Good Job, Brain! - 143: A Royal Pain

Episode Date: February 18, 2015

Kneel before the iron throne of trivia and nutty facts about royalty, rulers, and regality: royalty quiz, the very mindblowing and scandalous world of "pretenders to the throne," why purple is the color of royalty, and the fascinating job of the royal taster. And of course, our own robot King, E.L.V.I.S. is back with another soulless lyrics quiz! ALSO: milking dogs Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast. Ahoy, awesome alliance of adorable and alert attendees. Welcome to Good Job, Brain, your weekly quiz show and offbeat trivia podcast. This is episode 143. And of course, I'm your humble host, Karen. we are your bumbling but barely beastly bunch of brain buffs. I'm Colin. I'm Dana.

And I'm Chris. All right. Without further ado, let's jump into our first general trivia segment. Pop quiz, hot shot. And I grabbed, of course, one random card from our 13 pound. Noel sent us 13 pounds of Trivial Pursuit cards. Here's one of them. The box is one card lighter now, isn't it?

Yeah, that's true. We're going to take a while working through these. All right. I have a random card. and you guys have your morning radio zoo buzzers. Here we go. Blue Edge for people and places. What Western U.S. City passed a law making it illegal to pawn your dentures.

Oh, I hate these dumb, I hate this. It's not that dumb. Western City. Oh. Los Vegas. Las Vegas. You know what? Okay.

I can see that happening a lot. Okay. It's kind of sad. I'd like to go back and rescind my statement about hating these. I know what you mean. Like, what state made it illegal that you can't drink lemonade on Sunday? Right, right.

And it's like, Delroy. You're like, what? Yeah. That is a good one. Okay. Can't pawn your dentures. All right.

All right. Pink Wedge for Arts and Entertainment. Who played Moses, John the Baptist, and God on the big screen? Is that, Chris? Charlton Heston? Yes, Charlton Heston. Yellow Wedge for history. What did Spain's King Charles V

proposed to build on the Isthmus of Panama in 1524? Hmm. What did Spain's King Charles V proposed to build on the itthmus of Panama in when? 1524. Well, Dana. I'm going to guess, a canal. Yeah. Oh, okay.

So we're the visionary. Yeah. Panama Canal. A mannaplanet canal, Panama. Yeah. Wow, that's a classic one. Classic pound drum. All right.

Brown Wedge for Science and Nature. What Japanese Electronic Company's name is a combination of the Greek word for all and the Latin word for sound? Chris. Panasonic. Yes. Panasonic. All right. Very good.

Green Wedge for sports and leisure. How many seconds are there on an Olympic. Basketball shot clock. On an Olympic basketball shot clock. I'm pretty sure these... Oh, oh, Chris buzzed in. I mean... 45.

Incorrect. That's a lot. I'm pretty sure that they've adopted the NBA 24. Incorrect. Okay, then I'm... 20. Okay, I'll pass. Not 20.

Then is it the college number of 35? It's 30. 30. Okay, interesting. So this is from Genus 4th. Yeah. It might have changed. Well, we'll have to look into it.

I know that international got a lot closer to NBA rules over the last several years. College and NBA is different. College and NBA is different. So college is 35 seconds, shot clock. And the games are shorter. Yeah, and NBA is 24 seconds. Okay. That's one reason that that scoring in college is generally a lot lower than professionals

because you can hold on to the ball a lot longer and there's just fewer minutes in the game. It seems so rare, like 20, like not 25, but 24 and then, you know, divided by four. It's like, it's more exciting. No, Dan is right. It was, it was the result of some formula of like, we divided this many by this many by this many and it came out to 24, yeah. That's a good number. That number comes up a lot. All right.

Last question, Orange for Wildcard. What communications method did Phil Collins use to inform his wife of his divorce intentions? Oh, yeah. This was a big deal, right? What is it? What communication's method? Chris. Facts.

Correct. I guess it's like the olden day posted This has to be slightly weird In order for it to even be a trivia question in the first place Tellix Yeah and he really has to write it in a black or blue pen Yeah No colored pen

Yeah smoke signals She's like we are getting D-Dynast Voice You're getting D-voiced Wow All right good job Brains So us for

We are a big Game of Thrones Throne heads. Throne heads, yo. Is that what it's called now? No, that's good. I'm a throne head. Throne sitters. Throne sitters?

No. That sounds like something different. That sounds like we're constipated. Of course, the trailer for the new season just came out. Throneous. Thronees. Thronees. Thronees.

Oh, we are thronies. HBO just released recently the season and five trailer. And that got me thinking. Right at the same time that George R.R. Martin's publisher said that book six is not coming out this year. Oh. See?

Suckers. I knew it. You wasn't going to finish this. Game of Thrones is a tale of many clans and areas of fighting for the throne. And we've talked a lot of stuff about monarchy and royalty before in like weird little stories or questions, but we never had a one episode dedicated to royalty. So today we're talking about one episode to rule them all. That's good. That's good.

Everybody's like Crystal Maybock diamonds on your timepiece. Yet plains, islands, tigers on a gold leash. We don't care. We are caught up in your love affair. And we'll never be Royal. Roia. It's a run in our blood. We crave a different kind of buys Actually, this is something that kind of Actually, this is something that kind of comes up a lot in Game of Thrones And this is sort of what a lot of the plot is centered around The idea of Pretenders to the throne

Does anybody want to take a guess at a definition of what is a pretender to the throne? You have a claim to a position that doesn't exist anymore. So, yes, that is a good definition. That is one of the many different definitions. It is not necessarily that you are pretending to have, you have to be the rightful king or anything like that. Or there's fakery. That is not necessarily the case. let's say your dad the king is overthrown by his rival who has claimed himself to now be the new king

and you are the son of your dad whose head is on a spike and you're like well i'm the rightful king maybe people agree with you that you should be that really is your throne but maybe people don't but you don't have it like you're living in a shack there has to be at least some legitimacy you have to believe you have to believe that you have a legitimate claim you're not pretending right it's not imaginary yeah yeah you're not putting on a fake mustache glasses. And those people, historically, there have been people who have actually tried to do that. Those are known as false pretenders. Like, they actually do show up and they claim to be so-and-so who everybody believed to be dead. But it's like, nope, I am that

person. And typically they are found out and not good things happen to them. They usually end up executed for treason. Yeah. But as, Dana, as you said, there's a third category of people who might be tagged with Pretender to the Throne. And so I was actually watching, it turns out, one of them on television the other day because I was watching television show Millionaire Matchmaker. Oh, sure. Don't judge him. It is a reality show in which people with a million dollars, yeah, on Bravo, BT-dubs,

where people with at least a million, possibly millions of dollars, but they can't get someone to date them. And so recently the show made a big to-do, and this is not the first time that they had done this, about how the matchmaker, Patty Stanger, was going to be fixing up a prince, a real live prince. Bonafide. That's a big deal. And so she had on her show just recently Prince Maximilian Ferdinand von Anhalt. Wow, that sounds like a made-up royal name.

German prince And you hear that And we hear that And it's like Okay well A Last I checked I don't think Germany

Germany's not a monarchy But well I'm thinking Well maybe I mean you know Like Germany by the way Is a federal republic I didn't look that up

But that's what it is But it's like oh but you know In Britain They have the royal family But it's not like the queen makes all the decisions About what taxes are It's a figure

It is a ceremonial monarchy. So I'm like, oh, okay, well, that's probably Prince, you know, Ferdinand, whatever, he's in this sort of ceremonial monarchy. No, very, very different. After World War I, the German monarchy, the current monarch during World War I being Kaiser Wilhelm, right? The monarchy was dismantled, like, not like made ceremonial, but just gone, right? Shut it down. Shut it all down. Wilhelm went into exile in the Netherlands, which it often happens when the monarchy is dismantled

because they don't want them coming back and remantling the monarchy. So Kaiser Wilhelm had a son, and his youngest son married Princess Marie August, and she was another member of the German nobility at that time. Princess Maria August lived through World War I and World War II. She actually lived until 1983. Oh, wow. In her later years, the princess, now this is the daughter-in-law of the Kaiser, did not have a whole lot of money.

Not only did she not have a whole lot of money, she also adopted, as her children, several adult men. Was this Jean-Jacquesgabor's husband? So we're getting there. Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on, hold on. This old princess woman adopted grown men to be her herself. sons right well think about this look at the look on your face is so like am i there do you want to take a guess as to why she might be doing that it's not has nothing to do with sex or anything they get a title so let's say you have a whole bunch of money and nowhere else to go with that

you and and princess quote unquote maria gus because she's not a princess anymore she needs money well to have her adopt you just so you can get a title and you pay pay her for it would be super illegal. Mm-hmm. So, of course, none of them would ever say that. On the record. Yeah. Oh!

Say that that's what happened, but it just so happens that she adopted several adult men. So why would they do that if there was no monarchy? Well, when the monarchy and the nobility were abolished, there was a little bit of a horse trading deal, which is the former members of the nobility were allowed to keep whatever. title they had, but it became part of their surname. It became part of their last name. So the men that she adopted were legally allowed to take the surname Prince von Anhalt, Prince of Anhalt, and style themselves as Erzatz's German princes. And related to Kaiser Wilhelm.

Because they're, yeah, because they're related to the, I mean, sure, they abolish the monarchy, but as far as they're concerned, they are princes because their mom is the princess and their grandfather was the king. They can draw a little family tree and on paper, yeah. So one of the men who was famously adopted

by the Kaiser's daughter-in-law was, used to be known as Hans Lichtenberg. He was the son of a police captain, but he took the name Frederick Prince von Anhalt, and he is the ninth and current husband of Ja-Jaj Gabor. I did not know this.

Nope, Jajaj Gabor still alive. Yeah, yeah, that's... And then after he got the name, was able to take the name, Frederick Prince von Anhalt and Mary Jajagabor, they then adopted many adult men. Oh, my God! And one of those men,

his name is Marcus Prins von Anhalt, who has a website, just go to your browser and type in www. www.princegermany.com. I beg you to look at this website. It is breathtaking. I think that Karen might pull it up right now.

He did not make it with square space. Prince Germany.com. Wow, he did not make it in square space. With symmetrical photographs of himself writing a stallion. A white steed. Yes. And he makes it very clear that he is in fact a prince. Well, there's gold frames around all of his pictures.

So, I mean, wouldn't you? Yeah, exactly. And so, of course, he is the adopted son of the adopted son of the daughter-in-law of the exiled former monarch of Germany. But are people like Bravo was able to sell some shows? Well, it wasn't Marcus here, but one of the other sons who was on Bravo, which is Prince Maximilian Ferdinand von Anhalt, and he was the guy who was on Millionaire Matchmaker. And he has a website, too. I kid you not.

It is built with square sticks. It is? Oh, it is. Oh, that's awesome. Yes, it is. It's wonderful. So, yeah, if Germany still had a monarchy, he would be a prince, but if Germany still had a monarchy, none of this would have happened.

And, yes, the princess wouldn't have adopted adult men who adopt adult men. And I'm sure that at some point in Prince Maximilian Ferdinand von Anhalt's life, he too, will know the joy of adopting a 50-year-old man as this son. We're all going to become German princes. His German princes all the way down. And they are these are what would absolutely be considered today

pretenders to the throne. What if you're a woman? Also be adopted? You can be a German princess if you want to. Okay. Yeah, why not? They won't turn down your cash. They won't turn down your cash, basically.

Which, which again, I need to stress for legal purposes absolutely has not happened totally hasn't happened It's like a deep emotional A bond Nourishing Like a 90 year old

Former Princess It's to show their relationship And several 60 year old rich man All right I have a kind of a grab bag Royalty quiz for you guys Get your buzzers ready We're going to buzz in

We'll just kick it off All right in When she always does So let's just kick it off. It's like the hardest question. That's right. I want to work. Sorry,

now I have to like change it. Hold on. Is this hard question? We'll see. All right. In the United States, there are seven states named for kings and queens. Four for kings, three for queens. Can you name them?

All right. We'll do this one together. Let's do this together. Three for queens and four for kings. All right. Oh, so seven. Georgia, I believe. Which one?

Who is that for? Oh, man, which? King George the second. Second. Okay. And that was, that was like madness of King George King, right? Was that George the second? Don't know.

No, no. It's an exercise for the listener. For some reason, I'm thinking it's three, but I could be wrong. Maryland as well, right? Yes. Not for King. Okay. For Queen.

Yes, okay. Oh. Virginia. Carolinas? Yes. For King Charles I first. Oh, I see. I see.

Like the Latin name, right? like Carolinas or You have North and South Carolina You have Georgia And Maryland And Virginia Who's the other Who's the other queen?

Oh, West Virginia West Virginia Yeah, yeah Just ticking that one off And then there's one more Hawaii? No Oh, that'd be a trip one

So what, North Carolina South Carolina Georgia Georgia? It's a French king Oh Louisiana Louisiana Of course

Of course Yes Yes, King Louis the 14th of France. That's cool. What does HMS stand for? Everybody. Her majesty stuff.

His or her majesty's ship. Yeah, okay. Well, it changes depending on who is ruling, right? Currently, it's her majesty's ship. It's been her majesty for a long time. Data didn't say what it used to stand for. Yes, you're right. It's true.

So the Titanic was built in Belfast, and there's some letters that come before its name, some that have to do with royalty. Do you know what they are? Oh. Before the name of the Titanic. Before the Titanic. Not HMS.

So it was built in Scotland? No. In Belfast. In Belfast. It is the RMS, Royal Mail Ship. Royal Mail ship. Oh, that's right. Male?

Yeah. M-A-I-L or female male. Oh, okay. No. Like deliver male. No, the Royal Boy Ship. No, it's the delivery male. Got it.

That's right. RMS Titanic. Yeah, that's right. As soon as you said it, yeah. Did it deliver mail? Among other things. Well, not successfully, yeah. Okay, just a couple more questions.

The royal disease is a euphemism for what kind of disease? Wasn't that hemophilia? Yes. Do you know which queen is kind of said to be responsible for spreading that? Uh, Catherine. No, I think it's like a Russian. Is it Maryland? Victoria.

Victoria? Yes. The disease where. If you bleed, you'll just keep bleeding. Your blood doesn't dry up and... You have difficulties, right? Yeah, right. Okay, this character received a demotion from queen to princess in the Candyland game.

Oh, I don't remember their names. In the 80s, like when we played it, she was a queen, and now she is a princess. Princess Candy cane. No? Bubblegum. Do you remember who the queen was in Candyland? Man. She had a blue dress.

She's near the end of the day. No. Oh, that's a blue dress. She was Queen Frosting. Queen Frosting. Princess Frustine. I wonder why. So the kids can relate to her better?

Yeah, it seemed like kind of. She's just so old. They slept her down a bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, you know what? That's probably what it is. They wanted to make her look younger. And they're like, all right, so we got to give her a younger title.

I don't approve. In 2013, Chocolate Maker Mars, phased out what? Chris. King-sized candy bars. Oh. What? Yeah.

Well, I mean, they are like 4,000 calories. Oh, but now they have like the double pack or the... Yeah. They're not king size. They just made it into it too. You could save it for later. Yeah.

I don't think I even noticed that, that the king size kind of quietly disappeared. Oh, man. Well, I see what your lifestyle is like. It's not a... In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, she meets the Queen of Hearts. The Queen of Hearts really enjoys playing croquet. What are the special croquet pieces she uses? Oh.

She uses a flamingo for the mallet. Yeah, for the mallet. Yeah, for the mallet. And then a hedgehog for the ball. Very nice. And the hoops are... Oh, hoops are the cards. Her soldiers. Her soldiers are the cards.

Was it in the book or also in the movie? It was also in the movie. Oh, okay. It's in the book, too? Yeah, I remember that. Yep, yeah, yep. And finally, what American beer was known as the King of Beers? Bud

Bud Wazer Yes Budweiser What's the champagne of beers That is Miller MGD No Miller Highlight

Oh Miller Highlight Miller Highlight Miller Highlight King of beers The different Royalty ranks of beers The foot of beers The Pretender

to the throne of beers This is just a Cream soda. That's the no-noodles. It's the old rules. You're right. That's what it would be. Well, something that's always fascinated me about royal life and courtly life is all the specialized roles that go along with. Just, you know, you're the king or queen. No one expects you to do anything for yourself.

So you've got all these other just attendance with one very particular job. I was always really fascinated as a kid by the royal taster. Like, you know, like, my dad would make a joke or something. He's like, oh, what are you the royal taster? And I was like, what is that? And it's like, oh, it's a person who would taste the king's food before they eat. I was like, that's not a thing. That's not a thing.

Delicious? No. To make sure that it's not poisoned. Oh, yeah. Back then, they really like pulling that kind of stuff. I mean, especially if you go way, way back before modern forensic science, before any of this stuff, it's, you know, you don't have any lab tests on your wine. and you have someone taste it for you

and you hope that they're okay. We know the Romans had royal tasters, the Egyptians, the Chinese, like every ancient, every ancient, you know, emperor, imperial culture, where there are records of some leaders having tasters. It's exactly what you think it is, is before the king or the queen

or, you know, whomever sits down to eat, this person comes in, samples a little bit, drinks maybe a little bit of the wine, and you kind of watch them, make sure there's no adverse effects. And then you go ahead and eat the meal. I think about that too.

It's like, oh, you could have a slow moving or it requires a high dose, like more than a set. Yeah. That was my first thought, too. I like how we're like deconstructing. How do we get around this? Yeah, if I were going to poison someone. Yeah, well, that's the first question that all of us had is it's like, well, wait, but aren't poison slow acting? Right.

And the answer is, well, yeah, there are a lot of, if you're trying to, you know, poison a king or a queen or something. somebody, unless you're just really brazen about it, the best way to do it is slowly with a slow-acting poison. So you don't want them take a sip of wine and then face down on the table. You want to be far away, first of all that happens. Exactly. And, you know, they did. Obviously, they had fast-acting poisons.

I mean, even in ancient time, they were well aware. They were well aware of things that could kill you virtually instantly. It's like the Royal Taster can't get the slow-acting stuff, but just in case there was some fast-acting, you know, it's like another line of defense. No, you're totally right. On both counts, like, one, it's kind of like, yeah, it's the last line of defense. And two, it's also there is sort of this element of security theater there. It's either, on the one hand, you can look at it as a, is like a placebo, where if you're the queen or the Duke or whatever, you're like, oh, I feel better having my royalty around.

I'm going to be more confident. And nobody's going to go in and say, your majesty, we've run the numbers. And probably you don't need to do this. And it does. It also kind of projects an image of like, oh, well, he's got a taster, you know, I got to be careful. Like they're on it, yeah You know, except for the one time When some poison gets through

It's actually a pretty good gig All things considered I mean, you know, you're tasting food That most people in your land They'll never get to taste You know, any dignitary that comes through your court You get to be there And aside from meals, you know, your day's mostly open

You're just hanging out, watching the show There's just a non-zero possibility That every time you perform your service You'll instantly die So it's funny, I was doing I was doing a fair amount of research on just the history of royal tasting and imperial tasters and leaders and things like that. And it kind of fell into two groups. Like you would either pull your royal taster from some slaves or just the workers in the field.

Someone out here come in, you're expendable. It doesn't matter if you get poisoned. Or you go the other direction, which was like, no, no, no. My taster is like one of my most trusted aides. It's somebody who has a lot to lose and is a true believer in my cause. I could not find a whole lot of reports of, you know, tasters kind of failing their jobs. And you've got to go way back.

There are definitely, in, in Roman times, there are some emperors that have been poisoned. Tasters, like, yeah, they put it in the Brussels sprouts. I really don't like them. Here's the thing, too. It also works as a good double check. You know, again, like, Matt, this is, you know, you don't have modern science. Like, if your queen mysteriously dies a day after a banquet. Oh, right.

And the taster also dies a day after the banquet. You're like, okay, well, we got a pretty good idea. We can narrow this down to a little. Famously, a lot of people who write about royal tasting, they all have the same anecdote about Halotus, who was the official taster for Emperor Claudius in Roman times. And Claudius died. It was poisoned.

Oh, man. And it seems that Halotis may have actually been complicit in the plan. Yeah, that's the perfect. Yeah, exactly. So you've got to make sure it's somebody you really trust. They're not sure, of course. This is many years ago. But Nero, who assumed the throne after,

they think that he may have basically, you know, been in cahoots with his royal taster. Let's Holodis' slave. Yeah. Either way, the beauty of this job is that if everything goes right, the best case scenario is that nothing happens. Yeah. And, I mean, again, if you were elevated,

this is unskilled labor. Like, if you were elevated from having to break your back in the fields to like a court. Yeah. It's probably going to die out there from me. different things anyway. What's the, are the actual odds, the percentages, play in the numbers here that you will die in a random work-related accident?

If you're getting elevated from farmer to royal food pasteer, it's probably going down. The number of things that can kill you while you're just chilling in the King's Court probably just went down. I like the actuarial-minded approach to this. Right, right. Like, oh, but now you're hanging out with people. who like hate each other and do weird stuff with each other. Yeah, but again, your life was going to be short and terrible.

And now it's moderately longer and really interesting. Didn't Hitler have a joke? Hitler did famously. I mean, not that he's royalty. No, no, and you're right. I mean, it actually... It's anybody who thinks they might be assassinated. That's right, right.

And it's not too much of a leap from royalty in the traditional days to Mott to World Leaders. No, you're right. Hitler did very famously have a food taster. And he was an extremely paranoid dude, of course. Vladimir Putin has a full... Right now? Today, this very day, has a full-time food taster. President Barack Obama has food tasters.

Oh, really? Yes. This came up a couple of years ago. Someone, a journalist, sort of offhandedly noted this in an article, and a lot of people are like, wait, what? Obama has food tasers? Because you think about it as being like medieval times. Right, you do. It totally seems like, yeah, like, you know, Robert Barathe.

and his food taster, not, you know, Barack Obama. And so, of course, a lot of people at first were like, oh, King Obama with his tasters, what is this? And then people were like, no, this is a pretty sensible thing. The Secret Service, of course, you know, sensibly, they won't comment on the specifics of any part of his protection. That it exists or doesn't exist. But it makes sense, and someone's got to, you know, clear his food. And again, part of it is also just his personal tastes. Maybe the president has allergies, that kind of thing.

But to be very blunt about it, part of it is to make sure no one's messed with the food. So, you know, as you look into this a little more, this isn't some new thing that Obama instituted. George W. Bush had the same thing. He had tasters and AIDS. When they would go out to eat a lot, you know, we're always bringing his own water, bringing his own condiments, like any sauces or anything. They'd bring that with them. They would wipe down all the plates. They wipe down all the silverware.

I mean, they're very protective of, you know, our president. Clinton as well had tasters, George H.W. Bush had tasters. Ronald Reagan had tasters as well. And they kind of, you know, they don't talk a whole lot about it, but it makes sense. It really does make sense. And especially when they're traveling, I guess this kind of ruffles some feathers sometimes. But when they're traveling, if you're at like a foreign dinner somewhere, you know, like, sorry, no, we're tasting anything before the president eats it. They're not the only tasters at, like, a royal banquet with other world leaders.

They all have their own. They're like getting line behind Putin's guys. Yeah. And, you know, part of it is, of course, just general security, too. Like, ensuring tasting is also monitoring the kitchen and make sure nobody all authorized has access to the food and things like that. That was awesome. Let's take a quick break. A word from our sponsor. It feels really good to be productive, but a lot of the time it's easier said than done, especially when you need to make time to learn about productivity so you can actually, you know, be productive. But you can start your morning off right and be ready to

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But what it actually was was a warning, delivered to the Hessian Colonel, letting him know that General George Washington was crossing the Delaware and would soon attack his forces. The next day, when Raul lost the Battle of Trenton and died from two colonial Boxing Day musket balls, the letter was found, unopened in his vest pockets. As someone with 15,000 unread emails in his inbox, I feel like there's a lesson there. Oh, well, this is the Constant, a history of getting things wrong. I'm Mark Chrysler. Every episode, we look at the bad ideas, mistakes, and accidents that misshaped our world.

Find us at Constantpodcast.com or wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to Good Job Brain. Smooth puzzles, smart trivia. Good job, brain. So, speaking of royalty and royal surnames, I have a quiz concept that I think it's going to be better than Brad Pitter-Lazers. more longevity. I think people are really going to love this one. Throw it down some gauntlets.

We can get a lot of juice out of this. I've written down the name on a piece of paper, and I want you all to say it with enthusiasm when I show you. All right. Here is the name of the quiz you're all about to take. Carol or Stephen. That's right. It's the game show where you guessed whether I'm about to give you the title of a song

by singer-songwriter Carol King or the title of a short story by Master of the Macon. Stephen King. Oh, I get it. You will write down for each one. I guess they're prolific, but they don't have more things than everything. By more longevity, I mean, we've probably got this, and that's probably about it. So, yes, you're going to write down either Carol or Stephen in response to these questions. I will give you the title, and you will tell me which king penned it.

Question one The Snow Queen The Snow Queen Is this a song by singer-songwriter Carol King Or is this a short story By Stephen King Carol or Stephen The Snow Queen

We got some answers Karen has an answer Colin Dana says Stephen Colin says Stephen And Karen says Carol It is a song by Carol King

One point on the board for Karen Dolan's Cadillac Dolan's Cadillac Is it a story Is it a story about a car that kills people Or is it the car that you know She used to drive She was a teenager

Exactly Dolan's Cadillac Carol or Stephen Caroler Stephen Caroler Stephen Dana says Stephen Colin says Stephen Karen says Stephen It is a short story by Stephen King in which a guy is buried alive in his Cadillac.

Yikes. Oh, I think I've read that. Oh, yeah, right. Yeah, that sounds familiar now. Main Street Saturday Night. Main Street Saturday Night, is it a song by Carol King or a short story by Stephen King? Main Street Saturday Night. Karen says Carol.

Collins says Carol. Dana says Carol. Yes, it is a song by Carol King. I can imagine it as Stephen King's story. But they're tougher than you think they are. Exactly. You hear it and it's like, it can be anything. And as always, our natural tendency to psych ourselves out. Of course. Of course.

Well, here's one. Here's one for you. My Pretty Pony. My Pretty Pony. Is this a song by Carol King or a short story by Stephen King? Does the pony murder people? Is it a possessed pony? Yes, exactly. Or is it just a pony?

The Carol King likes to ride around the Lost Childhood Innocence Mountains and yeah We got Dana says Carol Colin says Carol And Karen says Carol My Pretty Pony is a short story by Stephen King About what?

It is about time It's a very sure Yeah it's not about murder or anything Uncle Otto's truck Uncle Otto's truck It's song by Carol Or a one of Stephen King's, as it turns out, many, many short stories. About automobiles.

About a truck that kills people. He keeps going back to that theme, but is this one of them? Is this one of them, or is it just about Carol King's Uncle Otto? Dana says Stephen, Colin says Carol, and Karen says Carol. It is a short story by Stephen King. About a truck that comes to life and kills kids up there. Points on the board for Dana. He got hit by a man.

I feel like that would be a pivotal, a seminal part of your life. Chasing your relationship. In case you're keeping track, Colin has two points, Dana and Karen, tied for first with three points each. The Hard Rock Cafe.

The Hard Rock Cafe. Is it a song by Carol King or is it a short story by Stephen Gaines? King. It could be either Karen is locked in. Colin is still thinking about it. Dana is locked in.

Colin says Stephen. Dana says Carol and Karen says Carol. It is a song by Carol King. It was Hard Rock Cafe named after? No. No, I believe, I think she actually wrote it for like the Hard Rock. Makes sense.

Really? Yep, yep, yep. Marketing. Yeah. Okay. Smackwater Jack. Smackwater Jack. A song, a folk hero song, or a man who rises out of the swamp and murders people.

Okay, Colin says Stephen. Dana says Stephen and Karen says Stephen. Smackwater Jack is a person who murders a bunch of people. In a song by Carol King. Wait, really? Yes. Oh, my God. Yes.

So we all got it wrong. We got it wrong. Yep. The man who loved flowers. The man who loved flowers. Is it a touching ballad by Miss Carol King about a man who... Shows his vulnerability. Exactly.

And his love for botany. Or a story about a truck that kills people. Karen says Stephen. Colin says Stephen. And Dana says Stephen. It is a Stephen. King's short story about a man who is singing a king song who written McKenoh is Stephen King short story you all get one point congratulations it is a about a man who loves flowers and murders

women who wear flowers and finally you know one last one you know they got a hell of a band you know they got a hell of a band literally really hell. So, Karen says Carol, Colin says Carol, and Dana says Stephen. It is a Stephen King short story about a couple

driving through the woods who find themselves in a town where all the dead musicians of the 50s and 60s live and force the people of the town to watch concerts that go on for years. And it is basically, heck for them. It is not so good.

It is not one of his most beloved short stories. Who got that right? Dana got that right. Thus, with six points, Dana... Under the wire, yeah. Rocks the whole place and wins. Wow. Carol or Stephen.

Wow. Like, they really could go both ways. That's right. I like the Carol King song about the killer. That was good. That was good. Yeah, just spiritually on point for both. Yeah.

They're like, it's definitely something about, this is a murderer's name. I was really, really hoping. Because, I mean, there's the list of Stephen King's short stories and list of Carol King's songs. They're so prolific that I was hoping that there would be a both. Yeah. And I could throw in the both as a, you know, total game changer. There was not. Yeah.

Yeah. I thought Sweetwater Jack was, um, I know. Smack. Smack, smack. Please. Karen, please. Smack water attack. Yeah.

Uh, stand by me was based on. Stephen King's story. The body, yeah. I thought maybe that was the name. Oh, of like the, oh. Of the body. All right. So, I'm going to ask you guys a question.

All right. You guys will answer the same answer I have in my head or planned. Oh, no. That never works. Yeah, that never works. When you think of the color of royalty, what do you think, what do you, what color do you think of? Purple or gold? Purple, always, the color of royalty, always associated with royalty, obviously probably from a, from a, from a, from a

bygone era. Why do you think it is associated with loyalty? Why do you think, you know, royalty back in the day wore purple? I've read explanations. I don't know if the explanation is correct or not. Okay, so I'll throw this out there. Is it because purple dye was like so expensive that only the royalty could afford

to have anything dyed purple? That's what I had always right. Pretty much. I mean, just like a lot of the nobility, a lot of royalty, even the food tasers, obviously they eat better food. It's because they can afford it. And purple Purple diet, and this is kind of hard for, I guess, the modern day generation to think about, like, you know, before we had technological advances in science and in machinery and mass production and chemistry, you know, people used to have to get weird stuff or dyes, like natural occurring things, like berries or barks or leaves. Your yellow would come from egg yolk.

Yeah. You would, yeah, you would find them in nature, minerals. Also, even if you're like, oh, well, that blueberry has the right shade of purple I want, I'll just use the blueberry juice. You crush the blueberries, you dye a piece of cloth, then you put in the sun and the color goes away. Right, that's right. Or you put it in the wash, and all of a sudden it's gone. Like, it has to not only be the right color, it also has to last. And this is a lot of the, you know, why dyes were such a big part of trade.

Yeah. So the word purple. Oh. What do you guys think the word purple? comes from. I mean obviously it has a Latin in Greek word. I don't know I don't do we talk about this on an old episode of the show about the

fact that there is no color purple like we did violet or indigo right those are those are the colors right but purple the word purple describes a range but yeah I don't know where it comes from does it come from like a plant

or something or purple comes from pupura and pupura was the name of the purple dye as Tyrion purple, a very specific, not even shade, but a very specific dye. It's the die compound. I see in Lannister. I mean, I'm sure maybe that's why it came from. Yeah, I mean, because it's a royal. Right, right, right. Tyrion of the city, Tire. If you're from the city tire, which was an old Phoenician city, now currently a Lebanon in that area. Phoenicians are

a network of people, and it's kind of hard to pinpoint where, but they are definitely around the coast of the Mediterranean. And Phoenicians, Phoenicia, that name comes from the land of the purple. They were the number one people who had purple dyes. Wait, that's where Phoenicia comes from. That's when Phenicia comes from. It's really is purple. Like we're Purple Town, USA. But of all the things that could be named after, it's named after the purple. Purple, yep. And then, of course, Tyre is a city. And then Tyrion Purple is the name of the dye. And this 1,500 BC. Why this Tyrion Purple is so rare and expensive is because what it's made out of. And it's made out of something really, really weird. And the way to get it is really, really weird. This is from a type of sea snail. Tyrion Purple is farmed from sea snail. In nature, the snails.

They're called Murek snails, and when you, if you look them up, they kind of look like a, one of the kind of classic seashell shape. The snails secretes a substance when it's about to attack or when it's feeling defensive. The dye can be collected by milking the snails by scaring them. Ah. This is awesome. It's not like a, like a dog. You know, it's like a tiny, tiny shell. It's not like milking a dog, you guys.

It's totally different from the milking a dog. I like how it's like your first thought animals you milk dogs. In terms of size. It's not like a big sea show. Okay, all right. It's little sea snails. So you got to scare it a lot. Yeah, you got to scare a lot.

And, you know, it's labor intensive, but the good thing is it's renewable. You just keep scaring them. Okay. I was like, I'm so stressed out, man. They live in terror. You know, you can also kill them. They just crush the sails. and collect the juice or the mucus.

They have to find out what the snail's deepest fear is. Psychological terror. 12,000 snails yield no more than one and a half grams of pure dye. That's like... 12,000. That's ridiculous. Yeah, a little vial of it. Wow.

How did they figure this out? Okay. So I know that's always our number one question. Someone had to figure it out You know what happened I couldn't verify this story But there is a story floating Okay

Kind of good because this is well We're dealing with 1500 BCs So the story goes There's some dude who has a dog Okay And the dog was chewing up stales Oh yeah And then after a while

He realized that his dog's teeth were purple Uh huh Okay Sure sure sure right not Like eating a popsicle plausible Yeah could be Right There are many different ways

I was kind of reading Of how they actually get the dye. This is the best one I found. Fishermen or Phoenicians bait them using frogs or muscles, which are animals that they would eat. The Merrick's snails would come in

and then they get fished. The vein that contains the pigment or the mucus, the secretion, is then extracted, either being feared or just pulled out and killing the snail. That part, that squishy part,

is then mixed with salt and it's heated in vats to separate the water and the actual pigment. Ah, okay. So that makes sense. You're kind of like drying, drying it out. And does it look purple when it comes out of the snail? Oh, okay, all right. It also reacts with sunlight.

And the secretion at first, it's white or clear. And then under the sun, it will start turning different colors from yellowish to greenish. Huh. And then, like, to a reddish. and then to a purplish and gets darker and darker. This process, they have to monitor it and stop it at the right time. Oh, yeah. Stop it at purple.

Yeah, to get purple. And this color lasts long. That is the classic royalty purple. It's teary and purple. Wow. The purple people. The purple people. Purple.

Yeah. Purple land. That's great. Explorers podcast. I want to invite you to join me on the voyages and journeys of the most famous explorers in the history of the world. At the Explorers podcast, we plunge into jungles and deserts, across mighty oceans and frigid ice caps, over and to the top of Great Mountains, and even into outer space. These are the thrilling and captivating stories of Magellan, Shackleton, Lewis, and Clark, and so many other famous, and not so famous adventures

from throughout history. So come give us a listen. We love to have you. Go to Explore's Podcast.com or just look us up on your podcast app. That's The Explorer's Podcast. All right, we got one last segment, Colin. Yes, we do. I thought for the royal episode, it would be appropriate to bring back the king, and by which I mean Elvis, the king of rock and roll. This quiz is all royalty-themed songs. If you have not heard an Elvis quiz before, the way this works is We have a computerized 1980s-s-s-sounding robot voice who will read the opening lines of hit songs from all eras. He can't sing because he's an 80s robot. He will speak the opening lines of several hit songs from all eras, all genres, devoid of soul and rhythm.

And your job is to tell me what is the song and who is the artist? So it's either the song title or the artist that has a royalty theme. Yeah, that's right. The clue to the royal connection will be somewhere in the song. song title or the artist title. Here we go. I've never seen a diamond in the flesh. I cut my teeth on wedding rings in movies. And I'm not proud of my address. In a torn up town, no postcard envy. I think you guys all got it there. Royals. Royals. Yeah, by Lord. Yes, Royals by Lord. Very good,

very good. All right. Moving right along. Number two. who is the song and or artist The sound that you're listening to is from my guitar that's named Lucille I'm very crazy about Lucille Lucille took me from the plantation or you might say brought me fame Chris

well this is BB King but I don't know the title of the song Don't overthink it yet the name of the song Oh, my God. Lucille. Oh, okay. B.B. King Ball's like, but that's B and B. and B. That's not a little bit later.

Oh, my God. I can't be bothered to finish his name. Yes, B.B. King, with his guitar famously named Lucille. Yes, that's his ode to Lucille. All right. Next one, here we go. Who and what is this? So if you're lonely, you know, I'm here waiting for you.

I'm just a crosshair. I'm just a shot. Not away from you. Chris. Franz Ferdinand. Yes. Take me out. Yes.

Oh, I see. Yes. Not a title, but a famous royal person. Yes. Of course, named after Archduke, Franz Ferdinand. Of course. No, actually, we're not. No.

We're named after my college roommate, France for you. Yes, take me out, France Ferdinand. All right, next one. Here we go. Who and what. The ladies will kick it. rhyme that is wicked. Those that don't know how to be pros get evicted. The ladies... Oh, Karen. Queen Latifah.

Yeah. Hey! Queen Latifah! It's a lady's first. Ladies first, yes! Alright, getting a little more difficult here as we're going. Alright, next one. Who and what is this track? Goodbye, England's Rose. May you ever grow in our hearts. You were the grace that placed itself where lives We're torn apart.

The Lord and Nibs were torn apart. I think you guys both got that one there, Chris, Karen. Elton John's Candle in the Wind, 1997. Thank you, Chris. Owning it, yes. For Princess Die. That's right. Yes, the lyrics originally about Marilyn Monroe,

reworked by Elton John and Bernie Topin for Princess Dies Memorial. All right, next one. Here we go. Who and what? Remember the theme? Remember the theme? Here we go. She said, I'll throw myself away

They're just photos after all I can make you hang around I can wash you off my skin This is in the last 10 Chris Kings of the Stone Age Oh it's so close Queens of the Stone Age

Oh wait hold on Let's saw Can wash our skin It's a rock band Not no one knows I do think it is in a rock band It is a rock band, it's in rock band one Oh my God

It is I should go Da-na-da-na-na-na No matter She's dancing around it It's go with the flow Yes Go with the flow

Yeah Well I mean You were spiritually right Yeah Right right right I was in the right band but I don't know anything about that band

Even what the band's name is Exactly Is it Dukes of the Bronx of the bronze age. Got it on the back half. The back nine were better to me than the front nine. All right. Last one.

Louie, Louis, oh no, said we gotta go. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Said to Louie, Louie, oh, baby, said we gotta go. Chris. The Kingsmen? Yeah. Boy, is this all Louis, Louis, Louie, yeah. Me, got to go.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah princes would Oh, weren't you? Yeah. Who'd you say that? Spin doctors. Spind doctors. Asked an answer.

Is this like the bonus quiz? Karen quizzing herself. Actually, I did have... I did not all the time. I'd think of something, but like, who did that? Oh. The question that I didn't really want to get rid of, because I thought this is really interesting, and I had to, because, you know, sometimes you've got to kill your

darlings, as they say. Yeah. So... Bringing it back. As they say, I am bringing it back. I'm bringing it back. I'm bringing it back. Bonus question to end of the end of this.

show. The Mall of America is not the biggest mall in the United States. What is the biggest mall in the United States? King Prussia. Yes. Oh, okay. The King of Prussia Mall. And where is that?

No, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania. It is a King of Prussia, Pennsylvania right outside of Philadelphia. Yeah, that is the, by square footage total area, that is the biggest mall. The Mall of America has more stores. Oh, got it. But the stores and the King of Prussia Mall are bigger.

The Mall of America has more Minnesotans. It does. A lot more. By volume. By volume. Yeah. More Minnesotans. But yeah. All right. Well, good job from Elvis, the King. You guys know your royals. And you know you're a king of Prussia. I do. Well done. I've been there before.

Yeah. I had to go to geek camp. Oh, had to. What, really? Had to. Yeah. Because we'd fly in Philadelphia and then my mom would make us go to the malls to buy clothes and stuff. Okay. We'd drive to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Oh, nice.

Maybe I had to. Maybe. Yeah, I had to. I had to learn math. All right. Well, that is our show. Thank you guys for joining us, and thank you guys, listeners, for listening in. We'll be learned a lot of stuff about food tasting, about

Carol King or Stephen King, color purple, and more. And you can find us on iTunes, on Stitcher, on SoundCloud, and on our website, good job, brain.com. Thanks for our sponsor, Squarespace, and we'll see you guys next week. Bye. If you like this podcast, can we recommend another one? It's called Big Picture Science. You can hear it wherever you get your podcast, and its name tells part of the story.

The big picture questions and the most interesting research in science. Seth and I are the host. Seth is a scientist. I am Molly and I'm a science journalist and we talk to people smarter than us and we have fun along the way. The show is called Big Picture Science and as Seth said, you can hear it

wherever you get your podcast.