June 29, 2024 • 33 mins
Star Trek is one of the world's most well-known sci-fi franchises, spanning decades in film, TV, books, games and more. While it's had its fair share of lighthearted moments (hello, Tribbles!), its vision of a more equal, peaceful human civilization has made a profound impact on real-world politics and race relations. Join the guys as they explore how a single conversation with a surprising Star Trek fan shaped the course of the show -- and the course of US culture -- in this week's Classic episode.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Folks, we're returning to you this Saturday with a classic
episode that is near and dear to our hearts, both
as native sons of Atlanta or people who reside in
Atlanta now, and as longtime fans of a little franchise
called Star Trek.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
A giant nerds Max, Oh, he's just giving it. He's
throwing up a throwing up the spock piece sign.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
I love in the newer show lower decks the a
sarcastic thing. You can start like some characters we starcasting
on the hey, stop doing that sarcastic falcon sign.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Also, that is ancient, uh, an ancient blessing from Judaism.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
They kind of just told him to do something, is something.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And he did the call it even blessing.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah, he did that, And you know there's some great
stories about that.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Isn't it funny though? How sometimes the most arbitrary of
choices or ad libs or whatever become just the biggest
sticking kind of cultural I love that about history.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Similar to Popeye right the Sailor Man, which is still
fresh on our minds, folks. Today's story is about Star Trek,
but it's also about how history can hinge on such
tiny moments in our classic episode. Now we are exploring
how a single conversation with a perhaps surprising fan of
(01:23):
Star Trek shaped the course of the show. That is
a global phenomenon today.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
We've always talked about, you know, whenever possible, whenever it,
Mas has his way talk about Star Trek on the show,
and it's such an interesting, almost like model un kind
of situation the way it depicts this sort of utopian
world where people can get along, and people with different
races and creeds and species even can coexist, and even
(01:52):
the battles are largely around diplomacy more so than they
are about raw you know, violent type shoot them ups.
That this is a perfect example historically speaking of how
that attitude really kind of created a big cultural high
water mark moment.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
I'm just thinking about Philip J. Fry from the Futurama
Star Trek episode. He says, Star Trek giving me hope
because it didn't matter if you're white, black, Klingon, Vulcan,
or even female.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah. I also, I will point out we don't get
to it in this episode, but I will point out
one thing about Star Trek as a universe is that
the cooking is weird. There is a there is a
famous scene I think it's in Next Generation somewhere in
the second season where right Riiker creates Riker is gonna
(02:46):
cook for a couple of the crew.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Lasky, Data, Jeordie and war Yeah, and he is.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
He's cracking eggs and he's not using the replicator. He's
doing that old school. But it's insane that he gives
them each like a small bit of scrambled egg and
then serves it with whiskey. And we don't know what
time it is there at this point, but does nothing
do it with anything.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Let's all remember with Pulaski who was the doctor in
season two only Season two brought the whiskey right.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yes, However, tell us your favorite space meals, and we
hope you enjoy this episode about how none other than
Martin Luther King Junior influenced the course of Star Trek.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Astronaut ice cream is my favorite space meal.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
And Dippin' dots are space but they are the ice
cream in the future.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Let's roll it.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio Captain's Look Sturdy
(04:12):
zero nine zero six nine sixty six point eight. We
have entered another episode of things both ridiculous and historical.
My name's been whoa.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
That was like a Shatner meets Rod Serling kind of thing.
That was awesome.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Well, that's very kind, that's very exciting.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
That was I was in rapture to the point where
I've almost forgotten my name, and it is, in fact
Noel Brown. And I am not a treky, right right,
I am.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I wouldn't describe myself as a tricky either, although I
am a fan of sci fi, and you know, you
and I don't particularly need a wealth of science fiction
here because we have our own wizard every time we
record a show, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is our
long suffering super producer, Casey Pegram.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Who has turned into a can of soda. That super
producer sure is refreshing.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
And speaking of refreshing and segues, imagine yourself as a
television viewer on September ninth, nineteen sixty six in Canada.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I'm there.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Wow, If you're there, you're very very lucky, because you
are watching that evening something that no one has ever
seen before the very first episode of Star Trek.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
What the super fan community calls TOS or the original series, and.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
This series was revolutionary when it first aired, which was
originally I think in Canada and the later in the
United States by a couple of days. In this series,
viewers are treated to a more diverse cast than they
are used to seeing, and that should go as an understatement.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Right, Hey, you had green women, you had alien dudes
with plenty ears. Oh, you mean diverse in terms of
the actors, right, the people, right?
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Oh, and the characters as well. I mean there's a
Russian what in nineteen sixty there's a Scotsman.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Yes, there is a Scotsman. Yes.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And there are also people of color on the show.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah, specifically a lovely actress by the name of Nachelle
Nichols who portrayed the character of Lieutenant Uhura. And this
was important for a lot of reasons. She was not
only a person of color featured in this show very prominently,
but she had a position of power in the organization
of the Starship Enterprise. I believe she was the fourth
(06:49):
in charge.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yes, that is absolutely correct, which also makes it a
prominent progressive step for the role of women or female
characters in these sorts of shows.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Okay, so I'm a little Canadian boy in the mid
nineteen sixties watching Star Trek. But what's happening at the
same time, Ben.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Right, the civil rights movement?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Ye, nothing good? I mean good. Yes, a lot of progress,
but also a lot of horrible racist violence.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Absolutely, We're talking protests, abuse by law enforcement officers, and
public moves toward nonviolence and pushes for equality alongside antagonistic
forces who are pushing for the discriminatory status quo to
remain the same. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek,
(07:41):
was very much aware of this, and he set out
with the express aim of creating a show with a
multi racial cast. And the show had a lot of
fans right well.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
It also had a message of cooperation working to solve
problems between race and people of other galactic origins and
species and you know green women, right, the.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Idea, the idea that in the future humanity will overcome
the current problems or the contemporary problems of the age
in which Star Trek was produced. Right, So, we had
massive discrimination, We also had the threat of war. There
was inequality and you know economic inequality, social inequality, and
(08:32):
Star Trek presented a picture where in human ingenuity and
the inherent drive toward curiosity and drive towards self improvement
created a world in which these problems were solved and.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
That resulted in a lot of almost philosophical discussion. The
show is not super heavy on the action. A lot
of it is almost diplomacy and conversations and kind of
solving these problems without violence. And then of course you
know they'd ended up on a and have to fight
some dude in a monster suit and shoot him with
their phasers or whatever. But the big message of the
(09:05):
show was that we can solve these problems without resorting
to violence. Because we were talking about the civil rights
movement of the mid sixties. We're talking bombings at African
American churchesters. When Birmingham, four young black girls were killed.
Malcolm X, a very influential civil rights leader and activist,
(09:26):
was assassinated. There was a divide and it was a
powder keg kind of situation.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Absolutely, this is one of those times where wherein people
can feel the hinge of history as it swings and
begin to wonder what direction it will go in. Here's
the thing, folks, It turns out that the Star Trek
we are so familiar with today almost took a very
(09:54):
different direction because the actor Michelle Nichols, who's playing this
historically significant and profound role on television, almost quit.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, it's true. She had a background in the performing
arts in theater and got an offer to play on
Broadway in a satire about Hugh Hefner and his kind
of jet setting raunchy magazine Playboy entitled Kicks and co
(10:25):
And that she had been in this originally and then
left to do Star Trek, but after the first season
she was asked to return to that and it was
going to be taken to Broadway, and she was like, Okay,
this is what I want to do because I think
the cultural impact of Star Trek hadn't fully set in
after one season at least, the fandom that we know
today was not fully entrance. This was this is kind
(10:47):
of like a well, I did one season of a
kind of quirky sci fi TV show. I could take
it or leave It'll maybe I'll maybe I'll move on
and do something some more serious work, you know, right,
But you know, as fate would have it, thankfully, this
ended up not being the case.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Right when Nichols said the version of you know, thanks
so much for having me on the show, Geene Roddenberry,
I like to head out and pursue, as Noel said,
more serious or substance work or just something different. Rotten
Berry didn't take it well and reputedly said, hey, don't
rush out of this. Don't you understand what I'm trying
(11:25):
to do here, And he told her take the weekend.
Take the weekend and think it over. And during that weekend,
Nichols went to a fundraiser in Beverly Hills where she
was told there was a fan of this new fangled
show star Trek who really wanted to meet her.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
So, yeah, based on some of these reports, I guess
the term Trek he existed after one season, which is
pretty incredible. But as it turned out, this person that
she was told about came walking up to her and
it was doctor Martin Luther King Junior, and this is
what he said to her. According to an NPR interview
where Nichols recalls this meeting, she says, and I turn
(12:10):
and before I could get up, I looked across the
way and there was the face of doctor Martin Luther
King smiling at me and walking towards me. And he
started laughing. By the time he reached me, he said, yes,
miss Nichols, I am that fan. I am your best,
greatest fan, and my family are your greatest fans. As
a matter of fact, this is the only show that
my wife, Coretta, and I will allow our little children
(12:31):
to watch, to stay up late to watch because it's
past their bedtime.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Which is such a humanizing and important detail. I'm sure
all parents will recognize. That's some rarefied air. So Nichols
clearly is aware of doctor King, and King is saying
that he admires her work on the show, and he
admires that Gene Roddenberry, along with Nichols, has created a
(12:58):
realistic character, right, not some sort of stereotype or object
of derision or mockery. And she says, thank you. But
then she says something that you know, sounds very understandable
from from her position this conversation. She says, you know, thanks,
and I'm glad you like the show, But I feel
(13:20):
like I should be out there with you, out there
marching after out there fighting for equality, pursuing the ideals
that people are putting their life in danger for.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
I read this quote earlier, and then I kind of
immediately teared up for something. It just it just hit
me in a very real way. He said, no, no, no, no,
you don't understand. We don't need you to march. You
are marching. You are reflecting what we are fighting for.
He said, don't you understand what this man, Geene Roddenberry
has achieved for the first time on television. We will
(13:54):
be seen as we should be seen every day, as intelligent, quality,
beautiful people who can sing and dance, but who can
go into space, who can be lawyers and teachers, who
can be professors, who are in this day. Yet you
don't see it on television now.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
And this is during the common part of the conversation
where she says I'm going to quit the show and
he is firmly against this, and he continues by saying,
Gene Roddenberry has opened a door for the world to
see us. If you leave, that door can be closed
because you see, your role is not a black role,
(14:31):
it's not a female role. He can fill it with anything,
including an alien. And this left Nichols speechless.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, there's one more line from an ama on Reddit
that Nichols did, where she said that he said something
along the lines of if you leave, they can replace
you with a blonde haired, white girl and it'll be
like you were never there. Well, you've accomplished for all
of us. Will only be real if you stay. And
she said that got her thinking about, you know, really
thinking about that audience, about how fans of color saw her,
(15:03):
and how it would feel if she left the show.
And you know, it's just it's a TV show, you know,
it seems even from the standpoint of someone that's in it,
you could see how it could be perceived as being
frivolous and like, why does this matter? But it does matter,
especially in those days when kids did not see themselves
(15:23):
or a positive reflection of themselves in popular culture, and
this was that thing.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Absolutely, And this changes Nichol's thinking, right, And a few
days later, she's talking with Roddenberry and she relays her
conversation with doctor King and as she recalls, Rodenberry thought
about it, looked at her for psycond and he said,
God bless doctor Martin Luther King. Somebody knows where I'm
(15:53):
coming from. And so she decided to stay on the show,
and the character Hura continues on for decades, right, not
just on the small screen, toward the world of Phil.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
And it also resulted in a very monumental moment, even
if it's a little cheesy, but it was a thing
that it was important cultural lately speaking. It was the
first interracial kiss, and that was between William Shatner's Captain
Kirk and nichols Lieutenant o'hura. And let let's have that
clip right now.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
I'm thinking, I'm thinking of all the times on the Enterprise,
what I was scared to dead.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
And I would see you so busy at Jungle Man, and.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
I would hear your voice from all parts of the ship.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
And my fears would fade.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
And now they're making me dre.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
But I'm not afraid. I am not afraid.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
And Uhura is a pivotal character on the show. This
isn't one of those characters called and what are they
called red shirts? You know, the disposable ones who are
sent down to the planet.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Yeah, she was number four man.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Yeah, she was number four, fourth in line for the throne,
the space throne. And she saw in her real life
the effects of her character's presence in The Zeitgeist. She
relays in the same interview that she met Whoopy Goldberg
during the Next Generation. The follow up franchise for Star
(17:48):
Trek and Whoopy Goldberg PNG right, who does have a
role in the Next Generation. She told Nichols that she
was nine years old when she saw Star Trek and
she would turn on the TV and she saw Lieutenant
Uhura and ran through the house screaming, come quick, come quick,
there's a black lady on TV. And she's not a maid.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeah, and going back to that interracial kiss, that first monumental,
groundbreaking interracial kiss that happened a mere seven months after
Doctor King was assassinated in nineteen sixty eight, and you know,
and in that scene, it's a little hammy, and then
you look, you listen back to it now and the
dialogue is a little overwrought, but there is real chemistry
(18:31):
between Shatner and Nichols, and yeah, that she is a
gent She's portrayed, at least as far as I can tell. Again,
I'm not I don't have a deep knowledge of Star Trek,
but in the scene, whatever the circumstances are, there is
a genuine chemistry between them. And she has played as
what could be a genuine love interest for this character,
(18:52):
and you know that wasn't really a thing, you know,
like you said, African American characters were often relegated to
you know, tertiary or even lower types of roles like
maids or workmen, or a lot of times even more
horrible stereotypes like criminals and things like that.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
And while this sounds like a clear cut, you know,
tidy story with a bow on top and everything, the
reality is a little bit different because behind the scenes,
Nichols and Roddenberry and the show's writers were constantly butting
heads with the studio, and the studio was a force
(19:36):
of the status quo here at the time. For example,
there is an episode wherein Lieutenant Uhura was written to
assume the helmsman's position because all the senior officers were
on a planet, but the script was rewritten to exclude
that action by Lieutenant Uhura, and Nichols raised Caine over
it being written out, and then, you know, her point was,
(20:01):
when you're out in space in a dangerous situation, you're
not going to have some female that goes, oh, captain,
save me, save me. She was bound and determined not
just to as an actor, not just to find a
more prominent role for her character, but to find prominent
roles for all female characters or more to up the representation.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
And I misspoke. That was not the first interracial kiss
on American television. That was in the Wild Wild West
and I spy and that was between a white actor
and an Asian actress. That those were both in nineteen
sixty six, But it was the first scripted kiss between
a black and a white actor. And the only other
(20:44):
one was an improvised kiss between Sammy Davis Junior and
Nancy Sinatra on Moving with Nancy, and that was in
nineteen sixty seven. Nichols said that they got a really
big response from the episode and that she received an
insane amount of fan mail, all positive, which you know,
(21:05):
even in what we do, Ben, you know, every time
we get an email, it's always like if we've gone
on a limb on something, it's like are we going
to get totally shredded or are people going to be
on board? And so when you really take a chance
and do something like this, it's really nice to see
that overwhelming outpouring of positivity. And that was also an
important cultural touchdown because from their perspective, they hadn't offended anybody,
(21:29):
and then it, you know, became less of an issue
like you said, with those studio heads and the standards
and practices types there we go, Yeah, the S and
p s.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Right. So what we're seeing here is a fantastic and
enormously important example of the role that art can play
in a society.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
You know.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
And sometimes it's easy to dismiss works of fiction or
works of art as largely symbolic, we're not addressing a problem.
But we see that that is not the case. And
because of a single conversation with one of the world's
(22:14):
most well known civil rights icons, because of this single
conversation at this party, history changed.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Well. He also saw the importance of pop culture because
again I keep coming back to the idea of it
being entertainment, of it being pure frivolous kind of, you know,
a way to pass the time. But my kid watches
TV all the time. My kid has characters that she
identifies with and that are important in shaping her view
(22:42):
of herself and feeling and getting a sense of like
what's okay, what's not okay, What kind of behavior is acceptable,
kind of behavior is not? And she gets it from
me too. As a parent, you know, I try to
teach her well and what's right and to treat people
with respect. But a lot of kids, what if they
grow up and don't have good quality parents, I don't
have parents that are teaching them right from wrong, and
(23:02):
they're getting that primary drive from pop culture. Then they
see something like that that you can feel like you're
a part of this too, this thing that makes you
very happy, but that you have maybe up to that point,
felt sort of left out of and King saw that.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Yeah, and there's there's a doubly important part here too,
because when people are seeing this and it speaks to them,
they're not just seeing a show about, you know, a
show about life in a city in nineteen sixty six,
they're seeing themselves in the future as well, you know,
and that's powerful.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
That's a really good point.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
So we would be remiss if we didn't mention another
work that came out recently that I guess would also
kind of qualify as science fiction, and that's the Black
Panther film.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Yeah, and I took my daughter to see that and
we both loved it on the merits of it just
being a badass, exciting, incredible film that is just a
lot of fun. But it's blowing up box office numbers,
which is something that you know, is a language that
executives speak, and if you start making money on things,
you're going to see more of it. But it is,
(24:09):
it's such a different kind of film. What do you
think then?
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Well, yeah, the question is, you know, there's this genre
that's encountering a huge moment in the sun right now,
the superhero film or the comic right film, and these films,
like many other genres, have their own problematic issues. Typically,
the protagonist is going to be, you know, a white guy, right,
(24:36):
and the other characters that exist are going to One
of the criticisms you'll read or they is that they're
often these two dimensional foils for the protagonist to bounce
off of. Right. But in a in any well done film,
which of course Casey can probably speak to or you
can speak to more than I can. In any well
(24:57):
done film, the characters might us feel real. They must
have their own dilemmas, their own motivations, right, And in
Black Panther, not only are these characters fleshed out with realistic,
understandable motivations, personal demons. Not only are they real people,
(25:18):
but also, at least so far as film critics are arguing, also,
it exists without what would be called the white lens,
you know what I mean, Like the the idea that
there has to be a a whitewash lack of a
better term, Like the story doesn't need to have all
(25:42):
of a sudden this, you know, this messianic figure who
is just white, like in you know, like in a
Last Samurai, the Tom Cruise.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Thing, any of that white savior stuff. Yeah, has crazy.
And I just want to point out that I understand
the problematic nature of two white dudes wapsying rapsotic about
this stuff, but it does it is powerful, Like you
knows as a dad, seeing my kid grow up in
a world where there is so much more inclusivity, and
she just doesn't see these things, doesn't see these lines
(26:14):
and these divides at all. She just doesn't have it.
It's not in her to have And that makes me
feel really hopeful. And and so that's I'm gonna I'm
gonna leave it there. But this story about Doctor King
and Star Trek, I was not expecting it to get
me as much as it did. And when I read
that quote about him saying no, no, no, no, you
don't understand you are marching, You're you're doing it right,
(26:36):
now that I kind of started tearing up at my desk,
and I was not expecting that in a story about
Star Trek.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
And this is one aspect right of Star Trek, just
as it is one aspect of the civil rights movement,
one that people may not be entirely aware of. And
thanks so much for listening. We want to hear from you.
(27:05):
Do you consider yourself a trekky? If so, please please
go easy on us, right, Noel.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Oh Man, Please, we're we're very dainty, little baffodils or
very ridiculous system, So.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Please please go easy us and let us know what
other cultural impacts you believe came about via Star Trek. Also,
let us know if you have other examples of ways
in which fiction and culture in the arts moved culture
as a whole forward.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
And speaking of examples, here are a few examples of
listener males that didn't hurt our feelings. All right, First,
we have one from two too and he said to
pronounce it that way, and the subject is an extra
trivia for the Great Stink episode, which was a fun
one to do for us. Dear Ben and Nola, warmest
(27:57):
greetings from Malaysia. I'm a listener to the show since
its inception, and I've enjoyed the various topics you guys
have put out so far. Your most recent episode on
the Great Stink of London was definitely an interesting take
on the matter, adding some depth and perspective for me
on the subject since I last heard it being mentioned
in another house Stuff Works podcast plug Stuff to Blow
Your Minds episode on miasma theory and the Evil Air.
(28:19):
We didn't talk about the evil air, but yeah, that
miasma theory is a doozy. Both your show and STBYM
covered the historical figure John Snow, while your show additionally
covered the figure John Harrington.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
This is interesting.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
What I found to be a missed opportunity for you
guys may be a little trivial, he said it was trivia.
Yet I can't help but mention that Kit Harrington, who
portrays HBO's Game of Thrones character John Snow, at least
according to the actor himself, and then he gives us
a link, is a descendant of said John Harrington.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
What casey can we get a like a.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Perfect He goes on, right, he does go on, He says,
talk about coincidences. Perhaps you guys were aware, but opted
not to mention due to its triviality. No, sir, I
can tell you we were not, as you just heard
our minds being blown, and they are in fact all
over the walls right now. But just in case you
guys weren't aware, I thought you might find the little
tidbit amusing at least. Anyway, Thanks a bunch for putting
(29:18):
the show together. It's been a pretty cool addition to
my podcast library that I listen to during my daily
drive to work. Looking forward to more great episodes regards two.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Thanks so much too. As Reddit likes to say, today,
I learned, and we have one more listener mail here.
We been getting so many awesome listener mails it's difficult
to choose just one.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
I know, it really is.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
So we're going to save all the butter Smuggler stuff
for another episode.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I agree. That's going to be a fun one.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
And there are some great things about language. I got
to stop telling everybody about the emails we're going to.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
You know, listener mail spoilers.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Dude.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
Yeah, we'll just five year statute of limitations on that.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
We'll just be so great if somebody send us an
email five years before we did the show is time
travel possible different episode. Here's an email from Jared P.
Jared P writes, ohoy, fellas, I'm a new fan of
the show. I've been binge listening to catch up. You
guys are great.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Thank you, Jared.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Jared continues, I lived in Japan for three years and
my wife is Japanese. The KFC x miss I choose
to write x mess out of sheer laziness. Notes phenomenon
has been around a long time, over twenty five years.
Everything I know of it is that it caught on
after a successful ad campaign. Most Japanese folks don't celebrate Christmas,
and those that do enjoy it for the commercial side
(30:32):
of it more than any religious connotations. Most Japanese people
think of x mess in American stereotypes, so doing something
American on that American holiday, like eating fried chickens suddenly
isn't so crazy. They also don't consume fried chicken and
burgers at the rate we do, so it's a bit
of a special occasion to go to those fast food places.
(30:53):
KFC was the first successful fast food chain in Japan,
and it's still popular today. Kentucky, as it's known here,
tastes like a somehow less greasy, healthier fried chicken version
of the American original, if that makes any sense. They
offer rules, which is a bummer. If you're a biscuit fan,
it's not bad. But if you're there and wanting to
explore Japan's take on American fast food and McDonald's Tarryaki.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Burger is where it's act like a good tariokey burger,
I agree, we should go. We should try it.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Unrelated, he concludes, I love the teaser of sorts about
North Korea making a Godzilla movie. Keep up the great
show and feel free to go down the Kim Jong
Ill rabbit hole anytime.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Cheers Jeed. I'm still really gonna lean on my idea
of a rap name as being Kim Jong Ill, but
just spelled like licensed to ill, you know, like ill.
I think it'll be lost on ears, though when you
say it's me, the rapper Kim Jong Ill, people are
like booo, maybe poor taste.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Maybe Kim Jong two Ill.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
That's pretty good, Kim Jong two Ill. I like that.
Speaking of burger stuff, did you hear that Sonic is
coming out with a burger that's fifty percent beef and
fifty percent mushroom and it's supposedly like this green thing
that like the conservationists are praising them for.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Really I would try it.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
No, it sounds good. I love a good mushroom. I
love a good burger.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
So you can probably tell by you can probably tell
folks by the theme of our conversation that it's time
for us to take a lunch break. So we are
going to head out now. We'd like to think two.
We'd like to thank Jared. Where would we be without
Casey Pegram, So thanks to him.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
And also thanks to David Dennis for writing how Mlka
influenced the direction of Star Trek for how stuff Works,
and to our composer Alex Williams, who wrote our theme.
Most importantly, thanks to you.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
If you want to take a page from a Jed
and Two's book, go ahead and write to us with
your suggestions, your reactions, your feedback on this and any
other episode, and.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Please do yourselves and us a favor and join us
for our next episode where we talk about animal spies.
I'm just gonna leave it right there, see you guys later.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
(33:19):
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,
Folks, we're returning to you this Saturday with a classic
episode that is near and dear to our hearts, both
as native sons of Atlanta or people who reside in
Atlanta now, and as longtime fans of a little franchise
called Star Trek.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
A giant nerds Max, Oh, he's just giving it. He's
throwing up a throwing up the spock piece sign.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
I love in the newer show lower decks the a
sarcastic thing. You can start like some characters we starcasting
on the hey, stop doing that sarcastic falcon sign.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Also, that is ancient, uh, an ancient blessing from Judaism.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
They kind of just told him to do something, is something.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
And he did the call it even blessing.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah, he did that, And you know there's some great
stories about that.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Isn't it funny though? How sometimes the most arbitrary of
choices or ad libs or whatever become just the biggest
sticking kind of cultural I love that about history.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Similar to Popeye right the Sailor Man, which is still
fresh on our minds, folks. Today's story is about Star Trek,
but it's also about how history can hinge on such
tiny moments in our classic episode. Now we are exploring
how a single conversation with a perhaps surprising fan of
(01:23):
Star Trek shaped the course of the show. That is
a global phenomenon today.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
We've always talked about, you know, whenever possible, whenever it,
Mas has his way talk about Star Trek on the show,
and it's such an interesting, almost like model un kind
of situation the way it depicts this sort of utopian
world where people can get along, and people with different
races and creeds and species even can coexist, and even
(01:52):
the battles are largely around diplomacy more so than they
are about raw you know, violent type shoot them ups.
That this is a perfect example historically speaking of how
that attitude really kind of created a big cultural high
water mark moment.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
I'm just thinking about Philip J. Fry from the Futurama
Star Trek episode. He says, Star Trek giving me hope
because it didn't matter if you're white, black, Klingon, Vulcan,
or even female.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah. I also, I will point out we don't get
to it in this episode, but I will point out
one thing about Star Trek as a universe is that
the cooking is weird. There is a there is a
famous scene I think it's in Next Generation somewhere in
the second season where right Riiker creates Riker is gonna
(02:46):
cook for a couple of the crew.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Lasky, Data, Jeordie and war Yeah, and he is.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
He's cracking eggs and he's not using the replicator. He's
doing that old school. But it's insane that he gives
them each like a small bit of scrambled egg and
then serves it with whiskey. And we don't know what
time it is there at this point, but does nothing
do it with anything.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Let's all remember with Pulaski who was the doctor in
season two only Season two brought the whiskey right.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yes, However, tell us your favorite space meals, and we
hope you enjoy this episode about how none other than
Martin Luther King Junior influenced the course of Star Trek.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Astronaut ice cream is my favorite space meal.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
And Dippin' dots are space but they are the ice
cream in the future.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Let's roll it.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio Captain's Look Sturdy
(04:12):
zero nine zero six nine sixty six point eight. We
have entered another episode of things both ridiculous and historical.
My name's been whoa.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
That was like a Shatner meets Rod Serling kind of thing.
That was awesome.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Well, that's very kind, that's very exciting.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
That was I was in rapture to the point where
I've almost forgotten my name, and it is, in fact
Noel Brown. And I am not a treky, right right,
I am.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
I wouldn't describe myself as a tricky either, although I
am a fan of sci fi, and you know, you
and I don't particularly need a wealth of science fiction
here because we have our own wizard every time we
record a show, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is our
long suffering super producer, Casey Pegram.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Who has turned into a can of soda. That super
producer sure is refreshing.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
And speaking of refreshing and segues, imagine yourself as a
television viewer on September ninth, nineteen sixty six in Canada.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I'm there.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Wow, If you're there, you're very very lucky, because you
are watching that evening something that no one has ever
seen before the very first episode of Star Trek.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
What the super fan community calls TOS or the original series, and.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
This series was revolutionary when it first aired, which was
originally I think in Canada and the later in the
United States by a couple of days. In this series,
viewers are treated to a more diverse cast than they
are used to seeing, and that should go as an understatement.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Right, Hey, you had green women, you had alien dudes
with plenty ears. Oh, you mean diverse in terms of
the actors, right, the people, right?
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Oh, and the characters as well. I mean there's a
Russian what in nineteen sixty there's a Scotsman.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Yes, there is a Scotsman. Yes.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And there are also people of color on the show.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah, specifically a lovely actress by the name of Nachelle
Nichols who portrayed the character of Lieutenant Uhura. And this
was important for a lot of reasons. She was not
only a person of color featured in this show very prominently,
but she had a position of power in the organization
of the Starship Enterprise. I believe she was the fourth
(06:49):
in charge.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yes, that is absolutely correct, which also makes it a
prominent progressive step for the role of women or female
characters in these sorts of shows.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Okay, so I'm a little Canadian boy in the mid
nineteen sixties watching Star Trek. But what's happening at the
same time, Ben.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Right, the civil rights movement?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Ye, nothing good? I mean good. Yes, a lot of progress,
but also a lot of horrible racist violence.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Absolutely, We're talking protests, abuse by law enforcement officers, and
public moves toward nonviolence and pushes for equality alongside antagonistic
forces who are pushing for the discriminatory status quo to
remain the same. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek,
(07:41):
was very much aware of this, and he set out
with the express aim of creating a show with a
multi racial cast. And the show had a lot of
fans right well.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
It also had a message of cooperation working to solve
problems between race and people of other galactic origins and
species and you know green women, right, the.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Idea, the idea that in the future humanity will overcome
the current problems or the contemporary problems of the age
in which Star Trek was produced. Right, So, we had
massive discrimination, We also had the threat of war. There
was inequality and you know economic inequality, social inequality, and
(08:32):
Star Trek presented a picture where in human ingenuity and
the inherent drive toward curiosity and drive towards self improvement
created a world in which these problems were solved and.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
That resulted in a lot of almost philosophical discussion. The
show is not super heavy on the action. A lot
of it is almost diplomacy and conversations and kind of
solving these problems without violence. And then of course you
know they'd ended up on a and have to fight
some dude in a monster suit and shoot him with
their phasers or whatever. But the big message of the
(09:05):
show was that we can solve these problems without resorting
to violence. Because we were talking about the civil rights
movement of the mid sixties. We're talking bombings at African
American churchesters. When Birmingham, four young black girls were killed.
Malcolm X, a very influential civil rights leader and activist,
(09:26):
was assassinated. There was a divide and it was a
powder keg kind of situation.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
Absolutely, this is one of those times where wherein people
can feel the hinge of history as it swings and
begin to wonder what direction it will go in. Here's
the thing, folks, It turns out that the Star Trek
we are so familiar with today almost took a very
(09:54):
different direction because the actor Michelle Nichols, who's playing this
historically significant and profound role on television, almost quit.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, it's true. She had a background in the performing
arts in theater and got an offer to play on
Broadway in a satire about Hugh Hefner and his kind
of jet setting raunchy magazine Playboy entitled Kicks and co
(10:25):
And that she had been in this originally and then
left to do Star Trek, but after the first season
she was asked to return to that and it was
going to be taken to Broadway, and she was like, Okay,
this is what I want to do because I think
the cultural impact of Star Trek hadn't fully set in
after one season at least, the fandom that we know
today was not fully entrance. This was this is kind
(10:47):
of like a well, I did one season of a
kind of quirky sci fi TV show. I could take
it or leave It'll maybe I'll maybe I'll move on
and do something some more serious work, you know, right,
But you know, as fate would have it, thankfully, this
ended up not being the case.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Right when Nichols said the version of you know, thanks
so much for having me on the show, Geene Roddenberry,
I like to head out and pursue, as Noel said,
more serious or substance work or just something different. Rotten
Berry didn't take it well and reputedly said, hey, don't
rush out of this. Don't you understand what I'm trying
(11:25):
to do here, And he told her take the weekend.
Take the weekend and think it over. And during that weekend,
Nichols went to a fundraiser in Beverly Hills where she
was told there was a fan of this new fangled
show star Trek who really wanted to meet her.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
So, yeah, based on some of these reports, I guess
the term Trek he existed after one season, which is
pretty incredible. But as it turned out, this person that
she was told about came walking up to her and
it was doctor Martin Luther King Junior, and this is
what he said to her. According to an NPR interview
where Nichols recalls this meeting, she says, and I turn
(12:10):
and before I could get up, I looked across the
way and there was the face of doctor Martin Luther
King smiling at me and walking towards me. And he
started laughing. By the time he reached me, he said, yes,
miss Nichols, I am that fan. I am your best,
greatest fan, and my family are your greatest fans. As
a matter of fact, this is the only show that
my wife, Coretta, and I will allow our little children
(12:31):
to watch, to stay up late to watch because it's
past their bedtime.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Which is such a humanizing and important detail. I'm sure
all parents will recognize. That's some rarefied air. So Nichols
clearly is aware of doctor King, and King is saying
that he admires her work on the show, and he
admires that Gene Roddenberry, along with Nichols, has created a
(12:58):
realistic character, right, not some sort of stereotype or object
of derision or mockery. And she says, thank you. But
then she says something that you know, sounds very understandable
from from her position this conversation. She says, you know, thanks,
and I'm glad you like the show, But I feel
(13:20):
like I should be out there with you, out there
marching after out there fighting for equality, pursuing the ideals
that people are putting their life in danger for.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
I read this quote earlier, and then I kind of
immediately teared up for something. It just it just hit
me in a very real way. He said, no, no, no, no,
you don't understand. We don't need you to march. You
are marching. You are reflecting what we are fighting for.
He said, don't you understand what this man, Geene Roddenberry
has achieved for the first time on television. We will
(13:54):
be seen as we should be seen every day, as intelligent, quality,
beautiful people who can sing and dance, but who can
go into space, who can be lawyers and teachers, who
can be professors, who are in this day. Yet you
don't see it on television now.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
And this is during the common part of the conversation
where she says I'm going to quit the show and
he is firmly against this, and he continues by saying,
Gene Roddenberry has opened a door for the world to
see us. If you leave, that door can be closed
because you see, your role is not a black role,
(14:31):
it's not a female role. He can fill it with anything,
including an alien. And this left Nichols speechless.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Yeah, there's one more line from an ama on Reddit
that Nichols did, where she said that he said something
along the lines of if you leave, they can replace
you with a blonde haired, white girl and it'll be
like you were never there. Well, you've accomplished for all
of us. Will only be real if you stay. And
she said that got her thinking about, you know, really
thinking about that audience, about how fans of color saw her,
(15:03):
and how it would feel if she left the show.
And you know, it's just it's a TV show, you know,
it seems even from the standpoint of someone that's in it,
you could see how it could be perceived as being
frivolous and like, why does this matter? But it does matter,
especially in those days when kids did not see themselves
(15:23):
or a positive reflection of themselves in popular culture, and
this was that thing.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
Absolutely, And this changes Nichol's thinking, right, And a few
days later, she's talking with Roddenberry and she relays her
conversation with doctor King and as she recalls, Rodenberry thought
about it, looked at her for psycond and he said,
God bless doctor Martin Luther King. Somebody knows where I'm
(15:53):
coming from. And so she decided to stay on the show,
and the character Hura continues on for decades, right, not
just on the small screen, toward the world of Phil.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
And it also resulted in a very monumental moment, even
if it's a little cheesy, but it was a thing
that it was important cultural lately speaking. It was the
first interracial kiss, and that was between William Shatner's Captain
Kirk and nichols Lieutenant o'hura. And let let's have that
clip right now.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
I'm thinking, I'm thinking of all the times on the Enterprise,
what I was scared to dead.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
And I would see you so busy at Jungle Man, and.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
I would hear your voice from all parts of the ship.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
And my fears would fade.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
And now they're making me dre.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
But I'm not afraid. I am not afraid.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
And Uhura is a pivotal character on the show. This
isn't one of those characters called and what are they
called red shirts? You know, the disposable ones who are
sent down to the planet.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Yeah, she was number four man.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Yeah, she was number four, fourth in line for the throne,
the space throne. And she saw in her real life
the effects of her character's presence in The Zeitgeist. She
relays in the same interview that she met Whoopy Goldberg
during the Next Generation. The follow up franchise for Star
(17:48):
Trek and Whoopy Goldberg PNG right, who does have a
role in the Next Generation. She told Nichols that she
was nine years old when she saw Star Trek and
she would turn on the TV and she saw Lieutenant
Uhura and ran through the house screaming, come quick, come quick,
there's a black lady on TV. And she's not a maid.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Yeah, and going back to that interracial kiss, that first monumental,
groundbreaking interracial kiss that happened a mere seven months after
Doctor King was assassinated in nineteen sixty eight, and you know,
and in that scene, it's a little hammy, and then
you look, you listen back to it now and the
dialogue is a little overwrought, but there is real chemistry
(18:31):
between Shatner and Nichols, and yeah, that she is a
gent She's portrayed, at least as far as I can tell. Again,
I'm not I don't have a deep knowledge of Star Trek,
but in the scene, whatever the circumstances are, there is
a genuine chemistry between them. And she has played as
what could be a genuine love interest for this character,
(18:52):
and you know that wasn't really a thing, you know,
like you said, African American characters were often relegated to
you know, tertiary or even lower types of roles like
maids or workmen, or a lot of times even more
horrible stereotypes like criminals and things like that.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
And while this sounds like a clear cut, you know,
tidy story with a bow on top and everything, the
reality is a little bit different because behind the scenes,
Nichols and Roddenberry and the show's writers were constantly butting
heads with the studio, and the studio was a force
(19:36):
of the status quo here at the time. For example,
there is an episode wherein Lieutenant Uhura was written to
assume the helmsman's position because all the senior officers were
on a planet, but the script was rewritten to exclude
that action by Lieutenant Uhura, and Nichols raised Caine over
it being written out, and then, you know, her point was,
(20:01):
when you're out in space in a dangerous situation, you're
not going to have some female that goes, oh, captain,
save me, save me. She was bound and determined not
just to as an actor, not just to find a
more prominent role for her character, but to find prominent
roles for all female characters or more to up the representation.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
And I misspoke. That was not the first interracial kiss
on American television. That was in the Wild Wild West
and I spy and that was between a white actor
and an Asian actress. That those were both in nineteen
sixty six, But it was the first scripted kiss between
a black and a white actor. And the only other
(20:44):
one was an improvised kiss between Sammy Davis Junior and
Nancy Sinatra on Moving with Nancy, and that was in
nineteen sixty seven. Nichols said that they got a really
big response from the episode and that she received an
insane amount of fan mail, all positive, which you know,
(21:05):
even in what we do, Ben, you know, every time
we get an email, it's always like if we've gone
on a limb on something, it's like are we going
to get totally shredded or are people going to be
on board? And so when you really take a chance
and do something like this, it's really nice to see
that overwhelming outpouring of positivity. And that was also an
important cultural touchdown because from their perspective, they hadn't offended anybody,
(21:29):
and then it, you know, became less of an issue
like you said, with those studio heads and the standards
and practices types there we go, Yeah, the S and
p s.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Right. So what we're seeing here is a fantastic and
enormously important example of the role that art can play
in a society.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
You know.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
And sometimes it's easy to dismiss works of fiction or
works of art as largely symbolic, we're not addressing a problem.
But we see that that is not the case. And
because of a single conversation with one of the world's
(22:14):
most well known civil rights icons, because of this single
conversation at this party, history changed.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Well. He also saw the importance of pop culture because
again I keep coming back to the idea of it
being entertainment, of it being pure frivolous kind of, you know,
a way to pass the time. But my kid watches
TV all the time. My kid has characters that she
identifies with and that are important in shaping her view
(22:42):
of herself and feeling and getting a sense of like
what's okay, what's not okay, What kind of behavior is acceptable,
kind of behavior is not? And she gets it from
me too. As a parent, you know, I try to
teach her well and what's right and to treat people
with respect. But a lot of kids, what if they
grow up and don't have good quality parents, I don't
have parents that are teaching them right from wrong, and
(23:02):
they're getting that primary drive from pop culture. Then they
see something like that that you can feel like you're
a part of this too, this thing that makes you
very happy, but that you have maybe up to that point,
felt sort of left out of and King saw that.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Yeah, and there's there's a doubly important part here too,
because when people are seeing this and it speaks to them,
they're not just seeing a show about, you know, a
show about life in a city in nineteen sixty six,
they're seeing themselves in the future as well, you know,
and that's powerful.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
That's a really good point.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
So we would be remiss if we didn't mention another
work that came out recently that I guess would also
kind of qualify as science fiction, and that's the Black
Panther film.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Yeah, and I took my daughter to see that and
we both loved it on the merits of it just
being a badass, exciting, incredible film that is just a
lot of fun. But it's blowing up box office numbers,
which is something that you know, is a language that
executives speak, and if you start making money on things,
you're going to see more of it. But it is,
(24:09):
it's such a different kind of film. What do you
think then?
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Well, yeah, the question is, you know, there's this genre
that's encountering a huge moment in the sun right now,
the superhero film or the comic right film, and these films,
like many other genres, have their own problematic issues. Typically,
the protagonist is going to be, you know, a white guy, right,
(24:36):
and the other characters that exist are going to One
of the criticisms you'll read or they is that they're
often these two dimensional foils for the protagonist to bounce
off of. Right. But in a in any well done film,
which of course Casey can probably speak to or you
can speak to more than I can. In any well
(24:57):
done film, the characters might us feel real. They must
have their own dilemmas, their own motivations, right, And in
Black Panther, not only are these characters fleshed out with realistic,
understandable motivations, personal demons. Not only are they real people,
(25:18):
but also, at least so far as film critics are arguing, also,
it exists without what would be called the white lens,
you know what I mean, Like the the idea that
there has to be a a whitewash lack of a
better term, Like the story doesn't need to have all
(25:42):
of a sudden this, you know, this messianic figure who
is just white, like in you know, like in a
Last Samurai, the Tom Cruise.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Thing, any of that white savior stuff. Yeah, has crazy.
And I just want to point out that I understand
the problematic nature of two white dudes wapsying rapsotic about
this stuff, but it does it is powerful, Like you
knows as a dad, seeing my kid grow up in
a world where there is so much more inclusivity, and
she just doesn't see these things, doesn't see these lines
(26:14):
and these divides at all. She just doesn't have it.
It's not in her to have And that makes me
feel really hopeful. And and so that's I'm gonna I'm
gonna leave it there. But this story about Doctor King
and Star Trek, I was not expecting it to get
me as much as it did. And when I read
that quote about him saying no, no, no, no, you
don't understand you are marching, You're you're doing it right,
(26:36):
now that I kind of started tearing up at my desk,
and I was not expecting that in a story about
Star Trek.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
And this is one aspect right of Star Trek, just
as it is one aspect of the civil rights movement,
one that people may not be entirely aware of. And
thanks so much for listening. We want to hear from you.
(27:05):
Do you consider yourself a trekky? If so, please please
go easy on us, right, Noel.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Oh Man, Please, we're we're very dainty, little baffodils or
very ridiculous system, So.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Please please go easy us and let us know what
other cultural impacts you believe came about via Star Trek. Also,
let us know if you have other examples of ways
in which fiction and culture in the arts moved culture
as a whole forward.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
And speaking of examples, here are a few examples of
listener males that didn't hurt our feelings. All right, First,
we have one from two too and he said to
pronounce it that way, and the subject is an extra
trivia for the Great Stink episode, which was a fun
one to do for us. Dear Ben and Nola, warmest
(27:57):
greetings from Malaysia. I'm a listener to the show since
its inception, and I've enjoyed the various topics you guys
have put out so far. Your most recent episode on
the Great Stink of London was definitely an interesting take
on the matter, adding some depth and perspective for me
on the subject since I last heard it being mentioned
in another house Stuff Works podcast plug Stuff to Blow
Your Minds episode on miasma theory and the Evil Air.
(28:19):
We didn't talk about the evil air, but yeah, that
miasma theory is a doozy. Both your show and STBYM
covered the historical figure John Snow, while your show additionally
covered the figure John Harrington.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
This is interesting.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
What I found to be a missed opportunity for you
guys may be a little trivial, he said it was trivia.
Yet I can't help but mention that Kit Harrington, who
portrays HBO's Game of Thrones character John Snow, at least
according to the actor himself, and then he gives us
a link, is a descendant of said John Harrington.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
What casey can we get a like a.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Perfect He goes on, right, he does go on, He says,
talk about coincidences. Perhaps you guys were aware, but opted
not to mention due to its triviality. No, sir, I
can tell you we were not, as you just heard
our minds being blown, and they are in fact all
over the walls right now. But just in case you
guys weren't aware, I thought you might find the little
tidbit amusing at least. Anyway, Thanks a bunch for putting
(29:18):
the show together. It's been a pretty cool addition to
my podcast library that I listen to during my daily
drive to work. Looking forward to more great episodes regards two.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Thanks so much too. As Reddit likes to say, today,
I learned, and we have one more listener mail here.
We been getting so many awesome listener mails it's difficult
to choose just one.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
I know, it really is.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
So we're going to save all the butter Smuggler stuff
for another episode.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
I agree. That's going to be a fun one.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
And there are some great things about language. I got
to stop telling everybody about the emails we're going to.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
You know, listener mail spoilers.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Dude.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
Yeah, we'll just five year statute of limitations on that.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
We'll just be so great if somebody send us an
email five years before we did the show is time
travel possible different episode. Here's an email from Jared P.
Jared P writes, ohoy, fellas, I'm a new fan of
the show. I've been binge listening to catch up. You
guys are great.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Thank you, Jared.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
Jared continues, I lived in Japan for three years and
my wife is Japanese. The KFC x miss I choose
to write x mess out of sheer laziness. Notes phenomenon
has been around a long time, over twenty five years.
Everything I know of it is that it caught on
after a successful ad campaign. Most Japanese folks don't celebrate Christmas,
and those that do enjoy it for the commercial side
(30:32):
of it more than any religious connotations. Most Japanese people
think of x mess in American stereotypes, so doing something
American on that American holiday, like eating fried chickens suddenly
isn't so crazy. They also don't consume fried chicken and
burgers at the rate we do, so it's a bit
of a special occasion to go to those fast food places.
(30:53):
KFC was the first successful fast food chain in Japan,
and it's still popular today. Kentucky, as it's known here,
tastes like a somehow less greasy, healthier fried chicken version
of the American original, if that makes any sense. They
offer rules, which is a bummer. If you're a biscuit fan,
it's not bad. But if you're there and wanting to
explore Japan's take on American fast food and McDonald's Tarryaki.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
Burger is where it's act like a good tariokey burger,
I agree, we should go. We should try it.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Unrelated, he concludes, I love the teaser of sorts about
North Korea making a Godzilla movie. Keep up the great
show and feel free to go down the Kim Jong
Ill rabbit hole anytime.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Cheers Jeed. I'm still really gonna lean on my idea
of a rap name as being Kim Jong Ill, but
just spelled like licensed to ill, you know, like ill.
I think it'll be lost on ears, though when you
say it's me, the rapper Kim Jong Ill, people are
like booo, maybe poor taste.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
Maybe Kim Jong two Ill.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
That's pretty good, Kim Jong two Ill. I like that.
Speaking of burger stuff, did you hear that Sonic is
coming out with a burger that's fifty percent beef and
fifty percent mushroom and it's supposedly like this green thing
that like the conservationists are praising them for.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Really I would try it.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
No, it sounds good. I love a good mushroom. I
love a good burger.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
So you can probably tell by you can probably tell
folks by the theme of our conversation that it's time
for us to take a lunch break. So we are
going to head out now. We'd like to think two.
We'd like to thank Jared. Where would we be without
Casey Pegram, So thanks to him.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
And also thanks to David Dennis for writing how Mlka
influenced the direction of Star Trek for how stuff Works,
and to our composer Alex Williams, who wrote our theme.
Most importantly, thanks to you.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
If you want to take a page from a Jed
and Two's book, go ahead and write to us with
your suggestions, your reactions, your feedback on this and any
other episode, and.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Please do yourselves and us a favor and join us
for our next episode where we talk about animal spies.
I'm just gonna leave it right there, see you guys later.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
(33:19):
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,
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