Mysteries, Merriment, and the Macabre
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"Good Evening to everyone coast to coast, border to border, and all the ships at sea. I'd like to welcome you to Mysteries, Merriment, and the Macabre , where we delve into tales of wonder, sorrow, joy and pain, explore the liminal spaces where fiction meets reality, and delight in experiencing myths, legends, beliefs and practices both familiar and extraordinary. Greetings to my lovely listeners who have already guessed the hidden theme of the last ten episodes, which I've now properly titled "Route 666." For those still in the dark or just joining us, your hostess with the mostest is now calling out to you from the village of Yaangna, otherwise known as El Puebla de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles. Otherwise known as Tinseltown, the Big Orange, City of Sun and Flowers, La-La Land. Los Angeles. Per tradition, and probably a law somewhere, now that I'm here there are a couple of topics I am required to cover.Very soon you will be joining me on an exploration into the Winchester Mystery House, and of course we'll dive into Hollywood Cults via the lens of Charles Manson, but tonight, tonight we talk about lost hopes, twisted narratives, and the many ways this town can kill a dream. Tonight, we tell the tale of Elizabeth Short. (Minerva goes on to summarize Elizabeth Short's life, her loving but broken family, her ill health, the repeated losses she experienced, her father's abandonment, the yearly separation from her family, the death of her fiance. She specifically does not describe her death or finding in any detail, save to say that it was clearly a crime of predation and sickness, not passion or personal wrath. And then how even the memory of Elizabeth Short was tainted by the lies told about her in the lurid stories after her death, the fake nickname, the way her mother was cruelly tricked by the press, the whole-cloth tales about her being a prostitute, a lesbian, frigid, and so on. "Because you see, these stories about Elizabeth Smart, they'r ea very special kind of mythology. They're the myths society tells you to make you feel safe. What happened to Elizabeth can't happen to you, or your sister, your daughter, your wife, because there was something wrong with Elizabeth. Something bad. That she made herself a target. That this doesn't happen to good people, smart people, clean people, 'normal' people. But all Elizabeth was was young, and pretty, and vulnerable. Maybe even strong, special in a way, because even after all she had gone through, all she had had taken away from her, her health, her security, her dreams, she still had hope. She still survived, still made friends, still smiled and laughed and danced. There's nothing we can do to save Elizabeth. No way now to even hold someone accountable for her end, not the lifetime small dashed dreams or the final violent death. But there's millions of Elizabeth's out there, you are surrounded by these flowers, these dahlias, so beautiful and so easily crushed. Maybe you even are one yourself. So do what you can for them, and for you. Feed dreams, accept difference, lend a hand, open a heart. Stand up for one another, watch out for each other, and know that you yourself are worthy of better than the world tries to give you. And most of all, tell their true tales, when others try to paint them with dirt and scandal and blame. My next episode will be a visit to the Echo Park Time Travel mart, and a discussion with staff about the 826A organization and its work with Los Angeles students. Until again, my friends."
Greetings friends and strangers, nobles and serfs. Welcome to Mysteries, Merriment, and the Macabre, where we delve into tales of wonder, sorrow, joy and pain, explore the liminal spaces where fiction meets reality, and delight in experiencing myths, legends, beliefs and practices both familiar and extraordinary. Time is elastic. No matter what the clocks tell you, it stretches and contracts like the elastic in Thanksgiving waistbands. As Albert Einstein said, "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute." But one thing we know is that time always travels in one direction. Or does it? Today we're making a visit to Echo Park Time Travel Mart, the place you need to go before jumping timelines whether you're saving the Library of Alexandria or rescuing your great great great grandchildren from Morlocks. (Minerva has an audio tour of the shop, talking with one of the proprietors about the items available, then lead to the back to see the REAL time travel machine... which is where the interview switches to a discussion of the 826LA non profit organization and their mission teaching writing to under-served students in Los Angeles, as well as interviews with some of the students there talking about what the organization means to them). "So next time you need to pick up a dinosaur egg, robot milk, or your favorite Heisenberry slushy, remember to get it from the Echo Park Time Mart, where they not only teach kids how to travel through time, but also how to bring us all along with them through the power of words. If you'd like to see some of todays tour and interviews, video clips are available on my patreon. Next week, Subterranean Lizard People under L.A.? Stories abound, and I can't wait to tell them to you. My final words to you before we must part: Almost every time travel story cautions us that the tiniest change we make visiting the past can have huge repercussions in the present. Why is it so hard for us to believe that the small things we do today can make a real change in the future? (OOC note: Echo Park Time Mart and the 826LA organizations exist IRL and are pretty amazing, and worthy of support. Do check them out at 826LA.org)
Hello and welcome, to one and all, flora, fauna, and mineral. So glad you are joining us for Mysteries, Merriment, and the Macabre, where we delve into takes of wonder, sorrow, joy and pain, explore the liminal spaces where fiction meets reality, and delight in experiencing myths, legends, beliefs, and practices both familiar and extraordinary. No doubt you've heard of recent conspiracy theories that we are in fact ruled by an ancient race of lizard people, capable of masquerading as humans and inserting themselves into any power structure, to unknown but no doubt nefarious ends. But that's not the story I'm bringing you today. Today I want to tell you about a very different sort of Lizard People, who, the stories say, lived in tunnels underneath Los Angeles. Nineteen Thirty Four. The height of the depression. California was still being inundated with Dust Bowl migrants, tent cities sprung up throughout the state, and the workers of San Francisco had a General Strike. California's boom and bust roller coaster was in the midst of serious bust. And then on the morning of January 29, the people of Los Angeles opened the Times to read this headline: "Lizard people's catacomb city hunted." There had been a few articles about this before, but perhaps because of the accompanying illustrations, or perhaps just the luck of the draw, this is the article that became a sensation. No doubt, some of it was due to the exceedingly vibrant prose of the author. "Busy Los Angeles, although little realizing it in the hustle and bustle of modern existence, stands above a lost city of catacombs filled with incalculable treasure and imperishable records of a race of humans further advanced intellectually and scientifically than even the highest types of present day peoples, in the belief of G. Warren Shufelt, geophysical mining engineer now engaged in an attempt to wrest from the lost city deep in the earth below Fort Moore Hill the secrets of the Lizard People of legendary fame in the medicine lodges of the American Indian." Riveting words indeed, who wouldn't feel compelled to read on? People living through such hard times needed a story, and this story had everything. Hidden gold, newfangled "radio x-ray" science, exotic Native American legends, and the approval of the county board of supervisors." (Minerva goes into chronological detail about the history of 'hidden wealth on Fort Moore Hill', Shufelt's theories, shafts dug, etc. Debunking the most outrageous and frankly racist claims but appreciating the rollicking good tale.) Will we ever know if Shufelt was running a get-rich-quick grift, or was a true believer? Probably not, and either way he died without attaining his goal. But what he did attain was fame, the attention and admiration of the masses and isn't that what so many came to L.A. and failed to achieve? His other achievement? A story that helped distract the city from the grim reality of the depression, if only for a short while, gave them something to dream about, connect over, and inspire. And is there a treasure greater than that? Next week, a little trip away from the sunny shores of Southern California to tell the tale of little girls, the author of Sherlock Holmes, and the first worldwide viral Photoshop fake. Yes, it's the Cottingly Fairies. (The L.A. Lizard People Catacomb Search was a real thing in the world, to read the article quoted, go to this [1])
(Excerpts from the Podcast "Mysteries, Merriment, and Macabre with Minerva Michaelson" Episode 192: Victorian Deepfakes) Hello and welcome, to one and all, visions, gentles, and friends. So glad you are joining us for Mysteries, Merriment, and the Macabre, where we delve into tales of wonder, sorrow, joy and pain, explore the liminal spaces where fiction meets reality, and delight in experiencing myths, legends, beliefs, and practices both familiar and extraordinary. Tonight's tale is one of cultural upheaval, the end of empires, seismic changes in the world as it was known, science versus magic, belief versus reason, technology versus faith, and how two little girls fooled the greatest minds of a generation OR changed the nature of legend forever. To understand the context in which a pair of young girls could come to worldwide attention because of some photos they took out in the back garden, we have to understand the kind of upheaval the world was going through at the time. Nowadays we take breakneck technological change as a given, but in the years preceding 1917, the world had gone from primarily agrarian to increasingly industrialized, and rural to urban. In England, where we lay our scene, the country had not only gone from Victoria's steady rule of over 60 years to two monarchs in less than 20 years, plus the first modern world war. People were both excited at the onrush of science and all it could do and horrified with many of the results that had come to pass. Many turned to the church or to ancient lore as a respite from this chaos and uncertainty. Many looked at the many wonders science brought forth and made the connection that other wonders might also be real. (Minerva goes on to lay out the rise of Spiritism in England and the U.K., how early photography was very quickly used to fake images for both art and profit's sake, the chronological history of Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, as well as Arthur Conan Doyle's part in the whole story, culminating in the confession by Elsie that four of the photos had been faked and how they were done, as well as Frances' insistence that the fifth photo came from her thoughts.) And so we are not left with many questions, but hopefully with two very vital pieces of advice: First, don't believe everything you see. Second, and most importantly, never underestimate the power of young girls to change the world. Because not only have the interests and tastes of young girls been a deciding factor in cultural change, from language to novels to music even when their tastes are reviled and disregarded at every turn, but also because largely due to two young girls in Early 20th century England, the word Fairy brings to mind not the Shining Host, the Kindly Ones, the Good Neighbors, the People Under The Hill, but rather little creatures that sleep in flowers and bathe in back gardens and never, ever steal babies from the crib. But for a few years, the world, or at least England, believed in Fairies again. Next week, a story about wishes and bargains, chords and bars, and how some people will give anything for their dreams, even selling their souls. We'll meet again for episode one ninety three, The Devil Gives Music.
(Excerpts from the Podcast "Mysteries, Merriment, and Macabre with Minerva Michaelson" Episode 193: The Devil Gives Music). Hello and welcome, to one and all, angels and demons, djinn and ifrit, terrestrial and celestial. So glad you are joining us for Mysteries, Merriment, and the Macabre, where we delve into tales of wonder, sorrow, joy and pain, explore the liminal spaces where fiction meets reality, and delight in experiencing myths, legends, beliefs, and practices both familiar and extraordinary. Neil Gaiman, a favorite writer of mine and, quite possibly, the majority of my audience as well, wrote "Hell has all the best composers." I am, of course, taking this extremely out of context to make a point. Music has long been a favorite warring place between the sacred and the profane. The more theocratic the religion, the more likely it is to restrict music to a very limited canon or deny it altogether. Because music has power. It has the power to lift us up, to connect us to the divine. But it also has a very different power indeed... <The episode goes on to cover in short two different intersections of the devil and music. First, the concept of the Devil's Chord or the Devil's Tritone, and how discordancy in music, so common in popular music now, was seen as necessarily coming from a dark and dangerous place. Second, an overview of some of the musicians who were said to have sold their soul for talent, and in more detail the story of Robert Johnson and how one night in Clarksdale, Mississippi, at the crossroads of highways 49 and 61, he sold his soul to the devil to play blues guitar. Included are some snatches of the few recordings of Johnson still in existence.> Of course, the thing that music deemed of the devil so often has in common (outside, of course, of outright racism) is this. It's music that connects us to our humanity, that does not lift our spirits soaring to the ethereal, but instead repeats and hastens the beat of our hearts and the pace of our feet. That brings us together not in worship of that which is above and outside us, but to worship one another in joy, or in sorrow, or in desire. And what endangers power more than when we learn we can come together without them? Next week: Look forward to a little surprise, my lovelies. The topic next week is a little up in the air, but know this: Reports of unusual strigiform activity on UCLA campus have been confirmed... and your hostess with the mostest is holding an envelope full of mystery.
(Excerpts from the Podcast "Mysteries, Merriment, and Macabre with Minverva Michaelson" Episode 194: The Mummy House) Hello and welcome to one and all, stars and starlets, producers and directors, dancers and choreographers. Thank you for joining me for Mysteries, Merriment and the Macabre, where we delve into tales of wonder, sorrow, joy and pain, explore the liminal spaces where fiction meets reality, and delight in experiencing myths, legends, beliefs and practices both familiar and extraordinary. Today I bring you another L A story. I've brought you horror. I've brought you folly. Now I lay before your feet a mystery. I don't have all the answers, my darlings. I have only the ones I want to hear. But let me tell you a tale of greed and cunning. Or perhaps of horror and madness. Or maybe, in the end, of love and devotion unwilling to give way in the face of society and even death itself. Let me tell you the tale of the Mummy House. (Following is an in depth story of early Hollywood leading man Clyde Winters, his early fame, his waning years. How unlike so many of his generation how he eschewed smaller parts or the switch to the small screen. No disaster movies or guest spots on the Love Boat for him. How he bought a home in Laurel Canyon, closed the gates behind him and, essentially, disappeared. The rumors that followed, of scandalous parties, drug fueled weekends, decadence .. and how those rumors too faded, just like his stardom. Then the official story, with pictures from the papers. How thirty years ago, the mail stopped being signed for, the grounds became in disrepair, and then the police finally made their way in to find the dead body of an older man... but he wasn't Clyde Winter. No, he was the butler, Mr. Winter's long time assistant, the only other person who lived on the property, dead of natural causes. Mr. Winter was found as well though... a mummified body, long since dead. Years gone. The press went wild again at the scandal, the sensationalism, but with no one to inherit, and no one to speak.. it all faded once again once the assets and debts were dealt with in the courts, left only to neighborhood gossips and internet rumor in the dustiest corners.) So what was it, my darlings? Was the butler a grifter, cheating studios and the draining the lost star's riches? Was it a long-term murder suicide? Who is to truly say, those who could are gone from us now. But. Ah yes, there's a but. But your hostess with the mostest was able to wrangle an invite from the current owner of the house, properly and truly named "Winter's Retreat" and take a tour, for which endless thanks will never be enough. And I learned this. Mr Winters' body was not mummified by the dry air and sun of Southern California. No, it was an act of great intention and care. And when those bodies were found, they were not far apart. The last act of the butler was one of embrace, for the bodies were found together, in each other's arms. Madness? Or love? Or somewhere on that fine, fine line that sometimes separates the two. Was this an act of fevered mind and morbid greed? Or lasting devotion that survived the Hollywood machine, the slow decay of stardom, anonymity, and finally death? I have no answers, but I know the one I believe. Select pictures of my tour are available for my Patreon subscribers. I look forward to bringing you more of the wonders of the world. Next week: The long strange tale of a medical miracle from a faraway land, a lost people, and a lifesaving medication that almost disappeared forever. Until then.
The most recent patreon extra material has come out for the Mysteries, Merriment, and the Macabre podcast, and this time it's a doozie! The larger part of the upload is a video, with accompanying material thereafter, including stills from the video of research materials in better, high quality images. The video starts with the sound of rhythmic ocean waves and the wind on the beach, then Minerva's voice comes in, definitely in storyteller mode. "Not too long ago, one of my Patreon subscribers contacted me to let me know about a ghost sighting they had early one morning while out surfing at a remote, little known cove." fade in: the image appears of the ocean on a bright, cloudless day, panning to take in the huge waves rolling in to a sandy cove between cliffs, a giant, treacherous outcropping of rocks off to the side. "Today, I return to look into the story of a surfer who was one with the waves and then suddenly, tragically, one with the rocks, and whose final moments have replayed here on this beach for over sixty years. Today, the death, the afterlife, and the release of Georgie Frink." Scene fade back to the beach, though this is clearly from a phone, the camera facing Minerva now in portrait mode, and it's clear that this video will not be entirely on the serious side (which is frequent for her Patreon posts), as she starts filming herself from head to toe, first her giant black sunhat, her huge sunglasses, her bright red lipstick. "We're serving glamour. We're serving Breakfast at Tiffany's. We're serving retro." then a 50's style red and white polka dot bathing suit with a black sarong around her waist. "We're serving beach blanket bingo. We're serving... really bad shoe game." Because dirty old black Chuck Taylors? The shame! The video shifts to a more expected 'talking head' video, with Minerval slightly off to one side, behind her a bookcase filled with books and a mix of spooky and cute art and tchotchkes, also doubling as a space where stills are edited in as she tells the tale of George Frink who at the age of 19 in 1959 disappeared while out surviving. The tragedy for the Frink family continued, with his older brother dying in the military the year after, his father dying of a heart attack soon after that, and his mother going into treatment for depression and never really leaving the hospital again and dying in the early 1970s. As far as the family knew, George was never seen again. Segue to an interview with a grizzled old surfer, who tells the tale of one quiet night seeing a ghostly surfer going up for a wave crest and a back spin on waves that weren't there and then soundlessly crashing in to the rock outcropping. Minerva returns to confirm that this is the exact same story that she was told by her Patreon informer. The rest of the day research was done <insert LIBRARY MONTAGE> where the tale of George Frinkle was found, including pictures of his family and shots of their obituaries, and then a return was made late that night. It's clear from the images and videos that there must have been someone else there with her, but no one is directly referenced. That night at the beach, a fire is built and drinks and food procured, with intent to watch out for the ghost of George Frink. <insert video of campfire shining through bottles of beer and rum while "Twilight Time" by The Flying Platters plays for a few seconds>. But in a stunning turn of events, a chunk of George's surfboard was ejected from the rock outcropping <insert video of a sodden wet Minerva in a giant hoodie that falls to her mid-thighs running up from the water with a log-size chunk of wood in her arm and a huge smile on her face>. Once the wood dried, it was added to the fire and blessings were sent to George's soul. <Video insert of Minerva standing in front of the fire: "Georgie Frink! The tide rolls out and the fire lights your way! You've been one with the ocean, and one with the rocks, it's time to come in and be one with the universe, to drink in Valhalla, trod the stair to heaven, or move to the next level of your being. Your surfing will be legend. Your memory shall not fade! Come back to the beach, Georgie, and while we celebrate your life, go to your long awaited and well deserved reward." And with that she GLUGS most of her rum and coke and then turns and tosses the dried chunk of patterned wood onto the fire and tosses in the last of her drink in with it calling out "To Georgie Frink!"> "I can't tell you whether or not he found peace, but I do know this. There have been no known reports of sightings of George Frink since that night. And when I left before sunrise, the beach felt like a calmer, quieter place. Was the ghost real? Who is to say. But the tragedy was, and a life unmourned deserves mourning. Thank you for joining me for this Patreon special." <insert, this picture with the third person highlighted; link is [2]> Credits roll. Along the bottom of the Patreon page, there's a feed of recent social media posts related to the podcast, probably boosted by likes and reshares. One of the current top posts is a reshared Instagram post by one @Darren_STAR364 showing a picture of Minerva slow-dancing in the arms or a taller, African American man with 'locs (recognizable to those who know him as Ezekiel), her head on his chest, face turned towards the camera, eyes closed. His face is dipped towards the top of her head, eyes also closed. The OP has tagged it: @Minerva_M & @Darkling_king Painfully cute! And it was reshared by @Minerva_M with #instaofficial. A second somewhat-less popular but more recent image is a table full of Ziploc bags, packs of wet wipes and athletic socks and feminine supplies spread out on it with the caption by @Minerva_M: Prepping to shadow Father Hobbes on his street ministry tomorrow morning!
The entirety of Episode #195 of Mystery, Merriment, and the Macabre with Minerva Michaelson "Hello my lovelies and darlings. I know, my voice has been quiet for far too long. This truly has been the August and September of our discontent. I promise, life will spring anew, and plans are being made for a special event. But this episode is but a burst in the quiet so that I can amplify another voice. I know that a tale of green fog and mysterious explosions and random weather changes might seem like something I should be delving into, but this time it is decidedly not. Mine are tales of wonder and speculation and intrigue... this is a story of pain and danger and it is all too real and immediate. And so today I turn over my podcast and my audience to David Marcus, a fellow podcaster I've had the pleasure of meeting in the past. What he has to say is vitally important, especially to those Angelinos in my audience. Remember, we are all connected.. what touches the least of us will grab us all in turn. Do what you can, help where you might, speak truth to power. <Insert audio of bbpost 8/27> #GetOutENDRON
Minerva: Greetings left brains and right brains, neurons and synapses. Welcome to Episode #196 of Mysteries, Merriment, and the Macabre, where we delve into tales of wonder, sorrow, joy and pain, explore the liminal spaces where fiction meets reality, and delight in experiencing myths, legends, beliefs and practices both familiar and extraordinary. I am happy to return from hiatus with an episode literally months in the making. As long time listeners know, sometimes topics aren't enough for a full episode on their own but still worthy of love and attention, so I bundle them together in a loose theme. Today the theme is “Weird brain stuff” and other than having a weird brain, I am no expert in the field, but I am VERY lucky to be joined today by Doctor Frank Wolfe. Frank, please introduce yourself to my audience along with your cv, because I know I won't remember it all.
WOLFE: (Sounding extremely at ease. His voice is a mello baritone that is one part your favorite uncle, one part that guy in college you never got over, one part news anchor.) “Is this where I start talking? I’m so nervous. I’ve never done this before. Am I supposed to wait for a cue? What’s my motivation? Line? Line? My name is Dr. Frank Wolfe. I have a PhD in clinical psychology with a specialty in how technology interfaces, enhances, or alters the human psyche, and therefore, the human experience. I am an adjunct professor at UCLA. I teach courses on Psychology and the Psychology-Technology crossover. I am President of a start-up media production company called Bad Wolf Media, LLC. I love exploring and tinkering with ideas. So, of course, I’m really excited to be here, and I’m honored that you asked me to join you today on your show. I’m a big fan.”
Minerva: “And I am super excited to have you here today too, it certainly has been a wild path from that day in July that I literally snuck into Frank's office to press gang him into appearing. A story that you will get to hear about if you listen through to the last act of our show today. But to get us started with our first act, Frank, can you tell me what happens in your mind when I ask you to think about an apple?”
WOLFE: “Ah, well, what a perfectly perfect question, Minerva. Let me pull out my worst possible Jeff Goldblum impersonation for this one. You see, when you ask me to think of an apple, there are several biochemical and electrical processes taking place in my mind. We could go on and on about what those are, what they are called and so on, but the functional result is that I am forming an image in my head. I am seeing an apple. The shape, the color, the imperfections, the way the light glints off the skin at a certain angle. Obviously, the apple I’m thinking of is a common store bought apple, which means it’s been polished, possibly waxed, to give it that shine. I’m thinking about how heavy it feels to hold in my hand, the smell of it as I bite down through the skin, the crisp feel of it, and the sweetness of the juice running over my tongue. I can see it, taste it, smell it, even hear the crunch of it. All in my mind’s eye, so to speak.”
Minerva: “And I’m much the same way, though I tend to see different representations of apples, imagine the taste, think about the stories involved. But in point of fact not everyone has the same response. This is Aphantasia, the inability to picture things with ones mind. As far back as 1880, a scientist named Francis Galton did a survey of his peers about mental imagery and found that a fairly large number of them reported not having any experience of seeing something ‘in their minds eye’ and in fact thought that others could do so to be a ridiculous concept. It went fairly unstudied until the mid 2000’s, when the concept returned to the popular consciousness.”
WOLFE: “Right. That was about the same time that we learned that the lizard people disguised as humans were among us, and it was that difference in mental processing that outed them. And that, folks, is how the great lizard war of 2008 began, praise be to our ophidian overlords.”
Minerva: “Frank.”
WOLFE: “Sorry. I thought we were on the <<robotic voice inserts “a competing podcast”>> for a minute. No, but the fascinating thing about this difference, in addition to all the science that we can learn from it, are some of the larger societal implications. There’s nothing wrong with someone with aphantasia. They simply have, to a certain extent, a different way of thinking, and that difference would never have been realized without someone poking around and asking questions. Our experience as people is more widely and deeply varied than we ever could have imagined. As if we are each universes of possibilities all on our own. But there’s me waxing on. Sorry, Minerva. It’s your show. You should wax on. And then I will wax off. And then we can learn the crane kick.”
Minerva: “When I first heard about aphantasia, I very much thought it must be a great tragedy for those people. But, as so often turns out, my assumptions based on only my own feelings were wrong when they were about other people. There are some differences between aphantasists and those who do create mental imagery. For instance, their fear response when listening to or reading horror stories is significantly lower than the baseline, unless those stories are illustrated, at which point it becomes the same. People who are Aphantasic.. Is that the right term?”
WOLFE: “If it’s not correct, it’s such a close approximation that I couldn’t tell the difference. Keep going.”
Minerva: “English, where if someone understands a sound you made, you’ve created a new word. People who are Aphantasic are just as creative as anyone else, numbering among their numbers animators, artists, writers in science fiction and fantasy fields. Also, oddly enough, it’s been found that both people with acquired Aphantasia and congenital Aphantasia do have visual aspects to their dreams. So their brains aren’t wholely incapable of creating images.. Just their conscious minds.”
WOLFE: “Which actually makes perfect sense since when you’re unconscious your brain lights up in completely different ways than when you’re awake. There are sections of the brain people don’t use when they’re conscious.”
Minerva: “So the essential take away here to me is that different people's brains work differently, often in ways that we ourselves cannot comprehend. Every day, other people around you have magnificently different brainscapes, and yet not only are they the same as you in so many ways, that diversity of thought and nature is important, necessary even.”
WOLFE: “Because without the diversity of thought, the lizard people will win the war. Isn’t that right, Alex Jones?”
Minerva: “I am so very much editing that bit out.”
WOLFE: “Yeah. That’s probably for the best, but you’re absolutely right. These notions that societies have fostered throughout history that reality, or our perceptions of the world around us, are somehow uniform simply aren’t true. Not just on a philosophical or cultural level, but on the biological level as well. We are different. We are constantly changing, and there’s nothing wrong with any of that.”
Minerva: “Dr. Wolfe. You are a fine, upstanding member of Academia. So perhaps this is outside of your personal experience, but.. Have you ever been to a busy bar?”
WOLFE: (laughing) “I feel like that’s a loaded question, but I’ll go with…yes. Why, yes. I have been to a busy bar before, or a bar that is busy. Why do you ask?”
Minerva: “Dr. Wolfe. I am _shocked_. While in these dens of iniquity, have you ever noticed how the servers are able to take orders, leave the area, get the orders, and then return them all to the correct patrons with a minimum of errors, even though the amount of short term memory required for this level of operations far outstrips the commonly accepted human limit of seven items?”
WOLFE: “Of course! I just assumed all the best ones were undercover alien robots biding their time until the global takeover of our species arrives. We’ll make great pets. But in all seriousness, yes. The capacity of their short term memory has always been astounding. I’m assuming you have something amazing to tell me about that. Is it from years of mentat training like in the Dune series by Frank Herbert?”
Minerva: “Amazing to me, but maybe not to you? Because the short answer is, we don’t know. We absolutely know that they can do it, study after study shows servers, as well as other people who work in jobs that require the same sort of constant quick information turn around regularly can blow past expected memory limits while doing their jobs or similar tasks. But when they’re tested in other formats, like memorizing series of words or numbers? They test at the same levels as everyone else.”
WOLFE: “Well, it is amazing. I can barely hold one, but we don’t really know how it is that these people can blow past these limits. There have been guesses about mental tool usage, like pneumonic devices. Code association to group certain data points together. It tricks the brain into thinking that a list of 36 items to remember is only 8 items. We see that this does happen to a certain extent, but the problem here is that there is no way that we can physically track brain activity that conclusively shows this is happening. It is true that people use such mnemonic devices all the time. Kids who are really good at crunching large numbers in their head in mathematical equations learn some of these tricks as well. What we do know is the Donald Rumsfeld theory. You know. There are things we know that are known, and things that we know that we don’t know, and there are things that we don’t know that we don’t know. We know that there is SO much we don’t know about the brain, and how it works. It’s quite possible, even likely, that we are not loading information into our brains in the best way possible, nor are we giving it the correct commands to access that information in the most efficient way. And on top of all of that, going back to our previous topic, we also are only just beginning to understand that not all brains are the same.”
Minerva: “This phenomenon, and the studies that looked into it, are covered in a book called “The Barmaid’s Brain” by Jay Ingram, which by the way I highly suggest even though it is somewhat out of date by now. One thing of interest is that a few of the servers did describe a process not unlike the well known Memory Palace technique, though that’s something that normally shifts memory from short term to long term storage in the brain. Over and over, the servers state that they ‘get in the zone’ and it just happens without thinking about it, and in fact that the busier they get, the better they are. I’ve researched and haven’t found out any further answers.. Which is the part I always love, because that means there are still questions out there to explore and discover. But most of all what I love is the fact that we are all so much more capable than any rubric tells us we are. Also… tip your server.
WOLFE: “My personal technique is more of a mind out-house, but yes. Something that’s interesting about that study, Minerva, is the discussion about being more efficient the busier they are. There’s an implication there that we are not using our brains even at minimum efficiency, that our brains’ capacity and efficient functionality doesn’t kick in until we are doing much, much more with it. In other words, your brain is a muscle, and we’re not exercising it nearly enough. Also, tip your server.”
Minerva: “In our third act, I want to talk about proprioception. I am contractually obligated to make a joke about the ‘sixth sense’ here, but in reality, we really do have more than the five senses we are taught in school, right?”
WOLFE: “I see…myself. Yes, we do kind of have a sixth sense. It’s the ability to sense our own bodies in relation to itself and in space. I said kind of because I’m being a little circumspect here. Not too long ago, there was the belief that our ability to sense ourselves wasn’t even really considered. Of course we’re aware of our own bodies, right? We are what we are. Meat and bone and blood. But HOW do we actually feel or know where we reside in space? Even less time ago, some folks thought it was just part of our sense of touch aided by our other senses, but no. It is its own thing.”
Minerva: “And it’s a thing that we all take for granted, even though we all very much went through the process of gaining it over time. After all, babies don’t know that their hand is their hand at first, or how to grasp or even touch things with it. And yet, it is something that can be taken away from us. For instance, the unfortunate Ian Waterman, whose full story I’ll link to on the podcast page. A gentleman who got what he thought was a very bad cold, and within a day, had entirely lost his sense of proprioception.”
WOLFE: “It’s not just a matter of, oh hey, I’m not sure where my hand is. At first, he had very little motor control at all. Closing his eyes in a sitting position for more than a few seconds would mean that he would fall over. In order to walk properly, he needs to actually look at his feet to see where they land. It’s like people learning to dance. Eventually, you learn the steps and don’t have to look at your feet anymore, but Mr. Waterman always has to look at his feet, for everything.”
Minerva: “And yet he does it. Even drives a car! He has to consciously focus on every move he makes, command each muscle in the proper order and with the proper timing and strength. Seriously, listeners. I want you to pause for a few seconds right now… unless of course you’re driving! And change position, or grasp and lift an object, and don’t just do it thoughtfully, do it with intent, with a focus on actually not only thinking through every step of the process but consciously making the movements. Now, imagine that being something you have to do, every movement all day, every day. It’s exhausting. Utterly incomprehensible and yet Mr. Waterman taught himself to do this.”
WOLFE: “It says something very striking, in my opinion, about our relationships with our bodies. We assume that we are our bodies, and our bodies are us. Right? This kind of whole. When we talk about ourselves, we always talk about mind and body. Some people like to add in the heart too, but you get what I’m talking about. But, see, when I look at cases like Mr. Waterman, it says to me that consciousness and body are two very different things. Our bodies are almost like encounter suits, allowing our consciousness to exist in and explore this hostile environment we call our home, planet Earth. And just like with any other piece of equipment or gear, it can malfunction. It can go wrong, and we’re forced to work harder to continue to exist. That’s what Mr. Waterman does. He works harder. Godspeed to you, sir.”
Minerva: “Which is where we differ, because for me where I would go is how important it is, if one is to be whole, to function fully and completely, to be in touch between mind and body, to function as one, to not live in a way that’s unbalanced between the two but remember that our wholeness is informed by both those aspects, as well as many others. But it is amazing to me what the mind is capable of when put to such an ultimate test. And… in an imperfect and forced segue… speaking of Mind and Body. I want to take you back to another time, a place far back in history, nearly lost in the fog of memory… The day I first walked into your office on the UCLA campus.”
WOLFE: “Hey, I like Mind and Body connections. I do /yoga/. Anyway, yes, I remember that day. I remember that day rather well, actually, because it had a profound change upon my life. It was the day I first met a real life superhero. It’s true, folks. Minerva’s superpower is nuclear powered adorableness. Am I allowed to say that on your show, oh she who makes my life glow in the dark with cuteness?”
Minerva: “That sounds vaguely insidious. I seem to remember you not thinking it was so cute when I basically lied my way into your office pretending to be a student. You see, I had read an interesting article about the connection between simple spatial video games and trauma management, and when I did further looking, I found to my great luck that one of the experts doing research in the field was working right here in Los Angeles. So, this obviously being fate, I tracked down Dr. Wolfe to ask him… does playing TETRIS really help alleviate PTSD?”
WOLFE: “I only pretended to be annoyed with your audacity, because my annoyance with your audacity was being nullified by super cuteness. But, now that you mention it, yes. Yes, TETRIS really does help to alleviate PTSD. It’s not the game itself, though to date it appears to be the best application of the concept. The idea is that PTSD occurs when the mind cannot let go of a trauma. It fails to process it, and therefore pass through it. Instead, it keeps reviewing the event, locking a person into an experience loop that causes the onset. What a game like TETRIS does, is it engages the brain just enough to distract it from getting locked into that loop. Processes move from fully active in the conscious mind, and gets shunted back into secondary systems where it can’t wear too much of a groove into the record, so to speak. But, the full benefits of this kind of treatment has a time limit on it.”
WOLFE: (There is a short pause, which always feels longer on an audio program.) “Yes,” says Wolfe, and now that voice of his moves from informatively happy to something more somber, weightier. His feelings on the matter of Minerva getting hurt will be somewhat obvious to the audience. “You got shot, and I brought you a TETRIS, and hovered about to make sure you played it. At least 20 minutes of focused play at a time. Actually, for you, I recommend that you just keep playing it. You need distractions.” And then he laughs, because that’s just so not true. “Actually, you just need safer distractions. Don’t get me started about the time you stopped Russian agents from taking over UCLA. Or that time you stopped a bank robbery in progress by asking the robber if the gun made him feel more powerful. Then there was the time that you invited a snarling bigfoot over for tea….yes. TETRIS. Definitely.”
Minerva: “I had a lot of very lovely distractions during my recuperation, and then of course ever since, life is just a series of events that don’t allow me to dwell. Anecdotes are not data, and so we’ll never know if it was the game that helped me specifically, but I seem to have been saved the carved neural pathways from that particular traumatic incident. I know research is still being done, but about how effective is this therapy?”
WOLFE: “Well, like you said, research is still being done. However, the effective of the therapy is being tested over a number of different parameters and in several contextual relationships. If treatment is offered within the first 24 hours, it is remarkably more effective than all the standard treatments and timelines. Over the course of 72 hours, the efficacy drops, but is still above the curve in relation to other treatments, and that’s just for the onset of PTSD. When the treatment is applied to people suffering from anxiety over a longer period, say 4 to 6 weeks, it’s considered to be highly effective in relation to other treatments for anxiety. Where its efficacy falls is in the treatment of depression, and while that feels like a loss on the surface, we really made that measurement as a contrasting placeholder. Depression is a much different disorder than PTSD or anxiety. Depression can onset from prolonged case of the either two, but it isn’t a straight shot progression. It is an animal unto itself, with different strengths and weaknesses.”
Minerva: “So, I think what is important is that people remember that we’re not saying that this is a magic bullet that will stop PTSD, but that it is a tool that has shown useful in lessening some of the aspects of trauma response.. And it is cheap, and easy, and accessible anywhere at any time. That’s a win win in my book. This whole story is also a reminder that sometimes it’s important to look at common things in an uncommon way. You never know when you could find something that could really change someone’s life right in your pocket.”
WOLFE: “As much as we would like there to be magic bullets in the world…well…maybe one day. But you know what’s interesting, Minerva? It’s that no matter how advanced we become, there is always a root basis of ancient wisdom in the techniques and procedures and gadgets we make that make our lives better or healthier or more pleasant. It turns out that there is solid evidence that one of the better treatments to help stave off PTSD is…distraction. Simple distraction. Just the right kind, and the right amount. But there it is. Perhaps, something for your listeners to do today would be to try to take note of the fancy things they use in their life today that boil down to simple principles.”
Minerva: “And that’s it for this episode of the podcast. I want to thank Dr. Wolfe for coming out and spending this time with me… and also providing me a well timed game of Tetris. If you’re looking to hear more from the good doctor, keep your eye on his new company Bad Wolf Media… co-producing our show today … and maybe attend one of his classes at UCLA but don’t say I sent you. Now that my hiatus is over, episodes will probably not be coming out quite as frequently as they once did, however I do have two awesome episodes lined up, one about the worlds most mysterious lake, where theories go to die, and the other, tales of old Hollywood with a very special insider guest who I hope you’ll all find as intriguing as I do. My last little thought as I bid you farewell. Remember, your mind is capable of incredible things. Full of potential, electricity, and wonder. Feed it well, exercise it often, and let it explore to the furthest reaches.”
Words will go here soon.
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