1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: Ridiculous Histories, a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to the 2 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 1: show Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so much for 3 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:34,960 Speaker 1: tuning in. Let's give a shout out to our own 4 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: towering super producer, mister Max Williams. 5 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:39,240 Speaker 2: EO EO. 6 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 3: I just want to point out that before we started 7 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 3: this episode, we were talking about the topic and Noel 8 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 3: gwent Skyrim, and so we're starting this recording about five 9 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 3: minutes later than we were originally going to because we 10 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 3: talked about White Run and Iron Daggers, sure, the towers theory, 11 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 3: all that kind of funn and Nolda sat there and 12 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:57,639 Speaker 3: was like, why did I do this? 13 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: So that's Noel Brown, that's me, and we're all still 14 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:05,559 Speaker 1: playing Skyrim. And I think it was the phrase sky 15 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 1: that got all of us started today. 16 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 2: Uh. 17 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: Previously on Ridiculous History, we discussed the idea of skyscrapers. 18 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: What's the what's like the tallest building you guys have 19 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:20,559 Speaker 1: been in geez. 20 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 2: I think when I was a kid, I went to 21 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 2: the Sears Tower in Chicago, which I think is a 22 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:28,959 Speaker 2: is a kind of one of the biggies, or at 23 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:30,440 Speaker 2: least it was for a while. 24 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, it's it's so it's going to look so 25 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: strange to future historians, like you fast forward. 26 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 2: I think about this often. We've talked about on the show. 27 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 1: You fast forward several centuries or millennia, and imagine that 28 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: you are an historian walking through the ruins of a 29 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: modern city or what we call modern city today, and 30 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: you see a bunch of interstates or the ruins of interstates, 31 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,919 Speaker 1: and you see a bunch of weirdly foul like buildings, 32 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:04,080 Speaker 1: you know, like you would you would walk around and 33 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,680 Speaker 1: you would say, the people of this city, they had 34 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: a sophisticated aqueduct system, and they worshiped the penis. 35 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:16,959 Speaker 2: They were obsessed with dogs z they would obsist with dogs. 36 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:19,920 Speaker 3: I mean, I will say the one we have in Atlanta, 37 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 3: so we have I mean, it's the Bank of America 38 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 3: buildings how I've always referred to. But it's like it's 39 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 3: like it's like a really tall one. And I've always 40 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,680 Speaker 3: referred to as like the giant cigarette, because it's just 41 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 3: like this is the one thing and it's right at 42 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 3: the top, but it's just like a cigarettes cigarette. Yes, 43 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 3: it is very phallic in nature, and maybe we're projecting 44 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 3: a bit, but we can be honest when we say 45 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 3: skyscrapers are so cool and they are so very ridiculous, right, 46 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 3: they're kind of weird looking. 47 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 2: They're weird looking. I mean, I guess they make sense, 48 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,800 Speaker 2: you know, in these you know, very densely populated urban 49 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 2: air areas where real estate is it's such a premium 50 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 2: and there's really nowhere to put stuff except up, right, Yeah, yeah, 51 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 2: it is. 52 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,960 Speaker 1: That's a great point, because it makes sense to build 53 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 1: up and maybe to build down instead of to build out. 54 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: And if you canna afford it, right, if you could 55 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:26,639 Speaker 1: afford it, yeah, usually the basement apartments are cheaper than 56 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: the penthouses so far. 57 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 2: But SCOTTSCA flooding right, oh yeah. Also, remember when New 58 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 2: York was having all that crazy flooding and the subways 59 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 2: and stuff. A lot of the cool hipster types with 60 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 2: recording studios and basements in Bushwick lost all their vinyl 61 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 2: and all their crazy you know, consoles and vintage mics. 62 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 2: Because that water it flows downhill, aka into your basement 63 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 2: studio or apartment. 64 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: And this this may be apocryphal, but I heard back 65 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: in the day that New York City will flood if 66 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: it does not constantly have underground water pumps. 67 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 2: Have you guys heard that like that? It certainly makes sense. 68 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 1: The subways will be inundated. They rely on this underground 69 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: machinery to keep things dry. But you know, they're still 70 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,359 Speaker 1: going with it. New York City. Maybe a fad, but 71 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: hopefully a fad that continues, and New York City and 72 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 1: Chicago as will find. It's really continuing an ancient human 73 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: architectural trend. When we're talking about skyscrapers, we're talking about 74 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: this human urge to build the biggest, tallest thing. 75 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:52,239 Speaker 2: All the time. Isn't that interesting the way what once 76 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 2: was very much a spiritual pursuit, or at the very 77 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 2: least you could even argue an attempt to to you know, 78 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 2: kind of play God right and build up into the 79 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,720 Speaker 2: heavens like the Tower of Babel. Wasn't that almost considered 80 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:13,520 Speaker 2: blasphemous to attempt to dare build something that would attempt 81 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 2: to touch the heavens or to reach into the celestial realm. 82 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, it was like if God wanted us to be 83 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: that high in the atmosphere, God would have made us 84 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: taller exactly. So, I mean, it's nuts, right, because we 85 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:36,359 Speaker 1: have seen throughout history, throughout cultures when people can build 86 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:41,839 Speaker 1: big stuff, they do, and historically very tall or very 87 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 1: large structures were the flex of religious or political leaders, 88 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: you know, for a long long time. The biggest building 89 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 1: ever or the tallest, I should say it was the 90 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,800 Speaker 1: Great Pyramid of Giza. It was built, as we know 91 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 1: to you know, built as a grave basically for the 92 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: pharaoh Kufu. And it was I almost said, at its 93 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:12,080 Speaker 1: height it was around four hundred and seventy six feet tall. 94 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 2: That was huge. 95 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: For like four thousand years, that was the tallest building. 96 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, And I mean, you know, I was just kind 97 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 2: of trying to check myself about this, the apocryphal nature 98 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 2: of the Tower of Babel story, which I think can 99 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 2: be looked at a little bit more as a metaphor 100 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:32,200 Speaker 2: and allegory of like man trying to contend with the 101 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 2: boundaries set by God. Right. But there's an interesting little 102 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,279 Speaker 2: post on a Reddit thread that says, and then they said, come, 103 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 2: let us build ourselves a city and a tower with 104 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 2: its top in the heavens, and let us make a 105 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:49,600 Speaker 2: name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face 106 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,599 Speaker 2: of the whole earth. God took this as pride and arrogance. 107 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:56,920 Speaker 2: Man was simply trying to unite and stick together with 108 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 2: one language and one common goal. God punished Man and 109 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:05,039 Speaker 2: forced him to live up to his name and worship him. Yeah. 110 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:09,279 Speaker 1: Humans tried to do something cool and God took that personally. 111 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 2: Last that story. 112 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and that's I think in the in the legends, 113 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: in the folklore, that is the origin of linguistic fragmentation. 114 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 2: That's right, right. 115 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: So the we also, I think we talked about it earlier. 116 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: We also know that the definition of a tower or 117 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: a tall building has changed. It's escalated over time. 118 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 2: Yeah. Ten, things tend to do that, don't they. You 119 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 2: got to kind of outdo your predecessors once, right, that 120 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:52,119 Speaker 2: the tomb of Faroh Cufu, for example, well with cows 121 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 2: within the Great Pyramids of Giza, were one hundred and 122 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 2: forty five meters high, which is around four hundred and 123 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:02,640 Speaker 2: seventy six feet tall by days standards. That's a pittance. 124 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 2: As the Brits might say, Yeah, it's fine, you know 125 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:13,200 Speaker 2: what I mean, It's perfectly fine, sacred geometrical space. Yes, right, 126 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 2: we also know that. 127 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: I don't know, man, I always think about the first 128 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: time I saw the Tower of London, and it's fine. 129 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:29,680 Speaker 2: We're such bummers. Well, no, it is interesting too though, 130 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:32,480 Speaker 2: because I mean a lot of times, building for height 131 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:36,679 Speaker 2: when it came to these types of towers was about defense. 132 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 2: It was about getting one up on your enemies and 133 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 2: about having a bird's eye view, being able to see 134 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 2: folks coming from as far away as possible, and you know, 135 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 2: having them to fight through a whole bunch of floors 136 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 2: of guards and soldiers and what have you in order 137 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 2: to get to the big boss. 138 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:57,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, we should do an episode on why castles aren't 139 00:08:57,720 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: built the way they are. You know, when the holes 140 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 1: to shoot arrows, what are those things called it? 141 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 2: There's a name for them. Okay, I got a couple 142 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 2: of names, arrow loops being one of them, because they 143 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,439 Speaker 2: were these strategic spots where you know, archers would be 144 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,439 Speaker 2: able to post up and have some coverage, right, or 145 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 2: cover as we call it in video game parlance. And holes, yeah, man, 146 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 2: give me them murder holes. That's nasty, also known as 147 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 2: crenels and oh gosh, how do I even pronounce this? 148 00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:38,560 Speaker 2: Machia colliations, machio machia machio collations, let's call it that. Yeah, 149 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 2: I like murder holes. 150 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 1: The murder holes rule so it's the we know, as 151 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:48,679 Speaker 1: you were saying, that a lot of these larger buildings 152 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:54,560 Speaker 1: were created entirely for defense and then secondarily for status. 153 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: The Tower London, for us playing along at home, is 154 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: about eighty nine feet tall, and that used to be 155 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: a big deal historically. Yeah, not to sound like a jerk, 156 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 1: The Tower of London is a compound. It is impressive, 157 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:14,960 Speaker 1: It is historically significant. They are perhaps most famous nowadays 158 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:19,280 Speaker 1: for the infamous at times non consensual residents of the tower, 159 00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:22,320 Speaker 1: and of course the ravens. 160 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 2: Of course, I mean oftentimes those non consential residents were 161 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:30,719 Speaker 2: big time you know, political dissidents, prisoners, and again they 162 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:36,319 Speaker 2: were high profile prisoners who would probably have people coming 163 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:39,559 Speaker 2: for them to rescue them, right or to help stage 164 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 2: their grand escape, which would be very difficult to do 165 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:44,840 Speaker 2: in such a vertical prison as that. 166 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: And so for most of this period of history, all 167 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 1: these folks were trying to build the biggest, the tallest 168 00:10:55,000 --> 00:11:01,800 Speaker 1: structure ever and they never topped the Great Pyramid for 169 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:05,760 Speaker 1: four thousand years, around about four thousand years, it was 170 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:09,640 Speaker 1: the tallest thing humans had ever made. The record was 171 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 1: only broken in the thirteen hundreds with the construction of 172 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:19,360 Speaker 1: Lincoln Cathedral, which is almost five hundred and twenty five 173 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:23,439 Speaker 1: feet tall or one hundred and sixty meters for everybody 174 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 1: outside of the US and Namibia. 175 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:28,680 Speaker 2: Well, I mean, you know, with this this close to 176 00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 2: the construction of the Great Pyramids, you started seeing it 177 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:40,559 Speaker 2: being overstepped by kind of very small orders of magnitude, right, yeah, yeah, now. 178 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:43,880 Speaker 1: This technology would allow, right yeah, Just so now we're 179 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: seeing now we're seeing something similar to setting Olympic records. Right, 180 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:53,680 Speaker 1: people are beating each other in very small increments. 181 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:56,800 Speaker 2: And we're back to that now because it's got we 182 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:00,439 Speaker 2: once again come full circle almost where much high you're 183 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 2: gonna start having logistical problems where things are going to 184 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 2: collapse under their own weight, right for sure. 185 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 1: We also in full disclosure, folks, we're wondering whether this 186 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:14,840 Speaker 1: will be a two part episode. But whether it's one 187 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:20,640 Speaker 1: part or two parts, I pose the following question, should 188 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: an antenna count toward the height of the tallest skyscraper? 189 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:30,680 Speaker 1: That's obviously where we're going, But Samon, no, absolutely not. 190 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 2: I think I think no, I think it's a bit 191 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:36,400 Speaker 2: of a cheat, a bit of a lazy move there. Yeah, 192 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,080 Speaker 2: I am tempted to agree. So a burrito is not 193 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 2: a sandwich. What about hot dog tbd? 194 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, that one's hard. I mean, I think it's kind 195 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,320 Speaker 3: of just its own thing. But I mean it is 196 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 3: meet between two pieces of bread, but the bread is combined, 197 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 3: so who. 198 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 2: Knows it's joined together on one side, open on the other. 199 00:12:57,200 --> 00:12:59,640 Speaker 2: Whereas to me, I think a wrap should be a 200 00:12:59,679 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 2: categor glory of edible confection. I mean, I guess that's redundant. 201 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:12,320 Speaker 2: Confection is inherently edible, so we also have uh. But 202 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:15,679 Speaker 2: the the lore like a seared slaughterfish, though, did you 203 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:17,120 Speaker 2: make that in a wrap? That'd be good? 204 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,600 Speaker 1: The lore of food in Skyrim is amazing. One time 205 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: I spent an entire weekend just cooking in that game. 206 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:26,320 Speaker 2: You know, it's funny. I've been balancing my time between 207 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 2: Skyrim and Fallout four and the food game and Fallout 208 00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:34,040 Speaker 2: four is not very appetizing, especially when compared to Skyrim, 209 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 2: which you can you know, you can make some tasty 210 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:38,520 Speaker 2: stuff in Skyrim, but you're you're you're lucky if the 211 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 2: food in Fallout doesn't give you rad poisoning. 212 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:43,600 Speaker 1: It's so weird that the one like one of the 213 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 1: most rare things in Skyrim is milk. 214 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 3: I mean, no, you don't want to eat some grilled 215 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 3: rad roach. Nah man giant cocky retail so good? 216 00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: Uh So, everybody right in and when you give us 217 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:00,559 Speaker 1: a review, please say you enjoy the tangents. 218 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:04,800 Speaker 2: Will tell us what your favorite RPG recipes are. There 219 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 2: we go. I like that. 220 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: We also know that people were just trying to get higher. 221 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: Like if you go to Tibet you see the palace 222 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,160 Speaker 1: of the Dhali Lama, which is built high up in 223 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 1: the mountains. You see in Grecian culture, the monasteries of Athos. 224 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: In each of those cases, they weren't trying to make 225 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 1: the tallest building. They were trying to build a building 226 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,240 Speaker 1: in the tallest or the highest place so that they 227 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 1: could get as close to Heaven as possible. It's crazy ambitious. 228 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 1: That's where the idea of skyscrapers comes from. I mean, 229 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: if we want to learn about the origin of the 230 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 1: modern skyscraper today, which are in all major cities, then 231 00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:58,720 Speaker 1: we have to head back to the eighteen hundreds. 232 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:01,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, we have to buy over to Britannica, who said 233 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,200 Speaker 2: that the increase in urban commerce in the United States 234 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 2: and the second half of the nineteenth century augmented the 235 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:10,360 Speaker 2: need for city business space, and the installation of the 236 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 2: first safe passenger elevator in the how It department store 237 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 2: in New York City in eighteen fifty seven made practical 238 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:23,280 Speaker 2: the erection of buildings more than four or five stories tall. 239 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 2: The earliest skyscrapers rested on extremely thick masonry. They were chunky, 240 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 2: but donkeys. 241 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:37,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, because they read into some problems of material science. Right. 242 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: You see a pyramid and you realize the shape of 243 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:45,600 Speaker 1: a pyramid is entirely due to the fact that every 244 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: single brick is carrying the weight of every other brick 245 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,880 Speaker 1: atop it. So you have to build this masonry extremely 246 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: thick so that you can have a third, fourth, or 247 00:15:57,560 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: fifth floor. 248 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 2: It's the foundation that everything's builts on. And you know, 249 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 2: foundations are obviously still important in modern skyscrapers. But one 250 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 2: thing anyone who's been up in one of these things 251 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 2: will notice is that they kind of sway. It's weird. 252 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 2: They're built to be flexible because they are their center 253 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,840 Speaker 2: of gravity is such that, you know, if they are 254 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 2: completely rigid, a little stiff breeze could cause some real, 255 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 2: you know, fun functional problems. So they are built to 256 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 2: kind of flex. Yeah. 257 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, And in some parts of the world, Japan in particular, 258 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: architects figured out how to build skyscrapers that will shift 259 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,800 Speaker 1: on their foundation a little bit during earthquakes. 260 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 2: That's part of it. I'm sorry, Yeah, I should have 261 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 2: mentioned earthquakes. For sure. It's much less about the breeze 262 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:48,640 Speaker 2: blowing over your building than it is about these kind 263 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:53,040 Speaker 2: of geologic events, because you know, a little tremor if 264 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:56,880 Speaker 2: a building is super rigid, that's gonna be bad times. 265 00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 2: You got to go with the flow. But it is 266 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 2: a little unnerving to feel that if you're up in 267 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 2: the tippy tippy top of one of these things and 268 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:06,320 Speaker 2: you you do kind of get the sense that you're 269 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 2: swaying a little bit, and they can feel a little 270 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:10,920 Speaker 2: spooky at the top. 271 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:14,000 Speaker 1: It's like being on a boat, right, And then you 272 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:17,439 Speaker 1: get back down to the surface and you think, is 273 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:20,160 Speaker 1: the world moving or am I dizzy? 274 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:20,679 Speaker 2: Uh? 275 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:27,920 Speaker 1: We also have to know this entire origin of modern skyscrapers. 276 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 1: You know, for like several thousand years, people were doing 277 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: their best and everything kept falling down over time except 278 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 1: for the Great Pyramids. And then the origin of the 279 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:47,240 Speaker 1: modern skyscraper really goes back to one. Dude, he had 280 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:50,760 Speaker 1: a weird day, he went kind of nuts. He changed 281 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: the course of architecture. 282 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 2: And then how it goes. Yes, yeah, I guess so yeah, 283 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:00,200 Speaker 2: New York minute, everything can change. 284 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:04,680 Speaker 1: New York minute, a Chicago second. It's between eighteen eighty 285 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 1: four nineteen forty five. The skyscraper boom begins in eighteen 286 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 1: eighty five when a guy named William le Baron Jenny 287 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,719 Speaker 1: has his dream come true the Home Insurance Building in Chicago. 288 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:22,639 Speaker 2: What a get the Home Insurance Building? Yeah? Yeah, it 289 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:23,880 Speaker 2: was a big, big name. 290 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:29,399 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah it was. It was ten stories tall and 291 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:34,280 Speaker 1: its construction used metal in place of masonry. And then 292 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 1: a few years later, in eighteen ninety, they added two 293 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:40,720 Speaker 1: more stories. They figured out the math and they were like, well, 294 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:45,000 Speaker 1: we can make it two stories taller, and they you know, 295 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 1: it ended up being twelve stories tall. It was also 296 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 1: an insurance building, as you pointed out, so it's very 297 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:58,359 Speaker 1: important to the companies involved to make it look, you know, reliable, 298 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: because if you're an insurance company and your headquarters Topples, 299 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: should you be insuring homes? 300 00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:08,720 Speaker 2: Are you ensuring yourself? That's going to be a pretty 301 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:12,760 Speaker 2: serious claim, you know, It's funny too, how skyscrapers, you 302 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 2: know that kind of dot these urban skylines serve as 303 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:24,080 Speaker 2: these kind of flagship locations for these giant companies and 304 00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:27,320 Speaker 2: also kind of billboards for them. You know, that's a 305 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 2: big part of it too, is people are competing for 306 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:32,639 Speaker 2: you know, eyeballs. Yeah. 307 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, like you pointed out the Sears tower, like Max 308 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:40,560 Speaker 1: said earlier, the Bank of America building, these things are 309 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 1: very much advertisements, incredibly important, incredibly expensive advertisements. Apparently the 310 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:54,520 Speaker 1: story is this the origin of modern skyscraper technology dates 311 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:59,880 Speaker 1: to this time when our guy, Jenny, an engineer, he 312 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:04,960 Speaker 1: was looking at his wife who placed a heavy book 313 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:08,879 Speaker 1: on top of a small bird cage, and he was 314 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:13,959 Speaker 1: surprised that this small metal bird cage supported such a 315 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:14,920 Speaker 1: heavy toe. 316 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:15,200 Speaker 2: Oh. 317 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:18,800 Speaker 1: He was also, by the way, the a classmate of 318 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:22,280 Speaker 1: Gustave Eiffel, the guy who built the Eiffel. 319 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 2: Tower, heard of him. Yeah, so that makes sense because 320 00:20:24,280 --> 00:20:27,640 Speaker 2: I guess the kind of configuration of the way the 321 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:33,600 Speaker 2: bent kind of metal times, I guess, in the structure 322 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 2: of a bird cage not that dissimilar from the kind 323 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:41,720 Speaker 2: of metal girders that support the frames of modern skyscrapers. 324 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:45,959 Speaker 1: Yeah, It's all about weight distribution, is it not. And 325 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: it seems like I Felt was also super into this 326 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 1: idea because he would later build the Eiffel Tower. Essentially, 327 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:58,480 Speaker 1: our buddy Jenny saw this bird cage supporting a heavy 328 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:02,040 Speaker 1: book and he thought the most American thing ever. 329 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:08,480 Speaker 2: He thought, hell yeah, but bigger, ah yeah, supersized right, supercisely. Indeed, 330 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 2: some other factors played a little bit of a role 331 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:16,800 Speaker 2: in the development of the modern skyscrapers. Natural disasters, or 332 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 2: I guess you know, man made perhaps in this case, 333 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:23,680 Speaker 2: the Chicago Fire. The Great Chicago Fire burned more than 334 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:28,240 Speaker 2: three square miles of what at the time was a 335 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:33,640 Speaker 2: mostly wooden part of the city in eighteen seventy one. 336 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:35,359 Speaker 2: I mean things were you know, I think that's a 337 00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:38,880 Speaker 2: lot of times how wooden structures or entirely wooden structures 338 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 2: got phased out. It is usually due to them catching 339 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 2: on fire and burning to ash and then thinking there 340 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:47,720 Speaker 2: must be a better way. So there was a bit 341 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:52,399 Speaker 2: of a golden if kind of pyric opportunity to build 342 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:57,200 Speaker 2: more durable buildings. Oftentimes we see innovation come from great 343 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 2: moments of destruction, much like the way Japan had two 344 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:07,919 Speaker 2: major cities destroyed by atomic bombs wielded by the Americans 345 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,160 Speaker 2: of course, or I guess the Allies, and it gave 346 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:17,120 Speaker 2: them this opportunity, you know, through hallacious suffering and misfortune 347 00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 2: and destruction to rebuild in an image that they were 348 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:24,000 Speaker 2: able to kind of choose right, and it really bred 349 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 2: all of this insane innovation, and we to this day 350 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:35,880 Speaker 2: looked to Japan as kind of these leaders in futuristic everything, technology, architecture, ideas, toilets. Dude, 351 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 2: I recently became a cost Co member and they sell 352 00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:44,640 Speaker 2: those Toto washlets there for a very deep discount. Only 353 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,040 Speaker 2: issue is I got to get an outlet installed next 354 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:49,720 Speaker 2: to my toilet, so that's got to come first. But boy, 355 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:52,640 Speaker 2: oh boy, am I looking forward to that circular stream 356 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:54,680 Speaker 2: that you can and it can be cool. It can 357 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:58,720 Speaker 2: be it can go clockwise counterclockwise. The world is your oyster. 358 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:03,320 Speaker 2: Everybody check out episode on bidets. Japan, as we know, 359 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 2: is pooping in the future. There's not a better way 360 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 2: to say it. We also know to your point about 361 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:17,119 Speaker 2: disaster creating opportunity for innovation, we know that Chicago and 362 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,879 Speaker 2: the northern part of the United States in general was 363 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:26,359 Speaker 2: benefiting from the post Civil War economy, right, there was 364 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:31,160 Speaker 2: a great northern migration. There were tons of jobs. 365 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:36,719 Speaker 1: There was a lot of demand for industry because you know, 366 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 1: the lower half of the country collapsed. And so let's 367 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 1: go to an excellent article by The Guardian called the 368 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: World's First Skyscraper. A History of Cities in fifty Buildings, 369 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 1: Day nine. Spoiler, folks, it's a series. The journalist is 370 00:23:54,400 --> 00:24:00,800 Speaker 1: named Colin Marshall, and we especially loved this quote. Colin writes, 371 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 1: for obvious reasons, when the New York Home Insurance Company 372 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:09,400 Speaker 1: wanted a new Chicago headquarters in the city's cleared out 373 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:14,280 Speaker 1: kay burned down downtown, they wanted this fire proofed, but 374 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:17,359 Speaker 1: they also wanted it tall, with a maximum number of 375 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:22,160 Speaker 1: small offices above the bank floor. And so Jenny does 376 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: a pitch, and this guy's pitch is pretty innovative. He says, Look, 377 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:30,840 Speaker 1: I saw this bird cage one time and it held 378 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,400 Speaker 1: a heavy book, so I kind of want to do that. 379 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:43,479 Speaker 1: But with your huge building also sold, someone said sold. 380 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:47,119 Speaker 1: But then, as we'll see, people were a little skeptical 381 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,679 Speaker 1: because this had not been done before. It wouldn't have 382 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,520 Speaker 1: to have all that thick masonry. I mean they put 383 00:24:54,359 --> 00:25:02,159 Speaker 1: stonework around the metal structure like an exoskeleton. This was 384 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: sort of a science experiment. 385 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:07,679 Speaker 2: Well that's the thing I'm always interested about, like early 386 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:12,919 Speaker 2: days of this type of insane architectural innovation, before the 387 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 2: advent of like computer modeling, right, yeah, autocat, and also 388 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:21,960 Speaker 2: to test, you know, and model in like a computer environment, 389 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 2: the types of tolerances that are needed, you know, to 390 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:27,560 Speaker 2: make sure those things can flex and bend and do 391 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:29,199 Speaker 2: what they need to do. A lot of this, I mean, 392 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:34,280 Speaker 2: of course, architecture was a long practiced you know field 393 00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:36,720 Speaker 2: at this point, and then a lot of improvements and 394 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:38,920 Speaker 2: innovations have been made, but not the kind that I'm 395 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,360 Speaker 2: talking about. So there was a lot of kind of like, well, 396 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:45,240 Speaker 2: let's just build it and see what happens, right, right, right. 397 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:48,639 Speaker 2: I mean I think I'm grossly oversimplifying here, but there 398 00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:53,399 Speaker 2: certainly was not the same you know assurance that we 399 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:56,359 Speaker 2: might have today of what how material is going to 400 00:25:56,400 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 2: behave in the wild? Yeah, in the field. 401 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:12,200 Speaker 1: This building, according to Jenny's plans, it would not have 402 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:16,159 Speaker 1: to get thicker and darker and stuffier in order to 403 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:20,560 Speaker 1: achieve maximum height. In fact, it weighed far less than 404 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:24,520 Speaker 1: a similar building made entirely of stone would have weighed 405 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,359 Speaker 1: because it used iron and it used steel. And to 406 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:32,639 Speaker 1: your point, now, there were skeptics in the planning stages, 407 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,960 Speaker 1: and Jenny's a bit ballsy about this. One member of 408 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:44,080 Speaker 1: the planning committee said, well, your ideas intriguing. Would we 409 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 1: see the evidence of an earlier structure that proves this 410 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:53,240 Speaker 1: idea will work? Where is there such a building, they asked, 411 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,520 Speaker 1: and he was like, well, this is going to be 412 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:57,200 Speaker 1: the first one. 413 00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:01,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, nowhere is where? So there really is sort of 414 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:06,399 Speaker 2: a leap of faith inherent in this whole affair. You know, 415 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:10,840 Speaker 2: the skepticism was very valid because there was really no 416 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:13,720 Speaker 2: there were no examples, you know, in the wild to 417 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 2: look to. So once ippened, then I guess they just 418 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,719 Speaker 2: decided to go with God and put their trust in Jenny. 419 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,439 Speaker 2: And so after construction began, the Home Insurance Company and 420 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:27,560 Speaker 2: the City of Chicago actually kind of got cold feet 421 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:31,280 Speaker 2: after the fact, and they temporarily shut down the project 422 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:34,600 Speaker 2: in order to do a little bit more investigation as 423 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,640 Speaker 2: to whether the building could actually stand up on its own. 424 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,239 Speaker 2: Kind of think that that might have been something they 425 00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:43,639 Speaker 2: would have done before breaking ground, but it was a 426 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,480 Speaker 2: different time. You know, like a scale model. 427 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,120 Speaker 1: I love, love, love, I do too the scale models 428 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:52,320 Speaker 1: of anything. I'm a sucker for them. I think one 429 00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:57,439 Speaker 1: of our mutually favorite parts of the film Hereditary was 430 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,480 Speaker 1: the almost the scale model instruction. 431 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:05,120 Speaker 2: And you know, in the development here in Atlanta where 432 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:07,240 Speaker 2: we used to have our offices Pont City Market, we 433 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:09,960 Speaker 2: talked about this down in the food hall or in 434 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 2: kind of one of the atriums. When you walk in, 435 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:14,480 Speaker 2: they do have scale models or the whole development. And 436 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:19,080 Speaker 2: I guess today that's more of a nostalgic thing to 437 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:21,800 Speaker 2: kind of, you know, for a show piece. I don't 438 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:24,199 Speaker 2: think they're necessarily relying on it and the way they 439 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:26,640 Speaker 2: would have back in the day. But it's a good question, Ben, 440 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:30,320 Speaker 2: because you can to a degree model some of this 441 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:33,680 Speaker 2: stuff by just building it at a much smaller scale, 442 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:37,040 Speaker 2: you know, sort of like making a cake recipe that's 443 00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 2: only for two servings versus like, you know, a giant cake. 444 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:44,000 Speaker 2: Can you do that? Sure you can't. Well, you just 445 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 2: have the ingredients. I'm just saying, like, you know, if 446 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,320 Speaker 2: it's just the theory, well ratio, So in theory, if 447 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:51,640 Speaker 2: you're like making a recipe and you make like a 448 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:53,800 Speaker 2: single serve. Maybe cake's a bad example, but like a 449 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 2: single serving of let's say, chicken pad tie, you can just, 450 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:02,000 Speaker 2: you know, multiply all of those ingredients by an order 451 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:07,160 Speaker 2: of magnitude to get a massive, scaled amount of that dish. 452 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:11,160 Speaker 2: In theory, you can do the same thing with construction, right. Yeah, 453 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:13,720 Speaker 2: And if the small one tastes good and you follow 454 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 2: the same order of operations and you multiply it by 455 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:20,040 Speaker 2: the same factors, then in theory, the big one should 456 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,920 Speaker 2: taste exactly the same, but just be way, way, way 457 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 2: more of it. Again, not an architect grossly oversimplifying here, 458 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:28,360 Speaker 2: but I think that sort of holds water. 459 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:33,920 Speaker 1: Hey, I learned something new today. I cannot believe that 460 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:38,600 Speaker 1: I just now have been taught the idea of cooking 461 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:40,280 Speaker 1: what I'll call lonely cake. 462 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 2: Lonely cake. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if 463 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:46,160 Speaker 2: there's a pan that's designed for just making a single 464 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 2: slice of cake. But you certainly could make a smaller 465 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:51,240 Speaker 2: version of a of a cake. 466 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:55,600 Speaker 1: And we also know that cupcakes exist. Okay, there's no 467 00:29:55,680 --> 00:30:00,240 Speaker 1: reason to post that at us, because that's that's what 468 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 1: it is, right, is a cupcake only a lonely cake? 469 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 2: Absolutely. It is. You could theoretically make a single cupcake 470 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:09,360 Speaker 2: if you wished, if you did the math right. 471 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:13,400 Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, And so that's what they're arguing. The City 472 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:18,360 Speaker 1: of Chicago and the Home insurance Company, weirdly enough, based 473 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:22,000 Speaker 1: in New York, they halt this project, as you said, 474 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 1: because they want to figure out whether the math will 475 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 1: work before they get too into the weeds. So our 476 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:35,440 Speaker 1: engineer here, Jenny, he does a plot twist. He has 477 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:43,360 Speaker 1: another great realization. He is building this structure based on 478 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:48,360 Speaker 1: an iron frame, and he says, hang on, there's a 479 00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:49,680 Speaker 1: new metal in town. 480 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:55,960 Speaker 2: It's called steal steal. Yeah. Even the name just kind 481 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 2: of fills you with grandeur, doesn't it. I don't know 482 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:02,920 Speaker 2: why steal yourselves against the steel. Yeah. 483 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:08,240 Speaker 1: Thanks to the Bessemer process, the Carnegie Phipps Steel Company 484 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:12,880 Speaker 1: of Pittsburgh is able to help him build this skyscraper 485 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:17,239 Speaker 1: not of iron but of steel. And this sounds like 486 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:20,160 Speaker 1: a really cool idea to us in twenty twenty four. 487 00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:24,040 Speaker 1: But the City of Chicago and the Home insurance company 488 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 1: they freaked out again. They said, what what's this new? 489 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:34,200 Speaker 2: What's this new thing? What is this that you're twisting 490 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 2: us with? 491 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: It's a it leads us to something very weird, a 492 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:45,240 Speaker 1: moment in time that repeats. You can read a Life 493 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:50,360 Speaker 1: magazine retrospective on the origins of skyscrapers. It was published 494 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:54,160 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty two and it talks in depth about 495 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:59,320 Speaker 1: how quote an aroused critic terrified his fellows at a 496 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:04,680 Speaker 1: protest meeting by impersonating the writhings of a steel beam 497 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:08,320 Speaker 1: exposed to a sudden change of temperature. 498 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:14,480 Speaker 2: Okay, a lot to unpacked there, An aroused critic impersonated, 499 00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:18,520 Speaker 2: it's like did an impression of a steel beam, presumably 500 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:26,440 Speaker 2: by writhing around. Wiggly guys. Yeah, they're called the wiggly guys. No, 501 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:28,920 Speaker 2: I think we actually determined on the show in real 502 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:32,360 Speaker 2: time that they are, in fact or were called sky dancers. Oh, 503 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:37,960 Speaker 2: they were designed for the Atlanta Olympics, so we got 504 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,120 Speaker 2: like a skin in the game as far as the 505 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:42,440 Speaker 2: wiggly guys are concerned. But to me, they will always 506 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:46,040 Speaker 2: be the wiggly guys. M yeah, I've never seen them 507 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:50,520 Speaker 2: not wiggling. Well, if they're deflated, they're just real sad. 508 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,240 Speaker 2: Nothing sadder than a deflated wiggly guy or a deflated 509 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:59,320 Speaker 2: bouncy castle. It's just it just represents sadness and despair 510 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:02,640 Speaker 2: and disappoint you know, squandered opportunity. 511 00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:07,800 Speaker 1: I can deal with a deflated sky dancer or wiglymen, 512 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:13,320 Speaker 1: but I cannot. I cannot conscience a deflated bouncy castle 513 00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:14,400 Speaker 1: or bouncy house. 514 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:16,680 Speaker 2: It just means the party's over, y'all, It's time to 515 00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:17,120 Speaker 2: go home. 516 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,080 Speaker 1: I feel like that. I means your parents are getting 517 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:22,520 Speaker 1: divorced or something. It's ill omen. 518 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:25,720 Speaker 2: What I think so too. I think so too, especially 519 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:28,360 Speaker 2: a whole gaggle of bouncy houses. If you've been to 520 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:32,760 Speaker 2: like a festival, you know, a funfair, and then you 521 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:34,840 Speaker 2: know the day is over when all of a sudden 522 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:37,520 Speaker 2: they all just start slowly shrieked. To actually watch them 523 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:40,040 Speaker 2: deflate is even sadder than it just coming upon them 524 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:43,160 Speaker 2: already fully deflate. Oh agreed, It's like the wicked Witch 525 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:45,040 Speaker 2: of the West. I don't want to think about this. 526 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 2: I know, let's move on pressing. It is sad. 527 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,120 Speaker 1: But also this guy in the early days of the 528 00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:55,920 Speaker 1: Home Insurance building, the first modern skyscraper there in Chicago, 529 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:01,400 Speaker 1: this guy really was doing a wigliman, And say, what 530 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:07,840 Speaker 1: happens if this strange material steel is exposed to very 531 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:11,719 Speaker 1: hot or very cold temperatures. History would go on to 532 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:15,719 Speaker 1: prove this joke did not age well, like. 533 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:19,360 Speaker 2: Jet fuel doesn't melt steel beams. Is that the expression 534 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:23,000 Speaker 2: of thought made it rhyme more rights, Yeah, did not 535 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:26,640 Speaker 2: particularly age well really quickly. The best simmer process. This 536 00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:29,920 Speaker 2: is news to me. I actually spent some of my 537 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:34,680 Speaker 2: youth in Alabama, in Birmingham, Alabama, which is a big 538 00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:38,319 Speaker 2: forge city, a big steel production city, And there is 539 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:41,319 Speaker 2: a city in Alabama named Bessemer, and I did not 540 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:44,040 Speaker 2: realize that that is where this came from. So you 541 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:46,920 Speaker 2: learned something, We learned something together, and I believe the 542 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:51,719 Speaker 2: best process is much like again neither a architect nor 543 00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:54,200 Speaker 2: a metallurgist, but it's sort of the equivalent of like 544 00:34:54,280 --> 00:34:58,680 Speaker 2: ameliorating steel or tempering you know when you see you know, 545 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:02,120 Speaker 2: folks forging sol words or weaponry and they're like pounding 546 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:04,880 Speaker 2: it and they're heating it and cooling it. It's a 547 00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:07,799 Speaker 2: way of like strengthening it, hardening the material. If I'm 548 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:12,400 Speaker 2: not mistaken. Yeah, harder, faster, stronger. Is that the song? 549 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:16,160 Speaker 2: Isn't there a song that goes harder faster? Yeah, it's 550 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:17,719 Speaker 2: a it's a daft punk song. 551 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:22,440 Speaker 1: Okay, all right, well we've got our fingers on the pulse, 552 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:27,080 Speaker 1: and it turns out that Jenny was correct in his 553 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:34,320 Speaker 1: mad plan to build the most phallic looking building. WHOA, 554 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:37,560 Speaker 1: hold the phone, Wait, hold the elevator, hold that door. 555 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:39,560 Speaker 1: This is a two part episode. 556 00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 2: There was just too much fun stuff to get into 557 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:44,080 Speaker 2: regarding the history of skyscapers. And you know, well, I'm 558 00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:49,680 Speaker 2: sure people died in the pursuit of these obnoxiously ostentatious structures. 559 00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:52,120 Speaker 2: I say obnoxiously. I think we're all fans. We didn't, really, 560 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:54,759 Speaker 2: this wasn't a very death rich episode. 561 00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:58,480 Speaker 1: No we we skipped over the part where the engineers 562 00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:01,160 Speaker 1: were accused of spin in the face of God. 563 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:04,160 Speaker 2: Well we touched on it briefly with the Tower of 564 00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:07,360 Speaker 2: Babel and all of that. But yeah, who news skyscrapers, 565 00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:10,520 Speaker 2: what a legacy, so huge. Thanks to you Ben for 566 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:14,960 Speaker 2: the research on this one. Looking forward to getting into 567 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:17,719 Speaker 2: parts two with you very soon. 568 00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:22,440 Speaker 1: Yes, yes, Thanks to super producer mister Max Williams. Thanks 569 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:28,560 Speaker 1: to Jonathan Strickly aka the Quizitor. Thanks to Eaves, Jeffco, Christophrasiotis, 570 00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:31,239 Speaker 1: Alex Williams who composed this bang it. 571 00:36:31,680 --> 00:36:37,400 Speaker 2: Soundtrack Poppin' and banging. Indeed, we'll see you next time, folks. 572 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:48,040 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 573 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:50,240 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.