SYSK Gets Weird Playlist: Mermaids: Not a real thing

Mermaids aren't real. That much we know. But the history and lore of these magical and sometimes menacing creatures of the sea is pretty interesting stuff. Learn all about these half women/half fish today. See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 2:01Josh Clark?

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• 2:38Speaker 01

  Hey, everybody. We're back for another Gets Weird edition, Stuff You Should Know Gets Weird playlist, and this is episode three. It's about mermaids, everybody. It's a pretty fun episode, from what I remember, and it is called "Mermaids: Not a Real Thing."

• 2:56Speaker 05

  Welcome to Stuff You Should Know from HowStuffWorks.com.

• 3:05Josh Clark?

  Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. Yeah, that's right. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant. Jerry's over there in the ether, floating, possibly not existing. Who knows? And this is Stuff You Should Know.

• 3:20Speaker 01

  That's right. Just a couple of mermen trying to make their way in the world.

• 3:25Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 3:25Speaker 01

  Trying to keep their tails wet.

• 3:28Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 3:29Speaker 01

  You know?

• 3:30Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 3:30Speaker 01

  Because if that thing dries out, you've seen Splash.

• 3:33Josh Clark?

  Yeah, it's toast.

• 3:35Speaker 01

  No. She dried out, and she was just fine.

• 3:38Josh Clark?

  Oh, I thought, oh, you're thinking of E.T., when he turned all white and dried out, dislocated.

• 3:43Speaker 01

  No, I was thinking of Splash, because I couldn't remember. It was one of my favorite movies as a kid.

• 3:48Josh Clark?

  It was a cute movie.

• 3:50Speaker 01

  It was one of those early HBO movies, early Tom Hanks, which I'm a big fan of early Tom Hanks.

• 3:57Josh Clark?

  Mm-hmm.

• 3:57Speaker 01

  And I just thought it was a really fun, funny movie. John Candy?

• 4:02Josh Clark?

  Yeah, it was a great movie.

• 4:03Speaker 01

  What's-his-name played the evil man trying to expose her. Eugene Levy, I think?

• 4:10Josh Clark?

  Oh, was he the bad guy?

• 4:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, he was the one that-

• 4:12Josh Clark?

  You know that's a high-quality movie when Eugene Levy's the bad guy.

• 4:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, that was the SCTV crew. And he actually tried to spray her and get her wet, so she would-

• 4:21Josh Clark?

  Oh, was that?

• 4:22Speaker 01

  And in fact, did turn into a mermaid on the sidewalk.

• 4:25Josh Clark?

  That's what it was. If she got wet, she'd turn into a mermaid.

• 4:27Speaker 01

  Right.

• 4:27Josh Clark?

  She got dried, no problem.

• 4:29Speaker 01

  Yes. And Daryl Hannah, of course, who's running around with Neil Young now.

• 4:33Josh Clark?

  Oh, really?

• 4:34Speaker 01

  Yeah. How about that couple?

• 4:35Josh Clark?

  Huh. Sure.

• 4:38Speaker 01

  Why not? They're both environmentalists.

• 4:40Josh Clark?

  But there's a lot of turquoise in that bedroom.

• 4:43Speaker 01

  I wonder if you hook up with Neil Young, or anyone like that, if you're sort of a new relationship and not like the wife they had for 40 years. If you're like, eh, play a song, why don't you?

• 4:56Josh Clark?

  What?

• 4:56Speaker 01

  Like, I wonder if you ask them to play music.

• 4:59Josh Clark?

  Oh, like you're actually into them?

• 5:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, like if you're Billy Joel's new 25-year-old wife-

• 5:03Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 5:04Speaker 01

  Do you ever say like, "Hey, honey, play me a tune"?

• 5:07Josh Clark?

  Right. "Play that one that you wrote 10 years before I was conceived."

• 5:13Speaker 01

  I think what I'm saying is I would have a hard time being with Neil Young and not every night after dinner, just kind of nudging the guitar toward him.

• 5:22Josh Clark?

  Oh, I gotcha.

• 5:23Speaker 01

  And saying, "I'd love to hear 'Old Man'."

• 5:26Josh Clark?

  Yeah. "Please, baby, one for me."

• 5:29Speaker 01

  And, yeah, he says, "I've played that song 45,000 times."

• 5:32Josh Clark?

  Yeah, I would guess that, well, I can tell you, I would, yeah, I would guess that once you reach a certain point in playing a song, you never want to hear that song or even think about it existing again.

• 5:44Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:45Josh Clark?

  But then, you still have to play it.

• 5:47Speaker 01

  Oh, I try not to think about that when I'm at those shows.

• 5:50Josh Clark?

  Yeah. It makes me feel bad for him. Like, they might as well be, you know, in the monkey house or something, and you're just throwing bananas at them.

• 5:58Speaker 01

  And God bless the people who really bring it still.

• 6:01Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 6:01Speaker 01

  Where you feel like, man, they're playing that song for me tonight.

• 6:04Josh Clark?

  Adam Ant?

• 6:06Speaker 01

  Does he still bring it?

• 6:08Josh Clark?

  He's just who came to mind.

• 6:10Speaker 01

  Whereas when I saw the Police on their reunion, they were phoning it in.

• 6:13Josh Clark?

  Really?

• 6:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:14Josh Clark?

  Even Stuart Copeland?

• 6:16Speaker 01

  Well, I mean, they were playing the songs, but it just, it didn't look like they were enjoying themselves at all. It looked like a total money grab.

• 6:23Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 6:23Speaker 01

  They entered from three separate entrances and exited from three separate-

• 6:27Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah.

• 6:27Speaker 01

  And I got the feeling they didn't even, like, speak much.

• 6:30Josh Clark?

  That's like, I was reading an article on the Ramones.

• 6:33Speaker 01

  The Rolling Stone one recently?

• 6:35Josh Clark?

  Uh, yeah, I guess it was.

• 6:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, they had a great article on them.

• 6:39Josh Clark?

  So, yeah, I guess it was. It was definitely Rolling Stone. So, okay. Did you read it?

• 6:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:43Josh Clark?

  Then?

• 6:43Speaker 01

  It was awesome.

• 6:44Josh Clark?

  But, yeah, like, they would, they would just, like, get on the bus and not speak to one another.

• 6:50Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:50Josh Clark?

  Go to the next town and get onstage and play, and then come offstage and not, like, they would, they would speak onstage, because they had to.

• 6:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:56Josh Clark?

  And that was it.

• 6:57Speaker 01

  And apparently, well, at least Joey and who was his big foil?

• 7:00Josh Clark?

  Dee, DeeDee.

• 7:01Speaker 01

  Those ones who really hated each other?

• 7:04Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 7:04Speaker 01

  Supposedly, they didn't speak at all for, like, 25 years straight.

• 7:08Josh Clark?

  Right, because Joey stole DeeDee's, like, love of his life.

• 7:12Speaker 01

  Right.

• 7:13Josh Clark?

  And then they were in the band together still after that. It was just like, TS, man.

• 7:17Speaker 01

  So weird.

• 7:18Josh Clark?

  So, like, a lot of songs, especially ones, like, the KKK Took My Baby Away-

• 7:23Speaker 01

  Uh-huh.

• 7:23Josh Clark?

  That's about Joey stealing DeeDee's girlfriend.

• 7:27Speaker 01

  Wow. That was a great article.

• 7:28Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 7:29Speaker 01

  Good read.

• 7:30Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 7:31Speaker 01

  So, back to Splash. Funny movie about a mermaid, and we're going to talk about mermaids here. And mostly what we're going to cover is the lore and history and the mythology of the mermaid, because here's a little giveaway. There are no mermaids.

• 7:48Josh Clark?

  What?

• 7:49Speaker 01

  Did you look up, like, pictures of real mermaid sightings and stuff?

• 7:52Josh Clark?

  Yeah, and it's the same thing as pictures of Bigfoot sightings, or pictures of UFO sightings.

• 7:56Speaker 01

  Some weird distant blur that, like, you can't, it could be kelp.

• 8:00Josh Clark?

  Or it's such an obviously doctored photo.

• 8:04Speaker 01

  Well, yeah.

• 8:04Josh Clark?

  What would be fun, though, is if we had a time machine, forget killing Hitler, forget, like-

• 8:09Speaker 01

  A way-back machine.

• 8:10Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah, that's right. I can't believe we haven't put this into good use.

• 8:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 8:13Josh Clark?

  Forget, like, you know, saving the world, or keeping the dodo from going extinct. I would take some of these doctored photos that are just so easy to make today, back to like the 1920s, and be like, "Look at this." And they go, "Yeah, I know, we still believe in that stuff."

• 8:31Speaker 01

  With your aim being what?

• 8:32Josh Clark?

  Just to freak them out.

• 8:33Speaker 01

  Oh. I figured there'd be a money angle.

• 8:37Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah?

• 8:37Speaker 01

  Josh is traveling Wonder Emporium.

• 8:41Josh Clark?

  That's not a bad idea.

• 8:43Speaker 01

  Where and which you just showed them photos.

• 8:45Josh Clark?

  But I charge them, like, 2016 rates, and no one can possibly afford that, so I go out of business, like, almost immediately.

• 8:52Speaker 01

  Right. There's, like, one guy in the town that's like, "I'll pay $27.50 to see those."

• 8:57Josh Clark?

  Step right up. Town's only billionaire.

• 9:01Speaker 01

  That's a great idea. I don't know why no one ever thought of that.

• 9:03Josh Clark?

  It was a terrible idea, like, from beginning to end.

• 9:07Speaker 01

  Forget going back and betting on the stock market or the outcome of the World Series.

• 9:11Josh Clark?

  I'm gonna go back and set up a business doomed to fail.

• 9:15Speaker 01

  Alright, so let's talk about mermaid lore. Well, we can start here in the more modern age because there are still places that try and take people for money like we were just talking about even.

• 9:26Josh Clark?

  Yeah, like me.

• 9:28Speaker 01

  In fact, in Israel, on the coast there, they actually have a town called Kiryat Yam.

• 9:36Josh Clark?

  It's a great name.

• 9:37Speaker 01

  If you go to Kiryat Yam, you could win, how much money? Does it even say?

• 9:42Josh Clark?

  Million bucks.

• 9:43Speaker 01

  Million American dollars if you...

• 9:46Josh Clark?

  If you provide incontrovertible evidence of the mermaid that is reputed to

• 9:52Speaker 01

  Wander the shores.

• 9:53Josh Clark?

  Live there and appear at sunset. As of 2009 was the first sighting there.

• 9:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, and of course, what that is, is a ploy to try and get tourists to come and spend money in the town and look for the mermaid.

• 10:03Josh Clark?

  Sure. Come on, chumps. We welcome you to Kiryat Yam.

• 10:07Speaker 01

  I'm sure Loch Ness has made plenty of tourist money over the years.

• 10:10Josh Clark?

  Apparently, they have a standing offer as well, and that's where the mayor of Kiryat Yam got the idea.

• 10:16Speaker 01

  Yeah, great idea.

• 10:17Josh Clark?

  Sure. And actually, I saw that photo too. And it's kinda neat. I don't know what it is or who created it or whatever, but there's allegedly a photo taken, obviously, from like a cliff down onto a beach. You know, a beach that will have like a big, just slab of rocks surrounded by sand?

• 10:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, sand and mermaids.

• 10:38Josh Clark?

  Right. There's a mermaid on that rock, just kinda looking out at the sea.

• 10:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 10:42Josh Clark?

  And of course, it could be anything. It could be totally doctored, who knows? But it's from a distance, and at least they didn't like go full out, like perfect picture of a mermaid or whatever. It's just suggestive enough that people who believe in such things would be like, they're right there. There's a picture of a mermaid, you know?

• 11:00Speaker 01

  Totally.

• 11:01Josh Clark?

  So that was found in 2009, or that surfaced in 2009, and since then, the town's...

• 11:06Speaker 01

  Surfaced?

• 11:07Josh Clark?

  Right. Since then, the town's had that standing offer.

• 11:12Speaker 01

  Correct. So the really, the interesting thing to me about mermaids is the mythology. Did you take mythology in college at all?

• 11:21Josh Clark?

  Yeah, I did. I always wanted it to interest me more than it did.

• 11:26Speaker 01

  Me too.

• 11:27Josh Clark?

  It was just, I don't know if it wasn't explained to me quite well enough, or just the ancients' non-bicameral mind wasn't

• 11:37Josh Clark?

  fused together enough to interest people in the modern age.

• 11:40Speaker 01

  Well, I think so. I think the stories themselves, as far as good storytelling, were just lacking. Because a lot of them were just versions of one another, and there was usually a very basic premise or moral.

• 11:57Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 11:58Speaker 01

  And in the case of mermaids, a lot of times, there were, a lot of folklore even was rooted in misogyny.

• 12:05Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah, for sure.

• 12:06Speaker 01

  You know, there'll be a woman to come along and screw your life up.

• 12:09Josh Clark?

  Right, or if you screw up a woman, she will kill your children or something like that. Like, women were not to be trusted, and they were murderous and duplicitous in a lot of mythology. It's true.

• 12:20Speaker 01

  The old hag. So it was in various, I mean, hundreds and hundreds of books and texts, including the Talmud, believe it or not. And we've talked about Pliny the Elder, the beer, and the dude.

• 12:36Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 12:38Speaker 01

  Rome's Pliny the Elder, he, in his Natural History, talked about a mermaid-like creature called...

• 12:44Josh Clark?

  The Nereid.

• 12:45Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 12:46Josh Clark?

  I think I'm pronouncing that correctly.

• 12:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, N-E-R-E-I-D.

• 12:50Josh Clark?

  That E-I is a tough transition.

• 12:52Speaker 01

  It is.

• 12:53Josh Clark?

  Because you wanna say like, Nereid.

• 12:55Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 12:55Josh Clark?

  Or Nereid.

• 12:58Speaker 01

  These were sea nymphs, half-human, half-fish mermaids, and he also talked about sea men. And we should point out that mer-men, we made the joke about us being mer-men.

• 13:10Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 13:10Speaker 01

  I believe mer-men were even first on the literary scene. Is that correct?

• 13:15Josh Clark?

  Well, first, at least with mythology, or theology, I guess, there's a Babylonian god of the sea named Eya.

• 13:23Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:23Josh Clark?

  E-A, sports.

• 13:27Speaker 01

  Just E-A.

• 13:27Josh Clark?

  And he pops up in Babylonian mythology from, I think, 4,000 years ago. And they think that he's actually the progenitor of, or the predecessor, I should say, of Poseidon, who is the Greek god of the sea. And Neptune, who's the Roman god of the sea. Because the Greeks gave us Western culture, but they just walked around to all of the neighboring cultures and picked their favorite parts and put them together.

• 13:55Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:56Josh Clark?

  And that was definitely one of them.

• 13:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, for sure.

• 13:58Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 14:01Speaker 01

  Well, we talked in our, I guess it was in the folklore and fairy tale episodes, there were twin episodes almost.

• 14:08Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 14:10Speaker 01

  About the original Little Mermaid and how, you know, she was disnified to the fullest. But the original story was far darker.

• 14:20Josh Clark?

  Darker, but also even more touching by far.

• 14:24Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 14:24Josh Clark?

  Like, I went back and read the last, the last, like, section of it.

• 14:29Speaker 01

  Well, give me a summary at the end.

• 14:31Josh Clark?

  So at the end, this is where it dramatically differs from the Disney story. The Little Mermaid is scorned for another woman. Her, the guy she loves chooses someone else and marries her. And the Little Mermaid is like, dude, I gave up my tail for you.

• 14:48Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 14:49Josh Clark?

  I think a witch has my tongue kinda thing, and I wanna get back my life. So her sisters came and bring her this ritual knife and say, you can convert back to a mermaid if before dawn, you plunge this knife into this dude's heart, this guy he loves' heart.

• 15:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:09Josh Clark?

  And you get some of his blood on your feet, you will regrow your tail and you can jump into the sea and everything will be just fine again. So she goes and she finds the guy sleeping with his new bride beside him, and she just can't do it. She throws the knife into the sea and becomes sea foam. She disintegrates and becomes sea foam. So she gives her her own happiness up for this guy, right? And dies as a result. But even better than that, when she turns into sea foam, she becomes a different mythical creature. Like, basically, an air nymph that goes around, like, helping humans. And she can possibly get into heaven if she helps people for 300 years.

• 15:54Josh Clark?

  Hans Christian Andersen wrote it way better than I just recounted it. A lot less ums and likes.

• 16:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 16:02Josh Clark?

  But it's pretty, it's worth reading.

• 16:05Speaker 01

  Pliny also talked about mer-men back in the day, and there would be mer-men, or sea men, who would at night climb up onto ships, this is a quote, that's why I'm reading it weird. "Upon which the side of the vessel where he seated himself would instantly sink downward, and if he remained there any considerable time, even go underwater."

• 16:25Josh Clark?

  And that was something that we will see as we talk more about mermaids, is they are very, they're often either an omen, that something bad is gonna happen to sailors or coastal-dwelling people.

• 16:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 16:38Josh Clark?

  Or they actually directly cause harm to sailors or coastal-dwelling people.

• 16:44Speaker 01

  Yeah, and most times, under the guise of something beautiful, and like a siren.

• 16:51Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 16:52Speaker 01

  They are often, well, I don't, we haven't even described one. Surely, you know that a mermaid has the head and body torso of a woman, human woman.

• 17:02Josh Clark?

  Usually with huge boobs.

• 17:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, if you're talking about a sailor's account.

• 17:06Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 17:06Speaker 01

  Sure. You're like, oh, yeah, she was busty.

• 17:09Josh Clark?

  Did I mention the boobs?

• 17:11Speaker 01

  Yes, you did, sir, seven times.

• 17:14Speaker 01

  And from the, you know, torso down, she's a fish. Maybe webbed feet, maybe not. Very graceful, very fast, and always beautiful.

• 17:28Josh Clark?

  It depends.

• 17:29Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah?

• 17:30Josh Clark?

  Yeah, there were some of legend that were not ugly.

• 17:34Speaker 01

  Really?

• 17:35Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 17:35Speaker 01

  Not ugly, or they were ugly?

• 17:37Josh Clark?

  That they were not, in parentheses, beautiful, comma, ugly.

• 17:43Speaker 01

  Well, I hadn't heard about that.

• 17:46Josh Clark?

  Yeah, it's in here.

• 17:47Speaker 01

  I thought, no, I'm just, I must've missed that part.

• 17:49Josh Clark?

  It's far more frequent, what you were saying, that they were beautiful and alluring.

• 17:54Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 17:55Josh Clark?

  But we'll talk more about that after we take a break, huh?

• 18:17Josh Clark?

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• 18:27Speaker 01

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• 18:40Josh Clark?

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• 18:55Speaker 01

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• 19:18Speaker 06

  First thought is like, wow, how are we going to do all this?

• 19:20Josh Clark?

  Hey, this is Josh and Chuck from Stuff You Should Know.

• 19:23Speaker 01

  That's Alan Goya, planning engineer at AT&T, and he's talking about Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers, where every seat, screen, phone, and transaction is connected with AT&T fiber and 5G, redefining the fan's experience. And Alan's master plan made it all possible.

• 19:39Speaker 06

  It was going to rival anything that was already built. And that takes quite a bit of people and different teams to all be on the same page.

• 19:47Josh Clark?

  That includes field services manager Drexel Jones. His team made sure it all came together and held up on game day.

• 19:53Speaker 07

  Through what Alan's whole crew designed, we connected the event visitors to the world.

• 19:59Speaker 01

  And after years of hard work and collaboration, it was opening night.

• 20:02Speaker 07

  To actually see the whole stadium light up and data's flowing is a beautiful thing.

• 20:07Speaker 06

  What the fans experience is incredible. It gave me a lot of pride.

• 20:10Josh Clark?

  AT&T, connecting fans to what they love.

• 20:14Speaker 05

  Connecting changes everything. AT&T.

• 20:20Speaker 01

  You know, you're never done decorating your home. You know what I mean?

• 20:23Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 20:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, because it's a process. There's always something you could do or buy or update. The only question is, what's next? For us, our animals just wear out our rugs so quickly. It's usually a new rug.

• 20:34Josh Clark?

  Well, Chuck, whether you need a rug or whatever is next for you, you can go to Wayfair. It's the smart place to get it.

• 20:41Speaker 01

  That's right. Whatever your style, whatever your budget, whatever you're looking for, Wayfair makes it easy to find it. And you can feel good about your purchases too, because Wayfair verified products go through a thorough 10-point quality inspection.

• 20:52Josh Clark?

  And with over 20 million 5-star reviews, Wayfair must be doing something right. You can find pieces made for real life and get even more value with Wayfair Rewards. Join Wayfair Rewards today to get 5% back on every purchase. Head to wayfair.com to shop all things home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R dot com.

• 21:24Josh Clark?

  All right, Chuck. We were saying that for the most part, mermaids are beautiful. And one of the reasons why they are supposed to be beautiful is because they are frequently

• 21:36Josh Clark?

  accused of luring men, sailors, out to sea to their death.

• 21:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 21:41Josh Clark?

  And how you do it? You do that one of two ways. You have a beautiful singing voice?

• 21:45Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 21:45Josh Clark?

  Or you just straight up look good yourself.

• 21:48Speaker 01

  That's right.

• 21:49Josh Clark?

  And if you have a beautiful singing voice, you're a siren, in which case you would not be a mermaid, because a siren is half bird, half woman.

• 21:57Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 21:57Josh Clark?

  And they don't even necessarily live in the water or near the water. They're sometimes described as hanging out in fields.

• 22:04Speaker 01

  Yeah. I guess sometimes you can be very pretty and be a good singer. Right? If you're a mermaid?

• 22:11Josh Clark?

  Mm-hmm.

• 22:13Josh Clark?

  But the, the, yeah, you could be.

• 22:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:16Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 22:17Speaker 01

  You'd be a...

• 22:17Josh Clark?

  Who am I to disagree?

• 22:19Speaker 01

  You'd be Beyonce.

• 22:20Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 22:21Speaker 01

  Or Alicia Keys.

• 22:22Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 22:22Speaker 01

  Or Adele. Oh, you know who I like is Rihanna.

• 22:27Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah. She's great.

• 22:29Speaker 01

  She's very pretty.

• 22:29Josh Clark?

  That part in, uh, what's it called? This is the end? When she played herself?

• 22:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 22:36Josh Clark?

  She was pretty great in that.

• 22:37Speaker 01

  She was pretty funny.

• 22:38Josh Clark?

  Michael Sarah like spanked her and she just immediately turned around and smacked the heck out of him.

• 22:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, I enjoyed parts of that movie, especially Michael Sarah.

• 22:46Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 22:46Speaker 01

  Playing like a coked-out jerk. That was really funny.

• 22:49Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 22:51Speaker 01

  So back to the beautiful mermaids, though.

• 22:54Speaker 01

  There was one in 1,000 BCE in Syria, and her name, how would you pronounce that? Adargadas?

• 23:01Josh Clark?

  Oh, I think you nailed it.

• 23:02Speaker 01

  Yeah?

• 23:03Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 23:03Speaker 01

  All right, we'll go with that. And she, and you'll, you'll see a lot of duality in a lot of these stories. And she was one for sure that was a protector, a goddess. I think she protected the fertility of her people and watched over them and fell in love with a human man, as you will often see in a lot of these stories.

• 23:23Josh Clark?

  A dude.

• 23:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, a dude. And it, and it was fine for a little while, like in most stories, and then it goes south.

• 23:29Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 23:30Speaker 01

  And she kills him.

• 23:32Josh Clark?

  She crushed him with her greatness.

• 23:36Speaker 01

  Oh, I thought like her big tail or something.

• 23:39Josh Clark?

  I don't know. Well, she wasn't a mermaid yet. This is where she becomes a mermaid.

• 23:42Speaker 01

  That's true. That's right. I forgot about that. So she accidentally kills him and then is very shamed, throws herself into the lake

• 23:50Speaker 01

  because she wants to become a fish. And she's so beautiful that it only works half as good. I really can't figure out the math on that.

• 23:59Josh Clark?

  No.

• 23:59Speaker 01

  But I guess she's just so beautiful that the, the human beauty part of her is like, no, I won't be a fish.

• 24:05Josh Clark?

  Just the lower half can be a fish.

• 24:06Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 24:07Josh Clark?

  Because she had toe fungus, so that was easily overcome. But her face was really nice, so the fish part just couldn't overcome that.

• 24:14Speaker 01

  That's right. So she ended up a mermaid.

• 24:16Josh Clark?

  Weird story. But not just weird, like,

• 24:21Josh Clark?

  like, oh, it's foreign or anything. I'm not being xenophobic, but it, it really like says a lot about, like, humanity and like how we think of things. Like, no, she was so good-looking that this magic couldn't even overcome that.

• 24:36Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 24:37Josh Clark?

  You know?

• 24:37Speaker 01

  Good point.

• 24:37Josh Clark?

  We place a lot of value on that kind of thing.

• 24:41Speaker 01

  All right, should we move on to Germany?

• 24:44Josh Clark?

  Yeah, this one was kind of interesting to me because Germany's landlocked.

• 24:49Speaker 01

  Oh, I never really thought about that.

• 24:50Josh Clark?

  Yeah, why, why does Germany have a mermaid mythology?

• 24:54Speaker 01

  Well, I mean, they have lakes.

• 24:56Josh Clark?

  I guess.

• 24:57Speaker 01

  But mermaids are 100% ocean dwellers, aren't they?

• 25:00Josh Clark?

  No, there are some river dwellers.

• 25:02Speaker 01

  Oh, that's right.

• 25:04Josh Clark?

  Although I think the sirens were specifically river.

• 25:07Speaker 01

  Well, then in the German myth, it was a river dweller, correct?

• 25:09Josh Clark?

  Hmm, okay. Yeah, the Nixes?

• 25:12Speaker 01

  Uh, yeah. And they lured men into the river. Yeah, it was a river. And so they could drown them. Like, again, the call of the siren, come in here. Look how beautiful I am.

• 25:22Josh Clark?

  Right, check these out.

• 25:23Speaker 01

  And now I'm holding your head underwater.

• 25:25Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 25:25Speaker 01

  And you can't breathe anymore.

• 25:27Josh Clark?

  And the guy's like, I regret nothing.

• 25:32Speaker 01

  Uh, but this duality that we're talking about is what you see a lot of times in mermaid myths from West Africa. The Mommy Wada, the Mother Water, she was a mermaid. She was very nurturing and very loving.

• 25:47Josh Clark?

  If, if you didn't cross her.

• 25:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly. That's where the duality comes in.

• 25:53Josh Clark?

  I don't even know if that's duality. I think that's just a complex person. Good, good, complex character there.

• 25:59Speaker 01

  Yeah?

• 25:59Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 26:00Speaker 01

  So she's great, but when you cross her, she's murderous.

• 26:03Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 26:04Speaker 01

  All right. And that's what she did, actually. She had, uh, if you were loyal to her, she would, you could be wealthy from her magic mirror and comb. But if you betrayed her, then what this article says is she rains down fury and destruction.

• 26:20Speaker 01

  Right out of an action movie.

• 26:20Josh Clark?

  She rained the H-word from above.

• 26:22Speaker 01

  But the duality is, is an important part of it because the, the physical creature itself is two things.

• 26:29Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 26:30Speaker 01

  And they are also two things emotionally and...

• 26:33Josh Clark?

  But, so the mermaid, the mermaid or merman or merfolk, as they're called in this article.

• 26:39Speaker 01

  Are they really?

• 26:39Josh Clark?

  Yeah. So merfolk are half fish, half people, right?

• 26:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:44Josh Clark?

  But they're not anywhere near unique in the, the pantheon of mythological creatures throughout the ages, right? There's, again, there's sirens, half birds, half women. There's, there's just tons of, like, the Minotaur, half man, half bull.

• 27:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:02Josh Clark?

  The Centaur was what, half goat or horse and half man?

• 27:06Speaker 01

  I don't remember. That sounds right.

• 27:07Josh Clark?

  I think half horse.

• 27:11Josh Clark?

  And I was like, where did all these come from? I suspected bestiality, and it turns out I may be right.

• 27:18Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah?

• 27:18Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 27:19Speaker 01

  What'd you find?

• 27:19Josh Clark?

  There are some scholars out there who believe that this is the product of a much more relaxed attitude toward bestiality than we modern humans have today.

• 27:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:32Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 27:32Speaker 01

  I still never saw that documentary about the horse.

• 27:35Josh Clark?

  Yeah, it's a good one. Zoo.

• 27:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, I need, that fell off my radar.

• 27:39Josh Clark?

  Man, it's one of those ones where they largely do recreate, like, the whole thing's almost recreation.

• 27:45Speaker 01

  Right.

• 27:45Josh Clark?

  And I usually am not hip on those. It doesn't feel like a documentary to me, but that one changed my mind about that whole technique. They did it so well.

• 27:53Speaker 01

  Really?

• 27:53Josh Clark?

  Yep. It's rough.

• 27:55Speaker 01

  I bet.

• 27:56Josh Clark?

  It's rough, especially like when you think about, you know, the animals as well.

• 28:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, of course.

• 28:02Josh Clark?

  You know? But there's more than just that that makes it rough.

• 28:06Speaker 01

  Man, I need to see that. So I guess we can talk a little bit about some eyewitness accounts. They're all bunk, of course, but they have happened in World War II in Japan on Indonesia's Kai Islands. Supposedly, they encountered a monster on the beach that had, you know, webbed hands and feet and was kind of part human, part fish.

• 28:27Josh Clark?

  Yeah, it was like, look at these jazz hands. You can't do this.

• 28:31Speaker 01

  And then back in the day, some of our most revered explorers and adventurer adventurers reported seeing mermaids, like John Smith and Henry Hudson.

• 28:45Josh Clark?

  And Columbus. Everybody loves him.

• 28:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, what was, uh, there's a good quote in here from Columbus, because he wasn't too impressed.

• 28:52Josh Clark?

  Yeah. He said, and here's the thing, I read that in his diary, he's referring to himself in the third person.

• 28:59Speaker 01

  Well, that says a lot.

• 29:00Josh Clark?

  That's odd. He's like-

• 29:02Speaker 01

  Ricky Henderson?

• 29:02Josh Clark?

  Right, or George Costanza. So he says that he saw some, oh yeah, the quote's not in here, you gotta read the quote. He saw sailing around. La da da, la da dee. Oh, what is that? Out in the ocean. I think I'll take a look through my spying glass.

• 29:17Speaker 01

  The day before, when the admiral was going to the, and the admiral is himself?

• 29:21Josh Clark?

  Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. He was the admiral of his fleet, for sure.

• 29:25Speaker 01

  The day before, when the admiral was going on to the Rio del Oro.

• 29:30Josh Clark?

  That's the River of Gold.

• 29:31Speaker 01

  He said he saw three mermaids who came quite high out of the water, but were not as pretty as they are depicted, for somehow in the face, they look like men.

• 29:41Josh Clark?

  But I still thought about it.

• 29:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, so.

• 29:44Josh Clark?

  End scene.

• 29:45Speaker 01

  What they think now, and I don't know how they substantiated this, is that Columbus was seeing manatees.

• 29:51Josh Clark?

  Yeah. Have you seen manatees?

• 29:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, it looks nothing like a human.

• 29:56Josh Clark?

  From enough of a distance, though, you're like, wait a minute, what is that? Especially if you've never seen a manatee before.

• 30:02Speaker 01

  I don't think it looks human-like at all.

• 30:04Josh Clark?

  From enough of a distance.

• 30:06Speaker 01

  You think?

• 30:06Josh Clark?

  Mm-hmm. Yeah, I can see how somebody would, especially if you believe that mermaids existed. You see a manatee?

• 30:14Speaker 01

  Maybe it's hard for me just to-

• 30:15Josh Clark?

  I can totally get that.

• 30:16Speaker 01

  Go there and that, uh, put my mind in that kind of frame.

• 30:20Josh Clark?

  In the frame of Christopher Columbus?

• 30:21Speaker 01

  Well, just to have never seen a mermaid, to have never seen a manatee, to be high on, uh, on, what's the green stuff?

• 30:29Josh Clark?

  Arawak scalps.

• 30:30Speaker 01

  Oh, my God. I just blanked on the green, uh-

• 30:34Josh Clark?

  Marijuana?

• 30:35Speaker 01

  No.

• 30:36Josh Clark?

  The green-

• 30:37Speaker 01

  The, the green drink. Absinthe.

• 30:40Josh Clark?

  I don't think Absinthe was around with Columbus.

• 30:42Speaker 01

  Oh, you kidding me?

• 30:44Josh Clark?

  No, I'm not.

• 30:45Speaker 01

  You're shooting that stuff.

• 30:46Josh Clark?

  I can kind of see it.

• 30:49Speaker 01

  Uh, so he maybe saw a manatee and was like, eh, they're not so great looking after all.

• 30:54Josh Clark?

  They're not that great.

• 30:55Speaker 01

  What's everyone talking about?

• 30:57Josh Clark?

  Uh, yeah, he saw one. This is like Jimmy Carter and the UFOs. Like, you're kind of surprised when you hear this, that somebody sighted it. Apparently Reagan said he saw UFOs as well. Uh, John Smith said he saw some. He liked what he saw. He liked the look of the manatees, because he said he fell in love with one with long, green hair.

• 31:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, he said it wasn't bad-looking, or it wasn't unattractive, or something like that?

• 31:24Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 31:24Speaker 01

  It was kind of a, he hedged his bets a little bit.

• 31:27Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 31:27Speaker 01

  I guess he wanted to check the rest of her out.

• 31:29Josh Clark?

  Yeah, and then he saw she had a tail, and was like, oh, can't go there.

• 31:35Speaker 01

  So what, what's going on here? Are they hallucinating because they've been on the high seas too long?

• 31:39Josh Clark?

  That's what a lot of people say.

• 31:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 31:41Josh Clark?

  Um, other people say that, again, they were predisposed to believing in mermaids because people thought mermaids existed. This were, this was the age of exploration. So it's the beginning of the age of exploration, which means that before then, the oceans were largely unexplored.

• 31:58Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 31:59Josh Clark?

  And there were tons of beliefs in thousand, or thousands of year old mythologies-

• 32:04Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 32:04Josh Clark?

  About creatures that lived in the sea. So if you thought that those things existed, then something that looked kind of like a mermaid could be a mermaid. So that was probably, if they were just, they're just cases of mistaken identity.

• 32:18Speaker 01

  They were highly suggestible.

• 32:19Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 32:20Speaker 01

  We did one on sea monsters, remember?

• 32:21Josh Clark?

  We did.

• 32:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 32:22Josh Clark?

  Yep, that was a good one. I thought that one was going to be awful, and it turned out pretty great.

• 32:29Speaker 01

  That episode?

• 32:29Josh Clark?

  Yeah. Like, I remember thinking, like, this is not going to go well, and it went-

• 32:33Speaker 01

  Kind of like this one.

• 32:34Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 32:35Speaker 01

  How do you think this one's going?

• 32:36Josh Clark?

  Pretty great.

• 32:37Speaker 01

  All right. Well, let's take a break then, and, uh, give each other a neck rub, and then we'll come back, more comfortable than ever.

• 32:44Josh Clark?

  All right.

• 33:05Josh Clark?

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• 33:14Speaker 01

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• 33:27Josh Clark?

  Or discover Toyota's off-road lineup, including the iconic 4Runner and Land Cruiser, designed to go beyond the everyday. And with Toyota's proven reputation for quality and reliability, plus hybrid power on many models, you can get more for every mile and drive for less along the way.

• 33:43Speaker 01

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• 34:05Speaker 01

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• 34:39Speaker 01

  So you're considering getting a home security system, but you want something that fits your space. Well, with ADT Blue, it's easy to customize a system that's right for you and set it up yourself. Just pick the kit and monitoring plan that makes sense for your home.

• 34:52Josh Clark?

  Yeah, so you're worried about package theft. Well, the ADT Plus app can walk you through setting up a new doorbell camera kit. Once it's installed, ADT Pros can help you keep tabs on it 24/7, or you can manage it yourself from the ADT Plus app.

• 35:05Speaker 01

  And here's the best thing, there are no long-term contracts, so you can change your monitoring plan whenever you want. The flexibility doesn't end there either. You can add to your system as you need to with things like extra cameras or motion sensors.

• 35:16Josh Clark?

  Some life decisions are hard, but thanks to ADT Blue, you can DIY trusted ADT home security in a snap. Head to ADT.com/BLU to build your system today. And to hear more about home protection and other grown-up topics, check out new episodes of Grown Up Stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 35:49Josh Clark?

  There is a dude, I love this guy. His name is Carl Bance.

• 35:55Speaker 01

  Ugh.

• 35:56Josh Clark?

  He, he's not a Carl Bance fan?

• 35:59Speaker 01

  Well, I just, I'm not quite sure I understand unless.

• 36:02Josh Clark?

  Did you read the, the article?

• 36:04Speaker 01

  Well, just to set it up.

• 36:05Josh Clark?

  Okay, so a dude named Carl Bance, back in 1990, he wrote a, an article in a legitimate journal, the journal Limnology and Oceanography, and they published it, and it is an entirely tongue-in-cheek, but totally played straight account of the extinct species mermaid.

• 36:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, like wherein he, he surmises on, like for real, where they came from, what their biology was, where they, why they left us.

• 36:36Josh Clark?

  Yep, that they were a warm water dwelling, that they ate human flesh, which is why they lured people to their death. He goes so far as to say that they most likely only produced one or two offspring at a time, because the females of the, of the species had two breasts and that was it.

• 36:57Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 36:57Josh Clark?

  You know?

• 36:58Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 36:59Josh Clark?

  Like, this is the thought that this guy put into this, this article, and the fact that he writes it totally straight.

• 37:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 37:06Josh Clark?

  And like really gives it its due attention, like it wasn't that, like this is gonna be a great idea, and just the idea itself is hilarious, so I don't really have to put any effort into actual execution. He put effort into the execution and it did, he did pretty good.

• 37:19Speaker 01

  I'm not knocking him, I guess, I just don't see why this journal would put something like that out there even.

• 37:24Josh Clark?

  I don't know.

• 37:25Speaker 01

  I mean, I guess he had a good sense of humor and they were, maybe it was the April Fools' episode.

• 37:29Josh Clark?

  I was wondering if that was the case too, and I forgot to look if it was the April issue.

• 37:34Speaker 01

  Perhaps. He did use the words horny skin folds, though.

• 37:38Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 37:39Speaker 01

  Their skin, and he theorized, was not smooth, smooth scaled like a regular fish, but it had, quote, horny skin folds.

• 37:46Josh Clark?

  Like an armadillo.

• 37:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 37:47Josh Clark?

  What's interesting is I saw another account from 1830 in Scotland. There's a, a town called Bembecula on the Outer Hebrides, right? Which is like the outer islands, the archipelago. It's an archipelago, that's how you say that, right?

• 38:08Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 38:08Josh Clark?

  Archipelago?

• 38:10Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 38:11Josh Clark?

  Either way, there's a town there.

• 38:12Speaker 01

  String of islands.

• 38:13Josh Clark?

  Coastal, thank you. Coastal town, where in 1830, the whole town swore they saw a mermaid, and tried to grab the mermaid, and the mermaid swam away, so some kid threw a rock at it and hit it in its back. And two days later, they found it dead on shore, and they felt so bad about it that they.

• 38:32Speaker 01

  Killed the kid?

• 38:34Josh Clark?

  They, they buried it, they gave it a funeral with like a casket and everything.

• 38:39Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 38:39Josh Clark?

  And they said that it didn't have scales, that it had like kind of rough skin instead.

• 38:45Speaker 01

  Horny skin folds.

• 38:46Josh Clark?

  Yeah, they didn't use that term, but this is like a thing in 1830 in Scotland, yeah. Pretty interesting that, when you read the account of it years later.

• 38:55Speaker 01

  That's my new band name, by the way.

• 38:57Josh Clark?

  Horny Skin Folds?

• 38:58Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 38:58Josh Clark?

  Nice.

• 39:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, that is interesting. Uh, maybe there's something there.

• 39:04Josh Clark?

  Right. How do you keep the, the folds of the horny skin fold clean, you know? I bet like gunk gets trapped in there.

• 39:13Speaker 01

  Gross.

• 39:14Josh Clark?

  I don't know.

• 39:15Speaker 01

  Maybe that's the name of the first single, Cleaning the Folds.

• 39:18Josh Clark?

  The other thing that Bance did in his article was explain probably why they're extinct now. He, he came to the conclusion that they're extinct. He said they were warm water, so they would have cohabitated or shared their ecosystem with jellyfish. And as humans started to fish more and more of the sea, we upset the ecological balance.

• 39:41Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 39:41Josh Clark?

  Jellyfish populations were allowed to boom, which is the case, and they stung the mermaids to death, because the mermaids had, they lacked the blubber that would protect them, not just in cold water, but from jellyfish stings as well, so they died out from jellyfish stings.

• 39:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, because their, their upper skin was just regular skin.

• 39:59Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 40:00Speaker 01

  It wasn't the horny skin folds.

• 40:01Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 40:01Speaker 01

  So it provided no protection.

• 40:03Josh Clark?

  Exactly.

• 40:04Speaker 01

  Pretty good theory.

• 40:05Josh Clark?

  It's worth reading, go check it out, it's called Mermaids, Their Biology, Culture and Demise. You can find like the full PDF online.

• 40:12Speaker 01

  Well, I think we have to address the animal planet snafu.

• 40:16Josh Clark?

  I don't know if they would call it a snafu. I think they would call it a ratings bonanza.

• 40:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, which, what was the other, oh, when we talked about the megalodon, when Discovery Channel aired a megalodon documentary that appeared by all accounts to be true.

• 40:31Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 40:31Speaker 01

  And was not.

• 40:32Josh Clark?

  Same thing with mermaids, but they did it twice.

• 40:34Speaker 01

  They did. They did a sequel, because it got, like you said, huge ratings. And this was a documentary, well, not a documentary, it was a mockumentary, that looked like, did you watch any clips or anything?

• 40:50Josh Clark?

  Uh, of the second one, yeah.

• 40:52Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, it looked like, you know, a show, like a hunting Bigfoot crew. It's like, you know, we got this mermaid, we know where she is, and we're down here hunting, and they.

• 41:01Josh Clark?

  3,000 feet.

• 41:02Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 41:02Josh Clark?

  Below the surface.

• 41:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, and they interviewed a guy that looked like Zach Galifianakis, and if only it would have been Zach Galifianakis, it would have made it much better. But, you know, then it was one of these shows where at the end, in small lettering, well, it's probably not even small, but at the end of the credits, it's like, this was all made up, these are actors.

• 41:21Josh Clark?

  Yeah, but.

• 41:22Speaker 01

  People still buy it.

• 41:23Josh Clark?

  If you go online, people are still like arguing over the, the legitimacy or credentials of the marine geologist Torsten Schmidt.

• 41:32Speaker 01

  That's a great name.

• 41:33Josh Clark?

  It is. And people are like, well, if he were a real scientist, he would have been published elsewhere besides this, and he's not published, and it's like, that's because he's not real, he's made up.

• 41:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, this is like settled.

• 41:45Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 41:45Speaker 01

  They didn't even pretend that it was real.

• 41:47Josh Clark?

  So I don't, I don't know if that's the case or not.

• 41:50Speaker 01

  Well, I mean, they said it wasn't on the, at the end of the show.

• 41:52Josh Clark?

  Okay, but they didn't come out and say, everybody, everybody.

• 41:56Speaker 01

  Oh, well, I see what you mean.

• 41:57Josh Clark?

  Right, and so actually NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, had to release an, they felt they needed to release a statement after the first one, saying like, hey,

• 42:09Josh Clark?

  "Mermaids don't exist, no evidence has ever been found. We're NOAA, the end."

• 42:14Speaker 01

  And I bet they'd love that even.

• 42:16Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah.

• 42:17Speaker 01

  Oh my god, NOAA's making a statement about our show.

• 42:19Josh Clark?

  Exactly, yeah.

• 42:19Speaker 01

  It's gonna be all over the news.

• 42:20Josh Clark?

  Right, and so I guess enough people bought it and, and bought into it, that they were able to release a sequel, and in the sequel, the reason they released the sequel was because Torsten Schmidt had footage of a webbed hand like smacking the windshield.

• 42:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, I saw that.

• 42:36Josh Clark?

  Of his little like underwater sub, two-man sub, and then swimming off.

• 42:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 42:43Josh Clark?

  And so they just kept showing that over and over and over again.

• 42:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, I saw that shot, it was cool.

• 42:48Josh Clark?

  Zach Galifianakis.

• 42:50Speaker 01

  He did look like him, didn't he?

• 42:51Josh Clark?

  A lot.

• 42:53Speaker 01

  I thought you were gonna say they, it was found out when Torsten Schmidt showed up on a episode of Two Broke Girls the next week, as like a waiter.

• 43:01Josh Clark?

  Yeah, and a progressive insurance ad, it's like customer number two.

• 43:04Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 43:05Josh Clark?

  There's one other sighting I wanted to mention, this one is second for my favorite after the Scottish one.

• 43:10Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 43:11Josh Clark?

  It was in Edom, Netherlands, is it Edom?

• 43:14Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 43:14Josh Clark?

  Like the cheese?

• 43:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 43:17Josh Clark?

  Okay. Two girls were like rowing their boats and found a mermaid, and took it home and dressed it up as a little girl and taught it to live on land, but it remained mute its whole life.

• 43:28Speaker 01

  Like ET.

• 43:29Josh Clark?

  Yeah, but isn't that cute?

• 43:31Speaker 01

  That is very cute.

• 43:32Josh Clark?

  They're like, you're coming home with us. Oh, you've got a family? TS, we got a family too, and it's your new family.

• 43:38Speaker 01

  And they just made that story up and told people and it survived?

• 43:41Josh Clark?

  I guess.

• 43:42Speaker 01

  Interesting.

• 43:43Josh Clark?

  Although they didn't, they didn't, like they matriculated the mermaid into human society there, but we're talking 1430, so who knows what was going on?

• 43:53Speaker 01

  Yeah. They were eating.

• 43:55Josh Clark?

  They probably got their hands on, on somebody who was like, who knows?

• 44:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:01Josh Clark?

  And they're like, oh, mermaid, this is a mermaid.

• 44:03Speaker 01

  Oh, just someone who had some sort of physical deformation.

• 44:06Josh Clark?

  And made them come live with them.

• 44:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:08Josh Clark?

  Dressed as a girl for the rest of their life, like Schlitzie or something.

• 44:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, like we did in the freak shows. They would just call them, make up whatever animal they wanted to.

• 44:18Josh Clark?

  That was another great episode, too.

• 44:21Speaker 01

  Are you just recounting the good ones while we do this one?

• 44:25Josh Clark?

  Just to remind people, it gets better.

• 44:28Speaker 01

  So, being a mermaid is an actual job you can get. If you, back in the day, in the 1940s and 50s, it was a big hit to go to like a sea park and have mermaid shows.

• 44:40Josh Clark?

  And specifically one in, is it Wikiwachi Springs?

• 44:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, Wikiwachi Springs, Florida, near Tampa. And it was a booming business back then. They said between half a million and a million tourists every year, including big, famous people, like Elvis Presley and Don Knotts.

• 44:59Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 44:59Speaker 01

  Those are the two they mentioned.

• 45:00Josh Clark?

  Those two would trash a place together.

• 45:02Speaker 01

  Oh, I bet. Don gets into the whiskey. It's all over. So, yeah, it was a huge deal back then. They're still doing it there today, but it is a real job. You can, you can go, if you're a great swimmer, like you have to know what you're doing.

• 45:19Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah.

• 45:20Speaker 01

  Like, it seems like, oh, yeah, you just put on that tail. But that tail is heavy and awkward.

• 45:25Josh Clark?

  Well, yeah, and plus like swimming-

• 45:26Speaker 01

  And somewhat buoyant.

• 45:27Josh Clark?

  Swimming with your legs together-

• 45:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's hard.

• 45:29Josh Clark?

  Is very difficult. Yeah, it's not an easy job, from what I can tell.

• 45:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, so apparently, once you put, like, they look very graceful swimming around in those things, but you go put one on and get in a pool and see what happens.

• 45:42Josh Clark?

  Right. And this article, I think rightly, points out that the professional mermaids that you see today are, like, this is from years and years and years of practice.

• 45:52Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:53Josh Clark?

  Like, they didn't just get in the water and they're like, "Yeah, I'm a natural."

• 45:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly. It's gotta be really awkward.

• 45:58Josh Clark?

  Sure. And you also have to know how to hold your breath like a mo.

• 46:02Speaker 01

  Like a mo?

• 46:03Josh Clark?

  Yeah, I stopped myself.

• 46:06Speaker 01

  Yeah, you do. And you have to learn how to swim the mermaid crawl, which is what they name it. But, you know, it's not like regular swimming.

• 46:15Josh Clark?

  Yeah, right.

• 46:16Speaker 01

  You know?

• 46:16Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 46:17Speaker 01

  And you can make a little dough, too.

• 46:18Josh Clark?

  A little bit.

• 46:19Speaker 01

  It said you can be hired, like, as a one-off for a party. What is that like? You go to like a neighborhood pool and everyone gathers around, like, "Look at the mermaid."

• 46:28Josh Clark?

  Claps out of rhythm. And you're like, "What are you guys wanting me to do?"

• 46:33Speaker 01

  I guess you can do that. But the most, mostly what I've seen are like the shows in some, like, sleepy Florida town.

• 46:40Josh Clark?

  Right.

• 46:40Speaker 01

  Like Gator Farm and-

• 46:42Josh Clark?

  That was the start.

• 46:43Speaker 01

  And the Wikiwachi mermaids.

• 46:45Josh Clark?

  Or like at resorts or something like that.

• 46:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, back when they used to love that kind of thing.

• 46:52Speaker 01

  And some of these professional mermaids apparently use their status as a soapbox for ecology-

• 46:59Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 46:59Speaker 01

  And efforts to keep the oceans clean.

• 47:02Josh Clark?

  Yeah, that's pretty cool.

• 47:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:03Josh Clark?

  There seems to be a real thread of that running through the professional mermaid culture. You're like an eco activist.

• 47:11Speaker 01

  That's a decent band name, too.

• 47:13Josh Clark?

  Professional mermaid culture?

• 47:14Speaker 01

  Yeah. This one was rich with bands.

• 47:18Josh Clark?

  Band names. Horny Skin Folds.

• 47:20Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 47:21Josh Clark?

  Yeah. If you want to know more about mermaids, you can type that word in the search bar at HowStuffWorks.com. And since I said "search bar," it's time for listener mail.

• 47:33Speaker 01

  Actually, in lieu of listener mail today, we are going to ask you for something, because we, people often say like, "How can I help the show?" Spreading the word is awesome. We always appreciate that. But one thing we haven't asked you to do in a long time is go to iTunes and leave a review.

• 47:51Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah.

• 47:51Speaker 01

  Because that makes a big difference if there are reviews, even if they're not favorable. Just be honest.

• 47:58Josh Clark?

  Vote with your conscience.

• 47:59Speaker 01

  Vote your conscience. And, yeah, go to iTunes, leave a review for us, because just having reviews is a good thing. And tell a friend, help spread the word. I feel like years go by before we say things like this.

• 48:13Josh Clark?

  Yeah, well, I think literally, that's the case.

• 48:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's been a long time. So, we really appreciate, the way the show was built was on word of mouth largely. We really count on that. So, tell a friend, go to iTunes and leave a recommendation. And the other thing that we also need are more jingles.

• 48:31Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah.

• 48:31Speaker 01

  These jingles that you hear, these bumpers, are from fans and listeners, musicians.

• 48:36Josh Clark?

  Very kind ones.

• 48:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, and they really enjoy doing it, and we love throwing them out there. So, send us your jingle, and we can't promise we'll use it, but we probably will.

• 48:45Josh Clark?

  Yeah, because they're pretty great.

• 48:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, so that's all I got.

• 48:49Josh Clark?

  Well, thanks. If you want to get in touch with us to help us out with any of this stuff, you can tweet to us at @SYSKPodcast. You can join us on Facebook.com/StuffYouShouldKnow. You can send us an email to [email protected]. And as always, join us at our home on the web, stuffyoushouldknow.com.

• 49:11Speaker 00

  For more on this and thousands of other topics, visit HowStuffWorks.com.

• 49:22Josh Clark?

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