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Welcome to 10 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClean smith were for the 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: weeks in between episodes, we look at stories and ideas that, 12 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: for one reason or other, didn't make it into the 13 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: previous show. In our last episode, Folly Adieu, we followed 14 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: the extraordinary story of forty year old twins Suboena and 15 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: Ursula Ericson. In two thousand and eight, the pair embarked 16 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:07,759 Speaker 1: on a bizarre and chaotic journey from Ireland bound for London, England, 17 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:11,319 Speaker 1: which resulted in a serious injury for Ursula and the 18 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:15,199 Speaker 1: murder of a seemingly innocent man, Glenn Hollind's head, which 19 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: Sabina was later convicted of psychiatrists argued that Sabina had 20 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: suffered from a very rare form of momentary insanity known 21 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: as folly adur a madness of two. The condition they 22 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:32,759 Speaker 1: believed had been brought on due to Sabina's apparent intense 23 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: connection to Ursula, who was thought to have been suffering 24 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: from a fevered state of paranoia and delusion at the time, 25 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: which was effectively contracted by Sabina. However, since cases such 26 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:48,559 Speaker 1: as these are extremely rare, with some medical professionals even 27 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: questioning their existence, and with neither sister going on record 28 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: to explain exactly what occurred, some have questioned the official 29 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: narrative of this story, or at least what little there 30 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: is of it. One of the more contentious theories about 31 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: what actually happened is the suggestion that Sabina and Ursula 32 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: were acting under some kind of jiress or had been 33 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: instructed to complete a task of some kind with links 34 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:17,120 Speaker 1: to a large drug operation. It has also been speculated 35 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,799 Speaker 1: that the pair were already under police observation when they 36 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:25,920 Speaker 1: were initially spotted walking along the motorway. One argument claims 37 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 1: that cut footage from a two thousand and eight BBC 38 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: documentary detailing the unusual events reveals that the two women 39 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: were initially arrested under section one three six of the 40 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: Mental Health Act. Had this been the case, Sabina would 41 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: not ordinarily have been released only a few days later, 42 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,399 Speaker 1: and as such would not have gone on to kill 43 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 1: Glenn Hollins's head, the inference being that perhaps an order 44 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: had come from higher up to let Sabina go regardless 45 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,080 Speaker 1: of her health, because the police wanted to secretly track 46 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: the rest of her journey to find out what she 47 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: was up to. However, this supposedly cut footage was included 48 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: in an earlier TV show screened by the BBC, which 49 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: suggests there was no such cover up. Furthermore, the clip 50 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: in question doesn't actually show that they were arrested under 51 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: section one three six, but rather that there was the 52 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: possibility that they might be. I have to admit I 53 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: was a little unsure about whether I should tell this 54 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 1: story Unexplained, partly because it occurred so recently, but also 55 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,560 Speaker 1: because it feels in some ways exploitative in ways that 56 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 1: other unexplained stories haven't. Certainly, if you read up anything 57 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: about the events online, it isn't long before you come 58 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: across all sorts of prurient theories about why things unfolded 59 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: the way they did, and I was a little wary 60 00:03:56,920 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: that this show might be contributing to all that. In 61 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 1: the end, I hoped that, by sticking only to what 62 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: is known and has already been detailed numerous times, that 63 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: a lion wasn't crossed by way of an explanation of sorts. 64 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: Notwithstanding the tragic death of Glen Hollind's head, what has 65 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: always haunted me about this story, if the folly Adeur 66 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: diagnosis is correct, is the notion of perpetrating something so 67 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: horrific without even knowing, only for it to suddenly become 68 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: apparent to you later, Like so much of Western's storytelling traditions, 69 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 1: for want of a better phrase, we find this tragic 70 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: experience detailed in ancient Greek mythology. In what is considered 71 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 1: one of the greatest tragedies ever written. Euripides's fifth century 72 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:50,159 Speaker 1: b c. E play The Back Eye, tells the story 73 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:53,839 Speaker 1: of Dionysis's revenge on King Pentheus and the people of 74 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: Thebes for not believing that he was the son of 75 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:02,359 Speaker 1: the god Zeus. In it, Dionysus disguised as a mysterious 76 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 1: stranger exacts his revenge by driving all of the women 77 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: in the city mad, including King Pentheus's mother a Gave, 78 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: and leading them into the mountains to observe the Dionysian rites, 79 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: intoxicating animalistic rituals designed to return individuals to a naturally 80 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 1: chaotic state. When King Pentheus learns that the stranger has 81 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: been encouraging others to engage in Dionysian worship, not realizing 82 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: it is the god themselves, he orders the figure arrested. 83 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:40,040 Speaker 1: Sometime later, a herdsman arrives from the mountains, explaining how 84 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: he saw the female followers of Dionysus, known as menads, 85 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:49,599 Speaker 1: behaving strangely, wandering the local forests, suckling other animals, and 86 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 1: performing miraculous feats. They'd even attacked the herdsman when he 87 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: tried to intervene, falling upon his animals and ripping them 88 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: to shreds with their bare hands before going on to 89 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:05,160 Speaker 1: attack a nearby village. Eager to put an end to 90 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:09,840 Speaker 1: the apparent outbreak of Dionysian madness, Pentheus assembles an army 91 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,600 Speaker 1: in preparation for massacring the women, only for the mysterious 92 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: stranger to convince him that he should spy on them 93 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,960 Speaker 1: instead to see what they get up to. Now. Under 94 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:25,039 Speaker 1: the stranger's spell, Pentheus travels to the forest, and, having 95 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 1: got close to the Meanads, is helped into a tree 96 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 1: to get a better look at them. At that moment, 97 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: the stranger is revealed to be none other than Dionysus themselves, 98 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:40,840 Speaker 1: and exposes Pentheus to all their followers In an instant. 99 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 1: The Meanads, led by Pentheus's own mother, Agave, in a 100 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: fevered state of madness, rip up the tree by the roots, 101 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,600 Speaker 1: knocking Pentheus down and into the arms of his mother. 102 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 1: Taking one look at her son, whom she mistakes for 103 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: a lion, Agave puts her foot on his shoulder and 104 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: rips off his arm by the socket, then proceeds to 105 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: violently twist his head until it is wrenched clean from 106 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: his body, and then the rest of the Meanads fall 107 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,000 Speaker 1: onto it, ripping off his legs and the other arm, 108 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: before clawing the flesh from his bones, until the forest 109 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: floor has been drenched in blood and littered with the 110 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: pieces of Pentheus. With the Meanads sated, a Garve takes 111 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: the head of what she still believes to be a 112 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 1: lion back to thebes to display to her father, Cadmus, 113 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: revealing it with pride. A Garve can only react with 114 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: utter confusion at the look of horror on Cadmus's face. 115 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:45,119 Speaker 1: As a father demands to know what she has done, 116 00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 1: Agave calls out for her son Pentheus, to marvel at 117 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: her trophy and help her nail it above the door, 118 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:58,120 Speaker 1: but Pentheus is nowhere to be found, and soon as 119 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 1: the madness begins to wear off, that lion's head she'd 120 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: been carrying in her bloody hands begins to change shape, 121 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: until finally the decapitated head of her son is revealed 122 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: to her. Are you always taking care of your family? 123 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: Do you often take care of others and not yourself? 124 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: Now it's time to take care of yourself, to make 125 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:28,080 Speaker 1: time for you. You deserve it. Teledoc gives you access 126 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: to a licensed therapist to help you get back to 127 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:35,079 Speaker 1: feeling your best to feeling like yourself again. With teledoc, 128 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,320 Speaker 1: you can speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video. 129 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: Therapy appointments are available seven days a week from seven 130 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: a m. To nine p m. Local time. If you 131 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: feel overwhelmed. Sometimes maybe you feel stressed or anxious, depressed 132 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 1: or lonely, or you might be struggling with a personal 133 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:57,280 Speaker 1: or family issue. Teleodoc can help. Teledoc is committed to 134 00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 1: facilitating great therapeutic matches, so they make it easy to 135 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 1: change counselors if needed. For free teledoc therapy is available 136 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 1: through most insurance or employers. Download the app or visit 137 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:14,640 Speaker 1: teledoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained podcast today to get started. 138 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:26,679 Speaker 1: That's teladoc dot com Slash Unexplained podcast. Of course, euripides 139 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 1: is the back eye is an extreme example, but the 140 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:34,440 Speaker 1: remains something uniquely troubling about the idea that it's possible 141 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:37,319 Speaker 1: to exist for a time in one state of awareness 142 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: perpetrating all sorts of terrible acts without ever having the 143 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 1: sense that there's anything irrational or terrible about them, only 144 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:48,840 Speaker 1: to then effectively awake from this state later with the 145 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: full realization of what you've done. If your awareness remained 146 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 1: the same, such as might be the case with someone 147 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:01,559 Speaker 1: determined to have psychopathic tendencies, for example, from your own perspective, 148 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:06,360 Speaker 1: at least this realization would never come. The true horror 149 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: only arrives in the moment of emergence from the previous 150 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 1: state of awareness. With that said, what is equally challenging 151 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: is understanding that from the perspective of the person behaving 152 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: in ways that we might not consider sane or rational, 153 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:25,679 Speaker 1: for them, there is not an awareness of behaving insanely 154 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 1: or abnormally. For them, their behavior is sanity. Imagine yourself, 155 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: for example, the child of an extermination camp guard or 156 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 1: a slave driving plantation owner, perhaps brought into a world 157 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 1: that appears to you the natural order of things. Every 158 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 1: One around you that you love and respect never questions 159 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:54,920 Speaker 1: this world. On the contrary, they actively embrace it, getting 160 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 1: upset or defensive if any one dares to query it. 161 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: And as you get older, slowly you become the active participant, 162 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:08,160 Speaker 1: And before long it is you who now holds the 163 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: whip and the branding iron. It is you who marches 164 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: the line of camp prisoners at gunpoint, leading them into 165 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:20,200 Speaker 1: the gas chamber. But not once do you question the 166 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:23,680 Speaker 1: legitimacy of your actions, because this is the world you've 167 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: grown up in. It is the world your parents and 168 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 1: all your friends participate in. Two and all those you 169 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 1: are hurting barely even register as human. Then imagine, in 170 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:39,439 Speaker 1: the midst of committing a monstrous act, the blindfold is 171 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:42,600 Speaker 1: suddenly ripped from your eyes, and for the first time 172 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:46,680 Speaker 1: in your life, you see everything in a completely different light. 173 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,840 Speaker 1: Everything that you thought was the correct and natural way 174 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: of the world was nothing but one perspective of it. 175 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 1: And you look at the human being in front of 176 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 1: you leading to death on the floor, and down at 177 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: your hands that are covered in blood, and you realize 178 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:12,440 Speaker 1: what you've done. Except it isn't madness you've awoken from, 179 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:16,959 Speaker 1: but just a different life, a different time, a different place. 180 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 1: If you enjoy Unexplained It would like to help support us, 181 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: you can now do so via Patreon to receive access 182 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 1: to add three episodes, discount or merchandise, as well as 183 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:40,760 Speaker 1: brand new video and audio content exclusive to Patreon members. 184 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 1: Just go to patron dot com, forward Slash Unexplained Pod 185 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:47,080 Speaker 1: to sign up, or if you'd like to make a 186 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:50,440 Speaker 1: one time donation, you can go to Unexplained podcast dot 187 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:54,640 Speaker 1: com forward Slash Support. All donations, no matter how large 188 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:59,199 Speaker 1: or small, are greatly appreciated. Unexplained The book and audiobook, 189 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:02,320 Speaker 1: featuring ten stories that have never before been covered on 190 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:05,920 Speaker 1: the show, is now available to buy worldwide. You can 191 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:10,360 Speaker 1: purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, among other bookstores. 192 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music, are produced 193 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:18,200 Speaker 1: by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate the 194 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: show wherever you listen to podcasts, and feel free to 195 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:23,720 Speaker 1: get in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the 196 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 1: stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an 197 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: explanation of your own you'd like to share. You can 198 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:32,960 Speaker 1: reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com, or Twitter 199 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:37,960 Speaker 1: at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com. Forward 200 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: slash Unexplained Now, it's time to take care of yourself. 201 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:50,640 Speaker 1: To make time for you. Tell a doc gives you 202 00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:53,840 Speaker 1: access to a licensed therapist to help you get back 203 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:57,719 Speaker 1: to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by 204 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 1: phone or video anytime between seven am to nine pm 205 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: local time, seven days a week. Teledoc Therapy is available 206 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:10,040 Speaker 1: through most insurance or employers. Download the app or visit 207 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:14,880 Speaker 1: teledoc dot com. Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast Today to get started. 208 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:20,400 Speaker 1: That's t e ladoc dot com. Slash Unexplained Podcast