WEBVTT - 9 Last Words Worth Remembering

0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:00.760
<v Speaker 1>Guess what will?

0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:01.200
<v Speaker 2>What's that?

0:00:01.240 --> 0:00:03.840
<v Speaker 1>Mango? So have you seen this trailer for the movie Tag.

0:00:04.040 --> 0:00:07.160
<v Speaker 1>It's about these brothers who play an epic game of tag.

0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:10.680
<v Speaker 1>I think John Ham's in it, and maybe Ed Helms.

0:00:10.800 --> 0:00:12.360
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I was gonna say. I saw Ed Helms was

0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:14.280
<v Speaker 2>in it. I saw a couple of articles about it.

0:00:14.280 --> 0:00:16.639
<v Speaker 3>It looks pretty funny, and actually I saw it's based

0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:17.880
<v Speaker 3>on a real story, right.

0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:20.160
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, So when I heard that, I was actually a

0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:22.680
<v Speaker 1>little confused because I'd heard this other great story about

0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:25.520
<v Speaker 1>brothers playing tag and this from a while back. So

0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:28.479
<v Speaker 1>this guy, Richard Mellon was actually like a captain of industry,

0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:30.680
<v Speaker 1>I want to say. He came from Pittsburgh and he

0:00:30.720 --> 0:00:33.080
<v Speaker 1>and his younger brother Andrew had this game of tag

0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:37.120
<v Speaker 1>that they'd play, and apparently the game lasted for seven decades.

0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:40.760
<v Speaker 1>It's nuts. But but here's the craziest part, right, So,

0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:43.520
<v Speaker 1>when Richard was on his deathbed, he summoned his brother

0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:45.440
<v Speaker 1>Andrew over to him, and he pulled him close and

0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:48.519
<v Speaker 1>then he just whispered into his ear last Tag and

0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:49.120
<v Speaker 1>then he died.

0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:50.680
<v Speaker 2>Oh I love that.

0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:53.000
<v Speaker 3>It's such like a just kind of like a big

0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:56.400
<v Speaker 3>brother thing to do. But so were those actually his

0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:57.160
<v Speaker 3>last words.

0:00:57.240 --> 0:00:59.600
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and apparently Andrew had to stay it for four

0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:03.200
<v Speaker 1>more years until he passed away. But that story made

0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:05.200
<v Speaker 1>me think we should do today's nine Things about epic

0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:06.640
<v Speaker 1>last words. Let's dive in.

0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:30.520
<v Speaker 3>Hey, their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm

0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:32.600
<v Speaker 3>Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good

0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:35.800
<v Speaker 3>friend Manges Shot Ticketer and behind the soundproof glass just

0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:38.520
<v Speaker 3>chugging this big jug of V eight as he works

0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:39.120
<v Speaker 3>from there.

0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:42.160
<v Speaker 1>I feel like he thinks, if he drinks enough V eight,

0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:44.240
<v Speaker 1>he's just never gonna have to think about his last words.

0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:46.720
<v Speaker 3>Well, you just never know. I mean, he's a really

0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:49.600
<v Speaker 3>smart guy. But that's our friend and producer Tristan McNeil.

0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:52.080
<v Speaker 3>All right, Mango, So I know last words are a

0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:54.600
<v Speaker 3>little bit of a morbid topic, but I still find

0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:55.840
<v Speaker 3>them pretty fascinating.

0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:56.920
<v Speaker 2>I just can't help it.

0:01:57.000 --> 0:01:58.960
<v Speaker 3>And I know John Green when he used to work

0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:01.520
<v Speaker 3>at Mental Flaws, he was completely obsessed with these.

0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:04.480
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I remember showing us like pages of this, and

0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:07.240
<v Speaker 1>a lot of that found its way into Looking for Alaska.

0:02:07.360 --> 0:02:10.000
<v Speaker 1>But uh, one of the things I remember it was

0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:11.919
<v Speaker 1>like that was the first time I heard that Dylan

0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:15.080
<v Speaker 1>Thomas quote about eighteen straight whiskies. I think that's the

0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:18.560
<v Speaker 1>record which were his last words, horrible last words, and

0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:22.600
<v Speaker 1>also Henry Ward Beacher's one about uh now comes the Mystery,

0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:24.080
<v Speaker 1>which is way more poetic.

0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:26.040
<v Speaker 3>You know, I think the part of what's so great

0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.040
<v Speaker 3>about last words is when somebody who already consider a

0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:33.520
<v Speaker 3>genius says something funny or just meaningful, or even exactly

0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:35.360
<v Speaker 3>is the character you want them to be.

0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:37.640
<v Speaker 2>There's something so satisfying about that.

0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:40.240
<v Speaker 1>No, I definitely agree. So I kicked this off with

0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:43.480
<v Speaker 1>the tag story, But I'm curious, what's your first last

0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:45.799
<v Speaker 1>word gonna be? All right?

0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:47.520
<v Speaker 3>Well, I think I'm going to kick this off with

0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:51.040
<v Speaker 3>a smart alec who didn't disappoint, and that's Voltaire. Now,

0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:53.280
<v Speaker 3>I know you and I have plenty of great facts

0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:54.000
<v Speaker 3>about Voltaire.

0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:56.680
<v Speaker 2>I know that pull up line.

0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:59.600
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I got so many Voltaire effects up in here.

0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:01.680
<v Speaker 3>But anyway, you know, there was the one that he

0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:04.480
<v Speaker 3>was pinpals with Catherine the Great, or that he supposedly

0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:07.280
<v Speaker 3>drank forty cups of coffee a day. They may have

0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:10.160
<v Speaker 3>been tiny cups, but still it's pretty impressive.

0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:12.640
<v Speaker 1>I know. And supposedly he was such a fiend for coffee.

0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.760
<v Speaker 1>That he actually imported these luxury beans because he couldn't

0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:17.000
<v Speaker 1>just drink plain coffee.

0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:20.200
<v Speaker 3>Really, I actually didn't know that about the luxury beans. Well,

0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:22.520
<v Speaker 3>my favorite story about Voltaire is what he told his

0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:25.320
<v Speaker 3>priest on his deathbed. And as the story goes, the

0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:27.720
<v Speaker 3>priest knew Voltaire was close to death, so he was

0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:30.600
<v Speaker 3>encouraging him to use his last words to secure his

0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:33.240
<v Speaker 3>place in heaven, just kind of pressing him on it

0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:36.440
<v Speaker 3>over and over to renounce Satan. And you know, of course, Voltaire,

0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:39.400
<v Speaker 3>being a legendary smart Alec just says to him, now,

0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:41.960
<v Speaker 3>my good man, this is no time for making enemies,

0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:43.080
<v Speaker 3>and then he passed away.

0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:47.400
<v Speaker 1>That's pretty great. So here's a weird one i'd heard

0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:50.160
<v Speaker 1>that I just thought was an urban legend. But did

0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:52.400
<v Speaker 1>you know that the Nike slogan just Do It is

0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:55.920
<v Speaker 1>based on a phrase from death Row. No, seriously, Yeah,

0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:59.680
<v Speaker 1>it's so grim. But apparently, you know Dan Widen, he's

0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:02.680
<v Speaker 1>like from that legendary ad firm Widen and Kennedy. He

0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:05.680
<v Speaker 1>was trying to come up with some sort of slogan

0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:08.800
<v Speaker 1>to tie all of Nike's advertisements together. And this is

0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:11.320
<v Speaker 1>a totally separate and weird thing. I actually read that

0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:15.240
<v Speaker 1>Phil Knight, the CEO of Nike, thought TV advertising was

0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:17.640
<v Speaker 1>like a mistake for the brand and just a big

0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:20.360
<v Speaker 1>waste of time. And Widen actually had to really convince

0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:22.040
<v Speaker 1>him to do it, and he needed to convince him

0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:24.240
<v Speaker 1>to trust them and whatever. But anyway, he was trying

0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:26.280
<v Speaker 1>to figure a way to tie all these ads together,

0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:29.920
<v Speaker 1>and he remembered the last words of this murderer from Portland,

0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:33.599
<v Speaker 1>this guy named Gary Gilmour, who in the late seventies

0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:36.680
<v Speaker 1>was put in front of a firing squad and before

0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:40.560
<v Speaker 1>they shot, he just shouted, let's do it. And wow,

0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.560
<v Speaker 1>I guess Widen edited out the phrase lets and inserted

0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:45.520
<v Speaker 1>to just And that's how just do it came to be.

0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:47.320
<v Speaker 2>That's so strange.

0:04:47.360 --> 0:04:51.240
<v Speaker 3>It's also so strange to imagine in the seventies firing squad.

0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:53.840
<v Speaker 3>I know, just such a bizarre thing.

0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:54.680
<v Speaker 2>But I don't know.

0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.600
<v Speaker 3>What's weirder is that I'd actually written down the story

0:04:57.640 --> 0:04:59.960
<v Speaker 3>of Nike as a last word, and so I think

0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.360
<v Speaker 3>I'm going to use that one next. So the reason

0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:05.760
<v Speaker 3>we run marathons, or that people run marathons, is to

0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.520
<v Speaker 3>honor a messenger from four to nine DBC. And we've

0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:10.839
<v Speaker 3>heard this story before, but it's still pretty fascinating. But

0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:13.120
<v Speaker 3>according to the myth, he raced from the city of

0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:16.599
<v Speaker 3>Marathon to Athens after the Athenian army had won a battle,

0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:19.320
<v Speaker 3>and supposedly it was incredibly hot that day and he

0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:22.280
<v Speaker 3>raised the twenty six miles between the cities, and when

0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:26.760
<v Speaker 3>he got there he uttered that one glorious word for victory, Nike,

0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:27.960
<v Speaker 3>and then he passed out.

0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:31.159
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and now the goddess has a shoe company named

0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:32.680
<v Speaker 1>for her, which is great.

0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:34.920
<v Speaker 2>So yeah, it's all worth it.

0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:38.600
<v Speaker 1>So one thing I love about last words, and I

0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:41.679
<v Speaker 1>feel like I couldn't find enough of this was people

0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:45.080
<v Speaker 1>using their deathbed as a soapbox to really complain about

0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:46.000
<v Speaker 1>someone they detested.

0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:49.359
<v Speaker 3>I kind of like Festivus, you know, the airing of

0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:50.520
<v Speaker 3>grievances exactly.

0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:53.680
<v Speaker 1>So these are like words that are worthy of Frank Constanzas.

0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:57.320
<v Speaker 1>And so this one is actually one that Chris Higgins,

0:05:57.320 --> 0:06:00.080
<v Speaker 1>our friend, found on Mental Floss, and I just love it.

0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:04.040
<v Speaker 1>So apparently there was this pickpocket named Thomas B. Moran

0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:07.559
<v Speaker 1>who was nicknamed Butterfingers. I'd never heard this story before,

0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:10.480
<v Speaker 1>but you know, you think of butterfingers as someone who

0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:12.840
<v Speaker 1>drops balls in the outfield and not someone who's like

0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:16.760
<v Speaker 1>a silky smooth pickpocket. But by all accounts Moran was,

0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:20.680
<v Speaker 1>and he had stolen over fifty thousand wallets over the

0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:23.640
<v Speaker 1>course of his career. Right amazing. But these are his

0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:27.800
<v Speaker 1>last words quote, I've never forgiven that smart Alexi reporter

0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:31.200
<v Speaker 1>who named me butterfingers to me, it's not funny. And

0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:32.000
<v Speaker 1>then he died.

0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.159
<v Speaker 3>He'd really been wrong and feels so sorry for the guy.

0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:39.880
<v Speaker 3>I know, but I know it was probably a relief

0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:42.520
<v Speaker 3>that he finally got to admit that. But all right,

0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:44.440
<v Speaker 3>well here's what I really liked, because it kind of

0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:48.400
<v Speaker 3>shows someone's true spirit. So Marie Antoinette obviously got a

0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:51.040
<v Speaker 3>bad rap for the whole let them have cake comment,

0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:53.560
<v Speaker 3>which of course she didn't even say. But you know

0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:56.479
<v Speaker 3>that public perception of her was clearly as this out

0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.280
<v Speaker 3>of touch royal who didn't really care for others. But

0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:01.320
<v Speaker 3>you know what, you look at her last words, it

0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:04.120
<v Speaker 3>kind of paints a different picture. So as she was

0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:08.000
<v Speaker 3>walking to the guillotine, she accidentally steps on the executioner's foot,

0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:11.880
<v Speaker 3>so her last words supposedly were, pardon me, sir, I

0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:12.800
<v Speaker 3>meant not to do it.

0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:13.440
<v Speaker 2>Huh.

0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:15.440
<v Speaker 1>So that actually makes me like her a lot more

0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:17.560
<v Speaker 1>like when you're on your way to be executed, you

0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:19.960
<v Speaker 1>normally have like tons of things on your mind. But

0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:23.360
<v Speaker 1>I like that she decided to use her manners and

0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:27.040
<v Speaker 1>was considerate of others. Yeah. Yeah, anyway, so we've got

0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:28.640
<v Speaker 1>a couple more of these before we settle on a

0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:41.800
<v Speaker 1>winter but let's do those after a quick break.

0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:46.520
<v Speaker 3>Welcome back to Part Time Genius, where we're talking about

0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:49.320
<v Speaker 3>famous last words, and we got a couple more stories

0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:51.560
<v Speaker 3>to tell, Mango, so you know what's funny.

0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:53.840
<v Speaker 1>And I realized this is a little off topic, but

0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:56.720
<v Speaker 1>every time I hear the phrase famous last words, I

0:07:56.760 --> 0:07:58.960
<v Speaker 1>think about my study of broad trip in college. So

0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:01.800
<v Speaker 1>before I went, like the group had sent out this

0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:04.080
<v Speaker 1>packing list of supplies he should have and part of

0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:06.640
<v Speaker 1>our trip was at the foothills of Everest essentially, so

0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:09.680
<v Speaker 1>it was through Nepal and Tibet, but there were these

0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:13.120
<v Speaker 1>places and elevations that were really really cold. So my

0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.880
<v Speaker 1>mom took me to this Army Navy surplus store to

0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:17.960
<v Speaker 1>get like a really good sleeping bag and some of

0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:21.720
<v Speaker 1>the other things, and the shop was totally empty, like

0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:24.080
<v Speaker 1>everything was dusty, and they had a lot of these

0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:26.440
<v Speaker 1>goods just stacked up, and it seemed like people hadn't

0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:29.160
<v Speaker 1>really gone there in a while. And the shop keep

0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:32.440
<v Speaker 1>he just seemed like this grizzled old veteran. But I

0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:34.400
<v Speaker 1>think he spotted my mom and realized there was a

0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:37.120
<v Speaker 1>sale to be made here. So, like every time my

0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:39.400
<v Speaker 1>mom took out this list and she'd look at it

0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:41.720
<v Speaker 1>and she'd say things like it says two pairs of

0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:44.319
<v Speaker 1>extra thick socks, he just looked at her and he'd

0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:48.200
<v Speaker 1>say famous last words, just like grumble it to her,

0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:50.400
<v Speaker 1>and then she'd be like, three pairs this, three pairs, right,

0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:55.280
<v Speaker 1>four pairs, We'll take six pairs like everything. I feel

0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:56.640
<v Speaker 1>like by the end of this trip we had this

0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:59.320
<v Speaker 1>station wagon full of things we didn't need. It was crazy.

0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:02.600
<v Speaker 3>I oh picture that, But that's pretty great. Well, speaking

0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:04.400
<v Speaker 3>of famous last words, what are you going to use is.

0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:06.480
<v Speaker 2>Your last last words of the day?

0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:09.840
<v Speaker 1>So initially I was thinking it aim for something funny, right,

0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:13.000
<v Speaker 1>because there are tons of those. There's a Groucho Marx

0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:17.080
<v Speaker 1>who said this is no way to live, or Richard Feynman,

0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.000
<v Speaker 1>who you know is that physicist who said this dying

0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:22.920
<v Speaker 1>is boring. But I'm actually gonna go with something a

0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:26.160
<v Speaker 1>little bit sweeter. And this is Arthur Conan Doyle, who

0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:28.680
<v Speaker 1>you know, we know from Sherlock Holmes stories. And he

0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:31.160
<v Speaker 1>was in his garden, which I imagine is this beautiful

0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:34.520
<v Speaker 1>English garden, and just before he died, he clutched his chest,

0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:37.680
<v Speaker 1>turned to his wife and said, you are wonderful, and

0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:38.560
<v Speaker 1>then he passed away.

0:09:39.280 --> 0:09:41.280
<v Speaker 2>Oh wow, that sweet and romantic.

0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:43.880
<v Speaker 3>But actually, Mango, I feel like I may have one

0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:45.040
<v Speaker 3>even better for you.

0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:47.160
<v Speaker 2>And he's come from Harriet Tubman.

0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:50.880
<v Speaker 1>Oh no, the Harriet Tubman card. So I feel like

0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:53.480
<v Speaker 1>we've done lots of stories about Harriet Tubman over the years,

0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:55.160
<v Speaker 1>but I actually know nothing about her death.

0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:55.800
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:58.000
<v Speaker 3>So sadly she died of pneumonia, and there are a

0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:01.000
<v Speaker 3>few accounts of how she left. There's there's one that said,

0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:03.600
<v Speaker 3>you know, she told some clergyman, give my love to

0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:06.720
<v Speaker 3>all the churches, and then she quoted a biblical passage

0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:09.360
<v Speaker 3>and that passage was I go away to prepare a

0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:12.200
<v Speaker 3>place for you. But I think the version I like

0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:14.960
<v Speaker 3>more is that after she made her statement, her family,

0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.360
<v Speaker 3>you know, kind of sensing that the end was near,

0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:21.520
<v Speaker 3>they gathered around her and sang together. So The last

0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:24.800
<v Speaker 3>words of hers were actually, swing low, sweet chariot.

0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:27.160
<v Speaker 1>That's really lovely. I think you've got to take this round.

0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:29.240
<v Speaker 1>That's it for today's nine Things. We're going to be

0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:31.360
<v Speaker 1>back tomorrow with a full length episode, but thank you

0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:45.480
<v Speaker 1>so much for listening.