WEBVTT - Paper Trail

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Aaron Nke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of

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<v Speaker 1>iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of

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<v Speaker 1>the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all

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<v Speaker 1>of these amazing tales are right there on display, just

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<v Speaker 1>waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.

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<v Speaker 1>The stream of time, irresistible, ever moving, carries off and

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<v Speaker 1>bears away all things that come to birth, and plunges

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<v Speaker 1>them into uttered darkness, both deeds of no account and

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<v Speaker 1>deeds which are mighty and worthy of commemoration. The science

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<v Speaker 1>of history is a great bulwark against the stream of time.

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<v Speaker 1>In a way, it checks this irresistible flood. It holds

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<v Speaker 1>in its height grasp whatever it can sease floating on

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<v Speaker 1>the surface, and will not allow it to slip away

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<v Speaker 1>into the depths of oblivion. This is an excerpt from

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<v Speaker 1>the opening of the Alexiad, one of the most important

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<v Speaker 1>pieces of literature to come out of the Byzantine Empire.

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<v Speaker 1>It tells the story of the emperor Alexios Komnemnos, the

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<v Speaker 1>man who took Byzantium out of a desperate situation and

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<v Speaker 1>into its final successful era as an empire. Five hundred

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<v Speaker 1>years after the fall of Rome, the Byzantine Empire, or

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<v Speaker 1>the Eastern Roman Empire as it was known at the time,

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<v Speaker 1>was facing a fall of its own. In the early

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<v Speaker 1>eleventh century, the empire lost around half of its territory

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<v Speaker 1>to the Seljuke Turks. Normans pressed the empire from the west,

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<v Speaker 1>and the current emperor didn't know how to handle either threat.

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<v Speaker 1>In ten eighty one, Alexios Kommnos stepped into the chaos

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<v Speaker 1>and helped re establish the empire. He fought the Turks

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<v Speaker 1>and made efforts to re establish a friendly relationship with

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<v Speaker 1>the papals. In just a few short years, he went

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<v Speaker 1>from an upstart general to something of a savior for

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<v Speaker 1>the flagging empire. His most lasting contribution to this period

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<v Speaker 1>of history, however, came from when he requested European mercenaries

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<v Speaker 1>to help deal with the Turkish threat and inadvertently inspired

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<v Speaker 1>Pope Urban the Second to declare the First Crusade. And

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<v Speaker 1>because the Eastern Roman Empire was a Christian nation, this

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<v Speaker 1>was not a problem. In fact, it's the sort of

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<v Speaker 1>world altering decision that makes a king into a folk hero,

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<v Speaker 1>although of course it also takes a specific sort of

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<v Speaker 1>historian to make that transformation a reality. The Alexiad, with

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<v Speaker 1>a title that evokes Homer's Iliad, retells the rule of

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<v Speaker 1>Alexios like a cross between history and epic poetry. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a strange, singular work in the midst of an empire

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<v Speaker 1>that mostly produced historical accounts that were dry and factual.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's no accident. It's a history that's so personal

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<v Speaker 1>because it was written by someone who knew Komnmnos personally.

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<v Speaker 1>As a matter of fact, the author was the eldest

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<v Speaker 1>daughter of Emperor Alexios Anna Komnemni. She was present when

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<v Speaker 1>the first wave of crusaders arrived in Constantinople in ten

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<v Speaker 1>ninety six, and even though she was just a teenager,

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<v Speaker 1>her memory of the European rabble was fresh in her

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<v Speaker 1>mind when she wrote the account down many decades later.

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<v Speaker 1>An exceedingly smart and well read woman, she wasn't simply

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<v Speaker 1>content to live a life of luxury in the palace.

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<v Speaker 1>She wanted to learn and alter the world.

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<v Speaker 2>As her father grew older and infirm, it was assumed

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<v Speaker 2>that upon his death, the crown would pass to her

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<v Speaker 2>younger brother John. Both Anna and her mother attempted to

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<v Speaker 2>persuade the die in Alexios to let Anna's husband inherit

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<v Speaker 2>so that she could rule, but they were unsuccessful. When

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<v Speaker 2>Alexios died, John the Second was crowned almost immediately. Some

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<v Speaker 2>historians say that Anna schemed to depose John, but the

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<v Speaker 2>plot was discovered and she was sent from court in disgrace.

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<v Speaker 2>Her royal ambition permanently thwarted. Anna Kommemni spent the last

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<v Speaker 2>thirty five years of her life reading and writing. She

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<v Speaker 2>became Europe's first female historian, although there is still rigorous

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<v Speaker 2>debates over whether her work should count as literature or history.

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<v Speaker 2>After all, The Alexiad is far from an objective accounting

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<v Speaker 2>of history, and she knew that she would face this

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<v Speaker 2>criticism too. In the preface of the book, she addressed

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<v Speaker 2>the idea that one has to sometimes pay compliments to

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<v Speaker 2>your enemies and criticize your relatives. In spite of this awareness,

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<v Speaker 2>it's impossible to argue that she wrote an unbiased work.

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<v Speaker 2>In fact, her very opinionated prose is what makes the

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<v Speaker 2>Alexiad a vital read. It is not an objectively accurate

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<v Speaker 2>piece of historiography, but it provides a valuable insight into

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<v Speaker 2>the reign of Alexios from someone who is close to him.

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<v Speaker 2>It shows us her contempt for the Crusaders, her assessment

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<v Speaker 2>of her father's military achievements, her resentment toward her brother.

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<v Speaker 2>Like all good primary documents, it makes history feel a

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<v Speaker 2>little more human. More modern scholars have attempted to dismiss

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<v Speaker 2>or downplay her contributions to our understanding of the era,

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<v Speaker 2>but in spite of that, the Alexiad is among the

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<v Speaker 2>most important epics of its era. Without exaggeration, there is

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<v Speaker 2>no piece of literature quite like it. John may have

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<v Speaker 2>gotten the crown, but in the end Anna got the

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<v Speaker 2>last word. Otto g. Lindbergh and Ernest Alpers stood on

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<v Speaker 2>the dusty shoulder of the road, looking up at the

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<v Speaker 2>painted marquee of the general store with an expression somewhere

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<v Speaker 2>between horror and awe. A few feet away, two young

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<v Speaker 2>girls in gingham dresses sat sipping from glass soda bottles.

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<v Speaker 2>Farmers and their families poured in and out of the

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<v Speaker 2>red storefront, arms laden with paper grocery bags and smiles

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<v Speaker 2>on their faces. And above it all hung a sign

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<v Speaker 2>with hand painted script that read ag Low General Store

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<v Speaker 2>The scene was nothing short of picturesque and everyday American

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<v Speaker 2>general store bustling with everyday Americans going about their everyday business.

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<v Speaker 2>Only Otto and Earnest knew the truth that none of this,

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<v Speaker 2>not the general store, or the families, or the girls

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<v Speaker 2>sipping cola were real. Thirteen years earlier, around nineteen thirty seven,

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<v Speaker 2>Otto and Ernest sat across from one another feeling very

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<v Speaker 2>pleased with themselves. Their industry was a cutthroat one. Deception, betrayal,

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<v Speaker 2>and most significantly, copycats were common pitfalls of their profession.

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<v Speaker 2>But that day, in the offices of General Drafting Company,

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<v Speaker 2>Otto and Ernest had an idea to overcome even the

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<v Speaker 2>sneakiest copycat artists. Okay, cartography, the science and art of

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<v Speaker 2>making maps may not be the first thing that comes

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<v Speaker 2>to mind when you think of unscrupulous business, but if

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<v Speaker 2>you asked Otto in Earnest, they would say that you

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<v Speaker 2>couldn't be more wrong. The world of map making hadn't

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<v Speaker 2>always been so lucrative, but as automobiles grew in popularity

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<v Speaker 2>through the nineteen thirties and forties, so too did the

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<v Speaker 2>need for road maps. And as the need for those

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<v Speaker 2>maps grew, so did the need for people looking to

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<v Speaker 2>take advantage of that business. After all, it's not as

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<v Speaker 2>if someone could prove a map was stolen or copied.

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<v Speaker 2>If they were accurate, then all maps kind of showed

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<v Speaker 2>the same thing, the same towns and the same cities

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<v Speaker 2>and the same roads, except for Aglow. Otto and Ernest's

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<v Speaker 2>brilliant idea. A copyright trap was an extra town, one

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<v Speaker 2>entirely made up by Otto and Earnest near the Catskills

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<v Speaker 2>at the intersection of New York two O six and

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<v Speaker 2>Rockefeller Road. Of course, Aglow wasn't a real place. Motorists

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<v Speaker 2>who were passing through Aglow would see a dirt road

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<v Speaker 2>intersection and a few scrubby patches of grass. This meant

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<v Speaker 2>any other maps that cropped up with the ma arker

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<v Speaker 2>for Aglow would be easy to identify as copyright infringement.

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<v Speaker 2>The name itself was a private joke, an anagram of

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<v Speaker 2>their initials Alpers g Lindberg, Otto, Ernest or Aglow. In

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen fifty, the Aglo Trap snagged its first prey. Rival

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<v Speaker 2>map company ran McNally published their map of New York

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<v Speaker 2>that included you guessed it, Aglow, Otto and Ernest were

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<v Speaker 2>thrilled by this. Not only had their plan worked, but

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<v Speaker 2>they had caught the massive corporation red handed. General Drafting

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<v Speaker 2>Company filed a lawsuit against ran McNally for copyright infringement,

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<v Speaker 2>expecting an easy victory in court and a sizable paycheck

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<v Speaker 2>for their trouble. But Rand McNally responded to the lawsuit. No,

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<v Speaker 2>they said, we didn't copy your map. We'd sent someone

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<v Speaker 2>out to Aglow and there's a real town there. What's more,

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<v Speaker 2>they told Auto and Earnest that the Delaware County offices

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<v Speaker 2>had records of Aglow. There was a gas station, a

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<v Speaker 2>general store, a fishing lodge, and a sparse collection of houses.

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<v Speaker 2>It seems that someone whose identity is now lost to

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<v Speaker 2>time actually arrived in the false town of Aglow after

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<v Speaker 2>finding it on one of Otto and Earnest's maps purchased

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<v Speaker 2>from the General Drafting Company. And when this individual saw

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<v Speaker 2>the dirt road intersection and empty acres, they interpreted the

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<v Speaker 2>non existent town as a land of opportunity and built

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<v Speaker 2>a town in that spot. This person must have assumed

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<v Speaker 2>that the name Aglow was in the official census record,

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<v Speaker 2>and so that's the name that this person and all

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<v Speaker 2>preceding businesses gave to their operations there the Aglow General Store,

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<v Speaker 2>Aglow gas Station, Aglow Fishing Lodge. I think you get

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<v Speaker 2>the idea, And so Otto and Ernest went and saw

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<v Speaker 2>the place for themselves, and they were shocked by what

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<v Speaker 2>they found. In their imaginative attempt to deter copycats, they

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<v Speaker 2>had somehow accidentally created a real town. Of course, Rand

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<v Speaker 2>McNally was found not guilty. The town of Aglow flourished

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<v Speaker 2>as much as a ton of a one hundred people

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<v Speaker 2>or so can. Around nineteen sixty, the general store closed,

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<v Speaker 2>than the gas station, than the lodge. Aglow fell into disrepair,

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<v Speaker 2>then eventually vanished, reverting back to that scrubby patch of

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<v Speaker 2>grass and a dirt road intersection that Otto and Ernest

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<v Speaker 2>had originally imagined. But the ghost of Aglow haunted most

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<v Speaker 2>other maps for decades. Heck, up until twenty eighteen, it

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<v Speaker 2>was still searchable on Google or Apple Maps. New generations

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<v Speaker 2>continued falling for the old trick, and Aglow gained popularity

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<v Speaker 2>after its appearance in John Green's novel Paper Towns. Once again,

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<v Speaker 2>the town of Aglow seems to thrive best in fiction.

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<v Speaker 2>I hope you enjoyed today's guided tour through the Cabinet

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<v Speaker 2>of Curiosities. This show was created by me Aaron Mankey

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<v Speaker 2>in partnership with iHeart Podcasts, researched and written by the

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<v Speaker 2>Grim and Mild team, and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn

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<v Speaker 2>more about the show and the people who make it

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<v Speaker 2>over at Grimandmild dot com slash Curiosities. You'll also find

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<v Speaker 2>a link to the official Cabinet of Curiosity's hardcover book,

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<v Speaker 2>available in bookstores and online, as well as ebook and audiobook.

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<v Speaker 2>And if you're looking for an ad free option, consider

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<v Speaker 2>joining our Patreon. It's all the same stories, but without

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<v Speaker 2>the interruption for a small monthly fee. Learn more and

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<v Speaker 2>sign up over at patreon dot com slash Grimandmild, and

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<v Speaker 2>until next time, stay curious.