December 19, 2024 • 42 mins
Still reeling from a tragic loss in the greatest of games, Ben, Noel and Max square off with Jonathan Strickland AKA The Quizster in one last battle of wits before wiping the slate clean in 2025. Jonathan shares several important announcements, and the guys provide reminisce about the Ridiculous History of their (surprisingly long) careers in podcasting.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to
(00:27):
the show, fellow Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so
much for tuning in. Let's hear it at the end
of the year for the Man the Myth Legend super
producer mister Max Williams.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Who a kind aggressive reminder.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I was going to make a negative comment, but then
I realized you weren't introducing our guests yet.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Not yet, not yet, and spoilers, that's Noel Brown, I
am often called ben Bullen Max before we roll into
this sure surely well thought out escapade that well, I'm
I'm convinced will go very well and stay on the rails.
Could you tell us a little bit about what Noel
(01:07):
just alluded to your subtitle on this recording A kind
aggressive reminder.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
I just throw it, okay, because all right, you know
that's a weird energy though you.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Well, to be fair, that is sort of Max's energy
is he is both kind and gently aggressive. Because the
man gets things done, y'all, and we couldn't do it
without him. So I'd love to take this opportunity to
thank the Man the Myth the Legend in his own
mind and ours and the hearts of the public.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Mister Max Williams, I've always said Max, Max's mister Rogers.
If he'd mess you up, there we.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Go, And fellow ridiculous historians, we also want to thank
you personally for hanging out with us, not just through
twenty twenty four, but through all the previous years. You guys,
we started the show back in twenty seventeen, and Noel,
you and I tell this story pretty often internally, but
we thought it was going to be just like six weeks.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
In and out, in and out internally as in within ourselves.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
Yes it's true. No, yeah, it was.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
It was a whole thing that was based on a
particular advertisements deal, and we just you know, said yes,
because that's what we did in those days.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Yes, and here we are all the loath these many
years later.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I'm as surprised as you are, Ben, and I'm happily surprised.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yes, And speaking of the opposite of happily surprised, we
have a we have a chip on our collective shoulders.
We have a proverbial podcastery bone to pick. We are
reluctantly welcoming back one of the long running characters in
this show that we never thought would go till twenty
(02:52):
twenty four and beyond. We started building this mythos out
early in the game, right, and one of the one
of the crazy things that happened on the way to
the podcast Studio no is we got ourselves a genuine nemesis,
(03:13):
a real pill, a real heel, the kind of guy
who gets unhappy when he sees puppies play.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
Wow, that is harsh but fair.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
I mean, hello, hello, quizter here, happy to see you.
It's a it's a mythology so deep that we sold
a T shirt. We sold one did so one T
shirt and technically we sold five because I bought that many.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
It's just sort of an on again, off again kind
of frenemy situation.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Yeah, yeah, we've been off for so so long. I
alluded to this in our previous episode. If you've not
heard it, you should, because the boys came up against
one of my incredibly nefarious quizzes. I won't ruin how
it turned out, but I think you'll be able to
tell from their demeanor, so I would suggest listening to
(04:07):
that one first. But I did allude to the fact
that while I was on my journey of self discovery
where I was becoming a kind of gentless soul, someone
who could allow such a podcast as this to continue unmolested.
I happened to listen.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
That was good of you.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
I also don't molest us.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
I happened to listen to an episode that molested my
sense of humor, and having been touched in the bad
place of my sense of humor, I then returned so
that I might wreak my revenge. And that episode was
about patents are bonkers?
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Ah part of a continuing series, so prepared to get
angrier and angrier.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
They are, though right they are, to take issue with
this assessment. This is what I take issue with. It
is that it is the deepest of wounds, the deepest
of cuts you could have dealt to me. You had
an episode about the history of patents and how insane
it is, and you did not title it patently absurd.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Oh oh swinging a miss Yeah no, that's on me.
Max is a research associate for that for that one.
And I want to defend Max here because patently absurd
was right there, and you're absolutely correct, quister, I missed it.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
I was looking at a spot.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Ben, Ben, you have no need to defend me.
Speaker 6 (05:33):
You want to why, because I found the most ridiculous
thing when it comes to titling things is to give
it the most literal title possible, Jonathan. The number of
I mean quist apologies, the number of briefs that I
start as like this patterns they are a thing.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
That is about ninety five percent of them start that way.
It's like Monaco.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
It's a country, It's a process, is what it is.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
That is ridiculous at its core.
Speaker 5 (05:59):
It just it just I respect them.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
It struck me at the very heart of me, and
all that work I had done toward enlightenment was was
cast aside and I had to attashed away. Baby, to
challenge you to another series of quizzes, Boy, if series
we mean to listen. If the Atlanta Braves can call
(06:22):
two wins a streak, I can call two quizzes a series.
Speaker 5 (06:25):
I think two makes a series. I mean one that
comes after the other. They are in series, not in parallel.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
No, right, I guess you could listen to to one
with one ear bud playing episode previous and then the
other earbud playing this episode.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
That'd be trippy.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I've been there. You get in situations. Also,
the smallest number of distinct items that can qualify as
a list is three.
Speaker 5 (06:50):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
So uh and we know that from our brain stuff
and what the stuff days.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Oh yeah, we're gonna be talking about stuff later. I
think I think we I think we are correct.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
But first, sir, yes, your your ignominy, your attitude, your
disrespect shall not stand. Picture us with a lidden glove,
perhaps a leather glove, just gently slapping you on the face.
It's time for a duel of the wits.
Speaker 5 (07:21):
Eh, once on each cheek.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Huh usually have to pay for this, all right?
Speaker 5 (07:26):
So wait which cheek? Both of the ones on your face?
Speaker 4 (07:31):
Essentially he was going for the Australia. Yeah, I don't know, man,
good old slap down under. All right, let's let's get
into the cringiest segment in all of podcasts, saying, some
of our friends out there know how this works. If
you do not, and this is the first episode you've
ever listened to of this podcast, holy.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
Cats, you apologize, We apologize.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
I still don't know how most of you this is true.
Noel forgotten the last one. All right, So so this
is how how it works. I'm going to present three
scenarios to the boys. Max you are you are not
allowed by anticipate three scenarios scenarios. It is your job
to tell me which of the three I made up.
(08:14):
So even just with the law of chance, you have
a one other three to get the right one. But
I think I have faith in you. I think you
will know, not guess, you will know which of these
three I made up?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Can I just interject really quickly that on the first
episode when you said made up, I interjected really quickly
and quietly, skiz because you used to always say made
up skis And then it turns out that the scenario
that we guessed incorrectly related to skis.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
Yes, do do with that connection what you will. It
is true the devil.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Sometimes I call them make them ups. Sometimes I just
call them fun times.
Speaker 5 (08:57):
But yes, we go up.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Also, yes, quick, just so everybody knows how the game works,
you can give us these scenarios. We will have three minutes.
Because we paid way too much for this Grandfather.
Speaker 5 (09:08):
Clock, we got to get the most out of it.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
During those three minutes, we can ask you questions. Yes,
we determine the answer, but you have a pretty arbitrary phrase.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
Qualification yes, I've just to say, because of the deep
wound I have suffered, you will have to say that
is passently absurd. Ah, yeah, and then follow it with
whatever question. All right, here we go Scenario number one.
The year was eighteen thirty six. All right, chuckleheads, listen up.
(09:43):
As we sit here, we are currently coming up on
the one hundred eighty eighth anniversary of Hold on a minute,
when does this episode come out?
Speaker 1 (09:55):
This will be publishing on the nineteen all.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Right, So the one hundred and eighty eighth episode or
anniversary rather just passed. So we just missed it. As
we talk here in the past, it hasn't happened yet.
That's how time works, anyway. On December fifteenth, eighteen thirty six,
the United States Patent Office done caught fire and burnt down.
(10:25):
At the time, the office inhabited the Blodget Hotel in
Washington District of Columbia, and down in the bowels of
the hotel there was a not inconsiderable amount of firewood
used to help keep the place warm in winter. But
that firewood was also next to the convenient spot where
(10:47):
US government Patent Office employees would dump hot ashes taken
from the furnaces, and who would have guessed that some
of the hot ashes ended up making the stuff what
was meant to go on fire go on fire, but
then earlier than it was supposed to, and the whole
(11:07):
place went up. The fire destroyed around ten thousand patents
and around seven thousand models, because back in those days
to file a patent, you often had to submit a
physical model of your invention to show how it worked
in miniature, as one of the prerequisites for a patent
(11:27):
is that an invention should, you know, do whatever it
is that it's meant to do. But those models took
up a lot of space, and some of them were very,
very flammable. In fact, some were so flammable they were inflammable.
Of the ten thousand patents burned, around twenty eight hundred
were partially saved. Scenario number two. The year was eighteen
(11:54):
sixty four. Confederate forces led by Lieutenant General Jubile Air
advanced on Washington District of Columbia. The idea was that
this would force Ulysses S. Grant to pull troops away
from his task of advancing upon Richmond, Virginia, which is
(12:14):
where the Confederate capital was, and this would be in
order to defend the US capital. The Confederate troops won
an early skirmish around July ninth, eighteen sixty four, and
then they continued to advance on Washington, d C. This
culminated in a battle in a very very very hot,
(12:36):
very dry summer of eighteen sixty four, very dry and early.
Could have continued to advance and possibly would have won
the city of Washington, d C. For the Confederacy, but
ultimately he determined that it would include very heavy losses
on his side, and ultimately he chose to withdraw, but
(13:00):
not before a artillery round went wild and struck the
rooftop of you guessed it, the US Patent Office. The
damage from the initial impact was pretty bad, but what
was worse was that some sparks caused the room holding
the patent models to catch on fire. Fortunately, it was
(13:22):
a relatively small fire, with an estimate loss of only
and I put that in air quotes one thousand patent
models before office workers were able to get the flames
under control. Scenario number three. The year was eighteen seventy seven.
By this time, the United States Patent Office was housed
(13:44):
in a building in Washington District of Columbia, which was
intended to be fire proof, So imagine everyone's surprise when
it burnt down on September twenty fourth, eighteen seventy seven. Well,
it didn't actually burned down, but tens of thousands of
patent models and hundreds of thousands of copy drawings were destroyed.
(14:07):
The patents themselves, which were stored in another part of
the building, survived. The fire seemed to start in a
room that housed guess what, patent models, and the exact
cause of the start of the fire is a matter
of speculation. Some believe that chemicals used in the construction
of one or more models spontaneously combusted in the room,
(14:30):
perhaps as a consequence of decay. Others think that a
lens from a patent model focused incoming sunlight from a
window on some flammable part of another model, thus causing
it to burst into flames. Still others think some patent
office workers were chilly as it was unseasonably cold in
late September that year, and they lit a fire and
(14:52):
some sparks ended up catching the roof on fire, which
then spread to the patent model room. And while the
roof was in flammable. The rest of the building proved
to be uninflammable and survived. In fact, the patent office
was open the very next day. Here's a fun bonus fact.
This is not part of any of the scenarios, but
(15:13):
the patent Office technically stopped requiring inventors to submit models
around eighteen seventy, but they kept asking for them anyway
until eighteen eighty. The reason they stopped largely was one,
as we've learned, fire hazard, and two, it was just
hard to store them because you had these physical things
(15:36):
that were twelve inches by twelve inches by twelve inches,
and you get enough of those, and where the heck
do you put them? So it would it was decided
that let's stop requiring people to send us models, which
also will open up the opportunity for people to submit
patents for inventions that wouldn't actually work. All right, I'm
done again.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Okay, Well that was a that was an abrupt ending.
All right, Noel, we know the game. I'm gonna run
for the clock.
Speaker 5 (16:09):
Get it boy, all right, on it?
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Three?
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Two? What wait?
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Go go go? So okay, all right, all right, first off,
first off.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
That is patently absurd, yes, Bolin.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
So we've got one. Just correct us here, We've got
one event. Scenario one occurs in winter December fifteenth.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Eighteen thirty six, Yes.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Eighteen thirty six. Scenario two occurs in summer eighteen sixty four. Yes,
and scenario three also occurs in winter ish time right sevenees?
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Well, September it was. It was fall, but unseasonably cold
fall of eighteen seventy seven.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
All right, I know, I do, Noel, I do know
that Jubile Early, despite sounding like a made up name,
is a real historical figure.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
I know that I recognize the name, but I'm not
quite putting the pieces together as to what that person.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
He was definitely a Confederate general, Okay, at some point,
not currently he is dead.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
Yes, eighteen sixty four, absolutely, twenty twenty four, not so much, Okay.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
I do take issue with the notion of spontaneous combustion.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
It does happen, though, have you ever heard about fertilizer?
Spontaneously combusting? Should happen on this show all the time,
considering all the crap YouTube?
Speaker 5 (17:37):
Wow, wow, you that one? You'll pay?
Speaker 3 (17:40):
You'll pay for that one? He freezes, No, that's true.
I guess unstable, you know, like for like nitroglycerin or.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
I'm really proud of that that was off. That was
off the cuff.
Speaker 5 (17:49):
That was very good.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
I guess as I think of that part in Loss
where they're trying to transport the dynamite from the black.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
Rock, nat is particularly unstable.
Speaker 5 (17:59):
But no, this is it's touchy.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Okay, well, no, I'm with you there, because that would
be that.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
Was just a possibility that the right is the second one,
the second.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
One, it was, the third one was the third one.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
The second one is.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
The second one is Confederates, the first the first one
is some some uh people decided that dumping hot ash
next to a pilot fireland was a good idea.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
Just straight up fire.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Okay, So I feel like number two is definitely true.
You guys, So now it's between that's.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
That well, well, that that's not to though, put it
past the diabolical quist Or to include real historical figures
in his charades.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Yeah, that's a great point. Okay, that is patently absurd, mister, Okay, okay,
we're running short on time. Quist Is it possible that
these things and I've accused you of this before, is
it possible that the untrue scenario is mostly true with
one fact changed.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
No, no, no, no, Well, let me put it to
you this way. Is it possible that the untrue scenario
has elements of truth in it, in the fact that
maybe there's some things like the Bludget Hotel. Could the
Bludget hotel is Hey? Did you did you mean to
say the Ritz Carlton instead of the Bludget Hotel in
Washington District of Columbia. No, I wouldn't do that to you,
(19:22):
but but I might incorporate some things that are factual.
For example, did you know there really is a Washington
District of Columbia.
Speaker 5 (19:32):
H He's tangentially aware.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Also, our tier is up.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
I mean I could have said, like in the world
of elves and dwarves the patents, but I think that
would make it pretty easy.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
Okay, okay, I love the world of dwarf patents. Yes, yeah, fascinating, Yes, stop.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
It okay, okay, No, where where are we at? I am?
I am unfortunately disappointing all of us because uh, I
do not know for certain and.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
The quiz here, in his infinite loathsomeness, did tease that
we would be able to know it.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
Yeah, that was a trap. He crap up.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Max you got anything he caught?
Speaker 4 (20:10):
He cannot he cannot, Yeah.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
John, uh not Jonathan. The quister and I were talking beforehand.
I don't know for certain, but I have a really
good idea. Hence why I turned my camera off. Yeah,
when he was reading the scenarios, because I have been
known to tell people what I'm thinking with my face.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
We can't we can't phone a friend, Jonathan, okay, if.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
Oh buddy, all right?
Speaker 1 (20:36):
So uh, all right, it's between one and three? Uh no,
you what a rock paper scissors for water?
Speaker 5 (20:43):
Three? I'll be through the one. No, but I'll row shambeau.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Okay, that's the same thing, alright, three two one?
Speaker 5 (20:52):
Oh? It was that? Shoot? I thought it was three
two one? Shoot? A meeting of the minds.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
All right, all right, all right ready h one two
three shoot? Okay, so we're going with one. Lock it in?
Speaker 5 (21:09):
The one being false? Yes, of course. Sorry, sorry reminding
me the eighteen thirty.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
Six fire that destroyed ten thousand patents and seven thousand
patent models is false. Well, my friends, remember how I
said I knew one.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
That's the one I knew was real.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
I was thinking it.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
All right, Well done, Do you want to know what's
what the spontaneous combustion?
Speaker 5 (21:36):
It was three, it was two. It was the one.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
It was the one you was sure was right. Ju
Belle Early is a real guy.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
That he really did.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
He really did lay siege to Washington, d C. But
no shell hit the US Patent Office.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
But fre point of order. This is what I asked
you about. Dude, you did get all right? You got
us again. You're you're wiley, and.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
Yeah, I have to make something up that sounds realistic.
The point is that the whole Jewbil Early thing, like
you didn't even remember that he had the whole Battle
of Fort Stevens over in DC. You didn't know any
of that.
Speaker 5 (22:14):
We never claim to be experts. It's that's part of
the show when we hang out. Bro.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Well, next time we're gonna give you your title a
pun and then I won't be so mad about it.
Speaker 5 (22:25):
All right, fair enough and well played?
Speaker 4 (22:27):
Hey it can can quistor maybe go away for a
bit and Jonathan come on the chauffe a little.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Oh, let's do that. So let's do it this way.
First off, I propose that we, if all parties are agreed,
we say that the Quist won twenty twenty four and
has to return twenty twenty five. We got to even
the score. For now, we're going to bid a very
resentful adieu to the Quist. Just absolutely villain that guy.
(22:55):
And we're gonna welcome our dear friend and brother in podcasting,
Jonathan Strickland onto the show to tell us a little
bit about his adventures in the in the over the
past year.
Speaker 5 (23:07):
Man.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Mm hmm, Jonathan, welcome and thank thank god for you,
thank you.
Speaker 5 (23:13):
I hated that other guy.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
Yeah no, he sounds like a real piece of crap.
Speaker 5 (23:20):
So what's been up, man? What's going on?
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Inquiry minds want to know? We have a lot of
fans of Ridiculous History who also only learned about our
show because of your original creation Tech Stuff.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
Yeah, so for those who have been listening to tech Stuff,
they already know this. But I for a couple of
years I had been thinking about stepping back from hosting
Tech Stuff. The show will continue just under new hosts,
which I haven't actually announced yet, but the like, I
haven't announced who the new hosts are, but I'll be
(23:55):
I'll be stepping back. My final show will I think
be January eighth, and then that Friday the tenth will
be the new show under new management, kind of like
the Tihi Room was for a while over at Magic
Kingdom and Disney World. Yeah, they went back to the
original management. I don't expect that to happen for this.
(24:16):
I don't think I'm coming back to it.
Speaker 5 (24:18):
So I've been you know, hosted for what like twenty years.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Is two thousand and eight, since two thousand and eight,
so sixteen and a half years by the time I
stepped back. So my first episode ever was June eighth,
two thousand and eight, which, by the way, if you
want some interesting history, June eighth, two thousand and eight,
that was a month before Apple announced the App Store.
There was no app store.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
Body. Wow.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
Yeah, So listening to podcasts back then typically meant that
you were probably using iTunes, you were physically connecting your
iPod to your computer to synchronize. Yeah, like that's that's back.
Like another fun fact, when we launched tech Stuff, my
Space was still more popular than Facebook at that point.
(25:05):
That only changed the following year.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
I do like this kind of looking backwards the moment
we're having right here, because it's like, all of these
things I participated in, but I hadn't.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Really thought about my days, and yeah, I made a
list because like my plan is, my plan is for
my final episode. Actually I should try and pull that up,
because I didn't even think to do that, but I
I made a list for my final episode about things
that have changed since you know, tech stuff started and
(25:36):
in the tech world. Really, I mean I did not
just things in general, but like there's so much that
happened over the course of the last sixteen and a
half years, like the fact that social like social network apps,
grew to such incredible heights, to the point where like
(25:57):
that affected how we did our work right, like you did.
I don't know if you remember this, Ben, but there
was a time, probably around two thousand and eight, two
thousand and nine, when I got a shout out at
our house Stuff Works office because I had started a
Twitter account and I was promoting tech stuff on my
(26:17):
Twitter account and people are like, this is brilliant, and
then everyone shot daggers with me with their eyes.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Okay, yeah, I'll admit it. I threw a couple sidelong
glance is because I knew that you were establishing a precedent,
which did often in our early days. Folks. It was
kind of wild as podcasts became a thing, and as
we were collectively under a very different series of corporate iterations,
(26:48):
as we were boldly going into this realm, we didn't
know what would work and what would not work. And
the way I describe it, and all you've heard this too,
is for a little while working at our office at
How Stuff Works was a lot more like being on
a TV show about an office job than it was
(27:10):
like having an actual office job.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
Yeah, it's such a cast of punchy character.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
You could you could end up going into the break room,
which was the converted office space of our our former
head hon show, Jeff Arnold, and they had made it
out into this this almost like like dormitory. Yeah, there
was a common there and there was a foosball table. Now,
(27:38):
whenever I went in there, no editor or writer or
anyone from the video department ever was playing that thing.
Speaker 5 (27:45):
It was always a trap.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
It was always the folks from sales and marketing. Yeah,
we all we all treated that space like if you're
found there, someone's going to call you out for not
doing your work. Whereas most of us were just like
we were all blissfully unaware of the future and what
the future would hold for us because we lived in
a world where we actually had cubicles and then and
(28:07):
then we weren't. We weren't part of the open floor
plan design.
Speaker 5 (28:13):
There was an area called the fish bowl. I seem
to that wasn't that it was that a discovery reference
or was it not the fact that it looked like reference?
Speaker 1 (28:24):
It was because it had It was the old cfo's office.
I think we can say it now. It was the
old cfo's office. So the video department, which was you know,
a little less than a dozen people who were all
crammed into that office. That were we were all crammed
in that office, windows on three sides essentially, which is
why we called it the It wasn't our most creative work,
(28:46):
but it had a lot of heart to it.
Speaker 5 (28:48):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
This also, this office of fun Atlanta History fact, was
formerly the location of La Face Records. And uh, I'll
always remember right off of the dormitory that Noel and
Jonathan are describing here, Ralph, that common area there was
a very strange bathroom with a lot with a old
(29:09):
school telephode set right next to the commode.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
And a full length mirror opposite the commode, so you
could watch yourself make the call as a.
Speaker 5 (29:19):
Poop as you.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
Yeah, it's funny that that actually came up on an
episode we did about who is it who called his
little Australia big Johnson?
Speaker 5 (29:30):
Oh it was a jumbo.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
It was big Jumbo who Lindon Just sorry, Little Lyndon
Johnson was also fond of taking phone calls while on
the commode. Oh yeah, so I think this this story
came up.
Speaker 5 (29:41):
In that episode. So you can check that one out.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
If you want. So much crazy stuff has happened over
over the years. I mean, what I think is interesting, Ben,
is you think of the inhabitants of that fishbowl. Quite
a few of the are still with our our group,
(30:03):
like under iHeart like there's.
Speaker 5 (30:06):
Tyler Tyler playing.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yeah, our pal Casey Pegrim by the way, who sends
his regards folks. The original super producer of our show
which I forgot the name of for a second, ridiculous sister,
I totally like, what show am I hosting right now?
Speaker 5 (30:24):
Jeez?
Speaker 1 (30:25):
But we had we have had so many adventures and
the only way that we've been able to do this
is another fun fact, folks, are pal Noel Brown used
to produce every single podcast in the beginning. Uh yeah,
he joined his Tech Stuff for a while and well
again every show, and thank you for that. I want
(30:47):
to argue the only reason we've been able to continue
this stuff is uh, not just because of our amazing
supporters and our friends, our audience members who tune in
every week, but also because of the people we work with.
And it can be very you know, we're in such
(31:08):
a house yon bubble sometimes and we don't recognize I
think as often as we should that you get by
with a little help from your friends. And oh yeah, yeah,
that's how we were able to do this very weird
career for so long.
Speaker 4 (31:21):
So from from like two thousand and eight till twenty thirteen,
I had a co host who was also my editor
when I was writing articles for How Stuff Works, Chris Pollette,
fantastic guy. Can't say enough good things about him. Still
a fantastic guy. It's just not in the podcast world anymore.
Then after that Lauren Vogelbaum, who does brain Stuff and
Savor and other things. She was my co host for
(31:45):
about a year a little more than almost two years,
like through twenty thirteen and through most of twenty fourteen,
and then After that, there was a brief period where
I would scramble to find someone to be a guest
co host. Ben and Noel both have been guest co
hosts on Tech Stuff, and so those were really important.
(32:07):
Like I was not ready to go just entirely solo
at that point, and so without these amazing coworkers, I
don't know what would have happened to the show. It
probably would have just stopped right like it had just
gone into perpetual reruns. So I think one thing that
we're all really fortunate is that, you know, we have
coworkers who are willing and able to leap in and
(32:29):
help at a moment's notice, and everyone shares a sense
of curiosity and a desire to share what they've learned.
That that made it pretty easy to do, right, Even
Like if I came up to Ben and I was like, hey, buddy,
I'm doing like a three part series on the Manhattan Project.
(32:50):
Do you think you could sit in? And Ben would
be like, okay, how everything else he does and.
Speaker 5 (32:57):
We did know.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
I'm so grateful too, because I mean, like I mentioned,
there was a time where I was just editing all
of these shows as a producer, and during that time.
I kind of took so much information in just from
producing shows like tech stuff and car stuff when Ben
was on car stuff, and then of course in the
early days of stuff they don't want you to know,
and then I was kind of able to take what
I had sort of you know, retained through osmosis and
(33:21):
step into the same role that you guys have been
doing for so long.
Speaker 5 (33:24):
So I'm really, really, really grateful for that.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
And you were no small part of that, Jonathan, just
from you know, you being so generous in having me
on the show in the early days, and also just
from you know, being so knowledgeable and just paying attention
to what you were talking about.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
So yeah, Also people should know that Noel on more
than one occasion, would take errant mouth sounds from the
various episodes he edited and would make song tracks out
of them.
Speaker 5 (33:49):
Wow, is s the song tracks, but you know I'd
made some beats.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
And then of course Alex Williams is our dear friend
and brother of Max car On that tradition took it
to the kind of nth degree. So I appreciate you
calling that out, but Alex definitely took that and ran
with it.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
Even I just remember the fund. I remember the origins
is all. So of course I also shouldn't bury the
lead here in that I'm not leaving iHeart right.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
I'm glad we got to that because folks need to know.
This is not some kind of swan song. If anything,
we're going to hopefully, I'm knocking on wood, We're gonna
hopefully see more of the quiztre in twenty twenty five
because our big bro might have a little more time
on air.
Speaker 5 (34:31):
One.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
Yeah, that's my hope, is that I'm going to be
focusing more on the producer side of things. But that means,
you know, without having to identify research, right, and then
record three episodes a week.
Speaker 5 (34:46):
So low solow.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
Yeah, because I never had a writer, I'll tell this
story that might end up getting cut. So if you're
hearing this, it's because no one cared enough to cut it.
But oh, come on, all right, do the bit once
a a time a few years back. This actually might
have even been before the pandemic. It had to be
after I was I think it was when they they
had decided that I was going to do five episodes
(35:10):
a week, and I was just by myself, and I
kept pushing back. I was like, even if I do
a rerun four episodes a week, it's still a lot,
because that's for every I'd say, for every hour of
audio you hear on some a show like tech Stuff,
they are about eight hours of research and writing that
go into it on average. Now, some are easier than others,
(35:33):
some are harder, and so I was pushing back and
one of the things that was mentioned to me was
the possibility of getting a researcher and writer to do
one episode a week for me and I would just
voice it. I wouldn't have to write it. And I said, well,
as long as it was written in my style so
that it didn't sound totally different from everything else I do,
(35:56):
I'm not opposed to it. So the Power that Be
went and talked to someone who was potentially going to
become the researcher and writer for one episode a week.
This person was put into touch with me. I talked
to the person about my process and how long it
took and everything. They got back to the Powers that
Be with a quote, and the Powers that Be came
(36:17):
to me and said, yeah, it turns out to be
way too expensive for us to be able to hire
someone to imagine that, and so my response was, you
realize what you're telling me is that you're not paying
me enough. That's what you're telling me, because I do
that four times a week.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
And this is these are you know, I've been thinking back.
Maybe it's the end of the year that draws nostalgia
and a little bit of bittersweet and melancholy to all
of us. But I've been thinking more and more often
as the years went on about doing a limited series
of just these kind of war these kinds of war
(36:55):
stories I remember to the point about to the point
about people jumping in to help each other at a
moment's notice. I've said it internally, but I guess I
should say.
Speaker 5 (37:08):
It on air.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
One of the things that I've personally always been grateful
for you doing and tremendous help for us in the
video department, where as head writer of the video department,
and we had to put out a high cadence of
different videos explaining stuff, particularly for brain stuff. One of
the things that I always knew, and I was careful
(37:30):
not to pull the card too often, but I always
knew your work schedule in the office. So if I
had beat me here, Max, if I had fucked something up,
I could go grab you right at your dead time
and I knew when it was and just steal you
to do a video. And I want to thank you
again for that, because I know I probably did it
(37:51):
too often. But I would literally walk up to this
guy and only when I knew that he was probably
quietly researching for maybe thirty minutes or an hour, and
I would be like, hey, man, do you ever think
about zippers? It's funny that we're having this conversation.
Speaker 4 (38:11):
Have you ever wondered why people talk so funny in
old timey movies and radio? Or Translantic episode that was
the one that went viral. Uh, yeah, yeah, I will see.
I always loved doing that because ultimately I love I
love to communicate and potentially entertain and educate people. It's
(38:32):
something that I've always loved doing. And the bright side
of being pulled for like a moment's notice to do
a video was that as long as I was dressed
in a way that wasn't embarrassing, and we had some
stuff at the office so I could always change out
if I had to, I didn't mind doing it because
nine times out of ten we had a script on teleprompter,
(38:54):
and that was so much easier than all the other
stuff I do. You know, reading off a teleprompter is
way easier than all the other stuff I had to do. Also,
we had some really fun truly, if you want to
dive into ancient history of how stuff works and the uh,
the animosity, the fake animosity between me and Ben, you
(39:18):
need to find our Evil Twin video.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Oh wow, oh my god.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
Where we we We wore eye patches as the evil
Twins and did tear and we did I did a
Quister voice for that, like that was the bad guy.
Speaker 5 (39:32):
That was the bad guy voice was Quister.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
So I don't know, I don't know if people need
to see that.
Speaker 4 (39:37):
No, it's not good, but it was fun to do.
We went to I remember we walked to Toys r
Us to try and find cheap plastic pirate eye patches
so that we could wear them on camera. And they
even had I think the little white like skull and
crossbones on them and everything.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
They did, which is technically hilarious.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
Yeah, we don't need those eyeballs. They're poisoned.
Speaker 5 (40:02):
Oh gosh. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
We had a lot of weird stuff there and we
are again we're so grateful for everybody who's joined us
on the way. Let us know if you ever want
to hear a ridiculous history of how stuff works and
stuff podcasts or whether that's a limited series. We are
going to continue our odd collective endeavor together. We're just
(40:23):
going to keep getting weirder with it. I am so
grateful to you, Jonathan, to you know, to you Max,
to everybody's tuning in. When we say thank you to
folks on air, we genuinely mean it unless you hear,
like when Nola and I are being sarcastic, you can
hear the italics.
Speaker 5 (40:42):
I'm pretty proud of that. I think it's okay.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Yeah, so with that, with that, Jonathan, we can't wait
for you to return and the Devilous some more.
Speaker 5 (40:52):
Noel, We're we're.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
Too dowt and it's not even twenty twenty five yet,
but we got a game, clean, slate clean, okay, So
we appreciate that.
Speaker 5 (41:02):
That's nice. Man.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
We didn't get you anything, but we appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (41:06):
There's still time time. I'm not doing anything.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
So big big thanks of course too, are one and
only the super producer, mister Max Williams. Big thanks to
Alex Williams, who composed this slap and bop that you
hear in the back.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
Indeed, christopherraciotis and heeds, Jeff Coates here and Christmas Spirits Hey,
j Mohamas, Jacobs, the Puzzler.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
Rachel Big, Spinach Lands, the rude dudes over at ridiculous crime,
every single colleague that we have mentioned previously. Just some
quick thank yous as well to our pals Holly Fry,
Tracy Wilson, stuff you missed in history class, Josh Clark,
Chuck Bryant.
Speaker 5 (41:51):
You can call him Chuck if you're cool with him.
That's the stuff you should know.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
And and of course Matt Frederick and Lauren Vay Lauren
vote well yet I don't think you did earlier, but
not not savor from brain stuff from a million shows.
Speaker 5 (42:06):
You can text stuff as well tech stuff.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
While we're thinking, uh, look, nol, it would end up
being a whole episode of thank yous, but I'll say
one of the most important ones for the purposes of
this show.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
Thank you, and you as well, Ben, and we'll see
you next time, folks. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows
Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to
(00:27):
the show, fellow Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always so
much for tuning in. Let's hear it at the end
of the year for the Man the Myth Legend super
producer mister Max Williams.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Who a kind aggressive reminder.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I was going to make a negative comment, but then
I realized you weren't introducing our guests yet.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Not yet, not yet, and spoilers, that's Noel Brown, I
am often called ben Bullen Max before we roll into
this sure surely well thought out escapade that well, I'm
I'm convinced will go very well and stay on the rails.
Could you tell us a little bit about what Noel
(01:07):
just alluded to your subtitle on this recording A kind
aggressive reminder.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
I just throw it, okay, because all right, you know
that's a weird energy though you.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Well, to be fair, that is sort of Max's energy
is he is both kind and gently aggressive. Because the
man gets things done, y'all, and we couldn't do it
without him. So I'd love to take this opportunity to
thank the Man the Myth the Legend in his own
mind and ours and the hearts of the public.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Mister Max Williams, I've always said Max, Max's mister Rogers.
If he'd mess you up, there we.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Go, And fellow ridiculous historians, we also want to thank
you personally for hanging out with us, not just through
twenty twenty four, but through all the previous years. You guys,
we started the show back in twenty seventeen, and Noel,
you and I tell this story pretty often internally, but
we thought it was going to be just like six weeks.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
In and out, in and out internally as in within ourselves.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
Yes it's true. No, yeah, it was.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
It was a whole thing that was based on a
particular advertisements deal, and we just you know, said yes,
because that's what we did in those days.
Speaker 5 (02:22):
Yes, and here we are all the loath these many
years later.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
I'm as surprised as you are, Ben, and I'm happily surprised.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yes, And speaking of the opposite of happily surprised, we
have a we have a chip on our collective shoulders.
We have a proverbial podcastery bone to pick. We are
reluctantly welcoming back one of the long running characters in
this show that we never thought would go till twenty
(02:52):
twenty four and beyond. We started building this mythos out
early in the game, right, and one of the one
of the crazy things that happened on the way to
the podcast Studio no is we got ourselves a genuine nemesis,
(03:13):
a real pill, a real heel, the kind of guy
who gets unhappy when he sees puppies play.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
Wow, that is harsh but fair.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
I mean, hello, hello, quizter here, happy to see you.
It's a it's a mythology so deep that we sold
a T shirt. We sold one did so one T
shirt and technically we sold five because I bought that many.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
It's just sort of an on again, off again kind
of frenemy situation.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Yeah, yeah, we've been off for so so long. I
alluded to this in our previous episode. If you've not
heard it, you should, because the boys came up against
one of my incredibly nefarious quizzes. I won't ruin how
it turned out, but I think you'll be able to
tell from their demeanor, so I would suggest listening to
(04:07):
that one first. But I did allude to the fact
that while I was on my journey of self discovery
where I was becoming a kind of gentless soul, someone
who could allow such a podcast as this to continue unmolested.
I happened to listen.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
That was good of you.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
I also don't molest us.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
I happened to listen to an episode that molested my
sense of humor, and having been touched in the bad
place of my sense of humor, I then returned so
that I might wreak my revenge. And that episode was
about patents are bonkers?
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Ah part of a continuing series, so prepared to get
angrier and angrier.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
They are, though right they are, to take issue with
this assessment. This is what I take issue with. It
is that it is the deepest of wounds, the deepest
of cuts you could have dealt to me. You had
an episode about the history of patents and how insane
it is, and you did not title it patently absurd.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Oh oh swinging a miss Yeah no, that's on me.
Max is a research associate for that for that one.
And I want to defend Max here because patently absurd
was right there, and you're absolutely correct, quister, I missed it.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
I was looking at a spot.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Ben, Ben, you have no need to defend me.
Speaker 6 (05:33):
You want to why, because I found the most ridiculous
thing when it comes to titling things is to give
it the most literal title possible, Jonathan. The number of
I mean quist apologies, the number of briefs that I
start as like this patterns they are a thing.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
That is about ninety five percent of them start that way.
It's like Monaco.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
It's a country, It's a process, is what it is.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
That is ridiculous at its core.
Speaker 5 (05:59):
It just it just I respect them.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
It struck me at the very heart of me, and
all that work I had done toward enlightenment was was
cast aside and I had to attashed away. Baby, to
challenge you to another series of quizzes, Boy, if series
we mean to listen. If the Atlanta Braves can call
(06:22):
two wins a streak, I can call two quizzes a series.
Speaker 5 (06:25):
I think two makes a series. I mean one that
comes after the other. They are in series, not in parallel.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
No, right, I guess you could listen to to one
with one ear bud playing episode previous and then the
other earbud playing this episode.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
That'd be trippy.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I've been there. You get in situations. Also,
the smallest number of distinct items that can qualify as
a list is three.
Speaker 5 (06:50):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
So uh and we know that from our brain stuff
and what the stuff days.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Oh yeah, we're gonna be talking about stuff later. I
think I think we I think we are correct.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
But first, sir, yes, your your ignominy, your attitude, your
disrespect shall not stand. Picture us with a lidden glove,
perhaps a leather glove, just gently slapping you on the face.
It's time for a duel of the wits.
Speaker 5 (07:21):
Eh, once on each cheek.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
Huh usually have to pay for this, all right?
Speaker 5 (07:26):
So wait which cheek? Both of the ones on your face?
Speaker 4 (07:31):
Essentially he was going for the Australia. Yeah, I don't know, man,
good old slap down under. All right, let's let's get
into the cringiest segment in all of podcasts, saying, some
of our friends out there know how this works. If
you do not, and this is the first episode you've
ever listened to of this podcast, holy.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
Cats, you apologize, We apologize.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
I still don't know how most of you this is true.
Noel forgotten the last one. All right, So so this
is how how it works. I'm going to present three
scenarios to the boys. Max you are you are not
allowed by anticipate three scenarios scenarios. It is your job
to tell me which of the three I made up.
(08:14):
So even just with the law of chance, you have
a one other three to get the right one. But
I think I have faith in you. I think you
will know, not guess, you will know which of these
three I made up?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
Can I just interject really quickly that on the first
episode when you said made up, I interjected really quickly
and quietly, skiz because you used to always say made
up skis And then it turns out that the scenario
that we guessed incorrectly related to skis.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
Yes, do do with that connection what you will. It
is true the devil.
Speaker 4 (08:52):
Sometimes I call them make them ups. Sometimes I just
call them fun times.
Speaker 5 (08:57):
But yes, we go up.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Also, yes, quick, just so everybody knows how the game works,
you can give us these scenarios. We will have three minutes.
Because we paid way too much for this Grandfather.
Speaker 5 (09:08):
Clock, we got to get the most out of it.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
During those three minutes, we can ask you questions. Yes,
we determine the answer, but you have a pretty arbitrary phrase.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
Qualification yes, I've just to say, because of the deep
wound I have suffered, you will have to say that
is passently absurd. Ah, yeah, and then follow it with
whatever question. All right, here we go Scenario number one.
The year was eighteen thirty six. All right, chuckleheads, listen up.
(09:43):
As we sit here, we are currently coming up on
the one hundred eighty eighth anniversary of Hold on a minute,
when does this episode come out?
Speaker 1 (09:55):
This will be publishing on the nineteen all.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Right, So the one hundred and eighty eighth episode or
anniversary rather just passed. So we just missed it. As
we talk here in the past, it hasn't happened yet.
That's how time works, anyway. On December fifteenth, eighteen thirty six,
the United States Patent Office done caught fire and burnt down.
(10:25):
At the time, the office inhabited the Blodget Hotel in
Washington District of Columbia, and down in the bowels of
the hotel there was a not inconsiderable amount of firewood
used to help keep the place warm in winter. But
that firewood was also next to the convenient spot where
(10:47):
US government Patent Office employees would dump hot ashes taken
from the furnaces, and who would have guessed that some
of the hot ashes ended up making the stuff what
was meant to go on fire go on fire, but
then earlier than it was supposed to, and the whole
(11:07):
place went up. The fire destroyed around ten thousand patents
and around seven thousand models, because back in those days
to file a patent, you often had to submit a
physical model of your invention to show how it worked
in miniature, as one of the prerequisites for a patent
(11:27):
is that an invention should, you know, do whatever it
is that it's meant to do. But those models took
up a lot of space, and some of them were very,
very flammable. In fact, some were so flammable they were inflammable.
Of the ten thousand patents burned, around twenty eight hundred
were partially saved. Scenario number two. The year was eighteen
(11:54):
sixty four. Confederate forces led by Lieutenant General Jubile Air
advanced on Washington District of Columbia. The idea was that
this would force Ulysses S. Grant to pull troops away
from his task of advancing upon Richmond, Virginia, which is
(12:14):
where the Confederate capital was, and this would be in
order to defend the US capital. The Confederate troops won
an early skirmish around July ninth, eighteen sixty four, and
then they continued to advance on Washington, d C. This
culminated in a battle in a very very very hot,
(12:36):
very dry summer of eighteen sixty four, very dry and early.
Could have continued to advance and possibly would have won
the city of Washington, d C. For the Confederacy, but
ultimately he determined that it would include very heavy losses
on his side, and ultimately he chose to withdraw, but
(13:00):
not before a artillery round went wild and struck the
rooftop of you guessed it, the US Patent Office. The
damage from the initial impact was pretty bad, but what
was worse was that some sparks caused the room holding
the patent models to catch on fire. Fortunately, it was
(13:22):
a relatively small fire, with an estimate loss of only
and I put that in air quotes one thousand patent
models before office workers were able to get the flames
under control. Scenario number three. The year was eighteen seventy seven.
By this time, the United States Patent Office was housed
(13:44):
in a building in Washington District of Columbia, which was
intended to be fire proof, So imagine everyone's surprise when
it burnt down on September twenty fourth, eighteen seventy seven. Well,
it didn't actually burned down, but tens of thousands of
patent models and hundreds of thousands of copy drawings were destroyed.
(14:07):
The patents themselves, which were stored in another part of
the building, survived. The fire seemed to start in a
room that housed guess what, patent models, and the exact
cause of the start of the fire is a matter
of speculation. Some believe that chemicals used in the construction
of one or more models spontaneously combusted in the room,
(14:30):
perhaps as a consequence of decay. Others think that a
lens from a patent model focused incoming sunlight from a
window on some flammable part of another model, thus causing
it to burst into flames. Still others think some patent
office workers were chilly as it was unseasonably cold in
late September that year, and they lit a fire and
(14:52):
some sparks ended up catching the roof on fire, which
then spread to the patent model room. And while the
roof was in flammable. The rest of the building proved
to be uninflammable and survived. In fact, the patent office
was open the very next day. Here's a fun bonus fact.
This is not part of any of the scenarios, but
(15:13):
the patent Office technically stopped requiring inventors to submit models
around eighteen seventy, but they kept asking for them anyway
until eighteen eighty. The reason they stopped largely was one,
as we've learned, fire hazard, and two, it was just
hard to store them because you had these physical things
(15:36):
that were twelve inches by twelve inches by twelve inches,
and you get enough of those, and where the heck
do you put them? So it would it was decided
that let's stop requiring people to send us models, which
also will open up the opportunity for people to submit
patents for inventions that wouldn't actually work. All right, I'm
done again.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Okay, Well that was a that was an abrupt ending.
All right, Noel, we know the game. I'm gonna run
for the clock.
Speaker 5 (16:09):
Get it boy, all right, on it?
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Three?
Speaker 5 (16:13):
Two? What wait?
Speaker 1 (16:15):
Go go go? So okay, all right, all right, first off,
first off.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
That is patently absurd, yes, Bolin.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
So we've got one. Just correct us here, We've got
one event. Scenario one occurs in winter December fifteenth.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
Eighteen thirty six, Yes.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Eighteen thirty six. Scenario two occurs in summer eighteen sixty four. Yes,
and scenario three also occurs in winter ish time right sevenees?
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Well, September it was. It was fall, but unseasonably cold
fall of eighteen seventy seven.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
All right, I know, I do, Noel, I do know
that Jubile Early, despite sounding like a made up name,
is a real historical figure.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
I know that I recognize the name, but I'm not
quite putting the pieces together as to what that person.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
He was definitely a Confederate general, Okay, at some point,
not currently he is dead.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
Yes, eighteen sixty four, absolutely, twenty twenty four, not so much, Okay.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
I do take issue with the notion of spontaneous combustion.
Speaker 4 (17:29):
It does happen, though, have you ever heard about fertilizer?
Spontaneously combusting? Should happen on this show all the time,
considering all the crap YouTube?
Speaker 5 (17:37):
Wow, wow, you that one? You'll pay?
Speaker 3 (17:40):
You'll pay for that one? He freezes, No, that's true.
I guess unstable, you know, like for like nitroglycerin or.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
I'm really proud of that that was off. That was
off the cuff.
Speaker 5 (17:49):
That was very good.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
I guess as I think of that part in Loss
where they're trying to transport the dynamite from the black.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
Rock, nat is particularly unstable.
Speaker 5 (17:59):
But no, this is it's touchy.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Okay, well, no, I'm with you there, because that would
be that.
Speaker 5 (18:06):
Was just a possibility that the right is the second one,
the second.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
One, it was, the third one was the third one.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
The second one is.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
The second one is Confederates, the first the first one
is some some uh people decided that dumping hot ash
next to a pilot fireland was a good idea.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
Just straight up fire.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Okay, So I feel like number two is definitely true.
You guys, So now it's between that's.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
That well, well, that that's not to though, put it
past the diabolical quist Or to include real historical figures
in his charades.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Yeah, that's a great point. Okay, that is patently absurd, mister, Okay, okay,
we're running short on time. Quist Is it possible that
these things and I've accused you of this before, is
it possible that the untrue scenario is mostly true with
one fact changed.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
No, no, no, no, Well, let me put it to
you this way. Is it possible that the untrue scenario
has elements of truth in it, in the fact that
maybe there's some things like the Bludget Hotel. Could the
Bludget hotel is Hey? Did you did you mean to
say the Ritz Carlton instead of the Bludget Hotel in
Washington District of Columbia. No, I wouldn't do that to you,
(19:22):
but but I might incorporate some things that are factual.
For example, did you know there really is a Washington
District of Columbia.
Speaker 5 (19:32):
H He's tangentially aware.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Also, our tier is up.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
I mean I could have said, like in the world
of elves and dwarves the patents, but I think that
would make it pretty easy.
Speaker 5 (19:43):
Okay, okay, I love the world of dwarf patents. Yes, yeah, fascinating, Yes, stop.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
It okay, okay, No, where where are we at? I am?
I am unfortunately disappointing all of us because uh, I
do not know for certain and.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
The quiz here, in his infinite loathsomeness, did tease that
we would be able to know it.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
Yeah, that was a trap. He crap up.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Max you got anything he caught?
Speaker 4 (20:10):
He cannot he cannot, Yeah.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
John, uh not Jonathan. The quister and I were talking beforehand.
I don't know for certain, but I have a really
good idea. Hence why I turned my camera off. Yeah,
when he was reading the scenarios, because I have been
known to tell people what I'm thinking with my face.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
We can't we can't phone a friend, Jonathan, okay, if.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
Oh buddy, all right?
Speaker 1 (20:36):
So uh, all right, it's between one and three? Uh no,
you what a rock paper scissors for water?
Speaker 5 (20:43):
Three? I'll be through the one. No, but I'll row shambeau.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Okay, that's the same thing, alright, three two one?
Speaker 5 (20:52):
Oh? It was that? Shoot? I thought it was three
two one? Shoot? A meeting of the minds.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
All right, all right, all right ready h one two
three shoot? Okay, so we're going with one. Lock it in?
Speaker 5 (21:09):
The one being false? Yes, of course. Sorry, sorry reminding
me the eighteen thirty.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
Six fire that destroyed ten thousand patents and seven thousand
patent models is false. Well, my friends, remember how I
said I knew one.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
That's the one I knew was real.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
I was thinking it.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
All right, Well done, Do you want to know what's
what the spontaneous combustion?
Speaker 5 (21:36):
It was three, it was two. It was the one.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
It was the one you was sure was right. Ju
Belle Early is a real guy.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
That he really did.
Speaker 4 (21:44):
He really did lay siege to Washington, d C. But
no shell hit the US Patent Office.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
But fre point of order. This is what I asked
you about. Dude, you did get all right? You got
us again. You're you're wiley, and.
Speaker 4 (22:00):
Yeah, I have to make something up that sounds realistic.
The point is that the whole Jewbil Early thing, like
you didn't even remember that he had the whole Battle
of Fort Stevens over in DC. You didn't know any
of that.
Speaker 5 (22:14):
We never claim to be experts. It's that's part of
the show when we hang out. Bro.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Well, next time we're gonna give you your title a
pun and then I won't be so mad about it.
Speaker 5 (22:25):
All right, fair enough and well played?
Speaker 4 (22:27):
Hey it can can quistor maybe go away for a
bit and Jonathan come on the chauffe a little.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
Oh, let's do that. So let's do it this way.
First off, I propose that we, if all parties are agreed,
we say that the Quist won twenty twenty four and
has to return twenty twenty five. We got to even
the score. For now, we're going to bid a very
resentful adieu to the Quist. Just absolutely villain that guy.
(22:55):
And we're gonna welcome our dear friend and brother in podcasting,
Jonathan Strickland onto the show to tell us a little
bit about his adventures in the in the over the
past year.
Speaker 5 (23:07):
Man.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Mm hmm, Jonathan, welcome and thank thank god for you,
thank you.
Speaker 5 (23:13):
I hated that other guy.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
Yeah no, he sounds like a real piece of crap.
Speaker 5 (23:20):
So what's been up, man? What's going on?
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Inquiry minds want to know? We have a lot of
fans of Ridiculous History who also only learned about our
show because of your original creation Tech Stuff.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
Yeah, so for those who have been listening to tech Stuff,
they already know this. But I for a couple of
years I had been thinking about stepping back from hosting
Tech Stuff. The show will continue just under new hosts,
which I haven't actually announced yet, but the like, I
haven't announced who the new hosts are, but I'll be
(23:55):
I'll be stepping back. My final show will I think
be January eighth, and then that Friday the tenth will
be the new show under new management, kind of like
the Tihi Room was for a while over at Magic
Kingdom and Disney World. Yeah, they went back to the
original management. I don't expect that to happen for this.
(24:16):
I don't think I'm coming back to it.
Speaker 5 (24:18):
So I've been you know, hosted for what like twenty years.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Is two thousand and eight, since two thousand and eight,
so sixteen and a half years by the time I
stepped back. So my first episode ever was June eighth,
two thousand and eight, which, by the way, if you
want some interesting history, June eighth, two thousand and eight,
that was a month before Apple announced the App Store.
There was no app store.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
Body. Wow.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
Yeah, So listening to podcasts back then typically meant that
you were probably using iTunes, you were physically connecting your
iPod to your computer to synchronize. Yeah, like that's that's back.
Like another fun fact, when we launched tech Stuff, my
Space was still more popular than Facebook at that point.
(25:05):
That only changed the following year.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
I do like this kind of looking backwards the moment
we're having right here, because it's like, all of these
things I participated in, but I hadn't.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Really thought about my days, and yeah, I made a
list because like my plan is, my plan is for
my final episode. Actually I should try and pull that up,
because I didn't even think to do that, but I
I made a list for my final episode about things
that have changed since you know, tech stuff started and
(25:36):
in the tech world. Really, I mean I did not
just things in general, but like there's so much that
happened over the course of the last sixteen and a
half years, like the fact that social like social network apps,
grew to such incredible heights, to the point where like
(25:57):
that affected how we did our work right, like you did.
I don't know if you remember this, Ben, but there
was a time, probably around two thousand and eight, two
thousand and nine, when I got a shout out at
our house Stuff Works office because I had started a
Twitter account and I was promoting tech stuff on my
(26:17):
Twitter account and people are like, this is brilliant, and
then everyone shot daggers with me with their eyes.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Okay, yeah, I'll admit it. I threw a couple sidelong
glance is because I knew that you were establishing a precedent,
which did often in our early days. Folks. It was
kind of wild as podcasts became a thing, and as
we were collectively under a very different series of corporate iterations,
(26:48):
as we were boldly going into this realm, we didn't
know what would work and what would not work. And
the way I describe it, and all you've heard this too,
is for a little while working at our office at
How Stuff Works was a lot more like being on
a TV show about an office job than it was
(27:10):
like having an actual office job.
Speaker 5 (27:12):
Yeah, it's such a cast of punchy character.
Speaker 4 (27:15):
You could you could end up going into the break room,
which was the converted office space of our our former
head hon show, Jeff Arnold, and they had made it
out into this this almost like like dormitory. Yeah, there
was a common there and there was a foosball table. Now,
(27:38):
whenever I went in there, no editor or writer or
anyone from the video department ever was playing that thing.
Speaker 5 (27:45):
It was always a trap.
Speaker 4 (27:47):
It was always the folks from sales and marketing. Yeah,
we all we all treated that space like if you're
found there, someone's going to call you out for not
doing your work. Whereas most of us were just like
we were all blissfully unaware of the future and what
the future would hold for us because we lived in
a world where we actually had cubicles and then and
(28:07):
then we weren't. We weren't part of the open floor
plan design.
Speaker 5 (28:13):
There was an area called the fish bowl. I seem
to that wasn't that it was that a discovery reference
or was it not the fact that it looked like reference?
Speaker 1 (28:24):
It was because it had It was the old cfo's office.
I think we can say it now. It was the
old cfo's office. So the video department, which was you know,
a little less than a dozen people who were all
crammed into that office. That were we were all crammed
in that office, windows on three sides essentially, which is
why we called it the It wasn't our most creative work,
(28:46):
but it had a lot of heart to it.
Speaker 5 (28:48):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
This also, this office of fun Atlanta History fact, was
formerly the location of La Face Records. And uh, I'll
always remember right off of the dormitory that Noel and
Jonathan are describing here, Ralph, that common area there was
a very strange bathroom with a lot with a old
(29:09):
school telephode set right next to the commode.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
And a full length mirror opposite the commode, so you
could watch yourself make the call as a.
Speaker 5 (29:19):
Poop as you.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
Yeah, it's funny that that actually came up on an
episode we did about who is it who called his
little Australia big Johnson?
Speaker 5 (29:30):
Oh it was a jumbo.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
It was big Jumbo who Lindon Just sorry, Little Lyndon
Johnson was also fond of taking phone calls while on
the commode. Oh yeah, so I think this this story
came up.
Speaker 5 (29:41):
In that episode. So you can check that one out.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
If you want. So much crazy stuff has happened over
over the years. I mean, what I think is interesting, Ben,
is you think of the inhabitants of that fishbowl. Quite
a few of the are still with our our group,
(30:03):
like under iHeart like there's.
Speaker 5 (30:06):
Tyler Tyler playing.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yeah, our pal Casey Pegrim by the way, who sends
his regards folks. The original super producer of our show
which I forgot the name of for a second, ridiculous sister,
I totally like, what show am I hosting right now?
Speaker 5 (30:24):
Jeez?
Speaker 1 (30:25):
But we had we have had so many adventures and
the only way that we've been able to do this
is another fun fact, folks, are pal Noel Brown used
to produce every single podcast in the beginning. Uh yeah,
he joined his Tech Stuff for a while and well
again every show, and thank you for that. I want
(30:47):
to argue the only reason we've been able to continue
this stuff is uh, not just because of our amazing
supporters and our friends, our audience members who tune in
every week, but also because of the people we work with.
And it can be very you know, we're in such
(31:08):
a house yon bubble sometimes and we don't recognize I
think as often as we should that you get by
with a little help from your friends. And oh yeah, yeah,
that's how we were able to do this very weird
career for so long.
Speaker 4 (31:21):
So from from like two thousand and eight till twenty thirteen,
I had a co host who was also my editor
when I was writing articles for How Stuff Works, Chris Pollette,
fantastic guy. Can't say enough good things about him. Still
a fantastic guy. It's just not in the podcast world anymore.
Then after that Lauren Vogelbaum, who does brain Stuff and
Savor and other things. She was my co host for
(31:45):
about a year a little more than almost two years,
like through twenty thirteen and through most of twenty fourteen,
and then After that, there was a brief period where
I would scramble to find someone to be a guest
co host. Ben and Noel both have been guest co
hosts on Tech Stuff, and so those were really important.
(32:07):
Like I was not ready to go just entirely solo
at that point, and so without these amazing coworkers, I
don't know what would have happened to the show. It
probably would have just stopped right like it had just
gone into perpetual reruns. So I think one thing that
we're all really fortunate is that, you know, we have
coworkers who are willing and able to leap in and
(32:29):
help at a moment's notice, and everyone shares a sense
of curiosity and a desire to share what they've learned.
That that made it pretty easy to do, right, Even
Like if I came up to Ben and I was like, hey, buddy,
I'm doing like a three part series on the Manhattan Project.
(32:50):
Do you think you could sit in? And Ben would
be like, okay, how everything else he does and.
Speaker 5 (32:57):
We did know.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
I'm so grateful too, because I mean, like I mentioned,
there was a time where I was just editing all
of these shows as a producer, and during that time.
I kind of took so much information in just from
producing shows like tech stuff and car stuff when Ben
was on car stuff, and then of course in the
early days of stuff they don't want you to know,
and then I was kind of able to take what
I had sort of you know, retained through osmosis and
(33:21):
step into the same role that you guys have been
doing for so long.
Speaker 5 (33:24):
So I'm really, really, really grateful for that.
Speaker 3 (33:25):
And you were no small part of that, Jonathan, just
from you know, you being so generous in having me
on the show in the early days, and also just
from you know, being so knowledgeable and just paying attention
to what you were talking about.
Speaker 4 (33:37):
So yeah, Also people should know that Noel on more
than one occasion, would take errant mouth sounds from the
various episodes he edited and would make song tracks out
of them.
Speaker 5 (33:49):
Wow, is s the song tracks, but you know I'd
made some beats.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
And then of course Alex Williams is our dear friend
and brother of Max car On that tradition took it
to the kind of nth degree. So I appreciate you
calling that out, but Alex definitely took that and ran
with it.
Speaker 4 (34:03):
Even I just remember the fund. I remember the origins
is all. So of course I also shouldn't bury the
lead here in that I'm not leaving iHeart right.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
I'm glad we got to that because folks need to know.
This is not some kind of swan song. If anything,
we're going to hopefully, I'm knocking on wood, We're gonna
hopefully see more of the quiztre in twenty twenty five
because our big bro might have a little more time
on air.
Speaker 5 (34:31):
One.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
Yeah, that's my hope, is that I'm going to be
focusing more on the producer side of things. But that means,
you know, without having to identify research, right, and then
record three episodes a week.
Speaker 5 (34:46):
So low solow.
Speaker 4 (34:48):
Yeah, because I never had a writer, I'll tell this
story that might end up getting cut. So if you're
hearing this, it's because no one cared enough to cut it.
But oh, come on, all right, do the bit once
a a time a few years back. This actually might
have even been before the pandemic. It had to be
after I was I think it was when they they
had decided that I was going to do five episodes
(35:10):
a week, and I was just by myself, and I
kept pushing back. I was like, even if I do
a rerun four episodes a week, it's still a lot,
because that's for every I'd say, for every hour of
audio you hear on some a show like tech Stuff,
they are about eight hours of research and writing that
go into it on average. Now, some are easier than others,
(35:33):
some are harder, and so I was pushing back and
one of the things that was mentioned to me was
the possibility of getting a researcher and writer to do
one episode a week for me and I would just
voice it. I wouldn't have to write it. And I said, well,
as long as it was written in my style so
that it didn't sound totally different from everything else I do,
(35:56):
I'm not opposed to it. So the Power that Be
went and talked to someone who was potentially going to
become the researcher and writer for one episode a week.
This person was put into touch with me. I talked
to the person about my process and how long it
took and everything. They got back to the Powers that
Be with a quote, and the Powers that Be came
(36:17):
to me and said, yeah, it turns out to be
way too expensive for us to be able to hire
someone to imagine that, and so my response was, you
realize what you're telling me is that you're not paying
me enough. That's what you're telling me, because I do
that four times a week.
Speaker 1 (36:35):
And this is these are you know, I've been thinking back.
Maybe it's the end of the year that draws nostalgia
and a little bit of bittersweet and melancholy to all
of us. But I've been thinking more and more often
as the years went on about doing a limited series
of just these kind of war these kinds of war
(36:55):
stories I remember to the point about to the point
about people jumping in to help each other at a
moment's notice. I've said it internally, but I guess I
should say.
Speaker 5 (37:08):
It on air.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
One of the things that I've personally always been grateful
for you doing and tremendous help for us in the
video department, where as head writer of the video department,
and we had to put out a high cadence of
different videos explaining stuff, particularly for brain stuff. One of
the things that I always knew, and I was careful
(37:30):
not to pull the card too often, but I always
knew your work schedule in the office. So if I
had beat me here, Max, if I had fucked something up,
I could go grab you right at your dead time
and I knew when it was and just steal you
to do a video. And I want to thank you
again for that, because I know I probably did it
(37:51):
too often. But I would literally walk up to this
guy and only when I knew that he was probably
quietly researching for maybe thirty minutes or an hour, and
I would be like, hey, man, do you ever think
about zippers? It's funny that we're having this conversation.
Speaker 4 (38:11):
Have you ever wondered why people talk so funny in
old timey movies and radio? Or Translantic episode that was
the one that went viral. Uh, yeah, yeah, I will see.
I always loved doing that because ultimately I love I
love to communicate and potentially entertain and educate people. It's
(38:32):
something that I've always loved doing. And the bright side
of being pulled for like a moment's notice to do
a video was that as long as I was dressed
in a way that wasn't embarrassing, and we had some
stuff at the office so I could always change out
if I had to, I didn't mind doing it because
nine times out of ten we had a script on teleprompter,
(38:54):
and that was so much easier than all the other
stuff I do. You know, reading off a teleprompter is
way easier than all the other stuff I had to do. Also,
we had some really fun truly, if you want to
dive into ancient history of how stuff works and the uh,
the animosity, the fake animosity between me and Ben, you
(39:18):
need to find our Evil Twin video.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Oh wow, oh my god.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
Where we we We wore eye patches as the evil
Twins and did tear and we did I did a
Quister voice for that, like that was the bad guy.
Speaker 5 (39:32):
That was the bad guy voice was Quister.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
So I don't know, I don't know if people need
to see that.
Speaker 4 (39:37):
No, it's not good, but it was fun to do.
We went to I remember we walked to Toys r
Us to try and find cheap plastic pirate eye patches
so that we could wear them on camera. And they
even had I think the little white like skull and
crossbones on them and everything.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
They did, which is technically hilarious.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
Yeah, we don't need those eyeballs. They're poisoned.
Speaker 5 (40:02):
Oh gosh. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
We had a lot of weird stuff there and we
are again we're so grateful for everybody who's joined us
on the way. Let us know if you ever want
to hear a ridiculous history of how stuff works and
stuff podcasts or whether that's a limited series. We are
going to continue our odd collective endeavor together. We're just
(40:23):
going to keep getting weirder with it. I am so
grateful to you, Jonathan, to you know, to you Max,
to everybody's tuning in. When we say thank you to
folks on air, we genuinely mean it unless you hear,
like when Nola and I are being sarcastic, you can
hear the italics.
Speaker 5 (40:42):
I'm pretty proud of that. I think it's okay.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Yeah, so with that, with that, Jonathan, we can't wait
for you to return and the Devilous some more.
Speaker 5 (40:52):
Noel, We're we're.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
Too dowt and it's not even twenty twenty five yet,
but we got a game, clean, slate clean, okay, So
we appreciate that.
Speaker 5 (41:02):
That's nice. Man.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
We didn't get you anything, but we appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (41:06):
There's still time time. I'm not doing anything.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
So big big thanks of course too, are one and
only the super producer, mister Max Williams. Big thanks to
Alex Williams, who composed this slap and bop that you
hear in the back.
Speaker 3 (41:22):
Indeed, christopherraciotis and heeds, Jeff Coates here and Christmas Spirits Hey,
j Mohamas, Jacobs, the Puzzler.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
Rachel Big, Spinach Lands, the rude dudes over at ridiculous crime,
every single colleague that we have mentioned previously. Just some
quick thank yous as well to our pals Holly Fry,
Tracy Wilson, stuff you missed in history class, Josh Clark,
Chuck Bryant.
Speaker 5 (41:51):
You can call him Chuck if you're cool with him.
That's the stuff you should know.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
And and of course Matt Frederick and Lauren Vay Lauren
vote well yet I don't think you did earlier, but
not not savor from brain stuff from a million shows.
Speaker 5 (42:06):
You can text stuff as well tech stuff.
Speaker 1 (42:08):
While we're thinking, uh, look, nol, it would end up
being a whole episode of thank yous, but I'll say
one of the most important ones for the purposes of
this show.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
Thank you, and you as well, Ben, and we'll see
you next time, folks. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows
Ridiculous History News
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Ben Bowlin
Noel Brown
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Stuff You Should Know
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