WEBVTT - S02 Episode 5 Extra: Child Be Strange

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<v Speaker 1>Welcomed Unexplained Extra with me Richard McClain smith. For the

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<v Speaker 1>weeks in between episodes, we look at the stories and

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<v Speaker 1>ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make it

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<v Speaker 1>into the show. In the last episode, Roads to Nowhere,

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<v Speaker 1>we found ourselves circling a small concreted patch of England

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<v Speaker 1>on the southern boundary of Yorkshire known as the Stocksbridge Bypass.

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<v Speaker 1>This seemingly unassuming stretch of road is considered by some

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<v Speaker 1>to be the most haunted in all of the UK. Often,

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<v Speaker 1>when we describe something as haunted, what we are actually

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<v Speaker 1>referring to is the suggestion of presence, the idea that

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<v Speaker 1>something beyond our usual modes of perception has become attached

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<v Speaker 1>to ourselves or a place. Occasionally, we might consider this

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<v Speaker 1>something to possess an agency of malicious intent towards us.

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<v Speaker 1>More frequently, however, claimed sightings like those seen near the

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<v Speaker 1>Stocksbridge Bypass are benign, appearing more like visual echoes of

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<v Speaker 1>the past that play out in front of us before

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<v Speaker 1>fading from view. In this sense, we might consider such

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<v Speaker 1>an occurrence not as a random event, but rather as

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<v Speaker 1>a continual re emergence of the past kept alive and

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<v Speaker 1>sustained by those who claim to bear witness to it.

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<v Speaker 1>In some ways, it is irrelevant as to whether those

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<v Speaker 1>sightings exist in their own right, whether they are images

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<v Speaker 1>somehow projected from our subconscious and psychically brought to life,

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<v Speaker 1>or whether they are pure fictions of the mind. What

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<v Speaker 1>remains is the undeniable sense of presence, invoking hidden landscapes, atmosphere,

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<v Speaker 1>and of course the dead. Such elements of presence are

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<v Speaker 1>fated to linger until the moment that there is nothing

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<v Speaker 1>left to observe them, or God forbid, if such things

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<v Speaker 1>do have agency, are fated to linger indefinitely. It is

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<v Speaker 1>common to talk about ghost sightings as occurring in liminal spaces,

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<v Speaker 1>areas where the boundaries of the spaces we occupy, both

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<v Speaker 1>physically and figuratively begin to blur. How fitting then that

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<v Speaker 1>a bypass should be the location of so many apparent

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<v Speaker 1>spectral sightings. The bypass is, by definition a liminal space,

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<v Speaker 1>a place clearly distinct from both the relatively natural space

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<v Speaker 1>beyond and the urban clusters from which it seeks to

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<v Speaker 1>divert you. The city bypass, in a sense become a border,

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<v Speaker 1>symbolizing the point of transition between the planned and curated

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<v Speaker 1>environment of the modern and the purity and unconstructed essence

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<v Speaker 1>of nature. At a stretch, you might also consider that

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<v Speaker 1>such liminal spaces invite a blurring between what is real

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<v Speaker 1>and what is not. It is the sort of place,

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps where at the moment of journeying through, you might

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<v Speaker 1>find that station you were just hearing so clearly on

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<v Speaker 1>the radio now begins to crackle and hiss as the

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<v Speaker 1>signal becomes weaker and weaker, before finally giving way to

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<v Speaker 1>the eerie, blanket static of white noise. It is a

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<v Speaker 1>theme played out to mesmerizing effect by Andrey Tarkovski in

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<v Speaker 1>his nineteen seventy two cinematic masterpiece Solaris. The film is

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<v Speaker 1>an adaptation of stan as Lavlem's novel of the same

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<v Speaker 1>name that, at its heart is an examination of the

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<v Speaker 1>relationship between the real and the imaginary, and the relative

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<v Speaker 1>merits of these ultimately not so distinct and irreconcilable states.

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<v Speaker 1>Early in the film, we join cosmonaut Henry Breton for

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<v Speaker 1>four and a half hypnotic minutes as he has ferried

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<v Speaker 1>along the highway of some nondescript futuristic cityscape. As the

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<v Speaker 1>scenery drifts in an out from monochrome to color, accompanied

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<v Speaker 1>by the beeps and words of Edward Artemiev's sublime electronic score.

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<v Speaker 1>There is the distinct feeling of a landscape shifting before

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<v Speaker 1>our eyes, while simultaneously remaining recognizable. Throughout there is the

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<v Speaker 1>sense that perhaps what we are seeing can no longer

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<v Speaker 1>be trusted. Are you always taking care of your family?

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<v Speaker 1>Do you often take care of others and not yourself?

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<v Speaker 1>Now it's time to take care of yourself, to make

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<v Speaker 1>time for you you deserve it. Teledoc gives you access

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<v Speaker 1>to a licensed therapist to help you get back to

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<v Speaker 1>feeling your best, to feeling like yourself again. With teledoc,

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<v Speaker 1>you can speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video.

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<v Speaker 1>Therapy appointments are available seven days a week from seven

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<v Speaker 1>a m. To nine p m. Local time. If you

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<v Speaker 1>feel overwhelmed sometimes maybe you feel stressed or anxious, depressed

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<v Speaker 1>or lonely, or you might be struggling with a personal

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<v Speaker 1>or family issue, teledoc can help. Teledoc is committed to

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<v Speaker 1>facilitating great therapeutic matches, so they make it easy to

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<v Speaker 1>change counselors if needed. For free. Teledoc therapy is available

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<v Speaker 1>through most insurance or employers. Download the app or visit

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<v Speaker 1>teledoc dot com forward slash unexplained podcast Today to get started.

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<v Speaker 1>That's t e l a d oc dot com slash

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<v Speaker 1>unexplained podcast. Roads or pathways in general are a recurring

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<v Speaker 1>motif of psychogeography, as exemplified in perhaps one of the

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<v Speaker 1>more well known psychogeographic texts of recent times, London Orbital

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<v Speaker 1>by Ian Sainclair. The book charts Sinclair's pilgrimage of ritual

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<v Speaker 1>purpose to experience London anew in all its arcane and

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<v Speaker 1>sprawling glory, using the London Orbital or the M twenty

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<v Speaker 1>five to give it its functional label as a disruptive

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<v Speaker 1>prism through which to view it. Psychogeography, an idea that

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<v Speaker 1>has its foundations in the French situationist movement, was defined

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen fifty five by situationist pioneer Guied de Bore

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<v Speaker 1>as the study of the precise laws and specific effects

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<v Speaker 1>of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the

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<v Speaker 1>emotions and behavior of individuals. The idea was a reaction

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<v Speaker 1>to capitalism and the way in which the system of

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<v Speaker 1>capitalism dictates the physical landscape around us. A phenomena perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>most explicitly realized in cities through the construction of functional zones,

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<v Speaker 1>a concept first proposed by modernist architects such as La

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<v Speaker 1>Corbusier back in the nineteen thirties. As author Will Wile's

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<v Speaker 1>notes writing for the Digital magazine aon the functional zone,

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<v Speaker 1>embraced by both organized capital and organized labor, repurposed the

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<v Speaker 1>city as a tool of total control and social conditioning.

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<v Speaker 1>Instead of existence, there was work instead of leisure consumption.

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<v Speaker 1>In a sense, the manufactured spaces that surround us become

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<v Speaker 1>a self perpetuating trap, self fulfilling and reinforcing the economic

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<v Speaker 1>imperatives that govern a society. Which is not to say

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<v Speaker 1>that capitalism is the only matrix that can create such

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<v Speaker 1>a trap, but with its proponents often proclaiming it a

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<v Speaker 1>model of cultural, social, and economic freedom, it is perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>one of the most difficult to see. In response to this,

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<v Speaker 1>Debor and his contemporaries developed the theory of derieve or drift.

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<v Speaker 1>The process encourages you to move through the urban environment

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<v Speaker 1>with complete disregard for the imposed boundaries of the surrounding

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<v Speaker 1>man and increasingly corporate made environment. To give an example,

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<v Speaker 1>Deboor cites the case of a friend who moved through

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<v Speaker 1>the Heart's region of Germany while blindly following the directions

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<v Speaker 1>of a map of London. To move through the landscape

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<v Speaker 1>in such a way becomes a transgressive and even political

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<v Speaker 1>act that challenges our moral convictions and preconceptions, while also

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<v Speaker 1>in a sense revealing the ghosts of the city's past

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<v Speaker 1>and exposing the fallacy of tradition. As for the ghosts

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<v Speaker 1>of Stocksbridge Bypass, if it is on the boundaries between

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<v Speaker 1>worlds that we will find them, what coincidence that the

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<v Speaker 1>very land the bypass is constructed on was too a

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<v Speaker 1>boundary of sorts. In fact, the word Sheffield, the borough

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<v Speaker 1>in which Stocksbridge lies, is thought by some to be

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<v Speaker 1>derived from the Old English shed or sheff, meaning boundary.

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<v Speaker 1>Roughly fourteen hundred years ago, the area of Sheffield lay

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<v Speaker 1>along the border between the two Anglo Saxon worlds of

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<v Speaker 1>Northumbria and Mercia. It was fifty miles or so further

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<v Speaker 1>to the north, at a place called Cockbeck, that King

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<v Speaker 1>Penda of Mercia is thought to have been slain at

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<v Speaker 1>the Battle of the Wimweed in six hundred and fifty five.

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<v Speaker 1>Pender's death at the hands of Oswick of Bernicia and

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<v Speaker 1>the Northumbrians marked not only the end of the Kingdom

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<v Speaker 1>of Mercia, but also sounded the death knell for English paganism,

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<v Speaker 1>later to be replaced by the conformity of a new

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<v Speaker 1>invented tradition. For those more familiar with the folk horror

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<v Speaker 1>genre than Middle Age British history, you may recognize King

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<v Speaker 1>Pender from David Rudkins's extraordinary TV play Pender's Fen first

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<v Speaker 1>broadcast in nineteen seventy four, this challenging and unsettling story

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<v Speaker 1>charts the perceptual awakening of its central character, Stephen Franklin.

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<v Speaker 1>The British and conservative. Stephen finds his moral certainties steadily

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<v Speaker 1>undone by the emergence of a series of undeniable inner truths,

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<v Speaker 1>the final rupture occurring on the morning of his eighteenth birthday,

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<v Speaker 1>when he discovers he is not quite the pure Englishman

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<v Speaker 1>he had previously thought. Rudkin's play is at base a

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<v Speaker 1>fierce rejection of imposed ideologies, in particular the myths of

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<v Speaker 1>nationhood and the many ways in which the truth of

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<v Speaker 1>the world can become hidden and are naturally distorted over time.

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<v Speaker 1>As such, it seems a fitting place with which to

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<v Speaker 1>draw Season two of Unexplained to a close an opportunity

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<v Speaker 1>to remind ourselves that for all those that would seek

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<v Speaker 1>to impose the fallacy of tradition upon us, that claim

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<v Speaker 1>orthodoxy over truth, we need only listen to the ghosts

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<v Speaker 1>that saturate the land we walk upon to see that

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<v Speaker 1>never has tradition been fixed, That heritage is not pure

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<v Speaker 1>but mongrel. As King Pender says to the newly awoken

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<v Speaker 1>Stephen at the close of Rudkin's play, be secret, child,

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<v Speaker 1>be strange, dark, true, impure, and dissonant. Cherish our flame.

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<v Speaker 1>If you enjoy listening to Unexplained and would like to

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<v Speaker 1>show your appreciation, you can now help support us by

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<v Speaker 1>going to Unexplained podcast dot com forward slash support. All donations,

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<v Speaker 1>no matter how large or small, are massively appreciated. All

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<v Speaker 1>elements of Unexplained are produced by me, Richard McClain smith.

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<v Speaker 1>Please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes, and feel

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<v Speaker 1>free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas

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<v Speaker 1>regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you

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<v Speaker 1>have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.

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<v Speaker 1>You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com

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<v Speaker 1>or on Twitter at Unexplained pod Now. It's time to

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<v Speaker 1>take care of yourself, to make time for you. Teledoc

0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:12.400
<v Speaker 1>gives you access to a licensed therapist to help you

0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:15.800
<v Speaker 1>get back to feeling your best. Speak to a licensed

0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:19.680
<v Speaker 1>therapist by phone or video any time between seven am

0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:23.800
<v Speaker 1>to nine pm local time, seven days a week. Teledoc

0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:28.480
<v Speaker 1>Therapy is available through most insurance or employers. Download the app,

0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:32.920
<v Speaker 1>or visit teledoc dot com Forward slash Unexplained podcast today

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<v Speaker 1>to get started. That's t e la d oc dot

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<v Speaker 1>com slash Unexplained Podcast