Transcript
WEBVTT
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Hey, buffoons, stick around to the end of the episode where we are going to have our very first the Origin of Weird story.
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We'll have a little look into it and what you can expect from our little companion podcast to this one and get a little sample of what weird stuff you might hear.
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Yeah, the Origin of Weird.
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Let us know if you like it and give us some weird stories.
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Yes, please send us some weird stories that we can look into, because we thought about this and we just want to find all things weird.
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We ran with it so hard.
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I kind of jogged.
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I'm not very fast.
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Well, we know.
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I have bad knees, anyways.
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Stick around.
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Hope you enjoy this episode and stick around to the end for a sample of what you'll expect from the Origin of Weird.
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Oh, hey there, oh hey there.
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How's it going, Kate?
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I'm good.
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How are you?
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Oh dear, you do learn, I'm good.
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It's because I just listened to the episode back.
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Oh, so you probably wouldn't have asked me otherwise, probably not.
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Oh, I do notice that in our just regular conversations too, I always ask you how you're doing, and you do ask me sometimes how I'm doing but, not always.
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Really.
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Yeah, that's so nice.
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I'm not saying you don't, I'm just saying not always I think I do that with one of my good friends too she always asks me how'd you sleep?
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Fine, then cricket.
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Yeah.
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Don't respond after that asking about her talk to you later.
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Okay, cool either way um, so we've got a couple modellos, because I guess we weren't being very adventurous, nor were we at a place that had adventurous beers the place we went definitely is not adventurous for that, which is unfortunate.
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Um, we didn't really want to drive all around the area just to look for a random beer, so we're going with a tried and true classic Modelo.
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Modelo, kate's go-to beer.
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And we even got some limes to shove down our cans.
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I thought that might sound funny, so that's why I said that it really did so.
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I was like I'm not shoving it down my throat.
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Oh, actual can.
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Actual can.
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yeah, oh, that just went into my eye.
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Was it the lime or the beer?
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The beer, thankfully.
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I say, at least out of the two, that's the better choice.
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Yeah.
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So I.
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I can trip on air, so You're not wrong.
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Okay, air.
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So yes, you're not wrong.
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Uh, okay, but uh, yeah.
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Well, cheers to uh cheers to the history.
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Oh hey, we're the history buffets.
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Oh yeah, see, that's why that one episode.
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I said it multiple times, just in case, but hey, we, we got it, we got there.
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So cheers, cheers wow it got a little full because of my uh lion and I didn't it came out before I was prepared this is talent maybe next time we get pots bottles.
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Yeah, it's just easier with the lime, I guess do you need a tissue?
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I?
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need something?
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I need a bib anyways all right, so I've got a question for you.
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What is?
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your question for me have you ever stolen anything from a shop?
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Yes, really.
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Yes, can you share.
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I was very young.
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It's actually.
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It was at a grocery store.
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Yeah, I happened to work at that grocery store and, uh, the funny thing is, the thing I took is not what they claimed.
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I stole and fired me because of oh yeah, they said I was.
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This is when grocery stores used to have like video departments where you could rent movies and games and stuff.
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They said I was up at the service counter.
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They said I swiped I think it was a packers like highlight, like vhs cassette, and I'm like no, I didn't.
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And uh, my at the time girlfriend, bless her heart, who can't tell a lie uh told her of other things that I may have swiped, which wasn't much.
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It was all shit.
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That I'm not saying, I'm not justifying it was stupid to do.
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Yeah, um, but it was stuff that was like damaged or whatever.
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Yeah, it wasn't going to be put back out anyways, right.
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And uh, yeah, that was.
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That was not a highlight of my young life but uh but yeah, I never took that fucking packers vhs, though swear to god to this day and that's how you got.
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They got fired from it they.
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They claimed I they had video footage and they claimed they saw me at the counter and I apparently had my hand and I wouldn't.
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Swiped it in front of me, hit the cord, swiped it in front of me and, uh, they never saw it again and I'm like, no, I didn't.
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But the funny thing is they pulled in my girlfriend first to talk to her and which is also rude, very rude, and they're asking a question like so does uh, do you see anything new at brad's house?
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It's like what, what?
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What are you talking about?
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but yeah, he put in some new light fixtures, yeah it's like his parents put down new carpet.
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I mean is that what you?
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mean, yeah, what do you, what do you get a man here?
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So they went, they went about it a very shady, very shady way and, yeah, I wasn't proud of it right that was dumb.
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You know, stupid adolescent stupidity.
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Yeah, basically, yeah, how about you?
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Oh yeah, I know you've, you've told me before.
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Yeah, I've taken Chapstick.
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That was probably like the one I remember most Okay Is that?
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because you take it a lot.
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No, no, I think it was at a Walmart and I took like a Burt's Bees Chapstick.
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Ooh high end.
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I know Nice and I I took like a burt's bees chapstick.
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Oh hi, ed, I know nice well castor oil and lip products don't really work well for lip skin okay I'm an esthetician, hi, how are you?
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Hello so burt's bees, I don't think all of their products have castor oil, but some don't, so I think I probably grabbed one that didn't have castor oil in it, and so that was cool um.
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So yes, I have stolen um chapstick since I've been an esthetician, which is about eight years oh, dear I know I'm so bad you need to not do that again.
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Nope, it's just not worth it it's not, and I've also stole like stickers oh, like from hobby lobby, yeah yeah, I I hate, I love to hate hobby lobby and I hate to love, hobby lobby yeah, I'm the same way with them, like sarah will let it go there once in a great while and I'm like do we really have to?
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then we go in.
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It's like, well, that's a cool sign.
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Fuck, why am I here?
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Yeah, there's so many really cool stuff and lots of great craft stuff that I enjoy, but I really hate their LGBTQ stance.
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Well, I mean, that's what?
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Yeah, I hate that they're closed on Sundays for religion, but you know I'm kidding To each their own, but you know I'm kidding to each their own, but you know, either way, Well, the story I'm going to share with you today involves thievery.
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Oh, I know See the segue there that was pretty smooth.
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Yeah, it was seamless.
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It really was.
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Yeah.
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OK, so we're going to go to London.
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Oh, yeah, yeah.
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Yeah, so London was going through a massive transportation transportation first one of the.
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That was pretty great.
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I'm gonna use that as a soundbite.
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Oh man, that is fantastic london was in a transformation.
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Oh, not transportation.
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Nope.
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How's that go again?
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Boop, boop.
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Jesus Just wanted to get a clearer one to use as well.
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So cutting those out, it's going to be great.
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Okay, so this is in like the early 20th century, so around 1920s.
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It was basically a city of contrasts.
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Sure.
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So they had lingering effects of world war one right and then they also had like a ton of modern advances okay so they were experiencing like a huge economic growth um particularly in finance and entertainment as well.
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Sure so the city became a hub for art, literature, music, um music writers like Virginia Woolf.
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Yep, I know her.
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And TS Eliot.
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I know him.
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And jazz music came onto the scene Really.
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Mm-hmm, I guess, because I mean Well, I mean, they kind of gained popularity during that time.
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Because I guess you think of jazz music.
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I mean, I'm not saying it can't go everywhere, but you just always think of like the South, new Orleans, all that stuff I wouldn't have been like.
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Yeah, london had a huge jazz scene.
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That's kind of crazy to me.
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I didn't know that.
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But the BBC began broadcasting around that time.
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That's when it did Okay.
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And women gained more rights and freedoms, and thus came the flapper lifestyle.
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Right.
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So they kind of symbolized like a new era of independence.
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I was a flapper once, for halloween were you.
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Yeah, it was super cute, super cute.
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It was like pink and then the fringe was silver and black, so the pink would like show underneath the swing.
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Yeah super cute, nice yeah so, uh, london's population grew, with immigrants as well, okay, and they were modernizing the city with new buildings and infrastructure.
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Art Deco became a thing, suburbs expanded, so like just a huge amount of growth, just a big boom.
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Yeah, okay, but despite all this growing the middle class, they were still having quite a bit of hardship, hey sounds like today.
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Yeah, so poverty, unemployment was still a major issue.
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Sure Makes sense.
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So, as the metropolis soared, there was a dark underworld beginning to surface.
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Like a Bubbling up from the.
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Yeah, exactly.
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I'm glad you got that reference.
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Did they.
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Obviously the Great great depression happened.
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Obviously here were they affected by all that at all in that time frame, because that's getting close to when that would have happened it is, but I that was not part of my research I know that was kind of a stretch of a question so I apologize for that one, but I just didn't know if that had any effect over there as well, because obviously things are booming.
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Right.
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I mean, things were booming here too, and then, right, it's not booming no more, it's not booming.
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Yeah, at least not for a lot of people.
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It's sinking, sinking.
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So there were a bunch of gangs that kind of formed during this time.
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And a lot of them were men-based, of course, sure, and they controlled a lot of the streets and they had a lot of greed.
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They they had to steal, essentially for survival makes sense so there is a specific gang called the elephant and castle gang elephant and castle.
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I mean, I like elephants yeah, you too it's my animal.
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So they were known for violent tactics.
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Oh dear.
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Yeah, and a diverse amount of criminal activity Kidnapping.
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Okay, I was just going to ask do you have a list?
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Thievery, thievery, assault.
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Oh, dear, murder.
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Murder, oh dear.
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Murder, murder.
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So there's actually a neighborhood in London that is called the Elephant and Castle neighborhood.
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So is it just called that because of them?
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No.
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So that was the neighborhood they got their name from.
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Yes, they got their name from the neighborhood.
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Okay.
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And there is a tavern there as well, called the elephant castle tavern.
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Can we go there?
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let's do that that we can podcast live from I believe it's still there but it's been like relocated so like I don't think it's like the original original okay, but it is still there, so to speak.
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I want to have you ever?
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you've never been to london, right, correct, okay, neither have I.
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But everything I've seen, it again.
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This is in movies and shit.
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In movies, you always see like them going to a tavern or or whatnot, or a pub they always have really cool fucking signs.
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I would love to see a sign for the elephant castle pub or whatever.
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I think that'd be kind of cool um, I do have a picture of the um neighborhood, yeah, yeah, I don't know if you'll be able to kind of see it from where you are, but I do have a picture of the neighborhood.
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Yeah yeah, I don't know if you'll be able to kind of see it from where you are, but you can describe it, and then this will be on our social medias too.
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Oh, that's cool.
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They literally have a giant elephant with what looks like a rook from chess on its back for a castle turret or whatever.
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Yeah, and it's massive.
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Yeah, that's huge, and it's like right at the intersection of two streets.
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Yeah, is that?
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do you know if that's still there?
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I don't know I wonder if that is, I'd be kind of that would be cool that would be cool, I want to get a picture there.
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How about this?
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We go over there, we take a picture in front of that and we go to the pub and we record an episode perfect, all right done.
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Let's do it give us money okay, give us money so the elephant and castle gang kind of a long name well, I mean yeah, so it's the what unc no, oh, they're just called the elephant gang oh, I like it even better.
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I mean, I like castles, but elephants are pretty cool yeah so they actually began their reign in like the seven, like 1700s 1780s is kind of about where that gang started, really and then just progressed from there.
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Wow, they were around that long and they would gather at that tavern and they and that's where they would like exchange their stolen commodities with each other okay, makes sense yeah, um.
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So that neighborhood kind of became the central hub and the gang had a bunch of female associates who also lived in the same neighborhood, sure, and they were pretty much groomed to be loyal to the men.
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Okay.
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This group of women brings me to the 40 elephants.
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The 40 elephants.
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Okay, do tell it is an all female gang, really gang really operating around the same elephant and castle neighborhood that's crazy and they specialize in sophisticated shoplifting because there's a fancy way to do it well, clearly I gotta have your pinkies out and everything pinkies up all right so the 40 elephants initially operated under the protection of the male dominant elephant gang Sure.
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The men provided security supplies and market for stolen goods.
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Makes sense.
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And the women supplied the steady stream of high-valued items.
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Okay.
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So the mutual benefit between the two, the factions, pretty much thrived.
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Yeah, they were just helping each other basically that makes sense so the reason why the gang has been around so long at least the elephant gang it was a family affair oh really.
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So it's kind of like mobbed up a little bit so, with the 40 elephants, the women, mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, they, they all were recruited in.
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So if you married a guy, you're part of the family?
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now, yeah, exactly, and they did this because there was a lot less chance of betrayal in the group.
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Well, I mean that makes sense because you're more loyal to your family and whatnot.
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So okay, I like it.
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So I read a book and of course, I forgot to write it down.
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Oh well, who was it by?
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It is by um a person whose name I have coming up.
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Okay, it's called um Alice diamond and the 40 elephants, and it is by Brian McDonald.
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Okay.
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So who's Alice Diamond?
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Are you going to get into that?
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I am Okay cool.
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So I'm going to have a couple quotes from that book.
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So here's one of the quotes.
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The longevity of the 40 Elephants was largely due to keeping it in the family.
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There were dynasties of shop thieves.
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Families kept things close to themselves and even robbed together, partied together, shared the spoils together and got sentenced together.
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I mean, at least they did everything together, then that's awesome.
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Yeah.
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So as the gang grew, their shoplifting became pretty successful.
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Sure, that makes sense.
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But they also learned how to defend themselves.
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Violently, I'm assuming.
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Yeah, yeah defend themselves violently, I'm assuming.
00:17:09.382 --> 00:17:25.153
Yeah, yeah, so there was still a lot of um confrontation between, like rough men in the area and these more demure women, and so they, they roughed up these men and cops, and even shop um clerks, if necessary, to get away with whatever what they were doing, yeah.
00:17:25.153 --> 00:17:26.034
Exactly Okay.
00:17:26.034 --> 00:17:31.971
So they actually had hat pins in their hats as weapons, as like their weapon of choice.
00:17:31.971 --> 00:17:35.900
Sure Makes sense, and I mean easily concealed and easily accessible.
00:17:35.940 --> 00:17:37.866
No one's really going to think of she's got a hat on.
00:17:37.866 --> 00:17:41.188
I mean, that was a common thing back in those days.