Episode 520: The Tragedy of the Essex Part I - Thar She Blows!
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In 1810, a quarter of the women in Nantucket over the age of 23 had been widowed by the sea. Four of the youngest crew members on the ill-fated Essex had either lost fathers or were total orphans. There were secret societies of young women who swore to only marry a man who had killed a whale. The men could be identified by the pens they wore on their lapel to show that they'd indeed been blooded by a blubber. And indeed greasy luck was needed because whaling was a deadly business.
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