333-Stranded in the Kimberley

In 1835, settlers in Australia discovered a European man dressed in kangaroo skins, a convict who had escaped an earlier settlement and spent 32 years living among the natives of southern Victoria. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll review the extraordinary life of William Buckley, the so-called "wild white man" of colonial Australia. We'll also try to fend off scurvy and puzzle over some colorful letters. Intro: Radar pioneer Sir Robert Watson-Watt wrote a poem about ironically being stopped by a radar gun. The programming language Ook! is designed to be understood by orangutans. Sources for our feature on William Buckley: John Morgan, Life and Adventures of William Buckley, 1852. R.S. Brain, Letters From Victorian Pioneers, 1898. Francis Peter Labillière, Early History of the Colony of Victoria, 1878. James Bonwick, Port Phillip Settlement, 1883. William Thomas Pyke, Savage Life in Australia, 1889. Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke, Stories of Australia in the Early Days, 1897. John M. White, "Before the Mission Station: From First Encounters to the Incorporation of Settlers Into Indigenous Relations of Obligation," in Natasha Fijn, Ian Keen, Christopher Lloyd, and Michael Pickering, eds., Indigenous Participation in Australian Economies II, 2012. Patrick Brantlinger, "Eating Tongues: Australian Colonial Literature and 'the Great Silence'," Yearbook of English Studies 41:2 (2011), 125-139. Richard Broome, "Buckley, William," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Sept. 23, 2004. Marjorie J. Tipping, "Buckley, William (1780–1856)," Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1966. Reminiscenses of James Buckley Who Lived for Thirty Years Among the Wallawarro or Watourong Tribes at Geelong Port Phillip, Communicated by Him to George Langhorne (manuscript), State Library of Victoria (accessed Jan. 28, 2018). "William Buckley," Culture Victoria (accessed Jan. 28, 2018). Jill Singer, "Here's a True Hero," [Melbourne] Herald Sun, June 8, 2001, 22. "Australia's Most Brazen, Infamous Jailbreaks," ABC Premium News, Aug. 19, 2015. "Extraordinary Tale of Our Early Days," Centralian Advocate, April 6, 2010, 13. Bridget McManus, "Buckley's Story Revisited: Documentary," The Age, April 8, 2010, 15. Albert McKnight, "Legend Behind Saying 'You've Got Buckley's'," Bega District News, Oct. 21, 2016, 11. David Adams, "Wild Man Lives Anew," [Melbourne] Sunday Age, Feb. 16, 2003, 5. Leighton Spencer, "Convict Still a Controversial Figure," Echo, Jan. 10, 2013, 14. "Fed: Museum Buys Indigenous Drawings of Convict," AAP General News Wire, April 23, 2012. The drawing above is Buckley Ran Away From Ship, by the Koorie artist Tommy McRae, likely drawn in the 1880s. From Culture Victoria. Listener mail: Yoshifumi Sugiyama and Akihiro Seita, "Kanehiro Takaki and the Control of Beriberi in the Japanese Navy," Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 106:8 (August 2013), 332–334. Wikipedia, "Takaki Kanehiro" (accessed Feb. 9, 2018). Yoshinori Itokawa, "Kanehiro Takaki (1849–1920): A Biographical Sketch," Journal of Nutrition 106:5, 581–8. Alan Hawk, "The Great Disease Enemy, Kak’ke (Beriberi) and the Imperial Japanese Army," Military Medicine 171:4 (April 2006), 333-339. Alexander R. Bay, Beriberi in Modern Japan: The Making of a National Disease, 2012. "Scott and Scurvy," Idle Words, March 6, 2010. Marcus White, "James Lind: The Man Who Helped to Cure Scurvy With Lemons," BBC News, Oct. 4, 2016. Jonathan Lamb, "Captain Cook and the Scourge of Scurvy," BBC History, Feb. 17, 2011. Wikipedia, "Vitamin C: Discovery" (accessed Feb. 9, 2018). This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Miles, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

19 Feb 201832min

During World War II, the U.S. Army experimented with a bizarre plan: using live bats to firebomb Japanese cities. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the crazy history of the bat bomb, the extraordinary brainchild of a Pennsylvania dentist. We'll also consider the malleable nature of mental illness and puzzle over an expensive quiz question. Intro: Ever since George Washington, American presidents have hated the job. Harpsichordist Johann Schobert composed a series of "puzzle minuets" that could be read upside down. Sources for our feature on the bat bomb: Jack Couffer, Bat Bomb, 1992. James M. Powles, "Lytle S. Adams Proposed One of America's Battiest Weapons," World War II 17:2 (July 2002), 62. Robert M. Neer, "Bats Out of Hell," MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History 25:4 (Summer 2013), 22-24. C.V. Glines, "Bat & Bird Bombers," Aviation History 15:5 (May 2005), 38-44. Stephan Wilkinson, "10 of History's Worst Weapons," Military History 31:1 (May 2014), 42-45. "Holy Smokes, Batman!" Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 49:2 (March 1993), 5. Alexis C. Madrigal, "Old, Weird Tech: The Bat Bombs of World War II," Atlantic, April 14, 2011. Toni Kiser, "Bat Bomb Tests Go Awry," National WWII Museum, May 15, 2013. Joanne Grant, "Did They Have Bats in the Belfry? WWII Team Created Novel Bomb to Defeat Japan," [Bergen County, N.J.] Record, Oct. 27, 1996, A31. "Air Force Scrapped Top Secret 'Bat Bomb' Project in Carlsbad 70 Years Ago," Carlsbad [N.M.] Current-Argus, May 26, 2014. Curt Suplee, "Shot Down Before It Could Fly," Washington Post, Nov. 16, 1992, D01. T. Rajagopalan, "Birds and Animals in War and Peace," Alive 401 (March 2016), 92-93. Cara Giaimo, "The Almost Perfect World War II Plot To Bomb Japan With Bats," Atlas Obscura, Aug. 5, 2015. The total loss due to the Carlsbad fire was $6,838, nearly $100,000 today, and the cause was listed as "explosion of incendiary bomb materials." Base fire marshal George S. Young wrote to the base commander: "In-as-much as the work being done under Lt. Col. Epler was of a confidential nature, and everyone connected with this base had been denied admission, it is impossible for me to determine the exact cause of the fire, but my deduction is that an explosion of incendiary bomb material cause the fire." Listener mail: Ethan Watters, "The Americanization of Mental Illness," New York Times Magazine, Jan. 8, 2010. Neel Burton, "The Culture of Mental Illness," Psychology Today, June 6, 2012. J.J. Mattelaer and W. Jilek, "Koro -- The Psychological Disappearance of the Penis," Journal of Sexual Medicine 4:5 (September 2007), 1509-1515. Steven Johnson, Wonderland: How Play Shaped the Modern World, 2016. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Alexander Rodgers. Here are three corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. This episode is supported by Dittach, a Chrome extension to browse, search, or manage your Gmail attachments. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

12 Feb 201833min

The Bronx Zoo unveiled a controversial exhibit in 1906 -- a Congolese man in a cage in the primate house. The display attracted jeering crowds to the park, but for the man himself it was only the latest in a string of indignities. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll review the sad tale of Ota Benga and his life in early 20th-century America. We'll also delve into fugue states and puzzle over a second interstate speeder. Intro: Finnegans Wake contains nine thunderclaps of precisely the same length. In 1928 a British steamer seemed to receive an SOS from a perfectly sound ship. Sources for our feature on Ota Benga: Pamela Newkirk, Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga, 2015. Phillips Verner Bradford and Harvey Blume, Ota: The Pygmy in the Zoo, 1992. Pascal Blanchard, et al., eds., Human Zoos: Science and Spectacle in the Age of Colonial Empires, 2008. Pascal Blanchard, Gilles Boëtsch, and Nanette Jacomijn Snoep, eds., Human Zoos: The Invention of the Savage, 2011. Rikke Andreassen, Human Exhibitions, 2016. Karen Sotiropoulos, "'Town of God': Ota Benga, the Batetela Boys, and the Promise of Black America," Journal of World History 26:1 (March 2015), 41-76. Sarah Zielinski, "The Tragic Tale of the Pygmy in the Zoo," Smithsonian, Dec. 2, 2008. Pamela Newkirk, "Bigotry on Display," Chronicle of Higher Education, May 26, 2015. Geoffrey C. Ward, "The Man in the Zoo," American Heritage 43:6 (October 1992), 12. Paul Raffaele, "The Pygmies' Plight," Smithsonian 39:9 (December 2008), 70-77. Pamela Newkirk, "The Man Who Was Caged in a Zoo," Guardian, June 3, 2015. "A Fresh Lens on the Notorious Episode of Ota Benga," New York Times, May 29, 2015. Pamela Newkirk, "When the Bronx Zoo Exhibited a Man in an Iron Cage," CNN, June 3, 2015. Michael Coard, "Ota Benga, an African, Caged in a U.S. Zoo," Philadelphia Tribune, March 19, 2016. Mitch Keller, "The Scandal at the Zoo," New York Times, Aug. 6, 2006. "Looking Back at the Strange Case of Ota Benga," News & Notes, National Public Radio, Oct. 9, 2006. Ann Hornaday, "A Critical Connection to the Curious Case of Ota Benga," Washington Post, Jan. 3, 2009. Eileen Reynolds, "Ota Benga, Captive: The Man the Bronx Zoo Kept in a Cage," NYU, Aug. 7, 2015. Samuel P. Verner, "The Story of Ota Benga, the Pygmy," Bulletin of the New York Zoological Society 19:4 (July 1916), 1377-1379. "The True Story of Ota Benga," Scrap Book 3:1 (March 1907), 61. "Pygmy Ota and His Pet Chimpanzee," McCook [Neb.] Tribune, Oct. 5, 1906, 8. "A Northern Outrage," Lafayette [La.] Advertiser, Oct. 10, 1906, 2. Harper Barnes, "The Pygmies in the Park," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 4, 1992, 1C. Listener mail: Wikipedia, "Fugue State" (accessed Jan. 25, 2018). "Dissociative Amnesia," Merck Manual (accessed Jan. 25, 2018). Steve Bressert, "Dissociative Fugue Symptoms," PsychCentral (accessed Jan. 25, 2018). Steve Bressert, "Dissociative Amnesia Symptoms," PsychCentral (accessed Jan. 25, 2018). Bill Donahue, "Fixing Diane's Brain," Runner's World 56:2 (February 2011), 56. Neel Burton, "Dissociative Fugue: The Mystery of Agatha Christie," Psychology Today, March 17, 2012. Stefania de Vito and Sergio Della Sala, "Was Agatha Christie's Mysterious Amnesia Real or Revenge on Her Cheating Spouse?", Scientific American, Aug. 2, 2017. Vanessa Thorpe, "Christie's Most Famous Mystery Solved at Last," Guardian, Oct. 14, 2006. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Martin Bentley. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

29 Jan 201833min

In January 1888, after a disarming warm spell, a violent storm of blinding snow and bitter cold suddenly struck the American Midwest, trapping farmers in fields, travelers on roads, and hundreds of children in schoolhouses with limited fuel. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the Children's Blizzard, one of the most harrowing winter storms in American history. We'll also play 20 Questions with a computer and puzzle over some vanishing vultures. Intro: In 1835 an assassin shot two good pistols at Andrew Jackson and both misfired. In 1958 Brooklyn College chemistry professor Homer Jacobson built a self-replicating model train. Sources for our feature on the Children's Blizzard: David Laskin, The Children's Blizzard, 2004. Mitchell Newton-Matza, ed., Disasters and Tragic Events, 2014. Steven L. Horstmeyer, The Weather Almanac, 2011. "The Pitiless Blizzard," Aurora Daily Express, Jan. 16, 1888. "Victims of the Storm," Bridgeport Morning News, Jan. 19, 1888. "In the Neighborhood," Deseret News, Jan. 24, 1888. "A Brave Girl," Gettysburg [Pa.] Compiler, Jan. 31, 1888. Edythe H. Dunn, "Not Even an Act of God," Phi Delta Kappan 30:7 (March 1949), 245-249. Jill Callison, "The Children's Blizzard," Argus Leader, Dec. 26, 2004. Maria Houser Conzemius, "That's Why They Call It the Children's Blizzard," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 13, 2007. Steve Tracton, "Freak, Deadly Storm: Children's Blizzard of 1888," Washington Post, Jan. 14, 2011. Jeanie Mebane, "Blizzard!" Cobblestone 33:3 (March 2012). "One-Room Schoolhouse Lives," Argus Leader, Sept. 4, 2012. Beccy Tanner, "213 Schoolchildren Perished in the Great Plains Blizzard of 1888," Wichita Eagle, Dec. 31, 2012. Alyssa Ford, "125 Years Ago, Deadly 'Children's Blizzard' Blasted Minnesota," MinnPost, Jan. 11, 2013. Tom Lawrence, "Children's Blizzard Struck Great Plains 125 Years Ago," McClatchy-Tribune Business News, Jan. 12, 2013. Paula Quam, "Warm Weather Like This Week's Preceded 1888 Deadly Blizzard," Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Dec. 19, 2015. Sean Potter, "Retrospect: January 12, 1888: The Children's Blizzard," Weatherwise (accessed Jan. 6, 2018). Amber Pariona, "The Ten Deadliest Blizzards In History," World Atlas, April 25, 2017. Listener mail: "Hitler's Sunken Secret," NOVA, pbs.org. 20Q. Robin Burgener describes teaching a neural network to play a surprisingly accurate game of 20 Questions. Karen Schrock, "Twenty Questions, Ten Million Synapses," ScienceLine, July 28, 2006. "A Heroic Commando, A Deadly Mission to Sabotage Nazi Bomb -- and the Pregnant Widow He Left Behind," Cork Evening Echo Holly Bough, Christmas 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Eugene Grabowski. Here are three corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

22 Jan 201832min

In 1703, London had a strange visitor, a young man who ate raw meat and claimed that he came from an unknown country on the island of Taiwan. Though many doubted him, he was able to answer any question he was asked, and even wrote a best-selling book about his homeland. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll consider the curious question of the man from Formosa. We'll also scrutinize a stamp forger and puzzle over an elastic Utah. Intro: In 1892 a legionnaire in West Africa met a rifle he'd owned 22 years earlier in France. Americans and Canadians can visit one another's territory through a Peace Arch on the border. Sources for our feature on George Psalmanazar: Michael Keevak, The Pretended Asian, 2004. Frederic J. Foley, The Great Formosan Impostor, 1968. Tobias B. Hug, Impostures in Early Modern England, 2010. George Psalmanazar, An Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa, 1704. George Psalmanazar, A Dialogue Between a Japonese and a Formosan, About Some Points of the Religion of the Time, 1707. George Psalmanazar, Essays on the Following Subjects ..., 1753. George Psalmanazar, An Enquiry Into the Objections Against George Psalmanaazaar of Formosa, 1710. Memoirs of ****. Commonly Known by the Name of George Psalmanazar, a Reputed Native of Formosa, 1764. "George Psalmanazar," National Magazine 6:1 (1859), 123-127. "George Psalmanazar," Dictionary of National Biography, 1896, 439-442. Benjamin Breen, "No Man Is an Island: Early Modern Globalization, Knowledge Networks, and George Psalmanazar's Formosa," Journal of Early Modern History 17:4, 391-417. Michael Keevak, "A World of Impostures," Eighteenth Century 53:2 (Summer 2012), 233-235. Donald Rayfield, "Forgiving Forgery," Modern Language Review 107:4 (October 2012), xxv-xli. C. Macfie Campbell, "A Note on the Imagination and Its Exploitation: Psalmanazar and Hélène Smith," Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 92:5 (November 1940), 605-613. Ben Downing, "Psalmanazar the Amazing," Yale Review 90:3 (July 2002), 46-74. Peter Mason, "Ethnographic Portraiture in the Eighteenth Century: George Psalmanaazaar's Drawings of Formosans," Eighteenth-Century Life 23:3 (November 1999), 58. Kembrew McLeod, "The Fake 'Asian' Who Fooled 18th-Century London," Atlantic, April 22, 2014. Benjamin Breen, "Illustrations From an 18th-Century Frenchman's Completely Made-Up Book About Taiwan," Slate, Nov. 6, 2013. Listener mail: Jessica Bineth, "Somerton Man: One of Australia's Most Baffling Cold Cases Could Be a Step Closer to Being Solved," ABC News, Jan. 1, 2018. Colin Gleadell, "Art Sales: The Finest Forger of All Time?" Telegraph, Jan. 9, 2007. Rosslyn Beeby, "The Rubens of Philately," Sydney Morning Herald, March 31, 2012. Elle Hunt, "New Zealand's New Flag: 15 Quirky Contenders," Guardian, May 14, 2015. "Are These The Craziest Designs for a New Flag?" TVNZ, July 15, 2015. "The Colourful Contenders for New Zealand's New Flag," BBC, May 15, 2015. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Michael Förtsch, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

15 Jan 201832min

Here are six new lateral thinking puzzles -- play along with us as we try to untangle some perplexing situations using yes-or-no questions. Here are the sources for this week's puzzles. 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 adapted from an item that Sharon heard on the podcast No Such Thing as a Fish. Here are two corroborating links. Puzzle #2 is from listener Simon Grimes. Puzzle #3 is from listener Jean-Yves. Here's a corroborating link. Puzzle #4 is from Kyle Hendrickson's 1998 book Mental Fitness Puzzles. Puzzle #5 is from listener Alex Baumans. Puzzle #6 is adapted from W.S. Anglin's 1994 book Mathematics: A Concise History and Philosophy. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, 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. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

1 Jan 201829min

In 1924 two British mountaineers set out to be the first to conquer Mount Everest. But they never returned to camp, and to this day no one knows whether they reached the top. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll review the case of George Mallory and Andrew Irvin, which has been called "one of the greatest unsolved adventure mysteries of the 20th century." We'll also learn what to do if attacked by a bear and puzzle over the benefits of a water shortage. Intro: Marshall Islanders navigated using "charts" of lashed sticks, threads, and shells. Jan Brueghel's 1617 painting Hearing immortalizes a well-traveled Australian cockatoo. Sources for our feature on George Mallory and Andrew Irvine: Wade Davis, Into the Silence, 2011. Jochen Hemmleb, Larry A. Johnson, and Eric R. Simonson, Ghosts of Everest, 1999. Peter Firstbrook, Lost on Everest, 1999. Ed Douglas, "Lifelong Secret of Everest Pioneer: I Discovered Mallory's Body in 1936," Guardian, Nov. 23, 2013. Nick Squires, "Mallory and Irvine's Everest Death Explained," Telegraph, Aug. 4, 2010. Secrets of the Ice. Jon Kelly, "Mallory and Irvine: Should We Solve Everest's Mystery?" BBC News Magazine, Oct. 3, 2011. United Press International, "Team Heads for Everest," Aug. 11, 1986. Associated Press, "2 Everest Climbers Killed Near Summit," June 21, 1924. Henry W. Bunn, "The Story the Week Has Told," Washington Evening Star, June 22, 1924, 3. David Holmstrom, "Going Up or Down, Mt. Everest Pioneer," Christian Science Monitor 92:26 (Dec. 30, 1999), 17. Audrey Salkeld and Jochen Hemmleb, "Did They or Didn't They?" Geographical 75:5 (May 2003), 120. Martin Varley, "It's Tough at the Top," Geographical 71:9 (September 1999), 32. Jerry Adler, "Ghost of Everest," Newsweek 133:20 (May 17, 1999), 68. Kevin Cook and Mark Mravic, "A Riddle on Top of the World," Sports Illustrated 90:19 (May 10, 1999), 28. Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine, BBC, 2000. N.E. Odell, "The Last Climb of Mallory and Irvine," Geographical Journal 64:6 (December 1924), 455-461. "The Mount Everest Expedition," Geographical Journal 64:1 (July 1924), 56-58. Gordon T. Stewart, "Tenzing's Two Wrist-Watches: The Conquest of Everest and Late Imperial Culture in Britain 1921-1953," Past & Present 149 (November 1995), 170-197. G.W. Kent Moore, John L. Semple, and Dev Raj Sikka, "Mallory and Irvine on Mount Everest: Did Extreme Weather Play a Role in Their Disappearance?" Weather 65:8 (August 2010), . "Mallory and Irvine Killed in Attempt to Conquer Everest," New York Times, June 21, 1924, 1. Christopher S. Wren, "New Insight Into Everest Mystery; Finding Mallory Elicits A Flurry of Theories," New York Times, Nov. 27, 1999. Christopher S. Wren, "A Body on Mt. Everest, a Mystery Half-Solved," New York Times, May 5, 1999. Agence France-Presse, "Discovery of Corpse Reopens Debate on Who First Climbed Everest," May 4, 1999. "Sees Everest Dash Failure for 1924," New York Times, June 22, 1924. E.F. Norton, "Everest Climbers Send the Story of Last Fatal Effort," New York Times, June 26, 1924. Listener mail: Diarmaid Fleming, "The Man Who Blew Up Nelson," BBC News, March 12, 2016. Wikipedia, "F.D.C. Willard" (accessed Dec. 22, 2017). "Cat as Coauthor," Futility Closet, Nov. 10, 2005. "F.D.C. Willard," P.I. Engineering (accessed Dec. 22, 2017). "Staying Safe Around Bears," National Park Service (accessed Dec. 22, 2017). This week's lateral thinking puzzle was inspired by an item in Dan Lewis's Now I Know newsletter. Here are two corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

25 Dec 201732min

In the 1870s, French gas fitter Albert Dadas started making strange, compulsive trips to distant towns, with no planning or awareness of what he was doing. His bizarre affliction set off a 20-year epidemic of "mad travelers" in Europe, which evaporated as mysteriously as it had begun. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll consider the parable of pathological tourism and its meaning for psychiatry. We'll also contemplate the importance of sick chickens and puzzle over a farmyard contraption. Intro: Ontario doctor Samuel Bean designed an enigmatic tombstone for his first two wives. The Pythagorean theorem can spawn a geometric tree. Sources for our feature on Albert Dadas: Ian Hacking, Mad Travelers: Reflections on the Reality of Transient Mental Illnesses, 2002. Carl Elliott, Better Than Well, 2004. Peter Toohey, Melancholy, Love, and Time, 2004. Petteri Pietikäinen, Madness: A History, 2015. Craig Stephenson, "The Epistemological Significance of Possession Entering the DSM," History of Psychiatry 26:3 (September 2015), 251-269. María Laura Martínez, "Ian Hacking's Proposal for the Distinction Between Natural and Social Sciences," Philosophy of the Social Sciences 39:2 (June 2009), 212-234. Dominic Murphy, "Hacking's Reconciliation: Putting the Biological and Sociological Together in the Explanation of Mental Illness," Philosophy of the Social Sciences 31:2 (June 2001), 139-162. Roy Porter, "Fugue-itive Minds and Bodies," Times Higher Education, October 15, 1999. Listener mail: Sarah Laskow, "How Sick Chickens and Rice Led Scientists to Vitamin B1," Atlantic, Oct. 30, 2014. "Christiaan Eijkman, Beriberi and Vitamin B1," nobelprize.org (accessed Dec. 16, 2017). Wikipedia, "Casimir Funk" (accessed Dec. 16, 2017). "Gerrit Grijns in Java: Beriberi and the Concept of 'Partial Starvation,'" World Neurology, March 19, 2013. The Winnie-the-Pooh monument in White River, Ontario, from listener Dan McIntyre: 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 iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, 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 podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

18 Dec 201732min