WEBVTT - The Monstrefact Omnibus: Even More Marvel Monsters

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, Welcome to the Monster Fact Omnibus. My name is

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<v Speaker 2>Robert Lamb. This is going to be another one of

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<v Speaker 2>these episodes where we play a little catchup and we

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<v Speaker 2>take in this case, four separate past Monster Fact entries

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<v Speaker 2>and we cobble them all together in one episode. This

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<v Speaker 2>is going to be audio only because the period of

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<v Speaker 2>time that we're covering here includes both the Netflix video

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<v Speaker 2>and pre Netflix Video era, so I think two or

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<v Speaker 2>video two or audio, so they're just all going to

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<v Speaker 2>be audio. So these are going to be four more

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<v Speaker 2>entries from the Marvel universe. I can't quite get enough

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<v Speaker 2>of the Marvel universe in terms of its weirdness, characters

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<v Speaker 2>I've never heard of, as well as characters that are

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<v Speaker 2>quite beloved by myself and other comic book fans, video

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<v Speaker 2>game fans, film fans, and so forth. So moving forward,

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<v Speaker 2>if you would like to hear Monster Fact entries on

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<v Speaker 2>additional Marvel characters, creatures, and so forth, write in give

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<v Speaker 2>me your suggestions. Likewise, for other comics, DC comics, I've

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<v Speaker 2>done some of those in the past. Outside of Marvel

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<v Speaker 2>and DC. I'm also happy to dive into those worlds

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<v Speaker 2>as well. Alright, without further ado, let's jump into an

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<v Speaker 2>episode that I recorded, I believe last summer. This is

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<v Speaker 2>going to be a discussion of the cosmic villain Galactus.

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<v Speaker 2>If you've seen the new MCU film The Fantastic Four

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<v Speaker 2>First Steps, then you've finally experienced a proper cinematic treatment

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<v Speaker 2>of Galactus, the iconic devour of worlds for Marvel Comics,

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<v Speaker 2>created in nineteen sixty six by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

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<v Speaker 2>This titanic space god predates the Big Bang. He survived

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<v Speaker 2>the great collapse of the previous universe and entered into

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<v Speaker 2>our own, hatching from the cosmic egg. His god like

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<v Speaker 2>abilities come via the power cosmic, which he sustains through

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<v Speaker 2>the consumption of entire worlds. And yet Galactus is a

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<v Speaker 2>lot more complex than your typical Earth destroying elder god.

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<v Speaker 2>While definitely an existential threat and a perpetrator of untold megadeaths,

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<v Speaker 2>Galactus does not consume worlds with malice, as the latest

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<v Speaker 2>MCU film accurately depicts. He himself is a slave to

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<v Speaker 2>his own insatiable hunger, but is lawful and honorable, standing

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<v Speaker 2>by the letter of pacts made for the survival of

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<v Speaker 2>various planets and such. While he's certainly a villain and

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<v Speaker 2>a monster by many measurements, he is also beyond good

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<v Speaker 2>and evil, a natural force that dwarfs everything he encounters.

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<v Speaker 2>Sometimes he even acts in ways that might cast him

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<v Speaker 2>as an antiher. In the Fantastic Four First Steps, Galactus

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<v Speaker 2>is as close to his Silver Age glory as we

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<v Speaker 2>could hope for. A giant humanoid being in purple armor

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<v Speaker 2>and a great hat that might best be described as

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<v Speaker 2>a papal miter with cosmic horns. English character actor Ralph

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<v Speaker 2>Ineson provides his voice and likeness. The presentation is delightfully

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<v Speaker 2>over the top, as it should be. But the entire

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<v Speaker 2>Galactus scenario, in which a ravenous cosmic power sends its

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<v Speaker 2>harbingers out in search of worlds and civilizations to dine on,

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<v Speaker 2>actually isn't entirely the domain of comic book science fiction.

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<v Speaker 2>Humans have wrestled with the Fermi paradox for seventy five

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<v Speaker 2>years now. If other intelligent life forms exist in the universe,

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<v Speaker 2>perhaps even in some abundance, then why haven't we encountered them,

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<v Speaker 2>heard of them, seen any signs of them? Why is

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<v Speaker 2>the universe so silent. Hypothesized solutions vary from the possibility

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<v Speaker 2>that Earth really is a rare commodity in the cosmos

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<v Speaker 2>to the idea that we exist in a sort of

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<v Speaker 2>space zoo or nature reserve. But while the latter concept

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<v Speaker 2>entails benign alien beings that intentionally leave us alone, the

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<v Speaker 2>dark Forest hypothesis paints a bleaker picture. Name for the

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<v Speaker 2>two thousand and eight Lucisian novel of the same name,

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<v Speaker 2>the dark Forest hypothesis states that the rest of the

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<v Speaker 2>universe is quiet because its various intelligent, technologically advanced civilizations

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<v Speaker 2>are understandably afraid. They remain unheard and unseen because they

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<v Speaker 2>know to raise their voices or in any way broadcast

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<v Speaker 2>their presence could attract the unwonted attention of dangerous, even

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<v Speaker 2>more powerful forces. This could be threats known to exist,

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<v Speaker 2>or merely threats likely to exist and therefore worth remaining

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<v Speaker 2>silent for. And this is where we get to the

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<v Speaker 2>possibility of if not an actual galactus, then something close

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<v Speaker 2>enough to terrify us, something that hungers and sends its

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<v Speaker 2>seekers and heralds far across the sprawl of stars in

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<v Speaker 2>search of civilized worlds to harvest. First, let's think about

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<v Speaker 2>that hunger galactus must consume worlds. This we know the

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<v Speaker 2>idea is far from ridiculous when we consider it the

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<v Speaker 2>Kardashev scale, which sorts potential civilizations by how much power

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<v Speaker 2>they can harvest. Type one the energy of an entire planet,

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<v Speaker 2>Type two the energy of an entire star, Type three

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<v Speaker 2>the energy of an entire galaxy. Certainly, by type three

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<v Speaker 2>we are contemplating galactus level power, and it certainly puts

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<v Speaker 2>forms of planet and star harvesting or even consumption into consideration,

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<v Speaker 2>both in terms of what we can imagine, such as

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<v Speaker 2>the use of a Dyson sphere to enclose a star

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<v Speaker 2>and collect the sum total of its energy output, and

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<v Speaker 2>means that we can't even fathom yet. After all, we're

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<v Speaker 2>not even a type one civilization on the Kardashev scale.

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<v Speaker 2>Some of the aims and abilities of a type three

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<v Speaker 2>civilization or even a Type two may simply exist outside

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<v Speaker 2>of our context, and this leads us to another Fermi

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<v Speaker 2>paradox solution hypothesis, the Berserker hypothesis, also known as the

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<v Speaker 2>Deadly Probe scenario, name, by the way, stems from the

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen sixty seven Fred Saberhagen novel. The concept here is

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<v Speaker 2>that the cosmos seems silent because thus far all other

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<v Speaker 2>sufficiently advanced intelligent forms of life have been destroyed by

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<v Speaker 2>deadly seekert probes, self replicating destroyers that are even now

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<v Speaker 2>on their way to decimate Earth as well. In teasing

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<v Speaker 2>this hypothesis apart, some have argued that humanity would have

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<v Speaker 2>surely been discovered and eradicated already if this were the

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<v Speaker 2>status quo in the galaxy. However, if we've not yet

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<v Speaker 2>met the criteria for extermination, or if there's some hope

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<v Speaker 2>of passing a civilizational test that ensures our survival yish,

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<v Speaker 2>then perhaps the sword of Damocles merely hangs above all

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<v Speaker 2>of our heads, entirely dependent on how we conduct ourselves

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<v Speaker 2>or how solid the latest season of Single Female Lawyer

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<v Speaker 2>happens to be. Obviously, there are numerous ways to dissect

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<v Speaker 2>this hypothesis, ranging from just considering the toll such self

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<v Speaker 2>replicating machines might take on the galaxies available mass over time.

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<v Speaker 2>This would potentially spell a kind of gray goo apocalypse

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<v Speaker 2>on a cosmic scale, as well as issues of detection

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<v Speaker 2>or lack of detection here in our local neighborhood. Naturally,

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<v Speaker 2>the idea has been explored in various Sci Fi treatments,

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<v Speaker 2>often as a means to explore our collective values as

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<v Speaker 2>a species, our hopes and our fears that something else

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<v Speaker 2>out there shares those values in either its dark or

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<v Speaker 2>light extremes. And we see this with Galactus as well,

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<v Speaker 2>that a herald is sent to judge us, save or

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<v Speaker 2>condemn us based on our merits or the merits of

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<v Speaker 2>those who stand as shining examples of what we aspire

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<v Speaker 2>to be. And in this we're reminded that Galactus is

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<v Speaker 2>a comic book take on the divine, a god who

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<v Speaker 2>sits in judgment, echoing a very long standing note in

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<v Speaker 2>human myth making, such as in the Bible, and God

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<v Speaker 2>said unto Noah, the end of all flesh has come

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<v Speaker 2>before me, for the earth filled with violence through them,

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<v Speaker 2>And behold, I will destroy them with the earth. In

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<v Speaker 2>the Bagava Ghita, I am time grown old, to destroy

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<v Speaker 2>the world, embarked on the course of world annihilation. Except

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<v Speaker 2>for yourself. None of these will survive. Of these warriors

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<v Speaker 2>arrayed in opposite armies. And in Marvel comics, your planet

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<v Speaker 2>is now marked for death. Your world will be consumed

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<v Speaker 2>by the devour. There is nothing you can do to

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<v Speaker 2>stop him, for he is a universal force, as essential

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<v Speaker 2>as the stars. Hold your loved ones close, and speak

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<v Speaker 2>the words you've been afraid to speak. All right, For

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<v Speaker 2>our next entry, we are going to discuss Lady death Strike,

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<v Speaker 2>Wolverine enemy. Lady death Strike has long been one of

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<v Speaker 2>my favorite characters in X Men comics. While I was

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<v Speaker 2>never much of a comic book reader as a kid,

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<v Speaker 2>I of course encountered her on X Men, the animated

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<v Speaker 2>series and in the nineteen ninety four video game Wolverine

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<v Speaker 2>Adamantium Rage. A decade later, Kelly Hugh played a modified

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<v Speaker 2>version of Lady death Strike in the film X two.

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<v Speaker 2>The character's physical appearance is that of a Japanese woman

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<v Speaker 2>with long, reddish hair, a form fitting samurai inspired costume,

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<v Speaker 2>and long, razor sharp adamantium talons that extend from hands

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<v Speaker 2>that are themselves sometimes depicted as relatively human, other times oversized, elongated,

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<v Speaker 2>and truly monstrous. Her biography makes things even more complicated, however,

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<v Speaker 2>born Uriko Oyama, Lady death Strike's father, is said to

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<v Speaker 2>have originated the adamantium skeletal bonding process. That so famously

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<v Speaker 2>enhanced wolverine Death Strike, however, obtained her own adamantium claws

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<v Speaker 2>and bones after her father's death. In the Mojo verse,

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<v Speaker 2>this is where the character Spiral not only gave her

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<v Speaker 2>the full adamantium treatment, but also transformed her into a

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<v Speaker 2>full blown cyborg. As such, depictions of Lady death Strike

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<v Speaker 2>often include circuit like glyphs on her skin and other

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<v Speaker 2>cybernetic flourishous So coming back to her monstrous hands. Part

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<v Speaker 2>of this is the fact that she can extend her

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<v Speaker 2>forearms via her cybernetic enhancements. But we also might conjecture

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<v Speaker 2>that additional musculature in the hands and forearms is simply

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<v Speaker 2>necessary to house the additional retractable adamantium talons, and, perhaps

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<v Speaker 2>more to the point, the muscles or some sort of

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<v Speaker 2>cybernetic mechanisms to retract and deploy them. Now, perhaps unwittingly,

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<v Speaker 2>her monstrous hands make Lady death Strike comparable to various

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<v Speaker 2>traditions in folklore and legend in which a demon takes

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<v Speaker 2>on the form of a beautiful woman but is betrayed

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<v Speaker 2>by monstrous hands or feet. This clues in central characters

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<v Speaker 2>or heroes to the demonic nature of the individual. More directly, however,

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<v Speaker 2>she certainly fits the fem fatale profile. There what aspects

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<v Speaker 2>of her appearance in history that would almost allow her

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<v Speaker 2>to take her place alongside certain feminine yokai and yuri

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<v Speaker 2>in Japanese traditions, so various ghosts and vengeful ghosts. This

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<v Speaker 2>sometimes have a combination of the monstrous and the feminine. However,

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<v Speaker 2>it is unavoidable that while Asian comic book artists and

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<v Speaker 2>writers have subsequently depicted and developed the character, Lady death

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<v Speaker 2>Strike originates as a Western take on the Asian fem

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<v Speaker 2>fetale trope. Connections have been drawn between her signature nails

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<v Speaker 2>and decorative Chinese nail guards worn during the Ming Dynasty. Also,

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<v Speaker 2>I was reminded of Lady death Strike during a recent

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<v Speaker 2>viewing of the nineteen eighty three Hong Kong horror film

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<v Speaker 2>The Boxer's Omen, which features a resurrected sorceress who wears

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<v Speaker 2>decorative nail covers and also appears with elongated forearms that

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<v Speaker 2>turn out to be animate skeleton hands. Her profile in

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<v Speaker 2>one scene, in particular, feels very Lady death Strike. Though

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<v Speaker 2>the Marvel character of Yuriko Oyama introduced the same year,

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<v Speaker 2>wouldn't take on the full mantle of Lady death Strike

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<v Speaker 2>and the various characteristics that we associate with her until

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen eighty six in Uncanny X Men number two five.

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<v Speaker 2>Might her creators have found some level of influence in

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<v Speaker 2>the Boxer z omen or merely in related imagery and ideas.

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<v Speaker 2>I've found nothing concrete on this matter, so maybe I'm

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<v Speaker 2>drawing a connection here where there isn't one. Lady death

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<v Speaker 2>Strike continues to slice up the pages of Marvel comics

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<v Speaker 2>as both villain and anti hero, and she recently showed

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<v Speaker 2>back up in twenty twenty four's Deadpool and Wolverine as

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<v Speaker 2>a minor, almost easter egg character, but it was still

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<v Speaker 2>fun to see once more. She was not fully cyborg,

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<v Speaker 2>but she certainly embodied some of the features that have

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<v Speaker 2>made her such a popular character over the years. All Right,

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<v Speaker 2>it's time to discuss I think one of the more

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<v Speaker 2>whimsical superheroes in the Marvel universe. Let's talk about squirrel Girl.

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<v Speaker 2>Longtime listeners to Stuff to Blow your mind know that

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<v Speaker 2>we have an enduring fascination with squirrels, particularly the Eastern

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<v Speaker 2>gray squirrel, because these are the creatures I observe every day,

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<v Speaker 2>and I constantly find myself either just taking them for

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<v Speaker 2>granted or just suddenly recognizing how weird and fierce they are.

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<v Speaker 2>They're such survivors, and the same could be said for

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<v Speaker 2>Marvel's Squirrel Girl. At first glance, you might think this

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<v Speaker 2>particular superhero is just here for acute pose and a

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<v Speaker 2>few laughs, and yeah, she's totally down for all of that.

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<v Speaker 2>But since her creation in the early nineties by Will

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<v Speaker 2>Murray and Steve did Go, Squirrel Girl has scored victories

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<v Speaker 2>against such iconic villains as Ultron, Galactus, Doctor Doom, and Thanos. Okay,

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<v Speaker 2>so what are her powers, you might be wondering if

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<v Speaker 2>you're not familiar with the character already. Well, first of all,

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<v Speaker 2>it's important to note that Squirrel Girl is not technically

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<v Speaker 2>a mutant, but rather a typical Canadian girl who just

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<v Speaker 2>gradually began to exhibit an amazing ability to communicate with

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<v Speaker 2>squirrels and developed various squirrel like physical abilities, as pointed

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<v Speaker 2>out by Mark Sumrec and Daniel Wallace in the excellent

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<v Speaker 2>book marvel Anatomy. She boasts large incisors and rugged climbing claws,

0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:30.720
<v Speaker 2>both attributes of the real world furry grappling hooks that

0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:35.120
<v Speaker 2>we call squirrels. She also boasts a full fluffy squirrel tail,

0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:37.800
<v Speaker 2>which I assume offers a number of benefits enjoyed by

0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:44.400
<v Speaker 2>her namesake, balance, shade communication, and locomotion assistance while leaping, falling, landing,

0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:48.960
<v Speaker 2>or swimming. Sumeric and Wallace put her vertical jumping ability

0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:52.480
<v Speaker 2>at thirty feet or more than nine meters, which feels

0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:55.960
<v Speaker 2>like a decent scaling up of squirrel leaping ability. How

0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:58.560
<v Speaker 2>high could we leap if we had the leaping ability

0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:01.960
<v Speaker 2>of a squirrel? I think that's a accurate The one

0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:06.240
<v Speaker 2>head scratcher, however, is that squirrel girl also boasts extendable

0:15:06.360 --> 0:15:11.320
<v Speaker 2>bone knuckle spikes. They extend wolverine style through the back

0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:15.760
<v Speaker 2>of her palms, jutting out just above her knuckles, enabling

0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:18.320
<v Speaker 2>her to punch and carve through wood as well as

0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:22.840
<v Speaker 2>through ultron drones. Obviously, rule of cool applies here, and

0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:25.640
<v Speaker 2>the bone knuckle spikes are indeed cool, no doubt about it,

0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:28.280
<v Speaker 2>but they do seem kind of unnecessary if we're comparing

0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:31.240
<v Speaker 2>her to squirrels. Actual squirrels don't have them because they

0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:34.960
<v Speaker 2>can handle all their woodworking and robot thrashing with teeth

0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:38.920
<v Speaker 2>and claws alone for natural world analogs to squirrel Girl's

0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:42.600
<v Speaker 2>knuckle spikes or Wolverine's famous claws for that matter, we

0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:45.600
<v Speaker 2>have to leave the mammal world behind and head into

0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:49.000
<v Speaker 2>the amphibian world. First, we can look to the hairy

0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:53.200
<v Speaker 2>frog or Tricobatracos robustus, which can break its own toe

0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:57.120
<v Speaker 2>bones and extend them through the flesh as makeshift defensive claws,

0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:01.800
<v Speaker 2>which may later retract, allowing flesh to heal back over again.

0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:07.280
<v Speaker 2>Male autumn frogs or Babina subaspera also boast a different

0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:10.280
<v Speaker 2>form of retractable spike that extends from under the thumb.

0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:15.000
<v Speaker 2>Both of these species are commonly compared to the fictional Wolverine,

0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:19.200
<v Speaker 2>though his namesake animal also makes do with just teeth

0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:25.120
<v Speaker 2>and finger claws alone, no extendable or retractable clause required. Now,

0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:29.000
<v Speaker 2>I know there are frog based superheroes and super villains

0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:31.360
<v Speaker 2>in the Marvel world, but do any of them have

0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:35.400
<v Speaker 2>extendable horror clause? I don't think that they do, at

0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:39.320
<v Speaker 2>least not yet, so I do put the question out

0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:42.440
<v Speaker 2>there for any of you comic book fans, and especially

0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:45.400
<v Speaker 2>in of you hardcore Marvel geeks, if you have an

0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:47.960
<v Speaker 2>answer to this question right in, I would love to

0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:53.520
<v Speaker 2>hear from you. All right, let's go ahead and end

0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:56.920
<v Speaker 2>this episode out with the most recent Marvel Monster fact

0:16:57.080 --> 0:16:58.840
<v Speaker 2>entry that I did. This is also one of the

0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:03.080
<v Speaker 2>weirder ones. It is the Quasi Motivational Destruct Organism or

0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:11.000
<v Speaker 2>quasi Moto. Let's dive right in today I want to

0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.439
<v Speaker 2>cover one of the weirder Marvel Comics characters to jump

0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:17.199
<v Speaker 2>out of the pages the Official Handbook of the Marvel

0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:20.639
<v Speaker 2>Universe Master Edition. I have a used copy of this

0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:23.359
<v Speaker 2>book from the nineteen nineties, and it contains all of

0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:26.800
<v Speaker 2>your more popular X Men and Avengers, along with some

0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:32.520
<v Speaker 2>real weirdos, like today's selection. The Quasi Motivational Destruct Organism,

0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:37.800
<v Speaker 2>also known as Quasimoto. Yes, this supervillain, who first appeared

0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:40.280
<v Speaker 2>in the pages of the Fantastic Four back in nineteen

0:17:40.320 --> 0:17:45.040
<v Speaker 2>sixty six, is essentially a super science take on Quasimodo,

0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:49.200
<v Speaker 2>the Hunchback of Notre Dame from the eighteen thirty one

0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:53.400
<v Speaker 2>Victor Hugo novel, though the character's appearance seems mostly based

0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:56.879
<v Speaker 2>to my eye, on the version played by Charles Lawton

0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:02.400
<v Speaker 2>in the nineteen thirties film adaptation. In Hugo's tale, Quasimoto

0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:07.520
<v Speaker 2>is a cathedral bell ringer suffering from severe gyphosis an

0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:11.760
<v Speaker 2>excessive convex curvature of the spine. The Quasi Motivational Destruct

0:18:11.840 --> 0:18:15.720
<v Speaker 2>Organism's nature, however, is a bit more convoluted. As Marvel

0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:19.080
<v Speaker 2>dot Com tells it, he was originally a sentient computer

0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:23.880
<v Speaker 2>developed by the supervillain the Mad Thinker. This sentient computer

0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:28.679
<v Speaker 2>desire to human form, but its creator cruelly refused it. Eventually,

0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:32.439
<v Speaker 2>the Silver Surfer steps in, takes pity on the suffering computer,

0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:37.560
<v Speaker 2>and uses his power cosmic to grant the computer's wishes. However,

0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:41.680
<v Speaker 2>the Quasi Motivational Destruct Organism would prove the twisted vulcan

0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:46.320
<v Speaker 2>to the Silver Surfer's physical perfection. He looks like a

0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:50.679
<v Speaker 2>stereotypical hunchback of Notre Dame, but with a metallic skin

0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:52.760
<v Speaker 2>or a metal suit. You know, sort of the Silver

0:18:52.920 --> 0:18:56.800
<v Speaker 2>Surfer body, except it is the hunchback of Notre Dame's body.

0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:00.920
<v Speaker 2>We're told he is a pseudo organic an android possessed

0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:05.160
<v Speaker 2>of immense physical smashing power, but due to his computer origin,

0:19:05.240 --> 0:19:08.400
<v Speaker 2>his brain is also able to process information and make

0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:13.080
<v Speaker 2>calculations with vastly improved speed and accuracy. Yet despite this,

0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:17.240
<v Speaker 2>he's not your standard super strong, super smart, gimme god

0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.359
<v Speaker 2>cosmic bad guy. We get a lot of those in

0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:24.119
<v Speaker 2>comic book stories from this era. No, we're told his

0:19:24.240 --> 0:19:28.640
<v Speaker 2>actual intelligence is more that of a baseline human intelligence,

0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:33.760
<v Speaker 2>and that his biggest weakness is his lack of creativity. Now,

0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:37.240
<v Speaker 2>I don't think stan Lee and Jack Kirby were necessarily

0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:40.400
<v Speaker 2>trying to be all that prophetic with this particular supervillain.

0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:42.760
<v Speaker 2>What you see is kind of what you get with

0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:46.399
<v Speaker 2>the quasi motivational destruct organism. Yet at the same time,

0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:50.720
<v Speaker 2>beyond the space quasimotive gimmick, there is a reasonable amount

0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:54.280
<v Speaker 2>of Miltonian depth here to the plight between the created

0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:58.000
<v Speaker 2>and the creator. And then there's this interesting detail about

0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:03.640
<v Speaker 2>computer enhancementulations are lightning fast, but his intelligence is actually

0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:07.080
<v Speaker 2>more again human baseline, and there is something lacking in

0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:12.000
<v Speaker 2>his ability to think with true creativity. It's interesting to

0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:16.160
<v Speaker 2>ponder this. Given our current state of AI and computer enhancement,

0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:21.000
<v Speaker 2>we can observe that computer form we're building around ourselves,

0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:25.400
<v Speaker 2>thinking for us, writing for us, expressing ourselves, and representing

0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:28.760
<v Speaker 2>our souls to each other through the artifice of large

0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:32.960
<v Speaker 2>language models and so forth, silver fleshed on the outside,

0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:36.359
<v Speaker 2>but perhaps somewhat compressed on the inside, bent under the

0:20:36.359 --> 0:20:40.960
<v Speaker 2>weight of the machine and undergoing atrification. And what's more,

0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:44.480
<v Speaker 2>there's this fear that I've seen express that our actual

0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:49.040
<v Speaker 2>ability to express ourselves, and indeed our actual self isn't

0:20:49.080 --> 0:20:52.680
<v Speaker 2>good enough without the trappings of the machine, a kind

0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:56.920
<v Speaker 2>of self fulfilling prophecy, as the interface between human and

0:20:57.040 --> 0:21:02.280
<v Speaker 2>AI has largely fallen short of the creative partnership we

0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:08.720
<v Speaker 2>were promised. Way to go, Matt Thinkers. All right, there

0:21:08.720 --> 0:21:10.440
<v Speaker 2>you have it. Now I'm going to have to move

0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:14.600
<v Speaker 2>on to some all new Marvel creatures, Marvel characters and

0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:16.760
<v Speaker 2>so forth to discuss here in the Monster Fact Again.

0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:20.240
<v Speaker 2>If you have recommendations, write in thanks as always to

0:21:20.280 --> 0:21:23.920
<v Speaker 2>the excellent JJ Possway for producing the Monster Fact as

0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:27.000
<v Speaker 2>well as the Artifact and Animelius to Pendium. You can

0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:30.919
<v Speaker 2>find these episodes generally every Wednesday in the Stuff to

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<v Speaker 2>Blow your Mind podcast feed and wherever you get that

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<v Speaker 2>stars some thumbs up our way. Subscribe or whatever the

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<v Speaker 2>case may be. All that engagement helps the show out

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<v Speaker 2>and helps ensure that we get to keep pumping this

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<v Speaker 2>content out to you. And if you would like to

0:21:53.560 --> 0:21:57.120
<v Speaker 2>email us with recommendations for the future, you can reach

0:21:57.160 --> 0:21:59.719
<v Speaker 2>out to us at contact at stuff to Blow your

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0:22:04.400 --> 0:22:07.560
<v Speaker 1>Stuffed Blow your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For more

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