Futility Closet

When the English concert pianist Joyce Hatto died in 2006, she was remembered as a national treasure for the brilliant playing on her later recordings. But then doubts arose as to whether the performances were really hers. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll review a surprising case of musical plagiarism, which touched off a scandal in the polite world of classical music. We'll also spot foxes in London and puzzle over a welcome illness. Intro: In 1964 a British meteorologist found an abandoned whaleboat on the most remote island in the world. Scores of dogs have jumped to their deaths from the bridge approaching Scotland's Overtoun House. Sources for our feature on Joyce Hatto: Richard Dyer, "After Recording 119 CDs, A Hidden Jewel Comes to Light," Boston Globe, Aug. 21, 2005. Richard Dyer, "Joyce Hatto, At 77; Pianist Was Prolific Recording Artist," Boston Globe, July 4, 2006. Jeremy Nicholas, "Joyce Hatto," Guardian, July 10, 2006. "Joyce Hatto," Telegraph, July 28, 2006. David Denton, "The Remarkable Story of Joyce Hatto, Part 2: An Overview Discography," Fanfare 30:2 (September 2006), 65-67. Ates Orga, "Joyce Hatto," Independent, Aug. 13, 2006. "Masterpieces or Fakes? The Joyce Hatto Scandal," Gramophone, Feb. 15, 2007. Alan Riding, "A Pianist's Recordings Draw Praise, But Were They All Hers?", New York Times, Feb. 17, 2007. Martin Beckford, "Pianist's Virtuosity Is Called Into Question," Telegraph, Feb. 17, 2007. Martin Beckford, "My Wife's Virtuoso Recordings Are Genuine," Telegraph, Feb. 20, 2007. Mike Musgrove, "Too Perfect Harmony: How Technology Fostered, and Detected, a Pianist's Alleged Plagiarism," Washington Post, Feb. 22, 2007. David Weininger, "Alleged Hatto Plagiarism Shakes Music World," Boston Globe, Feb. 23, 2007. Claudia Joseph and Adam Luck, "Revenge of the Phantom Pianist," Mail on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2007. Denis Dutton, "Shoot the Piano Player," New York Times, Feb. 26, 2007. Alan Riding, "Pianist's Widower Admits Fraud in Recordings Issued as His Wife's," New York Times, Feb. 27, 2007. Martin Beckford, "Yes, I Did Pass Off Piano CDs as Wife's Work, Says Widower," Telegraph, Feb. 27, 2007. Geoff Edgers, "Cherished Music Wasn't Hers," Boston Globe, Feb. 27, 2007. William Weir, "The Ivories Snow Job: Pianist Joyce Hatto's Recordings Found To Be Fakes," McClatchy-Tribune Business News, Feb. 28, 2007. "Joyce Hatto Recordings Queried," International Piano, March 1, 2007, 6. Pierre Ruhe, "Classical Notes: Our Nature Makes Fraud a Given," Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 4, 2007. Ann McFerran, "Yes, I Lied About Joyce. Now I'll Face the Music," Sunday Times, March 4, 2007. Howard Reich, "Reviewers Not to Blame for Hatto Fraud," McClatchy-Tribune News Service, March 7, 2007. Esther Bintliff, "Grand Theft Piano," Newsweek 149:21 (May 28, 2007), 60. Mark Singer, "Fantasia for Piano," New Yorker, Sept. 17, 2007. Mark Singer, "Joyce Hatto: Notes on a Scandal," Telegraph, Nov. 10, 2007. Kenneth Walton, "How Simple Tinkering With Tempo Took in the Top Critics," Scotsman, July 29, 2009. Christopher Webber, "Hatto, Joyce Hilda," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Jan. 7, 2010. Eric Drott, "Fraudulence and the Gift Economy of Music," Journal of Music Theory 54:1 (Spring 2010), 61-74. Ewan Foskett, "Exclusive: Husband of Pianist in Recording Scandal Speaks to The Crow," Royston Crow, March 1, 2012. Frances Hubbard, "The Piano Genius Who Never Was," Daily Mail, April 4, 2012. Joyce Hatto Identifications and Scandal lists the identities of the artists whose work was stolen. Listener mail: China Miéville, "'Oh, London, You Drama Queen,'" New York Times Magazine, March 1, 2012. Murray Wardrop, "Fox Takes Tube Station Escalator," Telegraph, Dec. 8, 2009. "Project: Control of Pigeon Population," Effective Bird Control (accessed April 7, 2018). "Deep Learning, Blockchain, CRISPR, and Neural Networks, Explained with Food," Super Deluxe, Aug. 5, 2017. Jacob Brogan, "Out of the Loop," Slate, Aug. 9, 2017. "Try These Neural Network-Generated Recipes at Your Own Risk," AI Weirdness, Aug. 6, 2017. "Tech Talk," Futility Closet, March 13, 2018. "Candy Heart Messages Written by a Neural Network," AI Weirdness, Feb. 9, 2018. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Carsten Hamann, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

American geologist Clarence King led a strange double life in the late 1800s: He invented a second identity as a black railroad porter so he could marry the woman he loved, and then spent 13 years living separate lives in both white and black America. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll consider the extraordinary lengths that King went to in order to be with the woman he loved. We'll also contemplate the dangers of water and puzzle over a policeman's strange behavior. Intro: Artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster arrange household trash to cast shadow self-portraits. Participants 140 meters apart can hold an inaudible conversation across South Australia's Barossa Reservoir dam. Sources for our feature on Clarence King: Martha A. Sandweiss, Passing Strange, 2009. Bill Croke, "The Many Lives of Clarence King," American Spectator, Feb. 28, 2011. John Koster, "He Tried to Solve Earth's Mysteries And Left a Few Mysteries of His Own- Clarence King," Wild West, February 2014. William Grimes, "Recalling a Geologist, Adventurer and Raconteur Whom Henry Adams Looked Up to," New York Times, Feb. 22, 2006. David L. Beck, "A Geologist's Secret Life," St. Petersburg Times, April 12, 2009. William Howarth, "Sex, Lies and Cyanide," Washington Post, May 20, 1990. Michael K. Johnson, "Passing Strange," Western American Literature 44:4 (Winter 2010), 404-405. Martha A. Sandweiss, "Ada Copeland King," American National Biography (accessed March 23, 2018). Thurman Wilkins, "Clarence Rivers King," American National Biography (accessed March 23, 2018). "American Lives: The 'Strange' Tale of Clarence King," Morning Edition, National Public Radio, Aug. 18, 2010. Annette Gordon-Reed, "Color Blind," Washington Post, Feb. 22, 2009. Jennifer Greenstein Altmann, "Sandweiss Unearths a Compelling Tale of Secret Racial Identity," Princeton University, Dec. 17, 2009. Baz Dreisinger, "A Transracial Man," New York Times, March 5, 2009. "American Lives: The 'Strange' Tale of Clarence King," WBUR News, Aug. 18, 2010. Elinore Longobardi, "Two Lives," Columbia Journalism Review, Feb. 4, 2009. "King Peak," Antarctica: An Encyclopedia, 2011. Listener mail: Wikipedia, "Bhopal Disaster" (accessed March 23, 2018). Alan Taylor, "Bhopal: The World's Worst Industrial Disaster, 30 Years Later," Atlantic, Dec. 2, 2014. An example of a current safety manual warning of the dangers of rust in steel tanks, from Gillian Brent. "The Case of the Rusty Assassin," Maritime Accident Casebook (accessed March 25, 2018). Steve Selden, "Polar Bear Encounters on Rise in Churchill," Churchill Polar Bills, Feb. 29, 2016. A Colorado bear breaks into Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Scott Miller. Here's a corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

In the 1930s, brothers Homer and Langley Collyer withdrew from society and began to fill their Manhattan brownstone with newspapers, furniture, musical instruments, and assorted junk. By 1947, when Homer died, the house was crammed with 140 tons of rubbish, and Langley had gone missing. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the strange, sad story of the Hermits of Harlem. We'll also buy a bit of Finland and puzzle over a banker's misfortune. Intro: When New Amsterdam governor Wilhelm Kieft tried to outlaw smoking in the 1630s, his citizens literally puffed him into submission. Residents of the Canary island La Gomera communicate over long distances using a unique whistled language. Sources for our feature on the Collyer brothers: Franz Lidz, Ghosty Men, 2003. Franz Lidz, "The Paper Chase," New York Times, Oct. 26, 2003. William Bryk, "The Collyer Brothers," New York Sun, April 13, 2005. Michael Kernan, "The Collyer Saga And How It Grew; Recalling the Men Who Turned Trash Into Legend," Washington Post, February 8, 1983, B1. "Strange Case of the Collyer Brothers," Life, April 7, 1947. Robert M. Jarvis, "The Curious Legal Career of Homer L. Collyer," Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce 38:4 (October 2007), 571-582. Keith P. Ronan, "Navigating the Goat Paths: Compulsive Hoarding, or Collyer Brothers Syndrome, and the Legal Reality of Clutter," Rutgers Law Review 64:1 (Fall 2011), 235-266. Kenneth J. Weiss, "Hoarding, Hermitage, and the Law: Why We Love the Collyer Brothers," Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 38:2 (June 2010), 251-257. Kenneth J. Weiss and Aneela Khan, "Hoarding, Housing, and DSM-5," Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 43:4 (December 2015), 492-498. Scott Herring, "Collyer Curiosa: A Brief History of Hoarding," Criticism 53:2 (Spring 2011), 159-188. Patrick W. Moran, "The Collyer Brothers and the Fictional Lives of Hoarders," Modern Fiction Studies 62:2 (Summer 2016), 272-I. Jackie McAllister, "The Collyer Brothers," Grand Street 14:2 (Fall 1995), 201. Joyce Carol Oates, "Love and Squalor," New Yorker, Sept. 7, 2009. "Collyer Mansion Keeps Its Secrets," New York Times, Sept. 30, 1942. Harold Faber, "Homer Collyer, Harlem Recluse, Found Dead at 70," New York Times, March 22, 1947. "Thousands Gape at Collyer House," New York Times, March 24, 1947. Harold Faber, "Police Fail to Find Collyer in House," New York Times, March 25, 1947. "The Collyer Mystery," New York Times, March 26, 1947. "Collyer Mansion Yields Junk, Cats," New York Times, March 26, 1947. "Langley Collyer Is Dead, Police Say," New York Times, March 27, 1947. Russell Owen, "Some for O. Henry: Story of the Collyers," New York Times, March 30, 1947. "3D Search Starts at Collyer House," New York Times, April 1, 1947. "53 Attend Burial of Homer Collyer," New York Times, April 2, 1947. "More Secrets Taken From Collyer Home," New York Times, April 4, 1947. Harold Faber, "Body of Collyer Is Found Near Where Brother Died," New York Times, April 9, 1947. "Langley Collier Dead Near Month," New York Times, April 10, 1947. "200 Bid Spiritedly for Collyer Items," New York Times, June 11, 1947. "Collyer Home 'Unsafe,'" New York Times, June 26, 1947. "Collyer Brothers Park," Atlas Obscura (accessed March 4, 2018). Andy Newman, "Origin Aside, 'Collyers' Mansion' Is Code for Firefighter Nightmare," New York Times, July 5, 2006, B1. Listener mail: Wikipedia, "Category:Drugs With Unknown Mechanisms of Action" (accessed March 16, 2018). Wikipedia, "Theories of General Anaesthetic Action" (accessed March 16, 2018). Wikipedia, "Paracetamol" (accessed March 16, 2018). Tanya Lewis, "Mystery Mechanisms," The Scientist, July 29, 2016. Bruce Schneier, "Harassment by Package Delivery," Schneier on Security, Feb. 22, 2018. Sean P. Murphy, "'I Just Want It To Stop': Women Get Sex Toys In Packages They Didn't Order," Boston Globe, Feb. 20, 2018. Sean P. Murphy, "This Couple Keeps Getting Mystery Packages From Amazon They Didn't Order," Boston Globe, Feb. 6, 2018. "Bow Tie - Every Buyer Gets 100 Square Feet of Scandinavian Forest - Hand Made in Finland from Finnish Curly Birch - By Woodinavia," Amazon UK (accessed March 16, 2018). Woodinavia. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Tommy Honton, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

In 1905 Winchester Cathedral was in danger of collapsing as its eastern end sank into marshy ground. The surprising solution was to hire a diver, who worked underwater for five years to build a firmer foundation for the medieval structure. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of William Walker and his curious contribution to saving a British landmark. We'll also contemplate a misplaced fire captain and puzzle over a shackled woman. Intro: Anthony Trollope became a prolific author by simply demanding it of himself. Wyoming's North Two Ocean Creek drains into both the Atlantic and the Pacific. Sources for our feature on William Walker: Ian T. Henderson and John Crook, The Winchester Diver, 1984. Barry Shurlock, The Winchester Story, 1986. Frederick Bussby, William Walker, 1970. John Crook and Yoshio Kusaba, "The Transepts of Winchester Cathedral: Archaeological Evidence, Problems of Design, and Sequence of Construction," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 50:3 (September 1991), 293-310. Gwilym Roberts, "How a Diver Saved Winchester Cathedral, UK: And Today's Solution?" Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers -- Engineering History and Heritage 166:3 (August 2013), 164-176. "William Walker: The Diver Who Saved the Cathedral," Winchester Cathedral (accessed Feb. 25, 2018). "Images of History," Journal of Diving History 21:2 (Spring 2013), 40. John Crook, "William Robert Walker," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Sept. 23, 2004. "How a Diver Saved a Cathedral," Ohio Architect, Engineer and Builder 20:4 (October 1912), 61. "Foundations: The Use of Divers and the Grouting Machine," American Architect and Building News 93:1689 (May 6, 1908), 147. "Portland Cement in the Restoration of Winchester Cathedral," Cement 13:3 (July 1912), 84. "Winchester Cathedral," Journal of the Society of Estate Clerks of Works 19:222 (Dec. 1, 1906), 182. "Diving at Winchester Cathedral," American Architect 90:1607 (Oct. 13, 1906), 120. Charles William Domville-Fife, Submarine Engineering of To-Day, 1914. J.W. Overend, "Saving a Cathedral With a Diver," Scientific American 108:19 (May 10, 1913), 428. "Toilers Beneath the Sea," Popular Science 3 (1912), 1580. "Hidden Service," Expositor and Current Anecdotes 13:5 (February 1912), 302. "A Great Feat," Advance 62:2392 (Sept. 7, 1911), 303. David Newnham, "Statuesque Mistake," Times Educational Supplement, May 30, 2003, 5. Jonathan Petre and Hazel Southam, "Cathedral to Replace Statue of 'Wrong Man'," Telegraph, May 27, 2001. "Another Statue in Aid of Cathedral Hero," [Southampton] Southern Daily Echo, Dec. 21, 2001. "Croydon Man Helped to Save a Gothic Cathedral," Croydon Advertiser, May 15, 2014, 32. Andrew John Davies, "Site Unseen: 'Diver Bill', Winchester Cathedral," Independent, Oct. 4, 1996, L2. Sally A. Fall, "Winchester Cathedral Owes Debt to Diver," San Diego Union, June 26, 1988 G-3. "Diver Who Saved a Cathedral," New Zealand Herald, Nov. 1, 2011, C.4. In this diagram, from Popular Science, 1912, two men operate a large pump at ground level. Below them, standing on a platform just above the water level, the diver's assistant pulls in and pays out the diver's air and signal lines as he moves about the trench. Walker, at the bottom, holds a bag of concrete that's just been lowered to him. The trenches were generally longer and narrower than depicted here, and the water would have been impenetrably clouded with sediment. Listener mail: "Police Want Anyone Who May Have Seen Toronto Firefighter on His Journey Across U.S. to Come Forward," CBC News, Feb. 14, 2018. Jeff Farrell, "Skier Who Went Missing From New York Mountain Slopes Ends Up Six Days Later in California Still Wearing Ski Clothes," Independent, Feb. 15, 2018. "Skier Lost in New York Doesn't Know How He Got to California," Associated Press, Feb. 14, 2018. "Toronto Firefighter Who Disappeared in New York and Wound Up in California, May Have Travelled Across U.S. Thanks to Friendly Truck Driver," Toronto Star, Feb. 14, 2018. Sofia Tancredi, "Anorexia Through the Ages: From Sainthood to Psychiatry," E/I Balance, March 3, 2013. Muriel Darmon, Becoming Anorexic: A Sociological Study, 2016. Jane E. Brody, "HEALTH; Personal Health," New York Times, May 19, 1988. Fernando Espi Forcen, "Anorexia Mirabilis: The Practice of Fasting by Saint Catherine of Siena in the Late Middle Ages," American Journal of Psychiatry, April 1, 2013. Wikipedia, "Fasting Girl" (accessed March 10, 2018). "Sarah Jacobs: The Fasting Girl," BBC Wales, March 14, 2011. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Steven Jones. Here are two corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

The world's longest airplane flight took place in 1958, when two aircraft mechanics spent 64 days above the southwestern U.S. in a tiny Cessna with no amenities. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the aerial adventures of Bob Timm and John Cook as they set a record that still stands today. We'll also consider a derelict kitty and puzzle over a movie set's fashion dictates. Intro: The Pythagorean theorem can be demonstrated using tangrams. Sculptor Marc Quinn molded a self-portrait from nine pints of his own frozen blood. Sources for our feature on Bob Timm and John Cook: Peter Garrison, "Beyond Endurance," Flying 144:2 (February 2017), 80-81. Marc C. Lee, "A Skyhawk for Everyone: Cessna's Hit Airplane Keeps Getting Better With Age," Plane and Pilot 48:2 (March 2012), 26-30,32-33. "From the Editor's Desk," Cessna Pilot 34:2 (March/April 2014), 2. "Endurance Test, Circa 1958," News & Videos, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, March 1, 2008. Shaun McKinnon, "They Kept a Tiny Plane Aloft for Months," Arizona Republic, April 14, 2013, A1. Warren Bates, "Plane Used to Set Record to Land at Airport Museum," Las Vegas Review, Feb. 11, 1999, 1B. "Hall of Fame," SP's Aviation, July 2015. Gannett News Service, "Risk Takers Make Long Flights Into History," April 13, 2013. George C. Larson, "The Pressure's On," Air & Space Smithsonian 27:1 (April/May 2012), 84. "Museum Honors City," Las Vegas Review-Journal, April 21, 1997, 2D. Ginger Mikkelsen, "Aviation Museum Draws 400,000 Annual Visitors," Las Vegas Review-Journal, June 13, 2001, 20AA. Anders Clark, "The Flight Endurance World Record," Disciples of Flight, Jan. 20, 2015. "Robert E. Timm & John W. Cook, Sr.," Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame (accessed Feb. 11, 2018). Barry Meek, "The Longest Flight In History - In a Cessna 172," Santa Clara County Airports (accessed Feb. 11, 2018). Shaun McKinnon, "Risk Takers Make Long Flights Into History," Arizona Republic, April 14, 2013. Rebecca Maksel, "Airborne for 64 Days," Air & Space Smithsonian, March 22, 2012. Fred Martin, A Reminiscence Over Old Airplanes, 2010. Listener mail: Helena Horton, "Battersea Has Been Trying to Get Parliament to Adopt a Cat Since 2014 -- and Has Two Which Are Perfect for Mousing," Telegraph, Aug. 17, 2017. Ben Glaze, "'Lazy' Larry the Cat Is So Bad at Killing Downing Street Mice That Pest Controllers Have Been Brought In," Mirror, Feb. 13, 2018. Wikipedia, "Ooka Tadasuke" (accessed March 2, 2018). Roman Cybriwsky, Historical Dictionary of Tokyo, 2011. Kerry Segrave, Lie Detectors: A Social History, 2003. Wikipedia, "Sky Burial" (accessed March 2, 2018). Meg Van Huygen, "Give My Body to the Birds: The Practice of Sky Burial," Atlas Obscura, March 11, 2014. The "Buzzard Lope" performed at the Berlin Blues Explosion 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle is based on an item that Sharon read in Dan Lewis' Now I Know newsletter (warning -- this link spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

In 1856, an American clipper ship was approaching Cape Horn when its captain collapsed, leaving his 19-year-old wife to navigate the vessel through one of the deadliest sea passages in the world. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of Mary Patten and the harrowing voyage of the Neptune's Car. We'll also consider some improbable recipes and puzzle over a worker's demise. Intro: In 1943, the U.S. considered releasing glowing foxes in Japan to frighten Shintoists. Rice University chemist James Tour fashions stick figures from organic molecules. Sources for our feature on Mary Patten: Paul W. Simpson, Neptune's Car: An American Legend, 2018. Glenn A. Knoblock, The American Clipper Ship, 1845-1920, 2014. Sam Jefferson, Clipper Ships and the Golden Age of Sail, 2014. David Cordingly, Seafaring Women, 2010. Jane D. Lyon, The Great Clippers, 2016. Bill Caldwell, Rivers of Fortune, 2002. Julie Baker, "The Troubled Voyage of Neptune's Car," American History 39:6 (February 2005), 58-65. Raymond A. Rydell, "The California Clippers," Pacific Historical Review 18:1 (February 1949), 70-83. Ann Whipple Marr, "Mary Ann Brown Patten," Oxford Dictionary of American National Biography, Dec. 2, 1999. "Neptune's Car," Ships of the World, 1997, 356. Kenneth J. Blume, Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Maritime Industry, 2012. "Mary Patten, 19 and Pregnant, Takes Command of a Clipper Ship in 1856," New England Historical Society (accessed Feb. 2, 2018). "The Story of Mary Patten," National Sailing Hall of Fame (accessed Feb. 2, 2018). "Women in Maritime History," San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, National Park Service (accessed Feb. 2, 2018). Alan Flanders, "Clipper Neptune's Car Saved From Disaster by Quick-Learning Wife of Stricken Skipper," [Norfolk] Virginian-Pilot, Oct. 15, 2000, 3. George Tucker, "Woman's Touch Helped Clipper Ship Make History," [Norfolk] Virginian-Pilot, Nov. 14, 1999, B3. Joanne Lannin and Ray Routhier, "The Ladies of Maine," Portland Press Herald, March 13, 1996, 1C. "A Noble Woman," Sailor's Magazine, April 1857. "A Heroine of the Sea," Friends' Intelligencer 14 (1857), 46-47. "A Heroine Arrived -- The Young Wife Who Took Neptune's Car Around Cape Horn," New York Times, March 18, 1857. "A Wife Worth Having," New York Times, Feb. 21, 1857. "Report of the Select Committee on the Rights of Married Women," Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Ohio, 1857, 110. "Modern Female Heroism," Annual Register, March 1857. "The Heroic Mrs. Patten," Boston Evening Transcript, June 23, 1857. "Marine Matters," New York Times, March 24, 1857. "Neptune's Car," New York Times, July 27, 1857. "Funeral of Capt. Joshua A. Patten," New York Times, Aug. 31, 1857. "Personal," New York Times, Sept. 23, 1857. "Marine Matters," New York Times, March 20, 1857. "Personal," New York Times, March 20, 1861. Listener mail: Jeffrey Gettleman and Kai Schultz, "India's Punishment for Plant-Eating Donkeys: Jail Time," New York Times, Nov. 28, 2017. Faiz Siddiqui, "Donkeys Destroy Plants, 'Jailed' for 4 Days in Orai," Times of India, Nov. 28, 2017. "50,000 Meows by @hugovk," github, Nov. 1, 2014. "Delicious Recipes," scootah.com (accessed Feb. 23, 2018). Wikipedia, "Echo Answer" (accessed Feb. 23, 2018). Lindsay Flint sent this example of answering yes/no questions in Welsh. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Gillian Brent. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

In 1835, settlers in Australia discovered a European man dressed in kangaroo skins, a convict who had escaped an earlier settlement and spent 32 years living among the natives of southern Victoria. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll review the extraordinary life of William Buckley, the so-called "wild white man" of colonial Australia. We'll also try to fend off scurvy and puzzle over some colorful letters. Intro: Radar pioneer Sir Robert Watson-Watt wrote a poem about ironically being stopped by a radar gun. The programming language Ook! is designed to be understood by orangutans. Sources for our feature on William Buckley: John Morgan, Life and Adventures of William Buckley, 1852. R.S. Brain, Letters From Victorian Pioneers, 1898. Francis Peter Labillière, Early History of the Colony of Victoria, 1878. James Bonwick, Port Phillip Settlement, 1883. William Thomas Pyke, Savage Life in Australia, 1889. Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke, Stories of Australia in the Early Days, 1897. John M. White, "Before the Mission Station: From First Encounters to the Incorporation of Settlers Into Indigenous Relations of Obligation," in Natasha Fijn, Ian Keen, Christopher Lloyd, and Michael Pickering, eds., Indigenous Participation in Australian Economies II, 2012. Patrick Brantlinger, "Eating Tongues: Australian Colonial Literature and 'the Great Silence'," Yearbook of English Studies 41:2 (2011), 125-139. Richard Broome, "Buckley, William," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Sept. 23, 2004. Marjorie J. Tipping, "Buckley, William (1780–1856)," Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1966. Reminiscenses of James Buckley Who Lived for Thirty Years Among the Wallawarro or Watourong Tribes at Geelong Port Phillip, Communicated by Him to George Langhorne (manuscript), State Library of Victoria (accessed Jan. 28, 2018). "William Buckley," Culture Victoria (accessed Jan. 28, 2018). Jill Singer, "Here's a True Hero," [Melbourne] Herald Sun, June 8, 2001, 22. "Australia's Most Brazen, Infamous Jailbreaks," ABC Premium News, Aug. 19, 2015. "Extraordinary Tale of Our Early Days," Centralian Advocate, April 6, 2010, 13. Bridget McManus, "Buckley's Story Revisited: Documentary," The Age, April 8, 2010, 15. Albert McKnight, "Legend Behind Saying 'You've Got Buckley's'," Bega District News, Oct. 21, 2016, 11. David Adams, "Wild Man Lives Anew," [Melbourne] Sunday Age, Feb. 16, 2003, 5. Leighton Spencer, "Convict Still a Controversial Figure," Echo, Jan. 10, 2013, 14. "Fed: Museum Buys Indigenous Drawings of Convict," AAP General News Wire, April 23, 2012. The drawing above is Buckley Ran Away From Ship, by the Koorie artist Tommy McRae, likely drawn in the 1880s. From Culture Victoria. Listener mail: Yoshifumi Sugiyama and Akihiro Seita, "Kanehiro Takaki and the Control of Beriberi in the Japanese Navy," Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 106:8 (August 2013), 332–334. Wikipedia, "Takaki Kanehiro" (accessed Feb. 9, 2018). Yoshinori Itokawa, "Kanehiro Takaki (1849–1920): A Biographical Sketch," Journal of Nutrition 106:5, 581–8. Alan Hawk, "The Great Disease Enemy, Kak'ke (Beriberi) and the Imperial Japanese Army," Military Medicine 171:4 (April 2006), 333-339. Alexander R. Bay, Beriberi in Modern Japan: The Making of a National Disease, 2012. "Scott and Scurvy," Idle Words, March 6, 2010. Marcus White, "James Lind: The Man Who Helped to Cure Scurvy With Lemons," BBC News, Oct. 4, 2016. Jonathan Lamb, "Captain Cook and the Scourge of Scurvy," BBC History, Feb. 17, 2011. Wikipedia, "Vitamin C: Discovery" (accessed Feb. 9, 2018). This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Miles, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

During World War II, the U.S. Army experimented with a bizarre plan: using live bats to firebomb Japanese cities. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the crazy history of the bat bomb, the extraordinary brainchild of a Pennsylvania dentist. We'll also consider the malleable nature of mental illness and puzzle over an expensive quiz question. Intro: Ever since George Washington, American presidents have hated the job. Harpsichordist Johann Schobert composed a series of "puzzle minuets" that could be read upside down. Sources for our feature on the bat bomb: Jack Couffer, Bat Bomb, 1992. James M. Powles, "Lytle S. Adams Proposed One of America's Battiest Weapons," World War II 17:2 (July 2002), 62. Robert M. Neer, "Bats Out of Hell," MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History 25:4 (Summer 2013), 22-24. C.V. Glines, "Bat & Bird Bombers," Aviation History 15:5 (May 2005), 38-44. Stephan Wilkinson, "10 of History's Worst Weapons," Military History 31:1 (May 2014), 42-45. "Holy Smokes, Batman!" Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 49:2 (March 1993), 5. Alexis C. Madrigal, "Old, Weird Tech: The Bat Bombs of World War II," Atlantic, April 14, 2011. Toni Kiser, "Bat Bomb Tests Go Awry," National WWII Museum, May 15, 2013. Joanne Grant, "Did They Have Bats in the Belfry? WWII Team Created Novel Bomb to Defeat Japan," [Bergen County, N.J.] Record, Oct. 27, 1996, A31. "Air Force Scrapped Top Secret 'Bat Bomb' Project in Carlsbad 70 Years Ago," Carlsbad [N.M.] Current-Argus, May 26, 2014. Curt Suplee, "Shot Down Before It Could Fly," Washington Post, Nov. 16, 1992, D01. T. Rajagopalan, "Birds and Animals in War and Peace," Alive 401 (March 2016), 92-93. Cara Giaimo, "The Almost Perfect World War II Plot To Bomb Japan With Bats," Atlas Obscura, Aug. 5, 2015. The total loss due to the Carlsbad fire was $6,838, nearly $100,000 today, and the cause was listed as "explosion of incendiary bomb materials." Base fire marshal George S. Young wrote to the base commander: "In-as-much as the work being done under Lt. Col. Epler was of a confidential nature, and everyone connected with this base had been denied admission, it is impossible for me to determine the exact cause of the fire, but my deduction is that an explosion of incendiary bomb material cause the fire." Listener mail: Ethan Watters, "The Americanization of Mental Illness," New York Times Magazine, Jan. 8, 2010. Neel Burton, "The Culture of Mental Illness," Psychology Today, June 6, 2012. J.J. Mattelaer and W. Jilek, "Koro -- The Psychological Disappearance of the Penis," Journal of Sexual Medicine 4:5 (September 2007), 1509-1515. Steven Johnson, Wonderland: How Play Shaped the Modern World, 2016. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Alexander Rodgers. Here are three corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. This episode is supported by Dittach, a Chrome extension to browse, search, or manage your Gmail attachments. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

The Bronx Zoo unveiled a controversial exhibit in 1906 -- a Congolese man in a cage in the primate house. The display attracted jeering crowds to the park, but for the man himself it was only the latest in a string of indignities. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll review the sad tale of Ota Benga and his life in early 20th-century America. We'll also delve into fugue states and puzzle over a second interstate speeder. Intro: Finnegans Wake contains nine thunderclaps of precisely the same length. In 1928 a British steamer seemed to receive an SOS from a perfectly sound ship. Sources for our feature on Ota Benga: Pamela Newkirk, Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga, 2015. Phillips Verner Bradford and Harvey Blume, Ota: The Pygmy in the Zoo, 1992. Pascal Blanchard, et al., eds., Human Zoos: Science and Spectacle in the Age of Colonial Empires, 2008. Pascal Blanchard, Gilles Boëtsch, and Nanette Jacomijn Snoep, eds., Human Zoos: The Invention of the Savage, 2011. Rikke Andreassen, Human Exhibitions, 2016. Karen Sotiropoulos, "'Town of God': Ota Benga, the Batetela Boys, and the Promise of Black America," Journal of World History 26:1 (March 2015), 41-76. Sarah Zielinski, "The Tragic Tale of the Pygmy in the Zoo," Smithsonian, Dec. 2, 2008. Pamela Newkirk, "Bigotry on Display," Chronicle of Higher Education, May 26, 2015. Geoffrey C. Ward, "The Man in the Zoo," American Heritage 43:6 (October 1992), 12. Paul Raffaele, "The Pygmies' Plight," Smithsonian 39:9 (December 2008), 70-77. Pamela Newkirk, "The Man Who Was Caged in a Zoo," Guardian, June 3, 2015. "A Fresh Lens on the Notorious Episode of Ota Benga," New York Times, May 29, 2015. Pamela Newkirk, "When the Bronx Zoo Exhibited a Man in an Iron Cage," CNN, June 3, 2015. Michael Coard, "Ota Benga, an African, Caged in a U.S. Zoo," Philadelphia Tribune, March 19, 2016. Mitch Keller, "The Scandal at the Zoo," New York Times, Aug. 6, 2006. "Looking Back at the Strange Case of Ota Benga," News & Notes, National Public Radio, Oct. 9, 2006. Ann Hornaday, "A Critical Connection to the Curious Case of Ota Benga," Washington Post, Jan. 3, 2009. Eileen Reynolds, "Ota Benga, Captive: The Man the Bronx Zoo Kept in a Cage," NYU, Aug. 7, 2015. Samuel P. Verner, "The Story of Ota Benga, the Pygmy," Bulletin of the New York Zoological Society 19:4 (July 1916), 1377-1379. "The True Story of Ota Benga," Scrap Book 3:1 (March 1907), 61. "Pygmy Ota and His Pet Chimpanzee," McCook [Neb.] Tribune, Oct. 5, 1906, 8. "A Northern Outrage," Lafayette [La.] Advertiser, Oct. 10, 1906, 2. Harper Barnes, "The Pygmies in the Park," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 4, 1992, 1C. Listener mail: Wikipedia, "Fugue State" (accessed Jan. 25, 2018). "Dissociative Amnesia," Merck Manual (accessed Jan. 25, 2018). Steve Bressert, "Dissociative Fugue Symptoms," PsychCentral (accessed Jan. 25, 2018). Steve Bressert, "Dissociative Amnesia Symptoms," PsychCentral (accessed Jan. 25, 2018). Bill Donahue, "Fixing Diane's Brain," Runner's World 56:2 (February 2011), 56. Neel Burton, "Dissociative Fugue: The Mystery of Agatha Christie," Psychology Today, March 17, 2012. Stefania de Vito and Sergio Della Sala, "Was Agatha Christie's Mysterious Amnesia Real or Revenge on Her Cheating Spouse?", Scientific American, Aug. 2, 2017. Vanessa Thorpe, "Christie's Most Famous Mystery Solved at Last," Guardian, Oct. 14, 2006. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Martin Bentley. You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

In January 1888, after a disarming warm spell, a violent storm of blinding snow and bitter cold suddenly struck the American Midwest, trapping farmers in fields, travelers on roads, and hundreds of children in schoolhouses with limited fuel. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the Children's Blizzard, one of the most harrowing winter storms in American history. We'll also play 20 Questions with a computer and puzzle over some vanishing vultures. Intro: In 1835 an assassin shot two good pistols at Andrew Jackson and both misfired. In 1958 Brooklyn College chemistry professor Homer Jacobson built a self-replicating model train. Sources for our feature on the Children's Blizzard: David Laskin, The Children's Blizzard, 2004. Mitchell Newton-Matza, ed., Disasters and Tragic Events, 2014. Steven L. Horstmeyer, The Weather Almanac, 2011. "The Pitiless Blizzard," Aurora Daily Express, Jan. 16, 1888. "Victims of the Storm," Bridgeport Morning News, Jan. 19, 1888. "In the Neighborhood," Deseret News, Jan. 24, 1888. "A Brave Girl," Gettysburg [Pa.] Compiler, Jan. 31, 1888. Edythe H. Dunn, "Not Even an Act of God," Phi Delta Kappan 30:7 (March 1949), 245-249. Jill Callison, "The Children's Blizzard," Argus Leader, Dec. 26, 2004. Maria Houser Conzemius, "That's Why They Call It the Children's Blizzard," Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 13, 2007. Steve Tracton, "Freak, Deadly Storm: Children's Blizzard of 1888," Washington Post, Jan. 14, 2011. Jeanie Mebane, "Blizzard!" Cobblestone 33:3 (March 2012). "One-Room Schoolhouse Lives," Argus Leader, Sept. 4, 2012. Beccy Tanner, "213 Schoolchildren Perished in the Great Plains Blizzard of 1888," Wichita Eagle, Dec. 31, 2012. Alyssa Ford, "125 Years Ago, Deadly 'Children's Blizzard' Blasted Minnesota," MinnPost, Jan. 11, 2013. Tom Lawrence, "Children's Blizzard Struck Great Plains 125 Years Ago," McClatchy-Tribune Business News, Jan. 12, 2013. Paula Quam, "Warm Weather Like This Week's Preceded 1888 Deadly Blizzard," Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Dec. 19, 2015. Sean Potter, "Retrospect: January 12, 1888: The Children's Blizzard," Weatherwise (accessed Jan. 6, 2018). Amber Pariona, "The Ten Deadliest Blizzards In History," World Atlas, April 25, 2017. Listener mail: "Hitler's Sunken Secret," NOVA, pbs.org. 20Q. Robin Burgener describes teaching a neural network to play a surprisingly accurate game of 20 Questions. Karen Schrock, "Twenty Questions, Ten Million Synapses," ScienceLine, July 28, 2006. "A Heroic Commando, A Deadly Mission to Sabotage Nazi Bomb -- and the Pregnant Widow He Left Behind," Cork Evening Echo Holly Bough, Christmas 2017. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Eugene Grabowski. Here are three corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!