WEBVTT - Listener Mail: Fume Cupboard 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:05.280 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 0:00:05.360 --> 0:00:10.720 My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind. 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:15.040 Listener Mail. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:17.599 and we're gonna jump right into the messages that we've 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:20.520 received from you over the past week. Rob if you're ready, 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:22.320 I'm going to jump right in with this first message 0:00:22.320 --> 0:00:31.520 from j Let's do it okay, Jay says, Dear Robert 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:36.120 and Joe, medium time listener here, love the show, etcetera, etcetera. 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:39.640 I was recently listening to your episode on the Universal Solvent, 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:42.600 as is my habit, I was listening while at work. 0:00:42.680 --> 0:00:45.680 I'm a doctoral candidate in a chemical field, so in 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:48.440 this instance that means I was working in a chemical lab. 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:52.239 So color me surprised when I heard you mentioned piranha solution, 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:57.200 which is an aqueous solution of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide. 0:00:57.640 --> 0:01:00.319 Not because you were wrong, but because piranha has been 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:03.400 a normal part of my life and I never reflected 0:01:03.400 --> 0:01:06.880 on its peculiar properties and never considered them something special. 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:09.520 So when it came up, I immediately walked over to 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:13.200 the dedicated Piranha workspace in the lab and snapped a 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:17.160 picture attached Roba put it in our document here. There's 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:19.200 no grand point I'm trying to make. I just figured 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:21.320 you might get some enjoyment out of seeing a physical 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:24.320 representation that some of the exotic topics you discuss are 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:28.320 everyday stuff to others. Kind regards Jay and Jay is 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:30.919 attached a picture of what is known as the Piranha 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:35.200 fume cupboard, an absolutely beautiful cellar door of a pair 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:38.200 of words, Yes and it's I should drive home that 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:40.680 it does look very every day. This looks. This looks 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:43.280 very professional, very normal. It does not look like something 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:45.280 that would you would find in a Bond villain layer 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:48.720 or anything like that. But it's it's neat. Nonetheless, just 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:57.480 a little snapshot of of everyday life involving Piranha fume cupboards. Yeah, 0:01:57.560 --> 0:01:59.680 one minute you're getting the groceries, the next minute you're 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:08.560 working in the Piranha fume covered Okay, Rob, you want 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:11.280 to do this? Next message from Anna, Yeah, this one 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:14.519 is a response to our episode on Subterines. This is 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:19.240 a vault episode, um and it writes high Robert, Joe, 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:22.440 and Seth, I enjoyed your recent vault episode on subterines. 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:24.520 In the episode, you were amusing how it is kind 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:27.239 of dumb that so many digging machines are called the 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.480 mole when there are so many other digging creatures out there. 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:33.120 I agree. I think a much better name would be 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:36.200 the wombat. A wombat is basically a creature that already 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:38.960 looks like some kind of industrial device designed by a 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:41.640 wacky engineer. It is as if they're trying to make 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:44.000 a small tank that can dig, but it also has 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:46.720 to be cute and furry. It has some extra whack 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:50.360 features like backwards pouch so dirt doesn't get flicked in 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:55.000 while digging, and cube shaped pooh. I believe that was 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:59.200 a cube shape poo was an Ignoble Award winning um 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:03.320 topic at one point. That's correct. They continue, and if 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:05.800 you are going to design something to be used in battle, 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:10.000 combat already rhymes with wombat. That rhymes, and you know 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:13.920 it rhymes. Thanks for all your great work. It keeps 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:16.480 me entertained while I have to scan and date documents. 0:03:16.720 --> 0:03:19.680 This includes a lot of time removing staples, so I 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:24.320 really appreciate something that keeps my mind active. Thanks Anna, Anna. 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:26.400 We are so glad we could enliven your times at 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:29.080 the Staple Mill. I wonder if we could do an 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:31.840 episode on the stapler. The invention of the stapler perhaps 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:35.680 is that one that's like actually not interesting. We keep 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:38.680 wondering if we're gonna like come across an invention like 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:41.960 this at some point. Um, Yeah, I guess the thing is, 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:43.960 I know we've looked into some before where they just 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:47.240 don't catch our our fancy, but we haven't. Actually, I 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:50.040 don't think we've actively researched the stapler yet. We'll take 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:58.320 the stapler challenge. We'll see if we can make it work. Alright. 0:03:58.360 --> 0:04:01.040 This next message is from my Mia says, Hey, Joe 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:03.800 and Robert love the podcast. I was listening to your 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:07.760 episode on the Comfort in the Box and your descriptions 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:11.360 of anchor rights reminded me of the modern phenomenon of 0:04:11.440 --> 0:04:15.640 hikiko mori. Hikiko mori has been defined as a state 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:18.400 that has become a problem by the late twenties that 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:22.800 involves cooping oneself up in one's home and not participating 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:25.960 in society for six months or longer. But that does 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:30.280 not seem to have another psychological problem as its principal source. 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:33.760 Oh okay, so would that mean like, it's not necessarily 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:36.480 agoraphobia or something else like that that has as a 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:39.760 symptom staying at home, But it's just like the the 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:42.800 act of staying cooped up at home by itself. I 0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:47.200 guess interesting. Yeah, I wonder anyway Maya goes on. Though 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:50.480 not a religiously motivated ascetic lifestyle, there seemed to be 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:53.719 a lot of similarities. Uh, talking about similarities to the 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:58.000 anchoritic tradition. I hope you guys are safe over there, Maya. Rob. 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:01.200 Do you know anything about this this condition? Um? I 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:03.080 don't know. I don't think I've looked at any anything 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:07.600 about it before. Um, but it's it's interesting it. I 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:10.240 wonder if it how much of it is tied to 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:15.040 just sort of modern urban living, you know, and smaller 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:18.000 environments that that people didn't to to to reside. And 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:19.839 and of course, as we kind of mused in in 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:24.400 that episode, I just wonder what impact the global pandemic 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:29.039 will have on this sort of thing moving forward, you know. So, 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:31.560 I know it is a is a Japanese term that 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:34.880 comes from the Japanese language, but I would assume that 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:37.760 this is not just an isolated cultural phenomenon in Japan, 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:41.080 but probably describes something that is has a broader reality 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:43.880 in the world. Um, I would wonder if this kind 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:47.760 of thing becomes more common in the Internet age. Yeah, 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:50.280 I mean, because that does allow you to be somewhat 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:54.839 socially connected, uh and and connected via media to the 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:58.960 to the rest of the world while occupying your small place. Yeah. 0:05:58.960 --> 0:06:02.680 I kept thinking about that, the anchorite situation, and I 0:06:02.760 --> 0:06:05.200 was like talking to my wife about it over over vacation, 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:07.040 and I was like, yeah, and you're you're just right 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:09.200 there in the church walls and you'd get to watch 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:12.640 church whenever you want. Um, like that was your that's 0:06:12.640 --> 0:06:15.480 your only channel, that's your only web page, is whatever's 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:19.080 going on in church at that given moment. But nowadays, 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:21.240 you know you can just you can be hooked up 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.880 to all churches at all times. I was talking to 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:25.919 one of my friends about it, who ended up looking 0:06:25.960 --> 0:06:28.160 into it himself, and he said that he came across 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.880 some examples at least or at least one example where 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:35.520 the person could leave their cell but only into the church, 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:38.640 and that was, like, I guess a variation. So normally 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:40.680 you'd be totally stuck in the cell and you can 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:43.359 just view the church through a window. The other version 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:45.240 is there's a door going into the church, but you 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:49.320 can't leave the door of the church going outside. Is 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:53.279 that better or worse? I don't know. I mean, of course, 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:55.640 so part of the reality is like you're you're pooping 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:59.760 in there, right, so, um, I don't know. It means 0:06:59.880 --> 0:07:03.440 you you occupy the closest bathroom to the church, to 0:07:03.600 --> 0:07:08.560 to the sanctuary itself. That's a good point. See in 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:11.040 the middle of the sermon, somebody's knocking on your door, like, 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:15.080 really need to use your pot, but you can't because 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:23.320 it's sacred, right all right. Here's another one. This comes 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:27.320 to us from Helen on the topic of an iconism. Hello, 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:29.960 Robert and Joe. I just finished listening to the first 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:32.840 of the Anichonism series, and of course the second isn't 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:35.760 available yet, so this may be premature, but listening to 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:39.080 the episode, and particularly hearing about the religious symbol of 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:43.720 the conical stone connected to afroddity, reminded me about C. S. 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.440 Lewis's book Until We Have Faces This, by the way, 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:49.520 this is one I have not read. I read a 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:51.200 fair amount of C. S. Lewis back in the day, 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:53.440 but I never read till we have faces. No, I 0:07:53.480 --> 0:07:56.800 haven't either, so this is new to me. Helen continues. 0:07:57.200 --> 0:07:59.840 Quote in this novel, which retells the story of Cupid 0:07:59.840 --> 0:08:03.000 and Psyche from the perspective of Psyche's sister, that is deeply, 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:06.240 deeply limited synopsis, and I apologize to all the literary 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:09.480 scholars who wrote their thesis on this book and would object. 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:13.760 There is a deity known as unget connected, I believe 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:16.720 with Aphrodite, whose icon in her own temple is a 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:20.720 great stone. Beyond that, holding the gods and the self 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:23.760 is a major theme in the book, obviously, both in 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:26.720 that Psyche was expressly forbidden from looking upon the face 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:29.520 of her divine lover, and that the main character struggles 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:32.600 with her appearance, described from her youth as particularly ugly 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:36.360 in direct contrast to the other worldly beauty of Psyche. 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:40.000 When the main character begins acquiring power in her city 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:42.640 state and ultimately becomes queen, she makes a point of 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:45.520 covering her face with a veil. Over time, enough people 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:48.640 have either forgotten the specifics of her appearance or never 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.199 seen her face to begin with, and the rumors begin. 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:55.680 Is she impossibly beautiful? Is she monstrous? This unknowable mystique 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:58.480 becomes central to her image as a queen, while at 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:01.240 the same time continuing the theme of what it means 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:03.600 to be seen, to be known, and to be either 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:07.600 ugly or beautiful. Again, apologies to all literary scholars everywhere. 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.600 It is an intricate novel, much more so than I 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:13.680 have laid out here, and very worthy of bringing up 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:16.520 in conversation, not just because of the seed at the 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:18.920 center that is the story of Cupid and Psyche, but 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.440 also because the lens applied by C. S. Lewis's own 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:24.680 faith and perspective as a Christian author known for weaving 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:28.920 Christian symbolism into his written works see as Lan. Thank 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:31.880 you for the great listens, Helen. Oh thanks Helen. That 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:34.720 sounds really interesting. It's I've never read it, but right 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.040 up my alley a bit. I was. I've been thinking 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:40.640 about C. S. Lewis his work recently because the ended 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:44.000 up watching The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:48.120 the Four Kids recently, and then the boys been reading 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:50.760 a couple of them because he wanted to. He was 0:09:50.840 --> 0:09:53.719 interested in reading more from the Narnia series, so he's 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:56.360 been reading them and we've been thinking about watching some 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:59.080 more of the films. So I've had just some of 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:01.640 that stuff idly kicking around my brain. So it's interesting 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:05.400 to hear back from a listener regarding the writings of C. S. Lewis. Yeah, 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:07.720 I'd be interested to revisit those. I read them when 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:10.880 I was a kid. I reflecting on them now, I 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:14.600 seem I think I would probably enjoy the earlier novels 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.000 in that series better than the later ones, where the 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:19.560 it seems like in the later ones maybe the Christian 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:24.400 allegories get a little too overt. Yeah, that that I 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:26.080 guess that would be my word. I never read any 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:29.280 of the Narnia books until I did the first one 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:31.880 with my my son. I ended up reading a lot 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:35.280 of Lewis work later on, like the Space Trilogy and 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:46.199 so forth. Yeah, screwtape the classics alright. This next message 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:50.079 comes from Ben Ben Rights. Hi, Robert and Joe. Thanks 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:53.680 for your two recent episodes on aniconism as a devout Catholic. 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:55.800 It tugged on a lot of thoughts and ideas for me, 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:58.880 always a sign of a good episode. As you went 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:02.079 through your rapid fire list of modern pop culture examples 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:05.960 of antichonism, One example struck me as notably absent from 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:09.880 your list Wilson the Neighbor and the TV show Home Improvement. 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:13.079 His face was never shown, and the show often went 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:16.560 to hilarious lengths to keep it concealed. This maintained the 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:20.120 mystery of this character, who was the wise, independable dispenser 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:23.440 of knowledge and reason. I never watched Home Improvement, so 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:26.240 I'm only in the vaguest sense aware of this character. 0:11:26.840 --> 0:11:29.840 But he is he is supposed to be a normal human, right, Yeah, 0:11:29.840 --> 0:11:32.280 I think so. He wouldn't he like always behind a 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:36.760 fence or something. Yeah, I vaguely remember like seeing images 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:38.640 of this or clips that. Yeah, it's it's he's behind 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:42.559 a fence. He's the neighbor that's talking to what's his name, 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.520 the main character, buzz like Tim Allen, Tim Allen, Yeah, 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:48.320 and um, and you only ever see the top of 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:51.400 his head, like eyes eyes up is all you ever see. 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:54.440 So but but presumably I'm guessing there is the rest 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:57.199 of his body. It's not like like a hideous otherworldly 0:11:57.240 --> 0:11:59.920 being from the you know, from the nose down or 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:04.800 anything like that was famous nineties teen dreamboat Jonathan Taylor 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:08.120 Thomas also on that show, I think he was. Yeah, 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:10.520 but who played Wilson? Was Wilson someone of note? Was 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:12.520 he the guy from the Munsters? Or you just sound 0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:14.720 like the guy from the Munsters had kind of fred 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:18.080 Ward kind of quality? Right? Oh? Interesting, hold on, not 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:21.040 fred Ward? Who am I thinking of? I apologize to everyone. 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:23.600 I'm really jet lagged, so a lot of my associations 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:27.559 are coming u. Yes, Seth this chimed in and told 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:29.640 us that I'm thinking of fred Gwinn, not fred Ward. 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:34.560 Fred Ward. That's right. Yes, he was in Tremors and 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:39.480 he was in that that noir movie with sorcery in it. Oh, 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:42.760 cast a deadly spell, cast a deadly spell? Yes? Oh? Oh? 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.560 Is that? Is that a candidate for Weird House someday? 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:48.400 Perhaps I've never seen it, but they're yeah, they're neither. 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:53.000 We're a couple of sort of Lovecraftian noir films of 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:56.000 of possible interest, and and that's certainly one of them. 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:58.760 That's I guess it was like an HBO production, right, 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:00.839 because it was always on h streaming. It was like 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:04.079 the one constant, one of the pillars of the whole thing. 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:05.920 It's like, we paid for this baby, so it's it's 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:10.160 always going to be available. Oh anyway, sorry to wrap 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:13.280 up Ben's email. Ben also says that he enjoys a 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:16.040 bunch of the stuff podcasts that he's listened to, to 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:18.120 us to stuff you should know, stuff you missed in 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:21.640 history class. Uh, he's listened to Invention, and he's about 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:24.040 to start listening to stuff mom never told you, and 0:13:24.080 --> 0:13:26.640 says podcasts have helped me get through some truly dark times. 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:30.120 So thanks again, sincerely, been glad to hear from you, Ben, 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:32.559 Thanks for writing in. Yeah, and and certainly that's a 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:35.760 that's a good example with Wilson though, and I guess 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:39.360 also a reminder that that an ichonism need not mean 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:42.840 anything at all, just it can just be kind of 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:46.800 need as a visual choice or a visual gag. Yeah, 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:55.520 but the message is concerning anichonism. Continue, all right. This 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.280 one comes to us from Richard. Hi. Guys, the Anichonism 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:01.280 episodes were utterly fascinating for me and made me think 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.680 about devotion in a very different light. One thing, however, 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:07.480 struck me very quickly, which perhaps was worthy of much 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:10.720 closer attention. My perspective is one of a very lapsed 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:15.480 Catholic with a degree in Catholic theology interesting. In the episodes, 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:19.200 you use the term cross and crucifix pretty much interchangeably, when, 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:22.600 especially in this context, they have distinct meanings generally and 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.640 certainly in the realm of Catholic devotion, both Roman and Eastern. 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:29.000 Across is in its basic form, two pieces of wood, 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:32.360 one at right angles to the other, forming a cross beam. 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:36.040 A crucifix is a cross with crucially a representation of 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:39.240 crucified Jesus on it, whether a card figure or a 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:46.120 painting usually expired. You always got to check your expiration dates. Yeah, 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:48.480 but I have come across this distinction before. Yeah, the 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:53.240 crucifix is specifically the cross with Jesus on it. Yeah. Now, 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.560 you always see people using a cross against a vampire. 0:14:57.440 --> 0:14:59.760 Can you also use a crucifix against the vampire? One 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:02.960 of assume, right, I think you can. Yeah, I would. Yeah. 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:05.680 I wonder if that would be more powerful or less. 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:10.960 Maybe that actually depends on your soteriology. Yeah, anyway, they continue. 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:14.160 The difference is therefore fairly significant when discussing the difference 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:17.280 between a physical representation and the divine slash God had 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.400 and an object associated with it. Even on the surface, 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:23.920 there's a very obvious representational difference between an inanimate object 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:27.160 and a literal representation of the Son of God. Books 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:29.080 have been written on the topic, but as a basic 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:32.200 one paragraph summary. Within Catholic theology, the cross is a 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:36.200 representation of God's grace and and of salvation and the resurrection. 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.360 The cross is empty. The crucifix is broadly the cost 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:42.120 of salvation, underlying christ suffering in the wages of sin. 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:45.960 This is one reason why Protestant churches generally skewed the 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:48.720 concept of the crucifix. As to put it very bluntly 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:53.080 and as somewhat of an over generalization. Protestant theology generally 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:56.280 favors the impact of God's grace and salvation over the 0:15:56.320 --> 0:16:01.080 impact of the wages of sin. Within both Roman Catholic 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:03.880 and Eastern churches, the way crosses and crucifix are venerated 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:06.600 is subtly different, and I invite anyone to pay closer 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:10.360 attention when visiting churches, especially pre Reformation ones in Europe 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:14.760 and the Levant, when the churches were not specifically trying 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:18.960 to distinguish themselves from other Christian denominations. There is a 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:22.680 separate discussion to be had about the second diagonal crossbar 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:25.960 on Eastern Orthodox crosses and crucifixes, but that is not 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:29.560 directly connected to the issue of an ichonism. Keep up 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:31.920 the good work helping my brain, working on my daily 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:37.040 communite to work. Richard's some work, Richard. Uh yeah, well 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:39.400 this is interesting. Thanks for getting in touch. I feel 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:41.040 like this is something that was on the tip of 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:42.880 my tongue in the episode, but maybe it just never 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:46.560 came up as the difference between the the the occupied 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:50.080 cross with Jesus on it represented figurally versus the the 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:54.000 empty cross just as an inanimate symbol. But yeah, thanks 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:56.760 for this explanation. I think you're generally on the mark 0:16:56.800 --> 0:17:00.480 about the the trends in the theological implications of the 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:11.879 two different symbols. Alright. This next message is in response 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:14.560 to our episodes about beans, and it comes from Windy 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:19.080 in China. Wendy says, Hello, Robert and Joe. Love the podcast. 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:22.320 Longtime listener, but I'm a little behind recently and had 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:25.640 just heard the episodes about beans. When I heard about 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.720 the yard long beans and you said that you didn't 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.200 know how to eat them, I instantly knew I had 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:33.640 to write to you. I haven't caught up to date still, 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:36.600 so please excuse me if anyone had already mentioned it. 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:39.720 In most of the regional cuisines of China, the long 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:43.920 beans are for frying, for example, Sichuan style spicy fry 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:47.320 with dry red hot pepper, or simply fried with some 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:50.120 pork meat, like how you can fry most vegetables with. 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:52.920 But my favorite way of preparing the yard long beans 0:17:53.000 --> 0:17:57.720 is definitely the fermented sour yard long beans called pickled 0:17:57.800 --> 0:18:01.480 Chinese long beans. Um oh, and I'm gonna try the 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:06.560 pronunciation on this swan do jao. I hope that's close. 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:10.280 And she links a video showing how these are being prepared, 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:13.159 and in describing the video, Wendy says she's using the 0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:17.040 shorter kind of beans, but most Chinese use the longer kind. 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:21.440 There are also some different ways to ferment. Some use water, salt, 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:24.879 and brand seasoning the whole beans. Some cut them up 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:28.560 before and only put salt without water. This results in 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:31.480 some differences in taste and texture. I've also heard that 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:34.200 if you want the beans to remain crunchy after being pickled, 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:37.159 pick the beans young and they will be better than 0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:40.640 the fully ripe ones. Uh. You know I love fermented vegetables, 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:42.920 so this sounds right, up my alley. I don't think 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:45.080 I've had this before, but now I've got to try 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:47.040 it out. Maybe I can find it at I wonder 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:50.560 is this is this specifically a Sichuan pickled vegetable or 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:54.320 is this uh? I guess she doesn't say. Anyway, Wendy 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:57.000 goes on, however you ferment it, it is great to 0:18:57.040 --> 0:18:59.919 cook with it with minced meat after being cut in 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:04.560 smaller pieces, or where I'm from the southwest regions of China, 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:08.960 like Guangxi, Guizao or Junan Province, you simply put the 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:11.720 cut up beans in rice noodles as an add on. 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:15.520 It's made popular nationally by the famous rice noodle dish 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:20.840 called low c fin or which means the Luzau River 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:24.560 snails rice noodle. WHOA, that sounds cool. It's a very 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:28.239 common ingredient in Guangxi cuisine and an important element in 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:32.120 Guiland rice noodle too. People also cut up and fry 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:34.480 the fermented beans with some oil and red pepper. It's 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:37.760 great as a small dish to eat with rice or porridge. 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:40.159 Really like the show and looking forward to learning more 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:43.800 interesting facts, theories, history and stories, et cetera. All good 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.919 stuff best Wendy awesome. Well, yeah, I always love to 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:49.879 hear from from our listeners in China, and indeed I 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:52.120 was looking at the video here these look These look great, 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:55.600 you know, very vibrant looking. And it's also you know, 0:19:55.880 --> 0:20:03.800 Vegan recipe obviously. Yeah, all right, this one comes to 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:07.400 us from Steve titled Invention of Beds. Hi, I'll thanks 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:09.720 for the podcast. Only discovered it a couple of months ago, 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:12.240 and I've been binging. I just listened to your Invention 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:16.000 episode on beds and you were discussing sleep patterns. I'm English, 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:18.879 but for a few years in the early aughts, I 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:22.360 lived in uh Seville, south of Spain, down by Morocco. 0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:25.159 In the summer, in fact, most of the year, the 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:27.159 middle part of the day is so crazy hot that 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:30.440 it requires a siesta. This means that at least then. 0:20:30.720 --> 0:20:32.400 I don't know what it's like now, but I can't 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:35.240 imagine it's changed the entire city, which shut down between 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:38.800 maybe two pm and five pm. After siesta, you'd maybe 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:40.720 go back to work for a few hours and do 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:44.480 social activities outdoors in the evenings when it was cooler. 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:47.040 Ten pm was a normal time to meet friends for 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:50.240 a beer, getting to bed, maybe at three am, maybe 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.320 sleeping five hours, then getting up for work. You'd supplement 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:57.160 this with three hours siestas in the afternoon. During Cista time, 0:20:57.280 --> 0:20:59.879 it's too hot to do anything but sleep, have sex, 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:03.920 drink somewhere shady, or go to church. I'm not religious, 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:07.800 but those ancient, beautiful churches are always pleasingly cool inside. 0:21:08.680 --> 0:21:10.840 I was working as an English teacher, and my work 0:21:10.960 --> 0:21:14.120 day was split to allow for siesta and associated travel time. 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:17.639 That the same was true for most workers. During siestas, 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:20.960 shops shut, the city was silent. The saying was only 0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:23.680 mad dogs that Englishmen go out in the noonday sun. 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:27.240 This Englishman declined to do so, but it took a 0:21:27.240 --> 0:21:29.360 while to adjust to this pattern of sleeping a few 0:21:29.359 --> 0:21:31.480 hours in the afternoon and a few more at night. 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:34.560 I love the only mad dogs and Englishmen go out 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:37.399 in the midday sun. Wonderful. I've heard that before, but 0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:40.760 I'd never heard of an anecdote where it directly applied 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:45.880 anyway they could, did you? Uh? Somehow? When I when 0:21:45.880 --> 0:21:47.800 I had made the adjustment, I felt it was a 0:21:47.840 --> 0:21:50.400 healthier way to sleep, the fact that I was able 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:52.639 to adjust to a different routine of sleeping suggests to 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:55.040 me that perhaps our Western pattern of sleeping for a 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:58.119 long stretch during the night is not biologically imperative but 0:21:58.359 --> 0:22:01.600 entirely cultural. Makes me wonder if there might be even 0:22:01.640 --> 0:22:04.280 better ways to manage our need for sleep. I know 0:22:04.320 --> 0:22:07.240 shift workers who struggle with night shifts and rotating shifts. 0:22:07.440 --> 0:22:10.320 The demands of capitalism are often inimical to healthy sleep, 0:22:10.600 --> 0:22:12.840 but a short sleep and a nap later seemed to 0:22:12.920 --> 0:22:17.080 work well. Perhaps there are other possibilities not yet explored. Anyway, 0:22:17.080 --> 0:22:19.280 I just wanted to share my experience. Thanks for the podcast, 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:22.560 keep them coming. Oh and I'm loving the cinema ones too, 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:27.120