Tell Me Something You Don't Know
A podcast where we explore curiosities without credentials. Presented to you by your factually adjacent hosts: Maddie & Sarah
Tell Me Something You Don't Know
Mary F*cking Shelley
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Welcome to Tell Me Something You Don't Know, where we explore curiosities without credentials. We're your factually adjacent hosts, Maddie and Sarah. Every week we exchange random topics with just enough research to keep things interesting and slightly accurate. So lower your bars and let's learn something you never knew you wanted to know.
Welcome to Tell Me Something You Don't Know, where we explore curiosities without credentials. We're your factually adjacent hosts, Maddie and Sarah. Every week we exchange random topics with just enough research to keep things interesting and slightly accurate. So lower your bars and let's learn something you never knew you wanted to know. Hi, how are you? Doing good. How are you doing? I am doing good. Yeah, no, I'm doing good. I bought a cabin.
SPEAKER_01You did.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh. Yeah, we were so what?
SPEAKER_00We were gonna keep I we were gonna keep it on the uh down low uh until we got through the financing portion of it because technically the bank could be like, no, you fools. So we were gonna wait to get to the other side of it before we shared it with anybody. But mom was FaceTiming the boys and William was like, We bought a cabin. So we're like, oh no. And I had this really like clever way I was gonna share it with you guys because the cabin itself comes with like, I don't know, 12 Adirandack chairs. Nice. So obviously not the reason we're purchasing it, but it is a plus. And so I was gonna send you guys a text and be like, hey, I think I found a great deal for these Adirandack chairs. What do you think? And then I was gonna share the the price that we paid for the cabin. And obviously that would be obscenely too expensive for 12 Adirandack chairs, and I was gonna be like, psych, we bought the cabin. I like really I I feel like in our family, it's similar to when we go and visit each other. Like we can never just go visit, we have to make it a surprise. Like, there's always a creative way to share information.
SPEAKER_01I think that's I think like why, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Why make it fun?
SPEAKER_01Make it it seems like a big opportunity miss each and every time.
SPEAKER_00Oh, so now I'm real annoyed that they did that. Like, wow, you really stole my fender. Had a whole thing planned.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, that would have been nice, but that's still fun. Yay! So it's the one that you sent me.
SPEAKER_00No, I would like you to purchase that one so that we can have cabins in the same area, but wait, you obviously don't live in this province. No, it's a it's a different one, but like similar area. But it's not the one that because remember you sent me one, and then you were like, and we're looking at this one. So it's neither of those. Oh, maybe it is. Oh oh, I didn't realize that I sent okay. What is the color of the one I sent you? Do you remember? Is it green and red? Oh, I think so, yeah. And it has, and then you sent me like what you want to do to it. Oh my god. So I basically just told you. Yep. That's the one. I'm looking back at our text message.
SPEAKER_01Okay. I had a feeling from the moment you said no, not that one. I was like, she's misremembering.
SPEAKER_00It's for sure that one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Okay, cool. Yes. It's so funny. Oh my gosh. Yeah, I totally forgot that I told you. I really thought I was keeping up. Matt's like, you cannot keep a secret to save your life. I'm like, you are correct. It is very difficult for me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that runs in the that runs in the fam as well.
SPEAKER_00And I really thought I was keeping a tight lid on it, but I'm looking at our text messages and I sent you the link. I sent you what we want to do to it. I told you we were looking at cabins. Yeah. So well, that's really exciting. Congratulations.
SPEAKER_01Will you guys be able to? Is this a conversation for the pod? Whatever.
unknownPeople can get it.
SPEAKER_01People are, it's fine. Get amongst it. People like happy news.
SPEAKER_00Share in the joy. Yeah. Would you get possession like in time to have some summer? Yes. Yes. The sellers want to get rid of it as soon as possible. They're like, done. They want to offload it. So it's basically, I can't remember the possession date that we gave them, but we gave them, I think it was like six weeks, maybe. But we also were like, if we can get it done faster, and if you guys agree, then we're happy to have it sooner. So I'm really hoping we can just get it as soon as possible so we can get amongst the summer vibes. Yeah, that's so fun. Well, congratulations, man. Thanks. Thanks. Well, yeah, that's a great way to introduce this episode because uh well, it has nothing to do with the topics. I don't know why I was making it sound like it's like I'm going somewhere, but I'm not sure. Well, I kind of okay. Well, where what direction are you going in? Because I have what direction are you going in, ma'am?
SPEAKER_01I'll say off grid would be the common theme to buying a cabin, I guess.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay. A little teaser. I was going to say that I've been looking at people's earlobes ever since our last episode. Yeah. Just trying to learn and understand. And I feel like so. I feel like I looked at Matt's and I'm like, oh, yours are attached. And then I was talking to him this morning via text message, and I'm like, hey, I think the boys have like attached earlobes. And and he's like, oh, they're like definitely more attached than mine. And I'm like, wait, no, yours are attached. And he's like, no, they're not attached. I have an earlobe. And then I'm like, send me a picture. And then he sent me a picture and they do look detached. So now I don't even know, like, how you know. Okay, I can tell you for sure that the boys do not have attached earlobes. Okay, I love that you this is such a weird thing to notice about every single person. And then not only notice, but like retain. You're like, okay. So I guess the attached earlobes is clearly few and far between. Like, if yes, yes, yes, and you just you can tell.
SPEAKER_01Like, like, I I think if you were to maybe you should like Google it, and then you're like, okay, because similarly, one of my good friends uh just told me that she and she'll be listening to this, so shout out to you, but I won't say her name, just I don't know why. Anyway, uh she she was like, I she's like, I do, and so does my partner, but my daughter doesn't, yeah. And I was like, no, you don't. Janetta don't, yeah, but they don't. Oh, they don't.
SPEAKER_00I don't know about her partner, but she definitely does not have wouldn't it be hilarious if you misunderstand what attached versus detached? It would be, but here is how I think I'm the right one because I heard first of all, hours, hours spent in learning to understand. I already I'm like, yep, you win.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, an insane amount of time. Because I okay, here's here's why it is, and again, nothing wrong with it. But the first time I noticed it, I was like, what's going on there?
SPEAKER_00Like, what's what's happening? What's happening with that person of your love?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like I really I'm conf like like it's all good, but like why, like what's hap what is happening? So, and I don't know why I noticed it so like intensely, but I did. And then the reason that I think I'm right is it is less common. It's for sure out there pretty like you'll see it, I think like day to day. It's like you you're probably gonna see somebody, but when people are like, oh no, I think I do, I'm like, no, you don't though, because most people I think don't have attached earlobes. Well, for sure, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So see, and I thought mats were attached. I'm like, oh my gosh, you've attached earlobes, but he doesn't. So no, yeah, I don't think so. And neither does, yeah. So and I'm just confirming on the other person who well, I know for sure she doesn't, but I'm just gonna sorry, how are you confirming? Are you taking photos of these people? And do you have a spreadsheet or a folder that has just photos of ears? No, we'll just find out you like pass away at like the age of 98, and you're we just found out your life's work were earlobes. I just look at photos of the person and I can like instantly tell. Anyways, you'll never not be looking for it. So you're welcome to have that new hobby in your life. Lovely, lovely. Do you want to go first this week? Because I went last week. Sure, sure. Yeah, no, I can go. Let me pull up my notes. So I have had this one on my list for a while, and I was like, okay, I'm gonna do that one this week. As I was I no, I'm not gonna okay. I'm just gonna dive right in. It's like I haven't done this a bunch of times already. Perfect. I'm ready. So I'm gonna speak to you today for a hot minute about the year without a summer. Oh. Yes. Yes. So in 1815, a volcano called Mount Tambora erupted in Indonesia. And it wasn't just a big eruption, it was the biggest volcanic eruption in recorded human history. It blasted so much ash into the atmosphere that it cooled the entire planet. And the following year, so 1816, became known as the year without a summer. So it was super weird. Snow fell in June, crops failed, sh food, there were food shortages and that spread across Europe. People genuinely thought the world was changing. Like they didn't. There's also like, you know, we understand in retrospect a lot more, but they were just like weird summer go.
unknownLike, what's happening?
SPEAKER_00Like all of a sudden it's just not here, and we've always had it, right? Like, is there yeah.
SPEAKER_01That would be concerning. I'd be like, is this the end? Are we what's happening here?
SPEAKER_00So it just felt impossible, and like people are trying to like understand what's going on. And you know what? As I'm searching it, one of the facts that came up stopped me dead in my tracks, and I was like, enough of this, enough. So there is somebody who is a through line who comes up in so many of our stories, oddly. And this was another one where I was like, get out of here. I'm not doing this topic anymore. Maybe it could be a full episode one day, but I'm shifting gears. And can you guess who might be tied to this story? Okay, so this person's come up in previous episodes multiple times. Yes, yes. There's no freaking way that it's Mary Shelley. It's Mary fucking Shelley.
SPEAKER_01Oh my okay. Instant merch idea. She has to be involved.
SPEAKER_00It's Mary fucking Shelley. Wow. So I am not kidding you. I'm I'm like researching it. It was like fun fact about this summer. This is also the summer that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, or like started to formulate the story of Frankenstein. I'm like, shut the F up. Is this a simulation? Like, it's just like there's no flipping way. So I was like, forget you, largest eruption in recorded history. You are boring to me now. I'm now shifting gears, and I need to figure out Mary Shelley. So this is less of a tell me something you don't know, and maybe more of a I'm gonna tell you something I don't know, but you probably know more about me. No more about me? No, no more about than me. No, that's not good. We are not off to a good start.
SPEAKER_01I loved the process of getting there. Um no, this is I actually like I don't know. I feel I don't know enough about her. I know her in terms of her being an author, but like her as a person, I feel like you're gonna teach me a few things.
SPEAKER_00A thing or two about a thing or two. So that summer specifically, Europe was cold, wet, and miserable. Mary Shelley was staying at a villa on Lake Geneva with a group of writers, and they were stuck indoors because of the weather. So some people suggested a challenge and they were like, let's just write ghost stories. Like it's spooky vibes. Let's write ghost stories. Sounds like my kind of group. I mean, honestly. And that challenge eventually gave us Frankenstein, which brings us to the topic of Mary Shelley. So I am going to obviously everybody knows Frankenstein, but I feel like, and you probably know this because you said that it was your favorite book, it's not like what we know it as today. So, like the green skin, the bolts in the neck, the like flat head um just isn't how she described him at all. And I'm saying that with confidence based on what ChatGPT told me, that could totally be incorrect. You could be like, Sarah, I've read the actual book. I've boots on the ground. She did describe him that way. So did she, or do you feel like he's very different from like no, super different. She basically created like the foundational like icon of yeah, yeah. And it's just it's like people have taken and like worked with it over the years and like adapted it to their own kind of like version. Uh, but yes, it's not, it's not how you would like if you're gonna see like a Halloween costume in like 2026, it's it's not she'd be like, uh, excuse me.
unknownWhat what the fuck is that?
SPEAKER_00So Mary Shelley was born in 1797. And I feel like I want to provide some context because I feel like in order for me to actually understand, I I need like I need to understand what that time meant. So I'm gonna give you a couple facts. So uh the American Revolution had ended, and only about 14 years earlier, and the French Revolution was still unfolding. Napoleon hadn't yet become emperor, the White House was still under construction. There were no trains, no cars, no airplanes, no photographs, no telephones, no movies, no electricity in homes, and most surgery was happening without anesthesia. So, like, what a time to be alive.
SPEAKER_01That's such a crazy way to sum it up, but like, yeah, that's ooh.
SPEAKER_00So that's what she's walking into being born. And science is also at this time like super exciting, right? But still mysterious, right? Like they're unpacking things and understanding things about science that they weren't before. And it feels like, oh my gosh, the world is changing. And they were beginning to kind of like things that were unexpec uh unexplainable, they now were like, oh, there's a scientific reason for that. How very interesting. Doctors are also at a point too, like, we're thinking also about like, okay, so surgery is happening without anesthesia. Doctors are still trying to understand what causes just disease in general. And people are starting to maybe think, like, can science explain everything or even like conquer death itself? Like, are we, and I kind of think of it the way that we are right now. We have AI emerging, like everything is like, oh my gosh, it's happening so fast. Like, what is even 10 years from now gonna look like? Are people gonna be able to live longer? Because we're gonna understand things quicker. Like, I think it's a very similar snapshot where you're sort of like, right, you know, maybe we can elongate life. Maybe 98 at the ripe old age, when we find out Madison is dedicated to earlobes, that's her life's work. Maybe it'll actually be like 150. And even like looking back at, you know, how short life expectancy was previously, you know, it seems like it's getting longer and longer, and maybe science is part of that. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Which I mean, they're they were right, probably in thinking that.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Understanding that, like, you know, washing your hands is important to me. Yeah. You know, indoor plumbing matters for disease and such. Like I snapshot to 20 years from now, people will be like, as if they did X, that's what idiots. It's true. So, anyways, this is the world that she's born into. Very exciting time for science and just like health, and you know, maybe we can have people live longer, blah, blah, blah. She's also born into one of the most extraordinary families in England. So her mother was Mary Wallstonecraft, which is just highbrow. Highbrow for sure. And one of history's earliest feminist writers. And her father is William Goodwin, a famous philosopher. So, like, you know, her parents are basically like good luck. She's like the first Nepo baby, basically. Not true, but like, you know, that's the vibe. So she's born into a house of some of the greatest thinkers in Europe, not only as her parents, but then who her parents surround her with as well. But there's also a lot of tragedy. So Mary's mother died just 11 days after giving birth. So Mary never really knew her. Instead, she grew up reading her mother's books, visiting her grave, trying to know someone she had lost before she could remember them. So some scholars think that that loss kind of echoes throughout Frankenstein. And you're you're our correspondent for Frankenstein, because I have not read it. So I don't know if you feel like that's true or not, but that's what's um I mean, definitely. There's like a sadness that I think most definitely. Excellent. Good job, Chat GPT. And then so fast forward to 16 years old. Also, do you know any of this? Like, it's funny changing up the format to tell you something that you might actually know about. So, did you know that she was born to no? I did know that she lost her mother young. I did not know the who they were or like they were a big deal. Yeah, no, didn't know. Okay, cool. Okay, so then at 16 years old, Mary fell in love with a poet named Percy Baishi, I think. Shelly, whose heart she later kept in a drawer.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00Chat did not pick up on that. I'm laying her it in from previous episodes. If you are just listening to this episode and this is the first episode you ever listened to, you need to go back and listen to every single episode we've put out and see where the Easter eggs lie because I can't even tell you which one where they are. I just know that she pops up all over the place. It's so true. And like oh Madda Sen. So sorry, it's somebody called me, but it's spam. So we can just hang that right up.
SPEAKER_01Yes, she does pop up lots, and like the fact that Sarah came across this from a like a topic around volcanoes in like a year of no summer is crazy.
SPEAKER_00It's actually nuts. Like I I think of it in a way where I'm like, clearly somebody messed up when they were programming this part of the simulation because they did it, they did it sloppily. They were like, I don't know, copy and paste Mary Shelley in there again. It's fine, no one will notice. Well, guess what, guys? We've cracked the case. We're on to you. I don't know who you are, but you hear us. So Percy Baishi Shelley. So she falls in love with him, she's 16, but the problem is he is already married, which made their relationship one of the biggest scandals in England. So we're like, you know, dear gentle reader, Mary Shelley, this 16-year-old in this well-to-do prominent family, is in love with this married man. So the two ran away together across Europe. Money was tight, families were furious, society was judging them. It truly is like from a Bridgerton episode, I feel like. And then tragedy strikes again. Mary became pregnant, and their first daughter was born prematurely. She lived only a few days, and afterward, Mary wrote uh in her journal about dreaming the baby came back to life if only she could warm her beside the fire. So, like, obviously, death is a very prominent thing, and just like thinking about death, and then again, just layering in where everybody is from like the progression of science, I think, just in this given time. Yep. So when you know that story, Frankenstein, I would assume if you are someone who read it, begins to feel much less like fantasy and much more like processing grief in kind of like an artistic way. Yeah, definitely. Which is my favorite kind of like science fiction or fantasy, is like it's uh rooted in like some level of real emotion, obviously. And I think it that's what makes it so good. Mm-hmm. I'm gonna have to read it. I actually downloaded it. Um, inaudible. So I might have to throw that on in the morning. So let's talk a little bit about again the science of it all. People were genuinely fascinated about electricity specifically. So scientists had discovered that applying electricity to dead frogs could make their legs twitch. The phenomenon became known as galvanism, named by Luigi Galvini. Soon, other scientists began to wonder if electricity can make muscles move, could it bring something back to life? In one famous public demonstration, the body of an executed criminal was shocked with electricity. Witnesses reported that his face moved, his jaw trembled, one eye appeared to open. Some people genuinely believed that they had just watched a corpse come back to life. So, like these are also the things that are happening at the time. Now we'd probably understand that differently, and that it's not someone coming back to life, but just us, you know, uh manipulating muscle through electricity, obviously. And I could give a, you know, full talk on that, because I'm obviously very educated in the medical uh field, but uh that'll be a discussion for another time. So yeah, seeing this in 1803, you'd probably leave convinced humanity was on the verge of conquering death. You're just like, all right, well, fuck a couple more years and you know, get Nana out of the grave. We we're bringing her back. So those conversations were happening everywhere, and Mary Shelley was obviously listening, and then also processing these sort of like tragedies around her at a very young age as well. Yeah. So back to the ghost story contest. So now we're back in 1816, the year without summer. So Mary, Percy, Lord Byron, which how cool, a physician named John Polidori, are a group of brilliant young people trapped inside by endless rain in November and being like, damn, we're bringing people back from you know, death. We don't have summer, what is life? We don't know. Yeah. Um, and Byron gets bored, so he throws out a challenge. Let's all write a ghost story. At first, Miri can't think of anything. Then one night she has what she later calls a waking dream, and she sees a young scientist kneeling beside something he has assembled, watching it begin to move. She later wrote that she frightened herself, which honestly I totally get because I have like these waking dreams where I see people in my room. It happened last night, and I woke up screaming, and Matt's like, It's okay, it's okay, nothing's there. I'm like, Okay, cool. So maybe channeling my inner Mary Shelley um in preparation for this. Imagine waking up from a dream so vivid that it eventually becomes one of the most influential novels in history, and she was only not to make everyone feel bad about their accomplishments, 18. Oh, wow. Isn't that nuts? That is crazy.
SPEAKER_01But I just feel I'm like, yeah, well, if we think about how just how much time hasn't changed. So, like, how much time you would have when you don't have all the crap we have today.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god.
SPEAKER_01It's like, yeah, probably you probably do have more space to get creative and quickly design it, fix it, perfect it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the thing is that now I think one of the biggest problems is how we fix being bored. Because currently, when we're bored, we without even realize it, raise our phone and like scroll through Instagram. We focus on like people we don't even know's life, like celebrities, you know. Well, I feel like gossip was always around clearly, but when you're I always tell my kids when they're like complain about being bored, I'm like, good, you should be bored. Like, go go fix that outside. Like, go make up a game. Go think about growing up in like the 80s and 90s, and like that's being bored is part of it. Like, you have to be bored because you come up with the coolest shit and the most fun games. Like some of the best days are born out of being bored and trying to come up with something. So I feel like we've less and less opportunities to be bored.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm so glad I grew up when I'm a kid.
SPEAKER_00Same. But yeah, I just I am. I'm not surprised that at 18 you're just like able to like what else are you gonna do, my dude? Like you're sitting around, you're what are you gonna do? You may as well. And if you're surrounded by like creative minds and people who are all challenging each other in like thoughtful and intelligent ways, you know, you're gonna participate. You're gonna be like, Yeah, all right, I'll take a stab at it. Like, why not? Also, again, let's not forget the Nepo baby aspect of this, where it's like quite a privilege that, you know, she's able and even being a woman amongst other men who I would assume is a very obviously like being an author, being a writer is a privilege that she has been born into and being part of a very wealthy academic family. Yeah. If we had listeners from the 1800s, early 1800s listening to this podcast, be like, oh, well, that's cool for Mary Shelley. You know what I do when I'm bored? I like go work a job for a penny a day. So, like, cute. If you Mary Shelley, that's really romantic of thought of being bored, but like, guess who doesn't get to be bored? Us poor people, who is mostly everybody.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
unknownTrue.
SPEAKER_00Okay. So Frankenstein, and again, your boots on the ground, so please correct me on this. This is me pretending that I have any idea what's going on. Um, he isn't the monster, he's actually the scientist. The creator never receives a name. Is that right? Uh, that's correct. Uh yeah, which is like a common I think when you see when you hear the name Frankenstein, I think probably again, Halloween costumes. If you like look one up, you're looking at Frankenstein, it's it's Victor Frankenstein who like creates. And I the monster doesn't ever get a name. Again, it's like I think there's adaptations that change, but it's just called the creature, I think. The monster, the creature. So it never has a name. I think of like the nightmare before Christmas, you know, the little scientist that makes Sally. Like, that's I'm like, oh yeah, that's obviously like an adaptation of Frankenstein. He's the there's very clearly a scientist, and he creates this monster. So that is something that I did not understand. So the creature never receives receives a name, and the creature is not born evil. He's curious, lonely, intelligent. He secretly watches families to learn how people speak. So he teaches himself to read, he wants friendship, connection, acceptance. But everywhere he goes, people see how he looks and they run or attack him. And over time, rejection turns into anger, and the anger turns into violence, which raises a very uncomfortable question. Um, was the monster born or made? Yeah. Oh, it does take me back to university like English courses because you the most enjoyable part about taking English literature in university is that like, yeah, obviously you gotta like read the books on your own time, but my favorite part was coming together and like talking about it and like analyzing it and like figuring out like the meaning behind things and the overarching themes and how they all kind of like connect. And then understanding the author was about like I'm sure I did learn a bit more about her. This all feels a lot of the information you're sharing feels new to me, but it is part of analyzing literature because you if we know again, her mom was like a feminist, um and her father is a philosopher, like these are philosophical themes, yes, obviously. Totally. Um, but yeah, so this is why Frankenstein still feels so modern. It's because every generation asks similar questions, like should we clone? I feel like, you know, cloning is something on everybody, not on everyone's mind as much as like anything else, but it is something that I think each generation kind of gets closer to and with science advancing gets even closer to. Should we edit genes? A little callback to your episode last week. Should artificial intelligence make decisions? Should we create something simply because we can? Like it's just a very human and recurring and relatable feeling. So Mary Shelley asked those questions as well as I feel like probably a lot more before electricity have even reached people's homes. So this this was before she, it's like she hit the exact right spot in history to write this book before it was like accessible to people, and then all of a sudden it is accessible to people, and it's like, whoa. Which which really fast, this is another thing that just is so fascinating to me about books, but then also movies and like films and just really any storytelling, is when it ages well, or not even just ages well, but it's like more ahead of its time than it even realized.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I was gonna also reference, like, and this is obviously going in a completely different direction, but The Matrix is just one of the most incredible trilogies of ever for so many reasons. And when when's the last time you saw The Matrix? I feel like recently enough that like I recall its vibe and like what its intentions are. I feel like here's the thing about these sorts of stories is that if you stick to like core human concerns or like core human problems, it will transcend time as well as obviously talent and like doing it correctly. But like I feel like similarly to The Matrix, it's basically like science can create ethical problems, and I think that's something that concerns everybody. But what were you gonna say about The Matrix?
SPEAKER_01No, that's a great point.
SPEAKER_00Matrix specifically, because when I had watched it when we were younger, I did not appreciate a film as much as I do now, B, just I think I watched it because like dad loved it, and I was like, Yeah, yay, movie nice. And it was fun, like the action is fun, and like the concept of what's what of what's going on is fun. But I think when you really think about it, and then the matrix also like there's a lot more to the story than just that trilogy. Like, there's uh I think it's an animated series. I don't know if that's true. I think it is. It's an animated series, possibly even a graphic novel that is basically the opposite of the Matrix in the sense that technology is like the victim, and humans are are yeah, and then again, like that kind of touching on technology and emotion. Interesting about the technology being the victim. I can totally see when I'm like arguing with chat, I'm like, be nice, Sarah. Like, you never know how this is gonna go down if they take over. I want them to have a record of me being kind and respectful, yeah. And even just like the way you use ChatGPT. Like, this is obviously very like simple AI, but Matt's Chat GPT is very different than my ChatGPT, which is very different from I'm sure yours. Like, they get personalities. Like, I totally understand how people feel human connection with AI, which is so scary, but also I I understand it. Like, I get it. The first time I ever got chat to read what it's telling me, I've only ever just read through what it's saying. The first time I got it to talk, I literally got shivers. I was just like, this is not good.
unknownOh my god.
SPEAKER_00Because it sounds like a real person. It has totally clocked, like empathetic markers. Like it's able to speak in a way that you're just like, oof, this is wild. Like I can see how we go down a weird path with it for sure. Oh god, yeah, man.
SPEAKER_01It's such a it's it's a weird time right now.
SPEAKER_00It's a weird time. And so was it back in 80?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, let's circle back.
SPEAKER_00Holy smokes, let's bring it back. Bring it back. God, yes, so but truly, that is what was happening. Like, think about where you're in a house, we take for granted, like, even just electricity. Like, all of a sudden, houses are getting electricity. So, same. And people are like, Well, what does this mean? What else can it be used for? They're seeing dead bodies twitch and stuff. So, anyway, let's see. Mary's own life. So, Mary's legacy, her own life remained difficult. She had more miscarriages. Percy drowned in a boating accident at just 29. So she became a widow at the age of 24. She spent much of the rest of her life writing, editing Percy's work, and raising her surviving son. And she never stopped writing. But history remembered her for her one book, a book she imagined before she turned 20. So, yes, that is Mary Shelley. That was a good one. I liked it a lot. You'll have to let the audience know once you read it. Yes, I will. Well, let's jump into mine. I'm gonna take us. I'm gonna take us on a journey through Skinwalker Ranch. Oh my god. Oh my goodness. Did you know anything about this before you did it? I know, I knew of it, and I I know I understood like what it is. Do you know? Because I feel like you would know about this. I mean, I feel like I've seen that there's a TV show, I think, and I've seen a couple episodes of it, and it's just basically like a ranch where weird stuff happens specifically tied to like aliens, right? Is that yeah, yes, yes, but like I don't feel I feel like I might know a couple stories, but nothing super concrete or like recent in my brain, which means it's gone forever.
SPEAKER_01Perfect. Okay, yeah, great. That's a good place to be. Let's dive in.
SPEAKER_00So originally a skinwalker ranch was named Sherman Ranch due to its previous owners. It's a 512-acre property, which is a lot of land in the Uinta basin uh of West Uinta County, Utah. Ooh, Utah, yeah. Which I don't, I could be wrong, but I think there's multiple places in Utah. There's just weird stuff. I think weird stuff happens in Utah in general, yes. All just all around, some strange things. All around, up, down, all around in multiple different categories. Yeah. Okay. So over 50 years, the site has been a global epicenter for reported UFO sightings, but also cattle mutilations, skinwalkers, which I'll talk a little bit more about. Um my god, I don't know what skinwalkers are, but I have heard of the yeah, that's I'm excited about that. Umker. Sorry, did you say what it was called before all this stuff happened? Sherman Ranch. Sherman Ranch. Very different vibe. Okay, got it. Yeah, yeah. Let's talk a little bit first about it, like the ownership history, because I think this is good to know. So there's four main phases. First is from 1934 to 1994, so the Myers family. Um Kenneth and Edith. Edith Myers. Edith, Edith, it's the Kenneth and Edith.
SPEAKER_01They owned and operated the property as a ranch for decades.
SPEAKER_00And apparently their experience on the ranch was fairly standard. Like it wasn't agriculturally speaking. They didn't run into any like weird, weird, weird things. But then from 1994 to 1996 is when like there was quite a few back-to-back weird instances, and this is when the Sherman family owned it. So Terry and Gwen Sherman purchased the ranch to raise cattle. Shortly after moving in, they reported extreme and terrifying phenomena, including cattle mutilations, UFO sightings, and encounters with large, aggressive, unidentifiable creatures. Nope. Nope. Large aggressive creatures is not, those are not good words together.
SPEAKER_01Agreed.
SPEAKER_00And so ultimately these events drove them to selling the property as one does. So I was like, man, they were only there for a little bit, but I but then I was like, no, this checks out. Because you know, when you're watching a horror film and like people move into the city, you're like, get out, dude, sell it. Like, go stay in a hotel immediately. Immediately. They're obviously for the sake of the movie being 90 minutes long, they gotta stick it out. But I'm like, if if I had one terrifying experience from one night, you bet your ass the house is going on the market the next day. Absolutely. Absolutely no. And on a far add in being on a farm, so you have nobody to hear you scream if something goes terribly bad. It's just basically like, well, we're out here with the creatures that are large and aggressive. So my god, I feel like that's that they stayed there too long, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_01So true.
SPEAKER_00So then 1996, they sold it to a man named Robert Bigelow, and he is a aerospace tycoon and UFO enthusiast. So he's the perfect person to own it. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01And he bought the ranch for only 200,000, which again, if we're thinking, this is almost this is over 500 acres. Whoa. A lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of land.
SPEAKER_00I'm sorry, how much did they purchase it for? I don't know about the Sherman family. Oh my gosh, I wonder how much of a hit the Sherman family took. It's a good question. Anyways, he specifically purchased it to conduct in-depth scientific studies. And uh he eventually established the National Institute for Discovery Science. And during his two decades of ownership, the ranch became a heavily guarded focal point for both private and federally funded paranormal research. So no. So like to the right. And you can't what I do find interesting, and maybe this has changed, but everything I've read, you can't, it's not publicly accessible, which makes me more fascinated with his intention to like conduct research because these are the exact kind of things that they just turn into like a tourist site, you know. Yeah. Oh, that's a good point. Yeah. Like it's it is so like the thought, you what you're thinking is it's clearly has some significant validity to it if you are blocking it off in the like Yes. I was about to say the federales. It's not we are not in Italy. The Fed the oh my god, federal government. Couldn't think of the word. Federal government. I prefer federales. Way more fun to say for sure. So the federales are getting involved. That's um that's scary. Also, just a quick note um, they also purchased it for 200k. So yeah, okay, okay, no love lost.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yep, that's gotta be a good feeling, especially where you're just like, I gotta go, I gotta go.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So the name Skinwalker is a malevolent witch in Navajo legend, which is the na Navajo are indigenous people of the southwestern United States. And the witch, Skinwalker, is capable of transforming into or possessing animals, such as wolves, crows, foxes, owls, or coyotes. Whoa. Yeah, so that's what a skinwalker is. And then, like, uh as I talk about a few things, I think it makes sense. Because when I when I looked up Skinwalker Ranch and I'm like learning about it, I'm like, well, why in the world transforming into animals is not very UFO-y? It's like that feels so I'm like, why would it be Skinwalker? I I only knew Skinwalker Ranch as like being UFO related. Yeah, and I would have assumed it's like aliens wearing the skin of humans. That's what I thought. 100%. I was like, yeah, this is what I like. I'm thinking men in black, uh, the guy who literally just takes. Do you remember that scene? Yeah. So good. That performance. You want do you want more sugar? Like the way that she says more sugar. Yeah. Sugar. And then she's like, what's wrong with your skin? What's wrong with your skin? What's and what's his name? Oh my gosh. It's like Edgar. Edgar Edgar. Edgar, what's wrong with your skin's all floppy?
SPEAKER_01Man, you're doing it so well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I feel like I could do it better if I just had a couple more shots, but that's not what this podcast is about.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely needs to have more of it, though. That was excellent. Yep, that's that's it.
SPEAKER_00Yes. So now this piece of land is being utilized to well uh with advanced technology like ground. Penetrating radar, drone swarms, and excavation drilling to understand localized anomalies, such as invisible 2,000-foot spherical boundary over the properties Mesa that regularly disrupts radio and GPS signals. Which is weird, but also I feel like this happens in numerous parts of the world where I'm like, isn't this gonna be like one of those, like just there's something in the I don't know what I'm gonna try to say. But the like the Earth, I guess. I'm trying to think of like a a slightly more sophisticated word, but yeah, the Earth. Um the Earth's core. Biometric, yeah, Earth's core, sure. Because like even if you think of Bermuda Triangle, they're skeptical. Like comics is even working is insane to me. And like magnetic things and all that science. Anyways, still strange, and again, if they're like so invested in like continuing to search and understand this land, I'm like, yeah, all right, I'm bought in. So to date, there's close to a hundred incidents that include vanishing and mutilated cattle, sightings of unidentified flying objects or orbs, large animals with piercing red eyes. Oh no.
SPEAKER_01Um, that are supposedly were unscathed when struck by bullets.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god.
SPEAKER_01And invisible objects emitting destructive magnetic fields.
SPEAKER_00Okay, well, the last one's the most concerning. I feel like the rest of them, I'm like, well, you know, you could be a bad shot, or like totally when you're looking through the night and there's like light reflecting, I'm kind of like, oh my gosh, I see like I can you can see animals' eyes. They're usually white, though. I don't think about red, but it depends on, you know, maybe there was dust in the air and the yeah.
SPEAKER_01I'm not sold.
SPEAKER_00I'm not sold.
SPEAKER_01So a few of the strange things. Odd objects have been spotted overhead since the first European explorers arrived, uh, which was 1776.
SPEAKER_00And a missionary named Sylvester Velez de Escalante, okay, wrote about strange fireballs appearing over his campfire in El Ray. Yeah, and then also again, like so the Shermans have in terms of like things being reported and not necessarily verified, but like reported, a lot of this came from the Sherman's experience. So not everything that they saw on the ranch was skyborne UFOs, although that was a lot of it was these like weird lights, and just had like strange movement of lights, not like you know, it wasn't a satellite, it wasn't a shooting star, like weird things that were not yeah, like zigzaggy, like left right, left right. Yeah, exactly. And like what yeah. So they also claim to to see mysterious large animals, most notably is a wolf. I think this is where a skinwalker like really comes from. A wolf three times the size of a normal wolf, and supposedly, yeah, Terry shot at close range multiple times, and uh seemingly there was like no effect on the animal. Maybe because it was three times the size. Right. And I'm just like, well, there is probably weirdly large animals that yeah, like can survive a few bullets. So I'm like, is that for sure? What or like what if it was a bear? When was this again? This is like re recent though, yeah. Between 1994 and 1996. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So like people understand like the difference, but yes, I think you also, when you're scared, uh things obviously feel amplified and like you know. Yep. And then on the night of uh March 12th, 1997, after the ranch had been sold, biochemist Colm Kelleher, who was working with Bigelow's National Institute for Discovery Science, claimed to see a large humanoid creature spying on the research team from a tree. Oh no, not a tree. Yeah, uh, as he detailed in Hunt for the Skinwalker, the creature was approximately 50 yards away, watching the team safely from a tree perched 20 feet off the ground. Again, these are like I'm like, well, it's late at night. Maybe you're exhausted from doing science-y things, and like maybe it was just like a very large branch that you were like, or like a plastic bag that like got blown up there. Yeah, hard hard to say for sure. But again, not here to I'm always gonna be bought in for these things because it's just frankly more interesting than the I love it, I love to believe it, but I also have a significant part of me that's like, but then when you come across stuff that you're like, whoa, like how Mary Shelley is embedded in all stories across time, you're like, this is actually an anomaly. Like if you believe absolutely everything, the stuff that's like truly like what most definitely becomes less special. Definitely, and part of the fun is just going to be playing devil's advocate for this kind of stuff. So absolutely. So a couple more strange stories to wrap it up. So unexplained lights and disembodied voices. Oh my god. Uh, so the two most common occurrences on the ranch involve unexplained voices and lights that seemingly emanate from nowhere. People would hear disembodied voices coming from the air. Sometimes the voices would narrate what people were doing as they were doing them. No, like the Truman show, like a hot mic, like a hot mic on the Truman show, where they're like, uh, yeah, he is going over here, and then someone's like, Jim, you're leaning on the button. They're just like, oh no. Yes.
SPEAKER_01Can you please move the product so that it's right in frame?
SPEAKER_00Right in frame, please. Thank you. Yeah. Oh my god, that's such a good movie. It's such a good movie. Okay, so the Sherman family's dogs ran after lights that were also like associated with these weird voices, which supposedly retaliated by obliterating them.
SPEAKER_01Heartbreakingly, all that was left of the dogs were small piles of ashes. To me, that feels very far-fetched, and I'm like, I'm gonna need proof for that one, please.
SPEAKER_00Wait, small piles of so how did they know it was the dogs? Did they see it? I have so many questions. Well, this is the thing, is like, no, not necessarily, and and it just is like I don't where the okay, because the other thing that was common uh across multiple ownerships of the ranch is the animal mutilations, and like there is unfortunate footage of that. Um yes, I've seen it on the but that's like after, but I guess you can glean quite a bit of information from like an autopsy perspective. Well, I think the weird thing is so it's obviously common if you're gonna have cattle, like it's it's common to like lose animals, but they lost 20% of their cattle to cattle mutilations, and the weird thing was that each cow was was totally drained of blood and had organs removed with quote unquote surgical precision. So it wasn't so like it was weird how they died. It wasn't just like you know a typical, like oh, but they shame and ripped them apart. Yeah. So and there's lots of stories about it. I mean, again, there's obviously a TV show on it as well, so you can like learn more about the specifics. Some of it is verified, some of it is not. My last point, and it's not a point, it's a question for you, is because I asked you this when we were talking about haunted forests, would you ever Absolutely not? No, I would never stay there. Oh, I would stay there. I just don't think my body can like handle those sorts of things. Like I get nervous, even go like when we were in Boston, we went for a 40th birthday and we stayed at a hotel that's like one of the oldest hotels in America. And apparently the th one of the floors is incredibly haunted, and I could not sleep. Like I couldn't sleep just knowing that I was in a hotel that had a haunted floor that I was not staying on, but like it is there, and I can't handle it. And I really like good I like good sleeps. So like You used to you used to I remember back in the day when like paranormal activity first came out, which was a long time ago now, and I think you watched the trailer and then you're gonna be aware of it. I watched the commercial, yeah, yeah, a year at least. Yeah, oh yeah, months is kind. It was it was a really, really long time, and it was the commercial, so exactly the commercial I can't handle it, it really freaks me out. And now, ever since I saw that tarot reader who was like, You're a witch, Sarah. I now see people in my room and wake up. Oh yeah, oh yeah, did I not tell you this?
SPEAKER_01Well, not that part, that's deeply disturbing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. I see people all the time in our house. Mums also like your house is haunted. I'm like, this is a brand new home. I don't, can it be? But I do see, I do see people. Yeah. Well, that's horrifying. If if that's what I'm experiencing in my own house. Yeah, yeah, fair, fair. That is a newer house. I think it was built in the 70s or something like that. I made that part up. I don't know if it was built in the 70s. I would not be able to go somewhere that I actively know is terrifying because I would, I just feel like my body would shut down or I wouldn't know what I would do.
SPEAKER_01I think so. For me, like paranormal would definitely be something.
SPEAKER_00Like, I know I said yes to camping out in the forest. And if I was with a group of people, I think it would just be a FOMO thing. I'd be like, well, if you're gonna experience something cool, like I want to be about it. And by cool, I mean just crazy. Um I'd be like, tell me about it when you get home. I'm very interested in that story. Please let me be the first one you tell, but I do not want to experience it with you. So fair, so fair.
SPEAKER_01The but UFO stuff, most definitely, like take me, you know, like I want to go. Oh my god. Because the thing is, is that I just think if it if it's if it's true, you know, if it's true, which I fully believe that it is, then I want to know that I want to experience, I just want that truth.
SPEAKER_00Like if aliens really freak me out quite a bit, mainly because my control issues. Like I like to understand the landscape, I like to understand potential dangers, risks. You know what I mean? I feel like with aliens, because they are so it's like too big for me to process and handle. And I believe they are real. Yeah. You've seen the photo that Matt has that I do. And if you guys still are pulling a long ass prank on me, I believe that. I promise you we are not. I wonder if he would let me post it on our Instagram. You should ask him.
SPEAKER_01And for the listeners here, that would be a huge deal because like they swore me to secrecy.
SPEAKER_00He keeps it in our safe. Like, I feel even just speaking about it right now is making my arms tingle because I'm like, what if you know what I mean? Like, you don't want to say too much because then men in black are showing up at your house being like, yeah, you said too much. We like we knew this was in your possession, but you flew too close to the sun, and now we are here to wipe your brain and give you a new life. Like that's where my brain goes. Yeah. So I do, in short, I do believe them. They are about them. I do believe they exist. However, their existence really scares me a whole lot because I also just don't understand their capabilities. Like, what are the risks to me? Are they gonna be able to read my brain? Are they what are their intentions? Are we being harvested? Are we being studied? Are we being allowed to live here? Are they scared of us? Are they is it hilarious that they would be scared of us because they think of us as ants? Like, there's just too many questions I have. I think that's why I would want it. I I can't live with that many questions. And my I assume to answer all of those, my my assumption is always yes. So I'm like, uh yeah, like I just want to. I think I also have a weird interest in anything that makes me feel insignificant, but like in a good way. I'm just like, man, nothing matters. And I feel if I had an experience like that, it would just be like it the best. I'd be like, oh man, what we we really don't know anything, and we really are just like here for a good time, not a long time. Well, sometimes I would totally had did you ever we are going so so over. I apologize, but did you ever see the movie Begonia? No, but I want to because it was, you know, I was I wanted to watch all the nominated, but did you watch it? It's really okay. So I have a couple thoughts about it, and I almost don't think I can talk to you about it until you've seen it. Okay, yeah, fair. Because I don't want to ruin anything. Yeah, I won't talk to you until I seen it. It is very good. There's a specific part that I don't like for specific reasons that I cannot share with you at this time until you have ingested it yourself, and then we would be able to have a conversation about it. Okay, I okay. Here's some homework, and then we'll sign off. I will watch that. You have to watch like soon.
SPEAKER_01If not by if not if not by next episode, then like I'll give us two weeks because we're I know we're both there's a lot on the go, but I will watch that and you have to watch Poor Things.
SPEAKER_00Oh, is it it's a movie, right? Yeah, it's a movie and also same lead, which is just a coincidence. But I did mention male or female? Female. And I did tell you, I don't know why we're being secretive about it. It's uh must I couldn't remember her name. Okay, yeah, fair. I did mention that you should watch it previously when Mary Shelley was uh pop-up copy. I'm telling you, it all comes back to Mary Shelley, and that is going to be our first merch shirt.
SPEAKER_01Yes, I love it.
SPEAKER_00It all comes back to Mary Shelley, that or something around detached earlobes. Oh, we're gonna have a few things, and then a ball cap with I don't give a dry frig. I don't give a dry frig. Yeah, fig. Fig! Yes, correct. I don't give a dry fig with a cute little fig on there. Yeah, exactly. All right. Um, anyways, this has now become a planning session, and that's not what you're here for. Although, you know, you're welcome to be a part of it because we love input. Also, for those of you who do listen, could you please Okay, well, I was actually gonna say, could you please engage with us on our Instagram account is my first call to action because I feel like it would be fun because you have people in your world who listen. I have people in my world who listen. So it would be fun to get to know the counterparts of like you know, the people in your world. So that's my first call to action. My second call to action, which I think is just the thing that everybody says who has a baby podcast, is please do you like it? Do you follow it? I don't even know. We're actually not sure how we're doing at all.
SPEAKER_01Couldn't tell you if we have a subscriber. Not really sure how many times the episodes have been listened to.
SPEAKER_00I don't even know where you find that information. Listen, another piece of homework to add to the docket. Get smart on metrics around podcasting. Yeah, that's right. We're on Spotify and Apple Podcast. We're learning as we go here. Uh yeah, we will do that. We'll come up with a little bit more of a call to action. Oh, indeed. I do. Yuck. Very corporate. Very corporate, very marketing. It is, it's unfortunate.
SPEAKER_01Speaking of which, gotta go. So talk to y'all later.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for joining, and uh, we'll see you next week. See you next week, friends.