about there's a 406 00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 1: woman that's interviewed for this piece whose name is Tamara L. Dickas, 407 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:32,600 Speaker 1: and she is actually mounting, or at least at the 408 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:37,040 Speaker 1: time of this article, was mounting a campaign to change 409 00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:42,640 Speaker 1: the Seal of California to include an image of Califia 410 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:47,040 Speaker 1: um as opposed to Minerva, who was the Roman goddess 411 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:51,280 Speaker 1: of wisdom um and also in the Greek tradition, she 412 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:55,160 Speaker 1: would have been Athena Truscan counter exactly and um. So 413 00:26:55,240 --> 00:27:00,000 Speaker 1: she is featured on the seal that was designed by 414 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 1: a Confederate soldier who just kind of made the seal 415 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,880 Speaker 1: on his own um. And then he even used according 416 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:10,040 Speaker 1: to the article, a false name and it just kind 417 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:14,119 Speaker 1: of stuck. And Um, this woman, Tamara L. Dicas is 418 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:18,160 Speaker 1: mounted a campaign called Callie is Me to quote right 419 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: the wrong and um put Califia on the seal. Uh 420 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,479 Speaker 1: to you know, have this beautiful black woman featured. Um, 421 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,240 Speaker 1: and to show kind of the history of the naming. 422 00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:32,840 Speaker 1: But again all of the stuff that we've just discussed 423 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:37,920 Speaker 1: about that history. Nah, exactly on shell he said, yeah. 424 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:42,920 Speaker 1: And speaking of the name, one quick correction here, I 425 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:45,679 Speaker 1: believe it was me who said that once by a 426 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: time Cortez tried to name the island quote unquote island 427 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:53,640 Speaker 1: Santa Cruz. No, no, no, no, no no. He went 428 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:57,879 Speaker 1: back and tried to rename it Santa Cruz and everybody said, uh, 429 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:02,000 Speaker 1: uh sorry, buddy, you took your dot. It's California, got you. 430 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:04,560 Speaker 1: And that's how it's always been, So think about it. 431 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 1: Things went a little bit differently in history. We would 432 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:09,720 Speaker 1: not have the fine state of California. We'd have the 433 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,879 Speaker 1: fine state of Santa Cruz. It's very true. And Califia 434 00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:17,359 Speaker 1: is actually featured in a kind of a multi media 435 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 1: exhibition that ended uh in two thousand eight at Disney's 436 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:26,280 Speaker 1: California Adventure Park in Anaheim, where a Whoopi Goldberg actually 437 00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 1: plays her in sort of projection mapped form where there 438 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,960 Speaker 1: are these busts, the statues of the goddess. Um. She 439 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: went really goddess. I guess she was more of a 440 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:38,880 Speaker 1: warrior queen um, and she narrates kind of this history 441 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:42,080 Speaker 1: of California, um with all these you know, Disney bells 442 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 1: and whistles and stuff. But they retired that in oh eight, 443 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:46,880 Speaker 1: but um, it was kind of the centerpiece of the 444 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 1: whole production to so they clearly felt pretty good about 445 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:54,880 Speaker 1: having that heritage there, and we feel pretty good about 446 00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: the name California overall, despite its dodgy beginnings. We hope 447 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,240 Speaker 1: this has been as fascinating and strange for you all 448 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:07,800 Speaker 1: as it is for us. And this concludes our episode today. 449 00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:09,960 Speaker 1: But we have a couple of questions for you. First, 450 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: have you ever seen a griffin in real life? They're 451 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:16,480 Speaker 1: not real? Okay, let's make sure it's not like you 452 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:18,000 Speaker 1: know how I feel about birds. I don't really keep 453 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:20,360 Speaker 1: up with them, so maybe I figured maybe I missed, 454 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 1: But you, like, you know, what, isn't a griffin like 455 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,400 Speaker 1: a comic like a bird? Lion or something. That's what 456 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:29,840 Speaker 1: it is. Uh. They're super cool too. Uh so yeah, 457 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,720 Speaker 1: surprise us if you have actually seen a griffin. Let 458 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:36,200 Speaker 1: us though. We will be astounded. I also let us 459 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:39,920 Speaker 1: know what states you think we should cover next in 460 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 1: an upcoming episode of Ridiculous History. And now we got 461 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,840 Speaker 1: to keep track. Well, we were good so far. Yeah, yeah, 462 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: we haven't doubled up, have we? No, not yet? You're certain? Yes, 463 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:55,440 Speaker 1: and we are going to. We're gonna have so much 464 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:57,280 Speaker 1: fun with us. It's going to be so strange. If 465 00:29:57,280 --> 00:29:59,680 Speaker 1: you'd like to have fun with us, then check out 466 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,560 Speaker 1: our community page on Facebook, Ridiculous Historians, where you can 467 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,520 Speaker 1: hang out with your fellow listeners and learn some very 468 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: strange facts. You can also give us topic suggestions, and 469 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:12,719 Speaker 1: who knows, they might appear on the air. You can 470 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:15,600 Speaker 1: find us on Instagram and Twitter as well. You can 471 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:17,880 Speaker 1: also write to us at ridiculous at how stuff works 472 00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:20,520 Speaker 1: dot com, um, and we might even read one of 473 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:23,240 Speaker 1: your letters on the show. But we have one last 474 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: thing to do. We hope you will join us in 475 00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:28,880 Speaker 1: doing this. Wherever you're listening to this podcast, say it 476 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 1: out loud with us. We are going to on the 477 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 1: count of three bid our super producer Casey Pagram bond 478 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: Voyage one two three bon Voyage. He will return very soon. 479 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:46,400 Speaker 1: We have a cavalcade of super producers who will be 480 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:51,320 Speaker 1: sitting in a cod stable of them, Yes, a roster battalion. 481 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:55,160 Speaker 1: And again twist and Casey's arm hopefully is going to 482 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:59,840 Speaker 1: send us some cool audio postcards from a Perry A. 483 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:03,120 Speaker 1: Gonna make eye contact real quick with him. You already said, yes, 484 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:05,120 Speaker 1: he's nodding. Okay, we'll see you next time.