February 26, 2026 • 10 mins
Interactions with our neighbors can sometimes provide history with curious moments to remember. Here is a pair of tales we think you'll enjoy.
Order the official Cabinet of Curiosities book by clicking here today, and get ready to enjoy some curious reading!
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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):
Long before it haunted medieval stories, the Bacterium Yoursenia pestis
emerged on the steps of Central Asia, setting the stage
for a catastrophe that would later be remembered across Europe
as the Black Death. In the thirteen hundreds, it was
carried westward in caravans on the Silk Road, and in
thirteen forty seven it made itself known to the population
(00:57):
of Europe in horrifying fashion in the town of Messina,
when twelve ships docked from the Black Sea. Port workers
and onlookers were horrified to discover that the bulk of
the sailors aboard each of the ships had died, covered
in black boils. And in the many years to follow
it would decimate nations and in one case may have
actually been used as the first instance of biological warfare
(01:21):
in the fourteenth century, Crimea was a hotspot for commerce,
and the Republic of Genoa now northern Italy, had a
trading outpost in Kafa, where enslave people's silk and foodstuffs
were bought and sold. But the Genoese town stood as
an affront to the Golden Horde, an offshoot of the
Mongolian Empire under the rule of Khan Johnny Beg. Due
(01:42):
to religious differences and trade disagreements, the Khan found the
Genoese troublesome, and after a massive brawl between Muslims and
Christians in the city of Tana, they laid siege to
that city. The Genoese escaped to Kafa, another trading post
long allowed by the Golden Horde, and continued their business there,
but the Khan had grown tired of the Genoese. Tensions
(02:03):
rose enough that the Genoese government sent a fleet to Kafa,
including a considerable number of soldiers, to fortify the settlement's defenses.
It was the end of August in thirteen forty six
when the Golden Horde arrived to surround Kafa with an
army numbering in the thousands. They began the work of
laying siege to the city, digging trenches and building siege
(02:23):
towers from which to attack. Any attempt by the Genoese
to halt their action was violently pushed back, and so
by early September, as stones flew from trebuchets and archers
sent cascades of arrows over the city walls, the Genoese
were cut off from any reinforcements or supplies that could
ever come by land. Their attackers did not go unscathed,
(02:44):
though the plague had entered the Mongol camp with the
rats and quickly began infecting their army. Now historians all
agree that the plague eventually did spread on to the Genoese,
but a particular story emerged to explain how. You see.
In addition to the stones and arrows that the Golden
Horde hurled over the walls of the city, they also
began launching the bodies of their plague victims, and as
(03:05):
the defenders inside the walls attempted to remove those bodies,
the disease began to infect them too. As a result,
the Genoese found themselves increasingly outnumbered as their own fell
to the plague. In desperation, they came up with a
daring plan. Under the cover of night, they slipped out
from the city walls and set fire to the trebuchets
and siege engines that had caused so much destruction, attacking
(03:28):
those who came to fight the blaze. By the time
they made it back to the city, they had managed
to kill a large number of their attackers, although not
nearly enough to make a difference. In the end. It
wasn't clever warfare that finally ended the siege. It was
a second wave of plague that swept through the Golden Horde,
killing nearly a third of their entire army. This massive
blow made the CON's campaign increasingly untenable. On the fourth
(03:53):
of October, the Khan made the decision to abandon Kafa.
His men retreated, leaving the besieged city to the Genoese.
It could hardly be described as a victory, though their
own ranks had been ravaged, and the boatloads of victims
that they had sent to other ports only helped us
spread the Black Death across Europe. It was the first
wave of a pandemic that a claim between a quarter
(04:13):
and one third of the entire population of Europe. The
siege of Kafa illustrates how a single flashpoints can intertwine warfare, trade,
and disease into a torrent that reshapes continents. Although the
Genoese managed to hold the city, the conditions created by
the siege created a series of channels for the Black
Death to make its way into Europe. Whether or not
(04:35):
the Golden Horde truly catapulted plague infested corpses over the
walls remains a topic of debate, but the legacy of
the siege reminds us that the consequences of warfare extend
far beyond the battlefield, creating tragedies that echo down to
us through history. Austin, Texas is home to its fair
(05:07):
share of skyscrapers. The city slogan keep Austin Weird is
exemplified in the unusual designs that are used in buildings
all over the city, from a power plant built in
an Art Deco style to the lonely moonlight towers illuminating
the city at night. Austinites have been redefining urban architecture
for decades, and perhaps no one more than the artist
(05:28):
Vince Hanneman. In nineteen eighty eight, Vince began creating what
has become Austin's most unusual structure, and he did it
in his very own backyard. Weighing over sixty tons and
standing more than thirty feet high, it is much smaller
than the skyscrapers a few blocks north. But what makes
this tower so special are the materials used in its construction.
(05:48):
Aside from a few iron trusses, Vince's entire backyard structure
is made of junk. It started with Vince seeking out
heavy pieces of mass produced materials, but most of the
structure today is made from donations local schools, closing businesses,
tour groups of other artisans. They all bring something to contribute.
(06:09):
You might be picturing a massive pile of trash in
someone's backyard, but Vince's build is much more artistic than that.
The central tower of the structure is mostly discarded car
bumpers and old plumbing equipment, with a thrown room at
its center. An old red recliner welded to a mountain
of old bicycle parts sits in the middle, and on
either side of it are staircases made of rusting brass
(06:31):
instruments and pieces of iron fences. The cathedral of junk
has quite a few levels and the structures are sound
enough for most people to ascend them. The second floor
of the cathedral contains a lookout point where visitors can
see the Austin skyline from Vince's own backyard. But one
issue here is that you can also see Vince's cathedral
from pretty far away. Is see. Austin might embrace its
(06:54):
weird side and lean into creativity more than a lot
of other cities, but that doesn't mean that Vince's neighbors
are all that thrilled to be living next door to
this particular public piece of art. From some perspectives, the
cathedral is basically just a pyramid of trash in someone's backyard,
and so a few of the neighbors formed a group
and they complained to the City of Austin. At first,
(07:14):
they tried to get the whole thing demolished. Unfortunately, Texas
is big on personal freedoms, and the local government wasn't
keen to remove a community landmark just because some people
thought that it was an iore, which is why in
twenty ten that same group of neighbors got the Austin
Code Department involved. Maybe there wasn't much that you could
do about someone's backyard landscaping. But how could anyone be
(07:36):
sure the building was even safe if a bad storm
or a tornado came their way. What was to stop
debris from flying out from Vince's backyard and straight through
a neighbor's roof or window. When Vince learned the cathedral
would be subjected to dozens of inspections, he thought about
throwing in the towel right then and there. He had
enjoyed making it, certainly, but he had never intended to
(07:56):
make junk building his entire life. But like all good Texans,
Vince believed a person should be able to do what
they pleased with their own property. His mind was made up.
Let the inspections begin, and so they did. City officials
poked and prodded every inch of Vince's creation, looking for
weak spots, and they found virtually none. This thing is
(08:17):
built to withstand Texas storms, Vince boasted to one man
who did his best to shake the base of the structure. Engineers, inspectors,
public safety officers all did their best to find a flaw.
In the end, only one thing had to go. As
Vince describes it, I called it the TV pyramid. About
two hundred old screens i'd stacked together. One guy told me,
(08:38):
this isn't a pyramid, this is just a pile. And
I told him, well, what kind of pile experts are you?
Aren't we just a kind of pile. The engineer was
unmoved by this philosophical question, though, and the pyramid came down. Today,
they have been moved to a smaller zen garden of TVs.
Vince is still welcoming guests into his backyard cathedral. He's
(08:59):
happy to answer question stus about where things came from
or how he put them together. But that isn't what
everyone wants to know, Vince says. People ask me all
the time, what made you want to do this like
it had some sort of profound meaning. I just did
it because I liked it, and when I stop liking it,
I'll take it down. And as for those who love
what Vince has done for Austin's artistic community, they hope
(09:22):
that day never comes. I hope you enjoyed today's guided
tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities. This show was created
by me Aaron Manke in partnership with iHeart Podcasts, researched
and written by the Grim and Mild team. And produced
by Jesse Funk. Learn more about the show and the
(09:42):
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 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.
(10:03):
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):
Long before it haunted medieval stories, the Bacterium Yoursenia pestis
emerged on the steps of Central Asia, setting the stage
for a catastrophe that would later be remembered across Europe
as the Black Death. In the thirteen hundreds, it was
carried westward in caravans on the Silk Road, and in
thirteen forty seven it made itself known to the population
(00:57):
of Europe in horrifying fashion in the town of Messina,
when twelve ships docked from the Black Sea. Port workers
and onlookers were horrified to discover that the bulk of
the sailors aboard each of the ships had died, covered
in black boils. And in the many years to follow
it would decimate nations and in one case may have
actually been used as the first instance of biological warfare
(01:21):
in the fourteenth century, Crimea was a hotspot for commerce,
and the Republic of Genoa now northern Italy, had a
trading outpost in Kafa, where enslave people's silk and foodstuffs
were bought and sold. But the Genoese town stood as
an affront to the Golden Horde, an offshoot of the
Mongolian Empire under the rule of Khan Johnny Beg. Due
(01:42):
to religious differences and trade disagreements, the Khan found the
Genoese troublesome, and after a massive brawl between Muslims and
Christians in the city of Tana, they laid siege to
that city. The Genoese escaped to Kafa, another trading post
long allowed by the Golden Horde, and continued their business there,
but the Khan had grown tired of the Genoese. Tensions
(02:03):
rose enough that the Genoese government sent a fleet to Kafa,
including a considerable number of soldiers, to fortify the settlement's defenses.
It was the end of August in thirteen forty six
when the Golden Horde arrived to surround Kafa with an
army numbering in the thousands. They began the work of
laying siege to the city, digging trenches and building siege
(02:23):
towers from which to attack. Any attempt by the Genoese
to halt their action was violently pushed back, and so
by early September, as stones flew from trebuchets and archers
sent cascades of arrows over the city walls, the Genoese
were cut off from any reinforcements or supplies that could
ever come by land. Their attackers did not go unscathed,
(02:44):
though the plague had entered the Mongol camp with the
rats and quickly began infecting their army. Now historians all
agree that the plague eventually did spread on to the Genoese,
but a particular story emerged to explain how. You see.
In addition to the stones and arrows that the Golden
Horde hurled over the walls of the city, they also
began launching the bodies of their plague victims, and as
(03:05):
the defenders inside the walls attempted to remove those bodies,
the disease began to infect them too. As a result,
the Genoese found themselves increasingly outnumbered as their own fell
to the plague. In desperation, they came up with a
daring plan. Under the cover of night, they slipped out
from the city walls and set fire to the trebuchets
and siege engines that had caused so much destruction, attacking
(03:28):
those who came to fight the blaze. By the time
they made it back to the city, they had managed
to kill a large number of their attackers, although not
nearly enough to make a difference. In the end. It
wasn't clever warfare that finally ended the siege. It was
a second wave of plague that swept through the Golden Horde,
killing nearly a third of their entire army. This massive
blow made the CON's campaign increasingly untenable. On the fourth
(03:53):
of October, the Khan made the decision to abandon Kafa.
His men retreated, leaving the besieged city to the Genoese.
It could hardly be described as a victory, though their
own ranks had been ravaged, and the boatloads of victims
that they had sent to other ports only helped us
spread the Black Death across Europe. It was the first
wave of a pandemic that a claim between a quarter
(04:13):
and one third of the entire population of Europe. The
siege of Kafa illustrates how a single flashpoints can intertwine warfare, trade,
and disease into a torrent that reshapes continents. Although the
Genoese managed to hold the city, the conditions created by
the siege created a series of channels for the Black
Death to make its way into Europe. Whether or not
(04:35):
the Golden Horde truly catapulted plague infested corpses over the
walls remains a topic of debate, but the legacy of
the siege reminds us that the consequences of warfare extend
far beyond the battlefield, creating tragedies that echo down to
us through history. Austin, Texas is home to its fair
(05:07):
share of skyscrapers. The city slogan keep Austin Weird is
exemplified in the unusual designs that are used in buildings
all over the city, from a power plant built in
an Art Deco style to the lonely moonlight towers illuminating
the city at night. Austinites have been redefining urban architecture
for decades, and perhaps no one more than the artist
(05:28):
Vince Hanneman. In nineteen eighty eight, Vince began creating what
has become Austin's most unusual structure, and he did it
in his very own backyard. Weighing over sixty tons and
standing more than thirty feet high, it is much smaller
than the skyscrapers a few blocks north. But what makes
this tower so special are the materials used in its construction.
(05:48):
Aside from a few iron trusses, Vince's entire backyard structure
is made of junk. It started with Vince seeking out
heavy pieces of mass produced materials, but most of the
structure today is made from donations local schools, closing businesses,
tour groups of other artisans. They all bring something to contribute.
(06:09):
You might be picturing a massive pile of trash in
someone's backyard, but Vince's build is much more artistic than that.
The central tower of the structure is mostly discarded car
bumpers and old plumbing equipment, with a thrown room at
its center. An old red recliner welded to a mountain
of old bicycle parts sits in the middle, and on
either side of it are staircases made of rusting brass
(06:31):
instruments and pieces of iron fences. The cathedral of junk
has quite a few levels and the structures are sound
enough for most people to ascend them. The second floor
of the cathedral contains a lookout point where visitors can
see the Austin skyline from Vince's own backyard. But one
issue here is that you can also see Vince's cathedral
from pretty far away. Is see. Austin might embrace its
(06:54):
weird side and lean into creativity more than a lot
of other cities, but that doesn't mean that Vince's neighbors
are all that thrilled to be living next door to
this particular public piece of art. From some perspectives, the
cathedral is basically just a pyramid of trash in someone's backyard,
and so a few of the neighbors formed a group
and they complained to the City of Austin. At first,
(07:14):
they tried to get the whole thing demolished. Unfortunately, Texas
is big on personal freedoms, and the local government wasn't
keen to remove a community landmark just because some people
thought that it was an iore, which is why in
twenty ten that same group of neighbors got the Austin
Code Department involved. Maybe there wasn't much that you could
do about someone's backyard landscaping. But how could anyone be
(07:36):
sure the building was even safe if a bad storm
or a tornado came their way. What was to stop
debris from flying out from Vince's backyard and straight through
a neighbor's roof or window. When Vince learned the cathedral
would be subjected to dozens of inspections, he thought about
throwing in the towel right then and there. He had
enjoyed making it, certainly, but he had never intended to
(07:56):
make junk building his entire life. But like all good Texans,
Vince believed a person should be able to do what
they pleased with their own property. His mind was made up.
Let the inspections begin, and so they did. City officials
poked and prodded every inch of Vince's creation, looking for
weak spots, and they found virtually none. This thing is
(08:17):
built to withstand Texas storms, Vince boasted to one man
who did his best to shake the base of the structure. Engineers, inspectors,
public safety officers all did their best to find a flaw.
In the end, only one thing had to go. As
Vince describes it, I called it the TV pyramid. About
two hundred old screens i'd stacked together. One guy told me,
(08:38):
this isn't a pyramid, this is just a pile. And
I told him, well, what kind of pile experts are you?
Aren't we just a kind of pile. The engineer was
unmoved by this philosophical question, though, and the pyramid came down. Today,
they have been moved to a smaller zen garden of TVs.
Vince is still welcoming guests into his backyard cathedral. He's
(08:59):
happy to answer question stus about where things came from
or how he put them together. But that isn't what
everyone wants to know, Vince says. People ask me all
the time, what made you want to do this like
it had some sort of profound meaning. I just did
it because I liked it, and when I stop liking it,
I'll take it down. And as for those who love
what Vince has done for Austin's artistic community, they hope
(09:22):
that day never comes. I hope you enjoyed today's guided
tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities. This show was created
by me Aaron Manke in partnership with iHeart Podcasts, researched
and written by the Grim and Mild team. And produced
by Jesse Funk. Learn more about the show and the
(09:42):
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 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.
(10:03):
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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