1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:39,599 Speaker 1: The late nineteenth century in Europe, often referred to as 7 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:43,480 Speaker 1: the Victorian Era, was a time of rapid scientific development. 8 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: But as much as Victorian Europe embraced science, there was 9 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 1: also a social movement in the opposite direction, embracing spiritualism 10 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: or mysticism. Seances were a popular part of this movement. 11 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: Friends and family would gather around a table and attempt 12 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: to contact the dead. They was such a commonplace practice 13 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: that the lines between mysticism and science often blurred, as 14 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: researchers were attracted to seances to learn if there was 15 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,120 Speaker 1: any truth to them or if it were all just 16 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: a hoax. In eighteen ninety six, twenty one year old 17 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: Karl Gustav or CG as his friends called him, was 18 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 1: invited to the home of his cousin, Helly Preisberg. She 19 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: was a medium known for conducting seances. Although CG was 20 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,039 Speaker 1: a medical student, he had an open mind when it 21 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: came to the supernatural. He was raised in a religious 22 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 1: home and had been plagued by strange, vivid dreams from 23 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: a young age. Both science and religion had always failed 24 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: to explain his dreams. They were frightening episodes, full of monsters, ghosts, 25 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: and twisted imagery. If anyone could help him get to 26 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: the bottom of these visions, perhaps it was his cousin Helly. 27 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: It was said that she could not only contact the dead, 28 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: but travel between different realms, maybe even into the realm 29 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: of his dreams. He was a frail fifteen year old girl, 30 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: but she and cig got along well. They had a 31 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:09,520 Speaker 1: shared enthusiasm for the supernatural, and so when they conducted 32 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: this first seance together, they took it very seriously. At first, 33 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: they attempted to contact the dead. They laid their fingers 34 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 1: on an upside down glass over a sheet of paper 35 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: covered with letters. Helly then channeled the ghosts in the room, 36 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,680 Speaker 1: asking them to identify themselves by using her body to 37 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: move the glass and spell out their names. A spirit 38 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: soon took control of her and revealed itself to be 39 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: their late grandfather, the Reverend Samuel Preisberg. Helly suddenly fell 40 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: to the ground. Sig rushed to her side, shaking her, 41 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: asking the spirit to free her. But when Helly spoke next, 42 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 1: it didn't sound like her at all. Her voice was 43 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,639 Speaker 1: deep and mature, like that of their grandfathers. Do not 44 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: fear see. I am with you every day, it said, 45 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: I am your grandfather Samuel, who dwells with God. Pray 46 00:02:57,680 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: to him the Lord, and ask him that my dear 47 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: grandchild reaches her goal. What was her goal, you might ask, well, 48 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,839 Speaker 1: Apparently their grandfather had sent Helly's spirit to the Americas, 49 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: where their relative Bertie was and I quote, in danger 50 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:14,919 Speaker 1: from having a baby with a black man. He wanted 51 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: Helly to somehow stop it, because, unfortunately, it seems that 52 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: racism continues on into the afterlife. Helly returned to her body, 53 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: claiming that she was unsuccessful in her mission to stop 54 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: Bertie from having the baby. Cig obviously found all of 55 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: this very strange, but he found it even stranger weeks 56 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: later when he received a letter from Bertie revealing that 57 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: she had indeed had a baby. Cig and Helly continued 58 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: their seances for years, with Helly explaining more and more 59 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 1: about the supernatural realms that she supposedly visited. But when 60 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: Sig finished his undergraduate and he moved on to the 61 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: blossoming world of psychology, he began to read the works 62 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 1: of Sigmund Freud and learned about the idea of the 63 00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: unconscious mind, the part of our brain that we don't 64 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: have access to, that's filled with dark imagery and forgotten memories. 65 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 1: And Cig saw similarities between his dreams, Helly's spirits, and 66 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: Freud's descriptions of the unconscious. It made more sense to 67 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: him that he and Helly were both experiencing psychological rather 68 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: than supernatural phenomena, and this became even more apparent a 69 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: few years into the seances, when Cig caught Helly hiding 70 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 1: objects in her dress that she would throw across the room, 71 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: trying to make it look like the spirits were doing it. 72 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,839 Speaker 1: He spent the first several years of his psychotherapy career 73 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: writing about Helly and how he believed that her spirits 74 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: were just manifestations of her unconscious mind. Her ability to 75 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 1: know things that she shouldn't was either outright deception or 76 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 1: just simple coincidence, and SIG's skepticism grew to the point 77 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,720 Speaker 1: where he eventually challenged his own mentor, Sigmund Freud and 78 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: Freud's obsession with human sexuality as the driving force of 79 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 1: all psychological behavior. Eventually, even cg's work would meet with 80 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:06,040 Speaker 1: some criticism from his successors, but again, that's just how 81 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:10,720 Speaker 1: science works regardless. CG or Carl Jung as he's better 82 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: known today, was one of the founding fathers of modern psychiatry. 83 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:18,839 Speaker 1: He ensured that reason, not superstition, emerged as the prevailing 84 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: force of the Victorian era. If reality TV has taught 85 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 1: us anything it's that humans can make a competition out 86 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: of just about anything. Food is no exception, whether it's 87 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,120 Speaker 1: in the breezy tent of the Great British Bakeoff or 88 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: the bowels of Hell's Kitchen. We love watching chefs go 89 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 1: toe to toe in culinary battles. The incredible popularity of 90 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: these shows might lead you to think that cookoffs are 91 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: a modern invention, but that couldn't be further from the truth. 92 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: Can trace them back centuries, all the way back to 93 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: medieval Baghdad. During the ninth century. The city was one 94 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: of the culinary capitals of the world. It was perfectly 95 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: situated between Europe and Asia, giving its chefs access to 96 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: spices and recipes from the four corners of the globe. Meanwhile, 97 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: the Khalif, or ruler of Baghdad, was a massive foodie 98 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,160 Speaker 1: and a decent amateur chef in his own right. Well. 99 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: One day, the Khalif got into an argument with his 100 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:29,800 Speaker 1: brother over which of them was a better cook. Determined 101 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:32,480 Speaker 1: to prove himself, he sent his servants to the market 102 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: with orders to bring back the ingredients for a feast. 103 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:40,679 Speaker 1: There was lamb and chicken, eggplants and apricots, salt, saffron, honey, 104 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 1: half a dozen kinds of oils and spices from China 105 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 1: and India. With everything assembled, the Khalif told his brother 106 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: that they would each prepare a dish of their own, 107 00:06:50,279 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: choosing using any ingredients they pleased, in the palace's state 108 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:56,799 Speaker 1: of the art kitchen. A panel of the best chefs 109 00:06:56,839 --> 00:06:59,600 Speaker 1: of the city would serve as their judges. There would 110 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: be no prize, though, you see, the brothers would simply 111 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: be competing purely for bragging rights. But they weren't working alone. 112 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: They would each be supported by an assistant pulled from 113 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: the Khalif's cooking staff. And herein lay the Khalif's secret. 114 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: For his assistant, he selected a young chef named Ibada. 115 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: The young man was talented, but had a reputation in 116 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: the kitchens for being difficult to work with. The other 117 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: cook said that he was devious and not above sabotaging 118 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 1: his co workers to get ahead, and the Khalif knew 119 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: that Abada couldn't be trusted, and that's why he wanted 120 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: him on his team. As the brothers got to work, 121 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: the kitchen became a storm of activity. The assistants rushed 122 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: back and forth, stoking the ovens and chopping herbs with abandon. 123 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: Soon fragrant aromas were wafting from opposite corners of the room. 124 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 1: The Khalif grinned as he tasted his dish, confident that 125 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: he would be crowned the victor, but his assistant, Ibada, 126 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: wasn't so sure. The smell coming from their opponents area 127 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: was unbelievable, better than anything prepared in that kitchen before. Worried, 128 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: he drifted over, making a show of inspecting the competitor's dish. 129 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: The Kalif's brother looked proud until Ibada wrinkled his nose 130 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 1: in an expression of disgust. With a sigh, he remarked 131 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: how unfair it was that the Khalif had neglected to 132 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: share their secrets ingredient. Hearing this, the Kalif's brother scowled, 133 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: Of course, it was just like his brother to goad 134 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: him into a competition only to cheat. Furious, he demanded 135 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:32,559 Speaker 1: to know what secret ingredient the Khalif was using. Ibada 136 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: glanced back at the Khalif to make sure he wasn't watching, 137 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: and then handed over a small jar of fermented sauce. 138 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: It was only fair, he said, that everyone had access 139 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 1: to the same materials, even if it lost him the competition. 140 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,160 Speaker 1: The brother's eyes flashed with triumph as he added his 141 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 1: sauce to his dish, but within seconds, its fragrant smell 142 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:56,560 Speaker 1: had become a noxious odor. The brother immediately realized that 143 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: he had been tricked, but it was too late to 144 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 1: salvage the dish. They were out of time, and upon 145 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 1: tasting it, the judges unanimously proclaimed the Khaliph the winner. 146 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:09,079 Speaker 1: The ruler was so pleased by the victory he immediately 147 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: promoted his assistant to head chef. Ibada left the kitchen 148 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: feeling quite clever, but it wasn't long before he paid 149 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:18,679 Speaker 1: the price for his trickery. The Khalif died a few 150 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:21,800 Speaker 1: years later, and his brother took the throne. The new 151 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,560 Speaker 1: ruler had never forgiven Ibada and came dangerously close to 152 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,839 Speaker 1: having him executed. In the end, he decided the chef 153 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: wasn't worth the trouble and simply exiled him. So as 154 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: brutal as modern competitions might seem, Ibada's story shows that 155 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:39,520 Speaker 1: things could be a lot worse. In the world of 156 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 1: medieval cookoffs. You could go from top of the pack 157 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,040 Speaker 1: to the bottom in the blink of an eye. The 158 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:48,440 Speaker 1: stakes were sometimes a matter of life and death, and 159 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:55,640 Speaker 1: one wrong move could get you chopped. I hope you've 160 00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe 161 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the 162 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:07,120 Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was 163 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. 164 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,560 Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is 165 00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:18,080 Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can 166 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. 167 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: And until next time, stay curious.