1 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:10,160 Speaker 1: Hollywood adores a lovable rogue. Pirates are often depicted as wise, cracking, 2 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: kind hearted individuals who set out for treasure but end 3 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: up writing or wrong. In the end, they usually get 4 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: the girl and the treasure. In six moviegoers enjoyed The 5 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: Black Pirates with Douglas Fairbank Senior as a young man 6 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,120 Speaker 1: who joins a pirate crew to exact revenge for killing 7 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: his father, and yes, the script follows the age old 8 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: formula well. In ninety five, Pirates returned to the silver 9 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:36,200 Speaker 1: screen with Errol Flynn as Captain Blood, and of course, 10 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: in two thousand three came the tremendously popular Pirates of 11 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: the Caribbean franchise. Storytelling has no shortage of beloved characters, 12 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: from Captain Jack Sparrow to Captain Hook and Long John 13 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:51,160 Speaker 1: Silver and many in between. Pirates are profitable for publishers 14 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: and Hollywood alike, along with books and film. A new 15 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: pirate emerged in the nineteen seventies. While they didn't hijack boats, 16 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: they did seek a way to make money off the 17 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: work of others. Woody Wise picked up his kids from 18 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: school on a Friday afternoon and never returned home. Instead, 19 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:08,959 Speaker 1: they went on the run from the FBI. As it 20 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 1: turns out, Wise had been pirating films. When the FBI 21 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: agents arrived at his house, they carted away dozens of movies. 22 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 1: He had once owned and operated his own theater, but 23 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:22,040 Speaker 1: television had cut into his profits. Movies were what he knew, 24 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: and so he looked for a way to make more 25 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,199 Speaker 1: money with them. Wise befriended people working in a movie 26 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: studio shipping department responsible for getting films into theaters. Yes, 27 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,639 Speaker 1: back then, movie theaters still used reels of film. Then 28 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: he waited. When a new film came out it opened 29 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 1: in theaters nationwide. After a few weeks, theaters needed fewer 30 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,319 Speaker 1: reels and NAT's when Wise saw a site hustle. He 31 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: sold the extras, making about five hundred and seventy five 32 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: dollars for each copy. The FBI, though caught Wise, Lucky 33 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: for him, he received only a hefty fine. Today, books, movies, 34 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: TV and streaming shows are frequently pira did and either 35 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: sold or given away for all to see. It's estimated 36 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: that pirated videos alone are viewed two hundred and thirty 37 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:10,119 Speaker 1: billion times a year, and just like it had during 38 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: the age of piracy, that theft comes at a cost. 39 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: It's estimated that U S companies lose seventy one billion 40 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: dollars each year to piracy worldwide. Those numbers are even 41 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: higher over nineties seven billion, and that's just in the 42 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:27,080 Speaker 1: movie industry alone. It isn't a Victimus crime either. Over 43 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: seventy thousand people in the music industry have lost their jobs, 44 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: publishers have lost over three hundred million dollars, authors have 45 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: lost significant portions of their income, and bookstores have suffered 46 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: as well. Digital piracy might get its name from the 47 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: people who once hijacked ships at sea, but it's hardly 48 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: romantic pirates. The word itself hints at a story and 49 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: captures our attention. It doesn't matter if that story comes 50 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: from some self justification for digital piracy, a swashbuckling fictional character, 51 00:02:57,360 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: or the real life men and women who sailed the 52 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: seas during the golden age of piracy, because if the 53 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: story stars a pirate, folks have always been intrigued. I'm 54 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: Aaron Manky and welcome two pirates. Alexander was born in 55 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,079 Speaker 1: sixteen seventy six in a small Scottish town where everyone 56 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: knew everyone. He had six brothers and his father, John Selcraig, 57 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: worked as a shoemaker and a tanner in Lower Largo. 58 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: By all accounts, Alexander was a wild child, constantly causing 59 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: trouble in town and at home, and though he was 60 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: the youngest, he repeatedly beat up his siblings. His mother 61 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: sent him away, claiming that she wanted more for her 62 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: youngest child and hoped that he would find his fortune 63 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: at sea. Other sources say that she may have just 64 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: wanted her young troublemaker out of the house. Six years later, 65 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 1: he returned home and went right back to his mischievous 66 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: and law breaking ways. He had gotten away with most 67 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: of his behavior in his youth, but this time he 68 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: would go too far. While the records don't clarify what 69 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: exactly he did, authorities charged him with indecent behavior inside 70 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: a church. To avoid the consequences, he skipped down and 71 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: changed his last name to Selkirk. Of course, the court 72 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: simply deferred the charges. Alexander found work at sea, and 73 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: with his talent for navigation and mathematics, he quickly became 74 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: an officer. His return to See proved timely to the 75 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 1: War of Spanish Secession, gave Alexander options. He no longer 76 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: had to choose between merchant and navy vessels. Privateering offered 77 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 1: better pay. He joined the expedition captain by a man 78 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: named William Dampier in seventeen oh three. The Lord Admiral 79 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:42,159 Speaker 1: had given them letters of mark, granting the crew the 80 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: right to attack enemy vessels. Dampier commanded the St. George 81 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: and gave Captain Charles Pickering the command of his second ship, 82 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: the sink Points. Alexander served as Pickering's sailing master. The 83 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: job required someone with a formal education, as reading and 84 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 1: piloting were considered a senior officer. His role aside from 85 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 1: reading maps, if they even had one, the sailing master 86 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:08,520 Speaker 1: also had to consider storms and the currents. While Alexander 87 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: enjoyed the respect that came with his title, he didn't 88 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,280 Speaker 1: reciprocate it. He didn't think much of damp Here. The 89 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: captain's previous work as a buccaneer put him at odds 90 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: with captaining a navy ship. In fact, a previous ship 91 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,280 Speaker 1: that he had commanded sank, and although Dampier had been 92 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,840 Speaker 1: cleared of any charges surrounding the incident, that moment followed 93 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: him wherever he went. Morale was not existent, and the 94 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 1: crew suffered from a lack of provisions. Diseases like dysentery 95 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,039 Speaker 1: and scurvy were prevalent, and rats had invested the ship. 96 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: An outbreak of scurvy plagued the crew while they sailed 97 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: just off the coast of Brazil, killing Pickering and several 98 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: other men. Thomas Straddling, Pickering's lieutenant, became the sink points 99 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: new captain. In Alexander's opinion, Straddling was egotistical and lack 100 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,720 Speaker 1: the necessary experience. Most of the crew shared this assessment 101 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:58,960 Speaker 1: of the new captain, causing discord and talk of mutiny. 102 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: A combination of events fueled Alexander's bad temper. He not 103 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: only argued with Dampier, but he was also butting heads 104 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: with Straddling. The crew thought their sailing master and their 105 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: new captain were both equally arrogant. Disagreements between the two 106 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: usually became a battle of wills. The crew sailed to 107 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: the uninhabited island called Juan Fernandez for a few days 108 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,720 Speaker 1: rest and hopefully to find some supplies. When Strandling ordered 109 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,919 Speaker 1: the men to load the ship, Alexander refused. Instead of 110 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: asking his fellow sailors to overtake the captain, he suggested 111 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,240 Speaker 1: they refused to sail and remain on the island. Instead, 112 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,919 Speaker 1: he reminded them of the poor conditions, their terrible treatment, 113 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: and missed opportunities to raid ships straddling. Gave him an ultimatum, though, 114 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: either the sailing master got on the ship or he 115 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: stayed behind alone. Alexander refused to give in, and so 116 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: he watched as his fellow crew members made several trips 117 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: to transfer supplies to the sink point. He stood on 118 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:57,719 Speaker 1: the shoreline defiantly as the men loaded the last of 119 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,919 Speaker 1: the small boats. Marooning someone is one of the harshest 120 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 1: punishments ever handed down. Still, he must have felt he 121 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,679 Speaker 1: had nothing to fear. He hadn't committed a crime typically 122 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: punishable by marooning. Surely they would come back to get him. 123 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: But with the last load, the men got into the 124 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: skiffs one final time. Still he refused to join them, 125 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: so they waved him off and pushed away from shore. 126 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: And that's when Alexander realized the gravity of his decision. 127 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: He had just marooned himself. San Fernandez Island was remote, 128 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: just over four hundred and eighteen miles west of Valparaiso, Chile. 129 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: Few ever passed much less stopped. He'd been convinced that 130 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: his shipmates would have chosen him over straddling, He had 131 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: called their bluff and lost. A few people survived the marooning, 132 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:55,200 Speaker 1: although Charles Vane and Bartholomew Roberts had both been fortunate 133 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: to do so, and history would eventually tell us that 134 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: in Captain Arnabus Lincoln and a small crew survived as well. 135 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: Pirates had captured their ship and left them on a 136 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: small island barely three feet above sea level. They had 137 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: been left a blanket, a pot, and a few provisions. 138 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 1: Of the twelve men, all but one lived to tell 139 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:17,440 Speaker 1: the tale, but for twenty days the men were on 140 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:21,480 Speaker 1: their own. In seventeen eighteen, part of Captain William Greenway's 141 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 1: crew mutinied for refusing to turn pirate. They left him 142 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: and a handful of others marooned on an anchored sloop 143 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: incapable of sailing. Being the only one who could swim, 144 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:34,960 Speaker 1: Williams went to shore and returned with food. The pirates 145 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: came back and forced him into piracy, but left the others. Eventually, 146 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: the pirates were captured and a Spanish sloop returned to 147 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: rescue the surviving men. For many sailors if exposure, storms, starvation, 148 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:51,400 Speaker 1: or dehydration didn't kill them, a bullet, did you see. 149 00:08:51,400 --> 00:08:54,040 Speaker 1: Crews often left the maroon sailor with a pistol and 150 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:56,599 Speaker 1: a single bullet, giving them a choice to die a 151 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: slow death or end their life by their own hand. 152 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: But even that posed a dilemma. They had been damned 153 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,680 Speaker 1: to die on an island, but death by suicide, in 154 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: their eyes at least, meant damning their souls to hell. 155 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: And Alexander was well aware of the survival rates of 156 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 1: maroon sailors, but he was also aware that he hadn't 157 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 1: been left a pistol. He had no extra clothes, or 158 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: a blanket or a single provision, And yet there he stood, 159 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: with his feet in the sand, watching his fellow crewmen 160 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,200 Speaker 1: make their way back to the sink point. When he 161 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 1: realized they meant to take him up on his threat, 162 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: he ran into the water, shouting and waving at them 163 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,320 Speaker 1: to come back. At first they ignored his cries, and 164 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: then they called back, reminding him that he had made 165 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 1: his choice. His attitude and attempt to cause a mutiny 166 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: had been his undoing, they reminded him, and his general 167 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 1: disposition would no longer be their problem. He watched and 168 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:49,560 Speaker 1: called until all were boarded and the ship sailed from sight. 169 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 1: He fared better than most, though the island had a 170 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 1: good supply of fresh water. Spaniards who had once used 171 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:58,959 Speaker 1: the island had also left behind a small population of goats. 172 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:03,560 Speaker 1: He found edible herbs, wild plums, cabbages, and other vegetation. 173 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: Alexander learned to overcome the lack of knives and pots 174 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 1: to eat and cook with. Over time, he managed to 175 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:13,440 Speaker 1: domesticate the goats too. He refused to fish, hating the 176 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 1: taste without salt, and the goats became more useful than 177 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: just food too. When his pants and shirt wore thin, 178 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:22,320 Speaker 1: he used goat skin for clothing and even for the 179 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 1: walls of his hut. He even domesticated a few feral cats, 180 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: which helped with the other animal that the Spanish had 181 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: left behind, rats. Regardless of the species, the animals kept 182 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:35,680 Speaker 1: him company, and Alexander often danced in his tent to 183 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: pass the time, and even sang to the animals. Instead 184 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 1: of wasting away, he thrived on the diet, which was 185 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,000 Speaker 1: much better than what some sailors and peasants ate. With 186 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:48,000 Speaker 1: apple food and water, he could only wait and hope 187 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:50,560 Speaker 1: that a passing ship would find him, and one day 188 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:53,600 Speaker 1: that's what he saw off the coast. Alexander might not 189 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:55,839 Speaker 1: have known what day it was or how many months 190 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:58,720 Speaker 1: had passed since he'd seen another human being, but he 191 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: cheered and breathed, I have relief. His ordeal was finally over. 192 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: And then he caught sight of the flag, and fear 193 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 1: replaced joy. The flag was Spanish, and that meant the 194 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:11,640 Speaker 1: men on board were more likely to kill him that 195 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:15,480 Speaker 1: rescue him. He hastily disguised his camp and then shimmied 196 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 1: up a tree. The men arrived and walked around for 197 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:21,199 Speaker 1: a while and even used the tree to relieve themselves, 198 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:25,200 Speaker 1: and then they left. Alexander was alone with the animals 199 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 1: once more, and it would be a very long time 200 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: before he ever saw another ship. In sev oh eight, 201 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: privateer Woods Rogers set out on an expedition. The British 202 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 1: governments and merchants sponsored his voyage, and both wanted the 203 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: same outcome to impede the Spanish financially and hinder their 204 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,240 Speaker 1: military might, and the crew looked forward to a profitable 205 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,200 Speaker 1: voyage since the British government had waived their usual cut 206 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: from any raids, and that allowed Rogers to negotiate with 207 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:03,720 Speaker 1: Bristol merchants to supply capital for two ships and their crews. 208 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: Investors would receive a share of the plunder. Upon the 209 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: cruise return, Rogers captain a ton frigate named the Duke, 210 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: and gave command of the Duchess the smaller ship, to 211 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: Stephen Courtney. The ships and crew set sail from Ireland 212 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:21,079 Speaker 1: in September of seventeen oh wait. Rogers developed a reputation 213 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:23,920 Speaker 1: of a tough but fair captain. When some of the 214 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:27,319 Speaker 1: men had gambled away everything they had, including their clothing, 215 00:12:27,559 --> 00:12:31,360 Speaker 1: he banned gambling. The men worked hard, too, and Rogers 216 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 1: rewarded them well. He made sure his men had good 217 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: food and decent medical care, and of course, he supplied 218 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 1: them with plenty of alcohol. At times, disagreements would crop 219 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: up between captain and crew. Once the crew even mutinied 220 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 1: when Rogers refused to attack ships from neutral governments. That 221 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:51,440 Speaker 1: same fate had befallen Captain Kidd a few years before, 222 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,840 Speaker 1: but Rogers managed to regain control quickly and continued his expedition. 223 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:59,200 Speaker 1: They raided several French vessels in seventeen o eight and 224 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: seventeen o line, bringing in substantial profits, but later in 225 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,840 Speaker 1: seventeen o nine, lack of fruit caused a scurvy outbreak, 226 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: and to prevent another mutiny, Rogers set course for a 227 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:13,680 Speaker 1: nearby island, hoping to restock. He hadn't expected to find 228 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,080 Speaker 1: anyone living there yet. As the landing party approached, a 229 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:19,960 Speaker 1: man with long hair and a beard wearing fur clothing 230 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,200 Speaker 1: anxiously hopped from one bare foot to the other and 231 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: waved at them frantically. When the men met, Alexander Selkirk 232 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 1: told Rogers everything, how he'd come to be marooned and 233 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:33,079 Speaker 1: how he managed to stay alive. The two compared dates, 234 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: determining that Alexander had been on the tiny island for 235 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: roughly four years. The next boat arrived, and Alexander couldn't 236 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:43,120 Speaker 1: believe who stepped on to shore. There before him stood 237 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,720 Speaker 1: William Dampier. It turns out Rogers hadn't known about the 238 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 1: former captain's court martial or his previous command of the St. George. 239 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:53,160 Speaker 1: The truth about that came out after a lot of 240 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 1: questions and talk after Alexander had been marooned. Disaster had 241 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,480 Speaker 1: struck the crew aboard the sink, point their ship had sank, 242 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:04,800 Speaker 1: leaving Straddling and the others stranded. After that, the Spanish 243 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:08,079 Speaker 1: had captured them, imprisoning them for piracy, and in the end, 244 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,959 Speaker 1: Alexander had survived, while his fellow crewmen had not. With 245 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,560 Speaker 1: this sort of blemished work record, Dampier had honestly been 246 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 1: lucky to find a job at all, let alone as 247 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 1: a pilot. Rodgers was so impressed with Alexander that he 248 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:25,239 Speaker 1: invited him to join the crew on the expedition. Surprisingly, 249 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: though he refused. He told Rogers that he would rather 250 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: remain on the island and die there than serve on 251 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: a ship with Dampier. So Rogers solved the matter by 252 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,840 Speaker 1: taking him aboard the Duke and keeping Dampier on the Duchess, 253 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,240 Speaker 1: and Alexander agreed. The arrangement delighted woods Rogers, but not 254 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:45,440 Speaker 1: nearly as much as listening in great detail about his 255 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:50,680 Speaker 1: newfound friends story of survival. To his credit, Alexander returned 256 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 1: to life at sea as though he had never left, 257 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:56,320 Speaker 1: and Rogers soon promoted him to second mate. They continued 258 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 1: their journey, bringing in substantial amounts of treasure along the way, 259 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:03,080 Speaker 1: and when they returned to England, to a hero's glory. 260 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 1: Alexander sailed with them as part of the crew, but 261 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:09,800 Speaker 1: life was never the same for him. Although the privateering 262 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 1: had made him wealthy, Alexander said that he had never 263 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: been so happy as those years on the island. Eventually, 264 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:18,560 Speaker 1: he took to the seas again and died of yellow 265 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 1: fever in seventy one. Woods Rodgers began to think of 266 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 1: publishing an account of their journey, but crew member Edward 267 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: cook beat him to it. Rogers wrote a more detailed 268 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:33,480 Speaker 1: version months later, and while both books mentioned Alexander, rogers 269 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:37,120 Speaker 1: retelling fascinated readers the most. He had spent the most 270 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 1: time in Alexander's company, after all, and he spent all 271 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: of those evenings journaling what he had learned during their conversations. 272 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 1: The War of Spanish Secession ended, leaving readers wanting more 273 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: tales of the High Seas, so Rogers penned a cruising 274 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 1: voyage around the world detailing their successful plunders and journey, 275 00:15:55,960 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 1: along with detailed material of Alexander's marooning. Roger Is telling 276 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 1: easily outsold Edward Cooks. The story captivated readers around the 277 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: globe and inspired a whole new genre of seafaring tales. 278 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 1: Woods Rogers, the man who brought the Golden Age of 279 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:21,040 Speaker 1: piracy to heal, could never have foreseen that his book 280 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 1: would inspire authors to write about pirates fact or fiction. 281 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:28,520 Speaker 1: People couldn't get enough of them. This season, we've visited 282 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: many of those stories here. We're fascinated with women like 283 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:35,720 Speaker 1: Granne O'Malley and Bonnie and Ching Shi, who all proved 284 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:39,560 Speaker 1: as fierce as their male counterparts, and legends like Blackbeard, 285 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: William Kidd and Benjamin Hornegal never get old. There's Sam Bellamy, 286 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 1: the Romantic Pirates, and of course the amusing Steed Bonnet. 287 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 1: While Edward Lowe and Charles Vane will firmly remain the 288 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:55,200 Speaker 1: villains of the bunch, the Woods Rogers inspired one author 289 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,760 Speaker 1: to write about these real life pirates too. In seventy four, 290 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: Charles Rivington hawked books near St. Paul's Cathedral. We've mentioned 291 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,479 Speaker 1: the book, A General History of Pirates, written by Captain 292 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:10,000 Speaker 1: Charles Johnson. The book detailed events surrounding the most infamous 293 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,200 Speaker 1: and notorious pirates to sail the Caribbean. The first three 294 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: editions of the book sold out. The two volumes set 295 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: sold in seventeen twenty six included additional pirates too. No 296 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 1: one knew who Captain Johnson was, though while the author 297 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:26,159 Speaker 1: seemingly had a great deal of nautical knowledge, it became 298 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,439 Speaker 1: clear no such captain ever existed, and the author had 299 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:32,520 Speaker 1: used a pen name. Many people suspect he was actually 300 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: Daniel Dafoe, who had written the widely popular Robinson Caruso 301 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:40,320 Speaker 1: in seventeen nineteen. That story, if you remember, follows the 302 00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:43,560 Speaker 1: adventures of a man shipwrecked on an island. It's assumed 303 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:47,360 Speaker 1: that Defoe took inspiration from Wood's Rogers telling of Alexander 304 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:51,480 Speaker 1: Selkirk's marooning, but defoex wasn't the only one smitten with 305 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,760 Speaker 1: pirates and woods Rogers book. A young Scottish author spent 306 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 1: a rainy afternoon with his young son on one particularly 307 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,720 Speaker 1: dreary day, he created a treasure hunt to pass the time. 308 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:04,840 Speaker 1: By the end of the day, though the author had 309 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: such a great time that he began to work on 310 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:10,600 Speaker 1: a story. Ideas swirled in his head. Along with Woods 311 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:15,320 Speaker 1: Roger's story about fellow scott Alexander Selkirk. The author wanted 312 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: a story full of adventure, gold, pirates and buried treasure. 313 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,119 Speaker 1: He created vivid characters, including a one legged man with 314 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,040 Speaker 1: a parrot on his shoulder. It was a magazine called 315 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: Young Folks that published the first installment of The Sea 316 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,960 Speaker 1: Cook in eighteen eighty one. Although the author suffered a 317 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: few health setbacks, he kept writing, and by eighteen eighty 318 00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: two he had added an additional seventeen chapters to the 319 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 1: first and it's a story that's still adapted and read today, 320 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: with characters like Captain Flint Long John Silver Billy Bones, 321 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 1: and Jim Hawkins, and the author Robert Lewis Stevenson. And 322 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:56,480 Speaker 1: the final title of that book, Oh, you already know 323 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:59,919 Speaker 1: the answer by now, I'm sure the classic adventure now 324 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:08,920 Speaker 1: Treasure Island pirates have captivated us from the time they 325 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:12,320 Speaker 1: first sailed the seas, and although Blackbeard and Bellamy no 326 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,199 Speaker 1: longer hoist their flags, their spirits live on in the 327 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:17,919 Speaker 1: stories we tell, much like the Tale of the Pirate 328 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:21,080 Speaker 1: Princess from this season's very first episode. We love them 329 00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:24,119 Speaker 1: so much that we honestly don't care if they're true 330 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:26,680 Speaker 1: or not. And with that in mind, we've got one 331 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,240 Speaker 1: final story in the cargo Hold for you to enjoy. 332 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,520 Speaker 1: Stick around after this brief sponsor break and my crewmates, 333 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:42,600 Speaker 1: Alie Steed will tell you all about it. Most ships 334 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,720 Speaker 1: avoided the area Lucy how to dubious reputation as the 335 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:50,280 Speaker 1: most pirate infested waters on Earth. Authorities repeatedly warned ships 336 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:53,400 Speaker 1: to steer clear. Sailing into those waters was like swimming 337 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:56,160 Speaker 1: with sharks. Yet one captain chose to ignore the warnings. 338 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:58,920 Speaker 1: His Groove twenty had been well versed in pirate attacks 339 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: and he had cargo deliver. Though the crew disagreed with 340 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:04,480 Speaker 1: the decision to stay on course, the captain had final 341 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,680 Speaker 1: say and overrode them. They pushed onward, making good time 342 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,199 Speaker 1: towards their destination, and kept a watchful eye on the 343 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,440 Speaker 1: horizon for other ships. In the early dawn hours that April, 344 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,719 Speaker 1: four armed pirates aboard a small skiff approached the cargo 345 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,200 Speaker 1: ship and alert was sounded, sending men scrambling from their beds. 346 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:22,560 Speaker 1: As it stood, the ship was too big to outrun 347 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:24,680 Speaker 1: the pirates. All they could do was try to stop 348 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,240 Speaker 1: them from boarding. Training taught them that pirates would likely 349 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: shoot at the bridge. First crewmember Mike Perry ushered the 350 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:33,200 Speaker 1: others on board to a safer location. Then he used 351 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 1: the ship's rudder to swamp the pirates skiff. Still, the 352 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 1: pirates closed in. Perry removed part of the ship's control 353 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 1: from the bridge, and crewmember Matt Fisher controlled the steering gear. 354 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: After sending off a few flares to signal distress, the 355 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,199 Speaker 1: ship went black, meaning that when the pirates boarded they 356 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,119 Speaker 1: wouldn't be able to control it. Perry, Fisher, and some 357 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:53,880 Speaker 1: of the other crew remained hidden and barricaded in a room. 358 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:56,560 Speaker 1: They listened for the sound of the inevitable That came 359 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:59,400 Speaker 1: at daybreak when the pirates tossed a grappling hook aboard 360 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: and they heard to catch. Not long after came the 361 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: captain's chilling words, the bridge has been compromised. Then the 362 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 1: captain fell silent. Perry and Fisher didn't have to see 363 00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:11,439 Speaker 1: the pirates to know the captain and those with him 364 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: had already been taken hostage. If they were still alive, 365 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:17,480 Speaker 1: the pirates would probably come for them next. Perry waited 366 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,440 Speaker 1: outside the secured room, armed with only a knife. The 367 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: dark compartment served as his only advantage. The pirates leader 368 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:27,280 Speaker 1: entered brandishing a gun. For a while, pirate and sailor 369 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:30,160 Speaker 1: engaged in a deadly game of cat and mouse. After 370 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:32,919 Speaker 1: a few tense moments, Perry stabbed the pirate and managed 371 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 1: to take him hostage. The room where the rest of 372 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:37,639 Speaker 1: the crew was hiding had grown stiflingly hot, and they 373 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,119 Speaker 1: couldn't stay inside much longer. But now they had a 374 00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:43,280 Speaker 1: hostage of their own, and negotiations began. For a while, 375 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 1: it looked like the pirates were willing to exchange their 376 00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:47,680 Speaker 1: leader for the captain, but at the last minute, the 377 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:50,680 Speaker 1: pirates forced the captain into one of the lifeboats and fled. 378 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: In response to the hijacking, the U. S. Navy sent 379 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:55,320 Speaker 1: a destroyer and a frigate to the area while the 380 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:58,439 Speaker 1: pirates awaited their own backup. Once naval ships arrived, the 381 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,920 Speaker 1: situation became a standoff. With each advancing hour, the predicament 382 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:05,120 Speaker 1: became dire. Another band of pirates had recently captured four 383 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:08,119 Speaker 1: other vessels not far away. They were on route with 384 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: fifty four hostages they planned to use as human shields. 385 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:14,440 Speaker 1: Three days into the standoff, a frustrated pirate fired on 386 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:18,000 Speaker 1: a frigate, striking no one. Luckily, four days into the situation, 387 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,640 Speaker 1: snipers killed three pirates on the lifeboat and rescued the captain. 388 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:24,320 Speaker 1: Authorities took the surviving pirate to the U S and 389 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: charged him with conspiracy to seize a ship by force, 390 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: conspiracy to commit hostage taking, and piracy. In the Golden Age, 391 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:34,800 Speaker 1: he would have been hanged. Instead, the court sentence stobbed 392 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:37,399 Speaker 1: dually mused to thirty three years in prison. If this 393 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:40,240 Speaker 1: story sounds familiar, it's because it happened recently. In two 394 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 1: thousand nine off the coast of Somalia. Captain Phillips returned 395 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:45,240 Speaker 1: home safely, as did the rest of the crew aboard 396 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:47,840 Speaker 1: the m V Marris Alabama. There's no question that pirates 397 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 1: still exist. In twenty ten, they attacked four hundred forty 398 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:53,879 Speaker 1: five ships, taking one thousand, one hundred eighty one people hostage. 399 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,440 Speaker 1: From January to March of twenty eleventh, there were a 400 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,440 Speaker 1: hundred and nineteen pirate attacks. Eighty three off the coast 401 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 1: of Somalia. Four Americans were killed after pirates attacked their sailboat. 402 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:05,360 Speaker 1: The attacks are fewer today than they were ten years ago, 403 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:09,000 Speaker 1: they are becoming more violent and often fatal. Policing waters 404 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 1: is difficult, and pirates often fly different countries flags to 405 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: hide their intent, and like the Golden Age, piracy still 406 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:19,119 Speaker 1: has political roots. Reportedly authorities and governments are connected to 407 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,480 Speaker 1: some of these attacks. Today, pirate hotspots around the world 408 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,879 Speaker 1: are the northeastern coast of South America, Iraq, Bangladesh, the 409 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:31,359 Speaker 1: Malacca Straits near Indonesia, Nigeria, and Somalia. We've come a 410 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:34,680 Speaker 1: long way since pirates roamed the high seas stalking colonial 411 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 1: coasts for prizes, But then again, reality or fiction, they've 412 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:43,280 Speaker 1: never really left. Stick around for a few more minutes 413 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 1: to find out what's next. From Grimm and Mild Presents. 414 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:50,720 Speaker 1: Pirates was executive produced by Aaron Manky and narrated by 415 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:54,240 Speaker 1: Aaron Manky and Alexander Steid. Writing for this season was 416 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:57,840 Speaker 1: provided by Michelle Mudo, with research by Alexander Steed and 417 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:02,359 Speaker 1: Sam Alberty. Production assistants was provided by Josh Thane, Jesse Funk, 418 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:05,639 Speaker 1: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about this 419 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,600 Speaker 1: and other shows from Grimm and Mild and I Heart Radio, 420 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:20,440 Speaker 1: visit grim and Mild dot com. The scribe sat down 421 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,440 Speaker 1: to do his work. It was just like any other day. 422 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:26,359 Speaker 1: He was in the business of copying and pasting millennia 423 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:28,760 Speaker 1: before we had computers to do the job for us. 424 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,360 Speaker 1: Bent over the page, he carefully scratched out over four 425 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 1: hundred lines of hieroglyphs. This was a really important project. 426 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 1: The document he was copying was already over a thousand 427 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,760 Speaker 1: years old, and its preservation was important. But although he 428 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 1: was a master of his craft, he was a bit 429 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,159 Speaker 1: out of his depth with what he was transcribing. The 430 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,200 Speaker 1: source document talked about the human body from the top 431 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: down and from the inside out, and this scribe was 432 00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:58,920 Speaker 1: encountering glyphs he had never seen before. He scratched out 433 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,840 Speaker 1: his errors and made notes in the margins his writing 434 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:06,880 Speaker 1: implement clumsily, making strokes for characters unfamiliar to him. In fact, 435 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,720 Speaker 1: according to later scholars, he created the earliest known asterisks 436 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:13,720 Speaker 1: in the history of bookmaking. But what did make it 437 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: onto his page was really marvelous stuff, a collection of 438 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:22,320 Speaker 1: anatomical case studies and a treatise detailing scientific procedures for 439 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: dealing with various injuries. And then, in the middle of 440 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 1: his project, somewhere between the thorax and the spinal column, 441 00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:34,200 Speaker 1: he quit. No one knew why, not James Henry Breasted 442 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,239 Speaker 1: or any of the Egyptologists who came before him. It 443 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:40,200 Speaker 1: had landed on his desk in nineteen twenty, already estimated 444 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: to be thirty years old. But James saw something important 445 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,840 Speaker 1: and alarming. When the scribe started writing again, he started 446 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:55,080 Speaker 1: copying something completely different. Magical incantations to fight pestilence, spells 447 00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:58,400 Speaker 1: to manage women's health concerns, and tricks to make old 448 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:02,520 Speaker 1: men young again. James and his fellow Egyptologists didn't know 449 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,840 Speaker 1: for sure, but they suspected that this ancient scribe was 450 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:08,879 Speaker 1: unaware of the importance of the work he had left unfinished, 451 00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:11,760 Speaker 1: and James would go on to spend years pouring over it. 452 00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: It proved to be a singular, remarkable artifact, the earliest 453 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: known evidence of human dissection as a practice, a blueprint 454 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:24,960 Speaker 1: for ancient scientific surgery. Experts believed that the original document 455 00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:28,480 Speaker 1: copied by the scribe was known as the Secret Book 456 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,920 Speaker 1: of the Physician and had originally circulated more than five 457 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: thousand years ago. This document was important because it gave 458 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:39,160 Speaker 1: evidence of a stark departure from folk medicine and magic, 459 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:45,040 Speaker 1: replacing it with rational scientific observation. It represented a remarkable 460 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,359 Speaker 1: moment in time when people were finally pulling the body 461 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,640 Speaker 1: apart and going inside of it to seek out answers 462 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:56,720 Speaker 1: to its deepest mysteries. Sadly, James and his contemporaries never 463 00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:59,520 Speaker 1: found the source document, and because of that we might 464 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:02,560 Speaker 1: never know how the original book ended. What did the 465 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 1: ancient Egyptians know about our inner workings? And how long 466 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,439 Speaker 1: ago did they know it? How much was lost only 467 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:12,440 Speaker 1: to need to be rediscovered again in a different time, 468 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,119 Speaker 1: in a different place. For the moment, it seems like 469 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,920 Speaker 1: it's lost to history, but the quest continues, and as 470 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: a story it illustrates a powerful idea. Even today, we're 471 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:28,640 Speaker 1: still hard at work adding to our body of knowledge. 472 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:34,400 Speaker 1: I'm Aaron Manky, and welcome two bedside manners.