1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales right 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome 4 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 1: to the cabinet of curiosities. Being a movie star has 5 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:33,199 Speaker 1: its ups and downs, I assume anyway. Sure you have 6 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: fame and fortune, but one bad film and it can 7 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: be lights out for your career. As movies get more 8 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: and more expensive to make and actors demand more money 9 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 1: for the roles they play, the expectation of success grows 10 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:50,280 Speaker 1: exponentially higher. Studios place a lot of pressure on certain 11 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: stars to deliver big box office numbers. It must seem 12 00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: bad enough for an actor to feel responsible for a 13 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: film success, but imagine being an actor and being responsible 14 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: for an entire economy. That's Adam Chang's burden to bear. 15 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: Chang was the star of a Chinese television drama a 16 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:14,559 Speaker 1: debut in late nineteen two titled The Greed of Man. 17 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: The series focused on two childhood friends and their influence 18 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:21,760 Speaker 1: on the Asian stock exchange once they reached adulthood. It 19 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: was a soap opera about power, corruption, and family, and 20 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: even though it only ran for a short time, it 21 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 1: became a huge hit. Forty episodes aired, and the show 22 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:37,040 Speaker 1: can still be watched in reruns today. Adam Chang played 23 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 1: the character of Ting Hi, a man who spoiler alert, 24 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,760 Speaker 1: killed the corrupt leader of the Asian Stock Exchange over 25 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: a woman they both loved. The murder resulted in a 26 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: catastrophic economic crash, sparking poverty, violence, and even war. And 27 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: that was just on the TV show, But reality wasn't 28 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: much different. When the series first aired on October, Hong 29 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,400 Speaker 1: Kong's Hang Sang index fell by almost six hundred points. 30 00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: In September two thousand, an unofficial sequel titled Divine Retribution aired, 31 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: and the index dropped a total of one thousand, seven 32 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: hundred fifteen points, a crash so powerful that it led 33 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: to instability across other markets. Fifteen years later, television stations 34 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: began airing reruns of The Greed of Man and Divine Retribution, 35 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: and the Hang Sang fell once more, by almost five 36 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: hundred sixty points that day. If the stock market crashed 37 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: every time these television shows aired, then why did networks 38 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: show them at all? That's because the eerie phenomenon wasn't 39 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: limited to just these two series. The Hang Sang fell 40 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: more than two thousand points in November after the series 41 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: Instinct first aired, followed by another sharp drop of three 42 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,239 Speaker 1: hundred points two years later when a series called Once 43 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:56,800 Speaker 1: Upon a Time in Shanghai debut. The trend continued for 44 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: shows like Cold Blood, Warm Heart, Blade Heart, and Master 45 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: of Play. Master of Play alone triggered a ten percent 46 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:08,360 Speaker 1: drop from October of all the way to April of 47 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,080 Speaker 1: two thousand fifteen, there were fifteen separate instances of the 48 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: Hang Sang index posting significant losses, all of which were 49 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: tied to the premieres of various television shows, and the 50 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:24,839 Speaker 1: X factor tying them all together Adam Chang. The ting 51 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:28,360 Speaker 1: Hai effect, as it's called, has such a reputation that 52 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: academic papers have been written trying to explain where the 53 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 1: phenomenon came from and why it keeps happening. Some economists 54 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: believe that superstitious brokers in China sell off stock right 55 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: before a change series premiere, thus inadvertently triggering the crash themselves. 56 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: What started out as a market anomaly seems to have 57 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: become a self fulfilling prophecy, but die hard believers don't 58 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: buy that explanation. To them a new Adam Chang series 59 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: is a harbinger of doom for their portfolios. Bloggers have 60 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: you and called for stations airing Chang series to be 61 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:06,200 Speaker 1: charged with manipulating the markets and for any future projects 62 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,480 Speaker 1: of his to be canceled. But the ting high effect 63 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: hasn't affected the man supposedly behind it. Despite the pleas 64 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: from bloggers and investors, Chang still acts in films and 65 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: television shows today with over seventy credits to his name, 66 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: and he's not bothered by what people say about him either. 67 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,039 Speaker 1: It just can't be true, but I'm used to it now, 68 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: he said to him. The whole thing is nothing but 69 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: a bit of dramatic fiction. We tend to believe what 70 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: we learn in history class is set in stone, it's unchanging. 71 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: We don't think about implicit biases or who is writing 72 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: the history we read. The going philosophy is if it's 73 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: in a text book, it must be true. Nowadays we 74 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:05,680 Speaker 1: know that's not always the case, and that history literally 75 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:08,960 Speaker 1: is written by the victors. Cultures have been lost or 76 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: whitewashed due to controversy or inconvenience for those holding the pens. 77 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: Take Australia, for example. According to the history books. The 78 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,479 Speaker 1: Dutch were the first group of Europeans to set foot 79 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:25,159 Speaker 1: in Australia. In sixteen o six, William Joan Soon and 80 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: twenty nine other Dutch sailors navigated its coasts, calling it 81 00:05:28,839 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: New Holland. Years later, the British did what they always 82 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: did upon arriving in a new land. They colonized it. 83 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 1: Pretty soon all of Australia belonged to England. Mike I said, 84 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: that's what the history books tell us, But the history 85 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 1: books don't tell us everything. If reports are true, Even 86 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,960 Speaker 1: the Dutch weren't the first to stroll across Australia's shores. 87 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: A century earlier, a group of Portuguese explorers were said 88 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,840 Speaker 1: to have crashed off the southern coast, their ship going 89 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: lost in what is now Armstrong, but what happened to 90 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:05,919 Speaker 1: the men aboard remains a mystery even now. Reports of 91 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 1: a shipwreck it didn't appear until the nineteenth century, when 92 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: dozens of eye witnesses claimed to have seen its surface 93 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,559 Speaker 1: from beneath the waves. One moment, it's jagged wooden frame 94 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: would rise from the depths, the next it had slipped 95 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: away again like a mirage. The mahogany ship, they called it, 96 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:26,480 Speaker 1: though it wasn't actually made of mahogany, its unique design 97 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: appeared to be made of a dark wood different from 98 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 1: other vessels. Rumors swirled as stories of the wreck circulated 99 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: around the region. It was a Spanish galleon filled with 100 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,760 Speaker 1: gold the bloons, or it was really three separate holes 101 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,719 Speaker 1: that came and went with the tide. Accounts were varied, 102 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: but there was enough consistent detail across all of them 103 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: to lend credibility to the original claim that a small 104 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 1: ship not of Dutch origin had crashed and sunk off 105 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:58,719 Speaker 1: the coast of Australia. Original witnesses claimed it came from 106 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 1: Spain or Peru, given the prominence of such ships as 107 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:05,799 Speaker 1: the Santa Isabelle or the Santa Anna. However, the theory 108 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: of it being Portuguese was first proposed in in nineteen 109 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: seventy seven book by Australian historian Kenneth McIntyre. According to McIntyre, 110 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: the mahogany ship had joined two others from Portugal on 111 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: a secret expedition to find the Isles of Gold, led 112 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: by Portuguese explorer Christa val de Mendonza. The ships set 113 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: sail into Spanish owned waters, careful to avoid upsetting Spain 114 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: by claiming land within its territory. Upon discovering Australia, one 115 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 1: of the ships crashed, which spooked Mendonza and forced him 116 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: and his men to return to Portugal. Any records of 117 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:47,239 Speaker 1: the crash or the voyage were locked away forever never since. 118 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: The stories surrounding the Mahogany Ship have turned it from 119 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 1: a myth into a full blown legend. Searches for its 120 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: remains have been ongoing since the late eighteen nineties. Towns, 121 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: private companies, and nonprofits have all sponsored investigations into the 122 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: ship's whereabouts, but nothing has ever turned up. Any artifacts 123 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 1: or wooden pieces dredged up from the water have been 124 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 1: debunked as parts of other wrecks, which have made searching 125 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: for this particular ship very difficult. Speculations surrounding the Mahogany 126 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:24,160 Speaker 1: ships provenance has also changed with the passing decades, as 127 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: one set of evidence negates another, and historians all over 128 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 1: the world argue as to the vessel's origin. But the 129 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 1: one thing everyone can agree on is that somewhere beneath 130 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: the sand and sea is a ghost ship haunting the 131 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:42,479 Speaker 1: minds of those who dare to believe, and one day, 132 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: when it finally surfaces for good, it may very well 133 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:51,200 Speaker 1: change everything we know about an entire continent, and for 134 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 1: modern historians, that's sure to give them arise. I hope 135 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 136 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 137 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:10,839 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 138 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how 139 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 140 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 141 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World 142 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.