Futility Closet

In 1838, Frenchwoman Henriette d'Angeville set out to climb Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps, against the advice of nearly everyone she knew. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow d'Angeville up the mountain to fulfill what she called "a monomania of the heart."

We'll also escape Australia in a box and puzzle over a fixed game.

Intro:

In 1986, Florida bankruptcy judge A. Jay Cristol issued an order inspired by "a little old ebony bird."

Puzzling poet S.R. Ford fits 10 guests into nine rooms.

Sources for our feature on Henriette d'Angeville:

Rebecca A. Brown, Women on High: Pioneers of Mountaineering, 2002.

David Mazel, Mountaineering Women: Stories by Early Climbers, 1994.

Peter H. Hansen, The Summits of Modern Man, 2013.

Nathan Haskell Dole, The Spell of Switzerland, 1913.

Francis Henry Gribble, The Early Mountaineers, 1899.

Charles Edward Mathews, The Annals of Mont Blanc: A Monograph, 1898.

Albert Richard Smith, Mont Blanc, 1871.

Delphine Moraldo, "Gender Relations in French and British Mountaineering: The Lens of Autobiographies of Female Mountaineers, From d'Angeville (1794-1871) to Destivelle (1960-)," Journal of Alpine Research 101:1 (2013).

Diana L. Di Stefano, "The Summits of Modern Man: Mountaineering After the Enlightenment," Canadian Journal of History 50:1 (Spring/Summer 2015), 213-215.

Gerry Kearns, Mary Kingsley, and Halford Mackinder, "The Imperial Subject: Geography and Travel in the Work of Mary Kingsley and Halford Mackinder," Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 22:4 (1997), 450-472.

Bénédicte Monicat, "Autobiography and Women's Travel Writings in Nineteenth-Century France: Journeys Through Self-Representation," Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography 1:1 (1994), 61-70.

Walther Kirchner, "Mind, Mountain, and History," Journal of the History of Ideas 11:4 (October 1950), 412-447.

J.M. Thorington, "Henriette d'Angeville au Mont-Blanc," American Alpine Journal, 1949.

Sherilyne J. King, "Crags & Crinolines," Tenth Annual Hypoxia Symposium, McMaster University, October 1997.

Pascale Gorguet Ballesteros, "Women in Trousers: Henriette d'Angeville, a French Pioneer?" Journal of Design, Creative Process & the Fashion Industry 9:2 (2017), 200-213.

Karen Stockham, "'Home Is Just Another Range of Mountains': Constructions of 'Home' in Women's Mountaineering Auto/biographies," Auto/Biography Yearbook 2014, 2015, 90-104.

Claire Evans, "'But What Do I Wear?': A Study of Women's Climbing Attire," in Maria Vaccarella and Jacque Lynn Foltyn, eds., Fashion-Wise, 2013.

Anne Ruderman, "Boots, a Tent and a Chic Chapeau: Women Hike in Footsteps of Pioneers," Concord [N.H.] Monitor, April 18, 2004.

Susan Spano, "Intrepid Women Inspire New Heights," Calgary Herald, Feb. 22, 2003.

Alice Thomson, "Day of the Spiderwoman: Women Climbers," Times, May 18, 1993.

Hjalmar Josephi, "On Montblanc 1838," Sydney Mail, June 26, 1935.

"Mont Blanc's Bride," Saint Paul Globe, Sept. 27, 1897.

Karen Stockham, "It Went Down Into the Very Form and Fabric of Myself": Women's Mountaineering Life-Writing 1808-1960, dissertation, University of Exeter, 2012.

Listener mail:

Nuala McCann, "Crate Escape: Search for Irishmen Who Airmailed Brian Robson Home," BBC News NI, April 7, 2021.

Jason Caffrey, "The Copycat Who Nearly Died Air-Mailing Himself Home," BBC News, April 7, 2015.

Alison Healy, "'The Crate Escape': Two Irishmen Who Helped Mail Friend Home From Australia Sought," Irish Times, April 6, 2021.

Alison Healy, "Man to Meet Irish Friend Who Helped Airmail Him From Australia," Irish Times, April 17, 2021.

Heather Murphy, "A Man Who Shipped Himself in a Crate Wants to Find the Men Who Helped," New York Times, April 14, 2021.

"From the Archives, 1965: Stowaway's Box Seat in Airliner," Sydney Morning Herald, April 9, 2021.

"New Year's Day," Wikipedia (accessed May 23, 2021).

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Steven Jones, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

For more than 40 years in the early 20th century, Martin Couney ran a sideshow in which premature babies were displayed in incubators. With this odd practice he offered a valuable service in an era when many hospitals couldn't. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Couney's unusual enterprise, which earned both criticism and praise.

We'll also marvel over an Amazonian survival and puzzle over a pleasing refusal.

Intro:

The inventor of the Dewey Decimal System suggested that GHEAUGHTEIGHPTOUGH might spell potato.

John VI of Portugal listened to visitors through his throne.

Sources for our feature on Martin Couney:

Dawn Raffel, The Strange Case of Dr. Couney: How a Mysterious European Showman Saved Thousands of American Babies, 2018.

Janet Golden, Babies Made Us Modern: How Infants Brought America Into the Twentieth Century, 2018.

Elizabeth A. Reedy, American Babies: Their Life and Times in the 20th Century, 2007.

Mhairi G. MacDonald, Mary M. K. Seshia, and Martha D. Mullett, Avery's Neonatology: Pathophysiology & Management of the Newborn, 2005.

Jeffrey P. Baker, The Machine in the Nursery: Incubator Technology and the Origins of Newborn Intensive Care, 1996.

David M. Allen and Elizabeth A. Reedy, "Seven Cases: Examples of How Important Ideas Were Initially Attacked or Ridiculed by the Professions," in David M. Allen and James W. Howell, eds., Groupthink in Science: Greed, Pathological Altruism, Ideology, Competition, and Culture, 2020.

Nils J. Bergman, "Birth Practices: Maternal-Neonate Separation as a Source of Toxic Stress," Birth Defects Research 111:15 (Sept. 1, 2019), 1087-1109.

Betty R. Vohr, "The Importance of Parent Presence and Involvement in the Single-Family Room and Open-Bay NICU," Acta Paediatrica 108:6 (June 2019), 986-988.

Claire Prentice, "The Man Who Ran a Carnival Attraction That Saved Thousands of Premature Babies Wasn’t a Doctor at All," Smithsonian, Aug. 19, 2016.

"When Preemies Were a Carnival Sideshow," Modern Healthcare 45:32 (Aug. 10, 2015), 36.

Judith S. Gooding et al., "Family Support and Family-Centered Care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Origins, Advances, Impact," Seminars in Perinatology 35:1 (February 2011), 20-28.

Magdalena Mazurak and Małgorzata Czyżewska, "Incubator Doctor and the Dionne Quintuplets: On the Phenomenon of Exhibiting Premature Infants," Dental and Medical Problems 43:2 (2006), 313-316.

Elizabeth A. Reedy, "Historical Perspectives: Infant Incubators Turned 'Weaklings' Into 'Fighters,'" American Journal of Nursing 103:9 (September 2003), 64AA.

Hannah Lieberman, "Incubator Baby Shows: A Medical and Social Frontier," History Teacher 35:1 (November 2001), 81-88.

Jeffrey P. Baker, "The Incubator and the Medical Discovery of the Premature Infant," Journal of Perinatology 20:5 (2000), 321-328.

Gerald M. Oppenheimer, "Prematurity as a Public Health Problem: US Policy From the 1920s to the 1960s," American Journal of Public Health 86:6 (1996), 870-878.

Lou Ann Bunker-Hellmich, "A Case Study of Space Use and Visiting Policy in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit," Children's Environments Quarterly 4:3 (Fall 1987), 25-32.

Richard F. Snow, "American Characters: Martin Couney," American Heritage 32:4 (June/July 1981).

Leo Stern, "Thermoregulation in the Newborn Infant: Historical, Physiological and Clinical Considerations," in George Franklin Smith, D. Vidyasagar, and Patricia N. Smith, eds., Historical Review and Recent Advances in Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine, 1980.

Rutledge Rutherford, "Infant Incubators," Technical World Magazine 4:1 (September 1905), 68-73.

Joanne Palmer, "'The Strange Case of Dr. Couney,'" Jewish Standard, Nov. 1, 2018.

Heidi Stevens, "Saved by Science, Twins Displayed in Incubators at Chicago's 2nd World's Fair Are Now 84 and Nestled Happily in the Suburbs," Chicago Tribune, Aug. 30, 2018.

Rick Kogan, "Mysterious 'Doctor' Couney Saved Thousands of Premature Babies -- and Put Them on Display at the Fair," Chicago Tribune, Aug. 25, 2018.

Will Pavia, "Fairground 'Doctor' Who Saved Babies," Times, July 28, 2018.

"How One Man Saved a Generation of Premature Babies," BBC News, May 23, 2016.

Frank Eltman, "'Incubator Babies' Want Their Story Told," [Montreal] Gazette, Aug. 1, 2015.

William Brangham, "How a Coney Island Sideshow Advanced Medicine for Premature Babies," PBS NewsHour, July 21, 2015.

Michael Pollak, "The Incubated Babies of the Coney Island Boardwalk," New York Times, July 31, 2015.

Michael Brick, "And Next to the Bearded Lady, Premature Babies," New York Times, June 12, 2005.

Daniel B. Schneider, "F.Y.I.," New York Times, Dec. 13, 1998.

"Martin A. Couney, 'Incubator Doctor,'" New York Times, March 2, 1950.

"Incubator's Class of '39 Lifts Cups to Old Times," New York Times, June 15, 1940.

Paul Harrison, "New York Letter," Brownsville [Texas] Herald, Aug. 8, 1933.

"5,000 Babies Owe Their Lives to Gas Heat," Newark [Ohio] Leader, April 16, 1926.

"Storks Are to Be Taken at the World's Fair Despite the Big War in Europe," [Clarksburg, W.Va.] Daily Telegram, Sept. 3, 1914.

"Inventor Is Pleased," Minneapolis Journal, Aug. 4, 1905.

Listener mail:

Manuela Andreoni, "His Plane Crashed in the Amazon. Then Came the Hard Part," New York Times, March 28, 2021.

Stephen Gibbs, "Crash Pilot Lives to Tell Tale of 38 Days Lost in the Amazon," Times, March 30, 2021.

P.S.M. Chandran, "Why Age Fraud in Indian Sports Is So Prevalent," The Wire, May 6, 2020.

Nagraj Gollapudi, "Age Fraud - BCCI Offers Amnesty Scheme to Players, Promises 'Stern Actions' to Curb Menace," ESPNcricinfo, Aug. 3, 2020.

Shashank Kishore, "Indian Cricket's Age-Fraud Problem," ESPNcricinfo, June 28, 2019.

"Afridi Reveals His Real Age – Sort Of," Cricket Network, May 3, 2019.

"Shahid Afridi Reveals His Real Age in Autobiography," ESPNcricinfo, May 2, 2019.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Jack McLachlan. Here's a corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In April 1945, a group of American soldiers learned that hundreds of Lipizzaner horses were being held on a farm in western Czechoslovakia -- and set out to rescue them before the Red Army could reach them. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of Operation Cowboy, one of the strangest episodes of World War II.

We'll also learn about an NBA brawl and puzzle over a technology's link to cancer deaths.

Intro:

What's wrong with these Martian census numbers?

Japanese puzzle maven Nob Yoshigahara offered this perplexing model.

Sources for our feature on Operation Cowboy:

Mark Felton, Ghost Riders: When U.S. and German Soldiers Fought Together to Save the World's Most Beautiful Horses in the Last Days of World War II, 2018.

Stephan Talty, Operation Cowboy: The Secret American Mission to Save the World’s Most Beautiful Horses in the Last Days of World War II, 2014.

David R. Dorondo, "Enemies Unite to Rescue Equestrian Captives," Army 69:8 (August 2019), 70-71.

Mark Felton, "Operation Cowboy -- How American GIs & German Soldiers Joined Forces to Save the Legendary Lipizzaner Horses in the Final Hours of WW2," Military History Now, Nov. 25, 2018.

Karen Jensen, "'Something Beautiful,'" World War II 24:4 (November 2009), 52-59,5.

Boris Brglez, "The 3rd Army Rescue of the Lipizzaners," United States Army Medical Department Journal, January-March 2009, 59-63.

Renita Foster, "Saving the Lippizaners: American Cowboys Ride to the Rescue," Armor 107:3 (May-June 1998), 22-23.

Susan Davis, "Operation Cowboy in 1945 a Group of U.S. Soldiers Liberated 375 Lipizzans From Nazi Captivity," Sports Illustrated, Oct. 16, 1995.

Marea Donnelly, "Hoof Dares Wins," [Surry Hills, N.S.W.] Daily Telegraph, Sept. 8, 2018.

Matt Thompson, "WWII Soldier's Heroism Finally Coming to Light in His Hometown," [Toledo] Blade, May 29, 2016.

Jennifer Bunn, "2CR, Czech Republic Remember Operation Cowboy," army.mil, May 2, 2016.

Molly Bompane, "Army Europe, Czech Republic Celebrates 70th Anniversary of Operation Cowboy," army.mil, May 27, 2015.

Jane Shilling, "History: The Beautiful Lipizzaner Breed Has Endured a Brutal 20th Century, Discovers Jane Shilling," Sunday Telegraph, Aug. 5, 2012.

Dan Craft, "Lipizzaners Saved in War," McClatchy-Tribune Business News, Sept. 28, 2006.

Listener mail:

Charlie Miller, "What's the Record for Most Foul Balls Hit in a Single At-Bat?" Athlon Sports, Jan. 23, 2013.

Harker Davies, "Randy Johnson Kills Dove," YouTube (video).

"Randy Johnson Kills Dove With Pitch," ABC News, March 26, 2001.

"Valencian Trinquet," Wikipedia (accessed May 6, 2021).

"Valencian Pilota," Wikipedia (accessed May 6, 2021).

TheNBAFreak, "Malice at the Palace," YouTube (video).

"Pacers–Pistons Brawl," Wikipedia (accessed May 5, 2021).

"Top 10 List of Worst NBA Fights, Cheap Shots," NBA News, April 23, 2012.

Scott Gleeson, "Metta Sandiford-Artest and Stephen Jackson Reflect on 'Malice at the Palace': Fans 'Started It'," USA Today, Nov. 10, 2020.

"Suspensions Without Pay, Won't Be Staggered," ESPN, Nov. 21, 2004.

Michael McCarthy, "Fan Who Ignited Brawl Forever Banned From Pistons' Home Games," USA Today, Nov. 17, 2006.

Zach Buckley, "The 5 Fights That Changed the NBA," Bleacher Report, May 23, 2020.

"Carlisle: 'I Was Fighting for My Life Out There,'" ESPN, Nov. 20, 2004.

"Recurring Jokes in Private Eye," Wikipedia (accessed May 8, 2021).

"Arkell v. Pressdram," Letters of Note, Aug. 7, 2013.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Elliot Kendall, based on an item in James Hallenbeck's 2003 book Palliative Care Perspectives.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1844 New Orleans was riveted by a dramatic trial: A slave claimed that she was really a free immigrant who had been pressed into bondage as a young girl. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Sally Miller's fight for freedom, which challenged notions of race and social hierarchy in antebellum Louisiana.

We'll also try to pronounce some drug names and puzzle over some cheated tram drivers.

Intro:

In 1992, a Florida bankruptcy judge held a computer in contempt of court.

The 1908 grave of Vermont atheist George P. Spencer is inscribed with his credo.

Sources for our feature on Sally Miller:

Carol Wilson, The Two Lives of Sally Miller: A Case of Mistaken Racial Identity in Antebellum New Orleans, 2007.

Paul Finkelman, Free Blacks, Slaves, and Slaveowners in Civil and Criminal Courts: The Pamphlet Literature, 2007.

Gwendoline Alphonso, "Public & Private Order: Law, Race, Morality, and the Antebellum Courts of Louisiana, 1830-1860," Journal of Southern Legal History 23 (2015), 117-160.

Emily West, "The Two Lives of Sally Miller," Slavery & Abolition 30:1 (March 2009), 151-152.

Carol Lazzaro-Weis, "The Two Lives of Sally Miller: A Case of Mistaken Racial Identity in Antebellum New Orleans," Journal of Southern History 74:4 (November 2008), 970-971.

Frank Towers, "The Two Lives of Sally Miller: A Case of Mistaken Identity in Antebellum New Orleans," American Historical Review 113:1 (February 2008), 181-182.

Scott Hancock, "The Two Lives of Sally Miller: A Case of Mistaken Racial Identity in Antebellum New Orleans," Journal of American History 94:3 (December 2007), 931-932.

Daneen Wardrop, "Ellen Craft and the Case of Salomé Muller in Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom," Women's Studies 33:7 (2004), 961-984.

Patricia Herminghouse, "The German Secrets of New Orleans," German Studies Review 27:1 (February 2004), 1-16.

Marouf Hasian Jr., "Performative Law and the Maintenance of Interracial Social Boundaries: Assuaging Antebellum Fears of 'White Slavery' and the Case of Sally Miller/Salome Müller," Text & Performance Quarterly 23:1 (January 2003), 55-86.

Ariela Gross, "Beyond Black and White: Cultural Approaches to Race and Slavery," Columbia Law Review 101:3 (April 2001), 640-690.

Stephan Talty, "Spooked: The White Slave Narratives," Transition 85 (2000), 48-75.

Carol Wilson, "Sally Muller, the White Slave," Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association 40:2 (Spring 1999), 133-153.

Ariela J. Gross, "Litigating Whiteness: Trials of Racial Determination in the Nineteenth-Century South," Yale Law Journal 108:1 (October 1998), 109-188.

Carol Wilson and Calvin D. Wilson, "White Slavery: An American Paradox," Slavery & Abolition: A Journal of Slave and Post-Slave Studies 19:1 (1998).

Wilbert E. Moore, "Slave Law and the Social Structure," Journal of Negro History 26:2 (April 1941), 171-202.

"Case of Salome Müller," Law Reporter 8:7 (November 1845), 332-333.

Nina C. Ayoub, "'The Two Lives of Sally Miller: A Case of Mistaken Racial Identity in Antebellum New Orleans,'" Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 19, 2007.

Carol Edwards, "Story of German Slave Girl 'Extraordinary,' But Is It True?", [Charleston, S.C.] Post and Courier, March 20, 2005.

Mary-Liz Shaw, "'The Lost German Slave Girl' Unravels a Mystery of Old South," Knight Ridder Tribune News Service, Jan. 26, 2005.

Gregory M. Lamb, "The Peculiar Color of Racial Justice," Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 25, 2005.

Linda Wolfe, "Sally Miller's Struggle to Escape Slavery Ended in Celebrated Case," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 23, 2005.

Debra J. Dickerson, "Making a Case for Freedom: Was a White German Girl Forced Into Slavery?" Boston Globe, Jan. 23, 2005.

Jonathan Yardley, "The Case of Sally Miller," Washington Post, Jan. 20, 2005.

"Strange Case in New Orleans," Alexandria Gazette, July 3, 1845.

"City Affairs," New-York Daily Tribune, July 11, 1844.

Madison Cloud, Improvising Structures of Power and Race: The Sally Miller Story and New Orleans, dissertation, Baylor University, 2015.

Carol Wilson, "Miller, Sally," American National Biography, April 2008.

Listener mail:

David Lazarus, "Wonder Where Generic Drug Names Come From? Two Women in Chicago, That's Where," Los Angeles Times, July 23, 2019.

"Naming Law in Sweden," Wikipedia (accessed April 30, 2021).

"Baby Named Metallica Rocks Sweden," BBC News, April 4, 2007.

Meredith MacLeod, "Sweden Rejects 'Ford' as Name for Canadian-Swedish Couple's Son," CTVNews, Nov. 9, 2018.

"Naming Law," Wikipedia (accessed April 30, 2021).

"Naming in the United States," Wikipedia (accessed April 30, 2021).

Tovin Lapan, "California Birth Certificates and Accents: O'Connor Alright, Ramón and José Is Not," Guardian, April 11, 2015.

"AB-82 Vital records: diacritical marks" (as amended), California Legislative Information, Sept. 15, 2017.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Charlotte Greener. Here's a corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In the 1890s, Waldemar Haffkine worked valiantly to develop vaccines against both cholera and bubonic plague. Then an unjust accusation derailed his career. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Haffkine's momentous work in India, which has been largely overlooked by history.

We'll also consider some museum cats and puzzle over an endlessly energetic vehicle.

Intro:

The Galveston hurricane of 1915 carried 21,000-pound buoy 10 miles.

Lillian Russell designed a portable dresser for touring actresses.

Sources for our feature on Waldemar Haffkine:

Selman A. Waksman, The Brilliant and Tragic Life of W.M.W. Haffkine, Bacteriologist, 1964.

Waldemar Mordecai Wolffe Haffkine, Anti-Cholera Inoculation, 1895.

Tilli Tansey, "Rats and Racism: A Tale of US Plague," Nature 568:7753 (April 25, 2019), 454-455.

Yusra Husain, "Lucknow: Bubonic Plague Vaccine and a 123-Year-Old Family Tale," Times of India, July 29, 2020.

Stanley B. Barns, "Waldemar Haffkine and the 1911 Chinese Pneumonic Plague Epidemic," Pulmonary Reviews 13:3 (March 2008), 9.

Jake Scobey-Thal, "The Plague," Foreign Policy 210 (January/February 2015), 24-25.

Marina Sorokina, "Between Faith and Reason: Waldemar Haffkine (1860-1930) in India," in Kenneth X. Robbins and Marvin Tokayer, eds., Western Jews in India: From the Fifteenth Century to the Present, 2013, 161-178.

Pratik Chakrabarti, "'Living versus Dead': The Pasteurian Paradigm and Imperial Vaccine Research," Bulletin of the History of Medicine 84:3 (Fall 2010), 387-423.

Barbara J. Hawgood, "Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, CIE (1860–1930): Prophylactic Vaccination Against Cholera and Bubonic Plague in British India," Journal of Medical Biography 15:1 (2007), 9-19.

Myron Echenberg, "Pestis Redux: The Initial Years of the Third Bubonic Plague Pandemic, 1894-1901," Journal of World History 13:2 (Fall 2002), 429-449.

Natasha Sarkar, "Plague in Bombay: Response of Britain's Indian Subjects to Colonial Intervention," Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 62 (2001), 442-449.

Ilana Löwy, "From Guinea Pigs to Man: The Development of Haffkine's Anticholera Vaccine," Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 47:3 (July 1992), 270-309.

Eli Chernin, "Ross Defends Haffkine: The Aftermath of the Vaccine-Associated Mulkowal Disaster of 1902," Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 46:2 (April 1991), 201-218.

Edythe Lutzker and Carol Jochnowitz, "The Curious History of Waldemar Haffkine," Commentary 69:006 (June 1980), 61.

W.J. Simpson, "Waldemar Haffkine, CIE," British Medical Journal 2:3644 (1930), 801.

Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, "A Lecture on Vaccination Against Cholera: Delivered in the Examination Hall of the Conjoint Board of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of London and Surgeons of England, December 18th, 1895," British Medical Journal 2:1825 (1895), 1541.

Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, "On Preventive Inoculation," Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 65:413-422 (1900), 252-271.

Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine and W.J. Simpson, "A Contribution to the Etiology of Cholera," Indian Medical Gazette 30:3 (1895), 89.

Waldemar Mordecai Haffkine, E.H. Hankin, and Ch. H. Owen, "Technique of Haffkine's Anti-Choleraic Inoculations," Indian Medical Gazette 29:6 (1894), 201.

Andrew Scottie, "The Vaccine Passport Debate Isn't New: It Started in 1897 During a Plague Pandemic," CNN Wire Service, April 14, 2021.

"How the World's Race for Vaccination Was Won," [Surry Hills, N.S.W.] Daily Telegraph, Feb. 23, 2021.

Joel Gunter and Vikas Pandey, "Waldemar Haffkine: The Vaccine Pioneer the World Forgot," BBC News, Dec. 11, 2020.

Vikram Doctor, "The Risks and Rewards of Human Trials," [New Delhi] Economic Times, May 9, 2020.

Donald G. McNeil, Jr., "Can the Government Require Vaccinations? Yes," New York Times, April 11, 2019.

Henry Marsh, "The Sniping Scientists Whose Work Saved Millions of Lives," New York Times, Sept. 3, 2018.

William F. Bynum, "Review --- Books: Anxieties Immune to Reason," Wall Street Journal, Aug. 18, 2018.

Faye Flam, "Please Don't Try This Biohacking at Home," Chicago Tribune, June 8, 2018.

Ashlin Mathew, "Falling Into the Rattrap," [Noida] Mail Today, April 5, 2015.

Nicholas Bakalar, "Milestones in Combating Cholera," New York Times, Oct. 1, 2012.

"Death of Dr. Haffkine," [Perth] Westralian Judean, Feb. 1, 1931.

"Neglect of Genius," [Brisbane] Telegraph, May 12, 1923.

"A Scientist From India," [Victoria] Jewish Herald, Nov. 5, 1915.

"Dinner to Dr. Haffkine," Hebrew Standard of Australasia, July 28, 1899.

Ernest Hart, "Fighting Cholera on the Ganges," Salt Lake Herald, Nov. 2, 1896.

Listener mail:

Quite Interesting, "Last week, the Union of Museum Cats was established ...," Twitter, March 3, 2021.

Lana Svetlova, "The First Trade Union of Museum Cats in Russia Was Decided to Be Created in St. Petersburg," MKRU St. Petersburg, April 26, 2021.

"Hermitage Cats," Wikipedia (accessed April 21, 2021).

"Frenchman Leaves Inheritance to St. Petersburg's Hermitage Cats," Moscow Times, Dec. 3, 2020.

Alexander Marquardt, "St. Petersburg's Hermitage Museum Home to Masters ... and Cats," ABC News, July 21, 2010.

Teresa Levonian Cole, "St Petersburg: The Cats of the Hermitage," Telegraph, May 23, 2013.

Mary Ilyushina and Amy Woodyatt, "A French Man Has Left Money to 50 Cats Who Live in Russia's Hermitage Museum," CNN, Dec. 7, 2020.

"Hermitage Museum," Wikipedia (accessed April 24, 2021).

Mikey Smith, "No10 Staff Told to Cut Down on Treats for Larry the Cat as He Piles on Lockdown Pounds," Mirror, March 9, 2021.

Justin Ng, "Just seen @Number10cat see off a fox ...," Twitter, April 20, 2021.

Sam Baker, "The Fur Flies at Number Ten: Larry the Downing Street Cat Sees Off Rival FOX in Scrap Behind Prime Minister's Home," Daily Mail, April 20, 2021.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Sam Tilley, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1938, Italian physicist Ettore Majorana vanished after taking a sudden sea journey. At first it was feared that he'd ended his life, but the perplexing circumstances left the truth uncertain. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll review the facts of Majorana's disappearance, its meaning for physics, and a surprising modern postscript.

We'll also dither over pronunciation and puzzle over why it will take three days to catch a murderer.

Intro:

By design, no building in Washington, D.C., is taller than the Washington Monument.

The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra plays instruments made of fresh vegetables.

Sources for our feature on Ettore Majorana:

Erasmo Recami, The Majorana Case: Letters, Documents, Testimonies, 2019.

Salvatore Esposito, Ettore Majorana: Unveiled Genius and Endless Mysteries, 2017.

Salvatore Esposito, The Physics of Ettore Majorana, 2015.

Salvatore Esposito et al., eds., Ettore Majorana: Notes on Theoretical Physics, 2013.

Salvatore Esposito, Erasmo Recami, and Alwyn Van der Merwe, eds., Ettore Majorana: Unpublished Research Notes on Theoretical Physics, 2008.

Francesco Guerra and Nadia Robotti, "Biographical Notes on Ettore Majorana," in Luisa Cifarelli, ed., Scientific Papers of Ettore Majorana, 2020.

Mark Buchanan, "In Search of Majorana," Nature Physics 11:3 (March 2015), 206.

Michael Brooks, "The Vanishing Particle Physicist," New Statesman 143:5233 (Oct. 24, 2014), 18-19.

Francesco Guerra and Nadia Robotti, "The Disappearance and Death of Ettore Majorana," Physics in Perspective 15:2 (June 2013), 160-177.

Salvatore Esposito, "The Disappearance of Ettore Majorana: An Analytic Examination," Contemporary Physics 51:3 (2010), 193-209.

Ennio Arimondo, Charles W. Clark, and William C. Martin, "Colloquium: Ettore Majorana and the Birth of Autoionization," Reviews of Modern Physics 82:3 (2010), 1947.

Graham Farmelo, "A Brilliant Darkness: The Extraordinary Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Ettore Majorana, the Troubled Genius of the Nuclear Age," Times Higher Education, Feb. 18, 2010.

Frank Close, "Physics Mystery Peppered With Profanity," Nature 463:7277 (Jan. 7, 2010), 33.

Joseph Francese, "Leonardo Sciascia and The Disappearance of Majorana," Journal of Modern Italian Studies 15:5 (2010), 715-733.

Frank Wilczek, "Majorana Returns," Nature Physics 5:9 (2009), 614-618.

Barry R. Holstein, "The Mysterious Disappearance of Ettore Majorana," Journal of Physics: Conference Series 173, Carolina International Symposium on Neutrino Physics, May 15–17, 2008.

Joseph Farrell, "The Ethics of Science: Leonardo Sciascia and the Majorana Case," Modern Language Review 102:4 (October 2007), 1021-1034.

Zeeya Merali, "The Man Who Was Both Alive and Dead," New Scientist 191:2563 (Aug. 5, 2006), 15.

Erasmo Recami, "The Scientific Work of Ettore Majorana: An Introduction," Electronic Journal of Theoretical Physics 3:10 (April 2006), 1-10.

Ettore Majorana and Luciano Maiani, "A Symmetric Theory of Electrons and Positrons," Ettore Majorana Scientific Papers, 2006.

R. Mignani, E. Recami, and M. Baldo, "About a Dirac-Like Equation for the Photon According to Ettore Majorana," Lettere al Nuovo Cimento 11:12 (April 1974), 568-572.

Angelo Paratico, "Science Focus: Italy Closes Case on Physician's Mysterious Disappearance," South China Morning Post, Feb. 15, 2015.

Antonino Zichichi, "Ettore Majorana: Genius and Mystery," CERN Courier 46 (2006), N6.

Peter Hebblethwaite, "Saints for Our Time," Guardian, April 17, 1987.

Walter Sullivan, "Finding on Radioactivity May Upset Physics Law," New York Times, Jan. 14, 1987.

Nino Lo Bello, "Is Missing Atomic Scientist Working for the Russians?" [Cedar Rapids, Iowa] Gazette, May 3, 1959.

Listener mail:

"Farmers Project Is Right on Time," New Zealand Herald, Feb. 6, 2012.

"Farmers Opens New Napier Store," Scoop, June 6, 2013.

Megan Garber, "The State of Wyoming Has 2 Escalators," Atlantic, July 17, 2013.

Brandon Specktor, "Believe It or Not, This State Only Has Two Escalators -- Here's Why," Reader's Digest, Sept. 8, 2017.

Audie Cornish and Melissa Block, "Where Are All of Wyomings Escalators?" NPR, July 18, 2013.

Natasha Frost, "Spiral Escalators Look Cool, But Do They Make Sense?" Atlas Obscura, July 5, 2017.

"Spiral Escalator," Elevatorpedia (accesssed April 17, 2021).

"Aussie," Wikipedia (accessed April 16, 2021).

"Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet," Wikipedia (accessed April 14, 2021).

"Naming Cockburn," City of Cockburn (accessed April 14, 2021).

This week's lateral thinking puzzle is taken from Anges Rogers' 1953 book How Come?: A Book of Riddles, sent to us by listener Jon Jerome.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1883, Missouri real estate broker James Reavis announced that he held title to a huge tract of land in the Arizona Territory. If certified, the claim would threaten the livelihoods of thousands of residents. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the Baron of Arizona, one of the most audacious frauds in American history.

We'll also scrutinize British statues and puzzle over some curious floor numbers.

Intro:

In 1891, Charles Dodgson wrote a curiously unforthcoming letter to Nellie Bowman.

Reputedly the English geologist William Buckland could distinguish a region by the smell of its soil.

Sources for our feature on James Reavis:

Donald M. Powell, The Peralta Grant: James Addison Reavis and the Barony of Arizona, 1960.

E.H. Cookridge, The Baron of Arizona, 1967.

Jay J. Wagoner, Arizona Territory, 1863-1912: A Political History, 1970.

Donald M. Powell, "The Peralta Grant: A Lost Arizona Story," Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 50:1 (First Quarter, 1956), 40-52.

Walter Barlow Stevens, Missouri the Center State: 1821-1915, Volume 2, 1915.

Joseph Stocker, "The Baron of Arizona," American History 36:1 (April 2001), 20.

J.D. Kitchens, "Forging Arizona: A History of the Peralta Land Grant and Racial Identity in the West," Choice 56:12 (August 2019), 1515.

Donald M. Powell, "The Baron of Arizona by E. H. Cookridge (review)," Western American Literature 4:1 (Spring 1969), 73-74.

Tim Bowman, "Forging Arizona: A History of the Peralta Land Grant and Racial Identity in the West (review)," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 123:3 (January 2020), 386-387.

Ira G. Clark, "The Peralta Grant: James Addison Reavis and the Barony of Arizona by Donald M. Powell (review)," Mississippi Valley Historical Review 47:3 (December 1960), 522-523.

McIntyre Faries, "The Peralta Grant — James Addison Reavis and the Barony of Arizona by Donald M. Powell (review)," Historical Society of Southern California Quarterly 42:3 (September 1960), 315.

Donald M. Powell, "The 'Baron of Arizona' Self-Revealed: A Letter to His Lawyer in 1894," Arizona and the West 1:2 (Summer 1959), 161-173.

Clarence Budington Kelland, "The Red Baron of Arizona," Saturday Evening Post 220:15 (Oct. 11, 1947), 22.

Marshall Trimble, "The Baron of Arizona," True West Magazine, April 2, 2015.

Oren Arnold, "Skulduggery in the Southwest," Saturday Evening Post 216:34 (Feb. 19, 1944), 68.

Jeff Jackson, "Reavis Put Arizola on Map Ignominiously," [Casa Grande, Ariz.] Tri-Valley Dispatch, June 2, 2020.

"Arizona's Long, Rich History of Land Fraud," Arizona Republic, Dec. 29, 2019.

Ron Dungan, "The 'Baron of Arizona,' a Most Royal Fraud," Arizona Republic, March 6, 2016.

Jaimee Rose, "Forger Claimed 12 Mil Acres," Arizona Republic, Oct. 14, 2012.

Richard Ruelas, "'Baron of Arizona' Reigns Again," Arizona Republic, Jan. 28, 2008.

Clay Thompson, "'Baron' Reavis Behind State's Biggest Scam," Arizona Republic, March 12, 2006.

"The 12-Million-Acre Swindle That Failed," Arizona Republic, Jan. 12, 2002.

Bill Hume, "Sly Headstone Maker Nearly Carved Off Hunk of Southwest," Albuquerque Journal, July 9, 2000.

Mitchell Smyth, "Baron of Arizona Really 'Prince of Imposters,'" Toronto Star, Feb. 12, 2000.

Marshall Sprague, "A Crook by Choice," New York Times, July 9, 1967.

"Skulduggery in Arizona Land Office," New York Times, June 23, 1950.

"Peralta Reavis Turns Up Again," Socorro [N.M.] Chieftain, July 2, 1904.

Will M. Tipton, "The Prince of Impostors: Part I," Land of Sunshine 8:3 (February 1898), 106–118.

Will M. Tipton, "The Prince of Impostors: Part II," Land of Sunshine 8:4 (March 1898), 161–170.

"Indicted on Two Score Counts: Land Claimant Reavis to Be Prosecuted by the Government," New York Times, Jan. 20, 1896.

"Reavis Conspirators," Arizona Republican, Jan. 3, 1896.

"The 'Baron of the Colorados': He Claims a Great Tract of Land in Arizona," New York Times, July 7, 1891.

Listener mail:

Mark Brown, "Royal Mint to Commemorate Fossil Hunter Mary Anning," Guardian, Feb. 24, 2021.

"Mary Anning: Fossil Hunter Celebrated With Jurassic 50p Coins," BBC News, Feb. 25, 2021.

"Mary Anning Rocks" (accessed April 7, 2021).

Caroline Criado-Perez, "I Sorted the UK's Statues by Gender -- a Mere 2.7 Per Cent Are of Historical, Non-Royal Women," New Statesman, March 26, 2016.

"Reality Check: How Many UK Statues Are of Women?" BBC News, April 24, 2018.

Megan O'Grady, "Why Are There So Few Monuments That Successfully Depict Women?" New York Times, Feb. 18, 2021.

Shachar Peled, "Where Are the Women? New Effort to Give Them Just Due on Monuments, Street Names," CNN, March 8, 2017.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Colin White.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

One dark night in 1804, a London excise officer mistook a bricklayer for a ghost and shot him. This raised a difficult question: Was he guilty of murder? In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll consider the case of the Hammersmith ghost, which has been called "one of the greatest curiosities in English criminal law."

We'll also worry about British spiders and puzzle over some duplicative dog names.

Intro:

In 1850, an English doctor claimed to have given first aid to a pike.

In 1970, Air Force pilot Gary Foust ejected from his F-106 and watched it land itself.

Sources for our feature on the Hammersmith ghost:

W.M. Medland and Charles Weobly, A Collection of Remarkable and Interesting Criminal Trials, Actions at Law, &c., 1804.

Thomas Faulkner, The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Hammersmith, 1839.

James Paterson, Curiosities of Law and Lawyers, 1899.

Thomas Faulkner, An Historical and Topographical Account of Fulham: Including the Hamlet of Hammersmith, 1813.

R.S. Kirby, Kirby's Wonderful and Scientific Museum: Or, Magazine of Remarkable Characters, Volume 2, 1804.

Jacob Middleton, "An Aristocratic Spectre," History Today 61:2 (February 2011), 44-45.

Alfred Whitman, "A Hundred Years Ago -- 1804," Strand 28:168 (December 1904), 632-638.

Augustus K. Stephenson, "Ghost Stories of 100 Years Ago," Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 208:11 (April 1904), 214-220.

John Ezard, "Ghostly Murder Haunts Lawyers 200 Years On," Guardian, Jan. 2, 2004.

"The Case of the Murdered Ghost," BBC News, Jan. 3, 2004.

"Killing of a 'Ghost' That Haunted Courts for 180 Years," [Glasgow] Herald, Jan. 3, 2004.

"Experts to Remember Spectral Shooting," Birmingham Post, Jan. 3, 2004.

Arifa Akbar, "Club Hosts Gathering in Honour of Famous Ghost Case," Independent, Jan. 3, 2004.

Martin Baggoley, "The Hammersmith Ghost and the Strange Death of Thomas Millwood," Crime Magazine, April 9, 2015.

"'Laying' a Ghost," [Brisbane] Telegraph, March 8, 1924.

"A Ghost Story of 100 Years Ago," Port Macquarie News and Hastings River Advocate, Oct. 29, 1910.

"From the Courts," Brisbane Courier, Dec. 22, 1906.

"Strange Stories of London Ghosts," [Melbourne] Leader, Oct. 6, 1900.

"Dream Evidence," [Adelaide] Express and Telegraph, Feb. 21, 1891.

"Ghosts, Witches, and Hangmen," Moreton [Qld.] Mail, Nov. 22, 1889.

"Glimpses of the Past," Bury and Norwich Post, Sept. 7, 1886.

"Resuscitation of the Hammersmith Ghost," [London] Examiner, Dec. 15, 1833.

"The Hammersmith Ghost," [London] Morning Post, Dec. 6, 1824.

"A New Hammersmith Ghost," [London] Morning Chronicle, Dec. 4, 1824.

"Old Bailey," Aberdeen Journal, Jan. 25, 1804.

"Murder -- Hammersmith Ghost," Bury and Norwich Post, Jan. 18, 1804.

"From the London Gazette," Hampshire Telegraph and Naval Chronicle, Jan. 16, 1804.

"The Hammersmith Ghost," Caledonian Mercury, Jan. 14, 1804.

"The Real Hammersmith Ghost," Staffordshire Advertiser, Jan. 14, 1804.

Trial proceedings from the Old Bailey.

Jane Alexander, "The Time Someone Shot a Ghost Dead in Hammersmith," Londonist, Oct. 25, 2019.

Ross Macfarlane, "The Hammersmith Ghost," Wellcome Library blog, Oct. 31, 2009.

Kelly Buchanan, "The Case of a Ghost Haunted England for Over Two Hundred Years," In Custodia Legis, Library of Congress, Oct. 30, 2015.

Gabrielle Keane, Locating Literature in the Ghost Hoax: An Exploration of 19th-Century Print News Media, dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 2019.

Jen Cadwallader, Spirits of the Age: Ghost Stories and the Victorian Psyche, dissertation, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2009.

Listener mail:

"Bing (TV series)," Wikipedia (accessed March 24, 2021).

"List of Bing episodes," Wikipedia (accessed March 24, 2021).

Amber Tully, "Should You Put Ice on a Burn (or Not)?" Cleveland Clinic, June 12, 2018.

"Minor Burns - Aftercare," MedLine Plus, Aug. 13, 2020.

Anahad O'Connor, "The Claim: Ice Is Good for a Skin Burn," New York Times, June 10, 2008.

Luis Villazon, "How Many UK Spiders Are Actually Dangerous?" BBC Science Focus (accessed March 24, 2021).

"Spider," Wikipedia (accessed March 30, 2021).

"Not So False After All: Venom of the Noble False Widow Spider Very Similar to the Venom of 'True' Black Widows," NUI Galway, June 18, 2020.

John P. Dunbar et al., "Venomics Approach Reveals a High Proportion of Lactrodectus-Like Toxins in the Venom of the Noble False Widow Spider Steatoda nobilis," Toxins, 12:6 (June 18, 2020), 402.

"Study Finds Noble False Widow Spiders Bite Can Transmit Harmful Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria to Humans," NUI Galway, Dec. 1, 2020.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Stephen Harvey, who sent these corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1901, two English academics met a succession of strange characters during a visit to Versailles. They came to believe that they had strayed somehow into the mind of Marie Antoinette in the year before her execution. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the Moberly-Jourdain affair, a historical puzzle wrapped in a dream.

We'll also revisit Christmas birthdays and puzzle over a presidential term.

Intro:

In 1936, Evelyn Waugh asked Laura Herbert whether "you could bear the idea of marrying me."

In 1832, Mrs. T.T. Boddington was struck by lightning.

Charlotte Anne Moberly (left) and Eleanor Jourdain. Sources for our feature on the incident at Versailles:

Charlotte Anne Elizabeth Moberly and Eleanor Frances Jourdain, An Adventure, 1913.

Roger Clarke, A Natural History of Ghosts: 500 Years of Hunting for Proof, 2012.

Terry Castle, "'An Adventure' and Its Skeptics," Critical Inquiry 17:4 (Summer 1991), 741-772.

Laura Schwartz, "Enchanted Modernity, Anglicanism and the Occult in Early Twentieth-Century Oxford: Annie Moberly, Eleanor Jourdain and Their 'Adventure,'" Cultural and Social History 14:3 (2017), 301-319.

Keith Reader, "The Unheimliche Hameau: Nationality and Culture in The Moberly/Jourdain Affair," Australian Journal of French Studies 57:1, 93-102.

Fabio Camilletti, "Present Perfect: Time and the Uncanny in American Science and Horror Fiction of the 1970s (Finney, Matheson, King)," Image & Narrative 11:3 (2010), 25-41.

Rosemary Auchmuty, "Whatever Happened to Miss Bebb? Bebb v The Law Society and Women's Legal History," Legal Studies 31:2 (June 2011), 199-230.

Roger J. Morgan, "Correspondence," Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 76:909 (Oct. 1, 2012), 239-240.

Terry Castle, "Marie Antoinette Obsession," Representations 38 (Spring 1992), 1-38.

Richard Mawrey, "Phantom of the Trianon," Historic Gardens Review 25 (July 2011), 12-17.

Roger Betteridge, "How a Spooky Adventure Came Back to Haunt Reputation of Vicar's Daughter," Derby Evening Telegraph, Dec. 31, 2012.

Tim Richardson, "Hunted Ground," Daily Telegraph, Dec. 22, 2012.

Brian Dunning, "Unsolved Mystery of the Ghosts of Versailles," Kansas City [Mo.] Star, Nov. 1, 1965.

Tess Van Sommers, "Laying the Ghosts of Trianon," Sydney Morning Herald, Oct. 23, 1965.

"Ghost Story Probed," Cairns [Qld.] Post, Oct. 10, 1938.

"Stepped Back Into Another Century," [Rockhampton, Qld.] Morning Bulletin, Jan. 5, 1938.

"Phantom Lady of Versailles," [Murwillumbah, N.S.W.] Tweed Daily, July 12, 1937.

"Miss Anne Moberly, Educator at Oxford," New York Times, May 7, 1937.

Kristen Brooks, High Static, Dead Lines: Sonic Spectres & the Object Hereafter, dissertation, University of California, San Diego, 2017.

Janet Howarth, "Moberly, Charlotte Anne Elizabeth (1846–1937)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Sept. 23, 2004.

Janet Howarth, "Jourdain, Eleanor Frances (1863–1924)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Sept. 23, 2004.

Listener mail:

Albert A. Harrison, Nancy J. Struthers, and Michael Moore, "On the Conjunction of National Holidays and Reported Birthdates: One More Path to Reflected Glory?" Social Psychology Quarterly 51:4 (December 1988), 365-370.

Richard Wiseman, Quirkology, 2007.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Mike Berman.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In the 19th century, some New England communities grew so desperate to help victims of tuberculosis that they resorted to a macabre practice: digging up dead relatives and ritually burning their organs. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll examine the causes of this bizarre belief and review some unsettling examples.

We'll also consider some fighting cyclists and puzzle over Freddie Mercury's stamp.

Intro:

Residents of Sydney and London could take a train to the local necropolis.

In the 19th century, a dog named Tschingel climbed 30 peaks.

Sources for our feature on the New England vampire panic:

Michael E. Bell, Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England’s Vampires, 2014.

Sarah Richardson, "When Americans Saw Vampires," American History 54:5 (December 2019), 7.

Michael E. Bell, "Vampires and Death in New England, 1784 to 1892," Anthropology and Humanism 31:2 (2006), 124-140.

George R. Stetson, "The Animistic Vampire in New England," American Anthropologist 9:1 (January 1896), 1-13.

John Buhler, "Disease and the Undead: Digging Up the Truth About Vampires," Canadian Journal of Medical Laboratory Science 81:3 (Fall 2019), 14-16.

Jennifer Daniels-Higginbotham et al., "DNA Testing Reveals the Putative Identity of JB55, a 19th Century Vampire Buried in Griswold, Connecticut," Genes 10:9 (2019), 636.

G. David Keyworth, "Was the Vampire of the Eighteenth Century a Unique Type of Undead-corpse?" Folklore 117:3 (December 2006), 241-260.

Patricia D. Lock, "America's Last Vampire," Calliope 22:2 (October 2011), 20.

Josepha Sherman, "Spirited Defense," Archaeology 57:3 (May/June 2004), 8.

Abigail Tucker, "The Great New England Vampire Panic," Smithsonian 43:6 (October 2012), 58-66.

Joe Bills, "New England's Vampire History," Yankee New England, Oct. 28, 2019.

"Letters to the Editor - New England Vampire Beliefs," Skeptical Inquirer 17:3 (Spring 1993), 339.

Morgan Hines, "DNA Evidence: This New England 'Vampire' Was Named John Barber in Life," USA Today, Aug. 10, 2019.

Michael E. Ruane, "Vampire Bones?; A 'Vampire's' Remains Were Found About 30 Years Ago and Now DNA Is Giving Him New Life," [Brantford, Ont.] Expositor, Aug. 1, 2019.

Craig S. Semon, "Uncovering 'Vampirism' in New England," [Worcester, Mass.] Telegram & Gazette, Sept. 30, 2015.

Valerie Franchi, "Author Shares Vivid Tales of Vampires: Bell Addresses Meeting of Historical Society," [Worcester, Mass.] Telegram & Gazette, Oct. 24, 2008.

Jascha Hoffman, "A New England Vampire Tale," Boston Globe, July 20, 2003.

Cate McQuaid, "The Secrets of the Grave When the Living Were Ill, They Sought Out the Dead," Boston Globe, Oct. 27, 2002.

"Tales of the Vampire Make Way Into Colonial Press, Finding Captive Audience," Hartford Courant, Oct. 24, 1999.

David Brown, "Uncovering a Therapy From the Grave," Washington Post, Oct. 25, 1993.

Sam Libby, "Cemetery Holds Tales of Vampires," New York Times, Feb. 16, 1992.

"Did Mercy Brown Become a Vampire?" [New London, Ct.] Day, Oct. 25, 1981.

"Romance in Origin of Superstitions," Omaha Daily Bee, Jan. 11, 1921.

Andrew Lange, "The Common Vampire," Washington Post, Aug. 21, 1904.

"Lang on the Vampire," Saint Paul Globe, Aug. 7, 1904.

"Believe in Vampires," Boston Globe, Jan. 27, 1896.

"Is Consumption Catching?" Quebec Saturday Budget, June 1, 1895.

"Did Vampires Really Stalk New England Farm Families?" New England Historical Society (accessed March 7, 2021).

Edgar B. Herwick III, "It's Not Just Witches. New England Has a History With Vampires, Too," The World, PRI, Oct. 31, 2018.

Listener mail:

David Mikkelson, "Letter Exchange Between Law Firm and Cleveland Browns," Snopes, Jan. 19, 2011.

Casey C. Sullivan, "Is This the Best Legal Response Letter Ever?" FindLaw, Aug. 2, 2016.

David Seideman, "Lady Struck Twice by Foul Balls Hit by Phillies' Richie Ashburn in the Same at Bat," Forbes, Sept. 21, 2017.

David Donovan, "Litigant Cries Foul Over Court's Baseball Rule," North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, Jan. 8, 2021.

"1955 Le Mans Disaster," Wikipedia (accessed March 11, 2021).

"Race Car at Le Mans Crashes Into Spectators, Killing 82," History.com, June 9, 2020.

"When Riders Attack: Memorable Scuffles From Recent Cycling History," Cyclingnews, March 20, 2020.

"Froome's Spectator Punch: How Does It Stack Up?" VeloNews (accessed March 13, 2021).

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Saphia Fleury. Here's a corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In the 19th century, France, England, and the United States each set out to bring home an Egyptian obelisk. But each obelisk weighed hundreds of tons, and the techniques of moving them had long been forgotten. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the struggles of each nation to transport these massive monoliths using the technology of the 1800s.

We'll also go on an Australian quest and puzzle over a cooling fire.

Intro:

Science fiction writer Albert Robida proposed a president made of wood.

Norway's flag incorporates those of six other nations.

Sources for our feature on the Egyptian obelisks:

Bob Brier, Cleopatra's Needles: The Lost Obelisks of Egypt, 2016.

Martina D'Alton, The New York Obelisk, or, How Cleopatra's Needle Came to New York and What Happened When It Got Here, 1993.

Charles Edward Moldenke, The New York Obelisk, Cleopatra's Needle: With a Preliminary Sketch of the History, Erection, Uses, and Signification of Obelisks, 1891.

Henry Honeychurch Gorringe, Egyptian Obelisks, 1885.

Erasmus Wilson, Cleopatra's Needle: With Brief Notes on Egypt and Egyptian Obelisks, 1877.

Bob Brier, "The Secret Life of the Paris Obelisk," Aegyptiaca: Journal of the History of Reception of Ancient Egypt 2 (2018), 75-91.

Henry Petroski, "Engineering: Moving Obelisks," American Scientist 99:6 (November–December 2011), 448-452.

Bob Brier, "Saga of Cleopatra's Needles," Archaeology 55:6 (November/December 2002), 48-54.

P.W. Copeman, "Cleopatra's Needle: Dermatology's Weightiest Achievement," British Medical Journal 1:6106 (1978), 154-155.

"Machinery for Moving Cleopatra's Needle," Scientific American 41:21 (Nov. 22, 1879), 322.

"Landing of Cleopatra's Needle," Scientific American 39:4 (July 27, 1878), 55.

"Cleopatra's Needle," Scientific American 36:14 (April 7, 1877), 215-216.

Paul Brown, "Weatherwatch: The Perilous Sea Journey of Cleopatra's Needle," Guardian, April 8, 2020.

Marguerite Oliver, "Cleopatra's Needle: Egypt's Gift to England," Los Angeles Times, Sept. 20, 1987.

Cyrus W. Bell, "How They Took Cleopatra's Needle Down the Nile and by Sea to London," Toronto Star, Nov. 9, 1985.

"Now It Can Be Told; After 60 Years, Cleopatra's Needle Identifies Itself," New York Times, March 7, 1941.

"Cleopatra's Needle in London," New York Times, April 17, 1932.

"Obelisk Located in Central Park," New Britain [Conn.] Herald, Dec. 5, 1928.

Eli Benedict, "Cleopatra's Needle: Central Park Obelisk Is More Than 3,000 Years Old," New York Times, May 14, 1914.

"Cleopatra's Needle: How Well It Stands the English Climate," New York Times, June 6, 1890.

"Laying the Corner-Stone; Masons Preparing the Obelisk's Foundation," New York Times, Oct. 10, 1880.

"Hieroglyphics Deciphered," New York Times, Aug. 19, 1878.

"The Inscriptions on Cleopatra's Needle," New York Times, July 25, 1878.

"Raising the Cleopatra's Needle," New York Times, June 30, 1878.

"Cleopatra's Needle," Times, Feb. 16, 1878.

"Cleopatra's Needle," Graphic, Feb. 2, 1878.

"Cleopatra's Needle," Liverpool Mercury, Oct. 22, 1877.

"The Derelict Obelisk," New York Times, Oct. 19, 1877.

"Cleopatra's Needle," [London] Standard, Oct. 19, 1877.

"Cleopatra's Needle: Loss of the Obelisk Off Cape Finistere a Heavy Gale in Which the Steamer Lost Six Men in Rescuing the Crew From the Craft," New York Times, Oct. 18, 1877.

"Cleopatra's Needle in London," New York Times, Sept. 16, 1877.

"Cleopatra's Needle," Birmingham Daily Post, April 22, 1876.

"How Cleopatra's Needle Is to Be Moved," New York Times, Aug. 1, 1875.

"Cleopatra's Needle," New York Times, June 6, 1875.

"Cleopatra's Needle," Illustrated London News, June 21, 1851.

Listener mail:

invaluable.disclaimer.biographer on What3words.

"France Passes 'Sensory Heritage' Law After Plight of Maurice the Noisy Rooster," Guardian, Jan. 21, 2021.

Kristof Van Rompaey, "Buur stapt naar vrederechter voor haan die dagelijks 'meer dan 3.000 keer' kraait: 'Ben wegdoen zou een klap zijn voor onze kinderen'," Gazet van Antwerpen, June 30, 2020.

"The Gregorian Reform of the Calendar," Encyclopedia.com (accessed Mar. 6, 2021).

"Gregorian Calendar," Encyclopaedia Britannica (accessed March 6, 2021).

"Gregorian Calendar," Wikipedia (accessed Mar. 6, 2021).

"Adoption of the Gregorian Calendar," Wikipedia (accessed Mar. 6, 2021).

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Tristan Shephard.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Eugene Bullard ran away from home in 1907 to seek his fortune in a more racially accepting Europe. There he led a life of staggering accomplishment, becoming by turns a prizefighter, a combat pilot, a nightclub impresario, and a spy. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell Bullard's impressive story, which won him resounding praise in his adopted France.

We'll also accidentally go to Canada and puzzle over a deadly omission.

Intro:

The melody of Peter Cornelius' "Ein Ton" is a single repeated note.

Thomas Edison proposed the word hello to begin telephone conversations.

Sources for our feature on Eugene Bullard:

Tom Clavin and Phil Keith, All Blood Runs Red: The Legendary Life of Eugene Bullard -- Boxer, Pilot, Soldier, Spy, 2019.

Gail Buckley, American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military From the Revolution to Desert Storm, 2001.

Jonathan Sutherland, African Americans at War: An Encyclopedia, 2004.

Alexander M. Bielakowski, Ethnic and Racial Minorities in the U.S. Military, 2013.

Edmund L. Gros, "The Members of Lafayette Flying Corps," Flying 6:9 (October 1917), 776-778.

James Norman Hall and Charles Bernhard Nordhoff, The Lafayette Flying Corps, 1920.

John H. Wilson, "'All Blood Runs Red,'" Aviation History 17:4 (March 2007), 13-15.

Brendan Manley, "France Commemorates WWI Lafayette Escadrille," Military History 33:3 (Sept. 2016), 8.

Rachel Gillett, "Jazz and the Evolution of Black American Cosmopolitanism in Interwar Paris," Journal of World History 21:3 (September 2010), 471-495.

Thabiti Asukile, "J.A. Rogers' 'Jazz at Home': Afro-American Jazz in Paris During the Jazz Age," The Black Scholar 40:3 (Fall 2010), 22-35.

Tyler Stovall, "Strangers on the Seine: Immigration in Modern Paris," Journal of Urban History 39:4 (June 14, 2013), 807-813.

Nicholas Hewitt, "Black Montmartre: American Jazz and Music Hall in Paris in the Interwar Years," Journal of Romance Studies 5:3 (Winter 2005), 25-31.

Frederic J. Svoboda, "Who Was That Black Man?: A Note on Eugene Bullard and The Sun Also Rises," Hemingway Review 17:2 (Spring 1998), 105-110.

"Air Force Honors Pioneering Pilot," Military History 36:6 (March 2020), 10.

Ann Fotheringham, "Eugene Bullard," [Glasgow] Evening Times, June 8, 2020.

Jeremy Redmon, "AJC Local In-Depth Georgia Hero," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Oct. 10, 2019.

Jeremy Redmon, "Only in the AJC: Georgia Hero," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Oct. 7, 2019.

Herb Boyd, "First Black Fighter Pilot, Eugene Bullard," New York Amsterdam News, Aug. 29, 2019.

Janine Di Giovanni, "The Yanks Who Chose to Stay," [London] Evening Standard, March 23, 2009.

Fred L. Borch and Robert F. Dorr, "Expatriate Boxer Was First Black American Combat Pilot," Air Force Times, Feb. 23, 2009.

Brad Barnes, "'Flyboys' Uses Eugene Bullard as Model for Character," McClatchy-Tribune News Service, Sept. 22, 2006.

Sherri M. Owens, "1st Black Combat Pilot: He Flew for Freedom," Orlando Sentinel, July 29, 2001.

Michael Kilian, "Smithsonian to Honor First Black Combat Pilot," Chicago Tribune, Oct. 11, 1992, 6.

"Exhibition Traces Role of Blacks in Aviation," New York Times, Sept. 26, 1982.

"Eugene Bullard, Ex-Pilot, Dead; American Flew for French in '18," New York Times, Oct. 14, 1961.

Dominick Pisano, "Eugene J. Bullard," Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Oct. 12, 2010.

Robert Vanderpool, "African-American History Month: Eugene Bullard -- The First African-American Military Pilot," Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Feb. 29, 2016.

Cori Brosnahan, "The Two Lives of Eugene Bullard," American Experience, PBS, April 3, 2017.

Caroline M. Fannin, "Bullard, Eugène Jacques," American National Biography, October 2002.

Listener mail:

"A Tale of Two Sydneys: Dutch Teen Tries to Visit Australia, but Ends Up in Nova Scotia," CBC, March 30, 2017.

Ashifa Kassam, "Land Down Blunder: Teen Heading to Australia Lands in Sydney, Nova Scotia," Guardian, March 31, 2017.

"Italian Tourists End Up in Wrong Sydney," CBC, July 7, 2010.

"Oops. British Couple Flies to Canada by Mistake," CBC News, Aug. 6, 2002.

"No Kangaroos. But Can We Interest You in a Fiddle?" CBC News, Sept. 19, 2008.

"What Is the Most Common City/Town Name in the United States?" U.S. Geological Survey (accessed Feb. 27, 2021).

Robert C. Adams, On Board the "Rocket," 1879.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle is taken from Anges Rogers' 1953 book How Come?: A Book of Riddles, sent to us by listener Jon Jerome.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Crossing the world in 1932, two German airmen ran out of fuel in a remote region of northwestern Australia. With no food and little water, they struggled to find their way to safety while rescuers fought to locate them. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the airmen's ordeal, a dramatic story of perseverance and chance.

We'll also survey some escalators and puzzle over a consequential crash.

Intro:

Winston Churchill had a confusing namesake in the United States.

Shelley's friend Horace Smith wrote a competing version of "Ozymandias."

Sources for our feature on the 1932 Kimberley rescue:

Barbara Winter, Atlantis Is Missing: A Gripping True Story of Survival in the Australian Wilderness, 1979.

Brian H. Hernan, Forgotten Flyer, 2007.

Anthony Redmond, "Tracks and Shadows: Some Social Effects of the 1938 Frobenius Expedition to the North-West Kimberley," in Nicolas Peterson and Anna Kenny, eds., German Ethnography in Australia, 2017, 413-434.

Frank Koehler, "Descriptions of New Species of the Diverse and Endemic Land Snail Amplirhagada Iredale, 1933 From Rainforest Patches Across the Kimberley, Western Australia (Pulmonata, Camaenidae)," Records of the Australian Museum 63:2 (2011), 163-202.

Bridget Judd, "The Unexpected Rescue Mission That Inspired ABC Mini-Series Flight Into Hell -- And Other Survivalists," Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Jan. 16, 2021.

Peter de Kruijff, "Survivalist Retraces Lost Aviators' Trek," Kimberley Echo, Jan. 29, 2018.

Michael Atkinson, "Surviving the Kimberley," Australian Geographic, June 28, 2018.

Erin Parke, "No Food, No Water, No Wi-Fi: Adventurer Tests Skills in One of Australia's Most Remote Places," ABC Premium News, Jan. 29, 2018.

"Forgotten Territory," [Darwin, N.T.] Northern Territory News, Feb. 28, 2016.

Graeme Westlake, "They Accepted Their Saviour's Fish and Ate It Raw," Canberra Times, May 15, 1982.

"German Fliers Got Lost in Our Nor-West," [Perth] Mirror, June 2, 1956.

"37 Days in a Torture Chamber," [Adelaide] News, April 21, 1954.

"Air Passenger," [Grafton, N.S.W.] Examiner, July 18, 1938.

"Hans Bertram," Sydney Morning Herald, July 16, 1938.

"Aviation: Pilot Bertram," [Charters Towers, Qld.] Northern Miner, April 20, 1933.

"Bertram Lands at Crawley," [Perth] Daily News, Sept. 24, 1932.

"Bertram's Marooned 'Plane," Singleton [N.S.W.] Argus, Sept. 21, 1932.

"Captain Bertram," Sydney Morning Herald, Sept. 20, 1932.

"Fully Recovered," Sydney Morning Herald, Aug. 6, 1932.

"The Search for the German Airmen," [Perth] Western Mail, July 21, 1932.

"The German Airmen," Albany [W.A.] Advertiser, July 7, 1932.

"Death Cheated," Cincinnati Enquirer, July 5, 1932.

"Lost German Fliers," [Adelaide] Chronicle, June 30, 1932.

"Search for Hans Bertram," [Carnarvon, W.A.] Northern Times, June 16, 1932.

"Strangers on the Shore: Shipwreck Survivors and Their Contact With Aboriginal Groups in Western Australia 1628-1956," Department of Maritime Archaeology, Western Australian Maritime Museum, 1998.

Listener mail:

"Escalator Etiquette," Wikipedia (accessed Feb. 8, 2021).

Brian Ashcraft, "It's Hard For Japan to Change Its Escalator Manners," Kotaku, June 20, 2019.

Jack Malvern, "Mystery Over Tube Escalator Etiquette Cleared Up by Restored Film," Times, Oct. 21, 2009.

Laura Reynolds, "11 Secrets of Harrods," Londonist (accessed Feb. 14, 2021).

Adam Taylor, "A Japanese Campaign Wants to Rewrite the Global Rules of Escalator Etiquette," Washington Post, Aug. 26, 2015.

Linda Poon, "Tokyo Wants People to Stand on Both Sides of the Escalator," Bloomberg City Lab, Dec. 20, 2018.

Johan Gaume and Alexander M. Puzrin, "Mechanisms of Slab Avalanche Release and Impact in the Dyatlov Pass Incident in 1959," Communications Earth & Environment 2:10 (Jan. 28, 2021), 1-11.

Robin George Andrews, "Has Science Solved One of History's Greatest Adventure Mysteries?", National Geographic, Jan. 28, 2021.

Nature Video, "Explaining the Icy Mystery of the Dyatlov Pass Deaths" (video), Jan. 28, 2021.

New Scientist, "The Dyatlov Pass incident, which saw nine Russian mountaineers die in mysterious circumstances in 1959, has been the subject of many conspiracy theories. Now researchers say an unusual avalanche was to blame," Twitter, Jan. 28, 2021.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Alex Baumans. Here are two corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1817 a young woman appeared in the English village of Almondsbury, speaking a strange language and seeking food and shelter. She revealed herself to be an Eastern princess, kidnapped by pirates from an exotic island. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of Princess Caraboo, who was both more and less than she seemed.

We'll also discover a June Christmas and puzzle over some monster soup.

Intro:

In 1988, Martine Tischer proposed wrapping gifts in uncut U.S. currency.

In 1948, Ralph Alpher, Hans Bethe, and George Gamow seized the chance of an immortal byline.

Sources for our feature on Princess Caraboo:

John Matthew Gutch, Caraboo: A Narrative of a Singular Imposition, 1817.

Sabine Baring-Gould, Devonshire Characters and Strange Events, 1908.

Anonymous, Carraboo, Carraboo: The Singular Adventures of Mary Baker, Alias Princess of Javasu, 1817.

John Timbs, English Eccentrics and Eccentricities, 1877.

C.L. McCluer Stevens, Famous Crimes and Criminals, 1924.

J.P. Jewett, Remarkable Women of Different Nations and Ages, 1858.

The Lives and Portraits of Curious and Odd Characters, 1852.

Mrs. John Farrar, Recollections of Seventy Years, 1869.

Margaret Russett, "The 'Caraboo' Hoax: Romantic Woman as Mirror and Mirage," Discourse 17:2 (Winter 1994-1995), 26-47.

Michael Keevak, "A World of Impostures," Eighteenth Century 53:2 (Summer 2012), 233-235.

Shompa Lahiri, "Performing Identity: Colonial Migrants, Passing and Mimicry Between the Wars," Cultural Geographies 10:4 (October 2003), 408-423.

"Top 10 Imposters," Time, May 26, 2009.

"Local Legends: Bristol's Princess Caraboo," BBC (accessed Jan. 31, 2021).

Corrie Bond-French, "The Tale of a Mysterious Princess," Gloucestershire Echo, June 7, 2018.

"Story of Exotic Beauty Still Fascinates Us Today," Mid-Devon Gazette, May 3, 2016, 21.

Nazar Iene Daan Kannibelle, "Servant Girl Hoaxed All Great Britain by Pose as Princess," Washington Times, November 6, 1921.

"A Singular Imposture," Strand 9:52 (April 1895), 451-456.

"The Pretended Princess Caraboo," Gloucestershire Notes and Queries 35 (July 1887), 627-629.

"The Princess Caraboo," Curiosities of Bristol and Its Neighbourhood 7 (March 1884), 48.

"Caraboo," Notes and Queries, June 3, 1865, 447.

F.W. Fairholt, "The Curiosities of Eccentric Biography," Bentley's Miscellany 69 (Jan. 1, 1851), 180-193.

"Princess Caraboo," Museum of Hoaxes (accessed Jan. 31, 2021).

John Wells, "Baker [née Willcocks], Mary [alias Princess Caraboo]," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Sept. 1, 2017.

Listener mail:

Wills Robinson, "For Once, a Good Excuse for Bad Handwriting: One of Admiral Nelson's First Letters Written Left-Handed After He Lost His Right Arm in Battle Is Unearthed," Daily Mail, Feb. 16, 2014.

"Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson," Wikipedia (accessed Feb. 5, 2021).

Maev Kennedy, "Nelson's Right and Left Hand: Wellcome Exhibit Reveals How Past Leaves Its Mark," Guardian, Nov. 24, 2010.

"Peter Butterworth," Wikipedia (accessed Feb. 6, 2021).

Lucy Thornton and Mark Branagan, "Carry On's Peter Butterworth Rejected to Play Himself in Role Because He Was 'Too Fat'," Mirror, Aug. 16, 2020.

"Stray Cat With Shocking Facial Growth Rescued," Catcuddles, Aug. 10, 2020.

Rae Gellel, "Catcuddles Cat Hodge to Follow in Doorkins Magnificat's Paw Prints," Catcuddles, Dec. 6, 2020.

Andrew Nunn, "Welcome to Hodge by the Dean of Southwark," Southwark Cathedral (accessed Feb. 6, 2021).

Jane Steen, "Southwark and Hodge and Dr Johnson," Southwark Cathedral (accessed Feb. 6, 2021).

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Lucie. Here's a corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1911 English sisters Claire and Dora Williamson began consulting a Seattle "fasting specialist" named Linda Burfield Hazzard. As they underwent her brutal treatments, the sisters found themselves caught in a web of manipulation and deceit. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the Williamsons' ordeal and the scheme it brought to light.

We'll also catch a criminal by the ear and puzzle over a prohibited pig.

Intro:

During World War II, the United States circulated specially printed currency in Hawaii.

Reversing an artwork in a mirror alters its aesthetic effect.

Sources for our feature on Linda Burfield Hazzard:

Gregg Olsen, Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest, 1997.

Linda Burfield Hazzard, Fasting for the Cure of Disease, 1908.

Linda Burfield Hazzard, Scientific Fasting: The Ancient and Modern Key to Health, 1927.

Steven Chermak and Frankie Y. Bailey, Crimes of the Centuries: Notorious Crimes, Criminals, and Criminal Trials in American History, 2016.

Teresa Nordheim, Murder & Mayhem in Seattle, 2016.

Bess Lovejoy, "The Doctor Who Starved Her Patients to Death," smithsonianmag.com, Oct. 28, 2014.

Terence Hines, "A Gripping Story of Quackery and Death," Skeptical Inquirer 21:6 (November-December 1997), 55.

Dorothy Grant, "Look Back Doctor," Medical Post 40:16 (April 20, 2004), 28.

"The Hazzard Murder Trial," Northwest Medicine 4:3 (March 1912), 92.

"Dr. Linda Hazzard Is Given Pardon," Oregon Daily Journal, June 4, 1916.

"Woman Fast Doctor Released on Parole," Oakland [Calif.] Tribune, Dec. 21, 1915.

"Glad She Is Going Says Mrs. Linda Hazzard," Tacoma [Wash.] Times, Jan. 6, 1914.

"Starved to Death," [Sydney] Globe Pictorial, Feb. 14, 1914.

"Dr. Linda Hazzard Must Serve Term in the Penitentiary," Seattle Star, Dec. 24, 1913.

"Mrs. Linda Hazzard Must Go to Prison According to Supreme Court Ruling," Tacoma [Wash.] Times, Aug. 13, 1913.

"Sister Describes Treatment," Washburn [N.D.] Leader, Jan. 26, 1912.

"'Starvation Cure' Victim on the Stand," Wichita [Kan.] Daily Eagle, Jan. 21, 1912.

"Tells How Mrs. Hazzard Treated Them at Ollala," Tacoma [Wash.] Times, Jan. 20, 1912.

"Blames Doctors' Jealousy," New York Times, Aug. 7, 1911.

"Starvation Cure Fatal," New York Times, Aug. 6, 1911.

"Investigate Woman Doctor," New York Times, July 31, 1911.

"The State of Washington, Respondent, v. Linda Burfield Hazzard, Appellant," Washington Reports, Volume 75: Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of Washington, August 12, 1913 - October 9, 1913, 1914.

"Linda Burfield Hazzard: Healer or Murderess?", Washington State Archives, Digital Archives (accessed Jan. 24, 2021).

Listener mail:

Matt Hongoltz-Hetling, "United States of Climate Change: Missouri Under Water," Weather Channel, Nov. 9, 2017.

"German Police Identify Burglar by His Earprints," Spiegel International, April 30, 2012.

"Ear Print Analysis," Wikipedia, accessed Jan. 28, 2021.

"Ear Print Analysis," Encyclopedia.com (accessed Jan. 28, 2021).

Ayman Abaza et al., "A Survey on Ear Biometrics," ACM Computing Surveys, March 2013.

Mit Katwala, "The Bonkers Plan to Foil Password Thieves Using Your Mouth," Wired, Dec. 13, 2020.

Boxcar Willie, "Luther" (video), Jan. 30, 2012.

"Luther," International Lyrics Playground (accessed Jan. 31, 2021).

"Boxcar Willie," Wikipedia (accessed Jan. 31, 2021).

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listeners Paul Schoeps and Stuart Baker. Stuart sent this corroborating link, and Sharon found this related, gratuitously horrifying incident.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1909, Oklahoma brothers Bud and Temple Abernathy rode alone to New Mexico and back, though they were just 9 and 5 years old. In the years that followed they would become famous for cross-country trips totaling 10,000 miles. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll trace the journeys of the Abernathy brothers across a rapidly evolving nation.

We'll also try to figure out whether we're in Belgium or the Netherlands and puzzle over an outstretched hand.

Intro:

Lytton Strachey's uncle William observed Calcutta time in England.

John Dryden displayed a discerning discrimination in an impromptu poetry competition.

Sources for our feature on Louis and Temple Abernathy:

Alta Abernathy, Bud & Me: The True Adventures of the Abernathy Boys, 1998.

Miles Abernathy, The Ride of the Abernathy Boys, 1911.

John R. Abernathy, "Catch 'em Alive Jack": The Life and Adventures of an American Pioneer, 2006.

Brian Spangle, Hidden History of Vincennes & Knox County, 2020.

M.J. Alexander, "The Astounding Adventures of the Abernathy Boys," 405 Magazine, Aug. 25, 2015.

"Abernathy Kids on Tour," Motorcycle Illustrated (May 29, 1930), 53.

"Enterprising Boys," Advance 62:2392 (Sept. 7, 1911), 25.

"Champion Company Films Abernathy Boys," Nickelodeon 4:2 (July 15, 1910), 42.

Eliza McGraw, "Ultimate Free-Range Kids: Two Boys, 6 and 10, Rode Horses to New York — From Oklahoma," Washington Post, Oct. 19, 2019.

John Governale, "What I've Learned/The Abernathy Boys," [Lewiston, Me.] Sun Journal, Aug. 15, 2019.

Becky Orr, "Teachers Retrace Young Boys' Trek Across America," Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Aug. 19, 2008.

"Boy Rough Riders," [Parkes, N.S.W.] Western Champion, Sept. 18, 1913.

"Abernathy Boys Tell Taft Their Troubles," Washington Times, Nov. 13, 1911.

"Boy Rides 2300 Miles," Gundagai [N.S.W.] Times, Sept. 2, 1910.

"Abernathy Boys Nearing Home," New York Times, July 26, 1910.

"Abernathy Lads See Mayor," New York Times, June 14, 1910.

"Abernathys Reach Goal," Lebanon [Pa.] Courier and Semi-Weekly Report, June 14, 1910.

"Rockefeller Pew for Abernathy Boys," New York Times, June 13, 1910.

"Abernathy Boys Put Ban on Kissing," New York Times, June 12, 1910.

"Boys Complete 2,000 Mile Trip," Pensacola [Fla.] Journal, June 12, 1910.

"Boy Riders in Delaware," New York Times, June 10, 1910.

"'Hello, Dad!' Call Abernathy's Boys," New York Times, June 9, 1910.

"Boy Horsemen on Way Here," New York Times, June 7, 1910.

"Boy Riders Arrived at National Capitol," Bismarck [N.D.] Daily Tribune, May 28, 1910.

"Boys to Meet Roosevelt," [Mont.] Daily Missoulian, May 22, 1910.

"Abernathy Boys' Long Trip," New York Times, July 11, 1909.

Listener mail:

Two-side letter from John Hornby to Matt Murphy of Peace River, Alberta, 1925. "John Hornby: Letters & Articles," NWT Exhibits (accessed Jan. 23, 2021).

Robin Weber, "Staff Pick: John Hornby, Introduction," NWT Exhibits (accessed Jan. 23, 2021).

"Baarle-Nassau," Wikipedia (accessed Jan. 23, 2020).

Graphic of Baarle and its enclaves in the Netherlands.

Tesa Arcilla, "Dutch? Belgian? How Lockdown Works in a Town With One of the World's Most Complex Borders," NBC News, May 24, 2020.

Andrew Eames, "Europe's Strange Border Anomaly," BBC, Dec. 11, 2017.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Åke Malmgren. Last year it was nominated for puzzle of the year on lateralpuzzles.com.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1759, ghostly rappings started up in the house of a parish clerk in London. In the months that followed they would incite a scandal against one man, an accusation from beyond the grave. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of the Cock Lane ghost, an enduring portrait of superstition and justice.

We'll also see what you can get hit with at a sporting event and puzzle over some portentous soccer fields.

Intro:

In 1967 British artists Terry Atkinson and Michael Baldwin offered a map that charts its own area.

In 1904 Henry Hayes suggested adding fake horses to real cars to avoid frightening real horses.

Sources for our feature on the Cock Lane ghost:

Douglas Grant, The Cock Lane Ghost, 1965.

Oliver Goldsmith, "The Mystery Revealed," in The Works of Oliver Goldsmith, Volume 4, 1854.

James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., Volume 1, 1791.

Charles MacKay, Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, 1852.

Andrew Lang, Cock Lane and Common-Sense, 1894.

Roger Clarke, A Natural History of Ghosts: 500 Years of Hunting for Proof, 2012.

Henry Addington Bruce, Historic Ghosts and Ghost Hunters, 1908.

Jennifer Bann, "Ghostly Hands and Ghostly Agency: The Changing Figure of the Nineteenth-Century Specter," Victorian Studies 51:4 (Summer 2009), 663-685, 775.

Gillian Bennett, "'Alas, Poor Ghost!': Case Studies in the History of Ghosts and Visitations," in Alas Poor Ghost, 1999, 139-172.

Richard Whittington-Egan, "The Accusant Ghost of Cock Lane," New Law Journal 141:6487 (Jan. 18 1991), 74.

Howard Pyle, "The Cock Lane Ghost," Harper's New Monthly Magazine 87:519 (August 1893), 327-338.

María Losada Friend, "Ghosts or Frauds? Oliver Goldsmith and 'The Mystery Revealed,'" Eighteenth-Century Ireland / Iris an dá chultúr 13 (1998), 159-165.

H. Addington Bruce, "The Cock Lane Ghost," New York Tribune, July 14, 1907.

"The Cock Lane Ghost," Warwick [Queensland] Argus, Dec. 22, 1900.

"The Ghosts of London," New York Times, Sept. 10, 1900.

"The Cock-Lane Ghost," [Sydney] Evening News, Aug. 25, 1894.

"The Cock Lane Ghost," Maitland [N.S.W.] Weekly Mercury, March 10, 1894.

"The Rochester Ghost," Alexandria [Va.] Gazette, April 27, 1850.

Thomas Seccombe, "Parsons, Elizabeth [called the Cock Lane Ghost], (1749–1807)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Sept. 23, 2004.

Listener mail:

"Death of Brittanie Cecil," Wikipedia (accessed Jan. 13, 2021).

L. Jon Wertheim, "How She Died," Sports Illustrated, April 1, 2002.

J. Winslow and A. Goldstein, "Spectator Risks at Sporting Events," Internet Journal of Law, Healthcare and Ethics 4:2 (2006).

Steve Rosenbloom, "Hit by Puck, Girl Dies," Chicago Tribune, March 20, 2002.

Tarik El-Bashir, "Girl Struck Puck Dies," Washington Post, March 20, 2002.

Connor Read et al., "Spectator Injuries in Sports," Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 59:3 (March 2019), 520-523.

Bob Shepard, "Heads Up: UAB Does First-Ever Study of Spectator Injuries at Sporting Events," University Wire, Nov. 29, 2018.

"Father of Girl Killed by His Errant Golf Ball Says: 'How It Happened, I Cannot Explain'," Associated Press, Sept. 21, 2019.

Pat Ralph, "What Happens After 'Fore'? Injured Fans Face Legal Hurdles in Golf-Ball Lawsuits," Golf.com, Oct. 9, 2018.

Marjorie Hunter, "Ford, Teeing Off Like Agnew, Hits Spectator in Head With Golf Ball," New York Times, June 25, 1974.

"'First Off the Tee': White House Golf Tales," NPR, May 1, 2003.

Todd S. Purdum, "Caution: Presidents at Play. Three of Them," New York Times, Feb. 16, 1995.

"Ford, Bush Tee Off on Golf Spectators," Los Angeles Daily News, Feb. 16, 1995.

Kevin Underhill, "Missouri Supreme Court Hears Hot-Dog-Flinging Case," Lowering the Bar, Nov. 13, 2013.

Kevin Underhill, "Bad News for Dog-Flinging Mascots," Lowering the Bar, Jan. 16, 2013.

Kevin Underhill, "Jury Clears Mascot in Hot-Dog-Flinging Case," Lowering the Bar, June 24, 2015.

Listener Tim Ellis, his daughter, and an errant puck.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Jesse Onland. Here's a corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1944, British captives of the Japanese in Sumatra drew morale from an unlikely source: a purebred English pointer who cheered the men, challenged the guards, and served as a model of patient fortitude. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of Judy, the canine POW of World War II.

We'll also consider the frequency of different birthdays and puzzle over a little sun.

Intro:

Sherlock Holmes wrote 20 monographs.

In 1863, Charles Dickens' hall clock stopped sounding.

Sources for our feature on Judy:

Robert Weintraub, No Better Friend: One Man, One Dog, and Their Incredible Story of Courage and Survival in World War II, 2016.

S.L. Hoffman, "Judy: The Unforgettable Story of the Dog Who Went to War and Became a True Hero," Military History 32:1 (May 2015), 72-72.

Rebecca Frankel, "Dogs at War: Judy, Canine Prisoner of War," National Geographic, May 18, 2014.

Robert Weintraub, "The True Story of Judy, the Dog Who Inspired Her Fellow Prisoners of War to Survive," Irish Times, June 2, 2015.

Jane Dalton, "Judy, the Life-Saving PoW Who Beat the Japanese," Sunday Telegraph, May 31, 2015.

"Heroine Dog's Medal Goes on Display," [Cardiff] Western Mail, Aug. 26, 2006.

"Medal Awarded to Dog Prisoner of War Goes on Public Display," Yorkshire Post, Aug. 23, 2006.

Amber Turnau, "The Incredible Tale of Frank Williams," Burnaby [B.C.] Now, March 19, 2003.

Nicholas Read, "Prison Camp Heroine Judy Was History's Only Bow-Wow PoW," Vancouver Sun, March 12, 2003.

"London Salutes Animal Veterans," Charlotte Observer, May 28, 1983.

Frank G. Williams, "The Dog That Went to War," Vancouver Sun, April 6, 1974.

"Judy, Dog VC, Dies," [Montreal] Gazette, March 23, 1950.

"Judy, British War Dog, Dies; to Get Memorial," [Wilmington, Del.] Morning News, March 21, 1950.

"The Tale of a V.C. Dog," [Adelaide] Chronicle, Jan. 30, 1947.

"Judy to Receive Dogs' V.C.," The Age, May 2, 1946.

"Judy: The Dog Who Became a Prisoner of War," gov.uk, July 24, 2015.

"Prisoner of War Dog Judy -- PDSA Dickin Medal and Collar to Be Presented to the Imperial War Museum," People's Dispensary for Sick Animals, Aug. 21, 2006.

"PDSA Dickin Medal Stories: Judy," PDSA Schools (accessed Jan. 3, 2021).

Listener mail:

Andrew Gelman et al., "Bayesian Data Analysis (Third Edition)," 1995-2020.

"Keynote: Andrew Gelman - Data Science Workflow" (video), Dec. 21, 2017.

Becca R. Levy, Pil H. Chung, and Martin D. Slade, "Influence of Valentine's Day and Halloween on Birth Timing," Social Science & Medicine 73:8 (2011), 1246-1248.

"Tony Meléndez," Wikipedia (accessed Dec. 24, 2020).

"Thalidomide," Wikipedia (accessed Jan. 9, 2020).

Neil Vargesson, "Thalidomide-Induced Teratogenesis: History and Mechanisms," Birth Defects Research Part C: Embryo Today: Reviews 105:2 (2015), 140-156.

"Biography," tonymelendez.com (accessed Jan. 10, 2021).

"Tony Melendez Sings for Pope John Paul II - 1987" (video), Heart of the Nation, Sept. 27, 2016.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Lucie. Here's a corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1977, West German tourist Erwin Kreuz spent three days enjoying the sights, sounds, and hospitality of Bangor, Maine. Unfortunately, he thought he was in San Francisco, on the other side of the continent. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll describe Kreuz's unlikely adventure, which made him a local hero in his adopted city.

We'll also consider an invisible killer and puzzle over a momentous measurement.

Intro:

In 1712, Sweden observed a February 30.

In 1898, J.W. Dunne dreamed correctly that his watch had stopped.

Sources for our feature on Erwin Kreuz:

Geoffrey Wolff, The Edge of Maine, 2011.

William Langewiesche, "Reporting Points," Flying Magazine 102:1 (January 1978), 29-32.

Joseph Owen, "On This Date in Maine History: Oct. 20," Portland [Me.] Press Herald, Oct. 20, 2020.

Emily Burnham, "The Story of How a German Tourist Ended Up Mistaking Bangor for San Francisco," Bangor Daily News, Oct. 17, 2020.

Kent Ward, "A Feel-Good Story From the Archives," Bangor Daily News, Dec. 4, 2009.

Sara Kehaulani Goo, "Bangor Is Used to Surprise Landings," Washington Post, Oct. 17, 2004.

Joshua Weinstein, "Bangor International Familiar With Hosting Unexpected Guests," Portland [Me.] Press Herald, Sept. 23, 2004.

Tom Weber, "Mall Man," Bangor Daily News, Oct. 18, 1997.

John S. Day, "City of Bangor Urged to Hold Fire on I-Man," Bangor Daily News, July 26, 1997.

Kim Strosnider, "An Accidental Tourist Put Bangor on Map," Portland [Me.] Press Herald, July 7, 1996.

Richard Haitch, "Follow-Up on the News: California in Maine," New York Times, July 15, 1984.

Ed Lion, "A Look Back at the Saga of Erwin Kreuz," United Press International, July 8, 1984.

"New England News Briefs; Payments Never Late From W. Germany," Boston Globe, July 4, 1984.

"Wrong-Way German Tourist Still Paying Maine Taxes," United Press International, July 3, 1984.

Maureen Williams, "Future in Bangor Pales, Erwin Kreuz Returns to Germany," Bangor Daily News, March 16, 1979.

"Superstar Attractions to Highlight Bangor Mall's Supergrand Opening," Bangor Daily News, Oct. 4, 1978.

"Instant Celebrity to Revisit Bangor," Associated Press, Sept. 18, 1978.

"German Tourist Misses Maine," United Press International, Sept. 15, 1978.

"Bangor, Me., Family in Temporary Limelight," New York Times, Feb. 18, 1978.

Jeanne Bolstridge, "Not Political," Bangor Daily News, Nov. 15, 1977.

"So riesig," Der Spiegel, Nov. 7, 1977.

"Lives It Up Wild West Frisco Style," The [Fairfield County, Conn.] Hour, Nov. 1, 1977.

"It's Wong for Kreuz in Frisco," Miami Herald, Nov. 1, 1977.

"Ja, Erwin Kreuz ist ein 'Bangor,'" Minneapolis Star, Nov. 1, 1977.

"People," Chicago Tribune, Nov. 1, 1977.

"Wrong-Way Tourist's Weekend Fit for King," United Press International, Oct. 31, 1977.

"In San Francisco: Lost German Partial to Maine," Quad-City [Iowa] Times, Oct. 30, 1977.

Ted Sylvester, "Andre Tries to Kiss Kreuz," Bangor Daily News, Oct. 28, 1977.

"Famed Figures," [Pittsfield, Mass.] Berkshire Eagle, Oct. 28, 1977.

"San Francisco Paper Lays Red Carpet for Kreuz," Bangor Daily News, Oct. 28, 1977.

"Erwin Kreuz," Bangor Daily News, Oct. 28, 1977.

David Platt, "Column One," Bangor Daily News, Oct. 28, 1977.

"Land for Erwin Kreuz," Bangor Daily News, Oct. 27, 1977.

"That'd Be a Long Taxi Ride," Kingsport [Tenn.] Daily News, Oct. 26, 1977.

"German Tourist Ready to Stay in Maine," Associated Press, Oct. 26, 1977.

"3,000-Mile Error Ends With a Pleasant Visit," United Press International, Oct. 25, 1977.

"Airline Puts Out Call for Errant Passenger," Bangor Daily News, Oct. 21, 1977.

"A Big Mac Blitz," Bangor Daily News, Oct. 21, 1977.

Nancy Remsen, "Golden Gate-Bound German Visits Bangor by Mistake," Bangor Daily News, Oct. 20, 1977.

(Five unheadlined Associated Press wire reports, dated Oct. 29, 1977; Oct. 31, 1977; Sept. 25, 1978; Oct. 4, 1978; and March 19, 1979.)

Listener mail:

Wikipedia, "Lake Nyos Disaster" (accessed Dec. 29, 2020).

Wikipedia, "Limnic Eruption" (accessed Dec. 29, 2020).

Kevin Krajick, "Defusing Africa's Killer Lakes," smithsonianmag.com, September 2003.

"Falklands Cleared of Landmines Following 1982 Conflict," Forces.net, Nov. 10, 2020.

Matthew Teller, "The Falklands Penguins That Would Not Explode," BBC News, May 6, 2017.

"Japanese Town Deploys Monster Wolf Robots to Deter Bears," Reuters, Nov. 11, 2020.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Nick Claus. Here are three corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1931, a 93-year-old widow was discovered to be hoarding great wealth in New York's Herald Square Hotel. Her death touched off an inquiry that revealed a glittering past -- and a great secret. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll tell the story of Ida Wood, which has been called "one of the most sensational inheritance cases in American history."

We'll also revisit the Candy Bomber and puzzle over some excessive travel.

Intro:

Lyndon Johnson's family shared initials.

In 1915, Arthur Guiterman sparred with Arthur Conan Doyle over Sherlock Holmes' antecedents.

Sources for our feature on Ida Wood:

Joseph A. Cox, The Recluse of Herald Square: The Mystery of Ida E. Wood, 1964.

Robert H. Sitkoff and Jesse Dukeminier, Wills, Trusts, and Estates, 10th edition, 2017.

Renee M. Winters, The Hoarding Impulse: Suffocation of the Soul, 2015.

John V. Orth, "'The Laughing Heir': What's So Funny?", Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Journal 48:2 (Fall 2013), 321-326.

St. Clair McKelway, "Annals of Law: The Rich Recluse of Herald Square," New Yorker, Oct. 24, 1953.

Karen Abbott, "Everything Was Fake but Her Wealth," smithsonianmag.com, Jan. 23, 2013.

Phil Gustafson, "Who'll Pick up the Pieces?", Nation's Business 38:3 (March 1950), 56.

LJ Charleston, "The Story of the Rich New York Socialite Who Hid in a Hotel Room for 24 Years," news.com.au, July 29, 2019.

Frank McNally, "Fascinating Ida," Irish Times, Oct. 17, 2019.

"Hibernian Chronicle: The Mayfield Mystery Solved," Irish Echo, Feb. 17, 2011.

Joseph A. Cox, "She Hid Her Wealth -- And a Strange Past," Australian Women's Weekly, July 6, 1966, 28.

Peter Lyon, "Mrs. Wood's Rubbish Pile," New York Times, Oct. 4, 1964.

"Finds Heirs, Gets $30,000," New York Times, July 2, 1941.

"Meets Ida Wood 'Heirs'," New York Times, March 6, 1938.

"Ida Wood Estate Hearing Dec. 20," New York Times, Nov. 18, 1937.

"Fortune Fight Bares Name Hoax," Associated Press, Sept. 16, 1937.

"406 Claimants Out as Ida Wood Heirs," New York Times, Sept. 1, 1937.

"She Carried a Fortune Around Her Waist," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jan. 5, 1936, 59.

"$92,293 Estate Left by Mrs. F.E. Whistler," New York Times, Dec. 14, 1932.

"Reports Locating Ida Wood's Heirs," Associated Press, Dec. 7, 1932.

"Mrs. Ida Wood Dies at 93 of Pneumonia," New York Times, March 13, 1932.

"Recluse to Seek 'Rest of Money,'" [Washington D.C.] Evening Star, Oct. 14, 1931.

"Old Lady's Kin Vie at Law for Her Fortune," Associated Press, Oct. 13, 1931.

"Benjamin Wood Dead," New-York Tribune, Feb. 22, 1900.

Listener mail:

Cathy Free, "World War II-Era 'Candy Bomber' Turns 100. Those Who Caught His Candy -- Now in Their 80s -- Say Thanks," Washington Post, Oct. 13, 2020.

Lee Benson, "As Utah's Candy Bomber Turns 100, His Sweet Story Remains Timeless," Deseret News, Oct 4, 2020.

"Gov. Gary Herbert Declares October 10th as Gail S. Halvorsen Recognition Day," Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs, Oct. 10, 2020.

Safe-T-Pull.

"Safe-T-Pull™ Pro -- Muddy Sugar Beet Harvest," (video), Safe-T-Pull, Jan. 21, 2014.

"Will cold temperatures damage my refrigerator," Garage Journal, March 2, 2012.

"What to Wear in the Winter Conditions," Hôtel de Glace (accessed Dec. 25, 2020).

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was devised by Greg. Here's a corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Here are eight new lateral thinking puzzles -- play along with us as we try to untangle some perplexing situations using yes-or-no questions.

Intro:

In 1940, the Venezuelan post office was said to deliver love letters at half price.

In 1890 Mark Twain composed a holiday message for the New York World.

The sources for this week's puzzles are below. In a few places we've included links to further information -- these contain spoilers, so don't click until you've listened to the episode:

Puzzle #1 is from Agnes Rogers' 1953 book How Come? A Book of Riddles, sent to us by listener Jon Jerome.

Puzzle #2 is from listener Cheryl Jensen, who sent this link.

Puzzle #3 is from listener Neil de Carteret and his cat Nala.

Puzzle #4 is from listener Ananth Viswanathan.

Puzzle #5 is from Dan Lewis' Now I Know e-newsletter. Here are two links.

Puzzle #6 is from Greg. Here's a link.

Puzzle #7 is from Sharon. Here are two links.

Puzzle #8 is from Greg. Here's a link.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1928, Belgian financier Alfred Loewenstein fell to his death from a private plane over the English Channel. How it happened has never been explained. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll describe the bizarre incident, which has been called "one of the strangest fatalities in the history of commercial aviation."

We'll also consider whether people can be eaten by pythons and puzzle over an enigmatic horseman.

Intro:

Philosopher Robin Le Poidevin offers a time-travel puzzle concerning an indefinite diary.

In 1946, a quirk of Ohio law seemed to yield contrary outcomes.

Sources for our feature on Alfred Loewenstein:

William Norris, The Man Who Fell From the Sky, 1987.

E. Phillips Oppenheim, Who Travels Alone: The Life and Death of Alfred Loewenstein, 1929.

Judy Ferring, "Before the Skies Were Friendly," American Banker 153:169 (Aug. 30, 1988), 38.

Phoebe-Lou Adams, "The Man Who Fell From the Sky," Atlantic 259:5 (May 1987), 94.

Amy Friedman, "The Chasing of Ghosts," [Kingston, Ont.] Whig-Standard, May 23, 1987.

James Idema, "Solving the Strange Death of the World's Third-Richest Man," Chicago Tribune, May 3, 1987.

William French, "Real Life Mystery Is Finally Solved," Globe and Mail, April 25, 1987.

Daryl Frazell, "A Mystery With No Solution," St. Petersburg Times, May 17, 1987.

"Latest of the Strange Winged Tragedies of the Loewensteins," Detroit Evening Times, June 8, 1941.

"Wealthy Airman Killed," [Melbourne] Argus, April 1, 1941.

"387 Civilians Own Airplanes in State," New York Times, Aug. 17, 1928.

"Result of Autopsy," Canberra Times, July 23, 1928.

"Disappearance Is Still a Mystery," New Britain [Conn.] Herald, July 6, 1928.

"Say He Could Not Open the Door," New Britain [Conn.] Herald, July 6, 1928.

"Loewenstein's Death Shocks All of Europe," [Belvidere, Ill.] Republican-Northwestern, July 6, 1928.

"Third Richest Man Walks Off Plane in Night; Dies in Sea," United Press, July 5, 1928.

"Capt. A. Lowenstein Falls From Plane," Associated Press, July 5, 1928.

"Noted International Financier Disappeared From Plane When on London to Brussels Flight," Ottawa Citizen, July 5, 1928.

"Noted Belgian Magnate Falls Into North Sea," Calgary Herald, July 5, 1928.

"Suicide Hinted in Strange Death of Europe's Croesus," Associated Press, July 5, 1928.

"Loewenstein a Suicide," Windsor Star, July 5, 1928.

"Gem Thieves Who Robbed Alfred Loewenstein, Belgian Croesus, Hunted Here by Paris Police," New York Times, Dec. 19, 1926.

"The Mysterious Death of Flying Millionaire Alfred Loewenstein," Punt PI, BBC Radio 4, July 12, 2014.

"ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 59899," Aviation Safety Network, May 8, 2009.

Listener mail:

Sarah Gibbens, "How This 23-Foot Python Swallowed a Man Whole," National Geographic, March 29, 2017.

"How a Giant Python Swallowed an Indonesian Woman," BBC News, June 18, 2018.

Wikipedia, "Reticulated Python" (accessed Dec. 10, 2020).

Victoria Gillman, "Photo in the News: Python Bursts After Eating Gator (Update)," National Geographic, Sept. 5, 2006.

"Indonesian Man Found Dead in Belly of 7m-Long Python" (video), Jakarta Post, March 29, 2017.

"Missing Man Found Swallowed Whole Inside Snake in Indonesia" (video), On Demand News, Mar 30, 2017.

Mary Beth Griggs, "A Cute Stuffed Dinosaur Hitched a Ride on SpaceX's Historic Launch," The Verge, May 30, 2020.

Loren Grush, "SpaceX Crew-1 Team Harnesses the Force by Bringing Baby Yoda With Them to Space," The Verge, Nov 16, 2020.

Wikipedia, "Sandmännchen" (accessed Dec. 10, 2020).

Wikipedia, "Sigmund Jähn" (accessed Dec. 10, 2020).

Olaf Stampf, "'Capitalism Now Reigns in Space': East German Cosmonaut Sigmund Jähn," Spiegel International, April 12, 2011.

Uwe Seidenfaden, "Als DDR-Pilot Sigmund Jähn ins Weltall flog," volksstimme.de, Aug. 23, 2018.

Tremor, zero-G indicator of SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule (from listener Victoria Sluka).

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was devised by Greg, based on Ambrose Bierce's 1888 short story "A Son of the Gods."

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

When a mysterious illness blinded him at age 25, British naval officer James Holman took up a new pursuit: travel. For the next 40 years he roamed the world alone, describing his adventures in a series of popular books. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll describe Holman's remarkable career and his unique perspective on his experiences.

We'll also remember some separating trains and puzzle over an oddly drawn battle plan.

Intro:

David Tennant's 2008 turn as Hamlet enlisted the skull of composer André Tchaikowsky.

For J.B.S. Haldane's 60th birthday, biologist John Maynard Smith composed an ode to Struthiomimus.

Sources for our feature on James Holman:

Jason Roberts, A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History's Greatest Traveler, 2009.

James Holman, The Narrative of a Journey Through France, etc., 1822.

James Holman, Travels Through Russia, Siberia, etc., 1825.

James Holman, A Voyage Round the World, 1834.

Sarah Bell, "Sensing Nature: Unravelling Metanarratives of Nature and Blindness," in Sarah Atkinson and Rachel Hunt, eds., GeoHumanities and Health, 2020.

Eitan Bar-Yosef, "The 'Deaf Traveller,' the 'Blind Traveller,' and Constructions of Disability in Nineteenth-Century Travel Writing," Victorian Review 35:2 (Fall 2009), 133-154.

Pieter François, "If It's 1815, This Must Be Belgium: The Origins of the Modern Travel Guide," Book History 15 (2012), 71-92.

Joseph Godlewski, "Zones of Entanglement: Nigeria's Real and Imagined Compounds," Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review 28:2 (Spring 2017), 21-33.

Rebe Taylor, "The Polemics of Eating Fish in Tasmania: The Historical Evidence Revisited," Aboriginal History 31 (2007), 1-26.

Mark Paterson, "'Looking on Darkness, Which the Blind Do See': Blindness, Empathy, and Feeling Seeing," Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal 46:3 (September 2013), 159-177.

Keith Nicklin, "A Calabar Chief," Journal of Museum Ethnography 1 (March 1989), 79-84.

Robert S. Fogarty, "Rank the Authors," Antioch Review 65:2 (Spring 2007), 213.

Daniel Kish, "Human Echolocation: How to 'See' Like a Bat," New Scientist 202:2703 (April 11, 2009), 31-33.

Robert Walch, "As He Alone 'Sees' It," America 195:17 (Nov. 27, 2006), 25-26.

Anne McIlroy, "James Holman," CanWest News, Dec. 16, 1992, 1.

Chris Barsanti, "The Blind Traveler," Publishers Weekly 243:18 (May 1, 2006), 46.

Elizabeth Baigent, "Holman, James (1786–1857), traveller," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Sept. 23, 2004.

My Futility Closet post on echolocator Ben Underwood.

Listener mail:

"The History of the Slip Coach," Ruairidh MacVeigh, June 27, 2020.

"By Slip Coach to Bicester," video of the last slip coach in operation.

Wikipedia, "Slip Coach" (accessed Nov. 25, 2020).

"Slip Coaches," Railway Wonders of the World, June 21, 1935.

"2 Bedroom Restored Slip Coach in Saltash, St Germans, Cornwall, England," One Off Places (accessed Dec. 3, 2020).

From listener Aleksandar Ćirković: The 19:38 train departing the main station at Nuremberg each day splits in four.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Marie Nearing, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Joseph Medicine Crow was raised on a Montana reservation in the warrior tradition of his Crow forefathers. But during World War II he found himself applying those lessons in very different circumstances. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll describe Joseph's exploits in the war and how they helped to shape his future.

We'll also consider how to distinguish identical twins and puzzle over a physicist's beer.

Intro:

Two opposing bullets struck one another during the siege of Petersburg.

Which full house is likeliest to win?

Sources for our feature on Joseph Medicine Crow:

Joseph Medicine Crow and Herman J. Viola, Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reservation and Beyond, 2006.

Charles A. Eastman, Living in Two Worlds: The American Indian Experience Illustrated, 2010.

Rick Graetz and Susie Graetz, Crow Country: Montana's Crow Tribe of Indians, 2000.

Joseph Medicine Crow, From the Heart of the Crow Country: The Crow Indians' Own Stories, 2000.

Phillip Thomas Tucker, Death at the Little Bighorn: A New Look at Custer, His Tactics, and the Tragic Decisions Made at the Last Stand, 2017.

Cindy Ott, "Crossing Cultural Fences: The Intersecting Material World of American Indians and Euro-Americans," Western Historical Quarterly 39:4 (Winter 2008), 491-499.

James Welch, "Killing Custer: An Excerpt," Montana: The Magazine of Western History 44:4 (Autumn 1994), 16-27.

"See You Later, Joe Medicine Crow," Wild West 29:2 (August 2016), 13.

"War Songs of the Plains: Joseph Medicine Crow," Economist 419:8985 (April 16, 2016), 82.

Nina Sanders, "Remembering Dr. Joe Medicine Crow," Smithsonian, April 6, 2016.

Mardi Mileham, "Honoring a Cultural Treasure," Linfield Magazine 6:2 (Fall 2009), 6-11.

"Roundup," Wild West 21:2 (August 2008), 9.

Bradley Shreve, "Serving Those Who Served," Tribal College Journal 29:2 (Winter 2017) 10-11.

Brenda J. Child and Karissa E. White, "'I've Done My Share': Ojibwe People and World War II," Minnesota History 61:5 (Spring 2009), 196-207.

Emily Langer, "Native American Icon Was 'Warrior and Living Legend,'" Montreal Gazette, April 13, 2016, B.14.

"Joe Medicine Crow: Indian War Chief Decorated for Bravery Who Regaled Custer's 'Last Stand,'" Sunday Independent, April 10, 2016, 29.

"Joe Medicine Crow: War Chief Decorated for Bravery Who Told of Custer's 'Last Stand' From the Perspective of the Natives," Daily Telegraph, April 6, 2016, 27.

Mike McPhate, "Joseph Medicine Crow, Tribal War Chief and Historian, Dies at 102," New York Times, April 4, 2016.

Sarah Kaplan, "Joe Medicine Crow, a War Chief, Historian and the Last Link to the Battle of Little Big Horn, Dies at 102," Washington Post, April 4, 2016.

Alex Johnson, "Revered Indian Leader Joe Medicine Crow, Last Crow War Chief, Dies at 102," NBC News, April 4, 2016.

"Native American Chief Joe Medicine Crow Dies Aged 102," BBC News, April 3, 2016.

Matthew Brown, "Crow Tribe Elder, Historian Joe Medicine Crow Dead at 102," Associated Press, April 3, 2016.

Mike Ferguson and Jordon Niedermeier, "Joe Medicine Crow Dies in Billings on Sunday Morning," Billings [Mont.] Gazette, April 3, 2016.

Jack McNeel, "Joe Medicine Crow, War Chief," Indian Country Today, Sept. 24, 2008, 21.

"Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow to Receive the French Legion of Honor Award and the Bronze Star," Custer Battlefield Museum, May 21, 2008.

Robin A. Ladue, "The Last War Chief," Tribal Business Journal (accessed Nov. 22, 2020).

"Smithsonian Curator Remembers Plains Indian War Chief Joe Medicine Crow," All Things Considered, National Public Radio, April 4, 2016.

Jurek Martin, "Joe Medicine Crow, Warrior and Historian, 1913-2016," FT.com, April 8, 2016.

"President Obama Names Medal of Freedom Recipients," White House, July 30, 2009.

Herman Viola, "High Bird: Eulogy for Joe Medicine Crow (Crow), 1914-2016," National Museum of the American Indian, April 21, 2016.

Tim Ellis' daughter and the world's largest rubber chicken.

Listener mail:

Kevin W. Bowyer and Patrick J. Flynn, "Biometric Identification of Identical Twins: A Survey," IEEE Eighth International Conference on Biometrics Theory, Applications and Systems, 2016.

Sandee LaMotte, "The Other 'Fingerprints' You Don't Know About," CNN, Dec. 4, 2015.

Cailin O'Connor, "Life Is Random," Slate, Sept. 12, 2014.

Thomas G. Kaye and Mark Meltzer, "Diatoms Constrain Forensic Burial Timelines: Case Study With DB Cooper Money," Scientific Reports 10:1 (Aug. 3, 2020), 1-9.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Carsten Hamann, who sent these corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

George Parker Bidder was born with a surprising gift: He could do complex arithmetic in his head. His feats of calculation would earn for him a university education, a distinguished career in engineering, and fame throughout 19th-century England. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll describe his remarkable ability and the stunning displays he made with it.

We'll also try to dodge some foul balls and puzzle over a leaky ship.

Intro:

John Clem joined the Union Army at age 10.

Actress Tippi Hedren kept an African lion as a house pet in the 1970s.

Sources for our feature on George Bidder:

E.F. Clark, George Parker Bidder: The Calculating Boy, 1983.

Steven Bradley Smith, The Great Mental Calculators: The Psychology, Methods, and Lives of Calculating Prodigies, Past and Present, 1983.

Frank D. Mitchell, Mathematical Prodigies, 1907.

Henry Budd Howell, A Foundational Study in the Pedagogy of Arithmetic, 1914.

A.W. Skempton and Mike Chrimes, A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland: 1500-1830, 2002.

George Eyre Evans, Midland Churches: A History of the Congregations on the Roll of the Midland Christian Union, 1899.

David Singmaster, "George Parker Bidder: The Calculating Boy by E.F. Clark," Mathematical Gazette 71:457 (October 1987), 252-254.

Antony Anderson, "Fairgrounds to Railways With Numbers," New Scientist 100:1385 (Nov. 24, 1983), 581.

Frank D. Mitchell, "Mathematical Prodigies," American Journal of Psychology 18:1 (January 1907), 61-143.

Richard A. Proctor, "Calculating Boys," Belgravia Magazine 38:152 (June 1879), 450-470.

Martin Gardner, "Mathematical Games," Scientific American 216:4 (April 1967), 116-123.

"A Short Account of George Bidder, the Celebrated Mental Calculator: With a Variety of the Most Difficult Questions, Proposed to Him at the Principal Towns in the Kingdom, and His Surprising Rapid Answers, Etc.," pamphlet, 1821.

Louis McCreery, "Mathematical Prodigies," Mathematics News Letter 7:7/8 (April-May 1933), 4-12.

"Memoirs of Deceased Members," Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers 57 (1878-1879), Part III, 294.

"George Parker Bidder," Devon Notes and Queries, Vol. 2, 1903.

"Calculating Boys," Strand 10 (1895), 277-280.

"Bidder, George Parker," Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911.

H.T. Wood, "Bidder, George Parker," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Sept. 23, 2004.

Listener mail:

Todd S. Purdum, "His Best Years Past, Veteran in Debt Sells Oscar He Won," New York Times, Aug. 7, 1992.

"In Financial Straits, Actor Sells '46 Oscar," Chicago Tribune, Aug. 7, 1992.

"Harold Russell Selling 'Best Years of Our Lives' Oscar," Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1992.

Heathcliff Rothman, "I'd Really Like to Thank My Pal at the Auction House," New York Times, Feb. 12, 2006.

Stephen Ceasar, "You Can't Put a Price on Oscar: Even Heirs of Winners Are Bound by Rules Against Selling the Statue," Los Angeles Times, Feb. 25, 2016.

"Orson Welles' Citizen Kane Oscar Auctioned in US," BBC News, Dec. 21, 2011.

Allen St. John, "Does Japanese Baseball Have the Answer for MLB's Dangerous Foul Ball Problem?", Forbes, Sept. 30, 2017.

"Foul Balls in Japanese Baseball," Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel, HBO, April 20, 2016.

"A Look at Some Extended Protective Nettings in the KBO and NPB," Fan Interference, Feb, 2, 2016.

Andrew W. Lehren and Michelle Tak, "Every Major League Baseball Team Will Expand Netting to Protect Fans From Foul Balls," NBC News, Dec. 11, 2019.

Bill Shaikin, "A Lawsuit Could Make Baseball Teams Liable for Foul Balls That Injure Fans," Los Angeles Times, Feb 20, 2020.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Jon Jerome.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

John Hornby left a privileged background in England to roam the vast subarctic tundra of northern Canada. There he became known as "the hermit of the north," famous for staying alive in a land with very few resources. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll spend a winter with Hornby, who's been called "one of the most colorful adventurers in modern history."

We'll also consider an anthropologist's reputation and puzzle over an unreachable safe.

Intro:

In 1902, Ambrose Bierce proposed that we learn to sever our social ties.

Can it make sense to pray for a change in the past?

Sources for our feature on John Hornby:

Malcolm Waldron, Snow Man: John Hornby in the Barren Lands, 1931.

Pierre Berton, Prisoners of the North, 2011.

David F. Pelly, Thelon: A River Sanctuary, 1996.

Morten Asfeldt and Bob Henderson, eds., Pike's Portage: Stories of a Distinguished Place, 2010.

Misao Dean, Inheriting a Canoe Paddle: The Canoe in Discourses of English-Canadian Nationalism, 2013.

Michael D. Pitt, Beyond the End of the Road: A Winter of Contentment North of the Arctic Circle, 2009.

Mckay Jenkins, Bloody Falls of the Coppermine: Madness and Murder in the Arctic Barren Lands, 2007.

Clive Powell-Williams, Cold Burial: A True Story of Endurance and Disaster, 2003.

Brook Sutton, "Long Before McCandless, John Hornby Tested Himself in Northern Canada -- and Failed," Adventure Journal, Oct. 27, 2016.

C.B. Sikstrom, "Hjalmar Nelson Hamar (1894–1967)," Arctic 67:3 (2014), 407-409.

Alex M. Hall, "Pike's Portage: Stories of a Distinguised Place, Edited by Morten Asfeldt and Bob Henderson," Arctic 63:3 (2010), 364-365.

David F. Pelly, "Snow Man: John Hornby in the Barren Lands," Arctic 53:1 (March 2000), 81-82.

Hugh Stewart, "Arctic Profiles: John Hornby," Arctic 37:2 (June 1984), 184-185.

M.T. Kelly, "Snow Man: John Hornby in the Barren Lands," Books in Canada 27:7 (October 1998), 29.

Thomas H. Hill, "John Hornby: Legend or Fool," Torch Magazine 89:2 (Winter 2016), 6-9.

Martin Zeilig, "Touring Canada's Untouched North a Treat," [Regina, Sask.] Leader Post, Oct. 27, 2006, F2.

"Privation and Death in 'the Barrens,'" Toronto Star, Aug. 9, 1987, A8.

Anne Ross, "John Hornby," Globe and Mail, March 21, 1978, P.6.

George J. Lustre, "Hornby's Adventures," Globe and Mail, March 10, 1978, P.7.

Allan Irving, "John Hornby," Globe and Mail, March 9, 1978, P.6.

"Last Hours of John Hornby Are Pictured by Christian," [Washington D.C.] Evening Star, Dec. 31, 1929, 2.

"Bodies of Three Explorers Found," [Washington D.C.] Evening Star, Sept. 6, 1928, 29.

"Identity of Bodies Not Entirely Clear," New Britain [Conn.] Herald, Aug. 15, 1928, 10.

"Musk-Ox Sanctuary," Montreal Gazette, Aug. 26, 1927.

James Charles Critchell Bullock Archive, Sherborne School, June 1, 2015.

John Ferns, "Hornby, John," Dictionary of Canadian Biography (accessed Nov. 8, 2020).

Listener mail:

"Building Name Review: Kroeber Hall," Berkeley: Office of the Chancellor (accessed Nov. 7, 2020).

"Proposal to Un-Name Kroeber Hall," UC Berkeley Building Name Review Committee, July 1, 2020.

Karl Kroeber and Clifton B. Kroeber, Ishi in Three Centuries, 2003.

Vicky Baker, "Last Survivor: The Story of the 'World's Loneliest Man,'" BBC News, July 20, 2018.

Dom Phillips, "Footage of Sole Survivor of Amazon Tribe Emerges," Guardian, July 19, 2018.

Monte Reel, "The Most Isolated Man on the Planet," Slate, Aug. 20, 2010.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was devised by Greg. Here are two corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In the 1930s, German civil servant Friedrich Kellner was outraged by the increasing brutality of the Nazi party and the complicity of his fellow citizens. He began to keep a secret diary to record the crimes of the Third Reich and his condemnations of his countrymen. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast, we'll tell the story of Friedrich's diary and his outspoken warnings to future generations.

We'll also ponder the problem with tardigrades and puzzle over a seemingly foolish choice.

Intro:

In 1983, Kenneth Gardner patented a way to cremate corpses using solar energy.

How can Anna Karenina's fate move us when we know she’s not a real person?

Sources for our feature on Friedrich Kellner:

Robert Scott Kellner, ed., My Opposition: The Diary of Friedrich Kellner -- A German Against the Third Reich, 2018.

Hermann Beck, "My Opposition: The Diary of Friedrich Kellner -- A German Against the Third Reich," Holocaust and Genocide Studies 33:2 (Fall 2019), 271-273.

Peter Fritzsche, "Vernebelt, verdunkelt sind alle Hirne." Tagebücher 1939-1, Central European History 45:4 (December 2012), 780-782.

David Clay Large, "My Opposition: The Diary of Friedrich Kellner; A German Against the Third Reich," Journal of Modern History 91:2 (June 2019), 480-481.

Robert Scott Kellner, "Nebraskan, Other U.S. Soldiers Brought Justice to WWII German Town," Omaha World-Herald, May 8, 2020.

Robert Scott Kellner, "Commentary: He Documented Nazi Crimes, Secretly, for the Future to Know," Chicago Tribune, April 18, 2020.

Robert Scott Kellner, "'The American Army Makes an Impression,'" Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2020.

Robert Scott Kellner, "Waiting for D-Day in Germany," Los Angeles Times, June 6, 2019, A.11.

Robert Scott Kellner, "The Curse of an Evil Deed," [Washington, D.C.] Examiner, May 8, 2019.

Matt Lebovic, "New Memoir Compilation by Hitler's Personal Staff Airs Historical Dirty Laundry," Times of Israel, Oct. 13, 2018.

Jane Warren, "Exposed: Myth That Civilians Knew Nothing of Nazi Atrocities," Daily Express, March 10, 2018, 31.

Laurence Rees, "Meet Friedrich Kellner: The Unlikely Face of Nazi Resistance," Telegraph, Jan. 22, 2018.

Richard J. Evans, "My Opposition: The Diary of Friedrich Kellner Review – A German Against the Nazis," Guardian, Jan. 12, 2018, 6.

Matt Lebovic, "What Did Germans Know? Secret Anti-Nazi Diary Gives Voice to Man on the Street," Times of Israel, Jan. 8, 2018.

Benjamin Weinthal, "A Diary for the Future," Jerusalem Post, Jan. 27, 2012, 12.

"Germany Weaves Web of Its Modern History," [Abu Dhabi] National, Nov. 1, 2011.

"A Reminder of the Need to Preserve the Truth," [Montreal] Gazette, Oct. 17, 2011, A.23.

Madeline Chambers, "'Ordinary' German's Diary Decried Nazi Atrocities," [Montreal] Gazette, Oct. 13, 2011, A.18.

Graeme Morton, "Diaries Chronicle Fall Into Hitlerian Hell," [Victoria, B.C.] Times Colonist, Nov. 17, 2007, C4.

Sam Ser, "Anti-Nazi's Revealing Wartime Diaries Become 'Weapon to Combat Evil,'" Jerusalem Post, April 5, 2005, 6.

Phil Magers, "Feature: German's War Diary Goes Public," UPI Perspectives, March 25, 2005.

Robert Scott Kellner, "Opposing the Nazis: The Secret Diary of a German Against the Third Reich," History Extra, Aug. 22, 2018.

Robert Scott Kellner, "Where Will the Culture of Internet Attacks Lead? Nazi Opponent Friedrich Kellner's Diaries Offer Warnings," History News Network, Aug. 23, 2020.

Listener mail:

Poppy Noor, "Overzealous Profanity Filter Bans Paleontologists From Talking About Bones," Guardian, Oct. 16, 2020.

Maria Cramer, "Paleontologists See Stars as Software Bleeps Scientific Terms," New York Times, Oct. 18, 2020.

Becky Ferreira, "A Profanity Filter Banned the Word 'Bone' at a Paleontology Conference," Vice, Oct. 15, 2020.

Thomas R. Holtz Jr., "SVPers: I have put together a sheet of the 'banned' words on the Q&A function at #2020SVP so far," Twitter, Oct. 13, 2020.

Samantha Cole, "PayPal Is Stalling Cute Tardigrade Merch -- and a Notorious Weapons Dealer Is to Blame," Vice, Sept. 11, 2020.

Tim Ellis, "Weird Seattle Retailer Archie Mcphee Hit With Even Weirder Paypal Problem, Foiling Tardigrade Sales," GeekWire, Sept. 11, 2020.

"Rubber Chicken Museum," Atlas Obscura, accessed Nov. 1, 2020.

"Archie McPhee's Rubber Chicken Museum," Archie McPhee, accessed Nov. 1, 2020.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Scarlett Casey.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1953 Mildred Norman renounced "an empty life of money and things" and dedicated herself to promoting peace. She spent the next three decades walking through the United States to spread a message of simplicity and harmony. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe her unusual life as a peace pilgrim.

We'll also admire Wellington's Mittens and puzzle over a barren Christmas.

Intro:

In 1956, Navy pilot Tom Attridge overtook his own rounds in a supersonic jet.

Flemish artist Cornelius Gijsbrechts painted a rendering of the back of a painting.

Sources for our feature on Peace Pilgrim:

Peace Pilgrim, Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words, 1992.

Peace Pilgrim, Steps Toward Inner Peace, 1964.

Kathlyn Gay, American Dissidents: An Encyclopedia of Activists, Subversives, and Prisoners of Conscience, 2012.

Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking, 2001.

Peace Pilgrim's website.

Michael M. Piechowski, "Giftedness for All Seasons: Inner Peace in a Time of War," Henry B. and Jocelyn Wallace National Research Symposium on Talent Development, University of Iowa, 1991.

Michael M. Piechowski, "Is Inner Transformation a Creative Process?", Creativity Research Journal 6:1-2 (1993), 89-98.

Michael M. Piechowski, "Peace Pilgrim, Exemplar of Level V," Roeper Review 31:2 (2009), 103-112.

Amanda Kautz, "Peace Pilgrim: An American Parallel to a Buddhist Path," Buddhist-Christian Studies 10 (1990), 165-172.

Roy Tamashiro, "Planetary Consciousness, Witnessing the Inhuman, and Transformative Learning: Insights From Peace Pilgrimage Oral Histories and Autoethnographies," Religions 9:5 (2018), 148.

"Introducing Peace Pilgrim," Equality 15 (May 1969), 3.

"Peace Pilgrim's Progress," Equality 1 (May 1965), 3.

Ann Rush with John Rush, "Peace Pilgrim: An Extraordinary Life," 1992.

Peace Pilgrim, "On Foot and on Faith," The Sun Magazine, February 2020.

Katharine Q. Seelye, "Overlooked No More: Emma Gatewood, First Woman to Conquer the Appalachian Trail Alone," New York Times, June 27, 2018.

Steve Taylor, "Peace Pilgrim: A Way to Wakefulness," Psychology Today, June 8, 2016.

Paul Venesz, "7th Peace Pilgrim Celebration," [Vineland, N.J.] Daily Journal, Sept. 24, 2014, 9.

"Peace Pilgrim Nominated to Hall of Fame," [Vineland, N.J.] Daily Journal, May 28, 2014, 1.

"Peace Pilgrim Is Eyed for Hall," [Vineland, N.J.] Daily Journal, Oct. 23, 2013, 1.

Braden Campbell, "Author of New Book on Peace Pilgrim to Take Part in Egg Harbor City Celebration," Press of Atlantic City, Sept. 11, 2013.

Kate Murphy, "Walking the Country as a Spiritual Quest," New York Times, March 2, 2013.

Zak Rosen, "Peace Pilgrim's 28-Year Walk for 'A Meaningful Way of Life,'" All Things Considered, National Public Radio, Jan. 1, 2013.

Jason Nark, "Peace Pilgrim's Message Carried On," Philadelphia Daily News, July 19, 2008, 7.

Sandra Malasky, "Peace Pilgrim Walked the Walk," Peterborough [Ont.] Examiner, July 2, 2005, B4.

Bernard Bauer, "A 25-Year Hike," Berkeley [Calif.] Barb 28:2 (Oct. 26-Nov. 8, 1978), 3.

Chet Briggs, "Peace Pilgrim Comes to Town," [Austin, Texas] Rag 1:15 (Feb. 20, 1967), 7.

"Peace Pilgrim," Ottawa County [Ohio] News, Sept. 25, 1953, 2.

"Heard in Lawrence," Lawrence [Kan.] Journal-World, June 29, 1953.

Listener mail:

Wikipedia, "Mittens (cat)" (accessed Oct. 10, 2020).

Eleanor Ainge Roy, "'The Best Thing About Wellington': Mittens the Cat Has Paws All Over New Zealand Capital," Guardian, March 3, 2020.

"The Wondrous Adventures of Mittens," Facebook.

"Celebrity Cat Mittens 'His Floofiness' Awarded Key to the City by Wellington's Mayor," 1 News, May 22, 2020.

"Feline Groovy: Mittens Unlocks More Hearts With Key to the City," Wellington City Council, May 22, 2020.

Katarina Williams, "Wellington Feline Celebrity Mittens Awarded Key to the City," stuff, May 22, 2020.

Eleanor Ainge Roy, "Celebrity Cat Called Mittens in the Running to Be New Zealander of the Year," Guardian, Aug 19, 2020.

"Jock VII Takes the Helm," International Churchill Society (accessed Oct. 10, 2020).

"Jock VII of Chartwell," National Trust (accessed Oct. 10, 2020).

Laura Silverman, "Meet the Long Line of Ginger Cats Who've Taken Up Residence in Winston Churchill's Home," Telegraph, July 20, 2020.

"A Perpetual Pussycat," Futility Closet, Oct. 21, 2013.

Peter Black, "RIP Doorkins Magnificat," Blogspot, Oct. 5, 2020

"The Story of Doorkins Magnificat," Southwark Cathedral, accessed Oct. 10, 2020.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was devised by Sharon. Here are two corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Here are six new lateral thinking puzzles -- play along with us as we try to untangle some perplexing situations using yes-or-no questions.

Intro:

Stonewall Jackson recorded 14 precepts for good conversation.

Ben Franklin offered four "rules for making oneself a disagreeable companion."

Sources for this episode's puzzles:

Puzzle #1 is from listener Allen Houser.

Puzzle #2 is from listener Michael Cavanagh.

Puzzle #3 is from listener Jessica Aves.

Puzzle #4 is from listener Laura Merz.

Puzzle #5 is from listener ospalh.

Puzzle #6 is from Agnes Rogers' 1953 book How Come? A Book of Riddles, sent in by listener Jon Jerome.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1967, Jim Thompson left his silk business in Thailand for a Malaysian holiday with three friends. On the last day, he disappeared from the cottage in which they were staying. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll review the many theories behind Thompson's disappearance, which has never been explained.

We'll also borrow John Barrymore's corpse and puzzle over a teddy bear's significance.

Intro:

A 1969 contributor to NPL News suggested that orchestras were wasting effort.

Robert Wood cleaned a 40-foot spectrograph by sending his cat through it.

Sources for our feature on Jim Thompson:

William Warren, Jim Thompson: The Unsolved Mystery, 2014.

Joshua Kurlantzick, The Ideal Man: The Tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American Way of War, 2011.

Matthew Phillips, Thailand in the Cold War, 2015.

Taveepong Limapornvanich and William Warren, Thailand Sketchbook: Portrait of a Kingdom, 2003.

Jeffery Sng, "The Ideal Man: The Tragedy of Jim Thompson and the American Way of War by Joshua Kurlantzick," Journal of the Siam Society 102 (2014), 296-299.

Tim McKeough, "Jim Thompson," Architectural Digest 71:4 (April 2014).

Alessandro Pezzati, "Jim Thompson, the Thai Silk King," Expedition Magazine 53:1 (Spring 2011), 4-6.

Daisy Alioto, "The Architect Who Changed the Thai Silk Industry and Then Disappeared," Time, May 9, 2016.

Anis Ramli, "Jim Thompson Found, 40 Years On," Malaysian Business, May 1, 2009, 58.

"Thailand: Jim Thompson's Legacy Lives On," Asia News Monitor, Feb. 8, 2010.

Peter A. Jackson, "An American Death in Bangkok: The Murder of Darrell Berrigan and the Hybrid Origins of Gay Identity in 1960s Thailand," GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 5:3 (1999), 361-411.

Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa, "Documentary Claims CPM Responsible for Jim Thompson's Disappearance in Cameron Highland," Malaysian National News Agency, Dec. 10, 2017.

Barry Broman, "Jim Thompson Was Killed by Malay Communists, Sources Say," The Nation [Bangkok], Dec. 4, 2017.

Grant Peck, "New Film Sheds Light on Jim Thompson Mystery," Associated Press, Oct. 21, 2017.

"A 50-Year Mystery: The Curious Case of Silk Tycoon Jim Thompson," dpa International, March 22, 2017.

George Fetherling, "The Man Who Vanished," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 29, 2013, B.7.

"Trends: The Mystery of Jim Thompson," [Hamilton, New Zealand] Waikato Times, May 8, 2013, T.13.

"Bangkok: Remembering Jim Thompson," The Nation [Bangkok], Oct. 3, 2012.

Bernd Kubisch, "The Riddle of Jim Thompson Continues to Fascinate Bangkok Visitors," McClatchy-Tribune Business News, Feb. 21, 2012.

Joshua Kurlantzick, "Into the Jungle," [Don Mills, Ont.] National Post, Dec. 7, 2011, A.16.

Joshua Kurlantzick, "Our Man in Bangkok," [Don Mills, Ont.] National Post, Dec. 6, 2011, A.14.

Yap Yok Foo, "Mystery of Jim Thompson's Disappearance," [Kuala Lumpur] New Straits Times, Feb. 1, 2004, 30.

Robert Frank, "Recipe for a Fashion Brand?", Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2001, B.1.

Jonathan Napack, "Will Jim Thompson's House Disappear, Too?", International Herald Tribune, Aug. 30, 2000.

Michael Richardson, "The Disappearance of Jim Thompson," International Herald Tribune, March 26, 1997, 2.

Hisham Harun, "Jim Thompson's Legacy," [Kuala Lumpur] New Straits Times, Aug. 12, 1996, 09.

Philp Shenon, "What's Doing In: Bangkok," New York Times, Jan. 31, 1993.

William Warren, "Is Jim Thompson Alive and Well in Asia?", New York Times, April 21, 1968.

"Jim Thompson," Encyclopaedia Britannica (accessed Oct. 4, 2020).

Listener mail:

Wikipedia, "John Barrymore" (accessed Oct. 8, 2020).

"Drew Barrymore Has a Hard Time Processing While Eating Hot Wings," Hot Ones, Aug. 20, 2020.

Marina Watts, "Drew Barrymore Reveals the Unique Experience Grandfather John Barrymore Had After Death," Newsweek, Aug. 21, 2020.

Adam White, "Drew Barrymore Says Her Grandfather's Corpse Was Stolen From the Morgue for 'One Last Party,'" Independent, Aug. 20, 2020.

Wikipedia, "Hot Ones" (accessed Oct. 8, 2020).

"Earth Does Not Move for Science," BBC News, Sept. 7, 2001.

Tim Radford, "Children's Giant Jump Makes Waves for Science," Guardian, Sept. 7, 2001.

Reuters, "Jump Kids, Jump! Shake That Earth," Wired, Sept 7, 2001.

"Schoolkids Jump-Start a Quake in Britain," Los Angeles Times, Sept. 8, 2001.

"Newspaper Clipping of the Day," Strange Company, Aug. 26, 2020.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Hanno Zulla, who sent these corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Beryl Markham managed to fit three extraordinary careers into one lifetime: She was a champion racehorse trainer, a pioneering bush pilot, and a best-selling author. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll review her eventful life, including her historic solo flight across the Atlantic in 1936.

We'll also portray some Canadian snakes and puzzle over a deadly car.

Intro:

In 1974, Stewart Coffin devised a topological puzzle without a solution.

In August 1972, Applied Optics determined that Heaven is hotter than Hell.

Sources for our feature on Beryl Markham:

Mary S. Lovell, Straight on Till Morning: The Life of Beryl Markham, 2011.

Beryl Markham, West With the Night, 1942.

Derek O'Connor, "The Remarkable Mrs. Markham," Aviation History 28:2 (November 2017), 54-59.

Paula McLain, "An Insanely Glamorous Love Triangle," Town & Country, Sept. 2, 2015.

Nate Pederson, "West With the Night," Aviation History 20:1 (September 2009), 62-62.

Diana Ketcham, "Bad Girl," Nation 245:17 (Nov. 21, 1987), 600-602.

Beryl Markham, "The Splendid Outcast," Saturday Evening Post 217:10 (Sept. 2, 1944), 12.

"Aviator Beryl Markham Went With the Wind," [Durban] Sunday Tribune, June 4, 2017, 13.

Erin Pottie, "Piece of History?", [Halifax, N.S.] Chronicle-Herald, Aug. 25, 2015, A1.

"Beryl Markham: An Obituary," Times, Aug. 5, 1999, 25.

Jane O'Reilly, "Never Down to Earth," New York Times, Oct. 3, 1993.

Christopher Reed, "Inside Story: Beryl's Crash Landing," Guardian, Sept. 29, 1993.

Frances Padorr Brent, "Beryl Markham: Truly Adventurous But Perhaps Less Than Honest," Chicago Tribune, Sept. 12, 1993, 6.

Sylvia O'Brien, "For Whom Beryl Toiled," International Herald Tribune, Sept. 9, 1993.

"Ghost Story," New York Times, Aug. 29, 1993.

Robert Savage, "Rediscovering Beryl Markham," New York Times, Oct. 4, 1987, A.50.

Nancy Lemann, "Stories Under a Shadow," St. Petersburg Times, Sept. 27, 1987, 6D.

"Africa Bush Pilot Beryl Markham, 83," Chicago Tribune, Aug. 6, 1986, 7.

Burr Van Atta, "Beryl Markham, 83, First Pilot to Cross the Atlantic East to West," Philadelphia Inquirer, Aug. 5, 1986, B.6.

"Beryl Markham, Aviation Pioneer, 83," Newsday, Aug. 5, 1986, 27.

"Beryl Markham," Globe and Mail, Aug. 5, 1986, C.12.

"Beryl Markham Is Dead at 83; Flew Across Atlantic in 1936," Associated Press, Aug. 5, 1986.

"Mrs. Beryl Markham Wed," New York Times, Oct. 18, 1942.

"Beryl Markham Seeks Divorce," New York Times, Oct. 6, 1942.

Talbot Lake, "Beryl Markham Writes of Her Hectic Life," [Mount Clemens, Mich.] Daily Monitor Leader, July 24, 1942.

Jane Spence Southron, "Personal Record Out of Africa; Beryl Markham's Autobiography Is Vivid, Evocative Writing," New York Times, June 21, 1942.

"Conquers Atlantic in Daring Flight," [Washington, D.C.] Evening Star, Sept. 13, 1936.

"Mrs. Markham, English Society Matron, Has Only Headache to Remind Her of Lone Ocean Flight," United Press, Sept. 7, 1936.

"Woman Takes Off on Lone Hop to Try East-West Crossing," [Elizabeth City, N.C.] Daily Independent, Sept. 5, 1936.

"Woman Flyer Conquers Atlantic, But Low Gas May Cut Flight Short," Associated Press, Sept. 5, 1936.

"English Woman Flier Is Grounded in Nova Scotia After Crossing Atlantic," Henderson [N.C.] Daily Dispatch, Sept. 5, 1936.

"English Woman Begins Solo Hop Across Atlantic," Associated Press, Sept. 4, 1936.

"Lone Woman Flier Starts West Swing," Henderson [N.C.] Daily Dispatch, Sept. 4, 1936.

"Beryl Markham," Encyclopaedia Britannica, July 30, 2020.

C.S. Nicholls, "Markham [née Clutterbuck], Beryl," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Sept. 23, 2004.

Listener mail:

"Sir Nicholas Winton 1909-2015," England Fencing.

"Bobby Winton 1914-2009," British Veterans Fencing.

"Nicholas Winton Honoured by the Czechs for Saving Children From the Nazis," British Fencing.

CRIBS International website.

"Statue for 'British Schindler' Sir Nicholas Winton," BBC News, Sept. 18, 2010.

"Sir Nicholas Winton," Maidenhead Heritage Centre, accessed September 25, 2020.

"U-Haul SuperGraphics - Manitoba," accessed September 30, 2020 (for the specific graphic that Rebecca saw).

"About U-Haul SuperGraphics," accessed Oct. 1, 2020.

"Manitoba: Female Impersonators," accessed Oct. 1, 2020.

"Venture Across America and Canada," accessed Sept. 30, 2020.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Marie Nearing, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

By 1914 Frank Lloyd Wright had become one of America's most influential architects. But that August a violent tragedy unfolded at his Midwestern residence and studio. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the shocking attack of Julian Carlton, which has been called "the most horrific single act of mass murder in Wisconsin history."

We'll also admire some helpful dogs and puzzle over some freezing heat.

Intro:

In 1992 by Celess Antoine patented an umbrella for dogs.

Ignaz Moscheles' piano piece "The Way of the World" reads the same upside down.

Sources for our feature on the Taliesin killings:

William R. Drennan, Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders, 2007.

Ron McCrea, Building Taliesin: Frank Lloyd Wright's Home of Love and Loss, 2013.

Paul Hendrickson, Plagued by Fire: The Dreams and Furies of Frank Lloyd Wright, 2019.

Meryle Secrest, Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography, 1998.

Anthony Alofsin, "Loving Frank; Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 69:3 (September 2010), 450-451.

Christopher Benfey, "Burning Down the House," Harper's Magazine 339:2035 (December 2019), 88-94.

Naomi Uechi, "Evolving Transcendentalism: Thoreauvian Simplicity in Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin and Contemporary Ecological Architecture," Concord Saunterer 17 (2009), 73-98.

Jonathan Morrison, "Frank Lloyd Wright: The Giant Talent With Shaky Foundations," Times, Jan. 4, 2020, 16.

Michael Prodger, "Plagued By Fire by Paul Hendrickson -- Frank Lloyd Wright, a Life of Disaster and Disarray," Guardian, Nov. 22, 2019, 14.

Philip Kennicott, "He Burned Frank Lloyd Wright's House and Killed His Mistress -- But Why?", Washington Post, Nov. 22, 2019.

"Monumental Achievements: Frank Lloyd Wright, an American Great Whose Life Was as Colourful as His Buildings Were Breathtaking," Sunday Times, Oct. 20, 2019, 32.

John Glassie, "What Kept Wright From Running Dry?", Washington Post, Oct. 6, 2019, E.12.

Ron Hogan, "The Tragic Story of Guggenheim Architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Secret Love Nest," New York Post, Oct. 5, 2019.

Leanne Shapton and Niklas Maak, "The House That Love Built -- Before It Was Gone," New York Times, July 4, 2016.

Ron McCrea, "August, 1914: Small-Town Wisconsin Rises to the Occasion of the Taliesin Mass Murder," [Madison, Wis.] Capital Times, Aug. 14, 2014.

Mara Bovsun, "Cook Massacres Seven at Wisconsin Home Frank Lloyd Wright Built for His Mistress," New York Daily News, Jan. 25, 2014.

Patricia Wolff, "Tranquil Taliesin Harbors Tragic Tale," Oshkosh [Wis.] Northwestern, June 26, 2011, A.1.

Ron McCrea, "Taliesin's Postcard Memories Rare Photos Reveal Scenes From Frank Lloyd Wright's Pre-Fire Dwellings," Madison [Wis.] Capital Times, March 23, 2011, 9.

Marcus Field, "Architect of Desire," Independent on Sunday, March 8, 2009, 14.

Robert Campbell, "House Proud: Paying Homage to Frank Lloyd Wright's Home, Taliesin East," Boston Globe, Dec. 13, 1992, 17.

Image: The Taliesin courtyard after the attack and fire. Frank Lloyd Wright is at left.

Listener mail:

"Just Nuisance," Simonstown.com (accessed Sept. 25, 2020).

Kirsten Jacobs, "The Legendary Tale of Just Nuisance," Cape Town Etc, Jan. 28, 2020.

The Kitchen Sisters, "Turnspit Dogs: The Rise and Fall of the Vernepator Cur," NPR, May 13, 2014.

Natalie Zarrelli, "The Best Kitchen Gadget of the 1600s Was a Small, Short-Legged Dog," Atlas Obscura, Jan. 11, 2017.

"Sewing Machine Worked by a Dog," Futility Closet, Oct. 16, 2011.

"Turnspit Dogs," Futility Closet, Nov. 10, 2006.

Wikipedia, "Newfoundland (dog)," accessed Sept. 24, 2020.

Stanley Coren, "The Dogs of Napoleon Bonaparte," Psychology Today, March 8, 2018.

"Beach Rescue Dog Alerts Swimmer," BBC News, 23 August 2007.

Adam Rivera, David Miller, Phoebe Natanson, and Andrea Miller, "Dogs Train Year-Round to Save Lives in the Italian Waters," ABC News, April 2, 2018.

Tom Kington, "Italy's Lifesaving Dogs Swim Towards Foreign Shores," Times, March 10, 2020, 31.

"Italy's Canine Lifeguards," NDTV, Aug. 23, 2010 (contains several photos).

Anna Gragert, "Newfoundland Dogs Help the Italian Coast Guard Save Lives," My Modern Met, Aug. 5, 2015 (contains several photos).

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Garth Payne, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1913, New York publicist John Duval Gluck founded an association to answer Santa's mail. For 15 years its volunteers fulfilled children's Christmas wishes, until Gluck's motivation began to shift. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the rise and fall of "Santa's Secretary" in New York City.

We'll also survey some splitting trains and puzzle over a difference between twins.

Intro:

Edward Lear once had to prove his own existence.

Paul Dirac proposed that a math problem could be solved with -2 fish.

Sources for our feature on John Duval Gluck and the Santa Claus Association:

Alex Palmer, The Santa Claus Man: The Rise and Fall of a Jazz Age Con Man and the Invention of Christmas in New York, 2015.

Harry Pelle Hartkemeier, John Duvall Gluck, and Emma Croft Germond, "Social Science and Belief," Social Science 9:2 (April 1934), 202-208.

Eve M. Kahn, "'Mama Says That Santa Claus Does Not Come to Poor People,'" New York Times, Nov. 26, 2015.

Alex Palmer, "Meet the Con Artist Who Popularized Writing to Santa Claus," New York Post, Sept. 20, 2015.

Kathleen Read, "What Becomes of Santa Claus Letters?", [Washington, D.C.] Evening Star, Dec. 21, 1930, 3.

"'Santa Claus' Gluck Ignores His Critics," New York Times, Dec. 11, 1928.

"Submits Accounting on Santa Claus Fund," New York Times, Jan. 11, 1928.

"Santa Claus Group Again Balks Inquiry," New York Times, Dec. 31, 1927.

"Santa Claus, Inc., Now Offers Books," New York Times, Dec. 25, 1927.

"Santa Claus Group in Postal Inquiry," New York Times, Dec. 24, 1927.

"Santa Claus Group Under Coler's Fire," New York Times, Dec. 23, 1927.

"Now the Santa Claus Letters Are Falling Into the Mail," New York Times, Dec. 4, 1927.

"Santa Claus Association Will Send Gifts To 12,000 Poor Children Who Wrote Letters," New York Times, Dec. 20, 1925.

"Thousands Write Santa," Richmond [Va.] Times-Dispatch, Dec. 21, 1919, 4.

"Probe Upholds Contentions of the Boy Scout Leaders," Harrisburg [Pa.] Telegraph, Aug. 24, 1917.

John Duval Gluck, "Boy Scouts: Suggestion That the Rival Bodies End Their Quarrel and Get to Work," New York Times, Aug. 19, 1917.

Max Abelman and John Duval Gluck, "Methods Proposed to Control Charity; Plans for a Charity Service League," New York Times, Aug. 5, 1917.

"Making Santa Real to Poor Children," New York Times, Nov. 22, 1914.

"Santa Claus Association Incorporated," New York Times, March 26, 1914.

"Played Santa Claus and Solved an Economic Problem," New York Times, Jan. 18, 1914.

"Letters to Santa Really Answered," New York Times, Dec. 25, 1913.

"Plays Santa Claus to Poor," New York Times, Dec. 12, 1913.

"Santa Claus Will Answer His Mail," New York Times, Dec. 7, 1913.

"Form Santa Claus Body," New York Times, Dec. 6, 1913.

USPS Operation Santa.

Listener mail:

Wikipedia, "S1 (Munich)" (accessed Aug. 22, 2020).

S1 (Munich) schedule.

Wikipedia, "Dividing Train" (accessed Sept. 17, 2020).

"France in Detail: Getting Around," Lonely Planet, accessed Aug. 22, 2020.

"'Where the Train Will Divide...' - Portion Working," Southern Electric Group (accessed Aug. 22, 2020).

Wikitravel, "Wakayama" (accessed Aug. 22, 2020).

Amtrak Empire Builder schedule, March 16, 2020.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was devised by Sharon. Here are two corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1911 an exhausted man emerged from the wilderness north of Oroville, California. He was discovered to be the last of the Yahi, a people who had once flourished in the area but had been decimated by white settlers. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Ishi's sad history and his new life in San Francisco.

We'll also consider the surprising dangers of baseball and puzzle over a forceful blackout.

Intro:

Director Chuck Jones laid out nine rules to govern Road Runner cartoons.

James Cook's third expedition to the Pacific discovered a surprising amusement in Hawaii.

Sources for our feature on Ishi:

Theodora Kroeber, Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America, 1961.

Robert F. Heizer and Theodora Kroeber, Ishi the Last Yahi: A Documentary History, 1981.

Orin Starn, Ishi's Brain: In Search of Americas Last 'Wild' Indian, 2005.

Karl Kroeber and Clifton B. Kroeber, Ishi in Three Centuries, 2003.

Saxton T. Pope, Hunting With the Bow & Arrow, 1923.

Saxton T. Pope, The Medical History of Ishi, Volume 13, 1920.

Nels C. Nelson, Flint Working by Ishi, 1916.

Ronald H. Bayor, The Columbia Documentary History of Race and Ethnicity in America, 2004.

Nancy Scheper-Hughes, "Ishi's Brain, Ishi's Ashes," Anthropology Today 17:1 (Feb. 1, 2001), 12.

Alexandra K. Kenny, Thomas Killion, and Nancy Scheper-Hughes, "'Ishi's Brain, Ishi's Ashes': The Complex Issues of Repatriation: A Response to N. Scheper-Hughes," Anthropology Today 18:2 (April 2002), 25-27.

Kathleen L. Hull, "Ishi, Kroeber, and Modernity," Current Anthropology 51:6 (December 2010), 887-888.

Isaiah Wilner, "Wild Men: Ishi and Kroeber in the Wilderness of Modern America," Ethnohistory 58:1 (Winter 2011), 158-159.

Dennis Torres, "Ishi," Central States Archaeological Journal 31:4 (October 1984), 175-179.

Richard Pascal, "Naturalizing 'Ishi': Narrative Appropriations of America's 'Last Wild Indian,'" Australasian Journal of American Studies 16:2 (December 1997), 29-44.

Saxton T. Pope, "Hunting With Ishi -- The Last Yana Indian," Journal of California Anthropology 1:2 (1974), 152-173.

M. Steven Shackley, "The Stone Tool Technology of Ishi and the Yana of North Central California: Inferences for Hunter-Gatherer Cultural Identity in Historic California," American Anthropologist 102:4 (2000), 693-712.

Duane H. King, "Exhibiting Culture: American Indians and Museums," Tulsa Law Review 45:1 (2009), 25.

Bruce Bower, "Ishi's Long Road Home," Science News 157:2 (Jan. 8, 2000), 24-25.

M.R. James, "Ishi Finally Comes to Rest," Bowhunter 30:2 (December 2000/January 2001), 25.

Randy White, "Grandfather Ishi," News From Native California 29:3 (Spring 2016), 34-37.

Andrew Curry, "The Last of the Yahi," U.S. News & World Report 129:7 (Aug, 21, 2000), 56.

Ann Japenga, "Revisiting Ishi: Questions About Discovery of the 'Last Wild Indian' Haunt Anthropologist's Descendants," Los Angeles Times, Aug. 29, 2003.

James May, "Spirit of Ishi Finally Free to Join Ancestors," Indian Country Today, Aug. 23, 2000.

Kevin Fagan, "Ishi's Kin To Give Him Proper Burial," San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 10, 2000.

Diana Walsh, "Ishi Finally Coming Home: 83 Years After His Death, Smithsonian Turns Over Brain of Famed Indian for Burial in California," San Francisco Examiner, Aug. 9, 2000, A-4.

Jan Cienski, "Remains of Last Member of California Tribe Go Home at Last: Ishi's Brain Returned," [Don Mills, Ont.] National Post, Aug. 9, 2000.

"Last of Yahi Will Finally Be Coming Home," Associated Press, Aug. 8, 2000.

Michelle Locke, "Mind and Body," Salt Lake Tribune, Aug. 8, 2000, A1.

Brenda Norrell, "Alliance: Eighty-Three Years Is Long Enough," Indian Country Today, May 31, 1999, A2.

Stanley McGarr, "Repatriation Restores Strength to the People," Indian Country Today, May 10, 1999, A5.

Jacqueline Trescott, "Relatives to Get Brain of Fabled Aboriginal," Calgary Herald, May 8, 1999, A18.

Avis Little Eagle, "Respect the Dead, Don't Study Them," Indian Country Today, March 15, 1999, A4.

Charles Hillinger, "Lost Tribe's Spirit Lives in Wilderness Area," Los Angeles Times, July 7, 1986, 3.

"Archery of Ishi Stone Age Man Will Be Shown," Berkeley Daily Gazette, Nov. 29, 1916.

"Tribe Now Dead," [Saint Paul, Minn.] Appeal, May 13, 1916.

"Redskin Presents Lane With Arrows, Makes Secretary Tribe's 'Big Chief,'" San Francisco Call, Sept. 6, 1913.

"The Only Man in America Who Knows No Christmas -- Ishi," San Francisco Call, Dec. 17, 1911.

"Ishi Loses Heart to 'Blond Squaw,'" San Francisco Call, Oct. 16, 1911.

"Ishi, the Last Aboriginal Savage in America," San Francisco Call, Oct. 8, 1911.

"Find a Rare Aborigine: Scientists Obtain Valuable Tribal Lore From Southern Yahi Indian," New York Times, Sept. 7, 1911.

Nancy Rockafellar, "The Story of Ishi: A Chronology," University of California, San Francisco (accessed Sept. 6, 2020).

Richard H. Dillon, "Ishi," American National Biography, February 2000.

Listener mail:

Wikipedia, "Harold Russell" (accessed Sept. 8, 2020).

Wikipedia, "The Best Years of Our Lives" (accessed Sept. 11, 2020).

Richard Severo, "Harold Russell Dies at 88; Veteran and Oscar Winner," New York Times, Feb. 1, 2002.

Mark Montgomery, "Remembering Harold Russell, the Soldier-Actor Who Won Two Oscars for 'Best Years of Our Lives,'" Los Angeles Times, Dec. 10, 2016.

Jon Mooallem, "You're Out: The National Pastime's Shocking Death Toll," Slate, May 26, 2009.

Aaron W. Miller, "Death at the Ballpark: A Comprehensive Study of Game-Related Fatalities, 1862–2007 (review)," NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture 18:2 (Spring 2010), 198-199.

Mark R. Zonfrillo et al., "Death or Severe Injury at the Ball Game," Current Sports Medicine Reports 15:3 (May-June 2016), 132-133.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Emmett B.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1920, a young woman was pulled from a canal in Berlin. When her identity couldn't be established, speculation started that she was a Russian princess who had escaped the execution of the imperial family. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the strange life of Anna Anderson and her disputed identity as Grand Duchess Anastasia.

We'll also revisit French roosters and puzzle over not using headlights.

Intro:

In 1899, English engineer E.W. Barton-Wright introduced his own martial art.

One early American locomotive was driven by a horse walking on a belt.

Photo: The Russian royal family at Livadiya, Crimea, 1913, five years before the execution. Left to right: Olga, Maria, Nicholas II, Alexandra Fyodorovna, Anastasia, Alexei, and Tatiana. Sources for our feature on Anna Anderson:

Greg King and Penny Wilson, The Resurrection of the Romanovs: Anastasia, Anna Anderson, and the World's Greatest Royal Mystery, 2010.

John Klier and Helen Mingay, The Quest for Anastasia: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Romanovs, 1999.

James B. Lovell, Anastasia: The Lost Princess, 1995.

Frances Welch, A Romanov Fantasy: Life at the Court of Anna Anderson, 2007.

Toby Saul, "Death of a Dynasty: How the Romanovs Met Their End," National Geographic, July 20, 2018.

Alan Cooperman, "An Anastasia Verdict," U.S. News & World Report 117:11 (Sept. 19, 1994), 20.

"What Really Happened to Russia's Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov," Haaretz, Dec. 27, 2018.

Nancy Bilyeau, "Will the Real Anastasia Romanov Please Stand Up?", Town & Country, April 25, 2017.

"Is This Princess Alive?", Life 38:7 (Feb. 14, 1955), 31-35.

Martin Sieff, "Romanov Mystery Finally Solved," UPI, May 1, 2008.

"Amateurs Unravel Russia's Last Royal Mystery," New York Times, Nov. 24, 2007.

Lena Williams, "Chronicle," New York Times, Oct. 6, 1994, D.24.

"Topics of The Times; Anastasia Lives," New York Times, Sept. 11, 1994.

John Darnton, "Scientists Confirm Identification of Bones as Czar's," New York Times, July 10, 1993.

"Appeal in Anastasia Case Rejected in West Germany," New York Times, Feb. 18, 1970.

"Appeal in Anastasia Mystery Is Rejected by Hamburg Court," New York Times, March 1, 1967.

Arthur J. Olsenbonn, "Anastasia: Grand Duchess or Grand Hoax?", New York Times, Aug. 24, 1958.

Left: Franziska Schanzkowska in 1913. Right: Anna Anderson in 1920.

Listener mail:

Wikipedia, "Lynmouth Flood" (accessed Sept. 2, 2020).

Wikipedia, "Project Cumulus" (accessed Sept. 2, 2020).

Wikipedia, "Philip Eden" (accessed Sept. 2, 2020).

John Vidal and Helen Weinstein, "RAF Rainmakers 'Caused 1952 Flood,'" Guardian, Aug. 30, 2001.

Susan Borowski, "Despite Past Failures, Weather Modification Endures," AAAS.org, Dec. 31, 2012.

"Rain-Making Link to Killer Floods," BBC News, Aug. 30, 2001.

Laura Joint, "Lynmouth Flood Disaster," BBC, Jan. 25, 2008.

Philip Eden, "The Day They Made It Rain," Weather Online.

Locust Watch.

Sam Harrison, "The Sights, Sounds, and Smells of Rural France May Soon Be Protected by Law," Atlas Obscura, July 28, 2020.

"Proposition de loi nº 2211 visant à définir et protéger le patrimoine sensoriel des campagnes françaises," French National Assembly, Sept. 11, 2019.

"France: 74,000 Sign Petition Calling for Justice for Murdered Rooster," Euronews, Aug. 17, 2020.

Agence France-Presse, "Justice Sought for Marcel, French Rooster Shot for Crowing," Courthouse News Service, Aug. 17, 2020.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Jule Ann Wakeman.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1912, 4-year-old Bobby Dunbar went missing during a family fishing trip in Louisiana. Eight months later, a boy matching his description appeared in Mississippi. But was it Bobby Dunbar? In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the dispute over the boy's identity.

We'll also contemplate a scholarship for idlers and puzzle over an ignorant army.

Intro:

During his solo circumnavigation of 1895-98, Joshua Slocum met the pilot of the Pinta.

In 1868, inventor William Carr made a mousetrap for burglars.

Sources for our feature on Bobby Dunbar:

Tal McThenia and Margaret Dunbar Cutright, A Case for Solomon: Bobby Dunbar and the Kidnapping That Haunted a Nation, 2013.

Cathy Pickens, True Crime Stories of Eastern North Carolina, Sept. 28, 2020.

"Questions Remain in Bobby Dunbar Case," [Opelousas, La.] Daily World, Aug. 22, 2018, A.3.

"The Mystery Continues: One Century Later, Bobby Dunbar Kidnapping Case Remains Unsolved," [Opelousas, La.] Daily World, July 20, 2018, A.2.

Duncan McMonagle, "'World Famous' Kidnapping Saga Starts Well, Ends Badly," Winnipeg Free Press, Aug. 18, 2012, J.7.

Steve Weinberg, "Famed Crime's Shock Recalled," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Aug. 5, 2012, E.6.

William Johnson, "Dunbar Case to Receive National Spotlight," [Opelousas, La.] Daily World, Dec. 26, 2007.

"Man Convicted of Kidnapping 90 Years Ago Cleared," [Cranbrook, B.C.] Daily Townsman, May 5, 2004, 18.

"DNA Clears Up 1914 Case," Washington Times, May 5, 2004.

William Johnson, "Dunbar Rumors at Last Answered," [Opelousas, La.] Daily World, May 4, 2004.

Robert Marchant, "Unraveling," [White Plains, N.Y.] Journal News, Feb. 21, 2004, A.1.

Allen G. Breed, "Finding Bobby Dunbar," Associated Press, Feb. 1, 2004.

"Real Dunbar Boy in New Orleans, Says a Letter," Hattiesburg [Miss.] News, June 18, 1914, 2.

"Dunbars Will Not Go to New Orleans," [Opelousas, La.] St. Landry Clarion 23:30 (May 10, 1913).

"Walters Guilty as Charged, Without Capital Punishment," [Franklinton, La.] Era-Leader, April 30, 1914.

"Jury to Be Given Case by To-night," [Opelousas, La.] St. Landry Clarion 24:28 (April 25, 1914).

"Fighting for Life on Kidnaping Charge," [Columbia, La.] Caldwell Watchman 28:17 (April 17, 1914).

"Bobby Dunbar's Father Traces Clue to Location of Boy Bruce Anderson," Hattiesburg [Miss.] News 17:122 (May 22, 1913).

Photo: The disputed child with Deputy Sheriff Charles Day, from the New Orleans Times-Democrat, April 1913.

Listener mail:

John M. Shutske et al., "Notes From the Field: Death of a Farm Worker After Exposure to Manure Gas in an Open Air Environment -- Wisconsin, August 2016," MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 66:32 (Aug. 18, 2017), 861-862.

Angela Giuffrida, "'Italy's Robinson Crusoe' Despairs as Eviction From Island Paradise Looms," Guardian, July 15, 2020.

Silvia Marchetti, "Paradise Lost: Eviction Looms for Hermit Living Alone on Italian Island," CNN, July 28, 2020.

Wikipedia, "Budelli" (accessed Aug. 31, 2020).

Schule der Folgenlosigkeit: Übungen für ein anderes Leben, University of Fine Arts of Hamburg (accessed Aug. 31, 2020).

Firefighters drying hoses, from Richard Scarry's 1968 book What Do People Do All Day?

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Samuel Yeo.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Sometimes in our research we come across stories that are regarded as true but that we can't fully verify. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll share two such stories from the 1920s, about a pair of New York fruit dealers and a mythologized bank robber, and discuss the strength of the evidence behind them.

We'll also salute a retiring cat and puzzle over a heartless spouse.

Intro:

English essayist A.C. Benson dreamed poems.

Robert Patch patented a toy truck at age 5.

Sources for our feature on the Fortunato brothers and Herman Lamm:

Walter Mittelstaedt, Herman 'Baron' Lamm, the Father of Modern Bank Robbery, 2012.

L.R. Kirchner, Robbing Banks: An American History 1831-1999, 2003.

William J. Helmer and Rick Mattix, Public Enemies: America's Criminal Past, 1919-1940, 1998.

John Toland, The Dillinger Days, 1963.

Bryan Burrough, Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34, 2009.

John Belle and Maxinne Rhea Leighton, Grand Central: Gateway to a Million Lives, 2000.

Brian Robb, A Brief History of Gangsters, 2014.

Carl Sifakis, Encyclopedia of American Crime, 2014.

Richard Ringer, "Today's Bank Robber Is No Baby Face Nelson; Current Group Called Amateurs in Comparison to Legendary Predecessors," American Banker 148 (Feb. 28, 1983), 2.

George W. Hunt, "Of Many Things," America 159:17 (Dec. 3, 1988), 450.

Alan Hynd, "Grand Central's $100,000 Deal," in Rouben Mamoulian, ed., Scoundrels & Scalawags: 51 Stories of the Most Fascinating Characters of Hoax and Fraud, 1968.

"Historical Perspective: Clinton and Rockville Robberies," [Terre Haute, Ind.] Tribune-Star, Sept. 15, 2019.

Philip Marchand, "Grand Theft With Autos: For Bandits and Desperadoes, a Fast Getaway Car Is Just as Important as a Gun," Toronto Star, July 7, 2012, W.1.

Scott McCabe, "Father of Modern Bank Robbery Killed in Shootout," [Washington, D.C.] Examiner, Dec. 16, 2011, 8.

Christopher Goodwin, "America's Own Robin Hood: John Dillinger Was a Suave, Smooth-Talking Gangster Who Was Cheered On by the Public," Sunday Times, June 28, 2009, 7.

Stephen Wilks, "In Pursuit of America's Public Enemies," Canberra Times, Jan. 17, 2009, 17.

"Nutty Scam Fooled Fruit Bros.", [Campbell River, B.C.] North Island Midweek, Jan. 3, 2007, 5.

Max Haines, "A Grand Con Game," Moose Jaw [Sask.] Times Herald, Dec. 27, 2006, B6.

"Fabulous Fakes," Gadsden [Ala.] Times, Nov. 11, 1983.

Donald Altschiller, "In This Corner; Robbery Today? It's a Crime," Boston Globe, Jan. 25, 1983, 1.

"Dead Bank Bandit Has Been Identified," Rushville [Ind.] Republican, Dec. 19, 1930.

Listener mail:

"'Chief Mouser' Palmerston Retires as UK's Top Diplomatic Cat," Associated Press, Aug. 7, 2020.

Justin Parkinson, "Foreign Office Cat Palmerston Retires to Countryside," BBC News, Aug. 7, 2020.

"Paws for Reflection: British Foreign Office Cat Heads for Retirement," Reuters, Aug. 7, 2020.

Ulrike Lemmin-Woolfrey and Stacey Lastoe, "'Cats' Is a Disaster, but Cats Aren't: The Best Cat Cafes to Show Your Solidarity With Our Beloved Companions," CNN, July 19, 2019.

Wikipedia, "Cat Café" (accessed Aug. 20, 2020).

Frances Cha, "Moomin, Japan's 'Anti-Loneliness' Cafe, Goes Viral," CNN, Feb. 21, 2017.

The bear's breakin.

Ed Mazza, "Big Boss Bear Bashes Down Door for Incredible Entrance Into Cabin," Huffington Post, July 22, 2020.

Becky Talley, "VIDEO: Lake Tahoe Bear Smashes Through Door Like 'The Hulk,'" Our Community Now, July 24, 2020.

"Meet the Canada Post Worker Who Wrote the 'Bear at Door' Non-Delivery Slip," CBC, Sept. 26, 2014.

Max Knoblauch, "'Bear at Door' Is a Solid Reason to Not Deliver a Package," Mashable, Sept. 25, 2014.

Listener Yulia Samaichuk sent us four photos of Tono's Cat Café in Tianzifang, Shanghai.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle is taken from Agnes Rogers' 1953 book How Come? A Book of Riddles, sent to us by listener Jon Jerome.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support.

You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1939, as the shadow of war spread over Europe, British stockbroker Nicholas Winton helped to spirit hundreds of threatened children out of Czechoslovakia. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe Winton's struggle to save the children and the world's eventual recognition of his achievements.

We'll also consider some ghostly marriages and puzzle over a ship's speed.

Intro:

There's a "technical version" of "A Visit From St. Nicholas."

Critic A.E. Wilson translated Hamlet's nunnery soliloquy into "Americanese."

Sources for our feature on Nicholas Winton:

Barbara Winton, If It's Not Impossible--: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton, 2014.

William Chadwick, The Rescue of the Prague Refugees 1938-39, 2010.

Andrea Hammel and Bea Lewkowicz, The Kindertransport to Britain 1938/39: New Perspectives, 2012.

Rod Gragg, My Brother's Keeper: Christians Who Risked All to Protect Jewish Targets of the Nazi Holocaust, 2016.

Ivan A. Backer, My Train to Freedom: A Jewish Boy's Journey From Nazi Europe to a Life of Activism, 2016.

Laura E. Brade and Rose Holmes, "Troublesome Sainthood: Nicholas Winton and the Contested History of Child Rescue in Prague, 1938-1940," History & Memory 29:1 (Spring/Summer 2017), 3-40.

Anna Hájková, "Marie Schmolka and the Group Effort," History Today 68:12 (December 2018), 36-49.

Sona Patel, "Winton's Children Share Their Stories," New York Times, July 13, 2015.

"A Job Well Done; Nicholas Winton," Economist 416:8946 (July 11, 2015), 82.

"Train Tribute to Holocaust 'Hero' Sir Nicholas Winton," BBC News, July 9, 2015.

Alasdair Steven, "Sir Nicholas Winton," Scotsman, July 7, 2015, 34.

Sarah Sedghi, "Sir Nicholas Winton, the Man Who Saved 669 Children From the Holocaust," Australian Broadcasting Corporation, July 2, 2015.

"Sir Nicholas Winton," Scotsman, July 2, 2015, 42.

Raymond Johnston, "Sir Nicholas Winton to Be Honored in US," Prague Post, Sept. 25, 2013.

Robert D. McFadden, "Nicholas Winton, Rescuer of 669 Children From Holocaust, Dies at 106," New York Times, July 1, 2015.

"Holocaust 'Hero' Sir Nicholas Winton Dies Aged 106," BBC News, July 1, 2015.

Stephen Bates, "Sir Nicholas Winton Obituary," Guardian, July 1, 2015.

Daniel Victor, "Nicholas Winton's 'Most Emotional Moment,'" New York Times, July 1, 2015.

Jake Flanagin, "Britain’s Schindler, a Reluctant Hero," New York Times, July 10, 2014.

Caroline Sharples, "Winton [formerly Wertheim], Sir Nicholas George (Nicky)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Jan. 10, 2019.

"Sir Nicholas Winton," Biography, July 16, 2015.

"Nicholas Winton and the Rescue of Children From Czechoslovakia, 1938–1939," United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (accessed Aug. 9, 2020).

Winton appeared twice on the BBC1 television series That's Life!, on Feb. 27 and March 6, 1988. This video combines both appearances.

Listener mail:

"Did You Know Why Marrying Dead People Is Possible in France?", The Local, Jan. 28, 2019.

Lizzy Davies, "French Woman Marries Dead Partner," Guardian, Nov. 17, 2009.

Wikipedia, "Posthumous Marriage" (accessed Aug. 7, 2020).

Vicky Xiuzhong Xu and Bang Xiao, "Ghost Marriages: A 3,000-Year-Old Tradition of Wedding the Dead Is Still Thriving in Rural China," ABC News, April 6, 2018.

Grace Tsoi, "China's Ghost Weddings and Why They Can Be Deadly," BBC News, Aug. 24, 2016.

Wikipedia, "Chinese Ghost Marriage" (accessed Aug. 7, 2020).

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Ken Somolinos, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1829 a group of convicts commandeered a brig in Tasmania and set off across the Pacific, hoping to elude their pursuers and win their freedom. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the mutineers of the Cyprus and a striking new perspective on their adventure.

We'll also consider a Flemish dog and puzzle over a multiplied Oscar.

Intro:

Mark Twain slipped an esophagus into a 1902 short story.

Designer Alan Fletcher's West London studio is secured with an alphabet.

Sources for our feature on William Swallow:

Warwick Hirst, The Man Who Stole the Cyprus: A True Story of Escape, 2008.

John Mulvaney, The Axe Had Never Sounded: Place, People and Heritage of Recherche Bay, Tasmania, 2007.

Robert Hughes, The Fatal Shore, 1987.

David Chapman and Carol Hayes, eds., Japan in Australia: Culture, Context and Connection, 2019.

Andrew Steinmetz, Japan and Her People, 1859.

D.C.S. Sissons, "The Voyage of the Cyprus Mutineers: Did They Ever Enter Japanese Waters?", Journal of Pacific History 43:2 (September 2008), 253-265.

Ian Duffield, "Cutting Out and Taking Liberties: Australia's Convict Pirates, 1790–1829," International Review of Social History 58:21 (December 2013), 197–227.

E.R. Pretyman, "Pirates at Recherche Bay or the Loss of the Brig 'Cyprus'," Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 88 (1954), 119-128.

Mark Gregory, "Convict Era Broadsides and Ballads and the Working Poor: Part 1," Australian Folklore 32 (November 2017), 195-215.

Tim Stone, "How a Samurai Manuscript Vindicated the Wild Claims of Convict Escapee William Swallow," ABC Radio National, Sept. 9, 2019.

Troy Lennon, "Convicts Chased Freedom From Tasmania to China," [Surry Hills, N.S.W.] Daily Telegraph, Aug. 14, 2019, 35.

Rachel Mealey, "The Brig Cyprus: How an English Surfer Solved the Mystery of an Australian Pirate Ship in Japan," ABC News, June 24, 2017.

Joshua Robertson, "Australian Convict Pirates in Japan: Evidence of 1830 Voyage Unearthed," Guardian, May 27, 2017.

George Blaikie, "Slow Trip to China," [Adelaide] Mail, Oct. 27, 1951, 4.

"Piratical Seizure of the Government Brig Cyprus," [Hobart, Tasmania] Colonial Times, Sept. 4, 1829.

Stephen Gapps, "The Last Pirate," Australian National Maritime Museum, May 31, 2017.

"William Swallow," Convict Records of Australia (accessed July 26, 2020).

"As we approached the barbarian ship the dog wagged its tail and whined at us. Its face looks like my illustration. It did not look like food. It looked like a pet." Watercolors by samurai artist Makita Hamaguchi, 1830, from the Tokushima prefectural archive.

Listener mail:

Wikipedia, "A Dog of Flanders" (accessed July 31, 2020).

Wikipedia, "Dog of Flanders (TV series)" (accessed July 31, 2020).

Wikipedia, "Dogcart (Dog-Drawn)" (accessed July 31, 2020).

Wikipedia, "Drafting Dog" (accessed July 31, 2020).

Wikipedia, "Belgian Draft Dog" (accessed July 31, 2020).

"An Icon of the Belgian Army in WWI, the Dog Cart," War History Online, March 3, 2014.

De Belgische Mastiff.

Wikipedia, "Carting" (accessed August 2, 2020).

"A Dog of Flanders," National Purebred Dog Day, Dec. 5, 2018.

Wikipedia, "Bouvier des Flandres" (accessed August 2, 2020).

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Marie Nearing. Here are four corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle).

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

In 1890, French inventor Louis Le Prince vanished just as he was preparing to debut his early motion pictures. He was never seen again. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll consider the possible causes of Le Prince's disappearance and his place in the history of cinema.

We'll also reflect on a murderous lawyer and puzzle over the vagaries of snake milking.

Intro:

In 1826, schoolteacher George Pocock proposed a carriage drawn by kites.

George Sicherman discovered an alternate pair of six-sided dice that produce the same probability distribution as ordinary dice.

Sources for our feature on Louis Le Prince:

Christopher Rawlence, The Missing Reel: The Untold Story of the Lost Inventor of Moving Pictures, 1990.

Thomas Deane Tucker, The Peripatetic Frame, 2020.

Adam Hart-Davis, ed., Engineers: From the Great Pyramids to the Pioneers of Space Travel, 2012.

Jenni Davis, Lost Bodies, 2017.

Charles Musser, "When Did Cinema Become Cinema?: Technology, History, and the Moving Pictures," in Santiago Hidalgo, ed., Technology and Film Scholarship: Experience, Study, Theory, 2018.

Richard Howells, "Louis Le Prince: The Body of Evidence," Screen 47:2 (Summer 2006), 179–200.

John Gianvito, "Remembrance of Films Lost," Film Quarterly 53:2 (1999), 39-42.

Irfan Shah, "Man With a Movie Camera," History Today 69:1 (January 2019) 18-20.

Violeta María Martínez Alcañiz, "The Birth of Motion Pictures: Piracy, Patent Disputes and Other Anecdotes in the Race for Inventing Cinema," III Congreso Internacional Historia, Arte y Literatura en el Cine en Español y Portugués, 2015.

Atreyee Gupta, "The Disappearance of Louis Le Prince," Materials Today 11:7-8 (July-August 2008), 56.

Justin McKinney, "From Ephemera to Art: The Birth of Film Preservation and the Museum of Modern Art Film Library," Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North America 33:2 (September 2014), 295-312.

Denis Pellerin, "The Quest for Stereoscopic Movement: Was the First Film Ever in 3-D?", International Journal on Stereo & Immersive Media 1:1 (2017).

Ian Youngs, "Louis Le Prince, Who Shot the World's First Film in Leeds," BBC News, June 23, 2015.

Kevin Brownlow, "The Inventor Vanishes," New York Times, Nov. 18, 1990.

"How Is the Technology That Was Used to Reconstruct the Oldest Film in History?", CE Noticias Financieras, English ed., May 13, 2020.

Chris Bond, "Leeds Celebrates Its Film Pioneer," Yorkshire Post, Oct. 24, 2017.

Adrian Lee, "Whatever Happened to the True Father of Film?", [London] Daily Express, June 29, 2015.

"Louis Le Prince: Time to Honour Cinema's Forgotten Pioneer," Yorkshire Post, Sept. 16, 2013.

Troy Lennon, "Movie Pioneer Caught in a Disappearing Act," [Surry Hills, N.S.W.] Daily Telegraph, Oct. 14, 2008, 38.

Kieron Casey, "The Mystery of Louis Le Prince, the Father of Cinematography," Science+Media Museum, Aug. 29, 2013.

Listener mail:

Agnes Rogers, How Come? A Book of Riddles, 1953.

Wikipedia, "Lateral Thinking" (accessed July 25, 2020).

Edward de Bono's website.

Wikipedia, "Situation Puzzle" (accessed July 25, 2020).

Paul Sloane, Lateral Thinking Puzzlers, 1991.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Eric Ridenour.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

Marooned in Florida in 1528, four Spanish colonists made an extraordinary journey across the unexplored continent. Their experiences changed their conception of the New World and its people. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the remarkable odyssey of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his reformed perspective on the Spanish conquest.

We'll also copy the Mona Lisa and puzzle over a deficient pinball machine.

Intro:

The Russian navy built two circular warships in 1871.

When shaken, a certain chemical solution will change from yellow to red to green.

Sources for our feature on Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca:

Andrés Reséndez, A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca, 2009.

Robin Varnum, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: American Trailblazer, 2014.

Donald E. Chipman, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: The 'Great Pedestrian' of North and South America, 2014.

Alex D. Krieger, We Came Naked and Barefoot: The Journey of Cabeza de Vaca Across North America, 2010.

Peter Stern, "Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca: Conquistador and Sojourner," in Ian Kenneth Steele and Nancy Lee Rhoden, eds., The Human Tradition in Colonial America, 1999.

Rolena Adorno, "The Negotiation of Fear in Cabeza de Vaca's Naufragios," in Stephen Greenblatt, ed., New World Encounters, 1993.

Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, The Journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and His Companions From Florida to the Pacific, 1528-1536, 1542.

Andrés Reséndez, "A Desperate Trek Across America," American Heritage 58:5 (Fall 2008), 19-21.

Nancy P. Hickerson, "How Cabeza De Vaca Lived With, Worked Among, and Finally Left the Indians of Texas," Journal of Anthropological Research 54:2 (Summer 1998), 199-218.

Donald E. Chipman, "In Search of Cabeza de Vaca's Route Across Texas: An Historiographical Survey," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 91:2 (October 1987), 127-148.

Paul E. Hoffman, "A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca, the Extraordinary Tale of a Shipwrecked Spaniard Who Walked Across America in the Sixteenth Century," Journal of American History 95:2 (September 2008), 496-497.

R.T.C. Goodwin, "Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and the Textual Travels of an American Miracle," Journal of Iberian & Latin American Studies 14:1 (April 2008), 1-12.

John L. Kessell, "A Land So Strange: The Epic Journey of Cabeza de Vaca," American Historical Review 113:5 (December 2008), 1519-1520.

Robert Wilson, "A Long Walk in the New World," American Scholar 77:1 (Winter 2008), 137-139.

Nan Goodman, "Mercantilism and Cultural Difference in Cabeza de Vaca's Relación," Early American Literature 40:2 (2005), 229-250, 405.

Ali Shehzad Zaidi, "The Spiritual Evolution of Cabeza de Vaca in Shipwrecks," Theory in Action 7:3 (July 2014), 109-117.

Kun Jong Lee, "Pauline Typology in Cabeza De Vaca's Naufragios," Early American Literature 34:3 (1999), 241-262.

"How Cabeza de Vaca, Explorer, Came by His Strange Name," New York Times, March 9, 1930.

Donald E. Chipman, "Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez," Texas State Historical Association (accessed July 12, 2020).

"The Journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca," American Journeys Collection, Wisconsin Historical Society Digital Library and Archives, 2003.

Listener mail:

Wikipedia, "City of Death" (accessed July 17, 2020).

Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Cloud Seeding" (accessed July 17, 2020).

Wikipedia, "Cloud Seeding" (accessed July 17, 2020).

Andrew Moseman, "Does Cloud Seeding Work?", Scientific American, Feb. 19, 2009.

Janet Pelley, "Does Cloud Seeding Really Work?", Chemical & Engineering News 94:22 (May 30, 2016), 18-21.

Lulin Xue, Sarah A. Tessendorf, Eric Nelson, Roy Rasmussen, Daniel Breed, et al., "Implementation of a Silver Iodide Cloud-Seeding Parameterization in WRF. Part II: 3D Simulations of Actual Seeding Events and Sensitivity Tests," Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 52:6 (June 2013), 1458-1476.

Rachel Hager, "Idaho Power Can Make It Snow — Increasing Water Reserves, Powering Homes. But Is It Safe?", Idaho Statesman, July 25, 2019.

This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Eric Waldow.

You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.

Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.

Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.

If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!

The only dog ever enlisted in the Royal Navy was a Great Dane who befriended the sailors of Cape Town in the 1930s. Given the rank of able seaman, he boosted the morale of British sailors around the world. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of Just Nuisance and his adventures among the sailors who loved him.

We'll also examine early concentration camps and puzzle over a weighty fashion.

Intro:

For most of World War I a statue of Mary hung over Albert, France.

J.B.S. Haldane learned to detect methane by reciting Julius Caesar.

Sources for our feature on Just Nuisance:

Terence Sisson, Just Nuisance, AB: His Full Story, 1985.

Leslie M. Steyn, Just Nuisance: Life Story of an Able Seaman Who Leads a Dog's Life, 1945.

Malcolm Archibald, Sixpence for the Wind: A Knot of Nautical Folklore, 1998.

Douglas Reed, Somewhere South of Suez, 1950.

Lance Van Sittert and Sandra Scott Swart, Canis Africanis: A Dog History of Southern Africa, 2008.

W.M. Bisset, "New Light on South Africa's Naval Heritage," Scientia Militaria: South African Journal of Military Studies 7:4 (1977), 38-44.

H.H. Curson, "Service Pets," Journal of the South African Veterinary Association 27:1 (1956), 31-50.

Lance Van Sittert and Sandra Swart, "Canis familiaris: A Dog History of South Africa," South African Historical Journal 48:1 (2003), 138-173.

Leslie Witz, "The Making of an Animal Biography: Huberta's Journey Into South African Natural History, 1928-1932," Kronos (2004), 138-166.

"Navy Dog Just Nuisance to Get New Cap, Collar," Cape Times, Sept. 19, 2019, 2.

"Have Fun With the Kids on Just Nuisance Day," Cape Times, March 8, 2018, 6.

Ellen Castelow, "Able Seaman Just Nuisance," Historic UK (accessed July 5, 2020).

Jon Earle, "'A Dog, But a Sailor at Heart': The Story of Just Nuisance, the Only Dog Ever Enlisted in the Royal Navy," Royal Museums Greenwich, Nov. 4, 2019.

Listener mail:

Andrea Pitzer, "Concentration Camps Existed Long Before Auschwitz," Smithsonian, Nov. 2, 2017.

"Timeline: February, 1896: Reconcentration Policy," Crucible of Empire: The Spanish-American War, PBS, 1999.

Paul Harris, "'Spin' on Boer Atrocities," Guardian, Dec. 8, 2001.