April 11, 2024 • 10 mins
Curious lives are on display today, focusing on a couple of amazing people and their fascinating stories.
Pre-order the official Cabinet of Curiosities book by clicking here today, and get ready to enjoy some curious reading this November!
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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 right there on display, just waiting
for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
(00:36):
Switching between roles is an essential part of any performer's work,
but sometimes the line can blur between where a character
ends and the real person begins. During World War II,
for example, Josephine Baker was one of the most famous
performers in Europe. She was a burlesque dancer and an
opera diva with a knack for shocking her audiences. As
it turns out, though her star persona was just a
(00:58):
cover for her real career espionage. Josephine was born freeda
Josephine MacDonald in Saint Louis, Missouri, in nineteen oh six.
Early on, she saw dancing and singing as her way
out of poverty. While she was still a teenager, she
joined a traveling vaudeville troupe and appeared in an all
black revue on Broadway. She dreamed of becoming famous, but
(01:18):
found that in deeply segregated America it was nearly impossible
for a black woman to be a star, and so
at the age of nineteen, when she was asked to
appear in an all black burlesque in Paris, she jumped
at the chance. France quickly proved to be everything America
wasn't there, Josephine was an instant star. She performed in
outrageous ensembles of feathers and pearls and honestly not much else,
(01:41):
and she did well too. She strolled the streets of
Paris with Chiquita, her pet cheetah, on a leash studded
with diamonds, and in Paris she found the ability to
write her own story, often making revisions. She told one
source that she was the daughter of an influential black lawyer,
and another that her father was a famous Spanish dancer.
I don't lie, she was quoted as saying, I improve
(02:03):
on life. A core part of Josephine's act was to
provoke a strong reaction, but with fascism on the rise
as the nineteen twenties came to a close, not every
strong reaction was a positive one. In nineteen twenty eight,
Josephine began a European tour in Vienna, Austria. As she
arrived in town, protesters shouted at her and street signs
labeled her a black devil. It wasn't a warm welcome,
(02:26):
and Josephine would later go on to say that it
brought her back to the racist riots that she saw
in Saint Louis as a child. Over the next decade,
Josephine found herself in the crosshairs of the German and
Italian governments, probably because Josephine was an incredibly successful, provocative,
self made black celebrity, and it didn't hurt that her
husband was a French Jewish sugar merchant, and all of
(02:48):
this made the Nazi publish a leaflet against her in
the late nineteen thirties. According to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Gerbels,
Josephine was the face of degenerate art. At the same time,
she was banned from performance in Germany and Italy. So
when the French Resistance came knocking on Josephine's door in
the late nineteen thirties, they were a welcome company, and
(03:08):
when their intelligence bureau suggested she act as a secret agent.
She jumped at the chance. She dined with dignitaries and diplomats,
and despite the performance ban, she still had influential fans
in German, Italian and Japanese society. Everything Josephine did was big, loud,
and attention getting. Nobody would suspect her of being a spy.
(03:29):
She immediately got to work. She attended parties at Italian embassies,
writing down overheard secrets on her arms. She flew her
personal playing to drop aid and occupied French towns, and
smuggled Jewish fugitives to neutral Portugal. She traveled under the
guise of a European tour, pinning sensitive information to her
bra and underwear. She banked on the fact that no
(03:49):
one would subject the famous Josephine Baker to a strip search,
and she was right. In November of nineteen forty, Baker
arrived in Spain for a new performance. As she disembard arked, Spanish,
German and Italian officials crowded around her, desperate for an autograph.
None of them thought to check her bags. If they had,
they would have found a complete dossier on Nazi air
(04:10):
bases and plans all written in invisible ink on her
sheet music. By nineteen forty one, Josephine was in Morocco
helping to secure passports for Jews fleeing the Nazis. She
fell sick with perry and titus and inflammation of the
stomach lining, and spent the next year recovering in a
Casablanca clinic. Her hospital room quickly became a rendezvous for
agents to meet and share information, all posing as fans
(04:33):
of Josephine. After the Allies won World War II in
nineteen forty five, Josephine returned to her beloved Paris as
a French national hero. For her work, she received two
of the highest military honors that France awards while Josephine's
heart was in Paris. After the war, she continued her
fights in America. She protested against segregation, often publicly walking
(04:53):
out of all white nightclubs, and she was even at
the March on Washington in August of nineteen sixty three,
where Martin Luther King Junior made his famous I Have
a Dream speech. She gave a speech of her own there.
Josephine Baker died in nineteen seventy five, after seventy one
years of being a provocateur both on and off the stage.
She remains the only American born person to be buried
(05:15):
with full French military honors. She was a chorus girl
and a burlesque dancer, an opera singer, and a movie star,
but her finest role was as an undercover agent, and
for that she should take a bow. He's an unsung
(05:44):
hero of science and engineering. When we discussed the world's
greatest inventions, we talk about the light bulb, the movie camera,
and the phonograph, all of which are attributed to Thomas Edison.
But if it wasn't for Nikola Tesla, we wouldn't have
wireless radios or the remote control. Was not appreciated when
he was alive, but he certainly revered now for his
scientific contributions. Born in modern day Croatia in eighteen fifty six,
(06:09):
Tesla came to America as an immigrant when he was
twenty eight years old. At the time, he was working
for the Edison Machine Works, a manufacturing company owned by
his would be rival. He only spent six months there
before striking out on his own, allegedly over an unpaid
bonus that was denied by Edison himself. For the next
fifty years, Tesla worked on his own inventions, including a
(06:31):
motor that ran on alternating current, his famous Tesla coils,
and wireless lighting. He was building the future. But in
nineteen thirty five, when he was seventy eight years old,
something odd happened. Time stopped. In other words, he met someone.
The stranger had wandered into the New York hotel where
he'd been living. She was brought to his room on
(06:51):
the thirty third floor, as Tesla was known for taking
in strays. By this time, he was in bad shape.
He was destitute and had already been evicted from anner
of hotels in the city, but that didn't stop him
from offering help where it was needed, and he quickly
noticed that there was something different about her. They were
connected somehow. They could talk to each other using only
their minds. During these telepathic chats, her eyes would emit
(07:15):
beams of light right at him. He cared for her
in a way that he had never cared for anyone
else before, and she remained by his side for a
long time until one fateful night she came to him
while he was already in bed, ruminating on a problem
in his mind. She sat on his desk and they
spoke as they always had, one mind connected to another,
(07:35):
the light shooting from her eyes. This was how he
found out the terrible news that she was dying. He
told his biographer John O'Neill. When that pigeon died, something
went out of my life. I knew my life's work
was finished. That's right. The woman that had captivated this
old scientist's heart was a pigeon. Tesla had actually been
obsessed with birds for a number of years. He made
(07:57):
his own bird seed and kept baskets in his room
as man makeshift nests, and he never closed his windows.
They remained open at all hours so the neighborhood pigeons
could come and go as they pleased. He would walk
through the city at night and feed them as he
passed by. He also used a special whistle to call
them to him. They would fly over and perch themselves
on his arms like pets. He even found himself in
(08:18):
trouble with the law because of his love for pigeons.
After trying to catch an injured homing pigeon in front
of Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Tesla was taken to the local
precinct and held for processing. He did everything he could
to prove that he wasn't some random person on the street.
He was Nikola Tesla, the once famous inventor. But of
all the birds he cared for, it was this one
(08:38):
female pigeon, white with great tipped wings that made him
forget the rest. No matter where I was, that pigeon
would find me, he said. When I wanted her, I
only had to wish and call her and she would
come flying to me. She understood me, and I understood her.
I loved that pigeon. Nikola Tesla was a man of
many eccentricities. For example, he had an obsession with the
(09:01):
number three, and he hated pearls. In fact, he despised
them so much that he refused to talk to any
woman wearing pearls. He also never married, believing himself to
be unworthy of a woman's affections. Instead, he poured his
energy into science and inventions. But he did love one
creature above all else, that white pigeon. Others may have
(09:22):
seen it as just another wild animal, but to Tesla
it was so much more. Because of this bird, his
heart grew wings. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour
of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
(09:44):
dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey
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 about it
over at the World of Lore dot com. 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 right there on display, just waiting
for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
(00:36):
Switching between roles is an essential part of any performer's work,
but sometimes the line can blur between where a character
ends and the real person begins. During World War II,
for example, Josephine Baker was one of the most famous
performers in Europe. She was a burlesque dancer and an
opera diva with a knack for shocking her audiences. As
it turns out, though her star persona was just a
(00:58):
cover for her real career espionage. Josephine was born freeda
Josephine MacDonald in Saint Louis, Missouri, in nineteen oh six.
Early on, she saw dancing and singing as her way
out of poverty. While she was still a teenager, she
joined a traveling vaudeville troupe and appeared in an all
black revue on Broadway. She dreamed of becoming famous, but
(01:18):
found that in deeply segregated America it was nearly impossible
for a black woman to be a star, and so
at the age of nineteen, when she was asked to
appear in an all black burlesque in Paris, she jumped
at the chance. France quickly proved to be everything America
wasn't there, Josephine was an instant star. She performed in
outrageous ensembles of feathers and pearls and honestly not much else,
(01:41):
and she did well too. She strolled the streets of
Paris with Chiquita, her pet cheetah, on a leash studded
with diamonds, and in Paris she found the ability to
write her own story, often making revisions. She told one
source that she was the daughter of an influential black lawyer,
and another that her father was a famous Spanish dancer.
I don't lie, she was quoted as saying, I improve
(02:03):
on life. A core part of Josephine's act was to
provoke a strong reaction, but with fascism on the rise
as the nineteen twenties came to a close, not every
strong reaction was a positive one. In nineteen twenty eight,
Josephine began a European tour in Vienna, Austria. As she
arrived in town, protesters shouted at her and street signs
labeled her a black devil. It wasn't a warm welcome,
(02:26):
and Josephine would later go on to say that it
brought her back to the racist riots that she saw
in Saint Louis as a child. Over the next decade,
Josephine found herself in the crosshairs of the German and
Italian governments, probably because Josephine was an incredibly successful, provocative,
self made black celebrity, and it didn't hurt that her
husband was a French Jewish sugar merchant, and all of
(02:48):
this made the Nazi publish a leaflet against her in
the late nineteen thirties. According to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Gerbels,
Josephine was the face of degenerate art. At the same time,
she was banned from performance in Germany and Italy. So
when the French Resistance came knocking on Josephine's door in
the late nineteen thirties, they were a welcome company, and
(03:08):
when their intelligence bureau suggested she act as a secret agent.
She jumped at the chance. She dined with dignitaries and diplomats,
and despite the performance ban, she still had influential fans
in German, Italian and Japanese society. Everything Josephine did was big, loud,
and attention getting. Nobody would suspect her of being a spy.
(03:29):
She immediately got to work. She attended parties at Italian embassies,
writing down overheard secrets on her arms. She flew her
personal playing to drop aid and occupied French towns, and
smuggled Jewish fugitives to neutral Portugal. She traveled under the
guise of a European tour, pinning sensitive information to her
bra and underwear. She banked on the fact that no
(03:49):
one would subject the famous Josephine Baker to a strip search,
and she was right. In November of nineteen forty, Baker
arrived in Spain for a new performance. As she disembard arked, Spanish,
German and Italian officials crowded around her, desperate for an autograph.
None of them thought to check her bags. If they had,
they would have found a complete dossier on Nazi air
(04:10):
bases and plans all written in invisible ink on her
sheet music. By nineteen forty one, Josephine was in Morocco
helping to secure passports for Jews fleeing the Nazis. She
fell sick with perry and titus and inflammation of the
stomach lining, and spent the next year recovering in a
Casablanca clinic. Her hospital room quickly became a rendezvous for
agents to meet and share information, all posing as fans
(04:33):
of Josephine. After the Allies won World War II in
nineteen forty five, Josephine returned to her beloved Paris as
a French national hero. For her work, she received two
of the highest military honors that France awards while Josephine's
heart was in Paris. After the war, she continued her
fights in America. She protested against segregation, often publicly walking
(04:53):
out of all white nightclubs, and she was even at
the March on Washington in August of nineteen sixty three,
where Martin Luther King Junior made his famous I Have
a Dream speech. She gave a speech of her own there.
Josephine Baker died in nineteen seventy five, after seventy one
years of being a provocateur both on and off the stage.
She remains the only American born person to be buried
(05:15):
with full French military honors. She was a chorus girl
and a burlesque dancer, an opera singer, and a movie star,
but her finest role was as an undercover agent, and
for that she should take a bow. He's an unsung
(05:44):
hero of science and engineering. When we discussed the world's
greatest inventions, we talk about the light bulb, the movie camera,
and the phonograph, all of which are attributed to Thomas Edison.
But if it wasn't for Nikola Tesla, we wouldn't have
wireless radios or the remote control. Was not appreciated when
he was alive, but he certainly revered now for his
scientific contributions. Born in modern day Croatia in eighteen fifty six,
(06:09):
Tesla came to America as an immigrant when he was
twenty eight years old. At the time, he was working
for the Edison Machine Works, a manufacturing company owned by
his would be rival. He only spent six months there
before striking out on his own, allegedly over an unpaid
bonus that was denied by Edison himself. For the next
fifty years, Tesla worked on his own inventions, including a
(06:31):
motor that ran on alternating current, his famous Tesla coils,
and wireless lighting. He was building the future. But in
nineteen thirty five, when he was seventy eight years old,
something odd happened. Time stopped. In other words, he met someone.
The stranger had wandered into the New York hotel where
he'd been living. She was brought to his room on
(06:51):
the thirty third floor, as Tesla was known for taking
in strays. By this time, he was in bad shape.
He was destitute and had already been evicted from anner
of hotels in the city, but that didn't stop him
from offering help where it was needed, and he quickly
noticed that there was something different about her. They were
connected somehow. They could talk to each other using only
their minds. During these telepathic chats, her eyes would emit
(07:15):
beams of light right at him. He cared for her
in a way that he had never cared for anyone
else before, and she remained by his side for a
long time until one fateful night she came to him
while he was already in bed, ruminating on a problem
in his mind. She sat on his desk and they
spoke as they always had, one mind connected to another,
(07:35):
the light shooting from her eyes. This was how he
found out the terrible news that she was dying. He
told his biographer John O'Neill. When that pigeon died, something
went out of my life. I knew my life's work
was finished. That's right. The woman that had captivated this
old scientist's heart was a pigeon. Tesla had actually been
obsessed with birds for a number of years. He made
(07:57):
his own bird seed and kept baskets in his room
as man makeshift nests, and he never closed his windows.
They remained open at all hours so the neighborhood pigeons
could come and go as they pleased. He would walk
through the city at night and feed them as he
passed by. He also used a special whistle to call
them to him. They would fly over and perch themselves
on his arms like pets. He even found himself in
(08:18):
trouble with the law because of his love for pigeons.
After trying to catch an injured homing pigeon in front
of Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Tesla was taken to the local
precinct and held for processing. He did everything he could
to prove that he wasn't some random person on the street.
He was Nikola Tesla, the once famous inventor. But of
all the birds he cared for, it was this one
(08:38):
female pigeon, white with great tipped wings that made him
forget the rest. No matter where I was, that pigeon
would find me, he said. When I wanted her, I
only had to wish and call her and she would
come flying to me. She understood me, and I understood her.
I loved that pigeon. Nikola Tesla was a man of
many eccentricities. For example, he had an obsession with the
(09:01):
number three, and he hated pearls. In fact, he despised
them so much that he refused to talk to any
woman wearing pearls. He also never married, believing himself to
be unworthy of a woman's affections. Instead, he poured his
energy into science and inventions. But he did love one
creature above all else, that white pigeon. Others may have
(09:22):
seen it as just another wild animal, but to Tesla
it was so much more. Because of this bird, his
heart grew wings. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour
of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
(09:44):
dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey
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 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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