Do Go On - 42 - The 'Shocking' rivalry of Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse

Episode Date: August 10, 2016

It's the story of one of the biggest power struggles of all time, who wins- Thomas Edison or George Westinghouse? And why are dogs and an elephant involved? Twitter: @DoGoOnPodInstagram: @DoGoOnPodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoGoOnPod/Email us: [e-mail] the show and get rewards like bonus episodes:www.patreon.com/DoGoOnPod  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Melbourne and Canada, we got exciting news for you. And we should also say this is 2026. Jess, what year is it? 2026. Thank God you're here. Right now, I'm in Melbourne doing my show with Serenji Amarna 630 each night at the Cooper's Inn Hotel, having so much fun. We'd love to see you there. Canada, we are visiting you in September this year.

If you've somehow missed the news, we are heading up Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto for shows. That's going to be so much fun. Tickets for all this stuff, I believe, are online. And I'm here too. Welcome to Do Go On. My name is Dave Warnocky, and I am here with Jess Perkins and Matt Stewart, guys, how it be. It be grand.

It'd be grand. It's pretty, no, it's good. Strong start from that. Hey, look, straight out there. Always. Look, what I, look, well, I've got your attention, Dave, I just wanted to let you know that I've asked you how you are. I feel really good.

And I hope you're having a lot. I hope you're having a lovely day. I am. Hanging out with my favourite lads. Of course I'm having a good day. Thank you. Lads night out. Lads night out with the lads.

Nodd's out for the boys. Lads out for the boys. Everybody now. Lads out for the boys. Lads out for the boys. You made a real mess there. I tried to clap and I made my headphones go flying. Sorry, everybody.

I tried a clap. Matt, uh, or he had, sorry, It's not just about us. It's also about you're the fourth host. You're the fourth host out there. You are the guest hosts. What are you talking about? I just wanted to say,

I was going to jump straight into it, but I had to realize that maybe you haven't heard this before. Maybe the first time you've heard my dulcet turns explained to you that this is a show where we do a report on a topic. Well, one of us does a report, and the other two have no idea what the other person is going to talk about. And they get to sit back and chill.

Sit back, chuck into autopilot. And learn. And learn. That's what. Live. laugh. Learn. Learn lament. Lament.

Lament. And Linguini. Oh, yum. Yes, please. Yes, please, ye, you should have said. Dumb fuck. I regret my whole life. We regret your whole life too.

We regret you existing. When you say we, are you talking about? The world. The world, yeah, I thought so. We are to make sure you were getting us all in there. Well, now I've been told that. I'm less enthused to do this. the show, but I'll solve on.

We are the world. We think Dave should kill himself. We are the world. We all say fuck off Dave. How have you turned on me? Why am I the bad guy? No, no. It's always someone's turn.

To be honest, it's usually you. Yeah. You'll turn to step up. Well, I mean, for starters, you're a Nazi sympathiser. Oh, no. No, no. Despite how that is an ongoing joke putting in

quote Oh so it's a joke because it's true Is that what you mean? Yeah Oh no Dig it a hole Got to think about this one

Hang on Give me five minutes I'll come back with my answer Yeah like a true Nazi We'll just proceed with the show Let us know When you're ready Okay I'll let you know

I'll let you know Do a report It is my turn Did you tell everyone What that means I'm glad that you're listening Yes, I did. Great.

I thought you did. I heard you say something about them being the fourth host, and I'm like, I'm not going to listen to this. This mumbo-jumbo. What's he talking about? Okay, so is that permission for us to not listen to your mumbo-jumbo? Oh, no, for God's sake, please. I need you.

Justify the last six hours of my life researching this crap. Yeah, I have spent more time on this one than I have in a while, and I'm still not super happy with it. And you're about to make someone's day. story because you're about to read out someone who has suggested this topic yeah this one is always going you always go into the hat plucked out of that i love the hat i live with the hat i love with the hat oh god do we have to go with that hat can you not love with the hat can you love with a different hat yeah come on put on a different hat when you guys dip your hand into my hat oh no no no oh yes yes

creepy anyway so we normally sell the question i uh ask a question uh ask a question um say usually related to the topic. In this case it is. This one's very specific. I'm actually going to give away pretty much give away the topic. But I'm just curious if you've heard of it. So the question is

there was so the name of the topic as suggested by great listener Ian Astelosh at Ian Astelosh 23 on Twitter. Thank you Ian. It feels like I might be mispronouncing that, but geez.

It's a great name. Either way. It's actually iron. Iron Astelosh. Sorry, Iron. Look how proud he looks. Happy with that one, Iron? No, it's good.

I enjoyed that. So I'm going to give you the topic as he gave it to me and see if you can tell. Is there a question in these stories? My question is. Here's a question. The topic is Moscow 1984. Yeah. Yeah, sort of like that.

So the topic is the shocking rivalry of Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. My question to you is, what was the rivalry about? Do you guys know? You're at all familiar. Dave looks like he might be. Well, was it peen size? A question from Jess. Who had a bigger peen?

Or a smaller peen, maybe back in that era. It was all about the small. On some level, yes. Sure. It's a pissing contest. No, it is. It's all bloody, bloody, pissing out of the wing. It's all bloody.

Get your dicks out. No, I've invented more, and my dick's bigger. Is it about who's invented more, or is it about the... The light bulb? Because that's the one that Edison's always... It's sort of a light. Yeah, it's kind of a relate. It comes off the back of that.

And the Westinghouse, is that the brand Westinghouse? It is, yeah. Very cool. What's Edison got named after him? Fuck all. Well, you'll, yeah, I mean, he does start a company in this story. And he calls it Edison Electric Company. Oh, spoilers.

Okay, I was asking the question. Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm trying to live. Was the light bulbs on the right track? It was, yeah. So this battle has a more common name, and that name is the War of Currants. The War of Currents.

Yeah. Black Cards. A.k.a. the Battle of Currants, aka the Battle of the Currants, aka the War of the Currants. I mean, they're all religious. Currents battle. Yeah. AKA battling with the currents and the boys. Here we go. Cool.

Okay. I like a bit of rivalry. Me too. Do you guys have a... Have you ever had a rival? Oh yeah. Oh yeah? Oh, who's your rival?

She knows what she did. No, I don't think I have actually. I'm gonna make it a pair. Have you met me? I'm bloody delightful. Are you? Nah. Nah.

Matt, ever had a rival? Not that I'm familiar with. How could, like, how could you rival Matt, you know? Yeah. It's like you can't... I'm running my own race. Well, if you guys have never had a rival, I'll step up and say that I have.

You have? Tells about your rival. The year was 2002. You were 12 years old. 12 years old. Thank you, Jess. My official biographer. I was in grade 6, the final year of the primary school that I was attending, where I was

school captain. Very good at Times Tables. Interesting. A Times Tables competition. Oh, yeah? What's 9 times 19? I'm a specific one to 12. All right, what's...

171. Oh, you see how he stalled there? Very transparent. One to 12, though. One times 12. 171. God, he is good. I assume he's good.

I assume he's good. Please, don't fact check. I'm terrible at them, so I'm just going to go with you. Well, there was a competition in my classroom, and I was dominating. Of course you were. I was winning gold star after gold star. Of course you were. Can you believe this?

He's a champ. And then one of my close friends decided that he, too, was going to step up. Would memorize times tables. He stuck the times table to the back door. of his toilet. Every time he went, he would memorize.

He pooped a lot. He pooped a lot. He was a big guy, okay? He was a growing young man. He liked... He ate a lot of Mexicans. Yeah, all right. So this guy...

All right. What are you defending him now? No, he's my rival. How dare this guy try and learn times tables? And then one day, he challenged me and won. But I came back and I beat him a few more times. And suddenly there was a rivalry between him and I who was going to be the best at times tables. And then primary school finished,

We went to high school and never saw him again, but I can only assume that he's still on that toilet, counting. 112 was 12, 2 12, 24, 3 12th, 236, etc, etc. The poo goes on. Poo go on. The poo goes on. And that boy's name, Thomas Edison.

I don't think I broke, I didn't break Jess last week, so I'm pretty happy that I've broken her again. She, look, we just might need a minute here. Jess does look like she might Someone did tweet in Someone tweeted in The words Never edit Jess's love

First mistake Because that minute was edited I cut it down Anyway Isn't that incredible That like In the studio that day That did feel like

Hours days I had a nap How have none of us Ever come up with poo go on yet Poo go on yet 40 what episodes It's 42 episodes. I've never.

I don't like poo humor. Puma. I don't like Pugh. Fuck, you're on fire! She's so fast. You don't like poo humor? Puma. I don't like Puma, no.

Yeah, like Puma. Call it Puma. I like Puma. Thank you. Poo go on. I think Poo is so funny. It is. It's not at all relevant to this story.

There's no poo. All right, sorry. Well, that was my rivalry. I want to hear about the second greatest rivalry in history. The War of Currents. so trivial now compared to the Times Table War of 2002.

So the war began with two types of lighting systems. There was arc lighting which ran on alternating current mainly and incandescent lighting which ran on direct current.

So it was AC versus DC. Oh my God. The arc lamp was the first of the two to be used widely and they'd been around from much of the 1800s but it wasn't until the late 18th century.

70s that they were being installed in cities on a larger scale. They needed high voltage power. High voltage rock and roll. Yes. And as such, often required AC power. ACDC power. So is AC a bit more powerful? AC is able to, yeah, get a...

It's able to be sent over a much longer distance. But it is bigger. I'm sciencey. Cool. Right, so, but... Dave, don't ask questions. But DC, I assume, has advantages if people are advocating for it. Okay.

The disadvantage of arc lighting was it needed a lot more maintenance. Oh, see. Careful. It made buzzing sounds. Oh, no. It also started fires every day. It also kept calling my mum a bitch. Fuck you, AC.

And it was a fire hazard. Oh, was that genuinely think. You were true. You're right. Look, that was a bit of a joke that became too real. I'm sorry to all the people that burned. Please, poo go on. It was only...

I'm going to save everything today. No, please. Please. Come on, mate. You're better than that. Better than Puma? I don't think so. It was only really suitable for outdoor lighting

and was dangerous to work with. I love a bit of outdoor lighting. Due to the high voltage required. Great. So I was... You said all the advantages and I was like, why would anyone not use that? And now you said that I'm thinking,

Why would anyone use that? It sounds awful. In 1878, inventor Thomas Edison saw a market for a system that could bring electric lighting into the customer's home or business. Something that arc lighting systems were unable to do. So Edison set up his Edison illuminating company by 1882 and based his system on a relatively low 110-volt direct current system, DC. So Edison's DC. Edison's a DC man. His DC systems would be sold to cities throughout the US,

and it quickly became the standard with Edison controlling all the tech development and holding all of the key patents. So he was making a lot of money. He's making it rain. Yeah, he was making it rain. Cash. And light. And light, yeah.

And lightning. He's the god of thunder. I am Thor. The system worked... I mean, Thomas, sorry. I always say that wrong. The system worked well. It powered the incandescent lamps, which were the main load at the time, which is also something he had invented.

It's what he's most famous for, probably inventing those lights, the light bulbs. And they, it gave, his system gave consistent and efficient performance. There was, his system was able to also incorporate a battery. So when there were problems with the generator, you wouldn't lose power. so it would be nice and consistent. AC had issues with that. Okay, so DC is wiping the floor, in my opinion, so far. But is there a doubt?

Is there a butt? Edison also invented a usage meter that meant consumers were only billed for the power they used, which is a cool new thing as well. The main downside of Edison's DC system. Oh, no. Was it, it kept calling your mum a bitch. Oh, you're fucking DC.

But it set it with a very, you know, a polite. light tone. Terribly sorry, I'm just wanted to say, you know, that your mother's being a little bit bitchy anyway, chin,

chin, chint too-d-do. Yeah, that's close. That's actually a direct quote. On top of that, it also had a really short transmission range, which meant that

the generating plants had to be situated in population centers and were only able to supply power to the houses and businesses less than a mile from the plant.

That's a lot of plants. Yeah. So, and they were more expensive to make and install. Oh, no, I don't know what to think. I know how to feel. Realising that one of the biggest limitations of DC powers that it was hard to send across large distances

without losing a lot of energy, Edison tasked a young Serbian employee with the job of solving this issue. That young Serb was none other than legendary mathematician and engineer Nikola Tesla. That's it. The story goes that Edison told Tesla that if he could do it, he would pay him 50 grand. What? If he could solve his problem.

That's a lot of cash. 50 grand in the 1890s. 1890s. That's 1880s. So much money. 50 grand. Is that being adjusted? No, that was what he said at the time.

What? That's like someone, if you can solve my problem, I will give you one million billion trillion, zillion dollars. I'll take that bit Yeah, I'll give it a crack Tesla accepted the challenge It was able to come up With ways to improve the service And economy of the system

But when he went to Edison for the money Supposed, Supposed, Replying, Tesla, you don't understand our American humour What a... Are you serious? Apparently, I mean,

there is some doubt about this story Because apparently Edison was a super tight ass And it was pretty unlikely That he would have promised Such a large summer cash but Tesla maintained. So this day

he's still talking about it. He's 107 or something, yeah. Yeah, so Tesla told Edison that the future of electric distribution was in AC power as it allowed energy to be sent over much longer distances. Oh, that's a slap to the face.

And Edison dismissed Tesla's ideas as utterly impractical. Hey, mate. Making electricity to go further is dumb. I want power. I want a power plan on every corner in New York City by the end of this year. That's what I want. Make it happen, 50 grand.

In every room in your house. I'll give everyone 50 grand. You don't get my humor. I don't think you get humor. People keep asking him to pay his bill at the restaurant. When I order that pizza and ate it, you don't get my humor. It's American humor. I'm American.

You're in America. Yeah. Yeah, we're all American. Yeah, you don't get it. Yeah, you don't get it. You don't get it. You don't get it. You don't know.

Your mum's a bitch. Oh no. Not again. Due to Edison not listening to him or paying him what he believed he was owed, Tesla quit and went to start his own company, the Tesla Electric, Light and Manufacturing Company, with the help of some investors he found down on the street. Hello.

Would you like to invest in this business? I'll give you 50 grand. You don't get him. I'm not supposed to laugh right away. Yeah, people are going, I'll invest 50 grand And Tesla's like, oh, I get it now American humor It's hilarious

If you didn't want to invest Just say no thank you No, it is a write your check right now I mean, it is very good You're being kind of a dick now It's offensive Here take this suitcase full of money All right, man

Okay, mate I'm actually trying to start a business here Okay, you know, I've had enough Good day, sir No, no, I'm really trying I said good day Not long after Tesla was forced out of his own company by the money men, the investors,

leaving him broke, and he even lost control of the patents he'd created to the company. They were signed over to the company, and then he was sort of forced down to the company. That's a fucking sad story. That is. Not long after this, Tesla met a couple of dudes. Alfred S. Brown, everyone had a middle initial work then,

apart from everyone else I've mentioned so far. I'd be Jess A. Perkins. Jesse Perkins. Dave J. Warnackie? Matt Jay Stewart Matthew Jay I think I'd have to be Jessica A I couldn't be Dave

I'd have to be David J David J David J yeah I don't think you can't You can shorten part And extend another part Yeah What you're doing You think I've made a 50 grand

Good day sir You don't get it The Tesla met Alfred S Brown And Charles F Peck soon after FPEC FPEC These men were experienced

in starting up companies and turning inventions and patents into sweet cash. They were impressed by Tesla's previous patents and ideas, and they agreed to become these new financial backers. And best friends. And yeah, they became best. Oh, that's so cute. Yeah, I mean, that was a subtext. I was reading between the lines, but those guys...

Oh, they went out every night. Yeah, they... I played pool. Yeah, they just, you know... Did they, like... Shot the breeze. Did their families all know each other as well, and they went on family holidays, all of them?

They actually, the three families bought houses three in a row in a country town in Outback, Ohio. Get out. Where some of our listeners from, Ohio, Outback. It's a place in America. Outback. And they, yeah, they decided to, in their backyards, they took down parts of the fence and put gates so their kids could run in between the three backyards. Get out. I guess that's one.

I mean, that's probably. I mean, that's probably. I mean, that's probably. I mean, that's probably. Yeah. And have something, the commune. They're a cult. You're a cult.

Yeah, gay, there's a fine line. Gates. You want some boundaries. The difference between friendship and occult is a gait. Yeah, absolutely right. Hey, Matt. I live by those words. Please, poo go on.

I will not poo go on. Puma. Hashtag Puga on. Hashtag Puma. Tag Matt and your poo go on tweets. He wants it. He loves it. Don't want it.

Poo go on. Well, I'm definitely asking for it, I know. I'm going to edit it all out. All your poohs out. To me, the whole episode would just be me and just going, Pugo on, Puga on, Puma, Puma, Puma, Puga on, Puga on. So with the new financial backers, the three of them formed the Tesla Electric Company in 1887. Interesting that Tesla still gets to be the name. So now there's two Tesla electric companies.

Yeah, it's a bit strange, right? Okay. With a deal that meant the cash generated from patents would be divided three ways. one third to Tesla, one third to Peck and Brown, and the final third to be funded, to go back into development. Oh, so they share a third. So Pecker and Brown get a sixth.

But he's doing all the work. He's coming up with the ideas. They're just financial backers. Yeah, they're just kind of, like, I think that's a good deal for them. And best friends. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

You know, the kids are good. I mean, but if you are best friends and one of them's getting paid twice what you are, that creates tension and friendship. You're doing twice the work? Well. Like, Dave, you do more work than Matt and I.

And I do get two-thirds of the cash that we make. Which is nothing. Exactly. So two-thirds of nothing is still nothing. Yeah, that's all right. But it's better than one-third of nothing. His times tables are good. That's right.

I'm coming for you. Two-thirds times zero. 171. God, he's so quick. So good. They set up a lab in Manhattan. Tesla work. They're developing new types of electric motors,

generators and other devices. Later in the year, Tesla developed an induction motor that ran on AC power, which is what he was sort of trying to get Edison onto. This innovative electric motor was patented the following year. And then in 1888, it was arranged for Tesla to demonstrate his alternating current system, his AC system, at the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Now that sounds like a party weekend, right?

Like you think of any music festival that you want to go to. this week that convention is going to be Poverich Central Can you imagine how bright the lights would be? Probably very Probably pretty good So many babes there So many

The electricity babes Hot babes You guys are got to see some photos of George Wessinghouse That guy Some of the finest facial hair you'll see Oh But we haven't met him yet, have we? No

A couple of years earlier In 1880s 1884, engineer and entrepreneur, George Westinghouse. Here he is. Enter the beast. Enter the, he is a beast. Enter the electric lighting business when he started to develop his own DC system. Same as Edison.

Ah, so Westinghouse. But after reading about great developments to AC power in Europe, he turned his attention to make his own alternating current system. Oh, so he's a side changer. You can't trust this guy. Oh. I've just drawn a little graph. But he's gone from DC to AC.

New developments in AC power meant that it could be stepped up to reach long distances. You know, the power could be ramped, the voltage could be ramped up. But now it could also be stepped down at the other end. So, you know, when it came to, it needed to come into the home, it could be stepped down to a useful level. Oh, like a dimmer switch. Yeah, it's basically a big old dimmer switch. Just turn down the electricity, will you?

Down lights with dimmers. Yeah. So, yeah, that'd have a guy outside every house. Yeah, that's the difference. It's either have a power plant on every corner or a man at every house. Or a dimmer. With a switch. With this, the Westinghouse Electric Company was formed in 1886.

Before the end of the year, Westinghouse, with the help of his right-hand man, William Stanley Jr. and Oliver B. Schallenberger. Oliver B. a babe. They'd built the first commercial AC power system in the US. That's the United States. So is this before Tesla? So I sort of just backtracked a little bit then.

So we're back now. Tesla's demonstrating his alternating current system... At the Babe Convention. Including induction motor at the Babe Convention with the Engineers. And the Babes. Some of which were engineers. Some engineers from the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company were there at that demonstration. They reported back to their boss.

Westinghouse? George Westinghouse. Good, Dave. And that... I love that their name companies after themselves. It's very easy to remember. Edison. Edison, who...

Edison, what was that the... Was he in charge of the Tesla company? No. No. He had the Edison company. Great, great. Got it. They reported back to Westinghouse

that Tesla had a viable AC motor and related power system. And that was something that Westinghouse was keen to get onto, because he's obviously trying to just improve his technology all the time. Keene for O.C. He was keen. Keene for. more efficient use of AC power. That's right.

That's the official hashtag of the week. As well as poo go on. Matt, speaking of which, can you please poo go on? It's so good. I love it. Pooh. Brown and Peck. Because brown is the color of poo.

Tesla's business partner's Brown and Peck negotiated a licensing deal with George Wessinghouse for Tesla's induction motor and transformer designs. And you got paid quite a pretty penny for that. But he finally got paid. He got paid. But Westinghouse also hired Tesla for a year for the fee of two grand a month to be a consultant.

What? The thing about when I said two grand a month, just bloody having a joke with you. Which today is about 50 grand a month in today's money. So just like super sweet cash. know what to do with that much money. I would. What would you do? Probably.

Pooh. I'd poo and then go to some sort of babe convention. Lunch is on me, ladies. Seriously, treat yourself. Treat yourself. I'll be in the corner. I'm not hitting onion. You can eat that sushi.

It's good stuff. Healthy. And also good to eat on the go. That's so hyper. See, when I get rich, I start caring about people. At the moment, I couldn't give a fuck. But if I was rich, I'd be a better person, that's what I'm trying to say. We should make Dave rich.

It should make Dave rich. If everyone donated money to me, I'd be a better person. You can buy my personal growth, $1 a time. How much? Yeah, how much would you need for a noticeable... 50 grand a month. Okay. Tesla hit the right figure.

Okay, well, that's a lot of money. $600,000 a year. Before tax, I'm going to pay my way. Oh, you're a hero. Yeah, I don't know if I can quite. Yeah, I don't know. I don't think I can. Maybe we'll set up a Patreon for you.

Yeah. Just for Dave. For me? Yeah, when I said for you, that's what I meant. You fucking weir. Yeah, I just wanted to get specifically on tape. But when we set up a Patreon, it will all go to me. Yeah.

Great. Making Dave a better person, the Patreon. I'm just imagining I can't wait. You can be the Patreon saint of... I'm the Patreon said of it. Sushi Farrell! That's my motto. But also, good for a go.

Good for a good. The lady has things to do. Don't worry about this. People to see. Put it in your handbag. But not for more than an hour, because you'll get sick. Make sure you keep it in that little container so it doesn't, you don't get rice in your nice little handbag. Make sure you get tuts.

Pick up a couple of those little fishes full of soy sauce. They're pretty cute. Westinghouse had forked out money. for other patents and even taken some other competing companies out, like bought them out, such as consolidating electric light, Waterhouse Electric Light Company and the United States Illuminating Company in order to control all the major incandescent lamp patents not controlled by Edison.

See, their problem was that they didn't name their companies after themselves. Yeah, so they called it like the Warnocky Light Company that's to be going. Yeah, they were very broad. But anyway, so he's bought them all out. Anyone he can. Anyone, so he's just like he, he's just like, he, You can't get Edison's gear, so he's trying to just get everyone else's. It's kind of like he's playing Monopoly and buying all of the utilities.

Yeah, that is kind of. He's buying everything. Well, you've got Parkland and Mayfair. Well, I've got everything else. Yeah. So whoopty-freaking do, Edison. See you and jail. Do not pass go.

All right, you did. All right, we'll have to pay you for that one. But next time. Don't. Next time, don't. Go directly to jail. The acquisition of Tesla's AC motor gave Westinghouse a key patent in the building of a completely integrated AC system.

But the financial strain of buying. Buying up patents and hiring the engineers needed to build it meant that development of Tesla's motor had to be put on hold for a while. Oh, so he was run out of a cat. Yeah, he was running out of a cat. He had to focus on other things, more pressing issues, unfortunately. While Tesla's ideas were put on the backburner, Westinghouse had so much ambition,

and it was clear that he was making inroads, that he had Edison's attention. Edison immediately recognized this threat to his, business. He immediately recognised that Tesla was... That Westinghouse was moving in around him. So he was like, hang on, he's buying everything. I think he might be a threat.

Yeah, that's... I sense him. I sense that Thomas Edison was a smart man. I'm imagining Edison, like, standing by his window, but there's also a fireplace. So he's like standing on a mantel piece. He's leaning on a mantel piece looking at a window. That's dark, and he's holding... He's holding a glass of brandy, and he's talking to his cat.

And he's like, yes. I will have him. He grows stronger every day. But Westinghouse does not know that Edison also grows stronger every day. And is studying karate. Karate. The final showdown. We'll be soon.

Please don't we to have a fight at the end. Does he have a fight? Does Edison know Karate? That's the battle. You pronounce that really weird. I don't know if you... Kata Tate. No, it's Taekwondo.

Oh, my apologies. Westinghouse Electric... Kada Theta. Westinghouse Electric had begun installing its own AC generators around the country. Westinghouse focused on installing his systems in less populated areas,

which is places that Edison couldn't go because it just didn't work. It didn't make sense. The economy of scale didn't make sense. I'd like to have the power plant every mile. Yeah, in those small, it just wouldn't pay for itself, not in the areas that weren't populated enough,

whereas Westinghouse could have one system like... To do the whole town? Yeah, a huge area where people are more spread out. Strategically, Westinghouse was also selling power at a loss in some of the bigger cities to try and cut into Edison's existing markets. Oh. He was quickly making headway,

and Edison was becoming increasingly concerned. His sales team was becoming demolished. moralized as they couldn't dream of selling systems to the more remote areas that Westinghouse could. And on top of that, they were losing ground in the biggest cities. Because he's selling out last. That had been a strugglehold. Yeah, exactly. Pretty quickly, Westinghouse had already built up nearly 70 power stations across the country

compared to the more established Edison's 120. Oh. So we was catching up to him quite fast. So by this they'd say the panel of the currents was, well underway. I get it now. I get it now. Thomas Edison's DC versus George Westinghouse's AC.

A battle to become America's electricity system. Let's get ready to rumble. As I read this story, I read on a few different sources, but the first time I read through it, I genuinely didn't know who was going to come out on top of the end. Do you know, don't say, just in case. Listeners don't, but would you know who won, AC or DC? I want to say AC, DC. DC.

But you don't. Trying to read your face and you're not really reacting much. No, I'm not really asking for you to answer. I'm just wondering if you know. I don't know. Do you know, Dave? I don't know. Yeah, I genuinely didn't know, which is probably pretty silly.

Science is certainly not a strong suit. I'm only doing this because bloody Ian, our mate Ian wanted me too, you know? Can't let iron down. Can't let iron down. Sorry, iron. Sorry, iron. Both Westinghouse and Edison knew that in the long run there was only room for one of their systems. This country...

There can be only one. It's not big enough for the tours. And so they worked very hard to make their own come out on top while simultaneously undermining the other. Obviously, we've sort of heard about how Westinghouse is doing his best. Yeah. I'm just imagining, is it as boring for the people now as... You know how then as electricity is now? You know how power companies

and make commercials that are like, we make power because we love energy and all this stuff? And you're like, I don't give a fuck, just give it to me cheap and make sure the lights stay on. Yeah.

Like they always have this wanky backstory like we started as a small business in Melbourne and now we've come across. I've never seen it. I don't remember seeing any of those ads. And the world is made of energy. They always have those ads. And it's like a really wanky.

And there's like light. like come and they're holding it in their hands. And they're like, and we don't, we don't, we take it from renewable sources and it's all very good. Dave's like, I don't give a fuck where it's from. Give me dirty coal. I just want, I just want my hot electric shower. Yeah, what's wrong with that, Matt? I'm just saying, I was just putting Dave's dance into words.

He was doing a dance. Yeah, it was weird that he was dancing. But it was an interpretive dance and you obviously interpreted well. No, you interpreted me quite. electric shower. Electric blue. Pugel one. Becoming increasingly fearful of Westinghouse's push for power, Edison had a brainwave.

Hopefully this is where it gets interesting. Because he, to me, his... I really enjoy how he goes about trying to undermine Westinghouse. Hopefully you will too. A bit of a snake, is he? He had a brainwave, right? While Westinghouse's systems may have had the ability to reach further, the fact that they had to have more voltage passing through their wires,

in his mind, must have meant that the systems were more dangerous, right? More voltage, more danger. Right. And here's a quote, apparently, here's something he said, just as certain as death, Edison predicted. Westinghouse will kill a customer within six months after he puts in a system of any size. So he's starting, he's playing the probably going to kill people.

Hey, sure. Sure. Hey, I'm not, I mean, it's your decision. If you want to go with Westinghouse, that's fine. That's totally fine. I'm a cool dude. I don't mind what you do. But I mean he's going to kill someone.

But, you know, what's that? You hadn't heard. Oh, well, I mean, he's totally going to kill probably everyone. And what's that? You're someone. Oh. Oh, you know other people? Oh.

I'm so sorry to hear that. Do you have a good black. black outfits for funerals because you're going to be going to a lot. Do you have life insurance? Anyway, I'll just leave my card here. Bye. DC Poe up, out. I bet it's always on. It's always going to be able to.

A little while earlier than this, Edison had received a letter from a man named Alfred P. Southwick, another middle initial, who was wanting to develop a more humane method of execution than hanging. Hanging was, you know, the way to do it back then. If you wanted to get rid of a crim, legally, you know, legally. You hanged them, I think. Yeah. Yeah. Get a bloody noose around their neck and you just, you know, drop them down that whole thing and bang a bang.

Nice and easy. Here we go. Off your pop. Crack, crack, crack. Anyway, Alfred P. Southwick wanted to develop a more humane way than this. And he was struck with... How about don't execute people? Just an idea.

I just think there's got to be a nicer way to kill people. It's interesting, isn't it? I think it might be more I think it's a business opportunity here. Yeah, don't like, don't paint yourself as the hero. Like, oh, it's just not really fair to kill them. Yeah, it's not care to kill them that way. Yeah.

But it's fair to kill them this way. Even though they still die. But I'll profit from. Pretty much instantly. But there's got to be a more humane way to murder people. Someone's got a profit. May as well be me. I'm the best bloke.

He was, um, so Alfred. he was struck with the idea So Alfred was struck with an idea After witnessing a drunk man Accidentally killing himself by touching an electric generator What the fuck? Is this thing on? I mean we've all had crazy Saturday nights

But that's... But who's going to the power plant? And also who's witnessing that And then going, well, there's an idea. And also witnessing it going... Everyone else is running for the ambulance. Yeah, everyone's like traumatised. And he's like...

Oh, interesting. Hang on a second. No, he's a witnessing that guy. No, money, he's got some dollar symbols in his eyes. You know what? That looked a lot nicer than when I saw that guy be hanged last week. I think this is a much nicer way to go drunk at a bar. I'm going to be rich.

So Southwick believed that electricity was the key to a quicker, less painful alternative to hang. I disagree. And in his letter, he invited Edison to help on his quest. He's a quest He's an elf now Quest for death Edison was opposed to capital punishment

He thought it should not happen But And he wanted it He loves money If he had his preference It would stop And that would be If he had his way

There'd be no capital punishment So he initially declined the offer But Southwick Asked again a few times And his persistence paid off This time he put the word quest in bold underline. Oh, actually.

Quest. And he got some like glitter paint? Quest, I like that. Edison's like, this has put a bit of effort in. I'll offer him 50 grand. Classic B. God, I'm funny. So after some persistence from Southwick, it's probably Southwick, is it?

My Southwick sounds good. Southwick, I want to stick to South because it's in America. They pronounce things right. We called a guy Puss in Boots for the entire episode last week. I called a guy. I thought of a guy Jonesy and his name was like James. Whoops. I think you can call this guy Southwick.

That's fine. So, after the persistence from Southwick, Edison saw an opportunity, right? Because he'd see some opportunities sometimes. He never wanted to miss an opportunity, yeah. And he told Southwick that he thought electricity could play a role. And he thought it, yeah, he's like, yeah, I think you're maybe onto something here. And he's sort of, Edison sort of like a electricity. He's like, yeah, I think you're right.

This could work. But he stressed that when it came to the kind of electrical system that could kill, he said, the most effective of these, he wrote, are known as alternating machines, manufactured principally in this country by Mr. George Westinghouse of Pittsburgh. So yeah, I agree. But if you want to kill with electricity, Mr. Westinghouse is. stuff. Oh, you can't...

Oh, that's a crem d'allet. He's killing people every day. I mean... I wish I could be as good as him, but he's just the best at killing people. Honestly. I've tried. I really have tried, but mine's just too safe. Anyway, I'll leave my card here and...

Give us a call. Edison, Edison. So... He chants his own name. With his, Edison started to get... He was already like a bit of a celebrity before this whole war came. up. He was a...

Was he on Celebrity Big Brother? Yeah, he was on Celebrity Inventor Big Brother. He was on Shark Den. Chuck Tank? Yes. Dragons Den. You've mixed up the... Yeah.

Because I think one of them is... I think they're the same thing, but one that's called Dragon's... Definitely. So he's already a celebrity. So he's already a celebrity. Is that because he's invented a lot of stuff? Yeah, he was already a pretty famous inventor before that. Have you heard of...

Hang on what is... He had his cool nickname. Tommy. Tommy. Tommy. Tommy E. Tommy. Tommy.

He was like a young Wonderkind sort of inventor. He was like a young Wonderkind sort of inventor guy. And he had this nickname, the Wizard of Menlo Park. That was where he set up all his. The wizard. That's a lame nickname. No, the whiz. The wizard.

That's a dumb nickname. I'm jealous. God, I wish I had that nickname. God was the coolest nickname ever. I want to be called the Wiz. Got me the Wiz of Mindlow Park. I'm going to change my name to Wizard. Wizard Birkins.

Wizard Gerkins. They'll never know what's me. Except I said it on a podcast. Pug, go on. So, yeah, he was already a kind of a celebrity and a bit of a big deal. He'd invented the phonograph, I think, and the... Yeah, like the recorded music was invented. by him.

Yeah, he did a lot of cool things. That's really amazing. He's a pretty clever dude. He's still, like, I think he's still sane as a real hero in America. Like, he's a pretty big deal over there. He never really hear of Westinghouse. I know we've got washing machines around. Yeah, no, I didn't know that it was a,

fridgeers. Fridges. But, yeah, apparently, Westinghouse is admired as well. But from here, it's sort of, to me, it just sounds like Edison is a bit of a weirder. But anyway, I don't want to, I don't want to, you know, foul mouth. I don't want a bad mouth. I don't want a bad mouth then, but he's awful. He's a bad, bad man.

I don't know. I mean, you make up your own mind. So he's got this idea now, yeah, I can show that AC power is a killer. By making them kill people. Edison began to demonstrate the lethal power of AC electricity for journalists as a part of this campaign. Sort of like a bit of a scare campaign. Can I get a volunteer from the audience? At one point.

He killed them. He does animals, doesn't he? At one point he rigged a sheet of tin to AC power before leading a dog onto the tin. As soon as the dog touched the medal, it yelped and fell dead. What the fuck? See, journalists, see, I told you. Huh? Huh?

That was Westing House did that. Westinghouse did that. Well, why is it? It's so strange, isn't it, that it's so much worse because it's a dog? Yeah. If it was, like, if it was, say, a poor person. Hey, there's 50 grand underneath that piece of metal. You're just going to pick it up.

See? Told you was deadly. Poor person. That would be fine. But a dog? Soon after the demonstration, Edison told a reporter that electricity will kill a man in a 10,000th part of a second, stressing that the current should come from an alternating machine. Alternating.

D.C. That could never kill, but alternating current. Hey, I've tried to make D.C. kill. and I just can't do it. It makes my hair a bit frizzy at worst. That's it. It's too safe. I'm sorry.

It's too safe. I'm sorry. It's so safe. I mean, you can talk to my old buddy U.S. He has. We want to kill everyone. But for me,

can't do it. I've got six dogs and he's got none. I'm trying. I've tried to kill my dogs. Really? I can't. They can just feel good. It just makes them feel nice.

They love it. Wakes them up. If anything, it's got years of their life. I've got really old dogs. They're like 40. My dogs are 40. Six of them.

It's fucked. It's fucked. Anyway, I'm also in current bad. Here's my card. Slites it on over. It's sliding cards. Did he invent business cards? Yeah, business cards was one of his.

Westinghouse wasn't that, he wasn't super cool with what Edison was doing. So he wrote a letter. He wrote a letter. He's pretty much saying, we're better. than this, aren't we? Thomas Edison slit his card. On the card,

it just said, no. Edison took a shit on the letter. Send it back. We're better than this. Come on, let's be adults, okay.

I'll let my poo do with my talking. I will poo go on. And Westinghouse invited Edison to come out to Pittsburgh to have a look at his factory, show him what he does. Oh, he shat all over that factory. He shut every corner

He couldn't stop him See you later George Goes to shake his hand It's covered in poo No no no Edison Well he just said he was too busy He just wrote back

Oh he didn't go I'm too busy killing dogs with your power I'm too busy man It's probably a better option than shitting in a factory I get staged from The letter didn't dissuade Edison Didn't dissuade him. And he continued his public experiments at varying levels of voltage with multiple stray dogs.

Supposed they were purchased cheaply from neighborhood bullies. About 50 cents a pop or something, 25 cents. Yeah, you do any of that dog over there? You mind if I just grab that dog? Give you a quarter. That's awful. Edison's experiments were setting out to prove that alternate. current was beyond all doubt more fatal than continuous current, which is in DC.

In a later demonstration for a committee who were investigating the use of electricity in executions, so that whole thing was Southwick was picking up some steam, and in New York City they were looking to maybe experiment with it. So they had an experiment there where Edison-wide electrodes to some calves and a horse. And it said, just kind of fucked. Though the animals did not die quickly, the committee was impressed.

Isn't that fuck? Oh my God. That's so awful. And the New York's state... Well, you can't hang a horse. They're necks are too thick. I've tried. I'm trying. Believe me, I've tried.

They just, they do it in the same dock. and everything. The horse's feet just hit the ground. The horse is there going. His hands up going. This is weird. Man, I'm... Like, you startled him a bit.

Yeah, he dropped him. Yeah, why did you drop me? What's that for? Why's this thing around my neck? That's a funny looking rain. I don't even fit in this hole. This is uncomfortable at best. And at worst, a real bloody pain in my ass.

Let me out of here. I've got a meeting this afternoon for some reason. Because I'm a horse. Because I'm a horse. I've got some horse training, I guess. That's the thing that happens. So the committee After that demonstration

We're keen To purchase three Westinghouse AC Dynamos From Thomas Edison Westing That's so bizarre No no it wasn't So this was through Southwick

This wasn't through Edison Oh right So I thought Thomas Edison was like Look at this other guy's machine What it does I'll sell it to you I mean through that whole thing They're like

Well it's got to be the Westinghouse ones Because they're the best killers Westinghouse refused to sell them knowing the purpose Because it would be bad PR It's pretty bad PR Yeah but any PR's good PR Unfortunately though

His refusal wasn't enough to stop them As a dude called Harold Brown He was commissioned to build the electric chair Was able to Find a few A few Westinghouse dynamos Just lying about Just found him

Boy. I think maybe, and it was sort of like Edison was like discreetly paying this guy as well. Hey, look what's over here under this sheet. And what's it? Dynamo. Cool, you could probably just take that. I'm $50,000. Bye.

Edison. I found a chair. You want that? That'll help. Anyway, this is a, this next. So it's all happening. The New York's down for it. The first man to be put to death by what they were now calling electricians.

execution. Oh. Which is, you know, execution and electricity. A portmanteau. A portmanteau, yes. So the first man to be put to death with electrocution was murderer William Kamler. What did he do? At the time, Edison...

He killed, killed some people. Oh, that's not good. At the time... But did he kill any dogs? I kind of feel like killing dogs. is the first step before. You're not wrong. That's like a beginning of a bit of a bit of him.

Thomas Edison was the show on some signs. Big a serial killer of all time. Kids start with ants. Kids start with ants and then dogs and then other people. This was just another H.H. Holmes, like alter ego. So at the time Edison said that killing criminals with electricity is a good idea. It will be so quick that the criminal can't suffer much. So driving his messages home, Edison told the press that the criminals would be Westinghouse.

Oh, boy. Trying to coin a turn. Oh, there'll be a Westinghouse. He's just laying it on so thick. Wow. It's like so over the top, isn't it? He's just, at any stage, just keeps dropping. He just feels like, at any, he's got like a cane and he's like winking all the time.

He's just, he's trash talking. He's like Muhammad Ali all over again. Yeah. And, like, they won't be Edison's because that just means having a great. home full of safe electricity. Westinghouse. I mean, death for everyone. Death, especially the criminals.

Wow. It was a really clever propaganda campaign and was gaining some traction in the public as they became increasingly concerned with the dangers of AC electricity. Westinghouse was pissed. No, really? Yeah, he was, he was PO.

Was he taking it personally? Yeah, he was. His own name. The campaign was already costing him. cash and it was set to cost him millions. His strategy at that stage was to pour money into Kemmler's appeal, the criminal's appeal. He tried to get the murderer off.

What? So he's, the Kemmer's appeal in the Supreme Court was arguing that death in the electric chair amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. So Kemmler was trying to get out of that particular kind of death, which I guess also just, you know, there would have been an illegal strategy to just prolong his life. The appeal was unsuccessful, and on August 6, 1890, Kemla was set to make history as the first man executed by electric chair, via alternating current, of course.

When the electricity hit him, Kemmler's fist clenched so tight that blood started trickling, and there were witnesses there, like there was a bit of an audience. Stigma. And they could see, yeah, the bloods were. blood trickling out from his hands. His face contorted, and after 17 seconds, they turned the machine off. Arthur Southwick, who was there, you know, the dude who kind of came up with it all,

he was there and, um... Oh, no. Uh, proudly told... Oh, I thought he didn't put him off. No, no, he, he, after, after it was done, he stood up in front of the crowd, in front of the audience. Tadda! See you next week, folks.

And he proudly told everyone in attendance that this is the culmination of 10 years work and study. We live in a higher civilization today. Oh my God. As Southwick spoke, behind him, Kamla started shrieking for air. Oh, no. So he wasn't dead. 17 seconds. No, like it'll kill him so fast.

He'll be in no pain. Wasn't it supposed to be one 10,000th of a second? It's 17 seconds. They turned it off and he's still alive. There was a scramble to power up the chair again, but it needed time to warm up. Oh, oh, no. Kemmler wheezed and gasped before the horrified witnesses as the electricity again began to course through his body. That's a pretty full-on.

That is awful. Southwick was like, dude, I was trying to make a speech. Yeah, so you're fucked from a moment. So you can sort of say, he's like, he starts wheezing the hook. And he went back to his seat. I practiced that in front of the mirror. My wife said it was a great speech. Okay.

I was rich, fuck, man. I worked so hard on that. And you ruined my moment. I was saying how we live in a higher society. And he stands up screaming. He stands up for a second time. I was saying, we live in a higher society. Oh, no.

Did it kill him the second time? It did. They really made sure of it the second time. They cooked him. Left on it for a couple of minutes. Some of the witnesses. has vomited, some passed out. I would. Honestly, I think I would

vomit. Oh, big time. The back of his coat caught fire for a little while. Females. And it took minutes until he finally went rigid. Is this too gross? But imagine the smell. Oh, yeah. It would be horrendous. Yeah, I'd throw up. Big time. Unless you're a big, like, meat eater, then maybe it would

maybe it's, but it's not like a roast. No, it's like burnt flesh. It's not like, I don't think it's like animal. I don't know. I guess doesn't wear animals, aren't we? I don't know. Yeah, I wonder. I wonder if it's that different. But just knowing what it is, I guess.

Because I reckon if you didn't know, there'd probably be someone coming down the hall going, what's going on in here? Sunday roast. And they open the door like, yum, yum, yum. Oh, my God. Just people throwing up. That's the thing concerning them is the vomit. Oh, I hate vomit.

Put me off the roast. Because I imagine, I couldn't smell that. Would it smell that much? I guess it's a different kind of cooking. But my question is, that is so horrifying, but would you rather watch that or someone who's been hanged and their neck doesn't break and they struggle for 12 minutes? Couldn't watch either. I mean, if I had a choice, I probably wouldn't watch either. But, I mean, I don't have a choice.

So I'm going to watch them both. Bloody hell. What kind of higher civilization is this? So when the current stopped, he was pronounced dead by the doctor on the scene. Edward Spitzka, which is a sick name. She's for being having, all the olden days names are always great. So great. And at the time the doctor there predicted there will never be another electrocution.

Oh. Westinghouse, he was quite wrong. Westinghouse commentated the event. And coming up now, we have criminal number two. He's convicted. Wailing in 180 pounds. Three murders, two attempted murders. The power will not kill him.

Give it a go, but I mean, AC is fine. He is fine. Westinghouse commented later, it has been a brutal affair. They could have done better with an axe. Oh, all right. Third one, would you rather watch someone get their head chopped off with an axe? But it doesn't chop.

Yeah, it takes about four or five goes. And like a headless chook, they just sort of run around for a bit. I don't think that's how it works. Nah, I think it is. Matt was dancing. No, he was running without a head. I got it.

Edison was... Dancing. Sorry. Edison was confident that future executions by AC power would go more smoothly. And to further demonstrate how lethal AC power was, he held a big event in Coney Island, New York. To kill a whole bunch of crimps! where he planned to murder an elephant named Topsy

in front of a large crowd. What the actual fuck? Why? What did Topsy do? What the fuck? What did Topsy do wrong? What did Topsy do? Well, she was seen to be... She'd crush seven people.

She was seen to be too dangerous to be around people, which made her job as a circus performer pretty hard. Because she's a fucking wild animal that you're making do tricks. Because she weighs four tons. Because she's just trying to give you a cuddle, and she accidentally sits on you. She'd killed three men in recent years. So that was why.

But she's not a murderer. They tried to hang her. It just didn't work. By her own trunk. One of the men she'd killed... You can't say murdered, because she didn't do it maliciously. What was one of the...

You should have seen the look in her eye. She was... She's a killer. She knew what she was doing. Yeah. One of those... Tell me if you think this is fair, if this is true. apparently one of the people she killed

was a trainer of hers who tried to feed her a lit cigarette Wow, first of all, terrible trainer Yeah, terrible trainer She's not doing what I say I know what we'll get her going Fire in her mouth One for you

So I love the... So she was like... You put that in my... Because they're very intelligent animals I'm out, ow, dead now Yeah, you die now Now Howie

You were just like watching Howie, you squish. Why would you have... Have you seen the sozomy? I'm going to have to kill you now. I think that's self-defense. Self-defense, in my opinion. Justifiable homicide.

Yeah, I'm on Topsy's side. Edison fitted Topsy with Coppa. Who would go to that? But it was the weird... Come on everybody. The Almondays was so weird. What are you guys doing on the weekend? I'm going to go watch an elephant get murdered.

Oh, my God! I'm going to go too. We should all go together. I'm going to get fairy floss. She killed my uncle. Chain Smoker. He also hit his wife a lot, so. Oh, my God.

Topsy got to have it right. I'm in Topsy's corner. Yeah, me too. Edison fitted Topsy with copper wire sandals. Oh, no. And in front of a crowd of thousands of people. No, thousands of things. He pumped an AC current of 6,000 volts through her until she fell down dead.

It took a little while. I mean, it's like, yeah, I think you can kill an elephant if you use way more volts than what would be going into a home with AC power. But anyway, so yeah, he lost it. In my mind, Edison's crazy. He just killed an elephant. Yeah, why? Why? That's so crazy.

And all those people that turned up to watch it are fucking monsters. Absolute animals. You know, Topsy was too good for this world. Yeah. She deserved better. And I hope she's got better in elephant heaven. Blotting up there in elephant heaven. She's the best time.

No cigarettes up there. What goes on in elephant heaven? There's peanuts everywhere. No mice. Penis everywhere. Penis everywhere. Oh, big ones. Elephant ones.

Huge peaties everywhere. She just goes about it. It doesn't have to do any circus tricks. She doesn't want it. If she wants to do them, go for it. That's right. Have a great time. If you don't want it, that's totally cool, babe.

Just read a book. You want to go to the beach? Go to the beach. That's cool. We got beaches. Hey, you want to murder someone? That's also cool. Yeah, we've got a whole sack of trainers over there.

But you probably don't need to because you're happy now. You're respected here. And we love you, Toxie. It sounds real fun. But I'd be riding them and they don't like that. My elephant heaven. Dave gets kicked out of elephant heaven. I'm sorry.

You've got a really big bag. It looks so fun. Shouldn't it grabbed you by the ears. Oh, I love elephants. Man, you have, too big of a spread. That is so cute. Can you picture a little Davey Warnock on an elephant? I just love the tone of like, I'd want to run it, but they don't like that.

That's so sweet. He'll make him, but... But they don't like it. Yeah. You don't know better than the trainer then, are you? Yeah. I'm sure you didn't think Topsie was going to enjoy that cigarette. Anyway, Pugo on.

So you know our man Harold Brown, Harold P. Brown. Who could forget? Who could forget? He made the electric chair. He'd also been running a bit of a scare campaign against AC power. Is he a dentist? Yeah, he is a dentist. How'd you know that? Question coming up in this week's quiz.

On one of the quiz you work for? Yeah, that's right. All about... That is amazing. That is... So weird. Honestly, I had no idea you doing this topic. Actually, I think I had, yeah, that kind of rings a bell that the electric chair was invented by a dentist.

So every week we have a true or false question. This week it's true or false. The electric chair was invented by a dentist. Wow. Well, this will be, yeah. True. It's true. Amazing.

Yeah, that's so funny. Yeah, that's true. So he's a guy. And he's doing a scare campaign against who. He's also been running the scare campaign against AC power. So he was sort of in on that. He obviously got a lot of traction with that as well. But all along, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he,

being being, as I was saying before, secretly being paid by Edison. So he was out in public and he swore that he wasn't being paid by Edison multiple times. So no, no, no, this is just, I'm an engineer, I'm a dentist, I'm a weird guy who likes to watch, uh, just people die in chairs. Did he get electrocated himself? No, I'm, maybe, probably.

I was just hoping that. Oh, like the, uh, like of the segue inventor, people who died from their own invention. It's like there's this, um, one, there's this ancient, oh, it's so awful. Like, it's just the way they used to kill people. It's called a brazen bull. And it's like a giant copper or metal bull that's hollow in the inside.

And you lock someone in there. Oh, yeah. And he set a fire underneath it and then they get... Have we talked about that? No, I don't think we have. Oh. But the guy that invented it, he showed it to... I think, I can't think.

I think it's Greek, I think. But I don't know. Showed it to the emperor and said, check this out. And the whole idea was that the mouth was shaped in a way that the screams from someone inside would make it sound like the bull was making a noise. That's disgusting. So fucked up. And the emperor was so horrified at that that he's like, okay. And he shows how it works.

And he locked the guy that invented it in there and boiled him alive. That's awful. Yeah. It was like, oh, he was like, you're really fucked up for inventing that. So I'm going to use it. Get him in. Yeah. So killed by his own thing.

That's messed up. So I was just really hoping that happened to this guy because he's, if he's swearing that he didn't get paid in he is, ooh. Yeah, it's a bit of a dog. Yeah, low dog. Low dog, you're sick dog. Deserves to be electrocuted, you dog.

Nah, you don't. Wait, it's very confusing how we use dog, isn't it? Yeah, it is now. Yeah, you're better than a, no, worse than a dog. You low. So, so for a few years, he'd been denying that. And, you know, being quite a prominent. anti-AC campaigner.

But then on August the 25th, 1889, the New York Sun ran a story headline, For shame, Brown, disgraceful facts about the electric killing scheme. Queer work for a state's expert, paid by one electric company to injure another. So it was all exposed. Which dealt a pretty big blow to his whole campaign,

obviously it killed off his... Yeah. His... What's a word? Credibility. Credibility. I was going to say believableness, but credibility is even better.

Either all. That's good. No wrong answers here. And the story was based on 45 letters that were stolen from his office. That's spelt out as collusion. You just get writing down, Dear Thomas Edison,

yes, I'm doing your dodgy work. I can't believe these stupid fucks think that I'm not working for you. How fucking dumb are people? I hope no one ever reads this. Love brown. And they're all framed up on his wall. We're like special lighting.

Don't look up here. Don't look up here. Just a sign just a little plaque underneath. Whatever you do, don't read these. Very incriminating. He addresses one to the New York Times and gives it to his secretary. Please never send this. In tomorrow's mail.

Yeah. I'm putting a stamp on a just... But don't use it. Just to make sure we never send it. I mean, I had this spare stamp and I had to put it somewhere. I've got to put it somewhere. I'll store it on this letter. I'd already licked it.

And it's like, I can't put it back in the packaging now. I was the first point. I'm going to. I'll panic. I'll boil it off and use it again later. But for now, we'll just put that in tomorrow's outgoing mail. But don't send it. Thanks, Pam.

I'm going to put it in the middle of the pile. And you didn't actually see which one it was. So you're not sure. I'm going to put them all behind my back. Shuffle them up. I'm going to store this one in the postbox down the road. Oh no. That wasn't a good idea.

What have I done? Anyways, he's a bright spark. Brown spark. Brown spark. A brown spark. Poep. By this stage, Edison was also becoming marginalising his own company. He'd lost majority control.

Yeah, because he's a fucking lunatic. What? Well, they're like, you probably shouldn't have killed that elephant, dude. And he, but people were also saying maybe AC, it's where to go. And there was a merger with this company. So it'd become Edison General Electric. On April 15th, 1892, a deal was made, which put the management of another company, the merge company, Thomas and Houston, in control of the new merge company,

which has now dropped Edison's name altogether and has now called General Electric, which is obviously still huge. company. That's cool. Thomas Edison was not aware of the deal until the day before it happened. Loll. It's brutal. Oh, hey, Tom.

They accidentally sent him a letter. Oh, shit. Just by the way, you know, you remember Kelly and Steve, we're having lunch with them at the golf club on Sunday, 12 o'clock. Wear your best shirt. Also, I have rescheduled that meeting. next week because I know you said you needed to get to that optometrist appointment. Also, the business is no longer yours.

And... Yeah, don't come around here no more. Okay. That's it. All right. Okay, bye. Have a good weekend. See you.

Monday's burrito day. Not for you, obviously. Yeah. But if everyone else. Just in case you're wondering, why everyone was excited. No burrito for you. What's a burrito? Well, you know.

Ask me in 100 years. Maybe you should never have killed an elephant. elephant. Yeah, we've really turned on him. I bet there's people out there going, no, no, Edison was a great man. Because I'm sure. They're definitely, I'm...

I'm sorry, the man that killed the elephant. No. No. You're wrong. I base a lot of this on an article I read on the Smithsonian website. I mean, anything more trustworthy than that? Come on. No.

Let's get real about this. And also Wikipedia. Okay. Now that we've said that, let's move on. All right. All right. You guys ready? And history does.

Anyway, you don't need them. Slash elephant facts. Slash elephants fucked. No, elephants. That just sounds like elephant porn. Yeah, no, I was meant to be like fucked as in dead. All right. Let's just move past.

We're almost at the end here. Despite all of Edison's best efforts and despite his attempts to persuade the general electric board otherwise, the superiority of the AC power was too much for Edison. and his DC system to overcome. In 1893, Westinghouse won the contract to light the Chicago World's Fair. Apparently, he'd underpriced it, so he didn't really make any money out of it, but it really... But he wanted to be on the stage.

And put him on the big stage, and it basically sealed the fate of almost... Some people said that was what ended the battle. Some of said that came a little bit later. That's the World Fair that introduced the Ferris Wheel. Yes, it's also Walt Disney's dad. work there as a carpenter or something, I think. Which is interesting, where apparently, yeah, he got some of his ideas for Disneyland. Oh, cool.

And the World Fair, you know, brought a lot of positive publicity to AC power. And basically led to it becoming the industry standard. I did read in one place that, I think it was on that Smithsonian article that Edison apparently later admitted he regretted not taking Tesla's advice and sort of changing his company's direction back in the D. Of course you would. Yeah. It feels like you should. But I mean, you know...

I regret not being Westinghouse. But you know when you're so like focused on something, you really believe it? I reckon a lot of people, and you hear this a lot, like old politicians, they're not going, yeah, nah, they were right, they're going. Like Tony, like in Australia, the most recent prime minister who was disposed, he's still saying because like, you know, my budget was everyone, like no one on any side of politics thinks it was a budget and he's still saying you know it was it was a tough budget but it was the right budget people never they even with time they don't go yeah I should have I need I've learned my lessons

but at any point did you reckon he went now probably shouldn't have killed the elephant though yeah all those dogs shouldn't have taken some pet dogs off some nice young children and killed them I don't know I reckon 100 years it was just like animals were just nothing no I reckon I mean that's why they were in circus and something that's why thousands of people wanted to rock up They just couldn't give a fuck about it. That's disgusting. People just, I mean, it's just old school entertainment, killing things. They don't, it's just, I reckon people still have that in them now.

It's just that society won't really let them do it. Good. So just five years prior, there were 15 electric companies, and now they're only the two moving towards the end of the century. There's General Electric and Westinghouse. Both companies still exist in one way or another now. I think Westinghouse existed up to 99, and then they reformed as a new company still called Westinghouse,

but specialising in nuclear power, I think, and obviously General Electric you'd still be familiar with. So from this point on... GE finance. Yeah, I think, are they related to that? I think they're just, if I'm right, I think they're just one of those massive, massive companies that have a finger in every power.

And also general studies that they taught in Year 7 at my school. General education. Yeah. But it's general. They own it. They own it all. Everything. In general.

So from that point on, you know, moving towards the end of the century, both companies were now marketing, alternating current systems, AC power. So they dropped. AC wins. The D got dropped. Oh, too soon. Both men lived long lives. Unlike the elephant. Yeah, the elephant, unfortunately.

And they're doggy victims. Yeah, Edison lived into his age. 80s, 84, and George Wrestlinghouse, not quite as long. He lived until the age of 67 died in 1914. Not quite as long by a long shot. But still, like, I mean, still pretty, pretty old at that stage, I reckon, in the early 1900s. Yeah. So, and do you get the feeling that Thomas said

he got cut out, but he probably would have been a wealthy man? Yeah, I think he'd certainly already made some sort of a fortune. Yeah, he would have made it. even though I haven't also heard that he is tight, which he said before. Yeah, apparently pretty famous to be a little bit tidy. But that's how you keep your fortune, you know? He had, um, Edison had a, frugal. Had a couple of wives.

One died and he remarried and had, um, six kids. One of them who lived right up to 1992. Wow. Really? That's amazing. Yeah. We were alive in the time of Thomas Edison's child. Yeah, that's kind of cool. Yeah, he lived, uh, 18, 98.

to 1999. Theodore Miller Edison. Great name. Wow. Cool. Fascinating. Fascinating fade out to the episode. That is very interesting.

That is very interesting. And so AC wins the day? AC won, yeah. Cool. Go AC. I didn't know any about any of that. Yeah, so it was, it was, that was tedious bits.

I found a really interesting, but I... I was so into that. I was really... And I didn't know who was going to come out on top. Yeah, I really, I was... For some reason, I'm like, I've heard of Edison more, so I thought it was going to be Edison. Yeah, it's assumed. And often, you know, it doesn't, it's not always the one that makes the most sense that wins.

Sometimes it is a business thing or he does a negative campaign that works somehow. And then it's just, it's set in stone, you know, it's too hard to change a system that's been laid across the country, you know, so it just never gets changed. Yeah, they did. They did. Very, very cool. Very cool. Pretty cool. I mean, pretty cool.

So thanks again to. Iron for the suggestion. Yeah. What a bloody, what a champ. What a champ. And if you too want to be a champ, like iron, you can get in contact. Like I am. Like I am.

Get in contact with us, of course. I say this at the end of every episode, but we do love to hear from you. Email, do go on pod at gmail.com. You can tweet us at do go on pod. Facebook slash do go on pod. And yeah, get the ideas on the hat. Give us some feedback. Five-star reviews are always nice

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Judgment Gut-based judgment Exactly Case by case as we always do. I will be back next week with another episode and until then have a good week.

Oh, okay. Have a good week. Don't kill any elephants. If there's one thing we can take away from this episode, please don't kill an elephant. And until next week, I say goodbye. Later. Don't forget to sign up to our tour mailing list

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