1 00:00:02,990 --> 00:00:07,530 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody. We're back for another Gets Weird edition. Stuff 2 00:00:07,550 --> 00:00:10,050 Speaker 1: You Should Know Gets Weird playlist, and this is episode three. 3 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:13,379 Speaker 1: It's about mermaids, everybody. It's a pretty fun episode from 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,020 Speaker 1: what I remember, and it is called Mermaids, colon, Not 5 00:00:17,060 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 1: a Real Thing. 6 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:31,010 Speaker 2: Welcome to Stuff You Should Know from HowStuffWorks.com. Hey, and 7 00:00:31,050 --> 00:00:34,670 Speaker 2: welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. Yeah, that's right. 8 00:00:34,750 --> 00:00:39,650 Speaker 2: There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant. Jerry's over there in the ether, floating, 9 00:00:39,950 --> 00:00:44,129 Speaker 2: possibly not existing. Who knows? And this is Stuff You 10 00:00:44,150 --> 00:00:44,510 Speaker 2: Should Know. 11 00:00:44,970 --> 00:00:48,970 Speaker 1: That's right. Just a couple of mermen trying to make 12 00:00:49,010 --> 00:00:49,790 Speaker 1: their way in the world. 13 00:00:50,150 --> 00:00:50,309 Speaker 2: Yeah. 14 00:00:50,550 --> 00:00:51,629 Speaker 1: Trying to keep their tails wet. 15 00:00:52,770 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 2: Yeah. You know? 16 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:57,410 Speaker 1: Yeah. Because if that thing dries out, you've seen Splash. 17 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's toast. 18 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: No. She dried out and she was just fine. 19 00:01:03,510 --> 00:01:06,190 Speaker 2: Oh, I thought, oh, you're thinking of E.T. when he 20 00:01:06,230 --> 00:01:07,380 Speaker 2: turned all white and dried out. 21 00:01:08,420 --> 00:01:11,460 Speaker 1: I was thinking of Splash because I couldn't remember. It 22 00:01:11,540 --> 00:01:13,059 Speaker 1: was one of my favorite movies as a kid. 23 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:14,420 Speaker 2: It was a cute movie. 24 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:19,220 Speaker 1: It was one of those early HBO movies, early Tom Hanks, 25 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:23,340 Speaker 1: which I'm a big fan of early Tom Hanks. And 26 00:01:24,459 --> 00:01:26,110 Speaker 1: I just thought it was a really fun, funny movie. 27 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:26,700 Speaker 1: John Candy? 28 00:01:27,030 --> 00:01:28,330 Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a great movie. 29 00:01:28,410 --> 00:01:34,030 Speaker 1: What's-his-name played the evil man trying to expose her. Eugene Levy, 30 00:01:34,069 --> 00:01:34,370 Speaker 1: I think. 31 00:01:35,590 --> 00:01:37,190 Speaker 2: Oh, was he the bad guy? Yeah, he was the 32 00:01:37,230 --> 00:01:39,250 Speaker 2: one that- You know that's a high quality movie when 33 00:01:39,330 --> 00:01:40,709 Speaker 2: Eugene Levy's the bad guy. 34 00:01:40,830 --> 00:01:44,670 Speaker 1: Yeah, that was the SCTV crew. And he actually tried 35 00:01:44,690 --> 00:01:46,899 Speaker 1: to spray her and get her wet so she would- Oh, 36 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: was that? And in fact did turn into a mermaid 37 00:01:48,900 --> 00:01:49,580 Speaker 1: on the sidewalk. 38 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 2: So that's what it was. If she got wet, she 39 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:52,140 Speaker 2: turned into a mermaid. 40 00:01:52,220 --> 00:01:52,420 Speaker 1: Right. 41 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,740 Speaker 2: She got dried, no problem. Yes. 42 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,170 Speaker 1: And Daryl Hannah, of course, who's running around with Neil 43 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:57,580 Speaker 1: Young now. 44 00:01:58,630 --> 00:01:59,290 Speaker 2: Oh, really? Yeah. 45 00:01:59,370 --> 00:02:04,860 Speaker 1: How about that couple? Huh. Sure. Why not? They're both environmentalists. 46 00:02:05,100 --> 00:02:07,100 Speaker 2: But there's a lot of turquoise in that bedroom. 47 00:02:07,660 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: I wonder if you hook up with Neil Young or 48 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 1: anyone like that if you're sort of a new relationship 49 00:02:13,139 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: and not like the wife they had for 40 years. 50 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:20,930 Speaker 1: If you're like, play a song, why don't you? What? 51 00:02:21,590 --> 00:02:23,570 Speaker 1: I wonder if you ask them to play music. 52 00:02:24,230 --> 00:02:26,670 Speaker 2: Oh, like you're actually into them? Yeah, like if you're 53 00:02:26,710 --> 00:02:27,590 Speaker 2: Billy Joel's. 54 00:02:27,370 --> 00:02:30,389 Speaker 1: New 25-year-old wife, do you ever say like, hey, honey, 55 00:02:30,990 --> 00:02:32,430 Speaker 1: play me a tune? Right. 56 00:02:33,210 --> 00:02:37,350 Speaker 2: Play that one that you wrote 10 years before I 57 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:38,030 Speaker 2: was conceived. 58 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: I think what I'm saying is I would have a 59 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,660 Speaker 1: hard time being with Neil Young and not every night 60 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: after dinner just kind of nudging the guitar toward him. 61 00:02:47,700 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 2: Oh, I gotcha. 62 00:02:48,580 --> 00:02:51,020 Speaker 1: And saying, I'd love to hear Old Man. 63 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:53,589 Speaker 2: Yeah. Please, baby, one for me. 64 00:02:53,870 --> 00:02:55,770 Speaker 1: And yeah, he says I've played that song 45,000 times. Yeah, 65 00:02:55,790 --> 00:02:56,510 Speaker 1: I would guess that. 66 00:02:56,669 --> 00:03:03,739 Speaker 2: Well, I can tell you, I would guess that Once 67 00:03:03,780 --> 00:03:05,870 Speaker 2: you reach a certain point in playing a song, you 68 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,090 Speaker 2: never want to hear that song or even think about 69 00:03:08,150 --> 00:03:09,190 Speaker 2: it existing again. 70 00:03:09,410 --> 00:03:09,609 Speaker 1: Yeah. 71 00:03:09,810 --> 00:03:11,660 Speaker 2: But then you still have to play it. 72 00:03:12,110 --> 00:03:13,669 Speaker 1: Oh, I try not to think about that when I'm 73 00:03:13,710 --> 00:03:14,290 Speaker 1: at those shows. 74 00:03:14,870 --> 00:03:17,250 Speaker 2: Yeah. It makes me feel bad for them. Like, they 75 00:03:17,290 --> 00:03:20,230 Speaker 2: might as well be, you know, in the monkey house 76 00:03:20,290 --> 00:03:20,709 Speaker 2: or something. 77 00:03:20,730 --> 00:03:20,910 Speaker 1: Yeah. 78 00:03:20,930 --> 00:03:22,310 Speaker 2: And you're just throwing bananas at them. 79 00:03:22,690 --> 00:03:25,549 Speaker 1: And God bless the people who really bring it still. 80 00:03:26,270 --> 00:03:26,550 Speaker 2: Sure. 81 00:03:26,590 --> 00:03:28,530 Speaker 1: Where you feel like, man, they're playing that song for 82 00:03:28,570 --> 00:03:29,150 Speaker 1: me tonight. 83 00:03:29,530 --> 00:03:29,990 Speaker 2: Adamant. 84 00:03:30,770 --> 00:03:31,350 Speaker 1: Does he still bring it? 85 00:03:33,570 --> 00:03:34,530 Speaker 2: He's just who came to mind. 86 00:03:35,150 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: Whereas when I saw the police on their reunion, they 87 00:03:37,290 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: were phoning it in. Really? 88 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 2: Yeah. Even Stuart Copeland? 89 00:03:40,940 --> 00:03:42,340 Speaker 1: Well, I mean, they were playing the songs, but it 90 00:03:43,420 --> 00:03:45,279 Speaker 1: didn't look like they were enjoying themselves at all. It 91 00:03:45,300 --> 00:03:47,440 Speaker 1: looked like a total money grab. 92 00:03:47,740 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 2: Sure. 93 00:03:48,220 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: They entered from three separate entrances and exited from three separate. 94 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. 95 00:03:52,180 --> 00:03:54,100 Speaker 1: And I got the feeling they didn't even speak much. 96 00:03:55,540 --> 00:03:57,260 Speaker 2: I was reading an article on the Ramones. 97 00:03:58,460 --> 00:03:59,460 Speaker 1: The Rolling Stone one recently? 98 00:04:00,770 --> 00:04:01,810 Speaker 2: Uh, yeah, I guess it was. 99 00:04:01,970 --> 00:04:03,750 Speaker 1: Yeah. They had a great article on them. 100 00:04:03,890 --> 00:04:06,570 Speaker 2: So yeah, I guess it was, it was definitely Rolling Stone. So, okay. 101 00:04:06,670 --> 00:04:09,310 Speaker 2: Did you read it? Yeah. Then it was awesome. But yeah, 102 00:04:09,430 --> 00:04:12,690 Speaker 2: like they, they would, they would just like get on 103 00:04:12,710 --> 00:04:15,510 Speaker 2: the bus and not speak to one another. Yeah. Go 104 00:04:15,570 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 2: to the next town and get on stage and play 105 00:04:17,420 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 2: and then come off stage and not like they would, 106 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:21,340 Speaker 2: they would speak on stage cause they had to. Yeah. 107 00:04:21,500 --> 00:04:21,940 Speaker 2: That was it. 108 00:04:22,020 --> 00:04:24,660 Speaker 1: And apparently, well, at least Joey and who was his 109 00:04:24,700 --> 00:04:25,180 Speaker 1: big foil? 110 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 2: Dee Dee Dee. 111 00:04:27,060 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: Those ones who really hated each other. 112 00:04:29,230 --> 00:04:29,450 Speaker 2: Yeah. 113 00:04:29,610 --> 00:04:33,130 Speaker 1: Supposedly they didn't speak at all for like 25 years straight. 114 00:04:33,170 --> 00:04:37,390 Speaker 2: Right, because Joey stole Dee Dee's love of his life. 115 00:04:37,490 --> 00:04:37,710 Speaker 1: Right. 116 00:04:38,330 --> 00:04:40,590 Speaker 2: And then they were in the band together still after that. 117 00:04:40,830 --> 00:04:42,010 Speaker 2: It was just like, T.S., man. 118 00:04:42,170 --> 00:04:42,650 Speaker 1: So weird. 119 00:04:42,770 --> 00:04:46,070 Speaker 2: So like a lot of songs, especially ones like the 120 00:04:46,110 --> 00:04:49,850 Speaker 2: KKK Took My Baby Away, that's about Joey stealing Dee 121 00:04:49,910 --> 00:04:51,680 Speaker 2: Dee's girlfriend. 122 00:04:51,890 --> 00:04:56,020 Speaker 1: Wow. That's a great article. Yeah. Good read. Yeah. So 123 00:04:56,060 --> 00:05:00,740 Speaker 1: back to Splash. Funny movie about a mermaid. And we're 124 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: going to talk about mermaids here. And mostly what we're 125 00:05:03,420 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: going to cover is the lore and history and the 126 00:05:07,660 --> 00:05:11,630 Speaker 1: mythology of the mermaid. Because here's a little giveaway. There 127 00:05:11,670 --> 00:05:15,590 Speaker 1: are no mermaids. What? Did you look up like pictures 128 00:05:15,630 --> 00:05:17,430 Speaker 1: of real mermaid sightings and stuff? Yeah. 129 00:05:17,450 --> 00:05:19,750 Speaker 2: And it's the same thing as pictures of Bigfoot sightings 130 00:05:19,810 --> 00:05:21,450 Speaker 2: and pictures of UFO sightings. 131 00:05:21,470 --> 00:05:24,580 Speaker 1: Some weird distant blur that like you can't. It could 132 00:05:24,620 --> 00:05:25,020 Speaker 1: be kelp. 133 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:30,460 Speaker 2: Or it's. such an obviously doctored photo. What would be fun, though, 134 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:33,430 Speaker 2: is if we had a time machine, forget killing Hitler. 135 00:05:33,450 --> 00:05:33,690 Speaker 1: We do. 136 00:05:33,790 --> 00:05:36,230 Speaker 2: The playback machine. Oh, yeah, that's right. I can't believe 137 00:05:36,250 --> 00:05:39,370 Speaker 2: we haven't put this into good use. Forget, like, you know, 138 00:05:39,550 --> 00:05:42,650 Speaker 2: saving the world or keeping the dodo from going extinct. 139 00:05:43,089 --> 00:05:46,330 Speaker 2: I would take some of these doctored photos that are 140 00:05:46,410 --> 00:05:49,830 Speaker 2: just so easy to make today back to, like, the 141 00:05:50,250 --> 00:05:53,210 Speaker 2: 1920s and be like, look at this. And they go, yeah, 142 00:05:53,290 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 2: I know. We still believe in that stuff. 143 00:05:56,020 --> 00:05:57,280 Speaker 1: With your aim being what? 144 00:05:57,520 --> 00:05:58,880 Speaker 2: Just to freak them out. Oh. 145 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:00,740 Speaker 1: I figured there'd be a money angle. 146 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:02,300 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. 147 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,260 Speaker 1: Josh is traveling Wonder Emporium. 148 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:07,660 Speaker 2: That's not a bad idea. 149 00:06:08,220 --> 00:06:09,820 Speaker 1: Where in which you just show them photos. 150 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 2: But I charge them, like, 2016 rates, and no one 151 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,820 Speaker 2: can possibly afford that, so I go out of business, like, 152 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:16,940 Speaker 2: almost immediately. Right. 153 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:18,600 Speaker 1: There's, like, one guy in the town that's like, I'll 154 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:20,300 Speaker 1: pay $ 27. 50 to see those. 155 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:24,700 Speaker 2: Right. Step right up. Town's only billionaire. Um. 156 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:27,920 Speaker 1: That's a great idea. No one ever thought of that. 157 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:30,240 Speaker 2: It was a terrible idea from beginning to end. 158 00:06:32,260 --> 00:06:34,419 Speaker 1: Forget going back and betting on the stock market or 159 00:06:34,460 --> 00:06:35,600 Speaker 1: the outcome of the World Series. 160 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:38,210 Speaker 2: I'm going to go back and set up a business 161 00:06:38,250 --> 00:06:38,929 Speaker 2: doomed to fail. 162 00:06:39,930 --> 00:06:43,750 Speaker 1: All right, so let's talk about mermaid lore. Well, we 163 00:06:43,770 --> 00:06:46,289 Speaker 1: can start here in the more modern age because there 164 00:06:46,310 --> 00:06:49,630 Speaker 1: are still places that try and take people for money 165 00:06:49,670 --> 00:06:50,970 Speaker 1: like we were just talking about even. 166 00:06:51,089 --> 00:06:51,620 Speaker 2: Yeah, like me. 167 00:06:52,820 --> 00:06:57,700 Speaker 1: In fact, in Israel... On the coast there, they actually 168 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: have a town called Kiryat Yam. It's a great name. 169 00:07:02,140 --> 00:07:05,170 Speaker 1: And if you go to Kiryat Yam, you could win 170 00:07:05,620 --> 00:07:06,669 Speaker 1: how much money? Does it even say? 171 00:07:06,690 --> 00:07:07,650 Speaker 2: A million bucks. 172 00:07:07,670 --> 00:07:11,090 Speaker 1: A million American dollars if you. 173 00:07:11,730 --> 00:07:15,690 Speaker 2: If you provide incontrovertible evidence of the mermaid that is 174 00:07:15,770 --> 00:07:16,530 Speaker 2: reputed to. 175 00:07:17,140 --> 00:07:17,620 Speaker 1: Wander the shores. 176 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:17,940 Speaker 2: Live there. 177 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: Yeah. 178 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,620 Speaker 2: And appear at sunset. As of 2009 was the first 179 00:07:21,660 --> 00:07:22,560 Speaker 2: sighting there. Yeah. 180 00:07:22,620 --> 00:07:24,420 Speaker 1: And, of course, what that is is a ploy to 181 00:07:24,460 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 1: try and get tourists to come and spend money in 182 00:07:26,380 --> 00:07:27,660 Speaker 1: the town and look for the mermaid. 183 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 2: Sure. Come on, chumps. We welcome you to Kiryat Yam. 184 00:07:32,020 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: I'm sure Loch Ness has made plenty of tourist money 185 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:34,980 Speaker 1: over the years. 186 00:07:35,460 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 2: Apparently, they have a standing offer as well, and that's 187 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:40,860 Speaker 2: where the mayor of Kiryat Yam got the idea. 188 00:07:41,060 --> 00:07:41,740 Speaker 1: Yeah. Great idea. 189 00:07:42,140 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 2: Sure. And, actually, I saw that photo, too. And it's 190 00:07:45,300 --> 00:07:47,480 Speaker 2: kind of neat. I don't know what it is or 191 00:07:47,980 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 2: who created it or whatever. But there's allegedly a photo taken, obviously, 192 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 2: from like a cliff down onto a beach. You know 193 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 2: a beach that will have like a big just slab 194 00:07:59,620 --> 00:08:01,060 Speaker 2: of rock surrounded by sand? 195 00:08:01,220 --> 00:08:03,460 Speaker 1: Yeah, sand and mermaids. Right. 196 00:08:03,610 --> 00:08:05,850 Speaker 2: There's a mermaid on that rock just kind of looking 197 00:08:05,930 --> 00:08:06,910 Speaker 2: out at the sea. 198 00:08:07,010 --> 00:08:07,230 Speaker 1: Yeah. 199 00:08:07,590 --> 00:08:10,090 Speaker 2: And, of course, it could be anything. It could be 200 00:08:10,210 --> 00:08:13,170 Speaker 2: totally doctored. Who knows? But it's from a distance, and 201 00:08:13,190 --> 00:08:15,989 Speaker 2: at least they didn't go full out, like perfect picture 202 00:08:16,030 --> 00:08:20,530 Speaker 2: of a mermaid or whatever. It's just suggestive enough that 203 00:08:20,610 --> 00:08:23,070 Speaker 2: people who believe in such things would be like, they're 204 00:08:23,110 --> 00:08:25,110 Speaker 2: right there. There's a picture of a mermaid, you know? 205 00:08:25,310 --> 00:08:25,650 Speaker 1: Totally. 206 00:08:25,810 --> 00:08:30,980 Speaker 2: So that was found in 2009, or that surfaced in 2009. 207 00:08:30,980 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: Surfaced? 208 00:08:32,429 --> 00:08:36,900 Speaker 2: Right. Since then, the towns had that standing offer. 209 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:42,140 Speaker 1: Correct. Correct. So the interesting thing to me about mermaids 210 00:08:42,220 --> 00:08:45,900 Speaker 1: is the mythology. Did you take mythology in college at all? 211 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:50,260 Speaker 2: Yeah, I did. I always wanted it to interest me 212 00:08:50,300 --> 00:08:50,980 Speaker 2: more than it did. 213 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:51,540 Speaker 1: Me too. 214 00:08:52,220 --> 00:08:54,940 Speaker 2: It was just... I don't know if it wasn't explained 215 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:59,380 Speaker 2: to me quite well enough or just the ancients' non-bicameral 216 00:08:59,420 --> 00:09:04,809 Speaker 2: mind wasn't fused together enough to interest people in the 217 00:09:04,850 --> 00:09:05,589 Speaker 2: modern age. 218 00:09:05,650 --> 00:09:08,900 Speaker 1: Well, I think so. I think the stories themselves... as 219 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:13,170 Speaker 1: far as good storytelling, were just lacking. Because a lot 220 00:09:13,190 --> 00:09:16,170 Speaker 1: of them were just versions of one another. And there 221 00:09:16,210 --> 00:09:21,570 Speaker 1: was usually a very basic premise or moral. 222 00:09:21,830 --> 00:09:21,990 Speaker 2: Right. 223 00:09:22,570 --> 00:09:25,170 Speaker 1: And in the case of mermaids, a lot of times 224 00:09:25,220 --> 00:09:29,020 Speaker 1: they were, a lot of folklore even was rooted in misogyny. 225 00:09:29,820 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, for sure. 226 00:09:31,179 --> 00:09:33,360 Speaker 1: There'll be a woman to come along and screw your 227 00:09:33,380 --> 00:09:33,739 Speaker 1: life up. 228 00:09:34,309 --> 00:09:38,630 Speaker 2: Right, or if you screw up a woman, she will 229 00:09:38,700 --> 00:09:41,100 Speaker 2: kill your children or something like that. Women were not 230 00:09:41,140 --> 00:09:43,540 Speaker 2: to be trusted, and they were murderous and duplicitous in 231 00:09:43,559 --> 00:09:44,760 Speaker 2: a lot of mythology. It's true. 232 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:49,740 Speaker 1: The old hag. So it was in various, I mean, 233 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:54,510 Speaker 1: hundreds and hundreds of books and texts, including the Talmud, 234 00:09:55,530 --> 00:09:58,890 Speaker 1: believe it or not. And we've talked about Pliny the Elder, 235 00:09:59,030 --> 00:10:01,199 Speaker 1: the beer, and... the dude. 236 00:10:01,500 --> 00:10:01,780 Speaker 2: Yeah. 237 00:10:02,940 --> 00:10:06,040 Speaker 1: Rome's Pliny the Elder. He, in his natural history, talked 238 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:09,100 Speaker 1: about a mermaid-like creature called. 239 00:10:09,580 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 2: The Nereid. 240 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:10,740 Speaker 1: Yes. 241 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:12,540 Speaker 2: I think I'm pronouncing that correctly. 242 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, N-E-R-E-I-D. 243 00:10:15,370 --> 00:10:17,120 Speaker 2: That E-I is a tough transition. 244 00:10:17,370 --> 00:10:17,650 Speaker 1: It is. 245 00:10:17,670 --> 00:10:22,100 Speaker 2: Because you want to say, like, Nereid. Yeah. Nereid. 246 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:29,220 Speaker 1: These were sea nymphs, half-human, half-fish mermaids. And he also 247 00:10:29,260 --> 00:10:32,910 Speaker 1: talked about sea men. And we should point out that mer-men, 248 00:10:32,950 --> 00:10:34,590 Speaker 1: we made the joke about us being mer-men. 249 00:10:34,970 --> 00:10:35,170 Speaker 2: Yeah. 250 00:10:35,210 --> 00:10:39,630 Speaker 1: I believe mer-men were even first on the literary scene. 251 00:10:39,670 --> 00:10:40,209 Speaker 1: Is that correct? 252 00:10:40,250 --> 00:10:44,510 Speaker 2: Well, first at least with mythology or theology, I guess. 253 00:10:44,570 --> 00:10:47,770 Speaker 2: There's a Babylonian god of the sea named Ea. 254 00:10:48,050 --> 00:10:48,250 Speaker 1: Yeah. 255 00:10:48,570 --> 00:10:48,670 Speaker 2: Ea. 256 00:10:48,809 --> 00:10:48,869 Speaker 1: Ea. 257 00:10:49,940 --> 00:10:50,340 Speaker 2: Sports. 258 00:10:51,780 --> 00:10:52,420 Speaker 1: Just EA. 259 00:10:52,700 --> 00:10:58,839 Speaker 2: And he pops up in Babylonian mythology from, I think, 260 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:02,260 Speaker 2: 4,000 years ago. And they think that he's actually the 261 00:11:02,300 --> 00:11:06,510 Speaker 2: progenitor of, or the predecessor, I should say, of Poseidon, 262 00:11:06,910 --> 00:11:09,290 Speaker 2: who is the Greek god of the sea, and Neptune, 263 00:11:09,330 --> 00:11:12,270 Speaker 2: who's the Roman god of the sea. Because the Greeks 264 00:11:12,309 --> 00:11:15,429 Speaker 2: gave us Western culture, but they just walked around to 265 00:11:15,510 --> 00:11:18,290 Speaker 2: all of the neighboring cultures and And pick their favorite 266 00:11:18,330 --> 00:11:21,410 Speaker 2: parts and put them together. Yeah. And that was definitely 267 00:11:21,500 --> 00:11:21,860 Speaker 2: one of them. 268 00:11:22,059 --> 00:11:28,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Well, we talked in our... I 269 00:11:28,020 --> 00:11:30,860 Speaker 1: guess it was in the folklore and fairy tale episodes. 270 00:11:31,460 --> 00:11:33,140 Speaker 1: There were twin episodes almost. 271 00:11:33,380 --> 00:11:34,340 Speaker 2: Yeah. 272 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:41,189 Speaker 1: About the original Little Mermaid and how she was Disney-fied 273 00:11:41,790 --> 00:11:45,350 Speaker 1: to the fullest. But the original story was far darker. 274 00:11:45,710 --> 00:11:48,820 Speaker 2: Darker, but also... Even more touching by far. 275 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:49,340 Speaker 1: Yeah. 276 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:53,750 Speaker 2: Like I went back and read the last section of it. 277 00:11:53,929 --> 00:11:55,470 Speaker 1: Well, give me a summary at the end. 278 00:11:55,809 --> 00:11:58,330 Speaker 2: So at the end, this is where it dramatically differs 279 00:11:58,410 --> 00:12:03,250 Speaker 2: from the Disney story. The Little Mermaid is scorned for 280 00:12:03,390 --> 00:12:07,860 Speaker 2: another woman. The guy she loves chooses someone else and 281 00:12:08,220 --> 00:12:11,660 Speaker 2: marries her. And the Little Mermaid is like, dude, I 282 00:12:11,700 --> 00:12:14,239 Speaker 2: gave up my tail for you. Yeah. I think a 283 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:18,000 Speaker 2: witch has my tongue kind of thing. Um, and I 284 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:20,670 Speaker 2: want to get back my life. So her sisters came 285 00:12:21,010 --> 00:12:24,770 Speaker 2: and bring her this ritual knife and say, you can 286 00:12:24,830 --> 00:12:28,590 Speaker 2: convert back to a mermaid. If before dawn you plunge 287 00:12:28,690 --> 00:12:33,050 Speaker 2: this knife into this dude's heart, this guy who loves 288 00:12:33,090 --> 00:12:35,890 Speaker 2: heart and you get some of his blood on your feet, 289 00:12:36,270 --> 00:12:38,189 Speaker 2: you will regrow your tail and you can jump into 290 00:12:38,210 --> 00:12:41,170 Speaker 2: the sea and everything will be just fine again. So 291 00:12:41,210 --> 00:12:44,140 Speaker 2: she goes and she finds the guy sleeping. with his 292 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:47,570 Speaker 2: new bride beside him, and she just can't do it. 293 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:52,410 Speaker 2: She throws the knife into the sea and becomes sea foam. 294 00:12:52,470 --> 00:12:55,469 Speaker 2: She disintegrates and becomes sea foam. So she gives her 295 00:12:56,110 --> 00:13:00,430 Speaker 2: own happiness up for this guy, right? And dies as 296 00:13:00,470 --> 00:13:03,460 Speaker 2: a result. But even better than that, when she turns 297 00:13:03,500 --> 00:13:07,719 Speaker 2: into sea foam, she becomes a different mythical creature, like 298 00:13:07,780 --> 00:13:11,720 Speaker 2: basically an air nymph that goes around like helping humans, right? 299 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:16,100 Speaker 2: and she can possibly get into heaven if she helps 300 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:21,300 Speaker 2: people for 300 years. Hans Christian Andersen wrote it way 301 00:13:21,340 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 2: better than I just recounted it. A lot less ums 302 00:13:25,020 --> 00:13:28,760 Speaker 2: and likes, but it's worth reading. 303 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,980 Speaker 1: Pliny also talked about mermen back in the day, and 304 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:38,210 Speaker 1: there would be mermen or seamen who would at night 305 00:13:38,250 --> 00:13:40,590 Speaker 1: climb up onto ships. There's a quote, that's why I'm 306 00:13:40,610 --> 00:13:40,910 Speaker 1: reading it. 307 00:13:41,010 --> 00:13:41,250 Speaker 2: Weird. 308 00:13:41,970 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 1: Upon which the side of the vessel where he seated 309 00:13:43,850 --> 00:13:46,510 Speaker 1: himself would instantly sink downward. And if you remain there 310 00:13:46,570 --> 00:13:49,929 Speaker 1: any considerable time, even go underwater. 311 00:13:50,350 --> 00:13:52,710 Speaker 2: And that was something that we will see as we 312 00:13:52,770 --> 00:13:58,069 Speaker 2: talk more about mermaids is they are very, they're often 313 00:13:58,110 --> 00:14:00,470 Speaker 2: either an omen, that something bad is going to happen 314 00:14:00,510 --> 00:14:04,829 Speaker 2: to sailors or coastal dwelling people, or they actually directly 315 00:14:04,990 --> 00:14:08,790 Speaker 2: cause harm to sailors or coastal dwelling people. 316 00:14:09,250 --> 00:14:14,460 Speaker 1: Yeah, and most times under the guise of something beautiful 317 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 1: and like a siren. 318 00:14:15,900 --> 00:14:16,819 Speaker 2: Yeah. 319 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 1: They are often, well, we haven't even described one. Surely 320 00:14:19,980 --> 00:14:23,950 Speaker 1: you know that a mermaid has the head and body 321 00:14:24,050 --> 00:14:26,630 Speaker 1: torso of a woman, human woman. 322 00:14:26,910 --> 00:14:28,330 Speaker 2: Usually with huge boobs. 323 00:14:29,130 --> 00:14:31,710 Speaker 1: Yeah, if you're talking about a sailor's account. Right. Sure. 324 00:14:31,730 --> 00:14:33,930 Speaker 1: You're like, oh, yeah, she was busty. 325 00:14:34,210 --> 00:14:35,270 Speaker 2: Did I mention the boobs? 326 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:42,990 Speaker 1: Yes, you did, sir, seven times. And from the torso down, 327 00:14:43,950 --> 00:14:48,210 Speaker 1: she's a fish. Maybe webbed feet, maybe not. Very graceful, 328 00:14:48,250 --> 00:14:51,010 Speaker 1: very fast, and always beautiful. 329 00:14:52,820 --> 00:14:53,440 Speaker 2: It depends. 330 00:14:54,260 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: Oh, yeah? 331 00:14:55,020 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, there were some of legend that were not. Ugly. 332 00:14:59,420 --> 00:14:59,740 Speaker 1: Really? 333 00:14:59,900 --> 00:15:00,160 Speaker 2: Yeah. 334 00:15:00,460 --> 00:15:01,700 Speaker 1: Not ugly, or they were ugly? 335 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:07,300 Speaker 2: That they were not. In parentheses, beautiful, comma, ugly. 336 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:09,400 Speaker 1: Well, I hadn't heard about that. 337 00:15:10,780 --> 00:15:12,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's in here. 338 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,020 Speaker 1: I thought, no, I'm just, I must have missed that part. 339 00:15:15,260 --> 00:15:17,780 Speaker 2: It's far more frequent what you were saying, that they 340 00:15:17,820 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 2: were beautiful and alluring. 341 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:20,180 Speaker 1: Okay. 342 00:15:20,340 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 2: But we'll talk more about that after we take a break, huh? 343 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: We'll talk about Josh. We'll talk about Chuck. And we'll 344 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:32,930 Speaker 1: talk about Jerry. We'll talk about all kinds of stuff. Stuff. Shit. 345 00:15:48,530 --> 00:15:50,980 Speaker 2: All right, Chuck. We were saying that for the most part, 346 00:15:51,300 --> 00:15:54,160 Speaker 2: mermaids are beautiful. And one of the reasons why they 347 00:15:54,180 --> 00:15:57,700 Speaker 2: are supposed to be beautiful is because they are frequently 348 00:16:00,260 --> 00:16:04,850 Speaker 2: accused of luring men, sailors, out to sea to their death. 349 00:16:05,460 --> 00:16:05,700 Speaker 1: Yeah. 350 00:16:05,790 --> 00:16:06,980 Speaker 2: And how do you do that? You do that one 351 00:16:07,020 --> 00:16:09,140 Speaker 2: of two ways. You have a beautiful singing voice. 352 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:10,240 Speaker 1: Yep. 353 00:16:10,260 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 2: Or you just straight up look good yourself. 354 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:13,060 Speaker 1: That's right. 355 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,220 Speaker 2: And if you have a beautiful singing voice, you're a siren, 356 00:16:16,340 --> 00:16:18,500 Speaker 2: in which case you would not be a mermaid because 357 00:16:18,580 --> 00:16:20,620 Speaker 2: a siren is half bird, half woman. 358 00:16:21,140 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: Yes. 359 00:16:21,780 --> 00:16:24,330 Speaker 2: And they don't even necessarily live in the water or 360 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:28,170 Speaker 2: near the water. They're sometimes described as hanging out in fields. 361 00:16:28,570 --> 00:16:31,730 Speaker 1: Yeah. I guess sometimes you can be very pretty and 362 00:16:31,770 --> 00:16:32,390 Speaker 1: be a good singer. 363 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 2: Right? 364 00:16:34,820 --> 00:16:35,820 Speaker 1: If you're a mermaid? Mm-hmm. 365 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:42,340 Speaker 2: But the, yeah, it could be. Yeah. Sure. Who am 366 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:43,100 Speaker 2: I to disagree? 367 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:48,020 Speaker 1: You'd be Beyonce. Right. Or Alicia Keys. Right. Or Adele. Oh, 368 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,700 Speaker 1: you know who I like is Rihanna. 369 00:16:51,540 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. She's great. 370 00:16:53,090 --> 00:16:53,930 Speaker 1: She's very pretty. 371 00:16:54,050 --> 00:16:57,890 Speaker 2: That part in, what's it called? This is the End? 372 00:16:57,910 --> 00:16:59,430 Speaker 2: When she played herself? 373 00:16:59,450 --> 00:16:59,830 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. 374 00:17:00,380 --> 00:17:01,260 Speaker 2: She was pretty great in that. 375 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 1: She was pretty funny. 376 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:04,900 Speaker 2: Michael Cera, like, spanked her, and she just immediately turned 377 00:17:04,940 --> 00:17:06,730 Speaker 2: around and smacked the heck out of him. 378 00:17:06,900 --> 00:17:09,740 Speaker 1: Yeah, I enjoyed parts of that movie, especially Michael Cera. 379 00:17:10,369 --> 00:17:10,550 Speaker 2: Yeah. 380 00:17:10,619 --> 00:17:13,790 Speaker 1: Playing like a coked-out jerk. That was really funny. 381 00:17:13,970 --> 00:17:14,970 Speaker 2: Yeah. 382 00:17:15,210 --> 00:17:19,690 Speaker 1: So back to the beautiful mermaids, though. There was one 383 00:17:19,770 --> 00:17:23,109 Speaker 1: in 1000 BCE in Syria, and her name, how would 384 00:17:23,130 --> 00:17:25,409 Speaker 1: you pronounce that? Adargadis? 385 00:17:25,810 --> 00:17:27,410 Speaker 2: Oh, I think you nailed it. Yeah? Yeah. 386 00:17:27,430 --> 00:17:30,570 Speaker 1: All right, we'll go with that. And you'll see a 387 00:17:30,590 --> 00:17:32,050 Speaker 1: lot of duality in a lot of these stories. And 388 00:17:32,090 --> 00:17:35,880 Speaker 1: she was one for sure that was a protector, a goddess. 389 00:17:36,540 --> 00:17:40,300 Speaker 1: I think she protected the fertility of her people and 390 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: watched over them and fell in love with a human man, 391 00:17:45,500 --> 00:17:47,050 Speaker 1: as you will often see in a lot of these stories. 392 00:17:47,270 --> 00:17:47,830 Speaker 2: A dude. 393 00:17:48,090 --> 00:17:50,750 Speaker 1: Yeah, a dude. And it was fine for a little while, 394 00:17:51,530 --> 00:17:53,970 Speaker 1: like in most stories. And then it goes south. Yeah. 395 00:17:54,390 --> 00:17:55,970 Speaker 1: And she kills him. 396 00:17:56,609 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 2: She crushed him with her... Greatness. 397 00:18:00,700 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: Oh, I thought like her big tail or something. 398 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:05,379 Speaker 2: I don't know. Well, she wasn't a mermaid yet. This 399 00:18:05,420 --> 00:18:06,380 Speaker 2: is where she becomes a mermaid. 400 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 1: Oh, that's true. That's right. I forgot about that. So 401 00:18:09,270 --> 00:18:11,890 Speaker 1: she accidentally kills him and then is very shamed, throws 402 00:18:11,910 --> 00:18:15,450 Speaker 1: herself into the lake because she wants to become a fish. 403 00:18:16,210 --> 00:18:20,400 Speaker 1: And she's so beautiful that it only works half as good. 404 00:18:20,420 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 1: I really can't figure out the math on that. 405 00:18:23,380 --> 00:18:23,520 Speaker 2: No. 406 00:18:24,060 --> 00:18:26,580 Speaker 1: But I guess she's just so beautiful that the human 407 00:18:26,660 --> 00:18:28,619 Speaker 1: beauty part of her is like, no, I won't be 408 00:18:28,660 --> 00:18:29,010 Speaker 1: a fish. 409 00:18:29,330 --> 00:18:30,830 Speaker 2: Just the lower half can be a fish. 410 00:18:30,869 --> 00:18:31,030 Speaker 1: Yeah. 411 00:18:31,190 --> 00:18:33,730 Speaker 2: Because she had toe fungus. So that was easily overcome. 412 00:18:34,290 --> 00:18:37,350 Speaker 2: But her face was really nice. So the fish part 413 00:18:37,369 --> 00:18:38,410 Speaker 2: just couldn't overcome that. 414 00:18:38,910 --> 00:18:40,770 Speaker 1: That's right. So she ended up a mermaid. 415 00:18:40,790 --> 00:18:45,439 Speaker 2: What a weird story. But not just weird. Yeah. Like, oh, 416 00:18:45,490 --> 00:18:48,490 Speaker 2: it's foreign or anything. I'm not being xenophobic, but it 417 00:18:48,550 --> 00:18:54,160 Speaker 2: really says a lot about humanity and how we think 418 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:57,620 Speaker 2: of things. Like, no, she was so good looking that 419 00:18:57,740 --> 00:19:01,780 Speaker 2: this magic couldn't even overcome that. Yeah, that's a good point. 420 00:19:01,980 --> 00:19:03,880 Speaker 2: We place a lot of value on that kind of thing. 421 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:06,909 Speaker 1: All right, should we move on to Germany? 422 00:19:08,490 --> 00:19:10,430 Speaker 2: Yeah, this one was kind of interesting to me because 423 00:19:10,510 --> 00:19:11,649 Speaker 2: Germany's landlocked. 424 00:19:13,470 --> 00:19:14,449 Speaker 1: Oh, I never really thought about that. 425 00:19:15,470 --> 00:19:18,190 Speaker 2: Why does Germany have a mermaid mythology? 426 00:19:18,430 --> 00:19:20,250 Speaker 1: Well, I mean, they have lakes. 427 00:19:20,270 --> 00:19:21,330 Speaker 2: I guess. 428 00:19:21,630 --> 00:19:24,750 Speaker 1: But mermaids are 100% ocean dwellers, aren't they? 429 00:19:24,910 --> 00:19:26,410 Speaker 2: No, there are some river dwellers. 430 00:19:27,010 --> 00:19:27,550 Speaker 1: Oh, that's right. 431 00:19:28,270 --> 00:19:30,820 Speaker 2: Although I think the sirens were specifically river. 432 00:19:31,390 --> 00:19:33,899 Speaker 1: Well, in the German myth, it was a river dweller, correct? 433 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:35,660 Speaker 2: Okay. Yeah. The Nix's? 434 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: Yeah. And they lured men into the river. Yeah, it 435 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:43,480 Speaker 1: was a river. And- So they could drown them. Like, again, 436 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:45,460 Speaker 1: the call of the siren, come in here. Look how 437 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:46,179 Speaker 1: beautiful I am. 438 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:47,189 Speaker 2: Right, check these out. 439 00:19:47,290 --> 00:19:49,110 Speaker 1: And now I'm holding your head underwater. 440 00:19:49,250 --> 00:19:49,450 Speaker 2: Right. 441 00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:50,980 Speaker 1: And you can't breathe anymore. 442 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:53,160 Speaker 2: And the guy's like, I regret nothing. 443 00:19:56,380 --> 00:19:59,379 Speaker 1: But this duality that we're talking about is what you 444 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:04,160 Speaker 1: see a lot of times in mermaid myths. From West Africa, 445 00:20:04,220 --> 00:20:08,480 Speaker 1: the Mami Wada, the mother water, she was a mermaid. 446 00:20:08,900 --> 00:20:10,989 Speaker 1: She was very nurturing and very loving. 447 00:20:12,330 --> 00:20:13,790 Speaker 2: If you didn't cross her. 448 00:20:14,150 --> 00:20:17,469 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. That's where the duality comes in. 449 00:20:17,650 --> 00:20:19,630 Speaker 2: I don't even know if that's duality. I think that's 450 00:20:19,690 --> 00:20:23,890 Speaker 2: just a complex person. Good complex character there. Yeah? Yeah. 451 00:20:24,380 --> 00:20:28,180 Speaker 1: So she's great, but when you cross her, she's murderous. Sure. 452 00:20:28,580 --> 00:20:28,800 Speaker 2: All right. 453 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:33,100 Speaker 1: And that's what she did, actually. If you were loyal 454 00:20:33,140 --> 00:20:35,980 Speaker 1: to her, you could be wealthy from her magic mirror 455 00:20:36,050 --> 00:20:40,230 Speaker 1: and comb. But if you betrayed her, then what this 456 00:20:40,290 --> 00:20:42,800 Speaker 1: article says is she rains down fury and destruction. 457 00:20:42,820 --> 00:20:46,400 Speaker 2: She rained the H word from above. 458 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:49,460 Speaker 1: But the duality is an important part of it because 459 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:53,129 Speaker 1: the physical creature itself is two things. 460 00:20:53,570 --> 00:20:53,850 Speaker 2: Sure. 461 00:20:54,410 --> 00:20:56,830 Speaker 1: And they are also two things emotionally and physically. 462 00:20:58,380 --> 00:21:02,380 Speaker 2: So the mermaid or merman or merfolk, as they're called 463 00:21:02,420 --> 00:21:03,180 Speaker 2: in this article. 464 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:03,720 Speaker 1: Are they really? 465 00:21:03,780 --> 00:21:07,350 Speaker 2: Yeah. So merfolk are half fish, half people, right? 466 00:21:07,369 --> 00:21:07,609 Speaker 1: Yeah. 467 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:13,369 Speaker 2: But they're not anywhere near unique in the pantheon of 468 00:21:14,250 --> 00:21:19,830 Speaker 2: mythological creatures throughout the ages, right? Again, there's sirens, half birds, 469 00:21:19,869 --> 00:21:25,110 Speaker 2: half women. There's just tons of, like the minotaur, half man, 470 00:21:25,150 --> 00:21:25,649 Speaker 2: half bull. 471 00:21:25,750 --> 00:21:25,910 Speaker 1: Yeah. 472 00:21:26,090 --> 00:21:29,290 Speaker 2: The centaur was what, half goat or horse and half man? 473 00:21:29,310 --> 00:21:31,130 Speaker 1: I don't remember that sounds right. 474 00:21:31,690 --> 00:21:36,389 Speaker 2: I think half horse. And I was like, where did 475 00:21:36,410 --> 00:21:40,930 Speaker 2: all these come from? I suspected bestiality, and it turns 476 00:21:41,010 --> 00:21:42,010 Speaker 2: out I may be right. 477 00:21:42,210 --> 00:21:42,470 Speaker 1: Oh, yeah? 478 00:21:42,670 --> 00:21:42,930 Speaker 2: Yeah. 479 00:21:43,070 --> 00:21:43,490 Speaker 1: What'd you find? 480 00:21:43,609 --> 00:21:46,460 Speaker 2: There are some scholars out there who believe that This 481 00:21:46,580 --> 00:21:51,500 Speaker 2: is the product of a much more relaxed attitude toward 482 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:55,830 Speaker 2: bestiality than we modern humans have today. 483 00:21:55,850 --> 00:22:00,350 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. I still never saw that documentary about the horse. Yeah. 484 00:22:00,410 --> 00:22:01,250 Speaker 2: It's a good one. Zoo. 485 00:22:01,550 --> 00:22:03,250 Speaker 1: Yeah. That fell off my radar. 486 00:22:03,590 --> 00:22:07,340 Speaker 2: Man, it's one of those ones where they largely... do recreate, 487 00:22:07,380 --> 00:22:10,480 Speaker 2: like the whole thing's almost recreation. Right. And I usually 488 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 2: am not hip on those. It doesn't feel like a 489 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:14,660 Speaker 2: documentary to me. Yeah. But that one changed my mind 490 00:22:14,700 --> 00:22:17,040 Speaker 2: about that whole technique. They did it so well. 491 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 1: Really? Yep. 492 00:22:19,140 --> 00:22:19,619 Speaker 2: It's rough. 493 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:20,440 Speaker 1: I bet. 494 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,160 Speaker 2: It's rough. Yeah. Especially like when you think about, you know, 495 00:22:24,180 --> 00:22:25,220 Speaker 2: the animals as well. 496 00:22:25,460 --> 00:22:25,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, of course. 497 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:29,330 Speaker 2: You know? But there's more than just that that makes 498 00:22:29,369 --> 00:22:29,710 Speaker 2: it rough. 499 00:22:30,270 --> 00:22:33,730 Speaker 1: Man, I need to see that. So I guess we 500 00:22:33,770 --> 00:22:36,540 Speaker 1: can talk a little bit about some eyewitness accounts. They're 501 00:22:36,580 --> 00:22:39,790 Speaker 1: all bunk, of course, but they have happened. In World 502 00:22:39,810 --> 00:22:45,389 Speaker 1: War II in Japan on Indonesia's Kai Islands, supposedly they 503 00:22:45,430 --> 00:22:48,649 Speaker 1: encountered a monster on the beach that had webbed hands 504 00:22:48,710 --> 00:22:51,570 Speaker 1: and feet and was kind of part human, part fish. 505 00:22:51,750 --> 00:22:53,629 Speaker 2: Yeah, it was like, look at these jazz hands. You 506 00:22:53,650 --> 00:22:54,270 Speaker 2: can't do this. 507 00:22:55,230 --> 00:22:58,930 Speaker 1: And then back in the day, some of our most 508 00:22:59,050 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 1: revered explorers and adventurers reported seeing mermaids. Like John Smith 509 00:23:07,660 --> 00:23:08,419 Speaker 1: and Henry Hunton. 510 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,480 Speaker 2: And Columbus. John Smith. Everybody loves him. 511 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:14,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, what was... There's a good quote in here from 512 00:23:14,500 --> 00:23:15,959 Speaker 1: Columbus because he wasn't too impressed. 513 00:23:16,300 --> 00:23:19,940 Speaker 2: Yeah. He said... And here's the thing. I read that 514 00:23:20,180 --> 00:23:23,160 Speaker 2: in his diary he's referring to himself in the third person. 515 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:24,700 Speaker 1: Well, that says a lot. 516 00:23:24,940 --> 00:23:26,070 Speaker 2: That's odd. He's like. 517 00:23:26,109 --> 00:23:26,740 Speaker 1: Ricky Henderson. 518 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:32,150 Speaker 2: Right. Or George Costanza. So he says that he saw some... Oh, yeah. 519 00:23:32,170 --> 00:23:33,790 Speaker 2: The quote's not in here. You've got to read the quote. 520 00:23:34,250 --> 00:23:38,540 Speaker 2: He's out sailing around. Oh, what is that out in 521 00:23:38,580 --> 00:23:40,619 Speaker 2: the ocean? I think I'll take a look through my 522 00:23:40,660 --> 00:23:41,300 Speaker 2: spying glass. 523 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,310 Speaker 1: The day before when the admiral was going to the... 524 00:23:44,730 --> 00:23:45,770 Speaker 1: And the admiral is himself. 525 00:23:46,030 --> 00:23:48,409 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. He was the admiral of 526 00:23:48,470 --> 00:23:49,490 Speaker 2: his fleet for sure. 527 00:23:49,590 --> 00:23:52,090 Speaker 1: The day before when the admiral was going on to 528 00:23:52,170 --> 00:23:54,129 Speaker 1: the Rio del Oro. 529 00:23:54,470 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 2: That's the River of Gold. 530 00:23:55,890 --> 00:23:58,420 Speaker 1: He said he saw three mermaids who came quite high 531 00:23:58,460 --> 00:24:00,500 Speaker 1: out of the water but were not as pretty as 532 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,760 Speaker 1: they are depicted. For somehow in the face they look 533 00:24:03,780 --> 00:24:04,010 Speaker 1: like men. 534 00:24:04,060 --> 00:24:07,020 Speaker 2: But I still thought about it. 535 00:24:07,550 --> 00:24:08,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, so. 536 00:24:09,410 --> 00:24:09,890 Speaker 2: End scene. 537 00:24:09,970 --> 00:24:11,930 Speaker 1: What they think now, and I don't know how they 538 00:24:11,950 --> 00:24:14,970 Speaker 1: substantiated this, is that Columbus was seeing manatees. 539 00:24:15,730 --> 00:24:18,250 Speaker 2: Yeah. Have you seen manatees? 540 00:24:19,150 --> 00:24:20,470 Speaker 1: Yeah, it looks nothing like a human. 541 00:24:20,550 --> 00:24:22,889 Speaker 2: From enough of a distance, though, you're like, wait a minute, 542 00:24:23,060 --> 00:24:25,979 Speaker 2: what is that? Especially if you've never seen a manatee before. 543 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 1: I don't think it looks human-like at all. 544 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 2: From enough of a distance, it can. Yeah, I can 545 00:24:33,100 --> 00:24:37,480 Speaker 2: see how somebody would... Especially if you believe that mermaids existed. 546 00:24:38,060 --> 00:24:38,880 Speaker 2: You see a manatee? 547 00:24:38,980 --> 00:24:41,100 Speaker 1: Maybe it's hard for me to totally get that. Go 548 00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:43,820 Speaker 1: there and put my mind in that kind of frame. 549 00:24:44,220 --> 00:24:45,560 Speaker 2: In the frame of Christopher Columbus? 550 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 1: Well, just to have never seen a mermaid, to have 551 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:51,939 Speaker 1: never seen a manatee, to be high on, what's the 552 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:52,790 Speaker 1: green stuff? 553 00:24:53,410 --> 00:24:56,190 Speaker 2: Arawak scalps. Oh, my God. 554 00:24:57,090 --> 00:24:58,310 Speaker 1: I just blanked on the green. 555 00:24:58,770 --> 00:24:59,330 Speaker 2: Marijuana? 556 00:24:59,690 --> 00:25:00,090 Speaker 1: No. 557 00:25:00,890 --> 00:25:01,609 Speaker 2: The green. 558 00:25:01,810 --> 00:25:03,770 Speaker 1: The green drink. Absinthe. 559 00:25:04,630 --> 00:25:06,710 Speaker 2: I don't think Absinthe was around with Columbus. 560 00:25:06,990 --> 00:25:07,449 Speaker 1: Are you kidding me? 561 00:25:08,830 --> 00:25:09,450 Speaker 2: No, I'm not. 562 00:25:09,790 --> 00:25:10,710 Speaker 1: You're shooting that stuff. 563 00:25:11,950 --> 00:25:12,750 Speaker 2: I can kind of see it. 564 00:25:14,510 --> 00:25:17,010 Speaker 1: So he maybe saw a manatee and was like, eh, 565 00:25:17,109 --> 00:25:18,630 Speaker 1: they're not so great looking after all. 566 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:19,889 Speaker 2: They're not that great. 567 00:25:19,910 --> 00:25:20,980 Speaker 1: What's everyone talking about? 568 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,679 Speaker 2: Yeah, he saw one. This is like Jimmy Carter and 569 00:25:25,700 --> 00:25:28,860 Speaker 2: the UFOs. You're kind of surprised when you hear this 570 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:33,220 Speaker 2: that somebody cited it. Apparently Reagan said he saw UFOs 571 00:25:33,260 --> 00:25:38,240 Speaker 2: as well. John Smith said he saw some. He liked 572 00:25:38,260 --> 00:25:40,260 Speaker 2: what he saw. He liked the look of the manatees 573 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:42,199 Speaker 2: because he said he fell in love with one with 574 00:25:42,260 --> 00:25:42,980 Speaker 2: long green hair. 575 00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:46,500 Speaker 1: Yeah, he said it wasn't bad looking or it wasn't 576 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:47,940 Speaker 1: unattractive or something like that. 577 00:25:48,300 --> 00:25:48,520 Speaker 2: Yeah. 578 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:50,899 Speaker 1: It was kind of a, he hedged his bets a 579 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:51,260 Speaker 1: little bit. 580 00:25:51,340 --> 00:25:51,609 Speaker 2: Yeah. 581 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:53,870 Speaker 1: I guess he wanted to check the rest of her out. Yeah. 582 00:25:54,369 --> 00:25:56,950 Speaker 2: And then he saw she had a tail and he's like, oh, 583 00:25:57,950 --> 00:25:58,710 Speaker 2: can't go there. 584 00:25:59,470 --> 00:26:02,110 Speaker 1: So what's going on here? Are they hallucinating because they've 585 00:26:02,130 --> 00:26:03,070 Speaker 1: been on the high seas too long? 586 00:26:03,740 --> 00:26:04,900 Speaker 2: That's what a lot of people say. 587 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:06,360 Speaker 1: Yeah. 588 00:26:06,619 --> 00:26:10,660 Speaker 2: Other people say that, again, they were predisposed to believing 589 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,820 Speaker 2: in mermaids because people thought mermaids existed. This was the 590 00:26:14,900 --> 00:26:17,400 Speaker 2: age of exploration. So it's the beginning of the age 591 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:21,400 Speaker 2: of exploration, which means that before then, the oceans were 592 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:26,659 Speaker 2: largely unexplored. And there were tons of beliefs in thousands 593 00:26:26,700 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 2: of year old mythologies about creatures that lived in the sea. 594 00:26:30,700 --> 00:26:35,020 Speaker 2: So if you thought that those things existed... then something 595 00:26:35,060 --> 00:26:37,699 Speaker 2: that looked kind of like a mermaid could be a mermaid. 596 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:41,940 Speaker 2: So that was probably, they were just cases of mistaken identity. 597 00:26:42,060 --> 00:26:43,119 Speaker 1: They were highly suggestible. 598 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:44,240 Speaker 2: Yeah. 599 00:26:44,340 --> 00:26:45,720 Speaker 1: We did one on sea monsters, remember? 600 00:26:45,820 --> 00:26:48,620 Speaker 2: We did. Yeah. That was a good one. I thought 601 00:26:48,660 --> 00:26:50,830 Speaker 2: that one was going to be awful, and it turned 602 00:26:50,869 --> 00:26:51,750 Speaker 2: out pretty great. 603 00:26:53,109 --> 00:26:53,750 Speaker 1: That episode? 604 00:26:53,830 --> 00:26:57,010 Speaker 2: Yeah. I remember thinking, this is not going to go well. 605 00:26:57,570 --> 00:27:00,030 Speaker 1: Kind of like this one. Yeah. How do you think 606 00:27:00,050 --> 00:27:00,590 Speaker 1: this one's going? 607 00:27:00,790 --> 00:27:01,270 Speaker 2: Pretty great. 608 00:27:01,570 --> 00:27:04,909 Speaker 1: All right. Well, let's take a break then. And give 609 00:27:04,930 --> 00:27:07,600 Speaker 1: each other a neck rub. Okay. And we'll come back 610 00:27:07,780 --> 00:27:08,700 Speaker 1: more comfortable than ever. 611 00:27:08,980 --> 00:27:38,580 Speaker 2: All right. There is a dude. I love this guy. 612 00:27:39,300 --> 00:27:45,160 Speaker 2: His name is Carl Bantz. You're not a Carl Bantz fan? 613 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:47,800 Speaker 1: Well, I'm not quite sure I understand unless. 614 00:27:48,140 --> 00:27:50,419 Speaker 2: Did you read the article? 615 00:27:50,660 --> 00:27:51,609 Speaker 1: Well, just to set it up. 616 00:27:51,820 --> 00:27:54,580 Speaker 2: Okay, so a dude named Carl Bantz back in 1990... 617 00:27:54,580 --> 00:28:00,460 Speaker 2: He wrote an article in a legitimate journal, the journal 618 00:28:00,580 --> 00:28:04,609 Speaker 2: Limnology and Oceanography. And they published it. And it is 619 00:28:04,670 --> 00:28:10,669 Speaker 2: an entirely tongue-in-cheek but totally played straight account of the 620 00:28:10,730 --> 00:28:13,050 Speaker 2: extinct species mermaid. 621 00:28:13,410 --> 00:28:17,850 Speaker 1: Yeah, like where he surmises on, like for real, where 622 00:28:17,890 --> 00:28:22,439 Speaker 1: they came from, what their biology was. Why they left us. 623 00:28:22,700 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 2: Yep, that they were warm water dwelling, that they ate 624 00:28:26,100 --> 00:28:29,170 Speaker 2: human flesh, which is why they lured people to their death. 625 00:28:30,770 --> 00:28:33,530 Speaker 2: He goes so far as to say that they most 626 00:28:33,590 --> 00:28:37,300 Speaker 2: likely only produced one or two offspring at a time 627 00:28:37,630 --> 00:28:42,340 Speaker 2: because the females of the species had two breasts and 628 00:28:42,380 --> 00:28:42,780 Speaker 2: that was it. 629 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:43,540 Speaker 1: Okay. 630 00:28:44,020 --> 00:28:44,300 Speaker 2: You know? 631 00:28:44,460 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 1: Sure. 632 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:47,480 Speaker 2: Um, like, like this is the thought that this guy 633 00:28:47,540 --> 00:28:49,800 Speaker 2: put into this, this article and the fact that he 634 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:53,310 Speaker 2: writes it totally straight and like really gives it its 635 00:28:53,390 --> 00:28:56,670 Speaker 2: due attention. Like it wasn't that, that like, this is 636 00:28:56,710 --> 00:28:58,370 Speaker 2: going to be a great idea and just the idea 637 00:28:58,410 --> 00:29:00,150 Speaker 2: itself is hilarious. So I don't really have to put 638 00:29:00,210 --> 00:29:03,290 Speaker 2: any effort into actual execution. He put effort into the 639 00:29:03,330 --> 00:29:05,270 Speaker 2: execution and he did pretty good. 640 00:29:05,570 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 1: I'm not knocking him, I guess. I just don't see 641 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:10,340 Speaker 1: why this journal would put something like that out there even. 642 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:11,460 Speaker 2: I don't know. 643 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:12,900 Speaker 1: I mean, I guess they had a good sense of humor, 644 00:29:12,940 --> 00:29:14,900 Speaker 1: and maybe it was the April Fool's episode. 645 00:29:15,420 --> 00:29:17,280 Speaker 2: I was wondering if that was the case, too, and 646 00:29:17,300 --> 00:29:19,240 Speaker 2: I forgot to look if it was the April issue. 647 00:29:20,140 --> 00:29:24,470 Speaker 1: Perhaps. He did use the words horny skinfolds, though. Right. 648 00:29:25,110 --> 00:29:30,250 Speaker 1: Their skin, he theorized, was not smooth-scaled like a regular fish, 649 00:29:30,270 --> 00:29:32,090 Speaker 1: but it had, quote, horny skinfolds. 650 00:29:32,290 --> 00:29:33,090 Speaker 2: Like an armadillo. 651 00:29:33,630 --> 00:29:33,770 Speaker 1: Yeah. 652 00:29:33,890 --> 00:29:36,630 Speaker 2: What's interesting is I saw another account from 1830 in Scotland. 653 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:46,540 Speaker 2: There's a town called Bembecula on the outer Hebrides, right? 654 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:53,370 Speaker 2: Which is like the outer islands, the archipelago. It's an archipelago. 655 00:29:53,390 --> 00:29:55,530 Speaker 2: That's how you say that, right? Archipelago? 656 00:29:56,150 --> 00:29:56,350 Speaker 1: Yeah. 657 00:29:57,130 --> 00:29:58,930 Speaker 2: Either way. There's a town there. 658 00:29:59,040 --> 00:29:59,670 Speaker 1: String of Islands. 659 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:03,600 Speaker 2: Coastal, thank you. A coastal town where in 1830, the 660 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 2: whole town swore they saw a mermaid and tried to 661 00:30:07,220 --> 00:30:10,360 Speaker 2: grab the mermaid and the mermaid swam away. So some 662 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:12,360 Speaker 2: kid threw a rock at it and hit it in 663 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:15,440 Speaker 2: its back. And two days later, they found it dead 664 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:17,720 Speaker 2: on shore and they felt so bad about it that they- 665 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:22,940 Speaker 2: Killed the kid? They buried it. They gave it a 666 00:30:22,980 --> 00:30:26,720 Speaker 2: funeral with like a casket and everything. Wow. And- They 667 00:30:26,780 --> 00:30:29,720 Speaker 2: said that it didn't have scales, that it had kind 668 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:31,420 Speaker 2: of rough skin instead. 669 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:32,240 Speaker 1: Horny skinfolds. 670 00:30:32,860 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, they didn't use that term. But this is like 671 00:30:35,340 --> 00:30:39,180 Speaker 2: a thing in 1830 in Scotland. Yeah, pretty interesting when 672 00:30:39,220 --> 00:30:40,900 Speaker 2: you read the account of it years later. 673 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:43,420 Speaker 1: That's a kind of band name, by the way. 674 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:44,360 Speaker 2: Horny skinfolds? 675 00:30:44,420 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: Yeah. Nice. Yeah, that is interesting. Maybe there's something there. Right. 676 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:56,620 Speaker 2: How do you keep the folds of the horny skinfold clean, 677 00:30:56,660 --> 00:30:59,340 Speaker 2: you know? I bet, like, gunk gets trapped in there. 678 00:30:59,500 --> 00:30:59,780 Speaker 1: Gross. 679 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:00,540 Speaker 2: I don't know. 680 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: Maybe that's the name of the first single, Cleaning the Folds. 681 00:31:04,900 --> 00:31:08,470 Speaker 2: The other thing that Bantz did in his article was 682 00:31:08,610 --> 00:31:13,090 Speaker 2: explain probably why they're extinct now. He came to the 683 00:31:13,110 --> 00:31:16,310 Speaker 2: conclusion that they're extinct. He said they were warm water, 684 00:31:16,350 --> 00:31:20,810 Speaker 2: so they would have cohabitated or shared their ecosystem with jellyfish. 685 00:31:21,450 --> 00:31:23,870 Speaker 2: And as humans started to fish more and more of 686 00:31:23,910 --> 00:31:29,170 Speaker 2: the sea, we upset the ecological balance. Jellyfish populations were 687 00:31:29,190 --> 00:31:32,130 Speaker 2: allowed to boom, which is the case. And they stung 688 00:31:32,310 --> 00:31:35,340 Speaker 2: the mermaids to death because the mermaids had, they lacked 689 00:31:35,380 --> 00:31:37,780 Speaker 2: the blubber that would protect them, not just in cold water. 690 00:31:38,180 --> 00:31:41,340 Speaker 2: but from jellyfish stings as well. So they died out 691 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:42,560 Speaker 2: from jellyfish stings. 692 00:31:42,740 --> 00:31:45,650 Speaker 1: Yeah, because their upper skin was just regular skin. 693 00:31:45,730 --> 00:31:45,910 Speaker 2: Right. 694 00:31:46,050 --> 00:31:47,270 Speaker 1: It wasn't the horny skin folds. 695 00:31:47,330 --> 00:31:47,530 Speaker 2: Yeah. 696 00:31:47,870 --> 00:31:49,930 Speaker 1: So it provided no protection. Exactly. 697 00:31:51,050 --> 00:31:53,250 Speaker 2: It's worth reading. Go check it out. It's called Mermaids, 698 00:31:54,130 --> 00:31:57,260 Speaker 2: Their Biology, Culture, and Demise. You can find the full 699 00:31:57,300 --> 00:31:58,130 Speaker 2: PDF online. 700 00:31:58,490 --> 00:32:01,400 Speaker 1: Well, I think we have to address the animal planet Snafu. 701 00:32:01,420 --> 00:32:04,220 Speaker 2: I don't know if they would call it a Snafu. 702 00:32:04,890 --> 00:32:06,830 Speaker 2: I think they would call it a ratings bonanza. 703 00:32:07,070 --> 00:32:09,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, which, what was the other, oh, when we talked 704 00:32:09,340 --> 00:32:13,780 Speaker 1: about the Megalodon, when Discovery Channel aired a Megalodon documentary 705 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:18,100 Speaker 1: that appeared by all accounts to be true and was not. 706 00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,340 Speaker 2: Same thing with Mermaids, but they did it twice. They did. 707 00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:24,440 Speaker 1: They did a sequel because it got, like you said, 708 00:32:24,540 --> 00:32:31,270 Speaker 1: huge ratings. And this was a documentary, well, not a documentary, 709 00:32:31,290 --> 00:32:34,950 Speaker 1: it was a mockumentary, That looked like, did you watch 710 00:32:34,990 --> 00:32:36,050 Speaker 1: any clips or anything? 711 00:32:36,810 --> 00:32:37,870 Speaker 2: Of the second one, yeah. 712 00:32:38,250 --> 00:32:40,670 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it looked like, you know, a show, 713 00:32:40,970 --> 00:32:43,860 Speaker 1: like a hunting Bigfoot crew. It's like, you know, we 714 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,100 Speaker 1: got this mermaid, we know where she is, and we're 715 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:47,360 Speaker 1: down here hunting. 716 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:50,320 Speaker 2: 3,000 feet below the surface. 717 00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:52,860 Speaker 1: Yeah, and they interviewed a guy that looked like Zach Galifianakis, 718 00:32:52,940 --> 00:32:56,290 Speaker 1: and if only it would have been Zach Galifianakis, it 719 00:32:56,310 --> 00:32:59,190 Speaker 1: would have made it much better. But, you know, then 720 00:32:59,230 --> 00:33:00,450 Speaker 1: it was one of these shows where at the end, 721 00:33:00,530 --> 00:33:02,750 Speaker 1: in small lettering, well, it's probably not even small, but 722 00:33:03,220 --> 00:33:05,460 Speaker 1: at the end of the credits, it's like, this was 723 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:07,060 Speaker 1: all made up. These are actors. 724 00:33:08,220 --> 00:33:11,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, but if you go online, people are still like 725 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:17,360 Speaker 2: arguing over the legitimacy or credentials of the marine geologist 726 00:33:17,460 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 2: Torsten Schmidt. 727 00:33:18,820 --> 00:33:19,980 Speaker 1: That's a great name. It is. 728 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:23,480 Speaker 2: And people are like, well, if he were a real scientist, 729 00:33:23,540 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 2: he would have been published elsewhere besides this. And he's 730 00:33:26,460 --> 00:33:29,160 Speaker 2: not published. And it's like, That's because he's not real. 731 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:29,800 Speaker 2: He's made up. 732 00:33:29,980 --> 00:33:31,219 Speaker 1: Yeah, this is like settled. 733 00:33:31,540 --> 00:33:31,740 Speaker 2: Right. 734 00:33:31,860 --> 00:33:33,660 Speaker 1: They didn't even pretend that it was real. 735 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:35,960 Speaker 2: So I don't know if that's the case or not. 736 00:33:35,980 --> 00:33:38,440 Speaker 1: Well, I mean, they said it wasn't at the end 737 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:39,260 Speaker 1: of the show. Okay. 738 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:42,280 Speaker 2: But they didn't come out and say, everybody, everybody. 739 00:33:42,420 --> 00:33:43,560 Speaker 1: Oh, well, I see what you mean. Right. 740 00:33:43,860 --> 00:33:48,480 Speaker 2: So actually, NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, had 741 00:33:48,500 --> 00:33:51,420 Speaker 2: to release and they felt they needed to release a 742 00:33:51,460 --> 00:33:56,170 Speaker 2: statement after the first one saying like, hey, mermaids don't exist. 743 00:33:56,210 --> 00:34:00,300 Speaker 2: No evidence has ever been found. We're Noah, the end. 744 00:34:00,820 --> 00:34:02,000 Speaker 1: And I bet they'd love that even. 745 00:34:02,020 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. 746 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:04,880 Speaker 1: Oh, my God, Noah's making a statement about our show. 747 00:34:04,940 --> 00:34:05,440 Speaker 2: Exactly, yeah. 748 00:34:05,460 --> 00:34:06,370 Speaker 1: It's going to be all over the news. 749 00:34:06,420 --> 00:34:09,450 Speaker 2: Right. And so I guess enough people bought it and 750 00:34:10,150 --> 00:34:12,870 Speaker 2: bought into it that they were able to release a sequel. 751 00:34:12,910 --> 00:34:15,510 Speaker 2: And in the sequel, the reason they released the sequel 752 00:34:15,550 --> 00:34:20,109 Speaker 2: was because Torsten Schmidt had footage of a webbed hand, like, 753 00:34:20,230 --> 00:34:26,690 Speaker 2: smacking the windshield of his little, like, underwater sub, two-man sub, 754 00:34:27,610 --> 00:34:29,899 Speaker 2: and then swimming off. Yeah. And so they just kept 755 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:33,239 Speaker 2: showing that over and over and over again. Yeah, I 756 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:33,779 Speaker 2: saw that shot. 757 00:34:33,820 --> 00:34:34,060 Speaker 1: It was cool. 758 00:34:34,100 --> 00:34:35,540 Speaker 2: It was Zach Galifianakis. 759 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:37,210 Speaker 1: He did look like him, didn't he? 760 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:38,800 Speaker 2: A lot. 761 00:34:39,180 --> 00:34:40,700 Speaker 1: I thought you were going to say it was found 762 00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:44,009 Speaker 1: out when Torsten Schmidt showed up on an episode of 763 00:34:44,170 --> 00:34:45,729 Speaker 1: Two Broke Girls the next week. 764 00:34:45,770 --> 00:34:46,050 Speaker 2: Right. 765 00:34:46,310 --> 00:34:47,069 Speaker 1: He's like a waiter. 766 00:34:47,130 --> 00:34:50,350 Speaker 2: Yeah, and a progressive insurance ad. It's like customer number two. 767 00:34:50,590 --> 00:34:51,230 Speaker 1: Exactly. 768 00:34:51,469 --> 00:34:53,569 Speaker 2: There's one other sighting I wanted to mention. This one 769 00:34:53,870 --> 00:34:56,730 Speaker 2: is second for my favorite after the Scottish one. 770 00:34:56,910 --> 00:34:57,129 Speaker 1: Okay. 771 00:34:57,210 --> 00:35:01,109 Speaker 2: It was in Edinburgh. Netherlands? Is it Edom? Sure. Like 772 00:35:01,130 --> 00:35:01,550 Speaker 2: the cheese? 773 00:35:02,750 --> 00:35:02,910 Speaker 1: Yeah. 774 00:35:03,210 --> 00:35:08,160 Speaker 2: Okay. Two girls were like rowing their boats and found 775 00:35:08,219 --> 00:35:10,980 Speaker 2: a mermaid and took it home and dressed it up 776 00:35:11,060 --> 00:35:13,100 Speaker 2: as a little girl and taught it to live on land, 777 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:14,719 Speaker 2: but it remained mute its whole life. 778 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:15,299 Speaker 1: Like E.T. 779 00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:17,690 Speaker 2: Yeah. Isn't that cute? 780 00:35:17,850 --> 00:35:18,489 Speaker 1: That is very cute. 781 00:35:18,510 --> 00:35:21,210 Speaker 2: They're like, you're coming home with us. Oh, you've got 782 00:35:21,230 --> 00:35:23,549 Speaker 2: a family? T.S. We've got a family too, and it's 783 00:35:23,570 --> 00:35:24,250 Speaker 2: your new family. 784 00:35:24,310 --> 00:35:26,270 Speaker 1: And they just made that story up and told people 785 00:35:26,330 --> 00:35:27,090 Speaker 1: and it survived? 786 00:35:27,670 --> 00:35:28,010 Speaker 2: I guess. 787 00:35:28,410 --> 00:35:28,830 Speaker 1: Interesting. 788 00:35:29,230 --> 00:35:33,480 Speaker 2: Although they didn't, they didn't apparently, like they matriculated the 789 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:37,880 Speaker 2: mermaid into human society there, but we're talking 1430. So 790 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:39,140 Speaker 2: who knows what was going on? 791 00:35:39,340 --> 00:35:41,209 Speaker 1: Yeah. They were eating. 792 00:35:41,489 --> 00:35:44,029 Speaker 2: They probably got their hands on somebody who was like, 793 00:35:45,850 --> 00:35:48,969 Speaker 2: who knows? Yeah. And they're like, oh, mermaid, this is 794 00:35:49,010 --> 00:35:49,400 Speaker 2: a mermaid. 795 00:35:49,850 --> 00:35:52,650 Speaker 1: Oh, just someone who had some sort of physical deformation. 796 00:35:52,989 --> 00:35:54,230 Speaker 2: And made them come live with them. 797 00:35:54,350 --> 00:35:54,549 Speaker 1: Yeah. 798 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:56,359 Speaker 2: Dressed as a girl for the rest of their life, 799 00:35:56,390 --> 00:35:57,600 Speaker 2: like Schlitzie or something. 800 00:35:57,780 --> 00:35:59,879 Speaker 1: Yeah, like we did in the freak shows. They would 801 00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:02,580 Speaker 1: just call them, make up whatever animal they wanted to. 802 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:05,600 Speaker 2: That was another great episode, too. 803 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:09,700 Speaker 1: Are you just recounting the good ones while we do 804 00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:10,020 Speaker 1: this one? 805 00:36:11,100 --> 00:36:13,700 Speaker 2: Just to remind people, it gets better. 806 00:36:14,610 --> 00:36:17,109 Speaker 1: So being a mermaid is an actual job you can get. 807 00:36:17,590 --> 00:36:20,390 Speaker 1: Back in the day, in the 1960s, 40s and 50s, 808 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:23,540 Speaker 1: it was a big hit to go to like a 809 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:26,120 Speaker 1: sea park and have mermaid shows. 810 00:36:26,380 --> 00:36:29,660 Speaker 2: And specifically one in, is it Weeki Wachee Springs? 811 00:36:29,890 --> 00:36:34,690 Speaker 1: Yeah, Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida, near Tampa. And it was 812 00:36:34,730 --> 00:36:38,509 Speaker 1: a booming business back then. They said between half a 813 00:36:38,530 --> 00:36:42,450 Speaker 1: million and a million tourists every year, including big famous 814 00:36:42,489 --> 00:36:44,670 Speaker 1: people like Elvis Presley and Don Knotts. 815 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:45,319 Speaker 2: Yeah. 816 00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:46,460 Speaker 1: Those are the two they mentioned. 817 00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:48,860 Speaker 2: Those two would trash a place together. 818 00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:54,739 Speaker 1: Oh, I bet. Don gets into the whiskey. It's all over. So, yeah, 819 00:36:54,820 --> 00:36:56,379 Speaker 1: it was a huge deal back then. They're still doing 820 00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:59,430 Speaker 1: it there today, but it is a real job. You 821 00:37:00,430 --> 00:37:04,690 Speaker 1: can go, if you're a great swimmer, you have to 822 00:37:04,830 --> 00:37:05,450 Speaker 1: know what you're doing. 823 00:37:05,670 --> 00:37:06,210 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. 824 00:37:06,230 --> 00:37:07,610 Speaker 1: It seems like, oh, yeah, you just put on that 825 00:37:07,670 --> 00:37:10,960 Speaker 1: tail thing. But that tail is heavy and awkward. 826 00:37:11,100 --> 00:37:12,180 Speaker 2: Well, yeah, and plus like swimming. 827 00:37:12,239 --> 00:37:13,120 Speaker 1: And somewhat buoyant. 828 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:14,970 Speaker 2: Swimming with your legs together. 829 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:15,770 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's hard. 830 00:37:15,790 --> 00:37:18,670 Speaker 2: It's very difficult. Yeah, it's not an easy job from 831 00:37:18,710 --> 00:37:19,390 Speaker 2: what I can tell. 832 00:37:19,630 --> 00:37:21,709 Speaker 1: Yeah, so apparently once you put like, they look very 833 00:37:21,750 --> 00:37:25,730 Speaker 1: graceful swimming around in those things, but you go put 834 00:37:25,830 --> 00:37:28,340 Speaker 1: one on and get in a pool and see what happens. 835 00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:30,980 Speaker 2: Right, and this article I think rightly points out that 836 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:36,390 Speaker 2: the professional mermaids that you see today are... Like, this 837 00:37:36,410 --> 00:37:39,200 Speaker 2: is from years and years and years of practice. Yeah. Like, 838 00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:41,460 Speaker 2: they didn't just get in the water and they're like, yeah, 839 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:42,120 Speaker 2: I'm a natural. 840 00:37:42,260 --> 00:37:44,540 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. It's got to be really awkward. 841 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:46,719 Speaker 2: Sure. And you also have to know how to hold 842 00:37:46,739 --> 00:37:47,680 Speaker 2: your breath like a mo. 843 00:37:48,940 --> 00:37:49,899 Speaker 1: Like a mo? Yeah. 844 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:51,000 Speaker 2: I stopped myself. 845 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:53,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, you do. And you have to learn how to 846 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:57,790 Speaker 1: swim the mermaid crawl, which is what they name it. But, 847 00:37:57,870 --> 00:37:59,350 Speaker 1: you know, it's not like regular swimming. 848 00:38:01,550 --> 00:38:01,950 Speaker 2: Yeah, right. 849 00:38:02,150 --> 00:38:02,390 Speaker 1: You know? 850 00:38:02,550 --> 00:38:02,710 Speaker 2: Yeah. 851 00:38:03,330 --> 00:38:04,390 Speaker 1: And you can make a little dough, too. 852 00:38:04,950 --> 00:38:05,350 Speaker 2: A little bit. 853 00:38:05,890 --> 00:38:07,989 Speaker 1: It said you can be hired, like, as a one-off 854 00:38:08,010 --> 00:38:09,750 Speaker 1: for a party. What is that like? You go to, like, 855 00:38:09,790 --> 00:38:13,650 Speaker 1: a neighborhood pool, and everyone gathers around, like, look at 856 00:38:13,690 --> 00:38:14,130 Speaker 1: the mermaid. 857 00:38:14,210 --> 00:38:15,630 Speaker 2: And claps out of rhythm. 858 00:38:15,690 --> 00:38:16,110 Speaker 1: That's so funny. 859 00:38:16,390 --> 00:38:18,049 Speaker 2: And you're like, what do you guys want me to do? 860 00:38:19,370 --> 00:38:22,310 Speaker 1: I guess you can do that. But mostly what I've 861 00:38:22,350 --> 00:38:26,830 Speaker 1: seen are, like, the shows in some, like, sleepy Florida town. Right. Like, 862 00:38:27,070 --> 00:38:27,710 Speaker 1: Gator Farm. 863 00:38:28,090 --> 00:38:29,390 Speaker 2: That was the start. 864 00:38:29,410 --> 00:38:31,070 Speaker 1: And the Weeki Wachee mermaids. 865 00:38:31,270 --> 00:38:34,210 Speaker 2: Or, like, at resorts or something like that. Yeah. 866 00:38:34,730 --> 00:38:36,550 Speaker 1: Back when they used to. Love that kind of thing. 867 00:38:38,440 --> 00:38:43,420 Speaker 1: And some of these professional mermaids apparently use their status 868 00:38:43,580 --> 00:38:45,259 Speaker 1: as a soapbox for ecology. 869 00:38:45,420 --> 00:38:45,680 Speaker 2: Yeah. 870 00:38:45,980 --> 00:38:48,500 Speaker 1: And efforts to keep the oceans clean. 871 00:38:48,620 --> 00:38:50,540 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's pretty cool. Yeah. There seems to be a 872 00:38:50,580 --> 00:38:54,360 Speaker 2: real thread of that running through the professional mermaid culture. 873 00:38:55,260 --> 00:38:56,860 Speaker 2: You're like an eco-activist. 874 00:38:57,300 --> 00:38:58,339 Speaker 1: That's a decent band name, too. 875 00:38:59,260 --> 00:39:00,520 Speaker 2: Professional mermaid culture? 876 00:39:00,700 --> 00:39:04,300 Speaker 1: Yeah. This one was rich with bands. 877 00:39:04,340 --> 00:39:06,380 Speaker 2: Band names. Horny skin folds. 878 00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:07,760 Speaker 1: Yeah. 879 00:39:08,900 --> 00:39:11,200 Speaker 2: Uh, if you want to know more about mermaids, you 880 00:39:11,239 --> 00:39:13,960 Speaker 2: can type that word in the search bar at howstuffworks.com. 881 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:16,740 Speaker 2: And since I said search bar, it's time for listener mail. 882 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:24,150 Speaker 1: Actually, in lieu of listener mail today, uh, we are 883 00:39:24,190 --> 00:39:26,910 Speaker 1: going to ask you for something. Cause we, people also 884 00:39:26,969 --> 00:39:29,880 Speaker 1: often say like, how can I help the show? Spreading 885 00:39:29,900 --> 00:39:32,360 Speaker 1: the word is awesome. We always appreciate that. But one 886 00:39:32,380 --> 00:39:33,560 Speaker 1: thing we haven't asked you to do in a long 887 00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:36,500 Speaker 1: time is go to iTunes and leave a review. 888 00:39:37,260 --> 00:39:37,640 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. 889 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:40,840 Speaker 1: Because that makes a big difference if there are reviews, 890 00:39:41,820 --> 00:39:44,009 Speaker 1: even if they're not favorable. Just be honest. 891 00:39:44,140 --> 00:39:45,149 Speaker 2: Vote with your conscience. 892 00:39:45,770 --> 00:39:48,650 Speaker 1: Vote your conscience. And, yeah, go to iTunes, leave a 893 00:39:48,690 --> 00:39:51,770 Speaker 1: review for us. Because just having reviews is a good thing. 894 00:39:51,790 --> 00:39:56,430 Speaker 1: And tell a friend. Help spread the word. I feel 895 00:39:56,450 --> 00:39:59,430 Speaker 1: like years go by before we say things like this. 896 00:39:59,670 --> 00:40:01,930 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I think literally that's the case. 897 00:40:02,010 --> 00:40:04,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's been a long time. So we really appreciate 898 00:40:04,980 --> 00:40:06,560 Speaker 1: the way the show was built was on word of 899 00:40:06,620 --> 00:40:09,700 Speaker 1: mouth largely. We really count on that. So tell a friend. 900 00:40:10,180 --> 00:40:14,160 Speaker 1: Go to iTunes and leave a recommendation. And the other 901 00:40:14,180 --> 00:40:16,630 Speaker 1: thing that we also need are more jingles. 902 00:40:17,230 --> 00:40:17,529 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. 903 00:40:17,690 --> 00:40:20,759 Speaker 1: These jingles that you hear, these bumpers, are from fans 904 00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:22,360 Speaker 1: and listeners, musicians. 905 00:40:22,550 --> 00:40:23,520 Speaker 2: Very kind ones. 906 00:40:23,739 --> 00:40:25,939 Speaker 1: Yeah, and they really enjoy doing it, and we love 907 00:40:26,020 --> 00:40:29,020 Speaker 1: throwing them out there. So send us your jingle, and 908 00:40:29,700 --> 00:40:31,540 Speaker 1: we can't promise we'll use it, but we probably will. 909 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:33,660 Speaker 2: Yeah, because they're pretty great. 910 00:40:33,719 --> 00:40:34,660 Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's all I got. 911 00:40:35,239 --> 00:40:37,319 Speaker 2: Well, thanks. If you want to get in touch with 912 00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:39,180 Speaker 2: us to help us out with any of this stuff, 913 00:40:39,239 --> 00:40:41,920 Speaker 2: you can tweet to us at SYSK Podcast. You can 914 00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:45,239 Speaker 2: join us on Facebook.com slash StuffYouShouldKnow. You can send us 915 00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:48,899 Speaker 2: an email to stuffpodcast at howstuffworks.com. And as always, join 916 00:40:48,940 --> 00:40:58,029 Speaker 2: us at our home on the web, stuffyoushouldknow.com. For more 917 00:40:58,090 --> 00:41:01,009 Speaker 2: on this and thousands of other topics, visit howstuffworks.com.