1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to 2 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,840 Speaker 1: the show, fellow Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so 3 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: much for tuning in. Let's hear it for our super producer, 4 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,920 Speaker 1: Max Kawhi Williams. 5 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 2: He's just so cute. 6 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,520 Speaker 3: Look at him, a face. 7 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 4: Like a button. That guy, those big old eyes just 8 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,920 Speaker 4: staring back at you. That is none other than mister 9 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 4: Noel Brown. They called me Ben Bullen, and we all 10 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:55,320 Speaker 4: three are huge fans of as you could imagine history. 11 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 4: One thing that escapes a lot of people, I think, 12 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 4: especially when we just look at what you learn in 13 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 4: your grade school history books, is that all of the 14 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 4: history that you could imagine happened a lot more concurrently 15 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 4: that your history books will have you believe. 16 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 2: Parallel timelines, baby, not parallel universes. This stuff happened in 17 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 2: the same universe at the same time, just very very 18 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,319 Speaker 2: far away. And we always from one another, and we 19 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 2: always talk about things like parallel thinking during times where 20 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 2: these different cultures were so isolated but kind of figured 21 00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:33,320 Speaker 2: out the same stuff at the same time. Super interesting phenomenon, 22 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 2: and we have a discussion of just such a relationship 23 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,320 Speaker 2: coming to us from our brand new research associate, Jabbari, 24 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 2: you really knocked it out of the park with this 25 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 2: research brief. 26 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: Absolutely yet thank you Jabari. We're still working on a 27 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: nickname for you man. 28 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 2: But itself in the text, I think right to celebrate Jabari, 29 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 2: to celebrate. 30 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:59,560 Speaker 1: You here we are not blowing smoke. This is what 31 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: ofb our or favorite kinds of thought exploration. We're going 32 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: to take three things that you're probably familiar with, the 33 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: ancient era of Japanese samurai, the advent of a facimile 34 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,519 Speaker 1: technology which leads to the fax machine, and the presidency 35 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: of the notorious amateur wrestler Abraham Lincoln. 36 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 2: We'll reach on that guy both real reach with his 37 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:24,799 Speaker 2: arms and with his hat. 38 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: And this means, as Jabari reveals to us, this means 39 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:36,400 Speaker 1: that technically a Japanese samurai could have hypothetically sent none 40 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: other than Abraham Lincoln a fax if he or she 41 00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:42,519 Speaker 1: had wanted. 42 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,919 Speaker 2: Why am I picturing this as like a political cartoon opportunity, 43 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 2: You know, that's great, Like a samurai sending a fact 44 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 2: to Abraham Lincoln. The punchline would be in whatever the 45 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 2: fact said. Maybe that'll reveal itself in the text as well. 46 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:06,680 Speaker 2: So sort of like finding out the tidbit of information 47 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 2: that Cleopatra, who lived from sixty nine to thirty BCE, 48 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 2: lived closer to the invention of the iPhone two thousand 49 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 2: and seven than she did to the construction of the 50 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 2: Egyptian Pyramids twenty five sixty BCE. We're always, you know, 51 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 2: as aging fellows and fans of pop culture, having these 52 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 2: moments where we're like, gosh, we're closer now to the 53 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 2: like sixties, as the sixties. 54 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:32,119 Speaker 3: Were to like the twenties. 55 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 2: You know, it's just the way time compresses as you 56 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 2: get older and you start viewing it in a different way. 57 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 2: It's fascinating stuff, but it's true. It's not a factoid. 58 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 2: It's a fact right. 59 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 1: A factoid is something that sounds true but is not 60 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: in fact true, Like carrots give you great eyesight, so 61 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: which is a World War two myth. By the way, 62 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: so this. 63 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 3: Also re started by big carrot, no doubt. 64 00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: As you say, Jabari time reality, these windows and relationships 65 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: can throw us for a loop when we really start 66 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: thinking about them. And this is what inspires the conversation 67 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: we're having today. What might a samurai have sent to 68 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:19,320 Speaker 1: our sixteenth president? And as Jabari. As you put it, 69 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: would our sixteenth president have left that samurai on red 70 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:25,560 Speaker 1: at the time, he. 71 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 2: Was a busy man. He also seemed like a man 72 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 2: of the people, so he might have he might have responded. 73 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: And since both of us are going to end up 74 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:36,360 Speaker 1: in Japan at some point later this year, Oh. 75 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:38,719 Speaker 3: I've got a countdown going for it. Ben, I'm so excited. 76 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: Awesome, man, we we couldn't be more excited to talk 77 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:47,280 Speaker 1: a little bit about Samurai. So you guys, what's the 78 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:51,160 Speaker 1: first thing you think of when you hear the word Samarai? 79 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 2: I think of Akira Kurosawa's seven Samurai. 80 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:55,119 Speaker 3: Nice. 81 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,279 Speaker 2: Nice, But also, if we're going to stick with numbers, 82 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 2: I also think of the era of Samurai and the 83 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 2: various I believe the six kind of key periods involving 84 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,720 Speaker 2: the evolution of the samurai culture in tradition. 85 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:10,480 Speaker 3: I just think a tom Cruise. 86 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:15,160 Speaker 1: Oh gosh, yeah, the last Samurai, Thanks White Savior. So 87 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: I love the conversation about the eras of samurai because 88 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: for most of us in the West, you have a 89 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 1: titular image of what appears to be only one point 90 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:34,479 Speaker 1: in Japan's history. But we have to remember the stories 91 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:39,680 Speaker 1: about the samurai remind us of the deep age of 92 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:44,119 Speaker 1: other civilizations. The US is still a relatively new kid 93 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: on the block geopolitically speaking, not pop music. 94 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,920 Speaker 2: Speaking, right, And while we obviously don't quite have the 95 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 2: time to go into the entire history of Japan's existence 96 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 2: as a unified country, we are going to take a 97 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:59,479 Speaker 2: bit of a snapshot at the six distinct eras of 98 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:04,720 Speaker 2: the jap These samurai, Given there nearly seven hundred year reign, 99 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 2: perhaps it ought to come as no surprise to you 100 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,600 Speaker 2: ridiculous historians that it would in fact share a timeline 101 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 2: at some point with some of these other historical touch points. 102 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 2: But it's nonetheless a very interesting, as you pointed out, 103 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 2: Ben thought experiment. So let's talk first about maybe where 104 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 2: the term samurai comes from. 105 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,359 Speaker 1: Ooh, I love this as a guy who as a 106 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:30,280 Speaker 1: guy who has cartoonishly bad Japanese, the term samurai has 107 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:35,040 Speaker 1: fascinating etymology. It comes from the word saburu, which means 108 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: to serve, and it was first used in about CE 109 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:42,680 Speaker 1: or ad if you prefer seven to two, and it 110 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,520 Speaker 1: meant it was a way of describing mid to low 111 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:52,160 Speaker 1: ranking court administrators, and only later did it describe armed 112 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:56,840 Speaker 1: imperial guards, and mostly, as you can tell from the etymology, 113 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: the title was referring to their loyalty to the emperor 114 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:02,840 Speaker 1: one who serves, and. 115 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 2: This would have been feudal Japan, right, So these were 116 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 2: like sort of in service to their lord of this 117 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 2: particular region fiefdom. I guess you could call it, yeah, 118 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:16,360 Speaker 2: like like knights, Yeah. 119 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:20,200 Speaker 1: Like knights. Consider that a knight in western or central 120 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: Europe may serve a particular duke, right, or a particular 121 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: noble or aristocrat lord. But that's some kind of lord, 122 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:33,640 Speaker 1: but that that in turn, that aristocrat, that noble would 123 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: have fealty to the king or the royal family until 124 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: they tried would be the emperor throw them until they 125 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: tried to overthrow them gape in this case would be 126 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: the emperor. You're correct, right, And so these guys were 127 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:51,960 Speaker 1: like they were kind they were like the security guards, 128 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: the police or military forces, you know, terrorizing the serfs. 129 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:56,200 Speaker 3: Uh. 130 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: They were hired of a game squad, yes, a bit 131 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: of a goon squad. And one thing that Jabari I 132 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,239 Speaker 1: love that you're pointing out here is right at the top, 133 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 1: we refer to samurai as either he or she him 134 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: or her. It may surprise some of us to realize 135 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: that a lot of the Samurai were co ed. 136 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 2: That's the thing, man, we often run into facts like 137 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 2: this that are tricky upon first examination to kind of 138 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 2: reconcile with what we maybe typically think about the past. 139 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:35,960 Speaker 2: The Samurai, as well as the pirates, for example, they 140 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 2: were pretty egalitarian. And they were also they treated women 141 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 2: with a lot more respect and equality than one might think. Yeah. 142 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:50,319 Speaker 1: Now, historical figures vary on the total, but experts generally 143 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:54,240 Speaker 1: believe that anywhere from twenty percent to as many as 144 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: fifty percent of these frontline warriors were female by the 145 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: early sixteen hundreds. There's also a surprising amount of diversity 146 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: in this, particularly in the case of Yasuke the African Samurai, 147 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: which we covered back in twenty nineteen episode of Ridiculous History. 148 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:19,840 Speaker 2: We sure did, and you can check that one out 149 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 2: as Jabbari did. 150 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 3: That was a fun one. 151 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 2: And also, if I'm not mistaken, the inspiration for the 152 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:31,199 Speaker 2: pretty excellent, very graphic novel asque cartoon Afro Samurai, I. 153 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 3: Believe that is correct. 154 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 1: Yes, And as we always say, in Hollywood adaptations inspired by. 155 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:40,560 Speaker 3: Or loosely based on honorous so. 156 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, Jabari, the line is too good to not include, 157 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: so we'll give you the quote verbatim. You say, that's right, 158 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:53,719 Speaker 1: folks go woke and last damn near a millennium or whatever. 159 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 3: Kids say these days. 160 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the kids would probably agree with that one. Frankly, 161 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:01,679 Speaker 2: moving on to I believe Ben helped me out here 162 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 2: the High End period. Yes, hey, okay, High On period 163 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 2: seven ninety four to eleven eighty five, which is marked 164 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:12,200 Speaker 2: by the formation of these I guess you could call 165 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:17,440 Speaker 2: them bands or like these sort of individual subgroups of 166 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:21,080 Speaker 2: warriors called bushi, and I believe that is a term 167 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 2: that you might be familiar with from the film Bushido Blade. 168 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: Yes, yes, this is also another way to call them 169 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:31,199 Speaker 1: would be mercenaries. 170 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 2: And that might be a term ridiculous historians that you 171 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:37,559 Speaker 2: may recognize from the video games series Bushido Blade. 172 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 3: Ah. 173 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, And another word for these folks at this 174 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: time would be mercenaries. They would get paid to maintain order, 175 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:54,600 Speaker 1: and when an estate was expanding or encroaching into another territory, 176 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 1: it was their job to make that encroachment happen. At 177 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:04,360 Speaker 1: this point, again, merks, they're not their stories similar to 178 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:09,080 Speaker 1: that janisaries in some way, they're not rising to administrative 179 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:13,000 Speaker 1: power just yet until they reach the Kama Kuora period, 180 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: and that's eleven eighty five to thirteen thirty three. 181 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 3: Well, and much like. 182 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 2: The sort of codes of chivalry that we know, you 183 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:26,320 Speaker 2: know from the feudal Knights from the West, the Bushie 184 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 2: adhered to a similar code of conduct and ethics called 185 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,560 Speaker 2: the Bushido Code, which apparently in that series I've never 186 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 2: played personally, I think there's several of them. Bushido blade 187 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 2: is a strict code of honorable combat that dictates the 188 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:46,239 Speaker 2: narrative progression of the story, kind of like in certain RPGs, 189 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 2: where your actions, whether they're positive or negative, or neutral 190 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:52,880 Speaker 2: or whatever, can change the ending absolutely. 191 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 1: We also know in the Kama Kora period that the 192 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:02,000 Speaker 1: rise to power of what we call the Samurai class 193 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:08,680 Speaker 1: came from a decade's long, violent stretch of chaos between 194 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 1: two powerful clans, Minamoto and Taia, and it ended with 195 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:18,320 Speaker 1: the minimum spoiler everybody, the Minimoto. When this leads to 196 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:21,079 Speaker 1: the formation of what we now call the Kama Kora 197 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:27,520 Speaker 1: Shogunate area ruled by a specific clan shogun, similar to 198 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:32,640 Speaker 1: like a Mongolian kanate, a warlord, right, Yes, pretty much. 199 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:33,600 Speaker 3: Something along those lines. 200 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:37,200 Speaker 2: I mean, definitely not a much more of a totalitarian, 201 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:41,199 Speaker 2: militaristic kind of order, like martial law practically. 202 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:44,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, like a warlord who's heavy on the admin, you 203 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:49,400 Speaker 1: know what I mean. Like Japan. This is Japan's first 204 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 1: feudal military government in all of known history. It's decentralized, 205 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,440 Speaker 1: so everybody is paying lip service to the Emperor of Japan, 206 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 1: but it's more of a figurehead status. It's the showguns 207 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,480 Speaker 1: and later the samurai who wield the actual power. 208 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 3: Yeah. 209 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:10,520 Speaker 2: And I love what Jabari points out here. It's very 210 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 2: similar to the arrangement that Tony Soprano in the incredible 211 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:16,280 Speaker 2: HBO series The Sopranos worked out with all of the 212 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 2: other captains of their crime family, or capos as they 213 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 2: referred to. In the early series of Sopranos, Uncle Junior 214 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 2: was meant to be the boss kind of I'm saying 215 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:28,720 Speaker 2: the boss. 216 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:31,560 Speaker 3: I can't not say it that way in. 217 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 2: Terms of his age and seniority, but he really just 218 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:39,120 Speaker 2: ruled as kind of a figurehead. 219 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:44,719 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. And that's a great comparison. We know that 220 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:51,080 Speaker 1: power shifts continued, and the power sort of balkanized. It 221 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:54,679 Speaker 1: became more localized during what we call the Murumachi period 222 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:59,079 Speaker 1: in thirteen thirty six all the way to fifteen seventy three. 223 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:02,760 Speaker 1: This is where we see the feudal lords, warlords like 224 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:07,680 Speaker 1: you said, named the daimo, and they are regionally placed, 225 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:12,560 Speaker 1: strategically placed to sort of franchise out the rule of 226 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:16,199 Speaker 1: the shogun. They maintain these large estates and these castles 227 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: which you should check out when you visit. This leads 228 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: to armies of samurai. 229 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 2: Right and then in the mid fifteenth century we start 230 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 2: seeing the beginnings of the son Dooku period, which was 231 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:31,360 Speaker 2: fourteen sixty seven to sixteen hundred, and we also started 232 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 2: to see the complete fall of centralized authority due to 233 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 2: an incredibly bitter and brutal civil war between the daimo overseers, 234 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 2: which pitted the samurai armies against one another, causing tons 235 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 2: of internal strife and conflict, utterly brutal warfare for nearly 236 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty years. And this whole you know, 237 00:14:55,800 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 2: bloody affair, is credited as the period where combat technique 238 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 2: were beginning to be honed and revolutionized and some of 239 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:09,960 Speaker 2: the sophisticated war strategies that we credit to the Japanese 240 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:11,840 Speaker 2: and the samurai that we know today. 241 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 1: A lot of people die in horrific ways. So we'll 242 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:19,480 Speaker 1: just fast forward, fast forward along that while acknowledging it, 243 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: and this leads to the unification of Japan under the 244 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 1: Tokagawa Shokunate. This ushers in about two hundred years of 245 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: relative peace, and the warriors suddenly find themselves out of 246 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:39,840 Speaker 1: a job. Then you don't need people running around chopping 247 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 1: heads off and committing sepuku. If they mess up, which 248 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:46,359 Speaker 1: is ritualized suicide tied to these codes. 249 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 2: Of honor right and then failure to adhere to it 250 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:52,040 Speaker 2: are being dishonored, and then you would be more likely 251 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 2: to take your own life ritualistically than live as a 252 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 2: shame to your family or your clan. 253 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:07,040 Speaker 1: Now, this is where we get to the key part 254 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 1: of our thought experiment. Right, there's a three act structure. 255 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 1: Now we're to Edol period. 256 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 2: Which I think the way many people really think of 257 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 2: in terms of the real culmination of all of this 258 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:17,920 Speaker 2: samurai business. 259 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:21,800 Speaker 1: Now we're at sixteen oh three to about eighteen sixty eight, 260 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:25,080 Speaker 1: So keep that last date in your mind, folks. This 261 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:29,040 Speaker 1: is where we see the most consequential transition for the 262 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: samurai class. They become similar again to the comparison of 263 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: janissaries in the Ottoman Empire, they become bureaucrats, they become 264 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:44,360 Speaker 1: local powerholders and politicians, and wearing your sword starts to 265 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 1: become ceremony and tradition. So you're not really it's like 266 00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 1: all those portraits of later Medieval Age kings in the West. 267 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: They've got the armor on for the portrait, they've got 268 00:16:57,000 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 1: the sword because it looks nice in the oil painting, 269 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: but actually using it right. 270 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 2: And I guess, you know, maybe I'm confused because certainly 271 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 2: when I think of samurai, I often think of the 272 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:10,960 Speaker 2: Edo period, and maybe because that's what a lot of 273 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 2: a lot of the imagery comes from, like a lot 274 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:16,160 Speaker 2: of the paintings and a lot of the classic samurai 275 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:17,880 Speaker 2: garb that we think of with those helmets. 276 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 3: But it is also completely accurate that this was not 277 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:22,840 Speaker 3: the bloody warring period. 278 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,399 Speaker 2: This was samurai more as like diplomats and politicians wearing 279 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:27,720 Speaker 2: the stuff out of ceremony. 280 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:29,439 Speaker 3: So it's interesting for me, certainly to. 281 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 2: Clarify some of that and realize that what we think 282 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:36,640 Speaker 2: of as samurai period really is kind of a miss 283 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:39,160 Speaker 2: mix and match of all of these different periods kind 284 00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,359 Speaker 2: of you know that has been depicted in maybe not 285 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,160 Speaker 2: the most historically accurate way by pop culture. 286 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:49,959 Speaker 1: Yeah, the samurai can still tangle if they have to, 287 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 1: but they're a lot more like your upper management. They're 288 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:56,640 Speaker 1: a lot more like in response to your earlier facts 289 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:01,120 Speaker 1: kind of samurai instead of you know, I will decapitate 290 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: you samurai, but they you know, what still happened. We 291 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:06,960 Speaker 1: want to be clear about that. And you may be 292 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:11,400 Speaker 1: asking yourself, guys, why did we need to take this 293 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 1: quick trip down memory lane of Japanese samurai history. We 294 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:21,480 Speaker 1: think it's because it's cool, and it sets up our 295 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 1: It sets up one of our travel obsessions that tomorrow 296 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 1: you obviously also share, and it also gives us the 297 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:33,760 Speaker 1: historical context that leads us to act to So there's 298 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:38,120 Speaker 1: eight hundred years or over eight hundred years of samurai history. 299 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:41,639 Speaker 1: Seven hundred of those years are effectively as part of 300 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:47,000 Speaker 1: Japan's ruling class, and now we have to travel around 301 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:49,800 Speaker 1: the world. So the Edo period is happening in Japan, 302 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:51,879 Speaker 1: but what's going on in Scotland? 303 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:53,919 Speaker 3: What is going on in Scotland? 304 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 2: Well, some crafty scots and some schemes. Well, yeah, there's 305 00:18:58,119 --> 00:19:01,959 Speaker 2: definitely some culinary innovations going on in terms of like 306 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,159 Speaker 2: the traducing of cow stomachs. 307 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 3: Have you ever I bet you have been. You've eaten hagis? 308 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:11,600 Speaker 2: Surely yes, not me, not not to say that I'd 309 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:13,960 Speaker 2: be against it, but I will tell you what I 310 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:16,320 Speaker 2: did have last night, Ben, I went to this incredible 311 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:20,120 Speaker 2: Polish restaurant called Carcima in green Point, Brooklyn and had 312 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,119 Speaker 2: this thing they do called stuffed cabbage, where it's just 313 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:26,159 Speaker 2: like a bunch of meat and seasoning and stuff like 314 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:29,320 Speaker 2: stuffed inside a big, old, you know, thick piece of cabbage. 315 00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:31,120 Speaker 2: So that's about as close as I want to get 316 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:33,760 Speaker 2: to the haggis of it all. Maybe try a little 317 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 2: blood sausage. But now the haggis is a little extreme 318 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 2: for me, so more for you, But okay with it. 319 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,280 Speaker 1: It's uh, it's one of those things where I'm glad 320 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 1: I tried it, but I don't. I don't find myself 321 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,120 Speaker 1: come lunchtime with a hankering for a haggis. 322 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:51,439 Speaker 3: You don't hankering. 323 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 1: I don't have a hagas hanker nor blood pudding, but 324 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 1: have tried that as well. 325 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:58,160 Speaker 3: It's just it's. 326 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 1: Something you should do when it's a so you could 327 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:01,560 Speaker 1: say you did it, and. 328 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:03,479 Speaker 2: Some people swear by it. They do, And I'll tell 329 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:04,960 Speaker 2: you what I do like is maybe a bit of 330 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:07,120 Speaker 2: a hot take. I like just a good old piece 331 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 2: of liver and that that has that kind of coppery 332 00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:12,479 Speaker 2: taste that a lot of people associate with awful and 333 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:13,840 Speaker 2: bloody blood stuff. 334 00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 3: But I enjoy it. 335 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 2: I think it's because I grew up eating it. Not 336 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:20,960 Speaker 2: something that I would order necessarily, but I did. I 337 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 2: hate brains and eggs as well because I had some 338 00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 2: real uh real southern grandparents stuff from North Carolina, and 339 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,160 Speaker 2: that was more liver for you. Man. Scrapple, remember Ben, 340 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:31,480 Speaker 2: when we were on that road trip with with our 341 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:34,400 Speaker 2: buddy Scott from car Stuff and we ate, uh they 342 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:36,840 Speaker 2: call it scrapple or liver pudding. 343 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:40,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, it looks like a shingle. It does look like it, 344 00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:42,439 Speaker 1: and it's not that bad. I don't know if that 345 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: documentary of our road rally for car Stuff is still 346 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: on Amazon, but check it out if it did a 347 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 1: lot of fun. 348 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:49,199 Speaker 3: It was a good time. 349 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 2: But back to Scotland after our organ meat detour there. 350 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 2: At this same time, when the Edo period is in 351 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,120 Speaker 2: full swing in Japan, a Scottish inventor and engineer, as 352 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,479 Speaker 2: Jabbari puts it, delightfully, was kilt deep in his creation 353 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:05,560 Speaker 2: and development of facsimile technology. 354 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 3: This guy's name is Alexander Bain. 355 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:11,119 Speaker 1: Not that Alexander Bain, not the philosopher. 356 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:13,120 Speaker 3: Different guy, Nope, different guy. 357 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:17,359 Speaker 2: That guy was born eighteen eighteen died nineteen oh three. 358 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 2: This fella we're talking about, Alexander Bain, was born in 359 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:23,160 Speaker 2: either eighteen ten or eighteen eleven, depending on the source. 360 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:26,400 Speaker 2: His father, a man named John Bain, was a crofter. 361 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:27,720 Speaker 2: What's the crofter? 362 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:28,120 Speaker 3: Ben? 363 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,760 Speaker 1: Well, you know, let's do it like an ad. Hey, 364 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:34,240 Speaker 1: are you tired of being a surf? Are you tired 365 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: of not having land rights or even human rights? Well 366 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: we can't make you a Scottish lord, but we can 367 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 1: upgrade you a little bit. Consider crofting the comfort ecotomy 368 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:52,359 Speaker 1: plus of sharecropping. It's slightly better. You have a little 369 00:21:52,359 --> 00:21:57,280 Speaker 1: bit more equitable circumstances, and most importantly, your children have 370 00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:00,960 Speaker 1: a better chance of advancing up the socio economic ladder 371 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:01,440 Speaker 1: of the time. 372 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:05,119 Speaker 2: And children he did have. My friend John Bain's wife, 373 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:09,440 Speaker 2: Isabella Waiters, sometimes referred to as Isobel Waiters, reportedly had 374 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:14,119 Speaker 2: twelve of them, six boys and six girls, an even dozen. 375 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:19,840 Speaker 3: That's wild man, Good luck, Isabelle, your service for sure. 376 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 1: So this is where we this is why we're setting 377 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:28,479 Speaker 1: up the idea of socioeconomic educational opportunity. Bain gets his 378 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:35,000 Speaker 1: elementary education per normal. He later pursues a trade. He's 379 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:39,399 Speaker 1: apprenticed to a local clockmaker named John Sellers se l 380 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 1: Lars and he's just eleven. Basically, the family I don't 381 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:50,119 Speaker 1: want to say this disrespectfully. It's not human trafficking, but 382 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:52,919 Speaker 1: they did kind of pimp him out because all the 383 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 1: money he made as the apprentice to this local clockmaker 384 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:01,200 Speaker 1: went back to his family. Is pay as a kid, 385 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:05,199 Speaker 1: he was apprenticeships of the time, they would pay you 386 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:10,919 Speaker 1: quote unquote in room and board and anything. Any financial profit, 387 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:15,159 Speaker 1: if it was acknowledged in your agreement, would go to 388 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:19,439 Speaker 1: your adult family. This works out, Bain learns a lot. 389 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:24,320 Speaker 1: He's not gonna waste his life being a crofter, not 390 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,040 Speaker 1: that there's anything wrong with that. He has higher ambitions. 391 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:31,359 Speaker 1: It's eighteen thirty seven when he relocates to London. He 392 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,760 Speaker 1: works as a journeyman clockmaker for a little while. This 393 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: is the natural path of learning the trades at the time, 394 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,479 Speaker 1: and even now in certain trades today, we think that 395 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 1: his second boss when he's a journeyman. We think this 396 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:51,439 Speaker 1: guy was named John Barwise, because this happens all the 397 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:56,160 Speaker 1: time in academia as well. Because Bain files his first 398 00:23:56,200 --> 00:24:01,320 Speaker 1: patent and this guy, John Barwise is listed as a 399 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:06,880 Speaker 1: co applicant, which is kind of like when Quentin Tarantino 400 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:10,240 Speaker 1: was listed as executive producer on Man with the Iron Fist, 401 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: Like he didn't really write the script, he didn't really 402 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 1: invent the thing. 403 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:18,040 Speaker 2: But yeah, sometimes the executive executi producer is kind of 404 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 2: a taste maker, sort of there to kind of lend 405 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,320 Speaker 2: a little bit of expertise on set. But also sometimes 406 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:26,359 Speaker 2: it involves like money and finance or credibility. It can 407 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:28,560 Speaker 2: mean different things, but yes, especially when they put it 408 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 2: above the line, it adds some gravitas to a movie 409 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:32,240 Speaker 2: like that. 410 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:38,359 Speaker 1: So we cannot prove it, but we have a sneak 411 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:42,720 Speaker 1: eating Spidey sense that John and bar Wise just got 412 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 1: his name on the patent, not because he helped with 413 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 1: the idea, but because he was Alex Bain's boss. 414 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 2: There you go, yeah, And that's sometimes he gets some 415 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:54,399 Speaker 2: of that Nollywood too little Nepo baby type stuff. So 416 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:57,080 Speaker 2: in January of eighteen forty one, the two of them 417 00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:00,720 Speaker 2: were granted their first successful patent, four o'clock with pendulum 418 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 2: that was moved by electromagnetic impulses. Been, I know you 419 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 2: and I are both fascinated by the art of clockmaking. 420 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:10,639 Speaker 2: Oh the complications, Oh fascinating, dude, And like just the 421 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:13,119 Speaker 2: tiny little pieces and the way they all have to 422 00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:17,359 Speaker 2: work in concert, and yes, the complications. So physicists and 423 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:21,080 Speaker 2: fellow inventor Charles Wheatstone had demonstrated a clock to the 424 00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:24,440 Speaker 2: Royal Society, which is the UK's national Academy of Sciences 425 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:28,320 Speaker 2: and the oldest continuously operating scientific academy in the entire 426 00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:32,760 Speaker 2: world around and operating going strong since sixteen sixty And 427 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:36,720 Speaker 2: that happened in December of the previous year. And this clock, yeah, 428 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:41,879 Speaker 2: was very similar, alarmingly similar to use clock parlance, to 429 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:44,640 Speaker 2: the one that Bane and Barweise themselves had patented. 430 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 1: And Bain had a story about this. He responded to 431 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:53,960 Speaker 1: the maybe not accusations just yet, but the implications of 432 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:57,439 Speaker 1: ip theft. Check out our episodes on that. And he 433 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:00,560 Speaker 1: said the following, He said, look, I do know Charles 434 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 1: Wheatstone magazine editor told me to visit Wheatstone, and I 435 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:09,679 Speaker 1: did visit him, and Charles and I talked about stuff, 436 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:14,639 Speaker 1: and Wheatstone told me my idea was poppycock and hogwash 437 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:18,560 Speaker 1: and I shouldn't pursue it any further, and then he 438 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: stole it from under my feet. Wheatstone did not like 439 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:34,280 Speaker 1: this accusation. Obviously, these are strong words, so he said, no, no, no, no, no, no, 440 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,439 Speaker 1: no no no. I've been working on my electric clock 441 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:42,919 Speaker 1: way before I ever met this Bain kid. And we 442 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,200 Speaker 1: don't know. We're never going to know for certain at 443 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,240 Speaker 1: this point because it was so long ago, but it 444 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:53,879 Speaker 1: seems entirely possible that these two guys did meet. But 445 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: they came up with the idea independently of each other. 446 00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 1: There we go parallel thinking it happens, And that didn't 447 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,359 Speaker 1: stop Bane. He took out war patents. He was getting 448 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:05,520 Speaker 1: pretty prolific, and he was again, he was a very 449 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:12,320 Speaker 1: smart dude. He he had this phenomenal idea. In December, 450 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,320 Speaker 1: he took out a patent for a series of applications 451 00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:21,480 Speaker 1: of electric technology to railway locomotives and signaling, and he 452 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:24,800 Speaker 1: did this with the help of another collaborator, a Royal 453 00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 1: Navy lieutenant named Thomas Wright. 454 00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:32,920 Speaker 2: Correct Baine then introduced what would become a crucial modification 455 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 2: to the transmission of telegraph signals and of course received 456 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:41,640 Speaker 2: reception as well by inverting the existing method of creating 457 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:44,040 Speaker 2: these signals, which used a needle of pivoting under the 458 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:48,440 Speaker 2: influence of an electromagnet, by suspending a movable coil between 459 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 2: the poles of a magnet, and this took off by 460 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,240 Speaker 2: May of eighteen forty three. Bane it patented a machine 461 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 2: that could transmit and receive drawings and documents recognized Wiley 462 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,439 Speaker 2: as the ancest are true the modern facts machine. And 463 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:04,320 Speaker 2: when I say the modern facts machine, obviously it's easy 464 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:06,359 Speaker 2: to kind of scoff because it does feel like an 465 00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:09,159 Speaker 2: outdated technology at this point in history, but it is 466 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:11,640 Speaker 2: still used by certain organizations. 467 00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:14,920 Speaker 1: Oh and after warning, man fax machines are very common 468 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:15,639 Speaker 1: in Japan. 469 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,439 Speaker 3: Okay, interesting, Okay, well, let's get to it. 470 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,360 Speaker 2: Even though Bain was applauded and lauded for his inventions 471 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:26,879 Speaker 2: and just his you know, innovating spirit his imagination. He 472 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:30,040 Speaker 2: was able to complete a series of successful lab tests 473 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:33,439 Speaker 2: over the next couple of years, but it was just 474 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,199 Speaker 2: ahead of its time and it didn't quite result in 475 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:41,000 Speaker 2: the immediate adoption in use for practical applications that. 476 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 3: He had hoped. 477 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:45,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, it reminds me of an excellent Mitchell and Web 478 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:50,400 Speaker 1: sketch about all of da Vinci's other inventions that just 479 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,800 Speaker 1: don't apply. That he's trying to explain how a computer 480 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:58,040 Speaker 1: mouse works to his patron who they neither of them 481 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:01,520 Speaker 1: know what a computer is, or he vince windshield wipers 482 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:03,200 Speaker 1: before windshields and cars. 483 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,160 Speaker 2: That's hilarious. That is like the very definition of being 484 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:07,320 Speaker 2: too ahead of the current. 485 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's what. Yeah, you're making paraphernalia for a 486 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:14,000 Speaker 1: core invention that does not yet exist. That's kind of 487 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: where Bain is. 488 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 2: We know. 489 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: There's something really beautiful about this too, which is in 490 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: the world of invention, it is extraordinarily rare for a 491 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:29,400 Speaker 1: single person to be the luminary the Moses coming down 492 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:32,360 Speaker 1: from on high, or the Prometheum with the fire. We 493 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:35,120 Speaker 1: stand on the shoulders of giants. So if you look 494 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:39,960 Speaker 1: around at anything in your area, including statistically the phone 495 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,560 Speaker 1: you're listening to this on. Then you have to realize 496 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:49,080 Speaker 1: that dozens, if not thousands of people made tiny inventions 497 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:52,640 Speaker 1: and tiny improvements that led to the thing you're seeing now. 498 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:55,720 Speaker 1: So a lot of our tech advancements come from what 499 00:29:55,760 --> 00:30:01,320 Speaker 1: we call compounding innovation standing on the shoulders of giants, 500 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: or combinatorial innovation, which is when you take an existing 501 00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:11,320 Speaker 1: technology and then you take another existing technology and you 502 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:12,240 Speaker 1: put them together. 503 00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:16,200 Speaker 2: Yes, indeed, like peanut butter and jelly, just so just 504 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 2: like that what you call it synergistic effects. 505 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:19,760 Speaker 3: There we go. 506 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:24,760 Speaker 1: And a big fan of combinatorial innovation is an Italian guy, 507 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:29,720 Speaker 1: physicist inventor Giovanni Casselli. He takes the technology of the 508 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: telegraph and something called the pentagraph and combines them with 509 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:42,040 Speaker 1: speaking to synchronization pendulum synchronization to invent the first real 510 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:45,320 Speaker 1: fax machine, which he calls the pentelegraph. 511 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 2: The pent telegraph, I love it. In eighteen sixty, Napoleon 512 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 2: the Third No, not that Napoleon, his nephew, however, and 513 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:55,360 Speaker 2: the Emperor of France at the time would take in 514 00:30:55,400 --> 00:31:00,480 Speaker 2: a demonstration of the pent telegraph, and you know they 515 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,720 Speaker 2: were on board with it. They decided to place orders 516 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 2: for the service to work within the French National Telegraph network, 517 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,280 Speaker 2: and with the help of Napoleon the Third but with 518 00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,280 Speaker 2: access to the telegraph network as well as financial support, 519 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:17,560 Speaker 2: the Penn Telegraph was successfully tested over a span of 520 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:21,640 Speaker 2: eight hundred kilometers stretching between Paris and Marseilles. 521 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:25,960 Speaker 1: And now we get to our third act. We're tying 522 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:29,640 Speaker 1: the whole thing together. It is the spring of eighteen sixty. 523 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:34,920 Speaker 1: The Tokugawa Shogunate has sent an official delegation of somewhere 524 00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:39,400 Speaker 1: between seventy six to eighty samurai to the United States 525 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:42,840 Speaker 1: of America to ratify what's called the Treaty of Amity 526 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:47,240 Speaker 1: and Commerce. They obviously arrive at the West coast. It's 527 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:50,560 Speaker 1: San Francisco, right because trans Pacific flights are not a 528 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: thing yet. They are on the USS Powhatan in February. 529 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:59,360 Speaker 1: That's when they arrive, and then they travel across the country. 530 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:01,800 Speaker 1: It takes a while, by the way, because the interstate's 531 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:08,040 Speaker 1: still not a thing. They get to Washington, d C. Philadelphia. 532 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:11,720 Speaker 1: At New York City they have to go via Panama. 533 00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 1: It's a whole thing, and the American public loves them, 534 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:18,520 Speaker 1: you know, this is they get a Beatlemania ask welcoming. 535 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:22,160 Speaker 1: They do, and it's problematic because it's exotic and they're 536 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:27,520 Speaker 1: treating them like aliens. A crowd of five hundred thousand 537 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:31,400 Speaker 1: something people shows up in New York for a parade. 538 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:33,840 Speaker 1: This is bigger than New Year's at the time. 539 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:37,479 Speaker 3: It would seem so yeah, roughly half a million people. 540 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:38,320 Speaker 3: That is wild. 541 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:42,040 Speaker 2: Meanwhile, during all of this, the soon to be president 542 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:46,360 Speaker 2: Abraham Lincoln was making the campaign rounds. He was on 543 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:48,920 Speaker 2: the trail, and it wouldn't be long before he was 544 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:51,720 Speaker 2: actively dealing with the lead up to a little thing 545 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:55,880 Speaker 2: called the War of Northern Aggression or the Civil War, 546 00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:58,600 Speaker 2: something along those lines. But in terms of the timeline, 547 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:01,680 Speaker 2: his travelers would have actually taken him well within the 548 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:07,640 Speaker 2: range that that technology we're talking about could have transmitted communications. 549 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:11,520 Speaker 1: And on May sixteenth, eighteen sixty, it must be said, 550 00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:16,920 Speaker 1: the Republican National Convention convened in Chicago. Their platform condemned 551 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:21,400 Speaker 1: proposals to allow slavery in US territories, and they called 552 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:24,960 Speaker 1: rightly the reopening of the African slave trade a crime 553 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:30,640 Speaker 1: against humanity. Because the Republicans of that era were very 554 00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:34,719 Speaker 1: different from the Republican Party in the US today. This 555 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:39,000 Speaker 1: all brings it together beautifully. We think we know how 556 00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:43,680 Speaker 1: things wound up playing out in that election, but we're 557 00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:51,880 Speaker 1: baffled by the commonality and commingling of history because technically, 558 00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,240 Speaker 1: as you point out, Jabbari, all of this together means 559 00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:59,320 Speaker 1: that a samurai could have been on that diplomatic trip. 560 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:06,640 Speaker 1: He or she could have actually sent Abraham Lincoln a fax. Uh, 561 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:10,280 Speaker 1: let's send on this? What would what would the samurai facts? 562 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:12,960 Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln night sick, wrestling. 563 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:15,800 Speaker 2: Moves man, Yeah, yeah, compliment on his read, sure, his 564 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:16,879 Speaker 2: stovepipe hat? 565 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 3: No, what you got, Max? I said, you up? Yeah? 566 00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:25,480 Speaker 3: You new phone? Who does w h No? 567 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:29,680 Speaker 2: I love Jabari's suggestions here. Perhaps that preemptive little on 568 00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:32,759 Speaker 2: your left or watch your back might have helped, and 569 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,279 Speaker 2: that would work real well for the political cartoon that 570 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:37,120 Speaker 2: we set up at the top. I think this is 571 00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:38,879 Speaker 2: a really fun way to kind of do a little 572 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:43,719 Speaker 2: grab bag history episode in a really fun trajectory that 573 00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:45,959 Speaker 2: you set up for as Jabari. So thanks a lot 574 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:46,920 Speaker 2: for the research on. 575 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:50,640 Speaker 1: This, big, big thanks to our super producer mister Max Williams. 576 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:54,120 Speaker 1: Huge thanks to our brand new research associate Jabbari Davis, 577 00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:59,080 Speaker 1: as well as Alex Williams Uh the musical genius who 578 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:02,200 Speaker 1: composed this track, Chris Fraciotis and he's Jeff codes here 579 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:06,520 Speaker 1: in Spira, Jonathan Strickland, the quiztor, aj Bahamas, Jacobs a puzzler, 580 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:10,480 Speaker 1: doctor Rachel Big Spinach Lance the world's foremost authority on 581 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:14,760 Speaker 1: underwater explosions. What a weird flex. Speaking of cool flex 582 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:17,200 Speaker 1: is big big shout out to the rude dudes of 583 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:20,960 Speaker 1: Ridiculous crime. If you dig us, you'll love them now 584 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:24,680 Speaker 1: tell us maybe over on our Facebook page, Ridiculous Historians. 585 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,920 Speaker 1: What you would have facted either a samurai or Abraham Lincoln. 586 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:30,480 Speaker 3: We'll see you next time, folks. 587 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:41,200 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 588 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:43,400 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,