September 10, 2026 • 11 mins
Today's tour through the Cabinet includes some particularly shocking stories.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grim & Mild.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
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.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
The paintings are instantly recognizable, even for those with only
a cursory knowledge of art. The eyes of the children
stare into yours, disproportionately large, inviting comparisons to that most
famous of images, the windows to the soul. Some people
found them kitschy or saccharine, but their success was immeasurable.
(00:58):
Few artists experienced the same titanic success as Walter Keene,
who in the early 1960s became known as the artist
behind Big Eyes Paintings, pictures of mostly children with large,
expressive eyes. They sold by the thousands as postcards, prints,
and murals. When asked what drew him to paint children,
(01:19):
he always spoke of his own experiences in the aftermath
of the Second World War, seeing the orphans stumbling through
the rubble in Berlin, their eyes entreating him for help.
In his own words, as if goaded by a kind
of frantic despair, I sketched these dirty, ragged little victims
of the war with their bruised, lacerated minds and bodies,
(01:41):
their matted hair and runny noses. Here my life as
a painter began in earnest. The man himself was not
as melancholy as the children he painted. He was a charmer,
a born salesman. He spoke soulfully about his work, but
if he carried any ghosts from the war, they would
only come out through his paintbrush. He and his wife
(02:03):
Margaret lived an idyllic life. They had a spacious house
with a pool and servants, two young daughters, everything a
successful artist could want. Walter even published his memoirs in 1963,
basking in praise from Natalie Wood and Andy Warhol. In
spite of his success, though, his personal life was not perfect.
(02:25):
In 1965, he and his wife Margaret divorced, and she
moved to Hawaii. She didn't go out much and had
few friends. Until finally, in October of 1970, she gave
an interview with a reporter where she made a startling allegation.
She had done all of the paintings that Walter had
made his fortune from. While he was living the life
(02:46):
of a nouveau riche superstar, she was shut away in
a back room, curtains drawn, painting 16 hours a day. Originally,
he hadn't even told her that he'd been taking credit
for the paintings. only copying to it when she accompanied
him to one of the art shows. She claimed that
she tried to teach Walter how to paint, and he
had never been able to manage it. He'd been much
(03:09):
more comfortable selling than creating. Once Margaret Keene's allegations were
made public, Walter went on the offensive, claiming that his
ex-wife was trying to ruin him. They battled back and
forth in the press, with the public watching eagerly to
see who was telling the truth. At the request of
a reporter, Margaret challenged Walter to a paint-off in San
(03:31):
Francisco's Union Square in November of 1970. She showed up
with the canvas and her paints, and Walter was nowhere
to be seen. In front of a crowd of onlookers,
Margaret deftly completed one of the big-eyed child's drawings, and
it looked just like any of the others. For many,
this settled the issue of who was the real artist
(03:52):
of the two. But Walter wasn't done. He spent most
of the following decade drinking, but when he wasn't doing that,
he was complaining about his ex-wife trying to ruin him.
A reporter from USA Today wrote up his side of
the story in the early 1980s. And Margaret sued for defamation.
And in 1986, the two finally reunited face-to-face in a
(04:14):
Hawaiian courtroom. The judge ordered both of them to paint
a picture of a big-eyed child right there in the
courtroom to prove once and for all who was telling
the truth. Margaret completed hers in 53 minutes. Walter didn't
even pick up his brush. He claimed he was suffering
from a shoulder injury and was unable to paint. This
(04:35):
excuse did not hold water with the court, though, and
Margaret was deemed the victor in the case. She was
awarded $ 4 million in damages, but received none of it.
Walter had spent all his fortune in the 16 years
since 1970. If that bothered the fully vindicated Margaret Keene,
She didn't give any sign. The waifs that she painted
(04:57):
after her separation from Walter were a stark contrast with
the melancholy of the war orphans that he was so
fond of making up stories about. They were sunny, cheerful figures,
speaking to the artist's relief at being finally free from
her own prison. Even though it was a defamation lawsuit,
the ultimate result was an artist regaining ownership of her work,
(05:19):
like a custody battle, for an army of painted children.
In 1499, Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci and his fleet sailed
(05:42):
into a large gulf just off of the South Caribbean Sea.
It was a strange, mysterious body of water that seemed
to cut wide and deep into the very heart of
the dark green rainforests of South America. This was practically
a new planet to Amerigo. He had seen rainbow-colored birds,
spotted giant cats, and tiny neon frogs that could kill
(06:04):
you with their spit. but he wasn't prepared for what
he saw next. The gulf, you see, widened into a
massive lake hidden in the jungle. Wooden houses on stilts
dotted the banks. Native peoples looked up in shock at
the massive caravels that were gliding toward their home. But
despite that, it would be the Europeans who were in
(06:25):
for the greatest shock of all. As the sun fell
and the sky above the lake turned to night, a
massive jagged lightning bolt struck down at the mouth of
the lake. Amerigo and his men jumped in surprise. The
sky flickered bright purple as several more lightning bolts struck down.
The sky bloomed with electricity like veins in human flesh.
(06:46):
The sailors couldn't turn their eyes away from this supernatural phenomenon.
They got no sleep as the sky remained illuminated by
lightning all night. They wondered if Jupiter himself was putting
on a display. But Amerigo was more fascinated by something else.
As he looked at the small shacks where the indigenous
people lived, he realized that they were sleeping soundly. To them,
(07:09):
the lightning was nothing special, and that meant that it
wasn't a unique phenomenon. It wasn't some special display from
Jupiter to welcome the Italians to this strange land. In fact,
Amerigo soon realized the lightning happened most nights of the week.
He would never forget this strange place and its strange
people who lived in houses on the water. It reminded
(07:31):
him of a city in his home country, a city
called Venice. So he named this new country Venezuela, which
means Little Venice. Today we know it as Venezuela. The
local people, the Bari, had a name for the river
that fed into the lake where the lightning strikes, and
they called it Catatumbo, or House of Thunder. A few
(07:52):
decades later, in 1529, the lake was considerably less peaceful.
The Spanish had arrived and were warring with various indigenous tribes.
One of these tribal leaders, Chief Mara, was beloved by
his people. They clashed with the conquistadors, clubs and arrows
facing swords and muskets. Chief Mara inevitably fell, and his
(08:13):
people despaired, calling out the words Maracayo, which means Mara fell.
Maracayo eventually became Maracaibo in Spanish, and now the lake
had a new name, Maracaibo, with Catatumbo lightning at its mouth.
in the wildland of Venezuela. The lightning would continue to
fascinate explorers for centuries. In 1823, during the Venezuelan War
(08:35):
for Independence, ships clashed on the lake as lightning struck
all around them. These storms bore witness to the nation
gaining its freedom from years of European colonization. Throughout the
1910s and 1920s, the Venezuelan government discovered oil deposits in
and around Lake Maracaibo. inviting European companies to actually come
(08:56):
in and develop the deposits and export the oil. And soon,
oil pipelines crisscrossed the bottom of the lake, with glistening
black leaks sometimes rising to the previously pristine surface. In
the 1960s, researchers arrived to study the lightning. They wondered
if it would be connected to the methane gas released
by the oil. There was also a fair amount of
(09:18):
uranium found in the surrounding mountains, and perhaps that was
attracting the lightning. But some mysteries take a very long
time to solve. And it wasn't until 2015, just a
little over a decade ago, that local researcher Angel Gui-Munoz
released weather balloons over the lake that allowed for a
closer study. And he soon found that all of the
(09:39):
previous theories had been wrong. The sun heats the Caribbean
and Lake Maracaibo during the day, pulling water into the
atmosphere and and making the air above the water hot
and moist. When the sun goes down, that air rises,
creating strong winds that blow across the lake. They hit
the surrounding mountains and rise, where the moist droplets collide
(10:02):
with ice crystals in the cold mountain air. And that
friction between the moisture droplets and the ice crystals is
what creates the lightning, which is visible at least half
of the year. So it's not Jupiter or And it's
not some ancient god stoking battles between Europeans or indigenous peoples.
But it is the most electrically active place in the world.
(10:24):
So much so that it's become known by one final name.
The Maracaibo Beacon. Curious sailors lost in the Caribbean can
see it from miles away and can be drawn to
safety by its flashing. Just don't get too curious. Most
people who live around the lake are safe because lightning
mostly lands in the swamps to the south. but it's
(10:45):
an extreme amount of lightning, and it kills about three
unlucky people each year. I know that most people say
that lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but
Lake Maracaibo is a curious exception. I hope you enjoyed
today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities. This show
(11:06):
was created by me, Aaron Manke, in partnership with iHeart Podcasts,
researched and written by the Grim & Mild team, and
produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about the show and
the people who make it over at grimandmild.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
(11:27):
as e-book and audiobook. And 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.com slash grimandmild. And
until next time.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Stay curious.
Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grim & Mild.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
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.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
The paintings are instantly recognizable, even for those with only
a cursory knowledge of art. The eyes of the children
stare into yours, disproportionately large, inviting comparisons to that most
famous of images, the windows to the soul. Some people
found them kitschy or saccharine, but their success was immeasurable.
(00:58):
Few artists experienced the same titanic success as Walter Keene,
who in the early 1960s became known as the artist
behind Big Eyes Paintings, pictures of mostly children with large,
expressive eyes. They sold by the thousands as postcards, prints,
and murals. When asked what drew him to paint children,
(01:19):
he always spoke of his own experiences in the aftermath
of the Second World War, seeing the orphans stumbling through
the rubble in Berlin, their eyes entreating him for help.
In his own words, as if goaded by a kind
of frantic despair, I sketched these dirty, ragged little victims
of the war with their bruised, lacerated minds and bodies,
(01:41):
their matted hair and runny noses. Here my life as
a painter began in earnest. The man himself was not
as melancholy as the children he painted. He was a charmer,
a born salesman. He spoke soulfully about his work, but
if he carried any ghosts from the war, they would
only come out through his paintbrush. He and his wife
(02:03):
Margaret lived an idyllic life. They had a spacious house
with a pool and servants, two young daughters, everything a
successful artist could want. Walter even published his memoirs in 1963,
basking in praise from Natalie Wood and Andy Warhol. In
spite of his success, though, his personal life was not perfect.
(02:25):
In 1965, he and his wife Margaret divorced, and she
moved to Hawaii. She didn't go out much and had
few friends. Until finally, in October of 1970, she gave
an interview with a reporter where she made a startling allegation.
She had done all of the paintings that Walter had
made his fortune from. While he was living the life
(02:46):
of a nouveau riche superstar, she was shut away in
a back room, curtains drawn, painting 16 hours a day. Originally,
he hadn't even told her that he'd been taking credit
for the paintings. only copying to it when she accompanied
him to one of the art shows. She claimed that
she tried to teach Walter how to paint, and he
had never been able to manage it. He'd been much
(03:09):
more comfortable selling than creating. Once Margaret Keene's allegations were
made public, Walter went on the offensive, claiming that his
ex-wife was trying to ruin him. They battled back and
forth in the press, with the public watching eagerly to
see who was telling the truth. At the request of
a reporter, Margaret challenged Walter to a paint-off in San
(03:31):
Francisco's Union Square in November of 1970. She showed up
with the canvas and her paints, and Walter was nowhere
to be seen. In front of a crowd of onlookers,
Margaret deftly completed one of the big-eyed child's drawings, and
it looked just like any of the others. For many,
this settled the issue of who was the real artist
(03:52):
of the two. But Walter wasn't done. He spent most
of the following decade drinking, but when he wasn't doing that,
he was complaining about his ex-wife trying to ruin him.
A reporter from USA Today wrote up his side of
the story in the early 1980s. And Margaret sued for defamation.
And in 1986, the two finally reunited face-to-face in a
(04:14):
Hawaiian courtroom. The judge ordered both of them to paint
a picture of a big-eyed child right there in the
courtroom to prove once and for all who was telling
the truth. Margaret completed hers in 53 minutes. Walter didn't
even pick up his brush. He claimed he was suffering
from a shoulder injury and was unable to paint. This
(04:35):
excuse did not hold water with the court, though, and
Margaret was deemed the victor in the case. She was
awarded $ 4 million in damages, but received none of it.
Walter had spent all his fortune in the 16 years
since 1970. If that bothered the fully vindicated Margaret Keene,
She didn't give any sign. The waifs that she painted
(04:57):
after her separation from Walter were a stark contrast with
the melancholy of the war orphans that he was so
fond of making up stories about. They were sunny, cheerful figures,
speaking to the artist's relief at being finally free from
her own prison. Even though it was a defamation lawsuit,
the ultimate result was an artist regaining ownership of her work,
(05:19):
like a custody battle, for an army of painted children.
In 1499, Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci and his fleet sailed
(05:42):
into a large gulf just off of the South Caribbean Sea.
It was a strange, mysterious body of water that seemed
to cut wide and deep into the very heart of
the dark green rainforests of South America. This was practically
a new planet to Amerigo. He had seen rainbow-colored birds,
spotted giant cats, and tiny neon frogs that could kill
(06:04):
you with their spit. but he wasn't prepared for what
he saw next. The gulf, you see, widened into a
massive lake hidden in the jungle. Wooden houses on stilts
dotted the banks. Native peoples looked up in shock at
the massive caravels that were gliding toward their home. But
despite that, it would be the Europeans who were in
(06:25):
for the greatest shock of all. As the sun fell
and the sky above the lake turned to night, a
massive jagged lightning bolt struck down at the mouth of
the lake. Amerigo and his men jumped in surprise. The
sky flickered bright purple as several more lightning bolts struck down.
The sky bloomed with electricity like veins in human flesh.
(06:46):
The sailors couldn't turn their eyes away from this supernatural phenomenon.
They got no sleep as the sky remained illuminated by
lightning all night. They wondered if Jupiter himself was putting
on a display. But Amerigo was more fascinated by something else.
As he looked at the small shacks where the indigenous
people lived, he realized that they were sleeping soundly. To them,
(07:09):
the lightning was nothing special, and that meant that it
wasn't a unique phenomenon. It wasn't some special display from
Jupiter to welcome the Italians to this strange land. In fact,
Amerigo soon realized the lightning happened most nights of the week.
He would never forget this strange place and its strange
people who lived in houses on the water. It reminded
(07:31):
him of a city in his home country, a city
called Venice. So he named this new country Venezuela, which
means Little Venice. Today we know it as Venezuela. The
local people, the Bari, had a name for the river
that fed into the lake where the lightning strikes, and
they called it Catatumbo, or House of Thunder. A few
(07:52):
decades later, in 1529, the lake was considerably less peaceful.
The Spanish had arrived and were warring with various indigenous tribes.
One of these tribal leaders, Chief Mara, was beloved by
his people. They clashed with the conquistadors, clubs and arrows
facing swords and muskets. Chief Mara inevitably fell, and his
(08:13):
people despaired, calling out the words Maracayo, which means Mara fell.
Maracayo eventually became Maracaibo in Spanish, and now the lake
had a new name, Maracaibo, with Catatumbo lightning at its mouth.
in the wildland of Venezuela. The lightning would continue to
fascinate explorers for centuries. In 1823, during the Venezuelan War
(08:35):
for Independence, ships clashed on the lake as lightning struck
all around them. These storms bore witness to the nation
gaining its freedom from years of European colonization. Throughout the
1910s and 1920s, the Venezuelan government discovered oil deposits in
and around Lake Maracaibo. inviting European companies to actually come
(08:56):
in and develop the deposits and export the oil. And soon,
oil pipelines crisscrossed the bottom of the lake, with glistening
black leaks sometimes rising to the previously pristine surface. In
the 1960s, researchers arrived to study the lightning. They wondered
if it would be connected to the methane gas released
by the oil. There was also a fair amount of
(09:18):
uranium found in the surrounding mountains, and perhaps that was
attracting the lightning. But some mysteries take a very long
time to solve. And it wasn't until 2015, just a
little over a decade ago, that local researcher Angel Gui-Munoz
released weather balloons over the lake that allowed for a
closer study. And he soon found that all of the
(09:39):
previous theories had been wrong. The sun heats the Caribbean
and Lake Maracaibo during the day, pulling water into the
atmosphere and and making the air above the water hot
and moist. When the sun goes down, that air rises,
creating strong winds that blow across the lake. They hit
the surrounding mountains and rise, where the moist droplets collide
(10:02):
with ice crystals in the cold mountain air. And that
friction between the moisture droplets and the ice crystals is
what creates the lightning, which is visible at least half
of the year. So it's not Jupiter or And it's
not some ancient god stoking battles between Europeans or indigenous peoples.
But it is the most electrically active place in the world.
(10:24):
So much so that it's become known by one final name.
The Maracaibo Beacon. Curious sailors lost in the Caribbean can
see it from miles away and can be drawn to
safety by its flashing. Just don't get too curious. Most
people who live around the lake are safe because lightning
mostly lands in the swamps to the south. but it's
(10:45):
an extreme amount of lightning, and it kills about three
unlucky people each year. I know that most people say
that lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but
Lake Maracaibo is a curious exception. I hope you enjoyed
today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities. This show
(11:06):
was created by me, Aaron Manke, in partnership with iHeart Podcasts,
researched and written by the Grim & Mild team, and
produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about the show and
the people who make it over at grimandmild.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
(11:27):
as e-book and audiobook. And 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.com slash grimandmild. And
until next time.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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