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The AIH Transcript for January 1, 2020

Hosts: Helen Mann and Karen Gordon

Prologue

HELEN MANN: Hello, I'm Helen Mann.

KAREN GORDON: Good evening. I'm Karen Gordon. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

KG: Tonight...

HM: "Raining fire." From a rescue centre in Australia -- our guest describes the moment her family's battle to save their property from giant wildfires became a race to save their lives.

KG: For your information. The author of a new California law says consumers in that state can now find out what data the tech giants have collected from them and then stop it from being sold.

HM: Blue streak. As the Polar Bear Dip turns 100, we crawl through our archives to figure out why people keep celebrating the New Year by plunging their bodies into icy oceans and lakes.

KG: Hell preserved. Pulsing headaches and parched throats may have some of us regretting those New Year's drinks -- but for the founder of Zagreb's Museum of Hangovers, they're reason to raise a glass.

HM: Behind the eight ball. We pay tribute to an entire year of utterly unlikely heroes, including a woman who saved the rest of us the trouble of finding out why it's better not to put a live octopus on your face.

KG: And sharp relief. Our guest explains -- as if any explanation were really needed -- that it was an interest in anthropology that prompted him to hone a knife from his own frozen poop. As It Happens. The Wednesday Edition. Radio that promises never a dull movement.

[Music: Theme]

Part 1: New California privacy law lets people find out exactly what companies know about them

Australia fires

Guest: Lorena Granados

KG: Australian bushfires have sent thousands fleeing from their homes. Many others are stranded in their homes -- cut off without power, phone service and supplies. So far, the flames have destroyed more than 200 properties. And every day more people are being forced from their homes, as firefighters battle hundreds of blazes in New South Wales and in Victoria -- and with little relief in sight. Yesterday, Lorena Granados was forced from her home in Mogo, New South Wales. We reached her nearby.

HM: Ms. Granados, how are you and your family doing right now?

LORENA GRANADOS: We're alive. And that's pretty much it. Just shattered pretty much.

HM: Where are you?

LG: We are in an emergency evacuation motel that the government has provided for us.

HM: How many of your possessions do you have with you?

LG: We have two suitcases. And about two bags of other things that we collected, like baby photographs.

HM: And is that it? Is that all you have left from your previous home?

LG: That is correct.

HM: What does it look like outside, nearby, where you are?

LG: It looks like an apocalypse. Visibility is poor. There is smoke everywhere. Everyone's trying to leave town at the same time because we're expecting catastrophic winds on Saturday. So they're trying to pretty much evacuate our whole Eurobodalla area because as we lost everything. We lost our shop. And we lost our home on Tuesday, which was one of the worst fire days that we've had pretty much of the year of 2019 yesterday. And on Saturday, it's going to be two times worse.

HM: So you operated a leather shop, and you've lost it and your home both. Did you do anything to try to save them when the fire was moving in?

LG: We stayed till the fire was on top of us. We couldn't do any more. We had three fire hoses going until the fire was just pretty much...it was raining fire by the time we left. It was like being in a war zone against a building that was pretty much alive.

HM: What were you doing to try to put out the fire?

LG: We had an emergency call at about 5:15 in the morning. By 9:30 we had lost everything. We had three hoses going. We must have looked like ants in comparison to the fire. It was just roaring like a three-storey building towards us.

HM: I'm wondering, at any point, did you fear that it had become too late to get out of there?

LG: Yes. At the point that we left -- the last video that I took, I mean if we would have stayed an extra two minutes we would have gone with the fire. Like we left at the point where our skin was burning. It was terrible. There was nothing anybody could do. Not only that, we didn't have any backup. There was no airplanes. There was no army. There was one fire brigade trying to just get everyone out. Just telling everyone to get out. And that's about it. We didn't really have much assistance. No support. No nothing.

HM: You must have felt helpless.

LG: Our resources in Australia are stretched to the limit. There is no fire trucks. There is no more water bombings. There's no helicopters. There's no policeman. There's nothing left. Everything is stretched to the limit. The whole country is burning. Where we are, we had no power for over 24 hours. We had no food. No water. We didn't even have water to fight the fires.

HM: How are you coping now? Do you have basic supplies?

LG: Not really. Because we have a girlfriend whose house is still standing and she's been helping us. She's got a little camping stove. And we've been pretty much surviving with a camping stove -- coffee and whatever. We got some mince and some chicken, but that's about it. We didn't even have water to fight these fires. Our home, actually, it has tank water. Our tanks have been empty for the past six months. So we have had no rain. So what was happening is that when the embers were jumping almost a kilometre away, it's so dry that it just starts burning. So at the same time, you've got 10 fires starting at one point. So you don't know. You're turning one off and then there is more and more turning up.

HM: Right now, where you are, what is it like to be breathing that air?

LG: The quality of the air is shocking. It chokes you. My eyes are sore. Right now, it is the worst. All you can see outside is white. You can't see past 100 metres. We need to get out. So we're waiting for the roads to open for us to head up to Sydney where it's safer, which is four hours away.

HM: And after that, when you get there...

LG: I have my daughter very in Sydney and my aunty. And honestly, I don't know. I don't know where we're going to live. I don't know. I don't know where we're going to work. I don't know where our income will come from. Right now, I don't know. But our business was established doing the markets and making our own products. So I'm assuming that that's the platform that we'll have to take again --to do the markets and make our products, which is buying materials again with the little that we have left.

HM: Lorena, I appreciate you taking time to speak with us in the middle of all of this crisis. I wish you and your family the very best.

LG: Thank you.

HM: Take care.

LG: You too.

KG: Lorena Granados lives in Mogo, New South Wales, Australia. We reached her in an emergency evacuation centre near Mogo after her own home was destroyed by fire.

[Music]

California privacy law

Guest: Mary Stone Ross

KG: This morning, California residents gained a little more control over the information that companies are collecting about them. That's thanks to something called the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, which came into force today. The legislation allows Californians to ask companies what personal data they've collected. And it lets consumers ask those companies not to sell that data to anyone else. The law follows European privacy legislation and it takes aim at tech giants like Facebook and Google. It was co-authored by Mary Stone Ross, a privacy advocate and former CIA analyst. We reached Ms. Ross in Sun Valley, Idaho.

HM: Ms. Ross, this law does nothing to stop companies from collecting people's data. So what problem is it seeking to solve?

MARY STONE ROSS: So right now, Americans are consenting to the collection and use and sale of our personal information without truly understanding what we are consenting to. So the heart of the CCPA is this right to know. It's a Freedom of Information Act for private companies. So I can go to a business and say, what do you know about me or my device or my children? And they have to tell me.

HM: Can you give us examples of the kind of personal information companies are collecting from us?

MARY STONE ROSS: Businesses are collecting our precise geographic location. They're collecting biometric information. They're collecting our health information. It's really difficult to find out in plain English what they are collecting.

HM: And how valuable is this data to the companies that collect it?

MARY STONE ROSS: Oh, it's incredibly valuable. That's why they have fought the CCPA tooth-and-nail and continue to try to weaken the law. And that is one thing that the CCPA won't stop. It won't stop the collection of personal information. And a lot of businesses do use that information internally. That won't change. It is the sale of personal information to businesses that you might never have heard of that will change, and you as a Californian will be able to stop under this law.

HM: You know, one of the largest collectors of data in the world is Facebook. And their argument is that they don't actually sell that data. So their concern is that, you know, what are you trying to limit them from doing?

MARY STONE ROSS: Well, remember, the heart of the law is this 'right to know.' And what I am really excited about is for people that have never had a Facebook account or an Instagram account or a WhatsApp account, that they can now go to Facebook and say, "What do you know about me?" And Facebook has to reply. So what a lot of people don't realize is that the little Facebook share button is in fact a tracking pixel. And so Facebook is compiling dossiers on people, whether or not they actually post something on Facebook. I think that as we find out more about all these companies that we don't even realize we have relationships with that will change the behavior of some of these businesses.

HM: Well, what have you seen from Facebook in terms of their attitude and their comments about this law that might indicate to you how they plan to address it?

MARY STONE ROSS: They are definitely lobbying hard in a federal level to say that they don't have to comply with the CCPA. I think that the attorney general's office, though, is not going to listen to those requests.

HM: Well, what kind of consequences are there for companies that don't comply?

MARY STONE ROSS: The law has massive penalties. So the attorney general will be able to enforce any violations of the law, including whether a business doesn't disclose what they're collecting about you or if a person asked them not to sell their personal information and they continue to do so, the attorney general can enforce that provision of the law as well. There is also a private right of action for data breaches. So if certain sensitive categories of personal information are breached because a business fails to implement reasonable security practices, an individual can bring suit against that company.

HM: Europe has passed a similar data privacy law. But there have been some criticism that it's done a little actually to rein in Facebook, Google, or any other companies in terms of the actual protection of consumer data and privacy. So what is the evidence you have that laws like this actually work?

MARY STONE ROSS: What's different in the CCPA is the right to opt out of the sale of personal information. And I think that is something that consumers will really be drawn to. And should be very easy, that you can go to any website and if they sell personal information, you will see a link there that says, 'do not sell my personal information' and you'll be able to click it and opt out of that sale of personal information.

HM: The fact that this proposition passed is becoming law indicates that voters obviously think that this is important. But given how freely people reveal themselves in social media and to many of these companies, what evidence do you have that they actually have concerns about protecting this kind of privacy?

MARY STONE ROSS: I think it's more than just what people post themselves online. I think there are a lot of businesses that are collecting information on us and then trading in it that we have no idea. For example, the little "recaptcha -- I am not a robot" button, that's a company called Solve Media. And what they're doing is they're connecting the fact that you are not a robot to other information that they gather on your website. So whether it's your IP address or your device ID, and then packaging and selling that information. And you know, right now we have often we have to click that link in order to complete a transaction online. We don't mean to be sharing information about ourselves, but we really have no choice right now.

HM: Have you considered the possibility that these companies, if they can't collect and trade or sell this information and get it from the source for free -- might offer to buy it in exchange for discounts or other kinds of remuneration?

MARY STONE ROSS: Yes, and that's certainly a concern that I have. In the law, there is a non-discrimination provision that says that a business can't discriminate against anybody for exercising their rights under the CCPA. But then it goes on to say that a business can offer a different price or access or quality of good or service based on the value of that information to the consumer. I also worry that privacy becomes a commodity and often, as we see with a lot of privacy abuses, is the more vulnerable classes of individuals that are disproportionately hurt by privacy violations. And I do worry that it is these individuals that truly won't be able to afford to to protect their privacy.

HM: Given the fact you used to work for the CIA, I suspect that you have considered what kind of data exists out there about you. What have you learned about what's been collected about your own life and information?

MARY STONE ROSS: Well, I intend to file a lot of right to know requests to find out exactly what is being collected about me. We can also find out the inferences that businesses make based on our personal information. And I am very curious to find out what those inferences are.

HM: Ms. Ross, thanks very much for talking to us.

MARY STONE ROSS: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

KG: Mary Stone Ross is the coauthor of the California Consumer's Privacy Act, which comes into effect today. We reached her in Sun Valley, Idaho. For more on the new law and Ms. Ross's work check out our website: cbc.ca/aih.

[Music]

Promo: Weird Heroes

KG: Still to come on the first As It Happens of 2020: not all heroes wear capes. We'll look back at some of our conversations with unlikely heroes of the past year. Now, truth be told, why we're calling some of them heroes might not be immediately clear, but it is entertaining. Here's a taste...

SOUNDCLIP

VOICE 1: And the strange thing that I found is that the anus does not seem to be a permanent structure. It appears before defecation begins and disappears afterwards.

VOICE 2: If you were a Nigel you've got a badge that said Nigel on it and you got a certificate. And if you were not a Nigel, you got a badge that said not Nigel -- just so people were sure.

VOICE 3: Well, what some seagulls do, it's not this chick, but it's like this typical [making seagull sound]

VOICE 4: And I could hear from right outside my bedroom door that she was making the type of noises that a chicken makes when she lays an egg -- it kind of clucks and squawks and carries on for a bit. And I went and looked -- and again, there was an egg in my bed.

VOICE 5: And to be honest, I was surprised at how hard frozen human feces could become.

KG: That's coming up later on the program.

[Music]

Museum of Hangovers

Guest: Rino Dubokovic

KG: New Year's Eve is often a night to remember, but the morning after is more likely to be one that partiers would prefer to forget. Not Rino Dubokovic though, Mr. Dubokovic is the co-founder of the Museum of Hangovers in Zagreb, Croatia. It's an institution dedicated to preserving the memories of both drunken nights and their unpleasant after-effects. Today we reached to Mr. Dubokovic in Lake Balaton, Hungary.

HM: Mr. Dubokovic, Happy New Year.

RINO DUBOKOVIC: Happy New Year.

HM: How are you feeling today?

RB: Great. A little bit of hangover, but without headache or anything. So it's good.

HM: So was last night not memorable enough maybe to be in your Museum of Hangovers?

RB: [Chuckles] It was memorable, but it was a good experience.

HM: Yeah. So what inspired you to start this museum about, you know, frankly, something that most of us like to forget?

RB: Well, I was with my friends drinking and we started to talk about this kind of hangover stories, drunk stories. And my friend was telling his stories about how he woke up with his bicycle pedal in his pockets. And then I got the idea that it should be someplace like collection or a museum of all those sites and stories behind them. We have a plant. We have that bicycle pedal from my friend and a pizza box.

HM: What are the best stories that you have heard that are connected with your museum about people waking up with a hangover?

RB: Well, the concept of museum is like returning home drunk. So we have these four rooms. And my best stories are from the room "garden". So we have stories that are connected with animals. So when some Australians woke up with a penguin in the morning [laughter] and they didn't know how they got it. So that's my favorite story because you woke up with some animal and you don't know where you got it from. But we also hear the stories that you can also find in the "Hangover Movie" -- like (getting) a tattoo, and the broken teeth, and stolen animals. And so you could collect a few stories from our museum and make some kind of Hangover Movie.

HM: Did I understand, right, that you have like a virtual reality glasses kind of experience where people can walk through and they are feeling a little wobbly?

RB: We have "Drunk Goggles". So it's like a simulator of being drunk. So we have it at the entrance. They could play darts with them and they can win the free entrance. And also they can drive like drunk simulator -- car simulator.

HM: That's not good.

RB: Yeah. But it's like educative. So they just try it and they see that it's not really easy to drive in this kind of environment.

HM: So there's actually a lesson there about drunk driving.

RB: Yes of course. The museum for now is mostly fun and about these funny stories, but they're also educative moments in those stories. In the next few weeks, we're going to include also the other part of alcohol that is not that fun, but it's also like a serious problem.

HM: There was a story that was done in the States by CBS News about you museum. And a psychiatrist named Dr. Gail Saltz said that she thinks you're glorifying drinking and that's not a good thing. What do you say to her?

RB: When I got the idea, first it was like a fun thing. It would be fun because everyone can connect to that. But when I was thinking more about it, I know that it could be like popularizing alcoholism in some kind of way. So we are really working on that kind of a problem that we want to educate people about alcohol, but not just to put light on alcohol that it's only fun and good. So we are going put some facts, facts about alcohol. And we are talking with some people who are recovered alcoholics to have their journey of recovering to be put into a museum.

HM: So how much interest have you had? Have you had a lot of visitors?

RB: Well yeah. We only opened at the beginning of December -- so one month ago. And yeah, we have lots of visitors in Zagreb. And the lots of news portals shared our story. But we begin this like a test concept to see if people are interested in this kind of museum. So let's say it's a mini-museum, so in the next in the next few months, we will look for funding for a bigger museum.

HM: I have to ask you, what do you do to get over a hangover? Do you have a cure?

RB: Well, I just sleep through it. Yeah. And also drink water and that's it. I don't drink any medication.

HM: No tricks like that bacon sandwich or whatever.

RB: Yeah. It doesn't bother me that much. Yeah.

HM: Mr. Dubokovic good luck with your museum.

RB: Yeah. Thanks. [Chuckles]

KG: Rino Dubokovic is the co-founder of the Museum of Hangovers in Zagreb, Croatia. Today we reached him in Lake Balaton, Hungary. We've got pictures of the museum on our website: cbc.ca/aih.

[Music]

Polar Bear Dip

KG: When Peter Pantages stages left his home of Andros, Greece for Vancouver, there were a few things he wasn't prepared to give up. Swimming for one. And by swimming I mean the kind of swimming Greek islanders do. As in, the outdoor kind. According to his granddaughter Lisa Pantages, Peter swam all year round. And 100 years ago today, he created a tradition which has gone cross-country. It's the New Year's Day Polar Bear Dip.

SOUNDCLIP

KNOWLTON NASH: It doesn't matter how cold the water is or how cold the weather is. Every year on New Year's Day, hundreds of Canadians go swimming. And today was certainly no exception.

[Man shouting "Happy New Year]

KNOWLTON NASH: Members of the Polar Bear Club of Halifax arrived in rickshaws before 9:00 this morning. It was -6 degrees Celsius outside. But the Atlantic Ocean was a little warmer of +2 degrees. The water wasn't warm enough, though, for people to stay in for very long.

[Crowd cheering and shouting]

KNOWLTON NASH: The weather was miserable for the Polar Bears in Hamilton, Ontario. There was freezing rain and waves more than a metre high.

KG: Long-time CBC anchor Knowlton Nash on the 65th anniversary of the Polar Bear Dip in 1985. That tradition celebrates its centenary today. Last year, Helen spoke with Nova Scotia Polar Bear dipper Robert Maclellan about why his community of Herring Cove very nearly had to cancel its swim and why they were determined to go ahead.

SOUNDCLIP

ROBERT MACLELLAN: This was something a little beyond our control, but you can appreciate this, I suppose, if you're from a small community. And what happened was we're at the church hall, and we were getting ready. And I was announcing to people, "Okay, we're going to be going down at 11:30 and march down. We sing O Canada. And begin." But our fire department at the wharf, the volunteer fire department in Herring Cove had said there is ice around there and they were kind of poke it and break it. And we expected that there was going to be a pilot boat or something come in and break that up for us. But there was just two or three of the boats that were most important that had a problem or were not able to get here. So it happened that this guy in the boat called "The general sea." They had come down just to watch it. And we called on them or the fire department said, "Could you swing by and break the ice up? And they broke the ice up, which was, you know, close to about an inch thick or so -- broke that all up and then that cleared the way.

HM: And we have heard this year about polar bear swims has been canceled all over the country. Why was it so important for you to go ahead?

ROBERT MACLELLAN: Well, I guess we've got 24 years in a row. You know, I think anybody that cancelled is a smart thing to do. If they had any question about public safety or anything like that, because it's not really worth going ahead. But here, where the community is able to come together and help you out then it's purely up to the individual of just being able to follow through with their plan of just jumping off the water. And fortunately for us, we were able to do that. But I wrote down here that we had people from Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, USA, and a few other places -- probably about 14 countries. And God love them for doing it because, you know, this was the coldest ever on them. So I think if they can do it, I think anybody can do it.

KG: Robert Maclellan is an organizer of the annual Polar Bear Dip in Herring Cove, Nova Scotia. He spoke with Helen last year after several swims were canceled due to an extreme cold snap. The tradition of the New Year's Day Polar Bear Dip turns 100 today.

[Music]

Part 2 & 3: As It Happens 2019 Weird Heroes

As It Happens 2019 Weird Heroes

CHRIS HOWDEN: The Toronto Raptors won the NBA championship. The Prme Minister of Canada apologized for appearing in blackface. An anachronistic Starbucks coffee cup showed up in a scene from Game of Thrones. The year was 2019. A year in which we spoke with hundreds of people, some of whom had pushed themselves to their limits, some of whom had learned a valuable lesson. And one of whom froze his own excrement to try to make knives.

SOUNDCLIP

VOICE 1: I had never touched an octopus in my life. I've only seen him at the aquariums. And then all the sudden, while my friend was taking pictures, they all noticed that -- he captured the moment that its beak went into my chin.

VOICE 2: And the strange thing that I found is that the anus does not seem to be a permanent structure. It appears before defecation begins and disappears afterward.

VOICE 3: If you were a Nigel, you've got a badge that said Nigel on it and you got a certificate. And if you were not a Nigel, you got a badge that said Not Nigel on it -- just so people were sure.

VOICE 4: Well, what some seagulls do, it's not this chick, but it's like this typical [making seagull sound].

VOICE 5: And I could hear from right outside my bedroom door that she was making the type of noises that a chicken makes when she lays an egg. Kind of clucks and squawks and carries on for a bit. And I went and looked, and again, there was an egg in my bed.

VOICE 6: And to be honest, I was surprised at how hard frozen human feces could become.

CH: Tonight, on the first night of 2020, we're going to hear some of the most powerful interviews from the past year on As It Happens. Stories of people who would scoff if you called them heroes. People who don't consider themselves heroic at all. People who may not even be heroic. But people who to us are heroes all the same. We begin with American archaeologist and anthropologist Metin Eren. The work of Canadian anthropologist Wade Davis inspired him and changed his life. But one story in one of Mr. Davis's books had vexed him for years, which was how Mr. Erin came to change his diet, freeze his poop, and attempt to make said frozen poop into a knife. Carol spoke with Metin Eren in September.

Metin Eren

SOUNDCLIP

CO: Professor Eren first of all can you just give us the gist of this story that Wade Davis tells in his book?

METIN EREN: Yeah. So the story basically is that there was an Inuit man who was being forced to move off of his settlement and his family took away his tools in order to convince him to come along with them and he refused to move off of his homeland. So in the midst of a winter gale he defecated into his hands and fashioned a knife from the frozen feces using a spray of saliva. Then the story goes that he killed a dog with that knife, used this rib cage as a sled, and used its tide to harness another dog. And he sped off into the night.

CO: Wow that's quite a story.

ME: It is quite a story. And it's one that I think has captured the imagination of lots of people including myself. When that book came out in 1998, I heard Wade Davis tell that same story to Diane Rehm on NPR. And because I heard that story I was inspired to go into anthropology. And in fact I still today have the tape cassette that I ordered from NPR of that Wade Davis interview. So I think you know Professor Davis has just been an inspiration to just countless people around the world.

CO: And so it's a fascinating story. But you decided to apply a lot of skepticism to this story. Why is that?

ME: Well little did I know that 20 years after this story came out I would be co-director of an experimental archaeology lab here at Kent State. And we regularly reproduce ancient technologies in order to reverse engineer them. And figure out how they work. And it was late last year that it just sort of hit me that this idea of a knife being fashioned from frozen human feces had never really been tested before. And I think as any good scientist we were curious.

CO: I mean in order to do it you had to recreate conditions that might have been around this Inuit man and his decision to escape this way. So how did you go about doing that?

ME: Well I mean it's first important to note that no experiment is ever perfect and no experiment can ever perfectly replicate reality. But we did the best we could and so what I did was for eight days I went on a high protein and high fatty acid diet which is sort of consistent with an Arctic diet. And after a few days of that I started producing the necessary test samples then we start freezing the samples and to be honest I was surprised at how hard frozen human feces could become. And you know during the course of an experiment scientists start to see pattern, they have intuition about the results. And I start to wonder this may just work. We may actually make a knife out of frozen human feces.

CO: Okay so the story is that he fashioned this knife out of his frozen feces and then he proceeded to -- basically -- to skin and disarticulate a dog that he used as a sled. So how did you reproduce that part of it?

ME: Well what we wanted to do was give our knives the best possible chance to succeed. So we actually had dry ice with us. And so we're able to stick the knives into negative 50 degrees centigrade dry ice to get these things really really cold. And then in addition to that we had a metal file and so we're able to sharpen these feces knives as best as we could. And then what we did was we used refrigerated meat instead of a fresh kill because we thought well a fresh kill in that story would be a warm thing that would potentially melt the knives. And we want to see if these knives could cut so we used refrigerated meat. So we really put in place variables that allowed these knives the best chance to succeed -- it was a very conservative test. Unfortunately when we went to use these frozen knives it was like a brown crayon. Unfortunately it just left very nasty streaks on our meat and they didn't cut at all.

CH: That was Kent State University anthropologist Metin Eren speaking with Carol in September. And unlike the knives he distressingly described as "brown crayons" his study had a point: that a good story is not an excuse not to do good science. Jamie Biscelgia got a good story out of her terrible experience. And since the incident, she's been telling that story as a cautionary tale. I assume it has helped countless people, especially those who had been planning to put octopuses on their faces. Guest host Piya Chattopadhyay spoke with Ms. Biscelgia in August.

Jamie Biscelgia

SOUNDCLIP

PC: Ms. Biscelgia, why did you put a live octopus on your face?

JAMIE BISCELGIA: It wasn't intentional. Well, it was, but it was a quick response to a picture for a photo contest in a derby that I was in South Sound.

PC: And so tell me more about the circumstances of this picture contest?

JB: Well, it was early in the afternoon still. I had launched my boat out of Fox Island — where I normally launch. And I had noticed that my friends that were in the derby with me, their motor wasn't working. So I put them into another spot. I towed them, so that they could jig fish. And while I was next to them, one of the guys on the boat had caught this Pacific giant octopus — a juvenile. And I decided that I told him that I wanted to keep it for dinner — don't let it go. So I got closer to the boat, and I grabbed it off the hook. And I said well, take my picture with the octopus. So I put it on my face very, very quickly. I had never touched an octopus in my life. I've only seen them at the aquariums. And then, all the sudden, while my friend was taking pictures, they all noticed that he captured the moment that its beak went into my chin.

PC: Tell me in as much detail as you can — and what you can remember — what that octopus felt like, including the bite when its beak went into your chin.

JB: Okay. Well it felt, at first, very you know it's fun and it's interesting and it's just playing. So I'm watching the guys take pictures. And then when its beak entered my chin, it was the most intense pain. It felt like I said a barbed hook. If I tried to release it off my face, I knew I was going to tear skin or flesh away. So I tried to let it settle, and if I did pull it away as a bit me again.

PC: Okay, so once you got this octopus off your face, and took some photos of it, and put it in your cooler. And you're in pain; you're bleeding, right?

JB: Oh yeah. But I'm a strong-willed woman. I'm by myself on a boat. I've got five guys watching me. So I try not to act like anything major is going on. So I grab my towel as it's bleeding, and I just keep it held to my face and go on with fishing.

PC: So I might have gone to the hospital. Did you do that?

JB: Oh, I went to the hospital, but not that day, or not the next day. I had been preparing for this weekend for a long time. So I was in a derby back-to-back. Friday this happened. Saturday was another derby. And then I went home Saturday night after the derby, and woke up with a swollen face. My eyes were swollen; I couldn't see very well out of my left side. Underneath my chin was a large pus pocket. And then the left side of my face was completely paralyzed.

PC: So the octopus didn't just bite you, it is venomous. And I understand you are still recovering.

JB: Yes, I am actually at my favorite restaurant — O'Neill's Bar and Grill in Gig Harbor — and that I have to eat special food with no dairy so that I can take my medications. I'm on three different medications.

PC: This all sounds pretty awful.

JB: Oh yes. It wasn't a good idea. I'm telling everyone. I'm not here to you know try to make myself look good because I know I don't.

CH: Jamie Biscelgia of Fox Island, Washington, speaking with guest host Piya Chattopadhyay his past August. Ms. Biscelgia has since fully recovered. Now, our next unusual hero would definitely reject the idea that he is a hero. In fact, he might reject the idea that anyone is a hero, especially anyone in his hometown of Puolanka, Finland. Puolanka is not thriving. But despite the downturn in its fortunes, there is a silver lining. Well a pewter lining probably. Or tinfoil, anyway. And that is the rise of the Puolanka Pessimism Association. In a town with little business, being bummed out has become big business. While, medium business. The only business, anyway. In November, Carol spoke with the director of the Puolanka Pessimism Association, Tommi Rajala.

Tommi Rajala

SOUNDCLIP

CO: Tommi, can you tell us about the warning signs that people will see as they're driving into your town?

TOMMI RAJALA: Yeah. There's a huge sign saying next: Puolanka. You still have time to turn around. And the funny thing is if he or she turns around, there is about 70 kilometers to go back to the previous town, of course.

CO: [laughing] Why do you warn them that they can still turn around?

TR: That's an excellent question. We didn't want to invite them here because nobody ever comes here anyway. So maybe that's a more realistic view of how people think of the Puolanka. They want to turn around and go somewhere else.

CO: Now, this is because it's regarded as the worst town in all of Finland, right?

TR: [deep sigh] Yeah. In many statistics, Puolanka happens to be the worst or the bottom towns otherwise, fastest a dying town, or how many people are unemployed. It's always on the news that Puolanka tends to be performing really badly in every possible scenario. That has a lot to do with that, yes.

CO: But then on top of all that, on top of being the worst town in all of Finland, you're known to be pessimists, right?

TR: Yeah, well, if everybody tells a child that the child is stupid, then the child believes that he's stupid. So many people have told Puolanka that Pulolanka is the worst place to be. So maybe we start to believe that.

CO: Now, you live in Puolanka. So is it that depressing?

TR: [deep laughter] Yes. Yes, it is.

CO: [laughing] Really? Okay, well, just give us your best shot at selling us to Puolanka. I mean, let’s say I'm a tourist going into Finland. Give me one good reason I might want to go see Puolanka?

TR: Well, it looks like any town in Finland. It was mostly built in the 70s, and is surrounded by a lot of forest — beautiful nature — but so is every single other town in Finland also. So why would somebody come here? Mostly people come here because they have family here or relatives here. This is not a major tourist attraction in any way. Okay, well, we do have the highest waterfall in Finland.

CO: Oh, okay. There you go. Yeah.

TR: But compared to any waterfall in any neighbouring country it’s a really tiny one.

CO: Okay, but if I did go to Puolanka, I might be able to join your association, which is the Pessimists Association. Would that be fun?

TR: I don't know if that's fun to be a pessimist? But, yes, many people do actually. And we have some members coming from all over Finland, not only Puolanka. I don’t think we have any members abroad yet, so you are welcome to join us, yes, of course.

CO: There you go. Things are looking up for the Pessimist Association in Puolanka.

TR: Yes. I don't think this is now really pessimistic to try to get Canadians to join the association though. [CO laughs] Pessimism is not always a negative thing — especially if you don't take the pessimism too seriously like we do.

CO: But I guess on the upside, you're never disappointed.

TR: Yeah, well, that's what they say.

CO: All right. But there are some things to see in Puolanka, right? I mean there is a bus that goes there six times a week. And you have a grocery store, as I understand. You have a gas station. I can get a cup of coffee at a restaurant, is that right?

TR: There is currently one restaurant in town and one gas station, yes. Two grocery stores, so, yeah, you can live here. I've said that Puolanka is not a dying tow, Puolanka is already dead town. [CO laughs] But when you accept that truth that it's not getting better, then you can perfectly well live here. It’s not a problem then. But if you think that this will again be like it was in the 70s, you will be really disappointed. And you are not a real pessimist then.

CO: If people are pessimistic, they will really enjoy being in your town, I guess?

TR: Yeah, well, not everyone in Puolanka likes what our association is doing. They consider that pessimism is ruining our reputation. But I don't know if we have any other reputation as the pessimist town. So I don't know what there is to be ruined. Nobody's ever heard of Puolanka unless they've heard it through the pessimists — not even in Finland — and definitely not in Canada if we were not pessimists.

CO: Well, now, everyone in Canada is hearing about Puolanka. So I mean that's cause for optimism, isn't it?

TR: Yes. Now probably they will fire me from the association now because this.

CO: [laughing] Because you brought all this optimism into your town.

TR: Yeah, too many people now here. and we will have next year at least one Canadian tourist coming here saying that I heard from the radio that may I join you. And we said no, you can't, bye.

CO: All right. Well, that's fair enough wording — including all the other signs you have in town about turning around. So I'll leave you to it then, Tommi. And I'd like to say it's great to speak with you, but that would be looking up, wouldn't it?

TR: Yeah, this was total disappointment, so please don't call me again.

CO: [laughing] You got it. Bye.

TR: [laughing] Okay, bye.

CH: Tommi Rajala, the director of the Puolanka Pessimism Association in the town of Puolanka, Finland, speaking with Carol in November. And speaking of pessimism, things aren't looking great for one particular name. So at a recent UK summit, Nigel discussed the issue with Nigel. Nigel also piped up. And Nigel in particular, spoke strongly to the loud approval of Nigel, Nigel, and Nigel, and Nigel. It was "Nigel Night" held at the Fleece Inn in Bretforton, England to celebrate one name: Keith. Just kidding. Nigel. Nigel Smith was the organiser, and Carol spoke with him in September.

Nigel Night

SOUNDCLIP

CO: Nigel, why did you want to celebrate being Nigel?

NIGEL SMITH: Well, about three years ago, I realized that there were no new Nigel's named in the UK in 2016. So I thought that's a bit of a worry really because most of us are of a certain age you know we're going to die out soon. So it's important to sort of celebrate our Nigel-ness [CO laughs] before we all pop off the planet.

CO: A dying breed then you say?

NS: A dying breed, exactly, yeah.

CO: How many Nigel's turned out?

NS: So on the night, we had 434. Originally, I thought it was 433, but I forgot to count myself.

CO: All of them named Nigel. Did they have to prove it? Did they have to show you I.D.?

NS: Yeah, they had to bring I.D. — so their licence, or their passport, or whatever. If you were a Nigel, you've got a badge that said “Nigel” on it, and you got a certificate. And if you weren’t a Nigel, you got a badge that said “not Nigel” on it — just so people were sure.

CO: Now, is there anything, did you notice having so many Nigel's in the room from all over the world at the same time, any common traits, anything that you all seem to have that either you got by being Nigel, or called Nigel because of?

NS: I think we're all pretty stoical about life, really. I mean Nigel is a name you need to grow into, I think. So certainly when I was younger, people used to take the mickey out of me quite a lot for being called Nigel, and say it was a joke name. But you know if you do your research, it's originally a medieval name. It's been written about by people like Walter Scott back in the 1800s. So it's got some real so the character and a real robustness that we need to celebrate even though our name has been much maligned over the last two or three decades, I think.

CO: But there's no King Nigel is there? I mean there's no Commander Nigel no General Nigel, so any famous Nigel you can point to?

NS: Well, we've got quiet leadership skills. I think that's what we've got, really. Yeah [CO and NS chuckle]. Discrete leadership skills, maybe. There's quite a lot of famous Nigels in the UK. There's a guy called Nigel Benn, who’s a boxer. And Nigel Mansell, who's a very famous international formula one driver.

CO: Now, you left one Nigel off your list: Nigel Farage. Has he brought credit to the name Nigel, or has he diminished in any way?

NS: I think you know he's obviously a very divisive political figure. And I think one of the things that made our Nigel Night worked so well was that it was not about the politics. And it was almost a real positive coming together of like-minded people — if only through the same common fore name.

CO: I just wonder if maybe the 2016 Nigel drought had anything to do with your political figure?

NS: It could have. But despite the man, we are fighting back, you know? [CO and NS chuckle]

CO: Okay, you had some awards. What were the Nigel awards that you handed out?

NS: So yeah. So we did “The Youngest Nigel”, I was seven months old, Rupert Nigel. Don't know his parents they wanted to give him two challenges in life: being called Rupert and Nigel. [CO giggles] But you know once he gets through there, he'll be made of iron. And then we had “The Nigel Most Traveled”, who’s a guy from Texas, who has seen it on social media, and was really up for it, and his girlfriend decided that was a great idea, but didn’t have the money. So they put something out on social media for everybody to send five or ten dollars, which they duly did, and the both of them came over specifically for the Nigel Night. So Nigel Stevens, he’s our only crowd-funded Nigel that we had there.

CO: Now did they tell stories? Did they say talk about being bullied as a Nigel, or being anything that happened to them in life good or bad because they were Nigel?

NS: Oh yeah they did, but everybody just kind of got going talking to each other. And we were going to do a thing called “Speed Nigel”, you know like speed dating back in the 80s and 90s, but for Nigels, and give them two or three minutes to talk to a new Nigel every two to three minutes. [CO chuckles] But it just didn't need it. Everybody was just in there and doing it anyway. And so we had guys who were working on it put on a car production line and then talking to professors, and all different types of Nigel. So it was a life-enhancing experience one of my locals said [CO chuckles]

European Gulls Screeching Championship

SOUNDCLIP

[Seagull sound]

CH: That's a competitor at the European Gulls Screeching Championship in Ostend, Belgium, this past March. A human competitor, I should point out. Each person who took to the mic is a hero. But a greater hero is the man who listened to each piercing shriek and judged its accuracy. His name is Jan Seys. He's a researcher at the Flanders Marine Institute. And guest host Megan Williams spoke with him after his brave judging ordeal on March 26th of last year.

SOUNDCLIP

MW: Now you were judging this competition. So tell us what you were looking for as people stepped up to the mic?

JS: We looked at for 15 points of the 20 points, to the gull. How well they performed the imitation. And the other five points dealt with the performance how they were flapping their arms and imitating a gull, or some were really dressed up as a gull. Some were wearing seagull-style beaks on top of their heads. It added, of course, to the atmosphere and the fun that we had.

MW: Okay, so I'm going to play you three contestants from the competition. And I'd like you if you don't mind to give me your judgment of their calls.

JS: Yup.

[Sound: Human #1 sounding like a gull]

MW: OK. That was gull call number one. Tell us what you think about that, Jan.

JS: Yeah. Well, this sounds very much like a typical begging call for food. So that gull is saying it's probably a chick, and it's saying I want food. Of course, if you have such a chick on your roof terrace, and it starts screaming at 4:00 in the morning in June when the young get out of their eggs, it's rather annoying. And I can understand that people are not feeling very happy about that.

MW: So what would you give that one out of 20?

JS: This one was a very good one. I would say this is close to 17, maybe even 18.

MW: Wow! And that's without even seeing the re-enactment element.

JS: Yeah, but this is a real natural sounds as the herring gull would do.

MW: OK. So here's gull call number two.

[Sound: Human #2 sounding like a gull]

MW: Jan?

JS: Yeah, this is what we usually call the long call. And it's a gull who is saying here I am. So this one I would was also a very good one. More or less the same, I would say also 17 to 18.

MW: OK. And at the risk of losing listeners, here's one more.

[Sound: Human #3 sounding like a gull]

MW: Jan, your verdict?

JS: Yeah, also a very good one. It's a bit different. It's what they call the moo cow call. And it's another way of saying here I am because they have many ways of saying here I am. So it's comparable. And I would say again a 17, 18. These are some of the best ones you have been providing me.

MW: So what is the best, do you think?

JS: Maybe I would go for the last one.

MW: Oh, ok. Well I've got to tell you, we pulled a fast one on you. The last one is a real goal is a real gull.

JS: It’s a real gull, ah ha, ok! [laughs]

MW: But you didn't give it a 20. You gave it a 17, 18.

JS: Yeah, but maybe that's because of the microphone and the telephone, of course. I've been working with seabird colonies, so I should know the difference. But indeed, some people were really performing so well that it was hard for us to distinguish between the real call and that one. So that's good.

MW: Now I'm going to put you on the spot here, but are you willing to put your money where your mouth is and give us your own gull impression?

JS: You mean that I should try to imitate…

MW: That's what I mean.

JS: I'm very bad in that. So I don't think it will add value.

MW: Could you could you just do a little irritating check call for us?

JS: Well what some seagulls do it's not this chick, but it's like this typical. [honking] That's what they do, and it's not the begging for food call, but it's called the choking call. And they use it in courtship and in territorial disputes. And it's saying I'm not moving. Here I am. And make sure you don't forget about me.

CH: That was Jan Seys of the Flanders Marine Institute in Belgium, speaking with guest host Megan Williams on As It Happens, in March. He had just survived a stint as the judge of the European Gulls Screeching Championship. It's possible that Mr. Seys didn't read the fine print when he signed up for that. Donelan Andrews would have. For one thing, as a high school teacher, she encourages attention to detail. So she likes to practice what she preaches. For another, she likes to know exactly what she's getting into. Like, exactly. But this year, her heroic insistence on perusing every clause and sub clause in a contract didn't just make her better informed, it made her 10,000 bucks US richer -- plus, surprise bonuses. Carol spoke with Donelan Andrews in March.

Donelan Andrews

SOUNDCLIP

CO: Donelan, first of all why, were you reading this travel insurance contract fine print?

DONELAN ANDREWS: because after purchasing the insurance, I just wanted to make sure I knew exactly what was covered and what wasn't. I was particularly looking for identity theft information. That's about it. I wanted to be sure I knew everything that I had purchased.

CO: Where were you going? What was your trip?

DA: My trip is in September to London with six very close girlfriends. It's our 25th anniversary of travelling together. And we decided to go international this year.

CO: Uh huh, so you were reading through the fine print for everybody, or just that you wanted to know?

DA: Just for myself, yes.

CO: Now, is that unusual for you to do that?

DA: No, actually I am kind of a nerd about that. I always read contracts. I always read the fine print. And you know I even keep a hard copy of everything in a folder in a file cabinet. And I'm not ashamed of it.

CO: Well, we're going to reveal why you really shouldn't be aimed of it in the course of this story. But so what did you find at the bottom of the very last page?

DA: At the bottom of the very last page, it said if you have read this far in a contract, you are only one per cent of the population who actually reads through the end of a contract. And we want to change that. So you know once you read this, if you will email us at this email address your name and a phone number, someone will contact you within 24 hours with you know with a chance to win ten thousand dollars.

CO: So what did you do?

DA: I immediately sat down at my computer, and emailed them my name phone number.

CO: And what did you hear back?

DA: Well, of course, I thought you know what are the chances but someone has to win. And so the very next day, I received a phone call from SquareMouth, and Jenna Hummer — their PR director — said I had won. And I had a hard time believing it at first.

CO: That you'd won the 10,000 dollars?

DA: Exactly,

CO: And this is relevant because we can hear in the background the noise because you're at school, right?

DA: Yes, I'm at school and it's class change. I apologize. My door is closed, but they do get a little loud out there.

CO: I’ll ask you about that because they told you it wasn't just that the 10,000 dollars you were going to get. What else did they tell you that they're going to give?

DA: Well, part of the excitement was that they were also donating 10,000 dollars to a non-profit called Reading is Fundamental, which is a non-profit company that provides books and other reading materials to school systems. And so they donated that as well. But then when they found out that I am actually a teacher, they added another 10,000 that was not part of the contest. They did it just to be fabulous. And I work at two different high schools in my position. And so they have donated 5,000 dollars to each high school in addition to the Reading is Fundamental donation. And those two media specialists are now my very best friends.

CO: That's extraordinary! And so what message do you think that sends to all those students about reading the fine print?

DA: Both my principal and our school superintendent talked to the students about you know we have a literacy initiative here at the high school. And you know this is just a perfect example of why you need to read things. It's not just novels — it's anything that you get you know as an adult to. You need to read everything and you know read the fine print. And wow! It sure did pay off for me this time.

CH: That was Georgia high school teacher Donelan Andrews speaking with Carol in March. She had just won a bunch of money from a travel insurance website for reading all the fine print. I imagine Dion Callaway signed all kinds of insurance documents before he went skydiving in April. After all, he was risking life and limb. And he ended up losing one of them. Not his life, luckily. But he did temporarily lose his prosthetic leg. He told Carol how he got back on his feet.

Dion Callaway

SOUNDCLIP

CO: Dion take us to that moment when you stepped out of the plane last weekend. When did you realize that something was not quite right with your leg?

DION CALLAWAY: You know I was hanging on outside of the plane. And I had three other friends jumping with me. And as I left the plane I could feel it -- within 500 feet -- I could feel it coming loose. And that was when panic started to set in.

CO: And so at what point did it leave you?

DC: I was at about 10,000-feet and we jumped at 12,000 -- and I reached back and grabbed it and I tried to tighten it up. And right when I was coming in -- we were building a round with the four of us. And as I was coming into the circle, I felt it fly off.

CO: Okay wait a second. You are like free-falling -- this is before it shoots out -- and you are reaching around, trying to reattach your prosthetic limb.

DC: I did not want to lose it. That coming off of my leg, I felt that that was the last thing I wanted to happen.

CO: Did you see where it went?

DC: You know it floated up. It was falling a lot slower than I was. I flew out of the circle and tried to look down at where it might land. And I kind of tracked it all the way to the ground. And then it was not where I thought it was going to be -- for sure.

CO: Okay well before we get to where you actually found it -- where did you think it had landed?

DC: I thought it had landed kind of in the area where we jumped -- and I was north of the airport -- is when we jumped out of the plane. And I was hoping it was going to be in that area.

CO: Well now meanwhile: you open your parachute, and what were you thinking about landing with just one leg?

DC: I've done that before actually, so that wasn't new to me. But I had never jumped with one leg with a canopy as small as I was jumping. So I just had to slide in.

CO: But didn't you injure the leg that you lost -- wasn't it injured because of a hard landing like that?

DC: Yep yep. Yeah. That one I should have slid in.

CO: Yikes. And so you shattered your heel when you landed once before.

DC: Yeah. It destroyed my foot. And I tried to save it for a full year and then decided to amputate. I couldn't walk on it for a whole year, and then they wanted to do a bunch more surgeries to try save it -- and I don't think I would have been able to walk on it without a lot of pain. And I just wanted to get back to walking again.

CO: And you wanted to dive again?

DC: Yeah. Oh yeah for sure.

CO: All right. So you're on the ground, what did your mates say about losing your limb?

DC: You know I mean they were bummed out. They could tell I was not having a good time. And they helped me look for it. It wasn't even close to where we thought it was.

CO: And this is not exactly a cheap piece of kit, is it?

DC: No. They are expensive. It's a process you know to get one. And I was really bummed about losing it. That was not a good day.

CO: Okay, but you got it back. How did you find out where it was?

DC: You know the next day I got a call in the morning and it was from Tyler at Norcal Skydive -- he said that the sheriffs had my leg. That somebody had called them at the lumber yard south of the airport and that they'd discovered it. So that was the first news I got of it.

CO: Well wait a second. The lumber yard got your leg and then called the police?

DC: Yeah I imagine they thought you know like somebody is not going to just leave a prosthetic lying around -- that something might have happened to the owner. And so they called the sheriff's department. Yeah.

CO: They hadn't seen the limb drop from the sky then?

DC: No. They showed up to work on Monday -- it was a Sunday when I jumped -- and Monday they showed up to work and found the leg. And you know it had a shoe attached to it. And yeah -- that must have been an interesting find.

CO: And wondering where the person was who owned it.

DC: Right. And, why aren't they looking for it? [Laughter]

CO: But you were.

DC: I kind of was -- just on the opposite end of the airport.

CH: That was everyday hero Dion Callaway explaining to Carol how he was reunited with the prosthetic leg he lost while skydiving in April. Obviously, falling out of the sky at a high speed is a nail-bitingly tense experience. Sitting in a chair in a city council meeting usually isn't. Nevertheless, Sue Montgomery found herself white-knuckling her way through those meetings. Not because she was risking her life, but because she was risking her sanity. That's why Ms. Montgomery, the mayor of a borough of Montreal, called Cote-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace, started knitting a scarf in council chambers. A surprisingly divisive scarf. Guest host Gillian Findlay spoke with Sue Montgomery in May.

Sue Montgomery

SOUNDCLIP

GF: Ms. Montgomery, can you describe the scarf that you are knitting during council meetings.

SUE MONTGOMERY: Well, it started at a point, and it goes out into sort of a triangle. And to say the least, it’s majority is red. It's probably about 80 per cent red.

GF: So explain that to me. Why is it red?

SM: Well okay, so I decided to knit in red when men speak, and in stop speaking. And in green when women speak, i.e. let's speak more, go, talk.

GF: So every time a man gets up in council and talk talks, you’re knitting in red. And then when he sits down and a woman gets up, you knit in green?

SM: That's right.

GF: So what does that scarf look like now?

SM: Well, it's mostly red. It's about — surprise, surprise — it's mostly red. It's about I don't know 80-85 per cent red, and 20-25 per cent 5 percent green, I would say.

GF: Eighty-fire per cent?

SM: Yeah, so one thing you need to know is that we have parity, more or less. We have 31 women and 34 men. So it's not a question of numbers. And it's also not a question of women not taking their place to speak. We have a lot of women that stand up and speak in council. But they're efficient. They stand up. They make their point. And they sit down. But there is a handful of men who I've sort of identified as I was knitting who stand up, and they just feel they need to take up their allotted time — all of it. Whether it be 20 minutes or 15 minutes. You know we're all allotted a certain amount of time. I don't know what that is right now. But they repeat the same thing over and over and over in several different ways. You know, people's eyes just glaze over. And there's no way you can listen to someone talk for that long.

GF: So why do you think that is?

SM: Good question. I mean I've asked them that. Before I started my project, I approached some of them and said, can you tell me why you have this need to repeat everything you say in counsel like many different ways? You don't need to. Like you can make your point, and we get it, and you sit down. And one of them said you know I'm speaking it’s for the media. And I said I used to be a journalist, and I can promise you that the journalists are not listening when you go on like that. I mean everyone knows that if you want the journalists to listen, you give them concise information that they can use in their stories. So they don't seem to understand that. I think they have this thinking that the more I talk and the bigger words I use, and the longer I go on, the smarter I sound, which is not the case.

GF: And now you have given them a visual reminder of that with your scarf that's 85 per cent red. What has been the reaction of your male colleagues on council?

SM: Oh, they were very angry yesterday. And, of course, they put two women up to criticize me, to call me sexist, and to say that I'm trivializing city council by knitting. But, in fact, the knitting actually allows me to focus. There are studies that have been done, and I can listen to everything, and I could tell them everything that was said over the two days. You know at least the topics — not all the details. And it's also all in French, which isn't my mother tongue. So that takes an extra level of concentration as well.

GF: But they are calling you sexist?

SM: Yeah.

GF: For doing this.

SM: Because you know they're saying if we were to say this about women — that women talk too much — there would be an outcry. But the bottom line is women don't talk that much in meetings, in conferences. So I've posted this on Twitter and Facebook, and it's going viral around the world because and all these women are saying we should do this in our meetings, we should do this a council, we should do this at university you know to display — to demonstrate visually — that men take up a lot of space.

CH: Sue Montgomery is the mayor of a Montreal borough. In May, she gave guest host Gillian Findlay a clear explanation of her knitted response to mansplantation. Ms. Montgomery is the kind of hero who saw an opening and took it. Our next hero also saw an opening. Then he saw it vanish. And that's when Sidney Tamm realized that a jellyfish-like creature known as the "warty comb jelly" had a miraculous disappearing anus. Mr. Tamm is a researcher at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Carol spoke with him in March.

Sidney Tamm

SOUNDCLIP

CO: Mr. Tamm I know you spent a fair bit of time studying the messy business end of the warty comb jelly. So what's weird about it?

SIDNEY TAMM: Well first of all let me tell you that they have a through-gut. And this has been known for hundreds of years. In fact probably Aristotle even saw it -- the pooping. They have a through-gut which means they have a mouth and an anus -- and the material, the prey that it eats, goes all the way through from one opening to the other and it's then excrete it after the waste is processed. And the strange thing that I've found is that the anus does not seem to be a permanent structure. It appears before defecation begins, and disappears afterward.

CO: What! So you're saying basically that there's an anus only when the critter needs it?

ST: That's right.

CO: At what point does the anus show up?

ST: You have to observe these animals very carefully, immobilise, so they're not swimming. Otherwise you couldn't focus on anything for a long time. And in an animal that can't move and you can watch it under the microscope without it getting away -- what you see first is that before defecation begins there's no hole there, there is no anal structure visible in the anal canal which is where the poop accumulates. And then all of a sudden an opening appears in the anal canal which is pressing against the outside skin of the animal almost like a chimney sticking out. And this, what I think is tissue fusion between the outside surface and the anal canal surface, gives you a hole or an orifice through which the waste is then expelled. And you can see it streaming out. And the pore gets larger and larger -- big clumps can now go out from the anal canal until all the waste is expelled. And then the pore closes slowly and seals off the inside digestive compartment from the outside. And you have no anus until it poops again.

CO: It just disappears?

ST: Yes.

CO: So all of this waste builds up, as it does, inside this creature -- and it has no place to go, and it starts pushing on the outer skin, and then poof...there's an anus.

ST: Yes that's right.

CO: And then they poop and then poof...and it is gone.

ST: Yes. And so it's different...

CO: Yeah [laughs].

ST: ...from all higher animals. You know even when we're not pooping our anus is still there. It's closed by muscles -- sphincter muscles -- but the structure is still there. It is just closed.

CO: Besides the warty comb jelly have you seen this -- I guess -- this intermittent anus in any other creatures?

ST: I haven't looked.

CO: Now were you looking to see if there was a kind of transient anus on this creature or did you just happen to notice it?

ST: Oh no. No -- I wasn't looking for it because there's no indication in the literature. All the scientific literature says that the anus is a permanent structure. And in pictures of ctenophores, the anus is always drawn as a closed hole -- even during interludes between defecations. So in a non-defecating ctenophore -- in the literature you see a dot or a circle showing the anus or the anuses if it has two and it's brachia that they're showing.

CO: So you were studying this creature and then suddenly you notice: Woah! Where did the anus go?

ST: Yeah. Well, it's that way with everything.

CO: [Laughs] Well for you maybe.

ST: No, you know it's like Yogi Berra -- and the New York Yankees catcher you used to say, he said, "You can observe a lot just by looking." And that's only that's what I did.

CH: Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, telling Carol about the transient anus of the "warty comb jelly" in March. Our last hero tonight is an amateur detective. The case did not involve an anus. It involved a cloaca. A chicken's cloaca. And the thing that emerges from it. Kate McCormick, a midwife, and Waldo, Maine -- couldn't help but notice the egg on her bed, right in front of the pillow. It was a mystery how it got there. But eventually, Ms. McCormick would crack the case wide open and possibly fry it sunny-side up. Carol spoke with Kate McCormick in October.

Kate McCormick

SOUNDCLIP

CO: Kate, what did you think when you saw this egg on your bedroom pillow?

KATE MCCORMICK: I did not know what to think. I was so surprised to find an egg on my bed that my first thought was I looked to my dog — who was standing there beside me — and I thought Jake you have never picked up an egg in your life. Did you pick up an egg today and bring it upstairs?

CO: Now just for people to understand, this wouldn't be an egg possibly from your refrigerator, right? What connection do you have with eggs?

KM: So I have 19 laying hens right now, who live in a chicken coop, and have some free-range to a fenced-in backyard. And I have had chickens here for three years and have never found an egg in my bed before.

CO: [laughing] Did you ever find an egg in your house?

KM: I have never found an egg in my house. I have found an egg in a pile of leaves. And I have found an egg on porch furniture. But never in my house before.

CO: Okay, so you've narrowed it down. You do believe one of your chickens laid an egg in your bed?

KM: I do believe at this point in time, it was for sure a chicken. But, like I said, I have 19. So I was thinking how am I going to catch this chicken in the act? So it was very, very funny. I have to tell you the culprit had just joined the interview as well. She is in my house at this moment [CO laughs]. I sat down on the couch, and she is coming to join us.

CO: Can we hear her?

KM: She is right here. So if she makes any noise, you will definitely hear her.

CO: Now, so how is the chicken getting into your house?

KM: My back door is covered by a magnetic screen, so there's no actual outside door. It’s just as a sheet of screen that attaches with a magnet so my dog can walk freely in and out of the house. And I had left the door open that day because I knew I was going to be gone a really long time. And I thought well, Jake, my dog, loves to be outside with the chickens, but never imagined one of the chickens would also make her way to the door.

CO: You're convinced now this one chicken is the one who came in and laid the egg upstairs?

KM: So the day after, I was up in the morning having coffee in my living room — where I am now — and I could hear somebody or something walking up the steps. And so were right where my back door comes in there's a set of steps that leads to my upstairs. And sure enough, she had come back in the door, and had made her way right up the steps, and she caught me watching her. And she acted like she was doing nothing out of the ordinary up there — very innocent-looking. So I kind of snuck away, and I let her have some space. And she scratched at the blankets, and arranged the blankets, and I could hear from right outside my bedroom door that she was making the type of noises that a chicken make her and she lays an egg. She kind of clucks and squawks and carries on for a bit, and I went and looked, and again there was an egg in my bed.

CO: [chuckles] Why do you think she is doing that?

KM: So she has always been the most people-friendly chicken. She seems to really enjoy company. And I think that she has found herself a nice cozy spot to do it.

CO: but do you think she's sending you a message. I mean I understand you're also a midwife, right? Do you think she knows that?

KM: I am a midwife, so she knows that I am in the delivery business. But she definitely has a special bond with me and my dog. And it's only growing more because she's now insisting that she is inside while we're here.

CH: Kate McCormick speaking with Carol from Waldo, Maine, on October 8th of 2019.

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