August 12, 2025 • 9 mins
Food and games, two curious features of our daily lives. Both make excellent additions to the Cabinet.
Order the official Cabinet of Curiosities book by clicking here today, and get ready to enjoy some curious reading!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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):
Sometimes the greatest institutions can come from the most unlikely places.
The money sharing app Venmo wasn't created by a tech company,
but by two musicians looking for an easier way to
split costs for their band. Nintendo tried its hand at
playing cards, taxis, and even instant rice before landing on
video games, and in nineteen hundred, two French brothers created
(00:58):
one of the greatest honors in fine dining, all to
sell tires. In eighteen eighty eight, brothers Edward and Andre
Michelin launched a business together, the Michelin entire Company. They
helped to cash in on the new automobile industry that
was just starting to take over France, but by nineteen
hundred their sales had stalled. The issue wasn't their tires, though,
(01:19):
it was the cars, or rather the lack thereof because
cars were new and expensive. There were only three thousand
on the road in France at the time, so the
brothers knew that they had to expand their business, and
to do so they would need to get more French
people into cars and wearing out their tires. The brothers
began publishing a free travel guide to France, which included
(01:39):
instructions on car maintenance, maps, lists of mechanics and gas stations,
and most importantly, recommendations for where to eat. The guide
was immediately popular. There might have been only three thousand
cars in France, but they were able to distribute over
thirty five thousand copies of their first guide. They quickly
published guides to other countries as well, like Belgium and Germany.
(02:01):
But the part customer seemed to like the most was
the dining recommendations. When people were out on the road
in a new part of the country, they wanted to
know what was good to eat and where, so the
Michelin brothers decided to change the guide from a roadmap
to a culinary compass. They hired a team of critics
and food lovers to act as anonymous inspectors and sent
(02:23):
them to restaurants across France. These secret judges started putting
together a list of some of the best restaurants in
the country, and the Michelin brothers decided that such great
food deserved an award. In nineteen twenty six, the Michelin
company began awarding stars to find dining restaurants. At first,
it was just one star. It simply meant a very
good restaurant in its category. Then in nineteen thirty one
(02:45):
they expanded their system. One star was still a very
good restaurant, two stars, though, meant that it was worth
a detour, and three stars that was the best of all.
Any place that got three stars was worth a special journey.
To earn the stars, the restaurants were tested rigorously. Michelin
would dispatch their anonymous inspectors multiple times, sending different people
(03:07):
at different times of the day and on different days
of the week. They were judging restaurants based on five
categories ingredient quality, technical mastery, chef personality, value for money,
and consistency and since then. The only time Michelin stopped
publishing guides was during World War II when Germany occupied France. However,
(03:28):
their older guides came in handy in a different way
during the war. When the Allies stormed the beaches at
Normandy in nineteen forty four, many soldiers carried a nineteen
thirty nine edition of the Michelin, the reason why it
had the most recent available road maps in France. Over
the years, Michelin expanded its Star system around the world,
beginning with England in nineteen seventy four. Today, Michelin publishes
(03:51):
guides in nearly thirty countries across the globe. In nineteen
ninety seven, recognizing the limited accessibility of some of the
Michelin Star restorans, they added a new category, bib Gormond.
A restaurant that earned a bib Gourmond designation meant that
it had exceptionally good food at a moderate price. Over
the decades, the pursuits of a Michelin Star became an
(04:13):
all consuming quest for the world's top chefs. Receiving a
star was also no guarantee of keeping one. Michelin inspected
all of its designated restaurants annually, and many have been
downgraded or lost their stars entirely if they failed to
remain consistently excellent. As you'd imagine, some chefs have criticized
the Michelin system for this, complaining that by getting a star,
(04:35):
they were effectively locked into the menu items that earned it.
This meant that they could be punished for innovating by
losing their stars. Others have argued that Michelin had a
bias for fine dining restaurants with tasting menus and elaborate plating,
often overlooking the incredible food from restaurants who didn't fit
that mold. Regardless of these objections, a Michelin star today
(04:55):
is still usually an indicator of an amazing meal. They
help people identify some of the best restaurants in the
world and celebrate the chefs that make the dining experience unforgettable.
They become such a trusted and desired marker of quality
they're almost like the food world's version of a Nobel prize.
Not bad for a tire company. Everyone knows that chess
(05:30):
is an ancient game. The European version has been around
for many hundreds of years. Earlier forms originated in the
medieval Islamic world, before traveling west and becoming a crucial
part of chivalric culture. Knights would play chess with each
other to demonstrate their ability to think strategically and outmatch
their opponent. The appeal of chess is one that remains
(05:51):
constant into the present day. Its rules are complex but
contain no hidden information. Once you know how all the
pieces move, you've pretty much got everything you need to
be a chess master. There's no hand of cards to
hide behind, no fog of war, no power ups that
make an experienced player more physically powerful on the board.
Both players have the same pieces before them and the
(06:12):
same layouts on the board. Chess is all about starting
on equal footing and learning to anticipate how your opponent thinks. Now.
The oldest mention of the European version of chess comes
from a Spanish language book called The Book of Games.
It was published way back in twelve eighty three as
a synthesis of chess rules from Arabic sources, and it's
(06:33):
books like these that show us the long cultural lineage
of the game. But even they do not predate the
oldest chess pieces ever found. In eighteen thirty one, on
the coast of the Scottish Isle of Lewis, someone made
a discovery that altered our perception of the game forever.
It was a small trove of chess pieces which were
carved of ivory and may have been as old as
the year twelve hundred. These archaic figurines were exhibited for
(06:56):
a while in Edinburgh, though some would find their way
to the British Museum, where they would become the most
iconic symbols of medieval chess. There are seventy nine pieces
in all, eight kings, eight queens, sixteen bishops, fifteen knights,
thirteen rooks, and nineteen ponds. Compared to an average chess
set that holds thirty two pieces, that's quite a lot.
(07:17):
No one really knows if these constitute at least one
complete set or multiple incomplete sets that got mixed and
matched over the years. The ivory their carved from is
from walrus tusk and sperm whale teeth. At the time
of the discovery, some had the trace stains of red
mercury sulfide, implying that this was their original color before
wear and tear reduced them to the color of aged ivory.
(07:40):
As for how they wound up being buried in a
beach on the Isle of Lewis, that's anyone's guests. Stories
circulate about their origin to this day, but even the
person who found the pieces is a mystery. The carving
style suggests that they're Norwegian in origin, and the Isle
of Lewis was owned by Norway in the twelfth century,
so it's likely that they came from traveling traders on
(08:01):
their way to northern Ireland. What happened between Norway and
their intended owner is anyone's guess now. Local folklore naturally
has the most colorful version of the events. A Gaelic
legend says that the chess pieces were part of a
horde of valuables stolen off of a ship in the
seventeenth century. The sailor fled the scene on foot, buried
the treasure, but was unable to return to collect his
(08:23):
hidden prizes. He was captured and sentenced to death as
a thief, leaving the horde of Chessman to wait until
their discovery in eighteen thirty one. And weirdly, there's also
at least one of these pieces that exists independent from
the rest of the set. It sold at auction for
over seven hundred thousand pounds, quite a sum for such
a small piece of ancient ivory. It's impossible to predict
(08:45):
what objects will and will not hold value in the future.
Much can be said about the declining value of stamp
collections and the fiasco that was the Beanie Baby's bubble.
It honestly seems that the only reliable predictor of value
is human interest, set proven by the Lewis chess pieces,
because there are still chess fanatics today. Just like there
we're back in medieval times. Few parts of social life
(09:08):
have remained so consistent. If you learn how to play
chess in our modern day, you are sharing a skill
with the knights of the Middle Ages, which means that chivalry,
in some ways at least isn't quite so dead after all.
I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet
of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn
(09:31):
more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 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
Worldoflore 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 are right there on display, just
waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
(00:36):
Sometimes the greatest institutions can come from the most unlikely places.
The money sharing app Venmo wasn't created by a tech company,
but by two musicians looking for an easier way to
split costs for their band. Nintendo tried its hand at
playing cards, taxis, and even instant rice before landing on
video games, and in nineteen hundred, two French brothers created
(00:58):
one of the greatest honors in fine dining, all to
sell tires. In eighteen eighty eight, brothers Edward and Andre
Michelin launched a business together, the Michelin entire Company. They
helped to cash in on the new automobile industry that
was just starting to take over France, but by nineteen
hundred their sales had stalled. The issue wasn't their tires, though,
(01:19):
it was the cars, or rather the lack thereof because
cars were new and expensive. There were only three thousand
on the road in France at the time, so the
brothers knew that they had to expand their business, and
to do so they would need to get more French
people into cars and wearing out their tires. The brothers
began publishing a free travel guide to France, which included
(01:39):
instructions on car maintenance, maps, lists of mechanics and gas stations,
and most importantly, recommendations for where to eat. The guide
was immediately popular. There might have been only three thousand
cars in France, but they were able to distribute over
thirty five thousand copies of their first guide. They quickly
published guides to other countries as well, like Belgium and Germany.
(02:01):
But the part customer seemed to like the most was
the dining recommendations. When people were out on the road
in a new part of the country, they wanted to
know what was good to eat and where, so the
Michelin brothers decided to change the guide from a roadmap
to a culinary compass. They hired a team of critics
and food lovers to act as anonymous inspectors and sent
(02:23):
them to restaurants across France. These secret judges started putting
together a list of some of the best restaurants in
the country, and the Michelin brothers decided that such great
food deserved an award. In nineteen twenty six, the Michelin
company began awarding stars to find dining restaurants. At first,
it was just one star. It simply meant a very
good restaurant in its category. Then in nineteen thirty one
(02:45):
they expanded their system. One star was still a very
good restaurant, two stars, though, meant that it was worth
a detour, and three stars that was the best of all.
Any place that got three stars was worth a special journey.
To earn the stars, the restaurants were tested rigorously. Michelin
would dispatch their anonymous inspectors multiple times, sending different people
(03:07):
at different times of the day and on different days
of the week. They were judging restaurants based on five
categories ingredient quality, technical mastery, chef personality, value for money,
and consistency and since then. The only time Michelin stopped
publishing guides was during World War II when Germany occupied France. However,
(03:28):
their older guides came in handy in a different way
during the war. When the Allies stormed the beaches at
Normandy in nineteen forty four, many soldiers carried a nineteen
thirty nine edition of the Michelin, the reason why it
had the most recent available road maps in France. Over
the years, Michelin expanded its Star system around the world,
beginning with England in nineteen seventy four. Today, Michelin publishes
(03:51):
guides in nearly thirty countries across the globe. In nineteen
ninety seven, recognizing the limited accessibility of some of the
Michelin Star restorans, they added a new category, bib Gormond.
A restaurant that earned a bib Gourmond designation meant that
it had exceptionally good food at a moderate price. Over
the decades, the pursuits of a Michelin Star became an
(04:13):
all consuming quest for the world's top chefs. Receiving a
star was also no guarantee of keeping one. Michelin inspected
all of its designated restaurants annually, and many have been
downgraded or lost their stars entirely if they failed to
remain consistently excellent. As you'd imagine, some chefs have criticized
the Michelin system for this, complaining that by getting a star,
(04:35):
they were effectively locked into the menu items that earned it.
This meant that they could be punished for innovating by
losing their stars. Others have argued that Michelin had a
bias for fine dining restaurants with tasting menus and elaborate plating,
often overlooking the incredible food from restaurants who didn't fit
that mold. Regardless of these objections, a Michelin star today
(04:55):
is still usually an indicator of an amazing meal. They
help people identify some of the best restaurants in the
world and celebrate the chefs that make the dining experience unforgettable.
They become such a trusted and desired marker of quality
they're almost like the food world's version of a Nobel prize.
Not bad for a tire company. Everyone knows that chess
(05:30):
is an ancient game. The European version has been around
for many hundreds of years. Earlier forms originated in the
medieval Islamic world, before traveling west and becoming a crucial
part of chivalric culture. Knights would play chess with each
other to demonstrate their ability to think strategically and outmatch
their opponent. The appeal of chess is one that remains
(05:51):
constant into the present day. Its rules are complex but
contain no hidden information. Once you know how all the
pieces move, you've pretty much got everything you need to
be a chess master. There's no hand of cards to
hide behind, no fog of war, no power ups that
make an experienced player more physically powerful on the board.
Both players have the same pieces before them and the
(06:12):
same layouts on the board. Chess is all about starting
on equal footing and learning to anticipate how your opponent thinks. Now.
The oldest mention of the European version of chess comes
from a Spanish language book called The Book of Games.
It was published way back in twelve eighty three as
a synthesis of chess rules from Arabic sources, and it's
(06:33):
books like these that show us the long cultural lineage
of the game. But even they do not predate the
oldest chess pieces ever found. In eighteen thirty one, on
the coast of the Scottish Isle of Lewis, someone made
a discovery that altered our perception of the game forever.
It was a small trove of chess pieces which were
carved of ivory and may have been as old as
the year twelve hundred. These archaic figurines were exhibited for
(06:56):
a while in Edinburgh, though some would find their way
to the British Museum, where they would become the most
iconic symbols of medieval chess. There are seventy nine pieces
in all, eight kings, eight queens, sixteen bishops, fifteen knights,
thirteen rooks, and nineteen ponds. Compared to an average chess
set that holds thirty two pieces, that's quite a lot.
(07:17):
No one really knows if these constitute at least one
complete set or multiple incomplete sets that got mixed and
matched over the years. The ivory their carved from is
from walrus tusk and sperm whale teeth. At the time
of the discovery, some had the trace stains of red
mercury sulfide, implying that this was their original color before
wear and tear reduced them to the color of aged ivory.
(07:40):
As for how they wound up being buried in a
beach on the Isle of Lewis, that's anyone's guests. Stories
circulate about their origin to this day, but even the
person who found the pieces is a mystery. The carving
style suggests that they're Norwegian in origin, and the Isle
of Lewis was owned by Norway in the twelfth century,
so it's likely that they came from traveling traders on
(08:01):
their way to northern Ireland. What happened between Norway and
their intended owner is anyone's guess now. Local folklore naturally
has the most colorful version of the events. A Gaelic
legend says that the chess pieces were part of a
horde of valuables stolen off of a ship in the
seventeenth century. The sailor fled the scene on foot, buried
the treasure, but was unable to return to collect his
(08:23):
hidden prizes. He was captured and sentenced to death as
a thief, leaving the horde of Chessman to wait until
their discovery in eighteen thirty one. And weirdly, there's also
at least one of these pieces that exists independent from
the rest of the set. It sold at auction for
over seven hundred thousand pounds, quite a sum for such
a small piece of ancient ivory. It's impossible to predict
(08:45):
what objects will and will not hold value in the future.
Much can be said about the declining value of stamp
collections and the fiasco that was the Beanie Baby's bubble.
It honestly seems that the only reliable predictor of value
is human interest, set proven by the Lewis chess pieces,
because there are still chess fanatics today. Just like there
we're back in medieval times. Few parts of social life
(09:08):
have remained so consistent. If you learn how to play
chess in our modern day, you are sharing a skill
with the knights of the Middle Ages, which means that chivalry,
in some ways at least isn't quite so dead after all.
I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet
of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn
(09:31):
more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast 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
Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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