Brain Soda Podcast - Episode 44 - The Satirical Case of Phineas Gage

Episode Date: December 23, 2023

This week we're talking about the many and varied parody films throughout time as well as the accident that occured to Phineas Gage!

full circle. Brain soda. It's the Brain Soda Podcast. I, as always, in your host, Kyle, join by my co-host and co-hort. Brad, how's it going? Today, we're going to be talking about Phineas Gage. But first, Brad, yes. I want to do something, but I want to do something that spoof and something else.

Okay. Right, I want to take my segment and play off what a segment should say. You want to spoof and something else. Okay. Right. I want to like take my segment and play off what a segment should. You want to spoof your segment? Today we're going to be talking about parody films. Yes. I love them. They're one of my favorite. And like when we are growing up, like that's when they really were hitting their heyday, I think. It's unfortunately kind of where they met their downfall too. We'll give him that right now.

Because like almost along with the medium of film, parody comedy has existed within film and like in the art of comedy overall. It's like synonymous, right? Yeah. And I mean like, parody is like throughout all of it. I mean, parody spend that's one of like the foundations of art almost I think and the Greek like exactly till like satirize something or anything like that Teggle satire that's exactly right exactly is is parody but like in the 1900s it like literally the year 1900 and 1905 two of the most well-known parody films of the time, Sherlock Holmes baffled and the little train robbery of the great train robbery from 1903 are like, really we're going to start our story, right?

Because throughout the decades we're going to kind of fast forward and say like, those genres just grow and build and expand. Not even just here, but over in the UK where you have the Carry-On series of films, right? And that's what we're gonna pick up in the 70s. Because this is where you get like the Zucker Brothers and Mel Brooks kind of burgeoning. And so I will say this, looking at the Wikipedia entry for parody films, when we get closer and closer to current age modern cinema, I feel like there's so many different things that they consider parody films because there's like pastiecious or overtures to like other elements of cinema or genres, right? But like to to be fair, that's

defined in actual parody film for us in this segment, right? So films more similar to young Frankenstein or Space Balls or things like that, just specifically for Mel Brooks where you're directly parodying a film or a genre of films such as those, right? But there's also like the Parker Brothers who are doing airplane in 1980, which is like an all-time plastic comedic romp. It's one of the films that made Leslie. See that's a parody. Well yeah, because you have like the 60s and 70s disasters films like Dante's Inferno and things like that. Alright, so like because that's a thing like I just see see that as like a like a joke film but like that. Right, so like, because that's a thing. Like, I just see that as like a joke film,

but like, that's because I don't know the older ones and it's like parodying, you know? I think it's different because it's a little older, right? Yeah. A parody essentially can be as simple as just a premise take or genre or like take exactly one film and then like lay it out with like maybe other films that are coming out within that given year, this is like guys to the culture and boom that's our big blockbuster comedy this summer and like that

kind of continues on like you were saying in the 70s where we're just kind of playing off different things that are already popular and stuff like that. One of the ones I wanted to get into though is police squad and the naked gun. Like we said, airplane kind of makes Leslie Nielsen, right? Yeah, I mean like he's the parody guy or you know. Right. He kind of does become the parody guy throughout the 80s and 90s to a certain extent. From that same camp of guys, you have the Police Squad television show and that is what spins off the Naked Good films. Okay, I don't think I've ever seen the Naked Goods, but I know like they're like iconic, but... Well, in the Feature OJ, they're really?

Oh yeah, it's okay. yes okay they are they are such good well to check them out yeah yeah they're and the the comedy there is I don't know would you call it kind of British were like I guess dry but also during this time you have spinal tail oh yes okay so a big play on the 80s hair metal and like kind of, new wave of British heavy metal scene going on at the time of the late 70s, early 80s and stuff like that, a classic rock and roll film,

but also a classic comedic like Venture and stuff like that. And another trope that you could kind of spin off with this whole segment is the Mach umentary comedic film, right? And a lot of these guys will go on to do like best in show and other Machumentary films later. I know, there was this one show I was watching. I forgot what it was called, but it was like a bunch of interviews with like this like, you know, like punk rock bands, like the late 80s and early 90s.

And it was like, a bunch of like, you're talking about decline of Western civilization. Yes, yes, yes. There was like three of them. They're crazy documentaries. They're awesome, yeah. Did you see the first one of Black Flag and like that? I think so, yeah.

One of the things that's also kind of really interesting about these at the time is that they're kind of like a launching pad for certain careers at the time. So really quick, I'm gonna name a couple of these and just tell me if you know them off-hand. Tell me if these ring about. Johnny Dangerously. No. What if these ring about? Johnny Dangerously. No. Starring Michael Keaton in 1984, it's like a gangster. Okay. Film.

Okay. Maybe he didn't launch his career, but it was an earlier Michael Keaton affair. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, I think about this a lot. I don't think George Cleening was the best bad man. I just want to take a moment. Yes.

I'll never be these days to say that. You know what? I would kind of agree with that, but when he showed up in the flash, at the end of the flash, spoilers for flash, I kind of was like, all right, cool. Thanks, George Keaton. Those were my favorite ones. This is really interesting, because that film came out in 1984, so did Spinal Tap, but so did this next one.

So I'm going to say another film I want wanna see if you guys know it, Top Secret. I've heard of it, I haven't seen it though. You know, okay, you're familiar with Top Secret. So this is another spy parody film. This one stars another Batman and Val Kilmer. That's great. In 1984, Top Secret. Yeah, that's my awesome, I love that.

Thank you, full circle. That looked good. Great transition by the way you. But you know what I mean? Right. At this point, at this point, these things have all kind of coalesced and come into a thing of their own. Brooks by 87 is making space balls. It's sent up on those star wars films and stuff like that. And these are just kind of like the highlights of the deal that were space balls Space balls scary movie those two are the are the are the top I would say the top parody movies And maybe one of Mel Brooks or like you know blazing saddles. Yeah, like those three You know because they're all different genres in a way

Yeah, so I would say those three are like the biggest. And my eyes out of it. Right. Another one I wanted to get into. And it's actually a reentry into the podcast, but Weird Al is UHF 1989. I still haven't watched that. It really is an awesome film.

I love it so much. I'm gonna watch it. Yeah. I can't suggest it enough. I think you'll like it. It is a notorious flop though. It's got weird Alan and I'm gonna like it. We move into the 90s at this point, right? So you have kind of again like these are what we're kind of covering right now are the the cream of the crop. Like we haven't even

really talked much about the Monty Python films which largely are parodies to a certain extent like the Holy Grail covering medieval. Their parody of like medieval like stories and stuff kind of or like early 1800s. Well, what films about Jesus films about medieval times, things about yeah I mean definitely a lot of their subject matter exist within the era but like you've had like a tack of a killer tomatoes and things like that that if came and went had sequels and things like that but another notable entry I wanted to get to like around the time of the second naked gun entry

hot shots the action parody with Charlie Sheen of the helm. Never seen it. I know I've heard of that one many times. Yeah. And I knew Charlie Sheen was in it. Yeah. They're both pretty good. But again, I think the trend that kind of keeps going on

around this time is that there's kind of a launching pad for careers. Maybe these aren't your first movie, but you're good enough that you can take a premise to kind of take you to that next level where you are the headliner of a movie. Because also by the time we get to 1993, we're looking at loaded weapon,

Sam Jackson and Emilio Estevez and a lethal weapon type parody from National Lampoons, and C.B.44 a Chris rock led project kind of parodying nw a in a feature film. Okay, I've seen cv4. Yeah. 93 is also the same year that the second hot shots film came out and Robin Hood men types a a Mel Brooks project starting Casey Eels you know kind of riffing directly off Kevin Costner's Robin Hood great movie that's a great movie I love that one yeah I love that one as well yeah 94 you get the third entry in the naked gun films 95 is when you kind of get

that that break off for Leslie Nielsen and he's starting to dip into just taking tropes and genres that have occurred within film and making him his own for that given project. So you get Dracula Den loving it by 95, right? Also, a year later in 96, you get one of the first Wayne's brothers entries on this list. Don't be a Menace to South Central while drinking your juice in the hood. Yes! A send up of Menace to society, juice. I mean it literally almost lists all of them out in the

title, right? South Central, boys in the hood obviously. And beyond all that, I want to kind of cycle back because earlier in this timeline, their brother, Kenan Ivory Wains had done a film named, I'm going to get to Suka. He had been working with Robert Townsend, a guy who had made Hollywood shuffle. These are important black parody films. And when you look at exploitation films of the 70s, they are kind of like films that happen with the title or premise black in like, you know, sometimes comedic affair or sometimes

just as the avenue to have black cinema. And I think that's one of the things that make them really important, culturally, right? And like, it's one of the things that births, like the lineage of some of the most important purveyors of this style for me. Oh yeah, they're like the next decade of parody films where the way his brother is pretty much. Right. Yeah, no, absolutely. Like you have no brooks in the Zucker brothers and then they kind of like start dying films were the way his brother is pretty much right yeah no absolutely like you have no Brooks and the Zucker brothers and then they kind of like start dying off and not whittling away but like their entries kind of come

fewer farther between and then they start to emerge around the same time but also in 96 you get another first century from two people who I think we're gonna end up talking about Pretty soon Cannibal the musical do you know who would have made that no? Lin-Man, Miranda, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Oh, okay. It's a musical based on a Traveling party that ended up having to cannibalize one another to try to survive across the winter travel going to ride also from 1996 mystery science theater 3000, the movie.

You know, honestly man, why I don't know if I would consider a parody film. I find these guys to be really important to have an interesting story and notable enough that I think we're gonna be talking about. Well yeah, I mean like that's just maybe thinking of the Donner party and maybe do you want me to cover the Donner're gonna be talking about. Yeah, I mean like that just maybe think of the Donner party and baby

Do you want me to cover the Donner party? Definitely, do yeah. Yeah, the audience would you like me to cover the Donner party? Let us know I mean that might get a little well this this episode is gonna get a little graphic too, so Yeah, right. So also in 96 you have spy, another entry from Leslie Nielsen, and also the intro was sung by Werdell. Nice. 97 though, this is another thing that we've talked about, and I really do agree that this is a parody film,

and another send up of like James Bond and things like that. Brad, can you think of what we're talking about? James Bond parody? I think it's your bag, baby. Oh, Austin Powers. Yeah, baby. Yeah. So, yeah, Austin Powers, 1997.

It is literally one of my favorite parody trilogies. I could watch those over and over again. Or like comedic trilogies, would you go that far? Yeah, comedie, I would even say, yes, for sure. Because like, man, they're just great. All three of them too. They're all good. Like, yeah, I wish it was a fourth. Coming into the turn of the century, though, we get yet another entry with Leslie Nielsen, with 2001 a space travesty. But I think the most important one to come out this year,

Scary movie. I honestly like this is, again, what a, like I would say, one of the best. Like, definitely like the horror, in the pre-game, the parody of, yes, the parody of like modern movies, like, you know, horror movies. Well, right. And it was just, it was so perfect. It's like such a great, such a great movie. Well, I would would say this like one of the things that I've been saying is that there's a lot of movies that kind of go along underneath what we're covering today. And they were

parodies of horror films, right? Or they had horror as like their theme and things like that. This is the one that became a pop culture phenomenon. And it's really what sprouted them being the most successful comedic films. And maybe overall films in general on that list year-end and out throughout the 2000s spawned off a ton of different sequels and like projects adjacent to this franchise right? Parodies of the parody almost it got close to that before If the before it dipped down. It really like seriously it really almost did If the before it dipped down it really like seriously it really almost did it be like like literally

Parodies of the parody oh my god. Yeah, but I think beyond a certain point like this is where this is the high rise before the eventual fall right yeah, it's like the peak of parody films and then like from there just kind of depth Yeah in. In 2001, though, you get It's Equal Scary Movie 2, again, in the first classics, Wayer Brothers Productions, the one big complaint I see with Tito all the time is the Nike Commercial segment, where they're all dribbling the basketball, and it's like, wait a day at your movie,

which because I even forgot about it multiple times and see it come on oh no I like that like where they like where the the girl comes out and starts dribbling the basketball yeah it's so great I mean it is it is fun why taint it every single time now you see that movie you have to remember that commercial from 2001 yeah I guess it it probably paid for it too, but Nike did that ad placement. Yeah, regardless. 2001 though, you get not another teen movie as well of Movie that I love. Yes. See like that's another one like it the starring Chris Evans

Seriously? Captain America was in one of these things. Yeah, Chris Evans is the high school jock, bro. That's amazing. It is a film that's parodying the, you know, the TRL kind of generation, right? She's all that and movies of that nature, right? The team dramas or whatever you like to call it, right? It's a well-beloved movie.

If you've never seen it before, it's one that I would check out for sure. But another one that comes out in 2001 that I would check out for sure but another one that comes out in 2001 that I think is really notable too is wet hot American summer Paul Rudd a bunch of the people from the state the sketch comedy crew that was in mid-90s MTV fame but went on to be a part of like Reno 9-1-1 and stuff like that. David Hype here says in this film and it is like a comedy classic. Again, another film I think you should check out. In the state, I think it's something we're going to have to check out because it's something I want to know more about.

Yeah, this is how cool. I haven't seen that. It's a great movie. You can check it out for sure. So by 2002, we have the last of the Austin Powers movies with Gold member, Kung Pao comes out that year and another movie I know you like. Chosawa! Yes. Absolutely. And the Scaring movies continue to come out and I would say kind of dip in quality across 2005.

Definitely after three, after three is a CF. In 2006, which is a scary movie for, but this is where parody films again. Like I said, really start to fall off the edge because the quality for scary movies is kind of already maybe not even there. And then you would start to see these films with two of the four writers of Scary movie and they would be films like epic movie disaster movie meet the Spartans date movie like I'm saying They're almost become parodies of the parody like it's like well then you can't like well I don't know if you would call this a parody movie, but like shark NATO and stuff, you know That's not a parody movie, but like that's what it got to the extreme where it's just so ridiculous. Right. I mean, no, that is so bad. It's B movies for the

sake of B movies. And like, well, I think the thing is, when you look at the money these things we're making, no matter how bad they were, up until that final point, whatever that point was, which arguably does kind of seem to be meet the Spartans perhaps, but even after that, Marlon, Marlon Wands, later on, has came kind of back to this genre, and again, like maybe kind of taking back some of... So he's still doing it, yeah. I mean, they're still doing it. He's come back to it, and I would make an argument that like perhaps maybe he is reclaiming it because like I had said before, like black exploitation films as a genre is important to black cinema, black culture overall, right? So like maybe that's a little bit more of it than just shamelessly taking it and doing it again, going back to the well.

But yeah, man, I mean, again, by this point into the 2010s, this really does kind of fall off of the map and rightfully so, man, because a lot of those movies, although we were watching them in high school and thinking they were funny out, you know. Yeah. These really did kind of start to just get worse and worse and worse. They definitely did.

And like that kind of sounds like what the guy I would like to talk about. He just kind of, it was kind of funny. Well, it wasn't funny, but you know, it's kind of comical what happened. And then it could have used someone. It just could, yeah, but then it kind of just kept getting worse and worse and worse as or he just kept getting worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse. worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and He does, yeah, he does kind of sound like somebody like in a video game or something. Yeah, I would be the Celtic crippler. Yeah.

I do like an underhooked DDT and, yeah, total world champ vibes. Yeah, well he was actually like a 19th century guy that was mostly known for a horror accident that left him blind and one eye and then completely changed him. And you know, I eventually liked to his death, but yeah, so let's get into it. That sounds like an interesting heel turn. Just saying. Yeah. So Finney's sketch, his accident, and we'll get to his accident in a minute. It's been cited, like countless times in medical literature, and it's led to really a better understanding of anatomy and physiology during that time, because it was pretty terrible, it was an accident, but he survived it, and he lived for a while, so let us understand the brain

even a little bit more. So let's get into it in his life, though. He was born in a grafting county, New Hampshire in 1823 and Really there's not much known about his life before the accident besides that he was born Do his dad was Jesse in gauge and his mom was Hannah Trustle, Sweatland or Hannah, you know Hannah Trustle gauge, but the only other thing really is that he was illiterate At least we know he could have. Yeah, and it wasn't a common though. Like 1823, you know, like early 1800s, right? This is still like early America and stuff.

But like, there was a doctor named John Harlow and he'll come into the story later after the accident. But he knew him before. He was like the family doctor for it. Is it not a famous rapper? No, that's Jack Harlow, right? Jack Harlow, yeah. Yeah, that the famous rapper? No, that's Jack Harlow, right? Jack Harlow, yep. Yeah, but, yeah.

But he described him as quote, a perfectly healthy, strong and active young man, 25 years of age, nervous, billious temperament, five foot, six inches in height, average weight of 155 pounds, possessing an iron will as well as an iron frame, muscular system unusually well developed having had scarcely a Daysailness from his childhood to the date of entry, so you like, you know, he sounds like, you know He's like a strong person like he was like we'll get into it like he was like, you know

Forming of where he worked. He was a construction worker. Oh, yeah But what's this nervous? Obilius temperate. I don't know when I heard that I was like I've never heard of that before have you heard of with nervous billius? No, and like tempered man I always like it's kind of about your mood and when you carry yourself your body language and things like that Like are you a stern person or whatever but like actually it's exactly that but it's it's like from this Exactly that, but it's like from this pseudoscience called the chronology

Which is like the study of skulls and their shapes So is this like eugenics and stuff like that? Yes, it actually was a leg up and I would actually like to talk about that I'm like so we're not gonna get into it much this time, but that's a pseudoscience, right? It is a pseudoscience, but like I just like the history of it's crazy man. The history is so crazy. But it was like seriously, so it was like all the rage in the 1800s. And like you said, it led to some people trying to support eugenics using that, you know, like, oh yeah, you know, like

these people are in fears or head shapes are like this and stuff. Like where it has nothing to do, like that has nothing to do with intelligence or anything. I was gonna say isn't it racism or whatever? Pretty much, yeah. Not just, yeah. Yes, but anyways, this nervous billiast though, it meant like, it meant to be like, really organized

and good at managing the lives and their lives and jobs and how, so like, you like you know being good like having your sh** together essentially being well-rounded dude at all. Yeah exactly like I've also read that it was like being excitable or having like active mental powers or energy and strengthen mind and body you know. Mental powers? Mental way to men it like some x-men? Well because like this is the whole thing about chronology man is like,

we're like, some people are like, you're like, you know, like a super human almost. You know, like it led to stuff like that. Wait, does this like 3D dionetics? I don't know enough about it. That's what I'm saying. Like I've heard about it. Right.

And that's what I'm saying. I don't want to really talk about it now, but like, yeah. But he was, he was a construction worker, right? And like at the time of the accident, obviously, like he had a construction accident. And he probably worked on farms before that. And in mines too, because in the area he was at, like, there was mines at the time. And from that, he probably familiarized himself with different kinds of explosives and things like that mining You know, you got lots of explosives and mines. Yeah, so when he worked as like an explosive technician in this construction company

Like you're blowing up like so directly with yeah, yeah, so like yeah I thought you meant like he was just a dude working at the mines like you know what I want to really know This is how to blow the f*** up. Flinging around his axe. By 1848, he became a foreman in September. Right, right. This construction site, they were over at, near the Hudson River Railroad,

close to the Portland town, New York. So like he was working in Vermont, right? From that, from Portland town. It was going from Portland town, New York, to like, you know, those, that's like through the Hudson River and whatnot. And at that time, like, they were blowing, I saw this picture of like the part where

they were blowing up, you know, it's like this big, like, it was like a hill, like a rock outcropping, right? That they were blowing up. Okay, okay. But during that, like, he was like working there for a minute, you know, because he was a former, right? Maybe an independent contractor, you know? And like, it sounded like he was like working there for a minute You know because he's a he was a former right maybe an independent contractor, you know

And like it sounded like he was like, you know like one of the better, you know employees Because he was called like the most efficient and capable foreman by his employers and whatnot like a street smart businessman So it's not like I mean, I guess if you know about this story, like sometimes like the myth is like, he was like some dumb person and things like that, you know, like that, he was like, you know, cause he wasn't the littoret, you know, but he was a good worker though. Just cause he was a littoret,

it doesn't mean that he could have worked good. And like, he knew his stuff, at least with blowing things up. But- And it's true, right? Yeah, no, I mean, even just with you saying that, like little is known about him beyond You know his parent had you or whatever you know his lineage and his little literacy. Yeah

Then it kind of Should I be in like well actually this guy worked yeah every day? Pretty much worked his way up to being an explosives technician and the form and the Yes, and he still could read you you know like that's really how it should be laid out but like unfortunately the Tugely not how it's laid out right exactly it's not so from from July he was working you know in New York and by September that company the the Rutland and Burlington Railroad, was just south of Camindish Vermont, right? And that's where they were blasting the rock.

And he impact this thing, because a lot of us, he was just a little, it was a rod, it was a steel rod that he like invented, I guess, but it was just a piece of metal, essentially. And what that did was it allowed them to like pack the charge in to the rock, right? Because you have the blasting powder and a fuse, and then you have to cover that blasting powder and fuse, okay? So, did it have a special hook edge to it so you could push it in or whatever?

No, literally they just think of like a rod like you but I guess it was like kind of angled a little bit But like I mean I guess it was a little special because like he was the one that was like that might have what made him Be like a farmer like see it took initiative is like hey What if we have like use this rod you know like angle that this way a little bit but essentially it was just a Tamping rod though, you know, it's literally just a tampering rod. Like, because like I said, you had the blasting powder, the fuse, and then you need to put like a little bit of earth on top of it, like, you know, whether it be like clay or sand, like sand, I guess, was used a lot because it prevented like static electricity or sparks even, you know. So, right, as an insolence.

Yes. So, around 430 on September 13th of that, you know, he was trying to tamp in some of this, some of these with one of those rods when he got distracted by some of his employees behind him. And he turned around and started talking to him. As he was doing this, he turned his head and his head was over the top of the rod and he moved the rod. Right. The right two would go over the side of the... Exactly. This is just like a three foot rod, right? Right. While he was talking or to turn to talk, he moved the rod, which must have went off of part of the rock and caused a spark causing the blast

to ignite causing it to shoot straight up through his mouth and behind his eye and out the top of his head. I mean just devastating because of the sense of like whatever life you have at that point has now changed and the pain and I mean I'm sure you're knocked out instantly on impact from that. But like, yeah, yeah, he was definitely knocked out. The pain you have to persist through in life after that every day or not. Exactly. But like, they just like the, it's amazing that he survived. First of all, like, okay, it was like, right. This one, like I said, it was, it was about one in the quarter inch or 3.27 meters in diameter, about three foot seven inch, or

three foot seven inches long, or 1.1 meters, and it weighed about 13 pounds, you know, or six kilograms. So like, it was, you know, this is like, think of like a ride about a three foot long ride or you know it's a big yes and I can't uh it entered actually through like because his mouth was open he was talking or it's believe you know he was talking and entered so it hit at the top through yep it hit through the top of his mouth and then went up through and it okay Think about your your skeleton right your jaw, you know your bottom jaw's kind of like a L shape, right? So think of the part that like connects to your upper jaw that part and think of that as the angle It went a little bit forward, right a little bit like at that angle, but a little bit forward like towards the eye

That's how it like shot up right and it just went right past the back of the left eye and then I'll you know it Destroyed a lot of his front temporal lobes You know the left side of his front temporal lobes and they shot off the top of his head Yeah, at first I thought that it was stuck in his head, but no like it it went through It went all the way through man. Yeah, at first I thought that it was stuck in his head, but no, like it went through. It went all the way through, man. Yeah. Yeah. I'm looking at a picture right now.

And you can see this scratch line, and this is not a very good photo. I mean, it's probably resdupped, so it's a decent photo. But like, you can see this scratch line through to like this hair piece, I would assume, right? Yes. But either way, like you can see this scratch line through to like this hair piece. I would assume right? Yes, but either way like you can see it going to his hairline and yeah It would just come out here over the eye of just man Yeah, so when it happened obviously this throw back and you know, I start convulsing for a few minutes

Obviously like this is a very traumatic injury. But after a few minutes though, he started speaking and he got up. And with some assistance. What? Yeah. And then like set up right, and then they drove him in an ox cart for three quarters of a mile,

or like 1.2 kilometers all the way back to where he lives which was ever an hotel because like they're you know they're working out in some random place yeah so and he just like you know was chilling like all right oh I mean obviously hurt but so about 30 minutes after that though a doctor doctor named Edward H. Williams arrived and when he was pulling up, he could see his brain sticking out of his head. He was just sitting at the porch of the hotel. Yeah, sitting in the chair of the porch of the hotel. No, and he'd be told that when he pulled up, Phineas told him, Dr, here's business enough

for you. Right. when he pulled up, Phineas told him, Dr. here is business in FFuria. Right. Well, he was being examined by Dr. Williams. I don't think Dr. Williams was like, he was probably like, you know, a junior doctor. Like, he wasn't equipped to do this. Well, none of the doctors around there were, you know? Like, this is like crazy.

Accident. The time, this is the 18, you know, 1848. Gage started vomiting. And while he was vomiting, some of his brain manners spilled out of the top of his head from like the accident. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry if that's getting a little graphic.

It was so forceful that when it went up through his skull, his entire skull hinged from that front and the back part. It doesn't hinge right there, right? They like fold the out. Oh my god. Yeah, the entire skull broke from the impact. And like, but the connective tissue, you know, the tendons and your skin and everything kept it together and like it brought it back together.

Yeah. The top of the palate. Yeah, the top of the palate. Yeah, the roof of the mouth, right? Yeah, going up of the palette. Yeah, the top of the palette at the roof of the mouth, right? Yep, going up past the eye through the eye socket up a pass the front How much do you mess up his nose? He didn't I don't think it did a mess up his nose. I don't think she farther like yeah, yeah, yeah, so yeah the palette the eye socket itself

Part of the top of the skull, right? The frontal lobe. Yeah. And the same. Dr. Harlow, you know, the doctor that I quoted earlier, arrived a few hours later, though. And he took charge of it, because like, you know, he was a family physician, even though he was a trained bird, either. Right.

Anyways, he started cleaning the runes ruins and like picking out you know brain Manored like the skull it got pretty detailed. I'm not gonna get more detailed after this But it the recovery was pretty difficult, you know the first week though It kind of seemed like he was alright. You know, it seemed like he was improving and like it like he was talking to people He wasn't getting out of bed though, but like you know, he he was like, you know, conscious in everything. Right. He seems to be cognizant. Yeah. Yeah. He's like surroundings and situations to converge with people, right? Exactly. But by day 12, though, he kind of went into like a semi-combatos, you know, and his left eye became infected. With fungi, I guess, like a fungal infection and it started spreading

to his brain. And the doctors had to cut it out and they're like, I guess they cut it out and were able to fix it. And his eye wasn't lost at that time, but like they drained the pus and everything. And he slowly recovered. And in November, 10 weeks from that, he, after his injury, right, he was strong enough to return back to his parents' house. But by February, he kind of do much, like he tried to do work and stuff like that. And put he wasn't improved, like he wasn't improving a little bit mentally and physically, but still not like much.

And he lost his eye at this point, somewhere around this point. I thought I wrote it down, I guess I didn't at the moment. Like you went in Jack Harlow, and then I'm taking that as I, because like it just like, you know, it died, right? Yeah, the jet that I is just completely and it's gone. Yeah, yeah.

Now like he couldn't see on of it though, right? Oh no, I think it was blind from that, but like it just, it got infected and stuff. Right, exactly. So like it's a superfluous thing at this point. Yeah. Anyway, they have glass eyes by this point. Yeah, but I think they just sealed it up.

Like if you look at a picture of them, they just like kind of patched it. Yeah. Well, no, no, I know, yeah, I know that. But I'm just saying like even just looking at that fact, like it's not uncommon for this to be a replaceable thing. And maybe in his case, it wasn't, I could see that being possible. Yeah, but exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So like, unfortunately, like you started going to like

PT Barnum's things, like things like that, you know, which that's my best another person that might talk about someday, but like the freak shows and stuff like that. But it wasn't for him, you know, because if you like, I mean, freak shows, you got to be a certain type of person, even, well, obviously, back then it was like crazy, obviously, but not even just like being an disabled person, like, you have to have like a mentality, you know, to be in a freak show. And that wasn't for him. Oh, will. That's right. Like you have to have an

exactly you'd really be willing to be like a show person. Yeah. Yeah. You have to like embrace it to a certain extent. Exactly. It's only for the show. You know, yeah. Yeah.

By 1852, he had a chance to go to Chile to work as a stage coach and he took it, you know So like he went down to Chile and I guess he was good enough to you know to drive for For seven years he was a stage coach. Yeah, that doesn't sound like an easy gig either Like discussion champ. Yeah, like you probably took care of you know horses and took them up here and all that This guy is a champ. Yeah, like he probably took care of, you know, horses and took them up here and all that. Yeah. This guy is a champ, bro. Exactly. But by 1859 though, his health started failing him and he had to move back up to, at this point, San Francisco, where his mother and sister had moved.

So they moved, you know, all the way across the country over to San Francisco. And during that time. Right. Yeah, but he tried to work a little bit, but his health was just bad, you know, and by February of 1860, he started having epileptic seizures, and like it just kind of get went downhill from there, you know. Again, with all the things that we know about brain injury and things like that, like it is astonishing this guy lived the like, I don't wanna say full and beautiful,

but for the fact the guy survived what he did and really more because even after that, there's so many things that like given a day or two more with an infection or whatever it could have been, like this guy could have died. And you know what I mean? Like... Yeah, seriously, the infection seriously, that's crazy. So many good things though.

Yeah, like so much stuff. Yeah. Yeah, May 18th though, he had a severe convulsion and it continued throughout the day and night. And then he died the next day May 19th 1860 he died And Afterwards though the incident like it kept like being noted like well Harlow because this guy was like he was into the Prenology, you know like that's that was like at the time, you know doctors at the time we're in an effronology stuff the time, you know, doctors, that's the time we're in an effordology stuff. And like, yeah.

Oh, she, well. He's like, oh, it screwed up, you know, all, like, I messed up his brain. And it did mess up his brain. Yeah, I'm like, oh. He was saying that it'll remain like angry and anti-social and all that. But like, people afterwards, like, it's like down

a chilly and stuff like that. They just said he was a normal person, you know, like, because the brain, maybe like, right at that, or after the accident, like, when he was healing and stuff like that. They just said he was a normal person, because the brain maybe right at that, or after the accident, when he was healing and stuff, it might have been like, damn, it was damaged, obviously. But your brain, it's plastic, right?

Like you can, even with that, that's the crazy thing is that his, part of his brain was like obliterated. Oh, he was able to, people continue to go on, you know, and it's just, yeah, I don't know. That's what's crazy to me. Really, why bother to talk a lot? Because like, yeah, like, his brain got destroyed, but he still lived for, what, you know, another like 10 years after I had 11 years, 12. Right. And one of the things about that too is like it is again like kind of you know that post this guy dying his name and legacy I guess you could say or whatever you know what I mean like his

his story is then kind of shared in ungenuine fashion that kind of be an example for again like eugenics and stuff like that like all this that is like apologetics or you know conclusion bait for people that like kind of suck exactly you know what I mean like that's actually lame too because of it it is kind of like again I'm sure this guy dealt with a lot of pain oh man I'm I'm sure throughout, like, for yeah. But he lived a life post this that while not full and beautiful air quotes, like for the fact that this guy could have died. Exactly.

Multiple times over is full and beautiful and like, yeah man, rest in power dude, wow, that's crazy. Yeah, it is, yeah. That's video stage. Colling want to leave us out. And if you felt like this episode blew your front palette to your front of low-off, you can follow us on our social media, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and on Patreon where you can get get early access to this episode and others by one week. A whole week!

A whole day week. We are on our march to episode 50. Give us a rate and review on your podcast platform of choice. And with that, we'd love to thank you for joining us here each and every week. For Brad, I'm Kyle and we will see you again here soon. See ya! Brainsoda.