November 4, 2025 • 9 mins
History is shaped by forces both big and small, as these two tales should make clear.
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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):
If you're a fan of reality TV, then you might
have seen the British television show World's Most Dangerous Roads.
The host travelsome of the most treacherous roads the world over,
taking viewers through hairpin turns and dizzy heights. Or maybe
you're a fan of Deadliest Catch, a series that follows
crab fishermen braving rough weather and rogue waves out on
(00:56):
the bearing Straight. We have long had a fascinating with
dangerous jobs and those who perform them. Like Ronan. He
spent years working a deadly job as well, But unlike
reality stars, he doesn't do it for the money. In fact,
he doesn't get paid at all. Every day he risks
his life to help make communities safer, and he does
(01:17):
it for free. On a hot April morning in twenty
twenty five, Ronan arrived at the commune of Schwa'oram in Cambodia,
where he'd been working for the past four years. His
job is perilous and few are qualified to do it.
He arrived at the edge of a vast grassy valley
marked by a series of metal poles. These poles hold
up a grid of high wires that Ronan uses to
(01:39):
move across the field section by section. It's taken years
to canvass the entire area, but all he has left
now is a small section in the corner by the
jungle tree line. For safety, his partners clip him into
a bright red harness so that his feet barely touched
the ground, and then light as air. He makes his
way mission impossible style, across the grid, searching for any
(02:02):
indication that there might be something lethal buried beneath the grass.
Over the past four years, Ronan has found dozens of
buried land mines, all left over from the Cambodian Vietnamese War.
He works for a Dutch organization called the Anti Personnel
Landmines Detection Product Development or at POPO for short. Their
(02:22):
mission is to travel the world clearing out land mine
fields left behind in former conflict zones. It's estimated that
there are more than one hundred and ten million land
mines buried in sixty countries around the world, but the
number of land mines in Cambodia has been especially treacherous.
Over the last forty five years, land mines have caused
more than sixty five thousand deaths in Cambodia and more
(02:45):
cases of amputation due to land mines than in any
other country in the world. But at Popo is committed
to change that with the help of highly skilled workers
like Ronan. Since they were founded twenty five years ago,
they have cleared almost one hundred and seventy fires, land mines,
and other explosives, making the world a safer place. One
of the amazing things about Ronan is that rather than
(03:08):
scanning the landscape for signs of these deadly devices with
his eyes, he uses a different method his sense of smell.
The chemical compounds found in land mines can be detected,
and when he locates one, Ronan points out its location
to his partners By doing something incredibly risky, he stands
on top of it. Thankfully, Ronan does it way enough
(03:29):
to actually detonate the land mine. In fact, he only
clocks in at roughly three pounds, and that's because Ronan
isn't human. No, He's an African giant pouched rat, the
largest species of rats in the world. He's about three
feet long from nose to tail, with oversized ears and
a bullet shaped face, and like most giant pouch rats,
(03:50):
he is highly intelligent, with a keen sense of smell,
which makes him an ideal candidate for this kind of work.
In fact, at Popo, rats are trained to detect far
more than land mines. Some of Ronan's co workers are
capable of smelling tuberculosis in medical settings to help stop
the spread of the deadly disease. They can also sniff
out earthquake survivors buried beneath rubble, and detect smuggled wildlife
(04:14):
parts like elephant tusks to help catch poachers. But few
rats are as prolific as Ronan. In fact, earlier this year,
he became the first Apopo rat to detect one hundred
land mines, setting a new world record, and in the
days that followed, he finished his sweep of that particular valley,
detecting nine more. That is, one hundred and nine more
(04:35):
lives potentially saved and one hundred and nine land mines
rated out. You may have heard the phrase the gold standard,
(04:55):
but it's not something most people fully understand. And sure,
we know that gold is valuable, and they might be
aware that the American government keeps a lot of it
at Fort Knox, but mostly just because of the James
Bond movie Goldfinger. In reality, the gold standard is no
longer in use, although gold still holds its value. It's
a long curious history, one that includes multiple well known presidents.
(05:19):
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt inherited a catastrophic economy when he
took office in nineteen thirty three. The nineteen twenties had
been prosperous, but led to overproduction, overspending, and over speculation
that caused the stock market to crash in nineteen twenty
nine and the subsequent Great Depression to follow. Herbert Hoover,
(05:40):
the president before FDR, tried to solve the problem by
raising tariffs on other countries and revoking the work visas
of almost two million Mexican immigrants. He hoped to make
more off the exports to other countries and to provide
more jobs for Americans, but neither action worked. The other
countries just raised tariffs of their own in return, and
(06:01):
the loss of Mexican immigrants actually led to more unemployments
among American citizens as corporations suffered from the loss of
cheap labor. While assessing the situation, FDR felt that the
United States needed to incentivize other countries to buy its exports. Again,
the country was suffering from deflation. In other words, prices
(06:21):
had far exceeded demand because no one was buying anything anymore. Also,
at this time, most global currencies were based on what
was known as the gold standard, the idea that the
government of a country could back up its currency with
actual physical gold. In nineteen thirty three, a US dollar
was worth one twentieth of an ounce of gold. Some
(06:41):
feared that the government would try to print more dollars
to pay off its debts, and this would mean that
money was worth even less than gold, and so Americans
started to hoard what gold they had. The idea was
that even if the dollar became worthless, the perceived intrinsic
value of gold might still make it worth something. A
bit confusing, but keep in mind economics is all just
(07:02):
about perceived value. A dollar or a stock is valuable
because people agree that it's valuable. Gold is a rare
mineral with many practical applications, but the majority of it
is used to make jewelry. It has value because humans
have simply decided that it does. And with all of
this in mind, FDR came up with a very controversial
(07:22):
solution to solve the country's problems all at once. He
issued Executive Order six' one zero, two which made it
illegal For americans to old gold bullion or. Coins they
had to trade it into the government for. DOLLARS fdr
also began printing more dollars and reduced the value of
a dollar from one twentieth of an ounce of gold
(07:43):
to one thirty fifth of an ounce of. Gold this
basically created the scenario that individual gold hoarders had hoped
would benefit, them but instead it allowed it to benefit
the federal. Government and this might have hurt the Average
american if it wasn't for the fact that it completely
reinvated the. Economy with The american dollar now, Worthless american
(08:04):
goods were now in higher demand overseas because they were.
Cheaper american manufacturers could resume high levels of, production attract,
investors and employ more. Workers, meanwhile the government could leverage
its gold reserves to spend more on government programs that
also benefited the Average. American the gold standard was effectively
ended in THE us because now gold was just a
(08:27):
commodity that the government bought and, sold not this all
powerful resource that the dollar depended. On it continued to
be illegal to own, gold although gold, jewelry, artwork and
manufactured parts were allowed all the way up until nineteen seventy.
Four today you can buy gold like you might buy
a publicly traded, stock or even purchase physical coins and
(08:47):
bars that you can. Hold that, is of, course if
you can afford. It so the next time someone uses
the phrase the gold, standard just remember how complicated that
idea really is and how our move away from it
transformed the. WORLD i hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour
(09:07):
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
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
(09:29):
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):
If you're a fan of reality TV, then you might
have seen the British television show World's Most Dangerous Roads.
The host travelsome of the most treacherous roads the world over,
taking viewers through hairpin turns and dizzy heights. Or maybe
you're a fan of Deadliest Catch, a series that follows
crab fishermen braving rough weather and rogue waves out on
(00:56):
the bearing Straight. We have long had a fascinating with
dangerous jobs and those who perform them. Like Ronan. He
spent years working a deadly job as well, But unlike
reality stars, he doesn't do it for the money. In fact,
he doesn't get paid at all. Every day he risks
his life to help make communities safer, and he does
(01:17):
it for free. On a hot April morning in twenty
twenty five, Ronan arrived at the commune of Schwa'oram in Cambodia,
where he'd been working for the past four years. His
job is perilous and few are qualified to do it.
He arrived at the edge of a vast grassy valley
marked by a series of metal poles. These poles hold
up a grid of high wires that Ronan uses to
(01:39):
move across the field section by section. It's taken years
to canvass the entire area, but all he has left
now is a small section in the corner by the
jungle tree line. For safety, his partners clip him into
a bright red harness so that his feet barely touched
the ground, and then light as air. He makes his
way mission impossible style, across the grid, searching for any
(02:02):
indication that there might be something lethal buried beneath the grass.
Over the past four years, Ronan has found dozens of
buried land mines, all left over from the Cambodian Vietnamese War.
He works for a Dutch organization called the Anti Personnel
Landmines Detection Product Development or at POPO for short. Their
(02:22):
mission is to travel the world clearing out land mine
fields left behind in former conflict zones. It's estimated that
there are more than one hundred and ten million land
mines buried in sixty countries around the world, but the
number of land mines in Cambodia has been especially treacherous.
Over the last forty five years, land mines have caused
more than sixty five thousand deaths in Cambodia and more
(02:45):
cases of amputation due to land mines than in any
other country in the world. But at Popo is committed
to change that with the help of highly skilled workers
like Ronan. Since they were founded twenty five years ago,
they have cleared almost one hundred and seventy fires, land mines,
and other explosives, making the world a safer place. One
of the amazing things about Ronan is that rather than
(03:08):
scanning the landscape for signs of these deadly devices with
his eyes, he uses a different method his sense of smell.
The chemical compounds found in land mines can be detected,
and when he locates one, Ronan points out its location
to his partners By doing something incredibly risky, he stands
on top of it. Thankfully, Ronan does it way enough
(03:29):
to actually detonate the land mine. In fact, he only
clocks in at roughly three pounds, and that's because Ronan
isn't human. No, He's an African giant pouched rat, the
largest species of rats in the world. He's about three
feet long from nose to tail, with oversized ears and
a bullet shaped face, and like most giant pouch rats,
(03:50):
he is highly intelligent, with a keen sense of smell,
which makes him an ideal candidate for this kind of work.
In fact, at Popo, rats are trained to detect far
more than land mines. Some of Ronan's co workers are
capable of smelling tuberculosis in medical settings to help stop
the spread of the deadly disease. They can also sniff
out earthquake survivors buried beneath rubble, and detect smuggled wildlife
(04:14):
parts like elephant tusks to help catch poachers. But few
rats are as prolific as Ronan. In fact, earlier this year,
he became the first Apopo rat to detect one hundred
land mines, setting a new world record, and in the
days that followed, he finished his sweep of that particular valley,
detecting nine more. That is, one hundred and nine more
(04:35):
lives potentially saved and one hundred and nine land mines
rated out. You may have heard the phrase the gold standard,
(04:55):
but it's not something most people fully understand. And sure,
we know that gold is valuable, and they might be
aware that the American government keeps a lot of it
at Fort Knox, but mostly just because of the James
Bond movie Goldfinger. In reality, the gold standard is no
longer in use, although gold still holds its value. It's
a long curious history, one that includes multiple well known presidents.
(05:19):
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt inherited a catastrophic economy when he
took office in nineteen thirty three. The nineteen twenties had
been prosperous, but led to overproduction, overspending, and over speculation
that caused the stock market to crash in nineteen twenty
nine and the subsequent Great Depression to follow. Herbert Hoover,
(05:40):
the president before FDR, tried to solve the problem by
raising tariffs on other countries and revoking the work visas
of almost two million Mexican immigrants. He hoped to make
more off the exports to other countries and to provide
more jobs for Americans, but neither action worked. The other
countries just raised tariffs of their own in return, and
(06:01):
the loss of Mexican immigrants actually led to more unemployments
among American citizens as corporations suffered from the loss of
cheap labor. While assessing the situation, FDR felt that the
United States needed to incentivize other countries to buy its exports. Again,
the country was suffering from deflation. In other words, prices
(06:21):
had far exceeded demand because no one was buying anything anymore. Also,
at this time, most global currencies were based on what
was known as the gold standard, the idea that the
government of a country could back up its currency with
actual physical gold. In nineteen thirty three, a US dollar
was worth one twentieth of an ounce of gold. Some
(06:41):
feared that the government would try to print more dollars
to pay off its debts, and this would mean that
money was worth even less than gold, and so Americans
started to hoard what gold they had. The idea was
that even if the dollar became worthless, the perceived intrinsic
value of gold might still make it worth something. A
bit confusing, but keep in mind economics is all just
(07:02):
about perceived value. A dollar or a stock is valuable
because people agree that it's valuable. Gold is a rare
mineral with many practical applications, but the majority of it
is used to make jewelry. It has value because humans
have simply decided that it does. And with all of
this in mind, FDR came up with a very controversial
(07:22):
solution to solve the country's problems all at once. He
issued Executive Order six' one zero, two which made it
illegal For americans to old gold bullion or. Coins they
had to trade it into the government for. DOLLARS fdr
also began printing more dollars and reduced the value of
a dollar from one twentieth of an ounce of gold
(07:43):
to one thirty fifth of an ounce of. Gold this
basically created the scenario that individual gold hoarders had hoped
would benefit, them but instead it allowed it to benefit
the federal. Government and this might have hurt the Average
american if it wasn't for the fact that it completely
reinvated the. Economy with The american dollar now, Worthless american
(08:04):
goods were now in higher demand overseas because they were.
Cheaper american manufacturers could resume high levels of, production attract,
investors and employ more. Workers, meanwhile the government could leverage
its gold reserves to spend more on government programs that
also benefited the Average. American the gold standard was effectively
ended in THE us because now gold was just a
(08:27):
commodity that the government bought and, sold not this all
powerful resource that the dollar depended. On it continued to
be illegal to own, gold although gold, jewelry, artwork and
manufactured parts were allowed all the way up until nineteen seventy.
Four today you can buy gold like you might buy
a publicly traded, stock or even purchase physical coins and
(08:47):
bars that you can. Hold that, is of, course if
you can afford. It so the next time someone uses
the phrase the gold, standard just remember how complicated that
idea really is and how our move away from it
transformed the. WORLD i hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour
(09:07):
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
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
(09:29):
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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