WEBVTT - The Artifact: The Poisoned Tooth

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of

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<v Speaker 1>My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and

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<v Speaker 1>this is the Artifact, a new short form series from

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on particular objects, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>and moments in time. In this episode, I want to

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<v Speaker 1>talk about a concept quite familiar to fans of spy

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<v Speaker 1>movies and space operas, a false tooth that contains a

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<v Speaker 1>deadly poison. Fans of Frank Herbert's Doone may best remember

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<v Speaker 1>this innovation as a piece of technology. The doctor You

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<v Speaker 1>implants in Duke Letto's mouth, telling him that he need

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<v Speaker 1>only break the tooth open to exhale his poison onto

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<v Speaker 1>Baron Harkonen and kill them both in a last act

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<v Speaker 1>of defiance. Of course, the homicidal aspects of the invention

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<v Speaker 1>don't work as well as intended for Letto, but we

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<v Speaker 1>see variations of the suicidal principle here in other films

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<v Speaker 1>as well. In the second season of The Mandalorian un

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<v Speaker 1>Imperial Captain bites open a false tooth that electrifies them

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<v Speaker 1>to death. Variations of the poison tooth also appear in

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<v Speaker 1>the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the James Bond franchise. The

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<v Speaker 1>concept is intriguing, but is there any reality to it?

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<v Speaker 1>Certainly cyanide capsules have been used by captives and would

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<v Speaker 1>be captives, most notably in the case of multiple high

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<v Speaker 1>ranking Nazis after the close of World War Two, But

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<v Speaker 1>did they ever store one in a false tooth? Writing

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<v Speaker 1>for Atlas Obscura, and Eric Grundhauser spoke with Vince Hoton,

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<v Speaker 1>curator of the International Spy Museum in Washington, d C.

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<v Speaker 1>On the topic, and Hoden indicated that he had never

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<v Speaker 1>come across any evidence of their existence. While glass capsules

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<v Speaker 1>of cyanide, a fast acting poison, were sometimes hidden in

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<v Speaker 1>the tips of pins and other items, or even temporarily

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<v Speaker 1>secreted in the mouth, the false tooth idea presents too

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<v Speaker 1>many problems. Not only would it prove dangerous to carry

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<v Speaker 1>around in your head, but the capsule size required to

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<v Speaker 1>carry uh an advisably lethal dose of ionide was typically

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<v Speaker 1>too large for such concealment. Plus, there are simply better

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<v Speaker 1>places to secure such a deadly secret. Herman Goring, for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>is thought to have kept a cyanide capsule hidden in

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<v Speaker 1>his navel or possibly his rectum, for eleven months during

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<v Speaker 1>his Nuremberg War crimes trials before using the capsule in

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<v Speaker 1>n Some historians, however, proposed that Goring's pill was simply

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<v Speaker 1>slipped to him, and, as Bob Poole reported for the

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<v Speaker 1>Los Angeles Times in two thousand and five, a former

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<v Speaker 1>American g I named Herbert Lee Stivers claimed responsibility for

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<v Speaker 1>passing the capsule to Goring, believing it to merely be

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<v Speaker 1>medicine hidden in a pin. But hollow teeth used in

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<v Speaker 1>espionage were also a reality, designed to carry microfilm and

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<v Speaker 1>other very small items of value. For example, during World

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<v Speaker 1>War Two, German spy Nikolai Hansen kept an invisible ink

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<v Speaker 1>capsule hidden inside one of his teeth. In the end,

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<v Speaker 1>the poison tooth seems to be a mash up of

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<v Speaker 1>two realities, poison capsules that were sometimes hidden in the

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<v Speaker 1>mouth and could be crushed between the teeth to release

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<v Speaker 1>the poison, and false or hollow teeth used to conceal

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<v Speaker 1>very small items of spycraft. It's an imagined item, a

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<v Speaker 1>fictional artifact, but it emerges from the real world. Tune

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<v Speaker 1>into additional editions of the artifact each week, hosted by

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<v Speaker 1>either Joe or myself. As always, you can email us

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<v Speaker 1>at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is a production of I

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<v Speaker 1>heart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit

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