Halfwit History

32 - Frozen Empress

January 20, 2020 Jonathan & Kiley Season 1 Episode 32
Halfwit History
32 - Frozen Empress
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Show Notes Transcript

This week Kiley takes over the Byzantine Empire, by popular vote? Jonathan crawls into a chilly chamber and hopefully smart future people can reanimate him!

Topics: Theodora III Queen of the Byzantine Empire, Dr. James Bedford First Cryonaut. 

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Music: "Another Day" by The Fisherman.
Cover Art by Lezulla
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spk_0:   0:32
hi and welcome to halfway history. I'm Jonathan, and I'm Kylie. And this is a show where we talk about the upcoming week, but a long time ago. And by God, we're going to do it this time.

spk_1:   0:42
We did. We have prepped three episodes, So we're gonna hatch on

spk_0:   0:48
where we're gonna be back to our normal schedule with actual this week in history again,

spk_1:   0:54
please. Your god. Huh? Boy,

spk_0:   0:58
do we have any updates? Other than the fact that we're recording this back to back to back?

spk_1:   1:03
Um, I d'oh. So the last episode I made some offhand comment let like the 100 years war was only, like, 70 years, something like that. It was 116

spk_0:   1:12
my bad. And you trimmed the other way.

spk_1:   1:15
I did. We did. We tried to do the math, too. And it's not like it was 100 years with the breaks like there were. It definitely didn't even out. Oh, it's like 100 years.

spk_0:   1:27
So yeah. Oh, I guess another update is we are recording on a new scarlet 18 i 20.

spk_1:   1:37
I have no idea what that means, but it's

spk_0:   1:39
a mixer

spk_1:   1:40
like new,

spk_0:   1:41
and we're recording downstairs in our living room comfortably on our couch.

spk_1:   1:48
Well, you're on the couch. I'm in our big, fat round chair. That's, like, the most heavenly thing ever.

spk_0:   1:55
Yes. So this will be the most chill episodes of half wit history, and hopefully the audio quality works out. So we can keep doing this cause this is comfortable.

spk_1:   2:07
Yes, I like it. Better work.

spk_0:   2:09
Bill likes it too, because now he consider my lap. Well, where On the couch. In recording? Yeah, us. Hidden behind many sheets in little foam room in the corner of a room where he is on the bed alone.

spk_1:   2:22
Yeah. And we can get our guest room back to That's nice. Yeah. I mean, like, it was always still a guest room, but I always felt really funny having to pull down all the blankets and everything. Right. But when people would kill over every like, don't look, don't look. Don't look for so yeah, this is exciting.

spk_0:   2:39
High right into it. Oh, other warning is since recording three episodes, and it is currently 10 o'clock at night on a Sunday. I'm going to not edit these as much. So wishes luck. Yeah, I'll get back into actual editing. Ah, leader, get rid of us. Like the one I just said

spk_1:   2:59
he had to hear all of my really bad pronunciation attempts. Yeah, because usually you edit those out.

spk_0:   3:07
Yeah, Um, also, because of that, this episode might be a little bit longer because we're not recording on a dass ity anymore. We've got multi track, so I can't do the truncate silence stuff, so

spk_1:   3:17
we'll just have to be speedy.

spk_0:   3:18
We'll just have to be good. Yeah, making a speedy. Let's get to it. What is your? Well, what date do you have? And what week are we currently doing?

spk_1:   3:29
So this is the week of January 6th through the 12th and mine is on January 11th of 10. 50

spk_0:   3:35
5 10 55 way Beats me.

spk_1:   3:39
He all right. So, Theodora, poor fear agenda. Jonathan, listen to me. Have that be read out loud to be multiple times before for

spk_0:   3:53
old granite. Sounds like Brad Pitt's character. Inglorious bastards. All the different pronunciations going on.

spk_1:   4:02
Yeah, um, Oral Lammy. Well, I will say the British version was much nicer than the English. Like the Americanized pronunciation. It was. It was scary. Anyway, So Theodora was the youngest daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine the eighth and his wife, Helena. She was born sometime in Ah, 9 80 80 There's not really a full date. Okay, um so the the last name the poor for genital means born into the purple, which was the Appalachian for a child born in the capital of a reigning emperor. So her father was a co ruler with his brother until his until his brother's death death when he became the sole ruler until 10 28 as an eligible imperial princess, Theodora was considered as a possible bride for the Holy Roman Emperor in the West Auto, the third in 96 however, she was overlooked in favor of her sister, Zoe Auto. The third, however, died before any marriage could occur. So yeah, hey, escape. Oh, boy, not for long. Constantine's brother also kept any of his nieces from marrying Byzantine nobles as he worried it would give their husbands a claim to his throne and as a woman, Theodora. And so we were unable to exercise any state authority there only say in any of this was in choosing, maybe or, more likely, accepting or not or being forced to accept a husband who would acquire their authority upon marriage. So Theodore lived a life of relative obscurity in The Imperial Highness IAM, which was the like women's quarters she provoked. She proved yourself to be a strong and independent woman by refusing to marry the man her father had chosen to succeed him, who was Roman nose? Argh! Euros her, In my opinion, valid argument was that he was already married and he was. His wife had decided to become a nun so that he could marry into the imperial family. And just as like a side note, I don't think that makes you unmarried. Are you sure? I don't know. But I have a feeling that that felt like a divorce or like UN annulment. Like she just became a nun. She didn't like, break like, actually, like, sever the ties. I don't know. I don't know how that works, I guess, but it doesn't seem to me, but maybe that's just me. So her other complaint was that Romano's was her third cousin, and she argued that they were too closely related to be married, which it can also grew. That

spk_0:   6:57
so they're very fair.

spk_1:   6:59
Yeah, better than first cousin, but still not great. So consequently, Constantine, the eighth chose Theodore's sister, and Zoe married Roman owes three days before her father died, and then Theodore returned to the museum. So I'm like, how Zoe, if you had just held out like three more days, you wouldn't have had to marry the Stewed. Yeah, whoops. Well, although as we get into it, I feel like we'll realize that she probably would have married whoever would have got her on the throat. Satisfied. So during her sister's co rain, Theodore was accused of conspiring to marry to Merry Men and take the throne for herself. Several times. Despite her effective banishment from court, Zoe persuaded her husband to send men to spy on her sister, appointing one of their own men as the head of Theodore's household. And shortly afterwards, Theodora Theodora was accused of plotting to marry the Bulgarian prince Persian. That is pressing. I'm sorry. I can't read. It's fine. Press Ian and you serve the throne with him. Press iam within blinded and sent to a monastery.

spk_0:   8:06
Oh, no.

spk_1:   8:06
Yeah. Theodore wasn't punished, I guess is the Holy insisted which the girl gets up, but I guess you better, Um, in 10 31 she was implicated in a similar conspiracy, this time with Constantine Dia. Jenny's The archon of are kind of, sir. Me, Um, Greek names are not my forte,

spk_0:   8:36
I can tell, and the listeners will be able to tell this time as well. I'm not edited it all out.

spk_1:   8:42
Yeah, well, I'm not convinced my final pronunciation decisions are accurate either. So, um yes. So Theodore was forcibly confined to the monastery of Petrie on during a visit. Zoe compelled her sister to take holy orders. So basically becoming a nun. And Theodore remained there for the next 11 years as Zoe managed the empire with her husband's, Romano's, the third and after his death, Michael the fourth. There has been some speculation over the cause of Roman noses death. Some sources imply that Zoe and Michael had become lovers and hatched a plot to overthrow him and had him killed while he was in the bathtub. Oh, yeah, It was so long ago that, like there's not really a whole lot of, like supporting evidence, but so bright. It's a rumor that's like persisted. So who knows,

spk_0:   9:37
I feel like that's a lot of military.

spk_1:   9:40
Yes, I feel like there could be like a kernel of truth to it. So who knows? Um, with Michael, the 4th 4th death in December of 10 41 Zoe adopted Michael's nephew, who was then crowned as Michael the fifth. Although he promised to respect Zoey, he promptly vent banished her to a monastery on the Princess Islands in charges of attempted regicide. So whoops this treatment of the legitimate heir to the Macedonian dynasty caused a popular uprising in Constantinople. And on April 19th of 10 42 the people dethroned Michael the fifth in support of not just Zoe but Theodore is Wow. So Michael the fifth was desperate to keep his throne, and she initially brought Zoe back from the Princess Island and displayed her to the people. But the population rejected his proposal that he continued to rule alongside her. So key members of the court decided that the flighty Zo Zoe needed a co ruler and back to the people's demand that it should be Theodora, who in my opinion, definitely had like the most level headed in her family. Apparently when the delegation sent to retrieve Theodora told her what was happening. She refused to become co ruler and ran away to the chapel, escape the delegation, pursued her, pulled her from the chapel, forcibly changed her like religious garments for imperial dress and then bundled her after the capital. So basically, they kidnapped her from a church,

spk_0:   11:16
gave her a laser blaster and sent her off to Miss

spk_1:   11:20
Yikes. Um, so at an assembly at Hey, Gs Sofia, the people escorted the now furious Theodora and proclaimed her Empress was Zoe. After crowning Theodora, the mob stormed the palace and forced Michael the fifth to escape to a monastery. How the tables have turned my dude very much. So Zoe immediately assumed power and tried to force Theodora back to her monastery. But the's Senate and the people. Do you hear that? No. All right. My tennis. This is acting up or find living along. It

spk_0:   12:00
was talking about the wind or

spk_1:   12:01
No, no, no. It was just this really high pitched ringing sound that I suddenly heard

spk_0:   12:07
leaving on. Really? Oh, hold on. It's

spk_1:   12:14
okay. Um, so as her first act, Theodore was called upon to deal with Michael the fifth Zoe, weak and easily manipulated, wanted, departed and free him. But Theodore was far more strict. She initially guaranteed Michael safety before ordering that he be blinded and spend the rest of the rest of his life his life as a monk. As a side note, Why does it always seem like the punishment at this time was blinding? That's pretty harsh, like Yeah, like I don't know is that it doesn't know necessarily steal, like the crime has committed a punishment, has much the crime. But they were different times. I guess so with Michael, the fifth dealt with Theodore refused to leave the Haghia Sophia until she had received ah, formal invitation from Zoe, and that happened about 24 hours after they had been crowned. While officially Theodore was the junior empress, and her throne was situated slightly behind Zoey's on all public occasions. In practice, she was really the driving force behind their joint administration. The sisters administered the empire, focusing on curbing the scale of public, the sale of public offices and on the administration of justice. And I'm like, good for them good job guys, those air worthy causes. Although Theodore Enzo he appeared together at meetings of the Senate or when they gave other public appearances. It was pretty soon apparent that their joint rain was under considerable strain. Still jealous of Theodora, Zoe had no desire to administer the empire. But she wouldn't allow Theodore to conduct public business business alone, and court factions began to form behind each empress. After about two months of increasing attention between them, Zoe decided to search for a new husband, which would deny Theodora her claim to the throne. Um, and it would stifle her, like clearly obvious talents for actually governing. Unlike her sister, she eventually married Constantine, the ninth, on June 11th of 10 42 and the management of the Empire reverted to him because apparently, even though he's not the royal bloodline, he's a dude. Therefore, he's in charge. Uh, yep. Sometimes I hate history. It's

spk_0:   14:46
fine. You picked the wrong job.

spk_1:   14:52
Um, so I'll love Theodore and Zoe continued to be recognized his empress's. And although Theodore continued to appear at all official functions, the power devolved back onto um Constantine. Nevertheless, Theodore exerted her influence at court and, as demonstrated by her ordering the arrest and blinding of John the You Nick, who is the powerful administrator who had been the chief minister to Romano's. 1/3 who was always first husband. Um, and he was the brother of Michael the fourth. So also Roman Noses nephew. And was the uncle of Michael the fifth? No, I have that wrong, not Roman noses. Nephew Michael. The fourth was not related to reminisce. I've got myself back up. Um, and he had been living like an exile after Michael's Michael. It's just fall, Um, but Theodora decided to blind him and sent him into exile.

spk_0:   15:50
Pork? I already have his genitals. Now he's blinded to.

spk_1:   15:53
Also, when I was looking at it like looking into him, I found out that three of his him and two of his two other siblings were UNIX. Like they were castrated purposely, as Children like, for whatever social status that would imply slave. Yeah, well, I guess we'll and then the two other brothers Michael, the fourth who became like emperor they were him and another brother were called bearded men, which meant that they weren't UNIX, which I just gave them some other higher standing. And I'm over here feeling like, Well, this kind of feels like eugenics. Like you're deciding which of your Children can have more Children. Yes, that's exactly what it was. All right, Fun. So, yeah,

spk_0:   16:50
you're poor. You don't get to have

spk_1:   16:53
No, no, they weren't poor. They were like nobility. They were upper class.

spk_0:   16:57
Well, I mean, they also did this to like,

spk_1:   16:59
Well, yeah, four. Yeah, but yeah, this particular set wasn't right, but yeah. Um, anyway, that was just like my side comment. So as many men do, Especially the ruling kind. Constantine is always brand new. Husband got himself own mistress

spk_0:   17:17
as the view.

spk_1:   17:18
Yep. That's what I said. I said, like, That's the as, like, the ruling the ruling men do. It seems that every king has a mistress, like all throughout history. So it seems like pretty standard at this point. So apparently he treated his mistress so well that there were rumors that he was planning to murder Theodore and Zoe, presumably to replace them with, said Mistress as his empress. And this led to a popular uprising by the citizens of Constantinople in 10 44 which came dangerously close to actually harming Constantine, who is participating in a religious procession along the streets of Constantinople. So side note, if you're hated by your people, maybe don't go walking conspicuously through the streets, drawing all sorts of attention to yourself. Something bad is gonna happen. So the mob only quote was only quieted by the appearance on the balcony of the palace of Zoe and Theodora, who, like, actually had to verbally reassure the mob that they weren't going to be assassinated. Uh uh. Great.

spk_0:   18:29
What were times?

spk_1:   18:30
Yeah, really? So Zoe died in 10. 50 and Theodore appears to have retired to a convent which left Constantine and whatever girl he now had to rule on his side in relative peace, at least until his death in 10 55. So on his deathbed, his advisers attempted to have him ignore Theodore's right to rule in favor of the Duke of the Byzantine theme off Bulgaria. I have absolutely no

spk_0:   18:56
idea what that is, but I

spk_1:   18:57
couldn't leave that title out, and he has a name, but I don't really care. So Theodore preempted their plans when, despite her advanced age, she vigorously asserted her right to rule. She came out of retirement and convened the Senate and the Imperial Guard proclaimed her emperor shortly before Constantine's death on January 11th of 10 55. Which is what leads me to the reason I'm talking about her. Yeah, she was proclaimed the Soul Empress of the Byzantine Empire, which, considering the time, that's a pretty impressive feat. Yeah, huge, Yeah, so and like, they actively chose her over a male that was going to be, like, stated as air, like, proclaimed as air, like the people actively were like, No, like we want her. So I'm like, That's very cool job girl. That's pretty cool. So a purge of senior officials and the leadership of the European military units followed, and Theodore dismissed her, exiled. Most of the officials that had been appointed under her sister and Constantine Theodore controlled the nobles and checked their numerous abuses. She also g ah, however, damage to reputation with excessive severity towards her private enemies. And in her choice of advisers, military and court officers were filled, offices were filled by her house household. UNIX and Abel commanders that had previously served were dismissed without, like, really good reason. Anything else? Yeah, pretty much. He's draining the swamp. Oh, boy. Um, she determined to centralize as much power in her hands as possible. She presided in person in the Senate and heard appeals as supreme judge in civil cases. Her appointment of clerics offended the patriarch, Michel Carol Larios, who considered this the duty of men and not women, which, incidentally, he played a major role in the great schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. So take that as you will. So when Theodore was 76 the patriarch, Michel Carol Oreos, advocated that Theodora advance the subject to the throne through marriage to her at 76. Marriage to her E. I mean, like, go for. But I feel like at that point you're past the age of like being forced into marriage like

spk_0:   21:35
you're an elder. At that

spk_1:   21:36
point, it just seems kind of foolish, like like you should have someone marry you to ensure, like the rule continues when, like there aren't gonna be kids to come from, that that union, like that's just that's just biology. Could be. I love kids

spk_0:   21:53
that late.

spk_1:   21:54
Most people can't have kids that late. Just most people can't have kids that late, most women, But theoretically, you could happen. However, my opinion is that I feel like once you hit like there should be a certain age. Er no one can force you to get married and stupid. Anyway,

spk_0:   22:13
no one had rights back

spk_1:   22:15
then. Especially not women.

spk_0:   22:18
People barely have rights right now.

spk_1:   22:21
Especially not women are people of color who I could go on. All right, anyway. So Theodora, in her her fashion refused to even consider a marriage. No matter how much of like a token marriage, it would be good, girl. She also refused to name an heir to the throne. And unfortunately, she became gravely ill with an intestinal disorder. Sounds like someone else. I know.

spk_0:   22:47
I hope I'm not gravely ill.

spk_1:   22:48
Well, I feel like Oh, like, if you were having your issues back then they'd probably be like he's gonna die. He dies soon. Like it's just a matter of time. You need to proclaim an heir, Bilbo Bilbo Baggins. Our area. Byzantine. Yes. So she became ill in late August of 10. 56 and on August 31st her advisers decided to meet and decide who would who to recommend to her as a successor. According to sell us. They selected Michael. Bring us an age civil servant and former military finance minister who's almost soul attraction was that he was less qualified to rule than he would be to be ruled and directed by others. So they just wanted a puppet. Pretty much. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, unfortunately, Theodore was unable to speak, but her chief advisor decided that she had nodded at an appropriate moment.

spk_0:   23:57
I mean, to be fair, if you can no longer speak, you should not be ruling.

spk_1:   24:02
Yeah, there.

spk_0:   24:03
You have to boil it down to a nod. That mayor may not have happened. I think your time is up.

spk_1:   24:08
Yeah. Um, so hearing of this, the patriarch refused to believe it, but eventually he was persuaded and bring us was crowned as Michael. The six Theodora died a few hours later and with her death of the Macedonian dynasty is 189 year rule ended because she had no progeny. So yeah, that was Ah, the soul visiting Empress. Very cool. They were probably a couple of others, like, throughout time, just because, like, it acted like a co ruler ship kind of thing. So if one person died like there was sort of a balance. I just thought she was cool because of people were like, No, we want her.

spk_0:   24:51
Yeah, that is very cool.

spk_1:   24:53
Yeah, I was like, That's really neat.

spk_0:   24:55
Okay, so we're jumping way ahead up to 1967 for mine.

spk_1:   25:00
Oh, boy.

spk_0:   25:01
We're going to January 12th of 1967 where Dr James Bedford became the first person to be cryogenically preserved with the intent of future resuscitation.

spk_1:   25:12
Oh, boy.

spk_0:   25:13
So who was Dr James Bedford? Not much seems to be known about the Dr Bedford outside of his being frozen. He was a professor of psychology at the University of California. He was a world war veteran, and he wrote six books on vocational counseling. He was married to his wife, Anna Chandler Rice, who unfortunately died within the first year of them being married. That's suspicious. You're white. Why are you always so suspicious of my topics?

spk_1:   25:42
I No, no, no. I'm saying more along the lines of like, I feel like anyone who dies in the first year of marriage is probably murdered by their spouse. Okay, that's just my leg. True crime fan coming through, I think.

spk_0:   25:54
Okay, I'm not tainted by the true crime podcast.

spk_1:   25:57
Oh, you just late. Oh,

spk_0:   25:59
boy. I feel like our podcast is the closest I'll ever get to true crime. So, Doctor, Dr Bedford remarried three years later to Rui Maclaggan and had five Children. When not working, he enjoyed both being creative and an adventurer. Dr. Bedford traveled to the Amazon and regularly went on African safaris. Wow. And now that I'm reading that, that sounded way too much like a dating profile. Yes, yes, Magic. Like the magic mirror in trick.

spk_1:   26:33
Oh, my God. Yeah. Yes, That is actually exactly what it sounds like.

spk_0:   26:40
So I'm gonna do one better than Kylie. And instead of talk about this guy's life, I'm just gonna go right ahead to his death.

spk_1:   26:47
It sounds good.

spk_0:   26:49
Not long before his death from kidney cancer that had metastasized in his lungs of really crazy, um, Bedford read a book by the father of cryonics, Robert Edinger. It was called the prospect of immortality. Bedford reached out to Edinger, who connected him to a local cryo enthusiast. Robert Nelson. Nelson was a TV repairman with zero scientific background.

spk_1:   27:13
Wait a second. Um, I am suspicious now.

spk_0:   27:18
Yep, but Nelson was tasked with just mere weeks, but Nelson was tasked with, just mere weeks later, preserving bed for his body. On June 12 of 1967 James Bedford succumb to his battle with cancer, and mere hours later, Nelson and two other associates have Bedford packed into a coffin surrounded by ice and had given him injections of dimethyl self oxide and another experimental cryo protecting called Ringer's solution. Once he was prepared and stored, Nelson got the casket packed in into his truck and stored Bedford in his garage.

spk_1:   28:02
I take issue with that. That sounds very concerning.

spk_0:   28:09
I mean, this is a TV repairman.

spk_1:   28:11
Yeah, I mean, like I have more faith in, like a refrigerator repairman. I think

spk_0:   28:16
I don't think it would matter.

spk_1:   28:18
I don't either. I think this is crazy, but I guess the desperate will do desperate things. I

spk_0:   28:24
don't know. Yeah, well, the next day, Nelson would Dr Bedford to Phoenix, Arizona, basically trying to get him to someone who actually knows what they're doing. And it was recalled that on the way that they need to stop to repack him with more dry ice, not entirely thinking about their transaction. They stopped next to a park where Children were running, swinging in playing. Nelson describes that they were lifting the lid of what could be nothing but a coffin, you know, with clouds of smoke arising from it on. Not one person gave us a strange look. Oh, my gosh, that's ridiculous. Yep. So eventually Bedford got to Edward Hopes Cryo care facility in Phoenix, where the body would stay until 1969. It would. Then we moved to Southern California, where it stayed until 1973 and then moved again to Berkeley, California's trans time facility.

spk_1:   29:21
Wow, he's really well travelled for a corpse

spk_0:   29:23
for a corpse. He's been around the block. Yeah. Of ice. Huh?

spk_1:   29:29
Oh, boy, we need, like the rim shot. Like a sound effect on your do thinking. Maybe it's

spk_0:   29:36
in there. How? Look,

spk_1:   29:37
who knows.

spk_0:   29:40
So in 1977 Bedford was yet again moved, but this time to his son's care, where they started cooling his body with a liquid nitrogen tank. Okay, crazy enough, his family kept him until 1980 to imagine having your dead dad frozen in your house for five years.

spk_1:   29:59
I imagine you 30 years out.

spk_0:   30:02
That's not nice. No, it wasn't. I'm sorry,

spk_1:   30:07
John. Uh, no, it wouldn't happen because Jonathan doesn't throw anything away.

spk_0:   30:16
Listen here, we're moving on. So in 1982 Bedford was moved to and is to this day located at Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona, where his

spk_1:   30:32
corpse is still there.

spk_0:   30:33
Yes. Oh, so what are cryonics? First and foremost, I cannot stretch this enough. Cryonics is pseudo science.

spk_1:   30:45
I would assume at this point, eso

spk_0:   30:48
cryonics is the belief that if we freeze a person, they will eventually be technologically advanced enough to restore the frozen

spk_1:   30:54
people. Yeah. You know, see the thing that I think the problem is that the thing that killed I feel like maybe if you froze them before they died? No. Like, I feel like the problem is that the thing killed them already.

spk_0:   31:13
Well, there there hope is that in x amount of years, they'll have a cure for the thing that killed them. So that they can remove it before resuscitation so that they can live again. It's a pseudoscience. Don't hear that.

spk_1:   31:29
I'm like trying to wrap my brain around this so hard, and it's just not happening.

spk_0:   31:33
So also a good point, remember, is that cryonics is fake. But cryogenics is riel. The first is the belief of reanimation. The ladder is the study of things at a cold temperature.

spk_1:   31:44
Okay. All right.

spk_0:   31:45
Yep. So just remember, if you hear cryogenics first. Cryonics. There they are. Different things. Cryogenics are really cryonics or not. Yep. Cryonics or not, that is animation or re animation.

spk_1:   31:56
So, like Dr Freeze and Batman wanted Toa re animate his wife or whatever, Right? Right. The George Clooney one with the bat nipples.

spk_0:   32:10
Right. Arnold Schwarzenegger is Mr Forget his door Freeze. Yes. I mean, he also just wanted to freeze everything.

spk_1:   32:19
Well, yeah, true. But like the whole way back story was that, like his wife died like private, I think was from cancer. And, like, he froze her body so that he could try and bring her back. Yeah, it was very I remember

spk_0:   32:29
watching that of the kid and being rather disturbed. I mean, the bat nipples were disturbing that you didn't really need any tragic backstory.

spk_1:   32:36
I like the Val Kilmer version. That was probably

spk_0:   32:38
my favorite. So for our guy, Dr James Bedford, there is likely no way he would even have a chance of coming back. First of all, when they preserved him, they never moved his blood, which is something that they would do today. Secondly, the ringer solution was believed to have protected the brain, but has since been proven that this effect is no greater than just the regular freezing. Okay. Yep. So what they thought was preventing the brain from being damaged in all of its neurons being damaged is it doesn't work. So there's no way this guy's coming back.

spk_1:   33:13
I mean, yeah.

spk_0:   33:16
And also, there's just no evidence that even if a brain is intact, that could be functional after thawing or that it wouldn't be damaged from thawing itself.

spk_1:   33:25
Yeah, I mean, there. Now I'm pulling on what I've seen via Grade's anatomy, which is probably horrifically wrong. But isn't there some sort of like process they can do with some particular element where they bring your body temperature down far enough to, like, stop your heart? And then there's like a certain amount of time in which you can, like, get it, warm the body up and get it

spk_0:   33:51
re pumping and enter something like that. There's probably something like that, but it's definitely not re animation. That person is alive. Fair in F? Yeah, yeah. So just to put more people to the idea of this being a pseudoscience. In an article written for the 2015 California magazine by Chris A. Smith, Mr Smith interviewed a professor at UC Berkeley who studies cryogenics, not cryonics. Cryogenics. Ah, Professor Boris Reuben ski works in freezing and reviving of small animal organs and is one of a number of studies that cry honest this site as support for the idea that science will one day be able to revive humans. Herben sees reply when asking about anything about cryonics was, I prefer to stay as far away from cryonics as possible.

spk_1:   34:43
Fair enough.

spk_0:   34:43
So the guy who probably knows the most about how we would go about doing this

spk_1:   34:48
wants nothing to do with it.

spk_0:   34:50
Absolutely nothing to do with it. So just remember, you here try Onyx pseudo signs. Maybe maybe someday far in the future will be able to preserve people so that maybe in someday far in the future we can bring them back. But in the sixties was not the time that that was going to be possible.

spk_1:   35:08
And it seems like probably not even today would be a really effective way to preserve someone.

spk_0:   35:14
There are still people who get preserved. To this day. There is something like 250 individuals who have been preserved all over the world.

spk_1:   35:22
Wasn't there a rumor that Walt Disney got preserved?

spk_0:   35:24
We'll get there. Okay. Sorry. So there's also two different kinds of cryonics. There's full body, like Dr Bedford. And then there are neuroscience, which are what cryonics people call severed heads. Oh. Yep. So, like Futurama head in a jar? Yes. But instead of in a guard's frozen,

spk_1:   35:46
Yes. Yeah. Although my I will say my brain did just go to like, you can freeze your eggs. Yeah, to, like, have kids later.

spk_0:   35:57
Yeah, they're not multi cellular

spk_1:   35:59
Tregoning. All right? Yeah, you're right. They are. They're much simpler. Yeah, Much

spk_0:   36:03
simpler than a full person. Fair enough. Also, they're they're, like, not even like a complete thing at that point, you need because I go to even start being

spk_1:   36:12
Yeah, we're you literally. Just the egg. It's half of what

spk_0:   36:16
you need. Yeah. So these people that air the euros are either hoping to find a way to transfer their brain data into a neural network. So, basically a big network of brains or brain data that's disturbing you. Or find a way to attach them to a new body, be it robotic or bionic,

spk_1:   36:38
huh? OK,

spk_0:   36:40
they're just preparing for everything that they have

spk_1:   36:41
a whole lot of impact there.

spk_0:   36:45
Well, one of impact. Something else. But I'm another room dubbed thing yet. Rim shot him shot. Wow. Wow. Hold on. I gotta woo. I'm gonna have to do more editing that I wanted to. Oh, my God. We have two more episodes after this. How are we gonna make it? I hate you. I ate. You know, I've always hated you. You more than anything in this whole damn world, did it? Did it? Did it? Did it? Did it? Have you ever seen that

spk_1:   37:25
is like that for a

spk_0:   37:27
dramatic reading of a break up letter? Nope. Never seen that. It's funny. Anyways, how is Dr Bedford doing? Packing? Yeah, that's he's packed away. Let's unpack this. Ha ha ha. It's not, you know, unpack, Mr Bedford.

spk_1:   37:43
Oh, dear.

spk_0:   37:44
Because we are so in 1991 the Alcor facility that houses Dr Bedford upgraded him to a brand new state of the art Do our which do ours just a word for any thing that you can keep like cryo protecting and stuff in keeping things really cold.

spk_1:   38:03
He melted right?

spk_0:   38:05
So when they moving him, they cut open his original packaging to see what the state of his head was. They were expecting, since it was done fairly crudely and transported so much that his body may be disfigured or discolored at the least. What they ended up finding was probably exactly how he looked on the day that he was packed away.

spk_1:   38:24
Oh, wow.

spk_0:   38:25
They're even sharp corners that were still present on the original ice that he was packed in with meaning that at no point during any of these transfers did the body ever reach melting temperatures because the ice was still sharp. If it was, if it had gotten warm right, the ice corners would be slightly rounded because they would have started melting,

spk_1:   38:42
right? Wow, that's

spk_0:   38:45
nuts. Yeah, So according to Alcor, he looks really good and quote, he's got a shot at coming back for shore. Disagree, spoiler he does not have already been damaged due to the chemical used to preserve him. Be proven, not toe properly. Vitrified brain tissue. Yeah, so, like his brain is mush. At this point, it's not like there's no, there's no bringing it back.

spk_1:   39:13
There's no function there any more. Or there wouldn't be if

spk_0:   39:16
there was anything to make it function right. So let's go on to other cryogenically frozen people or chronically frozen people. I should say, Ah, there is a World War two Korean War veteran and Red Sox baseball Hall of Famer Ed Williams who

spk_1:   39:34
was frozen

spk_0:   39:35
after he died of a heart attack in 2002.

spk_1:   39:37
Oh, shit. Really? Yeah. Hey

spk_0:   39:40
was 83 when he was frozen. His will says that he was supposed to be cremated, but a son fought a legal battle with his daughter, where he brought a cocktail napkin that stated that Ted wanted his entire family to be frozen and controversially, it was held up up in court.

spk_1:   39:58
I can't imagine why that would be controversial. If I were the daughter, I'd be like, I really don't want to be frozen.

spk_0:   40:04
Yeah, and Ted Williams is a neuro, so he is just his head. Uh, Yep. Ah. Now our next one is John Henry Williams. Yes. This is Ted Williams, son.

spk_1:   40:19
Oh, great. All right.

spk_0:   40:21
So the guy that fought with the napkin just before his dad died saying No, this is what his last will was? Yep. He stayed true to his bar napkin and was also frozen in 2004 at the age of 35 after a battle with leukemia.

spk_1:   40:35
Ok, is he also just ahead?

spk_0:   40:38
I don't know. All right, so if you take the good to take the bad, you take them both. And there you have the facts of life. One of those facts of life is that in death in 1988 declare Jones, the actor from the TV show The Facts of Life died of AIDS complications and then was frozen also.

spk_1:   41:01
Oh, already then

spk_0:   41:03
and famous. Some just random famous people who are still live today that want to be frozen include, but are very not not, but are very likely not limited to Larry King, Paris Hilton, Seth McFarlane, And because she's already paid it for it to the tune of $200,000 Britney Spears

spk_1:   41:22
Oh, boy.

spk_0:   41:24
Yep. So all of those people are looking to have future appearances.

spk_1:   41:28
Oh, no, I'm surprised. Military now I'm not.

spk_0:   41:33
Not at all.

spk_1:   41:33
No, no, no. I thought it through for a second and went Nah, nah, I'm not

spk_0:   41:37
surprised by that. So I would say, if you want to take a guess, But you kind of did that right in the beginning of the episode. Who's missing from this list?

spk_1:   41:45
While Disney

spk_0:   41:46
who was not frozen head nor hole, it was a myth.

spk_1:   41:50
Not frozen? Yep. Good. I like to imagine he was smarter

spk_0:   41:58
than that. People could be all kinds of smart.

spk_1:   42:03
Yeah, there are. There are definitely different versions of smart.

spk_0:   42:08
Okay, so now we're onto our call to action pump pump. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter at half wit. God, if one history

spk_1:   42:19
half of history,

spk_0:   42:21
you can find us on Facebook and Twitter at half wood history as you can. Send us an email at Half wit pod at gmail dot com. And you can find our patri on at half wit pot as well.

spk_1:   42:34
Yes. Um, So if anyone wants to send us an email, Any suggestions for topics um, like that kind of thing. That would be great. Um, also, if anyone is interested, we would super appreciate iTunes reviews. Not iTunes anymore. Apple podcasts. Um, those air definitely super useful for getting like the show out there and stuff. So the more reviews we get, the more like publicity we get, which is always a good thing.

spk_0:   43:03
And, more importantly, just share like our website to anyone who might not know what pod catcher they're using people new to podcasts. Um, you can find out where we're located by going to www dot halfway That's history dot com that has a list of everywhere where you can find us

spk_1:   43:18
or, you know, just forcibly downloaded onto their phone. That

spk_0:   43:21
works, too. You can do that. And I'd like to thank the fishermen for the use of our theme song. It's a no Nope. For the use of our theme song. Another day. Yes, you can find it soundcloud in our show notes. And are we missing anything else where we underfund fax

spk_1:   43:44
fun that

spk_0:   43:45
fine backs? Let's go.

spk_1:   43:48
All right. Do you have more than one? Nor

spk_0:   43:51
I have three.

spk_1:   43:52
Oh, you can pick first done.

spk_0:   43:54
Okay, on January 8th of 19 0 to New York State, Assemblyman Francis G. Landon gets a bill passed to criminalize men turning around on the street and looking at a woman in that way, a k a. The distracted boyfriend. Mim. Yes. Try to make it illegal in 1902

spk_1:   44:13
Yup. Oh, it was passed. So,

spk_0:   44:17
uh, it was bath?

spk_1:   44:18
Yeah. I don't know if it was on the books. If it gets a

spk_0:   44:21
bill passed

spk_1:   44:21
on your books, but yeah, that was Paso in New York. You king. I think it's probably like a fine or something, but you looking in trouble for that? So shame on you, boys.

spk_0:   44:33
All right, what's your fun fact?

spk_1:   44:34
All right, my fun fact is, ah, there's so many good ones to pick from. Okay. On January 6 of 1973 Schoolhouse Rock premiered on ABC TV with the multiplication rock. Who? I don't remember it. I remember the bill one. That's the thing

spk_0:   44:57
that I remember. I'm just a bill.

spk_1:   44:59
Yeah, but I was like, Oh, hey, Schoolhouse rock. Cool. So yeah.

spk_0:   45:05
All right, well, we'll see you guys all very soon as we're about to Just stop this save it and record another episode? Yes. So, as always, I've been your half wit and I'm your historian and we will see you soon, Theo.

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