November 20, 2025 • 11 mins
Some curiosities are big and dramatic, and some are tiny. Together, though, today's stories are sure to bring you wonder
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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):
There's an old saying that no good deed goes unpunished.
Most of us can probably think of a time when
someone took advantage of our kindness. It made us regrets
ever trying to help. That's all one sea captain was
trying to do, step up in a moment of crisis
and say the day. But he would soon learn that
sometimes doing the right thing can land you in a
world of trouble, or, in this case, in the ocean.
(01:00):
In early April of eighteen thirteen, Richard Brooks woke up
to a beautiful site, a ship on the horizon, its
white sails billowing in the breeze. Brooks shouted with joy
and raced out of the crewed shelter he had built
from fallen palm fronds. He barreled down the beach, desperately
waving his arms trying to attract the ship's attention. Other
(01:22):
members of his crew realized what Brooks was doing and
ran down the beach to help him. Soon, the distant
ship changed course and began sailing directly for them. The
entire crew erupted in cheers. Finally, after months of being
marooned struggling to survive on a deserted tropical island, they
were being saved. Brooks and the other crew members of
(01:43):
the Isabella originally set out from Port Jackson Harbor in
New South Wales, the British prison colony that we know
today as Australia. They left on December fourth of eighteen twelve,
headed for London. There were fifty four people on board
the ship, captain by a weather sea dog named George Higdon.
Richard Brooks was a captain in his own right of
(02:06):
numerous convict transport ships, the ships that brought prists from
Great Britain to the prison colony. But aboard the Isabella,
he was just a passenger traveling home. But once they
were out at sea, Brooks realized that Captain Higdon was incompetent, lazy,
and a drunk. A few weeks into their journey around
Cape horn. For example, Higdon nearly crashed them into Campbell Island,
(02:28):
south of New Zealand. Shortly after that, his inept leadership
during a raging storm nearly sank the ship. About two
months into the tumultuous journey, around two am on February
eighth of eighteen thirteen, Brooks was wandering on deck when
he realized that the Isabella was sailing dangerously close to land.
Then he saw it dead ahead, a jagged rock formation
(02:51):
jutting out of the sea. Brooks raised the alarm and
he took control of the ship. He and the other
crew members jumped into action, desperately trying to steer the
Isabella clear of danger. They swerved just in time to
miss the rocks, only to crash into a reef with
such force that the rudder was torn from the ship.
Now they had no way to steer and were at
(03:13):
the mercy of the wind. The waves around them swelled,
lifting the ship off the reef and ramming it into
a rock ledge, shattering the hull. The wind then pushed
the broken ship toward a sandy beach, where it ran aground.
And that was two months before Brooks and the other
fifty four passengers had been stuck on the deserted island
ever since, living off provisions. They saved from the ship,
(03:36):
but conditions on the island were harsh and morale was
in the gutter, so when a merchant ship appeared in
the distance, the whole crew ran out to flag it down.
Soon the rescue ship dropped anchor offshore, and a boat
of American merchant sailors made their way to the beach.
They offered to take all fifty four passengers of the
Isabella to safety as payment. They just wanted whatever was
(03:57):
left of the Isabella's provisions to help them make the
journey home, and of course Brooks and his fellow passengers
were elated. They made plans to transfer the Isabella's provisions
back to the American ship called the Nanina. The passengers
and merchants got to work, and before long had the
Nanina loaded up and ready to go. And then another
(04:17):
ship came sailing into view. It was a fierce British
warship called the Nancy, and the warship spotted the Nanina
and the broken remains of the Isabella and sent soldiers
ashore to see what was going on. Brooks recounted the
harrowing ordeal that he and his fellow passengers had endured
over these past few months, and expressed how grateful he
(04:39):
was to the American merchants for coming to their rescue.
And it was then that the captain of the Nancy
delivered surprising news. Britain and America had been at war
for almost a year, the War of eighteen twelve, so
technically Brooks and his crew were accepting help from the enemy.
But the captain told Brooks not to worry. He would
take all fifty four Isabelle passengers aboard the Nancy. He
(05:02):
would also be taking the American crew as prisoners of war,
and he would keep their ship as a war prize.
As you'd imagine, Brooks was stunned, but there was little
he could do to help his new American friends. A
few days later, the Nancy sailed away with a brig
full of American prisoners and a new merchant ship in tow.
Although not everybody made it onto the warship. For whatever reason,
(05:26):
the captain of the Nancy chose to leave five men behind,
including the captain of the Nanina. They endured brutal living
conditions for five hundred and thirty four days before finally
being rescued themselves, although thankfully by that time the War
of eighteen twelve was over and the marooned crew members
could catch a ride back to civilization without a trip
(05:47):
to the brig. Most people don't think about this, but
dog breeds are inherently an unnatural creation. Ever since the
domestication of dogs, breeders have made an art of carefully
(06:10):
selecting for traits, behaviors, and physical characteristics that would not
occur in nature. It has grown into a whole industry,
not just for the average pet owner, but for public
spectacle at large. And there is no one who handles
public spectacles quite like the British royal family. We've talked
a lot here about the quirks of royalty in the
(06:31):
twenty first century, so today I'd like to focus on
something that got a lot of focus with the recent
passing of Queen Elizabeth the Second her small army of
stubby legged Corgies. These dogs were as pampered as animals
can possibly be. They had a whole room to themselves
in Buckingham Palace and their own gourmet chef to prepare
meals for them. From her first dog at the age
(06:53):
of eighteen. Until her death at the age of ninety six,
Queen Elizabeth the Second owned sixty three dogs. All of
them were Corgies, though some were technically called Dorgies, which
is a cross between a Corgi and a doxend. The
first of this line was a nobly named Rosevel Golden Eagle,
a Welsh Corgie adopted by the Queen mother after her
(07:14):
daughter fell in love with corgi's. It would become known
by the slightly less noble nickname Dukie, short for the
Duke of York. But the first dog owned by Queen
Elizabeth II herself was Susan, a gift on her eighteenth birthday.
Ever since, she was not without one of these stubby
dogs or another, even quoting to the press, the Corgies
(07:35):
are my family, and like the rest of the royal family,
they were no strangers to public scandal. Now Elizabeth's children
were reportedly much less fond of the dogs than the
Queen herself. They complained the press about barking keeping them
up at night. They seem to respond aggressively to the princes,
although some guests got special treatment. Megan Markell, for instance,
(07:57):
wasn't barked or bitten once when she came to visit
the royal family for the first time. Not everyone has
been so lucky, though. Susan, Elizabeth's first Corgi, attacked a
palace clockwinder in nineteen fifty four. Mailman and police officers
have also been bitten by the corgies at several points
throughout British history, prompting at least one suggestion that Buckingham
(08:19):
Palace should install a Beware the Dogs signed for unwitting visitors.
Elizabeth had her own dog breeding program, which created a
mini dynasty within the walls of the British Palace. They
were to be treated with as much respect as other
members of the royal family. In nineteen ninety nine, for example,
one of the Queen's footmen was demoted when it was
discovered that he enjoyed getting the corgies drunk as a
(08:42):
party trick to amuse the other members of the staff.
The corgi breeding, however, stopped in twenty twelve when Queen
Elizabeth the Second realized that her children did not share
her love of the little dogs. Publicly, she said that
she did not want to leave a bunch of puppies
stranded when she passed away. Ultimately, she would leave two
Corgies behind, Muick and Sandy. One of these went to
(09:05):
Prince Andrew and the other to Prince Andrew's ex wife,
Sarah Ferguson. Though their reign is at an end, these
dogs had a stranglehold on popular culture, not just inspiring
dog shows or bringing a touch of whimsy to the
Queen's photo ops, but as symbols of Queen Elizabeth the
Second herself. In the same way that the Prime Minister
Winston Churchill was often depicted as a bulldog, Queen Elizabeth
(09:30):
would be alongside her Corgies constantly in the public imagination,
in artwork, political cartoons, and media depictions. She was rarely
seen without one of her famous dogs. The popular TV
series in Australia Bluey even depicted Elizabeth I as an
anthropomorphic Corgi in a weird way. The Corgi as a
(09:51):
dog breed is a metaphor for the Royal family itself,
an elaborate family tree of whimsical names which only the
most dedicated British dog lover would know, whose primary purpose
is to exist in the public eye and charm diplomats,
prime ministers, foreign dignitaries, anyone the Queen needs an icebreaker
with and it has to be said, an immense amount
(10:14):
of state funding and power went into the lavish lifestyles
these dogs led. While ultimately harmless, the scale of it
is astonishing, much like the British Royal family themselves. The
world's most extravagant dog show. I hope you've enjoyed today's
guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free
(10:37):
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 it over at the Worldolore dot com. Next time,
(11:01):
stay curious. H
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):
There's an old saying that no good deed goes unpunished.
Most of us can probably think of a time when
someone took advantage of our kindness. It made us regrets
ever trying to help. That's all one sea captain was
trying to do, step up in a moment of crisis
and say the day. But he would soon learn that
sometimes doing the right thing can land you in a
world of trouble, or, in this case, in the ocean.
(01:00):
In early April of eighteen thirteen, Richard Brooks woke up
to a beautiful site, a ship on the horizon, its
white sails billowing in the breeze. Brooks shouted with joy
and raced out of the crewed shelter he had built
from fallen palm fronds. He barreled down the beach, desperately
waving his arms trying to attract the ship's attention. Other
(01:22):
members of his crew realized what Brooks was doing and
ran down the beach to help him. Soon, the distant
ship changed course and began sailing directly for them. The
entire crew erupted in cheers. Finally, after months of being
marooned struggling to survive on a deserted tropical island, they
were being saved. Brooks and the other crew members of
(01:43):
the Isabella originally set out from Port Jackson Harbor in
New South Wales, the British prison colony that we know
today as Australia. They left on December fourth of eighteen twelve,
headed for London. There were fifty four people on board
the ship, captain by a weather sea dog named George Higdon.
Richard Brooks was a captain in his own right of
(02:06):
numerous convict transport ships, the ships that brought prists from
Great Britain to the prison colony. But aboard the Isabella,
he was just a passenger traveling home. But once they
were out at sea, Brooks realized that Captain Higdon was incompetent, lazy,
and a drunk. A few weeks into their journey around
Cape horn. For example, Higdon nearly crashed them into Campbell Island,
(02:28):
south of New Zealand. Shortly after that, his inept leadership
during a raging storm nearly sank the ship. About two
months into the tumultuous journey, around two am on February
eighth of eighteen thirteen, Brooks was wandering on deck when
he realized that the Isabella was sailing dangerously close to land.
Then he saw it dead ahead, a jagged rock formation
(02:51):
jutting out of the sea. Brooks raised the alarm and
he took control of the ship. He and the other
crew members jumped into action, desperately trying to steer the
Isabella clear of danger. They swerved just in time to
miss the rocks, only to crash into a reef with
such force that the rudder was torn from the ship.
Now they had no way to steer and were at
(03:13):
the mercy of the wind. The waves around them swelled,
lifting the ship off the reef and ramming it into
a rock ledge, shattering the hull. The wind then pushed
the broken ship toward a sandy beach, where it ran aground.
And that was two months before Brooks and the other
fifty four passengers had been stuck on the deserted island
ever since, living off provisions. They saved from the ship,
(03:36):
but conditions on the island were harsh and morale was
in the gutter, so when a merchant ship appeared in
the distance, the whole crew ran out to flag it down.
Soon the rescue ship dropped anchor offshore, and a boat
of American merchant sailors made their way to the beach.
They offered to take all fifty four passengers of the
Isabella to safety as payment. They just wanted whatever was
(03:57):
left of the Isabella's provisions to help them make the
journey home, and of course Brooks and his fellow passengers
were elated. They made plans to transfer the Isabella's provisions
back to the American ship called the Nanina. The passengers
and merchants got to work, and before long had the
Nanina loaded up and ready to go. And then another
(04:17):
ship came sailing into view. It was a fierce British
warship called the Nancy, and the warship spotted the Nanina
and the broken remains of the Isabella and sent soldiers
ashore to see what was going on. Brooks recounted the
harrowing ordeal that he and his fellow passengers had endured
over these past few months, and expressed how grateful he
(04:39):
was to the American merchants for coming to their rescue.
And it was then that the captain of the Nancy
delivered surprising news. Britain and America had been at war
for almost a year, the War of eighteen twelve, so
technically Brooks and his crew were accepting help from the enemy.
But the captain told Brooks not to worry. He would
take all fifty four Isabelle passengers aboard the Nancy. He
(05:02):
would also be taking the American crew as prisoners of war,
and he would keep their ship as a war prize.
As you'd imagine, Brooks was stunned, but there was little
he could do to help his new American friends. A
few days later, the Nancy sailed away with a brig
full of American prisoners and a new merchant ship in tow.
Although not everybody made it onto the warship. For whatever reason,
(05:26):
the captain of the Nancy chose to leave five men behind,
including the captain of the Nanina. They endured brutal living
conditions for five hundred and thirty four days before finally
being rescued themselves, although thankfully by that time the War
of eighteen twelve was over and the marooned crew members
could catch a ride back to civilization without a trip
(05:47):
to the brig. Most people don't think about this, but
dog breeds are inherently an unnatural creation. Ever since the
domestication of dogs, breeders have made an art of carefully
(06:10):
selecting for traits, behaviors, and physical characteristics that would not
occur in nature. It has grown into a whole industry,
not just for the average pet owner, but for public
spectacle at large. And there is no one who handles
public spectacles quite like the British royal family. We've talked
a lot here about the quirks of royalty in the
(06:31):
twenty first century, so today I'd like to focus on
something that got a lot of focus with the recent
passing of Queen Elizabeth the Second her small army of
stubby legged Corgies. These dogs were as pampered as animals
can possibly be. They had a whole room to themselves
in Buckingham Palace and their own gourmet chef to prepare
meals for them. From her first dog at the age
(06:53):
of eighteen. Until her death at the age of ninety six,
Queen Elizabeth the Second owned sixty three dogs. All of
them were Corgies, though some were technically called Dorgies, which
is a cross between a Corgi and a doxend. The
first of this line was a nobly named Rosevel Golden Eagle,
a Welsh Corgie adopted by the Queen mother after her
(07:14):
daughter fell in love with corgi's. It would become known
by the slightly less noble nickname Dukie, short for the
Duke of York. But the first dog owned by Queen
Elizabeth II herself was Susan, a gift on her eighteenth birthday.
Ever since, she was not without one of these stubby
dogs or another, even quoting to the press, the Corgies
(07:35):
are my family, and like the rest of the royal family,
they were no strangers to public scandal. Now Elizabeth's children
were reportedly much less fond of the dogs than the
Queen herself. They complained the press about barking keeping them
up at night. They seem to respond aggressively to the princes,
although some guests got special treatment. Megan Markell, for instance,
(07:57):
wasn't barked or bitten once when she came to visit
the royal family for the first time. Not everyone has
been so lucky, though. Susan, Elizabeth's first Corgi, attacked a
palace clockwinder in nineteen fifty four. Mailman and police officers
have also been bitten by the corgies at several points
throughout British history, prompting at least one suggestion that Buckingham
(08:19):
Palace should install a Beware the Dogs signed for unwitting visitors.
Elizabeth had her own dog breeding program, which created a
mini dynasty within the walls of the British Palace. They
were to be treated with as much respect as other
members of the royal family. In nineteen ninety nine, for example,
one of the Queen's footmen was demoted when it was
discovered that he enjoyed getting the corgies drunk as a
(08:42):
party trick to amuse the other members of the staff.
The corgi breeding, however, stopped in twenty twelve when Queen
Elizabeth the Second realized that her children did not share
her love of the little dogs. Publicly, she said that
she did not want to leave a bunch of puppies
stranded when she passed away. Ultimately, she would leave two
Corgies behind, Muick and Sandy. One of these went to
(09:05):
Prince Andrew and the other to Prince Andrew's ex wife,
Sarah Ferguson. Though their reign is at an end, these
dogs had a stranglehold on popular culture, not just inspiring
dog shows or bringing a touch of whimsy to the
Queen's photo ops, but as symbols of Queen Elizabeth the
Second herself. In the same way that the Prime Minister
Winston Churchill was often depicted as a bulldog, Queen Elizabeth
(09:30):
would be alongside her Corgies constantly in the public imagination,
in artwork, political cartoons, and media depictions. She was rarely
seen without one of her famous dogs. The popular TV
series in Australia Bluey even depicted Elizabeth I as an
anthropomorphic Corgi in a weird way. The Corgi as a
(09:51):
dog breed is a metaphor for the Royal family itself,
an elaborate family tree of whimsical names which only the
most dedicated British dog lover would know, whose primary purpose
is to exist in the public eye and charm diplomats,
prime ministers, foreign dignitaries, anyone the Queen needs an icebreaker
with and it has to be said, an immense amount
(10:14):
of state funding and power went into the lavish lifestyles
these dogs led. While ultimately harmless, the scale of it
is astonishing, much like the British Royal family themselves. The
world's most extravagant dog show. I hope you've enjoyed today's
guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free
(10:37):
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 it over at the Worldolore dot com. Next time,
(11:01):
stay curious. H
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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