August 31, 2020 Episode Transcript
The AIH Transcript for August 31, 2020
[host]Hosts: Helen Mann and Chris Howden[/host]
HELEN MANN: Hello, I'm Helen Mann, sitting in for Carol Off.
CHRIS HOWDEN: Good evening, I'm Chris Howden. This is As It Happens.
[Music: Theme]
Prologue
CH: Tonight:
HM: Worth a shot. Ottawa is hedging its bets — announcing agreements today with two more companies for their potential COVID-19 vaccines. We reach a doctor who says it's still too early which bet — if any — will pay off.
CH: Mask chaos. A German MP tells us about the moment a demonstration against the government's pandemic response turned into a far-right attempt to storm the German parliament.
HM: Strong-arm tactics. Thieves grab a really heavy bronze sculpture from the yard of a Toronto home with shocking speed and strength. The artist fears her very personal creation could be melted down.
CH: Scooby-Doo-ing what came naturally. In 1969, the late Joe Ruby and his partner were asked to create a cartoon about teenage detectives. That's when Mr. Ruby asked the fateful question, "What if we add a dog who's also a chicken?"
HM: Riding high. After two years tinkering and tailoring, retired engineer Seth Goldstein has finished work on a unique — and possibly counter-productive — exercise bike — one that scratches his back and serves him cookies.
CH: Tickled ink. One of North America's few remaining typewriter repairmen writes a note to the 'celebrity face' of typewriters — and gets a personal note back.
CH: As It Happens, the Monday edition. Radio that knows the type.
Part one: Canada COVID vaccine, typewriter repairman, stolen sculpture
Canada COVID vaccine
Guest: Michael Gardam
CH: The Canadian government is not in the business of making bets. But on the COVID-19 vaccine, they have little choice. Ottawa has announced it just ordered 114 million doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines from two U.S. drug companies, Novavax and Johnson & Johnson. That's on top of orders Ottawa has already placed with Pfizer and Moderna for its vaccines. Anita Anand says hedging bets is all part of her government's strategy. Here's the Minister of Public Services and Procurement speaking today.
ANITA ANAND: We have multiple contracts in place with multiple suppliers. Because at this stage, no one knows which vaccine is going to be successful. Therefore, we need to have many options on the table for Canadians. And I will assure you that we are not on a frolic of our own in this decision making, that our procurements are following the advice of the vaccine task force as well as Health Canada and our minister of health. And we will continue to procure vaccines from multiple suppliers so that if there are vaccine developers who are unsuccessful with their candidate, we have other options available for Canadians. And in addition, we have options in those contracts to procure even more vaccine doses for Canadians should that need arise.
CH: Dr. Michael Gardam is an infectious diseases doctor at Women's College Hospital in Toronto. That's where we reached him.
HM: Dr. Gardam, how hopeful do you think Canadians should be right now, knowing that our government has pre-ordered millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses from four different companies?
MICHAEL GARDAM: Yeah, I think most people believe that there will be a vaccine available within the next year. And, you know, the early evidence suggests that vaccines are likely to be effective. What we don't know, of course, is which vaccines are going to be effective. So we don't know which company ultimately is going to have the best vaccine and also the safest vaccine. And of course, we also don't know, is this something you get once? Do you get a booster every year? Those are all questions that will be answered. But I think, you know, at these early stages, I certainly think we should be reasonably optimistic.
HM: Novavax is a Maryland-based biotech company that's never brought a vaccine to market. It's still in phase two of vaccine trials with a small sample size. So what is encouraging about this particular vaccine?
MG: Well, I think that, you know, they do have some encouraging early results. It is a slightly more traditional vaccine. And I think that, you know, as the minister said, they're hedging their bets. They're looking at different types of vaccines from four different manufacturers, three of which are very well-known manufacturers. And they're just kind of playing the field in terms of the companies to make sure that they've got a reasonable chance that at least one of these is going to be successful.
HM: You say the Novavax version is a fairly traditional vaccine. How does that compare to, say, the Moderna vaccine that the government's also placed an order with?
MG: Well, I mean, some of these vaccines that we're talking about are actually using genetic material from the virus to allow, so basically, you're injecting genetic material. It could be directly. It could be through a virus vector. And then your body is actually producing the proteins that your body is then going to react to versus more traditional vaccines, which are actually giving you the protein that your body is going to react to. So some of the vaccines are taking it sort of one step earlier where your body makes the protein. In other cases, the protein is actually being given to you directly. So these are all different strategies for vaccines, and the ones giving the genetic material are relatively new strategies. So we have the very preliminary lab animal, small numbers of human volunteers data. Now we need to get the big data.
HM: Canada had been collaborating with a Chinese company. It was called Cansino. The Cooperation. There were promising reports about that vaccine with the critical clinical trials supposed to be happening here in Canada that was abandoned last week. There were reports the Chinese government refused to ship that vaccine to Canada. I'm just I'm wondering if there's concerns about political tension between China and Canada playing a role in this?
MG: You know, honestly, I think there should be concerns about political tensions between Canada and multiple other countries. I mean, we've seen this previously in pandemics. And we even have, you know, in our Canadian pandemic plan, the idea that we should have local domestic manufacturers, we should have local stockpiles for that exact reason, right? When you get a global emergency, collaboration between countries can often fall by the wayside. And it's kind of every man for themselves. And we've certainly seen that in the United States, for example, where they've tried to corner the market on various antiviral drugs and, you know, presumably — possibly — with U.S. manufactured vaccines as well.
HM: Right now, we see President Trump has launched this thing called Operation Warp Speed some time ago. And we've seen how protectionist he has been, putting Americans first being his motto. Should Canada be taking a similar approach, a more aggressive internal response?
MG: Well, Canada definitely needs to look after itself. There's zero doubt about that. By the same token, I don't think we have to, you know, turn our backs to the world. I just think you have to make sure that your Canadian supply, you know, be it personal protective equipment, be it vaccine, whatever, that your supply is secure. But I also don't want us to turn our backs on the rest of the world, because Canada, I mean, is still a very rich country. And we still have a lot to potentially, you know, we've a lot of help we could potentially give to other countries that are less fortunate than us.
HM: It's become kind of a joke that we're all sort of amateur epidemiologists [laughing] looking for little clues as to what might happen. But given your expertise, what are you looking for as the clinical trials progress?
MG: Well, I mean, really, what you're looking for and, you know, it's sort of perverse, but in a way, we're lucky that there's such widespread COVID-19 activity, especially in the U.S. where a lot of the trials are being held, which means that you can enroll people faster and you can probably get an answer faster. And what we're looking for is, you know, a very clear benefit to being vaccinated in terms of, you know, your risk of infection, your risk of serious disease is dramatically reduced with the vaccine versus placebo. And then when we want to see, of course, is that it's safe. You want to know that after that phase three trial, that you've given it to tens of thousands of people, and there are no significant side effects beyond a sore arm and that sort of thing. You know, we don't have that information yet. And still, it's why I sort of say that I'm cautiously optimistic. We still have a ways to go until we actually have a vaccine that's proven safe, manufactured and then given out to Canadians.
HM: The other thing, of course, is the concern that we might be betting on the wrong horse or the wrong horses and be left with no COVID-19 vaccine. Is that a legitimate concern?
MG: It's definitely a concern. It's very hard to know how probable that scenario is, right? I mean, I think that you know, betting on multiple horses is a very smart strategy. I'd be very concerned if we only had one vaccine that we were lining up behind. Obviously, you can't bet on a hundred different vaccines, so you have to draw the line somewhere. And, you know, it's hard to know ahead of time whether four is enough. There's reasonable expectation that at least, you know, one or more of these vaccines is going to be successful. So I think it's a reasonable hedge. But if it turns out a year from now, none of these work, then Canada will have completely dropped the ball. If it turns out that all four of them work, then we'll look like geniuses, right? So it's honestly hard to know.
HM: Dr. Gardham, thanks for sharing your expertise.
MG: Thanks so much.
HM: OK, bye-bye.
MG: Bye-bye.
CH: Dr. Michael Gardam is an infectious diseases doctor at Women's College Hospital in Toronto. That's where we reached him. And for more on this, go to our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.
[Music: Jazz]
Typewriter repairman
Guest: Thom Cholowski
CH: It's been a while since As It Happens producers came into work, hung up their fedoras, and banged out introductions like this one on a manual typewriter. Technology allows us to enter and delete whatever we want into a word-processing program at lightning speed. And our delicate fingers no longer have the brute force required to hammer out our prose. But Thom Cholowski is the old-fashioned type when it comes to old-fashioned typing. He's one of the few remaining people in Canada who can repair, and even completely rebuild, typewriters. And just last week, he got a particularly special personal letter in the mail. Typewritten, of course. We reached Thom Cholowski in Saskatoon.
HM: Mr. Cholowski, who did you get a letter from last week?
THOM CHOLOWSKI: I received a letter from Mr. Tom Hanks.
HM: And what did you think the minute you saw it? [chuckling]
TC: Oh, I was [chuckling] gobsmacked. I was honoured and I was humbled.
HM: And why did you get a letter from Tom Hanks? I mean, I'd love to get one, but I don't think it's coming.
TC: Mr. Hanks is very much the celebrity face of the typewriter community. And in 2016, he was part of a documentary called "California Typewriter". And that film was a catalyst that helped spark a resurgence in interest in typewriters. And Mr. Hanks has kept that momentum going, helping people rediscover these wonderful machines. And it's definitely had an impact on my life. So I typed out a letter to Mr. Hanks, not expecting a reply. And when I opened my mail to find a very personal typed letter from Mr. Hanks, I was floored.
HM: What did the letter say?
TC: He thanked me for the work that I'm doing. He said it was an honour to reach out to me. And he said that next time he's in Saskatchewan, he'll stop by for a visit. And at the bottom, there was a sticky note requesting me to get a hold of his office. And I did. And Mr. Hanks is going to be sending me a typewriter.
HM: Wow, that's exciting! Is this typewriter you're going to repair or one to keep?
TC: Well, in the letter, he said to keep it, but we'll see. [chuckling]
HM: Wow! Do you know why Tom Hanks loves typewriters so much?
TC: I don't know why he does personally, but I can appreciate it. They are wonderful machines. There's nothing quite like a well-tuned typewriter. There's a hundred years of manufacturing in between the 1880s and the 1980s, and there's all sorts of different styles and shapes. And each one has its own feel. And there's a machine for every person. And when you find a typewriter that you just connect with, it becomes a wonderful machine, an extension of very much your soul, a great platform to create on.
HM: How did you become a typewriter repairman?
TC: I was always that kid that was taking apart clocks and old radios and what have you. And when I was a child, I found an old Remington typewriter at a thrift store, and it was just an amazing thing. And I promptly took it apart to figure out how it worked. And over the years, I've developed that passion. And with "California Typewriter" coming out, and the resurgence of interest, things just went much larger than I ever anticipated.
HM: So how busy are you?
TC: It's very busy. [laughing] It's much busier than I ever anticipated. I'm receiving notes from people all over the world. Packages show up unexpectedly from people in Germany and in the U.S. with notes of saying, can you please repair my machine?
HM: And have you had other notable people or notable typewriters that you've worked on?
TC: I've worked with a lot of writers that are fairly well-known on the Canadian scene. But machines, I've had the opportunity to work on many, many, many rare and historic machines. a Cree typewriter that was manufactured by the Remington Typewriter Company in the 30s that has Cree syllabic characters that was used to transcribe history. World War Two German telecommunications machines, machines that were used in the Royal Navy. Machines that type out Masonic symbols. Just an absolutely incredible spectrum of very rare and unusual machines.
HM: Mm-hmm. You know, I watched Tom Hanks most recent movie, "Greyhound", and I actually noticed, knowing that he loved typewriters, that there is a machine in the movie. And I started thinking, speaking to you, do you, like notice typewriters in movies and whether they're authentic or not the way other specialists do?
TC: [deep, hearty laugh] Yeah, it's people who often joke that I should be a specialist that helps authenticate things in movies before they come in, because personally, for me, it's very frustrating to see a well-crafted movie and then have a machine that's completely out of time and space in there. And it, unfortunately, ruins it for me.
HM: I figured that might be the case. Now, I have an old Remington. You mentioned them a couple of times — the manual one my mom taught me to type on — if I were to want it to be repaired. What's involved? Like, how do you even begin?
TC: So when I receive the machine, I do an assessment, and then I completely disassemble it. Everything comes apart. And I have all the proper tooling and all of the templates to measure ware patterns. And I will clean it and rebuild it from the inside out. And essentially, what you wind up with is as close to factory new as you can possibly get.
HM: Wow! So during the pandemic, you said you're very busy. Do you think that there's some reason people are connecting with typewriters now?
TC: Almost definitely. People have unplugged, and this is a beautiful machine to unplug from the modern world. It's very personal. Because it's a mechanical machine, you fall into almost a musical rhythm when you're typing. And with the pandemic, and people being at home, this is a different way to express yourself and to be creative and to communicate with other people. And folks are really discovering the joy of these machines.
HM: And partly due to Tom Hanks.
TC: [chuckling] Yes, very much so.
HM: Mr. Cholowski, thank you for speaking with us. It's been fun.
TC: My pleasure. Thank you very much.
HM: OK, bye-bye.
TC: Bye bye.
CH: Thom Cholowski is a typewriter repairman who got a letter from fellow typewriter aficionado Tom Hanks last week. We reached Mr. Cholowski in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
[Music: Indie rock]
Stolen sculpture
Guest: Lea Vivot
CH: It's not easy to move a 226-kilogram bronze sculpture. That's 500 pounds, by the way. But last week, someone did it somehow, for some reason. The sculpture is called The Secret Bench of Knowledge. It sat, seemingly immovably, outside a Toronto home. It's one of only seven editions of the same sculpture. Some of the other versions are on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on 5th Avenue in New York, and in the city of Hanoi, Vietnam. The sculptures were created by Lea Vivot — who had specially personalized this Secret Bench for the Toronto family decades ago. We reached Ms. Vivot in Uxbridge, Ontario.
HM: Ms. Vivot, what went through your mind when you heard the sculpture had been stolen?
LEA VIVOT: Well, I was shocked. I couldn't believe it. After 38 years, sitting bolted down in front of the home of a well-known philanthropist, Murray Goldman, I just can still believe it because I don't know what anybody would want to do with it? There is two possibilities: either to resolve it, or melt it down for the bronze value.
HM: Oh, dear!
LV: It would be horrible. The first option would be better because at least it would still exist and it would still make other people happy, although it is not the right thing to do.
HM: Mm-hmm. Let me ask you, how did you find out about the theft?
LV: The owner called me.
HM: What did Mr. Goldman say to you?
LV: He said, Lea, I can't believe it. I walk out in the morning and the bench is gone. So what do we do? I said, Murray, it's a very unique piece. It was like a family tree to you, all the children, your grandchildren, your late wife, everyone wrote a message. I remember, like today, when they all came to my Kleinberg studio, came with the contribution of their messages. I printed the little children's feet and hands. We did drawings, messages of love, very personalized. So even if somebody would remove the two children and dispose of the bench so it couldn't be identified, I still will identified my piece because I make additional seven, and I knew where each of them is.
HM: Do you know if there were security cameras that caught any of the theft?
LV: They did. They've seen four people, two and two lifting, and walking away, and loading it into a white utility truck.
HM: How heavy was this sculpture?
LV: About 500 to 600 pounds.
HM: Wow! Can you describe what The Secret Bench of Knowledge looks like for us?
LV: It's two children, a boy and the girl, sitting on the bench. And the boy has arm around the girl, trying to whisper in her ear, perhaps trying to get that first adolescent kiss, while her body is pulling away. But the face is turning towards to him. And the boy holds an apple in the hand. And she is kind of ready to take it. Well, they always said that it's the woman that lost everyone the paradise, because of that apple, [laughing] and that happened in the Bible. So this time, I put the apple in the hand of the boy.
HM: You reversed it?
LV: I reversed it. But I recall a little secret while I was working in the studio one night. I didn't like the way I model the bite of the apple. So at the end, in the morning, I just took the bite myself. So after all, it is still that woman who took that first bite. [laughing]
HM: So you bit out of the clay before you cast it?
LV: Yes, so my teeth are in it. [laughing]
HM: So it has a bit of you in it as well as the Goldman family?
LV: Oh, of course. They are like my children. It takes approximately nine months to cast each and make each, so I could have another child.
HM: You mentioned that, you know, you're fearful that the idea is that they might want to melt this down for the value of the metal. Do you think that's the more likely of the options here?
LV: You know, thanks to you, I don't think so, because piece is, number one, very well-known already. And now you are helping, so anyone will know if it should come to that place that they will not do it. As will the owner offers a reward, 10-thousand, which is more than the cost of bronze, although the sculpture itself is a half-a-million. But it's practically priceless regardless because of having this messages. You cannot replace it, you cannot go back in time.
HM: Mm-hmm. Has any of your work ever been stolen before?
LV: I recall in Montreal, there was a sculpture in front of the Museum of Modern Art. Someone removed the mother from the bench, but they were caught trying to load it up in the back of the museum. So the police called me one day and said, Miss Madame Lea Vivot, can you come and identify your mother and child that sits with us that it's yours? Second time, that is a beautiful sculpture of mine I donated to the hospital in front of Sick Children Hospital.
HM: Yes.
LV: And because of the vast media, I pleaded to give the mother's back, the children needs the mother because there are also children in the middle of the circle. So, suddenly, it appears in the ditch where my studio is in Kleinberg because I ask people always make yourself feel good by doing something good. I understand the times are tough. I understand the galleries and museums are closed, especially now. I understand we all need culture, so please share it again with everyone like family Goldman did. They could have keep it in their own garden, but instead, they shared it with the public, and people loved it and enjoy it. So please give them back.
HM: Ms. Vivot, thank you for telling us about this. I certainly hope the sculpture is found safely.
LV: Thank you so very much, and thank you for your help.
HM: Bye-bye.
LV: Bye-bye.
CH: Lea Vivot is the artist who created The Secret Bench of Knowledge, a 500-pound sculpture stolen from a Toronto yard last week. We reached Ms. Vivot in Uxbridge, Ontario.
[Music: "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?" by Danny Jenssen and Austin Roberts]
SINGER: Scooby Dooby Doo, we're looking for you. Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you?
SCOOB: Over here!
SINGER: Couldn't have a show without ya.
Joe Ruby obit
CH: The characters weren't complex: two were good-looking, one was smart, one was scared and hungry, and one was a large dog. Who was also scared and hungry. And the spooky mysteries didn't feature Agatha Christie-level plotting: the culprit was always an old guy you'd seen for three seconds sometime before the first commercial break. But none of that mattered: on Saturday mornings, you'd get a bowl of cereal and watch a cartoon about teenage detectives and their Great Dane, Scooby-Doo. In the late '60s, Ken Spears and his writing-producing partner Joe Ruby were tasked with creating a teen-detective show. But Mr. Spears says it was Mr. Ruby who had the real stroke of genius. And he introduced it with a crucial question: "Is it okay if we put a dog in it?"
FRED: Scooby, I thought you were taking a bath.
[Sound: Scoob acts scared]
SHAGGY: Like, you mean the tub tipped up and slid into the basement?
SCOOB: Yeah, yeah. [making various noises]
SHAGGY: And you saw a shadowy chain-rattling phantom?
SCOOB: Yeah.
CH: Joe Ruby, co-creator of "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" died this month. He was 87. Scooby-Doo was just one of the anthropomorphic animals Mr. Ruby and Ken Spears created for Hanna-Barbera — along with the robot dog Dynomutt, and Jabberjaw, a talking shark who plays the drums. But the clumsy dog detective was their most famous creation. They wrote most of the first season themselves, setting up a template that would last through every other iteration of the show, plus spin-offs and movies. But Carole Ruby, Joe Ruby's widow, says he received no bonus from Hanna-Barbera for creating that immortal dog coward. Just his usual 400 bucks a week.
Part two: German COVID protests, wacky exercise bike
German COVID protests
Guest: Omid Nouripour
CH: Around the world, Germany has been praised for getting COVID-19 largely under control. But, on the weekend, protesters had only anger for their government's pandemic response. In Berlin, tens of thousands took to the streets decrying the use of face masks, and other measures put in place to control the virus. And among those demonstrating were people wearing neo-Nazi insignias, and waving flags. At one point, some members of the far right broke through a police cordon and tried to storm the German parliament, the Reichstag. Omid Nouripour is a German MP with the Green Party. We reached him in Berlin.
HM: Mr. Nouripour, what was it like for you to see this group of far-right demonstrators attempt to get into the Reichstag?
OMID NOURIPOUR: Of course, it was a disgraceful moment to see that they tried to repeat the darker side of German history. But at the end of the day, you know, there is no reason to panic. These people are dangerous, but they're a tiny minority. And the majority of people in Germany are, of course, Democrats taking to the right things and to the rule of law in this country. And we are strong enough to push these people back.
HM: It appears, though, that they are willing to be a very visible minority. Some of them were actually waving the flag of the German Reich that ended in 1918. What's the significance of that particular flag and some of the other far-right insignia that was on display?
ON: This flag is not only the flag of the monarchy in Germany. This is the flag people were surrounding during the Weimar Republic, especially those people who were against the republic. This is the flag of those people who are not ready to accept the democratic system we are living in. And this is why it's the worst imaginable symbol in these times. And it's absolutely necessary that we see that these people had a symbolic and propaganda success. But that's it. There is no reason to think that Germany is in danger.
HM: Why are you so confident of that? Why do you think this is not something that could pick up steam?
ON: Because these people brought up a demonstration and protest against the COVID measures of our government. But we have a lot of very reliable polls saying that it's 87 per cent of the Germans are absolutely happy with the measures, or think that they are not hard enough, that they really should be much more measures. There are people in this country who criticize the government for not going for the second lock down. I think this moment, there is no reason for a second lockdown. But this is not the music. These people who tried to enter the Bundestag are playing. They say that there is no significant danger. There is no reason for a lockdown. And they use the COVID situation like they did with the refugee situation we had in 2015 to undermine the trust of the public and the authorities of this country and those people who are elected and democracy in general.
HM: What is it about the COVID response in Germany that has generated so much anger among these thousands of people?
ON: This group of people who protested and Saturday in Berlin is highly diverse. There are people who do absolutely agree that covid is a huge problem, but are not agreeing with the measures of the government, saying that the harm for a free economy is bigger than harm for the health system. This is an argument I do not agree with, but we can discuss that. The problem on Saturday was not the Nazis trying to storm the Bundestag. The problem has been all of the other people around them who are not Nazis, who were not trying to find distance to these people and trying to to disagree with these people publicly. So there are a lot of reasons to criticize our government. I deal with it myself as an MP. There is a lot of disagreement in this society. I think this is something which we see in all of our democracies in these days. But this is a huge difference between those people who are disagreeing with the government on one side and those people who are disagreeing with the entire democratic system. And these are the people we have to fight.
HM: We did, though, see some of these people who are promoting conspiracy theories around vaccines and things like 5G cellular networks. And that's not unique to Germany. But is that kind of thinking gaining a foothold?
ON: There has always been people who spread conspiracy theories. You have a couple of factors who are echoing this phenomenon. One is, of course, the way they use the Internet. And the other one is we have people who used to be role models like U.S. presidents, who are spreading the same conspiracy theories also. This is, of course, encouraging for those people. One of the reasons why these people tried to enter the Bundestag was that one of the fake speakers at this protest told them, listen, President Trump was a role model for all of these people because of the conspiracy theories he's spreading. He is now in Berlin signing a peace peace agreement with Mr. Putin. This was one of the reasons why people could be mobilized for such an action. So it's, of course, not a question of us arguing only. It's, of course, a question of all of the people all across the globe who are responsible because they are in office.
HM: Given we know the pandemic is not expected to go away quickly, are you concerned that it is going to become an excuse for more right-wing violence in Germany?
ON: I think this is a something which can happen not only in Germany, and of course, we have to be very, very concerned, not only concerned, but of course, we have to be aware of the fact that there are a lot of forces here who tried to use the situation. By the way, we know that a bunch of those people who are key players of this movement are related to other countries who are paying them for it. We know that there are people there who are part of the hybrid warfare of other countries in Europe.
HM: Do you mean Russia?
ON: To be honest, yeah. The major part of the violence started when those people went in front of the Russian embassy calling Mr. Putin to come and deliver it, OK? This is propaganda, and there are reasons for that.
HM: Omid Nouripour, thank you very much for speaking with us.
ON: Thank you.
CH: Omid Nouripour is a German MP with the Green Party. We reached him in Berlin.
[Music: Ambient]
Biden violence
CH: This morning, in all-caps, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted: "LAW AND ORDER." But Joe Biden says the president wants the exact opposite. The Democratic presidential nominee spoke today in Pittsburgh, after a weekend of violence in the US. In Portland, Oregon, hundreds of Trump supporters clashed with counter-protesters. And although it isn't clear if it was related to the skirmishes, one far-right protester ended up dead. In Kenosha, Wisconsin, more than a hundred people have been arrested. And last week two protesters were killed. Today, during that Pittsburgh campaign stop, Mr. Biden said President Trump is to blame for the violence.
JOE BIDEN: The job of a president is to tell it straight from the shoulder, tell the truth, to be candid, to face facts, to lead, not to incite. That's why I'm speaking to you today. The incumbent president is incapable of telling us the truth, incapable of facing the facts and incapable of healing. He doesn't want to shed light. He wants to generate heat. And he's stoking violence in our cities. You know, this is a tragic fact of the matter that about his perilous hour that how he's dealing with this perilous hour in our nation. And now, we have to stand against violence in every form it takes. Violence, we've seen again and again and again of unwarranted police shooting, excessive force. Seven bullets in the back of Jacob Blake, in the neck of George Floyd, killing of Breonna Taylor in her own apartment, violence of extremists and opportunists. I want to make it absolutely clear, so I'm going to be very clear about all of this. Rioting is not protesting. Looting is not protesting. Setting fires is not protesting. None of this is protesting. It's lawlessness, plain and simple. And those who do it should be prosecuted. Violence will not bring change. It'll only bring destruction. It's wrong in every way. It divides instead of unites, destroys businesses, only hurts the working families that serve the community. It makes things worse across the board, not better. No, it's not what Dr. King or John Lewis taught. And it must end. Fires are burning and we have a president who fans the flames, rather than fighting the flames. But we must not burn. We have to build. This president long ago forfeited any moral leadership in this country.
CH: That was Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaking in Pittsburgh today
[Music: Horns!]
Wacky exercise bike
Guest: Seth Goldstein
CH: Maybe it's a Thigh Master at the back of your closet. Maybe it's a half-deflated exercise ball in your garage. Or maybe it's a Bowflex you ordered on impulse after seeing an infomercial at 2:00 a.m. — which is currently serving as a towel rack. A lot of us have exercise equipment we've weakly re-purposed — or completely de-purposed. But Seth Goldstein got creative with his old exercise bike. He made it into a contraption that scratches your back, cools you down, feeds you cookies and gives you water. He's calling it the Rube Goldberg Exercise Bike. We reached Seth Goldstein near Washington DC.
HM: Mr. Goldstein, how fit have you become with all the cycling that I imagine you've been doing as you test out this bike?
SETH GOLDSTEIN: Very fit. [chuckling] In fact, making the video made me extremely fit.
HM: So for the listeners who haven't seen the video you've referred to or any of the images, describe for us what this contraption looks like?
SG: This contraption, you see someone sitting in an exercise bike, and they're pedalling away, and there's a chain extending out behind you, behind me, and it's moving something that makes a fan go back and forth behind me, and makes a screw-like mechanism go up and down and rotating as it gets my back going. [chuckle] Then looking forward, I'm looking at some crazy rig that makes a turntable rotate, something then makes a nut go up, and ultimately, turns a valve on, which fills a cup full of water. But that only happens if you pedal fast enough and for a long enough time. You can see why I do a lot of pedalling here.
HM: Yeah, well, there's no doubt that you're talking about a Rube Goldberg Machine, right?
SG: Oh, yes. And then we have another mechanism that gives you a cookie if you pedal just long enough. I figured I'd give myself a break. I don't have to pedal fast, just long enough. So I rigged this thing up to a bicycle pump, which blows up a balloon. And when the balloon gets big enough, it trips a little mechanism that allows a single cookie to roll down a chute, which then is stopped by something. And it's stopped because I have to get rid of the air and the balloon at some point. So I have a special mechanism that deflates the balloon. And the whoosh of air out of the balloon allows the cookie to fall down onto a turntable, where it gets dumped onto a belt that raises up to another belt that raises it back to where it began. And that's where I can grab the cookie to get my cookie if I want.
HM: You mentioned the thing that gets your back going. So I gather this started with the idea that you wanted a bike that would scratch your back?
SG: Yeah, that was sort of the initial concept. I just had this crazy idea. I wanted to make a real Rube Goldberg-like machine that would scratch my back. And then the question was how to implement it? And I thought, I'm using a bicycle to make that happen, and it just got more complex from there.
HM: Now, how did you choose the perfect cookie to use with the machine?
SG: Ah, the perfect cookie! It turned out that that was a Keebler Sandie because it was wide enough so it wouldn't fall over as it rolled around the track. And it also was very rugged. If it falls on the floor, which it did many times, it doesn't splinter into a lot of pieces. And I bought a whole bunch of bags of them just in case! [laughing]
HM: you're scared, they're going to stop making them?
SG: Exactly. [both laughing]
HM: Did you try any other kinds of cookies?
SG: Oh yeah, Oreos didn't work. They just splintered whenever they fell. And they didn't really roll that well either. [laughing]
HM: Hmmm! And you have water that you can get if you get thirsty.
SG: Yeah, I actually made it take off on Gatorade, which I can put whatever I want into one of these backpacker type bags that you can carry, you know, and sip the water from. So I hung that from a hook, so it made it look like a saline drip bag.
HM: Are you ever tempted to put, I don't know, a martini in that bag?
SG: I probably could have, but it was too expensive to fill that bladder with a martini. [both laughing]
HM: Just a thought.
SG: Just a thought.
HM: Now, you spent a couple of years on and off, as I understand it, working on this bike contraption. Why dedicate so much time to it?
SG: Oh, why I dedicated so much? Because, well, I'd come off working on this 50-year long project to build a clipper ship model. And the last five years, I had worked on the rigging of it. And I just had to do something that was a bit more less tedious than rigging the little clipper ship. It was a six-foot-long clipper ship. But I just wanted to do something real bad. So that's why I wanted to do that. And when the pandemic got started, that gave me the boost to keep going.
HM: Right. I guess in a way, you know, having these kind of projects is a bit of a distraction from what's going on in the world?
SG: Absolutely, it was a very, very important one. I need to be working on something else. [laughing]
HM: This is not your first Rube Goldberg-esque machine, right?
SG: No, no. I made a machine that ties a necktie. That was my first one. And then I made a machine that plays a violin. That was another one.
HM: Wow!
SG: And I had something, another crazy project, that ended up in a museum.
HM: I understand your wife is an engineer as well, and she has kind of inspired some of what you're doing?
SG: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, she had the idea for the "Why Not The Time Machine?" And she named it too, by the way, WKONT. And also, she was the basic inspiration for the violin machine as well. So she's been my constant companion in all these things, and has been enormously helpful. And she helped with the video as well.
HM: You mentioned that some of these works are in museums. What about the exercise bike backscratching cookie machine?
SG: [hearty laughing] Well, it'd be nice if I could get it into a museum, but I just started it, so I haven't tried. The thing is, it would have to be just accompanied by the video because the general public, if they tried to use it, they'd wreck it. [laughing] They'd wreck that thing in four hours. I've been through that [laughing]. I know things have to be extremely, extremely robust. And this wasn't made that way.
HM: Gee, Mr. Goldstein, it's a lot of fun. I enjoyed the video so much. Thank you very much for talking to us.
SG: Oh, thank you. I'm delighted that you were able and willing to talk to me.
HM: Oh, it was great. OK, you take care. Bye-bye.
SG: Bye.
CH: That was engineer and Rube Goldberg Exercise Bike inventor Seth Goldstein near Washington DC. If you'd like to see some photos and video of his bike, visit our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.
[Music: Ambient]
Chadwick Boseman obit
CH: Onscreen, he played fighters: Jackie Robinson, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and T'Challa, the king of Wakanda, in "Black Panther". And behind the scenes, actor Chadwick Boseman was fighting as well. He died last week, at the age of 43 — having been diagnosed with colon cancer in 2016. Ryan Coogler, director of "Black Panther", said Mr. Boseman was an anomaly — calm, assured, and constantly studying. And former U.S. President Barack Obama wrote, quote, "To be young, gifted, and Black; to use that power to give them heroes to look up to; to do it all while in pain — what a use of his years." Unquote. Brian and Nicole Hammond also paid tribute to Chadwick Boseman. In 2017, they lost their 10-year-old son Taylor to leukemia. And in the months before Taylor's death, the Hammonds said Mr. Boseman kept in contact with them. He sent autographed gear, movie paraphernalia — and he also sent Taylor this video.
CHADWICK BOSEMAN: Hey, what's up, Taylor? This is Chadwick Boseman, a.k.a. T'Challa, a.k.a. the Black Panther, just wanted to give you some love sense of positive energy, man. A dear friend of mine was telling me how courageous and how strong you are. So, man, I just wanted to give you a shout out. Have a wonderful, wonderful holiday weekend. Blessings to you and your family.
CH: But when Chadwick Boseman sent that message to 10-year-old Taylor, the family didn't know the actor had cancer himself. In an email today, the Hammonds wrote that Mr. Boseman's "inspirational messages" gave their son "hope and peace on some of the hardest days." Taylor's dad also shared the following video. It's from an interview after Taylor's death — when Chadwick Boseman was doing press for "Black Panther" and talking about the film's cultural impact.
CB: For me, I would say, [deep sigh] you know, there are two two little kids, Ian and Taylor, who recently passed away from cancer. And throughout our filming, I was communicating with them, knowing that they were both terminal. And what they said to me, and their parents said, they're just they're trying to hold on till this movie comes. And to a certain degree, you hear him them that, and you're like, wow, that's, like, I got to get up and go to the gym. [chuckle] Like, I got to get up and go to work. You know, I got to learn these lines. I got to work on his accent. You know, seeing how devoted all of my castemates are, and knowing that that will be something meaningful to them. But to a certain degree, it's a humbling experience because you like this can't mean that much to them, you know? But seeing how the world has taken this on, seeing how the movement and how it's taken on a life of its own, I realized that they anticipated something great. And I think back now to a kid, and just, you know, waiting for Christmas to come, waiting for my birthday to come, waiting for a toy that was going to that was going to get a chance to experience or a video game. I did live a life waiting for those moments. And so it put me back in the mind of being a kid just to experience those two little boys anticipation of this movie. And when I found out that they [deep sigh and breaking down]
HOST: Take your time with it.
CB: Yeah, it means a lot.
CH: That was actor Chadwick Boseman speaking in 2018. He has died at the age of 43.
[Music: Folksy guitar]
SOD: Fridge song
CH: There are a lot of places we can't go anymore. Concerts. Abroad. The hot yoga studio. And then there are the places we're visiting more than ever. Parks. Our couches, obviously. The liquor store, maybe. Well, in a tribute to one of the places she finds herself frequenting more than ever, KD French turned to song. And the Atlanta woman's original track has gone viral — with Ms. French performing all nine parts. You probably can't relate to being able to sing like she can — but you'll be able to relate to the lyrics. Here's KD French with our Sound of the Day.
KD FRENCH: Somebody stop me.
BACKING VOCALS: She's at the fridge again.
KF: I'm at the fridge again.
BACKING VOCALS: She's at the fridge again.
KF: Oh, it keeps calling my name.
BACKING VOCALS: She's at the fridge again.
KF: I'm at the fridge again.
BACKING VOCALS: She's at the fridge again.
KF: Oh, I'm gonna need a little help from ya.
BACKING VOCALS: Please come get her.
KF: I'm doing a little too much.
BACKING VOCALS: She doing too much.
KF: Oh, I'm at the fridge again.
BACKING VOCALS: She's at the fridge again.
KF: Oh, I'm at the fridge again.
BACKING VOCALS: She's at the fridge again.
KF: Tell 'em again, y'all, fridge.
BACKING VOCALS: She's at the fridge again.
KF: Oh, I'm at the fridge again.
BACKING VOCALS: She's at the fridge again.
KF: Oh, I think it's time for my snack, y'all
BACKING VOCALS: She's at the fridge again.
KF: But it's not been two minutes since the last vist.
BACKING VOCALS: She's at the fridge again.
KF: Oh, I'm going to need your help
BACKING VOCALS: Please come get her.
KF: I need ya right now.
BACKING VOCALS: She needs your help.
KF: Oh, I'm at the fridge again.
BACKING VOCALS: She's at the fridge again.
KF: Have mercy. I'm at the fridge again. What about the chicken?
BACKING VOCALS: Sit down.
KF: Mashed potatoes.
BACKING VOCALS: Sit down.
KF: Them collard greens.
[clapping rhythm has joined call and response gospel]
BACKING VOCALS: Sit down.
KF: How bout them
BACKING VOCALS: Oh, go sit down.
KF: Or some fruit?
BACKING VOCALS: Sit down.
KF: Watermelon.
BACKING VOCALS: Sit down.
KF: Ice cream?
BACKING VOCALS: Sit down, girl, sit down
KF: how about a [?]
BACKING VOCALS: Sit down.
KF: Popsicle.
BACKING VOCALS: Sit down.
KF: Or a slice of cheese?
BACKING VOCALS: Sit down.
KF: Oh please!
BACKING VOCALS: Girl, go sit down.
KF: I need some juice.
BACKING VOCALS: Sit down.
KF: Kool-Aid.
BACKING VOCALS: Sit down.
KF: Minute Maid.
BACKING VOCALS: Sit down.
KF: Gatorade.
BACKING VOCALS: Girl, sit down.
KF: I want to eat.
BACKING VOCALS: You don't need it.
KF: I need to eat.
BACKING VOCALS: You don't need it.
KF: I want to eat!
BACKING VOCALS: You don't need it.
KF: Right now!
BACKING VOCALS: You don't need it.
KF: Give me food!
BACKING VOCALS: You don't need it.
KF: Give me snacks!
BACKING VOCALS: You don't need it.
KF: I want it. I won't take it back.
BACKING VOCALS: You don't need it.
KF: Oh yeah!
BACKING VOCALS: You don't need it.
[harmonizing happens]
BACKING VOCALS: Please come get her.
KF: You're going to see about me.
BACKING VOCALS: She doing too much.
KF: I'm at the fridge again.
BACKING VOCALS: She's at the fridge again.
KF: Oh, I'm at the fridge again.
BACKING VOCALS: She's at the fridge again.
KF: Oh lord!
BACKING VOCALS: Girl, sit back down!
CH: Atlanta gospel singer KD French with "The Fridge Again." She shared that video online this month, with a caption that read, "At least making this song kept me from the fridge for about an hour." Its our sound of the day.