WEBVTT - S04 Episode 16 Extra: Sanity and Other Irrationalities

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<v Speaker 1>hundred eight four seven one zero seven seven. Welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClean smith were for the

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<v Speaker 1>weeks in between episodes, we look at stories and ideas that,

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<v Speaker 1>for one reason or other, didn't make it into the

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<v Speaker 1>previous show. In our last episode, Folly Adieu, we followed

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<v Speaker 1>the extraordinary story of forty year old twins Suboena and

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<v Speaker 1>Ursula Ericson. In two thousand and eight, the pair embarked

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<v Speaker 1>on a bizarre and chaotic journey from Ireland bound for London, England,

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<v Speaker 1>which resulted in a serious injury for Ursula and the

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<v Speaker 1>murder of a seemingly innocent man, Glenn Hollind's head, which

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<v Speaker 1>Sabina was later convicted of psychiatrists argued that Sabina had

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<v Speaker 1>suffered from a very rare form of momentary insanity known

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<v Speaker 1>as folly adur a madness of two. The condition they

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<v Speaker 1>believed had been brought on due to Sabina's apparent intense

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<v Speaker 1>connection to Ursula, who was thought to have been suffering

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<v Speaker 1>from a fevered state of paranoia and delusion at the time,

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<v Speaker 1>which was effectively contracted by Sabina. However, since cases such

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<v Speaker 1>as these are extremely rare, with some medical professionals even

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<v Speaker 1>questioning their existence, and with neither sister going on record

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<v Speaker 1>to explain exactly what occurred, some have questioned the official

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<v Speaker 1>narrative of this story, or at least what little there

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<v Speaker 1>is of it. One of the more contentious theories about

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<v Speaker 1>what actually happened is the suggestion that Sabina and Ursula

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<v Speaker 1>were acting under some kind of jiress or had been

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<v Speaker 1>instructed to complete a task of some kind with links

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<v Speaker 1>to a large drug operation. It has also been speculated

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<v Speaker 1>that the pair were already under police observation when they

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<v Speaker 1>were initially spotted walking along the motorway. One argument claims

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<v Speaker 1>that cut footage from a two thousand and eight BBC

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<v Speaker 1>documentary detailing the unusual events reveals that the two women

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<v Speaker 1>were initially arrested under section one three six of the

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<v Speaker 1>Mental Health Act. Had this been the case, Sabina would

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<v Speaker 1>not ordinarily have been released only a few days later,

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<v Speaker 1>and as such would not have gone on to kill

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<v Speaker 1>Glenn Hollins's head, the inference being that perhaps an order

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<v Speaker 1>had come from higher up to let Sabina go regardless

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<v Speaker 1>of her health, because the police wanted to secretly track

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<v Speaker 1>the rest of her journey to find out what she

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<v Speaker 1>was up to. However, this supposedly cut footage was included

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<v Speaker 1>in an earlier TV show screened by the BBC, which

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<v Speaker 1>suggests there was no such cover up. Furthermore, the clip

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<v Speaker 1>in question doesn't actually show that they were arrested under

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<v Speaker 1>section one three six, but rather that there was the

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<v Speaker 1>possibility that they might be. I have to admit I

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<v Speaker 1>was a little unsure about whether I should tell this

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<v Speaker 1>story Unexplained, partly because it occurred so recently, but also

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<v Speaker 1>because it feels in some ways exploitative in ways that

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<v Speaker 1>other unexplained stories haven't. Certainly, if you read up anything

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<v Speaker 1>about the events online, it isn't long before you come

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<v Speaker 1>across all sorts of prurient theories about why things unfolded

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<v Speaker 1>the way they did, and I was a little wary

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<v Speaker 1>that this show might be contributing to all that. In

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<v Speaker 1>the end, I hoped that, by sticking only to what

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<v Speaker 1>is known and has already been detailed numerous times, that

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<v Speaker 1>a lion wasn't crossed by way of an explanation of sorts.

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<v Speaker 1>Notwithstanding the tragic death of Glen Hollind's head, what has

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<v Speaker 1>always haunted me about this story, if the folly Adeur

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<v Speaker 1>diagnosis is correct, is the notion of perpetrating something so

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<v Speaker 1>horrific without even knowing, only for it to suddenly become

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<v Speaker 1>apparent to you later, Like so much of Western's storytelling traditions,

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<v Speaker 1>for want of a better phrase, we find this tragic

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<v Speaker 1>experience detailed in ancient Greek mythology. In what is considered

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<v Speaker 1>one of the greatest tragedies ever written. Euripides's fifth century

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<v Speaker 1>b c. E play The Back Eye, tells the story

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<v Speaker 1>of Dionysis's revenge on King Pentheus and the people of

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<v Speaker 1>Thebes for not believing that he was the son of

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<v Speaker 1>the god Zeus. In it, Dionysus disguised as a mysterious

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<v Speaker 1>stranger exacts his revenge by driving all of the women

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<v Speaker 1>in the city mad, including King Pentheus's mother a Gave,

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<v Speaker 1>and leading them into the mountains to observe the Dionysian rites,

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<v Speaker 1>intoxicating animalistic rituals designed to return individuals to a naturally

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<v Speaker 1>chaotic state. When King Pentheus learns that the stranger has

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<v Speaker 1>been encouraging others to engage in Dionysian worship, not realizing

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<v Speaker 1>it is the god themselves, he orders the figure arrested.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometime later, a herdsman arrives from the mountains, explaining how

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<v Speaker 1>he saw the female followers of Dionysus, known as menads,

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<v Speaker 1>behaving strangely, wandering the local forests, suckling other animals, and

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<v Speaker 1>performing miraculous feats. They'd even attacked the herdsman when he

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<v Speaker 1>tried to intervene, falling upon his animals and ripping them

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<v Speaker 1>to shreds with their bare hands before going on to

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<v Speaker 1>attack a nearby village. Eager to put an end to

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<v Speaker 1>the apparent outbreak of Dionysian madness, Pentheus assembles an army

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<v Speaker 1>in preparation for massacring the women, only for the mysterious

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<v Speaker 1>stranger to convince him that he should spy on them

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<v Speaker 1>instead to see what they get up to. Now. Under

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<v Speaker 1>the stranger's spell, Pentheus travels to the forest, and, having

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<v Speaker 1>got close to the Meanads, is helped into a tree

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<v Speaker 1>to get a better look at them. At that moment,

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<v Speaker 1>the stranger is revealed to be none other than Dionysus themselves,

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<v Speaker 1>and exposes Pentheus to all their followers In an instant.

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<v Speaker 1>The Meanads, led by Pentheus's own mother, Agave, in a

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<v Speaker 1>fevered state of madness, rip up the tree by the roots,

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<v Speaker 1>knocking Pentheus down and into the arms of his mother.

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<v Speaker 1>Taking one look at her son, whom she mistakes for

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<v Speaker 1>a lion, Agave puts her foot on his shoulder and

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<v Speaker 1>rips off his arm by the socket, then proceeds to

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<v Speaker 1>violently twist his head until it is wrenched clean from

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<v Speaker 1>his body, and then the rest of the Meanads fall

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<v Speaker 1>onto it, ripping off his legs and the other arm,

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<v Speaker 1>before clawing the flesh from his bones, until the forest

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<v Speaker 1>floor has been drenched in blood and littered with the

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<v Speaker 1>pieces of Pentheus. With the Meanads sated, a Garve takes

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<v Speaker 1>the head of what she still believes to be a

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<v Speaker 1>lion back to thebes to display to her father, Cadmus,

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<v Speaker 1>revealing it with pride. A Garve can only react with

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<v Speaker 1>utter confusion at the look of horror on Cadmus's face.

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<v Speaker 1>As a father demands to know what she has done,

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<v Speaker 1>Agave calls out for her son Pentheus, to marvel at

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<v Speaker 1>her trophy and help her nail it above the door,

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<v Speaker 1>but Pentheus is nowhere to be found, and soon as

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<v Speaker 1>the madness begins to wear off, that lion's head she'd

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<v Speaker 1>been carrying in her bloody hands begins to change shape,

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<v Speaker 1>until finally the decapitated head of her son is revealed

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<v Speaker 1>to her. Are you always taking care of your family?

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<v Speaker 1>Do you often take care of others and not yourself?

0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.160
<v Speaker 1>Now it's time to take care of yourself, to make

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<v Speaker 1>time for you. You deserve it. Teledoc gives you access

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<v Speaker 1>to a licensed therapist to help you get back to

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<v Speaker 1>feeling your best to feeling like yourself again. With teledoc,

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<v Speaker 1>Therapy appointments are available seven days a week from seven

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<v Speaker 1>a m. To nine p m. Local time. If you

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<v Speaker 1>feel overwhelmed. Sometimes maybe you feel stressed or anxious, depressed

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<v Speaker 1>teledoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained podcast today to get started.

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<v Speaker 1>That's teladoc dot com Slash Unexplained podcast. Of course, euripides

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<v Speaker 1>is the back eye is an extreme example, but the

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<v Speaker 1>remains something uniquely troubling about the idea that it's possible

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<v Speaker 1>to exist for a time in one state of awareness

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<v Speaker 1>perpetrating all sorts of terrible acts without ever having the

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<v Speaker 1>sense that there's anything irrational or terrible about them, only

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<v Speaker 1>to then effectively awake from this state later with the

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<v Speaker 1>full realization of what you've done. If your awareness remained

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<v Speaker 1>the same, such as might be the case with someone

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<v Speaker 1>determined to have psychopathic tendencies, for example, from your own perspective,

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<v Speaker 1>at least this realization would never come. The true horror

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<v Speaker 1>only arrives in the moment of emergence from the previous

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<v Speaker 1>state of awareness. With that said, what is equally challenging

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<v Speaker 1>is understanding that from the perspective of the person behaving

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<v Speaker 1>in ways that we might not consider sane or rational,

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<v Speaker 1>for them, there is not an awareness of behaving insanely

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<v Speaker 1>or abnormally. For them, their behavior is sanity. Imagine yourself,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, the child of an extermination camp guard or

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<v Speaker 1>a slave driving plantation owner, perhaps brought into a world

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<v Speaker 1>that appears to you the natural order of things. Every

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<v Speaker 1>One around you that you love and respect never questions

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<v Speaker 1>this world. On the contrary, they actively embrace it, getting

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<v Speaker 1>upset or defensive if any one dares to query it.

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<v Speaker 1>And as you get older, slowly you become the active participant,

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<v Speaker 1>And before long it is you who now holds the

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<v Speaker 1>whip and the branding iron. It is you who marches

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<v Speaker 1>the line of camp prisoners at gunpoint, leading them into

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<v Speaker 1>the gas chamber. But not once do you question the

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<v Speaker 1>legitimacy of your actions, because this is the world you've

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<v Speaker 1>grown up in. It is the world your parents and

0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:30.000
<v Speaker 1>all your friends participate in. Two and all those you

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<v Speaker 1>are hurting barely even register as human. Then imagine, in

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<v Speaker 1>the midst of committing a monstrous act, the blindfold is

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<v Speaker 1>suddenly ripped from your eyes, and for the first time

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<v Speaker 1>in your life, you see everything in a completely different light.

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<v Speaker 1>Everything that you thought was the correct and natural way

0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:54.600
<v Speaker 1>of the world was nothing but one perspective of it.

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<v Speaker 1>And you look at the human being in front of

0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:01.600
<v Speaker 1>you leading to death on the floor, and down at

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<v Speaker 1>your hands that are covered in blood, and you realize

0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:12.440
<v Speaker 1>what you've done. Except it isn't madness you've awoken from,

0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:16.959
<v Speaker 1>but just a different life, a different time, a different place.

0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:30.240
<v Speaker 1>If you enjoy Unexplained It would like to help support us,

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<v Speaker 1>com forward Slash Support. All donations, no matter how large

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<v Speaker 1>or small, are greatly appreciated. Unexplained The book and audiobook,

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<v Speaker 1>featuring ten stories that have never before been covered on

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<v Speaker 1>All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music, are produced

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<v Speaker 1>by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and rate the

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<v Speaker 1>explanation of your own you'd like to share. You can

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<v Speaker 1>reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com, or Twitter

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<v Speaker 1>at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com. Forward

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<v Speaker 1>slash Unexplained Now, it's time to take care of yourself.

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<v Speaker 1>To make time for you. Tell a doc gives you

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<v Speaker 1>access to a licensed therapist to help you get back

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<v Speaker 1>to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed therapist by

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<v Speaker 1>phone or video anytime between seven am to nine pm

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<v Speaker 1>local time, seven days a week. Teledoc Therapy is available

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<v Speaker 1>through most insurance or employers. Download the app or visit

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<v Speaker 1>That's t e ladoc dot com. Slash Unexplained Podcast