WEBVTT - CZM Book Club: "John Simnel's First Goshawk" by Tegan Moore

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<v Speaker 1>Cool Zone Media.

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<v Speaker 2>Book Club book Club, book Club book Club. Hello and

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<v Speaker 2>welcome to Cool Zone Media book Club. I'm your host

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<v Speaker 2>or reader or the person who's talking to you right now.

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<v Speaker 2>My name is Margaret Kiljoy. And this is the only

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<v Speaker 2>book club where you don't have to do the reading,

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<v Speaker 2>because I do it for you. Sure, you might say

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<v Speaker 2>to yourself, there's a lot of podcasts where people read fiction.

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<v Speaker 2>How is that different? And the difference is that this

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<v Speaker 2>is called a book club, so it's a book club,

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<v Speaker 2>it's also a podcast. It's weird how things can be

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<v Speaker 2>more than one thing at the same time. This week,

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<v Speaker 2>I've got a short and I think a story you

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<v Speaker 2>all will quite enjoy. I guess I'm always reading you

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<v Speaker 2>short stories, but this is on the shorter side of

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<v Speaker 2>short stories. It's a story called John Simnel's First Gosshaw Book.

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<v Speaker 2>It's written by an author named Teagan Moore. At First

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<v Speaker 2>was published in twenty twenty by the literary fantasy journal

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<v Speaker 2>Beneath Ceaseless Skies. And if you're thinking to yourself John Simnel,

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<v Speaker 2>I know all about John Simnel, then you are thinking

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<v Speaker 2>differently than I was when I read the story. Because

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<v Speaker 2>even though I read history books, for a living. I

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<v Speaker 2>don't know everything about English history because I spent a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of my life being like, well, I don't like them,

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<v Speaker 2>and that's the wrong medieval because I obviously I'm obsessed

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<v Speaker 2>with medieval shit. But you know, not specifically an expert

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<v Speaker 2>in English history, even though I run a history podcast

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<v Speaker 2>and have covered a ton of English things on the show.

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<v Speaker 2>There's just a lot of it, Okay, there's a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of the oldies sword times in England, y, and so

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<v Speaker 2>I did a bunch of research about John Simnel. I'm

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<v Speaker 2>gonna tell you about it, but first i'm gonna tell

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<v Speaker 2>you about the author. I'm gonna tell you about Teagan Moore.

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<v Speaker 2>Teagan is an aspirational farmer living on twenty Muddy Acres,

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<v Speaker 2>about an hour outside of Seattle, Washington. She's been published

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<v Speaker 2>in magazines including Asimov's Science Fiction Tour, dot Com, Clark's World,

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<v Speaker 2>and others. She has a dog agility instructor, can't not

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<v Speaker 2>look at crustaceans, and has a biologically improbable, entirely separate

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<v Speaker 2>second stomach for containing dumplings. Deagan's great. You should read

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<v Speaker 2>more of her stories. So this story is called John

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<v Speaker 2>Simnel's First Gossawk, and the first time I read it,

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<v Speaker 2>I was like, Yep, that's a name, and then didn't

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<v Speaker 2>think about whether or not it had any historical significance.

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<v Speaker 2>And then after I picked it for this show, I

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<v Speaker 2>was like, I should really google this, so I did,

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<v Speaker 2>and I think that this story is enriched by just

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<v Speaker 2>the slightest bit of background. Last week on Cool People

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<v Speaker 2>Who Did Cool Stuff, which if you're listening to this

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<v Speaker 2>it could happen here feed. You should really check out

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<v Speaker 2>the Cool People Did Cool Stuff feed, which is where

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<v Speaker 2>my history podcast is. Last week I talked about Joan

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<v Speaker 2>of Arc and the hundred Years War between France and England,

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<v Speaker 2>and in that story, Henry the sixth is sort of

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<v Speaker 2>the main antagonist, even though he's a little kid. Henry

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<v Speaker 2>the sixth didn't manage to rule France in the end

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<v Speaker 2>because a lady with a sword turned the tide of

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<v Speaker 2>one hundred year War and slowly the French drove him out,

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<v Speaker 2>putting a different asshole named Charles the Seventh on the

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<v Speaker 2>French throne because you really can't win when you have

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<v Speaker 2>a king. But back in England, Henry the sixth kept ruling,

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<v Speaker 2>and then a ton of fuckery happened, and this is

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<v Speaker 2>all like fourteen hundreds time or so. And the important

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<v Speaker 2>thing is, at the end of all this fuckery, a

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<v Speaker 2>guy named Henry the seventh came into power. But the

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<v Speaker 2>fuckery continued during this fuckery just the academic word for

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<v Speaker 2>complicated shit that I don't really feel like is worth

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<v Speaker 2>explaining or understanding. That's what fuckery means in this context

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<v Speaker 2>admits this fuckery. A common born boy named John Symnell

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<v Speaker 2>was groomed to become a pretender to the throne. Basically

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<v Speaker 2>he looked like he could be related to this like

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<v Speaker 2>one royal who was locked up in the Tower of England,

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<v Speaker 2>Tower of London, whatever, the prison for rich people, and

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<v Speaker 2>so some people who didn't want the current king set

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<v Speaker 2>up this common born kid, John to be the fake,

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<v Speaker 2>rightful heir of the throne. When John was ten years old,

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<v Speaker 2>and so he became the figurehead of a failed rebellion

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<v Speaker 2>called the Yorkist Rebellion. He was crowned in Dublin as

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<v Speaker 2>Edward the sixth. The reason he was crowned in Dublin

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<v Speaker 2>the Irish supported the Yorkist rebellion because the Yorkist faction

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<v Speaker 2>mostly just left Ireland alone like that was like kind

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<v Speaker 2>of how that was? Like Their plan for Ireland was

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<v Speaker 2>like huh, like, I guess we could call ourselves in

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<v Speaker 2>charge but just not actually do anything. And the Irish

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<v Speaker 2>people were like, yeah, that sounds good. We'd rather you

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<v Speaker 2>left us the fuck alone. Whole lot of that throughout history,

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<v Speaker 2>wanting England to leave you alone. Anyway, being a pretender

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<v Speaker 2>to the throne didn't go well for our young John,

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<v Speaker 2>but since he was all of ten years old, he

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<v Speaker 2>was spared. He wasn't executed when the whole rebellion collapsed

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<v Speaker 2>and he was put to work in the king's court. First.

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<v Speaker 2>He was like the roast spit turner, you know, when

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<v Speaker 2>they like kill a bore and then they have to

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<v Speaker 2>like turn it on a spit. That was his job,

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<v Speaker 2>which is a step down from king, although morally it's

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<v Speaker 2>probably a step up. In the end he ended up

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<v Speaker 2>a falconer. That's your history lesson. Now here's the story

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<v Speaker 2>John Simnel's First Goshawk by Tiagan Moore. In the light

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<v Speaker 2>of a single candle, the goshawk and I regard each other.

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<v Speaker 2>Sleep presses against our eyes, but we are both obstinate.

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<v Speaker 2>The hawk has run out of foul names to spit

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<v Speaker 2>at me. He does not blink, so I try not

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<v Speaker 2>to blink. The sallow light is golden in his livid

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<v Speaker 2>golden eye. One of us will break and the other triumph.

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<v Speaker 2>Though in the muffled dark of my room, I wonder

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<v Speaker 2>if I might instead go mad. Or perhaps you're mad already.

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<v Speaker 2>The goshawk suggests. This is how you break a hawk.

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<v Speaker 2>Wait him out. It's simple but not easy. Eventually he

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<v Speaker 2>must sleep. If the falconer is alert to see the

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<v Speaker 2>moment his hawk concedes slips away to sleep despite his fear,

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<v Speaker 2>then the bird begins to be his. It is a

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<v Speaker 2>game of minds, not of dexterity, but strength. If the

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<v Speaker 2>falconer sleeps, he simply begins the excruciating weight again the

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<v Speaker 2>next day. If the hawk sleeps, however, then the bird

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<v Speaker 2>has lost forever. And this is how you break a boy.

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<v Speaker 2>Tell him he is king, simple but not easy. You

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<v Speaker 2>must watch him hawk like to see how he slips

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<v Speaker 2>beneath your lies. You must seem to believe it enough

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<v Speaker 2>that the boy believes too. You must crown him and

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<v Speaker 2>put him at the front of an army. If he fail,

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<v Speaker 2>there is always another, handsome hazel eyed boy somewhere in

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<v Speaker 2>the world, any one might do. If the boy believes

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<v Speaker 2>that he is king. Though, and this is true, whatever

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<v Speaker 2>circumstances befall him, however low he is brought, he can

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<v Speaker 2>never completely unbelieve. I have toiled a lifetime at the

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<v Speaker 2>hard labors of the low born, so much longer than

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<v Speaker 2>the time I spent his claimant to the throne of England,

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<v Speaker 2>designated by God in legitimate secession to take the crown

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<v Speaker 2>back from Henry Tudor. For only one short year was

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<v Speaker 2>I misled? One year which I, a small and frightened boy,

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<v Speaker 2>spent under the spell of my own belief. One year

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<v Speaker 2>in a lifetime of years, Yet which of these returns

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<v Speaker 2>to me again and again? I hold my hawks to

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<v Speaker 2>the right. The glove must be made to fit. Most

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<v Speaker 2>of the King's falconers hawk to their left. I prefer

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<v Speaker 2>the right. My forearm there is hardened, scarred from years

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<v Speaker 2>at the turnspit, and smelted tough. It is an animal job,

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<v Speaker 2>like an ass at a mill. I have heard that

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<v Speaker 2>in some great Flemish houses they turn the spit with dogs.

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<v Speaker 2>I imagine the work is worse for a dog with

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<v Speaker 2>the riches of slow baked meat forever just beyond reach.

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<v Speaker 2>Worse if they've once tasted it and know they'll now

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<v Speaker 2>have none. The sky lightens, slow and patient as it

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<v Speaker 2>bleeds into my room. The paling dawn swims flecks of

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<v Speaker 2>silver and my tired vision. The goshawk and I have

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<v Speaker 2>watched each other all the night. He looks to me,

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<v Speaker 2>and his head tilts, taking my measure, he turns away.

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<v Speaker 2>He's on me, lacking snub me. I say, I don't care.

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<v Speaker 2>You aren't the first. His breast feathers puff enoughense. Few

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<v Speaker 2>other falconers speak to their hawks. Certainly none have heard

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<v Speaker 2>the hawks speak in response. Or perhaps they are wiser

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<v Speaker 2>than I and simply pretend they cannot hear, much like

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<v Speaker 2>you could pretend not to hear the ads that are

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<v Speaker 2>now interrupting your story. But I want to say that

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<v Speaker 2>this episode was brought to you by peasant rebellions exerting

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<v Speaker 2>the power of the working class over the rich. Since

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<v Speaker 2>before anyone bothered writing history down in books, You too

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<v Speaker 2>can revolt against the modern day monarchs. All you need

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<v Speaker 2>is a pitchfork, a torch, one hundred friends, and more

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<v Speaker 2>interest in doing right than living to be old. Peasant revolts.

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<v Speaker 2>They're fun until you google what drawn in quarter it is,

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<v Speaker 2>and then they're no longer fun. Peasant revolts, and whatever

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<v Speaker 2>these other the ads are, and we're back. The shaping

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<v Speaker 2>of a free mind into a tamed one is a

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<v Speaker 2>fascinatingly predictable process. You begin by stripping away good comes

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<v Speaker 2>only from the master's hand. They receive nothing if it

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<v Speaker 2>is not from you. Dress your beast so finely that

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<v Speaker 2>it is impracticably conspicuously plumed in clothing unfit for an

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<v Speaker 2>innkeeper's boy. If at home it eats pottage and barley bread,

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<v Speaker 2>then feed it roast, mallard and stewed fruits from your

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<v Speaker 2>own rich table. Give promises like tidbits, dreams like sugared almonds. Next,

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<v Speaker 2>you must test the quality of what you've captured. Is

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<v Speaker 2>the best suited. Hold it up to a trusted few

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<v Speaker 2>for evaluation. Once fattened and finally dressed, if it is

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<v Speaker 2>of any caliber, it will pass well enough. Then you

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<v Speaker 2>hone it. Feed it by hand, gentle it, Teach it

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<v Speaker 2>good French and a little Latin, show it courtly manners,

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<v Speaker 2>and how to believe it deserves more than it has.

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<v Speaker 2>Once the beast is trained, examine its skills at work.

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<v Speaker 2>Make the trials easy so that failure is not catastrophe.

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<v Speaker 2>Sit it beside you at dinner, and bid it speak.

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<v Speaker 2>The dinners will grow grander, the guests wealthier. Its performance

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<v Speaker 2>is more complex. It should be dutiful, but not slavish,

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<v Speaker 2>proud as befits the high born, but also demonstrating bidability

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<v Speaker 2>and tact. Only after much practice or the long training creances.

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<v Speaker 2>Shed your creation unhooded and loosed upon the greater stage.

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<v Speaker 2>Even then, it will always wear thongs at its wrists

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<v Speaker 2>if escaped or even freed. Is something tamed and trained

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<v Speaker 2>in this way ever its own sovereign. The master makes

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<v Speaker 2>his mark not only on the body, but the mind.

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<v Speaker 2>He is always there, silently governing, even if his touch

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<v Speaker 2>is unseen. On the third day, the gosshawk closes his

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<v Speaker 2>eyes on his perch. I let him sleep until supper, too,

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<v Speaker 2>aching with exhaustion and relief to sleep myself. Then I

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<v Speaker 2>wake him to celebrate by carrying him out to the

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<v Speaker 2>sunny grass beyond the meuse. I bring him a haunch

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<v Speaker 2>of rabbit. He examines the meat with one eye and

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<v Speaker 2>turns his head away. You'll have to trust me eventually,

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<v Speaker 2>I say, oh aye, says the gosshawk, voice rough and listless,

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<v Speaker 2>And you'll trust me too, I wager. He lifts one leg,

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<v Speaker 2>tugging the jesses, and my fist A man's words from

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<v Speaker 2>the mouth of a bird. I am mad with the

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<v Speaker 2>lack of sleep. The sunlight is so warm and tender.

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<v Speaker 2>By close my eyes here I may sleep standing up.

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<v Speaker 2>All boys think they are important. All you have to

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<v Speaker 2>do to win one's heart is to agree. Father Simon

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<v Speaker 2>told me I had been mislaid, a royal cuckoo in

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<v Speaker 2>a sparrow's nest. This made my mother a whore and

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<v Speaker 2>my father a cockold. But I did not consider the

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<v Speaker 2>implications of the claim beyond its first greatest consequence. The

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<v Speaker 2>king does what he likes, after all, and who's to

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<v Speaker 2>stop him? Who's to judge? I would do what I

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<v Speaker 2>liked when I was king if I obeyed well enough.

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<v Speaker 2>Simon told other people other things about where I was

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<v Speaker 2>come from and what my name was. They were free

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<v Speaker 2>to choose amongst their preferred truths. I was not when

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<v Speaker 2>I was called Duke of York. I believed I was

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<v Speaker 2>the Duke of York when it became advantageous to be

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<v Speaker 2>Earl of Warwick. Instead, I was Warwick whole heart, and

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<v Speaker 2>spoke warmly of my uncle Edward, who had only days

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<v Speaker 2>before been my father in Ireland. When I was King

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<v Speaker 2>Edward the sixth, I believed that best of all, I

0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:09.440
<v Speaker 2>was only ten years old when I was captured, and

0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:13.440
<v Speaker 2>my false names stripped like layers of guilding, taken from

0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:16.880
<v Speaker 2>me along with the fine clothing. I was taught again

0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:21.200
<v Speaker 2>what to perform. After all these rehearsals. It was hard

0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:23.720
<v Speaker 2>to take a role which did not come with finery

0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:28.440
<v Speaker 2>horse to ride the blessings of nobility. I played it,

0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:34.040
<v Speaker 2>though I put my heart behind contrition, bewilderment, innocence. It

0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:36.920
<v Speaker 2>didn't matter if the role was true. I only needed

0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:42.640
<v Speaker 2>to convince the court. Treasonous nobles are beheaded for treasonous commoners.

0:14:43.360 --> 0:14:48.040
<v Speaker 2>Oh but death is so much worse, almost as bad

0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:52.800
<v Speaker 2>as these ads. This podcast is brought to you by Swords.

0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:57.720
<v Speaker 2>Get yourself a sword. Have you ever lacked confidence? Do

0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:00.920
<v Speaker 2>you think that maybe what you really lacked was a sword?

0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:05.560
<v Speaker 2>I think so. Swords they're what you can use to

0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:23.400
<v Speaker 2>cut people. And we're back. The hawking master comes to

0:15:23.400 --> 0:15:26.040
<v Speaker 2>try the goshawk. After I've had him a month at

0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:30.040
<v Speaker 2>my side, he makes his kill. He flies to fist.

0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:33.400
<v Speaker 2>The master offers a silver of cold mutton in exchange

0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:36.640
<v Speaker 2>for the sparrow my hawk has taken. The hawk raises

0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:40.600
<v Speaker 2>his broad barred wings and threat He hands the bird

0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:44.800
<v Speaker 2>to me. Bloody minded, he says, you've still work to do.

0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:49.120
<v Speaker 2>M now, Yes, sir, I say, wrapping the jesses around

0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:52.600
<v Speaker 2>my fist. If you won't man fully, there's no use

0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:58.360
<v Speaker 2>keeping him, Yes, sir, I repeat, obediently, bloody minded, The

0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:02.400
<v Speaker 2>goshawk mutters aggrieved. Once the hawking master is gone, he

0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:05.480
<v Speaker 2>has slept. I have slept. There is no reason I

0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:09.200
<v Speaker 2>should still hear him speaking. Yet all this month he

0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:13.440
<v Speaker 2>has spoken. His words show him to be indeed bloody minded.

0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:18.920
<v Speaker 2>I hide my smile. I fly the goshawk alone, far

0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:21.800
<v Speaker 2>from the meuse. He is a blade through the sky,

0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:26.080
<v Speaker 2>an arrow when he falls into his stoop. Neither this

0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:29.520
<v Speaker 2>hawk nor I were born into the service of the king.

0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:35.080
<v Speaker 2>For me, that past life was squalid and ignorant. The goshawks,

0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:39.560
<v Speaker 2>though with some other beast, entirely. He brings me a

0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:44.040
<v Speaker 2>gory jed eyed starling, its black feathers flecked with brilliance,

0:16:44.120 --> 0:16:48.640
<v Speaker 2>remind me of Simon's priestly robes. I let him keep it.

0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:54.400
<v Speaker 2>After my Royal Army's defeat at Stokefield, I was imprisoned,

0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:57.840
<v Speaker 2>not in the tower, but some nameless dark hole where

0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:02.240
<v Speaker 2>I might be ignored. No, not ignored. There were rotten,

0:17:02.280 --> 0:17:05.480
<v Speaker 2>mouthed men there who paid me attention I did not like.

0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:08.920
<v Speaker 2>I was not a prisoner of the tower like a nobleman,

0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:13.919
<v Speaker 2>but in squalor with common wretches. The death prescribed trees

0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:17.359
<v Speaker 2>and as commoners as something small boys talk about, wide eyed,

0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:20.919
<v Speaker 2>squeezing out every drop of sweet dread, but only if

0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:24.040
<v Speaker 2>they can't imagine playing any part in it. It's less

0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:26.080
<v Speaker 2>pleasant to dream of it if the dream might be

0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:30.240
<v Speaker 2>your life. Henry called me to him, and like any

0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:34.639
<v Speaker 2>tamed thing, I went willingly, though stupid with fear. Even

0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:37.520
<v Speaker 2>walking to my doom, I felt terror and pleasure, both

0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:41.400
<v Speaker 2>for I was not forgotten. Every boy likes to think

0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:45.439
<v Speaker 2>they are important. The King forgave me and sent me

0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:48.920
<v Speaker 2>to turn the spit. I thanked God, though it was

0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:52.679
<v Speaker 2>animal work. The rest I was allowed to do on

0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:58.159
<v Speaker 2>my own, though I never suppose that I'm free. The

0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:01.560
<v Speaker 2>goshawk will eat from my hand. He will return to fist,

0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:04.120
<v Speaker 2>and he does not bait, but he will not give

0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:08.040
<v Speaker 2>up his kills mine. He hisses at the hawking Master.

0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:13.720
<v Speaker 2>Wicked man, useless man. The hawking Master does not hear him.

0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:17.119
<v Speaker 2>No other man seems to hear the hawk's voice, or

0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:20.199
<v Speaker 2>at least none will admit to it. I have not

0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:24.119
<v Speaker 2>the courage to ask. Perhaps I am mad. Perhaps the

0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:27.560
<v Speaker 2>hawk is mad too. He certainly comports himself like a madman.

0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:31.800
<v Speaker 2>The hawking Master offers the hawk a whole dead pigeon

0:18:31.920 --> 0:18:35.679
<v Speaker 2>for a scrawny, fledgling crow. The hawk strides for the

0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:40.960
<v Speaker 2>Master's fingers with his wrathful golden beak. Eat that yourself,

0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:45.720
<v Speaker 2>he says, This one's mine. He does not belong in

0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:50.480
<v Speaker 2>the muse, his body fierce but soft, his eyes golden

0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:55.040
<v Speaker 2>and terrible. This closed in place offends him, offends God's

0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:58.199
<v Speaker 2>hand which made him. He glares at me when I

0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:01.120
<v Speaker 2>collect him the next morning, and mutes in a great

0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:05.479
<v Speaker 2>silver spurt of shit. Goshawks are always the most trying,

0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:08.760
<v Speaker 2>the hawking Master says, as we undo the goshawks, jesses,

0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:11.800
<v Speaker 2>I put two back to the forest before I kept

0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:15.520
<v Speaker 2>one on my fist. I will have another hawk in

0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:20.239
<v Speaker 2>the springtime. I am at liberty to try again. We

0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:24.280
<v Speaker 2>are all tamed by our circumstances. None of us is free,

0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:28.280
<v Speaker 2>or perhaps we are all exactly as free as we

0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:32.600
<v Speaker 2>wish to be. The hawk lifts from my fist, from

0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:36.520
<v Speaker 2>the glove that covers my turn spit scars. It is

0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:41.000
<v Speaker 2>a good glove, well fit to me and simple. The

0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:43.720
<v Speaker 2>hawk makes one turn over our heads and drifts away

0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:47.760
<v Speaker 2>into the sky. I suppose he is his own gosshawk now,

0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:52.560
<v Speaker 2>and that's the end of the story. When I asked

0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:54.800
<v Speaker 2>Hegan if there was anything important for you all to

0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:57.359
<v Speaker 2>know about this story, she told me to say that

0:19:57.400 --> 0:20:00.119
<v Speaker 2>she is the direct descendant of both the goshawk and

0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:03.960
<v Speaker 2>John Symnell, and has shipped the two together. Well, rather

0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:07.040
<v Speaker 2>history did. Because I don't see why Tagan would have

0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:09.760
<v Speaker 2>lied to me about being a direct descendant of a

0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:15.119
<v Speaker 2>pretender to the throne and a bird. I don't know.

0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:18.360
<v Speaker 2>If you meet Tagan, you'd be like, yeah, that makes

0:20:18.400 --> 0:20:22.560
<v Speaker 2>some sense. I like the story for a lot of reasons.

0:20:22.720 --> 0:20:26.720
<v Speaker 2>I like this story because it's like simple and well told,

0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:29.879
<v Speaker 2>and I like what the story talks about, and it's

0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:33.120
<v Speaker 2>funny because it's like, you know, me, I like stories

0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:37.000
<v Speaker 2>that where the metaphor is fairly blunt, you know, like

0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:40.480
<v Speaker 2>it's pretty easy to see the connections that are being

0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:46.320
<v Speaker 2>drawn between a commoner who is tamed into believing that

0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:51.080
<v Speaker 2>he could be king and a bird, you know, a

0:20:51.119 --> 0:20:55.800
<v Speaker 2>falcon or whatever, a gossawk. And I like it because

0:20:55.840 --> 0:20:59.280
<v Speaker 2>it points out the ways in which you know, they're like, oh,

0:20:59.320 --> 0:21:01.400
<v Speaker 2>once i'm king, i'll be free, and then you're like, well,

0:21:01.400 --> 0:21:04.480
<v Speaker 2>you're still just you know, you still have other masters,

0:21:04.480 --> 0:21:07.320
<v Speaker 2>and like we basically it's like the act of being

0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:12.639
<v Speaker 2>tamed is what undermines your freedom or leaves you in

0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:15.480
<v Speaker 2>this situation that whatever this story does a better job

0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:20.439
<v Speaker 2>of explaining it, then I could explain it, and you know,

0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:23.959
<v Speaker 2>just to I really like the lines we're all tamed

0:21:23.960 --> 0:21:27.200
<v Speaker 2>by our circumstances. None of us is free, or perhaps

0:21:27.240 --> 0:21:31.000
<v Speaker 2>we're all exactly as free as we wish to be. Also,

0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:34.480
<v Speaker 2>I think it's telling that the gosshawk that wants to

0:21:34.480 --> 0:21:41.360
<v Speaker 2>be free has to be bloody minded anyway. Peasant revolt.

0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:47.480
<v Speaker 2>It always ends, well, that's our final sponsor, shout out. Well,

0:21:47.480 --> 0:21:49.040
<v Speaker 2>I guess there's probably more ads at the end. But

0:21:49.080 --> 0:21:50.480
<v Speaker 2>I don't know anyone who listens to the ads the

0:21:50.560 --> 0:21:52.240
<v Speaker 2>end of podcasts. I guess you do if you're like

0:21:52.840 --> 0:21:54.520
<v Speaker 2>just listening to a bunch of podcasts while you're doing

0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:56.359
<v Speaker 2>something else and you're like, oh, whatever cu'es up next

0:21:56.400 --> 0:21:57.800
<v Speaker 2>to be good, in which case you probably will have

0:21:57.920 --> 0:22:02.159
<v Speaker 2>the other ads. But I want to shout out that

0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:03.600
<v Speaker 2>if you're listening to this on the Cool People Who

0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:05.760
<v Speaker 2>Did Cool Stuff feed, you should also check out it

0:22:05.800 --> 0:22:08.119
<v Speaker 2>could happen here. And if you're listening to this it

0:22:08.119 --> 0:22:10.200
<v Speaker 2>could happen here feed, you should check out Cool People

0:22:10.200 --> 0:22:13.040
<v Speaker 2>Who Did Cool Stuff? And you should check out all

0:22:13.040 --> 0:22:16.440
<v Speaker 2>the podcasts from Cool Zone Media and not any other podcasts.

0:22:16.920 --> 0:22:19.399
<v Speaker 2>Except I can't really say that because I have podcasts

0:22:19.440 --> 0:22:21.919
<v Speaker 2>that aren't on this network, like Live like the World

0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:25.920
<v Speaker 2>Is Dying, which is on a different network called Oh God.

0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:28.400
<v Speaker 2>I get Cool Zone Media and Channel zero Network mixed

0:22:28.440 --> 0:22:30.480
<v Speaker 2>up in my head constantly because one of them. I'm

0:22:30.480 --> 0:22:34.320
<v Speaker 2>on one network called CZM and another network called CZN.

0:22:34.720 --> 0:22:38.440
<v Speaker 2>What are the odds? And none of the words are

0:22:38.480 --> 0:22:41.960
<v Speaker 2>the same Cool Zone Media and Channel zero Network. They're

0:22:42.000 --> 0:22:47.520
<v Speaker 2>all different words, but they have similar It's not an acronym.

0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:52.600
<v Speaker 2>If it's it doesn't make a word, whatever abbreviation. I

0:22:52.640 --> 0:22:55.720
<v Speaker 2>should be done. I'm done, goodbye, see you next week.

0:22:57.400 --> 0:22:59.960
<v Speaker 1>It could happen here as a production of cool Zone Media.

0:23:00.080 --> 0:23:02.640
<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts from coal Zone Media, visit our website

0:23:02.680 --> 0:23:04.879
<v Speaker 1>cool zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the

0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:08.560
<v Speaker 1>iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:11.040
<v Speaker 1>You can find sources for It could Happen Here, updated

0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:15.159
<v Speaker 1>monthly at coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening.