Do Go On - 455 - The Mad Bomber of New York
Episode Date: July 10, 2024For almost two decades, New York City was terrorised by a string of bombings - the work of a culprit known only as the Mad Bomber.This is a comedy/history podcast, the report begins at approximately 0...7.55 (though as always, we go off on tangents throughout the report).Support the show and get rewards like bonus episodes: patreon.com/DoGoOnPodSupport the show on Apple podcasts and get bonus episodes in the app: http://apple.co/dogoon Live show tickets: https://dogoonpod.com/live-shows/ Watch Do Go On The Quiz Show: https://youtu.be/GgzcPMx1EdM?si=ir7iubozIzlzvWfKSubmit a topic idea directly to the hat: dogoonpod.com/suggest-a-topic/Check out our merch: https://do-go-on-podcast.creator-spring.com/ Twitter: @DoGoOnPodInstagram: @DoGoOnPodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoGoOnPod/Email us: dogoonpod@gmail.com Check out our other podcasts:Book Cheat: https://play.acast.com/s/book-cheatPrime Mates: https://play.acast.com/s/prime-mates/Listen Now: https://play.acast.com/s/listen-now/Who Knew It with Matt Stewart: https://play.acast.com/s/who-knew-it-with-matt-stewart/ Our awesome theme song by Evan Munro-Smith and logo by Peader ThomasDo Go On acknowledges the traditional owners of the land we record on, the Wurundjeri people, in the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders, past and present. REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/unmasking-the-mad-bomber-180962469/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Meteskyhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Metesky Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Oh my God, we're coming to do live shows in Melbourne and Sydney coming up.
Dave, what are the details?
We are coming up to Sydney very, very soon.
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What a great venue. Come on down.
So excited. And then, Dave, you and I are going to be doing a live
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It's the 100th episode.
It is so exciting and Jess, where can people get tickets?
At dogoonpod.com.
You really put me on the spot there and I did okay.
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Hello and welcome to another episode of Do Go On.
My name is Dave Warnocky and as always, I'm here with Matt Stewart and Tiz Perkins.
Perkins, Perkins, Perkins, Perkins, Perkins, Perkins, Perkins, Perkins.
I think it was just one episode ago that we both decided that Jess cares about being first
and I don't, so you were just going to start doing hers first and you straight away.
Yeah.
Did me first.
He's all about equality.
Did we actually discuss that?
I don't remember.
Because I was away last week.
Did something happen when I wasn't here?
Week before.
Sometime recently.
Sometime very recently.
I do remember having that conversation.
I can't remember the conclusion we gave to.
I try to go 50-50.
Yeah.
Overall.
I think that I think keep that up, but I care.
Just go Jess first.
Okay, fantastic.
No, because that feels patronising.
I want to.
Well, it will be.
Yeah, so.
What about featuring Jess Perkins and introducing Matt Stewart?
I like that.
Yeah, or no, it makes more sense that I'm last anyway.
And, you know, it's like the old guy in the cast.
Oh, with. Yeah, with. Yeah.
Oh right and they're like. Cagney and Lacey. Is that an old actor? That's two characters. Two
characters, yes. You want it to be like a famous old actor's comeback from a role. Jack Lemmon.
Yes. Is that an actor or is that a flavour? That's an actor. Yeah, okay. A bit of fantastic flavour as well.
Anyway Dave, what is this show and how does it work and what's it about? We take it in turns to Is that an actor or is that a flavor? That's an actor. That's an actor. Okay. A bit of a fantastic flavor as well.
Anyway, Dave, what is this show and how does it work and what's it about?
We take it in turns here to report on a topic often suggested to us by one of the listeners.
We go away, do a little bit of research, bathe in the topic, get to know the topic, wine
and dine the topic, and then we bring it back to the class or the group in the form of a
report.
It is Jess Birken's turn to tell us about something.
And Matt and I don't actually know what you're going to talk about.
So it's a secret. So.
As far as metaphors go, that was a little bit mixed.
So we're taking it away.
We're getting it drunk.
Yeah. And then bringing it to school, Dave.
What the hell is going on here?
Teachers. What are you doing in this report?
Teachers go to school.
OK. Yeah.
I'm dating the principal. OK. Things are you doing in this report? Teachers go to school. Okay. Yeah. I'm dating the principal.
Okay.
Things are going great.
And that's a fantastic job to have.
Exactly.
It is a- I mean, it's the boss.
You're school boss.
Boss of a school.
Boss of this whole school.
That's absolutely true.
Yeah.
Man, if I- even one day I get to senior vice principal, I'll be stoked.
Senior vice principal.
Yeah.
That's the dream.
Keep trying, buddy.
And Jess, it's your turn to tell us about a topic. And like I said, we don't know what it's going to be, so we always start with a question. Yes. To, that's the dream. Keep trying, buddy. Jess, it's your turn to tell us about the topic.
And like I said, we don't know what it's going to be, so we always start with a question
to get us on the topic.
My question is, who terrorised New York City for 16 years in the 40s and 50s?
Jack Lemmon.
It was not Jack Lemmon.
He did no terrorising.
Oh, sorry.
He was a thrill, though.
He was a thrill.
He was a beautiful performer.
Yeah, okay.
Great to watch. I don't think you'll have heard of this at all. Oh, okay. But you can make. He was a thrill. He was a it was a beautiful performer.
Great to watch.
I don't think you'll have heard of this. Oh, OK.
But you can make some stuff up if you want to.
What can I can is there a name?
Is there a way we could get this right?
Or should we just move on? Yeah, there is.
It's but it's like a it's a the the of New York.
Something strangler.
Oh, no. Something killer.
No, something stalker.
No, some sniper. No, something cuddler. Something strangler? Ooh, no. Something killer? No. Something stalker? No.
Sniper?
No.
Something cuddler?
No.
All right, coddler.
Not coddler.
Coddler?
No, we're getting honestly further away.
Yeah, that's good to know.
Something cuddler.
Think about like, thinking about,
I don't know how to give you a clue.
The feral.
No.
Is it a killer?
It's not a killer.
Okay. Ooh. It's not called a killer. But they a killer? It's not a killer. Okay.
Oh.
It's not called a killer.
But they terrorise.
But they are a killer.
It's something you might use.
Kidnapper.
Oh, the bludgeoner.
No.
The hammer.
Harry hammer.
A bit more like.
The weapon.
A bit more explosive.
Oh, the bomber.
The something bomber.
The Johnny bomber.
New York City bomber.
No, it's the something bomber of New York.
Oh, the.
So it's more like a think of like a character from.
Jack Lemmon.
A character from like Alice in Wonderland.
Is the.
The Mad Hatter bomber.
Take out the Hatter.
The Mad Bomber.
Yes.
Of New York.
Wow.
The Mad Bomber of New York.
How does he do it?
If we could just trim that down. Edit that The mad bomber of New York. How does he do it?
If we could just trim that down, edit that down, AJ,
our fantastic editor.
If you get that down, so I just go bang.
Yeah.
And we go, whoa.
The mad bomber.
How did he do it?
Because that would also make it a little less tedious
for the listeners, who for the most part,
know what the topic is already.
Because you're driving in your car,
it's on your dashboard, you're on the train,
you're looking out of your phone.
Oh dear.
Yeah. So sorry about that if that was tedious, but hopefully it was also a little bit of fun.
But also intrigued, the Mad Hatter Bomber.
The Mad Bomber.
No Hatter.
No Hatter.
Slightly less intriguing.
There's no hat.
This is intriguing.
So it's the Mad Hatter of New York.
Sorry, I made up my own-
The Man Hats. Wow. Manhattan. So it's the Mad Hatter of New York. Sorry, I've got my own pocket.
The Man Hats.
Wow.
Oh, Manhattan.
Oh my God.
Of New York.
It's all coming together.
I finally understand what's going on.
Wow.
I think I get geography now, somehow.
What do you, Dave, what do you call a hat maker?
A milliner. Milliner. Milliner.
The mad milliner of Manhattan. Oh my god. That's what I would have called him. The milly
vanilly vanillera. So close. You were so close to saying that correctly. To perfection. Oh
my god. Did you see him? I know. He fumbled under. Oh, buddy.
From the top.
Stop the show.
I know. That was so cute. You've never looked so pathetic.
Dave, that's your one thing that you can do is string a sentence together.
Yeah, if you can't do that.
If you lose that, then you've lost everything.
Then we're all fucked.
I know.
Because I don't know anything. Matt can't talk. We need you.
We need you, Dave. We need you. We need you, Dave.
We need you.
I'm just here because I have a laugh that people sometimes enjoy the sound of, but mostly
hate.
No, it's early round.
They go, ah, it's fun.
That's the only reason I'm here, it's all I contribute.
We need you.
No, your brows.
I'm not being self-deprecating.
I'm going to do a fantastic eyebrows, you're right.
They're really good.
But that's all down to Alicia, the girl who does my brows.
Okay, that's more of an Alicia, the girl who does my brows.
It's not me.
It's an Alicia thing.
Alicia is also my vocal coach.
Thank you, Alicia.
She's very multi-talented.
Okay.
The mad hatter.
Damn it!
The mad bomber.
I'm still so intrigued.
What does that mean?
The mad bomber of New York.
Okay.
Never heard.
Suggested by two people.
This one wasn't voted on by the Patreon?
We've had the mad trapper before. The Mad Bobber of New York. Okay. Suggested by two people. This was this one wasn't voted on by the Patreon?
We've had the Mad Trapper before.
Is that confusing? It's Mad Hatter Mad Trapper.
No, you're right.
Mad Trapper of Rat River.
Of Hat River, which is what the river in New York could be called.
It's all coming together.
What's it called? What's that river called?
Hudson? Hudson.
We know it because that guy dropped a plane in it once.
Dropped is, yeah, I guess is a way of landing a plane.
I think it's also the East River.
Oh my God.
That could be Hat River.
Yeah, OK. Yeah, that's looking for a name.
Anyway, sorry, Jess. Back over here.
All right. Woo.
OK.
This is juggling keys.
Trying to get your attention. So not suggested by anyone.
No, it has been suggested, wasn't voted on by the Patreons. You're on the free choice at the moment.
Matt and I, we're being voted for by people on Patreon.
Thank you.
Actually, this one was one of the topics I put up for the vote for my last topic when
I did the Pierre Hotel heist.
Oh, it's a vote loser.
Yeah.
And I, in sort of reading a little bit about it, you know, to make, to put it up for the
vote, make sure there was enough there, I was like, that'd be kind of interesting. I'll keep that in mind.
And now I'm on free choice. I thought I'll give it a go.
Cause a few people voted for this as well, but it was suggested by Tim Randall from
Brisbane and Truman from Virginia.
So anybody can suggest a topic, by the way, if there's a story that you've come across
that you think would make a fun do go on, put it in the hat.
There's a link in the show notes or it's on our website.
Go do that.
Tim Randall. So here's the story of the Mad Bomber of New York. In mid-November 1940, a wooden toolbox
was left on a windowsill at the Consolidated Edison power plant at 170 West 64th Street
in Manhattan. Inside it was a crudely made bomb, filled with gunpowder, with an ignition mechanism made of sugar and flashlight batteries.
Oh.
Luckily, the toolbox bomb were found before the bomb went off.
A note was wrapped around the bomb and written in distinctive block letters was the message,
Con Edison Crooks, this is for you.
Signed FP.
Investigators wondered if the bomb was an intentional dud, since if it had exploded,
no one would see the note.
I was just thinking that what's the point of writing the note if it's going to go off?
That's very funny.
I was not thinking that.
Yeah. So they're kind of like, is it maybe just more of a threat?
But I would, I mean, it'd be a what a full on way to get the note in pieces
and being taken out of your body, you know, with tweezers.
Bit by bit. With shrapnel.
What if it was attached to the bomb somehow?
So someone said, oh, whose toolbox is this?
And they pick up the letter and that's like attached to the fuse.
Yeah. And it's on a five second delay.
This is for you. Hang on.
That's me. Bang.
FP, I assume Football Park in Adelaide, the old football ground.
It's an interesting early guess. Dave, did you want to have a stab or do you want to wait for more information?
Remind me of the FP context.
It's how the letters signed off FP.
Could be Freddie Prince senior.
Oh, yeah, because he didn't use the senior.
He didn't know he was going to be a senior.
Freddie Prince.
He didn't, yeah, he didn't.
There was no junior.
There was no junior.
Freddie Prince Junior was born.
Yeah.
I assume.
I think so.
Yeah.
He is old. Is he? Yeah. I think so. Yeah.
He is old.
Is he?
Yeah, okay, there you go.
Well, older than me, so old.
Just right off the bat, 1940,
this is what America gets for cowardly staying out of the war.
Don't worry, they're in it so soon.
Yeah, I know, I'm a little joke there.
Little bit of ribbon for our northern neighbors.
Come on, Come on.
Follow in blindly like we did.
We love to just follow.
Again.
Yeah.
The following year in September of 1941, a bomb with a similar ignition
mechanism was found lying in the street about five blocks away from the
Consolidated Edison headquarters building in Irving Place.
This one had no note, but was also a dud.
Police theorized that the bomber might've spotted a police officer and dropped the bomb
without setting its fuse.
So they found another bomb close to the headquarters.
Shortly after the US entered World War II in December of 1941.
From out of shame.
Shame and embarrassment.
From their general ribbing from down under.
They're definitely paying attention.
They think about us a lot. They think about us a lot.
They think about us heaps.
We live rent free.
Yeah, God, they're obsessed with us, aren't they?
Well, they were briefly in the 80s when Crocodile Dundee came out.
Yeah. You asked us.
So the US entered World War II.
The police receive a letter.
The letter says, I will make no more bomb units for the duration of the war.
My patriotic feelings have made me decide this.
Later, I will bring the Con Edison to justice.
They will pay for their dastardly deeds.
Once again, signed FP.
Doesn't this prove my point?
If they'd just joined the war straight away, none of these dumb bombs that didn't do
anything wouldn't have been left.
They wouldn't have had anything to clean up.
Yeah. Also, there's con guys. They wouldn't have had anything to clean up. Yeah.
Also, there's con guys.
They're one of the few people in America hoping that the war doesn't end.
They wanted to go forever so they can just keep working at the power plant.
No one will ever drop a bomb off here.
Just leave us alone.
Oh, come on.
Surely we could war a little longer.
Technically, we're still going, aren't we, somewhere?
It's like hitting snooze.
They're just like, more war, please.
I think there might have been.
There's probably a few weapons manufacturers who are pretty happy with it being drawn in. True, true. It's true hitting snooze. They're just like, more war, please. I think there might have been, there's probably a few weapons manufacturers
who are pretty happy with it being drawn in.
True, true.
Who are? Con whatever.
Women who were.
Women would have been so, because they got to play baseball.
They got to play baseball.
Then we got to make movies about them playing baseball, which is really fun.
They got to make machinery sometimes.
Yeah, yeah.
Just get out of the house.
Pretty good stuff.
Take off the apron for a bit.
Really let the legs. Yeah. Stretch out out of the house. Pretty good stuff. Take off the apron for a bit. Really let the legs.
Yeah. Stretch out.
Stretch your legs.
You know how cumbersome and how constricting an apron is?
Very. Especially around the legs.
Yeah. Especially if you tie the.
You got a waddle.
Yeah. You know, so shuffle around the kitchen.
It's really hard. It's hard.
Burn your scones.
Makes little sense in your scones, but in your butt, right?
You feel like you're accidentally backing into the stove.
Oh, I burnt my scones.
Oh dear.
Oh, not again. I burnt my scones.
And that's an American woman, is it?
Yes.
Oh, yes.
Burn my scones.
Burn my biscuits.
Lordy.
Is that, is that still sound English?
No, no, no.
That was pretty.
It was a perfect switch.
Okay.
Great.
It's actually very good.
Cause I threw you under the bus a little bit there, I'll be honest.
Yeah, I figured out where we were.
But you just, you just went straight.
It was beautiful.
Um, your question was who, who are these people? It's a, it's a, um, power plant, it was beautiful. Your question was who are these people?
It's a power plant, power distribution company.
Gotcha.
What you're going to need to know is they're crooks.
Okay.
For some reason.
For some reason.
Darcylly crooks.
They've done Darcylly deeds.
And they've pissed off Freddie Prinze.
And Freddie Prinze, FP, has said, I'm not making any bombs for the war, okay?
I'm a patriot.
And true to his word, FP did not plant a bomb for the next 10 years.
I'll use he.
Just in case.
Just in case.
Just in case the war was still going somewhere.
That's right.
Between 1941 and 1951, FP wrote letters to police stations, newspapers and to Con Edison.
But by early 1951, he was back to his bomb making ways.
Given the 10 year hiatus and also the improvement in the quality of the bombs,
led investigators to believe that perhaps the bomber had served in the military during World War II.
Oh, that's clever. He's like, it's just because I'm a patriot. I'm sitting at home, certainly not
because I'm not in the country. I'm just choosing not to right now.
Choosing not to because I'm a good, I'm a patriot.
I mean, that's a patriot, not someone who enlists to fight for their country.
They're not a patriot.
No.
Now, can I just double check the whereabouts of Florence Pugh during the war?
Okay.
Because FP, that's my second possible bomber.
Football Park or Florence Pugh.
Okay.
Who is Florence Pugh?
Is Florence Pugh a person?
Yes. Fantastic actor. Yeah. Great. And we're going to have to add all that out because
it is Florence Pugh and you've spoiled it immediately. Florence Pugh. I was building
a lot of tension, but yeah, it was Florence Pugh in the forties. Oh no. That's the Cluedo
thing. Florence Pugh in the forties. With a candlestick. See? So this time FP wanted to actually get some attention.
The first two bombs hadn't really got the response that he'd hoped for.
So for his new wave of bombings, FP mainly chose public buildings as targets, bombing
several of them multiple times.
It all started in March 29th, 1951.
That was sort of his return to terrorism and the first bomb-
The big return.
The first bomb to actually explode.
Okay.
The bomb had been dropped in a sand urn, which it's like an ashtray in Grand
Central outside the Grand Central Oyster Bar and restaurant on the
terminals lower level.
The explosion-
It's still there and quite famous.
I think it is, yeah, yeah.
You can get oysters there.
Has he got-
And probably a drink.
Who's his problem with?
Cause this feels a bit more like anyone could be having oysters, but he's saying
this is specifically for some guy at con something?
For like the power plant.
But when he left bombs there, didn't really get reported.
Police didn't really do anything. Police didn't really do anything.
It didn't create enough attention.
So he's got to go wider.
Okay.
Is the guess.
Yeah.
So the explosion startled commuters, but luckily no one was injured.
Startled?
Oh, what was that?
Anyway, I guess I'll go about the rest of my day.
To be honest, I don't think these are big bombs.
Like they're not, they're not big explosions.
You'll hear later that sometimes they almost go unnoticed really.
It seems like an era of like kids using firecrackers and stuff.
So yeah, those are little pranks.
Yeah, cars backfiring.
Yeah, so is it really?
An era of cars backfiring.
Terrible engines.
But also it sounds like he could have got a similar result by going around at the train
station going, ah!
Oh, you startled me.
Anyway, on with my day.
I'm uninjured and I'll get on my train now.
The very next month, a bomb exploded again without injury in a phone booth at Grand Central.
Initially, police dismissed the event as the work of boys or pranksters, exactly as you're
saying. Right, is the dentist the manice up to boys or pranksters, exactly as you're saying.
Right, is the dentist the menace up to it again?
Yeah, kids just being little rascals.
Okay, so the P's for prankster.
What's the F for?
Fuckin'.
Oh yeah.
Oh, I was going to say fun time.
Oh, okay.
Okay, both options.
I think fun time sounds more 1940s to me.
Fun time, prankster.
Okay, but say fucking prankster in that voice.
Fucking prankster. No, that wasn't the voice, was it? No, it was pretty good. Okay. But say fucking prankster in that in that voice. Fucking prankster. No, that wasn't the voice, was it?
No, it was pretty good. Yeah, I can't.
I can't swear in that accent.
Hmm. Doesn't work.
Shit. Doesn't work.
Yeah. You say, oh, you can say like clam chowder.
Yeah. But you can't say can't and fuck.
You can't say it doesn't sound right. Yeah. Yeah.
Oh, interesting. Maybe they't say it doesn't sound right. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, interesting.
Maybe they didn't swear back then.
The press.
Were the words invented yet?
Oh, probably not.
That's probably it.
Yeah.
The language, it evolves.
Oh, it's beautiful.
It's liquid.
It's fluid.
Fluid.
It's runny.
So yeah, police are kind of dismissing these, these small bombs.
The press didn't really pick up the story. And if they did.
It's so sad for whoever this is. They just want their little bit of attention.
Just a bit of attention. Nobody's giving you attention.
Page 17 of this little article. Boys are will be boys.
Oh, it is literally.
No, I'm a man. I'm a big man.
I'm at least 5.6.
5.6.
5.6.
One of the newspapers had like a paragraph about it on page 24.
Like you're absolutely right.
Really?
It was not pressing news.
Commuters salute hilarious prank by young boys.
In October though, the New York Herald Tribune received a letter in block letters.
That's a confusing sentence, but you know what I mean.
Bombs will continue until the Consolidated Edison Company is brought to justice for
their dastardly acts against me.
I have exhausted all other means.
I intend with bombs to cause others to cry out for justice for me.
So it's just about getting more attention, raising awareness.
He's bombing for awareness.
You know who writes in block letters?
Kids.
Oh. Little boys. Pranksters. Pranksters. Coming for awareness. You know who writes in block letters? Kids. Ooh.
Little boys.
Pranksters.
Pranksters.
But also people with fancy pants.
So I'm just saying, could it be a fancy pants top?
Wow.
So that's my third suspect.
And so far we have?
Football park.
Yes.
Florence Pew fancy pants.
Okay.
I'm sitting over here on Freddie Prinze.
Yeah, you stay.
You're sitting on him.
This is a citizen's arrest.
I know you did this.
So it was another letter from FP.
The letter detailed the location of two bombs, one at the Paramount Theatre in Times Square
and one in a telephone booth at Penn Station.
Police investigated and found and disabled the bomb at the theatre, but they didn't find
anything in the telephone booth.
Oh oh.
Geez, that would, that should be the easiest to find.
We searched this whole theatre.
Alright, search this whole telephone booth.
Coming up with nothing.
Nothing here.
We've got our best man on it.
In November, a locker at the 14th Street subway station was bombed again with no one injured.
The Herald Tribune once again received a letter.
Have you noticed the bombs in your city?
If you are worried, I am sorry.
And also if anyone is injured, but it cannot be helped for justice will be served.
I am not well.
And for this, I will make the Con Edison sorry.
Yes, they will regret their dastardly deeds.
I will bring them before the bar of justice.
Public opinion will condemn them.
For beware, I will place more units under theatre seats in the near future.
Whoa.
FP.
That's, it's brutal because so far it seems like no one's really noticed.
Yeah.
Aha!
You're scared now, aren't you?
If you are, sorry, who are you?
What's happening?
A bomb?
And if people are injured?
Uh, no, we've had no reports of any injuries.
Yeah.
Everyone's fine actually.
As long as he's-
Startled?
Started by a few pranks from some fun little boys.
But, um, yeah, no, no injuries or noticing any bombings.
Is everything okay?
Checked all the hospitals, everyone's fine.
Everyone's okay.
Yeah, like, illness is down. Everyone's okay. Yeah, like illness is down.
Everyone's up because they're laughing so much at the pranks.
Such a fun thing.
We're going to find these little boys and give them the key to the city.
Well done little boys.
You've saved America.
Over the next five years, bombs were left in phone booths, storage lockers, and
restrooms in public buildings, including five times in Grand Central Terminal,
five times at Penn Station, three times at Radio City Music Hall, twice at the New York
Public Library, twice at the Port Authority bus terminal, as well as in the New York City
subway. So there's just bombs everywhere.
Wow. And still no injuries? Did any books get hurt? Like, oh.
Yeah, I don't know where in the library.
Right. So it's hard to say. So I can neither confirm or deny that books were injured. Did any books get hurt? Like, it was- Yeah, I don't know where in the library.
So it's hard to say.
So I can neither confirm or deny that books were injured.
I mean, most places in a library, there'll be books.
Yeah, not in the toilet. That's true.
So someone could be reading on the toilet.
He does seem to like dropping bombs in the toilets.
Yep.
So does Vic.
FB also bombed movie theatres where he cut into seat upholstery and slipped his explosive
devices inside.
So they'd be inside a seat.
Oh come on.
People are, because they're so, their explosives are so low that people would be like, oh,
is this a 4D theater?
Yeah.
Wow.
A little rumble.
They've timed that exactly when Bruce Willis threw a grenade or something.
So exciting.
A bomb in December of 1952 was the first to cause injury.
An explosion from a bomb left in the seats at Lexington Avenue Theatre injured one person.
I'm unsure how severely, but I think relatively okay.
So they got started and they cut them, they got a paper cut from the popcorn box or something.
Possibly.
Ow!
Right in like the little, those little bits between your fingers.
Hurts.
The hospital report lists their injury as startled.
Oh, okay, yeah.
It was a bit startling.
Well, we'll keep you overnight for observation.
Yeah, my heart really, because we're bored here.
No one is coming in anymore.
Everyone's laughing so much, they don't need medicine.
So look, yeah, you just, you rest up as long as you like.
Hey, while you're in, want to get the lips done?
Can I get you some jello?
Can we? Into your lips?
Jello into your lips.
That'd be fun for us.
It's very early. It's early days in lip surgery back then.
Lip surgery.
Back in the day, they were just like, what if we tried this injection?
Yeah, we'll inject that in there.
We tried chocolate, didn't want to.
Put jelly in your butt.
Too jiggly.
Yeah.
Yeah. You don't want it like that.
Up to this point, police had asked the newspapers to downplay the bombing and not to print
any of the bomber's letters.
But by now, the public were becoming aware of a mad bomber on the loose.
So, finally.
You've been bombing a city, one of the world's biggest cities, for 10 years.
Yeah.
No articles been written about you.
No one cares.
How sad is that?
But doesn't that just show how passionate he is?
Yeah. Because, you know, like-
Doesn't give up.
Like a lot of people in the arts, for instance, you have to really want it.
You have to keep forging ahead while no one's paying any attention to you.
I guess he's had that sort of drive.
He could be like an overnight 15 years bombing success.
Exactly. That's right.
He could be the Huey Lewis of his day.
Exactly right.
You just got to stick at it.
A bomb wedge behind a sink in Grand Central Terminal's men's room exploded in March of 1954.
Slightly injuring three men.
Slightly.
Some of the instances of bombings are truly strange.
I got this one from Wikipedia.org, which I think is like a bomb website.
I'd go there with caution if I were you.
You'll end up on a list.
Sounds explosive.
Says, you enjoyed that the most.
No, he did a regret face.
Yeah, but then he does the- He's having a good time.
As a capacity Radio City Music Hall audience of 6,200 watched Bing Crosby's White Christmas
on November 7, 1954-
Not Bing!
More like Bang Crosby that night.
A bomb stuffed into the bottom cushion of a seat in the 15th row exploded, injuring four
patrons.
The explosion was muffled by the heavy upholstery and only those nearby heard it.
While the film continued.
Excuse me?
Picture it.
What a great moment.
I mean, excuse me?
Everybody would have loved that.
That would have killed.
Incredible.
Row 17 would have pissed themselves at that.
That's good stuff.
You're dining on that story for the rest of your life.
And then the bomb goes off and I say, screw this all up.
And honestly, yeah, the injuries were pretty bad.
My butt has seen better days, but worth it.
Worth it. Worth it.
So good.
I killed it Radio City.
But the nurse injected some jelly in there.
My butt's never looked jiggly.
So, yeah, only people nearby heard it.
While the film continued, the injured were escorted to the facility's first aid room and about 50 people in the
immediate area were moved to the back of the theatre.
After the film and the following stage show concluded, an hour and a half later, the police roped off
150 seats in the area of the explosion and began the search for evidence.
They let a live show go ahead?
The show must go on. The show must go on. I literally write it down.
That's great. And also, how annoying for those people, they've probably- they've paid for row 15.
Yeah.
Now they're back in row 80.
I know. And you're like, no, no, no, there's a difference in price.
Yeah. I need you to pay the difference.
Yeah. I want a refund.
But isn't that crazy? A bomb goes off.
Only a few people in the area are aware of it and everybody else is just enjoying a movie.
That's the power of Bing.
When you said Bing, I assumed live as well.
Me too, I thought Bing was- because now it was like a live venue, but I guess it was the theatre and live venue.
Yeah, they were watching the movie.
And you said there was a performance as well.
Yeah, there was some sort of stage show after that as well.
Big night out.
There's a lot going on.
OK, fourth possible suspect.
OK. out. There's a lot going on. Okay. Fourth possible suspect. Okay.
Fetal position.
Someone in the feet of their, they sign off.
Yeah.
They sign off.
With FP.
Oh, FP got you, yep.
Because they're lying in their shower in the fetal position.
Yeah.
Are the notes wet?
Some of them.
Yeah. Okay.
You knew it.
I knew it.
So give us the.
Who knew it?
Give us your four FPs again.
Matt Stewart.
Football Park.
Mm hmm.
Florence Pugh.
Fancy Pants or Fetal Position.
OK, great. Dave, any new additions or you want to keep sitting on Freddie Prinze?
I'm sitting on Freddie Prinze.
I'm going to stick with that.
OK, great.
So, yeah, that was one of the, that was one of the, I didn't want,
I didn't need to go through and list every single bombing because most of them are fairly small.
Nobody's injured, but that one is kind of wild.
In 1956, a 74 year old men's room attendant at Penn Station was seriously injured when a bomb
in a toilet bowl exploded. A young man had reported an obstruction and the attendant tried to clear it using a plunger.
Oh no.
Among the porcelain fragments, investigators found a watch frame and a wool sock.
They sort of came to figure out that there was often a wool sock at the site and they
figured that's probably how he was transporting the bomb places.
Just in a sock.
Anyway, so that men's room attendant was injured, but not fatally.
Are we going to, like if you're on the force here, Dave, are you going, all right, I want a list of every sock shop in the tri-state area?
You're damn right I am.
Yeah.
I'm going through sock by sock.
And I'm checking people's legs
and if they're only wearing one sock,
they're a suspect.
They're on a list.
Yeah.
A watch list.
I think we're getting close here.
Yeah.
Now does Florence Pugh wear socks?
I don't think so.
At all.
At all, ever.
Well.
I've never seen Florence Pugh wearing socks.
And if they're not on her feet, where are they?
Used to make bombs. Yeah, I think Pugh's Pugh wearing socks. And if they're not on her feet, where are they? Used to make bombs.
Yeah, I think Pugh's gone to the top of the list.
Actually, being a person who's-
Above defunct AFL venue football park.
Yeah, okay.
Which by the way, what a funny name.
Football park?
What a funny name for an arena or a stadium.
Very literal, isn't it?
What do you do there?
Play football.
I was watching The Retirement Plan, a Nicholas Cage movie that came out last year.
And it's terrible.
Like an action kind of comedy.
He's great in it, as always, because he's at 110 on the Nick Cage scale.
But he is reunited.
He's a grandfather now reunited with his estranged granddaughter they didn't even
know existed. She sent to him.
She sent to him. She sent him for protection because it's like it's a it's a it's an action.
High C3 type thing.
And he just looks at it one day and he goes, oh, you like football?
And then he points to a T-shirt and it doesn't have the name of a team or anything.
It just says football.
That's funny. That's good stuff.
I don't know if they were doing it on purpose.
The rest of the movie did not track with that.
They were like, football?
That's gotta be a bit.
I watched this one about being in everyone's dreams during the week.
Oh, yep.
That's a bit of-
I can't remember what that's called.
It's called like dream scenario or something like that.
Yeah, I haven't seen it.
Bit of fun?
Yeah, it's all right.
Okay. I didn't mind it. Loved having a lot of dreams. Not a lot of action though Yeah, I haven't seen it. Bit of fun? Yeah, it's alright. Okay.
I didn't mind it.
Loved having a lot of dreams.
Not a lot of action though, so Dave might not enjoy it.
A lot of action in this movie.
Yeah, this is the opposite end.
Okay.
Very little action.
There's a few sort of horror types scenes, but not really.
Not for me, thanks.
I don't like to be spooked.
No, it's not spooky.
Well, what is it?
It's, you know, there's just some nightmare sequences.
I don't like that.
Okay.
So we're up to 1956, when the bomb goes off in the toilet.
Also that year, a guard at the RCA building in Rockefeller Center discovered a piece of
pipe about five inches long in a telephone booth.
A second guard thought it might be useful in a plumbing project and took it home
on the bus to New Jersey,
where it exploded on his kitchen table early the next morning.
Oh, when he wasn't there again, no one was injured. Oh, that's great.
I'm thinking on the bus. Yeah, no, he's taken,
he's taken a bomb home thinking that's going to be handy for a plumbing project.
What is he doing at home with a plumbing project? What's going on there?
Fixing a toilet or something, Dave?
Showers?
Imagine if he got it all the way into his.
What's he doing at home with a plumbing project?
I imagine some sort of high school.
Does your bathroom not, does your kitchen, hang on, does your house not have plumbing?
Oh my God, no.
We're shitting a bucket.
Yeah, exactly.
Nothing can go wrong with my bucket.
I was imagining some sort of high school style, you know, project.
Like a volcano.
Yeah, more like a renovation type project.
I could use that for my volcano.
I do love that you, a grown man, heard plumbing project and you thought,
well, it's quite like a diorama or something.
Yeah, is he studying plumbing or something?
And they have to write an essay about their favourite pipe.
And he's going to write about this pipe he found.
You think it's not weird to find a pipe on the street and say,
no, that fits. I could use this.
That fits a bit weird, but I think we understood the context
because we had some home improvements to do.
Yeah, yeah. But that's what plenty of people do.
They find shit on the side of the road and go, I could use that for something.
Back in the 50s.
Back in the 50s.
Yeah, that's right. Plumbing, pipes. I don't think they had a Bunnings warehouse. We live in the 50s. Back in the 50s. Yeah, I don't think
they had a bunnings warehouse. We live in a disposable world these days, but back then
things were built to last. Yeah. The year of the Melbourne Olympics. Wow. The year of
TV coming to Australia. The year my mum was born. And my dad. It's that beautiful. Anyway, a December 2nd bombing at the Paramount Theatre in Brooklyn left six of the theatre's
1,500 occupants injured, one seriously, and drew tremendous news coverage and editorial
attention.
Now he's, now he's finally-
All Florence Pue is happy.
The next day, police commissioner Stephen P. Kennedy ordered what he called the greatest
manhunt in the history of the police department.
Wow.
So finally, we're taking this seriously.
How many years has he been bombing for?
Ten years.
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Also, eBooks.
Okay, well that's the plural of music. Also E's books. Okay well that's the
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Spaghetti.
It's more than 10 years now, isn't it?
Because it's starting in 1940.
Yeah.
How many years is it now?
56.
56.
Well, that's just, yeah, that's some of them.
That's quite a bombing career. That sounds like that. That's just, yeah, that's some of them.
That's quite a bombing career.
That sounds like that.
That's about as long as Dave's been bombing.
16 years.
Yeah.
That's probably about right.
Is that about right, Dave?
That's about right, Dave.
Slightly longer, but yeah.
You've been bombing longer?
Okay.
I loved this paragraph again from wikipedia.org.
Go to that website with caution.
You will end up on a government list.
Um, cause it's all about bombs.
Throughout the investigation, the prevailing theory was that the bomber was a former Con
Edison employee with a grudge against the company.
I, they, I wonder if they got that from-
Everything.
I used to work there.
This is my badge number.
Yes, the very clear.
Anyway, but they're like, hmm, I think with my powers of deduction, Con Edison employment
records were reviewed, but there were hundreds of other leads, tips and crank letters to
be followed up on.
Detectives ranged far and wide, checking lawsuit records, mental hospital admissions and vocational
schools where bomb parts might be made.
Citizens turned in neighbors who behaved oddly and coworkers who seemed to know a little
too much about bombs.
A new group, the Bomb Investigation Unit, was formed to work on nothing but bomber leads.
I reckon those are the people I'd round up.
They know a little too much about bombs.
The rest of them all.
Yep.
Get them all.
But yeah, because a part of me early on is like, this is quite clearly somebody who used
to work there and has a grudge against them.
How hard can it be to narrow it down?
But apparently quite hard.
Big corporation, obviously.
Yes.
Yeah, yeah.
And the corporation like, well, honestly, we've fucked over thousands of people here.
Well, it's kind of like a parent company.
So they're a subsidiary, they're a small company.
So yeah, it could be quite far range.
Are they working off the FP thing?
Thinking like it'd be wild if there is actual initials.
Right.
Or Florence Pugh's.
Well, yeah, if it's Florence.
Are you saying it would be crazy
if that's actually Florence Pugh's initials?
No.
Because I reckon it probably is.
If the guy's using his actual initials.
Yeah, yeah, that would be bold.
If it's not like, I'm guessing it stands for like, flattened power.
Because he got flattened by their power or something.
Oh, that's good.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Some sort of poetic thing.
He got flattened by power.
Yeah.
It'll be something that makes sense.
Yeah.
But it'll be something like that, I assume.
Okay.
What do you think it'll stand for?
If his name is like Fred Peterson, I'd be like, man, I guess you wanted to be caught.
He just wanted to, he just wanted this story out there, maybe.
Yeah, maybe.
So yeah, people are turning in their neighbors, coworkers who are like, I've heard of bombs
before.
They're like, oh, you're nicked.
Bomb guy.
Just got one with bombs in the army.
Bomb guy.
Bomb guy. Just show them the bombs in the army. Bomb guy. Bomb guy.
A writer named Michael Cannell wrote a book about the Mad Bomber and an excerpt was published
in the Smithsonian magazine.
I quote him a little bit.
And is it Michael Cannell or Michael Cannell?
Well it's C-A-N-N-E-L-L.
Cannell.
Cannell, yeah.
It's probably Cannell.
Cannell.
Canel. Canel, yeah. It's probably Canel. Canel. Canel.
Oh no, it's hard when it happens out of context, but on Who Knew It the other week when Charlie
Clawson was on, I was reading his credits, including him being on Canel Road.
And I said Canel Road in my head going, don't say Canel.
Don't say, because no one here is in on it.
And I, but I did it.
And what did they say? Well, they, you know, they made fun of me.
Okay.
It was Ben Russell and Charlie Clawson.
And they were like, and I'm like, oh, I.
Yeah. Yeah.
Trying to explain.
It's a thing from the other podcast.
Anyway.
So Michael Cannell.
Sorry, Michael.
You have a great writer.
I'm sorry to disrupt, to disrespect you.
Shortly after lunch on a cold December morning in 1956, a trio of New York City's detectives
stepped out the back door of the copper domed police headquarters.
Led by a veteran captain, Howard Finney, they walked briskly to an unmarked police cruiser,
a big green and white Plymouth idling at the curb and drove south through the winding downtown streets on an urgent errand.
How good is this beautiful poetic?
I'm picturing it.
Classic Canel.
That's how good it is from Canel. I can see it.
Normally I can't see stuff that's been written.
Yeah, that's true.
But this I can.
Yeah, that's beautiful.
Just seeing them all sort of motionless getting in the car, like choreographed almost and just sitting there, you know, in the car driving.
I'm seeing that.
Putting that little siren out the window on top of the car.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
I love when they do that.
Yeah.
Why isn't it just permanently there?
Anyway.
Gotta go undercover.
On that late fall afternoon, Captain Finney and his two bomb squad sidekicks left headquarters
to call on James A. Brussell, a psychiatrist
with expertise in the workings of the criminal mind.
If physical evidence could not lead the police to FP, maybe emotional insights could.
Nobody could recall an instance when the police had consulted a psychiatrist.
A physical description of the bomber was unobtainable, Captain Finney reasoned, but maybe Brussell
could use the evidence to draw a profile of the bomber's inner self, an emotional portrait that would illuminate his background and disorder.
It was a radical notion for 1956.
Right.
So this changed the game.
Yes.
I got a fifth suspect.
Okay.
Frat party.
Oh, very pranky.
Yeah.
Yes.
Maybe a toga theme party with a kegger pranky. Yeah. All right. Maybe they're a toga.
It's a toga theme party with a kegger gone wrong.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And frats are like history makers.
Yeah. They are game changers.
That's right. Yeah. So.
Makes sense. Makes sense. Makes sense.
So Dr. Brussall, James A. Brussall, he was a criminologist, psychiatrist and assistant commissioner of the New York
state commission for mental hygiene.
I don't know what that means, but it sounds fun and old timey mental health basically.
Initially Brussels was hesitant to assist.
He had a huge workload at the department of mental hygiene.
I'm really busy.
I'm very busy.
Plus he had like lectures and meetings, private practice.
He was already spinning a lot of plates.
I also read that, because
he was doing like all of those different things and then he would get home and he would create
like crossword puzzles for like multiple newspapers.
I'm sorry, I've got a- I'm puzzling tonight.
But he was already doing so much and then he would go and spend hours creating these
puzzles so much so that I think they had to publish them under different names because it was like too prolific.
So he's insane.
He's like incredibly intelligent.
So he's kind of like, I don't really have time to take this on.
Plus there's no precedent for it.
Like this isn't something that's ever been done.
Not to mention there's a lot of pressure riding on this case.
He hesitated to test his theories in such a high profile case.
What if his analysis failed to break the case or or worse, sent the police in the wrong direction?
I don't know what you expect me to do,
Brussels observed skeptically.
If experts haven't cracked this case
in more than 10 years of trying,
what could I hope to contribute?
Hmm.
But in the end, he couldn't resist having a go.
Psychiatrists normally evaluate patients
and consider how they might react to difficulties.
Conflict with a boss, sexual frustrations, the loss of a parent.
Brussel began to wonder whether instead of starting with a known personality and anticipating
behaviour, perhaps he could start with the bomber's behaviour and deduce what sort of
person he might be.
In other words, Brussel would work backwards by letting FP's conduct define his identity,
his sexuality, race, appearance, work history, and personality
type.
So this is like the first profile.
Yeah.
Brussels called his approach reverse psychology.
Today we call it criminal profiling.
Wow.
Isn't that wild?
Yeah.
Because reverse psychology is something different again.
But he called it reverse because he's sort of working backwards.
So what he did back then, he goes, we don't want to catch you anyway, FP.
Put it in the paper.
Don't even care. Don't even bother owning up to it because we don't want to catch you anyway. Yeah. F.P. put it in the paper. So don't even care. Don't even bother owning up to it.
Yeah.
We don't even care.
We want you to write more letters.
Yeah.
And tell us, you know, bomb more things.
Bomb more things.
And definitely we don't even care if you tell us who you are and stop doing it.
And when he handed himself and he said, I've also created opposite day.
You're under arrest.
Gotcha.
You're nicked.
You dickhead.
Anyway, this is from Canel again.
Whatever the term, it was still a virtually untested concept in the 1950s.
Brussels role models at the time were fictional investigators, most notably C.
Auguste Dupin, I don't know, the reclusive amateur detective invented by Edgar Allan Poe.
Oh, yeah.
He solved the Roo, something Roo?
Yeah, the creature in the Roo morgue.
Oh, that's right.
It was the original profiler.
The forebearer of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.
But like Dave and I discovered on an episode of Book Cheat.
Well, we covered the murder in the Roo morgue.
Yes, if they just looked at the cover of the book, they could have solved the crime. Yeah. They had the culprit on the cover of the book that Dave bought.
It's a real spoiler.
A real spoiler.
Yeah.
And then they were wearing a little sign around their neck that said, I did it.
Yes.
Wow.
I hate when they do that in movie posters.
I'm like, well, f**k it.
Now I know.
They're kissing, but then they in the first third of the film, they're enemies. And I'm like, well, I know how this is going, but then they in the in the like first third of
the film, their enemies. I'm like, well, I know how this is going to fucking end. You're
making out in the poster. Yeah. Like one of those like World War Two ones and Hitler's
making out with Eva Braun and you're like, oh, great. Now I know where it's going. Another
enemies to lovers. So anyway, uh, Brussels, he Brussels, he's on the case.
He's like, all right, I'll have a stab.
So Captain Finney emptied a satchel of evidence on Brussels desk, outspilled photographs of
unexploded bombs, along with photo stats of strangely worded letters and documentary reports
amassed over 16 years.
The bombs and the letters, these were all the police had, Brossel would
write. The rest was a mystery." After two hours, Brossel stood up from his desk and
turned to look out his window overlooking City Hall. After standing there quietly for
quite some time, he eventually turned and began describing the bomber to the detectives.
This is what he sort of comes up with. The bomber's belief that he'd been wronged
by Consolidated Edison and by others acting in
coercion with them seemed to dominate his thoughts, leading Brussels to conclude that the bomber was
suffering from paranoia. This is all from Wiki. They kind of summarize all of his thoughts about
the bomber. Male, as historically most bombers were male, well proportioned and of average build based on studies of hospitalized mental patients, 45 to 50 years old as paranoia developed slowly,
precise, neat and tidy based on his letters and the workmanship of his bombs, an exemplary
employee on time and well behaved.
He thought probably Slavic because bombs were favored in middle Europe.
Interesting.
A Catholic because most Slavic people were Catholic.
Courteous but not friendly.
A lot of the time he's playing the odds.
And he's taking one and then extrapolating from that.
Totally.
He has a good education but probably not college.
Foreign-born or living in a community of foreign-born people.
The formal tone and old-fashioned phrasing of the letters sounded to Brussels as if they'd been written or thought out in a foreign language and then translated into English.
Based on the rounded letter W's of the handwriting they thought maybe that represents breasts and the slashing and stuffing of theatre seats.
Brussels thought about something about sex was troubling the bomber, possibly
an Oedipus complex, loving his mother and hating his father and authority figures.
That's why he slashed theatres.
And that's why he writes W's a bit round cause they look like boobs.
You know, not all of it's good.
Anyway, um.
That's so funny.
He's saying this other guy's a sex maniac.
Grr, I just see boobs everywhere.
These W's are so hot.
So sexy. I just need to be alone. These W's are so hot. So sexy.
I just need to be alone with these W's for a minute.
It's the most sexy letter.
It's like that saying to a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.
To a perv, every problem looks like a pair of tits.
And if you put this, this letter over this letter.
Oh, are you next to a you.
Oh my God.
And once calculators came in, which was possibly already at this point,
he would have been like, oh my God, have you seen what happens when you write 80085?
Oh, that's a close one.
Oh no.
Oh no.
It's happening. It's happening. Is he jizzing?
It's happening.
I hate that we made eye contact when you said that.
We maintained eye contact.
It felt strange.
Was that okay for you?
The sound of a calculator.
The calculator starts flashing no.
Error. Okay.
Anyway, this is a little bit more about the profile.
Alona, no friends, little interest in women, possibly a virgin, unmarried, perhaps living with an older female relative, probably lives in Connecticut.
As Connecticut, is this crazy?
Full of virgins.
Full of, it had a high concentration of Slavic people and many of the bomber's letters were
posted in Westchester County midway between Connecticut and New York City.
That's quite clever.
Okay.
I loved this from Michael Cannell, Cannell.
Finney and his men put on their coats and packed the evidence.
The two men shook hands, then the three detectives moved to the door.
In the parting moment, Brussel closed his eyes.
An image of the bomber came to him with cinematic clarity.
He wore outdated clothes since his contempt for others would prevent him from holding
steady jobs.
His attire was old-fashioned, but clean and meticulous.
It would be prim, perhaps with an enveloping protective aspect.
Captain, one more thing.
When you catch him, Brussels said, and I have no doubt you will, he'll be wearing a double
breasted suit."
And then Brussels added, and it will be buttoned.
Oh my gosh.
It's very cinematic.
I love it.
Is that again at that time, just most Slavic people wore double breasted suits or something? Who knows? I don't know.
Cause it feels like he's really honed in on Slavic anything really. They live in Connecticut,
are they Catholic? They wear double breasted suits.
The Connecticut thing, I guess made a little bit more sense because of where some of the
postage. Letters were sent from it. It was sort of between. So I guess,
but yes, a lot of it is kind of, and he says this.
But it has to be.
In a lot of his writing, he's like, I'm playing the odds.
Like it's just sort of, and it's all based on studies of people and, you know, so he's kind of like,
yeah, maybe it could be one of the 15% of paranoid schizophrenics who have a different body shape or something.
Like, you know, it's very interesting, but some of it you're like, okay, here we are wearing a double breasted suit and the detail of it'll be buttoned.
Do you think you just wanted to say the word breast out loud?
Double breasted.
Now leave my office.
I need a moment.
Too late.
It happened again.
I need my calculator.
So although the police policy had been to keep the bomber investigation low key, Brussels
actually convinced them to heavily publicize this profile that they'd come up with, predicting
that any wrong assumption made in it would prod the bomber to respond.
So if he was wrong, he reckons the bomber would be like, no, I'm actually very handsome and
great with the ladies.
And when people start persecuting the Slavic community, I mean, obviously.
Yeah, yeah.
Oh dear.
Under the headline, 16 year search for a madman, the New York Times published a version of
the profile summarizing the major predictions.
All the things I just said before.
Newspapers published the profile on December 25th, 1956, because everybody's
rushing to the paper on 25th of December, alongside the story of the so-called
Christmas Eve bomb discovered in the public library.
By the end of the month, bomb hoaxes and false confessions had
risen to epidemic proportions.
At the peak of the hysteria on December 28, police received over 50 false
bomb alarms over 20 the next day. So it's kind of, it's created copycats and people
getting a little worked up and sort of- And if you have an exam on, a perfect opportunity.
Oh yeah. Signed frat party.
The day after the profile was published, the New York journal American published an open
letter prepared in cooperation with the police, urging the bomber to give himself up.
The newspaper promised a fair trial and offered to publish his grievances.
FP wrote back the next day.
So it kind of worked. I love the old days of open letters and communicating back and forth in a really public way.
There's about three or four letters that he sends back that they may respond to and they
publish his letter.
It's like, guys, can you just, all right.
Anyway.
Cut out the middle, man.
Just text each other for fuck's sake.
Yeah.
The public's like, do we need to be brought into this?
Do I have to see this? I just want to see the latest football results.
Yeah, we like football.
Let's go football.
What's the weather going to be for the week?
That sort of thing. That's all I want to know.
FP football player.
Oh my god.
Foot Paul.
Foot Paul.
No bad ideas.
David?
I don't know if that's P-A-U-L, I don't know.
Foot Paul.
Or like foot Paul Bearer.
Yes.
Someone who Paul bears with their feet.
That's hard to do.
That is hard to do.
Not impossible, but hard.
You know how you're talking about, David talking about the football shirt?
Do you remember that there was a bit of a viral photo of Rob Lowe at the Super Bowl or a big game just wearing
an NFL hat.
I don't remember that.
Go league!
Come on!
Come on the league!
I hope the league wins tonight!
So yes, they've published an open letter, said, give yourself up.
FP wrote back, he said, I'm not going to be giving myself up.
He revealed a wish.
Go on.
Um, he revealed a wish to bring the con Edison to justice.
Oh God.
He listed all the locations where he'd placed bombs that year and seemed concerned that
perhaps not all had been discovered.
Later in the letter, he said, my days on earth are numbered.
Most of my adult life has been spent in bed.
My one consolation is that I can strike back even from my grave for the dastardly acts against me.
Wow.
That's, yeah, that's given up a bit of info as well.
Yes.
Very ominous, but given up a bit of info.
That's right.
And they're still not figuring it out.
The newspaper published his letter on January 10, along with another open
letter to him asking him for more information as to why he was doing this.
Oh, that's a good one. And tell us where you live.
And once again, he responds.
Keep them talking.
They can track the letter.
We need another five letters. Keep them on the line.
What's your favourite colour? Tell us.
And he writes in.
His second letter provided some details about the materials used in the bombs.
He favoured pistol powder as shotgun powder had very little power, apparently.
He promised a bomb truce until at least March 1st and wrote, I was injured on job at Consolidated
Edison plant.
As a result, I am a judged, totally and permanently disabled.
Going on to say that he had to pay his own medical bills and that consolidated Edison
had blocked his workers' compensation case.
Again, giving a lot of info, isn't it?
So much info.
And how hard is it for him to travel from Connecticut to all these different locations?
Yeah, and discreetly drop these bombs off and no one notices him.
Yeah.
Interesting.
I know.
Have we mentioned Edison?
That's obviously a previous topic of the show.
I'm assuming it's the same.
It's just something from Thomas Edison.
I guess.
I think I'm going to cause he's the light bulb guy and, or, you know, he, he was the guy who bought a lot of patents.
Yeah.
Let's find out.
Inventions of the Schoom.
It's related to him.
I didn't actually look up what considered Edison.
Powering New York City and Westchester.
It's commonly known as Con Edison or Con Ed.
It's one of the largest investor owned energy companies in the United States. So it's an energy company.
Right. And whether it's founded by Edison or just
named after him because it's associated with electricity.
Yeah. Yeah. Hard to say.
Hard to say. It's not like I'd say impossible to say.
Well. Or they're saying Edison is a real con.
Oh. Con Edison.
Oh, Dave, you watch your tone.
That was actually started by George Wessinghouse.
Let's see history.
Con Edison's electric business also dates back to 1882 when Thomas Edison's Edison
illuminating company of New York began supplying electricity to 59 customers.
So maybe that is something to do with them.
Sounds like it.
We'll never know.
Never know. Never could know. He also never know. Never know.
Never could know.
He also said this, so he said that he is-
Thomas Edison?
Thomas Edison said this. No, he said, Con Edison wouldn't pay his medical bills, they blocked his workers comp.
He also says, when a motorist injures a dog, he must report it.
Not so with an injured workman.
He writes less than a dog.
I tried to get my story to the press.
I tried hundreds of others.
I typed tens of thousands of words, about 800,000.
That's more than tens of thousands.
Nobody cared.
I determined to make these dastardly acts known.
I've had plenty of time to think.
I decided on bombs."
So he's just trying to, again, he's bombing for awareness.
Again, they published the letter.
They published the letter, again, they appealed to him for further information.
He just keeps giving it.
The third letter was received by the newspaper on January 19th.
This letter complained of lying unnoticed for hours on cold concrete after his injury
without any first aid being rendered, then developing pneumonia and later tuberculosis.
The letter added details about his lost compensation case and the perjury of his
co-workers and gave the date of his injury.
They're like, this could still be a million different people.
We are very poor at looking after our workers.
Hundreds are injured every day.
He gave the date, September 5th, 1931.
We don't have records of shit like that.
We don't give a shit like that.
You're a number.
How could we possibly figure it out?
Yeah, you'd like him to go straight off the bat.
It's like, oh, our worker who feels bad about how we treat him,
that's got to be John Jensen.
Yeah, it's got to be John Jensen.
We treated him pretty badly.
He was the one we treated badly.
And then we learned from that.
We learned from it.
We felt awful.
And he wouldn't accept our apologies.
Yeah.
And fair enough, we were awful.
We, and we agree with him.
We've learned a lot.
We have learned.
We have been so much better ever since.
Yeah, that was not the case.
So I know we said earlier, there was just so many files to go through,
but surely that's enough in photo.
Now I went down a fair bit, But they still haven't quite got there.
Meanwhile, a woman named Alice Kelly, a clerk who worked for Con Edison, had been scouring
the company's workers' compensation files for several days.
She was looking for workers with serious health problems.
On Friday, January 18, 1957, while searching the final batch of troublesome workers' compensation
files.
Who are they?
These are the troublesome ones.
Those that are where threats were made or implied.
Are they all filed under troublesome?
Yes.
She found a file marked in red with the words injustice and permanent disability, words
that had been printed in the journal American.
The file belonged to a man named George Miteski, an employee from 1921 to 1931,
who'd been injured in September of 1931.
But initials are GM.
So it's not him.
Not him.
Keep moving.
This guy's a general manager.
Shred that file.
Let's move on.
Yeah, next.
Yeah, destroy all evidence of this man.
We never need to speak to him.
Mateski, born in 1903, had joined the US Marines after World War I, serving as a
specialist electrician at the United States Consulate in Shanghai.
Returning home, he went to work as a mechanic for a subsidiary of the
Consolidated Edison Utility Company.
And he lived in Waterbury, Connecticut with his two older unmarried sisters.
Oh my God.
Oh my gosh. Oh my God.
That is, that's wild.
This is somewhat of a guess, but it is wild.
It was an educated guess.
Yeah. Amazing.
In 1931, Mateski was working as a generator wiper
at the company's Hellgate generating plant
when a boiler backfire produced a blast of hot gases.
The blast knocked Mateski down
and the fumes filled his lungs choking him.
Oh, God.
The accident left him disabled and after collecting 26 weeks of sick pay, he lost his job.
According to claims disputed by Con Edison, the accident led to pneumonia that in turn developed into tuberculosis.
A claim for workers compensation was denied because he waited too long to file it.
Yeah, mate, you got to get straight onto these things.
Okay.
We don't care you're in a coma for nine months.
Okay, mate.
Your time's up.
It is, it's always interesting to look back, right?
And you go, this is the era where a lot of people talk about when Australia was great,
when America was great and that sort of stuff.
There were issues as well.
The workers' rights have improved.
It wasn't perfect.
Back to the 50s, back when old people were young.
David, are you closer to cracking the FP conundrum here?
FP. FP, thanks, poor nothing.
Oh, that's not bad.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Fire.
Fired person.
I'm a fired person.
I consider myself a fired person.
I'm a fired person.
You say that I, you know, I was let go because of the injury, but I feel like I was fired.
I'm a fired person.
26 weeks.
And then, well, we gave you a chance to recover and you didn't.
So we're going to have to let you go.
See you later.
Just the fact that, yeah, it was just because you didn't get the forms in at the time.
It's like, well, anyway, three appeals of the denial were also rejected.
The last was in 1936.
He developed a hatred for the company's attorneys and for three
coworkers whose testimony in his compensation case he believed were like they were sort of lying
in favour of the company. Company man. Several letters from Mateski in the file used wording
similar to the letters in the journal American, including the phrase dastardly deeds. Yeah,
he was keen on that. He loved dastardly deeds.
A bit of alliteration. Yeah. So Alice Kelly.
Double D. Double D.
That would absolutely get that guy off. Loves a couple of double Ds.
Dastardly Ds. Did he take away the rest of the letters? Oh my God.
I'm going to need a minute here. There's like four Ds in there.
Four Ds!
Oh, that's bigger than I could even imagine!
I was like, that point it's no longer a D.
It's like an F.
G, probably, realistically.
It's happening!
Made me feel gross.
It's just a real home bag.
So, Alice Kelly, she reported this finding to the police.
Now we know the police have done a really good job here.
Yeah.
So they've taken about two decades to take any notice of this guy.
They initially treated the notification as just one of a number of leads they
were working on, but they did ask the Waterbury police to do a discrete check
on George Miteski.
I'm picturing these cops not getting up off their chairs for like 16 years.
Yeah.
Just sort of rocking back.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Cool.
Okay.
Good note.
Good note.
We'll ponder that one.
Let me mull on it.
We'll follow that away under troublesome lead.
So shortly before midnight on the 21st of January, 1957, detectives armed with a warrant
entered the home of George Miteski, a three-story house
near the top of a short steep hill in Waterbury, Connecticut.
Was that a prediction?
Three-story house?
No.
Tall hill?
Okay, it wasn't that specific.
They could see for themselves that Miteski matched the criteria Brussel had itemized.
Miteski met them at the doorstep wearing round gold rimmed eyeglasses and burgundy pajamas
buttoned to the neck.
Oh, they were like, this guy's a virgin.
He's wearing a bathrobe too though.
All right, bud.
They said, they said, this is where he was meant to be wearing the breasted suit.
He's buttoned up though.
He's all badly dressed.
It's nearly midnight.
Yeah.
He's asleep.
Yeah.
What are the odds?
He was a thick set middle-aged man.
He'd never married, never had a girlfriend.
Neighbours described him as fastidious with a reputation for petty disputes.
In his garage workshop, they found a lathe and back in the house,
they found pipes and connectors suitable for bombs hidden in the pantry.
I'd do a little bit of plumbing project.
As well as three cheap pocket watches, flashlight batteries,
brass terminal knobs and unmatched wool socks.
Same type that had been used to transport the bombs.
Unmatched?
You mean you're not using a pair?
You're sacrificing one sock and then keeping the mate?
He's a fastidious person.
What are you talking about?
But he's always in mismatched socks.
It's crazy.
If there's 30 bombs, you only need 15 pairs of socks.
You don't need 30 pairs of socks and then take one from each.
I'm sorry, I don't understand.
That's really rattled him.
That's upset him.
What I'm stuck on is thick set.
Oh man, I want to be described as thick set.
Can you describe?
Yeah, I can describe you that way.
Please.
This is my friend Matt.
He is thick set.
Oh my God, thank you so much.
So well, that means a lot.
Yeah, you're so welcome.
Thick set. That's awesome. Yeah. I don't know what it means, but is thick set. Oh my God. Thank you so much. You're so welcome. That means a lot. Yeah, you're so welcome. Thick set.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
I don't know what it means, but I love it.
Yeah.
Wow.
It suits you.
I'm thinking I'm picturing like a gel nut pot set yogurt.
I think you're really like that.
You're getting stuck on the set, aren't you?
Maybe, but I also love the word thick.
Thick set.
It's good fun.
Thick set.
I would describe my dog as thick set.
I've got a thick set of steak knives. Sturdy. Yes. Solid. Solid. Solid. It's good fun. Thick set. I would describe my dog as thick set. I've got a thick set of steak knives.
Sturdy.
Yes, solid.
Solid.
Solid.
Yeah, all right.
Nuggety.
I love nuggety.
My favourite footballers are usually nuggety.
Yeah.
Unfortunately, you're just too lean to be nuggety.
I'm sorry.
There's still time.
You're too tall and lean.
I'm so sorry.
I'm quite tall.
You can't be nuggety.
No.
You're going to be a bit of a short king.
Sorry, mate.
Do you want to, you could cut bits of your legs off, get a bit shorter?
That's a good idea.
Get off me legs and call me shorty.
That's a classic phrase from Australian TV.
Okay.
We'll take your word for it.
We're up to the most exciting bit.
The non-pedophile from Hey Dad used to say it.
All right.
What a phrase.
Oh my.
Please do go on. I'm so interested to know what's going to say it. All right. Um, what a phrase.
Please do go on.
I'm so interested to know what's going to happen here.
In Miteski's creepily neat room,
creepily neat, detectives found a notebook filled with handwriting similar to FP's
block lettering.
They handed him a pen and paper and asked him for a handwriting sample
and to make the letter G.
He made the G, looked up and said, I know why you fellas are here.
You think I'm the mad bomber.
And then like now do a W.
Do a really big W.
Put it, I know this is weird and you don't want me to put full stops at the bottom of
the W's right there.
Oh yeah.
That's it.
Yes.
I know why you're here.
You think I'm the bomber? Do they say yes?
They say, yeah.
Well, they make him do the handwriting sample.
They watch.
It matches.
A detective said, why don't you go ahead and get dressed, George?
He was the moment of truth.
Oh my gosh.
What's he going to pull out of the suit jacket cupboard?
You remember what Brussels said?
Yes. Blue. Dark remember what Brussels said? Yes.
A blue, dark blue.
What did he say colour?
Pin striped, double breasted suit buttoned up to the top.
Sure enough, Miteski stepped from his bedroom wearing sensible brown rubber sole shoes,
a red dotted necktie, brown cardigan sweater and a double breasted blue suit.
No way!
Buttoned up.
Did he say blue or did I say blue?
Cause you said blue, but I don't think, uh, I don't think
Brussels picked color or maybe you did.
I was just picturing blue.
Wow.
I'm am I a genius?
Maybe I'll go find out.
And that's when they said, you're next.
That's inc, that is scary.
Yeah.
That like, I imagine it would have scared even himself.
Brussels just said he'll be wearing a double breasted suit and it will be buttoned.
The buttoned was the important detail, not the colour.
But you got the colour.
That is fascinating.
Isn't it?
And what did he think he was?
Like he'd given, he told him who he was basically.
I don't think he was.
I know why you think I am because I told you I am.
And it took me ages.
I had to really spoon feed it to you.
Yeah, fucking hell.
You guys are not good at your jobs.
Come on, guys.
When asked what FP stood for.
Give me the first word, I'll get the second.
Fair.
Party.
Play.
Pew.
Play.
Fair play.
Fair play.
Fair play, Governor.
That's all.
That's all he wanted was a bit of fair play.
Fair play. After M. Fair play, Governor. That's all he wanted was a bit of fair play.
Fair play.
After Mateski's arrest, early police statements credited the finding of his file to an NYPD
detective.
Later, a report developed in a reward investigation conceded that Alice Kelly had found the file
and explained, basically they had misunderstood the file being picked up by the detective.
Like they'd gone to the office to pick it up, not that they'd found it, if that makes
sense.
So eventually she did get credit for it.
So they eventually credited her with turning up the clue that led to Miteski's arrest
because there was a reward for it at this point. She declined to claim the $26,000 reward saying she had merely been
doing her job.
Okay. Well, yeah, true, but-
Take the fucking money, you idiot!
Take the money.
Do you think she also refuses her monthly salary?
No, I was just doing my job.
I'm just doing my job.
And then I read, Con Edison's board of directors also declined to file for the reward. Fair
enough.
Yes.
But then a group of shareholders. No.
Did file.
What?
As a representative of Kelly and the company.
I don't know if they got it, but they were like, well, we'll take some of that
reward money then, but she should have got that fucking money.
I don't care that you're doing your job.
I imagine that would have been like a decade's pay.
That's so much money.
That's a lot of money now.
This is in 1957 or something.
Yeah.
That's insane. Take the money, you idiot. lot of money now. This is in 1957 or something. Yeah. That's insane.
Take the money you idiot. Just doing my job. No you weren't because you're a clerk and you
were looking through some files. That's good. But you also identified a serial bomber. Someone that
was never going to be identified. Because the police were so fucking useless. They hadn't got
out of their chair yet. Take that money you noble idiot. I'm so mad about that. I'm picturing Betty from Hey Dad, one of the other non-pedophile actors.
Betty was nice.
Betty was great.
And the cut off my legs and call me shorty was her boyfriend.
I can't remember his name though.
I remember him.
He was just a tall, he was a tall lanky guy from the country.
I like that.
All right so.
This is, it's like Seinfeld says, you know,
PC culture's gone mad. That's why we don't get sitcoms on TV anymore. Yeah. Because all the
pedophiles put away, which he sort of is one allegedly. But anyway, because he dated a 16
year old, but he was like 36. No, he was 39. But anyway, I don't know, AJ, maybe edit that out.
I don't know. See what you feel, AJ. Allegedly.
Yeah, we said allegedly, you're covered.
If my journalism degree is anything to go by, just whip out an allegedly every now and
then, you are good to go.
Or say in my opinion, and it's a review, can't get mad at us for a review.
And if Seinfeld hears this and has a problem, I would say, come on, mate, bit sensitive,
PC go man.
Yeah, well, you can't say anything with these days, can you, Jerry? Am I right? He looks pretty good for 70, I on, mate. Bit sensitive. Piece of gomad. Yeah. Oh, you can't say anything these days, can you, Jerry?
Am I right?
He looks pretty good for 70.
I will say that.
Um, unfrusted was terrible.
Okay.
That was so, yeah, I had fun with it, but it was fun.
Really, when you think about it, did you?
I heard it was so bad.
So watching, I'm like, this is, this is silly.
Fine.
It was a silly film.
Very silly.
It didn't need to be a film.
I'd look at beautiful colors. Yeah, it was colorful. That's true. It was bright silly film. Very silly. It didn't need to be a film. It was beautiful colors. Yeah, it was colorful.
That's true.
It was bright and colorful.
I loved it.
It was nice.
It was, you know, a bit of fun.
Okay.
But yeah, it was probably bad, but it was sort of bad fun.
Bad fun.
I do like stuff.
It's so bad, it's good.
So we found the bomber.
We've done it.
You and I.
Wow.
F.P.
Fair play. Fair play, governor. From Wikipedia again. That's such. Wow. F.P. Fair play.
Fair play.
Fair play, Governor.
From Wikipedia again.
That's such an English sounding phrase.
It is.
I don't really know.
Fair play.
Fair play to you.
If he explains in much detail why that was it, but anyway.
So from Wiki again, Miteski told the arresting officers that he had been gassed in the Con
Edison accident, had contracted tuberculosis as a result, and started planting bombs because
he got a bum deal.
Going over a police list of 32 bomb locations, but never using the word bomb, he remembered
the exact date where each unit had been placed, he called them units, and its size.
So the police had a list of these 32 bombs and then he takes the police list, he starts
adding size, date, location.
Filling out a spreadsheet. Of 15 early bombs the police
hadn't known about. All left at Con Edison. They weren't mentioned in the newspaper, so
he started planting bombs in public places to gain publicity for what he termed the injustices
done to him. So it's like someone unfortunately has brought them all home and their home plumbing
is littered with bombs.
But, working like an absolute drain.
Oh, it's working fantastically.
My shower pressure's never been better.
Yeah, yeah.
My toilet pressure's incredible.
It's like a vacuum.
It's like an aeroplane toilet in my house.
I hate those toilets.
Ever since I was a kid, I've been so scared of aeroplane toilets.
They're too loud.
I'll tell you what, the absolute privilege been so scared of aeroplane toilets.
They're too loud.
Oh, yeah.
I'll tell you what, the absolute privilege of being scared of an aeroplane toilet as
a child.
Getting on an aeroplane as a child.
Fucking hell.
They weren't invented when you were young.
Okay, that's not fair.
You can't hold that against us.
Flushes hadn't been invented.
Certainly not on their...
My mates, the Marx brothers or whoever those playing guys were, I, um.
Yeah, the Marks brothers.
They went out on theirs, but yeah, we just shat out the side.
Or I didn't, I'm a gentleman, but they did.
No gentleman, those two.
Wow.
Wilbur and the other one?
Marks.
Mark?
Mark Marks?
Oh, people are gonna tweet about that.
Marky Marks.
Oh, it's not the Marks brothers.
It is though. It is.
We looked it up.
He also confirmed the reason no bombs were planted during the US involvement in World
War II.
Because you know how they were like, maybe he was involved?
Oh yeah, was he?
No, he was just a former Marine and he had abstained for patriotic reasons.
While there was a war going on, I'll leave you to it. You got enough on your plate.
Not really sure.
It's kind of why I'm happy to blow up innocent people that have never met me
before otherwise, though.
Yeah.
Well, I think deep down he knew that these weren't blowing up anyone, right?
No one ever died from any of-
No.
Hardly any injuries even.
Well-
Probably no one was injured as bad as he was.
Yeah, that's true. So over the previous 16 years, Miteski had placed 32 bombs with zero fatalities, but
15 people had been injured.
Are they just large whoopee cushions?
Yeah, they're not, they're not huge, big, like, building, destroying bombs.
Yeah.
Are you ever more startled than when you've been whoopeed?
Oh, hang on!
Oh, hang on! It's not me, it's not me!
Oh my goodness.
I didn't make that noise.
Oh my god, you know what, I saw a video the other day of like a kid getting the dog to
sit and another kid slides a whoopee cushion underneath it so the dog sits on a whoopee
cushion and the dog looks around like, huh, what was that?
And it's so cute, the kids are pissing themselves, the dog's like, what was that, was that me?
That's really fun. Oh, it's good stuff. Do I's like, what was that? Was that me? That's really fun.
Oh, it's good stuff.
Do I have a whoopee cushion?
Could I do that to my dog?
That'd be really fun.
Okay.
So after a grand jury heard testimony from 35 witnesses, including police
experts and some of those who were injured, he was indicted on 47 charges,
attempted murder, damaging a building by explosion, maliciously endangering life and violation of New York State's Sullivan law by carrying
concealed weapons, the bombs.
You put them in the sock, that's carrying a concealed weapon.
Seven counts of attempted murder were charged based on the seven persons injured
in the preceding five years.
The statute of limitations had sort of expired on the others.
Can I just double check? Does that mean if he, if he held the bomb out in the open, it wouldn't have been?
Not concealed.
So that's an extra law you're breaking by concealing it.
I guess so, yeah.
Sullivan. That's the Sullivan law.
Hmm.
Interesting.
After hearing from psychiatric experts, Judge Samuel Leibowitz declared Miteski a paranoid schizophrenic,
said he was hopeless and incurable both mentally and physically.
That is a brutal review.
Yep. And found him legally insane and incompetent to stand trial. So in April of 57, Judge Leibowitz
committed Miteski to the, I forgot to look up how to say this, Matawan Hospital for the criminally
insane at Beacon, New York.
His health at the time was quite bad.
Doctors actually predicted he may only have a few weeks to live.
Oh, wow. That's...
I mean, in his letters, he'd been kind of alluding to that for a while.
He'd been saying, I'm like, I've spent a lot of my adult life in bed.
I'm very sick. I don't have a lot of time.
After a year and a half of treatment, his health had improved.
And a newspaper article written 14 years later described the then 68 year old Miteski as
vigorous and healthy looking.
Oh, wow.
So he just needed to go to hospital.
He got treatment.
He was unresponsive to psychiatric therapy, but was a model inmate and caused no trouble.
He was visited regularly by his sisters and on one occasion, Dr.
Brussell.
Oh, from Dr. This is from Michael Cane.
Just said, just draw it for me.
Sure.
Can you draw me a couple of big days?
Yeah, that's it.
Fantastic.
It started funny and now it just makes me feel weird.
Okay, I guess we should stop then.
I was enjoying myself, but alright.
So Michael Cannell.
I'm still enjoying that.
So sorry.
Cannell.
Hello, I'm Michael Cannell.
Hello, I'm Michael Cannell.
The Mateski case, more than any other, had established-
You're only meant to draw the double Ds off.
I'm so myself.
None of my bombs have ever draw the double days off. That's all my son.
None of my bombs have ever blown the bloody doors off.
He writes, the Mateski case, more than any other, had established Brussels as a folk
hero of criminology.
At times I was almost sorry I had been so successful in describing George Mateski, for
I had to live up to that success, he later wrote. That, that's actually a really tough act to follow, isn't it?
It wasn't always easy and sometimes it was impossible. There were times I made mistakes.
There were times that I simply lacked enough information to build an image of the criminal.
There were times when the law of averages let me down. I'd diagnose a man as a paranoiac
and imagine him as having a well-proportioned physique. And then he turned out to be among
the 15% of paranoics who were not so built.
Yes, there were cases on which I failed, but I continued to succeed often enough so that
the police kept coming to me.
Do you think you start to believe you're in hype after that?
Because he closed his eyes and imagined exactly that.
You're like, I think I'm psychic.
The double breasted suit buttoned up is wild.
Yeah.
I mean, he got a lot of it right. And we were laughing initially,
but yeah, cause you're like, yeah, so out there, totally. It's been Connecticut. I'm
probably a virgin lives with this old relatives, female, uh, and we're like, come on, fuck.
He was right about it. He wasn't Slavic. He had a Lithuanian background, which is bordered
by Slavic countries. Right. Okay. So not, not bad. And to that he said, what's the difference?
Yeah, he's a he's a bit racist. Yeah.
I mean, it was an honor.
If somebody was like New Zealand, Australia, potato, potato,
I'd say how fucking dare you.
We are nowhere near as good as those.
We will never be as good as those beautiful Kiwis.
Have you seen it? You take that back.
That country is beautiful.
The people are lovely. Their accent is delightful.
North Island, the best scenery in the world.
South Island, the North Island can fuck off.
That's what we say.
So how dare you?
Anyway, so even as he consulted with police around the country,
Brussels, who would be active in the field until his death at age 77 in 1982,
continued to work for the Department of Mental Hygiene. Russell, who would be active in the field until his death at age 77 in 1982, continued
to work for the Department of Mental Hygiene.
In that capacity, he occasionally visited the hospital where our man Miteski was.
So he did visit him one time.
He said he was calm, smiling, and condescending.
Russell Wright.
Miteski told Russell of his plans to be discharged and deprecated his bomb making skills.
So it's sort of like you're saying that the bombs were never powerful
enough to hurt anybody, you know, that's I knew that that was on purpose.
Who knows if it was, but that's sort of how he spoke to to Brussels.
And Brussels said, you'll be discharged.
You draw me another couple of days.
I'll discharge in my pants.
OK, that's the last one.
I don't think that's true, though, is it?
Well, we'll see.
I think it's...
If you're really uncomfortable, are you doing joke uncomfortability?
I'm always doing joke uncomfortability.
Fucking idiot.
I reckon the early idea for the Patreon game, we've got to give them FP things.
Oh, I love it. Great.
I was going to say, we draw them into sexy letter. Let's go with FP things. Oh, P, not it. Great. I was going to say we draw them into sexy letter.
Let's go with F.P. things.
Yeah.
Oh, P. Not a bad one.
That's pretty sexy.
Okay.
I'm nearly done.
In 1973, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a mentally ill defendant cannot be committed
to a hospital operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services unless
a jury finds him dangerous. Since Miteski had been committed to the hospital without a jury trial, he was transferred to
the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, a state hospital outside of the correctional system.
So he's kind of taken out of prison and into like a more of a, just a hospital setting.
Doctors just determined that he was harmless and because he'd already served two-thirds of the 25-year maximum sentence that he would have received at trial, Miteski
was released in December of 1973. The single condition was that he made regular visits
to a Connecticut Department of Mental Hygiene clinic near his home. From Wiki, interviewed
by a reporter upon his release, he said that he had forsworn violence, but reaffirmed his anger and resentment towards Consolidated Edison.
Oh no, he started again.
He also stated that before he began planting his bombs, this is a quote from him, I wrote
900 letters to the mayor, to the police commissioner, to the newspapers, and I never even got a
penny postcard back.
Once you hit send the first letter, you got to wait a bit, because if you send another 800,
they start to think, OK.
They're definitely ignoring you, they're blocking you.
This is scary.
Yeah, it's like the, like you have eight missed call, maybe you call it back.
But when you have 70.
Seventy.
Seventy.
Well, if you know the number, you're like, oh, I bet there's something going on.
But if it's an unknown number, you're like, OK, I got a stalker.
Yeah, you get scared.
I don't even scare them off.
I'm blocking that number.
900 letters is too many.
Too many. I'm sorry.
Then he says, then I went to the newspapers to try and buy advertising space,
but all of them turned me down.
I was compelled to bring my story to the public.
So it's just about attention.
He's like, well, maybe if the mayor had responded or the police or the newspapers,
then maybe I wouldn't have had to go on a bombing spree.
And you made me do this.
Hey, are you happy with this, Mr. Mayor?
You happy? You could have done something about this.
Matieski was 54 when he was committed to the hospital and thought to only have
weeks to live.
But on his release, he returned home, returned to his home in Waterbury,
where he died 20 years later in 1994 at the age of 90.
Wow. Isn't that crazy?
Wow. 54, they're like, no, he's not doing well.
He had a whole nother lifetime.
Totally.
And how were the sisters?
Oh, great.
Welcome home.
Cool.
Cool.
Probably checking his bags every time he comes home.
Just making sure there's only bananas and not bombs.
No pipes.
Yep.
Hmm.
As for Dr.
Brussel, uh, Canel sums it up.
By the 1970s, Brussel was known as a founding father of the emerging field of profiling.
The press variously called him the prophet of 12th Street, Sherlock Holmes of the Couch.
That takes a real dip at the end, doesn't it?
That's a really good human question.
Sherlock Holmes of the Couch.
And the couch, like the psychiatric couch?
Yeah, and the psychiatric seer.
I think Sherlock Holmes of the Couch is the best one.
Yeah, but that does make, just without knowing much about it.
You're assuming it's just like an armchair expert.
Yeah.
You know, he's watching, he's flicking on the TV.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'll solve this one.
I'll call the cops.
Yeah.
Cops, yeah.
I know who did it.
Oh, we've got another bloody Sherlock Holmes on the couch here.
Yeah.
I mean, has anybody watched Psych?
I just started watching it.
That's basically how Psych starts.
He's on the couch watching.
Yes it is.
That is true.
Yeah.
Oh.
Yes, that's right.
Because he's like interrupts his make out sesh.
Yeah, rude.
Because he can't help himself but solve crimes.
See he feels about crimes the way this guy feels about double D's.
Yeah, yeah, get them off.
Anyway, this is a Canel again. Is it good, Psych? This guy feels about double D. Yeah. Yeah. Get them off
Anyway, this is a Cane all again. Is it good psych?
It's it was it sort of like, you know, it's like house and all those sort of shows. It's quite silly. It's silly fun
It's very silly fun and every episode it's a new little mystery that they saw
I don't think it's as bingeable because it started to just follow the same formula
But bits and pieces is fun as much as anyone it was Brussels who united the fields of psychiatry and policing.
Those of us who were interested in combining criminology and medicine keenly followed his
work says Park Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist who has consulted on cases including the Unabomber.
Although Brussels may at times have seemed more promoted than scientists, there's no
denying his accomplishments.
He made predictions with striking precision, says psychologist Kathy Charles of Scotland's
Edinburgh Napier University. He kickstarted the police thinking that psychiatry could be an
effective tool for catching offenders." And so the Mad Bomber of New York is sort of seen as
the first case that kind of kicked off criminal profiling as well. So it's kind of like two stories in one.
Yeah.
It's exciting.
Wow.
And so that is the story of the mad bomber of New York.
Wow.
I've never heard of him or Dr. Russell.
Thank you to Tim Randall and Truman for suggesting that topic.
Saw it in the hat and thought, that sounds like a bit of a blow-fart.
Mad bomber.
And certainly appealing because nobody died.
That's always comforting, isn't it?
And very surprising considering how many bombs.
So many bombs, like 32 bombs.
15 people injured.
I'm sure some of them were, you know, reasonably injured, quite severely, but nobody
died. Pretty, yeah.
Thank you.
It's hard to know who to- I'm not really rooting for him, but in a way, I guess I can't
sometimes am, I don't know.
But it's an interesting story.
Yeah, just kind of wish that the his his old employer looked after him a bit.
Yeah. But you're asking a bit too much there.
But also, you know, you can't I don't think people should just set off bombs
if they've been poorly treated.
I think they should write letters to their mayor.
Like, first off, yeah, if you've done that, this first time, if you've gone to the newspapers, which I think is what write, let us there, mayor, like first off, if you've done that, there's first steps.
And if you've gone to the newspapers, which I think is what he should have done.
Did he think about that?
If he took out an ad or something like that and none of that came off,
then I think it's fair enough to bomb.
Yeah.
But I don't think he went through any of those steps, did he?
Not that I'm aware of.
I think so, yeah.
Well, there you go.
Not that I'm aware of.
So, you know, that would be my note to him.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Well, hang on.
Lost our minds.
Hang on.
Is it time for everyone's favourite section of the show?
Holy shit.
Where we go through and thank some of our...
Can you just shut up for a second while I check my watch to see if it's time for everyone's favorite section of the show? Holy shit. Well, we go through and thanks I'm about you just shut up for a second while I check my watch to see if it's
Fucking hell it is. Oh my god. Dave's Dave's looking at his wrist. He's got no watch on
Is that a hint do you want one? Okay, wait if his watch isn't there where is it and he's only wearing one sock
So this part of the show whichever one a lot of people just be skipping to now.
You should go back because it was a really good story this time.
One of the few we've done and this next part is what everyone listens for.
It's where we thank some of our best supporters.
And these people are involved via signing up at patreon.com
slash to go on pod.
There's a bunch of different levels.
There's even a free level now, which I don't know.
It keeps you in the loop to some degree, I think.
But yeah, there there's different levels above that and you get stuck
getting rewards there.
And what are some of those days?
Bonus episodes is a big, big one.
Yes.
We've got over 200 right now in the back catalogue that you unlock instantly at that level.
Is there anything we can announce about bonus episodes?
Well, at the moment we're doing three bonus episodes a month.
Yep.
And soon, in the coming weeks, if not this very month, we will be releasing a fourth bonus monthly episode.
So, basically a bonus episode every week, nearly every week.
Yeah. And the fourth one, are we allowed to say what it is?
Yeah, I think it, yeah, it'll be out this month.
So we're in July now.
It's out this month, I believe. Very exciting.
A few years ago, maybe four years ago, we did a mini campaign that is still available on
Patreon and you can listen to that on the bonus episode or above level
If you want to listen to our do go D&D our Dungeons and Dragons campaign that we did with Adam kind of LA
Radio and
We brought the dungeon master himself back into the studio and we are putting out a monthly campaign
Can't believe it. It was so fun. It was really fun. It's very funny.
It's so like Dave's already said he was dreaming about the world that night.
I, I was, I've been binging a few shows and I was, um,
getting through some work going,
can't wait to get home to see what's happening with.
And then I realized that I was talking about the,
the Dungeons and Dragons story.
I'm like, Oh no, I'm going to have to wait month to month for that one.
It was a bit ridiculous and chaotic.
It was really fun.
It was so fun.
Yeah.
So we've got, yeah.
Adam's so good at-
One episode coming out-
He's so good.
At Kranos.
He does the voices and stuff.
I tried for a little while to do the voice.
Yeah.
I, yeah.
It was very funny.
We're not as good as him. No. But he's very patient with us. He The Voice. Yeah, I, yeah. It was very funny. We're not, we're not as good as him. No.
But he's very patient with us.
He's not.
Yeah, so much fun.
So we will be releasing one episode a month of that campaign as well as all the other
bonus episodes that are already there.
So if you love that kind of thing.
If you don't know, every month there's a bonus report, like just basically a report like
today's episode, the bit that you've just skipped over.
For example, last month I did one on the time David Blaine, the famous magician, locked
himself in a plastic box above the Thames in London for 44 days.
And England, Britain at large and the media lost their minds at him.
They hated him.
Then the second one we do is sort of a free choice for one of us.
In the past, it was me working out the Who Knew With Matt Stewart game.
Dave's had games like Fact Finder, just had games like This Year or Last Year.
Yep, and also Am I a Dead Woman?
Oh, Am I a Dead Woman there, which is our version of Celebrity Heads.
With that context that must sound a bit off, but...
Nah, I think it's fine.
Dave, last month you did one, another one of your series of Do Go On This Day.
That's right. Look at the date the episode comes out and I find some events in history
that have happened on that day.
So, like five million reports in one.
That's right. And then, yeah, that was like an hour and a half episode.
And then we, the next one we do is Phrasing the Bar, which will soon be another, some
sort of an episode. We haven't figured out what it'll be yet, but possibly another movie
type series. We have watched and reviewed every single Brendan Fraser movie at this point.
Amazing. All of them.
Yeah. And the hit rate, according to the scores I give, is very good.
And and then, yeah, the new one, fourth episode each month, the D&D campaign.
D&D go on or no, whatever it's called.
Anyway, so that's one of the things you get, bonus episodes.
You also get to vote on topics.
You get to you get you're the first to hear about live episodes and you get discounted tickets.
The upcoming Who Knew It would match you at 100th episode is includes a discount of like 33 percent.
Tickets go from 30 bucks to 20 bucks.
If you're a patron, you're printing money.
Well, and burning it.
Or something, I don't know.
But I mean, if you wanted to come to it anyway,
$10 for a month on Patreon, bonus, whatever.
Anyway, so there's heaps of different things you can get.
But one of the levels, Sidney Schomburg level
or above, you get to give us a fact,
a quote or a question or a brag or a suggestion or really whatever you like.
And I'll read about four of those each week.
And yeah, so I'm going to do that now.
Actually I think this, does this section have a jingle?
It goes something like this.
Fact, quote or question.
Yeah, it turns out it does have a jingle. Quote or question. Ding.
Yeah, it turns out it does have a jingle. It goes exactly like that.
And he always remembers the ding
and she always remembers the jingle.
And this part, like I say,
fat quote or question, brag or suggestion, whatever.
I'll read out four of them.
They also get to give us a title
or give themselves a title, I should say.
What episode is it this week? Is it 455? 455.
Can you believe it? I can't.
And I won't believe it.
I won't. I said, do you listen?
Believe it or not.
Thank you. I choose not.
So the first one this week comes from Broderick Henry,
a.k.a Manning Jing, part timer of snacks.
You fucking nailed that. Let me tell you that. Manning Jing. Manning Jing, part timer of snacks. You fucking nailed that.
Let me tell you that.
Manning Jing.
Manning Jing.
Oh, Manning Jing.
That was perfect, Matt.
Proud of you.
No, that's just how Broderick asked me to pronounce it.
Fair enough.
How do you feel about that?
I guess he's probably working in your department.
He'd be working under you, wouldn't he?
Under snacks.
In snacks.
You're head of snacks, aren't you?
I am head of snacks.
Yeah.
So good to have Broderick in the team.
I'm head of snacks on tour,
and we haven't toured for a while. And even then, I was just really getting snacks. Yup. So, uh, good to have Broderick in the team. I'm head of snacks on Tua and we haven't toured for a while.
And even then I was just really getting snacks for myself.
Hopefully by the time this episode comes out, we have Tua news.
An announcement.
Hopefully.
Hopefully.
And as always, the people on Patreon here first.
That's true.
That's the reason I signed up.
Gotcha good Dave.
Uh, so Broderick has a question writing, I don't really have a question for y'all, but do you
have some for me?
Oh, yes.
Who are you and what are you doing?
I will answer any question you have, be it easy, super easy or anything in between.
Don't be shy.
There are dumb questions, but please be patient for my replies.
Thank you so much.
Any questions for Broderick?
Firstly, I have two.
How are you?
Second question is, OK, you got five fingers on one hand,
different liquid kit comes out of each of them. What are they?
So we've discussed this extensively. I want to hear your answers.
Yeah, please Broderick. If you want to hear,
we normally say who's asking a question and answer the question.
Jess has already done that in two previous episodes.
Hot coffee, iced coffee, premixed margarita, lemonade. I forgot what my last one was. Water, probably. Yeah. Thanks so much,
Broderick. I'd love to hear your response. And at the top of it, please remind us that we asked you
that question. Yeah. The next one comes from Swibesie himself. Swibesie. I mean, unspoken,
but Hoogsie is also going to be involved.
Yeah.
His partner, who I nearly always forget the name because it's too good to remember.
Hoogsy.
Hoogsy.
It's too good.
It's unfair.
Had a great time with Swabsy and Hoogsy in Chicago.
Anyway, Swabsy writes, oh, firstly, Swabsy's title is appreciative partner. And I think this is the first time we've got one of these.
It's labeled love brag.
Oh, I love a love brag.
Oh, man, I hope it's a Hoogsy related one.
Otherwise, it's going to be awkward as shit.
That would be awkward as shit. All right.
Swabzies writes, this is an appreciation love brag fact.
My love, my partner, my wife Hoogsy is the best.
Thank God it's still Hoogsy. Thank God.
I've been in the trenches since February, studying for my provisional engineering exam
in mechanical engineering for HVAC.
And during that time, Hoogsy has taken on so much more than they've needed to, to give
me the space and comfort to study.
Why are you studying in the trenches?
That's crazy.
What a place to study. Do it at a library or something. Yeah, at home. You don't have to go to a trench
for that. Yeah. HVAC as well. I think you'd be much, that'd be much more appropriate to do it
like in an air conditioned place. Here's the thing, Swibesie didn't write in for criticism.
That's a good point. It was a love brag. Sorry about that. Keep the love brag going.
We love love. Sorry Swibesie.
We love love. He about that. Keep the love brag going. Sorry Swabsy. We love love.
He goes on to say, of Hoogsy, in that time she's taken the lead in finding us a new home
in a new state and countless other daily tasks for US,
us, us and capitals.
It was us and capitals.
She's a patriot.
I'm a really good.
Always doing stuff for US.
Always doing stuff for the US. I love US, US, US, US, no way. I'm a rookie. Always doing stuff for the US. Always doing stuff for the US.
I love US, US, US, US.
No way.
I'm Ron Bergundy.
Um, Kalisov's other daily tasks for us as a team and I don't know how to thank her.
Putting this little quote, uh, fact quote or question out there to show her my love
and appreciation is the best, uh, but the least I can do.
I'm pretty sure Hoogsy got swibes into the pod, by the way. That's nice.
Wow.
I took my exam Wednesday and I hope to have good news about the results by the
time this gets read out.
Can't wait for another brag soon, please.
Yeah, love brags.
Or, can we, this is a love brag.
What about a sad brag?
Failed.
We'd still love you. So it's still a love brag. What about a sad brag? Failed. We'd still love you. So it's still a love brag.
Once it does, I'll post about it, the results in the Facebook group. I know,
no matter the results, this group will know how to make me feel amazing.
Much love to you all. That's been a really nice thing in the Facebook group.
Recently people will come in and say, this awful thing's happened.
Can any chance you can just give me some good vibes
or chat or whatever.
It's so nice and I like that we've a few times recently we've had people use the fact
Twitter question to just like shout out to a good friend or their partner or so.
It's so nice.
You big, beautiful dorks are so lovely.
What a nice community and that's so lovely Swibesie.
Swibesie finishes with a PS. We're moving out of Chicago and away from Gary.
But we are moving closer to Creamies.
But we will for sure be back in town,
no matter what, for any North American tour
that comes through Chicago.
And if you come close to the Toronto or upstate New York,
there's a good chance I'll try to go
to whatever show is near there too. Ha ha, sorry for the Longe one. Cheers.
The Longe one?
It says Longe.
Okay.
It could be, that could just be American Lingo.
How is Longe spelled?
Long with an E. Tom De Longe.
It's a Longe.
Sorry for the Tom De Longe one.
Which if I knew it was a Tom Tom Delonge one, I'd have...
This is an appreciation.
You know, like he sings funny.
Alright, next one comes from... Is that pretty good, Dave?
It's pretty good. Great. Great. Delonge.
Losing my tiny mind if I ever had it.
Cheryl Engelsman writes the next one, writing,
Thief of facts that were given freely and still mother of a giant tot. Oh, that's right. Cheryl's got the huge dog. That's the next one. Writing, Thief of facts that were given freely and still mother of a giant Todd.
Oh, that's right.
Cheryl's got the huge dog.
That's right.
That for some reason I misspoke and called it a big Todd.
No, I think I think Cheryl had written like a giant toddler and then was talking about
the weight of this toddler.
We were like, oh, it's a dog.
It's a dog.
Cheryl got us.
Right at the big Todd.
We were like, no judgment to this toddler, but that's going to be medical.
That is a thick set Todd.
Can my new name in the in the group be thick set Todd?
I'm changing it right now, babe.
Do you want double D or?
You can't really ask. That's up to you.
But I tell you what, if I was Brussels, yeah, I want double D
because he's the guy who likes.
Anyway, thick set Todd coming up. I remember I Googled heav Brussels, yeah, I'd want double D. Because he's the guy who likes... Anyway. Vincet Todd coming up.
I remember I Googled heaviest toddler and now I'm doing it again.
Please.
So Cheryl is giving us a shout out slash stolen fact and dog update.
Yes, I'm abusing the system.
All right.
Long story fact from my old work bestie at the Denver Art Museum, Bethany.
Purple love Heart.
Michelangelo, my absolute favourite hero and favourite grump.
Alright, this is the fact.
Michelangelo didn't like painting.
To him, the superior art form was sculpture and viewed painting as something beneath him
as an artist.
However, Pope Julius II, I don't know where he stands sexually
activeness wise, he had different plans for his favourite artist
and insisted that Michelangelo was the man needed to create his
vision of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Michelangelo tried to refuse the commission many times.
He wanted more than anything to continue work on the papal tomb
and suggested that Raphael would be perfect for the job. Ah, cool but rude.
Unfortunately, the Pope only had eyes for Michelangelo, so reluctantly he began work.
He spent most of his time working on scaffolding in extremely uncomfortable positions. Apparently,
it is heavily debated on what type of position. Interesting.
He refused to allow anyone to see his work before he felt it was ready, including the
Pope.
Dave, do you have any update on the Pope?
Oh yes, Julius.
The second?
Yes, sexually active.
Offspring, three daughters, three illegitimate daughters.
Same woman, three women.
One was 20 years before his election as Pope.
Okay. And one was at? And 12 years after his enthronement as a bishop.
So looks like.
Yuck.
He said, I was about to say he sounds like a Saints player because they have a lot of
girls.
That's where we never get father son players.
But what's in the water at the bloody swans?
Saints, yeah.
Saints.
I don't know how I said swans.
I don't know yet.
Well, you know, they're a wetter mascot, I guess.
Yeah.
A swan.
And he said he was nicknamed Warrior Pope Battle Pope or the Fearsome Pope.
Oh, they are all really good.
Battle Pope?
Are you kidding me?
Give it to Battle Popes?
Dave, can you quickly update?
Great show.
Can you just update Dave's?
Battle Pope?
Look over in the chat to Battle Pope.
I was just thinking he needs a change because you are still currently Dick Glug.
Oh yeah, I'm battle Pope.
Do you happen to be battle Pope?
Love it. Fantastic.
I will remain daddy.
Uh, OK, where am I up to?
So Julius II, the sexually active Pope, being the Pope and most powerful
political figure would often try to come in during his work.
Michelangelo would absolutely freak out.
He would yell and throw things at him every time he dared to enter without permission.
At one point, Michelangelo decided he had enough and fled in the night, going home to
Florence.
Florence Pew?
The pope?
Florence the pope?
The pope was pissed and sent people after him.
Michelangelo and Julius the second were kind of buds in a very loose sense.
But the fact that the Pope sent people after him really upset Michelangelo.
Slightly embarrassed, he came back.
He apologized and got back to work creating one of the most famous paintings in history.
Extra fact, it wasn't until the 1980s
that people realized Michelangelo was a genius colorist.
The ceiling had been heavily caked in smoke and soot
from all the candles in the room over the centuries.
Oh wow.
That during restoration efforts,
it was revealed to everyone's amazement
to be completely in color.
They assumed that he was simply a genius
monochromatic painter.
Also the giant Todd, i. Todd, my great Dane.
How do you say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say Sorry for the long FQQ cheers. Oh yeah. Cheryl's a big advocate for pet merch. Yeah.
It's coming up a lot.
We are, yeah, we have, we should,
we've said that in the past,
but yeah, we just got to remember to do it.
Sure.
I don't know where you get pet merch made.
Let us know Cheryl.
Figure it out.
Yeah, that's gotta be, that's gotta be a thing.
Anyway. Yeah.
Maybe like the phrasing the bar thing we did recently, we'd do it like a pre-order.
So because the fear is you do you go, you get a bunch made and then people like, oh,
we were only joking.
Yeah, we don't want this.
We don't want this.
Even my dog's like, no, thank you.
Wait, did you think we meant that?
That's so embarrassing for you.
We did not mean that.
The last one this week comes from Jocelyn Cravett.
Any relation to my friend Jocelyn Burke?
Jocelyn Cravett, aka resident purveyor of depressing but important facts about women's
health.
Oh, good one to finish on.
Jocelyn's fact is Matt and Dave will have to make the determination of whether
these are facts, these facts are grim, dull or both. But I will go out on a limb. The
Jess will agree they are not fun. Women and men have heart attacks at similar rates, but
women are more likely to die as a result. Oh my God, that is a grim fact, I would say.
Women make up about 78% of patients with autoimmune diseases.
Women are more likely to have chronic pain than men, but are less likely to receive treatment.
Or research.
Endometriosis.
Endometriosis.
Endometriosis.
So close.
Can you say it again?
Endometriosis.
Me, me, me.
Give me a note.
Endometriosis.
Endometriosis is estimated to affect approximately 10 to 15% of women of reproductive age.
However, women with this extremely painful and life-disrupting condition go undiagnosed
for an average of 4 to 11 years from the onset of symptoms.
For more information on how medical science has failed women since the advent of medical
science and what the Office of Research on Women's Health at the National
Institute of Health is doing about it, check out their website,
O-R-W-H dot O-D dot N-I-H dot gov.
Stay tuned for future depressing facts about structural racism in medical science.
That's something to look forward to. Thank you so much, Jocelyn. Dave,
I'm going to say yes.
All grim facts.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'd back you on the grim, I'd say.
Yeah.
And I don't think it's fun.
OK.
No, not boring either.
Not dull.
Yeah, not dull.
Thank you so much, Jocelyn, Cheryl, Andy and Broderick for those facts,
quotes and questions.
The next thing we like to do is thank a few of our other fantastic supporters.
Jess normally comes up with a bit of a game for these.
These are people who are on the shout out level or above.
Well, I think we, we work as a team and we come up with FP initials.
Okay.
So one of us reads out the name.
One does the F does one does P.
Yep.
Do you want me to do the names or do you want to do the names Dave?
I'll have to do the names.
I got them here. I got them here.
You've been running a bit over there.
You do F, I do P.
All right.
OK, our first FP off the rank this week from Montreal in Canada.
Big hello and thank you to simply Gabrielle.
Fancy.
Pal.
Fancy pal.
It's like dog food, but it's fancy.
Fancy pal. Thank you, Gabrielle. Your last's fancier. Fancy pal. Fancy pal.
Thank you, Gabrielle.
Your last name probably starts with an A if you want to know who you are, but we've only
got your first name, so don't want to give it away.
Our next person from location unknown to us, not supplied, so we think they're probably
hiding deep within the fortress of the Molls, I can only presume.
Thank you to Sam Shaw.
Frisky Palamino.
Frisky Palamino. That Shaw. Frisky Palamino.
Frisky Palamino.
That's a frisky Palamino.
I don't know if you could tell, there was a split second there, I forgot what letter it was.
I thought you were just going pal again.
Let's see how many pals he could do.
This is so spooky. Oh my god, what?
I've just Googled, Pelmino.
And the number one thing that comes up is ancestry.com.
Pelmino family history.
And the sentence is, the Pelmino family name was founded in the USA in 1920.
In that year, there was one Palomino family living in Connecticut.
Oh, okay.
That's what the story goes back to.
I thought it was going to be in Frisky.
Yeah.
Still, we're talking about Connecticut.
Which is a state we don't mention as often as a lot of states.
That's true.
I think I meant the horse kind though.
Palomino.
What did I say?
Yeah.
You said Palomino. All right, say? Yeah. You said Palomino.
All right, I just.
All right, Quick Games is a good game.
From Cardiff, but not that Cardiff, I'm talking about New South Wales.
Thank you to simply Joe.
J-O-E.
Freaky.
Primrose.
That's a good name for a horse.
That is pretty good. Freaky Primrose.
Put that in the horse name generator, I'd be happy with that.
Freaky Primrose. What does Primrose mean? Doesn't matter. Quick Games is a good game. Yeah, that's right. Thank you, horse. That is pretty good. Freaky Primrose. Put that in the horse name generator, I'd be happy with that. Mm hmm. Freaky Primrose.
What does Primrose mean? Doesn't matter.
A flower? Quick game's a good game.
Yeah, that's right. Thank you, Joe.
We love you, Joe.
From Woodbridge.
You're never going to believe it.
In Connecticut?
What the actual fuck? What is going on?
What the fuck?
Thank you to Tara Moore Lawless.
Fashionable.
Pharmaceuticals.
That sounds like the worst chemist to go to. But it sounds like something that you're gonna start plugging on Instagram.
Yeah, yeah.
Thanks to my, I've just got this package delivered
from Fashionable Pharmaceuticals.
Let's do an unboxing together.
Look great and feel great.
To feel good on the outside and feel good on the inside.
I'd like to think now.
Thanks, fashionable pharmaceuticals.
I'm going to be an influencer any day now.
Just you wait.
You're ready.
From Spelldhurst in Great Britain, it is Rachel and Phil.
Okay.
Uh, have I already said funky?
I think I have said funky.
You have said funky. Okay. Uh, flirty already said funky? I think I have said funky. You have said funky.
Okay.
Uh, flirty.
Principal.
Oh, that's so good.
Well, that's fine if they're flirting with an adult.
Like another person.
With the parents.
It's just a principal who's gone out for a drink after work and
flirted with someone, that's fine.
A principal is a person as well with needs, with wants.
If they're flirting with them.
They're really defensive.
Yeah.
Am I not allowed to speak to a person of the opposite sex.
Just because I'm a principal, do I not bleed?
Thank you, that's cool.
And that is an impression of Rachel and Phil.
I would like to thank now from Billingstad.
Billingstad in Norway.
Oh.
Very excited to say thank you and hello to Lyn Marron Anonsen.
Lyn Marron Anonsen or R-Nonsen, it's a double A.
Um, Frosty.
Publican.
Oh, that's good.
You don't want to cross that.
Yeah.
Well, I guess you want a drink, do you?
All right.
Oh, but I'm not going to open up and tell you about my life or nothing.
Yeah.
Okay.
I'm not going to ask about yours, right? Let me tell you, I'm a closed book, all right. All right. You'm not going to open up and tell you about my life or nothing. Yeah. OK. I'm not going to ask about yours.
Let me tell you I'm a closed book. All right.
All right. You're not going to ask for change.
You'll read that on page one. Tell you that. Closed book. Closed book.
You won't get it. I'm not on page two.
I'll tell you that much. Yeah, I'm off book now, if anything.
I know my lines. I don't know my rights.
Wallaby. Now, good idea. Thanks for stopping by.
Have a good one. Have a good one. No, you're good.
He actually warmed up. He warmed up immediately.
Yeah, you buy a couple of lines. I really like you.
Yeah. You stick around. You get to know me.
And I would like to thank from Green Bay in Wisconsin. Hello and thank you to Chris22891. Ah, Chris.
Big fan of your work.
I just had one and I lost it.
Fantastic.
Prancer.
Oooh.
What about the horse?
Yeah, we're going really, really horsey.
Fancy prancer would have been better, but.
Yeah.
We're not quite in sync.
No, that's me.
I know, but I feel like I let you down.
Fantastic prancer.
That's pretty good.
Chris22891.
And now we've got two final ones.
Location unknown for both of these people.
Deep within the fortress, we can only assume it's Evan Wellbrock.
Fiery.
Politician.
Oh, aren't they bloody all?
Hey, aren't they bloody all?
Well, I wish sometimes, I wish we saw a bit of fire, a bit of passion, just in there collecting a paycheck.
I'd better backpone.
Is it too much to ask?
It's too much to ask, but the house of jellyfish I'd call them.
Not a spine in that room! Not a spine amongst them!
Not a spine in that room! Not a spine amongst them!
What about you kids' introids in there? You flippin' and floppin' around?
I wanna piss on you, I know that's been debunked by science now
that your stings can't be sold by piss, but I don't care!
I piss on no-one of you!
Can you threaten to piss on politicians?
I'm picturing real jellyfish.
Okay, great.
Can you threaten to piss on real jellyfish?
Yeah, yeah.
Great.
That's your right.
And finally, I'd like to thank from location also unknown withheld.
Thank you to James Speyer.
Floppy.
Planet.
Oh boy, that's not good, is it?
Oh, dear.
Is that the jellyfish have taken over?
Flop. Oh, I see where you got floppy.
Planet. Yeah, it wasn't ideal, but I guess would that be a gas giant?
Their gas is pretty floppy, isn't it?
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Or you're like a jelly planet, you know what I mean?
Like jelly in your butt.
Because you know how... who told you about that?
You know the universe is like.
He stared at me for quite some time just then.
Who told you I was mulling jelly?
In condoms.
Mewling jelly.
Powder jelly.
Or jello, perhaps?
Oh dear, okay.
Okay, here we go, all right. Oh no, we dear, okay. Okay, okay.
Here we go.
All right.
Oh no, we're not done.
One last thing.
I'm like, and done.
It's actually good to go.
No, we've got the most important thing to do of all, and that is to welcome some of
our fantastic supporters into the Triptych Club, which Dave will explain really well
right now.
This is our Hall of Fame, our clubhouse where we enshrine people that have supported the
show already on the shout out level or above for three consecutive years, already giving
them a shout out a year or two ago, but to enshrine them forever we put their name up
on a plaque on the wall and welcome them in to our clubhouse, our theatre of the mind,
lounge, hangout zone.
What is it?
It's a food hall, a food court.
Don't touch my air hockey table. Yeah. Touch anything you like except the air hockey table.
We've got Daytona. Yeah.
We've got Time Crisis. Yeah.
We've got Big Buck Hunter. We've got three of those basketball
shooting things so we can all play together. Really fun.
Got Battletoads. We've got Battletoads.
We've got Battletoads. And Battle Pope.
That's Dave. That's me.
And I do book a band.
But before we get to that, Jess, you are behind the bar in charge of snacks, drinks.
Yeah.
So what I've been trying to do is like, is like, I've been experimenting this week in
the kitchen trying to make some like hors d'oeuvres that will explode with flavour.
But what I have actually done is made all derves that explode.
So I would be careful.
One in three or one in four.
It's hard to say.
Will blow your mouth off or?
No, it's not like, it won't, it's not, it won't.
Well, it's a little hard to say the level of damage
that will be done, but more than anything,
it's probably, it'd probably be a bit like, you know, when you bite your tongue and it's a bit sore for a couple of days.
It'll be that sort of thing.
But, yeah, so there's that and I do apologise for that.
But you're doing your best.
I'm doing my best.
I think it's important people know that.
Thank you.
Okay?
Dave, you've booked a band.
Who have you got?
You're never going to believe it.
What?
Remind me of the topic this week?
The mad bomber of New York.
Amazing, because I've booked the New York Dolls.
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
Yeah, that's right.
The same New York, any relation?
Yeah.
Can you believe it?
Formed in New York City in 1971 with members including Ricky Rivets.
Oh my God, we've got Ricky Rivets?
We are Ricky Rivets.
Are you kidding me?
I've been saying for years I love Ricky Rivets!
Incredible!
Who's the guy? Was one of the New York dolls in A Very Murray Christmas?
Oh, maybe.
I don't know because have you watched it Dave?
I have watched it once.
I've never watched it. You watch it every Christmas.
It was awful.
We can never follow you when you want to reference it because we don't know it.
And I'm sorry.
Is Amy Poehler in that?
Yeah, Amy Poehler's in it. It's an all star cast.
But yeah, the cast couldn't save it.
I watched Groundhog Day recently.
That was a bit of fun.
It holds up all right.
And then I watched Palm Springs, which is another like...
I love Palm Springs.
Palm Springs rules.
It's Andy Samberg at his absolute hottest.
I love that kind of, I love that kind of show. Yeah.
But I cannot stress enough how hot Andy Samberg is in it. Really? Yeah.
Yeah. Something about it. Never thought of him as like a peak hotness.
Super hot guy. Well, watch Palm Springs on Amazon Prime now.
Anyway, we have some people to welcome in. Yes, we have people to welcome in.
And should I start doing it?
Is that where we're up to?
Your only fucking job.
All right, so I'll read out the names.
Hurry up. I want to play air hockey.
These are new inductees. Matt reads them out.
I hype them up. Jess hypes me up.
Yeah, they've hyped them up based on sort of weak word play
based on their name or their place of origin.
Unbelievable. His attitude is horrendous.
I'm setting everyone's expectations correctly.
Cause imagine going, oh, and he's the best at it.
And then they hear.
And then I eclipse even their astronomical situation.
I'm trying to look after you.
You're an absolute monster.
What?
First up, I'd love to thank and welcome.
Please, if you hear your name, please jog on in
and let Dave hype you up from Vancouver in BCCA.
It's Neil McLean.
I'm on the highway to the McLean-ger zone.
Woo!
Okay, that's maybe the best one you've ever done.
Yeah.
British Columbia and Canada, I reckon.
From Rome in general admission, United States,
probably Georgia, it's Matt Cosby.
Cosby.
What's the Gospi with Matt Cosby?
That's fun, yes.
From Kelvin Grove in Queensland, Australia.
Please welcome in Flick French.
Some people like their house to be spick and spammed.
I prefer mine to be Flick and Spam.
And finally from Anfis Unknown.
Can only assume from deep within the fortress of the mole.
Please welcome in Peter McQuirter.
What do you got? You got something in there. Squhorter. Oh, I just, you got something there.
Squirter.
It's gotta be.
You're making me so excited.
I'm a squirter.
I'm squirting.
I'm squirting here.
I'm squirting here.
I'm sure Peter McWhorter's never gotten something like that before.
Yeah, he's never gotten squirter before.
There's gotta be something else over here.
Who McWhorter you instead of who hurt you?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um. Who McWhorter you instead of who hurt you. Yeah.
Who McWherter you?
Tell us about your trauma.
We're so excited to meet you.
We're going to, we're going to Pete out on this for years.
Like Dine Out on, but Pete like eight. Oh yeah.
Is that the sort of bad stuff you're trying to do?
I'm trying to do a bad like you.
That's too bad.
Okay.
Even Dave wouldn't do that.
Yeah, that's awful. Peter McWherter. I want to Pete you out Okay. Even Dave wouldn't do that. Yeah, that's awful.
Peter McQuirter.
I wanna Pete you out.
You know, like I wanna meet you out on the town.
That's better, that's better.
Let's go with that one.
I'm gonna Pete you out.
Yeah, I'm gonna...
All night long.
All night long.
Till you...
All right, oh my God, Peter.
Welcome in, Ed an AJ as necessary.
Welcome in Peter, Flick, Matt and Neil.
What else do we need to tell people just before we boot this baby home?
Well, like I bloody said at the start of the episode that you're going to go back and listen
to now because you obviously listened to the Patreon section last, but anybody can suggest
a topic.
So if there's a story that you would like to hear us talk about and go on Dogshit Riffs
about,
put it in the hat. There's a link in the show notes also on our website, which is do go on pod.com and you can find us on social media at do go on pod
and do go on podcast on Tik TOK. If you're on Tik TOK, give us a follow.
David Johansen.
David Johansen from very Murray Christmas is also from the New York dolls.
Okay.
Well done.
How about that?
Anyway, Dave, beat this baby home.
Don't beat this baby, Dave.
Boot it.
Boot it.
We'll be back next week with another fantastic episode.
And I'm just looking at David Johansen,
also known for his work under the pseudonym
Buster Poindexter.
Oh, that's fantastic. That's fantastic.
We'll be back next week with another episode,
but until then, thank you so much for listening
and goodbye!
Later!
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