June 25, 2024 • 41 mins
June 25th is a Bucket List Triple Threat because of the fun things and interesting places that originated on this day in history! Today’s stories include:
- A celebration of Catfish Day - do you know what “Catfish Noodling” is?
- How the diary ponderings of a newly minted teenager became an international symbol, inspiring millions of readers
- Celebrating the birth of a world famous architect and his iconic masterpiece
If it's a special day for you or for someone you care about, why not learn a little more about today by listening to some fun, engaging stories. You’ll find yourself a little smarter and have some great stories you can re-tell - AND - have three things you can add to your bucket list! If you need some great gift ideas, we have those too (along with links to where you can find them on Amazon).
Today’s show mentions three bucket list items, some official links are provided here for you. (this link worked in mid 2024 - not sure how long the links will be available):
- Link to one of Hannah’s videos
- Link to the Anne Frank House museum
- Link to La Sagrada Familia basilica
Gift ideas for folks who celebrate June 25th:
- Celebrating Catfish Day with a shirt or hat will be sure to spark conversations everywhere you go.
- Anne Frank’s inspiring Diary is a great gift if your loved one is a reader - or if they like coffee table books.
- Sticking with that theme, coffee table books featuring Antoni Gaudi’s impressive works are nice. Perhaps some mosaic wall decor in his style is a better option?
- There’s lots of cool stuff to celebrate famous birthdays from today featuring Ricky Gervais, Linda Cardellini, George Orwell and George Michael.
- Similarly, there are fun gift options to celebrate today’s holidays: Goat’s Cheese Day, Strawberry Parfait Day, and Leon Day.
Full disclosure: If you use these gift ide
Text me your favorite time travel movie!!!
~~~ DayStrider Fun ~~~
Do you want to be mentioned here in the podcast? Or do you want me to do a shout-out for a loved one? All you need to do is send me an e-mail: daystriderstories@gmail.com
Better yet, you can record your own shout-out by leaving me a voice message using this SpeakPipe link
Do you have a story that you wish to share? Join me as a guest and let’s tell the world together! Once again, just send me an e-mail or find me here on Facebook: Truman Pastworthy
If you had as much fun listening as I did creating this episode, please click "follow" in your favorite podcast platform . . . oh . . . and even better - why not share it with a friend (or three)! I’m betting you know just the perfect person who would enjoy today’s stories!
If you feel adventurous, how 'bout writing a great review? :-)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Truman (00:02):
Welcome Seeker! Your portal is all warmed up and
ready to stride through historywith me.
Together, we'll discover whyJune 25th is filled with some
fun and inspiring experiencesthat may need to get added to
your personal bucket list.
Our journey will first take usto the muddy creeks of
Mississippi, where you'll get insome laughs as you learn how
(00:24):
some folks there get fishy.
And then, we'll travel way backto the World War II days and
learn about a teenage girl whowho confided in her diary to
maintain her sanity, and how herwritings became an
international symbol.
Before we return you back toyour normal self, we'll
celebrate the birth of a famousarchitect and check out some of
(00:46):
his amazing buildings.
This trip will definitelyinspire you to add Barcelona to
the cities you need to visit.
After striding through June25th, you'll definitely have an
appreciation for life, includingOpportunities for fun, the
chance to learn from thestruggles of others, and an
appreciation of the beautyaround you.
Time's a-tickin', so let's getto
Music (01:09):
it.
Truman (01:18):
Welcome, seekers, to the enchanting world of Daystrider,
the podcast where we embark ona daily journey through history.
I'm your travel guide, TrumanPastworthy, and together we'll
explore some fascinating storiesthat happened on this exact
day, but from some time in thepast.
From groundbreaking inventionsto remarkable birthdays and
(01:39):
extraordinary events to quirkynational holidays, we've got it
all.
So kick back, relax, and openyour mind for some lighthearted
stories that'll leave yousaying, huh, I never knew that
happened on this day.
Alrighty then, let's get to it.
Today is catfish day.
So here's a question.
(02:00):
When I say the word catfish,what pops into your mind first?
Probably, for many of you,identity theft would be that
first thought.
Sadly, not enough of you willhave thought about the
scavenging fish with the longfeelers that look like whiskers
and that swims along the bottomof creek beds seeking food.
(02:21):
Well, I'm willing to bet thatonly a teeny tiny minority of
you thought of the word noodlingwhen I said catfish.
But after today, all of youwill first think of the pair of
words catfish and noodlingtogether.
Are you ready?
Now first, let me catch you upon this identity theft thing.
(02:44):
So MTV first aired adocumentary in 2012 called
Catfish and has since aired over200 episodes in this series.
And pretty much the goal of theseries is trying to out people
who are doing what they calledcatfishing.
which is basically making afake identity online to deceive
(03:04):
someone into a falserelationship.
So you're either doing it tomess with them and get them
upset or frustrated, or you'redoing it because you want to
then defraud them and stealmoney from them, you know, by
becoming their friend andsaying, hey, I need money for
whatever.
And folks do this in many kindsof ways.
I have a Facebook account tosupport this podcast, and
(03:27):
surprisingly, I get a lot ofcatfishers.
People who send me friendrequests and then they send me
messages to talk about, youknow, things to become my
friend.
And then they explained whythey need money for some reason
or other.
Or they sent me this link onhow I can get money, which can't
be good.
So my public serviceannouncement here, if you have
an online friend or even anin-person friend that you just
(03:49):
met and they ask you for money,just delete them or block them
right away.
Don't feel bad because you'velost a friend.
You didn't.
They're not your friend.
They're sharks.
All right.
Well, I haven't used noodlingyet.
What's that all about?
Well, first, let me tell youwhy we even have Catfish Day.
(04:11):
Because, you know, there aremany crazy holidays out there,
and we've celebrated some hereon the show.
We've celebrated Tater Tot Day,Llama Day, and some others.
Well, many of those days aremade up by retailers or made up
as a weird tradition.
They aren't official.
Catfish Day became a true legalholiday on this day in 1987
(04:33):
when President Reagan signed itinto being.
Yes, that's crazy.
And there's a story behind it.
And it starts in Yazoo City,Mississippi, which is in Yazoo
County.
And I'm not catfishing you.
No, I'm not making this up.
Mike Espy is real and he'sreally from Yazoo.
And Mike is the firstAfrican-American elected as a
(04:55):
congressman in Mississippi sincethe Reconstruction.
And he knew that catfishfarming was a big deal in his
state, especially in hisjurisdiction in Yazoo.
So he went on a personalmission to ensure the well-being
of the folks in that industry.
And one of the first things hedid in 1987 when he got into
office was to propose acommemorative bill to create
(05:18):
Catfish Day.
And from what I read, it didn'tgo well.
Not only because some thoughtit was silly, but also might
have been that he was anAfrican-American and they were
pushing back on that.
But it did stall until hepersevered through and
eventually, with hisconnections, got the bill placed
on Ronald Reagan's desk and gotit signed on June 25th, 1987.
(05:42):
And so that's one way to get aholiday, right?
Well, truth be told, he didimprove the situation for his
constituents back in Yazoobecause he then got the military
to add catfish to theircommissary menu.
How'd he do that?
Well, he flew in the bestcatfish chefs from all over the
(06:02):
South and had them share theircreations with the procurement
directors of all the militarybranches, and bam, they were
sold.
Catfish made the menu.
Okay, awesome.
Well, wait a second.
What about catfish noodling?
How come you haven't talkedabout that?
All right.
So we're finally here.
So I've said the word severaltimes.
(06:22):
Can you guess what I'm talkingabout?
Maybe it's a cooking technique,perhaps a way to prepare
catfish for pasta, or maybe evenprepare a pasta dish that is
perfect for catfish.
Or maybe you guessed that it'ssomething like training a
catfish to swim through obstaclecourses in water by using pool
noodles to guide them.
(06:43):
Or maybe stay with the poolnoodle theme.
Maybe it's some kind of redneckfishing pole that makes
catching catfish easier thanusing a regular fishing rod.
Yeah, you're getting closerwith these guesses, but try this
one.
Walking through muddy creeks insouthern states and rummaging
(07:04):
your bare hands into submergedhollow logs or around and under
submerged rocks Waiting andhoping for a catfish that you
can't even see is just restingthere on the bottom of the creek
bed and then trying to biteyou.
Bam.
That's it.
Catfish noodling.
Yes.
Yes.
(07:25):
This is a thing.
You can look it up and watchvideos on YouTube.
Just type catfish noodling.
And there are plenty to watch.
You'll find some veryinteresting people whose right
arms all the way up to the elboware scarred up and down all
around from catfish bites.
And they actually do this sportfor a living.
Hannah Barron is one of them.
(07:47):
You can check her out.
She's cute and funny and fun.
I tried to reach her to be aguest on the show, but she's
busy teaching others how tonoodle for catfish.
And that's okay.
But I watched enough of hershows...
to learn the tricks that sheshares.
For example, when you'refeeling around, you want to have
your four fingers on top andyour thumb facing downward, so
(08:09):
basically palm down, so when thecatfish bites you, it's
smashing on four finger bonesinstead of just one thumb bone,
so it's less likely to break.
Yeah, I'm serious.
That's how they explain it.
And that's not all.
Your right hand isn't justdoing the feeling and trying to
get bitten.
Your left hand is also readyfor action.
(08:30):
Once the catfish bites down onyour right hand or arm, you
shoot your left hand along itsbody and use your fingers to
catch inside of its gill andshove your hand in there to trap
it.
And then you've got your righthand in its mouth and your left
hand in its gill.
You pull the catfish out of thehole that it's hiding in and
get it up out of the water.
(08:52):
Yeah.
I know.
Yeah, some of you probablystill don't believe this is a
thing, and I'm doing an AprilFool's joke here, but I am not.
Catfish noodling is actuallylegal in 16 states.
And there are actually rulesand regulations around noodling.
There are prohibitions on usingspecial devices, on luring
catfish into hiding spots, onprohibiting special tools.
(09:15):
It's crazy.
Yeah, if you're going to gocatch a fish by hand, there are
rules on how you have to do it.
Oh, and speaking of the manystates, not all of them call it
noodling.
There's also terms likegrappling, graveling, hogging,
stumping, snatching, and thenhand grabbing and plain old hand
(09:37):
fishing.
And there are contests in thissport with record catches.
So the weights here I'm goingto share are going to surprise
you, I think.
Average size catfish caught byhand generally come in at 30 to
40 pounds.
Now that's a huge fish.
I guess they need to be bigenough so that you can get
(09:57):
bitten by them by a whole handand get them up out of the
water.
Little catfish like 10pounders, it's not going to be
as easy to catch them this way.
So the record in Oklahoma was88 pounds.
That catfish was 53 incheslong.
That's the average height of a10 year old catfish.
That's crazy.
(10:18):
Somebody was able to pull thatcatfish out of the water.
All righty then, you got tolearn something new today.
So the next time you're drivingaround in the south and you
peer out the window and you seea muddy, murky creek out there
as you're driving along, maybeyou want to stop because you can
bet there's a catfish hidingdown in that water.
Maybe you'll want to get outand go waiting a little bit and
(10:41):
feel around for that catfish tobite you, right?
No way, man.
And if you do, watch out forsnakes and snapping turtles.
Oh, and depending on how farsouth you are, alligators.
Yeah, yeah.
Good luck with your catfishnoodling, people.
Roses are red and catfish aregray.
(11:02):
A review from you wouldbrighten our day.
Can't think of the words tohelp you begin?
Type, this pod is great andI'll tune in again.
With the exception of my littlebuddy Nico, who's the only day
strider I know of who's not yetbeen a teenager, I'm going to
ask you to reflect back on yourlife when you were 13, 14, and
(11:26):
15.
What were you doing at thattime?
If you can, try to think ofwhat your worldview was like at
that age.
How much time did you spendthinking about what's right
versus what's wrong?
Or did you spend time thinkingabout justice or equality?
How about the future?
Did you think about the futureof the world, your future, any
(11:47):
future?
Maybe some of you had a diaryfrom that time of your life.
If you did, and if you stillhave it, take a moment to go
back and check out what you werewriting about when you were a
newly minted teenager.
Do you have any quotes in yourdiary from when you were 15 that
are as deep as this one?
It's difficult in times likethese.
(12:10):
Ideals, dreams, and cherishedhopes rise within us, only to be
crushed by grim reality.
It's a wonder I haven'tabandoned all my ideals.
They seem so absurd andimpractical.
Yet I cling to them, because Istill believe, in spite of
everything, Wow.
Yeah, well, that quote was fromAnne Frank's diary, and she was
(12:36):
15 when she wrote that quote,which happened to be just a few
weeks before she and her familywere captured by the Nazis and
sent off to concentration camps.
Prior to writing that quote,she had spent the last two years
hiding in a small four-roomannex, above a spice and herbs
(12:56):
factory along with seven otherfamily members and friends.
Yep, that sounds crazy, right?
Well, Anne Frank's diary wasactually published on this day
in 1947, and I want to sharewith you the incredible story.
So Anne and her family wereJewish, and they lived in
Germany.
Now, in the late 1930s andearly 40s, being Jewish in
(13:19):
Germany was a very bad thingbecause the Nazis were promoting
anti-Semitism, which is hostileprejudice against Jewish
people.
And this hostility reached itspeak in the 1940s as Nazis
captured, relocated, and thensystematically exterminated
Jewish people.
And yes, I'm using that word,exterminated them.
(13:42):
And the Frank family, like Isaid, was from Germany, but they
moved to Amsterdam in the 1930sto get away from this growing
prejudice.
But Germany captured theNetherlands, where Amsterdam is,
in 1940.
And then in 1941, they begandeporting Jewish people back to
Germany to camps where thegenocide took place.
(14:02):
So in 1942, not long afterAnne's 13th birthday, the Frank
family had to go into hiding.
and Anne took with her thediary she received as a birthday
present.
Now, when I say went intohiding, what comes to your mind?
I'm sure that what I'm about todescribe is not something you'd
(14:23):
ever want to live through forover two years of your life,
especially when you were ateenager.
Okay, so Otto Frank, he wasrunning a spice and herb
business out of a building thathad two stories with an annex in
the attic.
So the first floor was whereall the workers did their thing,
prepping and packing andpreparing the spices to be
distributed and shipped out,while the second floor was where
(14:46):
the admin folks handled thepayroll and did the bookkeeping
and kept all the records.
And then, of course, as Imentioned, the attic had these
four rooms that were not usedfor the business, but instead
were converted into the livingspace for the four Franks, so
Ann and her family, three VanPels, and another person, eight
in all.
And then there were six peoplewho knew about this annex, all
(15:09):
employees or friends of Ann'sfather, to help make sure that
they could be fed and stayalive.
So Ann and her family spent 761days in this annex, or I'm
going to say in captivity.
So pretty much on every day ofthe week except Sundays, they
had to be in quiet mode.
(15:30):
because the building was usedas a business, and any unusual
noises or other things thatcould alert the workers on the
first or second floor thatsomething was amiss, they could
report those to the Nazis, andthen, of course, bad things
would happen.
So Anne and our other captiveswoke up at 6.45 every day and
(15:52):
used the time prior to 8.30 touse the bathroom, which means
flushing the toilet and doingother things before 8.30 when
the workers showed up.
And then from 8.30 to 9, theyhad to maintain absolute silence
because the workers on thefirst floor were there, but the
second floor workers hadn't comein yet to start their day job.
(16:14):
And so any noise at allupstairs would be bad.
And then when theadministrative staff got there
at 9 o'clock, so now the folksin the annex had to try to keep
quiet, but they didn't needabsolute silence.
And then around 1245 every day,which was the lunch hour, the
first floor workers left, wenthome for lunch.
So some of the second floorworkers could bring food up to
(16:37):
the Franks and the othercaptives.
And then at 530, the warehouseworkers went home for the night.
And by 545, Anne and her familycould move freely about the
entire building.
That sounds great, right?
That's all they had was thisone building every day.
Week in and week out, everymonth of the year, summer, fall,
(17:00):
winter, spring.
Imagine that.
Think about it.
Two whole years in the sameroom all day, every day.
Now on Sundays, things weredifferent.
They used that day to do theircleaning and chores and keep
their annex tidy because theycould make more noise because no
workers were using the buildingand therefore they didn't have
(17:21):
to keep quiet or do the silenttreatment.
And they were free to roamabout the building.
So what did Anne write aboutSundays?
Here's another great quote.
I wander from one room to thenext, down the stairs and back
up again, and feel like asongbird that has had its wings
torn off and flies against thebars of its cage in total
(17:43):
darkness.
Outside, fresh air andlaughter, a void inside me
screams.
I don't even try to answeranymore.
I lay down and sleep in orderto shorten the time, the
silence, the terrible fear, too,because there is no question of
killing them.
Wow.
That's crazy, right?
(18:04):
So probably in your day-to-daylife, you're like me.
You have a routine, and youfollow that, and it's pretty
similar, right?
You probably talk to maybe 10or 15 different people each day,
and they're all the samepeople, but you also get to have
variety anytime you want.
You can make it a point to talkto others as you wish.
You can call them on the phone.
(18:25):
You can walk down the hall andcheck out their office.
You can go to a different storeor restaurant and just talk to
different people.
Not in the Annex, where if youdid anything outside of that
building, you risked your ownlives as well as the lives of
the seven other folks livingwith you.
So how do we know all this?
Well, Anne wrote it all down inher diary for us.
(18:46):
The amazing quotes I've read,but she also had lots of things.
Some were maybe a little moreboring or less interesting than
others.
But young Anne, she had a waywith words, didn't she?
I'm sure you could tell thatfrom the quotes I read.
So what happened to Anne andher family?
Well, eventually, someonebetrayed them.
And it is now believed thatanother Jewish person was trying
(19:09):
to save his own family bybetraying the Franks.
Either way, the Nazis showed upand raided the place and sent
all eight souls off to variousprison camps in Germany and two
of the folks that were helpingthem hide.
And sadly, everyone in thefamily died except Otto, Anne's
father.
(19:29):
So Anne, who was 15 when theannex was raided, died with her
sister of typhus in one of theGerman concentration camps when
she was 16.
Typhus is basically a bacterialdisease that often killed
prisoners or people inovercrowded and poor hygiene
places.
That was back in the daysbefore penicillin.
(19:50):
So eventually, the war endedand the concentration camps were
closed, thank goodness,allowing the several hundred
thousand Jewish survivors to tryto pick up the scraps of their
lives.
Well, Anne's father returned toAmsterdam and the annex.
Of course, everything wasconfiscated and the place was
empty.
But a woman named Miep Gies,one of the helpers who worked on
(20:13):
the second floor of thebuilding, she found the diary
before the Nazis could destroyit.
And she gave it to Anne'sfather, who, upon reading
through it, was so impressedwith his daughter's work that he
went out and found a publisherand had the book published.
And today, her diary is worldfamous.
It's been translated intonearly 70 languages and over 30
(20:36):
million copies have been sold.
Pretty amazing.
There have also been plays andmovies about the diary and
Anne's story.
It's been an inspiration to somany people and become an
international symbol of thevictims of the Holocaust.
Great job, Anne.
A time traveler's delight, weembark on a quest, discovering
(21:00):
wonders from the East to theWest.
If these tales have brought youa moment of cheer, please share
with your friends so they toocan hear.
In many cases, when we seeimages of iconic structures, we
link those images to the citythey were in.
And this is the case all aroundthe world.
(21:22):
Probably the strongestconnection you might think of is
the Eiffel Tower in Paris,France.
But there's also Big Ben inLondon, England.
the Colosseum in Rome, Italy,and the Sydney Opera House in
Sydney, Australia.
And then here in America,there's the Gateway Arch in St.
Louis, Missouri, the GoldenGate Bridge in San Francisco,
(21:45):
California, and the Statue ofLiberty in New York City.
Well, today we're celebratingthe birth of the architect who
created one such of thesestructures.
Now, if you were to Google thetop architects in history...
He's always on that list, andoften he's near or at the top of
that list.
And in preparation for thissegment, I decided to take a
(22:09):
poll of a dozen random adults ofvarious ages, just to see what
they'd say when I asked, who'sthe most famous architect that
you've heard of?
Two of them said, Antony Gaudi.
Well, today, we're striding toBarcelona, Spain, home of the
Sagrada Familia, which isdefinitely the masterpiece of
(22:29):
the one and only Antony Gaudi,born on this day in 1852.
Now, before we go any further,let's be clear.
Most of the folks on lists oftop architects from history are
characterized as eccentric.
Yep, and to prove this point,when Gaudi finished his studies
at the Barcelona School ofArchitecture in 1878, the
(22:52):
director of the school declared,I do not know if we have
awarded this degree to a madmanor a genius.
Only time will tell.
Yeah, a madman or a genius.
Perhaps you'd agree that it wasthe latter, the genius.
But maybe not, because forsure, some of Gaudi's works are
(23:13):
peculiar.
And some of his other works maymake you think that the
illustrators for Dr.
Seuss's books must have been toBarcelona, Spain, and visited
some of the buildings Gaudicreated.
He's actually quoted as saying,There are no straight lines or
sharp corners in nature.
The straight line belongs tomen.
So that quote definitely alignswith his works from what I
(23:41):
could tell when I visitedBarcelona.
Now, I didn't make time tovisit Parc Gell, which is a
17-acre park in the city thatfeatures no straight lines or
sharp corners.
And if you check out thepictures, you'll see all you
need to know.
But I was able to visit CasaMila in Barcelona, and it was a
very interesting building.
(24:01):
He made it as a residence and ahotel for a wealthy real estate
tycoon, and it essentially hasno corners.
And believe me, I looked forthem when I went on the tour.
The rooms were all odd-shaped,and when I say odd-shaped, I
mean the rooms were square-ishor rectangular-ish, but had no
right-angle corners.
(24:21):
And by ish, I mean...
Let's say in your regular houseyou have a room that's 12 by
15.
Well, here, the one 12-footwall might be 12 feet, but the
other one might be 11 or 10.
And then the two 15-foot walls,one of them might be 15 and the
other one's 17.
So it's not an exact rectangle.
(24:42):
But the building was striking,and it did flow.
It used arches, some of whichwere exposed, to support the
building weight instead of postsand beams like traditional
buildings.
And if you're ever inBarcelona, it's definitely worth
visiting.
It's totally worth the ticketprice.
Casa Mila is also a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site, and Gaudi
(25:03):
has seven of his 17 workshonored this way, so that's
pretty cool.
But definitely, the buildingyou gotta see is Gaudi's
masterpiece.
It's one that over 3 millionpeople visit every year, and
it's the most visited monumentin all of Spain, La Sagrada
Familia.
a holy cathedral and RomanCatholic church.
(25:25):
When finished, it will be thetallest church in the world.
Wait a second, what?
You said, when finished?
Yes, this church is still underconstruction today.
It was started way back in1882, and the first mass
occurred there in 1885, so threeyears later.
But Gaudi worked on thisproject for the remainder of his
(25:48):
life.
Unfortunately, he died fromcomplications of a car accident
in 1926.
So his apprentice took over andcontinued the work until 1936,
when the Spanish Civil War tookplace and that caused it to
pause.
And then, after then,construction has continued on
and off, led by differentarchitects, all based on the
(26:08):
original plans that Gaudi leftbehind.
Actually, in the basement ofthe building, there's a museum
where you can take a tour andsee the plaster models that
Gaudi made, to show everyonewhat the final project is going
to look like.
So the plan for many years wasto have the building completed
in 2026, which would mark the100 years after Gaudi's death.
But today, projections now havethe building to be completed in
(26:33):
2032.
My goodness.
But either way, the place isamazing.
The thought that went into thesupport structures and the
facades and the stained glasswindows and everything.
It's remarkable.
Truly is remarkable.
Quick rundown.
The support structures from theinside look like trees with
(26:53):
branches arching out in alldirections to hold up the roof.
It's amazing when you standthere and just look up at the
ceiling.
Amazing.
And then there are three mainexternal facades of the
building, each depicting a phaseof Jesus's life.
The nativity facade depictinghis birth, the passion facade
depicting his death andresurrection, and the glory
(27:15):
facade depicting his afterlife.
All amazing, all unique,different from each other, all
actually architected bydifferent people.
So you can see their differentimpressions.
Definitely worth checking out.
And then the stained glasswindows.
Oh, They were intended to makethe interior glorious, and they
did it with warm colors in themorning.
(27:36):
So as the sun rose on one sideof the church, the red and
yellow and orange stained glass,the lighting comes through and
just gives it this vibrance.
And then as the sun moves intothe latter part of the day and
starts to set, the cooler colorsof the blue, purples, and
greens make it just an amazing,calming feeling as the sun is
traversing across those windows.
(27:57):
And my words here, they don'tgive this building justice.
They really don't.
I think you should give thisplace a visit.
And when you do, I'd encourageyou to take the tour and take
your time.
Just listen and look.
It's amazing.
Yes, and if you're intoengineering in any kind of way,
(28:17):
you like to understand howthings are built or you just
want to understand how it allworks together, you got to make
extra time for the basementmuseum.
Send the rest of your group,those people who aren't
interested, off to some otheractivity and just walk through
and check it out.
Like the hanging chains.
Gaudi had these chains that hehung to make arches, like really
(28:39):
tall arches.
And then he inverted what hesaw to make the actual
supporting arches in thebuilding.
It was ingenious.
So yes, if you couldn't tell, Ilove the Sagrada Familia and
it's truly amazing and in somecases breathtaking, at least in
my opinion.
So I suggest if you have abucket list of places to visit
in the world, add this one to itfor sure.
(29:06):
And there you have it.
Some great stories to sharewith your someone special to
celebrate June 25th.
Once again, those are...
We learned a new phrase,catfish noodling, and how to
catch catfish with our barehands.
We got to meet an amazing younglady who inspired millions with
her personal reflections.
And we celebrated the birth ofan architect whose work has
(29:30):
captivated millions, includingme.
So if you like learning aboutunusual holidays like Catfish
Day, we have a number of othersyou should check out, including
Llama Day on December 9th, TaterTot Day on February 2nd, and
Egg Day on June 3rd.
If Anne Frank's journeyinspired you, we also have a
(29:51):
growing collection of similarstories, including Ella Grasso
on January 8th, Queen Elizabethon April 21st, and Clara Barton
on May 21st.
All amazing ladies.
If hearing about the works ofAntoni Gaudi inspired you, well,
coming soon to a podcast nearyou, we'll be featuring Madison
(30:12):
Square Garden and the EiffelTower.
Yep, so many stories and somuch fun.
We got something for everyone.
All right.
For my reflection moment of theday, we only have a limited
amount of time here on Earth.
And how we choose to use thattime is obviously up to each one
of us individually.
Sometimes getting out and awayfrom your daily routine and
(30:37):
checking out other things andother places is good to give you
perspective.
And in some cases, might eveninspire you to do that something
yourself.
that you've been thinking aboutfor years, but never actually
took action on.
I personally haven't visitedthe Anne Frank House, but they
have over a million visitorscome through every year.
(30:57):
I'd like to get there and tryto imagine how challenging it
would be to spend all of my timeessentially trapped in those
few tiny rooms.
As I mentioned, I have visitedLa Sagrada Familia, and I was
blown away.
We happened to tour in the lateafternoon and the sun that was
shining through the west side ofthat building was stunning.
(31:18):
My jaw dropped and I wasentranced into stillness.
I actually had to be physicallyjostled along to catch up with
the tour group that I was on.
My point here is that peoplehave done some amazing things
and you too can accomplishsomething amazing.
You may need a littleinspiration, though, to get
(31:40):
started.
And perhaps visiting one ofthese places where others have
done inspiring things might beall you need.
So get out there.
Go see them.
Get inspired.
All right.
So after you share thesespecial stories, you can also
mention the following famousfolks who celebrate their
birthday today.
Comedian Ricky Gervaiscelebrates his birthday today.
(32:02):
He's mostly known as a stand-upcomedian, but he also has his
own shows and has been in anumber of TV shows like the
British version of The Office,as well as Life's Too Short and
Afterlife on Netflix.
Linda Cardellini adds a candleto her cake today.
She is an actress who playedSam on ER for six years, and she
(32:25):
earned an Emmy nomination forher portrayal of Judy Hale on
Netflix's Dead to Me series.
which I've seen only the firstseason, and she's really good in
that one.
A pair of famous Georges alsowere born on this day.
George Orwell, the famousauthor who wrote Animal Farm in
1984, and George Michael, thefamous singer who has dozens of
(32:46):
popular songs, the most popularof which is Wake Me Up Before
You Go-Go.
Now, I could sing that song foryou, but instead I'm going to
share a fun fact.
George Orwell actually declaredthe Sagrada Familia one of the
most hideous buildings in theworld.
All right, whatever.
To each their own, right?
And then the last one from theAmerican version of The Office
(33:10):
is Angela Kinsey.
She was born on this day in1971, which is a great year.
And she played Angela Martin,the obsessive-compulsive,
condescending party planner onThe Office.
So as you've come to learn, Ilike to feature the 50th most
famous person showing up onFamousBirthdays.com.
Today, that is Screwface Gene.
(33:33):
Now I've been given grief fornot saying names correctly.
And so I watch videos of peoplereacting to Screwface's
reaction videos.
So I know I'm saying his nameright.
Anyway, he's famous for doingreaction videos and he's got
over a million subscribers onYouTube.
And he puts out a video almostevery day.
It's pretty crazy.
(33:53):
He has over 4,000 videos outthere.
Man.
And when I looked atWikipedia's centenarians list,
there is no one that they knowof who is over 100 years old and
was born on this day inhistory.
Maybe next year someone willturn 100 on this day, and
hopefully they tell Wikipedia.
All right.
So we've already learned thattoday is Catfish Day.
(34:15):
It's also Goat's Cheese Day.
Who likes goat cheese?
I think folks put crumbled goatcheese on salads and such.
Eh, not me.
But apparently, goat's cheeseis lower in fat and calories
compared to cow milk cheese.
And it also has less lactose,so people with lactose issues
(34:37):
probably do favor goat cheese.
Apparently, outside of theU.S., goat cheese is the most
popular dairy product.
How about that?
Today is also StrawberryParfait Day.
Now we're talking.
This is a delicious layerdessert that has no goat cheese
in it.
But the ingredients can includecreams, fruits, nuts, liquor,
(34:58):
and even gelatin or granola.
Music (35:00):
Mmm.
Truman (35:01):
And there are all kinds of ways to make this treat.
But what's most important isthe dish that it's served in is
clear.
So you want clear glass orplastic so you can show off all
the layers of the parfait.
That's what makes it sospecial.
Today is also known as Color TVDay.
but I'm telling you that'sfalse advertising.
Pun intended.
(35:22):
On this day in history, yes, ashow was produced that was in
color TV, but it wasn't reallywatched by anyone, and the
technology was deemed useless ashort while later.
So let's get Screwface Gene inhere and have him react to this
alleged holiday.
Another one of these odd ones?
Today is Leon Day.
What's that?
(35:42):
Well, Leon is Noel spelledbackwards.
So the folks who celebrate June25th like to share that
Christmas is six months away,and so they borrow from the
Carol of the First Noel and turnit into Leon.
So it's not really falseadvertising like the last
holiday, but, yeah, it's notperfect either.
(36:03):
All right, so do you need agreat gift idea for your loved
one?
Well, after you share theseawesome stories, you can have
them open up a gift that iscustomized to their birthday.
And I have several great ideasfor you.
And as always, you can findlinks to these in the gift ideas
section of the show notes.
So often I mention that you canget a unique gift for the
(36:25):
person who has everything.
And once again, today is noexception.
I'm pretty confident that yourloved one celebrating June 25th
doesn't have a catfish noodlingshirt or hat in their wardrobe.
It's definitely a way to getthem something that when they
wear it, it'll sparkconversation wherever they go.
If your loved one is a reader,Anne Frank's Diary is a great
(36:48):
gift, as is A Book on the Lifeof Antony Gowdy.
Similarly, if your loved onelikes interesting coffee table
books, The Frank House andGowdy's Works would fit the bill
for sure.
And we mentioned several famousfolks born today.
There are a number of moviesand CD collections among them
that would all be great giftsfor the person who has
(37:08):
everything.
And we mentioned also it wasGoat Cheese Day and Strawberry
Parfait Day, among some others.
There are some great giftsrelated to these two holidays.
Although, please don't send meanything related to goat cheese.
Okay, so there are actuallylots of customized gifts to June
25th available as greatoptions.
Some of which are sure to betotally unique.
(37:31):
And of course, if those ideasaren't cool enough, you can give
them a personalized shout outright here on this podcast.
If you want to try theold-fashioned way, you can email
me their name and someinteresting facts, and I'll
mention it for you.
Or, if you want to do theshout-out yourself, you can
click the link on the SpeakPipeapp, and you can leave a
(37:51):
shout-out that might soundsomething like this.
Hey Carter, I just want to wishyou a happy birthday.
This is David.
I'm going to tell a story aboutone of our favorite times.
I'm going to tell about a timewhen we were like 12 years old.
We were in Cooperstown, NewYork, playing a baseball
tournament.
And you and I and a coupleother of our teammates, we were
playing shower baseball formaybe three, four hours to the
(38:16):
point where they had to come andfind us and tell us, hey, it's
time to go.
That's one of my favorite timesof all time.
Happy birthday, man.
I love you.
Guest (38:25):
What up, Carter?
It's Bobby here, man.
Happy birthday.
21's a big one, dude.
I know.
So you got to enjoy it.
You got to embrace it.
He only turned 21 once becauseafter that we turned 22.
And then what are we lookingforward to?
It's not fun after that.
So I'm excited you guys arefinally up here with me.
So this is huge for me too, bythe way.
(38:46):
Happy birthday, man.
Love you.
Happy birthday, Carter.
I wanted to tell a story aboutwhen we were at work at Hill and
Dale.
And you used to jump on my backand ride my back.
And you used to say, ride him,cowboy.
And one day after work, I toldyou to stop doing it.
And you did it one last time.
(39:08):
And I took a small water bottleand I threw it.
I hit you right, right in theforehead.
It exploded everywhere.
It's probably one of myfavorite memories because we
were both just cracking up.
Happy birthday.
Truman (39:20):
You can find the link to do that in the show notes.
And as always, if you have astory that just needs to be
shared about any day in thepast, email me, Facebook me.
Let's connect.
And while you're thinking aboutall that, how about clicking
the follow button on yourpodcast app so you get the
notification about the nextepisode when it's released.
(39:41):
And if you're still listeningat this point, I'm repeating a
challenge I issued in the May21st episode, and it's really
easy.
I'm asking you to think of yourfavorite time travel movie and
then try out this new Buzzsproutfeature of texting me.
There's a link in the shownotes that says, text me your
favorite time travel movie.
(40:01):
Just click the link, type youranswer, Bam.
We have a special shout outtoday to Daystrider Ben from
Minnesota, who actually used thefeature and submitted his vote
for Bill and Ted.
Thanks, Ben.
You rock.
Dude.
Sweet.
As I said before, I can't tellthe number you're texting from.
(40:22):
It's anonymous.
But Ben left his name in thetext, so that's how I knew.
Please try it out.
You can do it.
If Ben can, you can.
I have my own list, of course,of time travel movies, and I'll
be featuring that list onDecember 8, 2024.
So you have some time to get meyour choice, and we can check
out how cool this new featureworks.
(40:42):
All right, I'll leave you with,I hope you had half as much fun
listening as I did creatingthis episode.
Sharing it with a friend orfamily member would be
incredible and sincerelyappreciated.
Thank you.
Thanks so much for listening.
Until next time, this is TrumanPastworthy reminding you that
(41:04):
every day has a great story.
And we'll be striding throughthem all to find some more
goodies for you.
Now get out there and make yourown great story today.
Welcome Seeker! Your portal is all warmed up and
ready to stride through historywith me.
Together, we'll discover whyJune 25th is filled with some
fun and inspiring experiencesthat may need to get added to
your personal bucket list.
Our journey will first take usto the muddy creeks of
Mississippi, where you'll get insome laughs as you learn how
(00:24):
some folks there get fishy.
And then, we'll travel way backto the World War II days and
learn about a teenage girl whowho confided in her diary to
maintain her sanity, and how herwritings became an
international symbol.
Before we return you back toyour normal self, we'll
celebrate the birth of a famousarchitect and check out some of
(00:46):
his amazing buildings.
This trip will definitelyinspire you to add Barcelona to
the cities you need to visit.
After striding through June25th, you'll definitely have an
appreciation for life, includingOpportunities for fun, the
chance to learn from thestruggles of others, and an
appreciation of the beautyaround you.
Time's a-tickin', so let's getto
Music (01:09):
it.
Truman (01:18):
Welcome, seekers, to the enchanting world of Daystrider,
the podcast where we embark ona daily journey through history.
I'm your travel guide, TrumanPastworthy, and together we'll
explore some fascinating storiesthat happened on this exact
day, but from some time in thepast.
From groundbreaking inventionsto remarkable birthdays and
(01:39):
extraordinary events to quirkynational holidays, we've got it
all.
So kick back, relax, and openyour mind for some lighthearted
stories that'll leave yousaying, huh, I never knew that
happened on this day.
Alrighty then, let's get to it.
Today is catfish day.
So here's a question.
(02:00):
When I say the word catfish,what pops into your mind first?
Probably, for many of you,identity theft would be that
first thought.
Sadly, not enough of you willhave thought about the
scavenging fish with the longfeelers that look like whiskers
and that swims along the bottomof creek beds seeking food.
(02:21):
Well, I'm willing to bet thatonly a teeny tiny minority of
you thought of the word noodlingwhen I said catfish.
But after today, all of youwill first think of the pair of
words catfish and noodlingtogether.
Are you ready?
Now first, let me catch you upon this identity theft thing.
(02:44):
So MTV first aired adocumentary in 2012 called
Catfish and has since aired over200 episodes in this series.
And pretty much the goal of theseries is trying to out people
who are doing what they calledcatfishing.
which is basically making afake identity online to deceive
(03:04):
someone into a falserelationship.
So you're either doing it tomess with them and get them
upset or frustrated, or you'redoing it because you want to
then defraud them and stealmoney from them, you know, by
becoming their friend andsaying, hey, I need money for
whatever.
And folks do this in many kindsof ways.
I have a Facebook account tosupport this podcast, and
(03:27):
surprisingly, I get a lot ofcatfishers.
People who send me friendrequests and then they send me
messages to talk about, youknow, things to become my
friend.
And then they explained whythey need money for some reason
or other.
Or they sent me this link onhow I can get money, which can't
be good.
So my public serviceannouncement here, if you have
an online friend or even anin-person friend that you just
(03:49):
met and they ask you for money,just delete them or block them
right away.
Don't feel bad because you'velost a friend.
You didn't.
They're not your friend.
They're sharks.
All right.
Well, I haven't used noodlingyet.
What's that all about?
Well, first, let me tell youwhy we even have Catfish Day.
(04:11):
Because, you know, there aremany crazy holidays out there,
and we've celebrated some hereon the show.
We've celebrated Tater Tot Day,Llama Day, and some others.
Well, many of those days aremade up by retailers or made up
as a weird tradition.
They aren't official.
Catfish Day became a true legalholiday on this day in 1987
(04:33):
when President Reagan signed itinto being.
Yes, that's crazy.
And there's a story behind it.
And it starts in Yazoo City,Mississippi, which is in Yazoo
County.
And I'm not catfishing you.
No, I'm not making this up.
Mike Espy is real and he'sreally from Yazoo.
And Mike is the firstAfrican-American elected as a
(04:55):
congressman in Mississippi sincethe Reconstruction.
And he knew that catfishfarming was a big deal in his
state, especially in hisjurisdiction in Yazoo.
So he went on a personalmission to ensure the well-being
of the folks in that industry.
And one of the first things hedid in 1987 when he got into
office was to propose acommemorative bill to create
(05:18):
Catfish Day.
And from what I read, it didn'tgo well.
Not only because some thoughtit was silly, but also might
have been that he was anAfrican-American and they were
pushing back on that.
But it did stall until hepersevered through and
eventually, with hisconnections, got the bill placed
on Ronald Reagan's desk and gotit signed on June 25th, 1987.
(05:42):
And so that's one way to get aholiday, right?
Well, truth be told, he didimprove the situation for his
constituents back in Yazoobecause he then got the military
to add catfish to theircommissary menu.
How'd he do that?
Well, he flew in the bestcatfish chefs from all over the
(06:02):
South and had them share theircreations with the procurement
directors of all the militarybranches, and bam, they were
sold.
Catfish made the menu.
Okay, awesome.
Well, wait a second.
What about catfish noodling?
How come you haven't talkedabout that?
All right.
So we're finally here.
So I've said the word severaltimes.
(06:22):
Can you guess what I'm talkingabout?
Maybe it's a cooking technique,perhaps a way to prepare
catfish for pasta, or maybe evenprepare a pasta dish that is
perfect for catfish.
Or maybe you guessed that it'ssomething like training a
catfish to swim through obstaclecourses in water by using pool
noodles to guide them.
(06:43):
Or maybe stay with the poolnoodle theme.
Maybe it's some kind of redneckfishing pole that makes
catching catfish easier thanusing a regular fishing rod.
Yeah, you're getting closerwith these guesses, but try this
one.
Walking through muddy creeks insouthern states and rummaging
(07:04):
your bare hands into submergedhollow logs or around and under
submerged rocks Waiting andhoping for a catfish that you
can't even see is just restingthere on the bottom of the creek
bed and then trying to biteyou.
Bam.
That's it.
Catfish noodling.
Yes.
Yes.
(07:25):
This is a thing.
You can look it up and watchvideos on YouTube.
Just type catfish noodling.
And there are plenty to watch.
You'll find some veryinteresting people whose right
arms all the way up to the elboware scarred up and down all
around from catfish bites.
And they actually do this sportfor a living.
Hannah Barron is one of them.
(07:47):
You can check her out.
She's cute and funny and fun.
I tried to reach her to be aguest on the show, but she's
busy teaching others how tonoodle for catfish.
And that's okay.
But I watched enough of hershows...
to learn the tricks that sheshares.
For example, when you'refeeling around, you want to have
your four fingers on top andyour thumb facing downward, so
(08:09):
basically palm down, so when thecatfish bites you, it's
smashing on four finger bonesinstead of just one thumb bone,
so it's less likely to break.
Yeah, I'm serious.
That's how they explain it.
And that's not all.
Your right hand isn't justdoing the feeling and trying to
get bitten.
Your left hand is also readyfor action.
(08:30):
Once the catfish bites down onyour right hand or arm, you
shoot your left hand along itsbody and use your fingers to
catch inside of its gill andshove your hand in there to trap
it.
And then you've got your righthand in its mouth and your left
hand in its gill.
You pull the catfish out of thehole that it's hiding in and
get it up out of the water.
(08:52):
Yeah.
I know.
Yeah, some of you probablystill don't believe this is a
thing, and I'm doing an AprilFool's joke here, but I am not.
Catfish noodling is actuallylegal in 16 states.
And there are actually rulesand regulations around noodling.
There are prohibitions on usingspecial devices, on luring
catfish into hiding spots, onprohibiting special tools.
(09:15):
It's crazy.
Yeah, if you're going to gocatch a fish by hand, there are
rules on how you have to do it.
Oh, and speaking of the manystates, not all of them call it
noodling.
There's also terms likegrappling, graveling, hogging,
stumping, snatching, and thenhand grabbing and plain old hand
(09:37):
fishing.
And there are contests in thissport with record catches.
So the weights here I'm goingto share are going to surprise
you, I think.
Average size catfish caught byhand generally come in at 30 to
40 pounds.
Now that's a huge fish.
I guess they need to be bigenough so that you can get
(09:57):
bitten by them by a whole handand get them up out of the
water.
Little catfish like 10pounders, it's not going to be
as easy to catch them this way.
So the record in Oklahoma was88 pounds.
That catfish was 53 incheslong.
That's the average height of a10 year old catfish.
That's crazy.
(10:18):
Somebody was able to pull thatcatfish out of the water.
All righty then, you got tolearn something new today.
So the next time you're drivingaround in the south and you
peer out the window and you seea muddy, murky creek out there
as you're driving along, maybeyou want to stop because you can
bet there's a catfish hidingdown in that water.
Maybe you'll want to get outand go waiting a little bit and
(10:41):
feel around for that catfish tobite you, right?
No way, man.
And if you do, watch out forsnakes and snapping turtles.
Oh, and depending on how farsouth you are, alligators.
Yeah, yeah.
Good luck with your catfishnoodling, people.
Roses are red and catfish aregray.
(11:02):
A review from you wouldbrighten our day.
Can't think of the words tohelp you begin?
Type, this pod is great andI'll tune in again.
With the exception of my littlebuddy Nico, who's the only day
strider I know of who's not yetbeen a teenager, I'm going to
ask you to reflect back on yourlife when you were 13, 14, and
(11:26):
15.
What were you doing at thattime?
If you can, try to think ofwhat your worldview was like at
that age.
How much time did you spendthinking about what's right
versus what's wrong?
Or did you spend time thinkingabout justice or equality?
How about the future?
Did you think about the futureof the world, your future, any
(11:47):
future?
Maybe some of you had a diaryfrom that time of your life.
If you did, and if you stillhave it, take a moment to go
back and check out what you werewriting about when you were a
newly minted teenager.
Do you have any quotes in yourdiary from when you were 15 that
are as deep as this one?
It's difficult in times likethese.
(12:10):
Ideals, dreams, and cherishedhopes rise within us, only to be
crushed by grim reality.
It's a wonder I haven'tabandoned all my ideals.
They seem so absurd andimpractical.
Yet I cling to them, because Istill believe, in spite of
everything, Wow.
Yeah, well, that quote was fromAnne Frank's diary, and she was
(12:36):
15 when she wrote that quote,which happened to be just a few
weeks before she and her familywere captured by the Nazis and
sent off to concentration camps.
Prior to writing that quote,she had spent the last two years
hiding in a small four-roomannex, above a spice and herbs
(12:56):
factory along with seven otherfamily members and friends.
Yep, that sounds crazy, right?
Well, Anne Frank's diary wasactually published on this day
in 1947, and I want to sharewith you the incredible story.
So Anne and her family wereJewish, and they lived in
Germany.
Now, in the late 1930s andearly 40s, being Jewish in
(13:19):
Germany was a very bad thingbecause the Nazis were promoting
anti-Semitism, which is hostileprejudice against Jewish
people.
And this hostility reached itspeak in the 1940s as Nazis
captured, relocated, and thensystematically exterminated
Jewish people.
And yes, I'm using that word,exterminated them.
(13:42):
And the Frank family, like Isaid, was from Germany, but they
moved to Amsterdam in the 1930sto get away from this growing
prejudice.
But Germany captured theNetherlands, where Amsterdam is,
in 1940.
And then in 1941, they begandeporting Jewish people back to
Germany to camps where thegenocide took place.
(14:02):
So in 1942, not long afterAnne's 13th birthday, the Frank
family had to go into hiding.
and Anne took with her thediary she received as a birthday
present.
Now, when I say went intohiding, what comes to your mind?
I'm sure that what I'm about todescribe is not something you'd
(14:23):
ever want to live through forover two years of your life,
especially when you were ateenager.
Okay, so Otto Frank, he wasrunning a spice and herb
business out of a building thathad two stories with an annex in
the attic.
So the first floor was whereall the workers did their thing,
prepping and packing andpreparing the spices to be
distributed and shipped out,while the second floor was where
(14:46):
the admin folks handled thepayroll and did the bookkeeping
and kept all the records.
And then, of course, as Imentioned, the attic had these
four rooms that were not usedfor the business, but instead
were converted into the livingspace for the four Franks, so
Ann and her family, three VanPels, and another person, eight
in all.
And then there were six peoplewho knew about this annex, all
(15:09):
employees or friends of Ann'sfather, to help make sure that
they could be fed and stayalive.
So Ann and her family spent 761days in this annex, or I'm
going to say in captivity.
So pretty much on every day ofthe week except Sundays, they
had to be in quiet mode.
(15:30):
because the building was usedas a business, and any unusual
noises or other things thatcould alert the workers on the
first or second floor thatsomething was amiss, they could
report those to the Nazis, andthen, of course, bad things
would happen.
So Anne and our other captiveswoke up at 6.45 every day and
(15:52):
used the time prior to 8.30 touse the bathroom, which means
flushing the toilet and doingother things before 8.30 when
the workers showed up.
And then from 8.30 to 9, theyhad to maintain absolute silence
because the workers on thefirst floor were there, but the
second floor workers hadn't comein yet to start their day job.
(16:14):
And so any noise at allupstairs would be bad.
And then when theadministrative staff got there
at 9 o'clock, so now the folksin the annex had to try to keep
quiet, but they didn't needabsolute silence.
And then around 1245 every day,which was the lunch hour, the
first floor workers left, wenthome for lunch.
So some of the second floorworkers could bring food up to
(16:37):
the Franks and the othercaptives.
And then at 530, the warehouseworkers went home for the night.
And by 545, Anne and her familycould move freely about the
entire building.
That sounds great, right?
That's all they had was thisone building every day.
Week in and week out, everymonth of the year, summer, fall,
(17:00):
winter, spring.
Imagine that.
Think about it.
Two whole years in the sameroom all day, every day.
Now on Sundays, things weredifferent.
They used that day to do theircleaning and chores and keep
their annex tidy because theycould make more noise because no
workers were using the buildingand therefore they didn't have
(17:21):
to keep quiet or do the silenttreatment.
And they were free to roamabout the building.
So what did Anne write aboutSundays?
Here's another great quote.
I wander from one room to thenext, down the stairs and back
up again, and feel like asongbird that has had its wings
torn off and flies against thebars of its cage in total
(17:43):
darkness.
Outside, fresh air andlaughter, a void inside me
screams.
I don't even try to answeranymore.
I lay down and sleep in orderto shorten the time, the
silence, the terrible fear, too,because there is no question of
killing them.
Wow.
That's crazy, right?
(18:04):
So probably in your day-to-daylife, you're like me.
You have a routine, and youfollow that, and it's pretty
similar, right?
You probably talk to maybe 10or 15 different people each day,
and they're all the samepeople, but you also get to have
variety anytime you want.
You can make it a point to talkto others as you wish.
You can call them on the phone.
(18:25):
You can walk down the hall andcheck out their office.
You can go to a different storeor restaurant and just talk to
different people.
Not in the Annex, where if youdid anything outside of that
building, you risked your ownlives as well as the lives of
the seven other folks livingwith you.
So how do we know all this?
Well, Anne wrote it all down inher diary for us.
(18:46):
The amazing quotes I've read,but she also had lots of things.
Some were maybe a little moreboring or less interesting than
others.
But young Anne, she had a waywith words, didn't she?
I'm sure you could tell thatfrom the quotes I read.
So what happened to Anne andher family?
Well, eventually, someonebetrayed them.
And it is now believed thatanother Jewish person was trying
(19:09):
to save his own family bybetraying the Franks.
Either way, the Nazis showed upand raided the place and sent
all eight souls off to variousprison camps in Germany and two
of the folks that were helpingthem hide.
And sadly, everyone in thefamily died except Otto, Anne's
father.
(19:29):
So Anne, who was 15 when theannex was raided, died with her
sister of typhus in one of theGerman concentration camps when
she was 16.
Typhus is basically a bacterialdisease that often killed
prisoners or people inovercrowded and poor hygiene
places.
That was back in the daysbefore penicillin.
(19:50):
So eventually, the war endedand the concentration camps were
closed, thank goodness,allowing the several hundred
thousand Jewish survivors to tryto pick up the scraps of their
lives.
Well, Anne's father returned toAmsterdam and the annex.
Of course, everything wasconfiscated and the place was
empty.
But a woman named Miep Gies,one of the helpers who worked on
(20:13):
the second floor of thebuilding, she found the diary
before the Nazis could destroyit.
And she gave it to Anne'sfather, who, upon reading
through it, was so impressedwith his daughter's work that he
went out and found a publisherand had the book published.
And today, her diary is worldfamous.
It's been translated intonearly 70 languages and over 30
(20:36):
million copies have been sold.
Pretty amazing.
There have also been plays andmovies about the diary and
Anne's story.
It's been an inspiration to somany people and become an
international symbol of thevictims of the Holocaust.
Great job, Anne.
A time traveler's delight, weembark on a quest, discovering
(21:00):
wonders from the East to theWest.
If these tales have brought youa moment of cheer, please share
with your friends so they toocan hear.
In many cases, when we seeimages of iconic structures, we
link those images to the citythey were in.
And this is the case all aroundthe world.
(21:22):
Probably the strongestconnection you might think of is
the Eiffel Tower in Paris,France.
But there's also Big Ben inLondon, England.
the Colosseum in Rome, Italy,and the Sydney Opera House in
Sydney, Australia.
And then here in America,there's the Gateway Arch in St.
Louis, Missouri, the GoldenGate Bridge in San Francisco,
(21:45):
California, and the Statue ofLiberty in New York City.
Well, today we're celebratingthe birth of the architect who
created one such of thesestructures.
Now, if you were to Google thetop architects in history...
He's always on that list, andoften he's near or at the top of
that list.
And in preparation for thissegment, I decided to take a
(22:09):
poll of a dozen random adults ofvarious ages, just to see what
they'd say when I asked, who'sthe most famous architect that
you've heard of?
Two of them said, Antony Gaudi.
Well, today, we're striding toBarcelona, Spain, home of the
Sagrada Familia, which isdefinitely the masterpiece of
(22:29):
the one and only Antony Gaudi,born on this day in 1852.
Now, before we go any further,let's be clear.
Most of the folks on lists oftop architects from history are
characterized as eccentric.
Yep, and to prove this point,when Gaudi finished his studies
at the Barcelona School ofArchitecture in 1878, the
(22:52):
director of the school declared,I do not know if we have
awarded this degree to a madmanor a genius.
Only time will tell.
Yeah, a madman or a genius.
Perhaps you'd agree that it wasthe latter, the genius.
But maybe not, because forsure, some of Gaudi's works are
(23:13):
peculiar.
And some of his other works maymake you think that the
illustrators for Dr.
Seuss's books must have been toBarcelona, Spain, and visited
some of the buildings Gaudicreated.
He's actually quoted as saying,There are no straight lines or
sharp corners in nature.
The straight line belongs tomen.
So that quote definitely alignswith his works from what I
(23:41):
could tell when I visitedBarcelona.
Now, I didn't make time tovisit Parc Gell, which is a
17-acre park in the city thatfeatures no straight lines or
sharp corners.
And if you check out thepictures, you'll see all you
need to know.
But I was able to visit CasaMila in Barcelona, and it was a
very interesting building.
(24:01):
He made it as a residence and ahotel for a wealthy real estate
tycoon, and it essentially hasno corners.
And believe me, I looked forthem when I went on the tour.
The rooms were all odd-shaped,and when I say odd-shaped, I
mean the rooms were square-ishor rectangular-ish, but had no
right-angle corners.
(24:21):
And by ish, I mean...
Let's say in your regular houseyou have a room that's 12 by
15.
Well, here, the one 12-footwall might be 12 feet, but the
other one might be 11 or 10.
And then the two 15-foot walls,one of them might be 15 and the
other one's 17.
So it's not an exact rectangle.
(24:42):
But the building was striking,and it did flow.
It used arches, some of whichwere exposed, to support the
building weight instead of postsand beams like traditional
buildings.
And if you're ever inBarcelona, it's definitely worth
visiting.
It's totally worth the ticketprice.
Casa Mila is also a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site, and Gaudi
(25:03):
has seven of his 17 workshonored this way, so that's
pretty cool.
But definitely, the buildingyou gotta see is Gaudi's
masterpiece.
It's one that over 3 millionpeople visit every year, and
it's the most visited monumentin all of Spain, La Sagrada
Familia.
a holy cathedral and RomanCatholic church.
(25:25):
When finished, it will be thetallest church in the world.
Wait a second, what?
You said, when finished?
Yes, this church is still underconstruction today.
It was started way back in1882, and the first mass
occurred there in 1885, so threeyears later.
But Gaudi worked on thisproject for the remainder of his
(25:48):
life.
Unfortunately, he died fromcomplications of a car accident
in 1926.
So his apprentice took over andcontinued the work until 1936,
when the Spanish Civil War tookplace and that caused it to
pause.
And then, after then,construction has continued on
and off, led by differentarchitects, all based on the
(26:08):
original plans that Gaudi leftbehind.
Actually, in the basement ofthe building, there's a museum
where you can take a tour andsee the plaster models that
Gaudi made, to show everyonewhat the final project is going
to look like.
So the plan for many years wasto have the building completed
in 2026, which would mark the100 years after Gaudi's death.
But today, projections now havethe building to be completed in
(26:33):
2032.
My goodness.
But either way, the place isamazing.
The thought that went into thesupport structures and the
facades and the stained glasswindows and everything.
It's remarkable.
Truly is remarkable.
Quick rundown.
The support structures from theinside look like trees with
(26:53):
branches arching out in alldirections to hold up the roof.
It's amazing when you standthere and just look up at the
ceiling.
Amazing.
And then there are three mainexternal facades of the
building, each depicting a phaseof Jesus's life.
The nativity facade depictinghis birth, the passion facade
depicting his death andresurrection, and the glory
(27:15):
facade depicting his afterlife.
All amazing, all unique,different from each other, all
actually architected bydifferent people.
So you can see their differentimpressions.
Definitely worth checking out.
And then the stained glasswindows.
Oh, They were intended to makethe interior glorious, and they
did it with warm colors in themorning.
(27:36):
So as the sun rose on one sideof the church, the red and
yellow and orange stained glass,the lighting comes through and
just gives it this vibrance.
And then as the sun moves intothe latter part of the day and
starts to set, the cooler colorsof the blue, purples, and
greens make it just an amazing,calming feeling as the sun is
traversing across those windows.
(27:57):
And my words here, they don'tgive this building justice.
They really don't.
I think you should give thisplace a visit.
And when you do, I'd encourageyou to take the tour and take
your time.
Just listen and look.
It's amazing.
Yes, and if you're intoengineering in any kind of way,
(28:17):
you like to understand howthings are built or you just
want to understand how it allworks together, you got to make
extra time for the basementmuseum.
Send the rest of your group,those people who aren't
interested, off to some otheractivity and just walk through
and check it out.
Like the hanging chains.
Gaudi had these chains that hehung to make arches, like really
(28:39):
tall arches.
And then he inverted what hesaw to make the actual
supporting arches in thebuilding.
It was ingenious.
So yes, if you couldn't tell, Ilove the Sagrada Familia and
it's truly amazing and in somecases breathtaking, at least in
my opinion.
So I suggest if you have abucket list of places to visit
in the world, add this one to itfor sure.
(29:06):
And there you have it.
Some great stories to sharewith your someone special to
celebrate June 25th.
Once again, those are...
We learned a new phrase,catfish noodling, and how to
catch catfish with our barehands.
We got to meet an amazing younglady who inspired millions with
her personal reflections.
And we celebrated the birth ofan architect whose work has
(29:30):
captivated millions, includingme.
So if you like learning aboutunusual holidays like Catfish
Day, we have a number of othersyou should check out, including
Llama Day on December 9th, TaterTot Day on February 2nd, and
Egg Day on June 3rd.
If Anne Frank's journeyinspired you, we also have a
(29:51):
growing collection of similarstories, including Ella Grasso
on January 8th, Queen Elizabethon April 21st, and Clara Barton
on May 21st.
All amazing ladies.
If hearing about the works ofAntoni Gaudi inspired you, well,
coming soon to a podcast nearyou, we'll be featuring Madison
(30:12):
Square Garden and the EiffelTower.
Yep, so many stories and somuch fun.
We got something for everyone.
All right.
For my reflection moment of theday, we only have a limited
amount of time here on Earth.
And how we choose to use thattime is obviously up to each one
of us individually.
Sometimes getting out and awayfrom your daily routine and
(30:37):
checking out other things andother places is good to give you
perspective.
And in some cases, might eveninspire you to do that something
yourself.
that you've been thinking aboutfor years, but never actually
took action on.
I personally haven't visitedthe Anne Frank House, but they
have over a million visitorscome through every year.
(30:57):
I'd like to get there and tryto imagine how challenging it
would be to spend all of my timeessentially trapped in those
few tiny rooms.
As I mentioned, I have visitedLa Sagrada Familia, and I was
blown away.
We happened to tour in the lateafternoon and the sun that was
shining through the west side ofthat building was stunning.
(31:18):
My jaw dropped and I wasentranced into stillness.
I actually had to be physicallyjostled along to catch up with
the tour group that I was on.
My point here is that peoplehave done some amazing things
and you too can accomplishsomething amazing.
You may need a littleinspiration, though, to get
(31:40):
started.
And perhaps visiting one ofthese places where others have
done inspiring things might beall you need.
So get out there.
Go see them.
Get inspired.
All right.
So after you share thesespecial stories, you can also
mention the following famousfolks who celebrate their
birthday today.
Comedian Ricky Gervaiscelebrates his birthday today.
(32:02):
He's mostly known as a stand-upcomedian, but he also has his
own shows and has been in anumber of TV shows like the
British version of The Office,as well as Life's Too Short and
Afterlife on Netflix.
Linda Cardellini adds a candleto her cake today.
She is an actress who playedSam on ER for six years, and she
(32:25):
earned an Emmy nomination forher portrayal of Judy Hale on
Netflix's Dead to Me series.
which I've seen only the firstseason, and she's really good in
that one.
A pair of famous Georges alsowere born on this day.
George Orwell, the famousauthor who wrote Animal Farm in
1984, and George Michael, thefamous singer who has dozens of
(32:46):
popular songs, the most popularof which is Wake Me Up Before
You Go-Go.
Now, I could sing that song foryou, but instead I'm going to
share a fun fact.
George Orwell actually declaredthe Sagrada Familia one of the
most hideous buildings in theworld.
All right, whatever.
To each their own, right?
And then the last one from theAmerican version of The Office
(33:10):
is Angela Kinsey.
She was born on this day in1971, which is a great year.
And she played Angela Martin,the obsessive-compulsive,
condescending party planner onThe Office.
So as you've come to learn, Ilike to feature the 50th most
famous person showing up onFamousBirthdays.com.
Today, that is Screwface Gene.
(33:33):
Now I've been given grief fornot saying names correctly.
And so I watch videos of peoplereacting to Screwface's
reaction videos.
So I know I'm saying his nameright.
Anyway, he's famous for doingreaction videos and he's got
over a million subscribers onYouTube.
And he puts out a video almostevery day.
It's pretty crazy.
(33:53):
He has over 4,000 videos outthere.
Man.
And when I looked atWikipedia's centenarians list,
there is no one that they knowof who is over 100 years old and
was born on this day inhistory.
Maybe next year someone willturn 100 on this day, and
hopefully they tell Wikipedia.
All right.
So we've already learned thattoday is Catfish Day.
(34:15):
It's also Goat's Cheese Day.
Who likes goat cheese?
I think folks put crumbled goatcheese on salads and such.
Eh, not me.
But apparently, goat's cheeseis lower in fat and calories
compared to cow milk cheese.
And it also has less lactose,so people with lactose issues
(34:37):
probably do favor goat cheese.
Apparently, outside of theU.S., goat cheese is the most
popular dairy product.
How about that?
Today is also StrawberryParfait Day.
Now we're talking.
This is a delicious layerdessert that has no goat cheese
in it.
But the ingredients can includecreams, fruits, nuts, liquor,
(34:58):
and even gelatin or granola.
Music (35:00):
Mmm.
Truman (35:01):
And there are all kinds of ways to make this treat.
But what's most important isthe dish that it's served in is
clear.
So you want clear glass orplastic so you can show off all
the layers of the parfait.
That's what makes it sospecial.
Today is also known as Color TVDay.
but I'm telling you that'sfalse advertising.
Pun intended.
(35:22):
On this day in history, yes, ashow was produced that was in
color TV, but it wasn't reallywatched by anyone, and the
technology was deemed useless ashort while later.
So let's get Screwface Gene inhere and have him react to this
alleged holiday.
Another one of these odd ones?
Today is Leon Day.
What's that?
(35:42):
Well, Leon is Noel spelledbackwards.
So the folks who celebrate June25th like to share that
Christmas is six months away,and so they borrow from the
Carol of the First Noel and turnit into Leon.
So it's not really falseadvertising like the last
holiday, but, yeah, it's notperfect either.
(36:03):
All right, so do you need agreat gift idea for your loved
one?
Well, after you share theseawesome stories, you can have
them open up a gift that iscustomized to their birthday.
And I have several great ideasfor you.
And as always, you can findlinks to these in the gift ideas
section of the show notes.
So often I mention that you canget a unique gift for the
(36:25):
person who has everything.
And once again, today is noexception.
I'm pretty confident that yourloved one celebrating June 25th
doesn't have a catfish noodlingshirt or hat in their wardrobe.
It's definitely a way to getthem something that when they
wear it, it'll sparkconversation wherever they go.
If your loved one is a reader,Anne Frank's Diary is a great
(36:48):
gift, as is A Book on the Lifeof Antony Gowdy.
Similarly, if your loved onelikes interesting coffee table
books, The Frank House andGowdy's Works would fit the bill
for sure.
And we mentioned several famousfolks born today.
There are a number of moviesand CD collections among them
that would all be great giftsfor the person who has
(37:08):
everything.
And we mentioned also it wasGoat Cheese Day and Strawberry
Parfait Day, among some others.
There are some great giftsrelated to these two holidays.
Although, please don't send meanything related to goat cheese.
Okay, so there are actuallylots of customized gifts to June
25th available as greatoptions.
Some of which are sure to betotally unique.
(37:31):
And of course, if those ideasaren't cool enough, you can give
them a personalized shout outright here on this podcast.
If you want to try theold-fashioned way, you can email
me their name and someinteresting facts, and I'll
mention it for you.
Or, if you want to do theshout-out yourself, you can
click the link on the SpeakPipeapp, and you can leave a
(37:51):
shout-out that might soundsomething like this.
Hey Carter, I just want to wishyou a happy birthday.
This is David.
I'm going to tell a story aboutone of our favorite times.
I'm going to tell about a timewhen we were like 12 years old.
We were in Cooperstown, NewYork, playing a baseball
tournament.
And you and I and a coupleother of our teammates, we were
playing shower baseball formaybe three, four hours to the
(38:16):
point where they had to come andfind us and tell us, hey, it's
time to go.
That's one of my favorite timesof all time.
Happy birthday, man.
I love you.
Guest (38:25):
What up, Carter?
It's Bobby here, man.
Happy birthday.
21's a big one, dude.
I know.
So you got to enjoy it.
You got to embrace it.
He only turned 21 once becauseafter that we turned 22.
And then what are we lookingforward to?
It's not fun after that.
So I'm excited you guys arefinally up here with me.
So this is huge for me too, bythe way.
(38:46):
Happy birthday, man.
Love you.
Happy birthday, Carter.
I wanted to tell a story aboutwhen we were at work at Hill and
Dale.
And you used to jump on my backand ride my back.
And you used to say, ride him,cowboy.
And one day after work, I toldyou to stop doing it.
And you did it one last time.
(39:08):
And I took a small water bottleand I threw it.
I hit you right, right in theforehead.
It exploded everywhere.
It's probably one of myfavorite memories because we
were both just cracking up.
Happy birthday.
Truman (39:20):
You can find the link to do that in the show notes.
And as always, if you have astory that just needs to be
shared about any day in thepast, email me, Facebook me.
Let's connect.
And while you're thinking aboutall that, how about clicking
the follow button on yourpodcast app so you get the
notification about the nextepisode when it's released.
(39:41):
And if you're still listeningat this point, I'm repeating a
challenge I issued in the May21st episode, and it's really
easy.
I'm asking you to think of yourfavorite time travel movie and
then try out this new Buzzsproutfeature of texting me.
There's a link in the shownotes that says, text me your
favorite time travel movie.
(40:01):
Just click the link, type youranswer, Bam.
We have a special shout outtoday to Daystrider Ben from
Minnesota, who actually used thefeature and submitted his vote
for Bill and Ted.
Thanks, Ben.
You rock.
Dude.
Sweet.
As I said before, I can't tellthe number you're texting from.
(40:22):
It's anonymous.
But Ben left his name in thetext, so that's how I knew.
Please try it out.
You can do it.
If Ben can, you can.
I have my own list, of course,of time travel movies, and I'll
be featuring that list onDecember 8, 2024.
So you have some time to get meyour choice, and we can check
out how cool this new featureworks.
(40:42):
All right, I'll leave you with,I hope you had half as much fun
listening as I did creatingthis episode.
Sharing it with a friend orfamily member would be
incredible and sincerelyappreciated.
Thank you.
Thanks so much for listening.
Until next time, this is TrumanPastworthy reminding you that
(41:04):
every day has a great story.
And we'll be striding throughthem all to find some more
goodies for you.
Now get out there and make yourown great story today.
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