July 2, 2026 • 9 mins
Two curious tales of unorthodox tactics during a time of war.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grimm 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 of Curiosities.
(00:36):
I talked to Vice President Agnew in Palm Springs three
weeks ago and expressed my concern for our country. The
drug culture, the hippie elements, the SDS, black Panthers, etc.
Do not consider me as their enemy, or as they
call it, the establishment. I call it America, and I
love it, Sir. I can and will be of any
(00:58):
service that I can to help the cunt out. These
words were scrawled in messy cursive on American Airlines stationery,
as if they'd been written in haste while a plane
was touching down, and this strange letter set into motion
a surreal encounter between two giants of the era. It
was nineteen seventy and the establishment and the counter culture
(01:19):
couldn't be further apart. The Vietnam War raged and the
young were taken to the streets to protest but Elvis
Presley wasn't thinking in those terms. He was more concerned
with the drug epidemic that he believed was destroying a generation.
He believed that with the aid of a powerful man,
he could help put an end to it, and so
one evening in a Los Angeles hotel, Elvis sat down
(01:42):
and wrote a desperate plea to Richard Nixon, the President
of the United States. He framed himself to the President
as a particularly unique bridge between youth culture and the establishment,
one who could travel into drug rings and communes that
perhaps more square federal agents wouldn't have access to. He
sketched it out. He'd carry a gun and wear a badge,
(02:03):
using his fame to access and expose the counterculture. He'd
even get rid of his own drug paraphernalia as proof
of his dedication to the cause. Strangely enough, the White
House agreed to a meeting, and so on December twenty
one of nineteen seventy, Elvis arrived at the White House
using a side door so that the press corps would
not notice his arrival. He wore his signature white jumpsuit,
(02:26):
his cape, and an oversized crucifix, and he came bearing
a particular gift, a custom cult forty five pistol with
ivory grips, which was engraved for the President. The atmosphere was,
needless to say, tense. The Secret Service was wary of
the rock star, and the rest of the White House
staff was baffled by the situation. It didn't grow less
(02:48):
strange once the King walked into the Oval Office. Here
were symbols of two very different Americas. Nixon, a calculating
politician whose days were rigidly scheduled and who kept a
firm ground of control, and then there was Elvis, who
helped to spark the very counter culture that the President
was now fighting against. We know the details of the
(03:08):
meeting through the notes taken by Nixon's chief of staff.
During the half hour meeting, Elvis spoke on addiction, the
dangers opposed to the upcoming generation, and his deep desire
to lend a hand in the war on drugs. He
also showed the president his collection of guns and various badges.
Nixon gamely played along, Recognizing a rare opportunity to use
(03:29):
one of counterculture's icons toward his own ends, he agreed
to appoint Elvis as a marshal not of course, in
a serious role in law enforcement, but as a more
symbolic gesture. The photo they took at the end of
the half hour meeting would become one of the most
requested images in the National Archives. In it, the President
and the King stand next to each other, stiff smiles
(03:52):
on their faces. A strange moment frozen in time. Elvis
got the badge that he came for, a sort of
costume of authority that he would treasure until his death,
and Nixon got his photo op proving his credentials to
America's youth. It was a moment where the lines between
rebellion and conformity were blurred. Elvis Presley walked out of
(04:13):
the White House with a badge and a gun, but
his victory was hollow. The cultural divide widened, and the
man who wanted to save America did very little in
the drug war he so desperately wanted to fight. In
the end, all that came of it was a strange
photo of the time that a rock star walked into
the Oval Office to ask the President to make him
(04:33):
a hero. The cultural memory of the First World War
is a singular one. When we tend to think of
that war, It's easy to immediately jump to one very
(04:55):
specific corner of it, the hopeless, grueling trench warfare in
Western in Europe, even the exceptions such as the Arab
Revolt and the Adventures of T. E. Lawrence, occupy a
different place in the popular imagination. A general picture of
World War I in history books is one of mud
and desolate landscapes and barbed wire. Almost as common, though,
(05:17):
are tales of German U boat attacks in the Atlantic.
You see, in early nineteen seventeen, Germany was directing unrestricted
warfare against enemy ships in the ocean, attacking from beneath
with U boats and torpedoes. Neutral ships as well were
considered a target. When fighting the British Empire, the greatest
navy in history, Germany was prepared to show no quarter.
(05:39):
But strangely, the most interesting naval encounter of the era
didn't come from under the waves, but from far far
above them. It happened on the twenty third of April
in nineteen seventeen, eighty five miles off the coast of Denmark.
A Norwegian ship called the Royal was sailing for the
United Kingdom when they saw something unexpected overhead. It was
(06:00):
a zeppelin flying Imperial German colors, and it was heading
right for them. The zeppelin proceeded to drop a bomb
across the bow, and the Norwegian crew panicked. This was,
after all a cargo ship. It had no weapons or defenses.
The sailors hurried for the lifeboats just as the zeppelin
hovered near them, likely preparing for her next attack. They
(06:21):
didn't drop another bomb, however. Instead it drifted down to
sea level and launched a dinghy carrying a handful of
German sailors and an officer, and these sailors boarded the Royal.
The officer in charge of them demanded to know if
there was any contraband on board the Royal. They searched
the hold and it was long before they found timber
that was destined for England to aid in army engineering projects.
(06:44):
Norway was neutral at the time, so transporting the cargo
to England was considered illegal. In response, the zeppelin's commander,
Ludwig Bachholt, took possession of the Royal, leaving behind three
sailors to conduct her to Germany as a prize of war.
The action was an uncharacteristically daring one. Zeppelins were used
for bombing and reconnaissance runs, but the boarding and capturing
(07:07):
of an enemy ship wasn't in their playbook. It was
a sensation back home as well. Paper after paper published
glowing accounts of the action. German morale needed the boost.
Although the United States had officially entered the war earlier
that month, their troops had yet to reach Europe. Germany
was gaining ground against the French but suffering dangerous losses
(07:29):
on other fronts. So a freshly captured ship that was
taken without a drop of blood spilt was just the
sort of thing the people of Germany needed, even if
ultimately the ship was of little military value. Oddly enough,
though Captain Bachholdt was reprimanded harshly for needlessly endangering Zeppelin
L twenty three, he had been on a reconnaissance mission
(07:50):
after all, not an air raid, and eventually that June
he would be relieved as captain of the vessel and
given a different Zeppelin to command. This wound up being
a blessing in disguise too, because Zeppelin L twenty three
was shot down in August of that year. Not a
single member of its crew survived. In the grand scope
of the Great War, the career of Zeppelin L twenty
(08:11):
three was barely a blip fifty one missions from April
to August, but for an airship that only flew for
five months, it gained a unique legacy. Many paintings have
been made of the Zeppelin capturing the ship, and it
looks like something out of a Jules Verne science fiction novel,
an old world sailing vessel next to the enormous body
(08:31):
of a dirigible, the sort of site that would never
be seen in military history before or since. By capturing
a ship, this Zeppelin captured our imaginations as well. Not
bad for a single curious act of piracy. I hope
you enjoyed today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities.
(08:54):
This show was created by me Aaron Manke in partnership
with iHeart Podcasts, searched and written by the Grim and
Mild team, and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about
the show and the people who make it over at
Grimandmild dot com slash Curiosities. You'll also find a link
to the official Cabinet of Curiosity's hardcover book, available in
bookstores and online, as well as ebook and audiobook, and
(09:18):
if you're looking for an ad free option, consider joining
our Patreon. It's all the same stories, but without the interruption,
for a small monthly fee. Learn more and sign up
over at patreon dot com. Slash Grimandmild, and until next time,
stay curious.
Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grimm 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 of Curiosities.
(00:36):
I talked to Vice President Agnew in Palm Springs three
weeks ago and expressed my concern for our country. The
drug culture, the hippie elements, the SDS, black Panthers, etc.
Do not consider me as their enemy, or as they
call it, the establishment. I call it America, and I
love it, Sir. I can and will be of any
(00:58):
service that I can to help the cunt out. These
words were scrawled in messy cursive on American Airlines stationery,
as if they'd been written in haste while a plane
was touching down, and this strange letter set into motion
a surreal encounter between two giants of the era. It
was nineteen seventy and the establishment and the counter culture
(01:19):
couldn't be further apart. The Vietnam War raged and the
young were taken to the streets to protest but Elvis
Presley wasn't thinking in those terms. He was more concerned
with the drug epidemic that he believed was destroying a generation.
He believed that with the aid of a powerful man,
he could help put an end to it, and so
one evening in a Los Angeles hotel, Elvis sat down
(01:42):
and wrote a desperate plea to Richard Nixon, the President
of the United States. He framed himself to the President
as a particularly unique bridge between youth culture and the establishment,
one who could travel into drug rings and communes that
perhaps more square federal agents wouldn't have access to. He
sketched it out. He'd carry a gun and wear a badge,
(02:03):
using his fame to access and expose the counterculture. He'd
even get rid of his own drug paraphernalia as proof
of his dedication to the cause. Strangely enough, the White
House agreed to a meeting, and so on December twenty
one of nineteen seventy, Elvis arrived at the White House
using a side door so that the press corps would
not notice his arrival. He wore his signature white jumpsuit,
(02:26):
his cape, and an oversized crucifix, and he came bearing
a particular gift, a custom cult forty five pistol with
ivory grips, which was engraved for the President. The atmosphere was,
needless to say, tense. The Secret Service was wary of
the rock star, and the rest of the White House
staff was baffled by the situation. It didn't grow less
(02:48):
strange once the King walked into the Oval Office. Here
were symbols of two very different Americas. Nixon, a calculating
politician whose days were rigidly scheduled and who kept a
firm ground of control, and then there was Elvis, who
helped to spark the very counter culture that the President
was now fighting against. We know the details of the
(03:08):
meeting through the notes taken by Nixon's chief of staff.
During the half hour meeting, Elvis spoke on addiction, the
dangers opposed to the upcoming generation, and his deep desire
to lend a hand in the war on drugs. He
also showed the president his collection of guns and various badges.
Nixon gamely played along, Recognizing a rare opportunity to use
(03:29):
one of counterculture's icons toward his own ends, he agreed
to appoint Elvis as a marshal not of course, in
a serious role in law enforcement, but as a more
symbolic gesture. The photo they took at the end of
the half hour meeting would become one of the most
requested images in the National Archives. In it, the President
and the King stand next to each other, stiff smiles
(03:52):
on their faces. A strange moment frozen in time. Elvis
got the badge that he came for, a sort of
costume of authority that he would treasure until his death,
and Nixon got his photo op proving his credentials to
America's youth. It was a moment where the lines between
rebellion and conformity were blurred. Elvis Presley walked out of
(04:13):
the White House with a badge and a gun, but
his victory was hollow. The cultural divide widened, and the
man who wanted to save America did very little in
the drug war he so desperately wanted to fight. In
the end, all that came of it was a strange
photo of the time that a rock star walked into
the Oval Office to ask the President to make him
(04:33):
a hero. The cultural memory of the First World War
is a singular one. When we tend to think of
that war, It's easy to immediately jump to one very
(04:55):
specific corner of it, the hopeless, grueling trench warfare in
Western in Europe, even the exceptions such as the Arab
Revolt and the Adventures of T. E. Lawrence, occupy a
different place in the popular imagination. A general picture of
World War I in history books is one of mud
and desolate landscapes and barbed wire. Almost as common, though,
(05:17):
are tales of German U boat attacks in the Atlantic.
You see, in early nineteen seventeen, Germany was directing unrestricted
warfare against enemy ships in the ocean, attacking from beneath
with U boats and torpedoes. Neutral ships as well were
considered a target. When fighting the British Empire, the greatest
navy in history, Germany was prepared to show no quarter.
(05:39):
But strangely, the most interesting naval encounter of the era
didn't come from under the waves, but from far far
above them. It happened on the twenty third of April
in nineteen seventeen, eighty five miles off the coast of Denmark.
A Norwegian ship called the Royal was sailing for the
United Kingdom when they saw something unexpected overhead. It was
(06:00):
a zeppelin flying Imperial German colors, and it was heading
right for them. The zeppelin proceeded to drop a bomb
across the bow, and the Norwegian crew panicked. This was,
after all a cargo ship. It had no weapons or defenses.
The sailors hurried for the lifeboats just as the zeppelin
hovered near them, likely preparing for her next attack. They
(06:21):
didn't drop another bomb, however. Instead it drifted down to
sea level and launched a dinghy carrying a handful of
German sailors and an officer, and these sailors boarded the Royal.
The officer in charge of them demanded to know if
there was any contraband on board the Royal. They searched
the hold and it was long before they found timber
that was destined for England to aid in army engineering projects.
(06:44):
Norway was neutral at the time, so transporting the cargo
to England was considered illegal. In response, the zeppelin's commander,
Ludwig Bachholt, took possession of the Royal, leaving behind three
sailors to conduct her to Germany as a prize of war.
The action was an uncharacteristically daring one. Zeppelins were used
for bombing and reconnaissance runs, but the boarding and capturing
(07:07):
of an enemy ship wasn't in their playbook. It was
a sensation back home as well. Paper after paper published
glowing accounts of the action. German morale needed the boost.
Although the United States had officially entered the war earlier
that month, their troops had yet to reach Europe. Germany
was gaining ground against the French but suffering dangerous losses
(07:29):
on other fronts. So a freshly captured ship that was
taken without a drop of blood spilt was just the
sort of thing the people of Germany needed, even if
ultimately the ship was of little military value. Oddly enough,
though Captain Bachholdt was reprimanded harshly for needlessly endangering Zeppelin
L twenty three, he had been on a reconnaissance mission
(07:50):
after all, not an air raid, and eventually that June
he would be relieved as captain of the vessel and
given a different Zeppelin to command. This wound up being
a blessing in disguise too, because Zeppelin L twenty three
was shot down in August of that year. Not a
single member of its crew survived. In the grand scope
of the Great War, the career of Zeppelin L twenty
(08:11):
three was barely a blip fifty one missions from April
to August, but for an airship that only flew for
five months, it gained a unique legacy. Many paintings have
been made of the Zeppelin capturing the ship, and it
looks like something out of a Jules Verne science fiction novel,
an old world sailing vessel next to the enormous body
(08:31):
of a dirigible, the sort of site that would never
be seen in military history before or since. By capturing
a ship, this Zeppelin captured our imaginations as well. Not
bad for a single curious act of piracy. I hope
you enjoyed today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities.
(08:54):
This show was created by me Aaron Manke in partnership
with iHeart Podcasts, searched and written by the Grim and
Mild team, and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about
the show and the people who make it over at
Grimandmild dot com slash Curiosities. You'll also find a link
to the official Cabinet of Curiosity's hardcover book, available in
bookstores and online, as well as ebook and audiobook, and
(09:18):
if you're looking for an ad free option, consider joining
our Patreon. It's all the same stories, but without the interruption,
for a small monthly fee. Learn more and sign up
over at patreon dot com. Slash Grimandmild, and until next time,
stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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