April 28, 2020 • 9 mins
Some items that belong in the Cabinet might not be real, but that's not going to stop us from sharing their story.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Menkey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
(00:28):
of Curiosities. A journal is a sacred thing. It holds
our deepest dark it's secrets. It doesn't judge us, it
doesn't betray our trust, and it doesn't hold a grudge.
A journal or a diary can be our best friend,
(00:49):
as long as it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
That is. During the nineteen fifties, enormous husband had encouraged
her to keep a diary of her own. She was
a bit of a social butterfly, often attend lavish parties
and meeting fun and interesting people. He thought it would
be good to save those stories for posterity, so Norma
started writing down her encounters. Except unlike most people who
(01:11):
kept their private thoughts hidden from the rest of the world,
Norma had no qualms about sharing hers with almost everyone
she met. A close friend of hers named Robert claimed
to have seen the diary for himself. He wrote about
his time with Norma and the thing she'd allegedly written about. Unfortunately,
days after he'd caught a glimpse of it, she died.
Ever since then, the circumstances surrounding her death had been
(01:33):
discussed and debated. Was it an accident or was it
foul play? Robert wanted to learn more, and he thought
the diary would have been a great place to start,
But it was gone. It had been full of anecdotes
about the people in her inner circle. Politicians, athletes, and
celebrities of the time had all graced its pages, some
(01:55):
more than once. In fact, rumor had it that her
dealings with a pair of brothers were what did her in,
and the diary the CIA made sure no one ever
saw it again. The Norma I'm referring to is none
other than Norma Jean Mortenson a k a. Marilyn Monroe.
Maryland's book of Secrets was known as her Red Diary,
(02:15):
and between its covers was a lifetime's worth of trouble
for both its author and the men in her life.
Her husband, the legendary baseball player Joe DiMaggio, had suggested
she start the diary as a way to remember all
the amazing actors she worked with in Hollywood. He never
expected her to record state secrets in it. Though Monroe
had been involved with President John F. Kennedy, but rumors
(02:38):
started to circulate that his brother Robert was also tied
to the star. According to certain reports, both men had
decided to cut ties with her, and she threatened to
go public with their affairs. Of course, they couldn't let
that happen. On top of that, Monroe had recorded details
about a White House plot to assassinate Cuban dictator Fidel Castro,
which she had learned about from JFK himself, Kennedy's though
(03:01):
We're only the tip of the iceberg. In the days
and weeks leading up to her deaf Monroe was being
monitored by the CIA, the FBI, and even the mob.
They had all tapped her phone lines and bugged her
house in an effort to learn what she knew. But
the key details were in her diary, including state secrets,
pillow talk, and a lot of information that could have
put the country in jeopardy had it ever gotten out.
(03:24):
Mobster Sam Giancara saw the diary as a way to
blackmail JFK and his brother Robert. Some people thought he
had killed Marilyn Monroe just to get it. Others still
held to the idea that it had been Robert Kennedy
who gave her the drugs that inevitably took her life.
You see, Peter Lawford of rat Pack fame had planned
on visiting Monroe along with Kennedy the day she died.
(03:46):
They were going to have her fake a suicide to
get back in the news, which would have enticed twentieth
century Fox to rehire her. Except something went wrong. The
FBI knew about it. They've been listening the whole time.
By the time the authority showed up to estigate her death,
the diary was gone. So the natural question is who
took it? Did Robert Kennedy take the diary? It's possible.
(04:10):
It's also possible that the CIA finally got ahold of
it and burned it to erase any potential threats to
national security. Much like the story surrounding Monroe's death, we
may never know the truth about the Red Diary. Any
proof went up in smoke a long time ago. Mascots
(04:41):
aren't just limited to high schools and colleges, towns and
cities all over the world have claimed fun and fascinating
creatures as their animal representatives. In a town in New Zealand,
for example, a sheep that had disappeared for six years
was found hiding in a cave. Its wool had grown
so thick and mangy the wily animal had picked up
the nickname Shrek. Shrek was eventually caught and sheared on
(05:04):
live television. Sixty pounds of wool were auctioned off to
raise money for local charities, and Shrek became the town's
on official mascots. But not all animals get such a warm,
exciting welcome, though. In one town in Wisconsin, a certain
beast has been both honored and feared for over one
twenty five years. The town of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, had grown
(05:26):
since a new railroad had turned it into a bustling
hub of industry in two Ten years later, lumberjacks in
the area started telling stories about a strange creature prowling
the north Woods. They had the head of a frog
with horns coming out the side. It also bore the
face of an elephant, short stubby legs with enormous claws,
the back of a dinosaur and a long, spear like tail.
(05:50):
They called it the ho Dag. Its diet was made
up of snakes, turtles, fish, and the occasional white bulldog.
Though few had spotted it up till then, it was
Eugene Shepherd who was credited with its discovery. Shepherd and
a posse of local hunters banded together and headed into
the woods. Armed with poisoned water, they tried unsuccessfully to
take down the creature. Whatever poison they'd mixed together hadn't worked,
(06:14):
it seems, so they turned to the next best thing, dynamite.
As you'd imagine, that did the trick. The hodag was destroyed.
The Wisconsin woods were quiet for the next few years
until Shepherd showed up again, this time claiming to have
captured a live hodag. He hadn't done it alone, though.
Instead of hunters, Shepherd took a few bear wrestlers with
(06:35):
him for assistance. They poured chloroform over the end of
a long pole and stuck it inside the opening of
a cave where the hodag was believed to be hiding.
The fumes filled the cave, overpowering the hoodag until it collapsed.
Shepherd and the wrestlers dragged it out and put it
in a cage to be toured throughout the state. And
the Hoodag was a gruesome looking creature, and it knew
(06:57):
it too. It often cried about terrible appearance and it's
rotten smell, which had been described as that of dead
buzzards and skunks. Shepherd visited county fairs where he invited
spectators into his tent to see it for themselves. Nevertheless,
they'd approached the cage and the Hodag would growl or
lunge at them, sending them screaming back into the crowd.
(07:18):
When he wasn't on tour, he allowed people to see
the Hodag at his home, where it would inevitably elicit
the same result. News of the creatures spread to the
local newspapers before winding around Wisconsin and eventually the rest
of the country. When representatives from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
d c. Paid Shepherd a visit, the Rhinelander native knew
the jig was up. It was time to tell the truth.
(07:42):
The Hodag he'd taken to county fairs and displayed in
his house hadn't been caught in the woods. It had
been made fabricated out of wood and leather. He hooked
it up to wires, which he would pull to make
the creature move. However, just because one Hodag was fake
didn't mean that it had an existed at all, at
least not to Shepherd's fellow rhine Landers. Years later, the
(08:05):
town adopted the Hodag as its official mascot, and so
did the local high school. The story is about the
mythical beast still circulate today. Anytime a fish is stolen
off the end of someone's line, or a golf ball
goes missing, rhine Landers claim it was the work of
the Hodag, a creature whose legend has taken on a
life of its own. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided
(08:29):
tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on
Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting
Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me
Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make
another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
book series, and television show, and you can learn all
(08:51):
about it over at the World of Lore dot com.
And until next time, stay curious.
Welcome to Aaron Menkey's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
(00:28):
of Curiosities. A journal is a sacred thing. It holds
our deepest dark it's secrets. It doesn't judge us, it
doesn't betray our trust, and it doesn't hold a grudge.
A journal or a diary can be our best friend,
(00:49):
as long as it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
That is. During the nineteen fifties, enormous husband had encouraged
her to keep a diary of her own. She was
a bit of a social butterfly, often attend lavish parties
and meeting fun and interesting people. He thought it would
be good to save those stories for posterity, so Norma
started writing down her encounters. Except unlike most people who
(01:11):
kept their private thoughts hidden from the rest of the world,
Norma had no qualms about sharing hers with almost everyone
she met. A close friend of hers named Robert claimed
to have seen the diary for himself. He wrote about
his time with Norma and the thing she'd allegedly written about. Unfortunately,
days after he'd caught a glimpse of it, she died.
Ever since then, the circumstances surrounding her death had been
(01:33):
discussed and debated. Was it an accident or was it
foul play? Robert wanted to learn more, and he thought
the diary would have been a great place to start,
But it was gone. It had been full of anecdotes
about the people in her inner circle. Politicians, athletes, and
celebrities of the time had all graced its pages, some
(01:55):
more than once. In fact, rumor had it that her
dealings with a pair of brothers were what did her in,
and the diary the CIA made sure no one ever
saw it again. The Norma I'm referring to is none
other than Norma Jean Mortenson a k a. Marilyn Monroe.
Maryland's book of Secrets was known as her Red Diary,
(02:15):
and between its covers was a lifetime's worth of trouble
for both its author and the men in her life.
Her husband, the legendary baseball player Joe DiMaggio, had suggested
she start the diary as a way to remember all
the amazing actors she worked with in Hollywood. He never
expected her to record state secrets in it. Though Monroe
had been involved with President John F. Kennedy, but rumors
(02:38):
started to circulate that his brother Robert was also tied
to the star. According to certain reports, both men had
decided to cut ties with her, and she threatened to
go public with their affairs. Of course, they couldn't let
that happen. On top of that, Monroe had recorded details
about a White House plot to assassinate Cuban dictator Fidel Castro,
which she had learned about from JFK himself, Kennedy's though
(03:01):
We're only the tip of the iceberg. In the days
and weeks leading up to her deaf Monroe was being
monitored by the CIA, the FBI, and even the mob.
They had all tapped her phone lines and bugged her
house in an effort to learn what she knew. But
the key details were in her diary, including state secrets,
pillow talk, and a lot of information that could have
put the country in jeopardy had it ever gotten out.
(03:24):
Mobster Sam Giancara saw the diary as a way to
blackmail JFK and his brother Robert. Some people thought he
had killed Marilyn Monroe just to get it. Others still
held to the idea that it had been Robert Kennedy
who gave her the drugs that inevitably took her life.
You see, Peter Lawford of rat Pack fame had planned
on visiting Monroe along with Kennedy the day she died.
(03:46):
They were going to have her fake a suicide to
get back in the news, which would have enticed twentieth
century Fox to rehire her. Except something went wrong. The
FBI knew about it. They've been listening the whole time.
By the time the authority showed up to estigate her death,
the diary was gone. So the natural question is who
took it? Did Robert Kennedy take the diary? It's possible.
(04:10):
It's also possible that the CIA finally got ahold of
it and burned it to erase any potential threats to
national security. Much like the story surrounding Monroe's death, we
may never know the truth about the Red Diary. Any
proof went up in smoke a long time ago. Mascots
(04:41):
aren't just limited to high schools and colleges, towns and
cities all over the world have claimed fun and fascinating
creatures as their animal representatives. In a town in New Zealand,
for example, a sheep that had disappeared for six years
was found hiding in a cave. Its wool had grown
so thick and mangy the wily animal had picked up
the nickname Shrek. Shrek was eventually caught and sheared on
(05:04):
live television. Sixty pounds of wool were auctioned off to
raise money for local charities, and Shrek became the town's
on official mascots. But not all animals get such a warm,
exciting welcome, though. In one town in Wisconsin, a certain
beast has been both honored and feared for over one
twenty five years. The town of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, had grown
(05:26):
since a new railroad had turned it into a bustling
hub of industry in two Ten years later, lumberjacks in
the area started telling stories about a strange creature prowling
the north Woods. They had the head of a frog
with horns coming out the side. It also bore the
face of an elephant, short stubby legs with enormous claws,
the back of a dinosaur and a long, spear like tail.
(05:50):
They called it the ho Dag. Its diet was made
up of snakes, turtles, fish, and the occasional white bulldog.
Though few had spotted it up till then, it was
Eugene Shepherd who was credited with its discovery. Shepherd and
a posse of local hunters banded together and headed into
the woods. Armed with poisoned water, they tried unsuccessfully to
take down the creature. Whatever poison they'd mixed together hadn't worked,
(06:14):
it seems, so they turned to the next best thing, dynamite.
As you'd imagine, that did the trick. The hodag was destroyed.
The Wisconsin woods were quiet for the next few years
until Shepherd showed up again, this time claiming to have
captured a live hodag. He hadn't done it alone, though.
Instead of hunters, Shepherd took a few bear wrestlers with
(06:35):
him for assistance. They poured chloroform over the end of
a long pole and stuck it inside the opening of
a cave where the hodag was believed to be hiding.
The fumes filled the cave, overpowering the hoodag until it collapsed.
Shepherd and the wrestlers dragged it out and put it
in a cage to be toured throughout the state. And
the Hoodag was a gruesome looking creature, and it knew
(06:57):
it too. It often cried about terrible appearance and it's
rotten smell, which had been described as that of dead
buzzards and skunks. Shepherd visited county fairs where he invited
spectators into his tent to see it for themselves. Nevertheless,
they'd approached the cage and the Hodag would growl or
lunge at them, sending them screaming back into the crowd.
(07:18):
When he wasn't on tour, he allowed people to see
the Hodag at his home, where it would inevitably elicit
the same result. News of the creatures spread to the
local newspapers before winding around Wisconsin and eventually the rest
of the country. When representatives from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
d c. Paid Shepherd a visit, the Rhinelander native knew
the jig was up. It was time to tell the truth.
(07:42):
The Hodag he'd taken to county fairs and displayed in
his house hadn't been caught in the woods. It had
been made fabricated out of wood and leather. He hooked
it up to wires, which he would pull to make
the creature move. However, just because one Hodag was fake
didn't mean that it had an existed at all, at
least not to Shepherd's fellow rhine Landers. Years later, the
(08:05):
town adopted the Hodag as its official mascot, and so
did the local high school. The story is about the
mythical beast still circulate today. Anytime a fish is stolen
off the end of someone's line, or a golf ball
goes missing, rhine Landers claim it was the work of
the Hodag, a creature whose legend has taken on a
life of its own. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided
(08:29):
tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on
Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting
Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me
Aaron Manky in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make
another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast,
book series, and television show, and you can learn all
(08:51):
about it over at the World of Lore dot com.
And until next time, stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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