WEBVTT - TR vs. Houdini 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:05.800 History Versus is a production of I Heart Radio and 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:13.920 Mental Flaws. It's June and illusionist Harry Houdini is hurrying 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:17.159 through the crowded, smoggy streets of London, bound for the 0:00:17.239 --> 0:00:20.440 offices of the Hamburg America Line. He's on his way 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.120 to pick up two certificates of passage on a luxurious 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:26.360 German steamship called the S s Imperator, which will ferry 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:28.840 him and his wife Bess home to New York later 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:32.479 in the month. After a series of performances around Britain, 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:35.599 Houdini will finally get a glorious break to rest and 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:38.800 relax on the high seas before summer residence at Hammerstein's 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:42.560 Victoria Theater in Manhattan. For five whole days, he won't 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:46.080 have to hurry at all. Houdini skids to a stop 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:49.120 in front of the Hamburg America building, strolls in, and 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:51.280 gives his name to the man at the front desk. 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:54.920 Before the man hands over the tickets, he beckons Houdini 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:59.880 closer with a conspiratorial air of secrecy. Teddy Roosevelt is 0:01:00.040 --> 0:01:03.840 the boat. The man whispers in Houdini's ear, but don't 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:07.480 tell anyone. Houdini accepts the tickets with a smile and 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:11.440 slowly returns to the dull, cloudy daylight. He has no 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:14.480 intention of sharing the secret, but not because loose lips 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:18.679 sink ships. Instead, he's already hatching a plan, a plan 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:22.520 to trick everyone's favorite, tough talking, rough riding former president 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:30.440 from mental Flaws and I heart radio. This History Versus 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:33.640 a podcast about how your favorite historical figures faced off 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:37.039 against their greatest foes. I'm your host, Aaron McCarthy, And 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:40.039 in this bonus episode, we're talking about Trs rather unlikely 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:43.160 maritime friendship with Harry Houdini, who might have been one 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:46.760 of the only people to succeed in leaving TR truly dumbfounded. 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:55.320 This episode is t R versus Houdini. Spring of nine 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:58.760 fourteen was an especially busy time for both tr and Houdini, 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:03.120 though neither was ever really not busy. Still reeling from 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:06.920 the death of his mother in July, Houdini had embarked 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:09.959 on a rigorous tour of England and Scotland, where he 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:14.160 captivated crowds by escaping from water tanks, swallowing needles, and 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:20.919 making various objects people included disappear and reappear Meanwhile, Theodore 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:24.280 Roosevelt was on a rigorous tour of his own. Fever 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:27.079 and infection had almost killed him during his South American 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:29.920 expedition along the River of Doubt that year, but even 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:32.680 that wasn't enough to keep him home for long. He 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:35.440 returned to New York on May nine and set sail 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:39.280 for Europe just eleven days later. Once there, he spent 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:42.240 the first half of June on a whirlwind continental jaunt 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:45.880 that included visits to Paris, London, and Madrid, where he 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:50.080 attended his son Kermit's wedding to Bell Willard. Roosevelt's daughter Alice, 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:53.520 who accompanied him, described the trip as a movie run 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:57.760 at several times life speed. On June eighteenth, tr left 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:01.040 Alice and the newlyweds behind board in the SSM Perator 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:04.639 in Southampton, England, with his cousin Philip Harry and Bess 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:07.960 Houdini boarded the ship too. It's not clear if Tier 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:10.800 and Houdini had ever actually met each other before the voyage, 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.600 but they definitely attended the same event on land at 0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:19.320 least once, the Chicago World's Fair in officially called the 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:22.640 World's Columbian Exposition. The event was meant to celebrate the 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:25.880 four hundred anniversary of Christopher Columbus, so called Discovery of 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:29.519 the New World. In four Roosevelt had funded a full 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:33.120 scale architectural reproduction of a Hunter's cabin to commemorate Daniel 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:35.760 Boone and Davy Crockett, and he attended the fair with 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:38.800 his older sister Bamy, who had served on the organization's 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:42.400 board of Lady Managers of New York. A nineteen year old, 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:45.920 not yet famous Harry Houdini was also there, performing with 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:49.320 his brother Theo in a magic act called The Brothers Houdini. 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:53.280 Maybe tr caught the show, or maybe he became familiar 0:03:53.320 --> 0:03:57.440 with Houdini's incredible feats later in his career. Either way, 0:03:57.800 --> 0:03:59.520 the two men found each other on the s s 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:03.920 and Periator and soon became fast friends. They started exercising 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:06.280 together in the morning, at least when both of them 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:09.600 were feeling up to it. Houdini was prone to seasickness 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:12.640 and Roosevelt was still suffering abouts of fever from his 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:16.800 Brazilian expedition. One morning, while they were taking a walk, 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:19.680 a ship's officer stopped them and asked if Hudini might 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:21.960 be willing to perform at a charity concert the following 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:25.040 night to benefit the German Sailors Home and the Magician's 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:29.920 Club of London. Go ahead, Houdini, Roosevelt goated, give us 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:34.080 a little science. Judini agreed to what seemed like a 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:38.480 completely spontaneous science, but in reality, it was all part 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:41.400 of the cunning scheme that Houdini had been concocting ever 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.080 since he found out tr would be on board. The 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:47.680 story was recounted in full in a newspaper article by 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:51.640 Harold Kelleck, which allegedly used Hudini's own words from unreleased 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:56.479 autobiographical excerpts. Let's back up to when the ticket teller 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:58.880 had divulged that Hudini would be sailing the high seas 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:02.599 with Roosevelt. The magician remembered that the Telegraph had plans 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:06.160 to publish the harrowing tale of Roosevelt's recent Amazonian expedition. 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:09.279 After promising not to tell a soul that Roosevelt would 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:12.080 be on board the Imperator, he wrote that he jumped 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:14.720 into a taxi and went to the Telegraph office to 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:18.640 see what he could pick up. His editorial friends readily 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:22.200 obliged his request for information. They even handed over a 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:26.160 map that charted Roosevelt's exact path along the river. That's 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:28.920 when Udini decided to hold the science where he'd act 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:32.160 like spirits were revealing the details of Roosevelt's trip, as 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:36.479 yet undisclosed to the public. Houdini scheme didn't stop there. 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:39.520 A less committed magician might have thought that any old 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:42.320 spirits would do, but Houdini wasn't the best in the 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:45.880 business for nothing. In his opinion, the ruse would be 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:48.640 more convincing if the secrets were conveyed by one spirit, 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:52.680 in particular W. T. Stead, a British editor and known 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:57.039 spiritualist who had died on the Titanic in Udini had 0:05:57.040 --> 0:06:00.599 acquired some of his letters while in London. He planned 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:03.040 for the seance to center around a certain slate trick 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:06.680 common among mediums at the time. In it, a participant 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:08.880 jots down a question on a piece of paper and 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:13.159 slips it between two supposedly blank slates. Then a spirit 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:16.280 writes heavy air quotes around that word by the way 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:20.080 a response, and the performer reveals it to the audience. 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:24.040 On the slates, Houdini had drawn the map of Roosevelt's 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:27.480 trail and written the words near the andes He then 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:30.440 forged stead signature on it to suggest that the message 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:34.119 was sent straight from the afterlife. There was definitely still 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:35.680 a lot up in the air when he left the 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:39.000 Southampton Harbor, but Houdini had a plan for just about 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:42.760 every detail. The fact that he wasn't scheduled to perform 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:44.479 on the S S and Perator was sort of a 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:48.160 non issue. According to him. He always staged in promptu 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:51.200 shows during voyages, so it was probably no surprise when 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:54.200 the crew member asked him to do one. And was 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:56.240 it luck that tr happened to be standing there when 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:59.720 the crew member asked, or had Houdini orchestrated the whole encounter. 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:04.360 As for tr suggestion that Houdini conducted science, well, that 0:07:04.480 --> 0:07:08.279 wasn't exactly a coincidence. I found it easy to work 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:10.640 the colonel into a state of mind so that the 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:14.000 suggestion for the science would come from him, Houdini wrote, 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:17.440 Though he didn't elaborate on what exactly he said about 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:21.600 spiritualism during their conversation, he apparently convinced Roosevelt that a 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:25.880 science was a spectacle worth seeing. Interestingly enough, Judini would 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:28.440 make a name for himself as an anti spiritualist later 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:32.400 in his career by debunking popular mediums, demonstrating that they 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:35.400 were frauds by mimicking their techniques and revealing their trickery. 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.840 Judini's next and most daunting hurdle was not only to 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:41.160 guarantee that the question Roosevelt wrote on his slip of 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:44.640 paper during the science was where was I Last Christmas? 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:46.960 But also to ensure that it was Roosevelt's slip of 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:50.800 paper that he chose. So the master manipulator prepared to 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:54.560 stuff the ballot, so to speak, Judini copied where was 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:57.960 I Last Christmas? Onto several sheets of paper, seal them 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:00.480 in envelopes, and plan to make sure that only those 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:02.520 envelopes ended up in the hat that he choose a 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:07.000 question from. He was, after all, an absolute expert when 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:09.760 it came to slight of hand tricks. But this is 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:14.040 where Hohodini's plan gets a little questionable. If Roosevelt didn't 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:16.920 write where was I Last Christmas? Yet that's the question 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:19.840 Hudini spirit answered, it seems like there would be a 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:23.200 pretty strong possibility that Roosevelt would say something like, wait, 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:27.440 that wasn't my question. Maybe Hudini realized his strategy wasn't 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:30.960 quite full proof, because he devised yet another backup plan. 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.439 On the morning of the performance, Whodini noticed two books 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:36.560 lying on a table in the salon where the performance 0:08:36.600 --> 0:08:39.840 would take place. After smuggling them back to his room, 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.640 he sliced open their bindings with a razor blade and 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:45.200 slipped a sheet of carbon paper and white paper beneath 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:49.080 the cover. Then he carefully resealed the books and returned 0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:52.480 them to the salon. As long as Roosevelt used one 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:54.520 of those books as a flat surface to write on, 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:57.720 the carbon paper would transfer his question to the white 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:00.800 sheet below it. That way, who Dennie could sneak a 0:09:00.800 --> 0:09:03.560 glance at the question even after the envelope was sealed 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:08.000 and alter his performance accordingly. Would everything work out according 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:21.120 to Hudini's plan, we'll find out after this quick break. 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:25.319 The evening of the seance, the ship's occupants gathered in 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:28.120 the Grand Salon and enjoyed the musical talents of the 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:33.040 Ritz Carlton Orchestra and opera singer Madame a Cortasio. Then 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:37.800 Hudini took the stage. He conjured silk handkerchiefs, he turned 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:41.720 water into wine. He even let tr choose the cards 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:45.760 during a series of card tricks. I was amazed at 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:48.160 the way he watched every one of the misdirection moves 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.960 as I manipulated the cards. Hudini recounted, it was difficult 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:56.480 to baffle him under the watchful gaze of a very 0:09:56.520 --> 0:10:02.559 astute bull Moose. Houdini turned to the audience, ladies and gentlemen. 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:05.680 He proclaimed, I am sure that many among you have 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:09.240 had experiences with mediums who have been able to facilitate 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:13.160 the answering of your personal questions by departed spirits, these 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:17.840 answers being mysteriously produced on slates. As we all know, 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:21.760 mediums do their work in the darkened science room. But tonight, 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:25.280 for the first time anywhere, I propose to conduct a 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:28.480 spiritualistic slate test in the full glare of the light. 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.000 He distributed the slips of paper and instructed the audience 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:35.440 to jot down their questions. Seeing that Roosevelt was about 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:38.400 to use his hand as a writing service, Judini generously 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:41.839 passed him a book. Tire wasn't the only quick witted 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:45.240 gentleman in the audience that night. Broadway composer Victor Herbert 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:47.520 surveyed the scene and offered a few shrewd words of 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:51.400 caution to his companion, turn around. Don't let him see it, 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:55.560 Hudinie heard Herbert Warren Roosevelt. He will read the question 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:58.960 by the movements of the top of the pencil. Tr 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:01.520 took his advice, turning his back to Hudini, so he 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:05.240 couldn't be tricked, Or so he thought. That made no 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:09.400 difference to me, Judini wrote, because, of course, the book 0:11:09.440 --> 0:11:11.199 he had passed to tr was one of the books 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:14.840 he'd prepared with carbon paper hidden under the cover. After 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:18.120 Roosevelt finished writing, Hudini took the book and slightly extracted 0:11:18.160 --> 0:11:20.200 the paper from the inside cover while returning it to 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:24.760 the table. In an almost unbelievable stroke of luck, Roosevelt 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:28.079 had written the very question Hudini had hoped for, so 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:30.360 Hudini wouldn't need to slip one of his own envelopes 0:11:30.400 --> 0:11:33.520 between the slates after all. In fact, he didn't even 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:36.680 pick a question from the hat. I am sure that 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:39.240 there will be no objection if we use the Colonel's question, 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:43.319 he said to general assent from the audience. They all 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.080 watched as Houdini flash would appeared to be four blank 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:50.200 sides of the slates. This was another little trick Judini 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:53.240 had really only shown them three sides, obscuring the fourth 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:56.880 so they wouldn't see the map. Then Houdini asked tr 0:11:56.920 --> 0:11:59.400 to place his envelope between the slates and tell his 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:04.240 question to the audience. Where was I last Christmas? Tr said. 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:10.800 Houdini revealed the map to an utterly astonished audience by George, 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:15.480 that proves it, tr roared over thunderous applause. The next morning, 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:18.760 tr interrupted their customary walk along the upper deck with 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:21.880 a question he had probably been pondering since the stunt. 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:25.160 How did you do it last night? He asked Tudini. 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:30.040 Was that really spiritualism? Houdini later recounted that he grinned 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:34.800 and responded, no, Colonel, it is all hocus pocus. According 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:38.480 to article from the New York Times, however, Judini claimed 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:41.240 that he maintained the charade and told Tire that it 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:45.439 really was spirit writing. Regardless, it doesn't seem like tr 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:49.400 ever got the full explanation. He died in nineteen years 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:52.320 before newspapers shared these behind the scenes secrets with the public. 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:55.920 Houdini's hijinks aboard the s sm Periator did make an 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:59.960 immediate splash in the papers. The ship's radio operator recounted 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:02.760 the story to operators in Newfoundland, who then related to 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:07.200 journalists in New York. Oddly, though, those early news reports 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:10.559 give a slightly different question that Houdini actually did choose 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:13.280 from a hat, which was can you draw a map 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.199 tracing the recent journey made by our most famous passenger? 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:20.760 So are those reports wrong or was Houdini playing one 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:25.959 last trick on everyone? The world may never know the truth, regardless, 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:29.040 news of the renowned magician's latest trick hit stands before 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:32.240 the ship even reached the harbor. The rest of the 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:35.400 voyage passed without any more magic, unless you count the 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.920 magic of being in love. On June twenty two, the 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:42.920 night after the performance, the Houdini celebrated their twentieth anniversary 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:46.680 by hosting a delicious dinner of caviare and several fine 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:51.800 French dishes. Considering his close companionship with Houdini, tr might 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:55.040 have attended the event, but it's also possible he was 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:58.800 busy with other things. I have been working hard, finishing 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:01.520 my book on Africa and eating my Pittsburgh speech, he 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:04.360 told The New York Times on June, shortly before the 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:07.000 ship arrived in New York, He had also made time 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:09.520 on June twenty two for what he called a thorough 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:14.120 inspection of the Imperator with its commander. The Bosom buddies 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:16.760 parted ways when they reached New York, and it doesn't 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:18.720 seem like they ever got a chance to hang out again. 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:21.960 But Houdini, for one, always made it clear that he 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:25.640 was proud of his friendship with tr During the voyage, 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:28.200 he had arranged to have their photograph taken together by 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:31.360 his assistant. Five other men ended up in the photo, 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:35.320 including Tiar's cousin Philip, and Hudini later produced several copies 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:38.480 of the photo without the other men. He also called 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:41.280 tr Our beloved Colonel in one letter, and referred to 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:43.880 himself as a close personal friend of the colonels for 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:47.720 years in another. Houdini would eventually go on to perform 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:52.120 for Tier's grandchildren at a party in February, six years 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:56.440 after tr died. Ted jrs Son, who was also named 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:59.240 Theodore Roosevelt and had been born just days before the 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:03.680 legendary say ounce in, proved just as difficult to baffle 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:08.160 as his namesake. Judini said in a newspaper article he 0:15:08.200 --> 0:15:11.240 was not satisfied with seeing the tricks, he had to 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:15.000 know how they were done. We'll be back soon with 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:21.640 another episode of History Versus History Versus is hosted by 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:25.000 me Aeron McCarthy. This episode was written by Ellen Gatusky, 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:28.920 with fact checking by Austin Thompson. The executive producers are 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:33.040 Aaron McCarthy, Julie Douglas, and Tyler Clang. The supervising producer 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:36.400 is Dylan Fagan. The show was edited by Dylan Fagan 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.960 and Little Berlante. To learn more about this episode and 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:43.200 Theodore Roosevelt, check out our website and Mental floss dot com. 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:46.960 Slash History Versus History Versus is a production of I 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:59.880 Heart Radio and Mental Floss. For more podcasts from my 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:03.000 heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:05.160 or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.