1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to 2 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: the show Ridiculous Historians. Thank you as old ways so 3 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:34,160 Speaker 1: much for tuning in here. In twenty twenty four, we 4 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,840 Speaker 1: have returned with a bit of a follow up episode. 5 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:41,520 Speaker 1: Shout out to our super producer, the main man, mister 6 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: Max Salt and c Williams. 7 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 2: Shout out to the Hoover Dam. Shout out to the 8 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 2: Hoover Dam that goes out there. 9 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:50,519 Speaker 3: You're gonna you got you shout into the damn and 10 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:51,840 Speaker 3: the damn shouts back. 11 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: It sure does. Oh my gosh, I am I. 12 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 2: Be called salty boy? Yeah, course, Well that's what we 13 00:00:57,560 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 2: talk about. 14 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: Salinity and that's Max, that's what Well, that's what we 15 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: call you when we're just texting without you. I'm Ben Bullen. 16 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,240 Speaker 1: Here is the one and only mister Noel Brown. And 17 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: as you may recall Ridiculous Historians when we when we 18 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: did our recent episode series about the Hoover Dam, one 19 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: thing we continually returned to is a strange hm we 20 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: could call it a fun little accident sarcastically that went 21 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:33,400 Speaker 1: on to change the Southwest. It's called the Sultan Sea. 22 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: And Noel, you have have have you been out to 23 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: the Sultan Sea. 24 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 3: I haven't, but I have seen the movie The Sultan 25 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 3: Sea starring jeez Val Kilmer, and at the setting is 26 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 3: the Sultan Sea, and it's very much the kind of 27 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 3: Sultan Sea that you also will Sultan see depicted the 28 00:01:56,120 --> 00:02:00,040 Speaker 3: Grand Theft Auto Door. It it wasn't really but thank you. 29 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 3: You know, there's that character, I think his name's Trevor. 30 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 3: He's sort of the like the he's a real salty dog. 31 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:08,960 Speaker 3: He represents sort of that kind of methy, sort of 32 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 3: grizzled element. Yeah, in that game, and it is an 33 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 3: explorable part of the map, and it's not called the 34 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 3: Sultans I can't remember what it's called in the game, 35 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 3: but it very much is based on that, and it 36 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 3: is sort of like this weird, kind of creepy ghost town. 37 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 3: Like it it was meant to be some sort of 38 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:35,920 Speaker 3: resorty kind of exactly, but that's right exactly. But it 39 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 3: is a very sad and scary place and that's also 40 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 3: what it's like in the film. But it didn't start 41 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 3: that way. And oftentimes, you know, when we see things 42 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:48,800 Speaker 3: like abandoned malls, for example, or abandoned theme parks, there's 43 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 3: a certain extra creep factor that goes along when something 44 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 3: that was once tended with care and treated like it 45 00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 3: was gonna be this beautiful thing for all to enjoy 46 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 3: and then it just kind of abandoned. But those remnants 47 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 3: remain of what once was meant to be a place 48 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 3: where children would play or people would water ski and 49 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:10,120 Speaker 3: hang out with their families and have picnics. 50 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's dystopian indeed. And to be clear, folks, when 51 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: we're saying salt and sea, we're talking about a specific place. 52 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: We're not talking about salt and the sea that. 53 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 2: Dultan has anything to do with it. 54 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 3: I think the name is just a geographical but it 55 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,079 Speaker 3: turns out that salt is a big part of the story. 56 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 3: So it's very easy to make that mistake. But I'm 57 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 3: glad you you nip that one in the bud right 58 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 3: off the rip. But we found out about this again, 59 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 3: we'd all been aware of it, but from our wonderful 60 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 3: tour guide at the Hoover Dam, where there's a yeah, 61 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 3: that's right, who was a believe an employee of the 62 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 3: what's it called. There's a name of like sort of 63 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 3: land reclamation correct and their job is to deal with 64 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 3: watersheds and all of that stuff in the way water 65 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,839 Speaker 3: resources are used in the south Southwest. Yeah, they don't 66 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 3: care what happens on the East Ghost and a shout 67 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 3: out to you, Hoover, mataf you're tuning in. That was 68 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 3: very clear in our conversations. The Sultan Sea is going 69 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:13,559 Speaker 3: to be familiar to anybody who lives in or around California. 70 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 3: It is, through pure accident and misadventure, California's largest lake. 71 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 1: And we know that the basin has been home to 72 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:28,599 Speaker 1: a cyclical rise and fall of different bodies of water, 73 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: pretty much due to the Colorado rivers propensity for flooding 74 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:35,240 Speaker 1: and the uh. 75 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, the river is of course what is harnessed by. 76 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 1: Yeah. And the Sultan Sea was formed in its current 77 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:47,159 Speaker 1: iteration pretty recently in the Grand Scheme of things. Back 78 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:52,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen oh five, Colorado River floodwater breached a canal. 79 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:56,159 Speaker 1: We mentioned this in the Hoover series and flowed into 80 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:59,720 Speaker 1: what was called the Sultan Sink's It's like how a 81 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: poetkemon evolves. It's the Sultan Sink when there's not water. 82 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: It's the Sultan Sea when the Colorado River has a 83 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: bad day. 84 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:10,280 Speaker 4: And it has reached his final form, so it's it's 85 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:12,720 Speaker 4: a ground Pokemon with not water, but then it comes 86 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:14,880 Speaker 4: a water ground hybrid Pokemon. 87 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:17,560 Speaker 2: Don't talk about Pokemon with me around, I'll go, well, 88 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 2: got to get them all. 89 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:23,839 Speaker 4: I guess there's a two thirty eight on Pokemon Crystal. 90 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 4: One time the two fifty and then the battery inside 91 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 4: of it died. As an adult I was doing this. 92 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 1: Pokemon Go, by the way, is a surveillance skim. 93 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:34,080 Speaker 2: I just have to say it, you know. 94 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 3: But it's one of those things where it's just so fun. 95 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 3: I willingly give up my data for the privilege of 96 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 3: catching a I can't even think of the name of 97 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:46,719 Speaker 3: a Pokemon. Let's say, a wild snore lax in my backyard. 98 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 1: There is just a lot. There are a lot of them, 99 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: and there's only one salt and sea this time around. 100 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: Historic evidence and geological studies show that the Colorado River 101 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: has created something like the Sultan Sea numerous times over 102 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 1: the past thousands of years. The first lake to arise 103 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:13,279 Speaker 1: occurs in about seven hundred CE, and this is because 104 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:18,280 Speaker 1: the Colorado River shifted its course due to silt, which 105 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: is also the silt as part of why the Hoover 106 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:21,559 Speaker 1: Dam was built. 107 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 2: That's right. 108 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 3: I believe that was called Lake Coahuela Kahuila. I'll go 109 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,480 Speaker 3: with that. Yeah, seven hundred AD. And according to the 110 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:33,599 Speaker 3: Sultan Sea Authority, the present day Sultan Sea is that 111 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,480 Speaker 3: body of water that occupies the Sultan Basin. But to 112 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:38,799 Speaker 3: your point, Ben, there have been many that came before. 113 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:45,719 Speaker 3: The ancient evidence or geologic evidence of the moving shoreline 114 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 3: does indicate that Lake Kohila occupied that basin until just 115 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:52,480 Speaker 3: around three hundred years ago. 116 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:54,479 Speaker 1: So people lived and died there. 117 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 2: It wasn't a prefermanent thing in their experience. 118 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 3: And then from eighteen twenty four to nineteen four the 119 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 3: Colorado River starts to flood that salt and basin and 120 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 3: it happens the flooding no less than eight times. In 121 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 3: eighteen forty, for example, floodwaters created a salt lake that 122 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 3: was the measured three quarters of a mile long and 123 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 3: about half a mile wide. And then in June of 124 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 3: eighteen ninety one, another overflow of the Colorado River created 125 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 3: a lake thirty miles long and ten miles wide. 126 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:32,679 Speaker 1: Oof For everybody listening who is not in the United States, 127 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: that is a big lake. You know about the vest 128 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: leaves that, yeah, because we'll do anything not to use 129 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:43,240 Speaker 1: the metric system, and we want to give credit where 130 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 1: it's due, want to shout out. I don't know about you, guys, 131 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:52,400 Speaker 1: but I love learning about specific repositories of expertise and knowledge. 132 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: So with great acclaim, we have to thank the Sultan 133 00:07:56,360 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: Sea Authority, which is a real thing and shock full, 134 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 1: dare I say, overflowing with resources and research about this, 135 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: about this somewhat unique erstwhile body of water there again, 136 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: gone again. 137 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 2: Erstwhile on Fargo. 138 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 3: You guys noticed that you guys watched Fargo whenever they 139 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 3: do the next time or previously, they say erstwhile, Oh nice, 140 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 3: because I guess that's sort of a Midwestern. 141 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 2: It's cool, it's just clever. 142 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 3: That show really pays a lot of attention to detail, 143 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 3: and if you haven't watched it in the new season, 144 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 3: is pretty spectacular, dare I say, very triggering for some folks. 145 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 3: That deals with a lot of topics and depictions of abuse, 146 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 3: you know, domestic violence and such, so treadlight, but we're. 147 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: Talking about ecological abuse. That's like, you need to talk 148 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: about silt. When we got to talk about the silt, 149 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:52,679 Speaker 1: you haven't thought of the silt folks. So is the 150 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: true noal that no one will ever know for sure 151 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: how many times the saltan scenk has becomeless sultancy like 152 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:04,520 Speaker 1: I think. We know it's at least eight times, but 153 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:09,200 Speaker 1: we don't know how far back this phenomenon goes. We 154 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:13,719 Speaker 1: we mainly know the time that humans messed. 155 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 3: It up, that's right, Yeah, and that was specifically, you know, 156 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 3: involving the Hoover Dam. The construction of the Hoover Dam 157 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 3: while a fantastic feat of engineering, and you know the 158 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 3: power of science to tame nature and harness, you know, 159 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 3: the wilds of a planet Earth, you know, to the 160 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:37,239 Speaker 3: benefit of humankind. 161 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:39,720 Speaker 2: Things can go a little wrong. 162 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 3: You know, from time to time there are byproducts and 163 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 3: let's just call it collateral damage can occur when such 164 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,000 Speaker 3: a massive undertaking is undertaken. 165 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 1: There we go love it, yes, because humans. Humans can 166 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: be accused of many things over the course of history, 167 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:03,520 Speaker 1: but they can't be accused of lacking ambition even when 168 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 1: they should. So these these heavy silt loads become an 169 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:12,960 Speaker 1: issue when the California Development Company says, look at this thing, 170 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: look at the Inland Valley. We could grow so much 171 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,840 Speaker 1: food here. All we have to do is sweet talk 172 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:25,439 Speaker 1: the Colorado River into feeding future crops. 173 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 2: Come on, you know you want to feed those crops. 174 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:31,319 Speaker 1: Yeah. In nineteen oh one, they start digging these canals 175 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: from the river meant to go through the Imperial Valley. 176 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:37,640 Speaker 1: But they again not to be two Dennis Reynolds here. 177 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:40,400 Speaker 1: They hadn't thought of the silt, and. 178 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:44,760 Speaker 3: Just really quickly, if anyone doesn't remember from high school geology, 179 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:48,560 Speaker 3: isn't silt just kind of very fine particulate matter that 180 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:53,360 Speaker 3: is carried by river current specifically, and it can, of course, 181 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:56,600 Speaker 3: you know, form deposits that can you know, clog up 182 00:10:56,679 --> 00:10:59,319 Speaker 3: things and correct cause all kinds of problems, but also 183 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 3: move the location of shorelines over time. 184 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:09,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, mud, little bits of sand, this this agglomerates, you know. 185 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,080 Speaker 1: This is actually this similar to the reason that you 186 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: can't put coffee grounds into your disposal and your sink. 187 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 3: It'll be okay for a minute, then over time, and 188 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:22,959 Speaker 3: I've had I have died on this hill with roommates 189 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:24,080 Speaker 3: who swear it's fine. 190 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:24,800 Speaker 2: It's nope. 191 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 3: It might be okay for even a couple of months, 192 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:29,440 Speaker 3: but if you keep doing it, it's just gonna build 193 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:32,440 Speaker 3: up and like it gets ground more every time it 194 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 3: gets you know, you run the disposal, but that just 195 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 3: creates the stuff that builds up on the blades, and 196 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:40,040 Speaker 3: over time will eventually cause that thing to grind to 197 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 3: a halt. 198 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 1: And so so these poor folks at the California Development Company, 199 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: I'm kidding, they're quite well off. They said, dang, it 200 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 1: didn't it didn't work. We have to try to fix 201 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:57,160 Speaker 1: it somehow. And this led to a feedback loop of 202 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,800 Speaker 1: bad decisions and mistakes that ultimate led to what we 203 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: call the Sultan Sea today and later led to the 204 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 1: creation of what we call the Hoover Dam. 205 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 3: And ben really quickly, and I just want to correct myself. 206 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 3: I think I may have gotten order of operations a 207 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 3: little off the mark a minute ago. It wasn't the 208 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:16,600 Speaker 3: Hoover Dam that caused this problem. The Hoover Dam was 209 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:20,080 Speaker 3: one of the solutions to dealing with this human made 210 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:24,080 Speaker 3: issue that sprung up around the Sultan Sea from previous 211 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 3: attempts to dig irrigation canals from the Colorado River. Just so, yeah, 212 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 3: it's the best band aid that America could come up with, 213 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 3: I mean, but it still did spring forth from issues 214 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 3: surrounding human intervention. 215 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:45,000 Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely, And the Sultan Sea is different from a 216 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: lot of other bodies of water in the United States 217 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:52,720 Speaker 1: and indeed the world, because there's no real place for 218 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: the water to go over land, it would have to evaporate. 219 00:12:56,640 --> 00:13:03,319 Speaker 1: It's what's called an indorict lake e h EIC. So 220 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:06,440 Speaker 1: because the waters in the Salt and Sea have no 221 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:11,720 Speaker 1: it's like a crowded concert hall with no exit. 222 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 2: O's got to have those exits, fire code. 223 00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:18,079 Speaker 1: They've got no exit at all. These poor particles water. 224 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,800 Speaker 1: At least they have no runoff opportunity, which means they 225 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:25,560 Speaker 1: have two choices. They can either evaporate or they can 226 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:30,040 Speaker 1: sink into the ground. And this leads to a very 227 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:34,320 Speaker 1: high salinity level, a very high amount of salt in 228 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:35,320 Speaker 1: the salt and sea. 229 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 2: That's right. 230 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,640 Speaker 3: The California Department of Fish and Wildlife say that the 231 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:45,440 Speaker 3: Sultan Sea has been maintained by irrigation runoff coming from 232 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 3: the Imperial in Coachella Valleys and nearby rivers since it's 233 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 3: very formation, and that those salinity levels, those levels of 234 00:13:53,480 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 3: salt are currently more than fifty percent higher than ocean 235 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,840 Speaker 3: waters than the water of the Pacific specifically, and those 236 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:07,400 Speaker 3: levels continue to go up as time goes on. The 237 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 3: salt in the Sultan Sea is sort of the culprit 238 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:16,160 Speaker 3: at play here regarding what we could, with very little 239 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 3: hyperbole referred to as an ecological disaster, and we're going 240 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 3: to get to that. But for a time, it was 241 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:33,560 Speaker 3: kind of awesome, you know, it was like this this oasis, like, 242 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:38,239 Speaker 3: you know, a beautiful little ocean, you know, a contained 243 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:41,200 Speaker 3: ocean that didn't go off into the horizon, that was 244 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 3: just right there and therefore could be used for things 245 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:45,680 Speaker 3: like recreation. 246 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 1: And max if we could, could we get some like 247 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: retro as, you know, maybe forties fifties resort music, swinging y, Yeah, 248 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 1: picture it this way, lay. 249 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,440 Speaker 4: Back, So just use the music from the Adolpho Sax 250 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 4: episode Sweet Saxiphying right here. 251 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, make it sexy. 252 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 1: So picture this, Someone says, Dolly, and I know the 253 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: land on the coast is expensive for vacations, but we 254 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: have a happening scene in inland. We have a sea 255 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:18,480 Speaker 1: you see, all our own. This was like a hot 256 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:22,280 Speaker 1: spot for tourists, for people who own a boat but 257 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:27,560 Speaker 1: honestly cannot afford marina fees in more expensive areas. 258 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:30,080 Speaker 3: That's a good point, because it wasn't like at this 259 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:32,800 Speaker 3: point it was sort of a place for the halves, 260 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:34,560 Speaker 3: but maybe the haves, not. 261 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:38,680 Speaker 2: Quite as much as the top tier halves. You know. 262 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 3: It was almost more like having a condo rather than 263 00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 3: like a mansion, or like owning a timeshare rather than 264 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 3: you know, some sort of like beachside you know, get away, 265 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,320 Speaker 3: you know, for your summer home. So it did create 266 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 3: this sort of community that was very attractive to developers. 267 00:15:57,240 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 3: And that was also largely because those high salt level 268 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:03,200 Speaker 3: you know what happens when you've got salty waters, things 269 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:03,920 Speaker 3: float better. 270 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:05,720 Speaker 2: So people with boats. 271 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 3: Were using it because it was able to make speedboats 272 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:12,360 Speaker 3: go faster. And I believe there were some records that 273 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 3: were set, you know, using speedboats in the waters of 274 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 3: the Saltan Sea during the first half of the twentieth century. 275 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's more fun to operate a boat on this 276 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 1: buoyant brine. 277 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 2: There. We go too much alliteration, but we'll keep it. 278 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 1: So in the nineteen fifties, the California Department of Fish 279 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: and Game gets into the mix and they say, hey, 280 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: let's jush this up a little bit more. Let's get 281 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 1: people to come not just to play around on their 282 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: boats or to have a lake side vacation. Let's also 283 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,680 Speaker 1: draw in the fishing crowds, So we're going to stock 284 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:52,440 Speaker 1: this lake. Stocking a lake. This happens all the time 285 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: in Georgia, which has no natural lakes as a state. 286 00:16:55,120 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: It's a very weird fact, but you're welcome. The process 287 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:04,200 Speaker 1: of stocking a lake means that you take a bunch 288 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:07,919 Speaker 1: of different kinds of fish that people like to fish 289 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:11,359 Speaker 1: for recreationally. You put enough in that even someone who's 290 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:15,160 Speaker 1: kind of bad at fishing is almost guaranteed to catch one. 291 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 3: It's almost like those wildlife resorts where they have like 292 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:22,400 Speaker 3: penned in kind of deer that really have nowhere to go. 293 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:26,720 Speaker 3: So it's it sort of lowers the sporting quot just 294 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:28,600 Speaker 3: a little bit, like it's it's a little bit like 295 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:32,240 Speaker 3: a shooting fish in a very large barrel. But you know, 296 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 3: it was, it was popular. And also like deep deep 297 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 3: sea fishing is certainly more expensive and you can't you 298 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:41,880 Speaker 3: can fish off a pier, of course, but you're limited, 299 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,640 Speaker 3: you know, in terms of coastal areas where you can fish, 300 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 3: you know, for people that maybe don't have the money 301 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 3: to you know, own a trawler or whatever. 302 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:50,720 Speaker 2: They're really crap. 303 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:53,000 Speaker 3: Those things are called that can go deep sea fishing, 304 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 3: so you know, since this is a lake, you can 305 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:56,240 Speaker 3: fish right off the side. 306 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,960 Speaker 1: And this is where a guy named Pen of Fillips 307 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:04,360 Speaker 1: enters our story. It's the end of the nineteen fifties 308 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:08,639 Speaker 1: and our buddy Pen is developing property. He says, look, 309 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:10,639 Speaker 1: this is going to be the next big thing. This 310 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:13,440 Speaker 1: happens all the time in real estate. People will take 311 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:16,919 Speaker 1: out of the way land and attempt to make it, 312 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 1: you know, kind of like a resort, a live laugh, love, 313 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 1: a little all in one area. And so our buddy 314 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:28,600 Speaker 1: Pen buys thousands of acres of land. He gets involved 315 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:33,040 Speaker 1: in speculation. He's also selling lots of land around the 316 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,840 Speaker 1: western shore of the Salt and Sea. And he says, 317 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:38,879 Speaker 1: what I'm going to do really is I'm going to 318 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: be like Romulus and Remiss founding this great civilization. But 319 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:46,639 Speaker 1: this is going to be Sultan City and it's going 320 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:49,919 Speaker 1: to be tourism, and I want people. Basically, what you 321 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:52,879 Speaker 1: want when you're building these kind of things. You want 322 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:57,280 Speaker 1: a large traveling, seasonal population, but you want people to 323 00:18:57,359 --> 00:18:59,640 Speaker 1: live there year round. You want to make it good 324 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:03,160 Speaker 1: enough that it becomes like a mall people never leave. 325 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 3: Well, you know, the West coast of the United States 326 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:09,720 Speaker 3: is sort of seasonless largely, so you know, the weather 327 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,760 Speaker 3: kind of maintains pretty pretty consistently throughout the year. 328 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:14,119 Speaker 2: So it makes a lot of sense. 329 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 3: But this would definitely have been sort of a getaway, 330 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:18,440 Speaker 3: could have been considered a getaway for folks that maybe 331 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 3: lived more in the city, you know, more like in 332 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,119 Speaker 3: Los Angeles or in the valley perhaps, or in some 333 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:27,159 Speaker 3: of the surrounding part like it's on or like I 334 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 3: think I hear Big Bear Lake come up a lot 335 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 3: as far as like a place that the people in 336 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:32,879 Speaker 3: LA like to vacation to. 337 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:35,200 Speaker 2: But you start to. 338 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:40,919 Speaker 3: See the intention springing up around this development, you know, 339 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:45,479 Speaker 3: with streets named things like Seaview Avenue and Sea Missed 340 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:49,120 Speaker 3: Place and all of these very evocative kind of names. 341 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:51,640 Speaker 3: And again a lot of this information is coming from 342 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:55,199 Speaker 3: a combination of the Kiri Picone article on that all 343 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:58,880 Speaker 3: that's interesting and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. 344 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 3: But so you start to see the groundwork being laid 345 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 3: by Penn Phillips' efforts, and it starts to seem like 346 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 3: this is going to transform into what he had envision 347 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:13,399 Speaker 3: but then, all of a sudden, as though blessed with 348 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:18,240 Speaker 3: some sort of secret knowledge, Phillips ditches the whole thing 349 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 3: in nineteen sixty and we don't we still don't really know, 350 00:20:23,119 --> 00:20:26,960 Speaker 3: Like what tipped him off. Was he talking to, you know, 351 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 3: ecologists and environmental experts, and he sort of probably got 352 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,400 Speaker 3: the tip that maybe this was not going to progress 353 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:35,919 Speaker 3: in the way that he had hoped. 354 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:40,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, I was looking at this and probably, although it's 355 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:44,160 Speaker 1: tough to assign motivation and prescients, there are a couple 356 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 1: of possibilities. Maybe things just went upside down for him financially, 357 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:53,640 Speaker 1: very like sooner than a thought. And or it may 358 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 1: have been a situation where he got the amount of 359 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:00,719 Speaker 1: money that he wanted and then handed it off, like 360 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,439 Speaker 1: he may have not known what was about to happen, 361 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: but he In either case, he ghost in nineteen sixty, 362 00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: and Sultan City kind of becomes a ghost, like those 363 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:16,560 Speaker 1: massive towns that are built on real estate speculation in 364 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,359 Speaker 1: the nation of China. There's if you went to Sultan 365 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: City after nineteen sixty, you would see something that looked undone, 366 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:27,160 Speaker 1: like the developers in a video game had not quite 367 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:30,080 Speaker 1: gotten to that part of the map. There's like, there 368 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:33,120 Speaker 1: are a couple homes, there was a sewage system. They had, 369 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:35,200 Speaker 1: you know, as he said, they had the QTT names 370 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: for different streets. But it started to go downhill almost 371 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:45,000 Speaker 1: immediately because there wasn't new investment coming in. And this 372 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,880 Speaker 1: gave it that dystopian fallout esque vibe that we were 373 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:54,120 Speaker 1: foreshadowing earlier. And to be clear, people were still living there, 374 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,800 Speaker 1: just not as many as Penn had originally hoped. And 375 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:00,879 Speaker 1: so if we fast forward to the night teen seventies, 376 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:05,679 Speaker 1: we get to the real ecological disaster. The bill starts 377 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:10,159 Speaker 1: to come do and tourists don't love unpleasant things. 378 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 3: No, And we talked about how the salt levels kind 379 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 3: of were on the rise and all of this shoreline 380 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:21,440 Speaker 3: flooding was also on the rise. You had farm farming 381 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 3: communities nearby, you know, I mean if you go outside 382 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 3: of LA you know, places like Modesto and you know 383 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:29,879 Speaker 3: a little bit further out from Los Angeles proper, it 384 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 3: is super rural and a lot of farming going on 385 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:37,159 Speaker 3: out there. You know, things like oranges and various crops, 386 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,600 Speaker 3: you know, avocado, whatever. But they have to be fertilized, 387 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:45,960 Speaker 3: and there were times where regulations surrounding you know, what 388 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:48,359 Speaker 3: kind of fertilizer could be used and how it had 389 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,119 Speaker 3: to be dealt with were not nearly as strict as 390 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,320 Speaker 3: they are today. So you had a lot of runoff 391 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:58,440 Speaker 3: from these nearby farms causing increasing imbalances in the kind 392 00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:02,000 Speaker 3: of chemical makeup of the waters of the salt and sea. 393 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:05,199 Speaker 3: Pair that with that rising salinity and you start to 394 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:10,840 Speaker 3: get these massive fish kills with like fish bones, skeletons 395 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:13,840 Speaker 3: kind of piling up on the shore. A lot of 396 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:17,440 Speaker 3: those fish that had been stocked, you know, the various species, 397 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:22,919 Speaker 3: I believe, including let's see, we had croaker corvina, Yeah, 398 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:26,359 Speaker 3: something like I think sargo. I'm not a fish scientist, 399 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:28,960 Speaker 3: but those were several of the species. They just began 400 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:30,919 Speaker 3: to die off, and it was only I think a 401 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:34,280 Speaker 3: few of the more resilient species that even stuck around 402 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:35,000 Speaker 3: at all. 403 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:41,360 Speaker 1: Right, and this included some endangered species like the desert pupfish. 404 00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,800 Speaker 1: Coupled with this, there are a number of biblical level storms. 405 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:49,919 Speaker 1: If you had a resort barely holding on, guess what, 406 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 1: there's an act of God coming your way. It's not 407 00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:55,719 Speaker 1: in your favor, So a lot of people were forced 408 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 1: to pull out because the numbers just weren't working as 409 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:03,200 Speaker 1: an investment. If you fast forward now, you'll see, as 410 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:07,840 Speaker 1: you said, just a few very resilient fish species surviving 411 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:15,159 Speaker 1: for now. And yeah, and just like just like the 412 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:20,120 Speaker 1: Marinas a few years back, these things are barely holding on. 413 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 1: This gets even worse in two thousand and three. There's 414 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 1: something called the Quantification Settlement Agreement. Shout out to the 415 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:30,840 Speaker 1: California Department of Fish and Wildlife if you'd like to 416 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:35,440 Speaker 1: learn more. Its street name is the QSA. Basically, it's 417 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:39,399 Speaker 1: a covenant between states that share the Hoover Dam and 418 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:44,960 Speaker 1: the Colorado River. And we know California has historically been 419 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:51,879 Speaker 1: the least favorite state in this agreement because they tend 420 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:56,480 Speaker 1: to use more water than the originally agreed amount or limit. 421 00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:00,199 Speaker 1: And we also have to say, in California's defense, it 422 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:02,880 Speaker 1: is a country all its own, Like if you look 423 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:07,959 Speaker 1: at the GDP of California, it's a huge country. You know, 424 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 1: it's quite unique in that regard. And for a long 425 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,760 Speaker 1: period of time, everybody just sort of made do and 426 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: they said, Okay, we'll figure it out next year, we'll 427 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:21,920 Speaker 1: keep kicking the can down the length of this dam 428 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:27,119 Speaker 1: because Nevada and Nevada and Arizona never used their full 429 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:32,679 Speaker 1: quota of water, so people were just sliding the leftover 430 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:37,800 Speaker 1: to California. But problem is, not every place out west 431 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:44,480 Speaker 1: is like the Saltan city idea. There are thriving, huge populations, 432 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 1: huge cities that in some cases you could argue should 433 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: not exist. Sorry, Las Vegas, but shout out to you. 434 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:53,160 Speaker 3: Just slap there in the middle of the California desert, 435 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:56,200 Speaker 3: you know, by the mafia. The founding of Las Vegas 436 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 3: is fascinating, as we discovered when we were out there 437 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:01,399 Speaker 3: not too long ago. But all of this to say 438 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 3: that this QSA imposes some pretty serious water conservation measures 439 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:11,320 Speaker 3: that ultimately have the unintended consequence of drying up the 440 00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:15,080 Speaker 3: salt and sea. And in doing that, again, I'm not 441 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,000 Speaker 3: a water expert here, but it caused the salinity to 442 00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:22,919 Speaker 3: rise even further as the sea was drying up. And 443 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:28,480 Speaker 3: I'm not quite sure why that is. Maybe Matter or 444 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 3: Max you have an idea. 445 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:33,919 Speaker 4: Yeah, So what I got through this research, and I 446 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,320 Speaker 4: mean shout out to the California Department of Fish and 447 00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:39,680 Speaker 4: Wildlife because the right up on. This is very long. 448 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:42,520 Speaker 4: If we did the right up alone, it would be 449 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:45,440 Speaker 4: like an entire episode. But basically the gist of it is, 450 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 4: there's a ton of there's a ton of salt in 451 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:50,320 Speaker 4: the salt sea, but the water getting dumped into the 452 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 4: salt and sea is fresh water, so dilute it down. 453 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:58,520 Speaker 4: But so as California was getting less and less water 454 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,760 Speaker 4: because you know, Nevada and Arizona needed more less water 455 00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 4: going to the crops to run off, and those parts 456 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:10,439 Speaker 4: about becoming more efficient, unintended consequences. Basically, there's less fresh 457 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:15,240 Speaker 4: water getting dumped into this very high salt count and 458 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,159 Speaker 4: the water can't go anywhere, so what happens to it? 459 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 1: So it evaporates or it goes into the ground, which 460 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: causes the salinity to naturally increase. And the problem is 461 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:29,600 Speaker 1: that the wildlife in this area is not the kind 462 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:34,879 Speaker 1: of wildlife that has evolved to exist in these changing circumstances. 463 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:39,359 Speaker 1: The Sultancy in its current iteration for Everybody Playing Along 464 00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:42,640 Speaker 1: at Home has only existed for around a century, which 465 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: is very short term in the life span of bodies 466 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:49,200 Speaker 1: of water, and in just that amount of time, since 467 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:53,200 Speaker 1: it was the only show in town, ecologically, it became 468 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:57,960 Speaker 1: a huge resource for things like migratory birds, for resident 469 00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 1: animal populations like our pal the pupfish, some endangered species. 470 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 1: So because the because the rest of California was getting 471 00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:13,920 Speaker 1: developed at such a hectic pace, they were losing wetlands 472 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:18,399 Speaker 1: and the Sultan Sea became the replacement. It became the 473 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 1: we have wetlands at home. It's like the wish version 474 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:27,440 Speaker 1: of a wetland on et sea. So these these birds 475 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:31,959 Speaker 1: in the North American continent need a pit stop, especially 476 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:35,399 Speaker 1: if they're migratory, and the Sultan Sea becomes that. We 477 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 1: just don't think it will last very long. It's an 478 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 1: unsustainable situation because the marine animals are not going to 479 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:49,080 Speaker 1: be able to survive that increasing salinity. There's a reason 480 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 1: another very briny sea is called the Dead Sea. Super 481 00:28:54,440 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 1: great for boats, not super great floating, yeah, not super 482 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 1: great for freshwater fish though, and this leads us to 483 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:09,760 Speaker 1: the next turn in the story. The demise of the 484 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: Sultan Sea had consequences beyond the water itself. As the 485 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:27,360 Speaker 1: sea declined, we see things. We see things become increasingly dystopian. 486 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:30,400 Speaker 1: The human population that used to be kind of like 487 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:35,880 Speaker 1: novou Riche aspirational, middle class, upper middle class tourists. They leave, 488 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,880 Speaker 1: and the folks who remain there just like the Just 489 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,320 Speaker 1: like the salt that remains in the Sultan Sea, it 490 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:46,240 Speaker 1: gets weirder and weirder with each passing year. The vibe 491 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:48,400 Speaker 1: becomes strange. 492 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:53,800 Speaker 3: Right, more and more dystopian. I'm a Newburger, writing for CNBC, 493 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,800 Speaker 3: had this to say. The vision for Saltan City was clear, 494 00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:00,160 Speaker 3: a bustling resort community along the crystal blue waters the 495 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 3: Sultan Sea. The city's reality is more grim. Instead of 496 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 3: a vacation spot, it feels like a post apocalyptic ghost town. 497 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:09,920 Speaker 3: Most of the homes were demolished or never built. The 498 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,960 Speaker 3: palm trees are stumps, and the sea, while beautiful, is toxic. 499 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 3: And you know, she actually interviewed Frank Ruez from the 500 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 3: Audubon Society. The Audubon Society has a Sultan Sea program, 501 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 3: and he said people here used to fish, swim, bring 502 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:32,240 Speaker 3: their boats. They went from living in paradise to living 503 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:33,000 Speaker 3: in hell. 504 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:38,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, and that is not hyperbole. This also this also 505 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:42,920 Speaker 1: affects the surrounding land. Imperial County remains one of the 506 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:47,880 Speaker 1: poorest counties in the state of California, and there's a 507 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:51,680 Speaker 1: problem with the smell. That's right, fans are always sunny. 508 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:54,840 Speaker 1: We're doing that Dennis Reynolds joke because it works. We're 509 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:56,360 Speaker 1: not going to give you the full quote because we're 510 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:00,480 Speaker 1: a family show. But the smell became a huge issue, 511 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:04,720 Speaker 1: and it's also a teachable moment for our friends in 512 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:07,440 Speaker 1: Utah who are worried about the stench of the Great 513 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 1: Salt Lake. It's because of the chemical changes. You know, 514 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:16,160 Speaker 1: the dust is blowing over the dry lake beds as 515 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:20,120 Speaker 1: the salt and sea slowly evaporates, and that means you're 516 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:25,320 Speaker 1: getting hydrogen sulfide. You're also getting dangerous stuff like arsenic 517 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:29,479 Speaker 1: and selenium. And people who live there, honestly, people who 518 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:33,560 Speaker 1: are affected by it. Many families cannot afford to move, 519 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:35,720 Speaker 1: so they just have to put up with this horrible 520 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:38,760 Speaker 1: smell and possible health effects in the long term. 521 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 3: Right and Ruiz Frank Ruis from the Audubon said, it 522 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:46,040 Speaker 3: makes the point that we see happen all the time 523 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:48,200 Speaker 3: with things like this. If the sea were next to 524 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,480 Speaker 3: Los Angeles, it would have been fixed long ago. But 525 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:52,880 Speaker 3: it's next to poor communities and they don't have the 526 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:57,440 Speaker 3: political leverage. There are a lot of Latino families that 527 00:31:57,520 --> 00:31:59,640 Speaker 3: live in this area, and it is just they just 528 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:04,600 Speaker 3: don't have the clout and representation to do something about it. 529 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:10,280 Speaker 3: Politicians in Los Angeles are concerned more with things directly 530 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:13,760 Speaker 3: affecting the residents of Los Angeles, and these folks seem 531 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:16,880 Speaker 3: to be up Poop Creek without a paddle. 532 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:21,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, they're in the salt without the shaker for sure. 533 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:26,440 Speaker 1: And let's go to Robert Schettler, who is a spokesperson 534 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:32,600 Speaker 1: for the Imperial Irrigation District or IID. Schetler says, look, 535 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:36,040 Speaker 1: let's stay optimistic. Not all is lost. It is a 536 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:41,040 Speaker 1: huge problem. It does need attention yesterday, but we are 537 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:45,480 Speaker 1: happy to see that there are more. There are indications 538 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:51,920 Speaker 1: of positive efforts like small, small scale air quality mitigation plans, 539 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:58,120 Speaker 1: trying to reinstitute some vegetation that would help also prevent erosion, 540 00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:01,080 Speaker 1: help some of that water go to a better use. 541 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: And this all goes to the big question that people 542 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 1: have been asking for decades and decades now and perhaps 543 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,280 Speaker 1: years in the past when earlier iterations of the sea evaporated. 544 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 1: Is there a way to save the salt and sea? 545 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:21,520 Speaker 1: Back to our friend from all this interesting Kiri says, Look, 546 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 1: people are trying. There's a there's a ten year plan 547 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:30,480 Speaker 1: that came out pretty recently in twenty eighteen where California's 548 00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:33,240 Speaker 1: Natural Resource Agency. That's right, folks, there are a lot 549 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:38,240 Speaker 1: of like alphabet government agencies working on this. Our pals 550 00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:41,560 Speaker 1: at the Natural Resource Agency said, look, over the next decade, 551 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:45,880 Speaker 1: we're going to make thirty thousand acres of habitat. We're 552 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:48,840 Speaker 1: going to suppress this dust that makes everything look so 553 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:52,239 Speaker 1: mad max on the lake shore, and then we're going 554 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 1: to import new water. Nol importing new water. That's that's 555 00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:00,120 Speaker 1: a that's a dicey one. 556 00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:03,320 Speaker 3: Well, Ben, didn't this come up in a story that 557 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:05,120 Speaker 3: we've covered a couple of times on stuff they don't 558 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:08,960 Speaker 3: want you to know. That's right, And they were for 559 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:13,479 Speaker 3: a time, I believe, doing just that, like importing. Maybe 560 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:16,239 Speaker 3: it wasn't that they were importing water to dilute the salinity, 561 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:18,879 Speaker 3: but it was the kind of thing that would maybe 562 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,640 Speaker 3: work as a quick stopgap measure, but like over a 563 00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:23,840 Speaker 3: long period of time, just isn't tenable. 564 00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:26,880 Speaker 1: Right, The quest for a better band aid, just like 565 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,480 Speaker 1: the Hoover Dam. At the end of twenty twenty, only 566 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:33,759 Speaker 1: seven hundred and fifty five acres of dust suppression projects 567 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:37,600 Speaker 1: had started. They originally wanted there to be something like 568 00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:42,239 Speaker 1: one thousand, seven hundred and fifty and no habitat projects 569 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:46,879 Speaker 1: have been started either. So again, you know, shout out 570 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:50,000 Speaker 1: Sam Cook, shout out Ben Sale, A change is gonna come. 571 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:54,520 Speaker 1: The question is will the change come in time. Everybody 572 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:59,800 Speaker 1: knows California is way behind schedule in any restoration efforts 573 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:02,520 Speaker 1: the Sultan Sea. But there are a lot of very good, 574 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:07,120 Speaker 1: very smart people working on this. They just have to 575 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:09,040 Speaker 1: work through red tape. They have to work through all 576 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:14,480 Speaker 1: these stakeholders, all these bureaucracies, and it's increasingly difficult to 577 00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 1: ask for more water in this part of the world. 578 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:22,760 Speaker 3: It's right, and it's not just water resource management agencies 579 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:25,880 Speaker 3: that are getting involved. There are also folks from the 580 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:31,400 Speaker 3: state's Energy Commission providing funding to various energy companies to 581 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:37,719 Speaker 3: look into lithium alternatives in order to grow geothermal development 582 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:41,640 Speaker 3: and lithium recovery in order to maybe provide clean energy 583 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:42,839 Speaker 3: and create some. 584 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:44,360 Speaker 2: Local jobs there. 585 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:48,919 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, and we have talked about this on our 586 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:52,240 Speaker 1: peer shows. Stuff they don't want you to know right now. 587 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:57,720 Speaker 1: Companies are dumping billions into what they're calling Lithium Valley. 588 00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:01,680 Speaker 1: There is a quite ambitious vision, similar to that of 589 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:05,479 Speaker 1: Penn Phillips all those decades ago, to build a new 590 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:10,440 Speaker 1: tech forward community out in this area and maybe at 591 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:14,719 Speaker 1: some point the fix the smell. A lot of this 592 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:17,360 Speaker 1: is coming from a San Diego based company called Energy 593 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:18,760 Speaker 1: Source Minerals. 594 00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:21,640 Speaker 3: And to your point, Ben, it's sort of like the 595 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:25,840 Speaker 3: focus is maybe shifted on things that could potentially be 596 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:32,120 Speaker 3: job creating and money making, so the ecological issue is 597 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:36,080 Speaker 3: maybe taken a little bit of a back seat, but 598 00:36:36,239 --> 00:36:38,360 Speaker 3: it's not completely out of mind. 599 00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:41,200 Speaker 2: Ruiz, who he talked about earlier, who. 600 00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:45,480 Speaker 3: Is the director of the Audubon Society's Sultan Sea Initiative, 601 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:48,240 Speaker 3: had this to say about it. We have a moral 602 00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:52,200 Speaker 3: obligation to look after the wildlife and communities affected by 603 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:54,480 Speaker 3: the Sultan Sea. I'd love to see the lake full 604 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:58,360 Speaker 3: of water, but it's not feasible. The solution is for communities, 605 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:01,880 Speaker 3: water districts, and environ mental groups to find common ground 606 00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:06,520 Speaker 3: and protect it. And oftentimes this is me that common 607 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:08,879 Speaker 3: ground comes in the forms of things that can make 608 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:12,040 Speaker 3: money for people, and that can be seen as like 609 00:37:12,239 --> 00:37:16,600 Speaker 3: the rising tide that perhaps raises the water level of 610 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:20,759 Speaker 3: the Sultan Sea. That cannot be in a society that 611 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:25,480 Speaker 3: is very much reliant on commerce the number one priority. 612 00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:27,279 Speaker 2: It has to be just sort of a byproduct of 613 00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:29,080 Speaker 2: all the other stuff. Yeah. 614 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:32,480 Speaker 1: Unfortunately, that's where we get to the idea of conflicting 615 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:36,880 Speaker 1: interest of so called stakeholders. There's also another question. Maybe 616 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:39,440 Speaker 1: this is where we where we end it now. It's 617 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:43,000 Speaker 1: a question for everybody tuning in, everybody who lives at 618 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:45,879 Speaker 1: the Sultan Sea or is doing the work to try 619 00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:51,279 Speaker 1: to save this quite eccentric body of water. What if 620 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:55,640 Speaker 1: we got the origin story wrong? What if the Sultan 621 00:37:55,719 --> 00:37:58,799 Speaker 1: Sea should just be allowed to come and go. There 622 00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:05,120 Speaker 1: are folks like Loggie who argue that, hey, maybe the 623 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:10,000 Speaker 1: sea just happens over thousands of years, probably before humans. 624 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:13,520 Speaker 1: To be honest, this sea has come and gone. Perhaps 625 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:17,759 Speaker 1: it's its formation and its current iteration was inevitable, and 626 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:21,160 Speaker 1: that famous canal breach back in nineteen oh five just 627 00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:24,319 Speaker 1: sort of move the timeline right. And if that is 628 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:29,560 Speaker 1: the case, then should people spend all this time and 629 00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:32,719 Speaker 1: effort to save a sea that just sort of is 630 00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:37,400 Speaker 1: an indoor outdoor cat Ecologically it comes and goes, it 631 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,000 Speaker 1: comes and goes, Oh. 632 00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:42,600 Speaker 2: My goodness, I don't think. No, no, it's a good question. 633 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:45,160 Speaker 3: And you know, and is you know, sometimes there are 634 00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:51,760 Speaker 3: byproducts of naturally occurring processes, you know, on the planet 635 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:55,080 Speaker 3: that maybe shouldn't be messed with, and that once they're 636 00:38:55,239 --> 00:38:58,719 Speaker 3: messed with, then that can trigger a new timeline of 637 00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:03,520 Speaker 3: kind of a dominant effect of negative consequences. So it 638 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:06,400 Speaker 3: could be that because of the intervention of human beings 639 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:08,839 Speaker 3: in the first place, is what triggered a lot of 640 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:14,160 Speaker 3: this really nasty fallout. So that does beg the question, 641 00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:17,360 Speaker 3: like to what this person you quoted ben as saying, 642 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:20,080 Speaker 3: maybe that would be true if it hadn't have been 643 00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:22,239 Speaker 3: messed with in the first place, But now that it 644 00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:25,279 Speaker 3: has been messed with, it's become a problem that does 645 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:28,280 Speaker 3: need some level of addressing, or it's just gonna get worse, 646 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:30,799 Speaker 3: or that part of the country they're just gonna have 647 00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:33,279 Speaker 3: to like pull those over the whole thing and start 648 00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:35,759 Speaker 3: from scratch, you know, fill it in with concrete or something. 649 00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:39,120 Speaker 2: I don't know what would happen. What are the alternatives? 650 00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:43,520 Speaker 1: I mean, it's anybody's game, you know. And look, it 651 00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:47,480 Speaker 1: sounds like we're possibly taking a hit out on the 652 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:51,759 Speaker 1: good people in the assaulted area. We are absolutely not 653 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,880 Speaker 1: got to tell you, folks, we are not a crew 654 00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:58,000 Speaker 1: of folks who have spent a lot of time in 655 00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:00,719 Speaker 1: the desert. So I think it's fair to say when 656 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:04,239 Speaker 1: folks like us venture out west, especially to this part 657 00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:07,400 Speaker 1: of California, all that open space kind of puts the 658 00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:10,839 Speaker 1: zap on us. It's like when Max met Montana and 659 00:40:10,880 --> 00:40:12,840 Speaker 1: saw why they call it sky Country. 660 00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:13,800 Speaker 2: It's big. 661 00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:15,560 Speaker 1: This scale is amazing. 662 00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:17,560 Speaker 2: I remember I remember. 663 00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:20,560 Speaker 1: Driving you and the gang out just the Hoover Dam 664 00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:25,000 Speaker 1: and we were all somewhat speechless by the immensity. 665 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:25,560 Speaker 2: Of the of the area. 666 00:40:25,960 --> 00:40:28,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think super producer Paul Mission Controlled dechead of 667 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:31,800 Speaker 3: Stuff that I want you to know, said, it almost 668 00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:34,880 Speaker 3: felt not real, like you were looking at something that 669 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:37,279 Speaker 3: was created in a video game or something, because of 670 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:40,719 Speaker 3: the vastness of it and just the epic, you know, 671 00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:43,920 Speaker 3: expanse of it all that we're not used to seeing that. 672 00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:45,960 Speaker 3: You know, U must you live out there. We're not 673 00:40:46,040 --> 00:40:47,719 Speaker 3: used to seeing that in real life. We're its kind 674 00:40:47,719 --> 00:40:49,840 Speaker 3: of used to seeing recreations of it, So it almost 675 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:53,040 Speaker 3: feels like you're in sort of an immersive virtual reality 676 00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:55,840 Speaker 3: kind of situation, which is pretty weird to say, but 677 00:40:56,040 --> 00:40:58,239 Speaker 3: it's it's true. I was hit the same way by 678 00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:01,360 Speaker 3: it that it had this uncanny valley kind of vibe 679 00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:01,680 Speaker 3: to it. 680 00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:05,640 Speaker 1: And there's a beauty to it, you know, And there's 681 00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:10,439 Speaker 1: a beauty, there's the ambiguity. There are many questions left 682 00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:13,880 Speaker 1: to answer about the Sultan Sea. One thing is for sure. 683 00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:18,600 Speaker 1: The clock is ticking. Perhaps the origin story is ridiculous, 684 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:24,160 Speaker 1: but it has also inspired a great deal of human ingenuity, 685 00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:27,960 Speaker 1: and we can't wait to see what sort of solutions 686 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:31,479 Speaker 1: are on the way in the future. We also can't 687 00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:33,719 Speaker 1: thank you enough for tuning in, and thank you to 688 00:41:33,719 --> 00:41:37,800 Speaker 1: our super producer and research associate for today's episode, mister 689 00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:41,879 Speaker 1: Max Williams. Guys, I forget to tell you I sent 690 00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:45,640 Speaker 1: over the holiday, by which I mean. 691 00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:47,120 Speaker 2: Today before we record it. 692 00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:51,480 Speaker 1: I dropped our old pal Jonathan Strickland a quick line, 693 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:53,640 Speaker 1: asked him if you wanted to be on the show, 694 00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:58,000 Speaker 1: wished him a happy New Year and maybe he will 695 00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:01,040 Speaker 1: deign to return. I have figured out how to tell 696 00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:03,520 Speaker 1: him he's got some competition now with the Puzzler. 697 00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:04,400 Speaker 2: Oh, the Puzzler. 698 00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:07,000 Speaker 3: I really do think we should like pit them against 699 00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:09,919 Speaker 3: one another in a quiz slash puzzle off. 700 00:42:10,719 --> 00:42:12,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, it'll be for the ages. 701 00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:14,640 Speaker 3: But you know, we can't thank you enough for tuning in, 702 00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:17,360 Speaker 3: but we surely will try. And we also like to 703 00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:19,919 Speaker 3: thank everyone else that makes the show possible, of course, 704 00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:24,840 Speaker 3: including Max Williams, super producer slash research associate Alex Williams 705 00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:29,520 Speaker 3: who composed this theme, Chris frostiotis here in spirit, and 706 00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:32,960 Speaker 3: Eves Jeff Coates wandering the wide world of podcasts. 707 00:42:33,120 --> 00:42:37,120 Speaker 1: I'd like to thank Tom Waits sultan Ce feels like 708 00:42:37,200 --> 00:42:39,960 Speaker 1: his vibe. Oh yeah, he was going to go on 709 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:43,680 Speaker 1: the show with us, but he only accepts payment in 710 00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:47,960 Speaker 1: rusted nineteen fifty seven Chevy parts. It's true, which we 711 00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:51,719 Speaker 1: didn't have handy. But Tom, if you're hearing, we hope 712 00:42:51,719 --> 00:42:53,680 Speaker 1: you enjoyed this one as well. 713 00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:55,720 Speaker 3: I think Tom listens to the show. He only listens 714 00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,480 Speaker 3: to stuff on like an old Victrola. 715 00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:02,280 Speaker 1: Right right, and he has to have a busted, busted 716 00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:07,040 Speaker 1: couple tubes that he can scatter around. Just so, please 717 00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:11,440 Speaker 1: tune in later this week we are going to explore 718 00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:18,239 Speaker 1: a complex, strange phenomenon of yesteryear. You may have asked yourselves, folks, Hey, 719 00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:22,160 Speaker 1: why do so many pictures of historical figures in childhood? 720 00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:26,800 Speaker 1: Why do they seem to be wearing dot dot dot dresses. 721 00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:30,960 Speaker 3: And our short pants? What is the little Lord fault Leroy? 722 00:43:31,200 --> 00:43:35,600 Speaker 3: Look the Buster Brown. We'll get to it on the 723 00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:39,760 Speaker 3: next episode of Ridiculous History. We'll see you next time, folks. 724 00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:49,080 Speaker 3: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 725 00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:51,360 Speaker 3: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.