1 00:00:00,210 --> 00:00:27,710 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to 2 00:00:27,730 --> 00:00:33,010 Speaker 1: the show, fellow ridiculous historians. Spoiler, this is a momentous 3 00:00:33,150 --> 00:00:37,979 Speaker 1: occasion for several reasons. First off, it is the six 4 00:00:38,060 --> 00:00:43,260 Speaker 1: year anniversary of our super producer, Max, the freight train Williams. 5 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 2: Six years old. 6 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:46,900 Speaker 1: Yeah, not as a person on the show. 7 00:00:48,570 --> 00:00:50,550 Speaker 3: Oh, no, I came out of a vat six years 8 00:00:50,590 --> 00:00:51,949 Speaker 3: ago and started making podcasts. 9 00:00:52,030 --> 00:00:54,910 Speaker 2: Fully formed, fully ready to pod. 10 00:00:54,990 --> 00:00:59,740 Speaker 1: Because we put most of our money into that grandfather 11 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:04,429 Speaker 1: clock for the Quister fight, and then we put the 12 00:01:04,490 --> 00:01:07,630 Speaker 1: rest of it into a vat to grow Max Williams. 13 00:01:08,020 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 4: Matt technically is a pod person. We grew him from 14 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:13,680 Speaker 4: a pod into a pod person. 15 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: That's the legendary Mr. Noel Brown. They call me Ben 16 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:24,020 Speaker 1: Bullen for tax purposes. And we are going to spend 17 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:29,810 Speaker 1: the week here, Noel, delivering on something we did not 18 00:01:30,010 --> 00:01:34,429 Speaker 1: think would ever happen. Now, my brother in podcast arms, 19 00:01:35,209 --> 00:01:43,950 Speaker 1: you and I well recall– October 24th, 2017, when we 20 00:01:44,150 --> 00:01:50,430 Speaker 1: finally figured out why British lawyers wear those crazy powdered wigs. 21 00:01:50,770 --> 00:01:51,810 Speaker 2: It wasn't a syphilis? 22 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: It was a syphilis. 23 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:59,140 Speaker 4: It was either one of the two, possibly both. 24 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:04,060 Speaker 1: Possibly both, possibly both. And we also together learned the 25 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:06,390 Speaker 1: term for those wigs. Peruk. 26 00:02:06,590 --> 00:02:07,130 Speaker 2: Peruk. 27 00:02:07,190 --> 00:02:12,460 Speaker 4: What a jolly and dignified term. Ben, it was around 28 00:02:12,500 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 4: that time that we, because that being what? 29 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 2: Was that the first? 30 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: That was the very first one. 31 00:02:18,740 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 2: I guess that's why you brought it up. It would 32 00:02:20,500 --> 00:02:22,180 Speaker 2: make sense given the circumstances. 33 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,410 Speaker 4: That was right about the time or just after that 34 00:02:26,470 --> 00:02:30,429 Speaker 4: we more or less okayed a logo that was presented 35 00:02:30,550 --> 00:02:36,070 Speaker 4: to us featuring an archival and free-to-use image of Of 36 00:02:36,150 --> 00:02:39,590 Speaker 4: a very spooky-looking man. And you'll recall, Ben, we tried 37 00:02:39,630 --> 00:02:43,110 Speaker 4: to offer suggestions to zhuzh it up and ridiculify it 38 00:02:43,150 --> 00:02:44,829 Speaker 4: a little bit. I think there was a version where 39 00:02:44,870 --> 00:02:47,900 Speaker 4: he was wearing some, like, sunglasses or something. 40 00:02:47,940 --> 00:02:48,290 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, yeah. 41 00:02:48,310 --> 00:02:50,790 Speaker 4: Or a couple of other, you know, alt versions of it. 42 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 4: But at the end of the day, you know, we 43 00:02:52,740 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 4: had to make this show lickety-splickety. It was quite the 44 00:02:56,500 --> 00:02:59,620 Speaker 4: homework assignment that needed to be completed yesterday. And so 45 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:01,860 Speaker 4: we didn't have much time to style on that logo. 46 00:03:02,100 --> 00:03:06,079 Speaker 4: And like many things... The rest was history. Ridiculous history. 47 00:03:06,220 --> 00:03:06,609 Speaker 5: There we are. 48 00:03:06,620 --> 00:03:08,860 Speaker 2: And that's been our logo for, how long has. 49 00:03:08,780 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: It been, Lothi? Nine years. 50 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:12,660 Speaker 2: I was going to say nigh on a decade. 51 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:15,730 Speaker 1: One year short. Nine on a decade. 52 00:03:15,770 --> 00:03:15,950 Speaker 4: Yeah. 53 00:03:16,230 --> 00:03:20,090 Speaker 1: We thought we were in for a six-week tour, fellow 54 00:03:20,169 --> 00:03:28,060 Speaker 1: Ridiculous Historians, and now here we are. It's your favorite, well, 55 00:03:28,340 --> 00:03:33,209 Speaker 1: your fourth favorite, according to the ratings, History Podcasters. For 56 00:03:33,290 --> 00:03:36,510 Speaker 1: years and years, as you said, Noel, we have subtly 57 00:03:36,710 --> 00:03:41,190 Speaker 1: and not so subtly teased an episode about a certain 58 00:03:41,390 --> 00:03:46,990 Speaker 1: controversial guy. And you, Max, Casey Pegram of yore, we 59 00:03:47,010 --> 00:03:53,260 Speaker 1: have all received questions saying, hey, what's up with that logo? 60 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:57,190 Speaker 1: And Noel, like you pointed out, you and I both 61 00:03:57,710 --> 00:03:59,910 Speaker 1: essentially said, ah, we were in a hurry. 62 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:01,500 Speaker 2: Sure. It's fine. 63 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:02,839 Speaker 5: Yeah, it's fine. 64 00:04:02,900 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 2: Roll with it. Yeah, roll with it. 65 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 4: Because to your point, Ben, we were thinking this was 66 00:04:06,620 --> 00:04:09,500 Speaker 4: going to be quite a short-lived thing, and now we 67 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:12,100 Speaker 4: are approaching a decade. And I do think it's funny, 68 00:04:12,180 --> 00:04:15,410 Speaker 4: and very much in Ridiculous History style, that we're celebrating 69 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,210 Speaker 4: the ninth year anniversary of the show rather than the 70 00:04:18,270 --> 00:04:19,690 Speaker 4: tenth year anniversary of the show. 71 00:04:19,750 --> 00:04:24,310 Speaker 1: Yes, and we're also technically celebrating celebrating the ninth year 72 00:04:24,490 --> 00:04:31,780 Speaker 1: anniversary a week late. So, folks, if you are listening 73 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:35,839 Speaker 1: and you are in a place where you're not driving 74 00:04:35,900 --> 00:04:39,940 Speaker 1: or operating heavy machinery, please check out the logo for 75 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:44,910 Speaker 1: our little show that could. The time has come. Folks, 76 00:04:45,290 --> 00:04:49,890 Speaker 1: we've teased it. Can you guess who we are talking about? 77 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 4: It's that guy from that animated movie about the Russian princess. 78 00:04:54,339 --> 00:04:55,180 Speaker 2: He was the bad guy. 79 00:04:57,460 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 5: Yes, yes. 80 00:04:59,110 --> 00:05:01,610 Speaker 4: Spooky fingers. He was sort of a wizard type figure. 81 00:05:02,010 --> 00:05:04,029 Speaker 4: Bit of a Rick Rubin type character. 82 00:05:04,630 --> 00:05:07,350 Speaker 2: Grigori Raspusin. 83 00:05:14,230 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: Yes. We're going to call him Greg for part of this. 84 00:05:19,700 --> 00:05:20,740 Speaker 1: Or Grig. 85 00:05:21,339 --> 00:05:22,260 Speaker 2: Yes, or Grig. 86 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: What follows is peak ridiculous. And as we begin, we 87 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:31,260 Speaker 1: have to note the story of this Rasputin guy is 88 00:05:31,350 --> 00:05:34,890 Speaker 1: kind of tough to parse because even during his own life, 89 00:05:35,310 --> 00:05:39,710 Speaker 1: he was surrounded by rumors and legends and conspiracy theories. 90 00:05:40,610 --> 00:05:44,539 Speaker 1: And he himself encouraged at least a few of those. 91 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,630 Speaker 1: So Noel, as you, Max, and I, and all the 92 00:05:47,690 --> 00:05:51,420 Speaker 1: rest of us stroll through this guy's early days, we've 93 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: got to do our best to point out where the 94 00:05:53,900 --> 00:05:58,820 Speaker 1: information is lacking, where the theories compete, where some things 95 00:05:58,900 --> 00:06:03,669 Speaker 1: are utter hogwash, or where it just gets super duper weird. 96 00:06:04,410 --> 00:06:05,870 Speaker 4: Yeah, and this is a guy that had a lot 97 00:06:05,910 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 4: of power and a lot of control over the narrative 98 00:06:08,420 --> 00:06:13,180 Speaker 4: about his own life kind of perception. So he did 99 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:17,140 Speaker 4: a lot of myth-making on his own that sort of 100 00:06:17,300 --> 00:06:19,650 Speaker 4: stands up to the test of time. 101 00:06:20,050 --> 00:06:23,530 Speaker 1: Also, sorry to jump on you there. We just have 102 00:06:23,550 --> 00:06:27,290 Speaker 1: to be clear that we are not, either of us, 103 00:06:27,830 --> 00:06:31,390 Speaker 1: Russian speakers. So we're not going to do too many 104 00:06:31,610 --> 00:06:37,190 Speaker 1: crazy voice yet, yet, yet to the yet. We are 105 00:06:37,270 --> 00:06:43,109 Speaker 1: not going to do too many crazy, crazy voices. 106 00:06:43,870 --> 00:06:45,030 Speaker 2: Speak for yourself, Ben. 107 00:06:45,510 --> 00:06:45,910 Speaker 1: All right. 108 00:06:46,190 --> 00:06:48,610 Speaker 2: Well, you know what? 109 00:06:49,860 --> 00:06:54,340 Speaker 1: Yes, yes, yes. And a Merry Matryoshka to you, my friend. 110 00:06:55,430 --> 00:06:59,270 Speaker 1: You love those matryoshka dolls. I do love them. They're efficient. 111 00:06:59,310 --> 00:07:03,479 Speaker 1: They're efficient in the space. Right. So here we go. 112 00:07:03,770 --> 00:07:13,340 Speaker 1: Our pal Greg is born Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin on January 24th, 1869. 113 00:07:13,340 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: And he's born in a small Siberian village named Pokrovsky. 114 00:07:19,740 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 2: Can you do it better? 115 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: No. Yeah, yeah, there we go. 116 00:07:23,750 --> 00:07:24,850 Speaker 2: Ben, I don't know if I told you this. 117 00:07:25,270 --> 00:07:27,530 Speaker 4: I have certainly mentioned that my mom is an opera singer, 118 00:07:27,550 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 4: but the one opera aria that I memorized in an 119 00:07:33,070 --> 00:07:37,420 Speaker 4: authentic accent is a Russian one from the opera Eugene 120 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:39,660 Speaker 4: on Yegan by Tchaikovsky. 121 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,460 Speaker 2: So my Russian accent is on point. 122 00:07:43,220 --> 00:07:47,420 Speaker 1: Nice, nice. And clearly authentic. 123 00:07:47,860 --> 00:07:48,240 Speaker 5: Absolutely. 124 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:52,990 Speaker 2: Absolutely. At least in the operatic sense, yes. 125 00:07:53,290 --> 00:07:57,510 Speaker 1: So like most of the people in this village, Greg's 126 00:07:57,550 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: family is of the peasant class, and life in Siberia 127 00:08:02,220 --> 00:08:05,540 Speaker 1: has never been pleasant for peasants. We don't know a 128 00:08:05,580 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: ton about his parents. We do know his father, Yefem, 129 00:08:09,980 --> 00:08:14,690 Speaker 1: because we call it, I think, a patronym in this 130 00:08:14,730 --> 00:08:22,990 Speaker 1: kind of naming thing. system. Yefimovich basically means son of Yefim. 131 00:08:23,430 --> 00:08:26,940 Speaker 1: And Yefim is a farmer. He's a church elder. He's 132 00:08:26,980 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 1: a government courier. Let's go to you, Max. 133 00:08:29,940 --> 00:08:31,420 Speaker 3: I do just want to point out that I do 134 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,440 Speaker 3: think it's ironic that it is only one additional letter 135 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 3: between pleasant and peasant, because it is kind of an 136 00:08:36,980 --> 00:08:38,740 Speaker 3: oxymoron whenever we're talking about peasants. 137 00:08:39,179 --> 00:08:41,470 Speaker 5: It doesn't seem very pleasant. I just want to say that. 138 00:08:41,490 --> 00:08:43,510 Speaker 2: The pleasantries of the peasantries. No, I was thinking the 139 00:08:43,610 --> 00:08:44,010 Speaker 2: same thing, Max. 140 00:08:44,030 --> 00:08:45,410 Speaker 5: I don't know if that's a Max, but the fact is. 141 00:08:45,330 --> 00:08:47,809 Speaker 2: A Maxervation is what that is. There we go. 142 00:08:48,110 --> 00:08:52,010 Speaker 1: I was also kind of in a rap phase. 143 00:08:52,530 --> 00:08:53,510 Speaker 5: Writing some of this. 144 00:08:53,610 --> 00:08:55,630 Speaker 2: You remain in your rap phase, my guy. 145 00:08:56,410 --> 00:08:56,959 Speaker 1: Thank you, man. 146 00:08:57,010 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 2: And you wear it well. Yes, indeed. So Yefimovich, right. Okay, 147 00:09:00,780 --> 00:09:04,930 Speaker 2: so that's true, huh? Yefimovich is a– what is it? 148 00:09:04,980 --> 00:09:06,840 Speaker 1: Like a– Like son of. 149 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 2: Got it, got it, got it, got it. So you're right. 150 00:09:09,900 --> 00:09:12,819 Speaker 4: He was a farmer, church elder. He worked as a 151 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 4: government courier, which meant that he– was he the messenger 152 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:17,219 Speaker 4: that might get shot? 153 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:18,380 Speaker 2: I think he might have been. 154 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:24,910 Speaker 1: He might have been, yeah. He essentially just moved people and– 155 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:30,219 Speaker 1: stuff back and forth between regional population hubs in that 156 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:36,680 Speaker 1: area of Siberia. Greg's mother is even more obscured by history. 157 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:42,559 Speaker 1: Her name is Anna. We do know that life was 158 00:09:42,660 --> 00:09:47,860 Speaker 1: brutal out there. Most of Greg's Seven siblings, seven other 159 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:52,890 Speaker 1: siblings died either in infancy or early in childhood. Some 160 00:09:52,950 --> 00:09:55,250 Speaker 1: historians are going to tell you that there was a 161 00:09:55,410 --> 00:09:59,410 Speaker 1: ninth child who survived long enough to start her own family. 162 00:10:00,460 --> 00:10:03,479 Speaker 1: But either way you look at it, a lot of 163 00:10:03,500 --> 00:10:07,800 Speaker 1: this guy's childhood is still a matter of educated guesses 164 00:10:08,020 --> 00:10:12,680 Speaker 1: and assumptions. One of the primary assumptions being that if 165 00:10:12,820 --> 00:10:17,710 Speaker 1: Greg is like most other peasants who were pleasant, living 166 00:10:17,750 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: an unpleasant life in the area at the time, he 167 00:10:21,150 --> 00:10:24,559 Speaker 1: probably grew up not going to school. He was probably 168 00:10:24,620 --> 00:10:26,079 Speaker 1: illiterate for a while. 169 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 2: Well, he grew up going to the school of hard knocks, Ben. 170 00:10:29,140 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 2: There we go. That's for sure. 171 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:35,100 Speaker 4: Historians like Douglas Smith found local archival records that gave 172 00:10:35,140 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 4: us just a little bit more insight into Greg's youth. 173 00:10:38,860 --> 00:10:42,809 Speaker 2: It would appear that he was a bit of a rapscallion, 174 00:10:43,590 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 2: a troublemaker. A razor of hell. 175 00:10:46,900 --> 00:10:55,510 Speaker 4: He was a hard-drinking, petty, thieving, local authority, disrespecting young fella. 176 00:10:56,190 --> 00:10:58,090 Speaker 4: And in fact, this would be one of the key 177 00:10:58,150 --> 00:11:03,290 Speaker 4: pieces of information that would later lead to some of these, 178 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:08,020 Speaker 4: you know, more outsized legends concerning the man. 179 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:09,080 Speaker 2: This idea that he. 180 00:11:09,690 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 4: was a horse-thieving, blaspheming, fault-witness baron team. 181 00:11:16,020 --> 00:11:21,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. We also have to shout out several books, 182 00:11:21,260 --> 00:11:24,970 Speaker 1: which we'll do along the way. One of the first 183 00:11:25,050 --> 00:11:27,030 Speaker 1: books we have to shout out is by a guy 184 00:11:27,050 --> 00:11:31,929 Speaker 1: named Joseph T. Furman. It's called Rasputin, A Life. Also, 185 00:11:31,990 --> 00:11:34,440 Speaker 1: the second book from Furman we have to shout out 186 00:11:34,460 --> 00:11:39,490 Speaker 1: is his sequel to that book, Rasputin, The Untold Story. 187 00:11:39,530 --> 00:11:42,790 Speaker 1: We're getting a lot of this from these folks, from 188 00:11:42,870 --> 00:11:44,510 Speaker 1: these historians. 189 00:11:45,030 --> 00:11:48,290 Speaker 4: I think Rasputin, A Life is a very lazy titling, 190 00:11:48,429 --> 00:11:49,349 Speaker 4: just putting that out there. 191 00:11:49,670 --> 00:11:54,170 Speaker 1: Yeah, and I 100% agree with you, not just because 192 00:11:54,250 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 1: we have a nine-year covenant to have each other's backs, 193 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 1: but because you are objectively correct. 194 00:12:01,660 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 2: Rasputin, he was alive. 195 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,820 Speaker 1: Yeah, you could put anybody's name colon a life and 196 00:12:07,890 --> 00:12:09,580 Speaker 1: publish a book. I mean, I would be cool with 197 00:12:09,620 --> 00:12:13,540 Speaker 1: like a life of, or a life in, but just 198 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:14,179 Speaker 1: a life. 199 00:12:14,660 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 2: Give me a break. 200 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: Right. 201 00:12:16,860 --> 00:12:19,920 Speaker 5: Right. Oh, let's do like life of Rasputin, like life 202 00:12:19,980 --> 00:12:21,660 Speaker 5: of Brian. There we go. 203 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,560 Speaker 1: There we go. Uh, life of Chuck. Wasn't that the, uh. 204 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:27,620 Speaker 2: With the dancing guy? 205 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:28,100 Speaker 1: Yeah. 206 00:12:28,140 --> 00:12:29,540 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. I quite liked that. 207 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:33,850 Speaker 1: Well, what, what we do know is this it's, uh, 1886, uh, 208 00:12:36,230 --> 00:12:40,640 Speaker 1: And our buddy Greg is 17 years old. He's tired 209 00:12:40,700 --> 00:12:44,000 Speaker 1: of the village life in the hinterlands. And whatever you 210 00:12:44,059 --> 00:12:49,730 Speaker 1: think about what happens to and from Rasputin later, it's 211 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:52,490 Speaker 1: pretty easy to agree with him here, you know. So 212 00:12:52,890 --> 00:12:56,670 Speaker 1: he hits the road. He goes to a place called Abalok. 213 00:12:57,050 --> 00:12:59,590 Speaker 1: It's about 155 miles away, and that's where he meets Abalok. 214 00:13:01,700 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 1: a young woman named Proskovia Dubrovina. She is also a peasant. 215 00:13:07,940 --> 00:13:10,679 Speaker 1: She's super into him. She's like, oh my God, what 216 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:15,560 Speaker 1: a handsome, charismatic guy. They date for, get this, just 217 00:13:15,700 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: a few months before they jump the broom, tie the knot, 218 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:24,370 Speaker 1: and get married in February of 1887. I feel like 219 00:13:25,010 --> 00:13:28,250 Speaker 1: a courtship of just a few months before you get 220 00:13:28,330 --> 00:13:31,270 Speaker 1: married is, I don't know, feels kind of crazy. 221 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:33,710 Speaker 4: Ben, I know I've really missed my window for this, 222 00:13:33,770 --> 00:13:35,710 Speaker 4: but I'm going to have to drop it just the same. 223 00:13:36,070 --> 00:13:38,189 Speaker 4: Siberia is the Delaware of Europe. 224 00:13:41,790 --> 00:13:42,850 Speaker 1: Okay, ridiculous. 225 00:13:42,929 --> 00:13:43,270 Speaker 5: Why? 226 00:13:43,950 --> 00:13:45,730 Speaker 2: Nothing happens. Nothing happens there. 227 00:13:45,750 --> 00:13:47,430 Speaker 1: Nothing happens in Siberia. 228 00:13:47,460 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 2: Except tax havens or something. I don't know. Aren't there 229 00:13:50,460 --> 00:13:51,980 Speaker 2: gulags in Siberia? 230 00:13:52,020 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 4: People always talk about scary Siberian prisons and the frozen tundra. 231 00:13:57,280 --> 00:13:59,090 Speaker 2: So it seems like that's where all the action is. 232 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:04,460 Speaker 3: Yeah, Siberia is often portrayed as not being a, I mean, 233 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 3: I would argue it's more of like, you know, the Iowa, 234 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,110 Speaker 3: the frozen tundra wasteland where no one wants to go to. 235 00:14:13,290 --> 00:14:16,309 Speaker 5: I'm just kidding. Iowa's wonderful. Maybe it's more like Ohio. 236 00:14:16,929 --> 00:14:17,670 Speaker 2: It's, wow. 237 00:14:17,990 --> 00:14:20,690 Speaker 1: Wow, you washed out the street for that one, Max. 238 00:14:20,870 --> 00:14:23,410 Speaker 2: Okay, I guess you got Delaware's back. 239 00:14:23,470 --> 00:14:26,890 Speaker 4: I think Delaware just has historically been, in this show anyway, 240 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 4: the sort of stand-in for like a boring state. 241 00:14:29,700 --> 00:14:33,580 Speaker 1: Yeah, you're saying pretty much because of the the commonality 242 00:14:33,620 --> 00:14:36,740 Speaker 1: in size, Siberia and Delaware are the same. 243 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 5: Well, fair enough. 244 00:14:39,100 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 3: I'm saying if we're talking about depression, misery, death and plain, 245 00:14:44,220 --> 00:14:46,950 Speaker 3: straight boringness, Ohio is the comp. 246 00:14:47,610 --> 00:14:51,370 Speaker 1: Everybody is going to everybody is going to get a 247 00:14:51,430 --> 00:14:55,140 Speaker 1: stray shot. in this, our anniversary episode. 248 00:14:55,180 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 3: I think we made a joke, actually, because remember, we've 249 00:14:57,660 --> 00:14:59,140 Speaker 3: had three straight episodes where somebody. 250 00:14:59,300 --> 00:15:01,030 Speaker 5: Oh, you found a thing to hate. 251 00:15:01,110 --> 00:15:03,550 Speaker 2: That's what you're doing, Max. 252 00:15:03,830 --> 00:15:04,930 Speaker 5: I'm part of the crew. 253 00:15:05,130 --> 00:15:07,730 Speaker 1: All right, Max, bonus points to you if you can 254 00:15:07,910 --> 00:15:13,430 Speaker 1: somehow bring Negging Ohio back over the course of these 255 00:15:13,490 --> 00:15:14,050 Speaker 1: two episodes. 256 00:15:14,090 --> 00:15:15,710 Speaker 2: Have we done an Ohio episode? 257 00:15:16,090 --> 00:15:16,220 Speaker 1: We did. 258 00:15:16,230 --> 00:15:17,370 Speaker 5: We've definitely done Ohio. 259 00:15:17,470 --> 00:15:20,970 Speaker 4: All right, Max, I put to you the task of 260 00:15:21,510 --> 00:15:22,730 Speaker 4: At some point telling us. 261 00:15:22,770 --> 00:15:25,590 Speaker 2: What episodes we did about Ohio and why they sucked. 262 00:15:26,170 --> 00:15:29,690 Speaker 1: Yeah, so we can play the sound cue. But also 263 00:15:29,770 --> 00:15:33,900 Speaker 1: that doesn't count for bringing up Ohio organically later in 264 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:34,500 Speaker 1: the story. 265 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:36,380 Speaker 2: No, I don't think so. Thank you, man. 266 00:15:36,420 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: Ground rules. Ground rules. So Dubrovina, her story is pretty sad. 267 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:48,500 Speaker 1: She is Rasputin's wife. for the rest of her life. 268 00:15:48,820 --> 00:15:53,300 Speaker 1: And she and he moved back to his parents' hometown. 269 00:15:53,940 --> 00:15:57,540 Speaker 1: And she stays there raising the kids all the while 270 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:02,500 Speaker 1: as Greg turns into Rasputin and rises to infamy, his 271 00:16:02,620 --> 00:16:06,830 Speaker 1: later travels and so on. And she hears all these 272 00:16:06,950 --> 00:16:10,610 Speaker 1: crazy rumors, but she is solely devoted to this guy 273 00:16:11,050 --> 00:16:14,830 Speaker 1: until the day she passes away. And like so many 274 00:16:14,890 --> 00:16:19,450 Speaker 1: other families in the area, the couple loses a lot 275 00:16:19,490 --> 00:16:22,940 Speaker 1: of their children. They have seven kids, only three make 276 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,780 Speaker 1: it to adulthood. You got Dimitri, born in 1895, you 277 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:29,660 Speaker 1: got Maria, 1898, and you've got Varvara, born in 1900. 278 00:16:33,940 --> 00:16:34,460 Speaker 2: For sure. 279 00:16:34,580 --> 00:16:36,460 Speaker 4: And, you know, for a lot of folks at the time, 280 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:42,510 Speaker 4: life felt relatively predictable. People had their routines. Your parents 281 00:16:42,550 --> 00:16:45,690 Speaker 4: were farmers or small business owners. You'd get married young, 282 00:16:45,730 --> 00:16:49,690 Speaker 4: have children, join the family business, and then pass that 283 00:16:49,810 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 4: on to the next generation, rinse and repeat. This had 284 00:16:53,820 --> 00:16:57,520 Speaker 4: been the social, you know, structure really for centuries at 285 00:16:57,540 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 4: this point. But Gregg or Gregg, old Gregg, He didn't 286 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:04,960 Speaker 4: see himself as an ordinary guy. He already was kind 287 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:08,640 Speaker 4: of starting to develop what one might call delusions of grandeur. 288 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 2: There we are. Yeah. 289 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:16,189 Speaker 1: He's probably inspired by his father's heavily religious household and 290 00:17:16,230 --> 00:17:23,129 Speaker 1: his upbringing. Greg finds an interest in religion, a renewed fascination. 291 00:17:23,490 --> 00:17:27,570 Speaker 1: And so he temporarily leaves his family in his hometown 292 00:17:27,590 --> 00:17:32,520 Speaker 1: in 1897 and And he goes on a pilgrimage, which 293 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:35,220 Speaker 1: was a thing people just did back then. 294 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:40,160 Speaker 2: To where? To the Holy Land? To some site? Doesn't 295 00:17:40,180 --> 00:17:41,869 Speaker 2: a pilgrimage require a destination? 296 00:17:42,369 --> 00:17:42,810 Speaker 5: It does. 297 00:17:43,109 --> 00:17:48,790 Speaker 1: And he had several pilgrimages, as we'll see. The history 298 00:17:48,810 --> 00:17:52,950 Speaker 1: is kind of murky, Noel, because some historians, even now 299 00:17:52,990 --> 00:18:01,389 Speaker 1: in 2026, say his 1897 field trip was entirely because 300 00:18:01,430 --> 00:18:05,109 Speaker 1: he needed to skip town on those horse theft charges. 301 00:18:05,690 --> 00:18:09,270 Speaker 1: Other people, and more historians agree with this, they will 302 00:18:09,330 --> 00:18:14,149 Speaker 1: say that young Greg was struck with a vision, an epiphany, 303 00:18:14,190 --> 00:18:17,930 Speaker 1: a revelation. He was visited by either the Virgin Mary 304 00:18:18,369 --> 00:18:24,090 Speaker 1: or a guy named Saint Simeon of Vercuturie. I think 305 00:18:24,150 --> 00:18:24,889 Speaker 1: I did all right on that. 306 00:18:24,910 --> 00:18:28,470 Speaker 4: I think you did just gloriously, Ben, more than all right. 307 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:32,080 Speaker 4: And this was the patron saint of the Urals? That's 308 00:18:32,140 --> 00:18:33,220 Speaker 4: a mountain range, right? 309 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:35,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, the Ural region. 310 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:41,070 Speaker 1: And that's, for anybody who tuned into our patron saints conversations, 311 00:18:41,570 --> 00:18:45,810 Speaker 1: you know that often a saint in Christianity is going 312 00:18:45,850 --> 00:18:50,010 Speaker 1: to be the patron of multiple things. Saint Simeon is 313 00:18:50,270 --> 00:18:56,389 Speaker 1: just the patron saint of this area. Other sources say 314 00:18:57,670 --> 00:19:01,649 Speaker 1: claim that Greg was inspired to travel by a young 315 00:19:01,859 --> 00:19:10,620 Speaker 1: theology student. And this person was named Meliti Zaborovsky. We 316 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:14,020 Speaker 1: have to throw that in there because of the later, 317 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:19,010 Speaker 1: darker stuff we're going to get into. So he left 318 00:19:19,070 --> 00:19:23,109 Speaker 1: town either because he was accused of horse theft, had 319 00:19:23,390 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 1: a religious experience, or got a little close with a 320 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:32,020 Speaker 1: young woman studying theology. 321 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:42,030 Speaker 4: Well regardless of why he left it would appear that 322 00:19:42,050 --> 00:19:45,070 Speaker 4: at this point the 28 year old uh greg we're 323 00:19:45,090 --> 00:19:47,270 Speaker 4: going to start calling him rasputin at this point because 324 00:19:47,310 --> 00:19:50,780 Speaker 4: he's beginning to he's going through his arch phase, right? 325 00:19:50,820 --> 00:19:53,100 Speaker 4: He's starting to like, this is his, we're doing a. 326 00:19:53,100 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 2: Villain backstory kind of thing, or sorry, origin story. 327 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,580 Speaker 4: I wouldn't say he's fully Rasputinified yet, but he's approaching it. 328 00:19:59,619 --> 00:20:00,780 Speaker 2: He's proto-Rasputin. 329 00:20:01,940 --> 00:20:06,239 Speaker 4: And he had some kind of criminal and or spiritual 330 00:20:06,330 --> 00:20:10,680 Speaker 4: crisis is what we can surmise. So he decided he 331 00:20:10,740 --> 00:20:13,970 Speaker 4: was going to change himself. He was going to take 332 00:20:14,010 --> 00:20:16,630 Speaker 4: the steps to become a new man. 333 00:20:17,890 --> 00:20:19,630 Speaker 2: This was not his first pilgrimage. 334 00:20:19,750 --> 00:20:23,229 Speaker 4: In the past, he'd taken shorter little sojourns to places 335 00:20:23,330 --> 00:20:30,369 Speaker 4: like the Holy Znamensky Monastery at Abilak and to Tobolsk's Cathedral. 336 00:20:31,570 --> 00:20:35,720 Speaker 4: By his next pilgrimage, however, he was ready to level up. 337 00:20:36,410 --> 00:20:40,330 Speaker 4: as far as pilgrimages and spiritual slash criminal awakenings go. 338 00:20:41,430 --> 00:20:45,530 Speaker 1: There we go. Well put, Noel. So our guy, our 339 00:20:45,810 --> 00:20:51,570 Speaker 1: pre-Rasputin character, arrives at a place called St. Nicholas Monastery, 340 00:20:52,090 --> 00:20:56,389 Speaker 1: and he is super-duper impressed and humbled by a guy 341 00:20:56,530 --> 00:21:03,750 Speaker 1: named Makary, M-A-K-A-R-Y, just one name, like Cher, right? And 342 00:21:04,070 --> 00:21:09,350 Speaker 1: this guy is awesome. kind of a Christian mystic. 343 00:21:09,310 --> 00:21:13,730 Speaker 2: Priest, kind of Matt, like wizard priest. I mean, there 344 00:21:13,790 --> 00:21:15,389 Speaker 2: is a, yeah, we'll get to it. 345 00:21:15,430 --> 00:21:15,670 Speaker 5: Sorry. 346 00:21:15,710 --> 00:21:17,070 Speaker 4: I don't know when you jump the gun, but there 347 00:21:17,109 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 4: is something that sets this, this role, this star at 348 00:21:20,060 --> 00:21:23,480 Speaker 4: the side. We don't quite have an equivalent of it here. 349 00:21:24,210 --> 00:21:29,290 Speaker 4: In the United States, in the forms of Catholicism and faith. Maybe, 350 00:21:29,310 --> 00:21:32,110 Speaker 4: I don't know, I kind of find rabbis a little mystical, 351 00:21:32,330 --> 00:21:33,850 Speaker 4: especially in the Orthodox faith. 352 00:21:33,869 --> 00:21:36,590 Speaker 2: So maybe, I don't know, maybe something along those lines. 353 00:21:36,790 --> 00:21:39,090 Speaker 4: Just because of the talismans they carry and the way 354 00:21:39,109 --> 00:21:40,270 Speaker 4: they dress and things like that. 355 00:21:40,710 --> 00:21:44,220 Speaker 2: It has a certain amount of showmanship, let's call it. 356 00:21:44,630 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, a certain amount of esoteric wisdom that is– gate 357 00:21:50,060 --> 00:21:52,080 Speaker 1: kept hard. And on display. 358 00:21:52,380 --> 00:21:52,660 Speaker 2: Yeah. 359 00:21:52,740 --> 00:21:56,960 Speaker 1: And I say that with full respect to a couple 360 00:21:56,980 --> 00:22:02,290 Speaker 1: of my rabbis, actually. And so, yes, we all know 361 00:22:02,350 --> 00:22:08,030 Speaker 1: what that experience may feel like. I love that you're 362 00:22:08,050 --> 00:22:12,170 Speaker 1: dropping the word starets. That is something that doesn't really 363 00:22:12,250 --> 00:22:16,189 Speaker 1: have an equivalent in Christianity in the West, in the 364 00:22:16,369 --> 00:22:20,649 Speaker 1: Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition. The best way to think of 365 00:22:20,770 --> 00:22:25,530 Speaker 1: it is an elder, a mentor, a Yoda, a Jedi. Right. 366 00:22:25,930 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: And Rasputin kicks it at St. Nicholas Monastery for several months. 367 00:22:32,619 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 1: Most historians believe this is where he learned to read 368 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:42,480 Speaker 1: and write. And he appreciated the education and the religious 369 00:22:42,540 --> 00:22:45,980 Speaker 1: stuff definitely had a deep impact on him. But he 370 00:22:46,180 --> 00:22:47,330 Speaker 1: did eventually leave. 371 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:49,700 Speaker 4: Yeah, it just occurred to me too that, I mean, 372 00:22:49,740 --> 00:22:52,780 Speaker 4: it would make sense that a lot of young, poor 373 00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:58,359 Speaker 4: boys would be sent to monasteries to be educated because 374 00:22:58,380 --> 00:23:00,440 Speaker 4: there were no other opportunities for that, right? 375 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:01,440 Speaker 2: Yes. 376 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a great point. Also, he would later go 377 00:23:05,940 --> 00:23:10,020 Speaker 1: on when he was full Rasputin, Rasputin actual, he would 378 00:23:10,100 --> 00:23:12,360 Speaker 1: later go on to talk a lot of trash about 379 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:16,609 Speaker 1: the monastery. He said their life was too rigid. he 380 00:23:16,670 --> 00:23:21,020 Speaker 1: said was coercive. He wanted to be a wild pony 381 00:23:21,150 --> 00:23:24,740 Speaker 1: running free. But he would also say a lot of 382 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:29,500 Speaker 1: the monks at St. Nicholas were homosexual. And he said 383 00:23:29,540 --> 00:23:32,340 Speaker 1: that as an insult, to be clear. Sure. 384 00:23:32,580 --> 00:23:35,040 Speaker 4: And I mean, you know, we know there's certainly a 385 00:23:35,940 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 4: historical precedent for closeted gay men in priesthood. This seems 386 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:43,100 Speaker 4: to be a part of that continuum, though I'm not 387 00:23:43,140 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 4: saying that he necessarily was telling the truth, but it 388 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:47,119 Speaker 4: wouldn't be unheard of. 389 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:48,480 Speaker 2: Yeah. 390 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:53,040 Speaker 1: What I think we're both saying here is that he 391 00:23:53,100 --> 00:23:55,700 Speaker 1: was being kind of a jerk about it. Oh, yeah. 392 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:56,740 Speaker 2: He was kind of a jerk. 393 00:23:57,200 --> 00:23:57,420 Speaker 1: Yeah. 394 00:23:57,640 --> 00:23:58,359 Speaker 5: Yes. Yes. 395 00:23:59,619 --> 00:24:03,140 Speaker 1: So whatever happened at St. Nicholas really made an impression 396 00:24:03,260 --> 00:24:06,770 Speaker 1: on him. He returns back home to his village. But 397 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:11,429 Speaker 1: now this is a totally different story. edgier Greg. It's 398 00:24:11,470 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: like when someone goes to New York and comes back 399 00:24:15,580 --> 00:24:19,780 Speaker 1: smoking clove cigarettes. He looked kind of like a bum. 400 00:24:19,940 --> 00:24:22,340 Speaker 1: He looked like a train kid, dude. 401 00:24:22,420 --> 00:24:24,460 Speaker 2: Bit of a beatnik. Yeah. 402 00:24:24,590 --> 00:24:29,490 Speaker 4: He decided to restyle himself kind of like you're saying, Ben, 403 00:24:29,510 --> 00:24:32,030 Speaker 4: almost like in a hippie fashion, but sort of more 404 00:24:32,050 --> 00:24:35,930 Speaker 4: of a square hippie. He became a vegetarian. He said 405 00:24:35,970 --> 00:24:37,650 Speaker 4: he wasn't going to drink alcohol anymore. 406 00:24:37,670 --> 00:24:45,570 Speaker 2: He displayed signs of religious zealotry. There we go. 407 00:24:45,850 --> 00:24:49,649 Speaker 4: You know, these manic fits, these fugue states of prayer. 408 00:24:50,380 --> 00:24:53,700 Speaker 4: He also knew that farming was absolutely not for him. 409 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 2: Yeah. 410 00:24:55,119 --> 00:25:00,960 Speaker 1: And his spouse stuck with him for the next several years. Greg, 411 00:25:01,260 --> 00:25:06,010 Speaker 1: becoming Rasputin, is sort of a full-time hobo. The word 412 00:25:06,070 --> 00:25:09,460 Speaker 1: for it at the time was strotic. which means something 413 00:25:09,500 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: like pilgrim or a holy wanderer, he'd leave his hometown 414 00:25:13,830 --> 00:25:14,139 Speaker 1: and his family. 415 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:15,140 Speaker 2: Like Cain from Kung Fu. 416 00:25:15,510 --> 00:25:19,129 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. He would leave his hometown and his 417 00:25:19,170 --> 00:25:22,510 Speaker 1: family for months at a time, for years at a time, 418 00:25:22,930 --> 00:25:27,550 Speaker 1: and he would travel across the land visiting churches and monasteries, 419 00:25:27,710 --> 00:25:31,609 Speaker 1: other holy sites, and at every step of the way, 420 00:25:32,030 --> 00:25:35,980 Speaker 1: he was picking up fans everywhere. that became followers. 421 00:25:36,020 --> 00:25:41,429 Speaker 4: Yeah, he's out there proselytizing. By the early 1900s, he. 422 00:25:40,450 --> 00:25:43,030 Speaker 2: Had a bit of a cult going. 423 00:25:43,550 --> 00:25:43,750 Speaker 5: Yeah. 424 00:25:43,790 --> 00:25:46,550 Speaker 4: Yeah, a lot of family members and other locals from 425 00:25:46,590 --> 00:25:49,580 Speaker 4: his hometown who followed him. When he was back in 426 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:52,980 Speaker 4: the area, a lot of these followers would pray alongside him, 427 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:57,340 Speaker 4: and this represented a bit of a schism in the 428 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:02,050 Speaker 4: village because his style of religion was starting to look 429 00:26:02,090 --> 00:26:03,550 Speaker 4: a little different from theirs. 430 00:26:04,100 --> 00:26:05,119 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. 431 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:09,419 Speaker 1: And he is still living in his father's house. And 432 00:26:09,740 --> 00:26:12,480 Speaker 1: at the time, then as now, it's normal to live 433 00:26:12,740 --> 00:26:17,850 Speaker 1: in an intergenerational household. He and his followers in the 434 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:22,169 Speaker 1: village built a secret chapel in the root cellar, and 435 00:26:22,230 --> 00:26:26,910 Speaker 1: they held secret prayer meetings there. This did not feel 436 00:26:27,030 --> 00:26:30,909 Speaker 1: right to the other villagers, especially, you guessed it, folks, 437 00:26:31,330 --> 00:26:36,190 Speaker 1: the official local priest. This guy is understandably kind of 438 00:26:36,270 --> 00:26:39,189 Speaker 1: peeved that there's new competition moving in. 439 00:26:39,350 --> 00:26:42,330 Speaker 2: Dude, he's eating their lunch, man. He's eating their wafers. 440 00:26:43,270 --> 00:26:50,700 Speaker 1: Yes, yes. He's transubstantiating the competition. So rumors begin to stir. 441 00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:55,760 Speaker 1: And this is sort of the origin point of what 442 00:26:55,800 --> 00:27:01,900 Speaker 1: will later lead to the death of Rasputin. Spoiler, folks. What?! Yeah. 443 00:27:01,940 --> 00:27:02,240 Speaker 3: No. 444 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:05,180 Speaker 4: Well, we knew he was going to die eventually. This 445 00:27:05,220 --> 00:27:07,640 Speaker 4: was a long, long time ago after all. So not 446 00:27:07,700 --> 00:27:08,940 Speaker 4: too much of a spoiler, Ben. 447 00:27:08,980 --> 00:27:10,820 Speaker 2: We all die. All men die. 448 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:17,119 Speaker 4: Well, just maybe not under such alarming circumstances. 449 00:27:17,180 --> 00:27:18,010 Speaker 1: Right, right. 450 00:27:18,310 --> 00:27:20,090 Speaker 5: I don't know. I have some mercury. I want to 451 00:27:20,130 --> 00:27:21,430 Speaker 5: drink it. I'll be fine. 452 00:27:21,670 --> 00:27:24,150 Speaker 2: Max classic. I'll be fine. 453 00:27:24,210 --> 00:27:24,419 Speaker 4: No, no. 454 00:27:24,430 --> 00:27:27,430 Speaker 3: Side note, the Ohio episode that I have written down, 455 00:27:27,510 --> 00:27:29,890 Speaker 3: and there's probably more. Once I find one, I write 456 00:27:30,010 --> 00:27:31,900 Speaker 3: it down. The one I've written down is, That time 457 00:27:31,980 --> 00:27:33,940 Speaker 3: Ohio and Michigan almost went to war. 458 00:27:34,740 --> 00:27:38,680 Speaker 4: Isn't that funny? Because you, if I'm not mistaken, Max, 459 00:27:38,780 --> 00:27:39,900 Speaker 4: are quite fond of Michigan. 460 00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:42,760 Speaker 3: That is my birth state, and hence why a lot 461 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:45,320 Speaker 3: of my hatred for Ohio comes from there. 462 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:49,860 Speaker 2: Is this football-based hatred, Max? Ohio is the fuck I do. 463 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,379 Speaker 3: There's many things, but I do have a University of 464 00:27:52,420 --> 00:27:54,840 Speaker 3: Michigan banner right in the back. 465 00:27:56,140 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 1: One of the beautiful things about this nation of ours 466 00:28:00,980 --> 00:28:04,800 Speaker 1: is is that every single state in the union picks 467 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:08,660 Speaker 1: a state adjacent to them to hate. 468 00:28:09,300 --> 00:28:13,260 Speaker 3: Well, the thing about Michigan is, to quote John Oliver, Michigan, 469 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:15,820 Speaker 3: the giant mitten holding back Detroit from. 470 00:28:15,740 --> 00:28:18,399 Speaker 5: Fighting all of Canada. Because that's just how Detroit is. 471 00:28:18,420 --> 00:28:24,470 Speaker 1: But also, why is Michigan one state? Geographically, it should 472 00:28:24,510 --> 00:28:24,790 Speaker 1: be two. 473 00:28:26,090 --> 00:28:27,710 Speaker 2: Well, that's just like your opinion. 474 00:28:27,730 --> 00:28:29,970 Speaker 5: You should geographically be too, Ben. 475 00:28:31,030 --> 00:28:33,390 Speaker 1: We should, we should. Thank you. 476 00:28:33,790 --> 00:28:34,270 Speaker 2: You know what? 477 00:28:34,430 --> 00:28:37,470 Speaker 1: Overdue, but it's the anniversary episode. Can we play a 478 00:28:37,490 --> 00:28:38,670 Speaker 1: max with the facts on that? 479 00:28:38,690 --> 00:28:39,390 Speaker 2: Yeah. 480 00:29:00,010 --> 00:29:04,310 Speaker 1: So back to the story in Rasputin's hometown, the folks 481 00:29:04,350 --> 00:29:07,410 Speaker 1: who don't jibe with him, including the local priest, are 482 00:29:07,470 --> 00:29:12,770 Speaker 1: spreading these salacious, juicy rumors. They're saying, look, Greg's female 483 00:29:12,910 --> 00:29:21,090 Speaker 1: followers are bathing him before each meeting and bathing him hard. Whoa. 484 00:29:22,430 --> 00:29:26,570 Speaker 2: Talk about salacious, like heavy petting? What are we talking about? Okay. Yeah, 485 00:29:26,930 --> 00:29:28,460 Speaker 2: I got it. Yeah, I mean, he is. 486 00:29:30,290 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 4: He does seem to be cultivating a bit of like 487 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:37,390 Speaker 4: a sex magic kind of vibe. 488 00:29:37,650 --> 00:29:40,530 Speaker 1: Jared Leto will later try to do something similar. 489 00:29:40,550 --> 00:29:43,590 Speaker 4: Bro, there's a documentary that's coming out about Jared Leto. 490 00:29:43,670 --> 00:29:46,830 Speaker 2: I saw like a trailer for it and it is bad. 491 00:29:46,850 --> 00:29:50,810 Speaker 4: I mean, the accusations against that man, that's not a 492 00:29:50,830 --> 00:29:51,310 Speaker 4: good dude. 493 00:29:51,770 --> 00:29:56,590 Speaker 1: Yeah. And Rasputin, even way back in the late 1800s, 494 00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:01,440 Speaker 1: is getting hit with accusations like this There's also a 495 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:07,200 Speaker 1: Lovecraftian rumor going around, and people in the village are saying, look, 496 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 1: if you walk by at night, you can hear the 497 00:30:10,540 --> 00:30:16,500 Speaker 1: group singing these blasphemous songs, and we don't know what 498 00:30:16,540 --> 00:30:19,660 Speaker 1: they're saying, but we know it's not Christian. And then 499 00:30:19,780 --> 00:30:24,520 Speaker 1: some people argue that Rasputin is a secret spy for 500 00:30:24,700 --> 00:30:29,700 Speaker 1: a very divisive cult called the Christi. 501 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:36,240 Speaker 4: Right, which is another super secret underground mystical sect of 502 00:30:36,310 --> 00:30:42,330 Speaker 4: Christianity dating back to the 1600s. This last rumor really 503 00:30:42,470 --> 00:30:44,970 Speaker 4: did kind of line up with some of the others 504 00:30:45,010 --> 00:30:50,730 Speaker 4: because the Christi also had some pretty bizarre, as I 505 00:30:50,770 --> 00:30:52,670 Speaker 4: was implying, accusations against them. 506 00:30:53,350 --> 00:30:54,470 Speaker 2: They weren't really Christian at all. 507 00:30:55,490 --> 00:30:59,959 Speaker 4: They were basically doing like blood sugar sex magic. 508 00:31:00,380 --> 00:31:04,160 Speaker 2: Yeah. Including cannibalism and self-flagellation. 509 00:31:04,180 --> 00:31:06,300 Speaker 4: This would be like the bad guy in a Dan 510 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:10,320 Speaker 4: Brown novel. You know, the spooky monk that's going around 511 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:15,120 Speaker 4: beating himself with reeds while trying to pilfer sacred artifacts 512 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:16,900 Speaker 4: in order to take over the world. 513 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:18,719 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. 514 00:31:18,860 --> 00:31:22,020 Speaker 1: And that they were also having orgies. So they're beating 515 00:31:22,060 --> 00:31:25,780 Speaker 1: themselves up. They're eating each other. They're not really Christians. 516 00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:31,040 Speaker 4: No, that was, you know, I'm thinking these guys might 517 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:32,860 Speaker 4: not actually be so Christian. 518 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:34,040 Speaker 1: Right, right. 519 00:31:34,420 --> 00:31:35,980 Speaker 2: This behavior does not. 520 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:41,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, clutch your pearls. As we know, and Max, we 521 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:43,240 Speaker 1: have to have at least one beep in this episode. 522 00:31:43,460 --> 00:31:47,990 Speaker 1: As we know, this was pretty much bullshit. Most historians. 523 00:31:48,230 --> 00:31:52,770 Speaker 1: There we are. Most historians now agree that these rumors 524 00:31:52,950 --> 00:31:57,870 Speaker 1: of Rasputin being a clished were unfounded gossip. And it's 525 00:31:58,150 --> 00:32:02,240 Speaker 1: easy for us to dismiss it immediately out of hand today. 526 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:06,220 Speaker 1: But no, you and I know if you've ever lived 527 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:09,700 Speaker 1: in a small town, you've seen how quickly locals can 528 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:12,920 Speaker 1: grasp on to the most flimsy of rumors. And we 529 00:32:13,020 --> 00:32:15,420 Speaker 1: hate it, don't we? When facts get in the way 530 00:32:15,460 --> 00:32:16,200 Speaker 1: of a good story. 531 00:32:16,780 --> 00:32:18,300 Speaker 2: Boy, do we have, right? I mean, think about it, though. 532 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 4: Like, the dude was definitely starting to exercise some undue 533 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:24,560 Speaker 4: influence against the status quo of the church, and it 534 00:32:24,580 --> 00:32:28,020 Speaker 4: would seem that being associated with this sect would be, like, 535 00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:30,800 Speaker 4: kind of the ultimate nail in the coffin of, like, 536 00:32:30,820 --> 00:32:33,600 Speaker 4: trying to discredit a holy man. 537 00:32:34,060 --> 00:32:35,160 Speaker 2: So you got to think. 538 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:37,720 Speaker 4: That it's, whether or not this exact thing was true, 539 00:32:37,860 --> 00:32:40,560 Speaker 4: we know we got up to some odd shenanigans. 540 00:32:41,060 --> 00:32:42,140 Speaker 2: It does make sense. 541 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,240 Speaker 4: That this would be the kind of rumor that would 542 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:47,730 Speaker 4: be started by, like, the folk's you know, occupying the 543 00:32:47,870 --> 00:32:50,690 Speaker 4: establishment of the church there in the community. 544 00:32:51,170 --> 00:32:54,920 Speaker 1: A hundred percent. So the tension is simmering and bubbling 545 00:32:55,200 --> 00:33:06,690 Speaker 1: up in, in the guy's hometown. Despite this, Greg, who 546 00:33:06,770 --> 00:33:14,990 Speaker 1: is becoming Rasputin continues to practice his show. and travel along. 547 00:33:15,550 --> 00:33:18,990 Speaker 1: Other parts of Siberia heard about him, and sometimes they 548 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:24,240 Speaker 1: would hear, this guy's a sketchy cult leader and sex pest. 549 00:33:24,620 --> 00:33:28,459 Speaker 1: And sometimes they would hear, he is a true spiritual force, 550 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:33,880 Speaker 1: like he can talk to God. Either way, 1904, 1905, 551 00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:38,800 Speaker 1: he travels to a city called Kazan, K-A-Z-A-N. This is 552 00:33:38,860 --> 00:33:42,600 Speaker 1: a much bigger area, and it is here in this 553 00:33:42,660 --> 00:33:46,930 Speaker 1: city that he gains reputation as a star, similar to 554 00:33:46,970 --> 00:33:50,220 Speaker 1: the guy he met in that monastery a little while back. 555 00:33:50,820 --> 00:33:54,360 Speaker 1: He becomes known as a faith healer, and people in 556 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:57,180 Speaker 1: the town of Kazan are saying, this guy has really 557 00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:00,640 Speaker 1: deep insights. He can help people who are struggling through 558 00:34:00,700 --> 00:34:04,610 Speaker 1: spiritual crises, and we think he's cool. 559 00:34:06,590 --> 00:34:07,530 Speaker 2: Well, sure, yeah. 560 00:34:07,570 --> 00:34:10,609 Speaker 4: I mean, he definitely knew how to command a room. 561 00:34:11,219 --> 00:34:13,180 Speaker 4: He also had to have learned at least a little 562 00:34:13,300 --> 00:34:16,560 Speaker 4: more diplomacy because despite the continuing rumors that he was 563 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:20,610 Speaker 4: sleeping with women who followed him around, rumors that, by 564 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:23,130 Speaker 4: the way, will continue to follow him around for the 565 00:34:23,150 --> 00:34:25,509 Speaker 4: rest of his life, Rasputin did manage to make a 566 00:34:25,530 --> 00:34:28,069 Speaker 4: pretty good impression on the local religious leaders at the 567 00:34:28,090 --> 00:34:30,830 Speaker 4: end of the day, two of whom wrote a letter 568 00:34:30,930 --> 00:34:33,880 Speaker 4: of recommendation and arranged for him to travel to the 569 00:34:34,010 --> 00:34:39,670 Speaker 4: Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg in which contained one 570 00:34:39,690 --> 00:34:42,970 Speaker 4: of the best theological seminaries in Russia. 571 00:34:43,790 --> 00:34:46,010 Speaker 1: Also nailing the pronunciation there, man. 572 00:34:46,250 --> 00:34:46,890 Speaker 5: That was great. 573 00:34:47,090 --> 00:34:48,130 Speaker 1: I couldn't have done that one. 574 00:34:48,530 --> 00:34:49,290 Speaker 2: It's fun for me. 575 00:34:49,910 --> 00:34:53,489 Speaker 1: This is a huge deal, right? Because the days of 576 00:34:53,820 --> 00:34:58,219 Speaker 1: secret root cellar chapels are over, my babushkas, the religious 577 00:34:58,300 --> 00:35:02,820 Speaker 1: leaders at this monastery. They have a ton of political pull. 578 00:35:03,380 --> 00:35:11,150 Speaker 1: One of them is a guy named Archmandrite Theophan Beistrov. Archimandrite, 579 00:35:11,290 --> 00:35:16,470 Speaker 1: excuse me, it's kind of like a supervising abbot. 580 00:35:17,730 --> 00:35:17,969 Speaker 2: Yeah. 581 00:35:18,750 --> 00:35:24,810 Speaker 4: And this Beistrov character was quite connected. He was plugged 582 00:35:24,989 --> 00:35:28,190 Speaker 4: in to the upper crust of St. Petersburg society. A 583 00:35:28,230 --> 00:35:31,210 Speaker 4: young man himself, very much on his way up in 584 00:35:31,250 --> 00:35:36,410 Speaker 4: the church, he regularly spent time with the super wealthy 585 00:35:36,550 --> 00:35:39,750 Speaker 4: in their posh homes and these salons, you know, all 586 00:35:39,770 --> 00:35:44,310 Speaker 4: of the most important people went to him for spiritual advice. 587 00:35:45,489 --> 00:35:50,950 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. Eventually, this guy, Theophon, even serves as the 588 00:35:51,030 --> 00:35:56,000 Speaker 1: confessor for the Russian imperial family. So this is a 589 00:35:56,060 --> 00:35:59,640 Speaker 1: good guy to know, Greg is thinking, and Greg tries 590 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:03,339 Speaker 1: to impress him, and it works. Theophon is like, Rasputin, 591 00:36:03,780 --> 00:36:07,109 Speaker 1: you're awesome, dude. How long are you in St. Petersburg? 592 00:36:07,150 --> 00:36:10,620 Speaker 1: You should stay at my house. And, Noel, if we 593 00:36:10,660 --> 00:36:15,410 Speaker 1: allow ourselves a bit of cynicism here, is it fair to— 594 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:18,239 Speaker 1: Just for a treat? Yeah, just as a treat. Is 595 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:22,900 Speaker 1: it fair for us to suppose that Rasputin was manipulating 596 00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:25,420 Speaker 1: Theophan to climb the social ladder? 597 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:30,089 Speaker 4: Well, Ben, I'm very stuck in this You Can See 598 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:33,390 Speaker 4: Everything documentary that I just saw that I think you're 599 00:36:33,550 --> 00:36:36,830 Speaker 4: going to go see soon. um, about Elizabeth Holmes and 600 00:36:36,850 --> 00:36:39,489 Speaker 4: sort of like Nathan Fielder, the nature of like, who's 601 00:36:40,150 --> 00:36:42,169 Speaker 4: telling the truth when and. 602 00:36:42,150 --> 00:36:44,780 Speaker 2: Why, and was it all an act? Like what even 603 00:36:44,860 --> 00:36:48,000 Speaker 2: is manipulation? You know, isn't he just trying his best 604 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:53,120 Speaker 2: to do a good job to get, no, no, I 605 00:36:53,140 --> 00:36:53,360 Speaker 2: don't know. 606 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:57,279 Speaker 1: I'm making the Futurama gift face. I squinted my eyes 607 00:36:57,380 --> 00:36:57,660 Speaker 1: at you. 608 00:36:57,900 --> 00:37:01,260 Speaker 4: I mean, yeah, I think, I think that's fair to say, 609 00:37:01,420 --> 00:37:05,930 Speaker 4: but also like he is, good at what he does 610 00:37:06,030 --> 00:37:08,890 Speaker 4: he is making an impression yeah and i guess he 611 00:37:08,930 --> 00:37:09,750 Speaker 4: definitely has um. 612 00:37:11,770 --> 00:37:13,070 Speaker 2: Ambitions let's call. 613 00:37:12,910 --> 00:37:16,710 Speaker 1: It there we go yeah and we we are not 614 00:37:16,989 --> 00:37:20,069 Speaker 1: in the room where it happens here so we have 615 00:37:20,190 --> 00:37:25,850 Speaker 1: no idea of greg's internal motivations but we can say 616 00:37:26,270 --> 00:37:32,319 Speaker 1: he did leverage his charm and persuasiveness to talk Theophan 617 00:37:32,540 --> 00:37:37,460 Speaker 1: into bringing him along to those top-rate salons in the town, 618 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:41,200 Speaker 1: and this is where he meets the local aristocracy. They 619 00:37:41,260 --> 00:37:45,840 Speaker 1: hang out as one-percenters in St. Petersburg, and they talk 620 00:37:45,900 --> 00:37:49,940 Speaker 1: about religion and the occult and the supernatural. And once 621 00:37:50,660 --> 00:37:55,980 Speaker 1: Rasputin gains entry into that social sphere, he increasingly attempts 622 00:37:56,040 --> 00:38:00,930 Speaker 1: to alienate Theophan and charm the people he thinks are 623 00:38:01,130 --> 00:38:03,750 Speaker 1: more important, and he has a great deal of success. 624 00:38:03,989 --> 00:38:07,009 Speaker 2: He's stabbing his boy Theophon in the back? Who got 625 00:38:07,050 --> 00:38:08,350 Speaker 2: him there? He got him in those rooms? 626 00:38:08,830 --> 00:38:09,820 Speaker 1: Scorpions, man. 627 00:38:09,890 --> 00:38:10,799 Speaker 2: Now he's turning on him? 628 00:38:12,660 --> 00:38:16,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, this is a bit of context we have to establish. 629 00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:21,020 Speaker 1: Way before Greg blows through town, the rulers of St. 630 00:38:21,100 --> 00:38:26,489 Speaker 1: Petersburg are super-duper into stuff like spiritualism and theosophy. 631 00:38:27,030 --> 00:38:27,710 Speaker 2: They were. 632 00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:34,359 Speaker 1: fascinated by the idea of anything occult or supernatural they 633 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:38,980 Speaker 1: were also really bored of their day-to-day lives because similar 634 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:41,900 Speaker 1: to the lives of a siberian peasant at the time 635 00:38:42,460 --> 00:38:46,200 Speaker 1: if you're an aristocrat in st petersburg your entire life 636 00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:49,740 Speaker 1: could feel mapped out from cradle to grave. 637 00:38:49,489 --> 00:38:54,930 Speaker 4: Dude the the malaise of the super super rich yeah 638 00:38:54,989 --> 00:38:57,190 Speaker 4: it's it's it's real and it also is largely what 639 00:38:57,230 --> 00:38:59,390 Speaker 4: leads to like You know, you hear about a lot 640 00:38:59,410 --> 00:39:02,830 Speaker 4: of super, super rich folks developing some very interesting, you know, 641 00:39:03,290 --> 00:39:07,509 Speaker 4: hobbies and proclivities, let's just say. In this case, yeah, 642 00:39:07,550 --> 00:39:10,969 Speaker 4: these salons, it's like it's almost like considered an intellectual 643 00:39:11,050 --> 00:39:15,410 Speaker 4: pursuit to be just a little, a little mildly blasphemous 644 00:39:15,489 --> 00:39:16,140 Speaker 4: as a treat. 645 00:39:16,180 --> 00:39:19,040 Speaker 2: You know what I mean? 646 00:39:20,020 --> 00:39:22,880 Speaker 1: So to these folks, and I love the way you 647 00:39:22,900 --> 00:39:26,160 Speaker 1: put it there, Noel, to these folks this Greg guy 648 00:39:26,390 --> 00:39:29,520 Speaker 1: from out of town, from way out in Siberia, he 649 00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:32,840 Speaker 1: is a huge breath of fresh air. He's got wild ideas. 650 00:39:33,239 --> 00:39:38,680 Speaker 1: He's so weird. That beard! He's got that rockin' beard. 651 00:39:38,980 --> 00:39:43,410 Speaker 1: He's also a native Russian just like us, so he's 652 00:39:43,550 --> 00:39:47,390 Speaker 1: cooler than those French folks we've been following. We might 653 00:39:47,410 --> 00:39:48,989 Speaker 1: just have a mystic here at home. 654 00:39:49,540 --> 00:39:52,300 Speaker 4: God, I'm trying to wonder if Rasputin was the mystic 655 00:39:52,340 --> 00:39:54,540 Speaker 4: that we have at home. Like, what's the one that's 656 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:56,879 Speaker 4: like the top notch one out there in the world? 657 00:39:57,060 --> 00:39:58,040 Speaker 2: Unclear. We'll get to it. 658 00:39:58,420 --> 00:40:01,779 Speaker 4: So he really is starting to get in with these 659 00:40:01,940 --> 00:40:06,700 Speaker 4: folks who can help him in his ambition, you know, 660 00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:11,500 Speaker 4: to continue to rise in the ranks. of influence, you know, 661 00:40:11,580 --> 00:40:14,180 Speaker 4: in Russian society. If that is in fact what he 662 00:40:14,219 --> 00:40:16,140 Speaker 4: was seeking, you know, if he was like really had 663 00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:19,750 Speaker 4: a laser focus on getting all the way to the top, 664 00:40:20,170 --> 00:40:21,030 Speaker 4: to the top guy. 665 00:40:21,790 --> 00:40:22,870 Speaker 2: Right, yeah. 666 00:40:23,190 --> 00:40:26,570 Speaker 1: His first trip is only a few months and he 667 00:40:26,610 --> 00:40:32,260 Speaker 1: goes back home. He returns to Pokrovskoe in autumn of 1903. 668 00:40:32,260 --> 00:40:35,420 Speaker 1: And we don't really know how often he traveled back 669 00:40:35,500 --> 00:40:40,120 Speaker 1: and forth, but we can say by 1905, St. Petersburg 670 00:40:40,219 --> 00:40:43,120 Speaker 1: was becoming a lot like a second home. And by 671 00:40:43,280 --> 00:40:49,710 Speaker 1: this point, Greg had used all his manipulative Machiavellian wiles 672 00:40:50,070 --> 00:40:54,840 Speaker 1: to make the most important social connection of all. He's 673 00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:57,259 Speaker 1: going to meet the royal family. All the way to 674 00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:00,460 Speaker 1: the top, baby. All the way to the FBI. No, 675 00:41:00,460 --> 00:41:02,280 Speaker 1: the royal family, indeed. 676 00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:05,800 Speaker 4: And this, y'all, is probably where the story starts to 677 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:11,290 Speaker 4: ring a bell. From that Animated film that I mentioned, Anastasia. 678 00:41:12,130 --> 00:41:15,830 Speaker 4: That is what is dramatized in that cartoon. And boy, 679 00:41:15,870 --> 00:41:19,509 Speaker 4: oh boy, did they make Rasputin sort of a Jafar 680 00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:22,980 Speaker 4: type figure. I seem to recall he like shoots green 681 00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:27,540 Speaker 4: magic stuff out of his pointy spindly clawed fingers. 682 00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:28,860 Speaker 1: I remember that. Yeah, yeah. 683 00:41:28,940 --> 00:41:31,939 Speaker 2: And he has like a bat that's like his sidekick. Yeah, 684 00:41:31,980 --> 00:41:34,450 Speaker 2: that's his parrot basically. Exactly. 685 00:41:35,140 --> 00:41:36,850 Speaker 4: This was, by the way, not a Disney film. It 686 00:41:36,870 --> 00:41:39,810 Speaker 4: was one of those kind of second-rate animation studios. 687 00:41:41,450 --> 00:41:42,310 Speaker 2: I remember it fondly. 688 00:41:42,790 --> 00:41:48,590 Speaker 1: We should do an episode about those non-Disney animation features. 689 00:41:48,650 --> 00:41:52,240 Speaker 2: Dude, the Bluth Company. Well, no, that is a Disney. 690 00:41:52,380 --> 00:41:53,980 Speaker 1: That is a Disney one. Okay. 691 00:41:54,380 --> 00:41:57,600 Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, like Secret of NIMH, like the Bluth Company, which, 692 00:41:57,660 --> 00:42:00,900 Speaker 4: by the way, that company made, like, they were the dark... 693 00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:04,040 Speaker 4: antithesis to Disney. And then Disney sort of had to 694 00:42:04,100 --> 00:42:07,840 Speaker 4: get dark almost in response. Ben, this is absolutely an 695 00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:10,910 Speaker 4: episode topic. But for now, we're going to take a 696 00:42:10,950 --> 00:42:14,270 Speaker 4: pause and we're going to come back with our next 697 00:42:14,350 --> 00:42:17,069 Speaker 4: episode where we start to get into the plot of 698 00:42:17,110 --> 00:42:19,540 Speaker 4: the animated feature Anastasia. 699 00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:24,910 Speaker 1: Yes. And folks, just a heads up. When you hear 700 00:42:25,030 --> 00:42:28,790 Speaker 1: this second episode in the series on Thursday, we are 701 00:42:28,830 --> 00:42:32,380 Speaker 1: going to have to have a disclaimer for some gnarly things. 702 00:42:32,700 --> 00:42:35,200 Speaker 1: So that's a heads up before the heads up. That's 703 00:42:35,219 --> 00:42:38,279 Speaker 1: a Greg turning into a Rasputin. That's a big, big 704 00:42:38,340 --> 00:42:41,840 Speaker 1: thanks to our super producer, Mr. Max Williams. That's a 705 00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:46,739 Speaker 1: huge thanks as well, Noel, to Jonathan Strickland, a.k.a. The Quister, 706 00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:50,370 Speaker 1: for not showing up On this one, I feel like 707 00:42:50,410 --> 00:42:53,529 Speaker 1: he has a Russian accent that he's really proud of, 708 00:42:53,910 --> 00:42:55,850 Speaker 1: and it's probably insufferable. 709 00:42:55,950 --> 00:42:57,590 Speaker 2: He is kind of our Rasputin. 710 00:42:57,969 --> 00:42:59,629 Speaker 1: He is 100%. Are you kidding? 711 00:42:59,670 --> 00:43:03,850 Speaker 4: We should maybe start seeking counsel from him rather than. 712 00:43:03,969 --> 00:43:05,390 Speaker 2: You know, bullying him. 713 00:43:05,870 --> 00:43:08,880 Speaker 1: We should introduce him to our family members and let 714 00:43:08,890 --> 00:43:12,520 Speaker 1: him roam around our houses at all times of night. 715 00:43:12,719 --> 00:43:12,980 Speaker 5: Yeah. 716 00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:17,380 Speaker 4: Well, Ben, huge thanks to you for doing the research 717 00:43:17,460 --> 00:43:19,180 Speaker 4: on this thing that's like, gosh, we're going to have 718 00:43:19,219 --> 00:43:21,340 Speaker 4: to figure out how to kill some of your darlings 719 00:43:21,380 --> 00:43:23,819 Speaker 4: here because this could be a three-parter, but we promised 720 00:43:23,860 --> 00:43:26,489 Speaker 4: ourselves we would make it only a two-parter. But I'm 721 00:43:26,610 --> 00:43:29,549 Speaker 4: super excited to jump into part two with you very soon. 722 00:43:30,150 --> 00:43:33,210 Speaker 1: Big, big thanks, of course, to Christopher Haciotis, Yves Jeffcoat, 723 00:43:33,330 --> 00:43:38,230 Speaker 1: Here in Spirit, Dr. Rachel Big Spinach Lance, A.J. Bahamas Jacobs, 724 00:43:38,290 --> 00:43:41,970 Speaker 1: The Puzzler, who recently talked with one of our favorite 725 00:43:42,050 --> 00:43:46,380 Speaker 1: comics and comedian writers, David Wayne, and of course, the 726 00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:52,020 Speaker 1: folks at Ridiculous Crime. Most importantly, nine years into the game. 727 00:43:52,610 --> 00:43:53,160 Speaker 1: Thank you, Noel. 728 00:43:53,550 --> 00:43:55,930 Speaker 2: Oh, and to you as well, sir. We'll see you 729 00:43:55,969 --> 00:43:56,630 Speaker 2: next time, folks. 730 00:44:03,610 --> 00:44:07,410 Speaker 4: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 731 00:44:07,469 --> 00:44:09,530 Speaker 4: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.