How Christmas Movies Became a Holiday Tradition | Boring History for Sleep

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Hey there. 
My tired friends, it's time to 

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snuggle up because tonight, 
we're taking a gentle little 

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journey through the flickering 
magic of Holiday Cinema. 

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Now, as you settle in, we're 
going to trace the path of how 

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Christmas films transformed from
simple entertainment into 

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essential seasonal rituals 
Stories. 

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We return to year after year, 
like visiting old friends, but 

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before we start, I'd love to 
know how you're doing down 

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below. 
And let me know where in the 

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world you're listening in from 
and what time it is for you. 

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without further Ado, let's begin
in the cold winter nights before

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electricity when stories 
themselves with the only light 

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against the darkness, you'll sit
by a fire that's been burning 

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since Sunset and outside the 
window snowfalls in that 

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peculiar silence, that only 
winter nights possess. 

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The year is 1847 and you're in a
farmhouse in Upstate New York, 

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where the darkness arrives at 
4:30 in the afternoon and 

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doesn't lift until nearly 8 the 
next morning. 

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This is the world before Edison 
before Motion Pictures before 

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television, a world where Winter
entertainment means gathering 

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around, what ever light source, 
you can afford and telling 

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stories until sleep arrives. 
Your grandfather settles into 

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his chair. 
One with the Warren armrest that

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bear the shape of his hands off 
to 40 years of use. 

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Clears his throat in that 
particular way, that signals a 

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story is coming and everyone in 
the room shifts, slightly 

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adjusting blankets, moving 
closer to the half. 

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The fire pops, someone's stomach
gurgles, your younger sister 

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Giggles, then covers her mouth, 
the air, I turn 12, your 

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grandfather begins. 
We had a winter so cold that the

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chickens refused to leave their 
coop for six straight weeks. 

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This is how winter passed before
screens in accumulated anecdotes

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and embellished memories in 
ghost stories and family 

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Legends, in recitations of Epic 
poems, memorized in childhood 

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and jokes. 
Refined over decades, you've 

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heard this particular story 
about the stubborn chickens at 

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least 15 times but somehow it 
never gets old. 

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The details change slightly with
each telling this year, the 

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temperature gets a little 
colder, the chicken coop, grows 

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a little smaller in the 
retelling. 

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Winter storytelling, wasn't just
entertainment. 

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It was Survival equipment for 
the mind when you're trapped in 

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Doors by, whether that can kill 
you, in 20 minutes, you need 

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something to occupy the long 
dark hours between supper and 

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sleet books, existed certainly, 
but they were expensive and 

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reading by candlelight or oil 
lamp was hard on the eyes. 

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A good Storyteller was worth 
their weight in firewood. 

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Your grandmother contributes, 
her own tale about a Christmas 

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when she was young when a 
traveling theater troupe, got 

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snowed in at the local Inn and 
performed A Christmas Carol 

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three times in four days because
the village had nothing else to 

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do, she describes the makeshift 
stage in the ends common room, 

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the actor who played Marley's 
ghost, using a flour sack for 

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chains. 
And the way everyone in the 

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audience, knew exactly when to 
gasp even on the third viewing, 

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this is important to understand 
repetition wasn't boring. 

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It was comforting. 
Knowing what came next, didn't 

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diminish the pleasure it 
enhanced it, you could 

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anticipate your favorite 
moments, prepare yourself for 

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the scary parts. 
A notice new details, you'd 

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missed. 
Before this was the original 

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rewatch culture centuries before
anyone could rewind or stream on

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demand. 
Fire Burns lower your mother 

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adds another log, sending Sparks
spiraling up the chimney like 

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tiny orange stars. 
Someone starts humming a Carol 

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and soon everyone joins in 
because singing is another way 

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to fill the winter. 
Darkness, your warm and full and

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surrounded by family. 
And tomorrow, you'll probably 

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hear the same stories again, 
maybe with slightly different 

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details. 
You don't know it yet, but your 

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experience in something that 
will echo through the centuries.

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The Deep human need for repeated
seasonal, narratives, for 

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familiar stories, Revisited at 
familiar times, The technology 

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will change dramatically. 
The stories will evolve this 

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fundamental craving for 
comforting repetition during the

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darkest time of year. 
That's hardwired into the 

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species, you're standing in a 
darkened theater in Paris on 

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December 28th, 1895 and you're 
about to witness something that 

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doesn't have a name. 
Yet The Lumiere Brothers have 

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invited you and 32 other people 
to the Grand Cafe for a 

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demonstration of their 
cinematograph. 

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And honestly, you showed up 
mainly because it was cold 

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outside and the cafe is warm the
lights dim further. 

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Someone coughs. 
The projector was to life and 

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suddenly there's a moving image 
on the wall, workers, leaving a 

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factory. 
Walking right toward you, their 

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legs actually moving their 
clothes actually Rippling in an 

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actual Breeze. 
A woman in the front Road. 

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Gasps, your neighbor grip your 
arm. 

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This isn't like a photo graph. 
This is life itself, somehow 

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captured and reproduced. 
You watch a train arrive at a 

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station. 
And for a moment, your brain 

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genuinely believes a locomotive 
is coming straight at you. 

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Several people in the audience 
Flinch, someone laughs nervously

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but it's the kind of laugh that 
has real fear hiding underneath 

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it. 
Your heart is racing, your palms

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are sweaty. 
All you're doing is sitting in a

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chair, watching light, play on a
wall, but your body is convinced

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something significant is 
happening. 

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This is the birth of Cinema, 
though. 

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Nobody's calling it that yet. 
They're calling it animated 

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photographs, or living pictures,
or just that astonishing thing 

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with the moving images. 
Within a year projectionists 

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will be traveling from town to 
town setting up, sheets and 

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churches, and town halls showing
these miraculous moving pictures

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to audiences. 
Who've never seen anything like 

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them. 
Now, jump forward to 1898, 

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you're a projectionist yourself 
now. 

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Traveling through the American 
Midwest with a trunk full of 

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film reels, and a temperamental 
projector, that needs constant 

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adjustment. its December and 
your schedule to show films in a

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small, Wisconsin Town, that's 
completely buried in snow The 

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venue is the Lutheran Church, 
which is drafty, but has enough 

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space for the whole town to 
squeeze in your showing the 

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usual program workers leaving 
Factory is trains arriving 

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babies eating breakfast. 
But you've had added something 

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new you spent last week, filming
the town's Main Street covered. 

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In snow children, sledding down,
Coopers Hill and the mayor's dog

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trying to catch snowflakes. 
It's nothing sophisticated just 

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45 seconds of local life. 
But when you project it onto the

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church wall, something magical 
happens. 

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People see themselves, they see 
their neighbors. 

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They see their Town. 
Transformed into flickering 

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immortality Mrs. Henderson 
points at the screen and shouts,

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that's my Timothy. 
When her son appears pulling a 

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sled, the whole audience breaks 
into Applause, they want to see 

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it again immediately. 
So you rewind and projected 

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again, and again, you end up 
showing that 45 second clip 

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eight times because people can't
get enough of seeing their 

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Ordinary World made 
extraordinary through the magic 

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of cinema. 
This is when you realize 

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something important. 
Moving pictures aren't just 

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amazing because they move their 
amazing because they let us see 

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ourselves from outside 
ourselves. 

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They turn the mundane into the 
meaningful. 

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They make us believe that our 
ordinary lives are worth 

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preserving worth watching and 
worth remembering. 

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By 1905 permanent movie. 
Theaters are opening in cities, 

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small storefront operations 
called Nickelodeon's. 

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Because admission costs, a 
nickel, their dark and cramped, 

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and smell like unwashed 
humanity, and stale popcorn, and

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they absolutely packed every 
single evening. 

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Workers stopped by on their way,
home from factories. 

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Families, treat themselves on 
weekends. 

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The programs change, constantly 
15 minutes of short films, maybe

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a comedy, maybe a travelogue. 
Maybe a melodrama about a 

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wronged woman and a mustache 
twirling villain. 

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Christmas presents a problem for
these early theaters, should 

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they stay open on the holiday 
when most people are home with 

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family or close and lose the 
revenue. 

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Some compromised by showing 
special programs of winter 

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scenes and seasonal subjects 
others. 

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Bring in life performers to 
supplement the films singers 

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musicians and actors performing 
short sketches between reels. 

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You're running a Nickelodeon in 
Philadelphia. 

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Now December, 1908, and you've 
put together what your calling, 

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a Christmas program, 20 minutes 
of winter footage from various 

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sources, some slides of 
Christmas cards. 

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Projected, while your pianist 
plays carols, and a short comedy

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about a man trying to carry an 
enormous Christmas tree home. 

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On a windy day, it's not exactly
sophisticated, but your theater 

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is full and people seemed 
genuinely delighted the man in 

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the front. 
Row keeps chuckling at the 

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Christmas tree comedy, even 
after it's finished a woman 

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behind you size, contentedly 
during the winter scenes, a 

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child asks Father, if they can 
come back tomorrow to see it 

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again, your witnessing, the very
beginning of something, though, 

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you don't have the words for it.
Yet the desire to experience 

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seasonal entertainment to Mark, 
the holiday with specific 

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stories and images. 
And to return to the same 

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comforting narratives year after
year. 

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You're a screenwriter in 
Hollywood in 1934 and you've 

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just been assigned to write a 
Christmas picture for the 

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studio. 
This should be simple. 

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Christmas is inherently cheerful
audiences love holiday content 

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and you've got eight weeks to 
deliver a script. 

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Except your discovering that 
Christmas on film is 

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surprisingly tricky. 
Your first draft features, a 

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wealthy family, having a perfect
Christmas with presents, piled 

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high, and an enormous dinner and
everyone smile and constantly, 

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your producer reads it and 
frowns. 

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It's the depression. 
He reminds you half the country 

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can't afford a decent meal at 
Lone presents, who's gonna pay 

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money to watch rich? 
People have a nice time. 

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Your second draft swings. 
The other way, a poor family 

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struggling to have any Christmas
at all saved at the last minute 

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by an improbable Miracle. 
Your producer reads this one and

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frowned again, too depressing 
people come to move movies to 

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escape their troubles. 
Not to see them reflected back. 

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You're stuck in the middle 
ground between honest and 

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comforting between realistic and
magical. 

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This is the fundamental 
challenge. 

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That will shape Christmas movies
for the next century. 

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How do you create something that
acknowledges, real life, while 

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also providing the fantasy and 
comfort that audiences 

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desperately? 
Want your third draft threads, 

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the needle A middle class family
faces Christmas with very little

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money. 
But lots of love. 

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There's genuine hardship but 
also humor. 

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A neighbor who seemed grouchy 
turns out to have a Generous 

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Heart, the youngest child learns
at. 

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Homemade gifts, can be more 
meaningful than store bought 

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ones the father who lost his job
finds new employment through an 

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unexpected connection on 
Christmas Eve. 

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Sentimental without being Sakura
in hopeful without being 

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dishonest. 
You'll produce are actually 

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smiles. 
Now, that's a Christmas picture.

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The film gets made released and 
performs moderately. 

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Well, more importantly, it 
establishes. 

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A template that other Studios 
notice and begin to copy, the 

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Christmas movie becomes a 
recognizable. 

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Genre with its own conventions. 
Ordinary people facing 

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challenges, the magic of 
community and connection 

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darkness, that gives way to 
light Lessons, Learned 

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relationships restored. 
And a general sense that 

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Christmas itself has the power 
to transform circumstances, or 

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at least to help people see 
their circumstances differently.

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You're working on your 5th 
Christmas script. 

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Now, December 1941 and 
everything has changed Pearl, 

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Harbor was attacked three weeks 
ago. 

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The country is at War, your 
studio wants a Christmas movie, 

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but nobody's quite sure what 
that means anymore. 

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Should it acknowledged the wall?
Ignore it. 

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Use Christmas to make some 
larger point about why America's

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fighting? 
You write a story about a 

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soldier coming home on Christmas
Eve, to find his neighborhood 

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changed his friends, gone and 
his girl engaged to someone 

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else. 
But on Christmas Eve through a 

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series of small kindnesses from 
strangers. 

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He remembers what he's fighting 
for not abstract ideals, but 

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actual people, and real 
communities, and the possibility

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00:12:37,100 --> 00:12:40,500
of ordinary happiness. 
The film gets made, and when 

233
00:12:40,500 --> 00:12:44,300
it's released audiences weep 
openly in theaters, you receive 

234
00:12:44,300 --> 00:12:47,600
letters from mothers, whose sons
are overseas thanking you for 

235
00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:49,000
giving them permission to feel 
hopeful. 

236
00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:52,700
This is when Christmas movies 
become more than entertainment, 

237
00:12:52,700 --> 00:12:55,900
they become emotional 
infrastructure ways of 

238
00:12:55,908 --> 00:12:59,800
processing difficult realities. 
While maintaining hope methods 

239
00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,200
for remembering what matters, 
when everything seems to be 

240
00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:05,800
falling apart, then they're not 
escaping reality so much as 

241
00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,200
metabolizing, it transforming 
fear and grief into something 

242
00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:12,000
manageable. 
Now, you'll sit in a screening 

243
00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:14,600
room in 1946 watching Frank 
Capra's. 

244
00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:18,600
It's a Wonderful Life For the 
First Time, the film is darker 

245
00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:22,600
than most Christmas movies, 
There's real despair, genuine 

246
00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:27,300
darkness and a man contemplating
suicide on Christmas Eve, but 

247
00:13:27,300 --> 00:13:29,800
there's all the profound 
affirmation that ordinary life 

248
00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:32,000
matters. 
The small kindnesses 

249
00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:36,200
accumulating to significance and
that Community, is what saves 

250
00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:38,300
us? 
You watch George Bailey, see 

251
00:13:38,300 --> 00:13:40,100
what the world would be like 
without him. 

252
00:13:40,100 --> 00:13:43,600
And you understand that Capra 
has tapped into something deep. 

253
00:13:44,700 --> 00:13:47,900
Fear that our lives, don't 
matter that we're replaceable 

254
00:13:47,900 --> 00:13:51,400
that our struggles are 
meaningless and then the film 

255
00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:54,700
answers that fear with the most 
comforting message possible, you

256
00:13:54,700 --> 00:13:59,400
matter enormously your presence,
changes, everything and your 

257
00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,000
life is woven into countless 
other lives in ways, you can't 

258
00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,700
even see the film, underperforms
at the box office initially 

259
00:14:05,700 --> 00:14:08,300
critics admire it, but don't 
predict it will. 

260
00:14:08,300 --> 00:14:12,200
Last, you think they're wrong, 
you think people will return to 

261
00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,800
this film that it will grow in 
stature that someday. 

262
00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:19,000
It might be the definitive 
Christmas movie, you're correct.

263
00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:22,700
But it will take 30 years and 
the invention of Television to 

264
00:14:22,700 --> 00:14:25,000
prove it. 
You're settling onto your couch 

265
00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:29,000
into December 1955, and 
tonight's entertainment is built

266
00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,800
right into your living room. 
Television that Miracle box. 

267
00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:35,400
You purchase two years ago is 
warming up. 

268
00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:40,000
Its screen glowing into life. 
Your children are arguing about 

269
00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,800
who gets to sit closest. 
Your spouse is making popcorn in

270
00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:47,200
the kitchen. 
This is the new ritual as 

271
00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:51,200
regular as church as anticipated
as Christmas morning itself. 

272
00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,400
Television has changed 
everything about entertainment 

273
00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:57,000
consumption. 
You don't go out to sea stories,

274
00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,100
anymore stories. 
Come to you. 

275
00:14:59,100 --> 00:15:02,400
You don't dress up and travel 
and sit among strangers. 

276
00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:05,200
You stay home in your 
comfortable clothes, surrounded 

277
00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:08,700
by Family pausing, whenever you 
want to use the bathroom or grab

278
00:15:08,700 --> 00:15:12,100
another cookie Christmas 
specials broadcast directly into

279
00:15:12,100 --> 00:15:15,000
millions of homes. 
Simultaneously, a, creating a 

280
00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:16,800
new kind of shared cultural 
experience. 

281
00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:21,000
Tonight's offering is The Wizard
of Oz which isn't technically a 

282
00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,000
Christmas movie but has become 
an annual holiday tradition. 

283
00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:29,800
Anyway, the broadcast started at
6:30 and by 7 and estimated 50 

284
00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,600
million Americans were watching.
Dorothy Walk, The Yellow Brick 

285
00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,400
Road. 
You've seen this film before it 

286
00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,300
came out when you were young, 
but seeing it on television 

287
00:15:38,300 --> 00:15:41,000
somehow, feels different more 
intimate. 

288
00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,100
More yours. 
Your youngest daughter is 

289
00:15:44,100 --> 00:15:47,200
terrified. 
Of the flying monkeys, she hides

290
00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:49,900
her face against her arm during 
that scene peaking through her 

291
00:15:49,900 --> 00:15:52,600
fingers. 
Your oldest son, who's trying 

292
00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,300
hard to act too mature for 
children to entertainment is 

293
00:15:55,300 --> 00:15:59,300
completely absorbed, when the 
wicked witch melts, your spouse 

294
00:15:59,300 --> 00:16:02,700
cheers from the kitchen during 
the commercial breaks, your 

295
00:16:02,700 --> 00:16:06,000
family, discusses, the story 
debates, whether Dorothy could 

296
00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:07,800
have just clicked her heels 
together at the beginning. 

297
00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:12,000
And argues, about whether Kansas
or Oz is better, this is crucial

298
00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:15,600
to understand television creates
a new relationship between 

299
00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,400
audiences and stories in a 
theater. 

300
00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:22,800
Your passive receiving the film 
in darkness among strangers at 

301
00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:27,000
home your active talking, back 
to the screen, making jokes 

302
00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,700
explaining things to children 
and getting up to check on 

303
00:16:29,700 --> 00:16:32,400
dinner. 
Film becomes woven into your 

304
00:16:32,408 --> 00:16:34,700
family life, rather than 
separated from it. 

305
00:16:34,700 --> 00:16:38,100
By 19660, television networks 
had figured out. 

306
00:16:38,100 --> 00:16:39,800
The Christmas programming is 
gold. 

307
00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:43,800
People are home, they're in good
moods, and they're willing to 

308
00:16:43,808 --> 00:16:47,500
watch together as families. 
Charlie Brown Christmas 

309
00:16:47,500 --> 00:16:51,900
premieres in 1965 and changes 
everything you're watching with 

310
00:16:51,900 --> 00:16:54,500
your children again. 
But there are older now and 

311
00:16:54,500 --> 00:16:56,900
you're not sure they'll be 
interested in a cartoon about a 

312
00:16:56,900 --> 00:17:00,500
kid in his dog. 
Except they are, you are, 

313
00:17:00,500 --> 00:17:05,300
everyone is the special is 
quiet, and Melancholy in ways 

314
00:17:05,300 --> 00:17:07,200
that children's programming 
usually isn't. 

315
00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,099
Charlie Brown is genuinely 
depressed about Christmas 

316
00:17:11,099 --> 00:17:14,000
commercialism. 
The other kids are mean to him 

317
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,599
in ways that feel authentic 
Linus recites, the Nativity 

318
00:17:17,599 --> 00:17:20,800
Story from the Gospel of Luke 
directly to the camera, which 

319
00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:24,500
should be awkward or preachy, 
but somehow isn't the whole 

320
00:17:24,500 --> 00:17:27,300
thing is weird and slow and 
Jazzy and real. 

321
00:17:27,300 --> 00:17:31,000
When it's over your daughter 
says can we watch that again 

322
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,700
next year? 
And you realize, that's exactly 

323
00:17:33,700 --> 00:17:37,700
what will happen this. 25 minute
cartoon will become as much a 

324
00:17:37,700 --> 00:17:40,500
part of your family's Christmas 
as the tree and the stockings 

325
00:17:40,500 --> 00:17:42,800
and the cookies. 
You'll watch it next year. 

326
00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,700
And the year after and someday 
your children will watch it with

327
00:17:46,700 --> 00:17:49,100
their children and the 
traditional will continue. 

328
00:17:50,100 --> 00:17:51,700
Television creates a point 
viewing. 

329
00:17:51,700 --> 00:17:55,900
You can't record programs yet. 
VCRs won't become common until 

330
00:17:55,900 --> 00:17:58,700
the 1980s. 
So if you want to see Rudolph or

331
00:17:58,700 --> 00:18:01,700
Frosty or Charlie Brown, you 
have to watch when the network 

332
00:18:01,700 --> 00:18:05,900
decides to broadcast them, this 
creates anticipation, you Circle

333
00:18:05,900 --> 00:18:09,400
the date in TV Guide, you may 
make sure everyone's home you 

334
00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:11,100
plan dinner around the broadcast
time. 

335
00:18:11,100 --> 00:18:14,300
The specialness of the 
programming is enhanced by its 

336
00:18:14,300 --> 00:18:16,700
Gas City. 
You're a college student now in 

337
00:18:16,700 --> 00:18:20,600
1974 home for Christmas break, 
and your family has just 

338
00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:22,900
finished watching A Christmas 
Carol on television. 

339
00:18:22,900 --> 00:18:27,900
The 1951 version with Alistair 
Sim you've seen this adaptation 

340
00:18:27,900 --> 00:18:31,300
at least a dozen times and you 
can quote large sections from 

341
00:18:31,300 --> 00:18:33,900
memory. 
Your father, always does a 

342
00:18:33,900 --> 00:18:35,700
scrooge. 
Impression during the, I'm as 

343
00:18:35,700 --> 00:18:38,900
light as a feather, seen your 
mother always cries when Bob 

344
00:18:38,900 --> 00:18:40,608
Cratchit toasts Scrooge at the 
end. 

345
00:18:41,500 --> 00:18:44,400
These repetitions aren't boring.
They're comforting. 

346
00:18:45,100 --> 00:18:48,000
Their proof that some things 
stay the same even as Life 

347
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:49,700
Changes dramatically around 
them. 

348
00:18:49,700 --> 00:18:53,100
You're different than you were 
last year, your questioning 

349
00:18:53,100 --> 00:18:57,600
beliefs, exploring new ideas and
becoming someone your teenage 

350
00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:02,100
self wouldn't quite recognize. 
But this film is the same, your 

351
00:19:02,100 --> 00:19:05,300
family's reactions of the same 
90 minutes. 

352
00:19:05,300 --> 00:19:07,200
You can pretend nothing has 
changed. 

353
00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:11,600
You're in your 30s. 
Now, December 1983 and you've 

354
00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,500
just purchased your first VCR. 
The machine cost more than you 

355
00:19:15,500 --> 00:19:18,700
wanted to spend and programming 
it requires Consulting, the 

356
00:19:18,700 --> 00:19:21,900
manual multiple times. 
But the promise is 

357
00:19:21,900 --> 00:19:25,000
extraordinary, you can watch 
movies whenever you want. 

358
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,900
You can control the schedule. 
You own the experience. 

359
00:19:28,900 --> 00:19:32,400
Your first rental is a Christmas
story which came out earlier 

360
00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,100
this year. 
You heard it was funny and you 

361
00:19:35,100 --> 00:19:37,500
need funny. 
This has been a difficult year. 

362
00:19:37,500 --> 00:19:41,200
Your job is precarious. 
Your relationship is 

363
00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,100
complicated. 
Your parents are aging in ways 

364
00:19:44,100 --> 00:19:46,700
that worry, you, you need 
something light. 

365
00:19:46,700 --> 00:19:50,300
Something that doesn't demand 
much something that will let you

366
00:19:50,300 --> 00:19:52,100
turn your brain off for 90 
minutes. 

367
00:19:52,100 --> 00:19:56,900
You press play, and within five 
minutes, your laughing really 

368
00:19:56,900 --> 00:19:58,800
laughing. 
The kind that makes your side 

369
00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,300
hurt Ralphie's. 
Desperate desire, for a Red 

370
00:20:01,300 --> 00:20:04,600
Ryder, BB gun. 
His mother's inexplicable belief

371
00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,800
that he'll shoot his eye out and
the leg lamp that is Father 

372
00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:11,400
displays with such Pride. 
It's all absurd, and specific, 

373
00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:13,800
and somehow universally 
recognizable. 

374
00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:17,300
You've never wanted a BB gun, 
but you remember wanting 

375
00:20:17,300 --> 00:20:20,900
something with that exact 
intensity, that absolute Khan. 

376
00:20:21,100 --> 00:20:23,100
That one object would transform 
your life. 

377
00:20:24,100 --> 00:20:27,400
When the film ends, you rewind 
it immediately and watch it 

378
00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,300
again. 
This is new in a theater. 

379
00:20:30,300 --> 00:20:33,800
You could watch a film multiple 
times, but it required buying 

380
00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,600
another ticket sitting through 
the same previews and leaving 

381
00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:39,300
your house. 
Now, you can Loop a film 

382
00:20:39,300 --> 00:20:41,600
endlessly. 
In your own living room, the 

383
00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:45,000
actors become familiar friends 
the jokes land differently on. 

384
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,200
Second viewing when you're 
anticipating them, you notice 

385
00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:50,300
background details. 
You missed the first time. 

386
00:20:50,300 --> 00:20:54,000
The VCR changes, move you 
watching from an event into a 

387
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:55,500
habit. 
You build a collection of 

388
00:20:55,508 --> 00:20:59,000
Christmas films on VHS tapes, 
that line your shelf like old 

389
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,500
books. 
It's a Wonderful Life Miracle on

390
00:21:02,500 --> 00:21:05,900
34th Street, White Christmas 
Holiday Inn. 

391
00:21:05,900 --> 00:21:09,200
Each tape is labeled in your 
handwriting, and each contains 

392
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,900
not just a movie, but a set of 
memories where you were, when 

393
00:21:12,900 --> 00:21:16,100
you first watched it, who you 
watched it with and how you 

394
00:21:16,100 --> 00:21:18,200
felt, you're in your forties 
now. 

395
00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,900
December, 1995, and you're 
introducing your children to a 

396
00:21:21,900 --> 00:21:23,600
Christmas story for the first 
time. 

397
00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:27,500
They're the perfect age for it. 
Old enough to get the jokes 

398
00:21:27,500 --> 00:21:30,100
young enough to still believe in
the magic of Christmas. 

399
00:21:30,100 --> 00:21:34,300
You've watched this film, at 
least 15 times by now you can 

400
00:21:34,300 --> 00:21:37,800
quote entire scenes from memory 
your kids trans. 

401
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,900
When the bumpers hounds steal, 
the turkey, your daughter. 

402
00:21:41,900 --> 00:21:45,300
Laughs, so hard, she falls off 
the couch when Ralphie beats up 

403
00:21:45,300 --> 00:21:49,600
the bully, your son Whispers. 
Whoa with genuine, or When 

404
00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:52,000
Ralphie finally gets his BB gun,
both children. 

405
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,000
Cheer. 
You're not just watching the 

406
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:55,700
film, you're watching your 
children. 

407
00:21:55,700 --> 00:21:59,800
Watch the film, experiencing it 
again through their fresh eyes. 

408
00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:02,600
This is the magic of repeated 
viewing. 

409
00:22:03,500 --> 00:22:07,900
The film itself doesn't change, 
but you do each time you, watch 

410
00:22:07,900 --> 00:22:10,500
you bring different experiences,
different, contexts, and 

411
00:22:10,500 --> 00:22:13,200
different needs. 
Sometimes you need the comedy, 

412
00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:16,100
sometimes you need the 
Nostalgia, sometimes, you need 

413
00:22:16,100 --> 00:22:18,300
to remind her. 
That families are simultaneously

414
00:22:18,300 --> 00:22:21,500
loving and ridiculous. 
That childhood disappointments 

415
00:22:21,500 --> 00:22:25,200
felt enormous, but were 
ultimately survivable and that 

416
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:26,900
most of what worried us didn't 
matter. 

417
00:22:26,900 --> 00:22:30,200
As much as we thought your 
collection expands throughout 

418
00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:33,900
the 90s, you add home alone, 
which your kids insist on 

419
00:22:33,900 --> 00:22:37,900
watching approximately 4,000 
times you add the Santa Claus, 

420
00:22:37,900 --> 00:22:41,600
which your spouse find 
surprisingly moving, you add 

421
00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:45,400
elf, which comes a new family 
favorite despite being brand new

422
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:48,900
each film slots into your 
holiday routine claiming 

423
00:22:48,900 --> 00:22:52,900
specific nights and specific 
Traditions, you develop opinions

424
00:22:52,900 --> 00:22:56,500
about these films, you have a 
ranking system Die. 

425
00:22:56,500 --> 00:22:59,900
Hard is absolutely a Christmas 
movie and you'll fight anyone 

426
00:22:59,900 --> 00:23:03,300
who disagrees. 
The Polar Express is visually 

427
00:23:03,300 --> 00:23:05,700
stunning but somehow emotionally
Halo. 

428
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:10,200
Christmas Carol works. 
Best in the 1951 version though,

429
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:14,200
the George C, Scott. 
Version from 1984 is also 

430
00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,700
acceptable. 
These opinions feel important 

431
00:23:16,700 --> 00:23:19,100
though. 
You recognize their ultimately 

432
00:23:19,100 --> 00:23:23,000
just preferences just the way, 
your particular brain organizes,

433
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:26,400
its relationship to seasonal 
entertainment, your hosting 

434
00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,900
Christmas at your house for the 
first time in December, 1997, 

435
00:23:29,900 --> 00:23:33,400
and you're stressed about 
everything the dinner, the 

436
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:35,600
gifts, the cleaning and the 
coordination. 

437
00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:39,300
Your extended family is arriving
tomorrow and you're worried the 

438
00:23:39,300 --> 00:23:41,600
house isn't ready, the food 
won't be good enough. 

439
00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:45,200
And something will go wrong at 
9:00 at night physically, 

440
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:49,100
exhausted and emotionally frayed
you turn on the television to 

441
00:23:49,100 --> 00:23:52,300
find that TNT is running. 
A 24-hour marathon of A 

442
00:23:52,300 --> 00:23:56,300
Christmas Story, the same film 
played on Loop, starting on 

443
00:23:56,300 --> 00:23:59,200
Christmas Eve and continuing 
through Christmas Day. 

444
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:04,300
This seems absurd who wants to 
watch the same movie 24 times. 

445
00:24:04,300 --> 00:24:07,800
Except you discover that Having 
it on in the background is 

446
00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:10,400
incredibly comforting you know 
this film. 

447
00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,700
So well that you don't need to 
actually watch it. 

448
00:24:13,500 --> 00:24:16,600
You can listen while wrapping 
presents glance up during your 

449
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:20,000
favorite scenes and ignore it 
completely while doing other 

450
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,500
tasks. 
It's not demanding, your 

451
00:24:22,500 --> 00:24:26,600
attention so much as providing 
ambient Comfort like a fire 

452
00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,100
crackling in the background or 
familiar music playing while you

453
00:24:30,100 --> 00:24:32,900
work. 
Your family arrives, the next 

454
00:24:32,900 --> 00:24:36,400
day and the marathon is still 
running your brother-in-law. 

455
00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:39,400
Settles on the couch and watches
for 20 minutes before heading to

456
00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,200
the kitchen. 
Your mother sits down during the

457
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:44,900
Chinese restaurant scene and 
stays through the end. 

458
00:24:44,900 --> 00:24:49,800
Even though she's seen this film
dozens of time your children run

459
00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,900
in and out catching fragments of
scenes shouting. 

460
00:24:52,900 --> 00:24:56,400
Favorite lines as they passed 
through the marathon, becomes a 

461
00:24:56,408 --> 00:24:59,300
presence in your house 
throughout the day, something 

462
00:24:59,300 --> 00:25:01,000
reliable. 
That was always there when you 

463
00:25:01,008 --> 00:25:05,200
want it, that doesn't require 
any decisions or attention that 

464
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,500
simply exists as a pleasant 
constant. 

465
00:25:07,500 --> 00:25:10,400
You catch it at different points
throughout Christmas Day. 

466
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,600
Each time you sit down your 
entering at a different spot in 

467
00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:16,600
the story, creating new rivers 
and New Perspectives. 

468
00:25:17,700 --> 00:25:21,000
Starting from the middle, makes 
the familiar strange watching. 

469
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,300
Only the ending, makes you 
notice things you've lost over 

470
00:25:23,300 --> 00:25:25,800
before? 
This is the marathons 

471
00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:28,800
Innovation. 
It transforms a film from a 

472
00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,300
discrete experience into an 
ambient environment. 

473
00:25:31,300 --> 00:25:34,600
You're not watching so much. 
As dwelling with the story, 

474
00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:37,300
letting it become part of the 
texture of your day. 

475
00:25:38,300 --> 00:25:42,200
Film loses its beginning, and 
end becoming instead a 

476
00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:46,700
continuous loop a permanent 
present tense by the 2000s 

477
00:25:46,700 --> 00:25:49,300
marathons had become standard 
holiday programming. 

478
00:25:50,100 --> 00:25:54,800
ABC family runs The 25 Days of 
Christmas playing holiday films,

479
00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:58,600
constantly throughout December. 
Other networks compete with 

480
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,500
their own counter programming. 
You can turn on your television,

481
00:26:01,500 --> 00:26:04,400
any evening in December, and 
find something seasonal, playing

482
00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:08,100
somewhere, you develop new 
habits, you put on elf, while 

483
00:26:08,100 --> 00:26:13,000
decorating the tree, you played 
the Santa Claus on presence, you

484
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,200
background National Lampoon's 
Christmas Vacation while 

485
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,400
addressing cards. 
The films become less like 

486
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,700
entertainment and more like 
ambient environment, like 

487
00:26:22,700 --> 00:26:25,700
seasonal music that creates mood
without demanding Focus. 

488
00:26:25,700 --> 00:26:29,400
Your children are teenagers now 
to cool for obvious, Christmas 

489
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:32,900
enthusiasm, but even they paused
when passing through the living 

490
00:26:32,900 --> 00:26:36,500
room during Home Alone, They 
don't sit down that would be 

491
00:26:36,500 --> 00:26:40,000
admitting interest, but they 
hover in doorways watching 

492
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,100
scenes. 
They've memorized laughing at 

493
00:26:43,100 --> 00:26:46,400
jokes, they know are coming. 
The films are embedded so deeply

494
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,200
in your families, shared culture
that they've become almost 

495
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,200
involuntary. 
You realize that these repeated 

496
00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,100
viewings of created something 
like muscle memory for stories. 

497
00:26:55,100 --> 00:26:57,800
You don't think about A 
Christmas Story the way you 

498
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,600
think about films, you've only 
seen once instead it exists in 

499
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:03,900
your brain. 
The way childhood memories exist

500
00:27:03,900 --> 00:27:08,200
not as conscious recollection, 
but as deep knowledge as 

501
00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:12,300
fundamental, understanding as 
pieces of your self, he'll 

502
00:27:12,300 --> 00:27:16,100
standing in Best Buy in December
2001 and you're making a 

503
00:27:16,100 --> 00:27:18,300
decision, that feels more 
significant than it probably 

504
00:27:18,300 --> 00:27:23,800
should DVD or VHS. 
Your old VHS copies of Christmas

505
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:25,500
movies are wearing out from 
repeated. 

506
00:27:25,500 --> 00:27:28,100
Use the tracking is getting 
worse. 

507
00:27:28,900 --> 00:27:32,000
The picture quality is 
degrading, it's time to upgrade 

508
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:36,900
but to what DVDs are newer 
shinier and supposedly better. 

509
00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,400
Picture quality is dramatically 
improved, no more, tracking 

510
00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,200
issues, no more decoration from 
repeated playing but there are 

511
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:47,900
so more expensive and you'd have
to replace your entire 

512
00:27:47,900 --> 00:27:50,700
collection. 
Your spouse suggests just 

513
00:27:50,700 --> 00:27:53,800
relying your top five favorite 
films and streaming or renting 

514
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:57,400
the rest this seems reasonable 
but also slightly heartbreaking,

515
00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:01,100
your VHS collection represents 
Decades of accumulated 

516
00:28:01,100 --> 00:28:04,400
tradition. 
You compromised by buying DVD 

517
00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:07,700
copies of the films you watch 
every year and keeping the VHS 

518
00:28:07,700 --> 00:28:11,000
versions of everything else. 
This turns out to be wise 

519
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:15,400
because within three years VHS 
is effectively dead video 

520
00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:17,100
stores. 
Stop carrying new releases on 

521
00:28:17,100 --> 00:28:20,200
tape, electronic stores. 
Stop selling VCRs. 

522
00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:24,200
Your old tapes become artifacts 
objects from a previous 

523
00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:29,200
technological era, the DVD era, 
introduces something new special

524
00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:32,500
features. 
Your copy of its Wonderful Life 

525
00:28:32,500 --> 00:28:34,800
include commentary by Frank 
Capra Jr. 

526
00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:39,400
Behind the scenes documentaries,
deleted scenes and alternate 

527
00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:41,800
endings. 
You watch these extras with 

528
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:45,300
genuine Fascination learning how
the snow is made from fire 

529
00:28:45,300 --> 00:28:48,300
extinguisher foam. 
How the film fell into public 

530
00:28:48,300 --> 00:28:52,000
domain by accident, and how it 
became a Christmas classic only,

531
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:56,100
after Decades of obscurity, 
these special features change 

532
00:28:56,100 --> 00:28:57,500
your relationship with the 
films. 

533
00:28:57,500 --> 00:28:59,500
You're not just watching stories
anymore. 

534
00:28:59,500 --> 00:29:03,100
You're learning craft 
understanding technique and 

535
00:29:03,100 --> 00:29:06,100
seeing behind the curtain. 
Some of the magic diminishes, 

536
00:29:06,100 --> 00:29:09,000
but it's replaced by 
appreciation for the Artistry 

537
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:11,800
involved. 
You notice editing choices, 

538
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:15,900
you'd never notice before you 
recognize the skill, required to

539
00:29:15,900 --> 00:29:19,100
make something look effortless 
by 2005. 

540
00:29:19,100 --> 00:29:22,800
You could carry thousands of 
songs on an iPod smaller than a 

541
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:25,300
deck of cards. 
And the implications for video 

542
00:29:25,300 --> 00:29:28,400
were obvious. 
Services like Netflix or mailing

543
00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:32,500
DVDs to subscribers eliminating,
the need to drive to rental 

544
00:29:32,500 --> 00:29:35,500
stores. 
Your children now in the teens 

545
00:29:35,500 --> 00:29:39,600
think physical media is quaint, 
they stream music on line and 

546
00:29:39,608 --> 00:29:43,500
can't imagine actually buying 
CDs or tapes you try to explain 

547
00:29:43,500 --> 00:29:47,000
that owning physical media meant
something you had a relationship

548
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:51,500
with the object itself, not just
the content, the weight of a DVD

549
00:29:51,500 --> 00:29:53,600
case in your hands. 
The sound of it. 

550
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,800
Clicking Open The Act of 
handling the disc and placing it

551
00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:00,100
carefully in the player. 
Your kids stare at you like your

552
00:30:00,100 --> 00:30:02,700
describing ancient history to 
them. 

553
00:30:02,700 --> 00:30:06,400
Entertainment has always been 
invisible accessible through 

554
00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:09,900
invisible networks, existing 
nowhere and everywhere 

555
00:30:09,900 --> 00:30:13,900
simultaneously. 
Blu-ray arrives in 2006. 

556
00:30:13,900 --> 00:30:18,100
Promising even better quality, 
but your tired of upgrading your

557
00:30:18,100 --> 00:30:19,500
DVD. 
Collection is fine. 

558
00:30:19,500 --> 00:30:22,700
It works. 
You don't need to see Rudolph. 

559
00:30:22,700 --> 00:30:26,100
The Red-Nosed Reindeer in high 
definition, the whole charm is 

560
00:30:26,100 --> 00:30:29,100
its deliberately low-tech 
animation, it's handmade 

561
00:30:29,100 --> 00:30:31,600
quality. 
Making it sharper. 

562
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:35,500
Would somehow make it worse. 
You're in your late 50s now, and

563
00:30:35,500 --> 00:30:37,900
your relationship with Christmas
movies has evolved into 

564
00:30:37,900 --> 00:30:40,300
something like friendship with 
very old friends. 

565
00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:43,700
You know, these films. 
So intimately that you could 

566
00:30:43,700 --> 00:30:45,700
probably reconstruct them from 
memory. 

567
00:30:45,700 --> 00:30:49,100
If you had to, you know, every 
line, Every Beat every moment, 

568
00:30:49,100 --> 00:30:52,000
they're not surprising anymore, 
but surprise, isn't what you 

569
00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:56,300
want, you want comfort, you want
familiarity, you want the 

570
00:30:56,300 --> 00:30:59,400
specific pleasure of knowing 
exactly what comes next. 

571
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:03,200
You'll scrolling through Netflix
in December 2014. 

572
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,300
And the sheer abundance is 
overwhelming. 

573
00:31:06,300 --> 00:31:10,600
There are dozens of Christmas 
movies, available instantly, old

574
00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:14,300
classics, recent releases films.
You've never heard of 

575
00:31:14,300 --> 00:31:17,100
international Productions and 
low budget. 

576
00:31:17,100 --> 00:31:20,700
Director streaming offerings. 
That look charmingly terrible. 

577
00:31:20,700 --> 00:31:25,100
You can watch anything anytime 
as many times as you want. 

578
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,200
This should feel liberating but 
instead it feels paralyzing. 

579
00:31:30,100 --> 00:31:34,100
When you had a shelf of 15 
Christmas VHS tapes, choosing 

580
00:31:34,100 --> 00:31:37,600
what to watch was easy, you 
picked from what you owned now, 

581
00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,800
the options are functionally 
infinite and making a choice 

582
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:44,300
requires sorting through dozens 
of possibilities reading 

583
00:31:44,300 --> 00:31:48,000
descriptions, checking ratings, 
and debating with family 

584
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:49,200
members. 
Who each have different 

585
00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:52,000
preferences. 
You realize that limitations are

586
00:31:52,008 --> 00:31:55,300
actually helpful, Scarcity, 
created value. 

587
00:31:55,300 --> 00:31:58,100
When you could only watch a 
Christmas story once a year 

588
00:31:58,108 --> 00:32:01,500
during its television broadcast,
that viewing felt special. 

589
00:32:01,500 --> 00:32:04,700
Now you can watch it whenever 
you want and while that's 

590
00:32:04,700 --> 00:32:07,300
convenient it's somehow less 
meaningful. 

591
00:32:08,100 --> 00:32:11,500
The anticipation is gone. 
The specialness has been 

592
00:32:11,508 --> 00:32:16,200
replaced by availability. 
Still streaming has undeniable 

593
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:20,000
advantages, your daughter home 
from college wants to watch the 

594
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,800
holiday because it reminds her 
of studying abroad. 

595
00:32:23,500 --> 00:32:27,000
Your son wants screwed because 
he's in a Bill Murray phase. 

596
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,100
Your spouse wants Love. 
Actually because they're feeling

597
00:32:30,108 --> 00:32:33,400
nostalgic on Netflix. 
You can watch all three across 

598
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:36,000
different evenings without 
driving to a store, or waiting 

599
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:39,600
for mail delivery or checking 
broadcast schedule's The 

600
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:42,800
streaming era also, introduces 
algorithm driven recommendations

601
00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:46,600
Netflix suggests Christmas 
movies based on what you've 

602
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:49,600
watched before. 
Some recommendations are 

603
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:52,400
spot-on. 
You enjoy Claus immensely and 

604
00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:55,200
wouldn't have found it 
otherwise, some of baffling. 

605
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:58,100
Why does Netflix think you want 
to watch a Christmas movie about

606
00:32:58,100 --> 00:33:00,200
a prince swapping, places with a
commoner? 

607
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,900
Yum. 
You watch it anyway, and it's 

608
00:33:02,900 --> 00:33:05,600
exactly as formulaic and 
comforting as you expect. 

609
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:09,100
You notice that streaming 
services are producing their own

610
00:33:09,100 --> 00:33:11,800
Christmas movies. 
Churning them out at an 

611
00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:15,700
industrial scale, Netflix 
releases, something like 40 new 

612
00:33:15,700 --> 00:33:20,900
Christmas films in 2022 alone. 
Most of formulaic a successful 

613
00:33:20,900 --> 00:33:24,700
woman returns to a small town. 
Reunites with her high school 

614
00:33:24,700 --> 00:33:27,700
sweetheart and rediscovers. 
The meaning of Christmas. 

615
00:33:28,900 --> 00:33:32,400
The acting is adequate. 
The production values are decent

616
00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:36,000
their design to be pleasant. 
Background noise, mildly 

617
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:39,200
engaging, but not demanding and 
comforting in their 

618
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:41,900
predictability. 
You watch several of these new 

619
00:33:41,900 --> 00:33:44,400
films and realized, their 
deliberately engineered to be 

620
00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:46,400
forgettable. 
They're not trying to become 

621
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:48,500
Classic's. 
They're trying to fill 

622
00:33:48,500 --> 00:33:51,500
programming hours to give 
subscribers something seasonal 

623
00:33:51,500 --> 00:33:54,800
to stream and to keep people 
subscribed through the holidays,

624
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:59,000
some charming to despite 
themselves happier season deals 

625
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:01,300
with coming out during the 
holidays, with unexpected 

626
00:34:01,300 --> 00:34:04,600
sensitivity. 
Most disappear from your memory 

627
00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:07,700
within hours of watching them. 
Your relationship with Christmas

628
00:34:07,700 --> 00:34:09,900
movies fragments across 
platforms. 

629
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:12,300
It's a Wonderful Life is on. 
Amazon. 

630
00:34:12,300 --> 00:34:18,100
Prime elf is on HBO, Max Home 
Alone, migrates between Services

631
00:34:18,100 --> 00:34:20,000
depending on licensing 
agreements. 

632
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:23,699
You maintain subscriptions to 
multiple platforms, partly. 

633
00:34:23,699 --> 00:34:26,500
Just to ensure you can access 
your traditional Christmas films

634
00:34:26,500 --> 00:34:28,900
when you want them. 
This seems absurd. 

635
00:34:28,900 --> 00:34:31,699
You're paying monthly fees to 
watch the same movies, you used 

636
00:34:31,699 --> 00:34:35,400
to own outright on DVD, but the 
convenience outweighs, the 

637
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:37,900
absurdity, you're in your late 
60s. 

638
00:34:37,900 --> 00:34:41,300
Now, Christmas 2024 and you're 
watching a Christmas story for 

639
00:34:41,300 --> 00:34:44,800
perhaps the hundredth time. 
You've seen this film so many 

640
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:48,000
times that you're not really 
watching the screen, you're 

641
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:49,900
watching the memories that 
accompany each scene. 

642
00:34:49,900 --> 00:34:52,500
You remember what watching this 
with your young children? 

643
00:34:52,500 --> 00:34:55,300
Their faces lit by television 
glow. 

644
00:34:55,300 --> 00:34:58,300
Remember, watching it with your 
elderly parents, before they 

645
00:34:58,300 --> 00:35:00,900
passed. 
You remember watching it alone 

646
00:35:00,900 --> 00:35:03,300
during difficult Christmases. 
When you needed something, 

647
00:35:03,300 --> 00:35:07,500
reliable The film hasn't 
changed, but everything else has

648
00:35:07,500 --> 00:35:11,000
your children are middle-aged 
with their own children, your 

649
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:14,200
spouse moves more slowly and 
complains about arthritis during

650
00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:17,100
cold weather. 
Your house feels too big for 

651
00:35:17,100 --> 00:35:20,400
just the two of you. 
For 90 minutes your back in 

652
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:24,100
every previous viewing. 
Experiencing all the Christmases

653
00:35:24,100 --> 00:35:27,900
simultaneously, the past layered
onto the present, like 

654
00:35:27,900 --> 00:35:31,400
translucent sheets of film. 
This is what Christmas movies 

655
00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:33,800
have become for you time 
machines. 

656
00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:37,400
That transport you not to the 
stories periods, but to your own

657
00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:40,300
history. 
When Ralphie gets his BB gun, 

658
00:35:40,300 --> 00:35:43,600
your simultaneously seeing the 
film and remembering your own 

659
00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:46,000
childhood, Christmases, and your
children, Christmases. 

660
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:49,100
And the first time you watch 
this film and the 50th time and 

661
00:35:49,100 --> 00:35:52,100
all the times in between your 
grandchildren, visit for the 

662
00:35:52,108 --> 00:35:55,400
holidays and you put on elf 
because you remember how much 

663
00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:58,100
your kids loved it. 
Your grandchildren are barely 

664
00:35:58,100 --> 00:36:00,700
interested. 
They've grown up with infinite 

665
00:36:00,700 --> 00:36:04,500
entertainment options with 
YouTube and tiktok and streaming

666
00:36:04,500 --> 00:36:06,500
Services offering constant 
novelty. 

667
00:36:07,700 --> 00:36:09,400
Sitting still for a 90-minute 
film. 

668
00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:12,300
Feels difficult for them. 
They watching segments 

669
00:36:12,300 --> 00:36:15,200
interrupted by phone 
notifications and bathroom 

670
00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:17,700
breaks and sudden desires to do 
something else. 

671
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:21,600
You feel momentarily sad about 
this, this erosion of sustained 

672
00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:24,900
attention, but then you remember
that your own parents probably 

673
00:36:24,900 --> 00:36:27,500
felt the same way when you chose
Television over radio. 

674
00:36:28,300 --> 00:36:32,100
Every generation, develops, new 
relationships with media, your 

675
00:36:32,100 --> 00:36:34,700
grandchildren will have their 
own Comfort films, their own 

676
00:36:34,700 --> 00:36:37,100
traditions and their own ways of
marking the season. 

677
00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:39,600
They'll just look different from
yours. 

678
00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:42,400
You've noticed something 
interesting about your own 

679
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:45,600
viewing habits. 
You increase the films that 

680
00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:49,400
existed before you had the 
vocabulary to be critical of 

681
00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:52,400
them movies. 
You loved as a child or young 

682
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:55,800
adult before you learned about 
film Theory or narrative 

683
00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:58,700
structure or problematic 
elements Rudolph. 

684
00:36:58,700 --> 00:37:01,900
The Red-Nosed Reindeer has some 
genuinely concerning messages 

685
00:37:01,900 --> 00:37:05,300
about Conformity and different, 
but you can't watch it 

686
00:37:05,300 --> 00:37:08,500
critically because it's too 
embedded in your foundational 

687
00:37:08,500 --> 00:37:11,800
Christmas Memories. 
You love it despite its flaws or

688
00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:14,200
perhaps because of them. 
The floors are part of the 

689
00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:16,900
texture, part of what makes it 
specific and real. 

690
00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:20,500
Your spouse suggests trying, a 
new Christmas film, something 

691
00:37:20,500 --> 00:37:23,000
you've never seen before your 
resistant. 

692
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:26,700
You have limited Christmases 
left, statistically probably 

693
00:37:26,700 --> 00:37:30,200
fewer than 20 and you want to 
spend them with familiar friends

694
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:34,900
with stories, you know, and with
rituals that provide Comfort new

695
00:37:34,900 --> 00:37:38,700
films are a gamble, they might 
be good but they can't possibly 

696
00:37:38,700 --> 00:37:42,500
carry the accumulated weight of 
Decades of repeated viewing you 

697
00:37:42,500 --> 00:37:44,500
compromised by watching One new 
film. 

698
00:37:45,300 --> 00:37:49,100
Spirited on Apple TV, plus a 
musical reimagining of A 

699
00:37:49,100 --> 00:37:52,500
Christmas Carol with Ryan 
Reynolds and Will Ferrell, it's 

700
00:37:52,500 --> 00:37:56,000
clever and entertaining and 
well-made, you enjoy it 

701
00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:59,000
genuinely. 
But when it's over, you feel no 

702
00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:00,600
particular desire to watch it 
again. 

703
00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:03,000
Next year. 
It hasn't earned a place in your

704
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:07,300
rotation, maybe after 10, or 15 
viewing, it would feel 

705
00:38:07,300 --> 00:38:10,900
essential, but you don't have 10
or 15 years to invest in 

706
00:38:10,900 --> 00:38:12,600
building a relationship with a 
new film. 

707
00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:16,000
You're thinking about why 
certain films become Traditions.

708
00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:19,300
While others don't what makes 
It's a Wonderful Life. 

709
00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:23,200
A classic while dozens of other 
1940s Christmas films have been 

710
00:38:23,208 --> 00:38:26,500
forgotten. 
What elevated A Christmas Story 

711
00:38:26,500 --> 00:38:29,900
from a modest theatrical release
to a cultural phenomenon. 

712
00:38:29,900 --> 00:38:34,100
Why does elf endure while other 
comedies from the same era have 

713
00:38:34,100 --> 00:38:36,500
faded? 
Part of it is accessibility 

714
00:38:36,500 --> 00:38:39,900
films that were available on 
television or home video when 

715
00:38:39,900 --> 00:38:42,000
you were forming your Traditions
had advantages. 

716
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:45,700
Part of it is timing films. 
That arrived during formative 

717
00:38:45,700 --> 00:38:47,700
periods of your life. 
May deeper impressions. 

718
00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:52,600
Part of it is quality, genuinely
well-made films, have staying 

719
00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:55,100
power. 
That forget all ones don't but 

720
00:38:55,100 --> 00:38:58,100
mostly think it's about 
emotional resonance, the 

721
00:38:58,100 --> 00:39:00,900
Christmas films that endure are 
the ones that tap into something

722
00:39:00,900 --> 00:39:05,000
true about the holiday, not the 
Hallmark card version, but the 

723
00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:08,800
complicated reality, It's a 
Wonderful Life acknowledges that

724
00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:11,800
Christmas can be the season when
you feel most acutely aware of 

725
00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:13,400
your failures and 
disappointments. 

726
00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:17,600
Christmas Story captures, the 
way childhood desire. 

727
00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:21,600
Feels all consuming elf explores
what it means to maintain 

728
00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:23,600
childlike Wonder in a cynical 
world. 

729
00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:27,100
The films that become Traditions
are the ones that give you 

730
00:39:27,100 --> 00:39:28,600
language for your own 
experience. 

731
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:32,300
Is they help you understand your
own Feelings by reflecting them 

732
00:39:32,300 --> 00:39:35,600
back in slightly different 
contexts, they're not escaping 

733
00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:37,900
reality. 
They're providing tools for 

734
00:39:37,900 --> 00:39:41,500
processing reality, for finding 
meaning in ordinary life and for

735
00:39:41,500 --> 00:39:44,500
believing that connection and 
kindness and small gestures 

736
00:39:44,500 --> 00:39:47,300
matter. 
You're watching Miracle on 34th 

737
00:39:47,300 --> 00:39:51,200
Street with your spouse. 
The 1947 original version and 

738
00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:54,100
you're struck by how much of it 
is about the tension between 

739
00:39:54,100 --> 00:39:57,100
sinuses and Faith. 
Doris wants to protect her 

740
00:39:57,100 --> 00:39:59,600
daughter from disappointment by 
teaching her, not to believe in 

741
00:39:59,608 --> 00:40:02,500
anything. 
Kris Kringle represents not 

742
00:40:02,500 --> 00:40:06,300
childish delusion but the choice
to believe in goodness, despite 

743
00:40:06,300 --> 00:40:10,200
evidence to the contrary, the 
film's question, isn't where the

744
00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:13,100
Santa Claus is real? 
It's whether to believe in 

745
00:40:13,100 --> 00:40:16,000
something larger than yourself, 
makes you foolish or wise. 

746
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:20,500
This is why you return to these 
films year after year, they're 

747
00:40:20,500 --> 00:40:24,300
not just entertainment, they're 
philosophical arguments, ethical

748
00:40:24,300 --> 00:40:26,900
Frameworks and emotional guide, 
books. 

749
00:40:26,900 --> 00:40:30,400
They remind you how you want to 
live, what you want to value, 

750
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:33,600
and who you want to be. 
Scrooge is transformation. 

751
00:40:33,600 --> 00:40:36,900
Reminds you that it's never too 
late to change George. 

752
00:40:36,900 --> 00:40:39,600
Bailey's Revelation, reminds you
that ordinary life is 

753
00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:42,800
extraordinary. 
Charlie Brown's sad little tree 

754
00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:45,500
reminds you that what seems 
worthless to everyone else might

755
00:40:45,500 --> 00:40:49,000
be exactly what's needed? 
Your spouse falls asleep during 

756
00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:52,700
the film, they've seen it dozens
of times and at this age staying

757
00:40:52,700 --> 00:40:55,200
away through entire movies is 
increasingly difficult. 

758
00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:59,900
You let them sleep, their 
breathing slowly peacefully. 

759
00:40:59,900 --> 00:41:03,800
Their hand resting on your leg, 
the television flickers, in the 

760
00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:07,900
Darkness Kris Kringle is being 
declared insane but you know how

761
00:41:07,900 --> 00:41:10,200
it ends? 
You know, he'll be Vindicated, 

762
00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:14,100
you know, Doris will let her 
daughter believe, you know, the 

763
00:41:14,100 --> 00:41:16,700
little girl will get her house. 
You could turn off the 

764
00:41:16,700 --> 00:41:19,300
television. 
You've seen this seen countless 

765
00:41:19,300 --> 00:41:23,100
times, but you let it play to 
the end watching, Doris and Fred

766
00:41:23,100 --> 00:41:25,900
discover the house. 
Watching the cane propped, by 

767
00:41:25,900 --> 00:41:29,700
the fireplace and watching that 
final moment of possible magic, 

768
00:41:29,700 --> 00:41:34,300
the film ends, the credits roll,
you sit in the quiet, Darkness 

769
00:41:34,300 --> 00:41:37,000
not ready, yet to move, not 
ready yet to break the spell 

770
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:41,500
outside snow is falling. 
Actual snow, not movie, Snow, 

771
00:41:41,500 --> 00:41:45,200
not metaphorical snow, but real 
Frozen precipitation 

772
00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:49,000
accumulating on your lawn. 
Tomorrow you'll need to shovel 

773
00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:50,900
tomorrow. 
There will be shopping and 

774
00:41:50,900 --> 00:41:54,400
cooking and family obligations 
tomorrow, you'll remember that 

775
00:41:54,400 --> 00:41:57,500
your old and tired and that 
Christmas is as much work as 

776
00:41:57,500 --> 00:42:00,400
pleasure. 
But tonight, in this moment, 

777
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:04,200
your grateful grateful for 
stories that have accompanied 

778
00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:07,900
you through decades grateful for
the Strange, Magic of moving 

779
00:42:07,900 --> 00:42:09,800
images that can make you feel 
less alone. 

780
00:42:10,600 --> 00:42:13,800
Grateful for the tradition of 
returning again and again, to 

781
00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:16,100
narratives that help you 
understand your own life. 

782
00:42:16,900 --> 00:42:19,600
The house is warm. 
Your spouse is sleeping 

783
00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:22,100
peacefully. 
Beside you The Christmas tree 

784
00:42:22,100 --> 00:42:23,400
lights are still on in the 
corner. 

785
00:42:23,400 --> 00:42:27,100
Casting colored Shadows across 
the ceiling on television. 

786
00:42:27,100 --> 00:42:30,500
Another Christmas movie is 
starting you recognize the 

787
00:42:30,500 --> 00:42:32,000
opening music of White 
Christmas. 

788
00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:35,500
You settle deeper into the 
couch, you pull the blanket 

789
00:42:35,500 --> 00:42:39,600
higher, Close your eyes, not 
quite sleeping but not quite 

790
00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:42,600
awake drifting in that 
comfortable, space between 

791
00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:45,800
awareness and dreaming. 
This is what Christmas movies of

792
00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:49,700
new not escape from reality. 
But a way of dwelling with 

793
00:42:49,700 --> 00:42:52,600
reality, that makes it bearable 
even beautiful. 

794
00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:57,200
Not lies about how life should 
be but stories about finding 

795
00:42:57,200 --> 00:43:00,500
meaning and how life actually is
not the promise that everything 

796
00:43:00,500 --> 00:43:03,200
will work out. 
But the suggestion that trying 

797
00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:06,000
to make things work out is 
itself worthwhile. 

798
00:43:06,900 --> 00:43:11,700
Film plays on snow continues 
falling outside you're here. 

799
00:43:11,708 --> 00:43:16,300
Now, in this exact moment, old 
and young simultaneously, 

800
00:43:16,300 --> 00:43:20,500
remembering and experiencing 
alone and connected to everyone 

801
00:43:20,500 --> 00:43:23,800
who has ever found comfort in a 
story during the darkest part of

802
00:43:23,808 --> 00:43:28,400
the year and tomorrow, or next 
week or next year, you'll return

803
00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:30,700
to these films. 
Again, you'll press play on 

804
00:43:30,700 --> 00:43:34,100
familiar stories, you'll settle 
into well-worn Comfort. 

805
00:43:34,100 --> 00:43:37,300
You'll remember all the other 
times you've done this and 

806
00:43:37,300 --> 00:43:39,400
you'll create new memories to 
add to the collection. 

807
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:44,700
The traditional continue as 
Traditions, do carrying forward 

808
00:43:44,700 --> 00:43:48,000
into an uncertain future. 
The simple, human, pleasure of 

809
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:52,000
returning, to what we know what 
we love and what makes us feel, 

810
00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:54,700
however, briefly at home in the 
world. 

811
00:43:58,200 --> 00:44:01,800
In the year, 742 CE the 
prosperous city, state of 

812
00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:05,700
Corazon, glittered under the 
Noonday Sun, a Nexus for Caravan

813
00:44:05,700 --> 00:44:09,600
routes feeding distant Empires 
and thrived on the exchange of 

814
00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:13,700
saffron, silk star, charts and 
rumors whispered behind curtain.

815
00:44:13,700 --> 00:44:17,700
Delco's At its Center loomed 
Grand Marketplace, whose vaulted

816
00:44:17,700 --> 00:44:19,900
roof trapped. 
The daily bustle in a ceaseless.

817
00:44:19,900 --> 00:44:26,400
Echo Traders from the entire Is 
antium Tang China, the Abbasid 

818
00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:30,300
caliphate, and Beyond, mingled 
among stalls, stacked high with 

819
00:44:30,300 --> 00:44:35,500
lapis, lazuli, dried fruit, and 
perfumed Sandalwood some hailed.

820
00:44:35,500 --> 00:44:39,000
It as a Marvel of Cosmopolitan 
life where fortunes might pivot 

821
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:42,700
in a single conversation. 
Among the people navigating, the

822
00:44:42,700 --> 00:44:46,800
throng was Korea bint yazed, a 
traveling scholar, whose lineage

823
00:44:46,800 --> 00:44:50,100
traced back to the once renowned
zoroastrian Priests of Persia. 

824
00:44:50,900 --> 00:44:54,000
Her face betrayed concentration.
As she studied hieroglyphic 

825
00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:58,000
notation in a weathered scroll. 
Unmarried and unconcerned with 

826
00:44:58,008 --> 00:45:00,000
the expectations. 
Placed upon a woman of her 

827
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:02,800
station, she had roamed from one
end of the Silk Road to the 

828
00:45:02,808 --> 00:45:04,600
other piece and together 
knowledge. 

829
00:45:04,600 --> 00:45:08,200
That seldom found its way into 
the official annals The swirl of

830
00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:11,500
corazon's Commerce did not 
distract her, she focused on a 

831
00:45:11,500 --> 00:45:14,300
lead, suggesting that rare 
manuscripts, had surfaced in a 

832
00:45:14,300 --> 00:45:17,200
private collection near the 
city's Eastern quarter. this 

833
00:45:17,200 --> 00:45:20,600
rumor if proven, true could 
illuminate corners of History, 

834
00:45:20,600 --> 00:45:24,300
barely glimpsed by modern 
Scholars, Korea pressed deeper 

835
00:45:24,300 --> 00:45:27,300
into elaborate of narrow Lanes. 
Behind the fourth main Bazaar 

836
00:45:27,300 --> 00:45:30,100
Guided by coded map etched into 
her memory. 

837
00:45:30,100 --> 00:45:34,200
Eager boys, offered to carry her
satchels for a coin and watchful

838
00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:37,200
guards in brass trimmed uniforms
each passerby. 

839
00:45:37,900 --> 00:45:41,300
She brushed off all the offers 
of help too many Watchers too 

840
00:45:41,300 --> 00:45:44,200
many years at last. 
She arrived at a courtyard 

841
00:45:44,200 --> 00:45:45,500
hidden behind a plain wooden 
door. 

842
00:45:45,500 --> 00:45:47,900
Its walls were plastered and 
cream white. 

843
00:45:47,900 --> 00:45:51,700
While Vines spiraled up lattices
under a hazy afternoon sky, 

844
00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:55,700
Within that secluded Enclave. 
Stood an elderly bibliophile 

845
00:45:55,700 --> 00:45:59,500
named kazem altalib his hands, 
trembling under the burden of a 

846
00:45:59,500 --> 00:46:02,800
Slender volume down in jade 
green leather, their meeting was

847
00:46:02,800 --> 00:46:05,400
brief career. 
Offered him carefully wrapped 

848
00:46:05,400 --> 00:46:09,200
objects fragments of ancient 
mathematics, tablets and covered

849
00:46:09,200 --> 00:46:13,200
near Sama canned and in exchange
relinquished, the Jade bound 

850
00:46:13,200 --> 00:46:17,100
text. he warned her that certain
circles would stop at nothing to

851
00:46:17,100 --> 00:46:20,100
keep these Pages hidden for they
revealed knowledge rumored to 

852
00:46:20,108 --> 00:46:23,800
disrupt any Empire reliant on 
controlling scholarship She 

853
00:46:23,800 --> 00:46:26,800
nodded Gravely accustomed to the
Shadows that dogged rare 

854
00:46:26,800 --> 00:46:29,600
manuscripts. 
Across the years, she had 

855
00:46:29,600 --> 00:46:33,200
learned that truth took many 
forms each requiring, a subtle 

856
00:46:33,200 --> 00:46:35,700
approach to keep it from 
Vanishing under official 

857
00:46:35,700 --> 00:46:39,100
censure. 
Emerging, once again, into the 

858
00:46:39,108 --> 00:46:42,100
main Bazaar, Korea carefully 
hid, the new acquisition beneath

859
00:46:42,100 --> 00:46:44,800
her traveling cloak. 
She knew better than to linger 

860
00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:48,300
Horizons seeming, tolerance of 
foreign ideas, could transform 

861
00:46:48,300 --> 00:46:52,200
abruptly of power, shifted 
memory of burns, Scrolls and 

862
00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:55,600
harassed scribes in other 
dominions, haunted her, fueling 

863
00:46:55,600 --> 00:46:58,200
her determination to preserve 
the text at any cost. 

864
00:46:58,200 --> 00:47:02,100
She arranged with a local 
Caravan heading Eastwood its 

865
00:47:02,100 --> 00:47:05,200
leader a woman named after soon 
who had a reputation for 

866
00:47:05,200 --> 00:47:09,700
outmaneuver Desert Bandits. 
Without Illusions carrier 

867
00:47:09,700 --> 00:47:12,300
recognize that partnering with 
such a skilled Merchants would 

868
00:47:12,300 --> 00:47:17,300
cost her yet safety for the Jade
bound book was Paramount. before

869
00:47:17,300 --> 00:47:20,400
the Caravan departed, Korea, 
paid her respects at a small 

870
00:47:20,408 --> 00:47:24,500
Shrine dedicated to wise men of 
antiquity A single Candle, 

871
00:47:24,500 --> 00:47:27,300
flickered by the altar, 
Illuminating offerings left. 

872
00:47:27,300 --> 00:47:30,600
By Travelers praying for Clear. 
Roads, and fair whether she 

873
00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:33,900
exhaled a silent oath that, she 
would not let ignorance, Devour 

874
00:47:33,900 --> 00:47:35,100
the precious knowledge in her 
care. 

875
00:47:35,800 --> 00:47:38,700
Beyond the city's Gates, lay an 
expanse of desert and studied 

876
00:47:38,700 --> 00:47:42,800
with dunes and by Fierce winds. 
But her route LED even father 

877
00:47:42,800 --> 00:47:46,100
along Mountain, Trails rumored 
to house, hidden monasteries and

878
00:47:46,100 --> 00:47:50,000
ephemeral Oasis towns. 
The Unstoppable pulse of 

879
00:47:50,008 --> 00:47:53,500
curiosity, drove her to press 
forward, regardless of perils 

880
00:47:53,500 --> 00:47:55,100
that might lurk in the next Bend
of the road. 

881
00:47:56,700 --> 00:47:59,700
Dawn arrived, painting the sky 
with ocher and salmon. 

882
00:47:59,700 --> 00:48:03,000
Hughes carrier joined up soon. 
And the other Travelers at the 

883
00:48:03,008 --> 00:48:06,400
designated meeting point where 
camel's braids and Donkey 

884
00:48:06,400 --> 00:48:08,800
drivers prepared, loads of 
barley and dried fruit. 

885
00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:12,800
The Caravan Synergy was 
immediately evident each person 

886
00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:16,300
had a distinct tasks in that. 
By the time, the sun fully 

887
00:48:16,300 --> 00:48:18,500
breached the Horizon, they were 
on the move. 

888
00:48:19,200 --> 00:48:22,300
Career walked near us soon, who 
shared glimpses of the terrain 

889
00:48:22,300 --> 00:48:25,700
ahead and introduced carrier to 
the Caravans unspoken rules 

890
00:48:25,700 --> 00:48:29,800
trust the signals ration, water 
meticulously, and never 

891
00:48:29,800 --> 00:48:31,600
questioned. 
The necessity of midnight halts.

892
00:48:32,500 --> 00:48:35,400
In these borderless regions, 
vigilance was currently. 

893
00:48:36,300 --> 00:48:39,300
With the sun mounting, the 
Caravan snaked through a parched

894
00:48:39,300 --> 00:48:42,300
plane dotted by Twiztid. 
Shrubs a hush fell over them. 

895
00:48:42,300 --> 00:48:44,800
Broken only by the soft 
shuffling of hooves and the 

896
00:48:44,808 --> 00:48:46,600
gentle clink of metal 
fastenings. 

897
00:48:46,600 --> 00:48:50,700
Korea's thoughts drifted to the 
Codex, inside her bag, she had 

898
00:48:50,700 --> 00:48:54,100
only glimpsed, a few pages thus 
far intricate, diagrams of 

899
00:48:54,100 --> 00:48:57,100
planetary movement. 
Cryptic references to ancient 

900
00:48:57,100 --> 00:49:00,400
empire that proceeded the 
cabinets and footnotes scrolled 

901
00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:03,700
in an unfamiliar script. 
If accurate these writings 

902
00:49:03,700 --> 00:49:07,300
expanded the known timeline of 
advanced astronomy by centuries,

903
00:49:08,200 --> 00:49:11,200
She resolved to study every 
page, once the Caravan reached a

904
00:49:11,200 --> 00:49:14,200
safe haven. 
Of soon, signaled, a halt near a

905
00:49:14,200 --> 00:49:16,800
cluster of sunk scorched, 
Boulders granting the group 

906
00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:18,600
respite from the crushing midday
Heat. 

907
00:49:19,300 --> 00:49:22,800
While some dosed in makeshift 
shade, Korea took cautious sips,

908
00:49:22,800 --> 00:49:25,900
from her water skin, feeling the
dryness cling to her throat, 

909
00:49:25,900 --> 00:49:29,300
arrest listlessness stirred, 
within her equal parts, 

910
00:49:29,300 --> 00:49:33,500
excitement and anxiety. 
She replied Chasm, Al talibi 

911
00:49:33,500 --> 00:49:36,900
warning. powerful figures had an
interest in ensuring no 

912
00:49:36,900 --> 00:49:40,600
undeciphered the text for them 
knowledge was a finite resource 

913
00:49:40,600 --> 00:49:45,200
Best Kept under strict watch As 
a swirl of wind kicked sand 

914
00:49:45,200 --> 00:49:46,900
across her path, carrier 
gripped. 

915
00:49:46,900 --> 00:49:50,400
Her Satchel silently vowing. 
She would not be silenced by 

916
00:49:50,400 --> 00:49:52,400
Twilight. 
The Caravan approached, a modest

917
00:49:52,400 --> 00:49:55,900
Oasis lined with date palms that
cast Long Shadows across 

918
00:49:55,900 --> 00:49:59,100
Stillwater. 
Soon, guided her camels into a 

919
00:49:59,100 --> 00:50:01,300
semi-circle forming. 
A protective barrier against 

920
00:50:01,300 --> 00:50:04,000
stray Wanderers. 
Several Travelers set about 

921
00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:07,200
erecting tents While others 
gathered wood for small fires, 

922
00:50:07,200 --> 00:50:08,800
that would ward off the chill of
desert night. 

923
00:50:09,600 --> 00:50:12,800
Career found herself drawn to 
the Waters Edge, were subdued 

924
00:50:12,800 --> 00:50:16,400
conversation, Rose Among weary 
Merchants some speculated about 

925
00:50:16,400 --> 00:50:19,300
the political tensions, brewing 
in distant courts others 

926
00:50:19,300 --> 00:50:20,900
lamented the rising cost of 
salt. 

927
00:50:21,700 --> 00:50:24,900
As Darkness settled, the Oasis 
took on another worldly. 

928
00:50:24,900 --> 00:50:28,800
Hush a crescent moon glimmered 
overhead, Illuminating faint, 

929
00:50:28,800 --> 00:50:32,100
outlines of crumbling Stone 
pillars suggesting an abandoned 

930
00:50:32,100 --> 00:50:36,300
settlement from a forgotten era.
Under that quiet Vault of stars,

931
00:50:36,300 --> 00:50:39,800
Korea, couldn't resist scanning 
a few more pages of the Jade 

932
00:50:39,800 --> 00:50:43,000
bound manuscript. 
It's text merged empirical 

933
00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:45,800
observations with philosophical 
notes, referencing the grand 

934
00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:48,800
Wheel of Time. 
She recognized a bleak 

935
00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:51,700
references to astronomical 
systems older than the widely 

936
00:50:51,700 --> 00:50:55,100
recognized ptolemaic model. 
If deciphered fully such 

937
00:50:55,100 --> 00:50:57,900
knowledge, might challenge many 
assumptions cherished by a 

938
00:50:57,900 --> 00:51:00,600
steamed academies. 
Meanwhile, as soon stepped away 

939
00:51:00,600 --> 00:51:03,700
from the main group, beckoning 
Korea to join her near a 

940
00:51:03,700 --> 00:51:04,400
withered. 
Acacia. 

941
00:51:05,100 --> 00:51:07,800
You Stand Out, Among our 
company, the merchant remarked, 

942
00:51:07,800 --> 00:51:11,200
in a measured tone your eyes, 
never rest and you guard that 

943
00:51:11,200 --> 00:51:14,500
bag as if it carries, the soul 
of a king Carrier. 

944
00:51:14,500 --> 00:51:17,800
Wary of revealing too much 
offered that she was merely a 

945
00:51:17,800 --> 00:51:19,500
scholar in trusted with a rare 
item. 

946
00:51:20,500 --> 00:51:22,100
Have soon. 
Nodded but warned Korea that 

947
00:51:22,100 --> 00:51:24,500
roving spies seeking Advantage 
for rival. 

948
00:51:24,500 --> 00:51:28,900
Factions often infiltrated 
caravan's she suggested Korea 

949
00:51:28,900 --> 00:51:32,300
remain Vigilant, especially 
given the extraordinary bustling

950
00:51:32,300 --> 00:51:36,500
and Corazon where rumor traveled
like wildfire unable to sleep 

951
00:51:36,500 --> 00:51:38,100
career. 
Lingard by The Embers of the 

952
00:51:38,108 --> 00:51:39,800
fire. 
After most Travelers are dosed 

953
00:51:39,800 --> 00:51:41,700
off. 
She studied the swirling 

954
00:51:41,700 --> 00:51:44,600
patterns of the night sky, 
mindful of the coated star 

955
00:51:44,600 --> 00:51:48,100
charts in the manuscript. 
Passing Caravan sometimes 

956
00:51:48,100 --> 00:51:49,900
recounted Legends of a hidden 
library. 

957
00:51:49,900 --> 00:51:53,500
In the mountain city of varish, 
where lines of knowledge 

958
00:51:53,500 --> 00:51:55,600
stretched back to centuries 
unknown. 

959
00:51:56,600 --> 00:51:59,600
Carrier wondered if that Library
could fill the gaps in her text.

960
00:52:00,400 --> 00:52:02,900
she believed the Jade bound 
manuscript might be only a 

961
00:52:02,900 --> 00:52:06,200
fragment of a larger puzzle, 
Scattered across the Silk Road, 

962
00:52:06,200 --> 00:52:10,000
shifting tapestry, morning 
unveiled, a horizon brushed with

963
00:52:10,008 --> 00:52:13,400
Amber and the Caravan proceeded 
along a rocky escarpment, 

964
00:52:13,400 --> 00:52:17,300
overlooking a vast June field. 
Rolling slopes of sand, rippled 

965
00:52:17,300 --> 00:52:19,800
beneath the wind like the 
surface of a living sea. 

966
00:52:20,500 --> 00:52:24,300
At midday, they paused for Water
rationed by a soon with practice

967
00:52:24,300 --> 00:52:27,100
deficiency. 
Carrier noticed that one of the 

968
00:52:27,100 --> 00:52:30,900
other Travelers a soft-spoken, 
man named Malik carried a small 

969
00:52:30,900 --> 00:52:34,200
chest meticulously locked. 
He traveled with Perpetual 

970
00:52:34,200 --> 00:52:36,400
worried etched into his features
eyes. 

971
00:52:36,400 --> 00:52:39,100
Darting whenever talked turned 
to rumors of desert, Raiders 

972
00:52:39,100 --> 00:52:42,900
secret seemed to coil around 
each member of the assemblage as

973
00:52:42,900 --> 00:52:43,800
though. 
No one ventured. 

974
00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:47,300
These roads without hidden 
motives Late in the afternoon, 

975
00:52:47,300 --> 00:52:49,900
the Caravan encountered, a party
of Horsemen. 

976
00:52:49,900 --> 00:52:51,700
Flying. 
The banner of a minor warlord 

977
00:52:51,700 --> 00:52:53,200
rumored to be in League with the
Region's. 

978
00:52:53,200 --> 00:52:57,000
Most feared Bandit, clairs 
tension crackled through the 

979
00:52:57,000 --> 00:52:59,400
group as a soon halted. 
The Caravan waiting for the 

980
00:52:59,400 --> 00:53:02,300
Riders to approach. 
After a terse greeting, the 

981
00:53:02,300 --> 00:53:05,200
horsemen rode on apparently 
uninterested in Conflict. 

982
00:53:05,200 --> 00:53:09,500
But the encounter rattled 
everyone Career noticed as soon 

983
00:53:09,500 --> 00:53:11,400
as posture remained rigid with 
caution long. 

984
00:53:11,400 --> 00:53:14,700
After the Riders vanished, in a 
plume of dust, the merchant 

985
00:53:14,700 --> 00:53:17,800
murmured about changing their 
root seeking narrower Trails 

986
00:53:17,800 --> 00:53:19,000
less. 
Patrolled by predatory 

987
00:53:19,000 --> 00:53:22,900
Chieftains that evening brought 
them to a narrow Gorge its 

988
00:53:22,900 --> 00:53:24,200
walls. 
Towering on, either side in 

989
00:53:24,200 --> 00:53:27,300
Jagged ridges. 
As soon insisted they make camp 

990
00:53:27,300 --> 00:53:29,700
in a sheltered Alcove half 
hidden behind weathered boulders

991
00:53:30,600 --> 00:53:32,200
By the flicker of firelight 
career. 

992
00:53:32,200 --> 00:53:34,900
Finally delved into the central 
chapter of the manuscript 

993
00:53:34,900 --> 00:53:39,000
strange, symbols Park, Kunia 
form, part and known script 

994
00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:43,100
decorated the margins each sign 
a company by cryptic commentary.

995
00:53:43,100 --> 00:53:46,100
The text recounted a 
civilization that mapped 

996
00:53:46,100 --> 00:53:48,800
constellations in ways, 
contrasting, with every known 

997
00:53:48,800 --> 00:53:52,100
chart. 
Diagrammatic lines, implied, an 

998
00:53:52,100 --> 00:53:55,500
advanced geometry far exceeding,
the standard calculation of her 

999
00:53:55,500 --> 00:53:58,500
time. 
Just as Korea's pulse quickened,

1000
00:53:58,500 --> 00:54:01,500
at the Revelation, a cry, rang 
out near the edge of camp. 

1001
00:54:02,200 --> 00:54:03,500
She rushed towards the 
commotion. 

1002
00:54:03,500 --> 00:54:07,500
Heart pounding. 
Malik stood, trembling by his 

1003
00:54:07,500 --> 00:54:12,500
small chest which now lay open 
is contents missing Anguish 

1004
00:54:12,500 --> 00:54:15,200
colored his voice as he pleaded 
for help insisting. 

1005
00:54:15,200 --> 00:54:18,200
That something vital had been 
stolen a crucial letter from the

1006
00:54:18,200 --> 00:54:20,400
governor of Basra hidden within 
that chest. 

1007
00:54:20,400 --> 00:54:23,700
After soon assembled, the 
Caravan members demanding, an 

1008
00:54:23,700 --> 00:54:27,700
explanation, tempers flared 
suspicion circled and whispered 

1009
00:54:27,700 --> 00:54:29,600
accusations rippled through the 
group. 

1010
00:54:30,600 --> 00:54:32,600
Searching for Footprints beneath
Lantern light. 

1011
00:54:33,500 --> 00:54:36,300
They discovered evidence of at 
least two Intruders who had come

1012
00:54:36,300 --> 00:54:39,800
and gone Without a Trace. 
No sign indicated who among 

1013
00:54:39,800 --> 00:54:43,600
them, might be an accomplice 
theft underscored a soon's 

1014
00:54:43,600 --> 00:54:47,200
earlier warning in these 
transitory worlds, Secrets, 

1015
00:54:47,200 --> 00:54:50,000
attract cunning opportunists 
carrier gripped. 

1016
00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:53,000
Her manuscript more tightly 
wishing to vanish inside the 

1017
00:54:53,000 --> 00:54:56,400
Labyrinth of lines and symbols 
that promised an era unbounded 

1018
00:54:56,400 --> 00:54:59,300
by Petty intrigued. 
Yet, she remained anchored in 

1019
00:54:59,300 --> 00:55:02,800
the caravan's tense reality. 
The road ahead felt increasingly

1020
00:55:02,800 --> 00:55:05,900
perilous and the cost of 
preserving knowledge seemed set 

1021
00:55:05,900 --> 00:55:09,400
to rise the following Sunrise. 
Found the Caravan subdued. 

1022
00:55:09,400 --> 00:55:13,000
Each member wary of neighbors. 
Who might conceal hidden agendas

1023
00:55:13,700 --> 00:55:17,000
Assume LED them out of the Gorge
at a Brisk Pace, aiming to put 

1024
00:55:17,000 --> 00:55:19,400
distance between their group. 
And whoever had orchestrated, 

1025
00:55:19,400 --> 00:55:23,200
the nighttime theft, a pale wind
carried, the center of flint and

1026
00:55:23,200 --> 00:55:25,400
dust, stinging eyes and chopping
lips. 

1027
00:55:26,300 --> 00:55:29,400
Their root descended along a dry
riverbed flanked, by stunted 

1028
00:55:29,400 --> 00:55:33,000
Tamarisk, shrubs offering scant 
protection from the intensifying

1029
00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:37,400
son Korea trudged installed 
since silence mindful that trust

1030
00:55:37,400 --> 00:55:40,700
could be a luxury as midday Drew
near they spotted. 

1031
00:55:40,700 --> 00:55:43,400
The remnants of a caravan serai 
built against the side of a 

1032
00:55:43,400 --> 00:55:46,100
bluff. 
It's once sturdy walls had caved

1033
00:55:46,108 --> 00:55:49,000
in and battered, archways led 
into Courtyards strewn with 

1034
00:55:49,008 --> 00:55:52,000
Fallen Timber as soon. 
Signaled, a cautious approach 

1035
00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:54,300
and certain where The Travelers 
are outlaws. 

1036
00:55:54,300 --> 00:55:57,600
Might be occupying, the ruins 
the group explored in pairs 

1037
00:55:57,600 --> 00:56:00,400
stepping over cracked tiles, 
littered with the Scorpion 

1038
00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:02,900
husks. 
Know living presence emerged 

1039
00:56:02,900 --> 00:56:07,000
though, evidence of a hasty 
departure scattered, coals torn 

1040
00:56:07,000 --> 00:56:10,000
blankets, suggested someone had 
sheltered at their not long 

1041
00:56:10,000 --> 00:56:12,500
before. 
Since water was available from a

1042
00:56:12,500 --> 00:56:15,600
half collapse system have soon 
decided they would rest under 

1043
00:56:15,600 --> 00:56:17,700
what remained of the Caravan 
sarai's roof. 

1044
00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:22,100
Malik hovered by his broken 
chest sifting through remnants 

1045
00:56:22,100 --> 00:56:24,000
of cloth as those searching for 
any clue. 

1046
00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:27,800
Career drifted away from the 
group drawn to an overgrown, 

1047
00:56:27,800 --> 00:56:31,300
Courtyard where a dried 
Fountain, stood Vines draped, 

1048
00:56:31,300 --> 00:56:34,600
its cracked Basin trailing over 
carved motifs of intertwined 

1049
00:56:34,600 --> 00:56:37,500
serpents. 
Time and neglected worn away the

1050
00:56:37,500 --> 00:56:39,700
finer details. 
Yet a mysterious energy. 

1051
00:56:39,700 --> 00:56:44,100
Lingard as though the place once
echoed with conversation about 

1052
00:56:44,100 --> 00:56:47,100
Cosmic truths, Beyond mortal 
comprehension. 

1053
00:56:48,700 --> 00:56:51,300
She pulled out, the Jade bound 
book to scrutinize, a passage, 

1054
00:56:51,300 --> 00:56:54,800
describing the Four Points 
beyond the boundary of Earthly 

1055
00:56:54,800 --> 00:56:57,900
measure. 
The text postulated that certain

1056
00:56:57,900 --> 00:57:01,400
alignment patterns stars in 
specific, conjunctions allowed 

1057
00:57:01,400 --> 00:57:04,600
glimpses into knowledge. 
Unattainable through ordinary 

1058
00:57:04,600 --> 00:57:08,300
means this notion was not 
entirely foreign given that many

1059
00:57:08,300 --> 00:57:11,300
mystical traditions in Persia 
and India spoke of cosmic Gates.

1060
00:57:12,200 --> 00:57:15,400
Still the clarity of these 
instructions startled, her the 

1061
00:57:15,400 --> 00:57:18,800
manuscript seemed less a mere 
curiosity, and more a carefully 

1062
00:57:18,800 --> 00:57:21,300
constructed key. 
She wondered if others who 

1063
00:57:21,300 --> 00:57:23,100
sought it might comprehend it 
significant. 

1064
00:57:24,100 --> 00:57:27,100
Meanwhile after soon prepared 
spiced lentils and shared them 

1065
00:57:27,100 --> 00:57:28,600
among the group. 
Her gestures. 

1066
00:57:28,600 --> 00:57:31,800
Calm, yet determined, to 
maintain Unity tension. 

1067
00:57:31,800 --> 00:57:34,400
Still hovered. 
Like a low cloud with suspicions

1068
00:57:34,400 --> 00:57:36,500
that the thieves might be part 
of a larger plot. 

1069
00:57:37,300 --> 00:57:40,400
Over a sparse meal Korea gleaned
fragments of each Travelers 

1070
00:57:40,400 --> 00:57:43,100
story. 
A textile Merchant returning 

1071
00:57:43,100 --> 00:57:46,900
from Cairo, a widower heading to
Samarkand to meet his a strange 

1072
00:57:46,900 --> 00:57:49,200
son. 
An amateur hoping to gain 

1073
00:57:49,200 --> 00:57:52,400
employment in the library of 
nishapur nearby layer. 

1074
00:57:52,400 --> 00:57:56,800
She sensed each person guarded 
secrets of loss ambition or 

1075
00:57:56,800 --> 00:58:00,400
desperation. 
As dusk fell Moonlight filtered 

1076
00:58:00,400 --> 00:58:04,100
through the Caravan sarai's gaps
accentuating outlines of 

1077
00:58:04,100 --> 00:58:07,400
shattered pillars. 
The group huddled around, small 

1078
00:58:07,400 --> 00:58:11,500
fires soft conversation revolved
around the abrupt shift in 

1079
00:58:11,500 --> 00:58:13,400
weather. 
The possibility of encountering,

1080
00:58:13,400 --> 00:58:16,500
warlord, patrols and whether 
rumors of a plague in the 

1081
00:58:16,500 --> 00:58:19,100
western provinces were 
exaggerated, though. 

1082
00:58:19,100 --> 00:58:22,800
The chatter seemed ordinary 
career felt a current of urgency

1083
00:58:22,800 --> 00:58:25,400
running beneath it. 
Everyone understood the 

1084
00:58:25,400 --> 00:58:28,600
precariousness of traveling, 
these roots at any moment. 

1085
00:58:28,600 --> 00:58:31,400
Violence storms, or human 
treachery could obliterate, the 

1086
00:58:31,400 --> 00:58:34,000
careful calculations of even the
most disciplined Merchant. 

1087
00:58:34,900 --> 00:58:37,500
Restless career ventured into 
the courtyard. 

1088
00:58:37,500 --> 00:58:40,600
Once more, she ran her 
fingertips over the carved and 

1089
00:58:40,600 --> 00:58:43,500
using that knowledge itself. 
Often took the shape of 

1090
00:58:43,500 --> 00:58:46,200
something fierce and winding 
capable of Enlightenment. 

1091
00:58:46,200 --> 00:58:48,900
But also of Destruction, 
depending on who wielded it, 

1092
00:58:49,700 --> 00:58:52,700
Before, she could lose her self 
in speculation, a subtle Motion 

1093
00:58:52,700 --> 00:58:55,600
in the archway, Drew her 
attention. he turned to see 

1094
00:58:55,600 --> 00:58:59,300
Malik shadowed in Moonlight, his
face Stillwater traces of 

1095
00:58:59,300 --> 00:59:03,200
Anguish he approached and in 
hushed, tones apologized, if his

1096
00:59:03,200 --> 00:59:06,700
panic and disrupted, the Caravan
stability, then he posed a 

1097
00:59:06,700 --> 00:59:09,600
startling question. 
Is your book, truly worth 

1098
00:59:09,600 --> 00:59:14,000
risking your life. 
Career hesitated, contemplating 

1099
00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:16,700
her answer. 
He confessed that its Pages 

1100
00:59:16,700 --> 00:59:20,000
might Safeguard insights from an
older civilization knowledge 

1101
00:59:20,000 --> 00:59:22,800
that could enrich the world. 
If studied openly, yet she 

1102
00:59:22,800 --> 00:59:26,300
recognized the hazards. 
No single text was worth a life 

1103
00:59:26,300 --> 00:59:29,000
unless it also contained. 
The means to prevent greater 

1104
00:59:29,000 --> 00:59:31,800
harm. 
Malik nodded revealing that his 

1105
00:59:31,800 --> 00:59:34,300
lost letter held the potential 
to end a trade blockade 

1106
00:59:34,300 --> 00:59:35,400
strangling. 
His hometown. 

1107
00:59:36,100 --> 00:59:38,500
Without it, he feared entire 
families would starve. 

1108
00:59:38,500 --> 00:59:42,000
They shared a poignant silence. 
Realizing each bore a heavy 

1109
00:59:42,000 --> 00:59:44,400
burden for reasons that extended
Beyond self-interest. 

1110
00:59:45,600 --> 00:59:47,600
Their exchange was interrupted 
by a faint. 

1111
00:59:47,600 --> 00:59:51,000
Shout from afsoon who was 
patrolling the perimeter, a 

1112
00:59:51,000 --> 00:59:53,900
silhouette darted across the 
ruins, then vanished behind a 

1113
00:59:53,900 --> 00:59:57,300
crumbling wall alarmed carrier 
and Malik hurried back to the 

1114
00:59:57,300 --> 01:00:00,300
main Courtyard, only to find the
rest of the Travelers on their 

1115
01:00:00,300 --> 01:00:03,800
feet. 
The intrusion lasted me a second

1116
01:00:03,800 --> 01:00:07,600
but it confirmed the presence of
Watchers trailing them, the 

1117
01:00:07,600 --> 01:00:10,100
memory of the stolen lettered in
every mind. 

1118
01:00:10,100 --> 01:00:13,700
Gathering her sexual closed, 
carry a recognized that Pursuit 

1119
01:00:13,700 --> 01:00:16,300
was inevitable. 
She could only hope that she 

1120
01:00:16,300 --> 01:00:18,800
carried would Outlast. 
The desert shifting alliances 

1121
01:00:18,800 --> 01:00:22,500
and the Relentless greed of 
unknown adversaries early the 

1122
01:00:22,500 --> 01:00:24,900
next day after soon, insisted 
they abandoned the ruin. 

1123
01:00:24,900 --> 01:00:28,600
Before Sunrise lanterns swinging
from camel Saddles, cast 

1124
01:00:28,600 --> 01:00:32,600
flickering halos in the pre-dawn
Gloom Career walked at the 

1125
01:00:32,600 --> 01:00:36,200
Caravans rear scanning, The 
Horizon for Silhouettes, she 

1126
01:00:36,200 --> 01:00:39,600
felt more exposed than ever 
especially with the manuscript 

1127
01:00:39,600 --> 01:00:43,600
drawing unseen eyes. 
A swirl of wind, rustled the 

1128
01:00:43,600 --> 01:00:46,900
sparse vegetation carrying the 
forlorn call of a distant 

1129
01:00:46,900 --> 01:00:49,500
jackal. 
Although no further Intruder 

1130
01:00:49,500 --> 01:00:52,400
appeared, the Caravans 
Collective nerves remained raw, 

1131
01:00:52,400 --> 01:00:54,600
their root. 
Now, wound through a series of 

1132
01:00:54,608 --> 01:00:58,300
Rocky Badlands. 
It eroded Hills tinted red and 

1133
01:00:58,300 --> 01:01:01,900
ocher rows around them in Jagged
formations reminiscent of a 

1134
01:01:01,900 --> 01:01:05,200
broken Amphitheater. 
At times, the path was scarcely 

1135
01:01:05,200 --> 01:01:07,700
wide enough for two camels to 
pass dust coated. 

1136
01:01:07,700 --> 01:01:10,600
Every surface clinging to close 
and creeping into water skins, 

1137
01:01:10,600 --> 01:01:13,100
The Travelers advanced in single
file. 

1138
01:01:13,100 --> 01:01:16,000
Each footstep. 
Measured Malik, no longer shy. 

1139
01:01:16,000 --> 01:01:20,300
Kept pace with Korea, forging, 
an unspoken Alliance by empathy 

1140
01:01:20,300 --> 01:01:23,600
rather than shared purpose. 
By noon, they reached an 

1141
01:01:23,600 --> 01:01:26,800
outcropping that afforded a 
sweeping view of the surrounding

1142
01:01:26,800 --> 01:01:29,300
valleys. 
Of soon pointed to a distant. 

1143
01:01:29,300 --> 01:01:33,000
Caravan crossing a ridge, its 
figures small as insects against

1144
01:01:33,000 --> 01:01:35,700
the harsh light. 
Better to let the move on 

1145
01:01:35,700 --> 01:01:38,900
without our parts in to murdered
concerned. 

1146
01:01:38,900 --> 01:01:40,700
They might be Bandits or rival. 
Merchants. 

1147
01:01:41,700 --> 01:01:44,400
She had planned a side route 
that skirted known Bandit 

1148
01:01:44,400 --> 01:01:46,500
strongholds though. 
It meant trudging through more 

1149
01:01:46,500 --> 01:01:50,800
challenging terrain, no one 
objected safety trumped speed in

1150
01:01:50,800 --> 01:01:54,500
these uncertain Wilds as the day
wore on the punishing Sun 

1151
01:01:54,500 --> 01:01:57,800
pressed down some Travelers 
began to show signs of heat 

1152
01:01:57,800 --> 01:02:01,300
exhaustion as soon allotted 
extra water rations mindful that

1153
01:02:01,300 --> 01:02:04,200
supplies were finite careers. 
Thought swirled with 

1154
01:02:04,200 --> 01:02:07,700
calculations how many days until
they reached an established town

1155
01:02:07,700 --> 01:02:11,200
with the manuscripts possible 
Revelations be worth the perils.

1156
01:02:11,200 --> 01:02:14,300
She reminded herself that 
knowledge had never come cheap. 

1157
01:02:15,100 --> 01:02:17,400
Especially not the kind that 
might undermine established 

1158
01:02:17,400 --> 01:02:19,300
systems of power. 
Still. 

1159
01:02:20,100 --> 01:02:21,800
She felt an undercurrent of 
apprehension. 

1160
01:02:21,800 --> 01:02:25,500
Unseen forces seemed determined 
to intercept their path. 

1161
01:02:26,300 --> 01:02:29,600
Twilight offered a brief 
respite, they pitched camp at a 

1162
01:02:29,600 --> 01:02:31,100
plateau peppered with hearty 
desert. 

1163
01:02:31,100 --> 01:02:34,700
Shrubs wind woven through the 
Stony Hollows producing a low 

1164
01:02:34,708 --> 01:02:38,600
moan that set everyone on edge, 
this time of soon posted watches

1165
01:02:38,600 --> 01:02:41,700
in rotating pairs career 
volunteered for the midnight 

1166
01:02:41,700 --> 01:02:46,100
shift, hoping to glean some 
Solitude for reading When her 

1167
01:02:46,100 --> 01:02:48,300
turn arrived, she positioned 
herself near a small fire 

1168
01:02:48,300 --> 01:02:52,200
scanning, the Starlet Horizon 
while carefully turning pages of

1169
01:02:52,200 --> 01:02:55,700
the Jade bound codex. 
A diagram carefully Inked 

1170
01:02:55,700 --> 01:02:58,500
depicted, a swirling Cosmos 
dotted with unfamiliar 

1171
01:02:58,500 --> 01:03:01,300
constellations. 
The accompanying text mentioned,

1172
01:03:01,300 --> 01:03:04,800
a geometry, bridging mind. 
And universe, though, the 

1173
01:03:04,800 --> 01:03:06,900
specifics remained cloaked in 
archaic jargon. 

1174
01:03:06,900 --> 01:03:09,800
She sensed movement at the edge 
of the firelight and gripped, 

1175
01:03:09,800 --> 01:03:12,700
the book protectively, but it 
was only an elderly Trader from 

1176
01:03:12,708 --> 01:03:16,300
their group, awakened, by 
coughing he approached nodding 

1177
01:03:16,300 --> 01:03:19,100
politely I see that you carry 
more than curiosity. 

1178
01:03:19,100 --> 01:03:21,700
He said, glancing at the 
manuscript glowing Pages. 

1179
01:03:21,700 --> 01:03:24,700
He spoke of his younger days 
when he traveled to a 

1180
01:03:24,700 --> 01:03:27,900
Mountaintop Sanctuary rumored to
house, writing's older than any 

1181
01:03:27,900 --> 01:03:30,400
Empire. 
The priest there, he claimed 

1182
01:03:30,400 --> 01:03:33,200
hinted that scattered relics 
across the Silk Road. 

1183
01:03:33,200 --> 01:03:37,000
Formed pieces of a grand puzzle.
He stopped short of elaborating 

1184
01:03:37,000 --> 01:03:40,000
perhaps wary of scaring. 
Her within probable myths, 

1185
01:03:40,000 --> 01:03:43,200
simply reluctant to resurrect 
memory is best left buried. 

1186
01:03:44,000 --> 01:03:46,400
Carrier nodded intrigued yet 
cautious. 

1187
01:03:46,400 --> 01:03:49,800
She had heard, variations of the
mountain, top Library tail in 

1188
01:03:49,800 --> 01:03:52,600
her Journeys. 
One version placed it into Tibet

1189
01:03:52,600 --> 01:03:55,800
another in the highlands of 
Persia and yet another in the 

1190
01:03:55,800 --> 01:03:58,900
Himalayas near the Indus 
regardless of location. 

1191
01:03:58,900 --> 01:04:01,900
The consistent theme was that a 
hidden repository of ancient 

1192
01:04:01,900 --> 01:04:04,300
texts might hold radical 
knowledge of mathematics 

1193
01:04:04,300 --> 01:04:08,000
medicine and astronomy. 
Could her manuscript be part of 

1194
01:04:08,008 --> 01:04:11,100
that Lost Legacy? 
She recalled hearing rumors, 

1195
01:04:11,100 --> 01:04:13,300
that certain references, 
connected the libraries 

1196
01:04:13,300 --> 01:04:16,700
existence, to the taboo notion 
of cyclical time, where 

1197
01:04:16,700 --> 01:04:20,300
civilizations Rose and fell 
repeatedly, each leaving faint 

1198
01:04:20,300 --> 01:04:23,500
Echoes for the next. 
The elderly trade, a coughed. 

1199
01:04:23,500 --> 01:04:26,300
Again an excused himself to rest
alone. 

1200
01:04:26,300 --> 01:04:30,000
Career gazed at the Codex. 
Swirl of questions filling her 

1201
01:04:30,000 --> 01:04:33,000
mind. 
Just then a sharp whistle 

1202
01:04:33,000 --> 01:04:35,100
pierced. 
The night, are she sprang to her

1203
01:04:35,100 --> 01:04:37,500
feet have soon, came running 
sword in hand. 

1204
01:04:37,500 --> 01:04:40,800
A scout on the perimeter shouted
news of footsteps on the far 

1205
01:04:40,800 --> 01:04:43,100
side of the plateau, everyone 
scrambled for weapons. 

1206
01:04:43,100 --> 01:04:46,400
Adrenaline, surged within 
moments, The Intruders. 

1207
01:04:46,400 --> 01:04:49,200
Fled Vanishing, a swiftly as 
they derived leaving only 

1208
01:04:49,200 --> 01:04:52,500
Footprints of soon suspected. 
They were testing the Caravans 

1209
01:04:52,500 --> 01:04:55,300
defenses, tensioned sword 
though? 

1210
01:04:55,300 --> 01:04:57,500
No battle ensued. 
The message was clear. 

1211
01:04:57,500 --> 01:04:59,400
Someone to track them with 
precision. 

1212
01:05:00,800 --> 01:05:03,400
As the group attempted to settle
back into assembly of rest. 

1213
01:05:03,400 --> 01:05:07,500
Korea's mind, refused to quiet. 
She wondered if the vanished 

1214
01:05:07,500 --> 01:05:10,600
Intruders belong to a 
clandestine order or simply 

1215
01:05:10,600 --> 01:05:12,200
Bandits with a knack for 
intimidation. 

1216
01:05:13,300 --> 01:05:15,900
Either way, the manuscripts 
significant seemed Amplified. 

1217
01:05:16,700 --> 01:05:19,500
In that uneasy Darkness, she 
cradled her precious book 

1218
01:05:19,500 --> 01:05:23,500
Feeling the weight of unspoken 
centuries pressed between its 

1219
01:05:23,500 --> 01:05:25,800
covers. 
The next day would bring new 

1220
01:05:25,800 --> 01:05:29,100
confrontations, but for now she 
could only watch the flickering 

1221
01:05:29,100 --> 01:05:30,900
Embers and await the uncertain 
Dawn. 

1222
01:05:31,600 --> 01:05:33,300
Dawn arrived with a brittle 
Clarity. 

1223
01:05:33,300 --> 01:05:36,500
That rendered every stone shrub 
and weary expression in sharp 

1224
01:05:36,500 --> 01:05:38,600
focus of soon wasted. 
No time. 

1225
01:05:38,600 --> 01:05:41,700
Ordering a quick departure. 
The Caravan assembled under a 

1226
01:05:41,708 --> 01:05:43,700
sky streaked with lavender and 
Rose. 

1227
01:05:43,700 --> 01:05:46,700
A fleeting Beauty overshadowed 
by a need for vigilance. 

1228
01:05:47,600 --> 01:05:51,700
Camels loaded, watch rotations 
decided they moved out following

1229
01:05:51,700 --> 01:05:54,000
a narrow winding track that 
descended toward lower 

1230
01:05:54,000 --> 01:05:57,500
elevation, the arrowhead tasted 
metallic as if charged with 

1231
01:05:57,500 --> 01:06:00,700
pent-up tension. 
By mid-morning the landscape 

1232
01:06:00,700 --> 01:06:04,100
began, transitioning to Hill 
Country, small streams fed by 

1233
01:06:04,100 --> 01:06:07,400
recent rains, cut through the 
terrain, offering a chance to 

1234
01:06:07,400 --> 01:06:10,900
refill water skin. 
Travelers approached a shallow 

1235
01:06:10,900 --> 01:06:14,000
Creek, where reads Russell in 
the wind carrier noticed 

1236
01:06:14,000 --> 01:06:17,200
footprints in the Soggy Earth. 
A separate group had passed here

1237
01:06:17,200 --> 01:06:19,200
recently heading in the same 
direction. 

1238
01:06:20,500 --> 01:06:24,400
Soon scowled muttering about the
possibility of thin layer. 

1239
01:06:24,400 --> 01:06:27,600
They might be trailing those who
had invaded, their camps concern

1240
01:06:27,600 --> 01:06:31,300
Ripple through, the Caravan 
eager to stay ahead have soon 

1241
01:06:31,300 --> 01:06:34,600
pushed the group onward at a 
grueling Pace, Korea's carves 

1242
01:06:34,600 --> 01:06:37,600
ached as the trail zigzagged 
between Rocky, slopes and 

1243
01:06:37,600 --> 01:06:41,100
patches of thorny vegetation. 
In the distance, the outlines of

1244
01:06:41,108 --> 01:06:44,400
a fortified Town, occasionally 
emerged only to disappear behind

1245
01:06:44,400 --> 01:06:47,100
Ridge lines. 
She guessed it to be garish. 

1246
01:06:47,100 --> 01:06:50,100
A mid-sized, Trading? 
Post rumored to host Pilgrims 

1247
01:06:50,100 --> 01:06:52,800
from the Indus region. 
If they could reach garrish by 

1248
01:06:52,808 --> 01:06:55,900
Nightfall, The Caravan would 
have a solid perimeter wall to 

1249
01:06:55,900 --> 01:06:57,100
Shield them at least 
temporarily. 

1250
01:06:58,000 --> 01:06:59,800
Eventually they spotted Wolves 
of Pale. 

1251
01:06:59,800 --> 01:07:02,700
Stone. 
Crowned by watchtowers, Of soon 

1252
01:07:02,700 --> 01:07:05,300
signaled for calm. 
Reminding everyone that unknown,

1253
01:07:05,300 --> 01:07:07,600
dangers could look within a 
walled town as readily as 

1254
01:07:07,608 --> 01:07:11,600
outside approaching the gates, 
they encountered a row of guards

1255
01:07:11,600 --> 01:07:14,900
wearing mismatched armor, After 
examining a soon's, travel 

1256
01:07:14,900 --> 01:07:17,900
permits the guards, allowed the 
entry in exchange for a modest 

1257
01:07:17,900 --> 01:07:20,100
toll. 
Insight, the streets were 

1258
01:07:20,100 --> 01:07:22,900
cramped with stalls selling 
Earth and where died cloth and 

1259
01:07:22,900 --> 01:07:26,300
hammered bronze jewelry. the 
Aromas of grilled meat and fresh

1260
01:07:26,300 --> 01:07:29,300
bread teased weary Travelers, 
but an undercurrent of wearing 

1261
01:07:29,300 --> 01:07:32,600
his Ram through the crowd of 
soon, found a secure compound 

1262
01:07:32,600 --> 01:07:35,900
where the Caravan could rest, 
Stone walls, enclosed a 

1263
01:07:35,900 --> 01:07:38,200
courtyard that provided storage 
for the camels and a small 

1264
01:07:38,208 --> 01:07:41,900
stable for donkeys. 
Carrier anxious to clean any 

1265
01:07:41,900 --> 01:07:44,800
insight into who might be 
pursuing them ventured into the 

1266
01:07:44,800 --> 01:07:48,400
town's winding Lanes. 
She discovered a Public Square, 

1267
01:07:48,400 --> 01:07:51,100
where men played strategy games 
on carved, wooden boards, 

1268
01:07:51,100 --> 01:07:54,900
nearby, a cluster of pilgrims 
chanted versus in a language 

1269
01:07:54,900 --> 01:07:58,000
unfamiliar to her amid. 
These scenes rumors. 

1270
01:07:58,000 --> 01:08:01,900
Floated a band of masked Riders 
had passed through a day. 

1271
01:08:01,900 --> 01:08:04,800
Early asking about a certain 
traveling scholar. 

1272
01:08:05,500 --> 01:08:08,400
The mentioned, chilled her, she 
hurried back to the compound 

1273
01:08:08,400 --> 01:08:12,000
only to find Malik pacing by the
gate, fidgeting, with a Leather 

1274
01:08:12,008 --> 01:08:16,200
Pouch, he had overheard similar 
chatter strangers, seeking news 

1275
01:08:16,200 --> 01:08:19,600
of a woman carrying, forbidden, 
documents Korea, realized the 

1276
01:08:19,600 --> 01:08:22,399
net was tightening. 
They still had a window to slip 

1277
01:08:22,399 --> 01:08:25,300
away, but not much of one, she 
conferred with a soon. 

1278
01:08:25,300 --> 01:08:27,700
Who suggested leaving crash 
undercover of Darkness 

1279
01:08:27,700 --> 01:08:32,100
continuing East along, seldom 
used back roads, although it 

1280
01:08:32,108 --> 01:08:35,000
entailed more risk weighting 
might let their pursuers 

1281
01:08:35,000 --> 01:08:38,800
converge. 
After Sunset, the Caravan packed

1282
01:08:38,800 --> 01:08:41,500
up stealthily. 
Torches were kept minimal 

1283
01:08:41,500 --> 01:08:46,100
Silence with calm handling, a 
hush enveloped them as they slip

1284
01:08:46,100 --> 01:08:49,500
through garages, secondary gate,
bribing a night Watchman, who 

1285
01:08:49,500 --> 01:08:53,399
scarcely looked at their faces. 
Outside the walls, Moonlight 

1286
01:08:53,399 --> 01:08:56,800
glimmer on the grassland. 
Carrier clutch the manuscript 

1287
01:08:56,800 --> 01:09:00,300
absorbing the knight's chill. 
She couldn't escape the 

1288
01:09:00,300 --> 01:09:03,399
conviction that her Mission had 
become a race one in which the 

1289
01:09:03,399 --> 01:09:07,200
cost of failure was irreparable 
loss, not just for her, but for 

1290
01:09:07,200 --> 01:09:09,700
an entire lineage of knowledge 
that might vanish again. 

1291
01:09:10,600 --> 01:09:12,399
Guided by. 
As soon as careful planning, 

1292
01:09:12,399 --> 01:09:14,800
they pressed into a region of 
Rolling Hills shaped by 

1293
01:09:14,808 --> 01:09:18,700
centuries of flood and drought. 
Occasional clusters of Cyprus 

1294
01:09:18,700 --> 01:09:21,399
trees broke the monotony, 
crickets chirped in the 

1295
01:09:21,399 --> 01:09:23,600
darkness. 
The group maintained strict 

1296
01:09:23,600 --> 01:09:25,600
silence. 
Halting often to listen for 

1297
01:09:25,600 --> 01:09:28,100
sounds of pursuit. 
Each time the night Breeze. 

1298
01:09:28,100 --> 01:09:30,800
Whispered through the brush 
carrier braced for a distant, 

1299
01:09:30,800 --> 01:09:34,100
hoofbeat or a flash of 
Torchlight yet hours, passed 

1300
01:09:34,100 --> 01:09:37,899
with no sign of the ambush. 
As the moon descended, they 

1301
01:09:37,899 --> 01:09:41,200
reached a shallow Ravine dotted 
with smooth, ancient Boulders 

1302
01:09:41,200 --> 01:09:43,800
assumed called for a halt to 
arrest the animals. 

1303
01:09:43,800 --> 01:09:48,000
Curry Found A Flat Rock and sank
onto it physically spent. 

1304
01:09:48,000 --> 01:09:51,399
But mentally alert. 
She glanced at Malik, whose eyes

1305
01:09:51,399 --> 01:09:54,100
reflected, the same exhaustion 
mixed with defiance. 

1306
01:09:55,200 --> 01:09:57,900
The sky above the showed, the 
faint glow of approaching Dawn 

1307
01:09:57,900 --> 01:10:01,500
tomorrow, or perhaps the next 
day, they would come upon the 

1308
01:10:01,500 --> 01:10:04,700
mountain route leading to varash
the rumored city of hidden 

1309
01:10:04,700 --> 01:10:07,400
monasteries. 
If the Caravan made at that far 

1310
01:10:07,400 --> 01:10:10,200
the Jade manuscript might, 
finally find a place where it's 

1311
01:10:10,200 --> 01:10:12,600
Arcane Revelation could be 
deciphered without fear. 

1312
01:10:13,700 --> 01:10:17,300
But that hope remained fragile 
like a candle flame in a Gusty 

1313
01:10:17,300 --> 01:10:20,000
corridor. 
The first rays of mourning lit, 

1314
01:10:20,000 --> 01:10:23,000
the Ravine revealing Dusty grass
and scrub that offered little 

1315
01:10:23,000 --> 01:10:26,200
camouflage wearily. 
The Caravan assembled and 

1316
01:10:26,200 --> 01:10:29,300
continued mindful that speed was
their best defense. 

1317
01:10:30,200 --> 01:10:32,800
Over the next hours, they 
traversed, rolling slopes that 

1318
01:10:32,800 --> 01:10:34,900
ascended, gradually into Stony 
Highlands. 

1319
01:10:34,900 --> 01:10:38,400
The trail grew hazardous lined 
with the loose gravel and sharp 

1320
01:10:38,400 --> 01:10:40,900
descents, several times a 
misstep. 

1321
01:10:40,900 --> 01:10:44,600
Nearly centered donkey, tumbling
into a Gorge, The group's morale

1322
01:10:44,600 --> 01:10:47,600
though, frayed held steady under
assumes firm Direction. 

1323
01:10:48,600 --> 01:10:51,800
Korean noticed the are thinning 
as they climbed accompanied by a

1324
01:10:51,800 --> 01:10:56,000
crisp coolness that sharpened 
her senses tiny Alpine flowers 

1325
01:10:56,000 --> 01:10:58,900
clung to crevasses. 
Their vivid petals are welcome 

1326
01:10:58,900 --> 01:11:01,000
contrast to weeks of unrelenting
dust. 

1327
01:11:01,900 --> 01:11:04,700
From avantage point, overlooking
a sprawling Valley, she glimpsed

1328
01:11:04,700 --> 01:11:08,300
distant Peaks wrapped in 
mysterious Haze locals called 

1329
01:11:08,300 --> 01:11:12,200
these the Thousand Year 
mountains to shelter, monastic 

1330
01:11:12,200 --> 01:11:15,600
Retreats older than recorded 
dynasties. the prospect of 

1331
01:11:15,600 --> 01:11:18,300
reaching them, bolstered her 
spirit, even as her body, 

1332
01:11:18,300 --> 01:11:22,700
complained of fatigue, Near 
midday, the Caravan stopped by a

1333
01:11:22,700 --> 01:11:25,900
regular trickling through a 
rocky defile. while watering the

1334
01:11:25,908 --> 01:11:29,300
animals have soon and Korea 
consulted, a hand sketched map 

1335
01:11:29,300 --> 01:11:32,200
that indicated Vera slate, two 
more days beyond the far ridges,

1336
01:11:32,200 --> 01:11:36,100
the path ahead would be even 
more treacherous cutting across 

1337
01:11:36,100 --> 01:11:40,400
unpredictable passes, sometimes 
blocked by landslides Korea felt

1338
01:11:40,400 --> 01:11:42,200
her heartbeat. 
Quicken recalling. 

1339
01:11:42,200 --> 01:11:45,400
Rumors that entire Caravans had 
been buried by sudden Rock Falls

1340
01:11:45,400 --> 01:11:48,500
in these mountains, yet the 
urgency to evade pursuers 

1341
01:11:48,500 --> 01:11:52,500
overshadowed every other fear. 
They pressed on the root turning

1342
01:11:52,500 --> 01:11:55,300
into a steep climb dotted with 
ancient stone markers. 

1343
01:11:55,300 --> 01:11:59,400
At each Switchback, carrier saw 
inscriptions worn by centuries 

1344
01:11:59,400 --> 01:12:02,900
of whether she paused to trace 
her fingers over a faint symbol.

1345
01:12:02,900 --> 01:12:06,700
A stylized son in compassed by 
the intersecting circles. 

1346
01:12:06,700 --> 01:12:10,100
Something about it resonated, 
with the diagrams in her Jade 

1347
01:12:10,100 --> 01:12:12,700
bound codex. 
She made a mental note to 

1348
01:12:12,700 --> 01:12:15,200
compare them later. 
Suspecting these markers might 

1349
01:12:15,200 --> 01:12:17,900
be vestiges of the same 
civilization described in the 

1350
01:12:17,900 --> 01:12:21,600
manuscripts cryptic pages. 
Whenever she glimpsed fresh and 

1351
01:12:21,600 --> 01:12:25,700
scriptions her curiosity, 
ignited a new late in the 

1352
01:12:25,708 --> 01:12:29,200
afternoon, the skies dark and 
ominously thunder rumbled among 

1353
01:12:29,200 --> 01:12:31,400
the Peaks and a biting wind 
heralded. 

1354
01:12:31,400 --> 01:12:35,400
An approaching storm soon urged.
Everyone to hurry, they located 

1355
01:12:35,400 --> 01:12:37,300
a natural overhang near a rocky 
ledge. 

1356
01:12:37,300 --> 01:12:39,500
Providing partial Shelter From 
the elements. 

1357
01:12:40,400 --> 01:12:43,900
Rain Unleashed its Fury soon. 
After they took cover slamming 

1358
01:12:43,900 --> 01:12:48,000
the landscape In Waves lightning
tore the sky Illuminating ragged

1359
01:12:48,000 --> 01:12:50,900
silhouettes of mountains, the 
downpour threatened to wash away

1360
01:12:50,900 --> 01:12:53,300
the path. 
Huddled together, The Travelers 

1361
01:12:53,300 --> 01:12:55,900
watched rivulets, former cross 
the rocky, ground carrying 

1362
01:12:55,900 --> 01:12:59,500
Pebbles and debris, downhill, 
the storm raged for hours, 

1363
01:12:59,500 --> 01:13:03,100
pinning them under the overhang 
career, use the enforced. 

1364
01:13:03,100 --> 01:13:06,300
Pause to wrap the Codex, 
Sheltering it beneath the 

1365
01:13:06,300 --> 01:13:07,900
canvas, she examined the 
section. 

1366
01:13:07,900 --> 01:13:11,400
She had not yet deciphered 
focusing on references to a 

1367
01:13:11,400 --> 01:13:14,200
temple of Horizons, the text 
included, mathematical 

1368
01:13:14,200 --> 01:13:16,300
guidelines for charting star 
positions. 

1369
01:13:16,300 --> 01:13:19,700
From an elevated Vantage, With 
each flash of lightning, she 

1370
01:13:19,700 --> 01:13:22,300
glimpsed the manuscripts, 
swirling lines, and felt A 

1371
01:13:22,300 --> 01:13:25,100
peculiar kinship, with those 
unknown Scholars from centuries 

1372
01:13:25,100 --> 01:13:27,200
past. 
They had once braved the 

1373
01:13:27,200 --> 01:13:30,500
Wilderness of ideas. 
Now in a literal wilderness. 

1374
01:13:31,500 --> 01:13:35,000
She carried their legacy. 
Eventually the worst of the 

1375
01:13:35,000 --> 01:13:37,800
storm passed leaving dripping 
rocks and a deep chilling. 

1376
01:13:37,800 --> 01:13:40,400
Its wake. 
The group decided to remain 

1377
01:13:40,400 --> 01:13:43,500
under the overhang for the night
where he of slick trails and 

1378
01:13:43,500 --> 01:13:46,600
potential landslides. 
By flickering Lamplight. 

1379
01:13:46,600 --> 01:13:48,900
Afsoon. 
Distributed, dried figs and 

1380
01:13:48,900 --> 01:13:52,200
salted lamb conversation, 
drifted from the challenges of 

1381
01:13:52,200 --> 01:13:55,800
the climb to more philosophical 
musings, the futility of borders

1382
01:13:55,800 --> 01:13:58,500
in a land shape. 
By Millennia, the intangible 

1383
01:13:58,500 --> 01:14:02,700
line between faith and science. 
Malik spoke quietly of his 

1384
01:14:02,700 --> 01:14:05,508
father, who had died under a 
tyrants regime while trying to 

1385
01:14:05,516 --> 01:14:10,000
protect valuable manuscripts. 
Listening to him career sensed 

1386
01:14:10,000 --> 01:14:12,300
that each traveler had been 
guided here by a longing for 

1387
01:14:12,300 --> 01:14:17,200
redemption or renewal. 
Sometime after midnight career, 

1388
01:14:17,200 --> 01:14:19,300
woke to the faint crackle of 
footsteps. 

1389
01:14:19,300 --> 01:14:22,300
She inched toward the edge of 
their makeshift shelter, heart, 

1390
01:14:22,300 --> 01:14:26,100
pounding two figures hunched, 
low hovered near the pack 

1391
01:14:26,100 --> 01:14:28,200
animals. 
She recognized them a strangers,

1392
01:14:28,200 --> 01:14:31,800
not members of the Caravan 
before, she could raise an alarm

1393
01:14:31,800 --> 01:14:35,100
as soon, emerged from the 
darkness, like a phantom sword 

1394
01:14:35,100 --> 01:14:40,100
drawn, a test, standoff, ensued,
broken by frantic Whispers, The 

1395
01:14:40,100 --> 01:14:41,500
Intruders fled. 
Once they saw, they were 

1396
01:14:41,500 --> 01:14:43,800
outnumbered The caravan's 
Travelers. 

1397
01:14:43,800 --> 01:14:48,100
Now fully awakened, the rest of 
the night in guarded watch, cold

1398
01:14:48,100 --> 01:14:50,800
and uneasy with Dawn. 
They surveyed the sodden 

1399
01:14:50,800 --> 01:14:53,200
landscape. 
Landslides had ripped through 

1400
01:14:53,200 --> 01:14:56,200
parts of the trail, but it 
appeared possible with caution. 

1401
01:14:57,000 --> 01:14:59,800
Though The Intruders had not 
returned the sense of pursuit 

1402
01:14:59,800 --> 01:15:02,500
remained acute carrier conferred
with a soon. 

1403
01:15:02,500 --> 01:15:05,000
Both concluding that time was 
running short. 

1404
01:15:05,000 --> 01:15:08,500
Ifras was Within Reach. 
They needed to seize the chance 

1405
01:15:08,500 --> 01:15:12,100
before more enemies closed in. 
Hoisting packs onto weary 

1406
01:15:12,100 --> 01:15:13,700
camels. 
The group set forth again. 

1407
01:15:14,500 --> 01:15:17,800
The distant Peaks beckoned like 
the aim of witnesses and career.

1408
01:15:17,800 --> 01:15:20,600
Whispered a fervent hope that 
the city's rumored monasteries 

1409
01:15:20,600 --> 01:15:23,800
could offer refuge and reveal 
how to unlock the manuscripts 

1410
01:15:23,800 --> 01:15:27,000
deeper secrets. 
The final stretch to varash 

1411
01:15:27,000 --> 01:15:30,300
proved grueling narrow Trails 
clung to mountain ridges, 

1412
01:15:30,300 --> 01:15:33,800
overlooking missed shrouded. 
Abyss each step required 

1413
01:15:33,800 --> 01:15:37,700
vigilance At times, they paused 
to listen for rock falls in the 

1414
01:15:37,700 --> 01:15:40,300
distance markers of an unstable 
Terrain. 

1415
01:15:41,200 --> 01:15:44,900
The air grew thinner and breath 
came in short gasps yet Beyond 

1416
01:15:44,900 --> 01:15:48,200
every precarious. 
Turn a new Vista opened crisp, 

1417
01:15:48,200 --> 01:15:51,300
Lakes reflecting the sky hidden 
valleys studied with 

1418
01:15:51,300 --> 01:15:54,900
wildflowers, the occasional 
Stone ruined perched on a Ledge 

1419
01:15:54,900 --> 01:15:58,100
like in ancient Sentinel. 
The extremes of this landscape, 

1420
01:15:58,100 --> 01:16:00,200
both ordered an unsettled The 
Travelers. 

1421
01:16:01,100 --> 01:16:04,000
By late, after noon, the slopes 
relaxed in, to a wide Plateau, 

1422
01:16:04,000 --> 01:16:08,400
rise in from the plateaus Edge, 
stood, varash in closed by a 

1423
01:16:08,400 --> 01:16:11,700
high stone Rampart. 
At first glance, the city 

1424
01:16:11,700 --> 01:16:13,400
appeared carved from the 
mountain itself. 

1425
01:16:13,400 --> 01:16:17,000
Its walls blending with the 
surrounding Cliffs missed 

1426
01:16:17,000 --> 01:16:20,300
swirled around parapets, 
creating a dreamlike vision. 

1427
01:16:21,200 --> 01:16:24,700
According to Legend, farash was 
older than any recorded Dynasty 

1428
01:16:24,700 --> 01:16:27,700
built upon a site revered for 
its Celestial alignments. 

1429
01:16:28,900 --> 01:16:31,400
A hush fell over the Caravan as 
they approached the massive 

1430
01:16:31,400 --> 01:16:35,000
Gates inside the city's. 
Winding streets ascended. 

1431
01:16:35,000 --> 01:16:38,600
In tears houses with slate roofs
leaned against sturdy. 

1432
01:16:38,600 --> 01:16:42,500
Ramparts while Cobblestone Lanes
converged on a Central Square, 

1433
01:16:43,500 --> 01:16:46,400
Steam rose from a communal baths
that tapped into natural. 

1434
01:16:46,400 --> 01:16:50,200
Hot Springs monks in dark robes 
shuffled along the corridors 

1435
01:16:50,200 --> 01:16:52,500
carrying Scrolls tucked beneath 
their arms. 

1436
01:16:53,400 --> 01:16:56,100
Carriers census. 
Ignited, at the first glimpse of

1437
01:16:56,100 --> 01:16:59,000
this environment. 
She'd feel an undercurrent of 

1438
01:16:59,000 --> 01:17:01,500
scholarship humming through the 
city, like a Subterranean River.

1439
01:17:02,300 --> 01:17:05,000
A potent contrast of the chaotic
markets of Corazon. 

1440
01:17:06,300 --> 01:17:09,300
I've seen guided the Caravan to 
a spacious Courtyard in used by 

1441
01:17:09,300 --> 01:17:12,600
trade emissaries soon. 
After settling career, excused 

1442
01:17:12,600 --> 01:17:14,000
herself invented into the 
city's. 

1443
01:17:14,000 --> 01:17:17,000
Upper levels following 
directions gleaned from a scribe

1444
01:17:17,000 --> 01:17:19,200
at the Inn. 
She was searching for a specific

1445
01:17:19,200 --> 01:17:21,700
Monastery. 
Library rumored to house ancient

1446
01:17:21,700 --> 01:17:24,100
manuscripts. 
Paralleling her Jade bound text 

1447
01:17:24,100 --> 01:17:26,300
crossing a series of stone 
bridges. 

1448
01:17:26,300 --> 01:17:28,800
That arched over narrow. 
Gulches she noticed the 

1449
01:17:28,800 --> 01:17:31,800
architecture, displayed 
recurring, motifs spiral, 

1450
01:17:31,800 --> 01:17:35,100
carvings geometric borders, 
reminiscent of the codexes, 

1451
01:17:35,100 --> 01:17:39,300
marginal designs at last. 
She arrived at a massive carved 

1452
01:17:39,300 --> 01:17:43,000
door flanked by statues of robed
figures, a discrete cyanide 

1453
01:17:43,000 --> 01:17:46,800
identified it as the library of 
high windows in the atmosphere 

1454
01:17:46,800 --> 01:17:49,800
was reverential. 
Golden Light, filtered through 

1455
01:17:49,800 --> 01:17:52,600
stained glass windows, 
Illuminating shelves, stacked 

1456
01:17:52,600 --> 01:17:56,100
from floor, to ceiling with 
Scrolls courtesies and tablets 

1457
01:17:56,100 --> 01:18:00,000
monks novices and a few Learners
travelers from distant lands. 

1458
01:18:00,000 --> 01:18:04,200
Moved quietly between reading 
alcoves carrier approached a 

1459
01:18:04,200 --> 01:18:07,100
Tall Bearded monk who introduced
himself as brother Callan. 

1460
01:18:08,000 --> 01:18:09,800
With measured politeness, he 
asked her purpose. 

1461
01:18:10,600 --> 01:18:13,700
Carrier revealed her codex 
explaining in hushed, tones that

1462
01:18:13,700 --> 01:18:16,500
she believed it referenced in 
advance to astronomy predating 

1463
01:18:16,500 --> 01:18:20,700
recognize schools of thought. 
Intrigued brother Kaelyn led her

1464
01:18:20,700 --> 01:18:23,800
to a private study at chamber. 
Lit by oil lamps there. 

1465
01:18:23,800 --> 01:18:26,100
He produced a set of 
meticulously preserved star 

1466
01:18:26,100 --> 01:18:29,800
charts and scribed on leather. 
To careers, amazement certain 

1467
01:18:29,800 --> 01:18:32,800
passages, aligned closely with 
the diagrams in her manuscript 

1468
01:18:32,800 --> 01:18:36,600
upon closer inspection, they 
found near identical glyphs 

1469
01:18:36,600 --> 01:18:38,900
representing cardinal points 
Beyond normal mapping. 

1470
01:18:39,900 --> 01:18:42,200
Brother Collins eyes, glimmered 
with excitement. 

1471
01:18:43,100 --> 01:18:46,400
These references appear in only 
are oldest records believed to 

1472
01:18:46,400 --> 01:18:49,100
have been copied from text 
salvaged Millennia ago. 

1473
01:18:50,700 --> 01:18:53,800
As the evening deepened, they 
piece together, parallel lines 

1474
01:18:53,800 --> 01:18:57,900
of text cross-referencing them 
with genealogies straw altars, 

1475
01:18:57,900 --> 01:19:01,800
and cryptic commentaries, The 
Synergy suggested that the Jade 

1476
01:19:01,800 --> 01:19:04,400
bound book might indeed be part 
of a nearly lost tradition. 

1477
01:19:04,400 --> 01:19:08,600
However, a vital section, 
remained missing, It was rumored

1478
01:19:08,600 --> 01:19:12,200
that a sister manuscript in a 
monastery, father East High in a

1479
01:19:12,200 --> 01:19:15,600
remote range where few ventured 
carriers Hearts sank. 

1480
01:19:15,600 --> 01:19:18,900
Knowing the road ahead, might 
hold even greater dangers yet. 

1481
01:19:18,900 --> 01:19:22,500
She also felt invigorated, the 
puzzle had grown more intricate 

1482
01:19:22,500 --> 01:19:25,700
weaving her fate with ancient 
Legacy that demanded 

1483
01:19:25,700 --> 01:19:28,300
guardianship. 
Upon returning to the Inn. 

1484
01:19:28,300 --> 01:19:31,100
She found a soon and Malik in 
heated discussion with the rest 

1485
01:19:31,100 --> 01:19:34,200
of the Caravan. 
News had arrived at unidentified

1486
01:19:34,200 --> 01:19:37,600
Riders were poking. 
Around various Gates questioning

1487
01:19:37,600 --> 01:19:40,300
Travelers about a woman scholar 
and her prized artifact. 

1488
01:19:41,000 --> 01:19:42,800
There are rival. 
Here was no secret. 

1489
01:19:43,700 --> 01:19:47,100
For the moment, the city's laws,
prevented open aggression, but 

1490
01:19:47,100 --> 01:19:49,400
no one believed that protection 
would last indefinitely. 

1491
01:19:50,300 --> 01:19:52,400
Have soon proposed. 
They break the Caravan into 

1492
01:19:52,400 --> 01:19:56,200
smaller groups for anonymity, 
Malik pledged to stand by Korea,

1493
01:19:56,200 --> 01:19:59,600
recognizing that her success. 
Might Ripple far beyond personal

1494
01:19:59,600 --> 01:20:02,900
gain Under the ins lantern glow 
career. 

1495
01:20:02,900 --> 01:20:04,800
Shared what she and brother 
Kalan had uncovered. 

1496
01:20:04,800 --> 01:20:08,400
The group listened in solemn, 
silence and understanding the 

1497
01:20:08,400 --> 01:20:11,400
gravity of her discovery. 
Perhaps it offered a new 

1498
01:20:11,400 --> 01:20:14,600
perspective on the cosmos, 
perhaps it threatened structures

1499
01:20:14,600 --> 01:20:18,100
built on carefully, managed 
knowledge. either way, their 

1500
01:20:18,100 --> 01:20:21,400
pursuers would not relent, Still
career felt A Renewed 

1501
01:20:21,400 --> 01:20:24,000
determination. 
The tapestry of centuries had 

1502
01:20:24,000 --> 01:20:25,500
woven her path in to this 
moment. 

1503
01:20:26,400 --> 01:20:28,600
With the city of various as an 
unlikely Refuge. 

1504
01:20:28,600 --> 01:20:31,600
She now held a clearer vision of
the manuscripts purpose. 

1505
01:20:32,500 --> 01:20:35,900
Dawn would bring decision where 
the to remain to search for the 

1506
01:20:35,900 --> 01:20:38,200
sister text, or to Brave unknown
dangers. 

1507
01:20:38,200 --> 01:20:41,600
In that flickering moment of 
possibility, each traveler 

1508
01:20:41,600 --> 01:20:44,500
realized they had become part of
a tale larger than themselves. 

1509
01:20:44,500 --> 01:20:48,400
A sauger carried Along by 
caravan's forged in Hidden, 

1510
01:20:48,400 --> 01:20:51,700
libraries and destined to Echo 
across the shifting dunes and 

1511
01:20:51,700 --> 01:20:58,400
precarious peaks of time. 
Now imagine yourself sitting in 

1512
01:20:58,400 --> 01:21:02,400
your favorite armchair in 1939, 
perhaps with a lukewarm cup of 

1513
01:21:02,408 --> 01:21:05,600
tea on the side table as the 
world prepares to undergo 

1514
01:21:05,600 --> 01:21:09,300
unprecedented transformations. 
But the people who are about to 

1515
01:21:09,300 --> 01:21:11,700
change, it had no idea. 
They were writing the most 

1516
01:21:11,700 --> 01:21:14,300
expensive recipe ever the 
recipe. 

1517
01:21:14,300 --> 01:21:18,600
Required approximately 130,000 
individuals, the duration of 

1518
01:21:18,608 --> 01:21:22,400
three years and sufficient funds
to establish a modest Nation. 

1519
01:21:22,400 --> 01:21:26,300
It all started because some very
smart people, got very worried 

1520
01:21:26,900 --> 01:21:29,600
Imagine the feeling you get when
you realize you left the stove 

1521
01:21:29,600 --> 01:21:32,900
on and imagine that feeling 
multiplied by the entire future 

1522
01:21:32,900 --> 01:21:36,300
of civilization. 
That's roughly what Leo silard 

1523
01:21:36,300 --> 01:21:38,900
felt when he heard that German 
scientists had figured out how 

1524
01:21:38,900 --> 01:21:42,600
to split uranium atoms. 
Solar was a genius who could 

1525
01:21:42,600 --> 01:21:45,200
probably calculate the 
trajectory of falling toast in 

1526
01:21:45,200 --> 01:21:47,800
his pajamas. 
But even he couldn't foresee the

1527
01:21:47,800 --> 01:21:51,500
consequences of his concern. 
The amusing thing about solar is

1528
01:21:51,500 --> 01:21:54,000
that he was the kind of guy who 
would patent an idea for a 

1529
01:21:54,000 --> 01:21:56,600
nuclear reactor, then 
immediately realized, it might 

1530
01:21:56,600 --> 01:21:58,300
be dangerous and try to keep it 
secret. 

1531
01:21:58,300 --> 01:22:01,600
It's like inventing dynamite and
then Whispering the recipe. 

1532
01:22:02,400 --> 01:22:06,100
He spent most of 1939 pacing 
around New York like likely 

1533
01:22:06,100 --> 01:22:08,000
frightening, pigeons with his 
intense expression. 

1534
01:22:08,000 --> 01:22:11,600
Trying to persuade anyone who 
would listen that America needed

1535
01:22:11,600 --> 01:22:13,400
to outpace Germany in the atomic
race. 

1536
01:22:14,300 --> 01:22:17,500
But you can't just walk into the
White House and say, hey, we 

1537
01:22:17,500 --> 01:22:21,000
need to build a massive bomb. 
Well, you can try, but they'll 

1538
01:22:21,000 --> 01:22:22,600
probably escort you out rather 
quickly. 

1539
01:22:23,700 --> 01:22:26,800
So, Cilla did what any 
reasonable person would do, you 

1540
01:22:26,800 --> 01:22:31,100
got Einstein to write a letter. 
Apparently, even in 1939, name 

1541
01:22:31,100 --> 01:22:34,300
recognition held significant 
importance, Einstein, who 

1542
01:22:34,300 --> 01:22:36,000
probably just wanted to work on 
his theories. 

1543
01:22:36,000 --> 01:22:38,700
In peace, found himself 
accidentally becoming the 

1544
01:22:38,700 --> 01:22:42,700
Godfather of the atomic age. 
He later recognized the irony 

1545
01:22:42,700 --> 01:22:45,900
given that he was a pacifist who
had previously expressed a 

1546
01:22:45,900 --> 01:22:47,200
preference for being a 
Lighthouse Keeper. 

1547
01:22:47,200 --> 01:22:52,000
Over a physicist Roosevelt got 
the letter in October 1939, 

1548
01:22:52,000 --> 01:22:55,100
right around the time, he was 
dealing with a dozen other world

1549
01:22:55,100 --> 01:22:57,400
ending problems. 
You have to admire the man's 

1550
01:22:57,400 --> 01:23:01,000
ability to prioritize most of 
us, get overwhelmed choosing 

1551
01:23:01,000 --> 01:23:03,800
what to watch on streaming 
services, but FDR was juggling 

1552
01:23:03,800 --> 01:23:07,600
potential, nuclear weapons, a 
World War and probably wondering

1553
01:23:07,600 --> 01:23:09,800
if his morning coffee was strong
enough for any of this. 

1554
01:23:10,700 --> 01:23:13,600
The initial response was about 
as enthusiastic as you'd expect 

1555
01:23:13,600 --> 01:23:17,300
from a government bureaucracy, 
they formed a committee, nothing

1556
01:23:17,300 --> 01:23:19,900
conveys, the urgency of a 
world-changing, scientific 

1557
01:23:19,900 --> 01:23:22,200
breakthrough, more effectively 
than the formation of a 

1558
01:23:22,200 --> 01:23:24,600
committee. 
The Iranian committee as they 

1559
01:23:24,608 --> 01:23:28,400
call it met a few times, 
allocated a whopping 6,000 

1560
01:23:28,400 --> 01:23:31,300
dollars for research and 
probably spent more on coffee. 

1561
01:23:31,300 --> 01:23:34,000
The uranium, it was the 
governmental equivalent of 

1562
01:23:34,000 --> 01:23:37,800
putting a Band-Aid on a volcano.
But here's where the story gets 

1563
01:23:37,800 --> 01:23:40,100
intriguing in. 
That uniquely American Way. 

1564
01:23:41,000 --> 01:23:43,800
While the committee was busy 
being committee like Pearl 

1565
01:23:43,800 --> 01:23:47,700
Harbor happened, suddenly the 
abstract concept of maybe we 

1566
01:23:47,700 --> 01:23:49,100
should look into this Atomic 
thing. 

1567
01:23:49,100 --> 01:23:52,600
Became we need this Atomic thing
yesterday and will build it 

1568
01:23:52,600 --> 01:23:54,500
bigger than anyone has ever 
built anything. 

1569
01:23:55,400 --> 01:23:58,500
Enter General Leslie, Groves, a 
man who had just finished 

1570
01:23:58,500 --> 01:24:01,400
building the Pentagon and was 
probably looking forward to a 

1571
01:24:01,400 --> 01:24:05,100
comfortable quiet desk job. 
Instead, he got handed the 

1572
01:24:05,100 --> 01:24:07,900
Manhattan Project which was like
being asked to organize the 

1573
01:24:07,900 --> 01:24:11,100
world's most dangerous science 
fair with unlimited funding and 

1574
01:24:11,100 --> 01:24:13,500
a deadline, that could determine
the fate of democracy. 

1575
01:24:14,400 --> 01:24:17,300
Groves was the kind of military 
mind who could look at an 

1576
01:24:17,300 --> 01:24:20,000
impossible task and immediately.
Start figuring out how to make 

1577
01:24:20,000 --> 01:24:23,600
it slightly less impossible, 
once Fred sheet at a time. 

1578
01:24:23,600 --> 01:24:27,000
The beautiful absurdity of the 
Manhattan Project was already 

1579
01:24:27,000 --> 01:24:30,200
becoming clear. 
You had theoretical physicists 

1580
01:24:30,200 --> 01:24:32,600
who could barely balance their 
checkbooks being asked to create

1581
01:24:32,600 --> 01:24:35,100
the most practical and 
devastating weapon in history. 

1582
01:24:35,100 --> 01:24:38,600
While military men who 
understood Logistics had to wrap

1583
01:24:38,600 --> 01:24:41,300
their heads around Concepts that
sounded like they belonged in 

1584
01:24:41,300 --> 01:24:44,800
comic books and so began the 
most improbable collaboration in

1585
01:24:44,800 --> 01:24:48,100
human history where the marriage
of pure science and applied 

1586
01:24:48,100 --> 01:24:49,900
paranoia would reshape 
everything. 

1587
01:24:49,900 --> 01:24:53,200
Now, you might think that 
assembling the world's greatest 

1588
01:24:53,200 --> 01:24:56,700
scientific Minds would be like 
organizing a really intellectual

1589
01:24:56,700 --> 01:24:58,600
dinner party. 
You'd be wrong. 

1590
01:24:59,300 --> 01:25:01,000
It was more like trying to hurt 
cats. 

1591
01:25:01,000 --> 01:25:03,700
If the cats were Nobel Prize 
winners with strong opinions 

1592
01:25:03,700 --> 01:25:07,300
about quantum mechanics, and an 
alarming tendency to argue about

1593
01:25:07,300 --> 01:25:09,600
theoretical physics at 
inappropriate volume. 

1594
01:25:10,700 --> 01:25:14,000
General Groves bless his 
practical heart approached, this

1595
01:25:14,000 --> 01:25:16,000
challenge the way. 
Any good military man. 

1596
01:25:16,000 --> 01:25:20,900
Would he made lists? 
Lots of lists of scientists list

1597
01:25:20,900 --> 01:25:24,300
of locations list of things they
need and probably a list of 

1598
01:25:24,300 --> 01:25:27,100
reasons why this was either the 
best or worst assignment of his 

1599
01:25:27,100 --> 01:25:30,100
career. 
He realized pretty quickly that 

1600
01:25:30,100 --> 01:25:32,700
managing brilliant people was 
like, managing regular people 

1601
01:25:32,700 --> 01:25:35,500
except they could prove you 
wrong with math. 

1602
01:25:36,400 --> 01:25:38,800
The first real breakthrough 
came, when someone suggested 

1603
01:25:38,800 --> 01:25:41,500
they recruit Robert Oppenheimer 
to lead the scientific effort. 

1604
01:25:42,300 --> 01:25:44,600
Now, Oppenheimer was an 
interesting choice. 

1605
01:25:44,600 --> 01:25:47,600
He was brilliant. 
Absolutely, but he was also the 

1606
01:25:47,600 --> 01:25:51,100
kind of guy who quoted Sanskrit 
at cocktail parties and had a 

1607
01:25:51,100 --> 01:25:53,900
habit of making everyone around 
him feel slightly undereducated.

1608
01:25:53,900 --> 01:25:57,800
He was like that friend who can 
discuss wine literature and 

1609
01:25:57,800 --> 01:26:01,800
nuclear physics with equal 
fluency except instead of being 

1610
01:26:01,800 --> 01:26:04,700
annoying at dinner parties. 
He was about to become the most 

1611
01:26:04,700 --> 01:26:08,700
famous scientists in America. 
What made Oppenheimer, perfect 

1612
01:26:08,700 --> 01:26:10,300
for the job. 
Wasn't just his scientific 

1613
01:26:10,300 --> 01:26:12,700
credentials though. 
Those were impressive enough. 

1614
01:26:12,700 --> 01:26:16,100
It was his ability to translate 
between the language of pure 

1615
01:26:16,100 --> 01:26:18,700
science and the language of we 
need results. 

1616
01:26:18,700 --> 01:26:21,300
Now, please. 
He could talk to a theoretical 

1617
01:26:21,300 --> 01:26:24,100
physicist about quantum 
mechanics in the morning and 

1618
01:26:24,100 --> 01:26:26,500
explain to a general why they 
needed more funding in the 

1619
01:26:26,500 --> 01:26:29,000
afternoon. 
All while maintaining the kind 

1620
01:26:29,000 --> 01:26:31,500
of cool demeanor that suggested.
He found the whole thing 

1621
01:26:31,500 --> 01:26:34,500
intellectually fascinating 
rather than terrifying. 

1622
01:26:35,600 --> 01:26:37,700
You can't run a massive 
scientific project from 

1623
01:26:37,700 --> 01:26:40,600
University offices, and 
borrowed, Laboratories, they 

1624
01:26:40,600 --> 01:26:43,100
needed space and not just any 
space. 

1625
01:26:43,100 --> 01:26:47,100
They needed secret space, really
secret space. 

1626
01:26:48,000 --> 01:26:50,500
The kind of secret space where 
you could accidentally change 

1627
01:26:50,500 --> 01:26:53,100
the world without anyone 
noticing, until it was too late.

1628
01:26:54,100 --> 01:26:56,600
Enter Los Alamos, New Mexico, a 
location. 

1629
01:26:56,600 --> 01:26:59,200
So remote that it made the 
middle of nowhere look like 

1630
01:26:59,208 --> 01:27:02,100
downtown Manhattan. 
It was perfect in the way that 

1631
01:27:02,100 --> 01:27:05,800
only truly imperfect places can 
be perfect, The site was 

1632
01:27:05,800 --> 01:27:08,600
isolated enough, that any 
accidental explosions would 

1633
01:27:08,600 --> 01:27:12,100
mostly just bother the local 
Wildlife, but accessible enough 

1634
01:27:12,100 --> 01:27:14,600
that they could actually 
transport equipment and people 

1635
01:27:14,600 --> 01:27:18,500
without requiring pack mules. 
The original plan was to house, 

1636
01:27:18,500 --> 01:27:22,200
maybe 30 scientists there. 
This was a bit like planning, a 

1637
01:27:22,200 --> 01:27:25,000
small dinner party and having it
turned into a wedding reception 

1638
01:27:25,000 --> 01:27:28,500
for 500 people. 
By the end of the project, Los 

1639
01:27:28,500 --> 01:27:31,700
Alamos had grown from a sleepy 
Ranch School into a secret City 

1640
01:27:31,700 --> 01:27:35,000
with its own post office school 
system and probably the highest 

1641
01:27:35,000 --> 01:27:37,900
concentration of advanced 
degrees per square mile in human

1642
01:27:37,900 --> 01:27:41,300
history but Los Alamos was just 
one piece of the puzzle. 

1643
01:27:41,300 --> 01:27:44,700
The Manhattan Project ended up 
requiring an entire secret 

1644
01:27:44,700 --> 01:27:46,400
infrastructure. 
Spread across the country. 

1645
01:27:46,400 --> 01:27:50,300
They built massive facilities in
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where they

1646
01:27:50,300 --> 01:27:53,200
would separate uranium Isotopes,
using methods that were equal 

1647
01:27:53,200 --> 01:27:56,900
parts, brilliant and Brute 
Force, They constructed another 

1648
01:27:56,900 --> 01:28:00,200
enormous complex in Hanford, 
Washington for producing 

1649
01:28:00,200 --> 01:28:03,500
plutonium, because apparently 
one type of nuclear material 

1650
01:28:03,500 --> 01:28:06,600
wasn't enough for their 
ambitious plans, the logistics 

1651
01:28:06,600 --> 01:28:09,500
alone were mind-boggling. 
Try explaining to your 

1652
01:28:09,500 --> 01:28:11,800
accountant that you need to 
build several cities from 

1653
01:28:11,800 --> 01:28:15,600
scratch hire tens of thousands 
of people and consume more 

1654
01:28:15,600 --> 01:28:17,500
electricity than some entire 
States. 

1655
01:28:17,500 --> 01:28:21,100
All for a project, you can't 
actually tell anyone about the 

1656
01:28:21,100 --> 01:28:24,200
Tennessee Valley Authority found
itself powering what looked like

1657
01:28:24,200 --> 01:28:28,200
the industrial equivalent of a 
small Alien Invasion and they 

1658
01:28:28,200 --> 01:28:31,900
just had to trust that someone 
somewhere knew what they were 

1659
01:28:31,900 --> 01:28:34,700
doing. 
The security measures were so 

1660
01:28:34,700 --> 01:28:36,400
elaborate they bordered on 
comedy. 

1661
01:28:37,000 --> 01:28:38,500
Workers at Oak. 
Ridge were told they were 

1662
01:28:38,500 --> 01:28:41,600
helping with the war effort but 
most had no idea what they were 

1663
01:28:41,600 --> 01:28:44,300
actually producing. 
Some thought they were making 

1664
01:28:44,300 --> 01:28:47,600
Industrial Equipment, others 
assumed it was, some kind of 

1665
01:28:47,600 --> 01:28:50,500
super fuel. 
A few probably suspected. 

1666
01:28:50,500 --> 01:28:52,600
They were involved in something 
important but the 

1667
01:28:52,608 --> 01:28:55,800
compartmentalization was so 
thorough that you could work on 

1668
01:28:55,800 --> 01:28:58,900
the Manhattan Project for three 
years and still have only the 

1669
01:28:58,900 --> 01:29:01,000
vaguest idea what you'd actually
accomplished. 

1670
01:29:01,000 --> 01:29:04,600
Meanwhile, back at Los Alamos. 
Oppenheimer was facing the 

1671
01:29:04,608 --> 01:29:08,100
unique challenge of creating a 
functional Community where the 

1672
01:29:08,100 --> 01:29:10,900
residents included, some of the 
most brilliant and temperamental

1673
01:29:10,900 --> 01:29:14,400
people on the planet, all living
in temporary housing in the 

1674
01:29:14,408 --> 01:29:17,500
middle of the desert working on 
something that might either end 

1675
01:29:17,500 --> 01:29:20,600
the war or accidentally end, 
everything else it was like 

1676
01:29:20,600 --> 01:29:23,300
summer camp for adults. 
If summer, camp involved, 

1677
01:29:23,300 --> 01:29:25,600
nuclear physics and the fate of 
Civilization. 

1678
01:29:25,600 --> 01:29:28,900
Now, here's where things get 
really interesting in the 

1679
01:29:28,908 --> 01:29:31,300
special way that only 
theoretical physics can be 

1680
01:29:31,300 --> 01:29:33,700
interesting. 
Your dealing with people who 

1681
01:29:33,700 --> 01:29:36,600
spend their days thinking about 
things so small, you can't see 

1682
01:29:36,600 --> 01:29:38,300
them. 
Even with the most powerful 

1683
01:29:38,300 --> 01:29:42,000
microscopes yet these invisible 
things contain enough energy to 

1684
01:29:42,000 --> 01:29:45,000
level cities, it's like to 
discovering that dust bunnies 

1685
01:29:45,000 --> 01:29:47,200
under your couch could power 
your entire neighborhood. 

1686
01:29:47,200 --> 01:29:50,200
If only you could figure out how
to Convince them to cooperate. 

1687
01:29:50,200 --> 01:29:53,500
The basic concept of nuclear 
fission sounds almost simple. 

1688
01:29:53,500 --> 01:29:57,000
When you say it quickly, you 
take a uranium, atom, he split 

1689
01:29:57,000 --> 01:30:00,700
it, and it releases energy. 
But saying that is like saying 

1690
01:30:00,700 --> 01:30:03,500
baking a cake when you're 
actually trying to construct a 

1691
01:30:03,500 --> 01:30:06,100
12 tier wedding cake. 
While blindfolded using 

1692
01:30:06,100 --> 01:30:09,100
ingredients, you've never seen 
before and following a recipe 

1693
01:30:09,100 --> 01:30:11,400
written in a language that was 
just invented yesterday. 

1694
01:30:12,700 --> 01:30:15,400
The first challenge was getting 
the right kind of uranium 

1695
01:30:15,400 --> 01:30:20,200
natural, uranium is mostly 
uranium 238, which is about as 

1696
01:30:20,200 --> 01:30:22,200
useful for making bombs as a 
chocolate teapot. 

1697
01:30:22,200 --> 01:30:26,400
What they needed was 
uranium-235, which makes up less

1698
01:30:26,400 --> 01:30:30,100
than 1% of natural uranium. 
It's like needing to separate 

1699
01:30:30,100 --> 01:30:33,700
red M&Ms from a swimming pool 
full of mixed M&Ms. Except the 

1700
01:30:33,700 --> 01:30:36,400
M&M's are invisible. 
They're trying to kill you and 

1701
01:30:36,400 --> 01:30:38,900
you can only tell them apart 
using methods that haven't been 

1702
01:30:38,900 --> 01:30:42,300
invented yet. 
The scientists at Oak Ridge 

1703
01:30:42,300 --> 01:30:43,800
approached. 
This problem with the kind of 

1704
01:30:43,800 --> 01:30:46,400
methodical determination that 
only comes from having 

1705
01:30:46,400 --> 01:30:49,700
absolutely no choice. 
They tried several different 

1706
01:30:49,700 --> 01:30:53,100
separation methods, including 
one that involved giant Electro 

1707
01:30:53,100 --> 01:30:56,300
magnets called calutron. 
These machines were enormous and

1708
01:30:56,300 --> 01:30:59,700
consumed so much electricity 
that they basically turned the 

1709
01:30:59,700 --> 01:31:03,200
separation of uranium ice tubes 
into an industrial process. 

1710
01:31:03,200 --> 01:31:06,500
That could be seen from space, 
if satellites had existed, then,

1711
01:31:06,500 --> 01:31:09,900
however, uranium was not the 
soul option of available 

1712
01:31:09,900 --> 01:31:12,500
nuclear. 
Reactors could create plutonium 

1713
01:31:12,500 --> 01:31:17,200
an element absent in nature. 
Plutonium was like, uranium's 

1714
01:31:17,200 --> 01:31:20,800
more complicated cousin, 
potentially more powerful but 

1715
01:31:20,800 --> 01:31:23,400
also more difficult to work with
and with a personality that 

1716
01:31:23,400 --> 01:31:25,900
could charitably be described as
temperamental. 

1717
01:31:26,500 --> 01:31:29,800
Creating plutonium required 
building nuclear reactors, which

1718
01:31:29,800 --> 01:31:31,900
brought its own special set of 
challenges. 

1719
01:31:32,800 --> 01:31:35,100
The first reactor was built 
under the football stadium at 

1720
01:31:35,100 --> 01:31:37,500
the University of Chicago 
because apparently someone 

1721
01:31:37,500 --> 01:31:39,700
thought that the best place to 
test Humanity's. 

1722
01:31:39,700 --> 01:31:43,200
First controlled nuclear chain 
reaction was directly underneath

1723
01:31:43,200 --> 01:31:46,700
a major American city. 
The physicists in charge of this

1724
01:31:46,700 --> 01:31:49,900
experiment in Rica fairy was 
reportedly betting on whether 

1725
01:31:49,900 --> 01:31:52,900
the reaction would stop when 
they wanted it to which shows 

1726
01:31:52,900 --> 01:31:54,700
how well they understood what 
they were doing. 

1727
01:31:55,500 --> 01:31:57,200
Fairy. 
Incidentally was the kind of 

1728
01:31:57,200 --> 01:32:00,100
scientist who could calculate 
complex physics problems in his 

1729
01:32:00,100 --> 01:32:02,400
head while other people were 
still looking for their 

1730
01:32:02,400 --> 01:32:05,000
calculators. 
He was also famous for his 

1731
01:32:05,000 --> 01:32:08,300
ability to estimate almost 
anything, give him a few minutes

1732
01:32:08,300 --> 01:32:10,700
and some basic information. 
And he could tell you 

1733
01:32:10,700 --> 01:32:14,000
approximately how many piano 
tuners lived in Chicago, or how 

1734
01:32:14,000 --> 01:32:16,900
much energy would be released by
various theoretical nuclear 

1735
01:32:16,900 --> 01:32:19,700
explosions. 
This skill turned out to be 

1736
01:32:19,700 --> 01:32:22,800
surprisingly useful when dealing
with weapons that released more 

1737
01:32:22,800 --> 01:32:26,100
energy than anyone had ever 
handled before the Chicago 

1738
01:32:26,100 --> 01:32:28,900
reactor worked. 
Thankfully without accidentally 

1739
01:32:28,900 --> 01:32:32,400
eliminating the Midwest and it 
provided the proof of concept 

1740
01:32:32,400 --> 01:32:34,900
needed to build much larger 
reactors at Hanford. 

1741
01:32:36,200 --> 01:32:39,200
These reactors were designed to 
produce plutonium on an 

1742
01:32:39,200 --> 01:32:41,900
industrial scale. 
Turning the abstract concept of 

1743
01:32:41,900 --> 01:32:45,000
artificially created elements 
into something measured in 

1744
01:32:45,000 --> 01:32:47,500
tonnes rather than microscopic 
quantities. 

1745
01:32:48,200 --> 01:32:51,000
However, obtaining nuclear 
material was only half the 

1746
01:32:51,000 --> 01:32:53,400
challenge. 
The other half was figuring out 

1747
01:32:53,400 --> 01:32:56,600
how to make it explode in a 
controlled predictable, way that

1748
01:32:56,600 --> 01:32:59,200
would release all that energy at
exactly the right moment. 

1749
01:33:00,200 --> 01:33:02,900
This step turned out to be 
significantly more complicated 

1750
01:33:02,900 --> 01:33:06,300
than anyone had anticipated. 
Like the difference between 

1751
01:33:06,300 --> 01:33:09,100
lighting a candle and conducting
a symphony, orchestra made 

1752
01:33:09,100 --> 01:33:12,800
entirely of Fire. 
The simplest design called gun 

1753
01:33:12,800 --> 01:33:16,200
type worked by shooting, one 
piece of uranium in to another 

1754
01:33:16,200 --> 01:33:19,700
piece of uranium rapidly. 
It was elegant in its Simplicity

1755
01:33:19,700 --> 01:33:22,800
like Nuclear Physics designed by
someone who really understood 

1756
01:33:22,800 --> 01:33:25,600
hammers. 
But this method only worked with

1757
01:33:25,600 --> 01:33:29,600
uranium 235 and they didn't have
enough for more than one bomb. 

1758
01:33:31,000 --> 01:33:33,700
The plutonium bomb required, a 
completely different approach 

1759
01:33:33,700 --> 01:33:37,600
called implosion which involves 
around a ball of plutonium with 

1760
01:33:37,600 --> 01:33:40,700
conventional explosives and 
detonating them all at. 

1761
01:33:40,700 --> 01:33:43,800
Exactly the same moment 
compressing the plutonium until 

1762
01:33:43,800 --> 01:33:47,500
it reached critical mass. 
Achieving this required such 

1763
01:33:47,500 --> 01:33:50,400
Precision that it would make 
Swiss watchmakers nervous. 

1764
01:33:50,400 --> 01:33:54,200
If the timing was off by even a 
few microseconds, the result 

1765
01:33:54,200 --> 01:33:57,300
would be an expensive dud 
instead of a nuclear explosion. 

1766
01:33:58,500 --> 01:34:01,200
This was the kind of problem 
that kept brilliant people awake

1767
01:34:01,200 --> 01:34:04,100
at night, staring at the ceiling
and wondering if they were about

1768
01:34:04,100 --> 01:34:07,000
to change the world or just 
create the most elaborate 

1769
01:34:07,000 --> 01:34:11,500
failure in scientific history by
the summer of 1945 Los Alamos 

1770
01:34:11,500 --> 01:34:14,100
scientists had been engaged in 
the world's most expensive 

1771
01:34:14,100 --> 01:34:17,500
science project for over two 
years despite possessing, 

1772
01:34:17,500 --> 01:34:21,000
numerous theories calculations 
and mathematical equations. 

1773
01:34:21,000 --> 01:34:24,000
They remained uncertain. 
If any of them would truly 

1774
01:34:24,000 --> 01:34:28,100
function It's akin to dedicating
three years to the construction 

1775
01:34:28,100 --> 01:34:31,800
of a car, only to discover that 
you've never actually attempted 

1776
01:34:31,800 --> 01:34:35,300
to operate the key. 
The gun type uranium bomb was 

1777
01:34:35,300 --> 01:34:38,200
simple enough, that they felt 
confident it would work without 

1778
01:34:38,200 --> 01:34:41,000
testing. 
This level of confidence in an 

1779
01:34:41,000 --> 01:34:44,200
untested, nuclear weapon was 
either remarkably bold or 

1780
01:34:44,200 --> 01:34:47,300
extremely naive, depending on 
how you looked at it. 

1781
01:34:48,200 --> 01:34:51,500
However the plutonium implosion 
bomb presented a distinct 

1782
01:34:51,500 --> 01:34:53,800
challenge. 
It was so complex and 

1783
01:34:53,800 --> 01:34:55,600
temperamental that betting the 
war on it. 

1784
01:34:55,600 --> 01:34:58,500
Without a test would have been 
like performing brain surgery. 

1785
01:34:58,500 --> 01:35:00,300
Based on a cookbook, you'd ring 
yourself. 

1786
01:35:01,100 --> 01:35:04,400
So they decided to conduct a 
test which presented its own 

1787
01:35:04,400 --> 01:35:07,800
unique set of challenges. 
What would be the most suitable 

1788
01:35:07,800 --> 01:35:09,700
location to test a nuclear 
weapon? 

1789
01:35:09,700 --> 01:35:13,600
You cannot simply head to the 
nearby firing range and hope for

1790
01:35:13,600 --> 01:35:16,300
a favorable outcome. 
You need somewhere remote 

1791
01:35:16,300 --> 01:35:17,200
enough. 
That if something goes 

1792
01:35:17,200 --> 01:35:20,700
spectacularly wrong you won't 
accidentally eliminate half of 

1793
01:35:20,700 --> 01:35:22,600
civilization. 
Before you've had a chance to 

1794
01:35:22,600 --> 01:35:25,900
use your weapon on the enemy. 
They chose a site in the New 

1795
01:35:25,900 --> 01:35:28,500
Mexico. 
Desert about 200 miles south of 

1796
01:35:28,500 --> 01:35:31,800
Los Alamos, called Trinity. 
The name was oppenheimer's 

1797
01:35:31,800 --> 01:35:35,300
Choice inspired by a John Donne 
poem because apparently even 

1798
01:35:35,300 --> 01:35:37,900
when you're about to test 
Humanity's first nuclear weapon,

1799
01:35:37,900 --> 01:35:39,500
you still have time for 
literature. 

1800
01:35:40,500 --> 01:35:44,500
The site was flat empty and Far 
Enough from major population 

1801
01:35:44,500 --> 01:35:47,900
centers that any unexpected 
consequences would mostly affect

1802
01:35:47,900 --> 01:35:51,800
lizards and tumbleweeds. 
Preparing for the test was like 

1803
01:35:51,800 --> 01:35:54,100
planning the world's most 
dangerous camping trip. 

1804
01:35:54,100 --> 01:35:56,900
They had to transport an 
incredibly delicate and 

1805
01:35:56,900 --> 01:36:00,800
expensive nuclear device across 
desert roads that were barely 

1806
01:36:00,800 --> 01:36:02,200
suitable for regular 
automobiles. 

1807
01:36:02,200 --> 01:36:06,300
Then assemble it in a temporary 
laboratory that had been built 

1808
01:36:06,300 --> 01:36:09,800
in the middle of nowhere. 
The bomb itself was nicknamed, 

1809
01:36:09,800 --> 01:36:13,100
the gadget with the kind of 
casual understatement that 

1810
01:36:13,100 --> 01:36:16,400
suggested, they were discussing 
a new kitchen, appliance rather 

1811
01:36:16,400 --> 01:36:18,200
than a weapon that could level a
city. 

1812
01:36:18,900 --> 01:36:21,500
The scientists and military 
personnel involved in the tests.

1813
01:36:21,500 --> 01:36:23,600
Were dealing with unprecedented 
questions. 

1814
01:36:23,600 --> 01:36:27,200
How far away did you need to be 
to observe a nuclear explosion 

1815
01:36:27,200 --> 01:36:30,200
safely. 
Nobody knew because nobody had 

1816
01:36:30,200 --> 01:36:32,200
ever observed a nuclear 
explosion before. 

1817
01:36:33,100 --> 01:36:36,000
They made their best guesses 
based on calculations and hope 

1818
01:36:36,000 --> 01:36:37,300
they weren't catastrophically 
wrong. 

1819
01:36:37,300 --> 01:36:41,500
Some of the scientists brought 
suntan lotion as if protecting 

1820
01:36:41,500 --> 01:36:44,400
against nuclear radiation, was 
similar to preventing a mild 

1821
01:36:44,400 --> 01:36:47,000
sunburn. 
The test was scheduled for the 

1822
01:36:47,008 --> 01:36:52,000
early morning hours of July, 
16th, 1945, partly for security 

1823
01:36:52,000 --> 01:36:54,700
reasons, and partly, because 
someone thought it would be 

1824
01:36:54,700 --> 01:36:57,400
easier to see the explosion 
against the pre-dawn sky. 

1825
01:36:58,600 --> 01:37:01,800
As the countdown approached, the
level of tension at the site was

1826
01:37:01,800 --> 01:37:04,100
probably measurable with 
scientific instruments. 

1827
01:37:04,800 --> 01:37:07,300
These were people who had spent 
years of their lives working 

1828
01:37:07,300 --> 01:37:10,200
toward this moment and they were
about to find out of they'd 

1829
01:37:10,200 --> 01:37:13,300
created a revolutionary weapon, 
all the world's most expensive 

1830
01:37:13,300 --> 01:37:16,200
firework Oppenheimer. 
In the other key scientists 

1831
01:37:16,200 --> 01:37:18,900
gathered at controlled bunker 
about six miles from Ground 

1832
01:37:18,900 --> 01:37:22,000
Zero, which seemed like a safe 
distance Until you realize that 

1833
01:37:22,000 --> 01:37:25,500
nobody actually knew what 
constituted a safe distance from

1834
01:37:25,500 --> 01:37:27,400
Humanity's first nuclear 
explosion. 

1835
01:37:28,200 --> 01:37:30,800
They laid down on the ground 
facing away from the blast site 

1836
01:37:30,800 --> 01:37:33,900
with instructions, to look, only
after the initial flash had 

1837
01:37:33,900 --> 01:37:36,000
passed. 
It was like being told to watch 

1838
01:37:36,000 --> 01:37:39,300
the world's most important 
Sunrise through your eyelids at 

1839
01:37:39,300 --> 01:37:43,300
5:29 a.m. the gadget detonated 
with a force equivalent to about

1840
01:37:43,300 --> 01:37:47,700
21,000 tons of TNT. 
For a brief moment, the 

1841
01:37:47,700 --> 01:37:50,600
explosion created temperatures 
comparable to the surface of the

1842
01:37:50,600 --> 01:37:53,100
Sun and light brighter than the 
sun itself. 

1843
01:37:54,100 --> 01:37:58,200
The Flash was visible from over 
160 miles away, and the sound of

1844
01:37:58,200 --> 01:38:00,800
the explosion Was Heard nearly 
100 miles distant. 

1845
01:38:01,600 --> 01:38:05,000
Several observers reported that 
for a few seconds, it was as if 

1846
01:38:05,008 --> 01:38:08,500
there were two sons in the sky, 
the mushroom cloud, Rose to over

1847
01:38:08,500 --> 01:38:11,800
40,000 feet and the heat from 
the explosion turned. 

1848
01:38:11,800 --> 01:38:14,700
The desert sand into a greenish 
glass that they later called 

1849
01:38:14,700 --> 01:38:17,400
trinitite. 
The steel tower that held the 

1850
01:38:17,400 --> 01:38:20,300
bomb vaporized along with 
everything else within a 

1851
01:38:20,308 --> 01:38:24,000
substantial radius of ground 
zero in the space of a few 

1852
01:38:24,000 --> 01:38:25,500
seconds. 
The theoretical had become 

1853
01:38:25,500 --> 01:38:29,500
devastatingly real Oppenheimer 
later said that he watched the 

1854
01:38:29,500 --> 01:38:32,400
explosion aligned from the 
pagadi came to mind. 

1855
01:38:32,400 --> 01:38:36,500
Now, I am become death destroyer
of worlds. 

1856
01:38:36,500 --> 01:38:39,700
It was the kind of literary 
reference that seemed almost 

1857
01:38:39,700 --> 01:38:43,100
absurdly intellectual given the 
circumstances, but it captured 

1858
01:38:43,100 --> 01:38:44,900
the magnitude of what they had 
just witnessed. 

1859
01:38:45,800 --> 01:38:48,700
They had successfully created a 
weapon that could destroy entire

1860
01:38:48,700 --> 01:38:52,000
cities in an instant. 
The test was a complete success 

1861
01:38:52,000 --> 01:38:55,600
which meant that the Manhattan 
Project had achieved its primary

1862
01:38:55,600 --> 01:38:58,400
goal, they had beaten Germany to
the atomic bomb. 

1863
01:38:59,200 --> 01:39:01,700
Of course by this point Germany 
had already surrendered. 

1864
01:39:01,700 --> 01:39:05,100
So the original motivation for 
the project was somewhat moot. 

1865
01:39:05,700 --> 01:39:08,400
But there was still Japan to 
consider and the war in the 

1866
01:39:08,408 --> 01:39:12,500
Pacific was far from over. 
As the mushroom cloud dissipated

1867
01:39:12,500 --> 01:39:15,800
over the New Mexico desert, the 
scientists and military 

1868
01:39:15,800 --> 01:39:18,800
personnel at Trinity began 
grappling with the implications 

1869
01:39:18,800 --> 01:39:21,400
of what they had. 
Just accomplished, they had 

1870
01:39:21,400 --> 01:39:23,400
unlocked a portal that would 
never reopen. 

1871
01:39:23,400 --> 01:39:25,800
Now, comes the part of the 
story, where things get 

1872
01:39:25,800 --> 01:39:28,300
complicated in ways that make 
quantum physics look 

1873
01:39:28,300 --> 01:39:30,800
straightforward. 
You have this incredibly 

1874
01:39:30,800 --> 01:39:35,000
powerful weapon that works 
exactly as advertised a war that

1875
01:39:35,008 --> 01:39:38,500
still raging in the Pacific and 
a bunch of very smart people. 

1876
01:39:38,500 --> 01:39:41,600
Suddenly realizing that creating
the thing was actually the easy 

1877
01:39:41,600 --> 01:39:45,200
part The real challenge lay in 
deciding what to do with it. 

1878
01:39:46,100 --> 01:39:49,100
Pressed President Truman who had
inherited both the president see

1879
01:39:49,100 --> 01:39:50,900
and the Manhattan Project from 
Roosevelt. 

1880
01:39:50,900 --> 01:39:53,900
Found himself in the position of
having to make decisions about 

1881
01:39:53,900 --> 01:39:56,800
weapons. 
He barely understood Imagine 

1882
01:39:56,800 --> 01:40:00,100
being given the keys to a weapon
that could destroy cities and 

1883
01:40:00,100 --> 01:40:02,200
being told to learn how to use 
it in a few weeks. 

1884
01:40:03,100 --> 01:40:05,500
Truman was a practical man who 
preferred straightforward 

1885
01:40:05,500 --> 01:40:08,700
problems with straightforward 
Solutions but there was nothing 

1886
01:40:08,700 --> 01:40:10,500
straightforward about Atomic 
weapons. 

1887
01:40:11,300 --> 01:40:14,200
The military estimates for the 
invasion of Japan were extremely

1888
01:40:14,200 --> 01:40:18,100
sobering operation downfall as 
it was known, had the potential 

1889
01:40:18,100 --> 01:40:22,000
to cause over a million American
casualties and several million 

1890
01:40:22,000 --> 01:40:24,800
Japanese deaths. 
These weren't abstract numbers 

1891
01:40:24,800 --> 01:40:28,400
on a strategic planning document
they represented real people 

1892
01:40:28,400 --> 01:40:33,100
families and entire communities.
The alternative was using Atomic

1893
01:40:33,100 --> 01:40:36,600
weapons against Japanese cities,
which would also kill enormous 

1894
01:40:36,600 --> 01:40:39,600
numbers of civilians, but my end
the war quickly enough to 

1895
01:40:39,600 --> 01:40:41,400
prevent an even larger 
catastrophe. 

1896
01:40:42,400 --> 01:40:44,800
It's the kind of decision that 
would keep anyone awake at 

1897
01:40:44,800 --> 01:40:48,200
night, the kind of moral 
calculation that has no clearly.

1898
01:40:48,200 --> 01:40:50,700
Right answer. 
Do you choose the option that 

1899
01:40:50,700 --> 01:40:54,000
kills fewer people overall, but 
involves using weapons of 

1900
01:40:54,000 --> 01:40:57,300
unprecedented destructive power.
Or do you choose the 

1901
01:40:57,300 --> 01:41:00,300
conventional Invasion? 
That might ultimately cost more 

1902
01:41:00,300 --> 01:41:03,200
lives but doesn't cross the 
threshold into nuclear warfare. 

1903
01:41:04,800 --> 01:41:07,800
Some of the scientists involved 
in the Manhattan Project was 

1904
01:41:07,800 --> 01:41:10,700
seriously reconsidering their 
involvement in its creation? 

1905
01:41:11,700 --> 01:41:14,900
Leo silard, who had started the 
whole thing with his worries 

1906
01:41:14,900 --> 01:41:18,100
about German Atomic research. 
Now, found himself trying to 

1907
01:41:18,100 --> 01:41:21,400
stop the use of the weapons. 
He had helped create he and 

1908
01:41:21,400 --> 01:41:23,900
several other scientists 
petition Truman to demonstrate 

1909
01:41:23,900 --> 01:41:27,800
the bombs power without using it
against populated areas, perhaps

1910
01:41:27,800 --> 01:41:31,100
by detonating it over an 
uninhabited area where Japanese 

1911
01:41:31,100 --> 01:41:33,500
leaders could Witnesses 
destructive potential. 

1912
01:41:34,400 --> 01:41:37,100
But military planners argued 
that a demonstration might not 

1913
01:41:37,100 --> 01:41:40,500
be convincing enough to force 
Japanese surrender, especially 

1914
01:41:40,500 --> 01:41:42,300
if the bomb to detonate 
properly. 

1915
01:41:43,600 --> 01:41:46,400
They had exactly two. 
Operational, Atomic weapons. 

1916
01:41:46,400 --> 01:41:51,400
Little boy, the uranium bomb and
fat, man, the plutonium bomb and

1917
01:41:51,400 --> 01:41:54,100
using one for a demonstration, 
would leave them with only one 

1918
01:41:54,100 --> 01:41:57,900
weapon for actual combat use. 
It was like having two bullets 

1919
01:41:57,900 --> 01:42:00,300
and wondering whether to file 
one into the air as a warning 

1920
01:42:00,308 --> 01:42:03,100
shot. 
The decision-making process was 

1921
01:42:03,100 --> 01:42:05,700
complicated by the fact that 
many of the people involved 

1922
01:42:05,700 --> 01:42:08,800
still didn't fully understand 
what they were dealing with. the

1923
01:42:08,800 --> 01:42:11,200
long term effects of radiation 
exposure, weren't well, 

1924
01:42:11,200 --> 01:42:14,400
understood the political 
implications of introducing 

1925
01:42:14,400 --> 01:42:17,000
nuclear weapons to Warfare, 
hadn't been fully considered 

1926
01:42:17,900 --> 01:42:20,500
They were making decisions about
the future of human conflict 

1927
01:42:20,500 --> 01:42:24,500
with incomplete information and 
under enormous time pressure, 

1928
01:42:24,500 --> 01:42:27,800
Japanese resistance was fears 
and showed no signs of 

1929
01:42:27,800 --> 01:42:30,300
diminishing. 
The battle of Okinawa had 

1930
01:42:30,300 --> 01:42:33,300
demonstrated the terrible cost 
of invading fortified Japanese 

1931
01:42:33,300 --> 01:42:36,600
positions, and intelligence 
suggested that the Japanese were

1932
01:42:36,600 --> 01:42:39,500
preparing to defend their home 
islands with even greater 

1933
01:42:39,500 --> 01:42:42,300
determination. 
Kamikaze attacks were in 

1934
01:42:42,300 --> 01:42:45,600
frequency and intensity. 
From a purely military 

1935
01:42:45,600 --> 01:42:49,000
perspective, anything that could
end the war quickly was worth 

1936
01:42:49,000 --> 01:42:52,200
serious consideration. 
On the other hand, several 

1937
01:42:52,200 --> 01:42:55,100
high-ranking military officials 
questioned whether Atomic 

1938
01:42:55,100 --> 01:42:58,300
weapons were necessary at all. 
Some argue that Japan was 

1939
01:42:58,300 --> 01:43:00,900
already on the verge of 
surrender due to Conventional 

1940
01:43:00,900 --> 01:43:04,500
bombing Naval blockade and the 
Soviet entry into the war 

1941
01:43:04,500 --> 01:43:06,900
against Japan. 
Others suggested that the 

1942
01:43:06,900 --> 01:43:10,100
primary motivation for using the
bombs was not to defeat Japan 

1943
01:43:10,100 --> 01:43:13,900
but to demonstrate American 
nuclear capability to the Soviet

1944
01:43:13,900 --> 01:43:16,500
Union. 
Thereby initiating the Cold War.

1945
01:43:17,600 --> 01:43:21,200
The target selection process was
grimly methodical military 

1946
01:43:21,200 --> 01:43:24,600
planners wanted cities that were
militarily, significant but had 

1947
01:43:24,600 --> 01:43:27,600
not been heavily damaged by 
conventional bombing so that the

1948
01:43:27,600 --> 01:43:30,300
effects of the atomic weapon 
could be clearly observed and 

1949
01:43:30,300 --> 01:43:32,800
documented. 
They also wanted targets that 

1950
01:43:32,808 --> 01:43:35,800
would have maximum psychological
impact on Japanese leadership. 

1951
01:43:36,800 --> 01:43:39,800
Final Target list. 
Included Hiroshima, kakura 

1952
01:43:39,800 --> 01:43:44,200
niggaa and Nagasaki Kyoto was 
initially on the list as well. 

1953
01:43:44,200 --> 01:43:47,200
But Secretary of War, Henry 
Stimson, reportedly removed it 

1954
01:43:47,200 --> 01:43:50,000
from consideration because he 
had visited the city and 

1955
01:43:50,000 --> 01:43:52,600
appreciated, its cultural and 
historical significance. 

1956
01:43:53,600 --> 01:43:56,200
It's one of those small human 
moments that had enormous 

1957
01:43:56,200 --> 01:43:59,700
consequences, a single person's 
aesthetic, sensibility 

1958
01:43:59,700 --> 01:44:03,200
potentially saving a city and 
its hundreds of thousands of 

1959
01:44:03,200 --> 01:44:04,900
inhabitants from nuclear 
destruction. 

1960
01:44:06,500 --> 01:44:09,600
As the decision deadline 
approached Truman was receiving 

1961
01:44:09,600 --> 01:44:13,100
advice from multiple directions,
much of it contradictory 

1962
01:44:13,100 --> 01:44:16,500
military commanders wanted to 
use the weapons to save American

1963
01:44:16,500 --> 01:44:18,600
lives. 
There was a divide among 

1964
01:44:18,600 --> 01:44:21,500
scientists between those seeking
to demonstrate the bombs power 

1965
01:44:21,500 --> 01:44:25,900
and those advocating for its 
decisive use. political advisors

1966
01:44:25,900 --> 01:44:28,700
were thinking about post-war 
relationships with both Japan 

1967
01:44:28,700 --> 01:44:32,400
and the Soviet Union in the end 
Truman, made the decision that 

1968
01:44:32,400 --> 01:44:35,400
he believed would end the war, 
most quickly, and save the most 

1969
01:44:35,400 --> 01:44:39,000
lives overall whether he was 
right or wrong as a question 

1970
01:44:39,000 --> 01:44:42,800
that historians and ethicist 
continue to debate today, But in

1971
01:44:42,800 --> 01:44:46,300
the summer of 1945, with 
incomplete information and 

1972
01:44:46,300 --> 01:44:49,900
enormous pressure, he chose to 
authorize the use of atomic 

1973
01:44:49,900 --> 01:44:52,900
weapons, against Japan. 
It was a decision that would 

1974
01:44:52,900 --> 01:44:55,200
define, not just the end of 
World War 2, but the beginning 

1975
01:44:55,200 --> 01:44:59,800
of the nuclear age on the 
morning of August, 6th, 1945 the

1976
01:44:59,800 --> 01:45:04,100
crew of the Enola, Gay, a B-29, 
bomber named after the Pilot's 

1977
01:45:04,100 --> 01:45:07,000
mother took off from Tiny and 
Ireland, carrying little boy, 

1978
01:45:07,000 --> 01:45:10,400
the uranium bomb that had never 
been tested, but was expected to

1979
01:45:10,400 --> 01:45:12,500
work based on theoretical 
calculation. 

1980
01:45:12,500 --> 01:45:15,900
It's important to take a moment 
to appreciate the surreal nature

1981
01:45:15,900 --> 01:45:18,200
of this moment. 
They were piloting. 

1982
01:45:18,200 --> 01:45:21,700
An untested nuclear weapon over 
the Pacific, Ocean relying on 

1983
01:45:21,700 --> 01:45:24,400
three years of theoretical 
physics, and Engineering to 

1984
01:45:24,400 --> 01:45:26,900
perform precisely as intended at
The crucial moment. 

1985
01:45:28,000 --> 01:45:30,600
Colonel, Paul. 
Tibbets the pilot probably had 

1986
01:45:30,600 --> 01:45:33,300
the strangest job description in
military history that morning. 

1987
01:45:34,000 --> 01:45:37,000
He was essentially a delivery 
driver except his package could 

1988
01:45:37,000 --> 01:45:40,800
destroy an entire city and his 
route included flying over enemy

1989
01:45:40,800 --> 01:45:42,300
territory. 
While carrying the most 

1990
01:45:42,300 --> 01:45:44,900
expensive and dangerous Cargo in
human history. 

1991
01:45:46,200 --> 01:45:48,500
The crew had been told, they 
were carrying a very powerful 

1992
01:45:48,500 --> 01:45:51,600
bomb, but most didn't know they 
were about to witness the first 

1993
01:45:51,600 --> 01:45:55,100
use of nuclear weapons. 
In Warfare Hiroshima was chosen 

1994
01:45:55,100 --> 01:45:58,000
as the primary target partly 
because it was an important 

1995
01:45:58,000 --> 01:46:00,800
military Center and partly 
because it had been largely 

1996
01:46:00,800 --> 01:46:04,100
spared from conventional bombing
making it ideal for observing 

1997
01:46:04,100 --> 01:46:08,800
the effects of atomic weapons. 
The city had about 350000. 

1998
01:46:08,800 --> 01:46:12,100
People going about their 
morning, routines unaware that 

1999
01:46:12,100 --> 01:46:14,200
they were about to witness a 
historic moment. 

2000
01:46:15,100 --> 01:46:18,700
At 8:15 a.m. local time. 
Little boy, detonated about 

2001
01:46:18,700 --> 01:46:23,100
1,900 feet above the city 
center, the explosion created a 

2002
01:46:23,100 --> 01:46:24,700
fireball with temperatures 
exceeding. 

2003
01:46:24,700 --> 01:46:27,600
Those at the center of the sun 
followed by a Shockwave that 

2004
01:46:27,600 --> 01:46:30,200
destroyed virtually, everything 
within a one-mile radius. 

2005
01:46:31,200 --> 01:46:34,700
The mushroom cloud. 
Rose to over 60,000 feet and the

2006
01:46:34,700 --> 01:46:36,600
Flash of light was visible for 
miles. 

2007
01:46:37,400 --> 01:46:41,000
Suddenly a bustling Metropolis, 
transformed into the epicenter 

2008
01:46:41,000 --> 01:46:43,800
of the nuclear era. 
The immediate destruction was 

2009
01:46:43,800 --> 01:46:47,300
almost incomprehensible 
buildings, simply vanished, 

2010
01:46:47,300 --> 01:46:50,100
people who are close to the 
hyper Center were vaporized. 

2011
01:46:50,100 --> 01:46:53,400
So quickly that their Shadows 
were burned into concrete and 

2012
01:46:53,400 --> 01:46:57,100
Stone Surfaces the intense heat,
the crushing force of the 

2013
01:46:57,100 --> 01:47:01,400
Shockwave or the collapse of 
buildings killed, others Tens of

2014
01:47:01,400 --> 01:47:04,000
thousands died immediately and 
tens of thousands. 

2015
01:47:04,000 --> 01:47:06,700
More would die in the following 
days and weeks from radiation 

2016
01:47:06,700 --> 01:47:11,200
sickness Burns and injuries. 
Back in Washington, the news of 

2017
01:47:11,200 --> 01:47:13,700
Hiroshima has destruction was 
received with a mixture of 

2018
01:47:13,708 --> 01:47:17,900
relief satisfaction and growing 
awareness of what just been 

2019
01:47:17,900 --> 01:47:20,300
Unleashed. 
Truman announced the attack 

2020
01:47:20,300 --> 01:47:24,200
publicly explaining that the 
United States had developed a 

2021
01:47:24,200 --> 01:47:27,500
new and revolutionary increase 
in destruction and warning Japan

2022
01:47:27,500 --> 01:47:32,000
to surrender or face A Reign of 
Ruin from the air, the like of 

2023
01:47:32,000 --> 01:47:35,100
which has never been seen on the
Earth but Japan did not 

2024
01:47:35,100 --> 01:47:37,900
immediately surrender. 
The Japanese government was 

2025
01:47:37,900 --> 01:47:39,900
still protesting the 
implications of what had 

2026
01:47:39,900 --> 01:47:42,400
happened to Hiroshima, when 
three days later. 

2027
01:47:42,400 --> 01:47:46,600
Another B-29 took off from 
tinian carrying fat, man, the 

2028
01:47:46,600 --> 01:47:49,500
plutonium bomb that had been 
successful tested at Trinity. 

2029
01:47:50,300 --> 01:47:54,300
The original Target was kakura. 
Cloud cover forced the crew to 

2030
01:47:54,300 --> 01:47:56,900
divert to their secondary Target
Nagasaki. 

2031
01:47:58,700 --> 01:48:02,000
Nagasaki was a port city with 
significant military industry, 

2032
01:48:02,000 --> 01:48:07,700
home to about 240,000 people. 
Fat man detonated at 11:02 a.m. 

2033
01:48:07,700 --> 01:48:12,400
on August 9th, mushroom cloud. 
And another zone of complete 

2034
01:48:12,400 --> 01:48:15,700
devastation, The bomb was 
actually more powerful than 

2035
01:48:15,700 --> 01:48:18,600
little boy, but the hilly 
terrain of Nagasaki limited, the

2036
01:48:18,600 --> 01:48:21,800
destruction somewhat compared to
the flat geography of Hiroshima.

2037
01:48:22,600 --> 01:48:25,300
Two atomic bombings, killed over
200,000 people. 

2038
01:48:25,300 --> 01:48:28,600
Most of them civilians and 
demonstrated that the United 

2039
01:48:28,600 --> 01:48:31,800
States possessed weapons of 
unprecedented destructive power.

2040
01:48:32,700 --> 01:48:35,500
More importantly, from a 
strategic perspective, they 

2041
01:48:35,500 --> 01:48:37,900
showed that America could 
produce these weapons and was 

2042
01:48:37,900 --> 01:48:41,400
willing to use them. 
The message to both Japan and 

2043
01:48:41,400 --> 01:48:44,400
the rest of the world was 
unmistakable, the rules of 

2044
01:48:44,400 --> 01:48:46,300
warfare had fundamentally 
changed. 

2045
01:48:47,700 --> 01:48:49,300
Emperor. 
Hirohito announced Japan's, 

2046
01:48:49,300 --> 01:48:54,400
surrender on August 15th, 1945, 
citing, a new and most cruel 

2047
01:48:54,400 --> 01:48:57,000
bomb as one of the factors in 
his decision. 

2048
01:48:58,200 --> 01:49:01,500
The war was over, but the 
nuclear age had begun, the 

2049
01:49:01,500 --> 01:49:04,300
scientists and Engineers who had
worked on the Manhattan Project 

2050
01:49:04,300 --> 01:49:07,700
found themselves. 
Grappling with the reality that 

2051
01:49:07,700 --> 01:49:11,100
their theoretical calculations 
had translated into actual human

2052
01:49:11,100 --> 01:49:13,100
destruction, on an unprecedented
scale. 

2053
01:49:13,900 --> 01:49:16,600
Some like, Oppenheimer were 
haunted by what they had helped 

2054
01:49:16,600 --> 01:49:20,100
create others, argued that the 
bombs had actually saved lives 

2055
01:49:20,100 --> 01:49:23,600
by ending the war quickly and 
preventing a costly invasion of 

2056
01:49:23,600 --> 01:49:26,300
Japan. 
Whether the atomic bombings were

2057
01:49:26,300 --> 01:49:29,500
necessary or Justified remains a
topic of debate, but it is 

2058
01:49:29,508 --> 01:49:32,800
undeniable that they represented
a significant shift in human 

2059
01:49:32,800 --> 01:49:36,200
history. 
The Manhattan Project had 

2060
01:49:36,200 --> 01:49:39,000
succeeded in its primary 
objective, it had created 

2061
01:49:39,000 --> 01:49:43,000
weapons powerful enough to end 
World War 2 but it also created 

2062
01:49:43,000 --> 01:49:46,100
something else a world where the
complete destruction of 

2063
01:49:46,108 --> 01:49:49,300
civilization was now 
theoretically possible, where 

2064
01:49:49,300 --> 01:49:51,800
the stakes of international 
conflict had been raised beyond 

2065
01:49:51,800 --> 01:49:56,000
anything previously imaginable. 
As the aftermath of Hiroshima 

2066
01:49:56,000 --> 01:49:59,700
and Nagasaki receded, the 
scientists who had dedicated 

2067
01:49:59,700 --> 01:50:03,700
three years to their clandestine
work, came to understand that 

2068
01:50:03,700 --> 01:50:05,600
their efforts were far from 
concluded. 

2069
01:50:05,600 --> 01:50:08,700
They had sold the technical 
challenge of nuclear weapons. 

2070
01:50:08,700 --> 01:50:12,000
But they had also created 
political ethical, and strategic

2071
01:50:12,000 --> 01:50:15,200
challenges that would define in 
international relations for 

2072
01:50:15,200 --> 01:50:18,900
generations to come, the atomic 
age had arrived and there was no

2073
01:50:18,900 --> 01:50:22,300
going back when the celebration 
parade ended and the newspaper. 

2074
01:50:22,300 --> 01:50:24,900
Stopped running headlines about 
the miracle weapons, that had 

2075
01:50:24,900 --> 01:50:28,300
ended the war, the people who 
had created those weapons found 

2076
01:50:28,300 --> 01:50:30,800
themselves dealing with the 
peculiar kind of Hangover. 

2077
01:50:30,800 --> 01:50:34,300
It wasn't the sort you get from 
too much champagne at a victory 

2078
01:50:34,300 --> 01:50:37,600
party, but the kind that comes 
from realizing you fundamentally

2079
01:50:37,600 --> 01:50:40,200
changed the world and aren't 
entirely. 

2080
01:50:40,200 --> 01:50:42,100
Sure. 
Whether you should feel proud or

2081
01:50:42,100 --> 01:50:46,600
terrified, The Manhattan Project
had been such a massive 

2082
01:50:46,600 --> 01:50:49,800
all-consuming effort that many 
of the scientists involved. 

2083
01:50:49,800 --> 01:50:52,400
Hadn't really had time to think 
about what would happen after 

2084
01:50:52,400 --> 01:50:55,600
they succeeded. 
It's akin to devoting three 

2085
01:50:55,600 --> 01:50:58,800
years to the construction of a 
race car, only to abruptly, 

2086
01:50:58,800 --> 01:51:00,500
discover you don't know where to
steer it. 

2087
01:51:01,300 --> 01:51:04,000
They had sold the technical 
problem of nuclear weapons with 

2088
01:51:04,000 --> 01:51:07,400
brilliant efficiency, but they 
had inadvertently created 

2089
01:51:07,400 --> 01:51:09,400
problems. 
That were much more complicated 

2090
01:51:09,400 --> 01:51:12,600
than mere physics. 
Oppenheimer who had led the 

2091
01:51:12,600 --> 01:51:15,700
scientific effort at Los Alamos 
found himself in the strange 

2092
01:51:15,700 --> 01:51:19,600
position of being simultaneously
celebrated as a hero and viewed 

2093
01:51:19,600 --> 01:51:22,300
with suspicion as a potential 
security risk. 

2094
01:51:23,200 --> 01:51:25,400
He had become the most famous 
scientists in America. 

2095
01:51:25,400 --> 01:51:28,900
The father of the atomic bomb, 
but he was also, someone who 

2096
01:51:28,900 --> 01:51:32,600
quoted Sanskrit, poetry and had 
complicated, political views 

2097
01:51:32,600 --> 01:51:34,300
that made government officials 
nervous. 

2098
01:51:34,300 --> 01:51:36,700
It's challenging to be a 
national icon. 

2099
01:51:36,700 --> 01:51:39,000
When you keep reminding people 
that the thing that made you 

2100
01:51:39,000 --> 01:51:41,000
famous could also destroy 
civilization. 

2101
01:51:41,800 --> 01:51:43,900
The other scientists went to 
University and research 

2102
01:51:43,900 --> 01:51:46,900
institutions taking with them 
the knowledge of how to build 

2103
01:51:46,900 --> 01:51:49,700
nuclear weapons and the burden 
of knowing what those weapons 

2104
01:51:49,700 --> 01:51:52,200
could do. 
Some through themselves into 

2105
01:51:52,200 --> 01:51:55,900
peaceful applications of nuclear
technology hoping to balance the

2106
01:51:55,900 --> 01:51:58,900
destructive potential of their 
work with beneficial uses for 

2107
01:51:58,900 --> 01:52:01,500
atomic energy. 
Others became advocates for 

2108
01:52:01,500 --> 01:52:04,200
nuclear disarmament arguing that
the weapons. 

2109
01:52:04,200 --> 01:52:06,900
They had helped create were too 
dangerous for Any Nation to 

2110
01:52:06,900 --> 01:52:09,900
possess. 
But the most significant change 

2111
01:52:09,900 --> 01:52:12,600
was in how countries thought 
about war and international 

2112
01:52:12,600 --> 01:52:15,200
relations. 
The atomic bomb had made the 

2113
01:52:15,200 --> 01:52:18,200
concept of total Victory 
obsolete because it now 

2114
01:52:18,200 --> 01:52:20,400
potentially meant total 
Destruction for everyone 

2115
01:52:20,400 --> 01:52:22,700
involved. 
It was like discovering that 

2116
01:52:22,700 --> 01:52:25,200
winning an argument could result
in both, participants being 

2117
01:52:25,200 --> 01:52:28,500
struck by lightning, The 
traditional logic of warfare 

2118
01:52:28,500 --> 01:52:31,000
where you could defeat your 
enemies without destroying 

2119
01:52:31,000 --> 01:52:33,400
yourself. 
No longer applied when nuclear 

2120
01:52:33,400 --> 01:52:36,800
weapons were involved. 
The Soviet Union which had been 

2121
01:52:36,808 --> 01:52:40,200
America's Allied during the war 
immediately began working on its

2122
01:52:40,200 --> 01:52:44,000
own nuclear weapons program. 
Joseph Stalin was not the sort 

2123
01:52:44,000 --> 01:52:46,100
of leader, who was comfortable 
with other countries having 

2124
01:52:46,100 --> 01:52:48,500
weapon. 
He didn't possess especially 

2125
01:52:48,500 --> 01:52:50,300
weapons, that could level entire
cities. 

2126
01:52:51,300 --> 01:52:54,100
The race to develop nuclear 
weapons became the foundation of

2127
01:52:54,100 --> 01:52:55,600
what would be called the Cold 
War. 

2128
01:52:55,600 --> 01:52:59,300
A decade's long stand-off 
between superpowers armed with 

2129
01:52:59,300 --> 01:53:01,700
enough nuclear weapons to 
destroy each other. 

2130
01:53:01,700 --> 01:53:05,100
Many times over the scientists 
who had worked on the Manhattan 

2131
01:53:05,100 --> 01:53:07,300
Project. 
Watch this development with a 

2132
01:53:07,300 --> 01:53:11,900
mixture of resignation and 
horror Many thought that nuclear

2133
01:53:11,900 --> 01:53:15,500
weapons would be so obviously 
bad that no sane leader would 

2134
01:53:15,500 --> 01:53:18,700
want to make more. 
In Stead, they discovered that 

2135
01:53:18,700 --> 01:53:21,300
human nature was more 
complicated than nuclear physics

2136
01:53:21,300 --> 01:53:24,200
and that the existence of 
nuclear weapons seem to make 

2137
01:53:24,200 --> 01:53:27,100
other countries want nuclear 
weapons even more desperately. 

2138
01:53:28,000 --> 01:53:31,800
Nuclear testing became a regular
occurrence with both the United 

2139
01:53:31,800 --> 01:53:35,200
States and the Soviet Union 
detonating increasingly powerful

2140
01:53:35,200 --> 01:53:37,800
weapons in remote locations 
around the world. 

2141
01:53:38,800 --> 01:53:42,500
The hydrogen bomb developed in 
the early 1950s made the weapons

2142
01:53:42,500 --> 01:53:45,800
used against Japan. 
Looks small by comparison, it 

2143
01:53:45,800 --> 01:53:48,200
was comparable to the difference
between a firecracker and a 

2144
01:53:48,208 --> 01:53:51,800
volcano with both having the 
potential to destroy human 

2145
01:53:51,800 --> 01:53:55,700
civilization if misused The 
legacy of the Manhattan Project 

2146
01:53:55,700 --> 01:53:59,500
extended far beyond military 
applications nuclear power. 

2147
01:53:59,500 --> 01:54:02,900
Plants began generating 
electricity nuclear medicine, 

2148
01:54:02,900 --> 01:54:06,600
revolutionized cancer treatment 
and radioactive isotopes became 

2149
01:54:06,600 --> 01:54:08,500
essential tools for scientific 
research. 

2150
01:54:09,400 --> 01:54:11,800
The same knowledge that had 
created the most destructive 

2151
01:54:11,800 --> 01:54:14,600
weapons in history. 
Also led to innovations that 

2152
01:54:14,600 --> 01:54:17,500
saved lives and advanced human 
understanding of the natural 

2153
01:54:17,500 --> 01:54:20,100
world. 
But perhaps the most lasting 

2154
01:54:20,100 --> 01:54:23,500
Legacy of the Manhattan Project 
was the way it changed, how we 

2155
01:54:23,500 --> 01:54:26,100
think about the relationship 
between science and Society. 

2156
01:54:27,200 --> 01:54:31,000
Before 1945, most people viewed 
scientific research as 

2157
01:54:31,000 --> 01:54:34,300
inherently beneficial a pure 
pursuit of knowledge that 

2158
01:54:34,300 --> 01:54:36,100
inevitably led to human 
progress. 

2159
01:54:37,100 --> 01:54:40,500
After Hiroshima and Nagasaki it 
became clear that scientific 

2160
01:54:40,500 --> 01:54:42,500
knowledge. 
Could be used for purposes that 

2161
01:54:42,500 --> 01:54:45,300
were anything but beneficial and
that scientists had 

2162
01:54:45,300 --> 01:54:49,600
responsibilities that extended 
beyond their Laboratories The 

2163
01:54:49,600 --> 01:54:52,500
Manhattan Project demonstrated 
that given enough resources, 

2164
01:54:52,500 --> 01:54:56,300
brilliant people and sufficient 
motivation, humans could solve 

2165
01:54:56,300 --> 01:55:00,300
almost any technical problem. 
But it also showed that solving 

2166
01:55:00,300 --> 01:55:02,500
technical problems was often 
easier than dealing with the 

2167
01:55:02,500 --> 01:55:06,300
consequences of those Solutions.
The scientists had successfully 

2168
01:55:06,300 --> 01:55:09,700
built nuclear weapons, but they 
had also built a world where the

2169
01:55:09,708 --> 01:55:13,200
continued existence of human 
civilization depended on the 

2170
01:55:13,200 --> 01:55:15,200
wisdom and Restraint of 
political leaders. 

2171
01:55:16,200 --> 01:55:19,200
As you settle in for sleep 
tonight it's worth remembering 

2172
01:55:19,200 --> 01:55:22,700
that the story of the Manhattan 
Project is ultimately a story 

2173
01:55:22,700 --> 01:55:26,300
about human beings trying to 
solve an unprecedented problem. 

2174
01:55:26,300 --> 01:55:29,900
Under enormous pressure making 
decisions with incomplete 

2175
01:55:29,900 --> 01:55:31,900
information and dealing with 
consequences. 

2176
01:55:31,900 --> 01:55:36,700
They couldn't fully anticipate 
The scientists engineers and 

2177
01:55:36,700 --> 01:55:39,600
military personnel. 
Involved were not fundamentally 

2178
01:55:39,600 --> 01:55:42,700
different from people today. 
They were just people trying to 

2179
01:55:42,700 --> 01:55:46,700
do their jobs in extraordinary. 
Circumstances, the atomic age 

2180
01:55:46,700 --> 01:55:51,000
that began in the New Mexico. 
Desert in 1945 is still with us 

2181
01:55:51,000 --> 01:55:55,500
today and probably always will 
be the knowledge of how to split

2182
01:55:55,500 --> 01:55:57,600
atoms and release enormous 
amounts of energy. 

2183
01:55:57,600 --> 01:56:01,000
Cannot be uninvented, and the 
weapons created during the 

2184
01:56:01,000 --> 01:56:03,900
Manhattan Project of shaped 
international relations for over

2185
01:56:03,900 --> 01:56:06,900
70 years. 
But perhaps, that's not entirely

2186
01:56:06,900 --> 01:56:09,600
a bad thing. 
The existence of nuclear weapons

2187
01:56:09,600 --> 01:56:12,900
has made large-scale Wars 
between major Powers extremely 

2188
01:56:12,900 --> 01:56:15,600
risky. 
Creating a strange kind of peace

2189
01:56:15,600 --> 01:56:17,300
through the threat of mutual 
destruction. 

2190
01:56:17,300 --> 01:56:20,400
It's not the most comforting 
foundation for international 

2191
01:56:20,400 --> 01:56:22,800
stability, but it has worked so 
far. 

2192
01:56:26,000 --> 01:56:30,100
Imagine you're living in England
in the Autumn of 1703 and your 

2193
01:56:30,100 --> 01:56:32,300
life moves at the pace of a 
horse-drawn cart. 

2194
01:56:33,100 --> 01:56:35,600
There are no weather apps on 
your phone because there are no 

2195
01:56:35,600 --> 01:56:39,400
phones, no meteorologists are 
tracking pressure systems 

2196
01:56:39,400 --> 01:56:41,800
because the barometer is only 
recently been invented. 

2197
01:56:41,800 --> 01:56:45,200
And most people think it's some 
kind of scientific curiosity 

2198
01:56:45,200 --> 01:56:49,300
rather than a practical tool. 
Queen Anne sits on the throne, 

2199
01:56:49,300 --> 01:56:52,000
having recently succeeded her 
brother-in-law. 

2200
01:56:52,000 --> 01:56:55,000
William the Third. 
The country is embroiled in the 

2201
01:56:55,000 --> 01:56:58,600
war of Spanish succession which 
is one of those complicated 

2202
01:56:58,600 --> 01:57:01,200
European conflicts where 
everyone seems to be fighting 

2203
01:57:01,200 --> 01:57:03,200
everyone else. 
So over inheritance is in 

2204
01:57:03,200 --> 01:57:07,000
territory. 
But for ordinary people, wore is

2205
01:57:07,000 --> 01:57:11,200
something that happens far away 
while the real concerns are much

2206
01:57:11,200 --> 01:57:15,300
closer to home bringing in the 
Harvest, fixing the thatch on 

2207
01:57:15,308 --> 01:57:18,300
the roof before winter, and 
making sure there's enough 

2208
01:57:18,300 --> 01:57:20,200
firewood stacked for the cold 
months ahead. 

2209
01:57:20,200 --> 01:57:24,300
November in England, means the 
farming season is winding down 

2210
01:57:24,300 --> 01:57:28,600
the fields of being harvested. 
The animals are being prepared 

2211
01:57:28,600 --> 01:57:31,700
for winter and people are 
settling into that cozy. 

2212
01:57:31,700 --> 01:57:33,700
Rhythm of shorter days and 
longer nights. 

2213
01:57:33,700 --> 01:57:37,800
It's the time of year when your 
grateful for a solid roof, a 

2214
01:57:37,800 --> 01:57:40,300
warm Hearth and walls that keep 
out the wind. 

2215
01:57:41,600 --> 01:57:45,700
The house is of 1703 would seem 
almost impossibly fragile to you

2216
01:57:45,700 --> 01:57:47,700
now. 
Most buildings outside. 

2217
01:57:47,700 --> 01:57:51,200
Major cities are timber frame 
with walls made of wattle and 

2218
01:57:51,200 --> 01:57:54,400
daub. 
Basically sticks and mud with 

2219
01:57:54,400 --> 01:57:58,100
some hope mixed in. 
Roofs are thatched with straw or

2220
01:57:58,100 --> 01:58:00,900
reads held down by wooden pegs 
and prayer. 

2221
01:58:02,200 --> 01:58:04,300
Even in London which is 
rebuilding. 

2222
01:58:04,300 --> 01:58:08,500
After the Great Fire of 1666, 
many structures are still 

2223
01:58:08,500 --> 01:58:11,900
partially wooden. 
Glass windows are expensive, 

2224
01:58:11,900 --> 01:58:15,500
luxuries so many homes. 
Make do with oiled paper or 

2225
01:58:15,500 --> 01:58:18,600
wooden shutters. 
The English Countryside is 

2226
01:58:18,600 --> 01:58:21,400
dotted with windmills that grind
grain into flour. 

2227
01:58:22,300 --> 01:58:25,200
These tall wooden structures. 
Turn their sails to catch the 

2228
01:58:25,200 --> 01:58:28,700
wind like patient Sentinels 
watching over the fields. 

2229
01:58:29,400 --> 01:58:31,900
There are hundreds of them 
essential to feeding the 

2230
01:58:31,900 --> 01:58:35,500
population standing on hilltops 
and in valleys where the wind 

2231
01:58:35,500 --> 01:58:38,900
blows strongest. 
Their marvels of engineering for

2232
01:58:38,900 --> 01:58:41,400
their time though. 
They have one significant 

2233
01:58:41,400 --> 01:58:43,800
vulnerability that nobody is 
quite solved. 

2234
01:58:44,500 --> 01:58:48,600
There are extremely susceptible 
to strong winds churches, rise 

2235
01:58:48,600 --> 01:58:52,200
above most Villages, their Stone
towers and wooden Steeples 

2236
01:58:52,200 --> 01:58:54,500
pointing toward heaven like 
fingers in prayer. 

2237
01:58:55,300 --> 01:58:59,100
These fires can be seen for 
miles around helping Travelers 

2238
01:58:59,100 --> 01:59:02,200
navigate and reminding everyone 
of the central place religion 

2239
01:59:02,200 --> 01:59:06,000
holds in daily life. 
The church bells, Mark the hours

2240
01:59:06,000 --> 01:59:08,300
called people to worship and 
warn of danger. 

2241
01:59:09,300 --> 01:59:12,300
There, the communication system 
of the age, ringing out 

2242
01:59:12,300 --> 01:59:16,500
messages, across the landscape, 
along the coasts Maritime life, 

2243
01:59:16,500 --> 01:59:21,000
pulses with constant Activity. 
The Royal Navy maintains dozens 

2244
01:59:21,000 --> 01:59:24,600
of Warships in various ports, 
while Merchant vessels crowd, 

2245
01:59:24,600 --> 01:59:28,200
the harbors loading, and 
unloading goods from around the 

2246
01:59:28,200 --> 01:59:31,100
world. 
Portsmouth Plymouth, and the 

2247
01:59:31,100 --> 01:59:33,700
Thames Estuary of forests of 
masts and rigging. 

2248
01:59:34,700 --> 01:59:37,400
Sailors, live lives that 
alternate between the tedium of 

2249
01:59:37,408 --> 01:59:41,800
Port maintenance and the danger 
of sea voyages, where storms are

2250
01:59:41,800 --> 01:59:47,200
an accepted occupational hazard.
The weather in late 1703 has 

2251
01:59:47,200 --> 01:59:50,200
been odd not dramatically. 
So, but enough that people 

2252
01:59:50,200 --> 01:59:53,400
notice there have been unusually
strong winds throughout 

2253
01:59:53,400 --> 01:59:57,000
November, the kind that make you
lean into your walk and hold on 

2254
01:59:57,000 --> 01:59:59,800
to your hat. 
Trees have been shedding their 

2255
01:59:59,800 --> 02:00:03,000
leaves early than usual, as if 
they know something the humans 

2256
02:00:03,000 --> 02:00:06,400
don't. 
Old Timers, the kind to feel 

2257
02:00:06,400 --> 02:00:09,800
storms in their bones have been 
muttering about the signs. 

2258
02:00:09,800 --> 02:00:14,500
Red skies at odd hours. 
Birds behaving, strangely and an

2259
02:00:14,500 --> 02:00:16,400
unsettled feeling in the air 
itself. 

2260
02:00:17,800 --> 02:00:19,700
But England has weather's storms
before. 

2261
02:00:19,700 --> 02:00:23,500
This is an island nation, after 
all, surrounded by temperamental

2262
02:00:23,500 --> 02:00:27,200
seas and subject to whatever. 
Whether the Atlantic decides to 

2263
02:00:27,200 --> 02:00:31,100
send its way, People have 
learned to bend With the Wind to

2264
02:00:31,100 --> 02:00:33,800
secure their belongings and to 
wait out whatever nature throws 

2265
02:00:33,800 --> 02:00:36,200
at them. 
They've survived Norse, Raiders 

2266
02:00:36,200 --> 02:00:38,600
the Black Death, Civil War and 
the great fire. 

2267
02:00:39,800 --> 02:00:43,200
How bad could a little wind be 
this sense of resilient 

2268
02:00:43,200 --> 02:00:45,700
confidence. 
This very British attitude of 

2269
02:00:45,700 --> 02:00:48,700
muddling through is about to be 
tested in ways. 

2270
02:00:48,700 --> 02:00:52,100
No one can imagine. 
Because the storm that's 

2271
02:00:52,100 --> 02:00:56,000
Gathering out in the Atlantic 
isn't a normal Autumn Gail, it's

2272
02:00:56,000 --> 02:00:58,700
not even an exceptional storm by
the usual standards. 

2273
02:00:58,700 --> 02:01:03,000
It's something else entirely a 
meteorological monster that will

2274
02:01:03,008 --> 02:01:06,000
make weather history and haunt 
European Consciousness for 

2275
02:01:06,000 --> 02:01:09,500
Generations. 
The last week of November 1703 

2276
02:01:09,500 --> 02:01:13,800
feels like nature is taking a 
deep breath before screaming You

2277
02:01:13,800 --> 02:01:17,400
step out side on November 24th, 
and the air has that peculiar 

2278
02:01:17,400 --> 02:01:19,300
quality. 
That makes the hair on your 

2279
02:01:19,300 --> 02:01:20,200
arms. 
Stand up. 

2280
02:01:20,200 --> 02:01:24,400
It's not just cold. 
It's charged electronic. 

2281
02:01:24,400 --> 02:01:27,500
As if the atmosphere itself is 
holding tension, like a drawn 

2282
02:01:27,500 --> 02:01:31,000
bow string, the sky takes on 
colors that don't appear in 

2283
02:01:31,000 --> 02:01:33,200
normal. 
Whether there are brassy yellows

2284
02:01:33,200 --> 02:01:36,700
near the Horizon deep, purple's 
in the clouds and that 

2285
02:01:36,700 --> 02:01:39,900
particular shade of green that 
experienced Sailors, know means 

2286
02:01:39,900 --> 02:01:42,700
trouble. 
Klaus themselves seemed to be 

2287
02:01:42,700 --> 02:01:47,000
moving in several directions at 
once lowered, racing across the 

2288
02:01:47,000 --> 02:01:50,300
sky while higher formation's 
Lumber along at different 

2289
02:01:50,300 --> 02:01:54,200
angles, It's like watching a 
badly choreographed dance. 

2290
02:01:54,200 --> 02:01:56,700
Where none of the performers can
agree on the music. 

2291
02:01:57,500 --> 02:02:01,100
Birds are acting strangely and 
if you were the noticing type, 

2292
02:02:01,100 --> 02:02:05,300
this would concern you seagulls 
those Perpetual optimists of the

2293
02:02:05,300 --> 02:02:09,800
avian world have moved. 
Inland on Mass Crows Gather in 

2294
02:02:09,800 --> 02:02:12,800
unusual numbers making a racket.
That sounds almost like 

2295
02:02:12,800 --> 02:02:15,700
warnings. 
Even the farm animals seem 

2296
02:02:15,700 --> 02:02:19,200
unsettled horses, stamp and 
Winnie in their Stables. 

2297
02:02:19,200 --> 02:02:23,100
Cows refused to go into their 
Barns and dogs Pace. 

2298
02:02:23,100 --> 02:02:25,500
Nervously whining at their 
owners. 

2299
02:02:26,400 --> 02:02:29,500
The barometer in the few places 
where such newfangled 

2300
02:02:29,500 --> 02:02:32,500
instruments exist is doing 
something unprecedented. 

2301
02:02:33,800 --> 02:02:37,100
Its falling but not in the 
gradual way that suggests an 

2302
02:02:37,100 --> 02:02:40,400
approaching storm. 
It's plummeting like a stone 

2303
02:02:40,400 --> 02:02:44,800
dropped in water faster than 
anyone has seen before Daniel 

2304
02:02:44,800 --> 02:02:47,900
Defoe, who will later document. 
The storm in extraordinary 

2305
02:02:47,900 --> 02:02:50,300
detail owns one of these 
instruments. 

2306
02:02:51,100 --> 02:02:54,300
He watches it drop and one 
wonders if perhaps the device is

2307
02:02:54,300 --> 02:02:57,100
broken. 
Surely the air pressure can't 

2308
02:02:57,100 --> 02:02:59,000
actually be falling this 
rapidly. 

2309
02:02:59,900 --> 02:03:02,700
November 26th Dawns with an 
eerie calm. 

2310
02:03:02,700 --> 02:03:06,300
The win that has been bothering 
people for weeks as died down to

2311
02:03:06,300 --> 02:03:09,800
almost nothing. 
The airfields, heavy thick like 

2312
02:03:09,800 --> 02:03:11,900
trying to breathe through a damp
wall blanket. 

2313
02:03:13,000 --> 02:03:15,400
This is the kind of Stillness 
that precedes something 

2314
02:03:15,400 --> 02:03:18,800
significant though. 
Most people interpret it as a 

2315
02:03:18,800 --> 02:03:22,000
relief. 
Finally, they think the Winds of

2316
02:03:22,008 --> 02:03:25,900
stopped perhaps, they can get 
some repairs done, secure their 

2317
02:03:25,900 --> 02:03:29,200
properties properly, and maybe 
even sleep, without the constant

2318
02:03:29,200 --> 02:03:32,000
whistling and rattling. 
But seasoned Sailors and 

2319
02:03:32,008 --> 02:03:35,300
Shepherds people whose lives 
depend on reading, whether no 

2320
02:03:35,300 --> 02:03:40,000
better, this isn't peaceful 
calm, this is nature pausing for

2321
02:03:40,000 --> 02:03:43,300
effect, like a Storyteller, 
taking a breath before the 

2322
02:03:43,300 --> 02:03:46,600
climax. 
The old Maritime saying comes to

2323
02:03:46,600 --> 02:03:47,700
mind. 
Calm. 

2324
02:03:47,700 --> 02:03:51,600
Before the storm, though, in 
this case storm is going to 

2325
02:03:51,600 --> 02:03:56,300
prove a grossly inadequate word 
for what to approaching by the 

2326
02:03:56,300 --> 02:03:59,000
evening of November 26th the 
wind returns. 

2327
02:03:59,000 --> 02:04:02,600
But it's different now. 
It's no longer the Blustery, 

2328
02:04:02,600 --> 02:04:04,600
Autumn Breeze. 
People of grown accustomed to 

2329
02:04:04,600 --> 02:04:08,800
its purposeful building with an 
almost conscious intent. 

2330
02:04:08,800 --> 02:04:11,900
Like something that has decided 
to stop playing around and get 

2331
02:04:11,900 --> 02:04:15,300
serious. 
The sound changes too from the 

2332
02:04:15,300 --> 02:04:18,800
familiar whistle and moan to a 
deeper, more ominous role that 

2333
02:04:18,800 --> 02:04:20,600
seems to come from everywhere at
once. 

2334
02:04:21,500 --> 02:04:24,200
People begin their evening 
preparations with growing 

2335
02:04:24,200 --> 02:04:27,700
uneasiness. 
You secure your shutters, bring 

2336
02:04:27,700 --> 02:04:30,900
in anything from the yard that 
might blow away and double check

2337
02:04:30,900 --> 02:04:35,300
that the animals are safely. 
Housed in coastal town Sailors. 

2338
02:04:35,300 --> 02:04:38,800
Look at their Maude vessels with
worried Expressions wondering, 

2339
02:04:38,800 --> 02:04:43,800
if the ropes and chains will 
hold ship captains who can put 

2340
02:04:43,800 --> 02:04:46,700
out additional anchors and say, 
prayers to whatever Saints 

2341
02:04:46,700 --> 02:04:48,700
specialize in Maritime 
protection. 

2342
02:04:49,800 --> 02:04:53,700
As Darkness Falls on November 
26th, the wind continues to 

2343
02:04:53,700 --> 02:04:57,700
build, it's no longer. 
Just moving air, it's becoming a

2344
02:04:57,700 --> 02:05:00,300
physical presence. 
Something you can lean against 

2345
02:05:00,300 --> 02:05:05,200
something that pushes back. 
The sound grows from a roar to 

2346
02:05:05,200 --> 02:05:07,300
something that resembles 
Continuous Thunder. 

2347
02:05:08,200 --> 02:05:11,800
A bass note that you feel in 
your chest as much as hear with 

2348
02:05:11,800 --> 02:05:15,200
your ears. 
Inside homes across Southern 

2349
02:05:15,200 --> 02:05:19,100
England, families, gather close 
to their fires, trying to ignore

2350
02:05:19,100 --> 02:05:21,600
the increasingly alarming noises
from outside. 

2351
02:05:22,600 --> 02:05:26,600
Shutters begin to Rattle despite
being latched, the wind finds 

2352
02:05:26,600 --> 02:05:30,000
every Gap in the walls. 
Every crack around doors and 

2353
02:05:30,000 --> 02:05:32,400
windows, creating whistling 
harmonics. 

2354
02:05:32,400 --> 02:05:35,300
That would sound almost musical 
if they weren't so unsettling. 

2355
02:05:36,900 --> 02:05:41,200
Thatch roof start to lift and 
settle lift and settle like, the

2356
02:05:41,200 --> 02:05:43,100
building itself is breathing 
heavily. 

2357
02:05:43,900 --> 02:05:47,300
Around midnight, the storm stops
building and simply arrives in 

2358
02:05:47,300 --> 02:05:51,000
its full fury. 
It's as if someone has flipped a

2359
02:05:51,000 --> 02:05:55,800
switch from very bad weather to 
apocalyptic nightmare, the wind 

2360
02:05:55,800 --> 02:05:57,800
doesn't just blow anymore. 
It hammers. 

2361
02:05:57,800 --> 02:06:01,900
It screams it attacks. 
The sound becomes so 

2362
02:06:01,900 --> 02:06:04,300
overwhelming that it's almost 
impossible to think clearly 

2363
02:06:04,300 --> 02:06:08,400
imagine standing next to a jet 
engine and you're getting close 

2364
02:06:08,400 --> 02:06:11,800
to the volume and intensity of 
what people are experiencing and

2365
02:06:11,800 --> 02:06:13,300
here's the thing that makes this
storm. 

2366
02:06:13,300 --> 02:06:18,500
So strange, so different from 
normal tempests it's not coming 

2367
02:06:18,500 --> 02:06:23,200
from a single Direction. 
The wind seems to swirl and 

2368
02:06:23,200 --> 02:06:26,400
Eddie attacking from multiple 
angles simultaneously. 

2369
02:06:27,800 --> 02:06:30,900
This isn't a weather pattern 
people understand storms have 

2370
02:06:30,900 --> 02:06:34,600
directions, they have fronts and
they move in predictable ways. 

2371
02:06:35,600 --> 02:06:37,600
This storm seems to be 
everywhere. 

2372
02:06:37,600 --> 02:06:43,100
Once a circular Fury that defies
normal meteorological Behavior. 

2373
02:06:43,900 --> 02:06:47,400
What nobody realizes yet because
the science doesn't exist 

2374
02:06:47,400 --> 02:06:50,300
understand it is that their 
experiencing something. 

2375
02:06:50,300 --> 02:06:54,500
Exceptionally rare, a bomb 
Cyclone, what modern 

2376
02:06:54,500 --> 02:06:56,900
meteorologist, call explosive 
cyclogenesis. 

2377
02:06:58,300 --> 02:07:00,900
The atmospheric pressure is 
dropping so rapidly. 

2378
02:07:00,900 --> 02:07:04,500
That the storm is intensifying 
at a rate that occurs perhaps 

2379
02:07:04,500 --> 02:07:08,900
once or twice a century. 
The rotating winds are reaching 

2380
02:07:08,900 --> 02:07:11,300
speeds that won't be 
scientifically measured for 

2381
02:07:11,300 --> 02:07:15,900
another 150 years when someone 
invents proper instruments for 

2382
02:07:15,900 --> 02:07:19,300
such things. 
As the night of November 26th 

2383
02:07:19,300 --> 02:07:22,400
deepens into the early hours of 
November 27th. 

2384
02:07:22,400 --> 02:07:26,200
Everyone in Southern England is 
about to experience the longest.

2385
02:07:26,200 --> 02:07:28,600
Most terrifying Knight of their 
lives. 

2386
02:07:29,500 --> 02:07:33,600
And the truly horrifying part. 
The storm is still intensifying 

2387
02:07:33,600 --> 02:07:37,400
picture yourself huddled in a 
stone Cottage somewhere in Kent 

2388
02:07:37,400 --> 02:07:40,500
as the clock approaches two a.m.
on November 27th. 

2389
02:07:41,700 --> 02:07:44,400
Fire in your half is being 
sucked up the chimney, by the 

2390
02:07:44,400 --> 02:07:48,200
incredible draft sending Sparks 
and smoke into the room. 

2391
02:07:49,000 --> 02:07:52,100
Every few seconds the entire 
building shutters as if being 

2392
02:07:52,100 --> 02:07:55,900
struck by a Giants fist. 
The noise is beyond description,

2393
02:07:55,900 --> 02:08:00,600
imagine a freight train a 
waterfall and Continuous Thunder

2394
02:08:00,600 --> 02:08:03,400
all happening at once and you're
still not quite there. 

2395
02:08:04,600 --> 02:08:08,300
That roof of your head is now, 
lifting in sections, you can 

2396
02:08:08,300 --> 02:08:11,500
actually see it moving and feel 
the sudden drafts of freezing 

2397
02:08:11,500 --> 02:08:14,100
air as gaps appear and then 
close again. 

2398
02:08:14,900 --> 02:08:18,600
Bits of straw are falling into 
the room like strange snow. 

2399
02:08:18,600 --> 02:08:22,200
You're making calculations about
whether it's safer to stay 

2400
02:08:22,200 --> 02:08:25,700
inside a building that might 
collapse or venture outside into

2401
02:08:25,700 --> 02:08:27,400
wind. 
That could literally knock you 

2402
02:08:27,408 --> 02:08:30,700
off your feet and blow your 
Countryside across Southern 

2403
02:08:30,700 --> 02:08:32,700
England. 
Roofs are now leaving buildings 

2404
02:08:32,700 --> 02:08:35,700
entirely not being damaged 
leaving. 

2405
02:08:36,700 --> 02:08:40,900
Whole thatched roofs lift off 
like birds Taking Flight sailing

2406
02:08:40,900 --> 02:08:43,800
through the air in one piece 
before disintegrating into 

2407
02:08:43,800 --> 02:08:47,300
golden clouds of straw that 
scatter across the landscape. 

2408
02:08:48,400 --> 02:08:52,200
Tiles and slates become 
projectiles, flying through the 

2409
02:08:52,200 --> 02:08:55,000
air, with enough Force to embed 
themselves in walls, or 

2410
02:08:55,000 --> 02:08:58,300
tragically in anything living 
that happens to be in their 

2411
02:08:58,300 --> 02:09:00,500
path. 
The windmills that have stood 

2412
02:09:00,500 --> 02:09:03,700
Sentinel over the countryside or
experiencing catastrophic 

2413
02:09:03,700 --> 02:09:06,700
failures. 
Their sails designed to catch 

2414
02:09:06,700 --> 02:09:10,000
the wind efficiently and now 
catching far too much of it. 

2415
02:09:11,100 --> 02:09:13,800
Unable to be shut down or furled
fast enough. 

2416
02:09:13,800 --> 02:09:17,900
The Mills begins spinning at 
impossible speeds the wooden 

2417
02:09:17,900 --> 02:09:20,800
gears inside never meant for 
such rotation rates. 

2418
02:09:20,800 --> 02:09:25,900
Start smoking from friction. 
some Mills, simply explode from 

2419
02:09:25,900 --> 02:09:30,100
the centrifugal force sending 
massive wooden beams flying 

2420
02:09:30,100 --> 02:09:34,500
through the air like enormous 
javelin's Others catch fire from

2421
02:09:34,500 --> 02:09:36,600
the friction of their over 
spinning Machinery. 

2422
02:09:36,600 --> 02:09:39,900
Becoming bizarre torches in the 
storm racked night. 

2423
02:09:40,800 --> 02:09:44,400
Church Steeples those proud 
fingers pointing to Heaven are 

2424
02:09:44,400 --> 02:09:47,300
toppling. 
The Spire of Saint Mary's in 

2425
02:09:47,300 --> 02:09:50,400
Somerset goes first crashing 
through the roof of the church 

2426
02:09:50,400 --> 02:09:53,200
itself. 
Then dozens more across the 

2427
02:09:53,200 --> 02:09:56,600
South follow suit their lead 
covered wooden frames. 

2428
02:09:56,600 --> 02:09:59,100
No match for winds that are 
essentially trying to tear 

2429
02:09:59,100 --> 02:10:02,200
England apart. 
Each falling steeple, makes a 

2430
02:10:02,200 --> 02:10:04,600
sound like a forest tree being 
felled. 

2431
02:10:04,600 --> 02:10:08,300
A groaning crack followed by an 
enormous crash. 

2432
02:10:09,300 --> 02:10:11,100
For deeply religious people 
seeing churches. 

2433
02:10:11,100 --> 02:10:13,100
Destroyed, feels specially 
ominous. 

2434
02:10:14,000 --> 02:10:17,300
If God's house is aren't safe. 
What hope to ordinary buildings.

2435
02:10:17,300 --> 02:10:19,600
Have. 
In London, the scene is 

2436
02:10:19,600 --> 02:10:23,300
apocalyptic, the city still 
recovering from the Great Fire 

2437
02:10:23,300 --> 02:10:27,800
of 1666 is being battered by 
winds, that a methodically 

2438
02:10:27,800 --> 02:10:31,700
undoing Decades of 
reconstruction roof tiles, fly 

2439
02:10:31,700 --> 02:10:34,000
through the streets like deadly 
Frisbees. 

2440
02:10:34,700 --> 02:10:38,400
Chimneys topple sending bricks 
raining down onto cobblestones 

2441
02:10:38,400 --> 02:10:41,400
below. 
Anyone foolish or desperate 

2442
02:10:41,400 --> 02:10:44,100
enough to be outside. 
Quickly realizes their mistake 

2443
02:10:44,100 --> 02:10:48,100
as the wind shoves them against 
walls or literally lifts them 

2444
02:10:48,100 --> 02:10:51,400
off their feet. 
The Thames is behaving in ways. 

2445
02:10:51,400 --> 02:10:54,700
Nobody has seen before. 
The wind is so powerful that 

2446
02:10:54,700 --> 02:10:58,000
it's actually pushing water 
Upstream reversing the rivers 

2447
02:10:58,000 --> 02:11:01,500
flow. 
Waves are forming on the river's

2448
02:11:01,500 --> 02:11:05,400
surface waves on a river in 
central London. 

2449
02:11:06,300 --> 02:11:09,100
Barges and small boats. 
Moored at the Docks are being 

2450
02:11:09,108 --> 02:11:11,600
tossed. 
Like, bath toys breaking their 

2451
02:11:11,600 --> 02:11:15,100
Moorings and crashing into each 
other or smashing against the 

2452
02:11:15,100 --> 02:11:18,500
embankments. 
Daniel Defoe future author of 

2453
02:11:18,508 --> 02:11:22,100
Robinson Crusoe but currently a 
controversial political writer 

2454
02:11:22,100 --> 02:11:25,900
is in his London home watching 
what he describes as tiles. 

2455
02:11:25,900 --> 02:11:28,200
Flying past his windows. 
Like Autumn Leaves. 

2456
02:11:28,200 --> 02:11:31,500
He's making mental notes for 
what will become the world's 

2457
02:11:31,500 --> 02:11:34,700
first real investigative 
journalism piece about a natural

2458
02:11:34,700 --> 02:11:37,800
disaster. 
Between flinching at each new 

2459
02:11:37,800 --> 02:11:40,400
crash and bang. 
He is already planning how to 

2460
02:11:40,400 --> 02:11:43,800
document this night for 
posterity. but the truly 

2461
02:11:43,800 --> 02:11:47,000
catastrophic scenes are playing 
out along the coast and at sea 

2462
02:11:47,000 --> 02:11:51,000
at the Eddystone Light House 
perched, on rocks, 14 miles off 

2463
02:11:51,000 --> 02:11:54,800
the coast of Plymouth The 
situation is beyond desperate. 

2464
02:11:54,800 --> 02:11:58,400
This is the first light house 
ever built on these treacherous 

2465
02:11:58,400 --> 02:12:01,400
rocks, completed, just five 
years earlier. 

2466
02:12:01,400 --> 02:12:05,500
It's a wooden structure, which 
seems insane now, but was 

2467
02:12:05,500 --> 02:12:07,600
considered reasonable 
engineering at the time. 

2468
02:12:08,400 --> 02:12:11,900
The Lighthouse Keeper Henry. 
Winstanley is actually at the 

2469
02:12:11,900 --> 02:12:14,200
Lighthouse. 
Having gone out to perform, 

2470
02:12:14,200 --> 02:12:18,000
repairs, just days before. 
The lighthouse is flexing and 

2471
02:12:18,000 --> 02:12:21,100
swaying in ways that wooden 
structures should never flex and

2472
02:12:21,100 --> 02:12:24,700
sway. 
Around 2 a.m. a wave larger than

2473
02:12:24,700 --> 02:12:26,900
any in recorded memory hits the 
lighthouse. 

2474
02:12:27,800 --> 02:12:31,100
When Dawn eventually comes the 
lighthouse is simply gone, 

2475
02:12:31,100 --> 02:12:34,200
vanished is completely as if it 
never existed. 

2476
02:12:35,300 --> 02:12:39,600
Henry would Stanley his crew and
the entire structure have been 

2477
02:12:39,600 --> 02:12:42,900
erased from the ocean. 
Not a single piece of wreckage 

2478
02:12:42,900 --> 02:12:46,700
will ever be found. 
In Portsmouth Harbour, the Royal

2479
02:12:46,700 --> 02:12:50,300
Navy is experiencing its worst 
piece time disaster in history. 

2480
02:12:51,200 --> 02:12:55,200
Dozens of warships are more here
and as the storm intensifies, 

2481
02:12:55,200 --> 02:13:00,200
their anchors begin to drag. 
These aren't small boats, some 

2482
02:13:00,200 --> 02:13:03,800
are three deck, ships of the 
line, massive, wooden Castle's 

2483
02:13:03,800 --> 02:13:06,200
that carry hundreds of men and 
dozens of Canon. 

2484
02:13:07,000 --> 02:13:09,900
But in this wind there as 
helpless as children's toys. 

2485
02:13:11,000 --> 02:13:13,200
Ships begin colliding with each 
other in the darkness. 

2486
02:13:13,200 --> 02:13:16,700
The sound of wooden hulls 
grinding together as audible. 

2487
02:13:16,700 --> 02:13:22,100
Even over the storms snap with 
cracks like Canon fire rigging 

2488
02:13:22,100 --> 02:13:26,300
Tangles between ships, creating 
a chaos of rope and canvas that 

2489
02:13:26,300 --> 02:13:29,700
makes it impossible to separate 
vessels even if anyone could 

2490
02:13:29,700 --> 02:13:33,600
work on deck which they can't. 
The wind is strong enough to 

2491
02:13:33,600 --> 02:13:36,900
blow men off their feet and over
the railings into the churning 

2492
02:13:36,900 --> 02:13:40,400
water, below some ships are 
being driven onto the shore, 

2493
02:13:40,400 --> 02:13:44,800
despite their anchors, the HMS 
Association, a 90 gunship of the

2494
02:13:44,800 --> 02:13:48,100
line, drags her anchors and 
grounds near the Isle of Wight. 

2495
02:13:49,000 --> 02:13:52,700
The HMS restoration, snaps at 
anchor, cables and is driven 

2496
02:13:52,700 --> 02:13:54,900
onto the mud flats where she'll 
eventually sink. 

2497
02:13:55,800 --> 02:13:59,200
All across the southern coast 
from Bristol to Kent ships, a 

2498
02:13:59,200 --> 02:14:03,500
meeting, similar Fates, Merchant
vessels fishing, boats and naval

2499
02:14:03,500 --> 02:14:07,200
ships are all equally helpless. 
Before the storms Fury, The 

2500
02:14:07,208 --> 02:14:10,900
human cost at Sea is staggering.
Sailors who have survived 

2501
02:14:10,900 --> 02:14:15,300
battles storms and years of hard
service, a drowning within sight

2502
02:14:15,300 --> 02:14:18,400
of their home ports. 
Some are trapped below, decks 

2503
02:14:18,400 --> 02:14:22,200
and ships that are flooding. 
Others are washed overboard into

2504
02:14:22,200 --> 02:14:24,600
water, so violent. 
That rescue is impossible. 

2505
02:14:24,600 --> 02:14:28,200
Even if anyone could mount an 
attempt which they can't. 

2506
02:14:29,300 --> 02:14:31,800
The Navy alone will lose over 
1000 men. 

2507
02:14:31,800 --> 02:14:34,900
This night more than most Naval 
battles of the era. 

2508
02:14:34,900 --> 02:14:38,600
Inland trees that have stood for
centuries are falling by the 

2509
02:14:38,600 --> 02:14:42,700
thousands ancient Oaks that were
already old when Shakespeare was

2510
02:14:42,700 --> 02:14:46,300
born, topple like dominoes, 
Entire forests are being 

2511
02:14:46,300 --> 02:14:50,100
flattened creating lunar 
Landscapes of Fallen Timber that

2512
02:14:50,100 --> 02:14:53,600
will take decades to clear. 
The New Forest loses an 

2513
02:14:53,600 --> 02:14:58,800
estimated 4,000 ancient trees in
a single night, dear foxes 

2514
02:14:58,800 --> 02:15:01,600
Badges. 
And birds that depend on these 

2515
02:15:01,600 --> 02:15:03,400
trees are being crushed or left 
homeless. 

2516
02:15:03,400 --> 02:15:07,400
Agricultural damage is 
catastrophic Barnes and storage 

2517
02:15:07,400 --> 02:15:10,200
buildings. 
Collapse crushing livestock, and

2518
02:15:10,200 --> 02:15:13,400
destroying the winter Food 
Supplies that farming families 

2519
02:15:13,400 --> 02:15:16,800
depend on Haystacks that 
represent months of Labor 

2520
02:15:16,800 --> 02:15:22,000
scatter across the countryside. 
Sheep and cattle terrified by 

2521
02:15:22,000 --> 02:15:23,800
the noise. 
Unable to find shelter. 

2522
02:15:23,800 --> 02:15:28,000
Huddling Fields were some are 
actually blown over and killed 

2523
02:15:28,000 --> 02:15:31,800
by the force of the Wind. 
A detail so bizarre that people 

2524
02:15:31,800 --> 02:15:34,200
will initially refused to 
believe the reports. 

2525
02:15:35,200 --> 02:15:38,500
As the storm rages through the 
early hours of November 27th 

2526
02:15:38,500 --> 02:15:42,300
people, huddling in whatever, 
shelter, they can find listening

2527
02:15:42,300 --> 02:15:46,800
to their world being torn apart,
every crash, every splintering 

2528
02:15:46,800 --> 02:15:50,100
sound, every moment. 
When the wind seems to increase 

2529
02:15:50,100 --> 02:15:53,800
impossibly beyond what it 
already, was it all contributes 

2530
02:15:53,800 --> 02:15:57,000
to a growing certainly that this
isn't a normal storm. 

2531
02:15:57,800 --> 02:16:01,500
This is something unprecedented.
Something that's revealing just 

2532
02:16:01,500 --> 02:16:05,600
how fragile human civilization 
really is when Nature decides to

2533
02:16:05,600 --> 02:16:10,600
stop being cooperative And still
remarkably the storm continues 

2534
02:16:10,600 --> 02:16:13,900
to intensify. 
Let's focus on individual 

2535
02:16:13,900 --> 02:16:18,000
moments within this catastrophic
night because statistics and 

2536
02:16:18,000 --> 02:16:21,200
general descriptions can't quite
capture what it means to live 

2537
02:16:21,200 --> 02:16:22,400
through. 
Something like this. 

2538
02:16:23,300 --> 02:16:27,100
These are the human Stories, the
small dramas playing out across 

2539
02:16:27,100 --> 02:16:29,900
Southern England, while the 
great drama of the storm rages 

2540
02:16:29,900 --> 02:16:33,600
on. 
In a small village in Sussex, a 

2541
02:16:33,600 --> 02:16:36,700
family of seven huddles in their
Cottage as the walls, begin to 

2542
02:16:36,700 --> 02:16:40,700
crack. 
Farther a farmer named Thomas as

2543
02:16:40,700 --> 02:16:42,600
moved. 
Everyone into the oldest part of

2544
02:16:42,600 --> 02:16:46,600
the house, the stone section 
that is Grandfather, built 60 

2545
02:16:46,600 --> 02:16:49,799
years ago. 
The newer Timber framed rooms 

2546
02:16:49,799 --> 02:16:52,799
are already showing. 
Alarming signs of stress with 

2547
02:16:52,799 --> 02:16:55,200
beams visibly, shifting and 
walls leaning. 

2548
02:16:56,100 --> 02:17:00,600
Around 3 a.m. the decision makes
itself with a sound like a 1000 

2549
02:17:00,600 --> 02:17:03,400
trees breaking at. 
Once the Timbers section of 

2550
02:17:03,400 --> 02:17:07,000
their homes, simply 
disintegrates One moment, it's 

2551
02:17:07,000 --> 02:17:09,500
there. 
The next it's gone scattered 

2552
02:17:09,500 --> 02:17:11,700
across the countryside in a 
million pieces. 

2553
02:17:12,600 --> 02:17:15,700
The family packed into the stone
room survives because of a 

2554
02:17:15,700 --> 02:17:18,700
building decision made two 
generations earlier by a careful

2555
02:17:18,700 --> 02:17:21,000
craftsmen. 
Who mixed his mortar properly 

2556
02:17:21,000 --> 02:17:23,200
and chose good Stone in the 
morning. 

2557
02:17:23,200 --> 02:17:25,299
They'll walk out to find that 
everything they owned. 

2558
02:17:25,299 --> 02:17:28,600
Except what's in this one room 
is gone spread across Three 

2559
02:17:28,600 --> 02:17:32,500
Counties. 
Meanwhile in Bristol a midwife 

2560
02:17:32,500 --> 02:17:34,700
named Eleanor is facing an 
impossible decision. 

2561
02:17:34,700 --> 02:17:38,900
A woman has gone into labor and 
complications mean Eleanor needs

2562
02:17:38,900 --> 02:17:42,400
to reach her quickly. 
But going outside in this storm 

2563
02:17:42,400 --> 02:17:45,200
is madness. 
The streets are rivers of flying

2564
02:17:45,200 --> 02:17:48,299
debris, and the wind is strong 
enough to make walking nearly 

2565
02:17:48,299 --> 02:17:51,100
impossible. 
Eleanor looks at the storm. 

2566
02:17:51,100 --> 02:17:54,700
Looks at her bag of instruments 
and herbs thinks about the woman

2567
02:17:54,700 --> 02:17:56,900
and unborn child and makes the 
choice. 

2568
02:17:56,900 --> 02:18:00,200
She wraps herself in every piece
of heavy clothing. 

2569
02:18:00,200 --> 02:18:02,600
She owns and sets out in to the 
Tempest. 

2570
02:18:03,700 --> 02:18:07,208
Her journey of less than half, a
mile takes over an hour. if he 

2571
02:18:07,216 --> 02:18:11,299
crawls part of the way holding 
onto walls and fences moving 

2572
02:18:11,299 --> 02:18:15,400
between buildings, when the wind
briefly lessons, A roof tile 

2573
02:18:15,400 --> 02:18:18,000
strike her shoulder, leaving a 
bruise. 

2574
02:18:18,000 --> 02:18:19,700
But fortunately not breaking a 
bone. 

2575
02:18:20,400 --> 02:18:23,000
At one point, a gusts simply 
lifts her off her feet and 

2576
02:18:23,000 --> 02:18:27,900
deposits her 10 feet away. 
But Eleanor keeps going driven 

2577
02:18:27,900 --> 02:18:31,600
by professional Duty and sheer 
stubbornness until she reaches 

2578
02:18:31,600 --> 02:18:34,400
her patient. 
The baby will be born healthy 

2579
02:18:34,400 --> 02:18:37,200
just after Dawn. 
And Eleanor, will later say that

2580
02:18:37,200 --> 02:18:39,500
bringing life into the world 
during history's deadliest 

2581
02:18:39,500 --> 02:18:41,100
storm? 
Gave her a perspective on 

2582
02:18:41,100 --> 02:18:45,900
resilience that she never lost. 
Out at Sea, the situation is a 

2583
02:18:45,907 --> 02:18:51,200
pure Nightmare on the HMS. Mary 
a 4th rate ship with 50 guns. 

2584
02:18:51,200 --> 02:18:55,799
The crew has done everything. 
Right anchors are down sales, a 

2585
02:18:55,799 --> 02:19:00,000
field and hatches a baton The 
wind is so strong that the ship 

2586
02:19:00,000 --> 02:19:02,400
is dragging. 
Her anchors anyway, moving 

2587
02:19:02,400 --> 02:19:05,500
slowly, but inexorably toward 
the rocky shore of the Isle of 

2588
02:19:05,500 --> 02:19:08,299
Wight. 
The captain knows what's coming.

2589
02:19:08,299 --> 02:19:12,100
He can feel it through the 
ship's Timbers that subtle 

2590
02:19:12,100 --> 02:19:15,700
change in motion that tells an 
experienced semen that his 

2591
02:19:15,700 --> 02:19:19,100
vessel is doomed. 
He can't save the ship perhaps. 

2592
02:19:19,100 --> 02:19:22,299
He can save the crew. 
He orders everyone into the 

2593
02:19:22,299 --> 02:19:25,799
rigging counterintuitive but it 
gets them higher above the deck 

2594
02:19:25,799 --> 02:19:29,500
before the ship grounds. 
When the Mary finally strikes, 

2595
02:19:29,500 --> 02:19:32,900
the Rocks around 4 a.m. the 
impact is so violent, that it 

2596
02:19:32,900 --> 02:19:34,500
tears the bottom out of the 
hull. 

2597
02:19:35,200 --> 02:19:39,400
The ship floods in minutes, but 
most of the crew clinging to the

2598
02:19:39,400 --> 02:19:43,500
Mars and yards. 
Survive until dawn when Rescuers

2599
02:19:43,500 --> 02:19:46,200
can reach them. 
Not everyone is so fortunate. 

2600
02:19:47,600 --> 02:19:51,200
The HMS Northumberland, a large 
Merchant vessel pressed into 

2601
02:19:51,200 --> 02:19:54,300
Navy service, breaks, free of 
her Moorings in Portsmouth, and 

2602
02:19:54,308 --> 02:19:58,800
is driven directly into the path
of the HMS. Mary, Two ships 

2603
02:19:58,800 --> 02:20:02,700
Collide in the darkness with a 
grinding splintering crash that 

2604
02:20:02,700 --> 02:20:05,100
can be heard on Shore. 
Over the wind, the 

2605
02:20:05,100 --> 02:20:08,900
Northumberland Mass fall like 
trees, crushing men who have no 

2606
02:20:08,900 --> 02:20:12,400
time to escape. 
The ship begins taking on water 

2607
02:20:12,400 --> 02:20:17,000
immediately and in the chaos and
darkness rescue is impossible. 

2608
02:20:17,700 --> 02:20:20,900
Of a crew of 200, fewer than 200
will see, the dawn. 

2609
02:20:21,600 --> 02:20:24,700
In Kent, a Shepherd named 
William has been caught away 

2610
02:20:24,700 --> 02:20:27,500
from home. 
When the storm truly hit he is 

2611
02:20:27,500 --> 02:20:30,600
taking shelter in a small Stone 
Hut used for storing tools, 

2612
02:20:30,600 --> 02:20:33,600
basically four walls, and a 
solid roof. 

2613
02:20:33,600 --> 02:20:37,800
No windows. 
And one door, it's cramped and 

2614
02:20:37,800 --> 02:20:43,000
cold, but it's Stone and its 
holding William settles in to 

2615
02:20:43,000 --> 02:20:47,200
wait out the storm, listening to
The Unbelievable Fury outside 

2616
02:20:47,200 --> 02:20:51,100
and probably thinking about 
every poor decision that led to 

2617
02:20:51,100 --> 02:20:53,200
him being here in stead of Home 
in his own bed. 

2618
02:20:54,300 --> 02:20:58,300
Around midnight, William, hears 
something over the storm, an odd

2619
02:20:58,300 --> 02:21:01,200
bleeding. 
Sound opening the door slightly,

2620
02:21:01,200 --> 02:21:04,200
he finds a u from his flock 
terrified and pressed against 

2621
02:21:04,200 --> 02:21:07,300
the wall. 
He pulls her inside within an 

2622
02:21:07,300 --> 02:21:10,500
hour, three more sheep have 
found his shelter, then a fox 

2623
02:21:10,500 --> 02:21:13,100
appears and Williams. 
First instinct is to drive it 

2624
02:21:13,100 --> 02:21:16,300
away. 
Something about the absolute 

2625
02:21:16,300 --> 02:21:18,100
Terror. 
In the animals eyes makes him 

2626
02:21:18,100 --> 02:21:21,300
hesitate. 
The fox links into a corner as 

2627
02:21:21,300 --> 02:21:23,900
far from the Sheep as possible 
and lies their shaking. 

2628
02:21:25,000 --> 02:21:27,800
They'll all survive the night 
together in that, Tiny Stone 

2629
02:21:27,800 --> 02:21:31,600
Hut. 
Predator and prey United by fear

2630
02:21:31,600 --> 02:21:33,000
of something worse than each 
other. 

2631
02:21:33,900 --> 02:21:37,500
Back in London, Westminster 
Abbey is suffering devastating 

2632
02:21:37,500 --> 02:21:40,400
damage. 
This isn't some wooden structure

2633
02:21:40,400 --> 02:21:43,900
but a massive Stone building 
that has stood for centuries. 

2634
02:21:44,900 --> 02:21:48,000
Yet the wind is finding 
weaknesses that nobody knew 

2635
02:21:48,000 --> 02:21:50,200
existed. 
Lead sheets on the roof, 

2636
02:21:50,200 --> 02:21:53,400
appealing back. 
Like paper flying debris has 

2637
02:21:53,400 --> 02:21:55,900
broken several ancient stained 
glass windows. 

2638
02:21:56,900 --> 02:22:00,100
Most dramatically the Abby's 
roof which weigh several tons 

2639
02:22:00,100 --> 02:22:04,200
actually lifts and shifts 
dropping back down at slight 

2640
02:22:04,200 --> 02:22:06,400
angle. 
The architectural damage will 

2641
02:22:06,400 --> 02:22:10,500
take years to properly repair 
The Tower of London, that 

2642
02:22:10,500 --> 02:22:13,400
ancient Fortress that is 
withstood, sieges, fires and 

2643
02:22:13,400 --> 02:22:16,600
political upheavals is 
experiencing something new. 

2644
02:22:16,600 --> 02:22:20,200
The wind is so strong that it's 
actually pushing in the leaded 

2645
02:22:20,200 --> 02:22:24,700
windows. the famous Ravens that 
live in the tower who according 

2646
02:22:24,700 --> 02:22:28,300
to Legend, protect England by 
their presence of all taken 

2647
02:22:28,300 --> 02:22:30,800
shelter in the deepest most 
protected corners of the 

2648
02:22:30,808 --> 02:22:34,600
Fortress even birds that are 
essentially carrying heaters 

2649
02:22:34,600 --> 02:22:37,700
built to handle harsh 
conditions, know, when to admit 

2650
02:22:37,700 --> 02:22:43,000
defeat, in Portsmouth a naval 
officer named Samuel peeps not 

2651
02:22:43,000 --> 02:22:46,800
the diarist but a distant 
relative is trapped aboard, his 

2652
02:22:46,800 --> 02:22:51,300
ship making impossible decision 
His vessel has dragged anchor 

2653
02:22:51,300 --> 02:22:54,700
and his heading toward the 
Rocks, but the storm is so 

2654
02:22:54,700 --> 02:22:57,700
violent that he can't order men 
on Deck without essentially 

2655
02:22:57,700 --> 02:23:01,600
sending them to their deaths. 
He watches three ships, Collide 

2656
02:23:01,600 --> 02:23:06,200
nearby sees, masts for, and 
here's the screams of men going 

2657
02:23:06,200 --> 02:23:08,800
into the water. 
There's nothing he can do 

2658
02:23:08,800 --> 02:23:11,500
command in. 
This storm is meaningless. 

2659
02:23:11,500 --> 02:23:15,700
Nature is in charge now and all 
human authority is temporarily 

2660
02:23:15,700 --> 02:23:20,200
suspended. 
Around 4 a.m. something shifts 

2661
02:23:20,200 --> 02:23:23,400
in the storms character. 
It doesn't weaken if anything. 

2662
02:23:23,400 --> 02:23:27,300
This is the peak of its Fury. 
but the wind begins to change 

2663
02:23:27,300 --> 02:23:31,300
direction swinging, around from 
the southwest to the west and 

2664
02:23:31,300 --> 02:23:35,300
then Northwest This rotation 
means that places that had been 

2665
02:23:35,300 --> 02:23:39,400
somewhat protected by geography.
Now get hit with full force 

2666
02:23:39,400 --> 02:23:42,300
while areas that had borne the 
brunt for hours. 

2667
02:23:42,300 --> 02:23:47,100
Get briefed relative respects. 
This windshift causes a new wave

2668
02:23:47,100 --> 02:23:50,200
of Destruction. 
Buildings that had survived by 

2669
02:23:50,200 --> 02:23:52,300
facing away from the wind now. 
Have it? 

2670
02:23:52,300 --> 02:23:53,900
Hit them from unexpected, 
angles. 

2671
02:23:54,900 --> 02:23:57,400
Ships that had positioned 
themselves carefully for South 

2672
02:23:57,400 --> 02:24:01,100
West Winds, find themselves 
broadside and north-west gales. 

2673
02:24:02,200 --> 02:24:05,700
The windshift feels almost 
malicious as if the storm is 

2674
02:24:05,700 --> 02:24:08,100
making sure nothing escapes its 
attention. 

2675
02:24:09,500 --> 02:24:12,600
On the coast of Hampshire, a 
small fishing Village experience

2676
02:24:12,600 --> 02:24:15,800
is what locals will later 
describe as the most terrifying 

2677
02:24:15,800 --> 02:24:18,900
hour of the night. 
The wind had been bad but 

2678
02:24:18,900 --> 02:24:22,800
survivable, then the shift 
happened and suddenly the wind 

2679
02:24:22,800 --> 02:24:25,600
is coming, straight off the 
ocean with nothing to block it. 

2680
02:24:26,700 --> 02:24:31,100
The entire Villages fishing 
fleet 20 small boats drawn up on

2681
02:24:31,100 --> 02:24:34,500
the beach is picked up and 
thrown against the Seawall. 

2682
02:24:35,500 --> 02:24:39,400
House's nearest, the water a 
struck by waves that have no 

2683
02:24:39,400 --> 02:24:43,200
business being that large. 
Three Cottages, simply collapse 

2684
02:24:43,200 --> 02:24:46,000
into the sea which is now 
reaching places, it has never 

2685
02:24:46,000 --> 02:24:49,500
reached before. 
The Village Church which sits on

2686
02:24:49,508 --> 02:24:54,300
a slight rise and has been a 
landmark for 200 years loses, 

2687
02:24:54,300 --> 02:24:59,600
its entire roof in one piece, 
The roof simply lifts off sails,

2688
02:24:59,600 --> 02:25:02,700
several hundred yards, Inland 
and lands in a field where it 

2689
02:25:02,700 --> 02:25:07,200
will remain largely intact. 
The church bell falls from the 

2690
02:25:07,200 --> 02:25:10,400
tower and rolls down into the 
Village Square where it will 

2691
02:25:10,400 --> 02:25:13,800
stay for weeks because it's too 
heavy to move easily and there 

2692
02:25:13,808 --> 02:25:17,800
are far more pressing concerns. 
As the first hints of gray. 

2693
02:25:17,800 --> 02:25:20,600
Light begin to appear in the 
Eastern Sky though. 

2694
02:25:20,600 --> 02:25:24,000
Light is a generous term for the
murky dimness that passes for 

2695
02:25:24,000 --> 02:25:28,300
Dawn on November 27th. 
People begin to realize that 

2696
02:25:28,300 --> 02:25:31,700
they might actually survive 
this, the storm is still raging,

2697
02:25:31,700 --> 02:25:34,400
but there's a subtle lessening 
of intensity. 

2698
02:25:34,400 --> 02:25:39,800
A sense that perhaps the worst 
as passed, Of course, nobody can

2699
02:25:39,800 --> 02:25:44,000
be sure the storm has already 
defied every expectation and 

2700
02:25:44,000 --> 02:25:46,800
broken, every rule. 
Whose to say it won't suddenly 

2701
02:25:46,800 --> 02:25:50,100
intense fire again but slowly 
gradually. 

2702
02:25:50,100 --> 02:25:53,700
The wind does begin to decrease.
Not quickly. 

2703
02:25:53,700 --> 02:25:59,300
This isn't like a switch being 
flipped off, but measurably by 6

2704
02:25:59,300 --> 02:26:02,500
a.m. it's possible to stand 
outside without being knocked 

2705
02:26:02,500 --> 02:26:06,000
down, though, you still need to 
lean into the wind and watch for

2706
02:26:06,000 --> 02:26:10,000
flying debris. 
By 7 a.m. the wind has dropped 

2707
02:26:10,008 --> 02:26:11,300
to. 
What would normally be called 

2708
02:26:11,300 --> 02:26:13,900
gale force? 
Which after the horrors of the 

2709
02:26:13,900 --> 02:26:16,100
night? 
Feels almost calm by comparison.

2710
02:26:17,100 --> 02:26:20,200
The storm isn't over, it will 
continue to batter parts of 

2711
02:26:20,200 --> 02:26:23,200
England and move on to ravage 
sections of Europe for another 

2712
02:26:23,200 --> 02:26:26,200
day. 
But the absolute Peak that 

2713
02:26:26,200 --> 02:26:29,900
nightmare period between 
midnight and Dawn is finally 

2714
02:26:29,900 --> 02:26:32,600
ending. 
People begin to emerge from 

2715
02:26:32,600 --> 02:26:36,300
whatever shelter they found. 
Stepping out into a world that 

2716
02:26:36,300 --> 02:26:38,200
has been fundamentally 
transformed. 

2717
02:26:39,200 --> 02:26:42,100
Imagine stepping out of your 
shelter as the gray light of 

2718
02:26:42,100 --> 02:26:46,300
November 27th, gross strong 
enough to actually see by The 

2719
02:26:46,300 --> 02:26:50,100
wind is still blowing hard but 
compared to the night's Fury. 

2720
02:26:50,100 --> 02:26:54,000
It feels almost gentle. 
First thing that strikes you as 

2721
02:26:54,000 --> 02:26:59,200
the smell fresh wood from 
thousands of broken trees salt. 

2722
02:26:59,200 --> 02:27:03,200
Spray carried miles, Inland from
the sea Disturbed Earth from 

2723
02:27:03,200 --> 02:27:06,700
buildings that have collapsed 
and smoke from fires that have 

2724
02:27:06,700 --> 02:27:10,200
broken out in the chaos. 
The second thing you notice is 

2725
02:27:10,200 --> 02:27:13,600
the sound after hours of 
continuous roaring. 

2726
02:27:13,600 --> 02:27:16,100
Wind the relative quiet is 
almost disorienting. 

2727
02:27:16,100 --> 02:27:19,200
Your ears are ringing from the 
sustained volume. 

2728
02:27:19,900 --> 02:27:23,400
But there are new sounds now, 
the crash of delayed structural 

2729
02:27:23,400 --> 02:27:26,300
collapses as buildings that were
weakened during the night. 

2730
02:27:26,300 --> 02:27:30,600
Finally, give up Calls of people
searching for family members and

2731
02:27:30,600 --> 02:27:34,000
neighbors, and the creaking of 
damaged structures that are 

2732
02:27:34,000 --> 02:27:37,400
still partially standing. 
Then you look around and your 

2733
02:27:37,400 --> 02:27:39,300
mind struggles to process what 
you're seeing. 

2734
02:27:40,100 --> 02:27:43,300
The landscape has been 
transformed, so completely that 

2735
02:27:43,300 --> 02:27:45,300
it takes a moment to orient your
self. 

2736
02:27:46,200 --> 02:27:49,600
Trees that will landmarks that. 
You've used your entire life to 

2737
02:27:49,600 --> 02:27:53,300
navigate our gone. 
Buildings that Define the 

2738
02:27:53,300 --> 02:27:56,800
skyline have vanished or are now
unrecognizable ruins. 

2739
02:27:57,600 --> 02:27:59,800
The Village or town. 
You've lived in your whole life 

2740
02:27:59,800 --> 02:28:01,600
as become a foreign country 
overnight. 

2741
02:28:02,400 --> 02:28:05,100
In the countryside, the 
devastation is staggering, but 

2742
02:28:05,100 --> 02:28:08,600
at least it's spread out. 
Entire forests are flattened, 

2743
02:28:08,600 --> 02:28:11,400
yes, but forests were going to 
be cut down of eventually 

2744
02:28:11,400 --> 02:28:15,300
anyway, for Timber it shocking, 
but it's not as immediately 

2745
02:28:15,300 --> 02:28:17,700
heartbreaking as what's 
happening in population centers 

2746
02:28:17,700 --> 02:28:21,000
in towns and cities that 
destruction is intimate and 

2747
02:28:21,008 --> 02:28:24,400
immediate this pile of rubble 
was the baker family's house 

2748
02:28:24,400 --> 02:28:27,000
where Mrs. Baker made the best 
bread in the village. 

2749
02:28:27,800 --> 02:28:31,000
That scattered Timber was the 
Smithy where horses were shot 

2750
02:28:31,000 --> 02:28:35,800
and tools were mended the church
where you were baptized where 

2751
02:28:35,800 --> 02:28:38,600
your parents were married and 
where your grandparents are 

2752
02:28:38,600 --> 02:28:41,100
buried. 
It's now missing half its roof 

2753
02:28:41,100 --> 02:28:45,300
and its entire steeple. 
The communities physical memory 

2754
02:28:45,300 --> 02:28:47,100
has been partially erased 
overnight. 

2755
02:28:47,900 --> 02:28:51,700
People are emerging slowly and 
cautiously many of them in 

2756
02:28:51,700 --> 02:28:55,300
shock, you see a woman standing 
in front of where a house used 

2757
02:28:55,300 --> 02:28:58,600
to be just standing there 
staring at the ruble, not 

2758
02:28:58,600 --> 02:29:03,100
moving, not speaking. 
A man is walking in circles in 

2759
02:29:03,100 --> 02:29:06,200
his yard, picking up random 
objects, a cooking pot, a child 

2760
02:29:06,200 --> 02:29:09,600
shoe of book holding each one 
for a moment before setting it 

2761
02:29:09,600 --> 02:29:11,000
down and picking up something 
else. 

2762
02:29:11,000 --> 02:29:14,100
As if he's lost, the ability to 
decide what is important, 

2763
02:29:14,100 --> 02:29:19,100
children, crying some from Fear,
some from exhaustion and some 

2764
02:29:19,100 --> 02:29:22,300
from that peculiar distress that
comes from having their entire 

2765
02:29:22,300 --> 02:29:25,500
world revealed as less safe and 
stable than they believed. 

2766
02:29:26,400 --> 02:29:30,100
Dog's a barking frantically 
trying to find their owners or 

2767
02:29:30,100 --> 02:29:32,100
protect property that no longer 
exists. 

2768
02:29:33,000 --> 02:29:35,800
Cats know where to be seen, 
they've all hidden in whatever 

2769
02:29:35,800 --> 02:29:39,400
deep dark places they could find
and won't emerge for days. 

2770
02:29:40,700 --> 02:29:44,400
The death toll becomes apparent.
Gradually Someone finds a body 

2771
02:29:44,400 --> 02:29:47,000
under Rubble here. 
Another is discovered in a 

2772
02:29:47,008 --> 02:29:50,800
collapsed building their Family 
didn't make it out when their 

2773
02:29:50,800 --> 02:29:54,100
house collapsed. 
An elderly person to frail to 

2774
02:29:54,100 --> 02:29:56,800
evacuate a stronger shelter was 
crushed. 

2775
02:29:56,800 --> 02:30:00,600
When a beam fell, the numbers 
start to accumulate and with 

2776
02:30:00,600 --> 02:30:03,500
each Discovery, the community 
shock deepens. 

2777
02:30:04,900 --> 02:30:07,200
In London, the scene is 
apocalyptic. 

2778
02:30:08,100 --> 02:30:11,400
Streets are in impossible, 
blocked by Fallen chimneys 

2779
02:30:11,400 --> 02:30:16,400
collapsed walls and debris. 
The lead Merchants Warehouse 

2780
02:30:16,400 --> 02:30:20,400
near the Thames as collapsed. 
Spilling thousands of sheets of 

2781
02:30:20,400 --> 02:30:22,700
LED roofing material into the 
streets. 

2782
02:30:23,600 --> 02:30:25,800
Tiles and Bricks Like 
everywhere. 

2783
02:30:25,800 --> 02:30:30,400
Mixed with broken glass 
splintered wood and Scattered 

2784
02:30:30,400 --> 02:30:33,200
belongings from homes that no 
longer have ruse to protect 

2785
02:30:33,200 --> 02:30:36,200
their contents. 
Westminster Abbey looks like 

2786
02:30:36,200 --> 02:30:39,500
it's been hit by artillery. 
The roof damage is extensive 

2787
02:30:39,500 --> 02:30:42,300
exposing the interior, the 
elements. 

2788
02:30:43,200 --> 02:30:46,600
Several Pinnacles and decorative
elements of Fallen smashing into

2789
02:30:46,600 --> 02:30:49,600
the streets below. 
The clock tower stopped working,

2790
02:30:49,600 --> 02:30:52,900
its mechanism jammed by the 
building structural shifts. 

2791
02:30:52,900 --> 02:30:56,500
The queen will be told that the 
damage to the Abbey alone will 

2792
02:30:56,500 --> 02:31:01,100
cost thousands of pounds to 
repair a fortune in 1703 money. 

2793
02:31:01,900 --> 02:31:06,000
Daniel Defoe having survived the
night with his family begins. 

2794
02:31:06,000 --> 02:31:07,600
What will become the world's 
first. 

2795
02:31:07,600 --> 02:31:09,700
Systematic disaster 
investigation. 

2796
02:31:10,600 --> 02:31:14,100
He places advertisements in 
London newspapers asking people 

2797
02:31:14,100 --> 02:31:16,400
to send him their observations 
and experiences. 

2798
02:31:16,400 --> 02:31:21,300
He's going to collect data, 
compiles, statistics and create 

2799
02:31:21,300 --> 02:31:23,100
a comprehensive account of the 
storm. 

2800
02:31:24,200 --> 02:31:28,200
Its revolutionary journalism 
using systematic investigation 

2801
02:31:28,200 --> 02:31:32,200
and I witnessed testimony to 
document and natural disaster. 

2802
02:31:33,200 --> 02:31:37,300
His eventual publication, the 
storm will become a historical 

2803
02:31:37,300 --> 02:31:42,000
document of immense value. 
Along the coast, the maritime 

2804
02:31:42,000 --> 02:31:45,500
disaster is beyond anything. 
The Royal Navy has experience in

2805
02:31:45,500 --> 02:31:48,300
peace time. 
Portsmouth, Harbour looks like a

2806
02:31:48,300 --> 02:31:51,700
Battlefield. 
Ship's a piled on top of each 

2807
02:31:51,700 --> 02:31:56,000
other, masks are broken and 
trailing in the water and hulls 

2808
02:31:56,000 --> 02:31:59,700
a stove in and sinking. 
Bodies are washing up on shore 

2809
02:31:59,700 --> 02:32:02,600
Sailors, who went into the water
during the night and never made 

2810
02:32:02,600 --> 02:32:07,300
it out. the Eddystone light, 
which stood as a symbol of human

2811
02:32:07,300 --> 02:32:10,600
engineering triumphing over 
Nature, has vanished completely 

2812
02:32:11,800 --> 02:32:14,500
Search ships, will eventually 
find the Rocks where it stood, 

2813
02:32:14,500 --> 02:32:17,600
but not a single piece of the 
structure remains. 

2814
02:32:18,400 --> 02:32:22,600
Henry win Stanley who designed 
and built the lighthouse and who

2815
02:32:22,600 --> 02:32:24,500
famously said he wanted to be 
inside it. 

2816
02:32:24,500 --> 02:32:26,600
During the greatest storm to 
prove its strength. 

2817
02:32:26,600 --> 02:32:29,400
God is wish in the cruelest way 
possible. 

2818
02:32:30,300 --> 02:32:32,700
His confidence in his 
engineering as cost him 

2819
02:32:32,708 --> 02:32:35,500
everything. 
Merchant ships from around. 

2820
02:32:35,500 --> 02:32:38,900
The world have been destroyed a 
vessel from the East Indies, 

2821
02:32:38,900 --> 02:32:42,700
carrying spices and silk with a 
small fortune as sunk in the 

2822
02:32:42,708 --> 02:32:45,100
harbor. 
The ship from the Americas 

2823
02:32:45,100 --> 02:32:49,200
loaded with tobacco and sugar 
has been driven onto the rocks 

2824
02:32:49,200 --> 02:32:52,600
and broken apart. 
Insurance companies in London 

2825
02:32:52,600 --> 02:32:54,700
will face bankruptcy from the 
claims. 

2826
02:32:55,500 --> 02:32:58,000
The financial impact of the 
storm will Ripple through the 

2827
02:32:58,000 --> 02:33:01,500
economy for years. 
The total ship losses are 

2828
02:33:01,500 --> 02:33:03,700
difficult to calculate in the 
initially because ships keep 

2829
02:33:03,700 --> 02:33:06,100
being found wreck in unexpected 
places. 

2830
02:33:06,100 --> 02:33:09,700
The wind was strong enough to 
blow vessels miles from where 

2831
02:33:09,700 --> 02:33:13,800
they should have been one 
merchant ship is found several 

2832
02:33:13,800 --> 02:33:16,500
miles. 
Inland blown up a title Creek 

2833
02:33:16,500 --> 02:33:18,300
and deposited in a farmer's 
field. 

2834
02:33:18,300 --> 02:33:21,300
Like some bizarre, sea monster 
that lost his way. 

2835
02:33:22,400 --> 02:33:24,700
It will stay there for years 
because moving it is 

2836
02:33:24,700 --> 02:33:27,800
Impractical. 
Eventually it will just rot in 

2837
02:33:27,808 --> 02:33:32,900
place, becoming a landmark. 
And a reminder, Bishop's Palace 

2838
02:33:32,900 --> 02:33:35,500
in Wells, Somerset has lost most
of its roof. 

2839
02:33:36,300 --> 02:33:39,300
Tiles that have protected this 
building for centuries are gone.

2840
02:33:40,200 --> 02:33:41,500
Stuttered across the 
countryside. 

2841
02:33:41,500 --> 02:33:45,300
Reign is now falling into rooms 
that haven't been wet since they

2842
02:33:45,300 --> 02:33:47,900
were built. 
Ancient manuscripts and 

2843
02:33:47,908 --> 02:33:51,000
documents are being hastily 
moved to try to save them from 

2844
02:33:51,000 --> 02:33:53,800
water damage. 
It will take months to make the 

2845
02:33:53,800 --> 02:33:57,500
palace weatherproof again. 
Canterbury Cathedral one of the 

2846
02:33:57,500 --> 02:34:00,900
most important religious sites 
in England has suffered damage 

2847
02:34:00,900 --> 02:34:04,500
to its Bell Harry Tower 
stonework that has stood since 

2848
02:34:04,500 --> 02:34:08,800
the 1400s has been weakened or 
destroyed, Lead sheets have been

2849
02:34:08,808 --> 02:34:11,200
torn from the roof. 
The Archbishop will later 

2850
02:34:11,200 --> 02:34:13,600
calculate that the storm has 
done more damage to the 

2851
02:34:13,600 --> 02:34:15,800
cathedral. 
That was inflicted during the 

2852
02:34:15,800 --> 02:34:19,300
entire Reformation. 
As people begin to assess the 

2853
02:34:19,300 --> 02:34:21,800
damage and start the 
overwhelming task of recovery. 

2854
02:34:22,800 --> 02:34:25,100
Stories emerged that strain 
credibility. 

2855
02:34:26,200 --> 02:34:29,400
A woman in Kent claims that her 
chickens were blown, two miles 

2856
02:34:29,400 --> 02:34:33,400
from her farm, and landed alive,
but extremely confused in 

2857
02:34:33,400 --> 02:34:36,600
neighbor's yard. 
A farmer insist that the wind 

2858
02:34:36,600 --> 02:34:39,300
was so strong at blew the fleece
off several of his sheep. 

2859
02:34:40,200 --> 02:34:42,500
Claim that seems impossible 
until you see the sheep in 

2860
02:34:42,500 --> 02:34:45,800
question partially shared by 
wind and flying debris. 

2861
02:34:45,800 --> 02:34:49,700
Someone finds a haystack from 
Sussex sitting intact in a 

2862
02:34:49,700 --> 02:34:52,700
field. 
In Kent blown, 20 miles from its

2863
02:34:52,700 --> 02:34:56,000
original location. 
A Weathervane from a church 

2864
02:34:56,008 --> 02:34:59,400
steeple in Hampshire, is 
discovered embedded in a tree 

2865
02:34:59,400 --> 02:35:03,500
endorse it 40 miles away. 
These objects aren't just blown 

2866
02:35:03,500 --> 02:35:06,400
around, they're becoming 
projectiles that travel 

2867
02:35:06,400 --> 02:35:09,200
distances that seem to violate 
the laws of physics. 

2868
02:35:09,200 --> 02:35:12,200
The task of clearing, the debris
and beginning. 

2869
02:35:12,200 --> 02:35:16,000
Repairs is overwhelming in every
village in every town. 

2870
02:35:16,000 --> 02:35:18,900
People are looking at months or 
years of work. 

2871
02:35:18,900 --> 02:35:23,700
Roofs need to be rebuilt, walls,
need to be repaired and trees 

2872
02:35:23,700 --> 02:35:27,700
need to be cleared and winter is
coming damaged. 

2873
02:35:27,700 --> 02:35:29,700
Buildings. 
Need to be made whether proof 

2874
02:35:29,700 --> 02:35:33,700
before the real cold arrives. 
There's a desperate urgency to 

2875
02:35:33,700 --> 02:35:37,000
the work driven by the 
knowledge, that another storm, 

2876
02:35:37,000 --> 02:35:40,300
even a normal one. 
Could be catastrophic for 

2877
02:35:40,300 --> 02:35:42,000
buildings that are barely 
standing. 

2878
02:35:42,800 --> 02:35:45,400
Help begins to arrive from areas
that were less affected. 

2879
02:35:46,400 --> 02:35:49,100
The northern counties which 
experienced strong winds, but 

2880
02:35:49,100 --> 02:35:52,400
nothing like the destruction, in
the South send workers and 

2881
02:35:52,400 --> 02:35:56,400
materials, the queen opens, the 
Royal purse to help with repairs

2882
02:35:56,400 --> 02:35:58,100
to churches and public 
buildings. 

2883
02:35:58,900 --> 02:36:01,500
Wealthy landowners, organized 
relief, efforts for their 

2884
02:36:01,500 --> 02:36:05,000
tenants. 
It's not enough, it can't be 

2885
02:36:05,000 --> 02:36:07,700
enough. 
But it's something and in the 

2886
02:36:07,700 --> 02:36:11,400
aftermath of disaster, something
is infinitely better than 

2887
02:36:11,400 --> 02:36:15,000
nothing as the day progresses 
and the wind continues to die 

2888
02:36:15,000 --> 02:36:16,400
down. 
People start trying to 

2889
02:36:16,408 --> 02:36:19,500
understand what happened. 
This is the beginning of a 

2890
02:36:19,500 --> 02:36:22,000
collective attempt to make sense
of something that defies 

2891
02:36:22,000 --> 02:36:25,000
comprehension. 
In an age before. 

2892
02:36:25,000 --> 02:36:28,400
Modern meteorology before 
whether science, as we know it, 

2893
02:36:28,400 --> 02:36:31,400
people are reaching for 
explanations that make sense 

2894
02:36:31,400 --> 02:36:34,500
within their world view. 
In the days and weeks. 

2895
02:36:34,500 --> 02:36:37,500
Following the great storm people
across, England are asking the 

2896
02:36:37,500 --> 02:36:39,500
same question what just 
happened? 

2897
02:36:40,300 --> 02:36:43,800
You have to remember that in 
1703, the scientific 

2898
02:36:43,800 --> 02:36:47,400
understanding of whether was 
primitive at best, the barometer

2899
02:36:47,400 --> 02:36:48,200
exists. 
Yes. 

2900
02:36:48,200 --> 02:36:52,100
But it's a novelty. 
Concept of air pressure is 

2901
02:36:52,100 --> 02:36:55,700
understood in abstract terms by 
a few scientists, but the 

2902
02:36:55,700 --> 02:36:58,900
connection between precious 
systems and weather is still 

2903
02:36:58,900 --> 02:37:00,800
being debated in academic 
circles. 

2904
02:37:00,800 --> 02:37:04,400
Most people's understanding of 
weather comes from centuries of 

2905
02:37:04,400 --> 02:37:06,500
folk wisdom and religious 
interpretation. 

2906
02:37:07,400 --> 02:37:11,300
Storms are sent by God either as
punishment for sin or as tests 

2907
02:37:11,300 --> 02:37:15,100
of faith. whether patterns are 
influenced by the Moon by the 

2908
02:37:15,100 --> 02:37:18,600
stars, and by various signs and 
Omens that experience people 

2909
02:37:18,600 --> 02:37:22,000
learn to read It's not 
scientific but it's the 

2910
02:37:22,000 --> 02:37:24,600
framework people have for 
understanding their world. 

2911
02:37:25,400 --> 02:37:28,900
So when a storm of unprecedented
violent strikes without warning 

2912
02:37:28,900 --> 02:37:33,200
and causes unimaginable 
destruction, Search for meaning 

2913
02:37:33,200 --> 02:37:37,100
becomes urgent. 
Religious leaders, who serve as 

2914
02:37:37,100 --> 02:37:39,100
the primary interpreters of 
major events. 

2915
02:37:39,100 --> 02:37:42,500
Immediately frame. 
The storm in theological terms. 

2916
02:37:43,500 --> 02:37:46,500
Sermons, across the country. 
Describe it as Divine judgment 

2917
02:37:46,500 --> 02:37:49,000
though. 
What exactly England is being 

2918
02:37:49,000 --> 02:37:51,900
judged for various depending on 
the preachers particular 

2919
02:37:51,900 --> 02:37:56,000
theological emphasis, Some 
ministers point to the ongoing 

2920
02:37:56,000 --> 02:37:59,700
war with France, suggesting that
God is displeased with the 

2921
02:37:59,700 --> 02:38:04,100
Bloodshed others focus on moral 
decay in London, claiming that 

2922
02:38:04,100 --> 02:38:08,500
the storm is punishment for the 
theater gambling and other vices

2923
02:38:08,500 --> 02:38:12,000
flourishing in the capital. 
Still others, take a more 

2924
02:38:12,000 --> 02:38:15,500
political angle, suggesting that
religious divisions between 

2925
02:38:15,500 --> 02:38:18,600
anglicans and dissenters, have 
angered the Almighty. 

2926
02:38:19,900 --> 02:38:22,500
These explanations provide 
comfort in their way. 

2927
02:38:23,400 --> 02:38:26,500
If the storm is divine judgment 
then it's not random. 

2928
02:38:26,500 --> 02:38:31,400
It has meaning purpose and cause
and if it has a cause then 

2929
02:38:31,400 --> 02:38:34,200
perhaps it can be prevented next
time by improving moral 

2930
02:38:34,200 --> 02:38:36,500
Behavior. 
Reforming religious practices, 

2931
02:38:37,300 --> 02:38:40,700
It's a way of restoring a sense 
of control in a situation that 

2932
02:38:40,700 --> 02:38:43,300
revealed how little control 
anyone actually has. 

2933
02:38:44,200 --> 02:38:47,500
Queen Anne, who is deeply 
religious orders are national 

2934
02:38:47,500 --> 02:38:50,100
day of fasting and prayer to be 
held in January. 

2935
02:38:50,900 --> 02:38:53,900
It's both a religious observance
and a political statement 

2936
02:38:53,900 --> 02:38:58,000
acknowledging the disaster while
demonstrating Royal concern for 

2937
02:38:58,000 --> 02:39:01,200
the nation's welfare. 
Churches across England will 

2938
02:39:01,200 --> 02:39:04,700
hold special services and people
will pray for the souls of the 

2939
02:39:04,700 --> 02:39:07,300
dead and for protection from 
future disasters. 

2940
02:39:08,600 --> 02:39:11,000
But not everyone is satisfied 
with purely religious, 

2941
02:39:11,000 --> 02:39:15,300
explanations a small but growing
number of natural philosophers. 

2942
02:39:15,300 --> 02:39:19,200
The term scientists won't be 
coined for another Century are 

2943
02:39:19,200 --> 02:39:22,000
approaching the storm from a 
more analytical perspective. 

2944
02:39:22,800 --> 02:39:25,400
They want to understand the 
physical mechanisms that could 

2945
02:39:25,400 --> 02:39:29,800
produce such extraordinary wins.
Daniel defoe's investigation 

2946
02:39:29,800 --> 02:39:33,600
represents this new way of 
thinking he's collecting data, 

2947
02:39:33,600 --> 02:39:36,700
systematically comparing 
accounts from different 

2948
02:39:36,700 --> 02:39:40,600
locations and trying to map the 
storm's path and intensity. 

2949
02:39:41,400 --> 02:39:45,500
He's asking questions like how 
fast were the winds, nobody 

2950
02:39:45,500 --> 02:39:47,900
knows because instruments to 
measure wind speed won't be 

2951
02:39:47,908 --> 02:39:51,500
invented until the 1800s. 
What was the air pressure? 

2952
02:39:52,300 --> 02:39:55,300
A few people with barometers 
report, unprecedented lows, but 

2953
02:39:55,300 --> 02:39:57,100
there's no standard measurement 
system. 

2954
02:39:57,900 --> 02:40:00,000
Did the storm follow a 
predictable path? 

2955
02:40:00,600 --> 02:40:04,600
The account suggests something 
strange a rotating storm system 

2956
02:40:04,600 --> 02:40:05,900
that moved across Southern 
England. 

2957
02:40:05,900 --> 02:40:09,700
But the concept of cyclonic 
rotation won't be understood for

2958
02:40:09,700 --> 02:40:13,200
over a century. 
Robert Hooke the brilliant, but 

2959
02:40:13,200 --> 02:40:16,700
often overlooked scientist, who 
serves as curator of experiments

2960
02:40:16,700 --> 02:40:20,600
for the Royal Society has been 
keeping detailed weather records

2961
02:40:20,600 --> 02:40:23,600
for years. 
He reviews his observations from

2962
02:40:23,600 --> 02:40:27,300
late November and notes, the 
unusual barometric pressure 

2963
02:40:27,300 --> 02:40:30,800
reading He suspects. 
There's a connection between the

2964
02:40:30,800 --> 02:40:33,200
rapid pressure, drop and the 
storms intensity. 

2965
02:40:34,000 --> 02:40:36,800
But he lacks the theoretical 
framework to explain it 

2966
02:40:36,800 --> 02:40:40,700
properly. 
The Royal Society England's 

2967
02:40:40,700 --> 02:40:44,400
Premier scientific institution 
holds several meetings, 

2968
02:40:44,400 --> 02:40:46,300
dedicated to discussing the 
storm. 

2969
02:40:47,300 --> 02:40:51,100
Members present observations 
theories and speculations. 

2970
02:40:52,100 --> 02:40:54,500
Some of their ideas are 
surprisingly close to Modern 

2971
02:40:54,500 --> 02:40:58,400
understanding, they correctly, 
identify that the storm involved

2972
02:40:58,400 --> 02:41:03,200
rotating winds and move from 
west to east. other ideas are 

2973
02:41:03,200 --> 02:41:06,600
completely wrong including 
suggestions that earthquakes 

2974
02:41:06,600 --> 02:41:09,100
under the Atlantic somehow 
caused the storm or that 

2975
02:41:09,100 --> 02:41:11,900
unusual, planetary alignments 
influenced atmospheric 

2976
02:41:11,900 --> 02:41:15,800
conditions, What makes the 
discussion interesting is that 

2977
02:41:15,800 --> 02:41:18,600
they're trying to apply 
empirical observation and 

2978
02:41:18,600 --> 02:41:22,300
logical reasoning to a natural 
phenomenon rather than simply 

2979
02:41:22,300 --> 02:41:24,500
accepting Supernatural 
explanations. 

2980
02:41:24,500 --> 02:41:27,800
This represents an important 
moment in the development of 

2981
02:41:27,800 --> 02:41:31,000
meteorological science. 
Even if the actual understanding

2982
02:41:31,000 --> 02:41:34,400
is still primitive, one 
observation that particularly 

2983
02:41:34,400 --> 02:41:38,400
puzzles natural philosophers is 
the storms extraordinary wind 

2984
02:41:38,400 --> 02:41:40,800
speed. 
Several people report seeing 

2985
02:41:40,800 --> 02:41:43,400
objects blown velocities that 
seemed impossible. 

2986
02:41:44,400 --> 02:41:48,900
Tiles flying like birds pieces 
of roof traveling for Miles. 

2987
02:41:48,900 --> 02:41:51,100
People actually being lifted off
their feet. 

2988
02:41:52,100 --> 02:41:55,300
These accounts suggest wind 
speeds far beyond what anyone 

2989
02:41:55,300 --> 02:41:57,000
has measured or documented 
before. 

2990
02:41:58,600 --> 02:42:02,900
Modern meteorological analysis, 
conducted centuries later using 

2991
02:42:02,900 --> 02:42:05,800
defoe's collected accounts and 
other historical records. 

2992
02:42:05,800 --> 02:42:09,800
Suggest that wind speeds during 
the storms Peak, may have 

2993
02:42:09,808 --> 02:42:15,600
reached 120 to 130 miles per 
hour possibly higher in gusts. 

2994
02:42:16,200 --> 02:42:20,300
That's Category, 3, hurricane 
strength, but occurring in a 

2995
02:42:20,300 --> 02:42:22,800
Latitude where such storms 
essentially never happen. 

2996
02:42:22,800 --> 02:42:26,300
It's the equivalent of a major 
Caribbean hurricane somehow 

2997
02:42:26,300 --> 02:42:27,400
appearing in the English 
Channel. 

2998
02:42:27,400 --> 02:42:30,900
Meteorologically bizarre and 
historically unprecedented. 

2999
02:42:32,100 --> 02:42:36,200
The storm's path is also 
unusual, most Atlantic storms. 

3000
02:42:36,200 --> 02:42:39,000
That reach England come from the
south-west and weaken as they 

3001
02:42:39,000 --> 02:42:42,000
approached land. 
This storm seems to have 

3002
02:42:42,000 --> 02:42:45,600
intensified as it approached, 
which violates normal storm 

3003
02:42:45,600 --> 02:42:48,600
Behavior. 
It also maintained its strength 

3004
02:42:48,600 --> 02:42:51,600
far longer than normal. 
Battering, Southern England for 

3005
02:42:51,600 --> 02:42:55,800
over 12 hours at Peak intensity.
Everything about it, is 

3006
02:42:55,800 --> 02:42:58,700
exceptional, anomalous and 
wrong. 

3007
02:42:58,700 --> 02:43:00,900
According to the typical 
patterns that experienced 

3008
02:43:00,900 --> 02:43:05,000
observers recognize Agricultural
communities are particularly 

3009
02:43:05,000 --> 02:43:08,200
concerned with understanding 
what happened because they need 

3010
02:43:08,200 --> 02:43:11,600
to know if it could happen 
again, if this was a one-time 

3011
02:43:11,600 --> 02:43:14,700
Divine judgment, that's one 
thing, but if it's a weather 

3012
02:43:14,700 --> 02:43:17,500
pattern that might recur, then 
building practices need to 

3013
02:43:17,500 --> 02:43:22,300
change farming strategies need 
to adapt and communities need to

3014
02:43:22,300 --> 02:43:24,200
prepare differently for winter 
storms. 

3015
02:43:24,200 --> 02:43:29,400
The answer frustratingly. 
Is that nobody knows, This could

3016
02:43:29,400 --> 02:43:32,400
be a once in a millennium event 
that won't recur for centuries 

3017
02:43:32,400 --> 02:43:36,300
or it could be the first of a 
new pattern, maybe the climate 

3018
02:43:36,300 --> 02:43:39,700
is changing, maybe some 
fundamental shift in atmospheric

3019
02:43:39,700 --> 02:43:43,200
conditions has occurred. 
Without historical records going

3020
02:43:43,200 --> 02:43:46,300
back more than a generation or 
two and without scientific 

3021
02:43:46,300 --> 02:43:48,500
instruments to measure 
conditions properly. 

3022
02:43:48,500 --> 02:43:51,800
It's impossible to put the storm
in proper context. 

3023
02:43:51,800 --> 02:43:54,800
What people do know is that 
their understanding of what 

3024
02:43:54,800 --> 02:43:58,700
weather can do has been 
fundamentally revised Before the

3025
02:43:58,700 --> 02:44:02,100
storm people thought they knew 
the limits of wind strength, the

3026
02:44:02,100 --> 02:44:06,400
maximum height of waves and the 
worst that nature could throw at

3027
02:44:06,400 --> 02:44:08,900
England. 
Storm has demonstrated that 

3028
02:44:08,900 --> 02:44:12,500
those limits were imaginary. 
That nature is capable of 

3029
02:44:12,500 --> 02:44:16,800
violence, far beyond what anyone
considered possible. this 

3030
02:44:16,800 --> 02:44:22,300
realization is both terrifying 
and in an odd way liberating If 

3031
02:44:22,308 --> 02:44:25,100
the old certainties about 
whether or wrong, then perhaps 

3032
02:44:25,100 --> 02:44:28,400
other certain teas are all. 
So questionable, maybe the world

3033
02:44:28,400 --> 02:44:32,100
is more Dynamic, more 
changeable, and more surprising 

3034
02:44:32,100 --> 02:44:33,900
than traditional wisdom 
suggests. 

3035
02:44:34,900 --> 02:44:37,800
It's an uncomfortable thought, 
but it's also the kind of 

3036
02:44:37,800 --> 02:44:40,000
thinking that drives scientific 
progress. 

3037
02:44:40,700 --> 02:44:43,600
Insurance companies are also 
trying to understand the storm 

3038
02:44:43,600 --> 02:44:47,400
but for purely practical 
reasons, they need to calculate 

3039
02:44:47,400 --> 02:44:51,400
risks and set premiums, which 
requires some ability to predict

3040
02:44:51,400 --> 02:44:53,100
the likelihood of future 
disasters. 

3041
02:44:54,000 --> 02:44:56,800
The losses from the storm are 
bankrupting several Insurance 

3042
02:44:56,800 --> 02:44:59,000
firms. 
And the survivors need to figure

3043
02:44:59,000 --> 02:45:01,500
out how to price policies in a 
world where apparently 

3044
02:45:01,500 --> 02:45:03,600
impossible disasters can 
actually occur. 

3045
02:45:05,100 --> 02:45:08,300
This leads to some of the first 
attempts at Actuarial science. 

3046
02:45:08,300 --> 02:45:11,800
Apply to whether trying to use 
historical records and 

3047
02:45:11,800 --> 02:45:15,700
mathematical probability to 
estimate storm frequency and 

3048
02:45:15,700 --> 02:45:19,100
intensity. 
Its crewed by modern standards, 

3049
02:45:19,100 --> 02:45:22,900
but it represents the beginning 
of treating weather disaster as 

3050
02:45:22,900 --> 02:45:27,100
calculable risks rather than 
simply unpredictable acts of 

3051
02:45:27,100 --> 02:45:30,100
God. 
As weeks turned to months and 

3052
02:45:30,100 --> 02:45:32,400
England slowly recovers from the
great storm. 

3053
02:45:32,400 --> 02:45:35,400
The ways, it has changed the 
country, begin to emerge. 

3054
02:45:36,500 --> 02:45:39,900
Some changes are obvious and 
immediate thousands of buildings

3055
02:45:39,900 --> 02:45:42,200
have been rebuilt with stronger 
construction methods. 

3056
02:45:42,200 --> 02:45:45,000
For instance. 
Other changes are more subtle 

3057
02:45:45,000 --> 02:45:47,900
working their way through 
culture and Consciousness in 

3058
02:45:47,900 --> 02:45:50,600
ways that will influence British
Society for Generations. 

3059
02:45:51,900 --> 02:45:54,100
The most immediate Legacy is 
architectural. 

3060
02:45:54,100 --> 02:45:58,600
The storm has provided a brutal 
lesson and what works and what 

3061
02:45:58,600 --> 02:46:01,700
doesn't when it comes to 
withstanding, extreme winds, 

3062
02:46:01,700 --> 02:46:05,300
thatched, roofs while 
traditional and relatively 

3063
02:46:05,300 --> 02:46:08,500
inexpensive have proven 
catastrophically vulnerable. 

3064
02:46:09,300 --> 02:46:12,300
In the Reconstruction that 
follows you can see a shift 

3065
02:46:12,300 --> 02:46:16,200
toward tiles and slates toward 
heavier roofing materials that 

3066
02:46:16,200 --> 02:46:19,800
won't simply Blow Away. 
Building techniques change too. 

3067
02:46:20,600 --> 02:46:23,300
Timber framing gets reinforced 
buildings. 

3068
02:46:23,300 --> 02:46:26,900
Are anchored more securely to 
their foundations and walls are 

3069
02:46:26,900 --> 02:46:29,300
built thicker. 
There's a new appreciation for 

3070
02:46:29,300 --> 02:46:32,000
stone construction, even though 
it's more expensive. 

3071
02:46:32,000 --> 02:46:36,200
The storm has essentially 
provided free but extremely 

3072
02:46:36,200 --> 02:46:39,600
harsh testing of construction 
methods and Builders are 

3073
02:46:39,600 --> 02:46:42,700
learning from the results. 
The windmill industry undergoes 

3074
02:46:42,700 --> 02:46:46,800
a complete redesign. 
The catastrophic failures during

3075
02:46:46,800 --> 02:46:48,900
the storm Mill. 
Spinning themselves to 

3076
02:46:48,900 --> 02:46:53,400
destruction Catching Fire or 
simply exploding have made it 

3077
02:46:53,400 --> 02:46:56,900
clear that Current Designs are 
inadequate Engineers develop 

3078
02:46:56,900 --> 02:46:59,800
better brake systems, stronger, 
gearing and emergencies, shut 

3079
02:46:59,800 --> 02:47:04,000
down mechanisms future windmills
will be lower and sturdier 

3080
02:47:04,000 --> 02:47:07,400
trading some efficiency for much
better storm, survival. 

3081
02:47:08,300 --> 02:47:11,400
Lighthouse construction sees 
even more dramatic changes. 

3082
02:47:12,300 --> 02:47:15,300
The complete obliteration of the
Eddystone light makes it clear 

3083
02:47:15,300 --> 02:47:19,200
that wooden structures no matter
how cleverly designed, simply 

3084
02:47:19,200 --> 02:47:22,100
cannot withstand the worst. 
The ocean can throw at them. 

3085
02:47:22,900 --> 02:47:25,900
When the lighthouse is rebuilt, 
it will be Stone. 

3086
02:47:25,900 --> 02:47:29,000
And when that proves 
insufficient and is replaced. 

3087
02:47:29,000 --> 02:47:32,800
Again, 50 years later, it will 
be even heavier stone with 

3088
02:47:32,800 --> 02:47:37,100
Innovative engineering. 
The storm effectively ends the 

3089
02:47:37,100 --> 02:47:39,200
era of wooden offshore light 
houses. 

3090
02:47:39,200 --> 02:47:42,700
The Royal Navy learned hard 
lessons about Harbor management 

3091
02:47:42,700 --> 02:47:45,900
and ships security. 
New Mooring systems are 

3092
02:47:45,900 --> 02:47:49,000
developed Harbor. 
Configurations are redesigned 

3093
02:47:49,000 --> 02:47:53,000
and procedures for securing 
ships during extreme weather a 

3094
02:47:53,000 --> 02:47:56,600
completely overhauled. 
The loss of so many ships in 

3095
02:47:56,600 --> 02:47:59,100
Harbor where they should have 
been safe. 

3096
02:47:59,100 --> 02:48:02,300
Is an embarrassment that the 
Navy is determined not to 

3097
02:48:02,300 --> 02:48:04,800
repeat. 
But beyond these practical 

3098
02:48:04,800 --> 02:48:07,800
changes, the storm leaves deeper
marks on British culture and 

3099
02:48:07,808 --> 02:48:11,200
psychology. 
It becomes a reference point, a 

3100
02:48:11,200 --> 02:48:14,100
benchmark against which all 
future storms are measured. 

3101
02:48:14,900 --> 02:48:18,100
For Generations afterwards. 
People will say things like the 

3102
02:48:18,100 --> 02:48:23,700
worst storm since 2003 or not, 
as bad as the great store, it 

3103
02:48:23,700 --> 02:48:26,900
enters the national memory as a 
shared trauma that defined an 

3104
02:48:26,900 --> 02:48:29,200
era. 
Storm. 

3105
02:48:29,200 --> 02:48:32,300
Also contributes to a slowly 
growing sense that the world is 

3106
02:48:32,300 --> 02:48:34,600
more knowable and less 
mysterious than previous 

3107
02:48:34,600 --> 02:48:38,700
generations believed. 
In fact that someone like Dafoe 

3108
02:48:38,700 --> 02:48:42,800
could systematically investigate
a natural disaster, collect data

3109
02:48:42,800 --> 02:48:44,900
and produce a comprehensive 
account. 

3110
02:48:45,800 --> 02:48:48,600
This represents a new way of 
understanding the world. 

3111
02:48:49,500 --> 02:48:52,900
Not through divine, revelation 
or ancient Authority, but 

3112
02:48:52,900 --> 02:48:56,400
through observation, 
documentation and Analysis. 

3113
02:48:58,200 --> 02:49:01,800
The foes, the storm published in
1704 becomes a best-seller and 

3114
02:49:01,800 --> 02:49:05,700
remains in print for decades, 
it's part disaster, account part

3115
02:49:05,700 --> 02:49:08,300
investigation, and part 
meditation, on human 

3116
02:49:08,300 --> 02:49:10,100
vulnerability, in the face of 
nature. 

3117
02:49:11,100 --> 02:49:14,800
But more importantly, it's proof
that complex natural phenomena 

3118
02:49:14,800 --> 02:49:18,800
can be studied systematically 
and understood rationally. this 

3119
02:49:18,800 --> 02:49:21,200
approach will influence 
everything from how future 

3120
02:49:21,200 --> 02:49:24,800
disaster as a documented to 
house scientific investigation 

3121
02:49:24,800 --> 02:49:29,000
is conducted The insurance 
industry forced to reinvent 

3122
02:49:29,000 --> 02:49:32,600
itself after the storms 
Financial Devastation becomes 

3123
02:49:32,600 --> 02:49:35,400
more sophisticated and more 
mathematical in its approach. 

3124
02:49:36,500 --> 02:49:39,800
The disaster accelerates the 
development of Actuarial science

3125
02:49:39,800 --> 02:49:44,000
and risk assessment. 
In a very real way, the modern 

3126
02:49:44,000 --> 02:49:48,000
insurance industry with its 
complex calculations of risk and

3127
02:49:48,000 --> 02:49:50,700
probability. 
Has roots in the attempts to 

3128
02:49:50,708 --> 02:49:54,400
understand and price the risk of
another great storm. 

3129
02:49:55,700 --> 02:49:58,700
Weather observation becomes more
systematic in the storms 

3130
02:49:58,700 --> 02:50:01,200
aftermath. 
More people invest in 

3131
02:50:01,200 --> 02:50:03,900
barometers. 
Detailed whether logs are kept 

3132
02:50:03,900 --> 02:50:07,800
and patterns and noted the Royal
Society encourages this 

3133
02:50:07,800 --> 02:50:11,000
systematic observation 
collecting data, that will 

3134
02:50:11,008 --> 02:50:14,100
eventually contribute to the 
development of meteorology as a 

3135
02:50:14,100 --> 02:50:17,300
proper science. 
It will take another century and

3136
02:50:17,300 --> 02:50:19,700
a half before weather 
forecasting becomes reliable. 

3137
02:50:20,400 --> 02:50:23,000
The great storm marks an 
important step in that 

3138
02:50:23,000 --> 02:50:26,200
direction, the religious 
response to the store more. 

3139
02:50:26,200 --> 02:50:29,800
So has lasting effects though. 
Perhaps not the ones the clergy 

3140
02:50:29,800 --> 02:50:33,400
intended. while sermons frame 
the disaster as Divine 

3141
02:50:33,400 --> 02:50:36,800
judgement, the fact that the 
Godly and ungodly suffered 

3142
02:50:36,800 --> 02:50:39,000
equally raises uncomfortable 
questions. 

3143
02:50:39,000 --> 02:50:44,400
Why would God destroy churches 
while sparing taverns, why kill 

3144
02:50:44,400 --> 02:50:47,000
Pious Sailors while sparing 
sinful merchants? 

3145
02:50:48,000 --> 02:50:51,500
these questions don't shake 
religious Faith, England remains

3146
02:50:51,500 --> 02:50:54,900
deeply Christian, But they 
contribute to a gradually 

3147
02:50:54,900 --> 02:50:57,900
developing sense, that may be 
natural events, have natural 

3148
02:50:57,900 --> 02:51:02,100
causes rather than being direct,
expressions of divine will. 

3149
02:51:03,400 --> 02:51:06,000
This is part of a larger 
intellectual shift happening 

3150
02:51:06,000 --> 02:51:08,700
across Europe. 
The Enlightenment with its 

3151
02:51:08,700 --> 02:51:11,900
emphasis on reason observation 
and natural law. 

3152
02:51:13,200 --> 02:51:16,500
The great storm doesn't cause 
this shift, but it provides 

3153
02:51:16,500 --> 02:51:20,700
dramatic evidence that supports 
the new way of thinking. if even

3154
02:51:20,700 --> 02:51:23,700
the weather follows natural 
laws, rather than being directly

3155
02:51:23,700 --> 02:51:27,000
controlled by divine 
intervention, then perhaps the 

3156
02:51:27,000 --> 02:51:30,000
entire universe operates 
according to predictable 

3157
02:51:30,000 --> 02:51:32,600
principles that humans can 
discover and understand. 

3158
02:51:33,600 --> 02:51:36,800
In literature and culture, the 
storm becomes a symbol of 

3159
02:51:36,808 --> 02:51:39,100
Nature's power and human 
vulnerability. 

3160
02:51:39,100 --> 02:51:43,900
It appears in poems plays and 
novels artists to pick the 

3161
02:51:43,900 --> 02:51:47,700
devastation in Engravings and 
paintings the image of ships. 

3162
02:51:47,700 --> 02:51:51,500
Being torn apart in Harbor of 
ancient trees, toppling of 

3163
02:51:51,500 --> 02:51:55,600
churches losing their Steeples, 
these become powerful metaphors 

3164
02:51:55,600 --> 02:51:57,600
for the fragility of human 
achievements. 

3165
02:51:57,600 --> 02:52:02,400
In the face of natural forces, 
the storm also influences. 

3166
02:52:02,400 --> 02:52:05,500
British Maritime culture and the
national self-image. 

3167
02:52:06,300 --> 02:52:10,200
Britain sees itself as a naval 
power as a nation connected to 

3168
02:52:10,200 --> 02:52:13,100
the Sea. 
Fact that the sea could strike. 

3169
02:52:13,100 --> 02:52:16,100
So devastating a blow right in 
the heart of British Naval 

3170
02:52:16,100 --> 02:52:19,600
strength is sobering. 
It reinforces the respect for 

3171
02:52:19,600 --> 02:52:22,100
the ocean that is Central to 
British Maritime tradition. 

3172
02:52:22,900 --> 02:52:26,500
The understanding that the sea 
is never fully tamed never 

3173
02:52:26,500 --> 02:52:29,400
completely safe and always 
demands respect. 

3174
02:52:31,200 --> 02:52:34,300
For the families who lost loved 
ones in the storm, the legacy is

3175
02:52:34,300 --> 02:52:39,200
more personal and more painful. 
Approximately 8,000 people died.

3176
02:52:39,200 --> 02:52:42,600
Most of the sailors who drowned 
when their ships went down. 

3177
02:52:43,400 --> 02:52:46,000
That's a staggering number for a
country with England's 

3178
02:52:46,000 --> 02:52:50,500
population in 1703. 
Nearly every Coastal Community, 

3179
02:52:50,500 --> 02:52:54,700
lost someone every port town has
widows and orphans. 

3180
02:52:55,500 --> 02:52:59,200
The human cost ripples through 
Society for a generation. 

3181
02:53:00,700 --> 02:53:04,600
There's all an economic Legacy, 
the destruction of property, the

3182
02:53:04,600 --> 02:53:09,300
loss of ships and cargo, and the
cost of reconstruction, all of 

3183
02:53:09,300 --> 02:53:14,400
this represents an enormous. 
Financial burden England in 1703

3184
02:53:14,400 --> 02:53:17,100
is already fighting an expensive
war with France. 

3185
02:53:17,100 --> 02:53:19,900
Adding a massive natural 
disaster on top. 

3186
02:53:19,900 --> 02:53:21,700
Of that strange. 
The national economy. 

3187
02:53:22,600 --> 02:53:25,200
Taxes are raised to fund 
reconstruction of government 

3188
02:53:25,200 --> 02:53:29,000
buildings and churches 
insurance, premiums Skyrocket. 

3189
02:53:29,000 --> 02:53:33,000
Some businesses never recover. 
But there's also resilience in 

3190
02:53:33,000 --> 02:53:36,000
the response communities. 
Come together to rebuild, 

3191
02:53:36,000 --> 02:53:39,400
neighbors, helped, neighbors, 
clear, debris and repair homes, 

3192
02:53:39,400 --> 02:53:41,900
the nation as a whole 
demonstrates. 

3193
02:53:41,900 --> 02:53:44,900
A capacity to absorb a 
devastating blow and keep 

3194
02:53:44,900 --> 02:53:48,000
functioning. 
This resilience becomes part of 

3195
02:53:48,000 --> 02:53:51,000
Britain's National character 
part of the story. 

3196
02:53:51,000 --> 02:53:54,800
The Country, tells about itself 
that British people endure 

3197
02:53:54,800 --> 02:53:58,200
persist and carry on, regardless
of circumstances. 

3198
02:53:59,600 --> 02:54:02,700
The great storm becomes part of 
the cultural mythology that 

3199
02:54:02,700 --> 02:54:04,700
helps Define what it means to be
British. 

3200
02:54:05,400 --> 02:54:08,200
It's invoked during World War 2 
when the blitz is compared to 

3201
02:54:08,208 --> 02:54:12,000
natural disasters of the past 
its reference during subsequent 

3202
02:54:12,000 --> 02:54:15,100
Hurricane's and floods. 
It becomes one of those 

3203
02:54:15,100 --> 02:54:17,200
foundational stories that helped
a nation. 

3204
02:54:17,200 --> 02:54:20,700
Understand itself, a reminder 
that Britain has face 

3205
02:54:20,700 --> 02:54:25,100
catastrophe before and survived.
From a modern perspective, 

3206
02:54:25,100 --> 02:54:28,700
knowing what we now know about 
climate and weather systems, the

3207
02:54:28,700 --> 02:54:33,500
great storm of 1703 remains 
meteorologically fascinating. 

3208
02:54:34,400 --> 02:54:37,400
Computer models, attempting to 
recreate the storm based on 

3209
02:54:37,400 --> 02:54:40,000
historical accounts. 
Suggest it was essentially a 

3210
02:54:40,000 --> 02:54:43,400
bomb cyclone. 
An extratropical storm that 

3211
02:54:43,400 --> 02:54:46,700
underwent explosive 
intensification with pressure 

3212
02:54:46,700 --> 02:54:50,700
dropping at unprecedented rates.
These storms are rare, but not 

3213
02:54:50,700 --> 02:54:53,200
impossible. 
And when they occur in the North

3214
02:54:53,200 --> 02:54:56,100
Atlantic, they can produce 
conditions similar to Major 

3215
02:54:56,100 --> 02:55:00,000
hurricanes. 
What makes the 1703 storm 

3216
02:55:00,000 --> 02:55:02,800
exceptional? 
Is that it struck a peak 

3217
02:55:02,800 --> 02:55:07,200
intensity, maintain that, 
intensity for many hours and hit

3218
02:55:07,200 --> 02:55:10,300
the most populated and developed
part of England directly. 

3219
02:55:11,400 --> 02:55:13,900
It was a perfect storm in the 
literal sense. 

3220
02:55:14,600 --> 02:55:17,500
The perfect combination of 
meteorological, conditions, 

3221
02:55:17,500 --> 02:55:21,500
timing and geography to produce 
maximum devastation. 

3222
02:55:22,600 --> 02:55:25,600
Modern climate science, can't 
say with certainty, whether the 

3223
02:55:25,600 --> 02:55:28,700
storm was a pure anomaly or 
whether it reflected broader 

3224
02:55:28,700 --> 02:55:32,300
climate patterns. 
The early 1700s fall within 

3225
02:55:32,300 --> 02:55:33,800
What's called the little Ice 
Age. 

3226
02:55:33,800 --> 02:55:37,100
Appeared of cooler than average 
temperatures in Europe. 

3227
02:55:38,000 --> 02:55:40,900
Some climate historian speculate
that the unusual temperature 

3228
02:55:40,900 --> 02:55:44,200
patterns of this period, might 
have contributed to unusual 

3229
02:55:44,200 --> 02:55:48,700
storm patterns, but the evidence
is inconclusive, what we can say

3230
02:55:48,700 --> 02:55:51,900
is that storms of similar 
intensity are possible today. 

3231
02:55:53,000 --> 02:55:55,100
The technology and 
infrastructure of modern 

3232
02:55:55,100 --> 02:55:58,300
Britain, a better equipped to 
handle extreme weather than the 

3233
02:55:58,308 --> 02:56:01,800
wooden buildings and sailing 
ships of 1,703. 

3234
02:56:02,600 --> 02:56:05,300
But a storm of truly equivalent 
intensity. 

3235
02:56:05,300 --> 02:56:09,400
Sustained winds of 120 plus 
miles per hour. 

3236
02:56:09,400 --> 02:56:13,300
Striking Southern England would 
still cause catastrophic damage,

3237
02:56:13,300 --> 02:56:15,400
despite all our modern 
advantages. 

3238
02:56:16,400 --> 02:56:19,200
As you settle deeper into your 
blanket and the story wins 

3239
02:56:19,200 --> 02:56:22,200
towards its end. 
It's worth reflecting on what 

3240
02:56:22,200 --> 02:56:25,800
the great storm of 1703 can 
teach us more than three 

3241
02:56:25,800 --> 02:56:29,000
centuries later. 
Because while the specifics are 

3242
02:56:29,000 --> 02:56:34,100
historical, the themes are 
Eternal, Nature's power, human 

3243
02:56:34,100 --> 02:56:38,600
vulnerability resilience in the 
face of disaster and the ongoing

3244
02:56:38,600 --> 02:56:41,400
challenge of understanding 
forces, beyond our control. 

3245
02:56:42,700 --> 02:56:46,000
The people of 1703 lived in a 
world that was in many ways, 

3246
02:56:46,000 --> 02:56:49,600
utterly different from ours, 
they traveled by horse and 

3247
02:56:49,600 --> 02:56:52,900
sailing ship. 
Their homes with candles and had

3248
02:56:52,900 --> 02:56:57,400
no electricity no engines and no
synthetic materials of any kind.

3249
02:56:58,500 --> 02:57:01,700
There are entire technological. 
Civilization was based on wood 

3250
02:57:01,700 --> 02:57:07,500
Stone metal and muscle power. 
Human and animal. 

3251
02:57:08,500 --> 02:57:11,500
Yet their emotional responses to
the storm would be immediately 

3252
02:57:11,500 --> 02:57:14,200
recognizable to anyone who has 
lived through a natural 

3253
02:57:14,200 --> 02:57:18,000
disaster. 
The fears, the winds intensified

3254
02:57:18,000 --> 02:57:20,700
the uncertainty about whether 
shelter would hold. 

3255
02:57:21,800 --> 02:57:24,800
The shock of seeing familiar 
Landscapes transformed into 

3256
02:57:24,800 --> 02:57:29,200
unrecognizable Devastation. 
The grief of loss the overwhelm 

3257
02:57:29,200 --> 02:57:32,500
of recovery and the gradual 
emergence of resilience and 

3258
02:57:32,500 --> 02:57:35,900
determination to rebuild. 
These human experiences 

3259
02:57:35,900 --> 02:57:40,100
transcend technology and time. 
The storm also reminds us that 

3260
02:57:40,100 --> 02:57:44,000
nature operates on scales and 
with forces that dwarf human 

3261
02:57:44,000 --> 02:57:47,000
power. 
For all our modern technology 

3262
02:57:47,000 --> 02:57:51,000
are reinforced buildings. 
Our weather satellite our 

3263
02:57:51,000 --> 02:57:54,100
computer models, we remain 
fundamentally vulnerable to 

3264
02:57:54,100 --> 02:57:57,000
Natural Forces. 
We've gotten better at 

3265
02:57:57,000 --> 02:57:59,800
predicting disasters and 
surviving them but we haven't 

3266
02:57:59,800 --> 02:58:03,300
eliminated the vulnerability. 
Storm strong enough. 

3267
02:58:03,300 --> 02:58:07,600
Can still over my preparation. 
This isn't a depressing thought 

3268
02:58:07,600 --> 02:58:09,700
or at least it doesn't have to 
be. 

3269
02:58:10,400 --> 02:58:12,700
There's something almost 
comforting about the reminders 

3270
02:58:12,700 --> 02:58:16,300
that humans aren't in complete 
control that there are forces in

3271
02:58:16,300 --> 02:58:20,100
the world larger than our 
politics, our economies, and our

3272
02:58:20,100 --> 02:58:24,600
personal concerns, The wind that
blew through England in 1703 

3273
02:58:24,600 --> 02:58:27,400
didn't care about National 
boundaries, religious 

3274
02:58:27,400 --> 02:58:31,200
differences, social class or 
individual achievement. 

3275
02:58:31,200 --> 02:58:35,100
It treated everyone equally 
which in its way, was a form of 

3276
02:58:35,108 --> 02:58:37,400
Justice. 
The great storm. 

3277
02:58:37,400 --> 02:58:39,800
Also demonstrates, the 
importance of systematic, 

3278
02:58:39,800 --> 02:58:43,500
observation and record, keeping 
Without Daniel defoe's 

3279
02:58:43,500 --> 02:58:45,700
investigation without the 
detailed accounts. 

3280
02:58:45,700 --> 02:58:48,700
He collected our understanding 
of the storm would be much more 

3281
02:58:48,700 --> 02:58:51,200
limited. 
We'd have scattered references 

3282
02:58:51,200 --> 02:58:54,800
in letters and Diaries but not 
the comprehensive picture that 

3283
02:58:54,800 --> 02:58:58,600
defies work provides. 
This has relevance for how we 

3284
02:58:58,600 --> 02:59:01,400
approach modern challenges 
climate change. 

3285
02:59:01,400 --> 02:59:06,000
For instance, requires exactly. 
This kind of systemic long-term,

3286
02:59:06,000 --> 02:59:10,700
observation and documentation. 
We need people willing to do the

3287
02:59:10,700 --> 02:59:14,600
patient unglamorous work of 
collecting data comparing 

3288
02:59:14,600 --> 02:59:17,700
accounts and building 
comprehensive records. 

3289
02:59:18,900 --> 02:59:22,500
Defuse work in 1703 was 
pioneering in this regard. 

3290
02:59:22,500 --> 02:59:26,900
He essentially invented disaster
journalism and established a 

3291
02:59:26,900 --> 02:59:30,500
model for investigating natural 
catastrophes that we still use 

3292
02:59:30,500 --> 02:59:33,600
today. 
The storm also illustrates how 

3293
02:59:33,600 --> 02:59:38,000
disasters can accelerate change.
The architectural, improvements 

3294
02:59:38,000 --> 02:59:42,600
the advances in Maritime safety,
the development of insurance 

3295
02:59:42,600 --> 02:59:46,900
practices and the progress in. 
Whether observation all of these

3296
02:59:46,900 --> 02:59:50,400
might have happened eventually 
but the storm compressed years 

3297
02:59:50,400 --> 02:59:54,200
or Decades of gradual 
development into a few months of

3298
02:59:54,200 --> 02:59:58,300
urgent necessity. 
Sometimes it takes a crisis to 

3299
02:59:58,300 --> 03:00:01,700
overcome inertia and Implement 
improvements that people had 

3300
03:00:01,700 --> 03:00:05,000
been discussing but not acting 
on this pattern repeats 

3301
03:00:05,000 --> 03:00:08,800
throughout history. 
The Great Fire of London in 

3302
03:00:08,800 --> 03:00:13,500
1666, led to improved building 
codes and the first organized 

3303
03:00:13,500 --> 03:00:17,600
firefighting Services. 
The Titanic sinking in 1912. 

3304
03:00:17,600 --> 03:00:20,200
Revolutionized Maritime safety 
regulation. 

3305
03:00:21,400 --> 03:00:25,400
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 
transformed Emergency Management

3306
03:00:25,400 --> 03:00:28,500
planning. 
Disaster for all their tragedy 

3307
03:00:28,500 --> 03:00:30,900
can be powerful, Catalyst for 
positive change. 

3308
03:00:30,900 --> 03:00:33,400
Assuming were willing to learn 
from them. 

3309
03:00:33,400 --> 03:00:38,200
The religious responses to the 
storm are also instructive, not 

3310
03:00:38,200 --> 03:00:40,700
because they were correct in 
their attribution of divine 

3311
03:00:40,700 --> 03:00:44,600
judgment. because they show how 
people seek meaning in natural 

3312
03:00:44,600 --> 03:00:49,000
disasters, Humans seem 
psychologically wired to find 

3313
03:00:49,000 --> 03:00:52,800
patterns and purposes even in 
random or probabilistic events. 

3314
03:00:53,800 --> 03:00:58,600
When something terrible happens 
saying it's just bad luck or 

3315
03:00:58,600 --> 03:01:02,200
it's a statistical. 
Inevitability doesn't provide 

3316
03:01:02,200 --> 03:01:05,000
the same psychological 
comforters finding meaning in 

3317
03:01:05,008 --> 03:01:09,400
the event. modern secular 
society is largely replaced, 

3318
03:01:09,400 --> 03:01:12,700
religious interpretations, with 
scientific ones, but the 

3319
03:01:12,700 --> 03:01:15,700
underlying need to understand 
and contextualize disaster 

3320
03:01:15,700 --> 03:01:19,600
remains We explain hurricanes in
terms of sea surface, 

3321
03:01:19,600 --> 03:01:22,800
temperatures, and atmospheric 
pressure gradients, which is 

3322
03:01:22,800 --> 03:01:25,500
more accurate than explaining 
them as Divine judgment. 

3323
03:01:26,400 --> 03:01:29,500
But the psychological function 
is similar to make the 

3324
03:01:29,500 --> 03:01:33,500
incomprehensible comprehensible,
and to restore a sense of order 

3325
03:01:33,500 --> 03:01:35,700
and understanding to chaotic 
events. 

3326
03:01:36,500 --> 03:01:39,200
The storm also reminds us about 
the power of community and 

3327
03:01:39,200 --> 03:01:41,700
Recovery. 
The immediate aftermath saw 

3328
03:01:41,700 --> 03:01:45,200
people helping each other 
sharing resources and working 

3329
03:01:45,200 --> 03:01:47,400
together to clear debris and 
repair damage. 

3330
03:01:48,200 --> 03:01:51,400
This spontaneous cooperation 
wasn't organized by government 

3331
03:01:51,400 --> 03:01:55,400
or mandated by Authority. 
It emerged naturally from 

3332
03:01:55,400 --> 03:01:59,200
people, recognizing their Mutual
vulnerability and mutual 

3333
03:01:59,200 --> 03:02:01,900
dependence. 
This pattern appears in 

3334
03:02:01,900 --> 03:02:04,700
virtually every disaster, 
ancient or modern. 

3335
03:02:05,600 --> 03:02:09,400
When catastrophe strips away, 
the normal social structures and

3336
03:02:09,400 --> 03:02:12,500
economic systems. 
People tend to cooperate rather 

3337
03:02:12,500 --> 03:02:16,100
than compete. 
The popular image of disaster 

3338
03:02:16,100 --> 03:02:19,900
survivors descending into chaos 
and violence is largely myth. 

3339
03:02:19,900 --> 03:02:23,200
The reality is usually Mutual 
Aid and solidarity. 

3340
03:02:24,300 --> 03:02:28,300
The great storm of 1703 
demonstrated this and every 

3341
03:02:28,300 --> 03:02:31,900
disaster since has confirmed it.
There's something deeply 

3342
03:02:31,900 --> 03:02:35,900
optimistic in this pattern. 
It suggests that beneath all our

3343
03:02:35,900 --> 03:02:39,200
divisions and differences. 
Humans retain a fundamental 

3344
03:02:39,200 --> 03:02:41,300
capacity for empathy and 
cooperation. 

3345
03:02:42,600 --> 03:02:46,100
When things are really bad, when
survival is uncertain and the 

3346
03:02:46,100 --> 03:02:49,900
normal rules, don't apply. 
People tend to help each other. 

3347
03:02:50,800 --> 03:02:54,200
this capacity for Mutual Aid, 
might be one of Humanity's most 

3348
03:02:54,200 --> 03:02:58,600
important, survival traits The 
storms Legacy seals are includes

3349
03:02:58,600 --> 03:03:01,500
all the stories that have been 
passed down through generations.

3350
03:03:01,500 --> 03:03:05,000
The grandmother who survived by 
hiding in a Stone cellar. 

3351
03:03:05,000 --> 03:03:08,400
The sailor who was washed 
overboard, but managed to grab 

3352
03:03:08,400 --> 03:03:10,800
floating debris and was rescued 
at dawn. 

3353
03:03:11,500 --> 03:03:14,100
The village that lost its 
church, but rebuilt, it 

3354
03:03:14,100 --> 03:03:16,800
stronger. 
These stories become part of 

3355
03:03:16,808 --> 03:03:20,400
family histories, local 
traditions and the narrative 

3356
03:03:20,400 --> 03:03:24,000
fabric of communities, these 
oral histories serve important 

3357
03:03:24,000 --> 03:03:27,400
functions, they preserve memory,
they transmit lessons, and they 

3358
03:03:27,400 --> 03:03:31,400
connect Generations. they remind
people that their ancestors 

3359
03:03:31,400 --> 03:03:35,000
faced catastrophes and survived,
which provides perspective 

3360
03:03:35,000 --> 03:03:38,600
during current difficulties when
your own world feels like it's 

3361
03:03:38,600 --> 03:03:42,200
falling apart, knowing that your
great-great-great-grandparents 

3362
03:03:42,200 --> 03:03:47,000
survived, the great storm of 
1703 can be genuinely comforting

3363
03:03:47,000 --> 03:03:50,600
as weather patterns become more 
extreme due to climate change. 

3364
03:03:51,400 --> 03:03:54,300
The great storm takes on new 
relevance as a historical 

3365
03:03:54,300 --> 03:03:57,400
benchmark. 
It reminds us that even without 

3366
03:03:57,400 --> 03:04:01,100
human caused climate change. 
Nature is capable of producing 

3367
03:04:01,100 --> 03:04:04,500
extreme events. 
It provides a calibration point.

3368
03:04:04,500 --> 03:04:07,700
If storms like this were 
possible in the little Ice Age, 

3369
03:04:07,700 --> 03:04:12,000
what might be possible in a 
warming world, This isn't to 

3370
03:04:12,000 --> 03:04:14,900
minimize climate change or 
suggest that extreme weather is 

3371
03:04:14,900 --> 03:04:18,300
nothing new rather. 
It's to acknowledge that were 

3372
03:04:18,300 --> 03:04:21,700
not starting from a baseline of 
calm predictable. 

3373
03:04:21,700 --> 03:04:25,800
Weather earth's climate as 
always, produced extremes and 

3374
03:04:25,800 --> 03:04:29,100
human civilization has always 
had to contend with Nature's 

3375
03:04:29,100 --> 03:04:32,700
capacity for violence. 
Climate change is making this 

3376
03:04:32,700 --> 03:04:37,000
worse potentially much worse, 
but the underlying vulnerability

3377
03:04:37,000 --> 03:04:41,700
was always there. 
The great storm of 1703 stands 

3378
03:04:41,700 --> 03:04:44,800
as a testament to both human 
vulnerability and human 

3379
03:04:44,800 --> 03:04:47,600
resilience. 
It showed how quickly the 

3380
03:04:47,600 --> 03:04:51,200
comfortable familiar world can 
be torn apart by natural forces.

3381
03:04:52,000 --> 03:04:56,100
But it also showed how people 
respond with courage with mutual

3382
03:04:56,100 --> 03:04:59,600
Aid and with determination, to 
understand what happened and to 

3383
03:04:59,600 --> 03:05:03,600
rebuild better than before. 
As you drift towards sleep, 

3384
03:05:03,600 --> 03:05:07,000
imagine the wind that blew 
through England on that November

3385
03:05:07,000 --> 03:05:11,300
night in 1703. 
It started as disturbance in the

3386
03:05:11,300 --> 03:05:14,300
atmosphere over the Atlantic 
subtle differences in 

3387
03:05:14,300 --> 03:05:17,700
temperature and pressure that 
gradually Amplified into 

3388
03:05:17,700 --> 03:05:21,000
something. 
Monstrous It traveled, thousands

3389
03:05:21,000 --> 03:05:24,700
of miles across the ocean 
gathering, strength, until it 

3390
03:05:24,700 --> 03:05:28,200
struck a small island with 
unprecedented Fury. 

3391
03:05:29,500 --> 03:05:33,400
The wind itself was just are in 
motion, molecules responding to 

3392
03:05:33,400 --> 03:05:35,900
physical laws with no 
consciousness or intent. 

3393
03:05:36,600 --> 03:05:39,400
Yet, the people who experience 
it, described it in almost 

3394
03:05:39,400 --> 03:05:44,200
personal terms as if the wind 
had will had purpose had rage. 

3395
03:05:44,200 --> 03:05:48,500
This is how humans make sense of
forces, beyond our control, by 

3396
03:05:48,500 --> 03:05:52,000
anthropomorphizing them by 
creating narratives that turn 

3397
03:05:52,000 --> 03:05:56,500
natural processes into stories. 
We can understand That wind is 

3398
03:05:56,500 --> 03:05:58,600
gone. 
Now it's energy long since 

3399
03:05:58,600 --> 03:06:02,300
dissipated its molecules 
scattered across the atmosphere 

3400
03:06:02,300 --> 03:06:05,100
and cycled through. 
Countless other weather systems 

3401
03:06:05,100 --> 03:06:10,000
over the past three centuries. 
But its effects Ripple forward 

3402
03:06:10,000 --> 03:06:12,200
through time. 
The buildings that were 

3403
03:06:12,200 --> 03:06:15,500
redesigned because of it is 
still stand incorporating 

3404
03:06:15,500 --> 03:06:17,500
Lessons Learned on that terrible
night. 

3405
03:06:18,400 --> 03:06:21,700
The maritime safety procedures. 
It inspired still protects 

3406
03:06:21,700 --> 03:06:24,400
Sailors. 
The systematic approach to 

3407
03:06:24,400 --> 03:06:27,400
disaster investigation. 
That Dafoe pioneered still 

3408
03:06:27,400 --> 03:06:29,500
guides, how we respond to 
catastrophes. 

3409
03:06:30,400 --> 03:06:32,400
The people who experience the 
storm are gone, too. 

3410
03:06:32,400 --> 03:06:35,300
Of course. 
The last survivor died sometime 

3411
03:06:35,300 --> 03:06:38,900
in the late 1700s and with them 
died, the immediate memory of 

3412
03:06:38,900 --> 03:06:43,200
that night. 
But they left records stories 

3413
03:06:43,200 --> 03:06:47,100
and descriptions that allow us 
to reconstruct their experience.

3414
03:06:48,100 --> 03:06:51,400
Daniel defoe's investigation 
preserved hundreds of accounts. 

3415
03:06:51,400 --> 03:06:53,400
That would otherwise have been 
lost. 

3416
03:06:54,300 --> 03:06:58,900
Parish records, documented the 
deaths, insurgents recorded the 

3417
03:06:58,900 --> 03:07:02,500
property, damage letters and 
Diaries, captured personal 

3418
03:07:02,500 --> 03:07:05,400
reactions. 
These records allow us to touch 

3419
03:07:05,400 --> 03:07:08,500
across three centuries. 
The experience of people who 

3420
03:07:08,500 --> 03:07:10,600
faced something overwhelming and
terrifying. 

3421
03:07:11,800 --> 03:07:15,500
We can read their words, follow 
their logic, and share Their 

3422
03:07:15,500 --> 03:07:18,200
Fear and grief and eventual 
determination. 

3423
03:07:18,900 --> 03:07:20,800
History isn't just dates and 
facts. 

3424
03:07:20,800 --> 03:07:24,400
It's the accumulated experience 
of countless individuals 

3425
03:07:24,400 --> 03:07:28,000
preserved in fragments that we 
can piece together into 

3426
03:07:28,000 --> 03:07:32,100
something like understanding. if
you visited Southern England 

3427
03:07:32,100 --> 03:07:35,500
today, you could still find 
traces of the great storm, if 

3428
03:07:35,500 --> 03:07:39,100
you knew where to look, There 
are ancient trees, whose trunk 

3429
03:07:39,100 --> 03:07:43,900
showed damage from 1703 and 
limbs that were torn away and 

3430
03:07:43,900 --> 03:07:47,700
never quite grew back properly. 
There are buildings that 

3431
03:07:47,700 --> 03:07:50,900
incorporate Salvage, Timbers 
from structures destroyed in the

3432
03:07:50,908 --> 03:07:53,000
storm. 
There are graveyards where 

3433
03:07:53,000 --> 03:07:55,300
unusual clusters of burials from
November. 

3434
03:07:55,300 --> 03:07:59,000
And December 1703, tell silence 
stories of loss. 

3435
03:07:59,800 --> 03:08:03,500
The storm has become part of the
landscape's deep History, part 

3436
03:08:03,500 --> 03:08:06,300
of the accumulated memory that 
makes a place what it is. 

3437
03:08:07,600 --> 03:08:11,600
Every location has these layers 
events that shape the land and 

3438
03:08:11,600 --> 03:08:15,600
the people that influenced, how 
communities developed that left 

3439
03:08:15,600 --> 03:08:19,100
marks both physical and cultural
that persist long. 

3440
03:08:19,100 --> 03:08:22,000
After the events themselves of 
faded from living memory. 

3441
03:08:23,200 --> 03:08:26,500
And somewhere in the Atlantic 
right now, air is moving 

3442
03:08:26,500 --> 03:08:31,100
pressure systems are forming. 
And weather is being made this 

3443
03:08:31,100 --> 03:08:33,400
same physical processes, that 
created. 

3444
03:08:33,400 --> 03:08:37,600
The great storm of 1703 are 
still operating the same 

3445
03:08:37,608 --> 03:08:42,700
equations govern how storms form
and intensify Same motion that 

3446
03:08:42,708 --> 03:08:46,600
bread that ancient Tempest still
breeds modern ones and still 

3447
03:08:46,600 --> 03:08:48,400
occasionally produces 
conditions. 

3448
03:08:48,400 --> 03:08:50,000
That create extraordinary 
violence. 

3449
03:08:51,000 --> 03:08:53,700
We're better prepared now than 
people were in 1703. 

3450
03:08:53,700 --> 03:08:57,600
We have Warning Systems, sturdy 
buildings and weather forecasts 

3451
03:08:57,600 --> 03:09:00,600
that can predict storms days in 
advance, but we're not 

3452
03:09:00,608 --> 03:09:03,600
invulnerable. 
Nature, still has the capacity 

3453
03:09:03,600 --> 03:09:07,500
to surprise us to produce events
at the edge of probability that 

3454
03:09:07,500 --> 03:09:09,700
exceed our preparations and 
assumptions. 

3455
03:09:10,600 --> 03:09:13,400
This is both sobering and in a 
strange way exciting. 

3456
03:09:13,400 --> 03:09:17,800
It means the world retains its 
capacity to astonish us to 

3457
03:09:17,800 --> 03:09:20,100
remind us that for all our 
knowledge and Technology. 

3458
03:09:20,100 --> 03:09:24,200
We remain part of natural 
systems that operate on scale's 

3459
03:09:24,200 --> 03:09:27,600
beyond our control. 
We're passengers on a planet 

3460
03:09:27,600 --> 03:09:31,500
spinning through space protected
by a thin layer of atmosphere 

3461
03:09:31,500 --> 03:09:34,700
that sometimes moves in ways 
that can tear our civilization 

3462
03:09:34,700 --> 03:09:37,800
apart. 
But we're passengers with memory

3463
03:09:37,800 --> 03:09:41,200
with records with the 
accumulated wisdom of 

3464
03:09:41,200 --> 03:09:45,100
generations who faced disasters 
and learned from them. 

3465
03:09:46,200 --> 03:09:51,400
The great storm of 1703 is part 
of that accumulated wisdom, a 

3466
03:09:51,400 --> 03:09:54,600
reminder of what's possible a 
lesson invulnerability, and 

3467
03:09:54,600 --> 03:09:57,400
resilience. 
And a story that connects us to 

3468
03:09:57,400 --> 03:10:01,000
people long Dead who face their 
Darkest Night, with whatever 

3469
03:10:01,000 --> 03:10:05,500
courage they could muster, as 
you sleep tonight, safe in a 

3470
03:10:05,500 --> 03:10:07,800
building that incorporates three
centuries of improved 

3471
03:10:07,800 --> 03:10:10,500
understanding of wind resistance
and Structural Engineering. 

3472
03:10:11,300 --> 03:10:14,100
Your benefiting from lessons 
that were purchased with great 

3473
03:10:14,100 --> 03:10:19,000
suffering and 1703. 
Every secure roof, beam every 

3474
03:10:19,000 --> 03:10:22,400
well, anchored Foundation, every
building code and safety 

3475
03:10:22,400 --> 03:10:25,500
regulation. 
They all rest on the accumulated

3476
03:10:25,500 --> 03:10:29,600
experience of people who faced 
disasters and said never again, 

3477
03:10:29,600 --> 03:10:32,500
or at least not like this. 
Sleep. 

3478
03:10:32,500 --> 03:10:36,100
Well, knowing that your part of 
this ongoing human story of 

3479
03:10:36,100 --> 03:10:39,800
learning from catastrophe of 
building, better after disaster.

3480
03:10:39,800 --> 03:10:43,200
A facing an indifferent Universe
with determination and 

3481
03:10:43,200 --> 03:10:46,800
ingenuity. 
The wind that blew in 1703 is 

3482
03:10:46,800 --> 03:10:51,300
gone but the lessons, it taught 
remain woven into the fabric of 

3483
03:10:51,300 --> 03:10:55,500
how we build, how we prepare, 
and how we understand our place 

3484
03:10:55,500 --> 03:10:59,000
in the natural world. 
And tomorrow, when you check the

3485
03:10:59,000 --> 03:11:02,200
weather forecast, a routine 
action that would have seemed 

3486
03:11:02,200 --> 03:11:04,500
like magic to someone. 
In 1703. 

3487
03:11:05,400 --> 03:11:08,400
Remember that your benefiting 
from centuries of careful 

3488
03:11:08,400 --> 03:11:11,700
observation that began in part 
with people trying to understand

3489
03:11:11,700 --> 03:11:15,500
the incomprehensible storm that 
struck on a November night 300 

3490
03:11:15,500 --> 03:11:19,700
years ago. 
The great storm of 1703 is over 

3491
03:11:19,700 --> 03:11:24,600
but its Legacy continues. 
It lives in our buildings, our 

3492
03:11:24,600 --> 03:11:28,800
institutions are scientific 
understanding and our cultural 

3493
03:11:28,800 --> 03:11:32,300
memory. 
It reminds us that history isn't

3494
03:11:32,300 --> 03:11:35,000
just about Kings, and wars and 
political events. 

3495
03:11:35,000 --> 03:11:38,500
It's also about ordinary people 
facing extraordinary 

3496
03:11:38,500 --> 03:11:42,100
circumstances about human 
vulnerability and resilience, 

3497
03:11:42,100 --> 03:11:45,300
and about the ongoing 
conversation between human 

3498
03:11:45,300 --> 03:11:48,500
civilization and the natural 
forces that shape the planet 

3499
03:11:48,500 --> 03:11:51,500
long before we arrived and will 
continue long. 

3500
03:11:51,500 --> 03:11:55,700
After we're gone, Sweet dreams 
and may your sleepy as peaceful 

3501
03:11:55,700 --> 03:11:57,500
as that November night was 
violent. 

3502
03:11:58,300 --> 03:12:01,900
The storm has passed the wind is
settled and mourning always 

3503
03:12:01,900 --> 03:12:04,900
comes even after the longest 
darkest Knight. 

3504
03:12:08,400 --> 03:12:09,800
You've seen the paintings, 
haven't you? 

3505
03:12:10,500 --> 03:12:13,600
They're sweeping canvases where 
Pirates, stand heroically at the

3506
03:12:13,608 --> 03:12:15,600
helm. 
Their coats billowing, in 

3507
03:12:15,608 --> 03:12:18,800
convenient wins their ships 
cutting cleanly through 

3508
03:12:18,800 --> 03:12:23,000
Cooperative Seas, the sunset 
always seems to hit just right? 

3509
03:12:23,000 --> 03:12:25,800
Casting everything in Amber and 
gold. 

3510
03:12:25,800 --> 03:12:29,800
Even the Cannons look, polished 
these images settled into, 

3511
03:12:29,800 --> 03:12:33,500
popular imagination, like 
sediment, building up layers of 

3512
03:12:33,500 --> 03:12:37,600
misconception over centuries. 
By the time Hollywood added, its

3513
03:12:37,600 --> 03:12:41,200
own mythology, the distance 
between perception and Truth had

3514
03:12:41,200 --> 03:12:44,200
become a Chasm. 
Real pirate ships smelled 

3515
03:12:44,200 --> 03:12:47,500
nothing like the Ocean Spray and
Adventure your mind conjures. 

3516
03:12:47,500 --> 03:12:51,800
They smelled like bodies that 
hadn't bathed in months, like 

3517
03:12:51,800 --> 03:12:56,200
bilgewater thick with rat, 
droppings like salted meat going

3518
03:12:56,200 --> 03:12:59,800
quietly rancid in the tropical 
heat, the vessels themselves 

3519
03:12:59,800 --> 03:13:03,300
bore little resemblance to The 
Majestic ship's of fiction. 

3520
03:13:04,100 --> 03:13:07,100
Most pirates operated from 
captured Merchant vessels, 

3521
03:13:07,100 --> 03:13:10,700
functional and glamorous 
workhorses of the sea. 

3522
03:13:10,700 --> 03:13:14,300
These weren't purpose-built 
warships, with Grand figureheads

3523
03:13:14,300 --> 03:13:17,500
and gleaming brass. 
They were reconfigured cargo 

3524
03:13:17,500 --> 03:13:22,000
haulers, their holds emptied of 
sugar or tobacco and hastily 

3525
03:13:22,000 --> 03:13:25,100
converted into living spaces, 
for Crews that often numbered 

3526
03:13:25,100 --> 03:13:29,400
over. 100 men, your mental image
probably includes a Captain's 

3527
03:13:29,400 --> 03:13:32,100
Quarters filled with maps and 
mysterious instruments. 

3528
03:13:32,100 --> 03:13:34,900
Perhaps a compass mounted in 
polished wood. 

3529
03:13:34,900 --> 03:13:40,200
The reality was far more cramped
even successful pirate captains 

3530
03:13:40,200 --> 03:13:44,600
like Blackbeard or Bartholomew 
Roberts occupied spaces, barely 

3531
03:13:44,600 --> 03:13:46,600
larger than a modern walking 
closet. 

3532
03:13:47,500 --> 03:13:50,300
These rooms held everything 
needed for navigation, 

3533
03:13:50,300 --> 03:13:53,700
record-keeping and the 
uncomfortable business of 

3534
03:13:53,700 --> 03:13:57,500
maintaining authority over. 
Men who had explicitly rejected,

3535
03:13:57,500 --> 03:14:01,300
conventional hierarchy, the 
Romantic notion of pirates as 

3536
03:14:01,300 --> 03:14:05,100
Freedom seeking Rebels contains 
a grain of truth but it's a 

3537
03:14:05,100 --> 03:14:07,600
truth surrounded by a hard shell
of desperation. 

3538
03:14:08,700 --> 03:14:11,300
Most men turned to piracy not 
because they yearned for 

3539
03:14:11,300 --> 03:14:13,700
adventure. 
But because every other option 

3540
03:14:13,700 --> 03:14:16,800
looked worse, The Merchant 
Marine worked Sailors to 

3541
03:14:16,800 --> 03:14:19,700
exhaustion for wages that barely
covered survival. 

3542
03:14:20,600 --> 03:14:24,800
The Royal Navy was even more 
brutal with flogging for minor 

3543
03:14:24,800 --> 03:14:28,200
infractions and rations. 
That would constitute criminal 

3544
03:14:28,200 --> 03:14:31,300
neglect by any Modern Standard. 
So yes. 

3545
03:14:31,300 --> 03:14:34,700
Piracy offered Freedom, the 
freedom to potentially die of 

3546
03:14:34,708 --> 03:14:38,400
disease, violence or drowning. 
But at least on your own terms 

3547
03:14:38,400 --> 03:14:42,100
it was the freedom of having 
nothing left to lose which is 

3548
03:14:42,100 --> 03:14:44,800
quite different from the freedom
you imagine while comfortable in

3549
03:14:44,800 --> 03:14:47,700
your bed, the tales that 
survived emphasized, the 

3550
03:14:47,700 --> 03:14:51,400
treasure the successful raids 
and the narrow escapes. 

3551
03:14:52,100 --> 03:14:54,500
They didn't dwell on the weeks 
of tedious sailing between 

3552
03:14:54,500 --> 03:14:58,900
targets the constant hunger or 
the way tropical heat turned the

3553
03:14:58,900 --> 03:15:00,900
below deck spaces into are as 
ovens. 

3554
03:15:00,900 --> 03:15:04,900
History has a way of editing out
the boring Parts, the 

3555
03:15:04,900 --> 03:15:08,200
uncomfortable parts and the 
parts that would make terrible 

3556
03:15:08,200 --> 03:15:11,100
stories at a Tavern. 
Even the treasure itself looked 

3557
03:15:11,100 --> 03:15:14,100
different than you'd think. 
Forget the overflowing chests of

3558
03:15:14,100 --> 03:15:17,100
gold to Bloons. 
Most pirate, plunder, consisted 

3559
03:15:17,100 --> 03:15:21,700
of practical, Goods, cloth, 
tools, food and medicine. 

3560
03:15:21,700 --> 03:15:25,000
These items can be sold or 
traded, but they didn't 

3561
03:15:25,000 --> 03:15:26,700
photograph well for history 
books. 

3562
03:15:26,700 --> 03:15:29,200
So, we remember the exceptions 
in stead of the rule. 

3563
03:15:30,100 --> 03:15:33,600
When pirates did capture actual 
currency it was usually divided 

3564
03:15:33,600 --> 03:15:35,800
immediately. 
No one trusted. 

3565
03:15:35,800 --> 03:15:39,500
Anyone enough to leave wealth 
sitting in a communal chest, the

3566
03:15:39,500 --> 03:15:43,600
Democracy that existed aboard, 
pirate ships and it did exist in

3567
03:15:43,600 --> 03:15:46,300
a limited form. 
Wasn't the noble experiment, 

3568
03:15:46,300 --> 03:15:50,200
inequality, that some accounts 
suggest it was a practical 

3569
03:15:50,200 --> 03:15:52,600
necessity, born from Mutual 
distrust. 

3570
03:15:54,100 --> 03:15:57,200
When you've gathered together 
men willing to break every law 

3571
03:15:57,200 --> 03:16:01,000
of sea and state, you can't 
exactly govern through appeals 

3572
03:16:01,000 --> 03:16:04,600
to Authority. 
The articles that cruise signed 

3573
03:16:04,600 --> 03:16:07,700
the rules, their agreed to 
follow were contracts, written 

3574
03:16:07,700 --> 03:16:10,800
in self-interest enforced, by 
the knowledge. 

3575
03:16:10,800 --> 03:16:13,900
That portrayal meant being 
marooned on some empty stretch 

3576
03:16:13,900 --> 03:16:17,600
of sand as you stand at the dock
in Port Royal or Nassau 

3577
03:16:17,600 --> 03:16:20,400
preparing to board your pirate 
vessel for the first time. 

3578
03:16:20,400 --> 03:16:23,500
Take one last look at Solid 
Ground. 

3579
03:16:24,500 --> 03:16:26,300
Breathe. 
The air that doesn't reach of 

3580
03:16:26,300 --> 03:16:28,400
unwashed humanity and spoiled 
provisions. 

3581
03:16:29,200 --> 03:16:32,400
In just a few hours, you'll 
understand why even the most 

3582
03:16:32,400 --> 03:16:35,000
desperate men, sometimes jump 
ship at the first opportunity. 

3583
03:16:35,000 --> 03:16:38,900
Choosing the uncertain mercy of 
a jungle island over another 

3584
03:16:38,900 --> 03:16:41,300
day. 
At Sea, the hatch leads down 

3585
03:16:41,300 --> 03:16:43,900
into darkness, that seems to 
have texture and thickness. 

3586
03:16:45,100 --> 03:16:48,700
Your eyes are just slowly 
revealing a space, that triggers

3587
03:16:48,700 --> 03:16:50,600
something Primal in your modern 
brain. 

3588
03:16:50,600 --> 03:16:55,000
The part that Rebels against 
confinement, that needs personal

3589
03:16:55,000 --> 03:16:59,000
space, like it needs oxygen. 
You're looking at the gun deck 

3590
03:16:59,000 --> 03:17:02,400
which doubles as living quarters
for most of the crew, the 

3591
03:17:02,400 --> 03:17:05,200
ceiling. 
If you can call it that hang so 

3592
03:17:05,200 --> 03:17:06,900
low that you can't stand fully 
upright. 

3593
03:17:07,800 --> 03:17:11,000
You'll spend your time here in a
permanent Crouch or Seated, on 

3594
03:17:11,000 --> 03:17:14,800
whatever surface you can claim. 
Hammock swinging rows so close 

3595
03:17:14,800 --> 03:17:19,100
together that when one man turns
three others, feel it, There's 

3596
03:17:19,100 --> 03:17:20,800
no such thing as a private 
moment here. 

3597
03:17:20,800 --> 03:17:25,200
Sleep comes in fragments 
interrupted by someone's elbow 

3598
03:17:25,200 --> 03:17:29,300
in your ribs, someone else's 
feet in your face, the constant 

3599
03:17:29,300 --> 03:17:33,500
Symphony of snoring and coughing
and the wet sound of men 

3600
03:17:33,500 --> 03:17:36,900
spitting to backhoe juice toward
buckets, they can't see in the 

3601
03:17:36,900 --> 03:17:39,500
dark. 
You're a signed space amounts to

3602
03:17:39,500 --> 03:17:41,900
roughly the dimensions of a 
modern yoga mat. 

3603
03:17:41,900 --> 03:17:46,200
In this area, you'll sleep store
your possessions, if you have 

3604
03:17:46,200 --> 03:17:49,200
any and exist for whatever 
hours, you're not actively 

3605
03:17:49,200 --> 03:17:52,900
working. 
There are no lockers no Foot 

3606
03:17:52,900 --> 03:17:55,400
Lockers enough. 
Nothing resembling storage. 

3607
03:17:56,400 --> 03:18:00,000
What you own you keep on your 
person or risk losing to the 

3608
03:18:00,000 --> 03:18:03,900
Casual theft that flows through 
the ship like humidity the air 

3609
03:18:03,900 --> 03:18:07,200
itself feels borrowed recycled 
through too many lungs. 

3610
03:18:07,900 --> 03:18:11,300
In calm weather with the hatches
open, you get some circulation. 

3611
03:18:11,300 --> 03:18:15,200
But when storms blow in and 
everything must be battened down

3612
03:18:15,200 --> 03:18:18,500
the atmosphere below, deck 
transforms into something nearly

3613
03:18:18,500 --> 03:18:21,100
solid. 
The smell of unwashed bodies 

3614
03:18:21,100 --> 03:18:25,100
mingles with the sweet wrote 
stench of the bilge where water 

3615
03:18:25,100 --> 03:18:28,300
to Filthy, to be called water 
sloshes with every movement of 

3616
03:18:28,300 --> 03:18:31,900
the ship. 
Men vomit men relieve themselves

3617
03:18:31,900 --> 03:18:34,800
in buckets that don't always 
make it topside before spilling 

3618
03:18:34,800 --> 03:18:36,900
and Men. 
Bleed from injuries and 

3619
03:18:36,900 --> 03:18:38,700
infections that never quite 
heal. 

3620
03:18:38,700 --> 03:18:42,100
In this environment, the 
darkness rarely lift completely 

3621
03:18:43,100 --> 03:18:46,700
can handles and lanterns pose 
fire hazards that terrify even 

3622
03:18:46,700 --> 03:18:49,900
the bravest Pirates. 
So like below deck comes 

3623
03:18:49,900 --> 03:18:54,900
grudgingly in small measures you
navigate mostly by feel and 

3624
03:18:54,900 --> 03:18:58,900
memory learning the location of 
every beam that might crack your

3625
03:18:58,900 --> 03:19:01,900
skull and every protrusion that 
might catch your shins. 

3626
03:19:01,900 --> 03:19:05,100
Your body becomes a map of 
bruises. 

3627
03:19:05,100 --> 03:19:09,600
The deck Beneath You stays 
perpetually damp, Water seeps 

3628
03:19:09,600 --> 03:19:13,400
through the planking above 
especially in Heavy Seas, the 

3629
03:19:13,400 --> 03:19:16,700
would never fully dries. 
Never stop sweating, its 

3630
03:19:16,700 --> 03:19:18,200
moisture into the enclosed 
space. 

3631
03:19:19,100 --> 03:19:22,200
This wetness breeds mold that 
climbs the walls in abstract 

3632
03:19:22,200 --> 03:19:25,600
patterns fuzzy, colonies. 
That spread across any surface 

3633
03:19:25,600 --> 03:19:29,100
that stay still long enough. 
The mold gets into your clothes,

3634
03:19:29,100 --> 03:19:33,000
into your lungs, and into the 
bread that constitutes half your

3635
03:19:33,000 --> 03:19:37,500
diet, personal hygiene exists, 
only as a concept, something 

3636
03:19:37,500 --> 03:19:41,400
remembered from life for sure. 
There's no fresh water for 

3637
03:19:41,400 --> 03:19:44,800
washing bodies or clothes. 
The salt water alternative 

3638
03:19:44,800 --> 03:19:48,400
leaves your skin, sticky, and 
your garments stiff with dried 

3639
03:19:48,400 --> 03:19:50,600
brine. 
Men, develop their own 

3640
03:19:50,600 --> 03:19:54,600
particular odors signatures you 
learn to identify in the dark. 

3641
03:19:55,500 --> 03:19:59,300
Some smell of sweat and tobacco,
others, carry the sweetest 

3642
03:19:59,300 --> 03:20:03,200
Center of infection. 
The rot of teeth gone bad and 

3643
03:20:03,200 --> 03:20:06,600
the sour notes of digestive 
problems that plague anyone 

3644
03:20:06,600 --> 03:20:10,500
eating the ship standard fare 
privacy dissolves into something

3645
03:20:10,500 --> 03:20:13,100
quaint a luxury from another 
life. 

3646
03:20:13,800 --> 03:20:16,400
You urinate over the side in 
full view of anyone. 

3647
03:20:16,400 --> 03:20:20,100
Who cares to look? 
Defecation happens in the heads,

3648
03:20:20,100 --> 03:20:24,300
small platforms that extend from
the bow where you hang suspended

3649
03:20:24,300 --> 03:20:27,100
over the ocean while waves 
Splash Up From Below. 

3650
03:20:28,100 --> 03:20:31,900
In rough weather using the heads
requires, genuine, courage. 

3651
03:20:31,900 --> 03:20:35,300
Men have been washed overboard 
during these vulnerable moments.

3652
03:20:35,300 --> 03:20:39,200
And the crews laughter at such 
deaths, carries a nervous Edge 

3653
03:20:39,200 --> 03:20:42,000
and acknowledgment that it could
happen to anyone. 

3654
03:20:42,000 --> 03:20:46,200
The noises never stop. 
Would creeks and conversation 

3655
03:20:46,200 --> 03:20:49,600
with the sea a language of 
groans and shrieks as the ship 

3656
03:20:49,600 --> 03:20:53,900
flexes and bends ropes. 
Singing In The Wind sails crack 

3657
03:20:53,900 --> 03:20:56,300
like whips when they catch gusts
wrong. 

3658
03:20:56,800 --> 03:20:59,800
Water slaps, the hull in rhythms
that change with the weather. 

3659
03:21:00,700 --> 03:21:05,500
And Underneath It All the human 
sound coughing arguing and the 

3660
03:21:05,500 --> 03:21:08,200
occasional SOB from someone who 
hasn't yet learned to cry 

3661
03:21:08,200 --> 03:21:11,700
silently sleep. 
When it comes feels less, like 

3662
03:21:11,700 --> 03:21:14,700
rest and more like 
unconsciousness claimed by 

3663
03:21:14,700 --> 03:21:17,700
force. 
Your body learns to find what 

3664
03:21:17,700 --> 03:21:21,600
ever position, the hammer allows
and learns to ignore the swaying

3665
03:21:21,600 --> 03:21:26,100
that never fully stops. 
Dreams mixed with reality and 

3666
03:21:26,100 --> 03:21:29,000
confusing ways. 
You wake uncertain, whether you 

3667
03:21:29,000 --> 03:21:33,400
actually slept or merely closed 
your eyes for a few minutes, the

3668
03:21:33,400 --> 03:21:36,700
line between day and night blurs
into something measured only by 

3669
03:21:36,700 --> 03:21:40,900
shifts on Deck by the bells. 
That Mark the watches, your 

3670
03:21:40,900 --> 03:21:43,800
hammock itself becomes intensely
personal territory. 

3671
03:21:43,800 --> 03:21:47,600
The only thing in this crowded 
hell belongs exclusively to you.

3672
03:21:48,700 --> 03:21:52,400
Men have killed over hammock 
disputes over accusations of 

3673
03:21:52,400 --> 03:21:55,000
theft, regarding the simple 
pieces of canvas. 

3674
03:21:55,800 --> 03:21:59,800
When not in use hammocks role 
into tight bundles, that serve 

3675
03:21:59,800 --> 03:22:03,500
as pillows as seats or as any 
surface needed in the moment. 

3676
03:22:04,600 --> 03:22:08,800
They smell like, whoever lost in
the sweat and salt and the 

3677
03:22:08,800 --> 03:22:13,400
particular quality of Dreams had
in impossible, circumstances the

3678
03:22:13,400 --> 03:22:16,300
ship's cook a position. 
Usually given to someone two 

3679
03:22:16,300 --> 03:22:18,900
injured for harder, labor 
presides, over a galley. 

3680
03:22:18,900 --> 03:22:21,500
That wouldn't qualify as a 
kitchen in any modern sense. 

3681
03:22:22,300 --> 03:22:24,600
It's a fire contained in a 
brick-lined box. 

3682
03:22:24,600 --> 03:22:29,200
Jealously guarded, never quite 
trusted around this Flame, the 

3683
03:22:29,200 --> 03:22:33,200
entire cruise nutrition revolves
in depressing, circles your 

3684
03:22:33,200 --> 03:22:34,800
breakfast. 
If you can call it, that 

3685
03:22:34,800 --> 03:22:37,800
consists of hardtack and 
whatever liquid might be 

3686
03:22:37,800 --> 03:22:41,400
available, the heart attack 
arrives as thick squares of fake

3687
03:22:41,400 --> 03:22:46,600
flour and water designed to last
for months without spoiling This

3688
03:22:46,600 --> 03:22:50,900
longevity comes at a cost, the 
biscuits emerged from Storage 

3689
03:22:50,900 --> 03:22:54,700
hard enough to crack teeth, 
permeated with weevils, that add

3690
03:22:54,700 --> 03:22:58,600
unexpected protein, you learned 
to tap them against the table, 

3691
03:22:58,600 --> 03:23:02,600
first to dislodge the larger 
insects, but the eggs and larvae

3692
03:23:02,600 --> 03:23:04,100
remain bake baked into the 
structure. 

3693
03:23:05,000 --> 03:23:08,100
Eventually you stop checking. 
The choice becomes simple. 

3694
03:23:08,100 --> 03:23:12,500
Eat the weevils or go hungry the
technique for consuming hardtack

3695
03:23:12,500 --> 03:23:15,700
evolves through necessity. 
Some men soak it in whatever 

3696
03:23:15,700 --> 03:23:20,300
beverage they possess beer when 
available increasingly stale 

3697
03:23:20,300 --> 03:23:24,400
water as the voyage wears on. 
The soaking, softens the 

3698
03:23:24,400 --> 03:23:26,100
biscuit, into something 
chewable. 

3699
03:23:26,100 --> 03:23:30,000
But transforms the texture into 
a paste that is gray and 

3700
03:23:30,008 --> 03:23:34,000
uninviting. 
Others prefer to nor at it dry 

3701
03:23:34,000 --> 03:23:38,100
working their way through like 
beavers attacking a particularly

3702
03:23:38,100 --> 03:23:42,100
stubborn log. 
The process takes time provides 

3703
03:23:42,100 --> 03:23:45,700
something to do during Mt hours 
and keeps the jaw occupied if 

3704
03:23:45,700 --> 03:23:50,100
not satisfied, midday brings the
main meal, a generous term for 

3705
03:23:50,100 --> 03:23:53,400
what arrives in your bowl, salt,
pork forms the foundation of 

3706
03:23:53,400 --> 03:23:55,800
this Feast, meet preserved in 
brine. 

3707
03:23:55,800 --> 03:23:58,500
So concentrated it would stop a 
modern heart. 

3708
03:23:59,300 --> 03:24:02,200
The preservation Works 
technically, the pork doesn't 

3709
03:24:02,200 --> 03:24:05,900
rot in the traditional sense. 
Instead, it Chiefs a kind of 

3710
03:24:05,908 --> 03:24:09,600
immortality becoming something 
that resembles meat in only the 

3711
03:24:09,600 --> 03:24:15,100
most abstract way, The salt 
content requires dilution, but 

3712
03:24:15,100 --> 03:24:17,900
freshwater is too precious to 
waste on making food. 

3713
03:24:17,900 --> 03:24:21,900
Palatable, you eated as his each
bite and assault on your taste 

3714
03:24:21,900 --> 03:24:25,000
buds, your body crying out for 
any flavor that isn't salt. 

3715
03:24:25,000 --> 03:24:28,500
The cook boils the pork with 
dried peas when supplies. 

3716
03:24:28,500 --> 03:24:32,100
Allow creating a stew, that 
achieves a consistency somewhere

3717
03:24:32,100 --> 03:24:36,000
between liquid and solid. 
Chunks of meat or what used to 

3718
03:24:36,000 --> 03:24:39,300
be meat floating gray water 
alongside peas. 

3719
03:24:39,300 --> 03:24:43,200
That refused to fully soften, no
matter how long they boil, 

3720
03:24:44,000 --> 03:24:47,500
Sometimes onions, make an 
appearance, precious additions 

3721
03:24:47,500 --> 03:24:50,900
from the last port already 
sprouting green shoots in their 

3722
03:24:50,900 --> 03:24:54,300
storage Nets. 
These vegetables, get added hole

3723
03:24:54,300 --> 03:24:58,000
and remove the same way. 
Flavoring, the broth without 

3724
03:24:58,000 --> 03:25:01,400
actually being consumed. 
They'll be used again tomorrow 

3725
03:25:01,400 --> 03:25:04,700
and the day after and they 
dissolve into the general 

3726
03:25:04,700 --> 03:25:08,100
nutritional sadness. 
Protein variety comes from 

3727
03:25:08,100 --> 03:25:10,700
whatever. 
The sea provides flying fish. 

3728
03:25:10,700 --> 03:25:13,400
Sometimes land on Deck, 
overnight gifts. 

3729
03:25:13,400 --> 03:25:15,900
You collected Dawn and eat raw 
barely cooked. 

3730
03:25:16,700 --> 03:25:20,300
They taste like anything other 
than salt pork, which makes them

3731
03:25:20,300 --> 03:25:25,300
delicious by default. 
In tropical waters, larger 

3732
03:25:25,300 --> 03:25:30,000
caches occasionally supplement, 
the diet Dorado tuna and shark 

3733
03:25:30,000 --> 03:25:33,300
when desperate. 
But fishing requires time, the 

3734
03:25:33,300 --> 03:25:37,600
crew rarely has, and storms can 
last for days without allowing 

3735
03:25:37,600 --> 03:25:41,500
anyone to cast a line, the 
drinking situation deteriorates,

3736
03:25:41,500 --> 03:25:44,900
faster than the food ships, 
carry water in, wooden barrels 

3737
03:25:44,900 --> 03:25:48,700
that leak and breed algae. 
Fresh water turns green within 

3738
03:25:48,700 --> 03:25:52,200
weeks developing a taste that 
preparation can't eliminate. 

3739
03:25:53,000 --> 03:25:56,000
You drink it anyway. 
Holding your breath, trying not 

3740
03:25:56,000 --> 03:25:57,300
to think about what you're 
swallowing. 

3741
03:25:58,000 --> 03:26:00,900
Beer last longer, the alcohol, 
providing some protection 

3742
03:26:00,900 --> 03:26:04,300
against contamination, but beer 
requires space, that could hold 

3743
03:26:04,300 --> 03:26:07,400
other cargo. 
Most Crews run out within the 

3744
03:26:07,400 --> 03:26:10,400
first month at Sea, when the 
beer vanishes and the water 

3745
03:26:10,400 --> 03:26:13,300
becomes truly Unthinkable, you 
face choices. 

3746
03:26:13,300 --> 03:26:15,200
That would horrify your modern 
self. 

3747
03:26:16,100 --> 03:26:19,300
Some men drink sea water knowing
it will kill them, slowly 

3748
03:26:19,300 --> 03:26:24,100
preferring slow, death to the 
torture of thirst others, catch 

3749
03:26:24,100 --> 03:26:27,100
rainwater in sales and buckets 
drinking it. 

3750
03:26:27,100 --> 03:26:30,700
Tepid and tasting of canvas 
grateful for anything that 

3751
03:26:30,700 --> 03:26:32,300
doesn't burn the throat going 
down. 

3752
03:26:33,400 --> 03:26:36,500
The lucky ships capture prizes, 
that include fresh Provisions, 

3753
03:26:36,500 --> 03:26:39,800
briefly interrupting the 
downward spiral into 

3754
03:26:39,800 --> 03:26:43,800
malnutrition, scurvy arrives. 
Like a quiet passenger boarding 

3755
03:26:43,800 --> 03:26:46,600
with the crew but making its 
presence known only gradually 

3756
03:26:46,600 --> 03:26:50,500
your gums, begin to bleed. 
When you bite the hardtack, your

3757
03:26:50,500 --> 03:26:54,600
skin bruises at the slightest, 
touch, purple flowers, blooming 

3758
03:26:54,600 --> 03:26:58,700
across your arms and legs Old 
Wounds, reopened refusing to 

3759
03:26:58,700 --> 03:27:02,900
heal teeth loosen in their 
sockets and you learn to chew, 

3760
03:27:02,900 --> 03:27:05,500
carefully, afraid of swallowing.
Something that should stay 

3761
03:27:05,500 --> 03:27:09,700
attached. 
Cure exists, citrus fruit, fresh

3762
03:27:09,700 --> 03:27:11,900
vegetables. 
Anything containing What We Now 

3763
03:27:11,900 --> 03:27:14,800
call Vitamin C? 
But knowledge doesn't equal 

3764
03:27:14,800 --> 03:27:17,400
access and ships at Sea. 
Have no green. 

3765
03:27:17,400 --> 03:27:20,900
Grocers the psychological weight
of food monotony, shouldn't be 

3766
03:27:20,900 --> 03:27:23,100
underestimated. 
Humans. 

3767
03:27:23,100 --> 03:27:26,300
Crave Variety in their diet, the
way they crave air and water. 

3768
03:27:27,400 --> 03:27:32,300
Same meal day after day week 
after week becomes a form of 

3769
03:27:32,308 --> 03:27:36,100
sensory deprivation. 
Your mind Rebels against it. 

3770
03:27:36,900 --> 03:27:41,000
But your body needs fuel. 
So you eat the ACT transforms 

3771
03:27:41,000 --> 03:27:43,700
from pleasure into purely 
mechanical necessity. 

3772
03:27:44,500 --> 03:27:48,200
You shovel the tasteless protein
into your mouth swallow without 

3773
03:27:48,200 --> 03:27:52,100
savoring and count it as another
small victory that you survived 

3774
03:27:52,100 --> 03:27:54,500
to eat again. 
Successful raids, bring 

3775
03:27:54,500 --> 03:27:57,500
temporary relief. 
Captured ships sometimes, carry 

3776
03:27:57,500 --> 03:28:01,100
Delicacies sugar rice, proper 
bread. 

3777
03:28:01,100 --> 03:28:04,400
That hasn't fossilized. 
And alcohol in varieties Beyond 

3778
03:28:04,400 --> 03:28:07,400
basic beer. 
These prizes, get consumed 

3779
03:28:07,400 --> 03:28:10,600
immediately, crew members 
gorging themselves, sick off 

3780
03:28:10,600 --> 03:28:14,000
after months of deprivation. 
There's no saving for later. 

3781
03:28:14,000 --> 03:28:16,700
No, rationing for sensible 
distribution. 

3782
03:28:16,700 --> 03:28:21,900
The psychology of scarcity 
overrides reason you eat because

3783
03:28:21,900 --> 03:28:25,400
it is there because tomorrow it 
won't be because this might be 

3784
03:28:25,400 --> 03:28:28,000
your only chance to taste 
something that doesn't make you 

3785
03:28:28,000 --> 03:28:29,900
hate. 
The act of eating the bell, 

3786
03:28:29,900 --> 03:28:32,800
sound at four in the morning, 
pulling you from whatever 

3787
03:28:32,800 --> 03:28:36,900
half-sleep, you manage to 
achieve, Your watch begins now. 

3788
03:28:37,700 --> 03:28:41,500
Four hours of Labor before a 
brief respite, then four more 

3789
03:28:41,508 --> 03:28:44,100
hours. 
This Rhythm continues without 

3790
03:28:44,100 --> 03:28:47,300
pause without weekends without 
holidays. 

3791
03:28:48,100 --> 03:28:52,900
The sea recognizes no Sabbath 
your hands soft and uncalled at 

3792
03:28:52,900 --> 03:28:54,900
the start transformed within 
days. 

3793
03:28:54,900 --> 03:28:58,500
Ropework tears. 
The skin from your palms leaving

3794
03:28:58,500 --> 03:29:01,500
raw patches that crack and bleed
with each new task. 

3795
03:29:02,200 --> 03:29:05,200
The hemp lines that control the 
sails way more than you expect 

3796
03:29:05,200 --> 03:29:09,600
made heavier by spray and rain. 
Hauling them requires the 

3797
03:29:09,600 --> 03:29:11,400
coordinated effort of multiple 
men. 

3798
03:29:11,400 --> 03:29:15,300
Everyone pulling in Rhythm 
shoulders straining and backs 

3799
03:29:15,300 --> 03:29:19,700
protesting The sales themselves 
demand constant attention, they 

3800
03:29:19,700 --> 03:29:23,500
tearing storms develop, weak 
spots from Sonic exposure and 

3801
03:29:23,500 --> 03:29:25,500
require patches and repairs that
happen. 

3802
03:29:25,500 --> 03:29:28,700
A loft swaying on yards, higher 
above the deck. 

3803
03:29:29,500 --> 03:29:33,100
You climb the ratlines Rope, 
ladders, that lead up the masked

3804
03:29:33,100 --> 03:29:36,100
with hands that shake from 
exhaustion and fear. 

3805
03:29:37,100 --> 03:29:41,200
The higher you go, the more the 
ship's movement amplifies, what 

3806
03:29:41,200 --> 03:29:45,000
feels like gentle rolling a deck
level becomes violent swinging 

3807
03:29:45,000 --> 03:29:47,800
at the cross trees. 
You hook, your elbows through 

3808
03:29:47,800 --> 03:29:50,900
the rigging, use your thighs to 
grip the yard and try to thread 

3809
03:29:50,900 --> 03:29:52,500
a needle with fingers that won't
stop. 

3810
03:29:52,500 --> 03:29:55,900
Trembling pumping the bilge 
ranks among the worst regular 

3811
03:29:55,900 --> 03:29:59,800
duties water, constantly, seeps 
into the ship's lowest point 

3812
03:29:59,800 --> 03:30:03,600
mixing with waste and creating a
soup that must be removed to 

3813
03:30:03,600 --> 03:30:05,100
prevent the vessel from 
foundering. 

3814
03:30:06,600 --> 03:30:10,900
The pump handles require two men
working in tandem pushing and 

3815
03:30:10,900 --> 03:30:13,500
pulling in a rhythm that must be
maintained for hours. 

3816
03:30:14,400 --> 03:30:16,900
The smell that rises from below 
defies description. 

3817
03:30:17,900 --> 03:30:22,800
Human waste, rotting food, dead,
rats, all of it, marinating in 

3818
03:30:22,800 --> 03:30:26,200
saltwater, and darkness. 
You breathe through your mouth 

3819
03:30:26,200 --> 03:30:27,700
which helps until you taste, 
what? 

3820
03:30:27,700 --> 03:30:31,300
Your smelling scraping Barnacles
and Marine growth from the hull 

3821
03:30:31,300 --> 03:30:33,100
happens. 
Whenever the ship beaches for 

3822
03:30:33,100 --> 03:30:36,000
careening. 
The vessel must be tilted on its

3823
03:30:36,000 --> 03:30:40,500
side, exposing the underwater 
surface to Air and sunlight. you

3824
03:30:40,500 --> 03:30:43,900
weighed into the surf with 
scrapers attacking the layers of

3825
03:30:43,900 --> 03:30:48,100
accumulated life, that slows the
ship's progress Barnacles cut, 

3826
03:30:48,100 --> 03:30:53,400
like razors your shins and 
forearms collect new scars, thin

3827
03:30:53,400 --> 03:30:57,200
lines that burn with salt 
exposure, the work continues 

3828
03:30:57,200 --> 03:31:01,900
until every inch of Hull gleams 
relatively clean A process that 

3829
03:31:01,908 --> 03:31:04,600
takes days and leaves, you 
wondering if piracy might 

3830
03:31:04,600 --> 03:31:07,600
actually be easier than 
legitimate sailing maintenance. 

3831
03:31:07,600 --> 03:31:09,900
Never ends because Decay never 
stops. 

3832
03:31:09,900 --> 03:31:14,300
Salt are corrodes metal. 
Requiring constant rust removal 

3833
03:31:14,300 --> 03:31:18,700
and oiling wood, dries and 
splits needing tar and caulking 

3834
03:31:18,700 --> 03:31:22,500
to maintain watertight, 
Integrity ropes, Fray, and must 

3835
03:31:22,500 --> 03:31:26,500
be replaced or spliced sales 
were thin and required patching.

3836
03:31:27,300 --> 03:31:30,900
Ship exists in a state of 
controlled deterioration and 

3837
03:31:30,900 --> 03:31:32,900
your labor. 
Simply slows, the inevitable 

3838
03:31:32,900 --> 03:31:36,700
collapse standing watch involves
more than passive observation, 

3839
03:31:36,700 --> 03:31:41,000
your expected to spot other 
vessels before they spot you to 

3840
03:31:41,000 --> 03:31:43,600
notice changes in weather. 
While this still time to react 

3841
03:31:43,600 --> 03:31:48,200
and to hear anything unusual in 
the ship's constant voice, this 

3842
03:31:48,200 --> 03:31:52,100
requires a kind of meditation, a
sustained attention that fights 

3843
03:31:52,100 --> 03:31:56,500
against boredom and exhaustion. 
Your eyes, scan the Horizon and 

3844
03:31:56,500 --> 03:31:59,300
patterns looking for The 
Telltale Interruption of a 

3845
03:31:59,300 --> 03:32:02,600
distance sale. 
The dark line that indicates an 

3846
03:32:02,600 --> 03:32:06,500
approaching School loading and 
securing cargo whether a 

3847
03:32:06,500 --> 03:32:09,200
legitimate Goods or plunder 
demands knowledge of weight 

3848
03:32:09,200 --> 03:32:13,100
distribution and balance. 
Stack it wrong and the ship 

3849
03:32:13,100 --> 03:32:17,500
lists dangerously, tie it down 
in properly and it shifts in 

3850
03:32:17,500 --> 03:32:19,800
rough Seas. 
Potentially punching through the

3851
03:32:19,800 --> 03:32:24,100
hole from inside, you learn 
these lessons by watching by 

3852
03:32:24,100 --> 03:32:27,000
listening to men, with Decades 
of experience, and by 

3853
03:32:27,000 --> 03:32:30,000
occasionally making mistakes 
that result in injuries and 

3854
03:32:30,000 --> 03:32:33,600
screamed Corrections combat, 
when it comes brings, its own 

3855
03:32:33,600 --> 03:32:36,200
exhausting, demands preparing 
the ship. 

3856
03:32:36,200 --> 03:32:39,000
For battle means clearing the 
decks of anything that might 

3857
03:32:39,000 --> 03:32:42,500
become a projectile. 
When hit wetting down, surfaces 

3858
03:32:42,500 --> 03:32:46,400
to prevent fire, Distributing, 
weapons, and loading cannons. 

3859
03:32:46,400 --> 03:32:51,700
The actual fighting last minute,
but requires hours of setup and 

3860
03:32:51,700 --> 03:32:56,300
potentially days of recovery. 
The guns themselves weigh tons 

3861
03:32:56,300 --> 03:32:59,500
their recoil control by ropes 
that must be maintained and 

3862
03:32:59,500 --> 03:33:03,900
checked. firing them requires, 
precise, choreography, swap, the

3863
03:33:03,908 --> 03:33:08,100
barrel owed, the powder rammot 
home, have the shot, the touch 

3864
03:33:08,100 --> 03:33:12,300
hole aim, as well as a moving 
platform allows fire and 

3865
03:33:12,300 --> 03:33:14,900
immediately begin the sequence 
again, while smoke obscures 

3866
03:33:14,900 --> 03:33:18,900
everything annoys, damages your 
hearing permanently the few 

3867
03:33:18,900 --> 03:33:22,600
hours between watches, don't 
provide true, rest, Your 

3868
03:33:22,600 --> 03:33:26,100
expected to help with whatever 
emergency arises, all hands to 

3869
03:33:26,100 --> 03:33:30,300
shorten sale in a sudden storm 
everyone to the pumps when a 

3870
03:33:30,300 --> 03:33:34,400
leek Springs and the full crew 
to chase down a potential prize.

3871
03:33:35,200 --> 03:33:39,300
Sleep become something stolen in
small increments, never quite 

3872
03:33:39,300 --> 03:33:43,200
enough, never quite deep enough 
to truly restore your depleted 

3873
03:33:43,200 --> 03:33:48,200
reserves your body adapts. 
Because it must Muscles develop 

3874
03:33:48,200 --> 03:33:51,600
in strange patterns 
overdeveloped in your arms and 

3875
03:33:51,600 --> 03:33:55,000
shoulders and strong in your 
core from constant balance 

3876
03:33:55,000 --> 03:33:58,800
adjustments. you lose weight, 
despite the physical labor 

3877
03:33:58,800 --> 03:34:03,300
because the food can't match the
caloric expenditure your face 

3878
03:34:03,300 --> 03:34:07,400
becomes weathered skin darkening
and roughening under constant 

3879
03:34:07,400 --> 03:34:12,500
sun and salt spray You age years
in months, the work literally 

3880
03:34:12,500 --> 03:34:16,400
wearing you down grinding away 
at your physical reserves like 

3881
03:34:16,400 --> 03:34:19,900
waves against Rock. 
The barometer drops though, most

3882
03:34:19,900 --> 03:34:22,300
crew members don't need 
instruments to sense the change 

3883
03:34:22,300 --> 03:34:25,900
the airgames. 
Wait pressing against your skin 

3884
03:34:25,900 --> 03:34:28,100
in ways that trigger ancient 
warnings. 

3885
03:34:28,900 --> 03:34:32,600
Birds vanish from the sky. 
The water takes on a strange 

3886
03:34:32,600 --> 03:34:36,800
flatness and oily quality that 
precedes chaos. 

3887
03:34:36,800 --> 03:34:41,800
When the storm hits it arrives 
with personality with what feels

3888
03:34:41,800 --> 03:34:45,100
like deliberate malice. 
When screams through the 

3889
03:34:45,100 --> 03:34:48,000
rigging, a sound that drowns out
shouted orders? 

3890
03:34:48,800 --> 03:34:51,700
You watch men's mouths move 
without hearing words, 

3891
03:34:51,700 --> 03:34:55,200
responding to gestures and long 
practice routine. 

3892
03:34:55,900 --> 03:34:58,400
The deck Beneath Your Feet tilts
at angles, that seemed 

3893
03:34:58,400 --> 03:35:01,700
impossible that should capsize 
The Vessel but somehow don't 

3894
03:35:01,700 --> 03:35:06,300
waves no longer look like water.
They become moving walls, dark 

3895
03:35:06,300 --> 03:35:09,800
mountains, that rise beside the 
ship, their peaks torn into 

3896
03:35:09,800 --> 03:35:11,900
spray by the wind. 
One moment. 

3897
03:35:11,900 --> 03:35:15,500
You're in a valley between 
swells, surrounded by water, on 

3898
03:35:15,500 --> 03:35:18,000
all sides, unable to see 
anything. 

3899
03:35:18,000 --> 03:35:22,600
But ocean, the next moment, the 
ship climbs and you glimpse a 

3900
03:35:22,600 --> 03:35:25,600
horizon that curves wrong that 
shows you how small and 

3901
03:35:25,600 --> 03:35:27,100
temporary your wooden world 
really. 

3902
03:35:27,100 --> 03:35:29,900
Is the rain doesn't fall it 
attacks. 

3903
03:35:29,900 --> 03:35:33,500
Horizontally each drop hit him 
like a tiny fist. 

3904
03:35:34,400 --> 03:35:37,900
You're soaked instantly and the 
water temperature depends 

3905
03:35:37,900 --> 03:35:39,900
entirely on what ocean your 
Crossing. 

3906
03:35:40,700 --> 03:35:44,900
Tropical storms drench you in 
bath, warm rain, that provides 

3907
03:35:44,900 --> 03:35:48,900
no relief from the Heat. 
Northern tempests, introduce you

3908
03:35:48,900 --> 03:35:52,500
to cold that penetrates through 
clothes and skin settling into 

3909
03:35:52,500 --> 03:35:56,200
your bones, making your hands 
too, stiff to properly grip, the

3910
03:35:56,200 --> 03:35:59,200
lines, you're supposed to be 
managing, load deck become 

3911
03:35:59,200 --> 03:36:02,600
uninhabitable. 
Ship's motion transforms from 

3912
03:36:02,600 --> 03:36:06,800
rocking to Violent thrashing, 
hammocks swing wildly throwing 

3913
03:36:06,800 --> 03:36:10,700
men against walls in each other.
Anyone with a weak stomach and 

3914
03:36:10,700 --> 03:36:14,000
that's most people in conditions
like this vomits until they have

3915
03:36:14,000 --> 03:36:17,800
nothing left, then continues 
with dry heaves, that crack 

3916
03:36:17,800 --> 03:36:20,800
ribs. 
The smell of sick, mixes with 

3917
03:36:20,800 --> 03:36:24,200
the general stench, adding 
another layer to an already 

3918
03:36:24,200 --> 03:36:27,800
unbearable atmosphere. 
You choose to stay top side, 

3919
03:36:27,800 --> 03:36:30,500
despite the danger, because at 
least there you can breathe. 

3920
03:36:30,500 --> 03:36:33,100
Securing yourself becomes 
Paramount. 

3921
03:36:34,000 --> 03:36:36,800
Safety lines, get rigged across 
the deck, and you clip in with 

3922
03:36:36,800 --> 03:36:40,700
whatever, you can find a rope 
around your waist a quick knot 

3923
03:36:40,700 --> 03:36:44,100
that you pray holds. 
Men, who don't take this 

3924
03:36:44,100 --> 03:36:47,700
seriously disappear over the 
side there, one moment and gone,

3925
03:36:47,700 --> 03:36:51,400
the next swallowed, by the dark 
water, without ceremony or 

3926
03:36:51,400 --> 03:36:54,900
chance of rescue. 
The C doesn't return, bodies in 

3927
03:36:54,900 --> 03:36:58,900
these conditions, it keeps What 
It Takes the sales must come 

3928
03:36:58,900 --> 03:37:02,700
down before they shred or worse,
before they drive the ship 

3929
03:37:02,700 --> 03:37:05,400
under. 
Furling canvas in a storm 

3930
03:37:05,400 --> 03:37:09,100
requires climbing into 
conditions that test sanity, the

3931
03:37:09,100 --> 03:37:12,100
wind tries to pluck you from the
rigging like fruit from a tree, 

3932
03:37:12,100 --> 03:37:16,600
the sail fabric whips and cracks
capable of breaking bones. 

3933
03:37:16,600 --> 03:37:19,800
If it catches you wrong, you 
work with hands, that have no 

3934
03:37:19,800 --> 03:37:24,500
feeling left fingers, moving on 
autopsy instincts, muscle memory

3935
03:37:24,500 --> 03:37:27,300
executing tasks. 
Your conscious mind is too 

3936
03:37:27,300 --> 03:37:31,000
terrified to direct lightning 
turns night into day and 

3937
03:37:31,000 --> 03:37:34,600
stuttering intervals. 
Each flash revealing the chaos 

3938
03:37:34,600 --> 03:37:39,100
and Stark detail men, struggling
with ropes officers, pointing 

3939
03:37:39,100 --> 03:37:42,500
towards some new crisis, water 
washing across the deck in 

3940
03:37:42,500 --> 03:37:44,700
quantities. 
That seem impossible to drain 

3941
03:37:44,700 --> 03:37:48,600
before the next wave arrives. 
The Thunder follows close enough

3942
03:37:48,600 --> 03:37:52,200
that you feel it in your chest a
physical force that competes 

3943
03:37:52,200 --> 03:37:55,000
with the wind for Dominance the 
ship's Timbers. 

3944
03:37:55,000 --> 03:37:57,700
Scream under the stress, hear 
them? 

3945
03:37:57,708 --> 03:38:01,500
Flex and groan sounds that 
suggest imminent breakup. 

3946
03:38:02,100 --> 03:38:04,500
That make you certain. 
This is the wave that finally 

3947
03:38:04,500 --> 03:38:06,900
does it. 
The one that cracks the spine 

3948
03:38:06,900 --> 03:38:10,300
and sends everyone down. 
But the vessel holds together 

3949
03:38:10,300 --> 03:38:12,800
through engineering, you don't 
understand through 

3950
03:38:12,800 --> 03:38:16,300
craftsmanship, you've never 
properly appreciated and through

3951
03:38:16,300 --> 03:38:19,700
what starts to feel like 
Supernatural stubbornness, how 

3952
03:38:19,700 --> 03:38:21,700
has passed without any sense of 
time. 

3953
03:38:21,700 --> 03:38:24,800
You work, you survive and you 
work some more. 

3954
03:38:25,400 --> 03:38:29,900
Exhaustion becomes absolute, a 
state Beyond, tiredness beyond 

3955
03:38:29,900 --> 03:38:32,000
anything. 
You've previously experienced 

3956
03:38:32,800 --> 03:38:35,000
your body operates on some 
Reserve fuel. 

3957
03:38:35,000 --> 03:38:38,400
You didn't know existed drawing 
from stores that will leave you 

3958
03:38:38,400 --> 03:38:42,300
depleted for days afterward, 
when the storm finally passes, 

3959
03:38:42,300 --> 03:38:46,800
and they always do eventually 
the world looks scraped clean 

3960
03:38:46,800 --> 03:38:50,800
Raw. 
The sea settles into swells that

3961
03:38:50,800 --> 03:38:54,400
would terrify you in normal 
times, but now seemed gentle by 

3962
03:38:54,400 --> 03:38:57,900
comparison. 
Sunlight returns with a scene 

3963
03:38:57,900 --> 03:39:01,700
cheerfulness, Illuminating, the 
damage that must be assessed and

3964
03:39:01,700 --> 03:39:04,300
repairs. 
The deck is littered with 

3965
03:39:04,300 --> 03:39:08,600
debris, torn wrote, broken spas 
and sometimes personal items 

3966
03:39:08,600 --> 03:39:12,400
that belong to men who are no 
longer aboard, the human cost 

3967
03:39:12,400 --> 03:39:16,600
reveals itself in the aftermath 
you count faces realize whose 

3968
03:39:16,600 --> 03:39:20,000
missing and try not to think too
hard about the gaps in the crew.

3969
03:39:20,900 --> 03:39:25,600
Injury surface is adrenaline, 
Fades broken bones, deep cuts 

3970
03:39:25,600 --> 03:39:28,300
and burns from ropes, that move 
too fast. 

3971
03:39:29,200 --> 03:39:32,100
The ship surgeon. 
If you have one, makes his 

3972
03:39:32,100 --> 03:39:35,200
rounds with the limited supplies
available doing what he can, 

3973
03:39:35,200 --> 03:39:38,400
which often amounts to Simply 
confirming that someone will 

3974
03:39:38,400 --> 03:39:42,000
probably survive, or definitely 
won't you sleep, then wherever 

3975
03:39:42,000 --> 03:39:45,400
you collapse. 
The deck works fine, a coil of 

3976
03:39:45,400 --> 03:39:48,100
rope becomes a pillow. 
Your body doesn't care about 

3977
03:39:48,100 --> 03:39:52,200
Comfort or propriety it demands 
unconsciousness and takes it by 

3978
03:39:52,200 --> 03:39:55,900
force. 
Toilets showers clean water 

3979
03:39:55,900 --> 03:39:59,400
flowing from taps. 
These conveniences exist in your

3980
03:39:59,400 --> 03:40:01,400
memory but no, where in your 
current reality. 

3981
03:40:02,700 --> 03:40:05,000
The morning routine. 
You took for granted dissolves 

3982
03:40:05,000 --> 03:40:08,000
into crude approximation you 
wake with a mouth. 

3983
03:40:08,000 --> 03:40:09,600
That tastes like something died 
in it. 

3984
03:40:09,600 --> 03:40:14,000
Teeth coated in film and gums, 
tender from the beginning stages

3985
03:40:14,000 --> 03:40:16,600
of scurvy. 
There's no toothbrush. 

3986
03:40:16,600 --> 03:40:22,000
No toothpaste, and no mouthwash.
Some men chew on frayed rope 

3987
03:40:22,000 --> 03:40:25,200
ends to clean their teeth. 
He practiced that removes some 

3988
03:40:25,200 --> 03:40:28,800
debris while adding interesting 
Splinter's bathing happens in 

3989
03:40:28,800 --> 03:40:32,400
the ocean if at all you strip 
down and jump overboard when the

3990
03:40:32,408 --> 03:40:35,400
ship has become and the water 
looks relatively short free. 

3991
03:40:36,200 --> 03:40:39,800
The Saltwater leaves, your skin 
sticky in your hair stiff, but 

3992
03:40:39,800 --> 03:40:42,300
at least you've removed some of 
the accumulated Grime. 

3993
03:40:42,300 --> 03:40:45,600
The process requires timing and 
luck. 

3994
03:40:46,400 --> 03:40:49,300
Jump when the ship is moving and
you'll never catch up. 

3995
03:40:50,000 --> 03:40:53,100
Swim too far from the hull and 
you become bait for things that 

3996
03:40:53,100 --> 03:40:56,900
see you as food. 
The crew keeps watch, but their 

3997
03:40:56,900 --> 03:41:00,500
attention spans waiver and being
forgotten while trading water 

3998
03:41:00,500 --> 03:41:02,300
ranks. 
Among the more terrifying Ways 

3999
03:41:02,300 --> 03:41:04,700
to Die. 
Your clothes, transformed into 

4000
03:41:04,700 --> 03:41:10,200
biological experiments. 
Sweat, salt water dirt and Thyme

4001
03:41:10,200 --> 03:41:12,900
combined to create garments. 
The could probably stand up on 

4002
03:41:12,900 --> 03:41:15,600
their own. 
Washing them properly requires 

4003
03:41:15,600 --> 03:41:19,500
fresh water, that doesn't exist.
So you rinse them in seawater 

4004
03:41:19,500 --> 03:41:24,300
that doesn't really clean just 
redistributes the fill Fabric 

4005
03:41:24,300 --> 03:41:29,200
develops, its own ecosystem, 
lice fleece and other parasites.

4006
03:41:29,200 --> 03:41:31,500
That treat your body as their 
personal territory. 

4007
03:41:32,100 --> 03:41:36,300
You scratch constantly creating 
new wounds that don't heal 

4008
03:41:36,300 --> 03:41:40,700
cleanly and that sometimes 
become infected privacy for 

4009
03:41:40,700 --> 03:41:44,700
bodily functions exist. 
Only in concept, every one knows

4010
03:41:44,700 --> 03:41:47,300
when your constipated because 
they've watched you struggle in 

4011
03:41:47,300 --> 03:41:50,000
the heads. 
For 20 minutes, everyone here is

4012
03:41:50,000 --> 03:41:53,400
when you have diarrhea that 
special misery intensified by 

4013
03:41:53,400 --> 03:41:56,800
having to hang your exposed rear
end over the ocean while you're 

4014
03:41:56,800 --> 03:42:01,700
in testing stage a revolt. 
Dignity gets left at Port along 

4015
03:42:01,700 --> 03:42:03,500
with every other civilized 
Comfort. 

4016
03:42:03,500 --> 03:42:07,000
Medical Care would be laughable 
if the consequences weren't so 

4017
03:42:07,000 --> 03:42:09,500
serious. 
The ship surgeon learned his 

4018
03:42:09,500 --> 03:42:11,500
trade through apprenticeship and
experience. 

4019
03:42:11,500 --> 03:42:15,500
Not formal education. 
His toolkit includes saws 

4020
03:42:15,500 --> 03:42:20,200
ramputi and alcohol for 
sterilization though. 

4021
03:42:20,200 --> 03:42:23,000
More of the alcohol ends up 
consumed the news for cleaning 

4022
03:42:23,000 --> 03:42:26,000
wounds. 
Andesia means getting drunk 

4023
03:42:26,000 --> 03:42:28,300
enough to pass out or biting 
down on leather. 

4024
03:42:28,300 --> 03:42:31,800
While someone does something 
horrible to your body infections

4025
03:42:31,800 --> 03:42:35,400
run rampant in these conditions,
a small cut becomes a major 

4026
03:42:35,408 --> 03:42:41,900
crisis, The wound readons swells
and begins weeping pus. fever 

4027
03:42:41,900 --> 03:42:45,300
sets in and you shake under 
blankets that don't exist while 

4028
03:42:45,300 --> 03:42:49,100
your crewmates debate, whether 
you'll survive Some infections 

4029
03:42:49,100 --> 03:42:52,700
resolve on their own, the body's
immune system winning battles 

4030
03:42:52,700 --> 03:42:56,800
without assistance others 
progress to gangrene, to sepsis 

4031
03:42:56,800 --> 03:43:01,500
to death. that comes slowly and 
painfully while everyone watches

4032
03:43:01,500 --> 03:43:05,300
and tries not to think about 
their own vulnerability, climate

4033
03:43:05,300 --> 03:43:08,000
control, amounts choosing 
whether to suffer below deck or 

4034
03:43:08,000 --> 03:43:11,900
above In tropical heat, both 
options, feel like punishments 

4035
03:43:11,900 --> 03:43:14,700
below deck. 
The air temperature rises until 

4036
03:43:14,700 --> 03:43:18,500
breathing becomes labor, until 
swept pause from your body fast 

4037
03:43:18,500 --> 03:43:20,000
to the, you can replace the 
fluids. 

4038
03:43:20,800 --> 03:43:22,800
Above deck the sun attacks from 
overhead. 

4039
03:43:22,800 --> 03:43:26,000
While the deck reflects heat 
upward cooking you from both 

4040
03:43:26,000 --> 03:43:30,400
directions, There's No Escape no
air conditioning and no fan 

4041
03:43:30,400 --> 03:43:32,900
beyond what the wind provides 
cold climates. 

4042
03:43:32,900 --> 03:43:36,500
Bring opposite miseries the ship
offers, no heating beyond the 

4043
03:43:36,500 --> 03:43:39,200
galleys fire, which must be 
carefully managed to avoid 

4044
03:43:39,200 --> 03:43:42,900
burning down your own shelter, 
you layer what clothes you have,

4045
03:43:42,900 --> 03:43:45,400
but the dampness defeats 
insulation. 

4046
03:43:46,300 --> 03:43:50,700
The cold settles into your bones
into your joints, making 

4047
03:43:50,700 --> 03:43:55,200
movement, painful making sleep 
impossible, despite exhaustion. 

4048
03:43:56,200 --> 03:44:00,500
Men huddled together for warmth.
passed careering about personal 

4049
03:44:00,500 --> 03:44:04,300
space or dignity entertainment, 
consists of whatever you can 

4050
03:44:04,300 --> 03:44:08,500
create from nothing, some men, 
carve scrimshaw etching designs 

4051
03:44:08,500 --> 03:44:12,500
into whales teeth or bone when 
available Others tell stories 

4052
03:44:12,500 --> 03:44:16,600
the same Tales recycled until 
everyone knows them by heart, 

4053
03:44:16,600 --> 03:44:19,500
but keeps listening because the 
alternative is silent. 

4054
03:44:20,500 --> 03:44:23,700
Card games happen with decks, so
worn the marking's belly 

4055
03:44:23,700 --> 03:44:26,600
register. 
Dice made from bone rattling 

4056
03:44:26,600 --> 03:44:30,500
Corners during off watch hours, 
gambling provides distraction. 

4057
03:44:30,500 --> 03:44:34,100
Even when your betting things, 
you don't actually own the 

4058
03:44:34,100 --> 03:44:37,000
isolation from normal. 
Human society changes. 

4059
03:44:37,000 --> 03:44:39,200
You in ways, you don't notice 
until much later. 

4060
03:44:40,000 --> 03:44:44,100
Your social skills, atrophy. 
Your ability to converse about 

4061
03:44:44,100 --> 03:44:46,500
anything beyond ships and 
sailing diminishes. 

4062
03:44:46,500 --> 03:44:50,400
You forget what it's like to 
speak with women with children, 

4063
03:44:50,400 --> 03:44:54,400
with anyone who doesn't smell 
like bilgewater and Desperation 

4064
03:44:55,100 --> 03:44:59,300
The ship becomes your entire 
world and that world is brutally

4065
03:44:59,300 --> 03:45:04,000
small populated by the same 
faces, the same conversations 

4066
03:45:04,000 --> 03:45:07,900
and the same complaints repeated
until they lose, meaning news 

4067
03:45:07,900 --> 03:45:11,900
from Land arrives months late. 
If at all You have no idea 

4068
03:45:11,900 --> 03:45:16,000
what's happening in The Wider 
World War start and end without 

4069
03:45:16,000 --> 03:45:19,100
your knowledge. 
Family members die and you're 

4070
03:45:19,100 --> 03:45:22,100
not there you won't even hear 
about it until some random 

4071
03:45:22,100 --> 03:45:26,000
encountering port. 
The isolation is mental, as much

4072
03:45:26,000 --> 03:45:29,300
as physical a cutting off from 
the flow of normal life. 

4073
03:45:29,300 --> 03:45:32,800
That leaves you adrift in more 
than the oceanic sense, the 

4074
03:45:32,800 --> 03:45:36,500
Articles get read aloud before 
you sign a moment of unexpected,

4075
03:45:36,500 --> 03:45:39,100
formality on a vessel dedicated 
to lawlessness. 

4076
03:45:40,300 --> 03:45:44,100
The document outlines rules your
expected to follow punishments 

4077
03:45:44,100 --> 03:45:47,600
for violation and the system by 
which decisions get made. 

4078
03:45:48,700 --> 03:45:51,200
You listen carefully. 
Because this social contract is 

4079
03:45:51,200 --> 03:45:53,200
the only thing preventing 
absolute chaos. 

4080
03:45:53,200 --> 03:45:57,000
Every man gets a vote on major 
decision where the hunt for 

4081
03:45:57,000 --> 03:46:00,300
prizes, whether to attack a 
particular Target and how to 

4082
03:46:00,300 --> 03:46:03,900
divide plunder. 
This democracy emerges not from 

4083
03:46:03,900 --> 03:46:07,300
Progressive political Theory, 
but from practical necessity. 

4084
03:46:08,100 --> 03:46:11,000
When you've assembled a crew of 
men who've already rejected 

4085
03:46:11,000 --> 03:46:14,600
conventional Authority, you 
can't exactly rule through 

4086
03:46:14,600 --> 03:46:18,500
aristocratic privilege. 
The captain holds power only as 

4087
03:46:18,500 --> 03:46:22,200
long as the crew believes his 
effective fail, too many times 

4088
03:46:22,200 --> 03:46:26,000
and your voted out replaced by 
someone, the men think might do 

4089
03:46:26,000 --> 03:46:28,400
better. 
The quartermaster serves as the 

4090
03:46:28,400 --> 03:46:31,700
cruise representative, the 
balanced against the captain's 

4091
03:46:31,700 --> 03:46:34,700
Authority. 
He distributes food settles 

4092
03:46:34,700 --> 03:46:38,300
disputes and generally ensures 
that the captain doesn't get too

4093
03:46:38,300 --> 03:46:41,500
comfortable with power. 
This position requires 

4094
03:46:41,500 --> 03:46:45,200
diplomatic skills and the 
ability to fight because 

4095
03:46:45,200 --> 03:46:48,900
sometimes disputes get settled 
with fists rather than words. 

4096
03:46:49,800 --> 03:46:52,800
You watch, these Dynamics play 
out and see how carefully, the 

4097
03:46:52,800 --> 03:46:56,700
successful quartermaster's 
navigate between crew, concerns 

4098
03:46:56,700 --> 03:47:00,300
and operational Necessities. 
Combat brings its own rules, 

4099
03:47:00,300 --> 03:47:04,700
explicitly stated in the 
Articles cowardice in battle 

4100
03:47:04,700 --> 03:47:08,500
means death or marooning. 
Deserting your station gets you 

4101
03:47:08,500 --> 03:47:10,700
flogged. 
If the crew feels merciful. 

4102
03:47:11,400 --> 03:47:14,300
These harsh punishments, reflect
the reality that everyone 

4103
03:47:14,300 --> 03:47:17,000
survival depends on everyone 
else doing their job. 

4104
03:47:17,000 --> 03:47:21,200
One man running during a fight 
can Cascade into total defeat 

4105
03:47:21,200 --> 03:47:24,500
and can get the entire crew 
killed or captured and hanged. 

4106
03:47:24,500 --> 03:47:28,800
The division of plunder follows.
Predetermined formulas, the 

4107
03:47:28,800 --> 03:47:32,600
captain gets extra shares as do 
the quartermaster the surgeon 

4108
03:47:32,600 --> 03:47:36,300
and the master gunner, anyone 
with specialized skills that 

4109
03:47:36,300 --> 03:47:39,600
benefit, the whole crew. 
But even the captain's portion 

4110
03:47:39,600 --> 03:47:43,200
rarely exceeds two or three 
shares, while, common Sailors, 

4111
03:47:43,200 --> 03:47:47,400
get one, this relative equality 
stands in stark contrast to 

4112
03:47:47,400 --> 03:47:51,500
Merchant and Naval vessels where
officers might turn, 50 times 

4113
03:47:51,500 --> 03:47:54,800
what ordinary seaman make 
injuries sustained in battle 

4114
03:47:54,800 --> 03:47:58,100
qualify for compensation and 
other aspect details in the 

4115
03:47:58,108 --> 03:48:02,200
article's lost and I hears your 
payment lost a leg. 

4116
03:48:02,200 --> 03:48:05,600
Here's a larger sum these 
amounts get paid before the 

4117
03:48:05,600 --> 03:48:09,200
general division of plunder 
recognizing that the crew owe 

4118
03:48:09,200 --> 03:48:11,900
something to men who sacrifice 
body parts for the common 

4119
03:48:11,900 --> 03:48:13,700
Enterprise? 
The system. 

4120
03:48:13,700 --> 03:48:17,400
Acknowledges risk and tries to 
compensate accordingly, though. 

4121
03:48:17,400 --> 03:48:20,800
No amount of money, truly repays
losing in the 17th century 

4122
03:48:20,800 --> 03:48:24,500
punishment for violation 
happened, swiftly in publicly, 

4123
03:48:25,300 --> 03:48:29,800
Steal from a crewmate and you 
might receive Moses law. 39 

4124
03:48:29,800 --> 03:48:31,500
lashes administered by the 
person. 

4125
03:48:31,500 --> 03:48:36,000
You stole from the entire crew 
assembles to watch partly to 

4126
03:48:36,000 --> 03:48:39,000
witness Justice. 
Being done and partly to remind 

4127
03:48:39,000 --> 03:48:41,700
themselves of the consequences 
of breaking the rules. 

4128
03:48:42,600 --> 03:48:47,000
The whip Cuts deep drawing 
blood, leaving scars, that Mark,

4129
03:48:47,000 --> 03:48:50,300
you as someone who couldn't be 
trusted marooning serves as the 

4130
03:48:50,300 --> 03:48:53,500
ultimate punishment. 
Reserved for the worst offenses,

4131
03:48:53,500 --> 03:48:57,300
The Condemned man gets left on a
small island or beach with a 

4132
03:48:57,308 --> 03:48:59,700
pistol. 
Containing one shot a small 

4133
03:48:59,700 --> 03:49:02,000
amount of water and essentially 
no food. 

4134
03:49:02,900 --> 03:49:06,300
The single bullet carries 
symbolic weight, it's for ending

4135
03:49:06,300 --> 03:49:08,600
your own suffering. 
When starvation becomes 

4136
03:49:08,600 --> 03:49:11,700
unbearable offer, a very slim 
chance at hunting, something 

4137
03:49:11,700 --> 03:49:15,300
edible Either way, it's probably
your last bullet. 

4138
03:49:16,700 --> 03:49:21,700
Most marooned men dice slowly 
alone with plenty of time to 

4139
03:49:21,700 --> 03:49:25,400
contemplate, their mistakes, the
social structure Flexes in ways 

4140
03:49:25,400 --> 03:49:27,800
that would confuse someone from 
conventional Society. 

4141
03:49:28,800 --> 03:49:31,800
Men who might be deadly enemies.
In Port Works side by side at 

4142
03:49:31,800 --> 03:49:35,500
Sea United by common purpose and
shared risk. 

4143
03:49:36,300 --> 03:49:39,400
Racial hierarchies matter less 
here than in the legitimate 

4144
03:49:39,400 --> 03:49:41,800
World. 
Black pirate serve alongside 

4145
03:49:41,800 --> 03:49:44,500
white ones with a rougher 
quality that wouldn't Exist 

4146
03:49:44,500 --> 03:49:48,000
Elsewhere. this isn't 
enlightened tolerance so much as

4147
03:49:48,000 --> 03:49:52,700
practical, indifference The sea 
doesn't care about skin color 

4148
03:49:52,700 --> 03:49:56,900
and neither do men focused on 
survival and profit women. 

4149
03:49:56,900 --> 03:49:59,800
Occasionally sailed with pirate 
Crews, though they typically 

4150
03:49:59,800 --> 03:50:03,100
disguise themselves as men to 
avoid the complications, their 

4151
03:50:03,100 --> 03:50:07,300
presence would create. 
Few who became known and Bonnie 

4152
03:50:07,300 --> 03:50:11,400
Mary Reed achieved legendary 
status partly because they were 

4153
03:50:11,400 --> 03:50:14,500
so rare. 
Most Crews, maintained explicit 

4154
03:50:14,500 --> 03:50:17,600
rules against bringing women 
aboard knowing that sexual 

4155
03:50:17,600 --> 03:50:20,400
tension could destroy the 
fragile, cohesion that kept 

4156
03:50:20,400 --> 03:50:22,900
everyone alive. 
Drinking happens in 

4157
03:50:22,900 --> 03:50:25,200
enthusiastically. 
Whenever alcohol becomes 

4158
03:50:25,200 --> 03:50:28,800
available the Articles might 
limit consumption during active 

4159
03:50:28,800 --> 03:50:32,400
operation's, but once plunder is
secured and divided the 

4160
03:50:32,400 --> 03:50:36,500
celebrations begin Men drink 
themselves on conscious, 

4161
03:50:36,500 --> 03:50:39,700
fighting each other for 
entertainment and engaging, 

4162
03:50:39,700 --> 03:50:41,600
contests of strength and 
stupidity. 

4163
03:50:42,600 --> 03:50:45,800
The release of tension that's 
been building for weeks, comes 

4164
03:50:45,800 --> 03:50:49,800
out in explosions of drunken 
excess that sometimes result in 

4165
03:50:49,800 --> 03:50:52,900
injuries or deaths that didn't 
need to happen, religious 

4166
03:50:52,900 --> 03:50:55,800
practice varies by individual 
some men. 

4167
03:50:55,800 --> 03:50:59,300
Pray regularly asking 
forgiveness for their sins while

4168
03:50:59,300 --> 03:51:03,000
planning to commit more. 
Others abandoned Faith entirely 

4169
03:51:03,000 --> 03:51:06,900
deciding that if God exists, 
he's clearly not paying 

4170
03:51:06,900 --> 03:51:10,900
attention to their corner of the
ocean. if you become 

4171
03:51:10,900 --> 03:51:15,200
superstitious developing, 
elaborate rituals around whether

4172
03:51:15,200 --> 03:51:21,000
signs Lucky Charms and ominous 
poor tents Accumulates its own 

4173
03:51:21,000 --> 03:51:24,400
mythology. 
Stories of ghosts and curses 

4174
03:51:24,400 --> 03:51:26,700
that get embellished with each 
retelling. 

4175
03:51:26,700 --> 03:51:30,800
For all the misery, men kept 
choosing this life, they signed 

4176
03:51:30,800 --> 03:51:32,900
articles. 
They went to see and they rest 

4177
03:51:32,900 --> 03:51:35,900
everything for what amounts to a
lottery ticket in blood. 

4178
03:51:36,900 --> 03:51:39,400
Understanding why requires 
looking at what they were 

4179
03:51:39,400 --> 03:51:41,400
running from the Merchant 
Marine? 

4180
03:51:41,400 --> 03:51:45,800
The supposedly legitimate 
alternative worked Sailors, just

4181
03:51:45,800 --> 03:51:48,400
as hard for a fraction of the 
potential reward. 

4182
03:51:49,400 --> 03:51:53,100
Merchant captains operated under
company rules, that prioritized 

4183
03:51:53,100 --> 03:51:56,700
profit over Humanity. 
Sailors might go months without 

4184
03:51:56,700 --> 03:51:59,900
pay their wages, held back to 
prevent desertion. 

4185
03:52:00,800 --> 03:52:03,900
Food on Merchant vessels was 
often worse than pirate, Fair, 

4186
03:52:03,900 --> 03:52:07,100
rationed more strictly and 
distributed more. 

4187
03:52:07,100 --> 03:52:12,000
Unfairly The promise of steady 
employment rank Halo when that 

4188
03:52:12,000 --> 03:52:15,000
employment means slow starvation
and brutal discipline. 

4189
03:52:15,000 --> 03:52:18,400
The Royal Navy presented itself 
as honorable service, but 

4190
03:52:18,400 --> 03:52:20,600
delivered, something closer to a
floating prison. 

4191
03:52:21,400 --> 03:52:25,400
Press gangs roamed port cities, 
kidnapping men into service 

4192
03:52:25,400 --> 03:52:28,700
against their will. 
Once a border Naval vessel you 

4193
03:52:28,700 --> 03:52:31,900
belong to the crown until death 
or disability released you. 

4194
03:52:32,500 --> 03:52:34,400
Desertion meant hanging. 
If caught. 

4195
03:52:35,300 --> 03:52:39,200
The pay was theoretical 
delivered years late, if at all.

4196
03:52:40,100 --> 03:52:44,200
Officers treated common Sailors 
as Expendable resources and the 

4197
03:52:44,208 --> 03:52:47,500
articles of War authorized 
flogging for offenses, as minor 

4198
03:52:47,500 --> 03:52:51,400
as failing to touch your hat to 
a superior officer on Land 

4199
03:52:51,400 --> 03:52:55,500
employment options for an 
educated unskilled men, centered

4200
03:52:55,500 --> 03:52:57,700
around hard labor, for 
subsistence wages. 

4201
03:52:58,600 --> 03:53:02,400
You might work as a doc hand, a 
farm labourer, or a street. 

4202
03:53:02,400 --> 03:53:05,800
Sweeper jobs that wore your body
down while keeping you 

4203
03:53:05,800 --> 03:53:07,400
perpetually on the edge of 
poverty. 

4204
03:53:08,300 --> 03:53:11,500
The social Mobility that modern 
people take for granted simply 

4205
03:53:11,500 --> 03:53:14,200
didn't exist. 
Born poor you died. 

4206
03:53:14,200 --> 03:53:17,500
Poor and so did your children, 
piracy offered an alternative. 

4207
03:53:17,500 --> 03:53:20,600
However, brutal. 
You might die. 

4208
03:53:20,600 --> 03:53:22,500
Yes. 
But you might also become 

4209
03:53:22,500 --> 03:53:25,400
wealthy. 
More importantly, you lived free

4210
03:53:25,400 --> 03:53:28,600
of the constant humiliation, 
that defined working class 

4211
03:53:28,600 --> 03:53:32,800
existence in the 17th century. 
No employer could cheat you out 

4212
03:53:32,800 --> 03:53:35,000
of wages. 
No arrests to crack. 

4213
03:53:35,000 --> 03:53:37,300
Could beat you for failing to 
show proper deference. 

4214
03:53:38,100 --> 03:53:40,700
The only Authority you answered 
to was the collective will of 

4215
03:53:40,700 --> 03:53:43,300
men in the same situation, men 
would help. 

4216
03:53:43,300 --> 03:53:46,000
Delect men, who could be 
replaced if they became 

4217
03:53:46,000 --> 03:53:49,800
tyrannical, the gambling aspect 
attracted, a certain personality

4218
03:53:49,800 --> 03:53:53,800
type, Men who preferred a short 
exciting life to a long 

4219
03:53:53,808 --> 03:53:56,800
miserable one? 
The treasure fantasies might be 

4220
03:53:56,808 --> 03:53:59,600
exaggerated but successful raids
did happen. 

4221
03:54:00,600 --> 03:54:05,700
Ships carrying sugar Indigo and 
silver got captured and sold the

4222
03:54:05,700 --> 03:54:09,000
proceeds divided, among the crew
could equally years of wages 

4223
03:54:09,000 --> 03:54:12,400
from legitimate work. 
Even the ordinary raids, the 

4224
03:54:12,400 --> 03:54:16,100
ones that netted only cloth and 
tools provided income that beat 

4225
03:54:16,100 --> 03:54:20,000
anything available through legal
means the thrill of combat call 

4226
03:54:20,000 --> 03:54:23,000
to men who found ordinary life 
unbearably dull. 

4227
03:54:24,000 --> 03:54:26,500
Modern society has plenty of 
outlets for this. 

4228
03:54:26,500 --> 03:54:31,500
Impulse extreme sports action, 
movies and video games. 

4229
03:54:31,500 --> 03:54:34,300
That simulate danger without 
delivering consequences. 

4230
03:54:35,300 --> 03:54:38,700
The 17th century offered limited
substitutes. 

4231
03:54:38,700 --> 03:54:43,100
You could fight in actual Wars 
at actual risk or you could 

4232
03:54:43,108 --> 03:54:44,900
waste away in some quiet 
Village. 

4233
03:54:44,900 --> 03:54:48,100
Knowing you'd never test 
yourself against anything more 

4234
03:54:48,100 --> 03:54:51,700
challenging than a stubborn. 
Mule the Multicultural nature of

4235
03:54:51,700 --> 03:54:55,000
pirate Crews provided refuge for
men who didn't fit elsewhere. 

4236
03:54:55,900 --> 03:54:58,900
Escaped slaves found acceptance 
they'd never know in colonial 

4237
03:54:58,900 --> 03:55:02,000
society religious by naughties 
fleeing. 

4238
03:55:02,000 --> 03:55:05,600
Persecution could practice their
faith without interference or 

4239
03:55:05,600 --> 03:55:11,400
abandoned in entirely without 
judgement Men who sexuality made

4240
03:55:11,400 --> 03:55:14,700
them out, cast on land found 
communities that cared more 

4241
03:55:14,700 --> 03:55:16,700
about competence than 
conformity. 

4242
03:55:17,700 --> 03:55:20,600
Ship became a kind of floating 
Sanctuary for everyone. 

4243
03:55:20,600 --> 03:55:23,600
Conventional Society rejected. 
The stories. 

4244
03:55:23,600 --> 03:55:27,500
Of course helped recruitment 
Tales of successful Pirates. 

4245
03:55:27,500 --> 03:55:30,800
Circulated through taverns and 
dockyards growing more 

4246
03:55:30,800 --> 03:55:34,300
impressive with each retelling. 
Young men heard about Henry, 

4247
03:55:34,300 --> 03:55:38,000
Morgan retiring wealthy about, 
Blackbeard, commanding fear, and

4248
03:55:38,000 --> 03:55:41,400
respect, and about ships, loaded
with treasure waiting for 

4249
03:55:41,400 --> 03:55:42,800
someone brave enough to take 
them. 

4250
03:55:43,600 --> 03:55:46,700
These stories glossed over the 
disease, the violence and the 

4251
03:55:46,700 --> 03:55:49,700
high probability of death, but 
they sold the dream, 

4252
03:55:49,700 --> 03:55:53,300
effectively, the alternative to 
piracy for many men was 

4253
03:55:53,300 --> 03:55:55,000
starving. 
Slowly while watching their 

4254
03:55:55,000 --> 03:55:59,200
family starve to when your 
children are hungry and your 

4255
03:55:59,200 --> 03:56:02,800
legitimate work can't feed them,
the moral calculations shift 

4256
03:56:03,700 --> 03:56:06,100
Stealing become survival 
violence. 

4257
03:56:06,100 --> 03:56:07,900
Becomes a tool for securing 
resources. 

4258
03:56:07,900 --> 03:56:12,200
That Society is denied. 
You through legal means the 

4259
03:56:12,200 --> 03:56:15,400
romanticization came later 
applied by people who weren't 

4260
03:56:15,400 --> 03:56:18,500
facing those choices. 
So yes, the conditions aboard 

4261
03:56:18,500 --> 03:56:21,800
pirate ships were terrible. 
But they were terrible in ways 

4262
03:56:21,800 --> 03:56:24,800
that men fleeing other terrible 
situations could accept. 

4263
03:56:25,700 --> 03:56:29,500
At least here, the suffering 
came with agency with the 

4264
03:56:29,500 --> 03:56:33,100
possibility of reward and with 
the Dignity of having chosen 

4265
03:56:33,100 --> 03:56:36,300
this path, rather than having it
forced upon you by birth or 

4266
03:56:36,300 --> 03:56:40,200
circumstance, not every hour at 
Sea involves crisis or labor. 

4267
03:56:41,500 --> 03:56:44,000
The ship sometimes finds itself 
in what Sailors called the 

4268
03:56:44,000 --> 03:56:47,900
doldrums regions where wind 
disappears and the ocean becomes

4269
03:56:47,900 --> 03:56:51,600
glass. 
The sails hang limp, The Vessel 

4270
03:56:51,600 --> 03:56:57,300
drifts rather than sails timing 
strangely, you stand at the rail

4271
03:56:57,300 --> 03:56:59,600
during these calm moments 
watching the water. 

4272
03:57:00,600 --> 03:57:03,700
Surface reflects the sky. 
So perfectly that the Horizon 

4273
03:57:03,700 --> 03:57:07,700
becomes ambiguous and uncertain.
Flying fish break through 

4274
03:57:07,700 --> 03:57:11,500
occasionally silver Arts that 
catch sunlight before splashing 

4275
03:57:11,500 --> 03:57:13,900
down. 
Below the surface. 

4276
03:57:13,900 --> 03:57:16,800
If you look carefully you can 
sometimes see shapes moving 

4277
03:57:16,800 --> 03:57:22,100
dolphins sharks and things. 
You can't quite identify the 

4278
03:57:22,100 --> 03:57:25,100
sunset in tropical waters. 
Paints the sky and colors that 

4279
03:57:25,100 --> 03:57:29,900
seem invented that look too 
Vivid to be real orange bleeds 

4280
03:57:29,900 --> 03:57:33,900
into pink pink into purple and 
purple into deep blue that 

4281
03:57:33,900 --> 03:57:39,400
eventually blackens into night. 
Stars emerge, not gradually, but

4282
03:57:39,400 --> 03:57:44,200
in sudden multitudes more stars 
than you've ever seen from land 

4283
03:57:44,200 --> 03:57:47,600
where lights and Haze obscure, 
the full display. 

4284
03:57:48,800 --> 03:57:53,100
The Milky Way sprawls across the
darkness, a river of light that 

4285
03:57:53,100 --> 03:57:56,500
ancient people thought. 
Connected Heaven and Earth on 

4286
03:57:56,500 --> 03:57:59,200
clear nights, you can navigate 
by stars, though. 

4287
03:57:59,200 --> 03:58:02,800
You probably don't know how The 
older Sailors do though. 

4288
03:58:02,800 --> 03:58:05,900
Men who learned Celestial 
navigation through years of 

4289
03:58:05,900 --> 03:58:09,700
observation, who can tell you 
what that bright point is, which

4290
03:58:09,700 --> 03:58:12,600
constellation is rising, and 
what it all means for your 

4291
03:58:12,600 --> 03:58:15,600
position and Prospects. 
Their knowledge feels like 

4292
03:58:15,600 --> 03:58:19,200
magic, like a secret language 
written across the sky, 

4293
03:58:19,200 --> 03:58:22,400
phosphorescent in the water 
creates different wonders 

4294
03:58:22,400 --> 03:58:26,600
Disturbed, the ocean at night 
and it closed green like 

4295
03:58:26,600 --> 03:58:30,600
Disturbed fireflies. 
Of infiltrated the sea The 

4296
03:58:30,600 --> 03:58:32,900
ship's wake Trails luminescence 
behind it. 

4297
03:58:33,600 --> 03:58:37,200
A path of light that Fades, but 
never completely disappears. 

4298
03:58:37,900 --> 03:58:41,500
Men, trailing their hands in the
water, watch the glow swirl 

4299
03:58:41,500 --> 03:58:44,600
around their fingers 
momentarily, distracted from 

4300
03:58:44,600 --> 03:58:47,900
hunger, and discomfort by 
something beautiful, birds 

4301
03:58:47,900 --> 03:58:50,500
sometimes land on the rigging 
exhausted. 

4302
03:58:50,500 --> 03:58:53,800
Migrants following routes 
between continents, they rest 

4303
03:58:53,800 --> 03:58:56,800
for hours or days? 
Eyeing, the crew wearily 

4304
03:58:56,800 --> 03:58:59,900
grateful for the solid perch, 
even if it's moving. 

4305
03:59:01,200 --> 03:59:04,100
Their presence means land exists
somewhere in some direction 

4306
03:59:04,100 --> 03:59:06,500
though. 
How far and which way remains 

4307
03:59:06,500 --> 03:59:10,900
unclear When they finally gather
strength to continue you watch 

4308
03:59:10,900 --> 03:59:12,700
them, go with something like 
Envy. 

4309
03:59:13,300 --> 03:59:16,000
The ship develops its own 
rhythms patterns, you learn to 

4310
03:59:16,000 --> 03:59:19,300
read the way it moves in 
different wave conditions and 

4311
03:59:19,300 --> 03:59:22,100
the sounds that mean 
everything's normal versus the 

4312
03:59:22,100 --> 03:59:25,700
ones that signal problems. 
You become attuned to the 

4313
03:59:25,700 --> 03:59:29,200
signals without conscious 
thought waking from sleep. 

4314
03:59:29,200 --> 03:59:32,400
When something changes, even if 
you can't immediately identify 

4315
03:59:32,400 --> 03:59:36,300
what triggered your awareness 
conversations during quiet times

4316
03:59:36,300 --> 03:59:40,100
reveal more than you'd expect. 
Men who seem brutal in action 

4317
03:59:40,100 --> 03:59:43,800
show unexpected depth when 
discussing philosophy religion 

4318
03:59:43,800 --> 03:59:47,800
and the nature of Justice. 
The crew includes former 

4319
03:59:47,800 --> 03:59:51,900
Scholars failed businessmen, 
priests who lost their faith and

4320
03:59:51,900 --> 03:59:56,100
soldiers tired of following 
orders their stories emerge in 

4321
03:59:56,100 --> 03:59:59,900
fragments, never told completely
always colored by whatever they 

4322
03:59:59,900 --> 04:00:02,300
want you to believe music 
happens. 

4323
04:00:02,300 --> 04:00:06,100
When someone has the energy and 
inclination, Fiddle appears from

4324
04:00:06,100 --> 04:00:10,300
storage or a flute or just 
voices, singing songs that 

4325
04:00:10,300 --> 04:00:14,000
everyone knows. 
Sea shanties serve as work songs

4326
04:00:14,000 --> 04:00:18,400
their rhythms coordinating 
labor, but the quiet songs speak

4327
04:00:18,400 --> 04:00:22,400
to loneliness, to Holmes left 
behind and to women who probably

4328
04:00:22,400 --> 04:00:26,300
aren't waiting anymore. 
The Melodies carry across the 

4329
04:00:26,300 --> 04:00:28,200
water. 
And you wonder if anyone on 

4330
04:00:28,200 --> 04:00:32,400
distant ship, hears them, if the
Sound reaches fish swimming, far

4331
04:00:32,400 --> 04:00:35,700
below, you think about home 
during these moments, though. 

4332
04:00:35,700 --> 04:00:39,600
Home might not welcome you back.
Piracy carries a death sentence.

4333
04:00:39,600 --> 04:00:44,400
In most jurisdictions going, 
home means risking capture trial

4334
04:00:44,400 --> 04:00:46,400
and a dance at the end of a 
rope. 

4335
04:00:47,300 --> 04:00:50,300
Some men plan to retire to 
remote colonies where their past

4336
04:00:50,300 --> 04:00:53,800
won't follow others seem to have
accepted that, this life will 

4337
04:00:53,800 --> 04:00:57,300
end at Sea one way or another, 
and that's fine because there's 

4338
04:00:57,300 --> 04:00:58,900
nothing pulling them towards 
Shore. 

4339
04:00:58,900 --> 04:01:02,300
Any way, the ocean itself 
becomes familiar ways that seem 

4340
04:01:02,300 --> 04:01:05,400
impossible. 
You learn to read the water to 

4341
04:01:05,400 --> 04:01:08,800
see patterns in the waves and to
interpret the color and movement

4342
04:01:08,800 --> 04:01:11,000
in ways that predict weather and
currents. 

4343
04:01:11,900 --> 04:01:13,700
This knowledge doesn't come from
books. 

4344
04:01:13,700 --> 04:01:17,200
It accumulates through 
observation through mistakes 

4345
04:01:17,200 --> 04:01:20,200
that teach painful lessons and 
through listening to men who 

4346
04:01:20,200 --> 04:01:24,000
survived long enough to become 
experts in the quietest moments 

4347
04:01:24,000 --> 04:01:26,800
when your watch, has you 
standing alone while others 

4348
04:01:26,800 --> 04:01:28,200
sleep, you can confront 
yourself. 

4349
04:01:29,000 --> 04:01:32,900
The person you were on land, the
person you might have become and

4350
04:01:32,900 --> 04:01:36,300
the person you've turned into 
out here, they're all present 

4351
04:01:36,300 --> 04:01:40,700
but somehow separate you've done
things, you never imagined 

4352
04:01:40,700 --> 04:01:43,200
doing. 
You've survived situations, that

4353
04:01:43,200 --> 04:01:45,900
should have killed you. 
You've become someone your 

4354
04:01:45,900 --> 04:01:49,200
former self wouldn't recognize 
and you're not entirely. 

4355
04:01:49,200 --> 04:01:51,300
Sure how to feel about that 
transformation. 

4356
04:01:51,300 --> 04:01:54,900
The Stars wheel overhead 
indifferent to your 

4357
04:01:54,900 --> 04:01:58,400
contemplation. 
Ship creeks and murmurs in its 

4358
04:01:58,400 --> 04:02:02,400
sleep, the Ocean Breathes, 
swells rising and falling in 

4359
04:02:02,400 --> 04:02:04,400
patterns older than human 
memory. 

4360
04:02:05,300 --> 04:02:09,600
And you stand there, temporary 
and small stealing This Moment 

4361
04:02:09,600 --> 04:02:12,800
of Peace, before the next 
Crisis, demands your attention 

4362
04:02:12,800 --> 04:02:16,500
and the Machinery of survival 
grinds forward again. 

4363
04:02:20,500 --> 04:02:23,600
Picture yourself standing at the
edge of a vast Frozen plane 

4364
04:02:23,600 --> 04:02:25,900
somewhere in. 
What will one day be called 

4365
04:02:25,900 --> 04:02:29,600
Siberia? 
The year is approximately 15,000

4366
04:02:29,600 --> 04:02:32,200
BCE though. 
Calendars won't exist for 

4367
04:02:32,200 --> 04:02:35,200
thousands of years yet. 
The landscape stretches 

4368
04:02:35,200 --> 04:02:39,300
endlessly before you a rolling 
expanse, of tundra, grass, 

4369
04:02:39,300 --> 04:02:44,000
patches of snow and Scattered 
stands of Hardy pine trees. 

4370
04:02:44,000 --> 04:02:46,100
That somehow survived the brutal
cold. 

4371
04:02:47,000 --> 04:02:50,100
The air bites at your Exposed 
Skin with a sharpness that makes

4372
04:02:50,100 --> 04:02:53,500
your eyes water. 
And when you exhale, your breath

4373
04:02:53,500 --> 04:02:57,400
crystallizes, instantly into 
tiny, ice particles, that drift 

4374
04:02:57,400 --> 04:03:01,100
away like Mentor Stars. 
This is the place to see people 

4375
04:03:01,100 --> 04:03:03,800
the great ice age that is 
gripped. 

4376
04:03:03,800 --> 04:03:08,000
The Earth for Millennia, massive
glaciers some more than a mile, 

4377
04:03:08,000 --> 04:03:10,200
thick cover much of the northern
hemisphere. 

4378
04:03:11,100 --> 04:03:14,000
But you're not standing on Ice, 
you're in one of the Refuge 

4379
04:03:14,000 --> 04:03:17,400
zones, the areas between the 
glaciers, where life cling 

4380
04:03:17,400 --> 04:03:21,600
stubbornly to existence. 
Sun, hangs low on the horizon 

4381
04:03:21,600 --> 04:03:25,100
even at midday. 
Casting everything in a peculiar

4382
04:03:25,100 --> 04:03:27,700
amber light. 
That makes the snow Sparkle like

4383
04:03:27,708 --> 04:03:30,800
scattered diamonds. 
Your clothing, is a Masterwork 

4384
04:03:30,800 --> 04:03:33,700
of survival technology though. 
You wouldn't think of it that 

4385
04:03:33,700 --> 04:03:35,600
way. 
You're wrapped in carefully 

4386
04:03:35,600 --> 04:03:40,200
prepared, animal hides reindeer 
primarily with the fur turned 

4387
04:03:40,200 --> 04:03:42,700
inward for warmth. 
Your boots are stuffed with 

4388
04:03:42,700 --> 04:03:46,100
dried grass for insulation and 
your hands are covered in 

4389
04:03:46,100 --> 04:03:49,400
mittens made from the winter 
coat of a woolly mammoth calf. 

4390
04:03:50,400 --> 04:03:53,400
Every piece of clothing 
represents hours of work. 

4391
04:03:54,300 --> 04:03:59,000
Scraping tanning and sowing with
needles made from bird bones and

4392
04:03:59,000 --> 04:04:02,000
thread made from animal sinew 
around you. 

4393
04:04:02,000 --> 04:04:05,000
The Ice Age Mega Foreigner go 
about their business with the 

4394
04:04:05,000 --> 04:04:07,600
Casual indifference of creatures
who've never learned to fear 

4395
04:04:07,600 --> 04:04:11,100
humans. 
Small herd of woolly, mammoths 

4396
04:04:11,100 --> 04:04:15,100
moves slowly across the plain 
about half a mile away, their 

4397
04:04:15,100 --> 04:04:17,500
Shaggy rust. 
Colored coats swaying with each 

4398
04:04:17,500 --> 04:04:20,400
ponderous step. 
Their smaller than modern 

4399
04:04:20,400 --> 04:04:23,700
elephants, actually only about 
nine feet tall at the shoulder. 

4400
04:04:23,700 --> 04:04:29,300
But their enormous curved tusks 
some reaching 16 ft in length. 

4401
04:04:29,300 --> 04:04:32,700
Make them look like creatures 
from a fever dream, The 

4402
04:04:32,700 --> 04:04:36,600
Matriarch uses her trunk to 
sweep away snow exposing the 

4403
04:04:36,600 --> 04:04:39,200
dried grass beneath and the 
others follow. 

4404
04:04:39,200 --> 04:04:42,800
Her lead creating a scattered 
pattern of feeding spots. 

4405
04:04:42,800 --> 04:04:46,100
Across the white expanse. 
Further out, you spot, a woolly 

4406
04:04:46,100 --> 04:04:48,700
rhinoceros. 
It's too horns, catching the low

4407
04:04:48,700 --> 04:04:51,200
sunlight It's a solitary 
creature. 

4408
04:04:51,200 --> 04:04:55,300
This one methodically working 
its way across the tundra in 

4409
04:04:55,300 --> 04:04:58,800
search of the Woody shrubs it 
prefers its wool. 

4410
04:04:58,800 --> 04:05:03,000
Hangs in ragged strips not a 
sign of poor health but simply 

4411
04:05:03,000 --> 04:05:05,900
the normal appearance of an 
animal whose coat has evolved to

4412
04:05:05,908 --> 04:05:07,400
survive temperatures that would 
kill. 

4413
04:05:07,400 --> 04:05:11,700
Most modern mammals within hours
a herd of steppe bison, the 

4414
04:05:11,700 --> 04:05:15,600
ancestors of modern American 
Bison but larger with horns 

4415
04:05:15,600 --> 04:05:18,900
spanning six feet across grazes 
in the middle distance. 

4416
04:05:19,800 --> 04:05:22,200
Their darker than the snow 
around them, their breath 

4417
04:05:22,200 --> 04:05:25,900
creating small clouds that hang 
in the still cold air. 

4418
04:05:27,000 --> 04:05:30,100
One of them paused at the ground
breaking through the snow crust,

4419
04:05:30,100 --> 04:05:33,600
to reach the vegetation below 
and the sound carries clearly 

4420
04:05:33,600 --> 04:05:38,100
across the Frozen landscape. 
Sharp crack followed by the 

4421
04:05:38,100 --> 04:05:41,500
softer sound of ice crystals 
falling but it's not the 

4422
04:05:41,500 --> 04:05:44,600
megafauna that you're watching. 
Most carefully, it's the Wolves 

4423
04:05:44,600 --> 04:05:48,700
everywhere in this landscape, 
though, you have to know how to 

4424
04:05:48,700 --> 04:05:52,000
look for them. 
Unlike the mega fauna Wolves of 

4425
04:05:52,000 --> 04:05:53,700
learn to be cautious around 
humans. 

4426
04:05:53,700 --> 04:05:55,800
They're Not Afraid. 
Exactly. 

4427
04:05:55,800 --> 04:06:00,200
Not yet but their careful, You 
spot one. 

4428
04:06:00,200 --> 04:06:04,100
Now about 300 yards away sitting
on a small rise. 

4429
04:06:04,100 --> 04:06:08,500
It's watching the mammoth heard 
with professional interests, but

4430
04:06:08,500 --> 04:06:11,600
you noticed that it occasionally
glances in your direction too. 

4431
04:06:12,400 --> 04:06:15,700
it's coat is longer and thicker 
than the Wolves of a warmer 

4432
04:06:15,700 --> 04:06:19,900
climates a magnificent blend of 
grey black and white, that makes

4433
04:06:19,900 --> 04:06:23,500
it nearly invisible against the 
mixed landscape of snow and bare

4434
04:06:23,500 --> 04:06:26,900
ground, these Ice Age, wolves 
are slightly larger than their 

4435
04:06:26,900 --> 04:06:31,200
modern descendants will be More 
robust built for bringing down 

4436
04:06:31,200 --> 04:06:33,800
prey that outweighs them by 
thousands of pounds. 

4437
04:06:34,800 --> 04:06:38,500
This particular wolf, probably 
weighs around 120 pounds with 

4438
04:06:38,500 --> 04:06:43,000
massive Jaws capable of crushing
bone, its Amber eyes Miss 

4439
04:06:43,000 --> 04:06:46,400
nothing constantly scanning the 
environment for opportunity or 

4440
04:06:46,408 --> 04:06:49,700
danger. 
Your part of a small band about 

4441
04:06:49,700 --> 04:06:53,700
25 people ranging from infants 
to Elders in their forties. 

4442
04:06:54,400 --> 04:06:57,900
That might sound young for an 
elder but in this world reaching

4443
04:06:57,900 --> 04:07:00,100
40 is an achievement worthy of 
respect. 

4444
04:07:01,000 --> 04:07:03,600
Your people have been following 
the reindeer herds for weeks now

4445
04:07:03,600 --> 04:07:07,600
and you've set up a temporary 
camp in a sheltered area where a

4446
04:07:07,600 --> 04:07:10,600
rocky outcrop provides some 
protection from the wind, the 

4447
04:07:10,600 --> 04:07:13,200
camp itself is a collection of 
sturdy structures. 

4448
04:07:13,200 --> 04:07:17,900
Not quite tents, not quite huts.
You've created them by setting 

4449
04:07:17,900 --> 04:07:22,100
up Frameworks of Mammoth bones 
and tusks then covering these 

4450
04:07:22,100 --> 04:07:24,200
Frameworks with layers of animal
hides. 

4451
04:07:24,900 --> 04:07:28,400
The larger structure, the 
communal dwelling uses. 

4452
04:07:28,400 --> 04:07:30,700
The skull of a mammoth as part 
of its entrance. 

4453
04:07:31,400 --> 04:07:34,600
Inside the temperature is 
bearable, not warm, but 

4454
04:07:34,600 --> 04:07:37,200
survivable. 
Thanks to a carefully maintained

4455
04:07:37,200 --> 04:07:40,800
fire at the center. 
The smoke escapes through a gap 

4456
04:07:40,800 --> 04:07:43,800
at the top and the hides are 
arranged so that the wind 

4457
04:07:43,800 --> 04:07:47,400
doesn't blow directly inside. 
Your band is preparing for a 

4458
04:07:47,400 --> 04:07:50,900
hunt though. 
Preparing might be too formal a 

4459
04:07:50,900 --> 04:07:53,300
word. 
It's more like a slow practice 

4460
04:07:53,300 --> 04:07:55,600
Gathering of the necessary tools
and people. 

4461
04:07:56,500 --> 04:07:58,400
Several Hunters are checking 
their Spears. 

4462
04:07:58,400 --> 04:08:01,000
Not the throwing Spears that 
will be invented later. 

4463
04:08:01,000 --> 04:08:05,500
But heavy thrusting Spears with 
fire hardened wooden tips or for

4464
04:08:05,500 --> 04:08:08,500
the lucky few precious stone 
points that were traded from 

4465
04:08:08,500 --> 04:08:12,000
another band to summers ago. 
One of your cousins is working 

4466
04:08:12,000 --> 04:08:14,900
on a new atlantal. 
Spear thrower, that will 

4467
04:08:14,900 --> 04:08:18,100
multiply the force behind a 
throne, spear, its new 

4468
04:08:18,108 --> 04:08:20,200
technology. 
This atlantal having been 

4469
04:08:20,200 --> 04:08:22,300
invented just to few Generations
back. 

4470
04:08:23,200 --> 04:08:26,500
The older Hunters were skeptical
at first but the young people of

4471
04:08:26,500 --> 04:08:30,200
proven its worth Your cousin is 
shaping the wood with a piece of

4472
04:08:30,208 --> 04:08:33,600
sharp Flint. 
Occasionally pausing to cite 

4473
04:08:33,600 --> 04:08:35,700
along its length. 
Checking for straightness. 

4474
04:08:36,500 --> 04:08:39,900
The Target today is not the 
mammoths, the two dangerous, and

4475
04:08:39,900 --> 04:08:43,200
too large, requiring more 
planning, and more Hunters than 

4476
04:08:43,200 --> 04:08:47,300
your ban can spare right now, 
instead you're hoping to Ambush 

4477
04:08:47,300 --> 04:08:50,900
a reindeer that strayed from its
herd you spotted one yesterday, 

4478
04:08:50,900 --> 04:08:53,400
a young buck, that seems to have
injured. 

4479
04:08:53,400 --> 04:08:57,600
Its leg slightly In the harsh 
mathematics of Ice Age survival,

4480
04:08:57,600 --> 04:09:01,400
that slight injury marks it as 
your best chance for success. 

4481
04:09:01,400 --> 04:09:05,000
But as you move out with the 
hunting party, you notice 

4482
04:09:05,000 --> 04:09:07,900
something unusual. 
There are more wolves around the

4483
04:09:07,900 --> 04:09:10,300
normal. 
They're keeping their distance, 

4484
04:09:10,300 --> 04:09:14,000
but they're definitely watching 
you count at least six of them 

4485
04:09:14,000 --> 04:09:16,900
scattered across the landscape 
in positions. 

4486
04:09:16,900 --> 04:09:20,200
That suggests, they're not 
together, not a pack but 

4487
04:09:20,200 --> 04:09:23,900
individual wools or small family
groups each pursuing their own 

4488
04:09:23,900 --> 04:09:27,100
Survival strategy, one wolf in 
particular, catches your 

4489
04:09:27,100 --> 04:09:29,500
attention, it's smaller than the
others. 

4490
04:09:29,500 --> 04:09:32,100
With a slightly reddish tint to 
its grey coat. 

4491
04:09:33,100 --> 04:09:36,200
Unlike the other wolves which 
are carefully maintaining their 

4492
04:09:36,200 --> 04:09:39,200
distance. 
This one seems less concerned 

4493
04:09:39,200 --> 04:09:41,200
with the usual safety, 
protocols. 

4494
04:09:42,000 --> 04:09:46,100
Its may be 200 yards away 
sitting calmly on its haunches, 

4495
04:09:46,100 --> 04:09:49,600
watching your hunting party with
an expression that almost looks 

4496
04:09:49,600 --> 04:09:53,000
curious, rather than cautious, 
you've seen wolves. 

4497
04:09:53,000 --> 04:09:56,700
Follow hunting parties before. 
It's not uncommon, They've 

4498
04:09:56,700 --> 04:09:59,500
learned that human Hunters 
sometimes, leave behind scraps, 

4499
04:09:59,500 --> 04:10:04,400
a gut pile, bones and pieces of 
hide too damaged to be useful. 

4500
04:10:05,300 --> 04:10:08,900
In a world where every calorie 
counts where a harsh, winter can

4501
04:10:08,900 --> 04:10:12,600
mean the difference between 
survival and starvation, those 

4502
04:10:12,600 --> 04:10:15,900
scraps represent opportunity, 
but this feels different 

4503
04:10:15,900 --> 04:10:19,200
somehow, this will isn't just 
following a careful distance. 

4504
04:10:19,200 --> 04:10:24,300
It's observing learning the hunt
itself unfolds in the Timeless 

4505
04:10:24,300 --> 04:10:28,500
pattern of predator and prey. 
Your party spreads out moving 

4506
04:10:28,500 --> 04:10:31,200
slowly up wind toward where the 
injured reindeer was. 

4507
04:10:31,200 --> 04:10:35,700
Last seen the snow muffles your 
footsteps and you've rubbed 

4508
04:10:35,700 --> 04:10:39,000
yourselves with the leaves of 
aromatic plants to mask your 

4509
04:10:39,000 --> 04:10:43,500
human scent, the cold air helps 
too scent doesn't carry as well.

4510
04:10:43,500 --> 04:10:47,100
In extreme cold you spot. 
The reindeer browsing in a small

4511
04:10:47,108 --> 04:10:50,900
Hollow using its broad Hooves to
dig through the snow to reach 

4512
04:10:50,900 --> 04:10:54,200
the Lord can beneath. 
His injured leg is indeed 

4513
04:10:54,200 --> 04:10:56,300
causing problems. 
You can see it. 

4514
04:10:56,300 --> 04:10:59,800
Favoring the other three legs. 
Shifting, its weight constantly.

4515
04:11:01,400 --> 04:11:03,700
From a distance. 
It might not seem like much of 

4516
04:11:03,700 --> 04:11:07,100
an impairment, but you know, 
from experience that this slight

4517
04:11:07,100 --> 04:11:09,400
imbalance will slow it to escape
just enough. 

4518
04:11:09,400 --> 04:11:12,500
The hunters move into position 
with practice deficiency. 

4519
04:11:12,500 --> 04:11:17,200
No, words are spoken. 
Everyone knows their role two 

4520
04:11:17,200 --> 04:11:20,100
hunters will drive the reindeer 
toward a narrow passage between 

4521
04:11:20,100 --> 04:11:24,500
two large boulders. 
Three others, including you a 

4522
04:11:24,500 --> 04:11:28,300
positioned at that passage 
Spears ready, the drive Begins. 

4523
04:11:28,300 --> 04:11:31,500
The reindeer's, head snaps up 
and for a moment, it freezes 

4524
04:11:31,500 --> 04:11:35,800
trying to identify the threat, 
then it bolts, moving with the 

4525
04:11:35,800 --> 04:11:38,900
fluid Grace, that makes these 
animals so difficult to hunt. 

4526
04:11:39,800 --> 04:11:43,500
But the injured leg betrays, its
slightly just a tiny hitch in 

4527
04:11:43,500 --> 04:11:46,500
its stride and the path of least
resistance leads. 

4528
04:11:46,500 --> 04:11:48,700
It exactly where the hunters 
knew it would go. 

4529
04:11:49,500 --> 04:11:51,100
Toward the gap between the 
boulders. 

4530
04:11:51,100 --> 04:11:53,500
Your muscles tense as it 
approaches. 

4531
04:11:53,500 --> 04:11:58,700
Timing is everything two early 
and it will Dodge too late and 

4532
04:11:58,700 --> 04:12:02,300
it will be passed. 
You The reindeer enters the Gap 

4533
04:12:02,300 --> 04:12:05,500
and in that moment of 
constriction, three Spears 

4534
04:12:05,500 --> 04:12:09,700
thrust forward simultaneously. 
At least two fine, their Mark 

4535
04:12:09,700 --> 04:12:11,800
and the animal stumbles then 
Falls. 

4536
04:12:11,800 --> 04:12:15,500
There's no celebrating the 
workers only begun. 

4537
04:12:16,200 --> 04:12:19,700
Within minutes, the animal is 
being efficiently processed, the

4538
04:12:19,700 --> 04:12:22,800
hide is carefully removed. 
It will be needed for clothing 

4539
04:12:22,800 --> 04:12:25,900
or shelter repairs. 
The Meters butchered into 

4540
04:12:25,900 --> 04:12:29,400
manageable pieces, the bones and
antlers are set aside. 

4541
04:12:29,400 --> 04:12:33,100
They have a dozen uses. 
Even the sinews are carefully 

4542
04:12:33,100 --> 04:12:36,400
extracted for making cordage and
thread and throughout this 

4543
04:12:36,400 --> 04:12:39,000
entire process, you're aware of 
the Wolves watching. 

4544
04:12:39,800 --> 04:12:41,700
The reddish gray, one has crept 
closer. 

4545
04:12:41,700 --> 04:12:47,000
Now maybe 150 yards away, it 
sits perfectly still, but you 

4546
04:12:47,000 --> 04:12:50,500
can see its nostrils. 
Flaring sending the fresh Blood 

4547
04:12:50,500 --> 04:12:53,900
on the cold air when your party 
is ready to head back to Camp 

4548
04:12:53,900 --> 04:12:58,300
carrying the butchered reindeer.
You notice something The reddish

4549
04:12:58,300 --> 04:13:01,900
gray wolf hasn't left. 
Its following maintaining that 

4550
04:13:01,900 --> 04:13:05,200
same distance. 
Its eyes fixed knot on the meat,

4551
04:13:05,200 --> 04:13:08,500
you're carrying, but on the gut 
pile, you've left behind the 

4552
04:13:08,500 --> 04:13:12,500
stomach intestines and other 
organs that are too much trouble

4553
04:13:12,500 --> 04:13:14,900
to carry back. 
As soon as your party is about 

4554
04:13:14,900 --> 04:13:17,800
50 yards away, the wolf trots 
down to the gut pile. 

4555
04:13:18,500 --> 04:13:21,400
But instead of the frenzied 
feeding you might expect in each

4556
04:13:21,400 --> 04:13:24,100
quickly and efficiently then 
Retreats again. 

4557
04:13:25,000 --> 04:13:28,500
It's being careful but less 
careful than the other walls who

4558
04:13:28,500 --> 04:13:31,800
have not approached at all. 
Despite the easy meal that night

4559
04:13:31,800 --> 04:13:35,200
in the communal dwelling with 
the fire crackling and the wind 

4560
04:13:35,200 --> 04:13:38,500
howling outside. 
You think about that wolf? 

4561
04:13:39,400 --> 04:13:40,900
There was something different 
about it. 

4562
04:13:40,900 --> 04:13:44,800
A quality can't quite name. 
Not tameless. 

4563
04:13:44,800 --> 04:13:48,600
Exactly more like a willingness 
to cross the usual boundaries 

4564
04:13:48,600 --> 04:13:52,200
between species. 
You don't know it yet but you've

4565
04:13:52,200 --> 04:13:54,100
just witnessed something 
extraordinary. 

4566
04:13:54,900 --> 04:13:57,600
You've seen one of the first 
Tiny Steps in a relationship 

4567
04:13:57,600 --> 04:14:02,200
that will span millennia. that 
wolf with its slightly reduced 

4568
04:14:02,200 --> 04:14:06,008
caution and it's observant 
nature is on the very edge of 

4569
04:14:06,016 --> 04:14:10,500
something entirely new, not just
for wolves, but for the entire 

4570
04:14:10,500 --> 04:14:14,300
trajectory of human and animal 
life on Earth outside in the 

4571
04:14:14,300 --> 04:14:17,600
darkness, beyond the firelight, 
the wolf circles the camp at a 

4572
04:14:17,600 --> 04:14:21,600
respectful distance, it can 
smell the cooking meat can hear 

4573
04:14:21,608 --> 04:14:26,100
the human voices and consents 
the warmth of the fire, And 

4574
04:14:26,100 --> 04:14:29,600
unlike every other wolf in the 
region, instead of moving on to 

4575
04:14:29,600 --> 04:14:33,300
find its own prey, it settles 
down in the snow about 100 yards

4576
04:14:33,300 --> 04:14:35,800
from the camp. 
It doesn't know why it staying 

4577
04:14:35,800 --> 04:14:40,000
Instinct mixed with curiosity, 
perhaps, or maybe just the 

4578
04:14:40,000 --> 04:14:43,500
simple calculus of survival. 
These humans mean food. 

4579
04:14:43,500 --> 04:14:47,900
And in the harsh mathematics of 
the Ice Age, any reliable source

4580
04:14:47,900 --> 04:14:49,600
of calories is worth a slight 
risk. 

4581
04:14:49,600 --> 04:14:53,100
The Moon Rises over the Frozen 
landscape Illuminating. 

4582
04:14:53,100 --> 04:14:54,700
A world. 
That is both beautiful and 

4583
04:14:54,700 --> 04:14:57,600
brutal. 
And in that world, a small 

4584
04:14:57,600 --> 04:15:00,700
changes begun. 
So subtle that no one could 

4585
04:15:00,700 --> 04:15:03,000
possibly recognize its 
significance. 

4586
04:15:03,700 --> 04:15:05,800
A wolf sits watching a human 
Camp. 

4587
04:15:05,800 --> 04:15:09,700
An inside that camp, a human 
lies awake, thinking about wolf 

4588
04:15:09,700 --> 04:15:13,000
King the reddish gray wolf, 
becomes something of a fixture 

4589
04:15:13,000 --> 04:15:16,400
over the following days though, 
fixture implies more permanent 

4590
04:15:16,400 --> 04:15:19,600
than his really accurate. 
It's more like a recurring 

4591
04:15:19,600 --> 04:15:23,400
character in your daily life. 
Peering near the camp at dawn, 

4592
04:15:23,400 --> 04:15:27,300
following hunting parties at a 
distance materializing around. 

4593
04:15:27,300 --> 04:15:30,500
Butchering sites. 
You start to recognize it not 

4594
04:15:30,500 --> 04:15:32,800
just by its coloring, but By Its
Behavior. 

4595
04:15:33,900 --> 04:15:37,000
While other wolves that scavenge
from Human kills Dart, in 

4596
04:15:37,000 --> 04:15:38,300
nervously. 
Snatch. 

4597
04:15:38,300 --> 04:15:42,000
What they can and flee this one 
moves with a peculiar 

4598
04:15:42,000 --> 04:15:44,200
confidence. 
You're not the only one who's 

4599
04:15:44,200 --> 04:15:47,400
noticed. 
One evening as your band gathers

4600
04:15:47,400 --> 04:15:51,600
around the fire, your aunt a 
woman of about 35 who survival 

4601
04:15:51,600 --> 04:15:54,300
skills, have earned her enormous
respect in the band. 

4602
04:15:55,300 --> 04:15:59,400
Mentions the wolf casually while
working a piece of reindeer hide

4603
04:15:59,400 --> 04:16:01,800
with a stone scraper. 
The red one was at the 

4604
04:16:01,800 --> 04:16:04,500
butchering site. 
Again she says a hands never 

4605
04:16:04,500 --> 04:16:07,500
pausing in their rhythmic 
scraping motion closer than 

4606
04:16:07,500 --> 04:16:11,100
before maybe 70 Paces your uncle
sharpening. 

4607
04:16:11,100 --> 04:16:14,100
A spear Point grunt 
acknowledgment, good thing or 

4608
04:16:14,100 --> 04:16:17,100
bad thing. 
Neither just a thing. 

4609
04:16:18,100 --> 04:16:20,600
You aren't holds the hide up to 
the firelight checking her 

4610
04:16:20,600 --> 04:16:23,600
progress. 
It's not aggressive, never 

4611
04:16:23,600 --> 04:16:28,200
approaches the kills and till 
we're well away just interested.

4612
04:16:28,200 --> 04:16:31,900
This is a typical example of how
your people discuss, the natural

4613
04:16:31,900 --> 04:16:35,700
world matter of factly without 
attributing too much, meaning 

4614
04:16:35,700 --> 04:16:39,500
but also without dismissing 
observations Every piece of 

4615
04:16:39,500 --> 04:16:42,200
information about animal 
behavior, might someday prove 

4616
04:16:42,200 --> 04:16:44,200
useful. 
So it's worth noting and 

4617
04:16:44,200 --> 04:16:46,600
remembering two weeks past, then
three. 

4618
04:16:47,700 --> 04:16:51,400
The Deep cold of winter begins 
its slow grudging transition 

4619
04:16:51,400 --> 04:16:53,400
towards something slightly less 
brutal. 

4620
04:16:54,200 --> 04:16:57,900
The sun's Arc across the sky 
grows incrementally longer each 

4621
04:16:57,900 --> 04:17:00,500
day. 
The change is subtle enough that

4622
04:17:00,500 --> 04:17:03,700
you might not notice it day to 
day, but over weeks it's 

4623
04:17:03,700 --> 04:17:06,000
unmistakable. 
Your band has remained in the 

4624
04:17:06,000 --> 04:17:09,100
same general area. 
Hunting has been decent and the 

4625
04:17:09,108 --> 04:17:10,800
sheltered spot. 
You've chosen offers good 

4626
04:17:10,800 --> 04:17:14,000
protection from the wind and 
through all of this the reddish 

4627
04:17:14,000 --> 04:17:15,500
gray. 
Wolf remains part of the 

4628
04:17:15,500 --> 04:17:19,100
landscape. 
You start to notice patterns The

4629
04:17:19,108 --> 04:17:22,300
wolf appears most reliably in 
the early morning shortly after 

4630
04:17:22,300 --> 04:17:24,800
Dawn and in the evening around 
dusk. 

4631
04:17:25,900 --> 04:17:29,000
During the brightest part of the
day is usually nowhere to be 

4632
04:17:29,000 --> 04:17:33,800
seen off Hunting its own prey. 
Presumably But in those liminal 

4633
04:17:33,800 --> 04:17:37,000
times, when the light is soft 
and the world, feels suspended 

4634
04:17:37,000 --> 04:17:38,900
between day and night. 
There it is. 

4635
04:17:38,900 --> 04:17:42,300
One morning, you're awake early 
than usual sitting outside the 

4636
04:17:42,300 --> 04:17:44,800
communal dwelling, and watching 
the sky like in the east. 

4637
04:17:45,800 --> 04:17:49,000
The temperature is brutally 
cold, the kind of cold that 

4638
04:17:49,000 --> 04:17:51,400
makes the inside of your 
nostrils stick together when you

4639
04:17:51,400 --> 04:17:55,100
breathe in, but the air is 
perfectly still and Stillness 

4640
04:17:55,100 --> 04:17:58,700
makes cold more bearable. 
Everything is touched with frost

4641
04:17:58,700 --> 04:18:03,300
each blade of grass, each Stone 
outlined in crystalline white. 

4642
04:18:03,300 --> 04:18:06,500
You see the wolf emerge from 
behind a distant outcrop. 

4643
04:18:06,500 --> 04:18:10,700
Perhaps, 200 yards away, It's 
moving in that efficient ground 

4644
04:18:10,700 --> 04:18:13,800
covering Trot that wolves used 
to travel long distances. 

4645
04:18:13,800 --> 04:18:18,200
Its breath creating rhythmic 
puffs of vapor in the Frigidaire

4646
04:18:18,200 --> 04:18:22,900
then it stops sits and looks 
directly at your camp for 

4647
04:18:22,900 --> 04:18:26,000
several long minutes. 
Nothing happens the wolf sits, 

4648
04:18:26,000 --> 04:18:29,800
you sit. 
Sky continues its slow, 

4649
04:18:29,800 --> 04:18:33,100
brightening from deep blue to 
lighter Shades, the hint at the 

4650
04:18:33,108 --> 04:18:37,000
eventual arrival of the sun, 
then acting on an Impulse. 

4651
04:18:37,000 --> 04:18:40,600
You don't fully understand. 
You toss a small piece of dried 

4652
04:18:40,600 --> 04:18:42,100
meat in the wolf's general 
direction. 

4653
04:18:42,100 --> 04:18:45,300
Not close to the wolf, you throw
it. 

4654
04:18:45,300 --> 04:18:49,600
Maybe 30 yards out from where 
your city leaving at about 170 

4655
04:18:49,600 --> 04:18:52,100
yards from the wolf. 
It's more of a gesture than 

4656
04:18:52,100 --> 04:18:54,800
anything else. 
And acknowledgment of the wolf's

4657
04:18:54,800 --> 04:18:57,800
presence, the wolf watches, the 
meat Arc, through the air and 

4658
04:18:57,808 --> 04:19:01,000
land in the snow. 
It doesn't move for long 

4659
04:19:01,000 --> 04:19:03,600
minutes. 
It simply sits their eyes, 

4660
04:19:03,600 --> 04:19:05,800
moving between you and the meat,
then. 

4661
04:19:05,800 --> 04:19:08,600
So smoothly that you almost 
missed the transition. 

4662
04:19:08,600 --> 04:19:13,800
It stands trots to the meat, 
picks it up, and Retreats to its

4663
04:19:13,800 --> 04:19:16,400
original distance before lying 
down to eat it. 

4664
04:19:16,400 --> 04:19:20,300
Something about this interaction
feels significant though. 

4665
04:19:20,300 --> 04:19:23,500
You couldn't explain why. 
It wasn't fear that made the 

4666
04:19:23,500 --> 04:19:26,200
wolf Retreat. 
It moved too calmly for that. 

4667
04:19:26,200 --> 04:19:30,000
It was more like an 
acknowledgment of boundaries a 

4668
04:19:30,000 --> 04:19:33,400
mutual understanding of 
appropriate distances, over the 

4669
04:19:33,400 --> 04:19:36,900
following weeks, this becomes an
occasional ritual, not every 

4670
04:19:36,900 --> 04:19:39,100
morning and not with any regular
schedule. 

4671
04:19:39,100 --> 04:19:42,300
But sometimes when you're up 
early, in the wolf of appears, 

4672
04:19:42,300 --> 04:19:47,700
you'll to scrap The wolf begins 
to anticipate this, you know, 

4673
04:19:47,700 --> 04:19:51,600
this that when it sees you 
sitting out at dawn, it sits at 

4674
04:19:51,600 --> 04:19:56,900
a particular distance, no longer
200 yards but more like 150 and 

4675
04:19:56,900 --> 04:20:00,400
waits to see if you'll throw in 
a thing, not consciously trying 

4676
04:20:00,400 --> 04:20:03,100
to tame the wolf that word 
doesn't even exist. 

4677
04:20:03,100 --> 04:20:06,300
In your vocabulary, you'll 
simply engaging in a kind of 

4678
04:20:06,300 --> 04:20:10,000
pragmatic Exchange. 
The wolf cleans up scraps, that 

4679
04:20:10,000 --> 04:20:13,800
would otherwise attract less 
desirable scavengers hyenas. 

4680
04:20:13,800 --> 04:20:17,300
For instance, which are not only
more dangerous but also much 

4681
04:20:17,300 --> 04:20:20,000
less Pleasant to have around in 
return. 

4682
04:20:20,000 --> 04:20:24,600
The wolf gets easy meals, it's a
transaction that benefits both 

4683
04:20:24,600 --> 04:20:27,500
parties but something else is 
happening, too, though. 

4684
04:20:27,500 --> 04:20:29,600
It's so gradual that you barely 
notice it. 

4685
04:20:30,600 --> 04:20:33,300
The wolf is becoming part of 
your mental landscape. 

4686
04:20:33,300 --> 04:20:36,300
Part of the expected patterns of
daily life. 

4687
04:20:37,200 --> 04:20:40,200
When you wake up, now you find 
yourself wondering if the wolf 

4688
04:20:40,200 --> 04:20:43,300
will be there. 
When you're out hunting and you 

4689
04:20:43,308 --> 04:20:47,000
spot it following at a distance 
you feel a tiny flicker of 

4690
04:20:47,000 --> 04:20:50,600
recognition. 
Not quite pleasure, but 

4691
04:20:50,600 --> 04:20:54,900
something like acknowledgment. 
Hello again, the feeling seems 

4692
04:20:54,900 --> 04:20:58,500
to say you're still here one day
during a Hunting Expedition. 

4693
04:20:58,500 --> 04:21:02,300
Something unusual happened. 
Your party is tracking a small 

4694
04:21:02,300 --> 04:21:06,000
herd of horses. 
I say horses stocky and robust 

4695
04:21:06,000 --> 04:21:09,300
with thick coats that make them 
look almost barely like in the 

4696
04:21:09,300 --> 04:21:11,900
dim light. 
The tracking has been difficult.

4697
04:21:11,900 --> 04:21:15,500
The horses are wearing the wind 
keeps shifting and twice. 

4698
04:21:15,500 --> 04:21:17,700
You've gotten closer only to 
have them both. 

4699
04:21:17,700 --> 04:21:20,100
At the last moment, you're 
taking a brief rest. 

4700
04:21:20,100 --> 04:21:23,800
Assessing the situation when you
notice the reddish gray wolf of 

4701
04:21:23,800 --> 04:21:27,000
about 100 yards away. 
It's not looking at you though. 

4702
04:21:27,000 --> 04:21:29,100
It's looking in the same 
direction. 

4703
04:21:29,100 --> 04:21:32,400
You've been heading toward where
the horses should be, then the 

4704
04:21:32,400 --> 04:21:33,900
wolf does something 
extraordinary. 

4705
04:21:33,900 --> 04:21:38,400
It moves forward about 50 yards.
Stops looks back at you then 

4706
04:21:38,400 --> 04:21:41,600
looks forward again. 
The gesture is so clear that 

4707
04:21:41,600 --> 04:21:44,900
it's almost comical this way 
there, this way. 

4708
04:21:44,900 --> 04:21:49,000
Now it's entirely possible that 
the wolf was simply pursuing its

4709
04:21:49,000 --> 04:21:52,200
own agenda, that the apparent 
communication was pure 

4710
04:21:52,200 --> 04:21:55,900
coincidence. but you've survived
to adulthood in the Ice Age by 

4711
04:21:55,900 --> 04:21:58,700
paying attention to 
environmental cues and this 

4712
04:21:58,700 --> 04:22:03,000
feels like a cue You signal to 
the other hunters and the party 

4713
04:22:03,000 --> 04:22:06,700
just its course, slightly moving
more, in the direction, the wolf

4714
04:22:06,700 --> 04:22:10,900
indicated. 50 minutes later you 
find the horses in a small 

4715
04:22:10,900 --> 04:22:15,500
Hollow perfectly positioned for 
an ambush, the hunter successful

4716
04:22:15,500 --> 04:22:17,900
and afterward. 
You make sure to leave in a 

4717
04:22:17,900 --> 04:22:21,500
specially generous portion of 
the gut pile, the wolf as usual 

4718
04:22:21,500 --> 04:22:23,600
Waits until you're well away 
before approaching. 

4719
04:22:23,600 --> 04:22:27,100
But you notice that before it 
starts eating, it looks towards 

4720
04:22:27,100 --> 04:22:30,200
where your party is heading 
holds that gaze for a moment, 

4721
04:22:30,200 --> 04:22:34,000
then begins its meal again. 
You could dismiss this as 

4722
04:22:34,000 --> 04:22:36,800
meaningless wolves. 
Look in all directions 

4723
04:22:36,800 --> 04:22:40,600
frequently, but your starting to
suspect, that something more 

4724
04:22:40,600 --> 04:22:44,000
complex is happening. 
The wolf isn't just Scavenging 

4725
04:22:44,000 --> 04:22:47,300
from your kills any more. 
It's participating in its own 

4726
04:22:47,300 --> 04:22:51,300
way, in the hunting process word
of the wolf begins to spread 

4727
04:22:51,300 --> 04:22:54,600
within your band. 
Children, especially are 

4728
04:22:54,600 --> 04:22:57,100
fascinated by it. 
They've been warned to keep 

4729
04:22:57,108 --> 04:22:58,600
their distance. 
It is. 

4730
04:22:58,600 --> 04:23:02,300
After all still a wild Predator 
perfectly capable of dangerous 

4731
04:23:02,300 --> 04:23:06,300
Behavior But they watch it from 
the safety of the camp and 

4732
04:23:06,300 --> 04:23:07,900
they've given it a name of 
sorts. 

4733
04:23:08,800 --> 04:23:11,600
A specific sound that they used 
to refer to it, something 

4734
04:23:11,600 --> 04:23:14,400
between a whistle and a Yip 
that's meant to approximate a 

4735
04:23:14,400 --> 04:23:16,700
wolf's vocalization. 
One of the children. 

4736
04:23:16,700 --> 04:23:20,800
A girl of about seven has become
particularly interested in the 

4737
04:23:20,800 --> 04:23:24,900
wolf. she's the one who most 
reliably spots at each day who 

4738
04:23:24,900 --> 04:23:28,100
points out its location to 
anyone who listen, who saves 

4739
04:23:28,100 --> 04:23:31,000
little scraps from a meals to 
toss out toward where the wolf 

4740
04:23:31,000 --> 04:23:35,500
typically sits her mother allows
this partly because it keeps the

4741
04:23:35,500 --> 04:23:40,300
child engaged in Camp activities
and partly because, well, the 

4742
04:23:40,300 --> 04:23:44,000
wolf doesn't seem to pose any 
actual threat months pass the 

4743
04:23:44,000 --> 04:23:48,700
season continues, its slow wheel
towards Spring The days grow 

4744
04:23:48,700 --> 04:23:52,400
longer. the snow begins to 
develop a different texture, 

4745
04:23:52,400 --> 04:23:58,100
becoming wetter heavier and more
crystalline The mammoth start 

4746
04:23:58,100 --> 04:24:01,300
moving North following the 
retreating edge of the glaciers 

4747
04:24:01,300 --> 04:24:02,900
toward their summer feeding 
grounds. 

4748
04:24:03,800 --> 04:24:06,900
The reindeer herds grow Restless
preparing for their own 

4749
04:24:06,900 --> 04:24:10,400
migrations, your band must 
decide whether to follow the 

4750
04:24:10,408 --> 04:24:13,600
herds or to stay in this region 
and switch to hunting the 

4751
04:24:13,608 --> 04:24:16,500
animals. 
That remain year-round bison, 

4752
04:24:16,500 --> 04:24:18,800
horses and the occasional 
Mammoth that bucks, the 

4753
04:24:18,800 --> 04:24:22,700
migration Trend in the end. 
The decision is made to stay. 

4754
04:24:22,700 --> 04:24:26,100
The camp is good. 
The hunting has been reliable 

4755
04:24:26,100 --> 04:24:29,000
and the effort required to pack 
everything and move is 

4756
04:24:29,000 --> 04:24:31,700
significant. 
The reddish gray wolf stays too.

4757
04:24:31,700 --> 04:24:35,800
This surprises, you slightly 
you'd assume the wolf was 

4758
04:24:35,800 --> 04:24:39,000
following the human ban because 
humans meant food and that if 

4759
04:24:39,008 --> 04:24:41,500
the major game herds moved on 
the wolf would follow them. 

4760
04:24:41,500 --> 04:24:46,200
But it doesn't it remains in the
area, hunting, its own prey. 

4761
04:24:46,800 --> 04:24:49,500
You occasionally, see it taking 
down rabbits with impressive, 

4762
04:24:49,500 --> 04:24:52,300
efficiency. 
Continuing its habit of 

4763
04:24:52,308 --> 04:24:55,900
appearing near the camp at dawn 
and dusk the distance between 

4764
04:24:55,900 --> 04:24:58,800
wolves and humans. 
Continue to shrink incrementally

4765
04:24:59,500 --> 04:25:03,100
Not in any dramatic way, not on 
any single Leap Forward. 

4766
04:25:03,100 --> 04:25:07,500
But in tiny adjustments that 
accumulate over time The wolf 

4767
04:25:07,500 --> 04:25:11,000
now sits about 100 yards from 
camp in stead of 150. 

4768
04:25:12,000 --> 04:25:15,600
When someone tosses it food, it 
no longer Retreats as far before

4769
04:25:15,600 --> 04:25:20,400
eating When it follows hunting 
parties, the Gap is perhaps 75 

4770
04:25:20,400 --> 04:25:24,900
yards instead of 100 one, warm 
afternoon, genuinely warm. 

4771
04:25:24,900 --> 04:25:28,000
Maybe even reaching 40 degrees 
Fahrenheit which feels like 

4772
04:25:28,000 --> 04:25:31,500
summer after The Long Winter. 
You're working on repairing your

4773
04:25:31,500 --> 04:25:33,300
boots outside. 
The communal dwelling. 

4774
04:25:34,100 --> 04:25:37,100
The wolf is lying in its usual. 
Spot about 90 yards away. 

4775
04:25:37,100 --> 04:25:41,200
Apparently drowsing in the Sun a
raven land nearby looking for 

4776
04:25:41,200 --> 04:25:44,000
scraps. 
It hops close to where you're 

4777
04:25:44,000 --> 04:25:46,200
working Boulders. 
Ravens always are cocking. 

4778
04:25:46,200 --> 04:25:49,500
Its head to examine you with one
bright eye, you ignore it. 

4779
04:25:50,200 --> 04:25:53,600
Ravens are harmless mostly if 
occasionally annoying in their 

4780
04:25:53,600 --> 04:25:57,000
persistence, then you notice the
wolf is watching The Rave and 

4781
04:25:57,000 --> 04:26:00,900
with focused intensity. 
The wolf Rises to its feet, 

4782
04:26:00,900 --> 04:26:03,700
stretches in a very dog-like 
manner. 

4783
04:26:03,700 --> 04:26:08,600
Then trots towards the camp, not
directly toward you, but on an 

4784
04:26:08,600 --> 04:26:11,600
angle that will bring it near 
the Raven, The Raven, seeing the

4785
04:26:11,600 --> 04:26:14,600
wolf approached squawks 
indignantly and flaps away. 

4786
04:26:15,400 --> 04:26:18,400
The wolf watches it go then 
instead of retreating to its 

4787
04:26:18,400 --> 04:26:21,000
usual spot. 
Lies down, maybe 70 yards from 

4788
04:26:21,000 --> 04:26:23,200
where you're sitting. 
The message seems clear. 

4789
04:26:23,200 --> 04:26:26,100
The Raven was bothering you so I
chased it off. 

4790
04:26:26,100 --> 04:26:29,400
Now we're a bit closer than 
before but that's okay because I

4791
04:26:29,400 --> 04:26:32,200
just did you a favor. 
Again, you could argue that this

4792
04:26:32,200 --> 04:26:36,100
is anthropomorphization reading 
human motivations into animal 

4793
04:26:36,100 --> 04:26:38,300
behavior. 
But whether or not your 

4794
04:26:38,300 --> 04:26:41,600
interpretation is accurate, the 
effect is the same, the 

4795
04:26:41,600 --> 04:26:44,900
boundaries between human and 
wolf of shifted again, just 

4796
04:26:44,900 --> 04:26:49,200
slightly, just enough to notice 
that night lying in the communal

4797
04:26:49,200 --> 04:26:51,800
dwelling and listening to the 
sound of the band settling in 

4798
04:26:51,800 --> 04:26:55,000
for sleep. 
You think about the wolf How 

4799
04:26:55,000 --> 04:26:58,600
long has this been going on now?
Six months seven. 

4800
04:26:59,800 --> 04:27:02,600
Long enough that it's strange to
remember, a time when the wolf 

4801
04:27:02,600 --> 04:27:05,600
wasn't part of the daily 
routine, you don't know that 

4802
04:27:05,600 --> 04:27:07,800
what your witnessing is, the 
beginning of domestication. 

4803
04:27:08,600 --> 04:27:11,300
You have no framework for 
understanding that concept. 

4804
04:27:11,300 --> 04:27:14,400
No way to imagine that this wild
Predators 

4805
04:27:14,400 --> 04:27:16,800
great-great-grandchildren will 
be. 

4806
04:27:16,808 --> 04:27:20,300
So thoroughly changed. 
That they'll sit obediently at 

4807
04:27:20,300 --> 04:27:24,200
human commands, will guard human
homes and will work alongside 

4808
04:27:24,200 --> 04:27:28,000
humans in a 1000 different ways.
All, you know, is that somewhere

4809
04:27:28,000 --> 04:27:31,600
out in the darkness about 90 
yards from where you're lying, a

4810
04:27:31,600 --> 04:27:34,700
wolf is curled up in the snow 
sleeping for reasons. 

4811
04:27:34,700 --> 04:27:38,600
You can't fully articulate, this
knowledge feels comforting 

4812
04:27:38,600 --> 04:27:42,200
rather than threatening spring 
arrives, not with a bang but 

4813
04:27:42,200 --> 04:27:46,600
with a slow soggy Whisperer Snow
doesn't so much melt as 

4814
04:27:46,600 --> 04:27:50,200
gradually, surrender to Mud, 
creating a landscape of 

4815
04:27:50,200 --> 04:27:53,600
startling, messiness, where 
everything was white and 

4816
04:27:53,600 --> 04:27:56,400
pristine. 
Now, everything is brown and wet

4817
04:27:57,300 --> 04:28:00,800
the rivers and streams. 
Frozen solid for months, begin 

4818
04:28:00,800 --> 04:28:04,900
to crack and grow in their ice. 
Breaking into huge chunks. 

4819
04:28:04,900 --> 04:28:07,700
That pile up against the banks 
with sounds like distant 

4820
04:28:07,700 --> 04:28:10,000
Thunder. 
The world becomes louder. 

4821
04:28:11,000 --> 04:28:14,500
Birds returned from their winter
grounds to the South filling the

4822
04:28:14,500 --> 04:28:18,000
air with calls and songs. 
The small mammals that spent 

4823
04:28:18,000 --> 04:28:21,400
winter underground emerge 
blinking in the bright sunlight.

4824
04:28:22,100 --> 04:28:26,200
Everything is waking up shaking 
off, the topper of winter, and 

4825
04:28:26,200 --> 04:28:29,900
resuming the Urgent business of 
survival and reproduction, the 

4826
04:28:29,900 --> 04:28:32,000
reddish gray wolf disappears for
several weeks. 

4827
04:28:32,000 --> 04:28:35,300
And you find yourself surprised 
by how much you miss its 

4828
04:28:35,300 --> 04:28:37,800
presence. 
The camp feels less complete 

4829
04:28:37,800 --> 04:28:41,600
somehow, as if a regular element
of daily life has been removed. 

4830
04:28:42,600 --> 04:28:45,200
You catch yourself looking for 
the wolf at dawn in the evening 

4831
04:28:45,200 --> 04:28:47,400
and during hunts. 
Where is it? 

4832
04:28:47,400 --> 04:28:50,900
Is it all right? 
Has it moved on to follow some 

4833
04:28:50,900 --> 04:28:54,300
other band of humans or return 
to a fully wild existence. 

4834
04:28:54,300 --> 04:28:57,300
Then one morning as you're 
carrying water from the stream 

4835
04:28:57,300 --> 04:29:00,900
back to Camp, you see it? 
The wolf is sitting in his usual

4836
04:29:00,900 --> 04:29:03,900
spot. 
Well, the spotted occupied two 

4837
04:29:03,900 --> 04:29:08,200
months ago about 100 yards from 
the camp But there's something 

4838
04:29:08,200 --> 04:29:10,300
different. 
The wolf looks thinner. 

4839
04:29:10,300 --> 04:29:14,500
It's coat rougher. 
And as you watch it, stands and 

4840
04:29:14,500 --> 04:29:18,100
stretches, and you see the 
elongated teats of a nursing 

4841
04:29:18,100 --> 04:29:20,300
mother, huh? 
So that's where you've been. 

4842
04:29:20,300 --> 04:29:23,900
You think of having puppies, the
wolf doesn't approach closer. 

4843
04:29:23,900 --> 04:29:27,600
It seems wary than before more 
careful about maintaining 

4844
04:29:27,600 --> 04:29:31,200
distance. 
This makes perfect sense a 

4845
04:29:31,200 --> 04:29:34,400
mother with dependent young has 
every reason to be cautious. 

4846
04:29:34,400 --> 04:29:38,800
You respect this new boundary 
making no attempt to approach, 

4847
04:29:38,800 --> 04:29:41,600
simply acknowledging. 
The wolf's returned with a 

4848
04:29:41,600 --> 04:29:45,100
tossed piece of dried meat over 
the following weeks, the wolf's 

4849
04:29:45,100 --> 04:29:48,200
visits become a regular, 
sometimes it appears at dawn 

4850
04:29:48,200 --> 04:29:51,600
sometimes, not, sometimes it 
follows the hunting parties, 

4851
04:29:51,600 --> 04:29:54,700
sometimes, it's nowhere to be 
seen for days at a time. 

4852
04:29:54,708 --> 04:29:57,900
You understand that it's 
dividing its time between its 

4853
04:29:57,900 --> 04:30:01,700
den, wherever that is, and the 
Scavenging opportunities at the 

4854
04:30:01,700 --> 04:30:04,100
human Camp. 
Then one extraordinary morning 

4855
04:30:04,100 --> 04:30:06,800
the wolf appears at its usual 
spot and its not alone. 

4856
04:30:07,500 --> 04:30:10,500
He count three puppies though 
there might be more back at the 

4857
04:30:10,500 --> 04:30:12,900
den. 
They're perhaps six or seven 

4858
04:30:12,900 --> 04:30:16,500
weeks old passed the helpless 
infant stage but still clearly 

4859
04:30:16,500 --> 04:30:20,300
young with oversized Paws and 
ears that seem too big for their

4860
04:30:20,300 --> 04:30:23,000
heads. 
Their coats are fluffier than 

4861
04:30:23,000 --> 04:30:25,800
their mothers, giving them a 
roly-poly appearance. 

4862
04:30:25,800 --> 04:30:29,200
That's almost comically cute. 
The mother wolf sits at her 

4863
04:30:29,200 --> 04:30:32,000
usual distance, but the puppies 
not yet Having learned 

4864
04:30:32,000 --> 04:30:34,900
appropriate caution immediately.
Begin to explore. 

4865
04:30:35,900 --> 04:30:39,400
One of them spots, something 
interesting, probably just an 

4866
04:30:39,400 --> 04:30:43,400
unusual Rock and pounces on it 
with exaggerated intensity. 

4867
04:30:44,300 --> 04:30:48,100
Another tackles its sibling and 
they tumble together in a blur 

4868
04:30:48,100 --> 04:30:52,800
of Grey fur and wagging tails. 
The entire human camps stops to 

4869
04:30:52,800 --> 04:30:55,500
watch. 
Even the most pragmatic adults, 

4870
04:30:55,500 --> 04:30:57,300
find themselves smiling at the 
puppies. 

4871
04:30:57,300 --> 04:31:01,300
Antics the children are in 
trance sitting at the edge of 

4872
04:31:01,300 --> 04:31:04,100
camp and watching with barely 
contained excitement. 

4873
04:31:04,100 --> 04:31:07,500
One puppy Boulder or more 
Curious than its siblings 

4874
04:31:07,500 --> 04:31:09,400
begins. 
Wandering toward the camp. 

4875
04:31:10,200 --> 04:31:13,000
The mother wolf immediately 
gives a sharp bark and the puppy

4876
04:31:13,000 --> 04:31:15,700
freezes then Retreats but the 
message is clear. 

4877
04:31:16,500 --> 04:31:19,800
A puppy was interested in the 
camp, curious about the strange 

4878
04:31:19,800 --> 04:31:23,000
two-legged creatures. 
The seven year old girl, who has

4879
04:31:23,000 --> 04:31:24,300
been most interested in the 
wolf. 

4880
04:31:24,300 --> 04:31:25,800
Looks at her mother with 
pleading eyes. 

4881
04:31:25,800 --> 04:31:28,300
Can I give them food? 
Her? 

4882
04:31:28,300 --> 04:31:32,100
Mother considers this In the Ice
Age where survival is, never 

4883
04:31:32,100 --> 04:31:35,900
guaranteed wasting food on. 
Wild animals is generally not a 

4884
04:31:35,900 --> 04:31:40,600
smart strategy but these are not
normal times and this is not a 

4885
04:31:40,600 --> 04:31:43,900
normal situation. 
Finally, she nods. 

4886
04:31:44,600 --> 04:31:47,200
Small pieces, don't go any 
closer. 

4887
04:31:47,200 --> 04:31:49,300
Let them come to you if they 
want to. 

4888
04:31:49,300 --> 04:31:51,800
The girl takes a piece of dried 
meat. 

4889
04:31:51,800 --> 04:31:55,300
Breaks it into smaller bits and 
tosses them about halfway 

4890
04:31:55,300 --> 04:31:57,700
between the camp and where the 
wolf family sits. 

4891
04:31:58,400 --> 04:32:01,500
The puppies, watch the meat Arc 
through the air with intense 

4892
04:32:01,500 --> 04:32:04,400
Focus. 
As soon as the piece is land, 

4893
04:32:04,400 --> 04:32:07,900
they bound forward all caution 
forgotten in their enthusiasm, 

4894
04:32:07,900 --> 04:32:10,700
the mother wolf tenses but 
doesn't call the back. 

4895
04:32:11,500 --> 04:32:13,500
She's watching carefully 
assessing the situation. 

4896
04:32:14,700 --> 04:32:19,100
Is this dangerous are the humans
a threat, the puppies, reach the

4897
04:32:19,100 --> 04:32:21,200
meat and immediately begins 
squabbling over. 

4898
04:32:21,200 --> 04:32:24,800
It play fighting and growling 
with all the ferocity their 

4899
04:32:24,800 --> 04:32:27,300
Young Voices can muster which 
isn't much. 

4900
04:32:27,300 --> 04:32:31,300
They sound like tiny squeaky 
toys rather than Fierce and 

4901
04:32:31,300 --> 04:32:34,000
predators one. 
Puppy, having secured a piece of

4902
04:32:34,000 --> 04:32:37,100
meat larger than it can easily 
eat, tries to drag it back 

4903
04:32:37,100 --> 04:32:41,600
toward its mother, but the meat 
is larger than anticipated and 

4904
04:32:41,600 --> 04:32:45,200
the puppy keeps tripping over 
it, somersaulting in the mud and

4905
04:32:45,200 --> 04:32:47,100
generally making a spectacle of 
itself. 

4906
04:32:48,200 --> 04:32:52,900
Humans watching can't help but 
laugh at laughs not wanting to 

4907
04:32:52,908 --> 04:32:56,000
startle, the animals, but 
genuine Amusement nonetheless. 

4908
04:32:56,000 --> 04:32:58,900
The mother wolf watches all of 
this with what seems like 

4909
04:32:58,900 --> 04:33:01,800
resigned patients. 
Welcome to Parenthood. 

4910
04:33:01,800 --> 04:33:05,700
Her expression seems to say 
they're idiots but they're my 

4911
04:33:05,700 --> 04:33:07,500
idiots. 
This becomes a new pattern. 

4912
04:33:08,400 --> 04:33:11,900
Every few days, the wolf family 
appears near Camp, the puppies 

4913
04:33:11,900 --> 04:33:14,200
are gradually learning 
appropriate caution from their 

4914
04:33:14,200 --> 04:33:17,700
mother but their Natural 
Curiosity frequently overrides. 

4915
04:33:17,700 --> 04:33:20,400
Their developing survival 
instincts there endlessly, 

4916
04:33:20,400 --> 04:33:23,300
entertaining, tumbling and 
playing and investigating 

4917
04:33:23,300 --> 04:33:25,400
everything with the Boundless 
Energy of the young. 

4918
04:33:25,400 --> 04:33:28,700
The boldest puppy. 
You start to recognize it by 

4919
04:33:28,700 --> 04:33:32,900
distinctive marking, a white 
patch on its chest begins 

4920
04:33:32,900 --> 04:33:34,700
approaching closer than its 
siblings. 

4921
04:33:35,500 --> 04:33:38,700
It doesn't come all the way to 
the camp but it gets perhaps 50 

4922
04:33:38,700 --> 04:33:42,099
yards away. close enough that 
you can see its individual 

4923
04:33:42,099 --> 04:33:45,800
whiskers and the bright Amber of
its eyes one after noon, you're 

4924
04:33:45,800 --> 04:33:48,500
working on fashioning, a new 
spear shaft sitting outside, the

4925
04:33:48,500 --> 04:33:52,800
communal dwelling, The wolf 
family is in the usual spot, the

4926
04:33:52,800 --> 04:33:55,900
puppies napping in a furry pile 
while their mother keeps watch. 

4927
04:33:56,700 --> 04:33:59,500
The Bold puppy wakes up, looks 
around spots. 

4928
04:33:59,500 --> 04:34:03,099
You and begins walking towards 
the camp, the mother notices 

4929
04:34:03,099 --> 04:34:04,800
immediately and gives a warning 
bark. 

4930
04:34:05,599 --> 04:34:09,000
The puppy stops looks back at 
its mother and then looks at 

4931
04:34:09,000 --> 04:34:11,599
you. 
You can almost see the decision 

4932
04:34:11,599 --> 04:34:13,300
making process happening in its 
young. 

4933
04:34:13,300 --> 04:34:17,900
Brain mother says stop. 
That human looks interesting, 

4934
04:34:17,900 --> 04:34:23,200
but mother says stop, but the 
puppy compromises by lying down 

4935
04:34:23,207 --> 04:34:26,400
about 60 yards away. 
Still closer than its mother 

4936
04:34:26,400 --> 04:34:28,599
would prefer but not actively 
disobeying. 

4937
04:34:29,300 --> 04:34:32,500
It watches you with intense 
Focus as you work on the spare 

4938
04:34:32,500 --> 04:34:36,300
shaft apparently fascinated, by 
the repetitive motions of your 

4939
04:34:36,300 --> 04:34:40,300
hands shaping, the wood you 
decide to test something without

4940
04:34:40,300 --> 04:34:42,700
making. 
Any sudden movements you toss a 

4941
04:34:42,700 --> 04:34:44,200
small piece of meat toward the 
puppy. 

4942
04:34:44,200 --> 04:34:47,599
Not all the way to it. 
But about halfway between you, 

4943
04:34:47,599 --> 04:34:51,900
the puppies head snaps toward 
the meat, It looks at the meat 

4944
04:34:51,900 --> 04:34:56,099
then at its mother, then at you 
the mother wolf gives another 

4945
04:34:56,099 --> 04:34:59,400
warning bark but the puppy is 
already made it to decision. 

4946
04:34:59,400 --> 04:35:03,800
It's slinks forward belly to the
ground moving carefully and 

4947
04:35:03,800 --> 04:35:07,000
snatches the meat. 
But instead of retreating all 

4948
04:35:07,000 --> 04:35:10,200
the way back to its mother, it 
only goes about 20 yards away 

4949
04:35:10,200 --> 04:35:14,400
before laying down to eat the 
boundary, just shifted again, 70

4950
04:35:14,400 --> 04:35:17,099
yards, became 60 yards which 
became 40 yards. 

4951
04:35:17,099 --> 04:35:22,099
You don't push it further 
Patience is essential here, not 

4952
04:35:22,099 --> 04:35:25,000
because you're consciously 
trying to tame this animal, but 

4953
04:35:25,000 --> 04:35:28,500
because you understand 
instinctively, that rushing will

4954
04:35:28,500 --> 04:35:31,700
ruin whatever understanding is 
developing the summer 

4955
04:35:31,700 --> 04:35:34,200
progresses. 
The puppies grow rapidly. 

4956
04:35:34,200 --> 04:35:37,599
There are oversized features. 
Gradually becoming proportional.

4957
04:35:38,300 --> 04:35:41,300
They're learning to hunt. 
Accompanying their mother on 

4958
04:35:41,300 --> 04:35:44,400
Expeditions though. 
They're still comically bad at 

4959
04:35:44,400 --> 04:35:46,400
it. 
You occasionally, see them 

4960
04:35:46,400 --> 04:35:50,000
trying to catch rabbits bounding
through the grass with enormous,

4961
04:35:50,000 --> 04:35:54,700
enthusiasm and zero technique 
sending their prey fleeing long 

4962
04:35:54,700 --> 04:35:57,599
before they get anywhere. 
Close the Bold puppy with the 

4963
04:35:57,599 --> 04:36:00,800
white chest patch continues to 
be the most adventurous. 

4964
04:36:01,800 --> 04:36:05,500
It's now regularly coming within
40 yards of the camp close 

4965
04:36:05,500 --> 04:36:07,700
enough that the children can 
toss it treats without much 

4966
04:36:07,700 --> 04:36:10,200
effort. 
It hasn't yet allowed anyone to 

4967
04:36:10,200 --> 04:36:12,700
touch it, but then there's a 
clear sense that it might 

4968
04:36:12,700 --> 04:36:14,300
someday. 
If the approach were made 

4969
04:36:14,300 --> 04:36:16,800
carefully enough. 
The other two puppies are more 

4970
04:36:16,800 --> 04:36:18,900
cautious maintaining the 
distance. 

4971
04:36:18,900 --> 04:36:22,800
Their mother seems to prefer, 
they'll take to tossed food but 

4972
04:36:22,800 --> 04:36:25,200
they're not as interested in the
human's themselves. 

4973
04:36:25,200 --> 04:36:29,599
Their following the traditional 
wolf path, benefiting from Human

4974
04:36:29,599 --> 04:36:32,400
proximity but maintaining their 
wild Independence. 

4975
04:36:32,400 --> 04:36:37,000
But the Bold one is different. 
It's crossing a threshold moving

4976
04:36:37,000 --> 04:36:40,599
into territory, that no Wolff 
has previously occupied not 

4977
04:36:40,599 --> 04:36:43,900
quite wild. 
Not quite tame, but something in

4978
04:36:43,900 --> 04:36:47,500
between a hybrid State that's 
being invented in real time. 

4979
04:36:47,500 --> 04:36:51,200
One evening as the sun sets and 
paints the sky in shades of 

4980
04:36:51,207 --> 04:36:54,099
orange and pink. 
You're sitting outside watching 

4981
04:36:54,099 --> 04:36:58,000
the day end. 
The Bold puppy is lying about 30

4982
04:36:58,000 --> 04:37:01,099
yards away. 
Also watching the sunset or 

4983
04:37:01,099 --> 04:37:04,300
possibly just resting. 
The other members of the wolf 

4984
04:37:04,300 --> 04:37:08,000
family of moved off to hunt but 
this puppy has chosen to stay 

4985
04:37:08,000 --> 04:37:10,000
near the human camp for a long 
time. 

4986
04:37:10,000 --> 04:37:14,400
Neither of you moves, You're 
simply sharing the space, two 

4987
04:37:14,400 --> 04:37:18,300
different species, both watching
the same sky turn from day to 

4988
04:37:18,300 --> 04:37:20,400
night. 
It's a moment of perfect 

4989
04:37:20,400 --> 04:37:23,300
peaceful coexistence not 
dramatic. 

4990
04:37:23,300 --> 04:37:25,700
Not particularly significant on 
its own. 

4991
04:37:26,500 --> 04:37:29,599
But part of a larger pattern 
that slowly quietly rewriting 

4992
04:37:29,599 --> 04:37:31,800
the rules of how different 
species can relate to each 

4993
04:37:31,800 --> 04:37:34,099
other. 
A shooting star streaks across 

4994
04:37:34,108 --> 04:37:37,800
the sky bright and brief the 
puppies ears perk up. 

4995
04:37:37,800 --> 04:37:40,800
As if it heard something though,
of course, the star makes no 

4996
04:37:40,800 --> 04:37:43,300
sound. 
You find yourself wandering, 

4997
04:37:43,300 --> 04:37:47,300
what the puppy thinks of the sky
of the stars of this strange 

4998
04:37:47,300 --> 04:37:49,700
world? 
It's been born into, he'll never

4999
04:37:49,700 --> 04:37:52,000
know. 
Of course, the puppies internal 

5000
04:37:52,000 --> 04:37:55,599
life, remains a mystery. 
But in this moment, that doesn't

5001
04:37:55,599 --> 04:37:58,599
seem to matter. 
What matters is the simple fact 

5002
04:37:58,599 --> 04:38:02,200
of shared space. 
Shared time and shared 

5003
04:38:02,200 --> 04:38:05,200
existence, the stars come out 
one by one. 

5004
04:38:05,200 --> 04:38:07,200
Filling the sky with their 
Ancient Light. 

5005
04:38:08,000 --> 04:38:12,400
Somewhere in the darkness, a 
mammoth Trumpets, the sound 

5006
04:38:12,400 --> 04:38:14,599
carrying for miles across the 
still air. 

5007
04:38:15,500 --> 04:38:18,400
Puppies ears swivel toward the 
sound but it doesn't move from 

5008
04:38:18,400 --> 04:38:20,000
its spot. 
Neither do you. 

5009
04:38:20,008 --> 04:38:23,400
You sit together human and 
almost as the night deepens 

5010
04:38:23,400 --> 04:38:26,000
around you. 
The Bold puppy which you've 

5011
04:38:26,000 --> 04:38:28,700
started thinking of as white 
chest reaches. 

5012
04:38:28,700 --> 04:38:32,200
Adolescence with all the 
awkwardness that implies its 

5013
04:38:32,200 --> 04:38:35,800
paws temporarily too large for 
its body, give it a clumsy, 

5014
04:38:35,800 --> 04:38:39,200
gait, its voice is changing 
producing. 

5015
04:38:39,200 --> 04:38:43,300
Sometimes a puppy yet, sometimes
an adult bark and occasionally 

5016
04:38:43,300 --> 04:38:45,000
an embarrassing crack between 
the two. 

5017
04:38:45,900 --> 04:38:48,900
It goes through a phase where it
seems to trip over its own feet 

5018
04:38:48,900 --> 04:38:52,500
at least once per day, usually 
while trying to impress, the 

5019
04:38:52,500 --> 04:38:56,500
watching humans, with some feet 
of athletic prowess, white chest

5020
04:38:56,500 --> 04:39:00,000
is now about seven months old 
and something remarkable as 

5021
04:39:00,000 --> 04:39:02,800
happened. 
The distance between the puppy 

5022
04:39:02,800 --> 04:39:07,099
and the nearest humans as shrunk
to about 20 yards Some mornings 

5023
04:39:07,099 --> 04:39:10,400
white chest is waiting near the 
camp when people emerge from 

5024
04:39:10,400 --> 04:39:13,900
their dwellings tail, whacking, 
and greeting that tail. 

5025
04:39:13,900 --> 04:39:17,800
Whacking is itself noteworthy. 
Adult wolves, do wag their 

5026
04:39:17,800 --> 04:39:20,800
tails, but usually only in 
specific social contexts with 

5027
04:39:20,800 --> 04:39:24,700
other walls. white chest wags, 
its tail at humans constantly 

5028
04:39:24,700 --> 04:39:28,700
when it sees people, when it's 
given food and when someone 

5029
04:39:28,700 --> 04:39:32,300
simply looks in its direction, 
it's as if the puppy is 

5030
04:39:32,300 --> 04:39:35,300
repurposed a wolf to Wolf social
signal for Wolf to human 

5031
04:39:35,300 --> 04:39:38,400
communication, the other two 
puppies from that litter are 

5032
04:39:38,400 --> 04:39:41,100
still around but have remained 
more, traditionally wolf-like 

5033
04:39:41,800 --> 04:39:45,800
They scavenge from Human kills. 
They tolerate human proximity at

5034
04:39:45,800 --> 04:39:49,300
reasonable distances, but they 
show no interest in closer 

5035
04:39:49,300 --> 04:39:52,100
interaction. 
They're becoming normal wolves. 

5036
04:39:52,100 --> 04:39:55,800
Following the ancient patterns 
of their species, but white 

5037
04:39:55,800 --> 04:39:58,900
chest is becoming something else
entirely one breakthrough 

5038
04:39:58,900 --> 04:40:00,400
morning. 
The seven year old girl. 

5039
04:40:00,400 --> 04:40:04,300
Her name in the sound, your 
language uses is something that 

5040
04:40:04,300 --> 04:40:08,000
roughly translates to Bright. 
One approaches closer to white 

5041
04:40:08,000 --> 04:40:09,900
chest than anyone has dead 
before. 

5042
04:40:09,900 --> 04:40:13,700
She's holding a particularly 
nice piece of smoked meat and 

5043
04:40:13,700 --> 04:40:17,500
she is making soft encouraging 
sounds like chest watches, her 

5044
04:40:17,500 --> 04:40:21,400
approach with intense Focus, 
every muscle is tents ready to 

5045
04:40:21,408 --> 04:40:25,900
flee of necessary but the puppy 
doesn't flee when bright one 

5046
04:40:25,900 --> 04:40:29,500
gets within about 10 yards, she 
stops kneels down to make 

5047
04:40:29,500 --> 04:40:32,600
herself less threatening and 
extend her hand with the meat 

5048
04:40:32,600 --> 04:40:35,900
for long moments. 
Nothing happens then moving 

5049
04:40:35,900 --> 04:40:39,800
slowly hesitantly white chest 
approaches one. 

5050
04:40:39,800 --> 04:40:43,600
Step two steps three. 
The puppy is now close enough 

5051
04:40:43,600 --> 04:40:44,900
that bright. 
One could touch it if she 

5052
04:40:44,900 --> 04:40:47,800
reached out. 
White chest stretches, its neck 

5053
04:40:47,800 --> 04:40:51,500
forward, still keeping its body 
at a safe distance ready to 

5054
04:40:51,500 --> 04:40:54,600
bolt. 
Its nose Twitches, sensing the 

5055
04:40:54,600 --> 04:40:58,500
meat. 
Then in one quick motion, it 

5056
04:40:58,500 --> 04:41:01,000
snatches the meat from Bright 
ones hand and Retreats about 

5057
04:41:01,008 --> 04:41:04,000
five yards but here's the 
remarkable part. 

5058
04:41:04,700 --> 04:41:07,700
In stead of running all the way 
back to the safe distance, white

5059
04:41:07,700 --> 04:41:11,300
chest lies down right there. 
Five yards away and eats the 

5060
04:41:11,300 --> 04:41:13,800
meat while watching bright one 
with an expression that seems 

5061
04:41:13,800 --> 04:41:16,700
almost friendly, right? 
One is beaming. 

5062
04:41:17,700 --> 04:41:21,700
Stays kneeling, not moving, not 
trying to push the boundary any 

5063
04:41:21,700 --> 04:41:24,400
further. 
You just watches as white chest 

5064
04:41:24,400 --> 04:41:28,600
finishes, the meat licks, its 
chops thoroughly and then in a 

5065
04:41:28,608 --> 04:41:32,300
gesture, that makes bright one 
gas with delight yours and 

5066
04:41:32,300 --> 04:41:34,800
stretches out for a nap. 
Right there, five yards from 

5067
04:41:34,800 --> 04:41:37,500
Human. 
If words spreads quickly through

5068
04:41:37,500 --> 04:41:40,700
the camp People emerge from 
their dwellings to see this 

5069
04:41:40,700 --> 04:41:45,300
extraordinary sight. 
A wolf nearly full-grown now 

5070
04:41:45,300 --> 04:41:48,600
sleeping peacefully within easy 
spear throw of a human 

5071
04:41:48,600 --> 04:41:51,200
settlement. 
Over the following weeks, white 

5072
04:41:51,200 --> 04:41:54,700
chest becomes Bolder, the puppy 
starts following bright one 

5073
04:41:54,700 --> 04:41:58,200
around when she does her daily 
tasks collecting firewood, 

5074
04:41:58,200 --> 04:42:01,400
hauling water, and helping 
prepare hides. 

5075
04:42:01,400 --> 04:42:05,100
It's not always closed. 
Sometimes, it's 20 yards behind 

5076
04:42:05,100 --> 04:42:09,400
sometimes 30, but it's clearly 
following clearly choosing to be

5077
04:42:09,400 --> 04:42:12,700
near this particular human. 
The relationship develops, what 

5078
04:42:12,700 --> 04:42:16,000
you might call reciprocity, 
though, you have no word for 

5079
04:42:16,000 --> 04:42:18,100
this concept. 
Right. 

5080
04:42:18,100 --> 04:42:21,600
One shares food with white chest
and white chest provides 

5081
04:42:21,600 --> 04:42:26,500
companionship and increasingly a
kind of early warning system. 

5082
04:42:27,800 --> 04:42:31,500
The puppies ears are sharp with 
an human ears and its nose is 

5083
04:42:31,500 --> 04:42:36,000
infinitely, more sensitive. 
When white chests attention 

5084
04:42:36,000 --> 04:42:39,700
suddenly focuses on something 
distant, people have learned to 

5085
04:42:39,700 --> 04:42:42,000
pay attention. 
More than once. 

5086
04:42:42,000 --> 04:42:44,900
The puppies alertness, has given
warning of approaching animals, 

5087
04:42:44,900 --> 04:42:49,700
sometimes dangerous, predators, 
sometimes potential, prey one 

5088
04:42:49,700 --> 04:42:52,200
after noon. 
White chest is lying near where 

5089
04:42:52,200 --> 04:42:54,300
bright one is working on 
scraping hide. 

5090
04:42:55,100 --> 04:42:58,900
The puppy's head suddenly lifts 
ears, pricked forward, and body 

5091
04:42:58,900 --> 04:43:02,100
tensed. 
It's staring intently toward a 

5092
04:43:02,100 --> 04:43:04,100
rocky outcrop about 200 yards 
away. 

5093
04:43:04,100 --> 04:43:07,000
Write one follows the puppies 
gaze but sees nothing. 

5094
04:43:07,800 --> 04:43:10,300
Still, she's learned to trust 
white chess census. 

5095
04:43:11,200 --> 04:43:14,000
She calls out a warning to the 
camp and within seconds, several

5096
04:43:14,000 --> 04:43:16,700
adults emerge with spears for 
several minutes. 

5097
04:43:16,700 --> 04:43:20,400
Nothing happens. 
Then a Cave Bear a massive 

5098
04:43:20,400 --> 04:43:23,200
creature easily. 
Nine feet tall if it stood on 

5099
04:43:23,200 --> 04:43:26,600
its hind legs with a disposition
that makes modern Grizzly. 

5100
04:43:26,600 --> 04:43:29,600
Seemed friendly emerges from 
behind the rocks. 

5101
04:43:30,300 --> 04:43:33,800
It's not approaching the camp 
just passing through the area 

5102
04:43:33,800 --> 04:43:36,200
but Cave, Bears and notoriously 
unpredictable. 

5103
04:43:37,200 --> 04:43:40,200
Having warning of its presence 
is the difference between safety

5104
04:43:40,200 --> 04:43:42,800
and disaster. 
The bear passes without 

5105
04:43:42,800 --> 04:43:45,700
incident. 
But the human's gratitude toward

5106
04:43:45,700 --> 04:43:49,800
white chest is genuine. 
Extra meteor shared that evening

5107
04:43:49,800 --> 04:43:53,400
and the puppy for the first time
is allowed to sleep. 

5108
04:43:53,400 --> 04:43:57,300
Just outside the entrance to the
communal dwelling rather than at

5109
04:43:57,300 --> 04:44:01,000
its usual more distant spot, 
white chest isn't the only young

5110
04:44:01,000 --> 04:44:04,700
wolf showing interest in humans.
as your band moves through its 

5111
04:44:04,700 --> 04:44:08,600
seasonal rounds, never string 
too far from the court territory

5112
04:44:08,600 --> 04:44:13,100
but shifting locations as 
resources dictate You notice 

5113
04:44:13,100 --> 04:44:17,400
other Wolves at different sites,
particularly younger ones that 

5114
04:44:17,400 --> 04:44:20,200
display varying levels of 
boldness around humans. 

5115
04:44:20,200 --> 04:44:24,300
Some are like white chest, 
actively seeking proximity 

5116
04:44:24,300 --> 04:44:26,000
others are somewhere in the 
middle. 

5117
04:44:26,000 --> 04:44:29,100
Not avoiding humans, but not 
seeking them out either. 

5118
04:44:30,300 --> 04:44:33,900
It's as if there's a spectrum of
personality types and the wolves

5119
04:44:33,900 --> 04:44:36,400
on the boulder, end of that 
Spectrum are the ones who keep 

5120
04:44:36,400 --> 04:44:40,000
gravitating toward human cams. 
You're beginning to suspect 

5121
04:44:40,000 --> 04:44:41,700
though. 
You have no framework to 

5122
04:44:41,700 --> 04:44:44,700
articulate this, that some kind 
of selection is happening. 

5123
04:44:44,700 --> 04:44:48,700
The boldest walls, get the most 
access to easy food from Human 

5124
04:44:48,700 --> 04:44:51,400
scraps. 
The boldest walls are the ones 

5125
04:44:51,400 --> 04:44:54,300
learning to cooperate, however, 
Loosely with human hunting 

5126
04:44:54,300 --> 04:44:58,500
activities, the boldest wools 
are the one surviving best near 

5127
04:44:58,500 --> 04:45:01,100
human settlements. 
And when these bold walls 

5128
04:45:01,100 --> 04:45:04,300
eventually mate as white chest 
will in another year or so, 

5129
04:45:04,300 --> 04:45:07,700
they'll likely produce offspring
that inherit this tendency 

5130
04:45:07,700 --> 04:45:12,800
toward boldness, Generation by 
Generation The Wolves, most 

5131
04:45:12,800 --> 04:45:15,800
comfortable around, humans are 
the ones most likely to thrive. 

5132
04:45:15,800 --> 04:45:18,600
In this new ecological niche. 
That humans provide. 

5133
04:45:18,600 --> 04:45:22,200
Meanwhile, the Shire more, 
traditionally wolf like 

5134
04:45:22,200 --> 04:45:26,000
individuals continue to do fine 
in the vast Wilderness away from

5135
04:45:26,000 --> 04:45:29,000
human settlements. 
They're not being replaced or 

5136
04:45:29,000 --> 04:45:32,200
driven out, it's just that two. 
Populations are slowly. 

5137
04:45:32,200 --> 04:45:36,700
Diverging one remaining purely 
wolf one beginning, the long 

5138
04:45:36,700 --> 04:45:40,000
journey toward becoming 
something else, white chest, 

5139
04:45:40,000 --> 04:45:42,800
reaches full. 
Adulthood about a year and a 

5140
04:45:42,808 --> 04:45:46,600
half old now, The puppy 
awkwardness is gone replaced by 

5141
04:45:46,600 --> 04:45:49,000
the lean efficiency of a mature 
predator. 

5142
04:45:50,200 --> 04:45:52,600
White chest now weighs about 75 
pounds. 

5143
04:45:53,600 --> 04:45:55,500
Smaller than its mother but 
still formidable. 

5144
04:45:56,400 --> 04:45:59,100
And while the wolf is clearly 
bonded, with bright one and the 

5145
04:45:59,100 --> 04:46:02,500
rest of the band, it's not tame 
in any conventional sense. 

5146
04:46:02,500 --> 04:46:06,700
It still hunts his own prey, it 
still maintains some distance, 

5147
04:46:06,700 --> 04:46:10,100
it still makes its own decisions
about when to be near the camp 

5148
04:46:10,100 --> 04:46:13,200
and when to disappear into the 
Wilderness for days at a time, 

5149
04:46:13,208 --> 04:46:17,600
but something fundamental has 
changed when white chest returns

5150
04:46:17,600 --> 04:46:20,200
from these Wilderness, 
excursions it greets, the 

5151
04:46:20,200 --> 04:46:25,100
humans, Officially bright one 
with obvious, pleasure, tail, 

5152
04:46:25,100 --> 04:46:29,600
wagging, and body wiggling. 
In a dance of joy. when the band

5153
04:46:29,600 --> 04:46:34,800
moves Camp, white chest follows,
without hesitation, When 

5154
04:46:34,800 --> 04:46:37,700
Brighton sits by the fire in the
evening, white chest lies 

5155
04:46:37,700 --> 04:46:41,600
nearby, close enough to be 
touched, those still wary of 

5156
04:46:41,600 --> 04:46:45,000
Southern movements, one evening 
after successful hunt. 

5157
04:46:45,000 --> 04:46:48,500
The band is in good spirits, 
there's meter plenty. 

5158
04:46:48,500 --> 04:46:51,000
And someone has found a wild 
berry bush. 

5159
04:46:51,000 --> 04:46:53,500
Still holding fruit, despite the
lateness of the season. 

5160
04:46:54,500 --> 04:46:56,900
The children are playing a game 
that involves running around the

5161
04:46:56,900 --> 04:47:01,300
camps perimeter and white chest 
joins in running, alongside them

5162
04:47:01,300 --> 04:47:04,100
with obvious enjoyment. 
The adults watch this with 

5163
04:47:04,100 --> 04:47:07,000
Expressions, ranging from 
amazement to Amusement to 

5164
04:47:07,000 --> 04:47:11,300
something approaching unease. 
This is unprecedented wild 

5165
04:47:11,300 --> 04:47:13,100
predators. 
Don't play with human children 

5166
04:47:13,100 --> 04:47:17,600
but here undeniably is a wolf 
doing exactly that. 

5167
04:47:18,300 --> 04:47:20,400
Carefully without using its 
teeth. 

5168
04:47:20,400 --> 04:47:24,200
Even in play fighting adjusting 
its strength, to accommodate the

5169
04:47:24,208 --> 04:47:27,800
smaller weaker, humans, bright 
ones, mother watches, her 

5170
04:47:27,800 --> 04:47:30,900
daughter and white chess playing
together and she has a thought 

5171
04:47:30,900 --> 04:47:33,600
that she'll later try to express
to her partner though. 

5172
04:47:33,600 --> 04:47:37,100
The language doesn't quite have 
the words for it yet. something 

5173
04:47:37,100 --> 04:47:41,500
like, we're watching something 
new being born, not just this 

5174
04:47:41,500 --> 04:47:46,100
wolf, but the idea of wolves and
humans together, what we're 

5175
04:47:46,100 --> 04:47:49,300
seeing isn't just unusual. 
It's never happened before. 

5176
04:47:49,300 --> 04:47:52,400
In all of history. 
She's right though. 

5177
04:47:52,400 --> 04:47:55,600
She doesn't know how right. 
She doesn't know that tens of 

5178
04:47:55,600 --> 04:47:58,000
thousands of years in the future
humans will live alongside 

5179
04:47:58,000 --> 04:48:00,900
millions of descendants of 
wolves like white chest. 

5180
04:48:01,900 --> 04:48:03,900
She doesn't know that these 
descendants will come in 

5181
04:48:03,908 --> 04:48:07,700
bewildering variety. 
Tiny ones that fit in a pocket. 

5182
04:48:07,708 --> 04:48:11,300
Huge ones that stand taller than
wolves ever did. 

5183
04:48:12,000 --> 04:48:15,700
Some bred for hunting, some for 
guarding, and some simply for 

5184
04:48:15,700 --> 04:48:18,200
companionship. 
She doesn't know that. 

5185
04:48:18,200 --> 04:48:21,100
Humans will develop complex, 
emotional bonds, with these 

5186
04:48:21,100 --> 04:48:25,500
animals, treating them as family
members morning their deaths and

5187
04:48:25,500 --> 04:48:29,100
celebrating their lives. 
All she knows is that right now.

5188
04:48:29,100 --> 04:48:32,400
In this moment her daughter is 
playing with a wolf and both of 

5189
04:48:32,400 --> 04:48:34,600
them are clearly absolutely 
happy. 

5190
04:48:34,600 --> 04:48:38,900
The fire crackles the Stars 
wheel overhead in their Eternal 

5191
04:48:38,900 --> 04:48:40,700
patterns. 
A cool breeze. 

5192
04:48:40,700 --> 04:48:44,500
Brings the center of the distant
Pines and in this small corner 

5193
04:48:44,500 --> 04:48:48,000
of the vast Ice Age world. 
Something impossible has become 

5194
04:48:48,000 --> 04:48:50,300
possible like chess stops 
running. 

5195
04:48:50,300 --> 04:48:53,300
Sits down. 
To catch his breath and bright. 

5196
04:48:53,300 --> 04:48:56,300
One impulsively reaches out to 
touch the top of the wolf's 

5197
04:48:56,300 --> 04:48:59,000
head. 
White chest goes very still, 

5198
04:48:59,000 --> 04:49:02,600
this is the first time, a human 
has directly touched it. 

5199
04:49:03,500 --> 04:49:07,100
For a moment, the outcome could 
go either way, then white chest 

5200
04:49:07,100 --> 04:49:10,000
leans in to the touch just 
slightly and bright. 

5201
04:49:10,000 --> 04:49:13,400
One begins, gently scratching 
behind the wolf's ears, white 

5202
04:49:13,400 --> 04:49:15,200
chest size, closing, 
contentment. 

5203
04:49:16,000 --> 04:49:19,600
One back leg starts, twitching 
and voluntarily the way dogs 

5204
04:49:19,600 --> 04:49:21,400
legs will twitch. 
When you find just the right 

5205
04:49:21,408 --> 04:49:24,700
spot, the bridge between species
has been crossed. 

5206
04:49:24,700 --> 04:49:28,800
There's no going back. 
Now, three years of past since 

5207
04:49:28,800 --> 04:49:30,700
white chest. 
First ventured close to the 

5208
04:49:30,700 --> 04:49:34,100
human Camp as a bold puppy. 
The wolf though. 

5209
04:49:34,100 --> 04:49:36,200
Increasingly it seems incorrect 
to call it. 

5210
04:49:36,200 --> 04:49:40,600
Simply a wolf is now a mature 
adult fully integrated into the 

5211
04:49:40,600 --> 04:49:44,300
daily life of your band. 
White chest has become for lack 

5212
04:49:44,300 --> 04:49:47,400
of a better term and member of 
the family, the wolf's daily 

5213
04:49:47,400 --> 04:49:50,400
routine mirrors. 
The humans own rhythms white 

5214
04:49:50,400 --> 04:49:54,200
chest sleeps near the camp 
entrance at night often beside 

5215
04:49:54,200 --> 04:49:58,000
bright, one sleeping area. 
In the morning, the wolf of 

5216
04:49:58,000 --> 04:49:59,800
companies whoever goes to fetch 
water. 

5217
04:49:59,800 --> 04:50:03,500
Trotting alongside them 
investigating, interesting 

5218
04:50:03,500 --> 04:50:06,700
smells and occasionally pausing 
to Mark territory. 

5219
04:50:08,100 --> 04:50:12,200
During the day, white chest, 
often joined hunting parties and

5220
04:50:12,200 --> 04:50:15,400
this is where the relationship 
has evolved into something truly

5221
04:50:15,400 --> 04:50:18,800
remarkable white chest as 
learned to actively participate.

5222
04:50:18,800 --> 04:50:21,700
In Hunts. 
The wolf understands somehow 

5223
04:50:21,700 --> 04:50:22,900
what the humans are trying to 
do. 

5224
04:50:24,000 --> 04:50:27,000
When the hunting party is 
stalking prey, white chest 

5225
04:50:27,000 --> 04:50:31,200
remains silent and stays down 
wind When it's time to drive 

5226
04:50:31,200 --> 04:50:35,200
game, toward waiting Hunters, 
white chest helps with the drive

5227
04:50:35,200 --> 04:50:38,300
barking and lunging to push the 
animals in the right direction. 

5228
04:50:39,300 --> 04:50:42,800
And critically white chest has 
learned to wait for its share of

5229
04:50:42,800 --> 04:50:45,400
the kill rather than trying to 
claim it immediately. 

5230
04:50:45,400 --> 04:50:50,200
This cooperation isn't perfect. 
Like chest is still a predator 

5231
04:50:50,200 --> 04:50:53,500
with predator instincts and 
occasionally those instincts 

5232
04:50:53,500 --> 04:50:56,800
override training. 
Once during a particularly 

5233
04:50:56,800 --> 04:51:00,600
exciting, Chase of a wounded 
bison, white chest became over 

5234
04:51:00,600 --> 04:51:04,400
eager, and darted into early 
nearly getting trampled for the 

5235
04:51:04,400 --> 04:51:06,600
trouble. 
The wolf learned from this 

5236
04:51:06,600 --> 04:51:10,100
mistake. 
Painfully limping for several 

5237
04:51:10,100 --> 04:51:13,600
days afterwards. 
But learned nonetheless the 

5238
04:51:13,600 --> 04:51:16,900
humans hunting success rate has 
noticeably improved with white 

5239
04:51:16,900 --> 04:51:20,700
chest participation. 
The wolf Superior senses, help 

5240
04:51:20,700 --> 04:51:24,600
locate prey, that humanized 
would miss. white chest 

5241
04:51:24,600 --> 04:51:28,300
presents, make some prey animals
nervous, causing them to move in

5242
04:51:28,300 --> 04:51:31,800
ways that make them easier for 
human Hunters to predict And 

5243
04:51:31,800 --> 04:51:34,600
occasionally when hunting 
smaller game like rabbits or 

5244
04:51:34,600 --> 04:51:39,000
foxes white chest makes kills 
entirely independently and 

5245
04:51:39,000 --> 04:51:42,300
shares them with the band 
particularly with bright one. 

5246
04:51:42,300 --> 04:51:45,200
But it's not just practical 
benefits that Define this 

5247
04:51:45,200 --> 04:51:48,100
relationship. 
His genuine affection here, 

5248
04:51:48,100 --> 04:51:51,600
genuine companionship. 
Bright one. 

5249
04:51:51,600 --> 04:51:54,800
Now approaching 11 years old, 
has formed a bond with white 

5250
04:51:54,800 --> 04:51:57,700
chest. 
That goes beyond utility the 

5251
04:51:57,700 --> 04:52:00,900
wolf. 
Is a constant companion, her 

5252
04:52:00,900 --> 04:52:06,700
Playmate and her confidant. 
When bright one is sad and life.

5253
04:52:06,700 --> 04:52:08,700
In the Ice. 
Age provides plenty of reasons 

5254
04:52:08,700 --> 04:52:11,700
for sadness. 
White chest, seems to sense it 

5255
04:52:11,700 --> 04:52:16,600
pressing close offering physical
Comfort, one, particularly hard,

5256
04:52:16,600 --> 04:52:21,900
winter food, becomes scarce, the
band stored supplies run low and

5257
04:52:21,900 --> 04:52:24,700
several difficult weeks passed 
where everyone is hungry. 

5258
04:52:24,700 --> 04:52:29,200
Most of the time, During this 
period, white chest continues to

5259
04:52:29,200 --> 04:52:31,300
hunt independently and brings 
back. 

5260
04:52:31,300 --> 04:52:36,500
Small game, Rabbits Birds. 
Even once a fox and leaves this 

5261
04:52:36,500 --> 04:52:40,200
food near Brighton sleeping 
area, the wolf is choosing to 

5262
04:52:40,200 --> 04:52:44,600
share food with a human even 
when food is scarce, This 

5263
04:52:44,600 --> 04:52:48,900
behavior is so unusual. 
So contrary to normal Predator 

5264
04:52:48,900 --> 04:52:52,900
behavior, that it cements white 
chest status within the band. 

5265
04:52:54,100 --> 04:52:57,900
Is not just a useful animal. 
This is family, white chest, 

5266
04:52:57,900 --> 04:53:01,300
isn't the only wolf showing this
new pattern of behavior over 

5267
04:53:01,300 --> 04:53:01,900
these. 
Three years. 

5268
04:53:01,900 --> 04:53:04,900
Several other young wolves, have
attached themselves to the band 

5269
04:53:04,900 --> 04:53:06,900
though. 
Nana's completely as white 

5270
04:53:06,900 --> 04:53:10,100
chest. 
There's a larger Shaggy, a wolf 

5271
04:53:10,100 --> 04:53:13,000
that the hunters called gray 
shoulder, who primarily 

5272
04:53:13,000 --> 04:53:16,400
accompanies hunting parties, but
keeps more distance than white 

5273
04:53:16,400 --> 04:53:19,400
chest does. 
There's a younger female with 

5274
04:53:19,400 --> 04:53:23,300
unusual pale coloring light 
coat, who seems most interested 

5275
04:53:23,300 --> 04:53:26,400
in staying near the camp, and 
getting handouts showing little 

5276
04:53:26,400 --> 04:53:29,500
interest in hunting, these 
different wolves display, 

5277
04:53:29,500 --> 04:53:33,100
different personality, traits 
different preferences, and 

5278
04:53:33,100 --> 04:53:35,800
different degrees of integration
with human society. 

5279
04:53:35,800 --> 04:53:39,800
It's becoming clear, that not 
all wolves, who associate with 

5280
04:53:39,800 --> 04:53:42,700
humans do. 
So in the same way, some are 

5281
04:53:42,700 --> 04:53:46,100
primarily interested in food. 
Some seem to Crave 

5282
04:53:46,100 --> 04:53:49,800
companionship, some appear to 
enjoy the Co-operative hunting. 

5283
04:53:50,700 --> 04:53:54,100
Each wolf is an individual with 
its own motivations and 

5284
04:53:54,108 --> 04:53:57,000
temperament gray shoulder. 
For instance, is all business, 

5285
04:53:57,000 --> 04:54:00,700
the wolf shows up when their 
hunting to be done participates,

5286
04:54:00,700 --> 04:54:03,900
efficiently takes its share of 
the kill and then often 

5287
04:54:03,900 --> 04:54:07,800
disappears for days of time, 
there's no tail wagging know, 

5288
04:54:07,800 --> 04:54:10,300
playing with children and no 
sleeping near the camp. 

5289
04:54:11,300 --> 04:54:14,700
But great shoulders reliable. 
When the hunting party sets out,

5290
04:54:14,700 --> 04:54:17,300
they can usually count on great 
shoulder appearing, within a few

5291
04:54:17,300 --> 04:54:21,600
hours ready to work like coat. 
Conversely seems to have no 

5292
04:54:21,600 --> 04:54:25,700
interest in hunting whatsoever, 
This wolf has perfected, the art

5293
04:54:25,700 --> 04:54:30,100
of looking pathetic, sitting at 
the edge of camp with big sad 

5294
04:54:30,100 --> 04:54:32,700
eyes until someone takes pity 
and tosses. 

5295
04:54:32,700 --> 04:54:35,800
It food. 
Like coat is gentle enough that 

5296
04:54:35,800 --> 04:54:39,200
even the smallest children can 
approach it safely and the Wolf 

5297
04:54:39,200 --> 04:54:41,700
seems to enjoy being petted and 
fussed over. 

5298
04:54:42,600 --> 04:54:47,200
If wolves could purr like coat 
would purr constantly the 

5299
04:54:47,200 --> 04:54:50,100
variety in these walls behaviors
is teaching your band something 

5300
04:54:50,100 --> 04:54:52,900
important. 
These animals are not all the 

5301
04:54:52,900 --> 04:54:56,400
same, they have personalities 
preferences and individual 

5302
04:54:56,400 --> 04:55:00,500
quirks. this seems obvious now 
but it's actually a significant 

5303
04:55:00,500 --> 04:55:03,700
shift in thinking Previously, 
wolves were viewed as a 

5304
04:55:03,708 --> 04:55:07,300
category, dangerous, predators 
to be avoided or killed. 

5305
04:55:08,500 --> 04:55:10,600
Now, they're being seen as 
individuals. 

5306
04:55:10,600 --> 04:55:13,500
This one is friendly. 
That one is shy. 

5307
04:55:13,500 --> 04:55:16,900
This one is a good Hunter, and 
that one is lazy. 

5308
04:55:16,900 --> 04:55:20,400
But sweet natured. 
One spring, white chest 

5309
04:55:20,400 --> 04:55:23,300
disappears for several weeks at 
first. 

5310
04:55:23,300 --> 04:55:25,300
No one is particularly 
concerned. 

5311
04:55:25,300 --> 04:55:28,200
The wolf is always come and gone
as it pleased. 

5312
04:55:29,000 --> 04:55:32,400
But does the day stretch into 
weeks bright one becomes 

5313
04:55:32,400 --> 04:55:35,300
increasingly worried. 
Here's something happened to 

5314
04:55:35,308 --> 04:55:38,700
white chest. 
As the wolf been injured killed 

5315
04:55:38,700 --> 04:55:41,600
by a larger predator or fallen 
through thin ice. 

5316
04:55:41,600 --> 04:55:45,800
Then one morning white chest 
returns and its immediately 

5317
04:55:45,800 --> 04:55:46,800
obvious. 
What's been happening? 

5318
04:55:47,600 --> 04:55:51,200
the wolf is accompanied by four 
puppies, about six weeks, old 

5319
04:55:51,200 --> 04:55:54,800
tumbling and playing and 
exploring everything with that 

5320
04:55:54,800 --> 04:55:58,900
particular, Fearless curiosity 
of the very young, the band is 

5321
04:55:58,900 --> 04:56:01,700
astonished White chest has 
reproduced. 

5322
04:56:01,700 --> 04:56:03,700
Of course it has, that's what 
animals do. 

5323
04:56:03,700 --> 04:56:07,300
But has chosen to bring its 
Offspring to the human Camp 

5324
04:56:07,300 --> 04:56:10,200
rather than keeping them safely 
hidden in a den. 

5325
04:56:10,200 --> 04:56:13,600
So somewhere far away, this 
decision speaks volumes about 

5326
04:56:13,600 --> 04:56:15,800
how white chest views the 
relationship with humans. 

5327
04:56:16,700 --> 04:56:19,100
The camp isn't just a food 
source or a casual Association. 

5328
04:56:19,100 --> 04:56:21,400
It's home. 
It's packed. 

5329
04:56:21,400 --> 04:56:24,400
It's the place where white chest
wants to raise its young. 

5330
04:56:24,400 --> 04:56:28,000
The puppies are a mixture of 
traits, two of them. 

5331
04:56:28,000 --> 04:56:31,700
Look, almost exactly like 
traditional wolves with typical 

5332
04:56:31,700 --> 04:56:36,000
coloring and build but one puppy
is smaller with softer features 

5333
04:56:36,000 --> 04:56:38,900
and a coat that slightly curly 
than normal. 

5334
04:56:39,700 --> 04:56:43,900
And one puppy has distinctive 
markings, a white tip tail and a

5335
04:56:43,908 --> 04:56:47,100
blaze of white down its face. 
That make it look quite 

5336
04:56:47,100 --> 04:56:50,500
different from any wolf you've 
ever seen these puppies have 

5337
04:56:50,500 --> 04:56:52,900
never experienced the wild the 
way their parent did. 

5338
04:56:53,700 --> 04:56:56,300
From their earliest memories, 
humans are simply part of the 

5339
04:56:56,300 --> 04:56:58,800
landscape. 
No more frightening than trees 

5340
04:56:58,800 --> 04:57:01,500
or rocks. 
They approach people with no 

5341
04:57:01,500 --> 04:57:05,400
hesitation investigate 
everything, fearlessly and 

5342
04:57:05,400 --> 04:57:08,300
quickly, work out, that humans 
are an excellent source of food 

5343
04:57:08,300 --> 04:57:12,200
and entertainment. 
Bright one is Enchanted She 

5344
04:57:12,200 --> 04:57:15,000
spent hours playing with the 
puppies, teaching, them simple 

5345
04:57:15,000 --> 04:57:17,200
games and getting them 
accustomed to being handled. 

5346
04:57:18,400 --> 04:57:22,100
One puppy in particular, the 
small one with the curly coat 

5347
04:57:22,100 --> 04:57:26,000
becomes especially attached to 
Bright one following her 

5348
04:57:26,000 --> 04:57:29,600
everywhere sleeping curled 
against her at night, the band 

5349
04:57:29,600 --> 04:57:33,100
decides to call this puppy, curl
for obvious reasons, and curl 

5350
04:57:33,100 --> 04:57:36,000
represents something even more 
significant than white chested. 

5351
04:57:36,800 --> 04:57:40,100
White chest was a wild wolf that
chose to associate with humans. 

5352
04:57:40,100 --> 04:57:43,400
Curl is being raised from birth 
as part of a human family. 

5353
04:57:44,500 --> 04:57:48,200
Curl will never know, a purely 
wild existence curl is in 

5354
04:57:48,200 --> 04:57:51,700
essence, the first truly 
domestic dog, even though that 

5355
04:57:51,700 --> 04:57:53,300
word won't exist for thousands 
of years. 

5356
04:57:53,300 --> 04:57:56,500
Yet, as curl gross, the 
difference is from a traditional

5357
04:57:56,500 --> 04:58:00,600
wolf, become more pronounced. 
Curl is smaller than a full wolf

5358
04:58:00,600 --> 04:58:03,300
with shorter legs and a more 
rounded skull. 

5359
04:58:03,300 --> 04:58:06,100
Curlsys don't stand up quite as 
a rectally. 

5360
04:58:06,900 --> 04:58:08,100
Curls. 
Tale curled. 

5361
04:58:08,100 --> 04:58:10,800
Over its back in a way that 
would be considered a fault in a

5362
04:58:10,800 --> 04:58:14,200
wolf, but is somehow Charming in
this context and curls, 

5363
04:58:14,200 --> 04:58:18,100
temperament is gentler and more 
tractable than any Wolf's curl. 

5364
04:58:18,100 --> 04:58:20,000
Never goes through the 
Adolescent period of testing 

5365
04:58:20,000 --> 04:58:22,900
boundaries, and asserting 
Independence that wolves 

5366
04:58:22,900 --> 04:58:26,900
typically experience. 
Curl simply accepts, human 

5367
04:58:26,900 --> 04:58:31,300
authority as natural, and right?
When bright one gives curl a 

5368
04:58:31,300 --> 04:58:37,200
command sit, stay calm, curler 
Bays with eager enthusiasm. 

5369
04:58:38,000 --> 04:58:41,000
Not because curl fears 
punishment but because pleasing 

5370
04:58:41,000 --> 04:58:43,700
bright one is curls. 
Primary motivation in life. 

5371
04:58:43,700 --> 04:58:47,800
This eager to please quality is 
something new Under the Sun. 

5372
04:58:47,800 --> 04:58:51,700
Wolves can be trained to an 
extent but their cooperation 

5373
04:58:51,700 --> 04:58:55,000
always feels like a negotiation 
a transaction. 

5374
04:58:56,300 --> 04:58:58,500
Curls, obedience feels more like
devotion. 

5375
04:58:58,500 --> 04:59:02,600
It's the key difference between 
a timed wolf and a truly 

5376
04:59:02,600 --> 04:59:05,100
domestic dog. 
Other puppies, from White 

5377
04:59:05,100 --> 04:59:08,000
chests, litter show, varying 
degrees of this new temperament.

5378
04:59:08,800 --> 04:59:12,600
One is almost indistinguishable 
from a wild wolf of eventually 

5379
04:59:12,600 --> 04:59:14,600
leaving the band to live 
independently. 

5380
04:59:14,600 --> 04:59:18,500
Two are intermediate friendly 
with humans but retaining 

5381
04:59:18,500 --> 04:59:22,400
significant in dependence. 
But curl is fully completely 

5382
04:59:22,400 --> 04:59:24,800
domestic. 
The band begins to see the 

5383
04:59:24,800 --> 04:59:29,100
possibilities. if wolves can be 
raised to be this Cooperative, 

5384
04:59:29,100 --> 04:59:32,900
this helpful, this 
companionable, then, perhaps 

5385
04:59:32,900 --> 04:59:36,800
this relationship could be 
deliberately cultivated Perhaps 

5386
04:59:36,800 --> 04:59:39,700
when white chest or one of the 
other wolves has another litter,

5387
04:59:39,700 --> 04:59:42,000
the band could keep the 
friendliest puppies and 

5388
04:59:42,000 --> 04:59:44,300
encourage them to mate with 
other friendly wolves. 

5389
04:59:44,300 --> 04:59:47,100
This thought represents the 
beginning of conscience 

5390
04:59:47,100 --> 04:59:50,200
selection. 
Not just accepting wolves that 

5391
04:59:50,200 --> 04:59:53,700
happen to be bold enough to 
approach humans but actively 

5392
04:59:53,700 --> 04:59:57,000
choosing which wolves to keep 
and breed based on desirable 

5393
04:59:57,000 --> 05:00:02,200
traits. acceptance of a 
phenomenon to active 

5394
05:00:02,200 --> 05:00:05,800
participation in shaping it, you
don't know that your inventing 

5395
05:00:05,800 --> 05:00:09,200
animal husbandry You don't know 
that the same process will 

5396
05:00:09,200 --> 05:00:11,000
eventually be applied to Wild 
sheep. 

5397
05:00:11,000 --> 05:00:15,500
Wild, cattle, and wild horses. 
Transforming them all into 

5398
05:00:15,500 --> 05:00:18,900
domestic animals, you don't even
really know that what you're 

5399
05:00:18,900 --> 05:00:22,000
doing is revolutionary. 
You just know that having curl 

5400
05:00:22,000 --> 05:00:26,200
around makes life better. 
A p is cheerful, affectionate 

5401
05:00:26,200 --> 05:00:31,000
helpful in its small ways and 
brings Joy to the entire band. 

5402
05:00:32,700 --> 05:00:34,700
When you're working on a 
difficult task and getting 

5403
05:00:34,700 --> 05:00:39,200
frustrated, Kelsey seems to 
sense it and come over tail. 

5404
05:00:39,200 --> 05:00:42,200
Wagging inviting you to take a 
break and play. 

5405
05:00:43,400 --> 05:00:46,200
When the camp is quiet and 
everyone is feeling the weight 

5406
05:00:46,200 --> 05:00:50,100
of survivals, constant demands 
curled, as something silly. 

5407
05:00:50,100 --> 05:00:54,500
Chasing its own tail. 
Play bowing to a shadow barking 

5408
05:00:54,500 --> 05:00:56,800
at a butterfly and makes 
everyone laugh. 

5409
05:00:57,300 --> 05:00:59,100
Life in the ice. 
Age is hard. 

5410
05:00:59,100 --> 05:01:01,400
It's dangerous. 
It's unpredictable. 

5411
05:01:02,600 --> 05:01:05,600
But with a curly coated, little 
dog curled up against you at 

5412
05:01:05,608 --> 05:01:08,700
night, with a wolf dog. 
Bringing you fresh killed 

5413
05:01:08,700 --> 05:01:12,400
rabbits with a gentle pale wolf 
excepting, scratches from your 

5414
05:01:12,400 --> 05:01:14,900
children. 
Some of that hardness feels a 

5415
05:01:14,900 --> 05:01:18,100
bit more bearable, the sun sets 
over the tundra, painting 

5416
05:01:18,100 --> 05:01:19,800
everything in shades of gold and
Amber. 

5417
05:01:20,600 --> 05:01:22,700
Like chess sits on a rise near 
the camps. 

5418
05:01:22,700 --> 05:01:26,100
Silhouetted against the sky. 
Looking out over the landscape. 

5419
05:01:26,900 --> 05:01:30,000
Curl sits beside, its parent, 
attempting to match the adults 

5420
05:01:30,000 --> 05:01:32,900
digging a fight pose, but 
somewhat undermining, the effect

5421
05:01:32,900 --> 05:01:35,600
by occasionally, scratching 
vigorously at his ear. 

5422
05:01:35,600 --> 05:01:38,800
You watch them from the camp and
you feel something that might be

5423
05:01:38,800 --> 05:01:40,800
the Ice Age equivalent of 
contentment. 

5424
05:01:41,800 --> 05:01:46,100
Things changed slowly in this 
world, the seasons cycle, the 

5425
05:01:46,100 --> 05:01:50,000
herds, migrate life continues 
in, its ancient patterns. 

5426
05:01:50,000 --> 05:01:54,300
But here in this small detail of
wolf, dogs sitting peaceful near

5427
05:01:54,300 --> 05:01:57,500
a human Camp. 
Something genuinely new is 

5428
05:01:57,500 --> 05:02:00,900
happening. 
The future is being born one, 

5429
05:02:00,900 --> 05:02:05,200
wagging tail at a time. 10 years
of past since white chest first 

5430
05:02:05,200 --> 05:02:07,700
approached. 
The camp as a bold puppy and the

5431
05:02:07,700 --> 05:02:11,000
landscape of human wolf 
relationships as transformed in 

5432
05:02:11,000 --> 05:02:13,100
ways that would have seemed 
impossible back then. 

5433
05:02:13,900 --> 05:02:17,900
Your band now lives alongside 
not one or two wolf dogs, but an

5434
05:02:17,900 --> 05:02:22,400
entire community of them perhaps
15 in total ranging from very 

5435
05:02:22,400 --> 05:02:25,200
wolf-like individuals who 
maintain significant 

5436
05:02:25,200 --> 05:02:29,400
Independence to animals. 
Like curls Offspring, who are so

5437
05:02:29,400 --> 05:02:33,200
thoroughly integrated into human
society that calling them wolves

5438
05:02:33,200 --> 05:02:36,700
feels completely wrong. 
The terminologies becoming a 

5439
05:02:36,700 --> 05:02:39,300
problem actually. 
You need to distinguish between 

5440
05:02:39,300 --> 05:02:42,000
the animals that live with you 
and the wild wolves that still 

5441
05:02:42,000 --> 05:02:45,500
roam the tundra. 
The word your band has settled 

5442
05:02:45,500 --> 05:02:49,000
on for the domesticated ones. 
Roughly translates to hand fed 

5443
05:02:49,000 --> 05:02:52,400
ones, or possibly, chosen ones 
depending on context. 

5444
05:02:53,400 --> 05:02:55,400
Clunky but it serves its 
purpose. 

5445
05:02:55,400 --> 05:02:59,700
White chest is now elderly by 
wolf, standards approaching, 11 

5446
05:02:59,700 --> 05:03:03,300
years old with a graying muzzle 
and stiff movements that speak 

5447
05:03:03,300 --> 05:03:07,100
to arthritis in the hip the 
wolf, no longer accompanies 

5448
05:03:07,100 --> 05:03:10,400
hunting parties, spending most 
days, sleeping near the camps 

5449
05:03:10,400 --> 05:03:13,800
warmest spots. 
But white chest remains deeply 

5450
05:03:13,800 --> 05:03:17,400
beloved respected as the 
founding member of this new 

5451
05:03:17,400 --> 05:03:20,100
relationship. 
The younger wolfdogs treat white

5452
05:03:20,100 --> 05:03:23,000
chest with clear, deference and 
bright one. 

5453
05:03:23,000 --> 05:03:27,200
Now, a woman of 21 with Children
of her own, still sits beside 

5454
05:03:27,200 --> 05:03:30,000
the old wolf in the evening 
stroking, its graying, fur, and 

5455
05:03:30,000 --> 05:03:33,400
talking softly, the wolf dogs 
have become essential to the 

5456
05:03:33,400 --> 05:03:37,200
band, survival strategy. 
Their contributions are multiple

5457
05:03:37,200 --> 05:03:41,700
and significant in hunting. 
A well-trained wolf, dog can be 

5458
05:03:41,700 --> 05:03:45,600
worth two human Hunters. 
The animals can run down prey, 

5459
05:03:45,600 --> 05:03:48,500
that would Escape humans and can
track wounded animals through 

5460
05:03:48,500 --> 05:03:52,000
terrain to difficult, for people
to navigate and can hold a 

5461
05:03:52,000 --> 05:03:55,500
cornered animal, and the hunters
arrive, but the wolf dog's 

5462
05:03:55,500 --> 05:03:59,300
provide benefits Beyond hunting.
They serve as an alarm system 

5463
05:03:59,300 --> 05:04:04,100
alerting the camp to approaching
Predators or rival human bands. 

5464
05:04:04,800 --> 05:04:08,500
They keep scavengers like hyenas
and foxes away from stored food.

5465
05:04:08,500 --> 05:04:12,600
They provide warmth on cold 
nights, several wolf, dogs 

5466
05:04:12,600 --> 05:04:14,100
sleeping in the communal 
dwelling. 

5467
05:04:14,100 --> 05:04:17,100
Raise the temperature notice of 
Lis, and perhaps most 

5468
05:04:17,100 --> 05:04:20,100
importantly in the harsh 
calculus of Ice Age survival, 

5469
05:04:20,100 --> 05:04:22,300
they provide psychological 
comfort. 

5470
05:04:23,700 --> 05:04:26,800
Having these animals around 
makes people feel safer and less

5471
05:04:26,800 --> 05:04:29,600
alone in a vast and often 
hostile landscape. 

5472
05:04:29,600 --> 05:04:32,500
The different wolf dogs have 
found different roles within the

5473
05:04:32,500 --> 05:04:35,800
human Community playing to their
individual strengths. 

5474
05:04:35,800 --> 05:04:40,400
Their Scout, a lean fast, 
female, who excels, ranging 

5475
05:04:40,400 --> 05:04:42,900
ahead of traveling groups, alert
for danger. 

5476
05:04:42,900 --> 05:04:47,000
There's Guardian a massive male 
with a protective temperament, 

5477
05:04:47,000 --> 05:04:49,700
who has appointed himself 
defender of the children. 

5478
05:04:49,700 --> 05:04:54,000
Even the smallest child can 
toddler around camps safely with

5479
05:04:54,000 --> 05:04:56,700
Guardian following like a 
patient furry shadow. 

5480
05:04:56,700 --> 05:05:00,100
Then there's Hunter descended 
from Gray shoulder. 

5481
05:05:00,100 --> 05:05:03,700
Who is inherited its ancestors? 
No not since approached to 

5482
05:05:03,700 --> 05:05:06,200
hunting. 
Hunter has little interest in 

5483
05:05:06,200 --> 05:05:09,700
being petted or playing games, 
but when the hunting party goes 

5484
05:05:09,700 --> 05:05:15,800
out, Hunter is all business. 
Fishnet tireless and remarkably 

5485
05:05:15,800 --> 05:05:19,800
skilled at anticipating where 
prey animals will run some wolf,

5486
05:05:19,800 --> 05:05:23,400
dogs have discovered entirely, 
unexpected roles warmth. 

5487
05:05:24,100 --> 05:05:27,200
A female with unusually thick 
fur, has somehow worked out that

5488
05:05:27,200 --> 05:05:30,700
if she lies down near someone 
who's sick her body heat helps 

5489
05:05:30,700 --> 05:05:33,200
them feel better. 
She's become the band. 

5490
05:05:33,200 --> 05:05:37,200
Unofficial nurse spending her 
time with anyone who's ill or 

5491
05:05:37,200 --> 05:05:40,600
injured, providing comfort. 
And warmth that may have real 

5492
05:05:40,600 --> 05:05:43,800
therapeutic value. 
The breeding of these animals is

5493
05:05:43,800 --> 05:05:47,600
becoming more deliberate with 
each generation. when a female 

5494
05:05:47,600 --> 05:05:51,000
wolf dog comes into heat, the 
band pays attention to which 

5495
05:05:51,000 --> 05:05:54,700
males she's interested in and 
may actively encourage or 

5496
05:05:54,700 --> 05:05:58,600
discourage certain pairings 
friendliest animals are 

5497
05:05:58,600 --> 05:05:59,900
encouraged to breed with each 
other. 

5498
05:05:59,900 --> 05:06:04,300
The best hunters appeared with 
other good Hunters animals with 

5499
05:06:04,300 --> 05:06:07,100
health problems or poor. 
Temperaments are discouraged 

5500
05:06:07,100 --> 05:06:10,400
from breeding though. 
This is done humanely, they're 

5501
05:06:10,400 --> 05:06:13,100
simply watched carefully and 
potential mates are kept 

5502
05:06:13,100 --> 05:06:14,500
separate during the critical 
time. 

5503
05:06:14,500 --> 05:06:17,600
This selective breeding is 
already producing visible 

5504
05:06:17,600 --> 05:06:20,600
results. 
The wolf dogs of curls lineage 

5505
05:06:20,600 --> 05:06:24,200
are consistently smaller than 
full wolves with shortest. 

5506
05:06:24,200 --> 05:06:26,900
Snouts. 
Smaller teeth and more variable 

5507
05:06:26,900 --> 05:06:30,500
coat colors. 
One recently to produced a puppy

5508
05:06:30,500 --> 05:06:35,100
with floppy ears, ears that 
never fully stood erect instead 

5509
05:06:35,100 --> 05:06:38,000
hanging down in a way, that 
would be a severe disadvantage 

5510
05:06:38,000 --> 05:06:41,800
for a wild wolf, but his million
Dearing in a domestic animal. 

5511
05:06:43,000 --> 05:06:45,900
Another littering included a 
puppy with a coat pattern, never

5512
05:06:45,900 --> 05:06:49,900
seen in wild, wolves black with 
symmetrical, White markings on 

5513
05:06:49,900 --> 05:06:53,300
the chest and Paws, these 
physical changes are accompanied

5514
05:06:53,300 --> 05:06:56,600
by behavioral ones. 
The newest generation of wolf 

5515
05:06:56,600 --> 05:07:00,200
dogs is even more tractable than
their parents more eager to 

5516
05:07:00,200 --> 05:07:03,000
please and more attuned to human
communication. 

5517
05:07:04,000 --> 05:07:07,200
A human can point and these 
animals will look where the 

5518
05:07:07,200 --> 05:07:10,500
human is pointing. 
A cognitive skill that wolves 

5519
05:07:10,500 --> 05:07:13,500
rarely demonstrate, but that 
these hand-fed ones have 

5520
05:07:13,500 --> 05:07:15,100
developed to a remarkable 
degree. 

5521
05:07:15,100 --> 05:07:19,500
One of Brighton's children, a 
boy of about seven has formed a 

5522
05:07:19,500 --> 05:07:22,300
particularly close bond with a 
young wolf dog named Swift. 

5523
05:07:23,200 --> 05:07:26,500
The two are inseparable and 
their relationship demonstrates.

5524
05:07:26,500 --> 05:07:29,800
Just how far this human animal 
partnership has evolved. 

5525
05:07:30,600 --> 05:07:34,600
Swift sleeps, with the boy, 
plays with him constantly, and 

5526
05:07:34,600 --> 05:07:38,000
seems to understand the child's 
moods and needs with uncanny 

5527
05:07:38,000 --> 05:07:41,500
accuracy. 
When the boy is sad, Swift 

5528
05:07:41,500 --> 05:07:45,800
offers Comfort when the boys 
excited Swift matches that 

5529
05:07:45,800 --> 05:07:49,700
excitement, when the boy 
wanders, too far from camps with

5530
05:07:49,700 --> 05:07:53,900
gently heard him back using the 
same techniques with ancestors 

5531
05:07:53,900 --> 05:07:56,900
used for herding prey, this 
level of interspecies, 

5532
05:07:56,900 --> 05:07:59,700
communication would have seen 
magical to your band just to 

5533
05:07:59,700 --> 05:08:02,700
generation ago. 
Now it simply normal. 

5534
05:08:03,400 --> 05:08:06,500
Of course, the wolf dogs 
understand pointing, of course, 

5535
05:08:06,500 --> 05:08:09,700
they respond to voice commands, 
of course, they integrate 

5536
05:08:09,700 --> 05:08:12,000
seamlessly into human social 
structures. 

5537
05:08:12,000 --> 05:08:14,400
What else would they do? 
The wolf? 

5538
05:08:14,400 --> 05:08:17,500
Dogs of even begun to adopt 
human sleeping patterns to some 

5539
05:08:17,500 --> 05:08:20,600
degree. 
Wild wolves are most active at 

5540
05:08:20,600 --> 05:08:23,600
dawn and dusk resting during the
midday and midnight hours. 

5541
05:08:24,500 --> 05:08:26,900
But the hand fed ones, 
increasingly match human 

5542
05:08:26,900 --> 05:08:31,100
activity patterns awake. 
When humans are awake sleeping, 

5543
05:08:31,100 --> 05:08:34,600
when humans sleep, There are 
adapting, not just to living 

5544
05:08:34,600 --> 05:08:36,900
near humans, but to living as 
humans. 

5545
05:08:36,900 --> 05:08:41,800
Do one spring, arrival band not 
hostile exactly, but competing 

5546
05:08:41,800 --> 05:08:44,400
for the same resources camps 
about two days. 

5547
05:08:44,400 --> 05:08:48,900
Travel from your territory, 
negotiations attempts, both 

5548
05:08:48,900 --> 05:08:52,200
bands, need access to the river 
for fishing and the best fishing

5549
05:08:52,200 --> 05:08:54,000
spots. 
Can't support both groups 

5550
05:08:54,000 --> 05:08:58,100
simultaneously, your band has an
advantage, the rifle ban lacks 

5551
05:08:58,100 --> 05:09:02,700
the wolfdogs When the rifle ban 
sees guardian and Hunter and the

5552
05:09:02,700 --> 05:09:05,600
others, when they see how these 
animals are respond to human 

5553
05:09:05,600 --> 05:09:09,400
commands, how they coordinate 
with human Hunters, the balance 

5554
05:09:09,400 --> 05:09:13,200
of power shifts. 
A band with wolfdogs is simply 

5555
05:09:13,200 --> 05:09:15,100
more familiar than a band 
without them. 

5556
05:09:15,100 --> 05:09:19,400
The Rival bands, leader proposes
a solution, they'll concede. 

5557
05:09:19,400 --> 05:09:22,300
The best fishing spots in 
exchange for two wolf dog, 

5558
05:09:22,300 --> 05:09:25,700
puppies, from the next litter, 
It's the first time. 

5559
05:09:25,700 --> 05:09:29,000
Wolfdogs have been traded. 
First time they've been 

5560
05:09:29,008 --> 05:09:32,200
recognized as having concrete 
value that can be exchanged. 

5561
05:09:32,200 --> 05:09:36,400
Your band agrees though their 
significant debate about which 

5562
05:09:36,400 --> 05:09:39,600
puppies to give away. 
Should you give them inferior 

5563
05:09:39,600 --> 05:09:42,400
puppies? 
The less friendly less trainable

5564
05:09:42,400 --> 05:09:44,800
ones, or would that be 
dishonorable? 

5565
05:09:45,500 --> 05:09:49,300
eventually a compromise is 
reached you'll give them two 

5566
05:09:49,300 --> 05:09:54,600
good puppies from good lineages 
but not the very best The Rival 

5567
05:09:54,600 --> 05:09:58,300
band leaves satisfied and when 
breeding season arrives, your 

5568
05:09:58,300 --> 05:10:01,300
band carefully, selects two 
puppies that are friendly and 

5569
05:10:01,300 --> 05:10:04,100
healthy. 
But not exceptional, this trade 

5570
05:10:04,100 --> 05:10:08,000
opens, a new chapter within a 
few years of the bands in the 

5571
05:10:08,000 --> 05:10:09,800
region are also keeping wolf 
dogs. 

5572
05:10:10,400 --> 05:10:13,300
The animal spread across the 
landscape moving from band to 

5573
05:10:13,300 --> 05:10:15,200
band through trade and 
gift-giving. 

5574
05:10:16,000 --> 05:10:19,400
And with each trade, with each 
new home, the wolfdogs adapt 

5575
05:10:19,400 --> 05:10:22,700
further to Human Society. 
But something has been lost, 

5576
05:10:22,700 --> 05:10:25,500
too. 
The earliest wolf dogs like 

5577
05:10:25,500 --> 05:10:30,200
white chest retained significant
and dependents, still capable of

5578
05:10:30,200 --> 05:10:32,000
surviving in the wild if 
necessary. 

5579
05:10:32,900 --> 05:10:34,700
The newer Generations are losing
this. 

5580
05:10:35,700 --> 05:10:39,000
So, adapted to human society 
that they would struggle to 

5581
05:10:39,000 --> 05:10:42,900
survive alone. 
They've become dependent, not in

5582
05:10:42,900 --> 05:10:46,100
a week or pitiable way, but 
simply as a fact of their 

5583
05:10:46,100 --> 05:10:49,600
evolution, they've traded 
Independence for partnership 

5584
05:10:49,600 --> 05:10:52,800
Wilderness for home. 
Is this good or bad? 

5585
05:10:53,800 --> 05:10:56,500
The question doesn't really 
occur to anyone in your band. 

5586
05:10:56,500 --> 05:10:58,500
This is simply how things are 
developing. 

5587
05:10:59,300 --> 05:11:03,400
The wolf dogs are happy, they 
play, they form bonds and they 

5588
05:11:03,408 --> 05:11:07,700
seem to enjoy their lives. 
Humans are happy, life is easier

5589
05:11:07,700 --> 05:11:11,000
and more secure with Wolfdog 
Partners, what else matters. 

5590
05:11:11,800 --> 05:11:15,500
White chest dies, one cold 
winter morning, simply failing 

5591
05:11:15,500 --> 05:11:18,800
to wake up. 
Death is a constant companion in

5592
05:11:18,800 --> 05:11:22,200
the Ice Age and the band has 
developed rituals for dealing 

5593
05:11:22,200 --> 05:11:25,000
with it. 
White chest body is placed on a 

5594
05:11:25,000 --> 05:11:28,500
rise, overlooking, the camp, 
positioned to face the Sunrise. 

5595
05:11:28,500 --> 05:11:32,100
It's a mark of respect to give 
him to honored band members. 

5596
05:11:32,100 --> 05:11:35,700
Now extended to this animal, who
helped create something entirely

5597
05:11:35,700 --> 05:11:39,400
New Bright ones, sits beside the
body for a long time. 

5598
05:11:39,400 --> 05:11:42,400
Crying openly. 
She's mourning, not just an 

5599
05:11:42,400 --> 05:11:44,900
animal. 
But a friend, a companion whose 

5600
05:11:44,900 --> 05:11:47,900
been part of her entire life 
from childhood into adulthood 

5601
05:11:48,900 --> 05:11:51,000
The other wolf, dog seemed to 
understand that something 

5602
05:11:51,000 --> 05:11:54,100
significant has happened. 
They approach white chest. 

5603
05:11:54,100 --> 05:11:57,700
Body cautiously sniffed it 
carefully and several of them in

5604
05:11:57,700 --> 05:12:02,000
low mournful howls, that evening
gathered around the fire, the 

5605
05:12:02,000 --> 05:12:03,700
band tell stories about white 
chest. 

5606
05:12:04,500 --> 05:12:07,300
How the wolf first approached 
the camp as a bold puppy. 

5607
05:12:07,300 --> 05:12:11,100
How it learned to hunt 
cooperatively with humans, how 

5608
05:12:11,100 --> 05:12:14,100
it brought its own puppies to be
raised alongside human children.

5609
05:12:15,000 --> 05:12:18,600
The story serve multiple 
purposes honoring the dead 

5610
05:12:18,600 --> 05:12:22,200
passing knowledge to younger 
generations, and processing 

5611
05:12:22,200 --> 05:12:25,800
grief through narrative one of 
the elders, speaking slowly, and

5612
05:12:25,800 --> 05:12:28,200
thoughtfully says something that
resonates with everyone. 

5613
05:12:29,100 --> 05:12:32,900
White chest changed the world, 
not the whole world may be, but 

5614
05:12:32,900 --> 05:12:35,800
our world, our lives are 
different because of that one 

5615
05:12:35,800 --> 05:12:40,000
Brave, curious wolf. 
It's a simple eulogy but it's 

5616
05:12:40,000 --> 05:12:44,400
also profoundly true. 
One individual animal acting on 

5617
05:12:44,400 --> 05:12:48,400
Instinct toward boldness and 
curiosity initiated, a 

5618
05:12:48,400 --> 05:12:50,900
relationship that has 
transformed an entire human 

5619
05:12:50,900 --> 05:12:53,300
band. 
Way of life, The wolfdogs Who 

5620
05:12:53,308 --> 05:12:56,200
Remain continued, the 
partnership white chest began, 

5621
05:12:56,200 --> 05:12:59,600
they hunt, they guard and they 
provide companionship and 

5622
05:12:59,600 --> 05:13:02,100
warmth. 
And in the spring new puppies 

5623
05:13:02,100 --> 05:13:05,800
are born smaller, friendlier and
more variable in appearance than

5624
05:13:05,800 --> 05:13:09,500
their wild ancestors. 
The transformation continues 

5625
05:13:09,500 --> 05:13:13,900
Generation by generation. 
Moving steadily away from Wolf 

5626
05:13:13,900 --> 05:13:18,600
and toward something new in the 
distance, a wild wolf howls, one

5627
05:13:18,600 --> 05:13:21,900
of white chest contemporaries, 
perhaps or a descendant of the 

5628
05:13:21,900 --> 05:13:26,300
Wolves who chose to remain Wild.
The sound is beautiful and Eerie

5629
05:13:26,300 --> 05:13:30,800
echoing across the tundra. 
Under the Stars, Guardian lying 

5630
05:13:30,800 --> 05:13:33,300
near the fire lifts his head and
howls in response. 

5631
05:13:34,200 --> 05:13:38,200
But Guardians, howl is different
from the wild Wolf's shorter 

5632
05:13:38,200 --> 05:13:42,100
less sustained and mixed with 
what almost sounds like a bark, 

5633
05:13:42,108 --> 05:13:46,700
two species, once one to Futures
diverging. 

5634
05:13:47,400 --> 05:13:51,100
And somewhere in that Divergence
in that space between wild and 

5635
05:13:51,100 --> 05:13:53,700
domestic between Independence 
and partnership. 

5636
05:13:53,700 --> 05:13:58,100
Something precious has been 
created, the fire crackles, the 

5637
05:13:58,100 --> 05:14:02,100
Stars wheel overhead and the 
next generation of wolf, dogs 

5638
05:14:02,100 --> 05:14:06,100
sleeps, piece, forly dreaming, 
whatever wolfdogs dream in a 

5639
05:14:06,100 --> 05:14:09,900
world that their ancestors 
courage, helped create 50 years 

5640
05:14:09,900 --> 05:14:13,200
of past since white chest first 
approached, that camp your 

5641
05:14:13,200 --> 05:14:15,100
bands. 
Descendants of moved to new 

5642
05:14:15,100 --> 05:14:17,600
territories. 
Following the slowly shifting 

5643
05:14:17,600 --> 05:14:21,000
climate as the Ice Age begins, 
its long gradual retreat. 

5644
05:14:22,400 --> 05:14:26,200
The massive Glaciers are melting
in perceptibly slowly, creating 

5645
05:14:26,200 --> 05:14:30,000
new Rivers, new lakes, and new 
opportunities for human 

5646
05:14:30,000 --> 05:14:33,900
habitation and wherever humans, 
go, the wolf dogs, go with them.

5647
05:14:33,900 --> 05:14:37,800
The relationship between humans 
and these Proto dogs has become 

5648
05:14:37,800 --> 05:14:40,900
so normalized that it's 
difficult to remember a time 

5649
05:14:40,900 --> 05:14:44,600
when it didn't exist. 
Every human band in the region. 

5650
05:14:44,600 --> 05:14:48,300
Now has wolfdogs, they've become
as essential to human survival, 

5651
05:14:48,300 --> 05:14:51,500
as fire. 
As tools as language itself. 

5652
05:14:51,500 --> 05:14:55,900
The wolf dogs have continued to 
diversify some bands prefer 

5653
05:14:55,900 --> 05:14:57,800
larger. 
More wolf-like animals for 

5654
05:14:57,800 --> 05:15:00,900
hunting large game. 
Other bands, favored smaller 

5655
05:15:00,900 --> 05:15:03,800
friendlier animals, better 
suited to life in increasingly 

5656
05:15:03,800 --> 05:15:07,000
settled communities. 
Some bands have wolf dogs that 

5657
05:15:07,000 --> 05:15:09,600
specializing guarding stored 
food from pests. 

5658
05:15:10,400 --> 05:15:13,500
Others have animals trained to 
help dry fish into Nets during 

5659
05:15:13,508 --> 05:15:15,500
seasonal. 
Salmon runs this 

5660
05:15:15,500 --> 05:15:17,700
diversification, is the 
beginning of what will 

5661
05:15:17,700 --> 05:15:20,400
eventually become distinct 
breeds though? 

5662
05:15:20,400 --> 05:15:22,300
That concept is far in the 
future. 

5663
05:15:23,700 --> 05:15:26,200
For now it's simply practical 
adaptation. 

5664
05:15:26,900 --> 05:15:30,200
Different human communities, 
have different needs and their 

5665
05:15:30,200 --> 05:15:33,200
unconsciously selecting for the 
traits that serve those needs 

5666
05:15:33,200 --> 05:15:35,300
best. 
One, particularly interesting 

5667
05:15:35,300 --> 05:15:38,600
development is happening in 
coastal communities, where 

5668
05:15:38,600 --> 05:15:41,200
humans are beginning to exploit 
Marine Resources, more 

5669
05:15:41,200 --> 05:15:44,500
systematically. 
The wolfdogs in these 

5670
05:15:44,500 --> 05:15:47,300
communities have learned to be 
fish something. 

5671
05:15:47,300 --> 05:15:50,800
Wild wolves. 
Rarely do some of even learned 

5672
05:15:50,800 --> 05:15:53,900
to help with fishing diving into
shallow water to drive. 

5673
05:15:53,900 --> 05:15:57,600
Fish toward waiting Nets or even
catching fish in dependently, 

5674
05:15:57,600 --> 05:16:00,800
these Coastal wolf, dogs are 
developing slightly different. 

5675
05:16:00,800 --> 05:16:04,400
Physical characteristics, more 
webbing between their toes and 

5676
05:16:04,400 --> 05:16:08,400
slightly oily, a coach that 
shared water better, They're 

5677
05:16:08,400 --> 05:16:11,100
adapting to their environment 
within just a few Generations, 

5678
05:16:11,100 --> 05:16:15,000
demonstrating the remarkable, 
plasticity of the wolf dog 

5679
05:16:15,000 --> 05:16:18,600
genome under selective pressure.
Meanwhile, in the interior 

5680
05:16:18,600 --> 05:16:21,500
regions, where big game hunting,
Remains the primary survival 

5681
05:16:21,500 --> 05:16:25,300
strategy, the wolf dogs remain, 
larger and more wolf-like. 

5682
05:16:26,100 --> 05:16:29,000
These animals need to strengthen
endurance to help bring down 

5683
05:16:29,000 --> 05:16:31,900
mammoths bison, and other 
megafauna. 

5684
05:16:32,700 --> 05:16:35,200
But even these hunting 
Specialists are more tractable 

5685
05:16:35,200 --> 05:16:38,400
than their wild ancestors. 
More responsive to human 

5686
05:16:38,400 --> 05:16:42,100
Direction and more integrated 
into human social structures. 

5687
05:16:42,100 --> 05:16:46,700
The trade, in wolf, dogs has 
become extensive Prized animals 

5688
05:16:46,700 --> 05:16:49,200
might be traded across 
territories spanning hundreds of

5689
05:16:49,208 --> 05:16:52,200
miles a particularly good 
hunting dog. 

5690
05:16:52,200 --> 05:16:56,800
Might be exchanged for tools for
Furs or access to prime hunting 

5691
05:16:56,800 --> 05:17:00,000
grounds. 
Female wolf dogs in heat are 

5692
05:17:00,000 --> 05:17:03,100
sometimes taken long distance as
to be bred with males from other

5693
05:17:03,100 --> 05:17:07,000
lineages, preventing inbreeding 
and introducing new genetic 

5694
05:17:07,000 --> 05:17:09,800
variation. 
This trade, has unexpected 

5695
05:17:09,800 --> 05:17:12,400
benefits. 
It creates connections between 

5696
05:17:12,400 --> 05:17:16,400
human bands facilitating. 
The exchange of knowledge tools 

5697
05:17:16,400 --> 05:17:21,508
and genetic material, both dog, 
and humans Bands that might 

5698
05:17:21,516 --> 05:17:24,200
previously have been Rivals, 
find common ground in their 

5699
05:17:24,200 --> 05:17:28,300
shared interest in wolf dogs. 
A man from one band might travel

5700
05:17:28,300 --> 05:17:30,300
to another specifically to 
breed. 

5701
05:17:30,300 --> 05:17:33,500
His female wolf, dog with a male
known for its hunting prowess. 

5702
05:17:33,500 --> 05:17:37,700
And during that visit trade 
other Goods, share stories and 

5703
05:17:37,700 --> 05:17:40,200
perhaps even arranged marriages 
between the bands. 

5704
05:17:40,200 --> 05:17:44,800
The wolfdogs are becoming a form
of social glue binding human 

5705
05:17:44,800 --> 05:17:48,800
communities together across vast
distances, but the relationship 

5706
05:17:48,800 --> 05:17:52,900
isn't uniformly positive, some 
bands, reject, the wolfdogs 

5707
05:17:52,900 --> 05:17:56,200
entirely seeing them as an 
unnecessary, burden in terms of 

5708
05:17:56,200 --> 05:17:59,400
food resources. 
These bands continue the old 

5709
05:17:59,400 --> 05:18:03,800
ways hunting without animal 
assistance, and they do fine. 

5710
05:18:03,800 --> 05:18:07,700
Humans are adaptable enough to 
thrive with or without canine 

5711
05:18:07,700 --> 05:18:09,900
Partners. 
There are also occasional 

5712
05:18:09,900 --> 05:18:13,200
problems, a wolf dog, might 
revert to more wild Behavior 

5713
05:18:13,200 --> 05:18:17,400
attacking livestock as humans, 
begin tentative experiments with

5714
05:18:17,400 --> 05:18:20,400
keeping other animals captive or
even biting humans. 

5715
05:18:21,200 --> 05:18:24,600
These incidents are handled Case
by case, but they serve as 

5716
05:18:24,600 --> 05:18:27,800
reminders that these animals are
still close to their Wild Roots,

5717
05:18:27,800 --> 05:18:30,800
still capable of unpredictable 
Behavior. 

5718
05:18:30,800 --> 05:18:35,000
One particularly tragic incident
involves a wolfdog that during a

5719
05:18:35,000 --> 05:18:36,500
harsh winter. 
With severe food. 

5720
05:18:36,500 --> 05:18:40,600
Shortages kills and eats a human
infant left momentarily. 

5721
05:18:40,600 --> 05:18:45,100
Unattended, The Wolfdog is 
immediately killed and their 

5722
05:18:45,100 --> 05:18:47,300
serious discussion in the band 
about whether the entire 

5723
05:18:47,300 --> 05:18:50,100
experiment with keeping these 
animals is worth the risk. 

5724
05:18:50,100 --> 05:18:54,100
But ultimately the decision is 
made to continue the benefits. 

5725
05:18:54,100 --> 05:18:56,500
Outweigh the risks. 
As long as everyone remains 

5726
05:18:56,500 --> 05:18:59,000
Vigilant and realistic about 
what these animals are. 

5727
05:18:59,800 --> 05:19:02,200
Near the fully wild nor fully 
tame. 

5728
05:19:02,200 --> 05:19:06,300
But something in between that 
requires constant awareness as 

5729
05:19:06,300 --> 05:19:08,800
Generations. 
Pass the wolf dogs become more 

5730
05:19:08,800 --> 05:19:10,900
and more distinct from their 
wild ancestors. 

5731
05:19:10,900 --> 05:19:15,900
The physical changes accumulate 
smaller teeth, shorter snouts 

5732
05:19:15,900 --> 05:19:19,400
and more variable coat colors 
and patterns floppy. 

5733
05:19:19,400 --> 05:19:23,300
Ears appear in multiple lineages
curled, Tails, become common. 

5734
05:19:24,200 --> 05:19:28,100
Some wolf dogs, develop spotted 
coats, or unusual color patterns

5735
05:19:28,100 --> 05:19:31,800
or even long silky fur that 
would be impractical for wild 

5736
05:19:31,800 --> 05:19:35,000
wolves but his prized by humans 
for its appearance. 

5737
05:19:35,000 --> 05:19:38,000
The behavioral changes are even 
more pronounced. 

5738
05:19:38,000 --> 05:19:41,900
The newest generation of wolf. 
Dogs are born with a NATO, 

5739
05:19:41,900 --> 05:19:45,900
understanding of human social 
cues, they instinctively defer 

5740
05:19:45,900 --> 05:19:49,000
to human authority. 
They formed strong emotional 

5741
05:19:49,000 --> 05:19:52,800
bonds with human families 
showing distress when separated 

5742
05:19:52,800 --> 05:19:55,500
and joy. 
When reunited, they've become 

5743
05:19:55,500 --> 05:19:58,600
emotionally domesticated. 
In a way that goes beyond me a 

5744
05:19:58,600 --> 05:20:02,500
training, scientists far in the 
future will identify this as a 

5745
05:20:02,500 --> 05:20:06,000
change in the wolf dog genome 
related to stress, hormones, and

5746
05:20:06,000 --> 05:20:10,200
social bonding, Specific genetic
variations that make these 

5747
05:20:10,200 --> 05:20:14,200
animals, less fearful of humans,
more tolerant of close contact 

5748
05:20:14,200 --> 05:20:17,900
and more capable of reading, 
human emotions and intentions. 

5749
05:20:17,900 --> 05:20:20,500
But your band only knows that 
the puppies. 

5750
05:20:20,500 --> 05:20:24,700
Born now somehow sweeter 
friendlier and more lovable than

5751
05:20:24,700 --> 05:20:26,900
their ancestors were the wolf 
dogs. 

5752
05:20:26,900 --> 05:20:30,600
Have even begun to participate 
in human spiritual life. when 

5753
05:20:30,600 --> 05:20:33,800
the band performs rituals 
thanking the spirits of hunted 

5754
05:20:33,800 --> 05:20:38,800
animals celebrating successful 
births, Mourning the Dead, the 

5755
05:20:38,800 --> 05:20:42,800
wolf, dogs are present treated 
as participants rather than mere

5756
05:20:42,800 --> 05:20:45,300
Witnesses. 
Some bands are beginning to 

5757
05:20:45,300 --> 05:20:48,300
develop stories about how the 
first wolf dog came to live with

5758
05:20:48,300 --> 05:20:51,300
humans. 
Mythologizing white chests to 

5759
05:20:51,300 --> 05:20:55,100
send us into legendary figures. 
Who Bridge the worlds of human 

5760
05:20:55,100 --> 05:20:58,200
and animal. 
One story told around, countless

5761
05:20:58,200 --> 05:21:00,700
fires across the generations, go
something like this. 

5762
05:21:01,800 --> 05:21:05,000
In the ancient time. 
Wolves and humans, were enemies 

5763
05:21:05,000 --> 05:21:07,300
killing each other for food and 
territory. 

5764
05:21:08,300 --> 05:21:12,200
But one wise wolf saw that 
humans had fire and tools things

5765
05:21:12,200 --> 05:21:15,400
walls could never have. 
And one wise, human saw that 

5766
05:21:15,408 --> 05:21:18,300
wolves had sharp sentences and 
Cooperative hunting skills that 

5767
05:21:18,300 --> 05:21:23,300
humans lacked These two wolf and
human met in a neutral place and

5768
05:21:23,300 --> 05:21:27,100
made an agreement. 
Share with us your Fires at the 

5769
05:21:27,108 --> 05:21:30,200
wolf and we'll share with you 
our hunting skill. 

5770
05:21:30,900 --> 05:21:33,700
And from that day, forward, 
wolves and humans have been 

5771
05:21:33,700 --> 05:21:36,300
Partners. 
Each making the other stronger, 

5772
05:21:36,300 --> 05:21:40,300
it's a myth not history but like
all good myths. 

5773
05:21:40,300 --> 05:21:44,800
It contains a kernel of Truth. 
The relationship between humans 

5774
05:21:44,800 --> 05:21:48,400
and wolf, dogs is indeed a form 
of partnership, a mutual 

5775
05:21:48,400 --> 05:21:52,000
exchange of benefits that 
enhances both species chances of

5776
05:21:52,000 --> 05:21:56,900
survival as the Ice Age slowly 
wane's as the climate warms and 

5777
05:21:56,900 --> 05:21:59,400
the megaphone. 
Begin to decline, human 

5778
05:21:59,400 --> 05:22:03,100
societies are changing too. 
People are beginning to stay in 

5779
05:22:03,100 --> 05:22:05,800
the same place as for longer 
periods, building more 

5780
05:22:05,800 --> 05:22:07,800
substantial shelters and storing
food. 

5781
05:22:07,800 --> 05:22:11,500
More systematically. 
From fully nomadic to semi 

5782
05:22:11,500 --> 05:22:14,700
settled, existence is beginning.
And the wolfdogs are part of 

5783
05:22:14,708 --> 05:22:18,700
this transition in settled camps
with stored, food, wolf dogs, 

5784
05:22:18,700 --> 05:22:22,400
proven valuable as guards 
preventing raids by predators 

5785
05:22:22,400 --> 05:22:26,000
and rival human groups. 
The alert to approaching danger 

5786
05:22:26,000 --> 05:22:29,800
defend territory and provide a 
sense of security that allows 

5787
05:22:29,800 --> 05:22:31,700
humans to sleep. 
More soundly at night. 

5788
05:22:31,700 --> 05:22:35,200
The wolf dogs are also helping 
with an entirely new human 

5789
05:22:35,200 --> 05:22:40,100
activity, managing other Proto 
domestic animals as humans. 

5790
05:22:40,100 --> 05:22:43,600
Begin keeping captured young 
megafauna, not quite farming 

5791
05:22:43,600 --> 05:22:46,600
them yet, but moving in that 
direction, the wolf dogs help 

5792
05:22:46,600 --> 05:22:50,000
control these animals using 
their herding instincts to keep 

5793
05:22:50,000 --> 05:22:52,700
young mammoths or bison from 
wandering off. 

5794
05:22:52,700 --> 05:22:55,700
This herding Behavior will 
eventually become one of the 

5795
05:22:55,700 --> 05:22:59,400
most important functions of 
domestic dogs, but for now it's 

5796
05:22:59,400 --> 05:23:02,900
a happy accident. 
The wolf, dog's natural, prey 

5797
05:23:02,900 --> 05:23:06,300
hurting instincts, being 
redirected towards a new purpose

5798
05:23:06,300 --> 05:23:09,800
thous of miles away in different
parts of the world. 

5799
05:23:09,800 --> 05:23:12,200
Similar processes are occurring 
independently. 

5800
05:23:13,600 --> 05:23:16,500
Wolves near human settlements in
what will become Europe? 

5801
05:23:16,500 --> 05:23:20,800
A beginning, their own journey 
to a domestication wolves in 

5802
05:23:20,800 --> 05:23:22,500
East. 
Asia are developing their own 

5803
05:23:22,500 --> 05:23:24,500
relationships with human 
communities. 

5804
05:23:24,500 --> 05:23:28,500
The process isn't uniform, but 
the pattern is recognizable. 

5805
05:23:29,300 --> 05:23:31,300
Wherever humans and wolves 
coexist. 

5806
05:23:31,300 --> 05:23:35,000
Some wolves are discovering the 
advantages of cooperation over 

5807
05:23:35,000 --> 05:23:37,800
competition, these 
geographically separated, 

5808
05:23:37,800 --> 05:23:40,600
population of Proto dogs, will 
eventually, give rise to 

5809
05:23:40,600 --> 05:23:43,000
different. 
Lineages different regional 

5810
05:23:43,000 --> 05:23:46,600
types that reflect both the 
local wolf population's and the 

5811
05:23:46,600 --> 05:23:49,100
specific needs of local human 
communities. 

5812
05:23:49,900 --> 05:23:53,900
But all of them share the same 
fundamental transformation from 

5813
05:23:53,900 --> 05:23:56,100
Wild Predator to domestic 
partner. 

5814
05:23:56,100 --> 05:23:59,800
You don't know any of this. 
Of course your world is limited 

5815
05:23:59,800 --> 05:24:02,700
to your band your territory and 
your direct experience. 

5816
05:24:02,700 --> 05:24:05,600
But your great. 
Great grandchildren's 

5817
05:24:05,600 --> 05:24:08,400
descendants will spread across 
continents and they'll bring 

5818
05:24:08,400 --> 05:24:12,300
their wolf dogs with them when 
humans eventually cross the land

5819
05:24:12,300 --> 05:24:15,800
bridge from Asia to the 
Americas, wolfdogs will be among

5820
05:24:15,800 --> 05:24:19,100
the first domesticated animals 
to reach the new world. 

5821
05:24:20,000 --> 05:24:23,000
When humans develop boats 
capable of Crossing open, ocean 

5822
05:24:23,000 --> 05:24:27,000
wolf, dogs will be in those 
boats heading to Ireland and new

5823
05:24:27,000 --> 05:24:29,400
continents. 
The partnership that began with 

5824
05:24:29,400 --> 05:24:34,200
one curious wolf and one willing
to experiment, human band has 

5825
05:24:34,200 --> 05:24:37,100
become a global phenomenon that 
will persist for millennia. 

5826
05:24:38,000 --> 05:24:41,500
Long after the mammoths and 
woolly rhinos and giant sloths 

5827
05:24:41,500 --> 05:24:44,300
of gone. 
Extinct long after the ice age 

5828
05:24:44,300 --> 05:24:46,100
is faded into geological 
history. 

5829
05:24:46,100 --> 05:24:49,000
This relationship will endure 
your bands. 

5830
05:24:49,000 --> 05:24:51,900
Current generation of wolf dogs.
Includes a young female named 

5831
05:24:51,900 --> 05:24:55,000
Echo. 
Descended from curls, lineage 

5832
05:24:55,000 --> 05:25:00,600
through multi-generation Echo is
small barely 60 pounds with a 

5833
05:25:00,600 --> 05:25:04,400
curly coat floppy ears, and a 
tale that curl. 

5834
05:25:04,400 --> 05:25:06,500
So tightly at almost makes a 
full circle. 

5835
05:25:07,600 --> 05:25:11,000
Echoes temperament is gentle and
playful and the animal has 

5836
05:25:11,000 --> 05:25:14,300
become particularly attached to 
the band's children serving as 

5837
05:25:14,300 --> 05:25:17,500
an unofficial guardian and 
Playmate one, warm summer 

5838
05:25:17,500 --> 05:25:20,100
evening as the sun sets over a 
landscape. 

5839
05:25:20,100 --> 05:25:23,200
That's noticeably Greener and 
less harsh than the tundra of 

5840
05:25:23,200 --> 05:25:26,300
your ancestors time. 
Echo lies surrounded by 

5841
05:25:26,300 --> 05:25:28,800
children. 
Their petting, the Wolfdog, 

5842
05:25:28,800 --> 05:25:32,400
telling stories and laughing at 
Echoes clownish attempts to 

5843
05:25:32,400 --> 05:25:36,100
catch moths that flutter around 
the fire and Elder watches, this

5844
05:25:36,100 --> 05:25:39,200
scene with satisfaction. 
This elder is the great. 

5845
05:25:39,200 --> 05:25:43,300
Great grandchild of bright one, 
carrier of stories passed down 

5846
05:25:43,300 --> 05:25:47,500
through multiple Generations. 
The Elder remembers the tales of

5847
05:25:47,500 --> 05:25:51,900
white chest of curl of the early
days when having a wolf dog near

5848
05:25:51,900 --> 05:25:54,900
the camp was strange. 
And frightening how to imagine 

5849
05:25:54,900 --> 05:25:57,400
being afraid of them. 
Now, the Elder says to know one 

5850
05:25:57,400 --> 05:26:00,600
in particular speaking softly 
enough, not to disturb the 

5851
05:26:00,600 --> 05:26:04,200
children's play, another adult 
sitting nearby laughs quietly, 

5852
05:26:04,200 --> 05:26:06,600
hard to imagine living without 
them. 

5853
05:26:06,600 --> 05:26:09,500
What did our ancestors do 
without wolfdogs? 

5854
05:26:09,500 --> 05:26:12,400
How did they hunt? 
How did they feel safe at night?

5855
05:26:12,400 --> 05:26:15,800
It's a good question. 
The answer, of course, is that 

5856
05:26:15,800 --> 05:26:18,600
human survive for hundreds of 
thousands of years without 

5857
05:26:18,600 --> 05:26:21,600
canine partners. 
But now that the partnership 

5858
05:26:21,600 --> 05:26:24,600
exists. 
It's difficult to imagine going 

5859
05:26:24,600 --> 05:26:27,200
back. 
The relationship has become so 

5860
05:26:27,200 --> 05:26:30,600
integral to human society. 
That its absence would be felt 

5861
05:26:30,600 --> 05:26:33,600
like the loss of a limb Echo 
tired from playing with the 

5862
05:26:33,608 --> 05:26:36,200
children. 
Finally, settles down resting 

5863
05:26:36,200 --> 05:26:40,200
its head on a child's lap. 
The child Strokes Echoes curly, 

5864
05:26:40,200 --> 05:26:43,800
fur and the wolf, dogs eyes 
drift closed in contentment 

5865
05:26:43,800 --> 05:26:47,800
somewhere in the darkness beyond
the firelight a wild wolf howls.

5866
05:26:48,400 --> 05:26:52,000
Echoes ears perk up and the wolf
dog lifts its head briefly but 

5867
05:26:52,000 --> 05:26:55,800
there's no answering how no urge
to run off and join that wild 

5868
05:26:55,800 --> 05:26:59,000
song. 
Echoes world is here with these 

5869
05:26:59,000 --> 05:27:01,900
humans by this fire after a 
moment. 

5870
05:27:01,900 --> 05:27:05,100
Echo, settles back down content 
with its chosen place in the 

5871
05:27:05,108 --> 05:27:08,300
world. 
The stars come out the same 

5872
05:27:08,300 --> 05:27:10,900
stars that Sean on white, chest,
and bright one. 

5873
05:27:10,900 --> 05:27:15,900
All those Generations ago Fire 
crackles and Pops, children's 

5874
05:27:15,900 --> 05:27:19,700
voices, mixed with adult 
Laughlin and beneath it all the 

5875
05:27:19,700 --> 05:27:21,400
steady rhythm of echo's 
breathing. 

5876
05:27:21,400 --> 05:27:25,300
As the wolf dog sleeps. 
In this moment peaceful and 

5877
05:27:25,300 --> 05:27:29,100
ordinary yet profound. 
You can see the future taking 

5878
05:27:29,100 --> 05:27:31,700
shape. 
These children growing up with 

5879
05:27:31,700 --> 05:27:34,400
Echo, will never know a world 
without wolf dogs. 

5880
05:27:35,000 --> 05:27:39,000
Their children won't either nor 
their children's children 100s 

5881
05:27:39,000 --> 05:27:42,400
of generations to come. 
What began as one Wolf's 

5882
05:27:42,400 --> 05:27:44,400
curiosity. 
And one humans willingness to 

5883
05:27:44,400 --> 05:27:48,400
share has become something 
Timeless a partnership that will

5884
05:27:48,400 --> 05:27:52,600
Outlast Empires survived the 
collapse of civilizations and 

5885
05:27:52,600 --> 05:27:55,100
endure through changes in human 
society. 

5886
05:27:55,100 --> 05:27:57,100
That would be unrecognizable to 
you. 

5887
05:27:57,100 --> 05:27:59,900
The wolf dogs will be there when
humans build their first 

5888
05:27:59,900 --> 05:28:02,600
permanent Villages. 
They'll be there when humans 

5889
05:28:02,600 --> 05:28:05,800
develop agriculture when they 
domesticate other animals. 

5890
05:28:05,800 --> 05:28:09,500
And when they create the first 
cities, they'll pull sleds 

5891
05:28:09,500 --> 05:28:14,600
across Frozen waste, herd sheep 
across mountains, guard, palaces

5892
05:28:14,600 --> 05:28:17,600
and warm, the laps of empress 
and peasants alike. 

5893
05:28:17,600 --> 05:28:22,000
They'll change, of course, 
they'll dive into forms. 

5894
05:28:22,000 --> 05:28:25,100
That would seem impossible, tiny
dogs that fit in a pocket. 

5895
05:28:25,100 --> 05:28:29,300
Giant dogs larger than wolves 
ever were dogs with pushed in 

5896
05:28:29,300 --> 05:28:32,900
phases dogs with legs. 
So short, they can barely run 

5897
05:28:32,900 --> 05:28:36,600
and dogs bred for every 
conceivable purpose from hunting

5898
05:28:36,600 --> 05:28:39,300
rats, to guarding temples to 
Simply being beautiful. 

5899
05:28:39,300 --> 05:28:42,700
But underneath all those changes
underneath all, that diversity, 

5900
05:28:42,700 --> 05:28:46,100
they'll still carry the same 
essential nature that Echo 

5901
05:28:46,100 --> 05:28:49,800
demonstrates tonight. 
Loyalty, affection. 

5902
05:28:49,800 --> 05:28:53,300
And the deep-rooted desire to be
part of a human family. 

5903
05:28:54,100 --> 05:28:57,700
The fire burns, low people begin
heading to their sleeping areas.

5904
05:28:58,400 --> 05:29:02,500
Echo Rises shakes vigorously and
follows the children to the 

5905
05:29:02,500 --> 05:29:06,100
shelter where they sleep. 
The Wolfdog settles down among 

5906
05:29:06,100 --> 05:29:09,500
them and within moments, three 
children are using Echo as a 

5907
05:29:09,500 --> 05:29:12,200
pillow outside. 
The summer night is mild and 

5908
05:29:12,200 --> 05:29:14,400
clear. 
Tomorrow will bring new 

5909
05:29:14,400 --> 05:29:16,500
challenges, new work and new 
adventures. 

5910
05:29:16,500 --> 05:29:22,200
But tonight there's just this 
humans and wolf dogs sleeping 

5911
05:29:22,200 --> 05:29:25,600
peacefully together. 
Partners in the Grand Adventure 

5912
05:29:25,600 --> 05:29:29,100
of survival. 
The Stars wheel slowly overhead 

5913
05:29:29,900 --> 05:29:33,200
The Moon Rises casting 
Silverlight across a world that 

5914
05:29:33,200 --> 05:29:35,900
has changed profoundly. 
Even though, most of those 

5915
05:29:35,900 --> 05:29:40,200
changes are too subtle to see 
day-to-day But they're there, 

5916
05:29:40,200 --> 05:29:46,300
accumulating genetic shifts, 
behavioral adaptations, and the 

5917
05:29:46,308 --> 05:29:49,900
slope and exorable 
transformation of wolf into dog.

5918
05:29:49,900 --> 05:29:53,900
And in the morning, when the Sun
rises Echo, will be among the 

5919
05:29:53,900 --> 05:29:58,400
first to wake tale already 
wagging, ready to greet the new 

5920
05:29:58,400 --> 05:30:02,800
day, alongside the humans who 
have become in every meaningful 

5921
05:30:02,800 --> 05:30:04,800
sense. 
Echoes pack. 

5922
05:30:04,800 --> 05:30:08,700
The story that began 15,000 
years ago with a reddish gray, 

5923
05:30:08,700 --> 05:30:12,300
wolf watching a human Camp 
continues generation after 

5924
05:30:12,300 --> 05:30:16,500
generation changing slowly. 
But never ending a partnership. 

5925
05:30:16,500 --> 05:30:20,400
That is enriched both species 
beyond measure and that more 

5926
05:30:20,400 --> 05:30:22,000
than anything else. 
Is the Legacy. 

5927
05:30:22,800 --> 05:30:26,800
Not just that humans tamed 
wolves but that together humans 

5928
05:30:26,800 --> 05:30:29,200
and wolves created something 
entirely new. 

5929
05:30:29,200 --> 05:30:34,000
A relationship of mutual 
benefit, Mutual affection and 

5930
05:30:34,000 --> 05:30:37,600
mutual transformation that has 
persisted across Millennia and 

5931
05:30:37,600 --> 05:30:40,100
will continue long into whatever
future Waits. 

5932
05:30:43,600 --> 05:30:46,400
The Cuban Missile Crisis didn't 
arise in a vacuum. 

5933
05:30:47,200 --> 05:30:49,700
Was the culmination of years of 
Cold War tensions. 

5934
05:30:50,700 --> 05:30:53,200
A time, when the world seemed to
Teeter on the edge of 

5935
05:30:53,208 --> 05:30:58,700
uncertainty. imagine for a 
moment, the quiet hum of the 

5936
05:30:58,700 --> 05:31:02,700
post-war era, giving way to the 
slow steady, March of 

5937
05:31:02,700 --> 05:31:06,300
ideological rivalry between the 
United States and the Soviet 

5938
05:31:06,300 --> 05:31:11,800
Union This rivalry like a deep 
and resonant drum beat echoed 

5939
05:31:11,800 --> 05:31:15,400
across the globe shaping, the 
Landscapes of diplomacy and 

5940
05:31:15,400 --> 05:31:19,300
conflict alike. 
The United States with its 

5941
05:31:19,300 --> 05:31:21,700
vision of democracy and the 
Soviet Union. 

5942
05:31:21,700 --> 05:31:26,200
Determined to spread communism 
found themselves locked in a 

5943
05:31:26,200 --> 05:31:30,200
careful and delicate dance. 
Their every move, calculated 

5944
05:31:30,200 --> 05:31:32,900
every gesture. 
Waited with significant. 

5945
05:31:34,200 --> 05:31:37,200
By the early 1960s, this 
struggle had already seen 

5946
05:31:37,200 --> 05:31:41,100
pivotal moments like the Berlin 
blockade and the Korean War, 

5947
05:31:41,100 --> 05:31:44,700
leaving an enduring imprint on 
the hearts and minds of 

5948
05:31:44,700 --> 05:31:47,900
Millions. 
Then came 1959. 

5949
05:31:48,800 --> 05:31:51,300
A turning point that brought 
Cube into sharp Focus. 

5950
05:31:52,600 --> 05:31:55,500
Cuban Revolution swept through 
the island, like a soft, but 

5951
05:31:55,500 --> 05:32:00,100
unrelenting wind carrying Fidel 
Castro to power and replaceing 

5952
05:32:00,100 --> 05:32:04,100
the Batista regime. 
On the Castro Cuba aligned 

5953
05:32:04,100 --> 05:32:07,400
itself with the Soviet Union 
transforming into a communist 

5954
05:32:07,400 --> 05:32:10,000
stronghold. 
Just 90 miles from American 

5955
05:32:10,000 --> 05:32:11,900
Shores. 
A distant. 

5956
05:32:11,900 --> 05:32:14,400
So short it might as well have 
been a whisper, the ocean. 

5957
05:32:16,000 --> 05:32:19,900
This proximity brought with it a
quiet, but undeniable unease. 

5958
05:32:20,700 --> 05:32:23,500
Tension that settled in the 
minds of us leaders like a 

5959
05:32:23,500 --> 05:32:27,300
lingering shadow. 
The hum of covert operations 

5960
05:32:27,300 --> 05:32:31,000
soon, followed culminating in 
the failed Bay of Pigs invasion 

5961
05:32:31,000 --> 05:32:36,600
in 1961. this misstep, like a 
ripple in Stillwater, spread 

5962
05:32:36,600 --> 05:32:39,900
embarrassment for the Kennedy 
administration and deepened, the

5963
05:32:39,908 --> 05:32:45,000
chasm of mistrust between the US
and Cuba At the same time Soviet

5964
05:32:45,000 --> 05:32:49,800
Premier Nikita Khrushchev ever 
watchful and calculating saw an 

5965
05:32:49,800 --> 05:32:52,100
opportunity to exploit this 
growing divide. 

5966
05:32:52,900 --> 05:32:55,800
He began to weave a plan that 
would take full advantage of 

5967
05:32:55,800 --> 05:33:00,000
Cuba's location creating a web 
of uncertainty and anticipation 

5968
05:33:00,000 --> 05:33:03,700
that seemed to stretch endlessly
across the calm Skies. 

5969
05:33:03,700 --> 05:33:07,900
As we linger in this moment of 
reflection picture a world on 

5970
05:33:07,900 --> 05:33:12,900
edge at still wrapped in quiet 
resolve Let these images and 

5971
05:33:12,900 --> 05:33:17,100
thoughts drift gently through 
your mind like leaves carried by

5972
05:33:17,100 --> 05:33:22,300
a slow, steady current. 
Stage was set each thread of 

5973
05:33:22,300 --> 05:33:25,100
tension delicately placed 
weaving. 

5974
05:33:25,100 --> 05:33:27,700
The intricate fabric of what 
would soon become one of the 

5975
05:33:27,700 --> 05:33:30,800
most dramatic and perilous 
moments in modern history. 

5976
05:33:30,800 --> 05:33:36,400
In the quiet Skies of October, 
14th, 1962, something 

5977
05:33:36,400 --> 05:33:39,500
extraordinary, unfolded. 
Something that would Ripple 

5978
05:33:39,500 --> 05:33:43,900
through time, like a soft 
endless wave, high above the 

5979
05:33:43,900 --> 05:33:47,700
peaceful Landscapes of Cuba, an 
American you two reconnaissance 

5980
05:33:47,700 --> 05:33:51,500
plane glided effortlessly, it 
Sleek form, cutting through the 

5981
05:33:51,500 --> 05:33:55,400
Stillness of the heavens. 
From its vantage point, the 

5982
05:33:55,400 --> 05:33:58,900
plane captured a series of 
photographs silent yet. 

5983
05:33:58,900 --> 05:34:03,800
Profound revealing a truth, that
would shake the world Soviet 

5984
05:34:03,800 --> 05:34:06,700
missile site. 
Nestled discreetly amidst, the 

5985
05:34:06,700 --> 05:34:09,300
Lush and tranquil Countryside 
were under construction. 

5986
05:34:10,400 --> 05:34:13,900
These were no ordinary missiles.
Their presence was like a 

5987
05:34:13,900 --> 05:34:17,500
whisper of something immense and
dangerous carrying with them, 

5988
05:34:17,500 --> 05:34:21,400
the potential for Devastation 
capable of reaching the heart of

5989
05:34:21,400 --> 05:34:23,500
the United States within mere 
moments. 

5990
05:34:23,500 --> 05:34:27,300
These medium and intermediate 
range ballistic missiles, 

5991
05:34:27,300 --> 05:34:31,200
carried the weight of a silent. 
Looming threat. 

5992
05:34:32,100 --> 05:34:35,500
The images delicate and 
unassuming were swiftly, brought

5993
05:34:35,500 --> 05:34:38,800
back to Washington. 
Where they were met with a storm

5994
05:34:38,800 --> 05:34:41,100
of hushed urgency and careful 
deliberation. 

5995
05:34:42,000 --> 05:34:45,400
Picture the scene as President 
John F Kennedy and his advisors 

5996
05:34:45,400 --> 05:34:47,200
gathered in the Stillness of the
White House. 

5997
05:34:48,300 --> 05:34:52,100
The room was Heavy with the 
Quiet murmur of voices, each one

5998
05:34:52,100 --> 05:34:54,900
low, and deliberate as the 
photographs were laid out like 

5999
05:34:54,900 --> 05:34:57,500
puzzle pieces on a smooth 
polished table. 

6000
05:34:58,300 --> 05:35:01,600
The gravity of the discovery 
hung in the air, a presence is 

6001
05:35:01,600 --> 05:35:03,800
tangible as the tick of a 
distant clock. 

6002
05:35:05,100 --> 05:35:09,300
Constructed slow and steady like
the rhythm of a deep and calming

6003
05:35:09,300 --> 05:35:12,400
breath. 
As the advisers spoke, their 

6004
05:35:12,400 --> 05:35:16,200
words, mingled with the ambient 
quiet, and the room seemed to 

6005
05:35:16,200 --> 05:35:19,000
hold its breath. 
It became clear that this was 

6006
05:35:19,000 --> 05:35:22,100
not just a military challenge, 
but a profound shift in the 

6007
05:35:22,100 --> 05:35:25,200
balance of power. 
The missiles in Cuba. 

6008
05:35:25,200 --> 05:35:29,000
Mirrored, the US's own 
insulation in Turkey, creating a

6009
05:35:29,000 --> 05:35:31,800
precarious symmetry of threat. 
That deepened the unease. 

6010
05:35:31,800 --> 05:35:34,700
This delicate balance, like a 
tightrope. 

6011
05:35:34,700 --> 05:35:38,300
Suspended above a Chasm, 
demanded extraordinary care. 

6012
05:35:38,300 --> 05:35:42,600
And calm, For a moment, close 
your eyes, and imagine the 

6013
05:35:42,600 --> 05:35:46,700
scene, the soft rustle of 
papers, the distant hum of 

6014
05:35:46,708 --> 05:35:50,400
voices, and the unspoken tension
that lingers in the air, like a 

6015
05:35:50,400 --> 05:35:54,800
gentle missed. 
This was a time of reflection a 

6016
05:35:54,800 --> 05:35:57,500
time, when the world seemed 
poised on the edge of a decision

6017
05:35:57,500 --> 05:36:02,600
that could change everything. 
Yet, amidst, the tension there 

6018
05:36:02,600 --> 05:36:06,400
was also a Stillness. 
A fragile sense of order holding

6019
05:36:06,400 --> 05:36:10,100
back the chaos Beyond. 
As the president and his team 

6020
05:36:10,100 --> 05:36:13,300
weighed their options, the 
choices before them seemed 

6021
05:36:13,300 --> 05:36:17,000
infinite like waves rolling. 
Gently onto a shore. 

6022
05:36:17,600 --> 05:36:22,300
Diplomacy military action or 
something in between each 

6023
05:36:22,300 --> 05:36:25,300
decision, carried the weight of 
an uncertain future. 

6024
05:36:26,800 --> 05:36:31,300
But for now, in this moment, let
these thoughts settle like 

6025
05:36:31,300 --> 05:36:33,700
leaves falling softly to the 
ground. 

6026
05:36:34,600 --> 05:36:37,300
As the story. 
Gently unfolds further into the 

6027
05:36:37,300 --> 05:36:41,600
night in the days, that followed
the Discover, the World seemed 

6028
05:36:41,600 --> 05:36:45,400
to move in slow motion. 
Each moment drawn out as though,

6029
05:36:45,400 --> 05:36:48,000
the air itself had grown thicker
heavier. 

6030
05:36:49,000 --> 05:36:52,500
President Kennedy in his 
advisors the executive committee

6031
05:36:52,500 --> 05:36:56,800
of the National Security Council
often referred to as XCOM met 

6032
05:36:56,800 --> 05:36:59,600
repeatedly in the quiet 
reflective Halls of the White 

6033
05:36:59,600 --> 05:37:02,500
House. 
Their discussions, careful and 

6034
05:37:02,500 --> 05:37:06,000
deliberate centered on one 
pressing question, how to 

6035
05:37:06,000 --> 05:37:11,100
respond to this grave discovery?
The choices before them were as 

6036
05:37:11,100 --> 05:37:13,100
white as the Stillness, that 
filled the room. 

6037
05:37:13,900 --> 05:37:17,200
One option was a military strike
to destroy the missile sites 

6038
05:37:17,200 --> 05:37:20,900
Swift, and decisive. 
Another was a full-scale 

6039
05:37:20,900 --> 05:37:23,000
invasion of Cuba. 
An action. 

6040
05:37:23,000 --> 05:37:26,000
That would surely provoke a 
direct confrontation with the 

6041
05:37:26,000 --> 05:37:29,800
Soviet Union. 
But even as the strategies were 

6042
05:37:29,800 --> 05:37:34,100
considered their risks loomed, 
large like storm clouds 

6043
05:37:34,100 --> 05:37:38,700
gathering on the horizon. 
A misstep could spark the very 

6044
05:37:38,700 --> 05:37:42,300
thing, they all feared. 
A nuclear war that might in 

6045
05:37:42,300 --> 05:37:45,500
golf, the world in unimaginable 
devastation. 

6046
05:37:47,400 --> 05:37:51,900
Amid the tents deliberation a 
third option, emerged, one that 

6047
05:37:51,900 --> 05:37:55,100
seemed to offer a chance for 
resolution without immediate 

6048
05:37:55,100 --> 05:37:58,300
violence, a naval quarantine of 
Cuba. 

6049
05:37:59,500 --> 05:38:02,300
This option though, less 
aggressive was no less bold. 

6050
05:38:03,200 --> 05:38:06,100
By establishing a blockade to 
prevent further delivery of 

6051
05:38:06,100 --> 05:38:09,600
Soviet missiles and military 
equipment to the island, the 

6052
05:38:09,600 --> 05:38:13,100
United States could demonstrate 
its resolved while leaving room 

6053
05:38:13,100 --> 05:38:17,400
for diplomacy to take hold. 
The term quarantine was chosen 

6054
05:38:17,400 --> 05:38:21,700
carefully softer than blockade 
to avoid the suggestion of an 

6055
05:38:21,700 --> 05:38:23,700
act of War. 
Picture. 

6056
05:38:23,700 --> 05:38:26,600
If you will, the long pauses 
between words as the advisors 

6057
05:38:26,600 --> 05:38:29,700
weighed this plan. 
Their voices low and measured 

6058
05:38:29,700 --> 05:38:32,900
filled the space like the gentle
lapping of waves against ashore.

6059
05:38:33,600 --> 05:38:37,500
The room dimly lit and hushed 
seemed to hold its breath as the

6060
05:38:37,500 --> 05:38:40,100
implications of the quarantine 
began to crystallize. 

6061
05:38:41,200 --> 05:38:43,200
Would it be enough to deter the 
Soviets? 

6062
05:38:43,200 --> 05:38:46,600
Or would it provoke them into 
escalating the conflict further?

6063
05:38:48,000 --> 05:38:50,400
The question lingered 
unanswered. 

6064
05:38:51,000 --> 05:38:53,000
Like a faint echo in the 
Stillness. 

6065
05:38:54,100 --> 05:38:59,600
On October 22nd 1962, President 
Kennedy addressed the nation in 

6066
05:38:59,600 --> 05:39:02,300
a speech that broke the quiet 
tension of those days. 

6067
05:39:02,300 --> 05:39:05,600
His calm and steady voice 
carried across the Airways 

6068
05:39:05,600 --> 05:39:10,500
explaining, the situation and 
announcing the quarantine He 

6069
05:39:10,500 --> 05:39:13,800
described the missiles and Cuba 
as a secret Swift and 

6070
05:39:13,800 --> 05:39:17,700
extraordinary, build-up and made
it clear that the United States 

6071
05:39:17,700 --> 05:39:20,800
would not tolerate this threat. 
So close to its Shores. 

6072
05:39:21,900 --> 05:39:25,500
Yet, even in this moment of firm
resolve, there was an 

6073
05:39:25,500 --> 05:39:29,000
undercurrent of Hope. 
A hope that reason might Prevail

6074
05:39:29,000 --> 05:39:32,800
that diplomacy might yet find a 
path through the shadows of 

6075
05:39:32,800 --> 05:39:35,800
uncertainty. 
Imagine the millions of 

6076
05:39:35,800 --> 05:39:39,300
listeners across the world 
leaning closer to their radios. 

6077
05:39:39,300 --> 05:39:42,300
Their breaths, slowing as the 
word sank in. 

6078
05:39:43,100 --> 05:39:47,800
The quarantine was now in place 
a quiet but firm line drawn in 

6079
05:39:47,800 --> 05:39:51,700
the waters around Cuba. 
The decision was made, yet the 

6080
05:39:51,700 --> 05:39:55,700
outcome remained unknown hanging
in the air, like a gentle Mist 

6081
05:39:55,700 --> 05:39:59,900
at dawn. 
As we move forward, let these 

6082
05:39:59,900 --> 05:40:03,800
thoughts rest gently in your 
mind like Whispers carry on a 

6083
05:40:03,800 --> 05:40:07,800
cool soothing Breeze as we drift
deeper into this unfolding 

6084
05:40:07,800 --> 05:40:09,500
story. 
Take a moment. 

6085
05:40:10,400 --> 05:40:15,100
Breathe deeply slowly. and 
imagine the Calm before a storm,

6086
05:40:15,100 --> 05:40:19,700
the kind of quiet that hums with
anticipation when time seems to 

6087
05:40:19,700 --> 05:40:24,700
stretch and every second feels 
longer than the last This was 

6088
05:40:24,700 --> 05:40:26,600
the atmosphere as the United 
States. 

6089
05:40:26,600 --> 05:40:30,600
Naval quarantine of Cuba went 
into affect on October 24th, 

6090
05:40:30,600 --> 05:40:34,300
1962. 
The blockade was not just a line

6091
05:40:34,300 --> 05:40:37,100
drawn in the water. 
It was a test of Wills between 

6092
05:40:37,100 --> 05:40:40,900
two superpowers. 
American warships, moved into 

6093
05:40:40,900 --> 05:40:44,000
position. 
Forming a silent steady wall in 

6094
05:40:44,000 --> 05:40:46,800
the ocean. 
Ready to intercept, any Soviet 

6095
05:40:46,800 --> 05:40:49,900
vessels attempting to deliver 
more missiles or military 

6096
05:40:49,900 --> 05:40:53,900
supplies to Cuba? 
These ships though distant from 

6097
05:40:53,908 --> 05:40:56,500
the shorelines. 
Carried with them, the weight of

6098
05:40:56,508 --> 05:41:00,400
a global audiences gaze as the 
world watched and waited holding

6099
05:41:00,400 --> 05:41:03,800
its Collective breath. 
Far away and the Stillness of 

6100
05:41:03,808 --> 05:41:07,300
the Kremlin Premier Khrushchev 
faced his own moment of 

6101
05:41:07,300 --> 05:41:10,500
reflection. 
Soviet ships were already on 

6102
05:41:10,500 --> 05:41:13,400
route to Cuba. 
Some carrying cargo that would 

6103
05:41:13,400 --> 05:41:17,700
challenge the blockade directly 
Would they stopped or press on? 

6104
05:41:18,500 --> 05:41:22,300
To retreat, might signal 
weakness to advance might spark 

6105
05:41:22,300 --> 05:41:26,200
open conflict. 
The tension was palpable and 

6106
05:41:26,200 --> 05:41:29,200
Invisible Thread, pulling 
tighter with each passing hour. 

6107
05:41:29,900 --> 05:41:34,900
imagine the Seas of vast and 
unyielding their surface calm 

6108
05:41:34,900 --> 05:41:40,100
but concealing, a profound sense
of unease beneath The American 

6109
05:41:40,100 --> 05:41:44,100
ship's, floated silently their 
Crews ready but motionless, 

6110
05:41:44,100 --> 05:41:47,800
listening to the soft Rhythm of 
the waves and the low hum of the

6111
05:41:47,800 --> 05:41:50,900
engine's. 
Across the Atlantic, the Soviet 

6112
05:41:50,900 --> 05:41:54,500
vessels continued their 
approach, the space between the 

6113
05:41:54,500 --> 05:41:59,500
shrinking slowly steadily, like 
the narrowing of a great and 

6114
05:41:59,500 --> 05:42:03,700
ominous Gulf. 
Back in Washington, the XCOM 

6115
05:42:03,700 --> 05:42:07,100
held near constant meetings. 
Their discussions now carrying 

6116
05:42:07,100 --> 05:42:10,900
the gravity of the quarantines 
first test, Reports from the 

6117
05:42:10,908 --> 05:42:14,300
blockades own came in. 
Each one met with careful 

6118
05:42:14,300 --> 05:42:17,200
deliberation. 
Attention in those rooms was 

6119
05:42:17,200 --> 05:42:21,100
thick almost tangible as though 
it might spill out into the 

6120
05:42:21,100 --> 05:42:26,000
world Beyond. every voice was 
measured every pause significant

6121
05:42:26,000 --> 05:42:29,500
as the weight of their decisions
pressed down like a blanket of 

6122
05:42:29,500 --> 05:42:35,100
Steel and heavy are then on 
October the 25th, an eerie 

6123
05:42:35,100 --> 05:42:39,100
moment of karma arrived. 
The Soviet ships stopped just 

6124
05:42:39,100 --> 05:42:43,200
short of the blockade Line. 
This pause, this single moment 

6125
05:42:43,200 --> 05:42:47,000
of restraint was both a relief 
and a reminder of how 

6126
05:42:47,000 --> 05:42:49,700
precariously balanced the 
situation remained. 

6127
05:42:50,500 --> 05:42:54,100
Khrushchev sent a message. 
Proposing negotiations, a 

6128
05:42:54,100 --> 05:42:56,300
glimmer of Light breaking 
through the clouds of 

6129
05:42:56,300 --> 05:43:00,200
uncertainty. 
For a moment, let your mind 

6130
05:43:00,200 --> 05:43:04,200
Linger on this fragile quiet. 
Imagine the Stillness of the 

6131
05:43:04,200 --> 05:43:08,300
ocean, the distant shape, of the
ship's, and the muffled sounds 

6132
05:43:08,300 --> 05:43:12,600
of calm activity on Deck. 
It was a pause but not yet a 

6133
05:43:12,600 --> 05:43:15,300
resolution. 
Like the faintest hint of dawn 

6134
05:43:15,300 --> 05:43:20,000
before the sun begins to rise. 
As the world held its breath. 

6135
05:43:20,000 --> 05:43:24,400
The next moves, remained 
uncertain waiting to unfold with

6136
05:43:24,400 --> 05:43:26,800
the slow and deliberate pace of 
History itself. 

6137
05:43:26,800 --> 05:43:30,900
Pause for a moment. 
Let the tension of the previous 

6138
05:43:30,900 --> 05:43:35,100
days fade and allow yourself to 
sink into this pivotal chapter. 

6139
05:43:36,000 --> 05:43:40,200
A time when words not weapons 
became the instrument of a 

6140
05:43:40,200 --> 05:43:44,600
potential resolution, As the 
blockade held firm and Soviet 

6141
05:43:44,600 --> 05:43:48,100
ships paused in their Advanced, 
the crisis shifted, from the 

6142
05:43:48,108 --> 05:43:50,300
oceans to the realm of 
communication. 

6143
05:43:50,300 --> 05:43:54,800
It was now a battle of letters 
and messages where every word 

6144
05:43:54,800 --> 05:44:00,200
carried the weight of the world.
On October 26th, Premier 

6145
05:44:00,200 --> 05:44:03,600
Khrushchev sent the first of two
letters to President Kennedy. 

6146
05:44:04,200 --> 05:44:08,300
It was a message of emotion and 
urgency filled with words that 

6147
05:44:08,300 --> 05:44:12,600
seemed almost pleading Like 
Whispers carried on a breeze, 

6148
05:44:12,600 --> 05:44:14,900
Khrushchev proposed, a 
resolution. 

6149
05:44:14,900 --> 05:44:18,700
The Soviet Union would withdraw 
its missiles from Cuba. 

6150
05:44:18,700 --> 05:44:22,000
If the United States would 
promise not to invade the 

6151
05:44:22,000 --> 05:44:28,000
island, the tone was personal 
almost vulnerable as if 

6152
05:44:28,000 --> 05:44:30,600
Khrushchev sought to reach 
Kennedy, not as an adversary. 

6153
05:44:31,500 --> 05:44:34,600
but as a fellow human standing 
on the precipice of disaster, 

6154
05:44:35,700 --> 05:44:39,800
The next day, however, brought a
second letter different in tone,

6155
05:44:39,800 --> 05:44:44,100
harsher, more calculated. 
This one demanded that the 

6156
05:44:44,100 --> 05:44:47,600
United States also remove its 
Jupiter missiles from Turkey. 

6157
05:44:47,600 --> 05:44:51,600
An escalation that added a new 
layer of complexity to the 

6158
05:44:51,600 --> 05:44:55,800
already delicate negotiations, 
these letters arriving like 

6159
05:44:55,800 --> 05:44:59,900
waves in succession left Kennedy
and his advisors navigating 

6160
05:44:59,900 --> 05:45:03,400
treacherous Waters. 
Which message represented 

6161
05:45:03,400 --> 05:45:07,600
khrushchev's true intent. 
Was this a sincere offer or a 

6162
05:45:07,600 --> 05:45:11,500
ploy to gain an upper hand? 
In the Stillness of the White 

6163
05:45:11,500 --> 05:45:13,700
House. 
Kennedy and the x-com 

6164
05:45:13,700 --> 05:45:17,500
deliberated late Into the Night.
Their discussions were careful. 

6165
05:45:17,500 --> 05:45:20,700
Deliberate each word, spoken 
slowly. 

6166
05:45:20,700 --> 05:45:24,100
As if to avoid disturbing The 
Fragile balance, they were 

6167
05:45:24,100 --> 05:45:27,400
trying to maintain. 
The question lingered in the air

6168
05:45:27,400 --> 05:45:29,400
like the soft echo of distant 
footsteps. 

6169
05:45:30,600 --> 05:45:33,600
How could they accept the first 
offer without appearing weak? 

6170
05:45:33,600 --> 05:45:37,500
While also avoiding a direct 
confrontation that might spiral 

6171
05:45:37,500 --> 05:45:41,200
into war. 
Imagine The Quiet of those rooms

6172
05:45:41,200 --> 05:45:44,700
filled, only with the faint 
rustling of papers and the low 

6173
05:45:44,700 --> 05:45:47,700
hum of thought. 
It was a moment of immense 

6174
05:45:47,700 --> 05:45:52,100
pressure but also one of 
profound restraint as though the

6175
05:45:52,100 --> 05:45:55,300
weight of their decisions was 
held Aloft by a delicate and 

6176
05:45:55,300 --> 05:45:59,800
Invisible Thread. 
Finally Kennedy made his choice.

6177
05:45:59,800 --> 05:46:03,900
He responded to khrushchev's 
first letter agreeing to the 

6178
05:46:03,908 --> 05:46:11,100
proposal of a non-invasive. 
The Jupiter missiles in Turkey 

6179
05:46:11,100 --> 05:46:12,700
were not mentioned in this 
reply. 

6180
05:46:12,700 --> 05:46:16,700
A deliberate Omission meant to 
simplify the path to resolution.

6181
05:46:17,500 --> 05:46:21,400
At the same time, Robert Kennedy
the president's brother and 

6182
05:46:21,400 --> 05:46:24,300
attorney general. 
Quietly met with Soviet 

6183
05:46:24,300 --> 05:46:27,300
Ambassador Anatoly. 
De Brinnon to discuss the 

6184
05:46:27,300 --> 05:46:30,900
removal of the Turkish missiles 
as a separate unofficial 

6185
05:46:30,900 --> 05:46:34,000
arrangement. 
As the letters were exchanged, 

6186
05:46:34,000 --> 05:46:39,000
the world waited in silence. 
In millions of hearts beating 

6187
05:46:39,000 --> 05:46:43,000
slowly steadily. 
As the fate of humanity, seemed 

6188
05:46:43,000 --> 05:46:46,700
to hang in the balance. 
This was diplomacy at its most 

6189
05:46:46,700 --> 05:46:51,200
fragile, like a fine thread spun
across an open void. 

6190
05:46:52,100 --> 05:46:57,700
And yet in that fragility, there
was all, so hope a faint, but 

6191
05:46:57,700 --> 05:47:00,600
growing light at the end of a 
long and Shadow tunnel. 

6192
05:47:01,500 --> 05:47:05,000
Let this though drift gently 
through your mind as we move 

6193
05:47:05,000 --> 05:47:07,700
toward the final chapter of this
remarkable story. 

6194
05:47:08,500 --> 05:47:12,100
Where the crisis Finds Its 
resolution and the world begins 

6195
05:47:12,100 --> 05:47:18,200
to Exhale as the sun rose on 
October 28th, 1962, the world 

6196
05:47:18,200 --> 05:47:22,300
awoke to a glimmer of relief. 
Premier Khrushchev announced 

6197
05:47:22,300 --> 05:47:25,100
that the Soviet Union would 
dismantle and remove its 

6198
05:47:25,100 --> 05:47:29,000
missiles from Cuba. 
His decision, conveyed in a 

6199
05:47:29,000 --> 05:47:32,400
public radio broadcast. 
Mark the end of the 13-day 

6200
05:47:32,400 --> 05:47:35,300
standoff that had brought 
Humanity to the brink of nuclear

6201
05:47:35,300 --> 05:47:40,400
war. the missiles, he declared 
would be taken apart and the 

6202
05:47:40,408 --> 05:47:43,700
Weaponry returned to the Soviet 
Union under United Nations 

6203
05:47:43,700 --> 05:47:46,500
supervision for President 
Kennedy. 

6204
05:47:47,400 --> 05:47:51,600
This was a moment of cautious. 
Triumph the US quarantine had 

6205
05:47:51,600 --> 05:47:54,400
succeeded in forcing a peaceful 
resolution without resorting to 

6206
05:47:54,400 --> 05:47:58,000
violence. 
The secret agreement to remove 

6207
05:47:58,000 --> 05:48:00,800
the American Jupiter missiles 
from Turkey added a layer of 

6208
05:48:00,800 --> 05:48:03,400
complexity, but remained 
undisclosed to the public 

6209
05:48:03,400 --> 05:48:07,100
allowing both Nations to save 
face in the eyes of the world. 

6210
05:48:08,300 --> 05:48:11,100
In the following days, work 
began to de-escalate the 

6211
05:48:11,108 --> 05:48:14,500
situation. 
Soviet Personnel in Cuba started

6212
05:48:14,500 --> 05:48:17,800
dismantling, the missile site 
and American reconnaissance 

6213
05:48:17,800 --> 05:48:22,500
planes confirm the progress. 
Meanwhile, the US ships maintain

6214
05:48:22,500 --> 05:48:24,900
their positions and the removal 
was complete. 

6215
05:48:25,600 --> 05:48:28,900
Standing, as quiet Sentinels of 
the fragile piece that now 

6216
05:48:28,900 --> 05:48:32,600
settled over the Caribbean. 
The resolution of the Cuban 

6217
05:48:32,600 --> 05:48:35,600
Missile Crisis was hailed as a 
victory for diplomacy. 

6218
05:48:36,300 --> 05:48:39,100
But it left an enduring impact 
on both Nations. 

6219
05:48:39,900 --> 05:48:44,900
In the United States, Kennedy 
emerged as a skilled leader who 

6220
05:48:44,900 --> 05:48:48,000
had successfully navigated the 
most dangerous crisis of the 

6221
05:48:48,000 --> 05:48:50,800
Cold War. 
For Khrushchev. 

6222
05:48:50,800 --> 05:48:54,200
The crisis was a humbling moment
that exposed the limits of 

6223
05:48:54,200 --> 05:48:58,900
Soviet power and in part 
contributed to his eventual 

6224
05:48:58,900 --> 05:49:02,900
removal from office yet. 
The aftermath also brought 

6225
05:49:02,900 --> 05:49:06,400
reflection the sheer proximity 
to disaster. 

6226
05:49:06,400 --> 05:49:09,700
Prompted both superpowers to 
reconsider their approach to 

6227
05:49:09,700 --> 05:49:15,600
conflict and diplomacy In 1963, 
the two Nations established the 

6228
05:49:15,600 --> 05:49:19,000
Moscow Washington, hotline a 
direct communication link 

6229
05:49:19,000 --> 05:49:21,600
designed to prevent 
misunderstanding and delays in 

6230
05:49:21,608 --> 05:49:24,900
future crises. 
It was a small but significant 

6231
05:49:24,900 --> 05:49:27,600
step toward reducing the risk of
nuclear confrontation. 

6232
05:49:29,100 --> 05:49:33,300
Imagine the Stillness of those 
post crisis days, the world. 

6233
05:49:34,200 --> 05:49:38,000
So recently shadowed by the 
threat of a Annihilation, now 

6234
05:49:38,000 --> 05:49:42,600
seemed quieter Karma as if 
holding its breath in gratitude.

6235
05:49:44,000 --> 05:49:47,100
The Cuban Missile Crisis, had 
shown how close Humanity could 

6236
05:49:47,100 --> 05:49:50,800
come to its own destruction and 
how essential it was to step 

6237
05:49:50,800 --> 05:49:55,000
back from the edge in the years 
that followed the crisis became 

6238
05:49:55,000 --> 05:49:59,200
a symbol of both, the dangers of
the nuclear age and the power of

6239
05:49:59,200 --> 05:50:02,500
restraint and diplomacy. 
It remains a, reminder of the 

6240
05:50:02,500 --> 05:50:06,400
delicate balance that sustains 
piece, and the courage required 

6241
05:50:06,400 --> 05:50:10,800
to preserve it, as we reflect on
the Cuban Missile Crisis, we 

6242
05:50:10,800 --> 05:50:13,300
realize its profound 
significance in shaping the 

6243
05:50:13,308 --> 05:50:18,300
trajectory of History. 
These 13 days in October 1962, 

6244
05:50:18,300 --> 05:50:21,200
were more than just a tense 
standoff between two 

6245
05:50:21,200 --> 05:50:24,400
superpowers. 
They were a moment when Humanity

6246
05:50:24,400 --> 05:50:27,500
stood on the edge of a 
precipice, where the future of 

6247
05:50:27,500 --> 05:50:31,100
the world hung in the balance, 
the resolution of the crisis 

6248
05:50:31,100 --> 05:50:34,800
through diplomacy restraint and 
the courage to seek. 

6249
05:50:34,800 --> 05:50:39,400
Peace reminds us of the fragile 
nature of our existence and the 

6250
05:50:39,400 --> 05:50:42,200
Deep responsibility we all share
to preserve it. 

6251
05:50:43,500 --> 05:50:47,200
The Cuban Missile Crisis serves 
as a testament to the power of 

6252
05:50:47,200 --> 05:50:51,300
careful communication and the 
importance of maintaining calm 

6253
05:50:51,300 --> 05:50:54,700
in the face of peril. 
It is a reminder that even in 

6254
05:50:54,700 --> 05:50:58,100
our darkest moments when fear 
and uncertainty seem 

6255
05:50:58,100 --> 05:51:02,000
overwhelming, it is possible to 
find a path toward peace through

6256
05:51:02,000 --> 05:51:06,200
understanding and cooperation. 
The decisions made during that 

6257
05:51:06,200 --> 05:51:10,600
crisis, by leaders and diplomats
alike, were not just about 

6258
05:51:10,600 --> 05:51:13,900
averting disaster, but about 
fostering a future in which 

6259
05:51:13,900 --> 05:51:17,700
Humanity could move forward 
together with a deeper 

6260
05:51:17,700 --> 05:51:20,200
commitment to avoiding the 
devastation of War. 

6261
05:51:20,200 --> 05:51:25,000
This story with all its tension 
and drama carries with it. 

6262
05:51:25,000 --> 05:51:29,400
A profound sense of satisfaction
knowing that through diplomacy 

6263
05:51:29,400 --> 05:51:34,300
cooler, heads prevail, The 
crisis could have led to a 

6264
05:51:34,300 --> 05:51:38,700
catastrophe, but instead, it 
ended with the restoration of a 

6265
05:51:38,700 --> 05:51:43,000
delicate piece and as we find 
comfort in that resolution, we 

6266
05:51:43,000 --> 05:51:46,100
can allow ourselves to drift 
into a space of Tranquility 

6267
05:51:46,100 --> 05:51:50,900
knowing that, even in the most 
tumultuous time's pieces always 

6268
05:51:50,900 --> 05:51:53,200
within our reach, if we dare to 
reach for it. 

6269
05:51:54,400 --> 05:51:57,000
As we close this chapter on the 
Cuban Missile Crisis. 

6270
05:51:57,000 --> 05:52:00,800
Take a moment to feel the weight
of history is lessons wash over 

6271
05:52:00,800 --> 05:52:03,500
you. 
Soothing your mind and heart. 

6272
05:52:04,400 --> 05:52:08,500
The story though, intense 
carries with it, a sense of 

6273
05:52:08,500 --> 05:52:13,000
relief and calm, a reminder that
piece like the most gentle rain.

6274
05:52:13,700 --> 05:52:16,200
Can cleanse even the deepest 
tensions. 

6275
05:52:17,000 --> 05:52:21,600
Now, as we begin to let go of 
these thoughts, allow the soft 

6276
05:52:21,600 --> 05:52:24,300
sound of rain in the background 
to fill your senses. 

6277
05:52:25,300 --> 05:52:29,300
Let the music gently carry, you 
like a breeze through the trees 

6278
05:52:29,300 --> 05:52:34,500
into a state of deep relaxation?
The calm steady Rhythm of the 

6279
05:52:34,500 --> 05:52:38,100
rain with its soothing pattern 
and the quiet hum of the night 

6280
05:52:38,100 --> 05:52:42,700
will help you unwind fully 
offering a peaceful Escape as 

6281
05:52:42,700 --> 05:52:44,300
you settle into a restful sleep.