September 28, 2017 • 45 mins
Probably all beaches were nude early on, but as society developed and body shame became all the rage, people started wearing bathing suits. Some, though, liked the way it was before.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Stuff you Should Know from house Stuff Works
dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark.
There's Charles w Chuck Bryan, There's Jerry. Uh. This is
Stuff you Should Know, the totally new edition. Chris, are
(00:24):
you're looking good? Well? I think you're sort of kidding.
Only only time will tell you want to you want
to break the news? Go ahead? Yeah, I lost another tooth.
I didn't want to mention it. Uh So, here's the
story because I know people were interested. Everybody likes this
(00:45):
tooth saga yours in my dental bloes. It's riveting, but
it also like people feel for you, you know, Yeah,
I think so, and I think the Dennis and oral
surgeons of our audience get a kick out of it.
This is the thrilling part for them. Uh So, I
was on Vaca and as you know, um, I love
palms South Carolina. Um bought tons, well not tons, pounds
(01:09):
and pounds of seafood to cook and was having a
great week grilling fish and scallops and shrimp. Nice. Did
you so you went to like the local seafood market.
That's like just one big long encounter of seafood and
it's super cold inside. And I love those places. There's
always like a few bottles of Tony Cocheri's Creole seasoning. Oh,
(01:32):
and all the local stuff like here's the crab boil
in a ziplock that we make. Yes, I love those
places there. Nothing makes a beach vacation more than a
visit to the local seafood places, agreed. And I will
even shout out Simon Seafood and Mount Pleasant Seafood. They're
gonna send you a box of shrimp un refrigerating. Bought
(01:53):
a box of one oysters while we were there, and
we uh, we had oyster happy Hour every night, and
I learned to shuck oysters like a pro nice um.
And I made my own version of frog Moore stew
one night. Can I come on vacation with you guys
next time? We we do it right, man. I bought
probably seven or eight pounds of shrimp, five or six
(02:15):
pounds of scallops, stone crab claws, king crab claws, flounder, snapper, salmon,
you name it. Dude, Did those guys have like a
lean on your house? Now? No? I did spend a
ton of money on the stuff. The other thing that
we enjoyed was um the dips like crab shrimp dip
and salmon dip. Anyway, everything speeding along. It's the final
(02:41):
second to the last night. And I make my own
version of frogmore stew, which is the low country boil
basically of Charleston. Uh, and I bite. We have these
Christini's that we baked. And you know, the one tooth
that I've been saying is going to go. They got
hurt in college and it's been loose for whatever twenty
(03:04):
plus years, and I've been afraid that my daughter's going
to kick it in one day, I was just like
counting down. Uh that that clock. And I've been into
a Christini, heard the felt the crack uh, and immediately
was like there it goes. And Emily and my friends
were like, no really, oh yeah, I know that. I
know that crack that s It does suck if it
(03:28):
hurt at all. Now it never hurts. Um. That is
the one good thing. Like I finished my meal very
gingerly eating on the you know, I've learned how to
eat in the back of my mouth. Yeah, like a Neanderthal.
Use your eyes like a frog. They just go inside
your skull and push the food down, so and made
(03:49):
an appointment the next day. I called around. It was like,
do I go home that, Do I like tough out
the rest of the vacation here and be stressed and
go home and do it, which means I probably can't
get until Friday. Or do I ruined part of a day,
my final beach day doing this locally? Uh? And so
I decided to go in and get it done there,
and two hours out of my day was all I wasted.
(04:10):
Oh wow, that's pretty pretty good, not bad. So big
big shout out to apex Oral and uh Maxila, Maxima
Facial Surgery and Janitorial Services of Mount Pleasant and Dr
Charlotte's marvel She was great? Was she marvelous? She was?
(04:31):
And you know, when I get it done here, I
go under twilight sleep, which I don't feel a thing,
and it messes me up. The whole rest of the day.
I'm just groggying in bed. And I didn't want to
do that. And I was like, I'd like to enjoy
the beach and go out to dinner to night. We
had reservations this great place on our final night, you know,
the last night dinner out deal. And she said, well,
I can just inject you and if you're okay with needles,
(04:54):
and you know, I've long talked about the needle and
the gums is the worst thing. And she said, well,
this will also be needle in the roof of your mouth,
and uh, I was like, all right, I gotta do it.
And she stuck me in the roof of my mouth
and my eyes just started running water and I literally said,
I'm not crying, that's just a reaction. Uh. Yeah, it
(05:19):
was fine. I mean it numbed it up so much.
I didn't feel a thing. And it was kind of
interesting being awake for once during this procedure of abstraction
and bone what do you call it? Yeah, because now
I've learned when they when they take out a tooth,
Now the best practices are you immediately graph bone to
(05:44):
it because you lose it so quickly. Pocket protection is
what it's called. That's awesome. That is so nerdy awesome.
I love it. But man, it is a rough procedure.
They are so rough And now I know why they
knock you out because they don't want you to know
how rough they are with you. Yeah, felt like I
was getting assaulted. Yeah. Yeah, they don't play Dennis don't play,
(06:05):
And that's not the knock Dr Marvel. She did great.
I mean you gotta get in there and do it,
you know. So Anyway, I was literally on the beach
two hours later with a Gin and Tonic. That's great.
That is really great, good story story, had it all. Yeah,
I had food surgery. Yeah, the beach, Dennis with a
great name, the beach, Yeah, the whole thing. Uh. And
(06:27):
also this also means for people coming to see us
on tour for the remainder of the year. I'm not
even bothering with a insert tooth, thank goodness, because I
had to sit there with it right next to me
staring at me during each show. Nah. I'm used to
it by now. I'm just gonna bubba it up for
the next nine months or whatever. They're gonna love it.
We should start charging double for tickets thing. Um, So
(06:51):
thank you for indulging that story. Well. It leads to
a burning question that I've been trying to ask this
whole time. Were you knew on the beach at any point? No, no,
nude beach at Isle of Palm Huh No, I thought
about during uh a nighttime ocean swim doing it. Uh.
(07:14):
Poto grante. Is that how they say that? Yes, But
then I thought, you know what, I'm being sort of
brave swimming in the ocean at night anyway. Yeah, I'm
not gonna have things exposed. There's something really creepy about
swimming at night in the ocean, particularly agreed. But I
did it and it's great. Yeah, it's really like I
think that's part of the exhilaration is I don't know
(07:35):
what's out here. Yeah, I guess as long as you say,
and I don't care. I'm just gonna enjoy myself and
it would be enjoyable. Yeah, but I did keep saying,
but at least I've got my pants on. My pants Well,
I did have pants on, ad tuxedo pants on, but
there's a lot of at tuxedo pants on, as is
per tradition at Isle of Palms to cover your junk
(07:58):
from the sea turtles. Yeah, that's what you do, that
you swim the beach and tux pants. Right, So this
is that's almost the exact opposite then, of a traditional
New beach, which is what we're talking about. Have you
ever been to one? I have, Uh, there, No, I
went and visited. I just went and looked for a second.
Yeah no, But I wasn't like poking people with a
(08:20):
stick or anything like that. Like I just wanted to see, like, okay,
what is this? And I'll tell you. I'll tell you
what really drew me over to look? Um you mean?
And I were down in Florida and there's a there's
a nude beach. It's a clothing optional and I believe
unofficial nude beach at the Canaveral National Seashore there and uh, okay, yeah,
(08:44):
that's right. We'll share our stories, okay. And um, like,
we drove down at one point just just to kind
of see, you know, and sure enough, there was a
woman walking around just wearing shorts and that was it. Um.
But what really got me to go check was we
saw this girl who must have been seventeen or something
(09:04):
and she was totally closed, like fully dressed, not even
wearing like a swimsuit, She's just dressed. And she was
coming back from the beach with her hand over her
mouth and her eyes like the size of bread plates.
And her mom was sitting there laughing at her, waiting
at the car, watching her come back like this. And
I was like, I gotta go to seat. So I
went and looked, and I was like, yeah, there's a
(09:26):
couple of naked people. Um, they're all dudes, and uh, well,
I've seen the nude beach now. But at the same time,
I was like, I would love to like just go
nude in a nude beach. But the more I did
this research tomorrow, I was like, I could take or
leave it. I have no problem and probably would still
like to like go nude at a very secluded nude beach.
(09:49):
But I get the impression that public nude beaches and
I don't even think I would enjoy like a nudist
resort nude beach. It would have to just be like
a remote, deserted island. Not because of any shame or
anything like that, but because I just I think that
that would be the way that I most enjoyed the
experience of just being nude out there on the beach.
(10:10):
You know what I mean, nude on the beach with
just like you and your wife, right, and that's it, Yeah,
you know, just hanging out. You want to own your
own beach. I guess I think that's what I'm getting at.
I'm hoping a wealthy listener will send US one. Uh
so here's my experience with that very beach. Was that
play Linda or Klondike? All right, So my deal was
(10:33):
many years ago. I did a long, like three month
out west trip with my best friend Brett, and we
we started in Atlanta and said, all right, what's where
should we go first? And this is pre internet and
you know when you're doing book research. And I said,
there's this place in Florida, your Canaveral that's called Klondike Beach.
(10:54):
And I said, and I don't know if this is true,
but what I read is that there is a law
enforcement acuum there because no one if there's some overlap
with counties, national land where there's a space where there's
no law. Yeah, there's supposedly a place. And I think
Yosemite National Park that's like that too. Well, yeah, I've
(11:15):
heard that stupid story where you can like kill somebody
and getting I don't think that true. Well, I don't know.
I don't think this is they would remember reading the
article and there they would get just you know, somehow. Um,
but I think there wasn't like I think it wasn't
no law, but there wasn't technically there was no legal
overseer of this one area, and that was Klondike Beach,
(11:39):
and there were you could there were hippie smoking weed
and nudis, and I was like, that's where we should start.
I have no idea what drew me, because you know,
it wasn't like I was going for either one of
those things. There's that sounds a bit like a place
called Wreck Beach in Vancouver, where it's not like there's
no jurisdiction or questionable jurisdiction, it's just really hard to
(12:02):
get to. There's like four hundred steps down to the beach.
So apparently the cops a long time ago said whatever,
you guys can do whatever you want, we don't care.
So not only is it a nude beach, it's like
a drug adult um, drunken beach um. But apparently it's
a lot of fun. But I supposedly they started cracking
down on it recently and it's not as fun as
(12:23):
it once was. Well, I do remember. Actually what drew
me was you can you can camp on the beach there,
which is sort of rare too. It wasn't a campground.
There's like back country camping on the sand, uh, and
there's not a ton of places in the States where
you can do that. Yeah, that sounds kind of fun. Actually,
it was waking up to the sound of waves like that.
It's wonderful. Uh. And we did go down there and
(12:44):
we did camp and it was a great way to
start the trip, and we did There's this dude walked
up to us this and of course I think this
is usually the story this. You know, probably fifty something
year old man but naked, walks up to us and
just starts a conversation. Oh huh. So I got a
lot of like differing advice from doing research on this. Yeah, well,
(13:08):
how so the guy started a conversation with you, Um,
what did you do? Did you go, hey, Bob, good
to meet you. A nice penis like that Saturday Night
Live sketch. No, I think we just tried to treat
it like a normal conversation, which it was. The I
guess what I've been hearing differing things on is that
at nude beaches you will possibly be surprised by the
(13:30):
standoffishness of the nude bathers. Um, you might be expecting
free spirits like Bob, the guy you met, right, Yeah,
I think the deal is and we will be corrected
through listener mail. But I think if you are clothed,
they may be a little more standoffish. But from what
I understand, if you're not clothed, that's that's all kind
(13:52):
of part of the community, and we should do a
larger one on nudists. At some point I could not
agree more. I I had an idea, but I had
no idea how um lengthy and longstanding the the nu
nudism movement is, or the naturism movement, I should say, yeah, naturalists, Like,
(14:14):
from what I understand, there very much a community, and uh,
that's the whole point is to normalize it to where
it's just like talking on the beach with anybody, right, Like,
it's not like any different than being clothed. And that's
their whole bag is Hey, this is just this is
how we come into the world, and we have all
(14:35):
shamed each other with our bodies over the years to
where we have clothed ourselves. And of course, I you know,
me growing up, Southern Baptists have a very weird relationship
with nudity, to the point where I'm like, yeah, man,
like what's the big deal. Europeans have got it right,
It's just your body who cares? And then the other
half of me says, oh my god, put some clothes on.
(14:58):
You know, do you want to go to Hell today?
And it's not even that it's just I guess I'm
kind of shy. Yeah, but I mean I'm sure it's
it's ingrained shyness for sure, from from an upbringing like that. Um,
so you you definitely hit on something, right. So when
you're talking about the naturist movement, like if you go
(15:19):
to a naturist resort, like a specific a nude beach
that's part of a naturist resort where you have to say,
be a member to get in or something like that, Um, yes,
you're going to find people who are very happy that
you're there, and they're very happy to be naked, and
everybody's very happy that everyone's naked, right, Um, but you're
(15:42):
also probably going to encounter something like compulsory uh, compulsory
nudity where if you're there, you have to be naked.
They don't want anybody coming along and be like, what's
this all about? What are you guys doing over here?
Shake your shake your money maker for me? You know,
they're not into that, so they have to have. They
have to have their own UM set aside resorts. It's
(16:04):
like their own place. It's like a private area UM.
But it's say like a different kind of beach, like
a clothing optional beach, where it's a public beach that
allows nudity but it isn't compulsory. That's when it seems
to UM. It seems to be kind of like paradise
lost for the naturists. Historically speaking, there definitely is yeah,
(16:29):
and it seems like just about every country that has
beaches has nude beaches, and if they are public nude
beaches where clothing is optional, it seems like the naturists
who are actually there to just enjoy being naked, it
has nothing to do with sex. Their kids are running
around naked, the whole families there. It's very family oriented.
(16:52):
Naked beach UM tend to lose control of it because
outside elements usually come in, start like partying, having public sex,
and then all of a sudden, this nude beach gets
a terrible reputation and the government steps in. Local people
complain and usually when they do, it's successful, and the
government steps in and nobody can be naked anymore, and
(17:15):
it's ruined for all the naturists. Yeah, and that that
is not the same thing at all as topless speeches
that you find um in in Europe and in some
places here in the United States. I went to one
of those two, and I mean you call it topless speech,
it was I think it was just a beach, you know.
I think a lot of the beaches in europea topless.
(17:36):
It's not like a big thing. And we saw, you know,
ladies with their uh, with their no bikini top on.
And of course, being a kid I was young, I
was like, oh, hey, you're like that wolf. But I
was respectful because I knew even then, like, you know,
you don't want to ugle somebody because that's probably not
(17:57):
too cool. But then even as a young guy, it
normalized and I was like, oh, well that's just a
body part. It ain't a big deal. Yeah. Yeah, that
after you turn i don't know, nineteen or twenty, it's
really easy to become desensitized to that kind of stuff,
you know. So let's take a break. Man had a
(18:18):
lot of good set up there. Yeah, that was a
lot of set up ethan penises and all kinds of moves.
The whole shebang. We'll be right back everybody. That's why
Ska that you should know, why skin should know knows
but Clarkin sk so Chuck, You've mentioned it a couple
(18:56):
of times, and it seems like anybody who even basically
knows about New Eaches tends to think of Europe. And
for good reason too. There was a survey in two
thousand and sixteen that surveyed I think like um ninety
different countries or something like that was a pretty extensive
survey to find out what the attitudes were towards nude
sunbathing on public beaches, and they found that Austrians, the Austrians,
(19:21):
I really would not have guessed the Austrians, and I'm
not I'm not missed speaking Australians. I mean the people
from Austria, I don't know. I don't know. I wish
I did, but I don't know. At any rate they're
fine with nudism. They at the very least, I'm sure
(19:42):
they have sandy lakes. They're fine with with nude sunbathing
at the beach. Um Something like seventies six percent of
Austrians say it's quote absolutely acceptable to sunbathe in the
nude in public um. It used to be Germany was
the was the champion of cool with nude some babe
and their Paymoent's very famous shore line but they yes,
(20:04):
and the North Sea, but they they fell the second place.
German say it's absolutely acceptable, and you're sure it didn't
say Australians right because they're waiting. Okay, yeah, I know.
Well Australia has a has a um a roller coaster
relationship with nude beaches. I think it depends on who's
(20:26):
in charge of the culture at any given point in time. Yeah.
Well maybe while we're there will be in charge of
the culture for a short time. Nudity everywhere gets grossed out.
Our shows are about to get raucous. You never know
a nude show, how about that? So no, no, absolutely not.
(20:46):
I mean the audience, not us. So I'm still not
comfortable with that either. Well that's how they say. To
the reason I say that is because to Live Cruise
show they say, the picture of your audience in the nude.
If you're nervous, I think they say underwear. Oh okay, gotcha,
I remember that Brady Bunch. That's all I know. Uh oh,
(21:09):
so I don't know Australians but I do know eight
percent of Americans say it's absolutely acceptable to somebody in
the news. That seems about right, pretty low percentage, that's
what i'd figure. Well, you know who had an even
lower percentage, UM, it's Italians. Italians say they are not
(21:29):
okay with having somebody's somebay nude by them in on
a public beach. It surprises me as well, but such
as the way, but they're kind of an outlier as
far as Europe goes. In Europe actually again have some
of the earliest nude beaches around. UM. This article says
that like the first one was in Bordeaux in France,
(21:52):
that that um started around after World War Two. But
I actually saw footage of a nude beach in Georgia,
a country not the state from dating from the nineteen twenties.
So as far as nudity goes, Georgia is even more
progressive than France. Apparently. I don't know about progressive. I
think sometimes it's just you know, freaks are gonna let
(22:15):
their flag fly. No, you got it, you got it,
And and if you've got a group of them together,
I don't care. If it's nineteen twenty and Georgia then
they find each other, they're gonna do it. I don't
think that necessarily means that Georgia was super progressive, you
know what I mean? Okay, I see what you mean.
Or maybe it does. I don't know, but I'm just saying.
And that's the case with these a lot of these
(22:36):
nude beaches. Is it bears pointing out. Some of these
are sanctioned and some of them are just have happened
over the years to this extent where like you said,
the local cops are just kind of like they're not
hurting anybody. This is sort of where they gather and
everyone knows that, so they can either choose to go
(22:57):
there or stay away from there. And these places are
are usually somewhat removed too. Not all the times, but usually,
Like I remember with Klondike Beach, it wasn't that it
wasn't like the main beach. You had to kind of
work a bit to get there. Yep, it's almost always,
if not remote as far as just beaches in general go,
it is like the say, the northernmost part or the
(23:20):
southernmost part, so it's secluded in some way, shape or form.
I read this fascinating article about um a nude beach
off of Palm Beach called air Force Beach, and it
was a private island owned by John D. MacArthur of
(23:40):
the famous John D. And Catherine Tine MacArthur. And he yeah,
and he um made his billions selling insurance, I believe,
and he uh I apparently was a bit of a
naturist himself, but he had like he allowed people to
use his beach and he also loud one of the
(24:01):
sides of the beach to become a nude beach. And
there was a big struggle because he died as he
was signing over um or his son was signing over
the deed to this beach to the county with the
stipulation that this part remain nude, and he died before
the nude part document was signed. So the county took
(24:22):
the beach and was like, no, we're not going to
and there's been a struggle ever since. I think that
was in the nineties when he died um, but it
was it was a a lost nude beach. But for
a while there there was apparently something like five thousand
people a day coming there to some bathe nude on
the weekends. That was one of America's most populated nude beaches.
(24:43):
And it was all because it was this old rich
guy's um. He was okay with it. Didn't have that said.
These penises are brought to in part by the John D.
And Katherine Pete maccarthur Foundation. And you push a button
and it's read by Ira Glass. Yeah. Actually I readn't
read those DESI can you do it? Though? I think
everyone wants to hear now, I don't think so. I've
(25:04):
retired by iveryglass impression. Uh. The other thing with some
of these beaches is um like sometimes they're so remote
and removed. This it's just sand and you're on your own.
Like they may not even have like trash cans and stuff.
Other ones are a little more advanced and they might
have activities. They might have a beach well, a toilet
(25:26):
what do you call it, like a like a bath house, uh,
in a shower or maybe they even serve booze. Um.
But it bears pointing out that I don't I think
a lot of Americans, and especially like more conservative in
the kind of way I grew up, more conservative religious
Americans might think that's just like a hedonistic sexual free
(25:51):
for all with these weirdos, and that is generally not
the case at all. It is a bunch of old
people naked and talking to each other about, you know,
whatever the economy, how the pitch are biting. Yeah, I
don't think how the fish are biting, as long as
it's not sea turtles, I guess, um. The the we
(26:14):
can't really overstate that a genuine naturist nudists nude beach
has nothing to do with sex. It might be a
sensual experience to have, like you know, was one guy
quoted in the article says, you know, like just being
out there and feeling the breeze and feeling the water
and all that, it's sensual. But this guy is talking
(26:37):
about the senses, like like the tactile sense is just
making him feel good. He's not saying like, you know,
I got a giant erection right because of it. It's
not about sex. And again, a lot of these places
are more family friendly than even adjacent beaches. Yeah, and
there is no shame in our bodies, and we respect
(27:00):
to each other's bodies. I mean, they're probably the least
or most open minded body type community on planet Earth, right, Yeah,
you would think so, you know, like there's no body
shaming and nudist communities that's the whole point because they
all come together to accept where we all uh hang
in and and wrinkle and all the things that happened
(27:24):
to bodies over the years. It's sprout weird goat hairs. Well,
you should take care of those. I was really even
the nudists are like, you need to do something about
that that you just come back to your little cabana
and there's a like a pair of tweezers and scissors
on your pillow. I was reading, Um, dude, Milwaukee used
to have a nude beach. H Yeah, I was pretty
(27:45):
surprised to hear that one. But it was called Paradise
Beach and it was like a legit. I think it
was clothing optional because it was county. Usually if it's
a government beach, they can't legally exclude anybody, so it
has to be clothing optional. Um, but I think it
was clothing optionals Paradise Beach it but it was like
family oriented nudist beach um. And it was Adjason or
(28:09):
just down the beach from a beach called Bradford Beach,
and that was a um you had to wear clothing beach.
It's not nudist, but it was a party beach, and
Bradford Beach, where you had to wear clothes, was a
bigger party beach. Then um Paradise Beach, which was a
clothing optional beach. And that's usually how it how it is,
(28:30):
although eventually, and this is normally the case, sometime in
the early nineties, some of the people from Bradford Beach
started hanging out naked on Paradise Beach. Started like getting
wasted and having sex, and it wasn't family friendly anymore,
and there were complaints, and then the Paradise Beach is
no longer. Yeah, that the whole sex thing is weird
(28:51):
to me. It's not like a bathing suit is if
that's the barrier that keeps you from just going hog
wild sexually, it's not much of a barrier. No, it's true.
I get the impression that this hall Over Park in Miami,
it is known as the largest new beach in the
United States and one of the most popular in the world.
So it says our article, Um, I get the feeling
(29:12):
it's it's way more of a party scene because have
you ever been there? No, I was reading, Yeah, I
read about it, and I looked up pictures and of course,
you know, I'm sitting to my destiny looking at new
people on the beach. It's just part of the job.
But um, there's pictures of you know, it looks like
a spring break with like forty people posing and they're
(29:33):
all naked. And these were younger people too. This wasn't
like the older set. I mean, it's all kind of
people older and younger. But and again, just because I
am who I am, I was like, oh, well, that's
kind of completely normal actually, and the other part of
you went, oh my god, what is going on there?
I just don't know what to think. It's funny, it
(29:55):
is funny and sad. But I mean the very fact
that you are aware of it means that there's hope
for addressing it, like once and for all. Yeah, I
think the nudity problem. Yeah, you just go one way
or the other. Either be like I'm totally fine with nudity.
I'm going to make this my mission. Just be fine
with nudity totally, or just go never nude. Just always
(30:18):
worry like that pair of like daisy dukes under your clothes. No,
but like you said, I am fine with it in
my adult, rational, evolved brain. But that shame is so
ingrained childhood. It's really hard to get you. It'll get you.
All right, let's take another break out, how about that,
and we'll come back and talk a little bit about
Cape Cod and uh, some of the behaviors you should
(30:40):
obviously avoid. That's why scame you should know. But Josh
Clark define s all right, So I promised a little
(31:09):
cape Cod talk. We mentioned hall Over Park. There's Blacks
Beach in San Diego, very popular, long standing nude beach. Yeah,
one of the first in the US, I think, yeah
for sure. And that of course San Diego they I
figured they would have one there. Yeah, dude, San Diego
beaches in the seventies were like whatever you wanted to do. Yeah,
(31:30):
it's like Three Company all day long. Yeah, but like
the place, not just the innuendo, Like the stuff they
were making innuendo about was actually going on. Right. Uh.
I always think of um, whenever I think of like
San Diego in the seventies and Three Company, I think
of the what those bars called fern bars, Yeah, fern
bars that we covered in the Bars episode. Yeah. The
(31:52):
Regal Beagle was like literally a firm bar. I think
they had ferns there. So anyway, Cape Cod and then
I K seventies in Massachusetts had a bit of a
fight going on their hands. Uh. The NPS National Park
Service outlawed public nudity um and it was a big
(32:12):
deal because there are guests in parts of Cape Cod.
There were people that would go nude. UM. It ended
up in lawsuits and the nude band was upheld. And
they believe still are the only national park with a
specific ban on nudity. Yeah, it's not I didn't know that.
It's not a federally it's not a federal law in
(32:35):
any federal park apparently except Cape Cod. Now, yep, it's
the only one. So congratulations Cape Cod. You really showed
your butt. Yeah, and I love it. Here it says
now if there are conflicts, the park employees attempt to
resolve it informally, right, Like I think everyone is just like,
come on, you know, can we just work this out?
(32:56):
Like why don't you go over here? You go over
there and don't look at them, and can I go back,
you know, to my office, which is which you need
a lobster roll, rough hewn log cabin of my own
making um, so yeah, you you. Cape cod is kind
of an outlier. Usually there are like a nude beach
(33:19):
getting legislated. It will go one of two ways, like
they it'll start with a beach that people just say,
this is our new nude beach. We're gonna start being
nude here, taking my pants off. It's very remote. Normally
it's hard to get to and a lot of nudists
prefer it that way, like it's a little harder for
them to get to it, but that also means it's
a little harder for um perverts and um, you know,
(33:43):
look you lose to get to well. Plus, remote beaches
are the best kind of beaches, you know. They end
up getting a score with like a very remote kind
of tranquil scene. Uh. And then so you've got that,
it will be an unofficial public beach, public nude beach. Uh.
And then something will happen and the local government will
either legislate that um officially it's clothing optional or else. No,
(34:09):
it's not everybody needs to get dressed. Um, Normally it's
every everybody needs to get dressed. Because usually it's the
result of a complaint, like there's a there's some residents
or an h O, a group or somebody nearby who
considers that their beach and doesn't want a bunch of
naked people frolicking around. And if the nudists are trying
to make their case like no, we just want to
(34:31):
be naked, we're not perverts or anything like that. If
they're making their case, it's usually again underscored by people
like getting wasted and having public sex on the nude
beach um, which brings us chuck. I think to um
where we should share some tips to people who are
thinking of maybe going to a new beach. And the
(34:51):
cardinal rule of a genuine nude beach is no sex.
Don't have sex on the beach. No one wants to
see that. Yeah, I think the first two cardinal rules
of a nude beach, don't have sex and don't be
a creep, are the same rules at a regular beach. Definitely,
just don't you don't want to be a creep with
your clothes on or yeah, this one says, you know,
(35:14):
it goes to a lot of trouble to say, like
don't take pictures of people. Don't take pictures they I
mean they mentioned selfies, like if you're in the background.
You may not realize someone's in the background, or god forbid,
if there's a child in the background, family, Like, just
put your camera away for a bit. Yeah, I mean, like,
(35:35):
if you're taking pictures and there's a naked kid running around,
do you are really putting your life in jeopardy depending
on that kid's father and what his opinions are and
creeps very true. So but again my point is is
that applies to regular beaches too, fully clothed beaches. Don't
take pictures of people at the beach. That's that's creepy
(35:56):
and wrong. Agreed. What else, what's another two? Uh? This
says and these were we should point out these were
from the Hollover Beach website. Uh. And that's the party
beach in Miami. Um. It says, don't just sit right
down next to another person if there's like plenty of
(36:17):
space on the beach. And again that's sort of like
a regular beach. It's it would be a little weird
on a variant. When I was just at Ala Palms,
not many people there on a weekday this time of year,
like hundreds of yards in between blankets and chairs. If
someone would have sat down right next to me, I
(36:37):
would have been like, uh, that's a little weird. Yeah, uh,
why don't you go over there or over there or
anywhere else? And especially truing a nude beach and then
you turn and the person is actually made of stand
and they blow away? What what is that? I just
(36:58):
made it up? Okay, now everything's a reference alright, sort
of weird fantasy film or something, maybe Dune. Uh. This
thing says be sure to bring a towel. Yeah, this
was good advice. Yeah, I mean that's pretty obvious. And
they say that most people knew to bring two towels,
(37:18):
one to sit on and put all your junk on
that can get potentially gross, right, and then another one
to actually dry your face with. Right. I would have
brought a towel just to dry off with, but it
wouldn't have occurred to me, like, no, you also need
to bring a towel to sit on. Like, if you're
gonna set a stool or chair or something, nobody wants
(37:40):
your butt funk on their chair. That's groty, and you
don't want somebody else's either, So let's think here. Yeah,
I would say a beach chair rental company at a
nude beach is probably not thriving, don't you think. Yeah,
I mean that should be a tip as well, like
maybe bring your own chair. Another tip that it said
is if you get an erection, the there's ways of
(38:04):
taking care of that. Get in the water, turn over
onto your stomach. Think about no one's playing baseball. Uh,
I mean if you're getting an direction on a on
a nude beach, I don't know, that's I'm not sure
what to say about that. Well, you could be like yeah,
maybe yeah, I didn't really think about that. No, But
I mean, but even if you're a dude and it's
(38:26):
your first time or something gets you just right, Yeah,
there's gotta gotta be some sort of etiquette for that.
I think the point of this is is like, don't
just walk around like, hey, everybody, it's happening, check it out,
you know, like you want to just kind of keep
that to yourself, is the point. Yeah? I would think
that would be uh a big like stay away from me,
signed to be other people, right, you know, you could
(38:49):
take an eye out. O. Man, I really feel like
we may have crossed the lines here there in this episode,
and I'm not sure. Yeah do you think so? No?
I just I'm surprised that I'm able to make it
through this episode. To be honest, I'll bet there's a
lot of people who are like, can't I can't listen
to johsh and Chuck talking about this one. Bring sunscreen
(39:11):
of course, um and that you know, kind of kidding around,
but definitely not getting around because they make the very
fine point if you're in your twenties or thirties or
forties and it's your first time ever doing this, then
by all accounts, it's probably the first time your body
parts down there, your private parts, they have seen the sun.
(39:33):
And that's a bad recipe. You know. Can you imagine
I can't sunburn there? Could not imagine because this sunburn
will ruin your vacation period. I can imagine sunburned penis
would really put a dent in things. Yeah, this article
suggests even bringing a hat to use, which I thought
(39:57):
was smart, yet helmet that would definitely work. I got
a couple more things. Um So. Back in the of
the nineteenth century, the Victorians were pretty well known for
being pretty prudish. Right, Um, on the surface, that is, yes,
(40:20):
exactly on the surface, but at a public beach, all
of that is out on display, so the surface is
all that matters, right, So I ran across this invention
that they came up with, at least in Australia, if
not in the in England as well. But they, um,
they had cabanas on the back of wagons that were
pulled by horses and you would get into the cabana
(40:43):
and the horse would draw the wagon with you in
the cabana in it out to the ocean and then
you would get out into the water so that nobody
else would see you in any kind of remote state
of undress. And we're still talking like wrists and ankle
is covered. Um, that was too much. So they would
(41:04):
get in these private cabanas and be drawn by horse
out to the water. Yes, that's a that was crazy.
And then fast forward to the nineteen fifties and there
was a nudist trend that sparked all over Australia, and
I think now Australia has something like, um, I think
five designated nude beaches, which I was surprised it was
(41:25):
that little, because in Britain there's eleven of them. Yeah,
I was surprised by that too. And there's a great
quote from this one counselor Brighton, who was, like, I guess,
the local elected official from back in nine when Brighton
became the first official nude beach, he said, I personally
have got no objection to people showing their breasts and
(41:47):
bosoms in general, genitalia to one another, jolly good luck
to them, but for heaven's sake, they should go somewhere
more private. And they had a great quote, Yeah maybe
that's where I lie. Is it really so you have
a problem with nude beaches. No, they're They're fine, just
not for me. Gotcha? What about the private, private, private
(42:10):
nude beach that I envisioned the island that you own,
I would visit it without you there, and I would
pull my shorts down for a minute, for sixty seconds, right,
but not past the ankle. You just stand there with
no no, no, I would still have my hands on them,
I see, and I'd be like, jokes on you, whole
(42:33):
islands under surveillance, jokes on you. It's a surprise party.
Well that's new beaches, man, unless you got anything else.
I got nothing else. Uh. If you want to know
more about nude beaches and you made it this far
through the episode, or what we could probably call a
psycho drama between me and Chuck. You can type that
(42:54):
word in the search bar at how Still Work dot
com and we'll bring up this fine article. And since
I said search bars, time for listener mail. I'm gonna
call this. We helped a dude get into medical school
and here goes Hey, guys, um. I started listening at
the beginning of middle school, although the moment I was
(43:16):
completely hooked was when I listened to the Delta Force episode.
Since then, I don't think I missed an episode for
nine year straight. Jumping back to present day, a few
weeks ago, ahead of medical school interview, one of the
interviewers asked me something to the effect of, how have
you cultured a spirit of continuous learning in your life
outside the classroom. One of the things I brought up
(43:36):
was stuff you should know in The interviewer who asked
the question was a fan. That shared connection at the
beginning of the interview really helped to break the ice
a bit, and the rest of the interview went really smoothly.
Just her back that I have been accepted. I guess
I can't say that our mutual love of S Y
s K was the reason I got in, but I
do think that having that connection helped me to relax
(43:56):
and nail the interview from that point on. So thanks
for helping break the US for me. H. Hearing back
from you guys would make my week. Uh, well, do
you want better? Isaac Lamb We read it on the air,
good luck in med school. Uh, he lives in Indianapolis
that he wants us to visit there for a tour,
and I think we're gonna try and hit up Indianapolis
at some point it's possible, and um, yeah, way to go, buddy. Yeah,
(44:20):
congratulations on getting into mid school. Isaac. Great name too.
By the way, I agreed. If you want to get
in touch with us, like Isaac did, you can tweet
to us. I'm at josh um Clark and at s
Y s K podcast, Chuck's on Facebook at Charles W.
Chuck Bryant and that Stuff you Should Know. You can
email us at Stuff Podcast at how stuff Works dot
(44:42):
com and has always joined us at our home on
the web, Stuff you Should Know dot com for more
on this and thousands of other topics. Is it how
Stuff Works dot com
Welcome to Stuff you Should Know from house Stuff Works
dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark.
There's Charles w Chuck Bryan, There's Jerry. Uh. This is
Stuff you Should Know, the totally new edition. Chris, are
(00:24):
you're looking good? Well? I think you're sort of kidding.
Only only time will tell you want to you want
to break the news? Go ahead? Yeah, I lost another tooth.
I didn't want to mention it. Uh So, here's the
story because I know people were interested. Everybody likes this
(00:45):
tooth saga yours in my dental bloes. It's riveting, but
it also like people feel for you, you know, Yeah,
I think so, and I think the Dennis and oral
surgeons of our audience get a kick out of it.
This is the thrilling part for them. Uh So, I
was on Vaca and as you know, um, I love
palms South Carolina. Um bought tons, well not tons, pounds
(01:09):
and pounds of seafood to cook and was having a
great week grilling fish and scallops and shrimp. Nice. Did
you so you went to like the local seafood market.
That's like just one big long encounter of seafood and
it's super cold inside. And I love those places. There's
always like a few bottles of Tony Cocheri's Creole seasoning. Oh,
(01:32):
and all the local stuff like here's the crab boil
in a ziplock that we make. Yes, I love those
places there. Nothing makes a beach vacation more than a
visit to the local seafood places, agreed. And I will
even shout out Simon Seafood and Mount Pleasant Seafood. They're
gonna send you a box of shrimp un refrigerating. Bought
(01:53):
a box of one oysters while we were there, and
we uh, we had oyster happy Hour every night, and
I learned to shuck oysters like a pro nice um.
And I made my own version of frog Moore stew
one night. Can I come on vacation with you guys
next time? We we do it right, man. I bought
probably seven or eight pounds of shrimp, five or six
(02:15):
pounds of scallops, stone crab claws, king crab claws, flounder, snapper, salmon,
you name it. Dude, Did those guys have like a
lean on your house? Now? No? I did spend a
ton of money on the stuff. The other thing that
we enjoyed was um the dips like crab shrimp dip
and salmon dip. Anyway, everything speeding along. It's the final
(02:41):
second to the last night. And I make my own
version of frogmore stew, which is the low country boil
basically of Charleston. Uh, and I bite. We have these
Christini's that we baked. And you know, the one tooth
that I've been saying is going to go. They got
hurt in college and it's been loose for whatever twenty
(03:04):
plus years, and I've been afraid that my daughter's going
to kick it in one day, I was just like
counting down. Uh that that clock. And I've been into
a Christini, heard the felt the crack uh, and immediately
was like there it goes. And Emily and my friends
were like, no really, oh yeah, I know that. I
know that crack that s It does suck if it
(03:28):
hurt at all. Now it never hurts. Um. That is
the one good thing. Like I finished my meal very
gingerly eating on the you know, I've learned how to
eat in the back of my mouth. Yeah, like a Neanderthal.
Use your eyes like a frog. They just go inside
your skull and push the food down, so and made
(03:49):
an appointment the next day. I called around. It was like,
do I go home that, Do I like tough out
the rest of the vacation here and be stressed and
go home and do it, which means I probably can't
get until Friday. Or do I ruined part of a day,
my final beach day doing this locally? Uh? And so
I decided to go in and get it done there,
and two hours out of my day was all I wasted.
(04:10):
Oh wow, that's pretty pretty good, not bad. So big
big shout out to apex Oral and uh Maxila, Maxima
Facial Surgery and Janitorial Services of Mount Pleasant and Dr
Charlotte's marvel She was great? Was she marvelous? She was?
(04:31):
And you know, when I get it done here, I
go under twilight sleep, which I don't feel a thing,
and it messes me up. The whole rest of the day.
I'm just groggying in bed. And I didn't want to
do that. And I was like, I'd like to enjoy
the beach and go out to dinner to night. We
had reservations this great place on our final night, you know,
the last night dinner out deal. And she said, well,
I can just inject you and if you're okay with needles,
(04:54):
and you know, I've long talked about the needle and
the gums is the worst thing. And she said, well,
this will also be needle in the roof of your mouth,
and uh, I was like, all right, I gotta do it.
And she stuck me in the roof of my mouth
and my eyes just started running water and I literally said,
I'm not crying, that's just a reaction. Uh. Yeah, it
(05:19):
was fine. I mean it numbed it up so much.
I didn't feel a thing. And it was kind of
interesting being awake for once during this procedure of abstraction
and bone what do you call it? Yeah, because now
I've learned when they when they take out a tooth,
Now the best practices are you immediately graph bone to
(05:44):
it because you lose it so quickly. Pocket protection is
what it's called. That's awesome. That is so nerdy awesome.
I love it. But man, it is a rough procedure.
They are so rough And now I know why they
knock you out because they don't want you to know
how rough they are with you. Yeah, felt like I
was getting assaulted. Yeah. Yeah, they don't play Dennis don't play,
(06:05):
And that's not the knock Dr Marvel. She did great.
I mean you gotta get in there and do it,
you know. So Anyway, I was literally on the beach
two hours later with a Gin and Tonic. That's great.
That is really great, good story story, had it all. Yeah,
I had food surgery. Yeah, the beach, Dennis with a
great name, the beach, Yeah, the whole thing. Uh. And
(06:27):
also this also means for people coming to see us
on tour for the remainder of the year. I'm not
even bothering with a insert tooth, thank goodness, because I
had to sit there with it right next to me
staring at me during each show. Nah. I'm used to
it by now. I'm just gonna bubba it up for
the next nine months or whatever. They're gonna love it.
We should start charging double for tickets thing. Um, So
(06:51):
thank you for indulging that story. Well. It leads to
a burning question that I've been trying to ask this
whole time. Were you knew on the beach at any point? No, no,
nude beach at Isle of Palm Huh No, I thought
about during uh a nighttime ocean swim doing it. Uh.
(07:14):
Poto grante. Is that how they say that? Yes, But
then I thought, you know what, I'm being sort of
brave swimming in the ocean at night anyway. Yeah, I'm
not gonna have things exposed. There's something really creepy about
swimming at night in the ocean, particularly agreed. But I
did it and it's great. Yeah, it's really like I
think that's part of the exhilaration is I don't know
(07:35):
what's out here. Yeah, I guess as long as you say,
and I don't care. I'm just gonna enjoy myself and
it would be enjoyable. Yeah, but I did keep saying,
but at least I've got my pants on. My pants Well,
I did have pants on, ad tuxedo pants on, but
there's a lot of at tuxedo pants on, as is
per tradition at Isle of Palms to cover your junk
(07:58):
from the sea turtles. Yeah, that's what you do, that
you swim the beach and tux pants. Right, So this
is that's almost the exact opposite then, of a traditional
New beach, which is what we're talking about. Have you
ever been to one? I have, Uh, there, No, I
went and visited. I just went and looked for a second.
Yeah no, But I wasn't like poking people with a
(08:20):
stick or anything like that. Like I just wanted to see, like, okay,
what is this? And I'll tell you. I'll tell you
what really drew me over to look? Um you mean?
And I were down in Florida and there's a there's
a nude beach. It's a clothing optional and I believe
unofficial nude beach at the Canaveral National Seashore there and uh, okay, yeah,
(08:44):
that's right. We'll share our stories, okay. And um, like,
we drove down at one point just just to kind
of see, you know, and sure enough, there was a
woman walking around just wearing shorts and that was it. Um.
But what really got me to go check was we
saw this girl who must have been seventeen or something
(09:04):
and she was totally closed, like fully dressed, not even
wearing like a swimsuit, She's just dressed. And she was
coming back from the beach with her hand over her
mouth and her eyes like the size of bread plates.
And her mom was sitting there laughing at her, waiting
at the car, watching her come back like this. And
I was like, I gotta go to seat. So I
went and looked, and I was like, yeah, there's a
(09:26):
couple of naked people. Um, they're all dudes, and uh, well,
I've seen the nude beach now. But at the same time,
I was like, I would love to like just go
nude in a nude beach. But the more I did
this research tomorrow, I was like, I could take or
leave it. I have no problem and probably would still
like to like go nude at a very secluded nude beach.
(09:49):
But I get the impression that public nude beaches and
I don't even think I would enjoy like a nudist
resort nude beach. It would have to just be like
a remote, deserted island. Not because of any shame or
anything like that, but because I just I think that
that would be the way that I most enjoyed the
experience of just being nude out there on the beach.
(10:10):
You know what I mean, nude on the beach with
just like you and your wife, right, and that's it, Yeah,
you know, just hanging out. You want to own your
own beach. I guess I think that's what I'm getting at.
I'm hoping a wealthy listener will send US one. Uh
so here's my experience with that very beach. Was that
play Linda or Klondike? All right, So my deal was
(10:33):
many years ago. I did a long, like three month
out west trip with my best friend Brett, and we
we started in Atlanta and said, all right, what's where
should we go first? And this is pre internet and
you know when you're doing book research. And I said,
there's this place in Florida, your Canaveral that's called Klondike Beach.
(10:54):
And I said, and I don't know if this is true,
but what I read is that there is a law
enforcement acuum there because no one if there's some overlap
with counties, national land where there's a space where there's
no law. Yeah, there's supposedly a place. And I think
Yosemite National Park that's like that too. Well, yeah, I've
(11:15):
heard that stupid story where you can like kill somebody
and getting I don't think that true. Well, I don't know.
I don't think this is they would remember reading the
article and there they would get just you know, somehow. Um,
but I think there wasn't like I think it wasn't
no law, but there wasn't technically there was no legal
overseer of this one area, and that was Klondike Beach,
(11:39):
and there were you could there were hippie smoking weed
and nudis, and I was like, that's where we should start.
I have no idea what drew me, because you know,
it wasn't like I was going for either one of
those things. There's that sounds a bit like a place
called Wreck Beach in Vancouver, where it's not like there's
no jurisdiction or questionable jurisdiction, it's just really hard to
(12:02):
get to. There's like four hundred steps down to the beach.
So apparently the cops a long time ago said whatever,
you guys can do whatever you want, we don't care.
So not only is it a nude beach, it's like
a drug adult um, drunken beach um. But apparently it's
a lot of fun. But I supposedly they started cracking
down on it recently and it's not as fun as
(12:23):
it once was. Well, I do remember. Actually what drew
me was you can you can camp on the beach there,
which is sort of rare too. It wasn't a campground.
There's like back country camping on the sand, uh, and
there's not a ton of places in the States where
you can do that. Yeah, that sounds kind of fun. Actually,
it was waking up to the sound of waves like that.
It's wonderful. Uh. And we did go down there and
(12:44):
we did camp and it was a great way to
start the trip, and we did There's this dude walked
up to us this and of course I think this
is usually the story this. You know, probably fifty something
year old man but naked, walks up to us and
just starts a conversation. Oh huh. So I got a
lot of like differing advice from doing research on this. Yeah, well,
(13:08):
how so the guy started a conversation with you, Um,
what did you do? Did you go, hey, Bob, good
to meet you. A nice penis like that Saturday Night
Live sketch. No, I think we just tried to treat
it like a normal conversation, which it was. The I
guess what I've been hearing differing things on is that
at nude beaches you will possibly be surprised by the
(13:30):
standoffishness of the nude bathers. Um, you might be expecting
free spirits like Bob, the guy you met, right, Yeah,
I think the deal is and we will be corrected
through listener mail. But I think if you are clothed,
they may be a little more standoffish. But from what
I understand, if you're not clothed, that's that's all kind
(13:52):
of part of the community, and we should do a
larger one on nudists. At some point I could not
agree more. I I had an idea, but I had
no idea how um lengthy and longstanding the the nu
nudism movement is, or the naturism movement, I should say, yeah, naturalists, Like,
(14:14):
from what I understand, there very much a community, and uh,
that's the whole point is to normalize it to where
it's just like talking on the beach with anybody, right, Like,
it's not like any different than being clothed. And that's
their whole bag is Hey, this is just this is
how we come into the world, and we have all
(14:35):
shamed each other with our bodies over the years to
where we have clothed ourselves. And of course, I you know,
me growing up, Southern Baptists have a very weird relationship
with nudity, to the point where I'm like, yeah, man,
like what's the big deal. Europeans have got it right,
It's just your body who cares? And then the other
half of me says, oh my god, put some clothes on.
(14:58):
You know, do you want to go to Hell today?
And it's not even that it's just I guess I'm
kind of shy. Yeah, but I mean I'm sure it's
it's ingrained shyness for sure, from from an upbringing like that. Um,
so you you definitely hit on something, right. So when
you're talking about the naturist movement, like if you go
(15:19):
to a naturist resort, like a specific a nude beach
that's part of a naturist resort where you have to say,
be a member to get in or something like that, Um, yes,
you're going to find people who are very happy that
you're there, and they're very happy to be naked, and
everybody's very happy that everyone's naked, right, Um, but you're
(15:42):
also probably going to encounter something like compulsory uh, compulsory
nudity where if you're there, you have to be naked.
They don't want anybody coming along and be like, what's
this all about? What are you guys doing over here?
Shake your shake your money maker for me? You know,
they're not into that, so they have to have. They
have to have their own UM set aside resorts. It's
(16:04):
like their own place. It's like a private area UM.
But it's say like a different kind of beach, like
a clothing optional beach, where it's a public beach that
allows nudity but it isn't compulsory. That's when it seems
to UM. It seems to be kind of like paradise
lost for the naturists. Historically speaking, there definitely is yeah,
(16:29):
and it seems like just about every country that has
beaches has nude beaches, and if they are public nude
beaches where clothing is optional, it seems like the naturists
who are actually there to just enjoy being naked, it
has nothing to do with sex. Their kids are running
around naked, the whole families there. It's very family oriented.
(16:52):
Naked beach UM tend to lose control of it because
outside elements usually come in, start like partying, having public sex,
and then all of a sudden, this nude beach gets
a terrible reputation and the government steps in. Local people
complain and usually when they do, it's successful, and the
government steps in and nobody can be naked anymore, and
(17:15):
it's ruined for all the naturists. Yeah, and that that
is not the same thing at all as topless speeches
that you find um in in Europe and in some
places here in the United States. I went to one
of those two, and I mean you call it topless speech,
it was I think it was just a beach, you know.
I think a lot of the beaches in europea topless.
(17:36):
It's not like a big thing. And we saw, you know,
ladies with their uh, with their no bikini top on.
And of course, being a kid I was young, I
was like, oh, hey, you're like that wolf. But I
was respectful because I knew even then, like, you know,
you don't want to ugle somebody because that's probably not
(17:57):
too cool. But then even as a young guy, it
normalized and I was like, oh, well that's just a
body part. It ain't a big deal. Yeah. Yeah, that
after you turn i don't know, nineteen or twenty, it's
really easy to become desensitized to that kind of stuff,
you know. So let's take a break. Man had a
(18:18):
lot of good set up there. Yeah, that was a
lot of set up ethan penises and all kinds of moves.
The whole shebang. We'll be right back everybody. That's why
Ska that you should know, why skin should know knows
but Clarkin sk so Chuck, You've mentioned it a couple
(18:56):
of times, and it seems like anybody who even basically
knows about New Eaches tends to think of Europe. And
for good reason too. There was a survey in two
thousand and sixteen that surveyed I think like um ninety
different countries or something like that was a pretty extensive
survey to find out what the attitudes were towards nude
sunbathing on public beaches, and they found that Austrians, the Austrians,
(19:21):
I really would not have guessed the Austrians, and I'm
not I'm not missed speaking Australians. I mean the people
from Austria, I don't know. I don't know. I wish
I did, but I don't know. At any rate they're
fine with nudism. They at the very least, I'm sure
(19:42):
they have sandy lakes. They're fine with with nude sunbathing
at the beach. Um Something like seventies six percent of
Austrians say it's quote absolutely acceptable to sunbathe in the
nude in public um. It used to be Germany was
the was the champion of cool with nude some babe
and their Paymoent's very famous shore line but they yes,
(20:04):
and the North Sea, but they they fell the second place.
German say it's absolutely acceptable, and you're sure it didn't
say Australians right because they're waiting. Okay, yeah, I know.
Well Australia has a has a um a roller coaster
relationship with nude beaches. I think it depends on who's
(20:26):
in charge of the culture at any given point in time. Yeah.
Well maybe while we're there will be in charge of
the culture for a short time. Nudity everywhere gets grossed out.
Our shows are about to get raucous. You never know
a nude show, how about that? So no, no, absolutely not.
(20:46):
I mean the audience, not us. So I'm still not
comfortable with that either. Well that's how they say. To
the reason I say that is because to Live Cruise
show they say, the picture of your audience in the nude.
If you're nervous, I think they say underwear. Oh okay, gotcha,
I remember that Brady Bunch. That's all I know. Uh oh,
(21:09):
so I don't know Australians but I do know eight
percent of Americans say it's absolutely acceptable to somebody in
the news. That seems about right, pretty low percentage, that's
what i'd figure. Well, you know who had an even
lower percentage, UM, it's Italians. Italians say they are not
(21:29):
okay with having somebody's somebay nude by them in on
a public beach. It surprises me as well, but such
as the way, but they're kind of an outlier as
far as Europe goes. In Europe actually again have some
of the earliest nude beaches around. UM. This article says
that like the first one was in Bordeaux in France,
(21:52):
that that um started around after World War Two. But
I actually saw footage of a nude beach in Georgia,
a country not the state from dating from the nineteen twenties.
So as far as nudity goes, Georgia is even more
progressive than France. Apparently. I don't know about progressive. I
think sometimes it's just you know, freaks are gonna let
(22:15):
their flag fly. No, you got it, you got it,
And and if you've got a group of them together,
I don't care. If it's nineteen twenty and Georgia then
they find each other, they're gonna do it. I don't
think that necessarily means that Georgia was super progressive, you
know what I mean? Okay, I see what you mean.
Or maybe it does. I don't know, but I'm just saying.
And that's the case with these a lot of these
(22:36):
nude beaches. Is it bears pointing out. Some of these
are sanctioned and some of them are just have happened
over the years to this extent where like you said,
the local cops are just kind of like they're not
hurting anybody. This is sort of where they gather and
everyone knows that, so they can either choose to go
(22:57):
there or stay away from there. And these places are
are usually somewhat removed too. Not all the times, but usually,
Like I remember with Klondike Beach, it wasn't that it
wasn't like the main beach. You had to kind of
work a bit to get there. Yep, it's almost always,
if not remote as far as just beaches in general go,
it is like the say, the northernmost part or the
(23:20):
southernmost part, so it's secluded in some way, shape or form.
I read this fascinating article about um a nude beach
off of Palm Beach called air Force Beach, and it
was a private island owned by John D. MacArthur of
(23:40):
the famous John D. And Catherine Tine MacArthur. And he yeah,
and he um made his billions selling insurance, I believe,
and he uh I apparently was a bit of a
naturist himself, but he had like he allowed people to
use his beach and he also loud one of the
(24:01):
sides of the beach to become a nude beach. And
there was a big struggle because he died as he
was signing over um or his son was signing over
the deed to this beach to the county with the
stipulation that this part remain nude, and he died before
the nude part document was signed. So the county took
(24:22):
the beach and was like, no, we're not going to
and there's been a struggle ever since. I think that
was in the nineties when he died um, but it
was it was a a lost nude beach. But for
a while there there was apparently something like five thousand
people a day coming there to some bathe nude on
the weekends. That was one of America's most populated nude beaches.
(24:43):
And it was all because it was this old rich
guy's um. He was okay with it. Didn't have that said.
These penises are brought to in part by the John D.
And Katherine Pete maccarthur Foundation. And you push a button
and it's read by Ira Glass. Yeah. Actually I readn't
read those DESI can you do it? Though? I think
everyone wants to hear now, I don't think so. I've
(25:04):
retired by iveryglass impression. Uh. The other thing with some
of these beaches is um like sometimes they're so remote
and removed. This it's just sand and you're on your own.
Like they may not even have like trash cans and stuff.
Other ones are a little more advanced and they might
have activities. They might have a beach well, a toilet
(25:26):
what do you call it, like a like a bath house, uh,
in a shower or maybe they even serve booze. Um.
But it bears pointing out that I don't I think
a lot of Americans, and especially like more conservative in
the kind of way I grew up, more conservative religious
Americans might think that's just like a hedonistic sexual free
(25:51):
for all with these weirdos, and that is generally not
the case at all. It is a bunch of old
people naked and talking to each other about, you know,
whatever the economy, how the pitch are biting. Yeah, I
don't think how the fish are biting, as long as
it's not sea turtles, I guess, um. The the we
(26:14):
can't really overstate that a genuine naturist nudists nude beach
has nothing to do with sex. It might be a
sensual experience to have, like you know, was one guy
quoted in the article says, you know, like just being
out there and feeling the breeze and feeling the water
and all that, it's sensual. But this guy is talking
(26:37):
about the senses, like like the tactile sense is just
making him feel good. He's not saying like, you know,
I got a giant erection right because of it. It's
not about sex. And again, a lot of these places
are more family friendly than even adjacent beaches. Yeah, and
there is no shame in our bodies, and we respect
(27:00):
to each other's bodies. I mean, they're probably the least
or most open minded body type community on planet Earth, right, Yeah,
you would think so, you know, like there's no body
shaming and nudist communities that's the whole point because they
all come together to accept where we all uh hang
in and and wrinkle and all the things that happened
(27:24):
to bodies over the years. It's sprout weird goat hairs. Well,
you should take care of those. I was really even
the nudists are like, you need to do something about
that that you just come back to your little cabana
and there's a like a pair of tweezers and scissors
on your pillow. I was reading, Um, dude, Milwaukee used
to have a nude beach. H Yeah, I was pretty
(27:45):
surprised to hear that one. But it was called Paradise
Beach and it was like a legit. I think it
was clothing optional because it was county. Usually if it's
a government beach, they can't legally exclude anybody, so it
has to be clothing optional. Um, but I think it
was clothing optionals Paradise Beach it but it was like
family oriented nudist beach um. And it was Adjason or
(28:09):
just down the beach from a beach called Bradford Beach,
and that was a um you had to wear clothing beach.
It's not nudist, but it was a party beach, and
Bradford Beach, where you had to wear clothes, was a
bigger party beach. Then um Paradise Beach, which was a
clothing optional beach. And that's usually how it how it is,
(28:30):
although eventually, and this is normally the case, sometime in
the early nineties, some of the people from Bradford Beach
started hanging out naked on Paradise Beach. Started like getting
wasted and having sex, and it wasn't family friendly anymore,
and there were complaints, and then the Paradise Beach is
no longer. Yeah, that the whole sex thing is weird
(28:51):
to me. It's not like a bathing suit is if
that's the barrier that keeps you from just going hog
wild sexually, it's not much of a barrier. No, it's true.
I get the impression that this hall Over Park in Miami,
it is known as the largest new beach in the
United States and one of the most popular in the world.
So it says our article, Um, I get the feeling
(29:12):
it's it's way more of a party scene because have
you ever been there? No, I was reading, Yeah, I
read about it, and I looked up pictures and of course,
you know, I'm sitting to my destiny looking at new
people on the beach. It's just part of the job.
But um, there's pictures of you know, it looks like
a spring break with like forty people posing and they're
(29:33):
all naked. And these were younger people too. This wasn't
like the older set. I mean, it's all kind of
people older and younger. But and again, just because I
am who I am, I was like, oh, well, that's
kind of completely normal actually, and the other part of
you went, oh my god, what is going on there?
I just don't know what to think. It's funny, it
(29:55):
is funny and sad. But I mean the very fact
that you are aware of it means that there's hope
for addressing it, like once and for all. Yeah, I
think the nudity problem. Yeah, you just go one way
or the other. Either be like I'm totally fine with nudity.
I'm going to make this my mission. Just be fine
with nudity totally, or just go never nude. Just always
(30:18):
worry like that pair of like daisy dukes under your clothes. No,
but like you said, I am fine with it in
my adult, rational, evolved brain. But that shame is so
ingrained childhood. It's really hard to get you. It'll get you.
All right, let's take another break out, how about that,
and we'll come back and talk a little bit about
Cape Cod and uh, some of the behaviors you should
(30:40):
obviously avoid. That's why scame you should know. But Josh
Clark define s all right, So I promised a little
(31:09):
cape Cod talk. We mentioned hall Over Park. There's Blacks
Beach in San Diego, very popular, long standing nude beach. Yeah,
one of the first in the US, I think, yeah
for sure. And that of course San Diego they I
figured they would have one there. Yeah, dude, San Diego
beaches in the seventies were like whatever you wanted to do. Yeah,
(31:30):
it's like Three Company all day long. Yeah, but like
the place, not just the innuendo, Like the stuff they
were making innuendo about was actually going on. Right. Uh.
I always think of um, whenever I think of like
San Diego in the seventies and Three Company, I think
of the what those bars called fern bars, Yeah, fern
bars that we covered in the Bars episode. Yeah. The
(31:52):
Regal Beagle was like literally a firm bar. I think
they had ferns there. So anyway, Cape Cod and then
I K seventies in Massachusetts had a bit of a
fight going on their hands. Uh. The NPS National Park
Service outlawed public nudity um and it was a big
(32:12):
deal because there are guests in parts of Cape Cod.
There were people that would go nude. UM. It ended
up in lawsuits and the nude band was upheld. And
they believe still are the only national park with a
specific ban on nudity. Yeah, it's not I didn't know that.
It's not a federally it's not a federal law in
(32:35):
any federal park apparently except Cape Cod. Now, yep, it's
the only one. So congratulations Cape Cod. You really showed
your butt. Yeah, and I love it. Here it says
now if there are conflicts, the park employees attempt to
resolve it informally, right, Like I think everyone is just like,
come on, you know, can we just work this out?
(32:56):
Like why don't you go over here? You go over
there and don't look at them, and can I go back,
you know, to my office, which is which you need
a lobster roll, rough hewn log cabin of my own
making um, so yeah, you you. Cape cod is kind
of an outlier. Usually there are like a nude beach
(33:19):
getting legislated. It will go one of two ways, like
they it'll start with a beach that people just say,
this is our new nude beach. We're gonna start being
nude here, taking my pants off. It's very remote. Normally
it's hard to get to and a lot of nudists
prefer it that way, like it's a little harder for
them to get to it, but that also means it's
a little harder for um perverts and um, you know,
(33:43):
look you lose to get to well. Plus, remote beaches
are the best kind of beaches, you know. They end
up getting a score with like a very remote kind
of tranquil scene. Uh. And then so you've got that,
it will be an unofficial public beach, public nude beach. Uh.
And then something will happen and the local government will
either legislate that um officially it's clothing optional or else. No,
(34:09):
it's not everybody needs to get dressed. Um, Normally it's
every everybody needs to get dressed. Because usually it's the
result of a complaint, like there's a there's some residents
or an h O, a group or somebody nearby who
considers that their beach and doesn't want a bunch of
naked people frolicking around. And if the nudists are trying
to make their case like no, we just want to
(34:31):
be naked, we're not perverts or anything like that. If
they're making their case, it's usually again underscored by people
like getting wasted and having public sex on the nude
beach um, which brings us chuck. I think to um
where we should share some tips to people who are
thinking of maybe going to a new beach. And the
(34:51):
cardinal rule of a genuine nude beach is no sex.
Don't have sex on the beach. No one wants to
see that. Yeah, I think the first two cardinal rules
of a nude beach, don't have sex and don't be
a creep, are the same rules at a regular beach. Definitely,
just don't you don't want to be a creep with
your clothes on or yeah, this one says, you know,
(35:14):
it goes to a lot of trouble to say, like
don't take pictures of people. Don't take pictures they I
mean they mentioned selfies, like if you're in the background.
You may not realize someone's in the background, or god forbid,
if there's a child in the background, family, Like, just
put your camera away for a bit. Yeah, I mean, like,
(35:35):
if you're taking pictures and there's a naked kid running around,
do you are really putting your life in jeopardy depending
on that kid's father and what his opinions are and
creeps very true. So but again my point is is
that applies to regular beaches too, fully clothed beaches. Don't
take pictures of people at the beach. That's that's creepy
(35:56):
and wrong. Agreed. What else, what's another two? Uh? This
says and these were we should point out these were
from the Hollover Beach website. Uh. And that's the party
beach in Miami. Um. It says, don't just sit right
down next to another person if there's like plenty of
(36:17):
space on the beach. And again that's sort of like
a regular beach. It's it would be a little weird
on a variant. When I was just at Ala Palms,
not many people there on a weekday this time of year,
like hundreds of yards in between blankets and chairs. If
someone would have sat down right next to me, I
(36:37):
would have been like, uh, that's a little weird. Yeah, uh,
why don't you go over there or over there or
anywhere else? And especially truing a nude beach and then
you turn and the person is actually made of stand
and they blow away? What what is that? I just
(36:58):
made it up? Okay, now everything's a reference alright, sort
of weird fantasy film or something, maybe Dune. Uh. This
thing says be sure to bring a towel. Yeah, this
was good advice. Yeah, I mean that's pretty obvious. And
they say that most people knew to bring two towels,
(37:18):
one to sit on and put all your junk on
that can get potentially gross, right, and then another one
to actually dry your face with. Right. I would have
brought a towel just to dry off with, but it
wouldn't have occurred to me, like, no, you also need
to bring a towel to sit on. Like, if you're
gonna set a stool or chair or something, nobody wants
(37:40):
your butt funk on their chair. That's groty, and you
don't want somebody else's either, So let's think here. Yeah,
I would say a beach chair rental company at a
nude beach is probably not thriving, don't you think. Yeah,
I mean that should be a tip as well, like
maybe bring your own chair. Another tip that it said
is if you get an erection, the there's ways of
(38:04):
taking care of that. Get in the water, turn over
onto your stomach. Think about no one's playing baseball. Uh,
I mean if you're getting an direction on a on
a nude beach, I don't know, that's I'm not sure
what to say about that. Well, you could be like yeah,
maybe yeah, I didn't really think about that. No, But
I mean, but even if you're a dude and it's
(38:26):
your first time or something gets you just right, Yeah,
there's gotta gotta be some sort of etiquette for that.
I think the point of this is is like, don't
just walk around like, hey, everybody, it's happening, check it out,
you know, like you want to just kind of keep
that to yourself, is the point. Yeah? I would think
that would be uh a big like stay away from me,
signed to be other people, right, you know, you could
(38:49):
take an eye out. O. Man, I really feel like
we may have crossed the lines here there in this episode,
and I'm not sure. Yeah do you think so? No?
I just I'm surprised that I'm able to make it
through this episode. To be honest, I'll bet there's a
lot of people who are like, can't I can't listen
to johsh and Chuck talking about this one. Bring sunscreen
(39:11):
of course, um and that you know, kind of kidding around,
but definitely not getting around because they make the very
fine point if you're in your twenties or thirties or
forties and it's your first time ever doing this, then
by all accounts, it's probably the first time your body
parts down there, your private parts, they have seen the sun.
(39:33):
And that's a bad recipe. You know. Can you imagine
I can't sunburn there? Could not imagine because this sunburn
will ruin your vacation period. I can imagine sunburned penis
would really put a dent in things. Yeah, this article
suggests even bringing a hat to use, which I thought
(39:57):
was smart, yet helmet that would definitely work. I got
a couple more things. Um So. Back in the of
the nineteenth century, the Victorians were pretty well known for
being pretty prudish. Right, Um, on the surface, that is, yes,
(40:20):
exactly on the surface, but at a public beach, all
of that is out on display, so the surface is
all that matters, right, So I ran across this invention
that they came up with, at least in Australia, if
not in the in England as well. But they, um,
they had cabanas on the back of wagons that were
pulled by horses and you would get into the cabana
(40:43):
and the horse would draw the wagon with you in
the cabana in it out to the ocean and then
you would get out into the water so that nobody
else would see you in any kind of remote state
of undress. And we're still talking like wrists and ankle
is covered. Um, that was too much. So they would
(41:04):
get in these private cabanas and be drawn by horse
out to the water. Yes, that's a that was crazy.
And then fast forward to the nineteen fifties and there
was a nudist trend that sparked all over Australia, and
I think now Australia has something like, um, I think
five designated nude beaches, which I was surprised it was
(41:25):
that little, because in Britain there's eleven of them. Yeah,
I was surprised by that too. And there's a great
quote from this one counselor Brighton, who was, like, I guess,
the local elected official from back in nine when Brighton
became the first official nude beach, he said, I personally
have got no objection to people showing their breasts and
(41:47):
bosoms in general, genitalia to one another, jolly good luck
to them, but for heaven's sake, they should go somewhere
more private. And they had a great quote, Yeah maybe
that's where I lie. Is it really so you have
a problem with nude beaches. No, they're They're fine, just
not for me. Gotcha? What about the private, private, private
(42:10):
nude beach that I envisioned the island that you own,
I would visit it without you there, and I would
pull my shorts down for a minute, for sixty seconds, right,
but not past the ankle. You just stand there with
no no, no, I would still have my hands on them,
I see, and I'd be like, jokes on you, whole
(42:33):
islands under surveillance, jokes on you. It's a surprise party.
Well that's new beaches, man, unless you got anything else.
I got nothing else. Uh. If you want to know
more about nude beaches and you made it this far
through the episode, or what we could probably call a
psycho drama between me and Chuck. You can type that
(42:54):
word in the search bar at how Still Work dot
com and we'll bring up this fine article. And since
I said search bars, time for listener mail. I'm gonna
call this. We helped a dude get into medical school
and here goes Hey, guys, um. I started listening at
the beginning of middle school, although the moment I was
(43:16):
completely hooked was when I listened to the Delta Force episode.
Since then, I don't think I missed an episode for
nine year straight. Jumping back to present day, a few
weeks ago, ahead of medical school interview, one of the
interviewers asked me something to the effect of, how have
you cultured a spirit of continuous learning in your life
outside the classroom. One of the things I brought up
(43:36):
was stuff you should know in The interviewer who asked
the question was a fan. That shared connection at the
beginning of the interview really helped to break the ice
a bit, and the rest of the interview went really smoothly.
Just her back that I have been accepted. I guess
I can't say that our mutual love of S Y
s K was the reason I got in, but I
do think that having that connection helped me to relax
(43:56):
and nail the interview from that point on. So thanks
for helping break the US for me. H. Hearing back
from you guys would make my week. Uh, well, do
you want better? Isaac Lamb We read it on the air,
good luck in med school. Uh, he lives in Indianapolis
that he wants us to visit there for a tour,
and I think we're gonna try and hit up Indianapolis
at some point it's possible, and um, yeah, way to go, buddy. Yeah,
(44:20):
congratulations on getting into mid school. Isaac. Great name too.
By the way, I agreed. If you want to get
in touch with us, like Isaac did, you can tweet
to us. I'm at josh um Clark and at s
Y s K podcast, Chuck's on Facebook at Charles W.
Chuck Bryant and that Stuff you Should Know. You can
email us at Stuff Podcast at how stuff Works dot
(44:42):
com and has always joined us at our home on
the web, Stuff you Should Know dot com for more
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