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The AIH transcript for January 1, 2025

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NIL KÖKSAL: Hello, I'm Peter Armstrong, sitting in for Nil Köksal.

CHRIS HOWDEN: Good evening, I'm Chris Howden. This is As It Happens.

[theme]

CH: Tonight:

NK: Surprise package. On this New Year’s Day, we’re taking a look back at the most unexpected stories from the past year -- stories that took us, and our guests, by surprise.

CH: Surprise package package. A British gallery owner shares his experience of opening a box he received in the mail, to find half-a-dozen clay renderings of male genitalia.

NK: Cat called. While frantically searching for her missing pet, our guest’s phone rang -- and she learned to her surprise that her cat wasn’t at a neighbour’s house a few blocks away, but in another state hundreds of kilometres away.

CH: Riding on her goat tales. A Utah woman tells us about the night she and dozens of other volunteers were enlisted to help with an emergency operation: the milking of 50 goats.

NK: That’s my gnome, don’t wear it out! You know what it’s like when someone steals all your garden gnomes. It’s happened to all of us, really. But then, returns them -- all restored and freshly painted. Of course you don’t, but we’ll hear from the only guy who does.

CH: And...your secretions are safe with it. [NK chuckles] We’ll take you inside a real-life “stillsuit” from the Dune books -- which enables the wearer to drink their own perspiration. Our guest says “it’s got a tang to it,” and we wish he hadn’t.

CH: As It Happens, the New Year's Day edition. Radio that satisfies your sweat tooth.

Part 1

CH: Well, here we are in 2025. And if you'll permit me, I'd like to play a song you're probably already sick of. In this brand new year, I'd just like to pay brief tribute to "auld acquaintance".

[“Auld Lang Syne” but like a club remix?]

CH: Surprise! This is terrible! Okay, it's actually not funny; that's enough.

[music stops]

CH: Also: surprise! Tonight's theme is surprises. Sorry, I'll keep my voice down a bit. Some of you may have stayed up extra-late to make sure 2024 was really gone. Anyway, yes: tonight we'll be revisiting surprising stories, and stories about surprises, from the past year. What kind of surprises? Great question: well, first we have -- wait a minute. I see what you're trying to do. And I'm not going to ruin the surprises. But I will tell you that you'll hear from a guest who said this:

SOUNDCLIP

WOMAN: They asked if they could stay in the parking lot until they got all their goats milked. And then,. He nonchalantly asked me, hey, want to help? [both laugh]

CH: You'll hear one of my least favourite answers of the last 12 months:

SOUNDCLIP

MAN: Honestly, warm and just, it’s got a tang to it.

CH: You'll be haunted forever by the source of this music:

SOUNDCLIP

[nose-whistled theme to “The Godfather”]

CH: And you'll be plunged into a mystery, with this shocking discovery:

SOUNDCLIP

MAN: Inside the cookie tin there was straw with a note and six penises [echoed penises, with epic music]

CH: Full disclosure: that music isn't part of the original interview, but, you know, it's strongly implied. So: what's the best way to start off a look back at the surprising stories of 2024? Maybe with a story of hope, and cooperation, and the ways people come together and help one another in challenging circumstances. A story of dozens of uncomfortable goats, their swollen, distended udders straining and sloshing around like dangerously overinflated water balloons as they…you know what? Actually, let's focus on the humans. In March, Jose and Bartolo Garcia were hauling 50 goats from Minnesota to California, when they hit a major snowstorm in Utah. The driving became a real challenge -- and those goats needed milking. So they called a feed store in Salt Lake City, and got Lisa Fernandez. They asked her for help. And they got it.

SOUNDCLIP

NK: And how did you get wind of, that there was this situation unfolding? That, that they needed to, they needed to milk these goats because it had been 12 hours exactly.

LF: Yes.

NK: They're, they're full, probably in pain, and it could lead to infection.

LF: Yes.

NK: So, how did you find out?

LF: So, he had called about an hour before they showed up at the store. So, about 6:30, 6:45 or so, asking if we had any hay available, then told me a little bit about the story, how they were being rerouted through Salt Lake City. And then about 7:45 that night, they showed up at the store and they told me a little bit more about it, a little bit more details that they were picking up their goats in Minnesota, headed back to California -- back home to California. And, they had 50 goats in their trailer and 25 kids, which are the baby goats. And they asked if they could stay in the parking lot until they got all their goats milked. And then, he nonchalantly asked me, hey, you want to help? [both laugh] And then he's like, have you ever milked a goat before? And I said, actually, no, I haven't. But I wouldn't mind learning. He's like, yeah, I can show you. I said, so let me close up the store. You know, we close at eight. So let me close up the store, and then I'll come out and I'll help you. Well, then there was another, he said, is there anyone else that would like to help or learn how to milk? So, I called one more team member that I had there with me. She had volunteered at a horse and goat rescue, so I asked her if she had ever milked a goat and if she wanted to help, [NK chuckles] and she volunteered right away. Oh, yeah, I would love to. So, we closed up the store, went out --.

NK: And then there were, it wasn't just the two of you.

LF: Well, it was at first. It was him and his uncle, and then it was myself and my team member. And I called the store manager since it was, you know, after closing. I know that the sheriff's department would patrol the area because of where we are. And I didn't want her to get worried and think something was going on at the store. So, I called the store manager and let her know, hey, we're out here helping these gentleman milk their goats. We're going to be a while.

NK: Just normal. you know, just a normal, you know, after --

LF: Yeah.

NK: After closing conversation, yeah.

LF: Right.

NK: Have you milked a goat? And do you want to join us? These are not questions you expect to hear --

LF: No.

NK: On a random day.

LF: No, not at all. [both chuckle] No.

NK: So, how many people came out in the end?

LF: Altogether, there were about -- I want to say -- about 40 people altogether. That included some kids that came out with their parents.

NK: Sure. Yeah. It's a petting zoo right there.

LF: Yeah, exactly. That's exactly what they did, too. They kept the goats calm and petted them, and fed them, and so, there was a lot of people.

NK: You got a crash course -- as you said -- in "How to Milk a Goat 101".

LF: I did, yes!

NK: Yeah. So, what are the top tips?

LF: Top tips is: do not yank.

NK: Yeah.

LF: It's not going to help them.

NK: No.

LF: And it's going to hurt them. Just stay calm, get a steady pace. Use your index finger and your thumb to start at the top and trap the milk in the udder, and then just squeeze down with the other fingers.

NK: How many did you end up milking?

LF: Me personally, I did about four.

NK: Yeah. You're a pro now, then.

LF: I am a pro. I can definitely say I've done it, and I can do it again. [laughing]

CH: Lisa Fernandez, talking to Nil in March about being surprised by a request to help milk 50 goats in the midst of a snowstorm. Maybe, right now, as you recover from New Year's Eve, you don't feel up to a challenge like that. Or a challenge like getting up from the couch to get the remote and then going back to the couch to breathe heavily and plan your next move. But as the saying goes, "Within you resides the spirit to accomplish feats you've ne'er imagined! For is it not true that a normal guy who makes shoes for humans didst manage to make shoes for a camel?" It's a new saying, but that is how it goes. And it was inspired by Stuart Moss -- who runs Mossy's Shoe Repairs in Salisbury, England. He spoke to Nil in September.

SOUNDCLIP

NK: Stuart, you're a busy cobbler. Tell me about when that phone call came in. What was the person on the other end of the line looking for?

STUART MOSS: At first, to be perfectly honest, obviously, the phone rang, I answered it, as always. And then unbeknown to me, it was Lady Chichester. When she said, you know, would you be willing to make a pair of shoes for a camel? My first instinct was I thought it was one of my friends trying to, you know, prank call me or something. But obviously, the further we got into the conversation, I then realized she was deadly serious. And Timujin who's the camel had a bit of a problem.

NK: What was wrong with Timujin why did he need help?

SM: So Timujin has got stretched tendons on his two front feet, so therefore he was no longer walking on his pads. He was walking on his pad and the back of his leg.

NK: So, he's in a lot of pain.

SM: Yeah. Yeah.

NK: Lady Chichester, I mean, had you ever spoken to her, or do you know her?

SM: Never spoken to Lady Chichester before. I didn't even know you know, she existed to be perfectly honest. I'm quite new to the area. I've only been here a year. So, you know, it was all very, very new to me. Obviously, after the conversation we had, we exchanged numbers. Then the messages went backwards and forwards. I then agreed to go down and look at the Timujin walking to see if there was anything I could do.

NK: And there's so many surprises for you and us as we listen in that conversation. First of all, you don't know if it's a real call. You don't know Lady Chichester. You've come to understand that she's a real person and she's she needs help with her camel. But also, why does she have camels? Maybe you didn't ask...

SM: I mean, she's a massive, massive animal lover. When I went onto her estate, that was immediately apparent. I mean, she's got alpacas, she's got llamas, she's got goats, she's got pigs. She's got chickens, camels, dogs. Yeah. I mean, she clearly loves nature, which is really nice to see.

NK: Yeah. To be clear with our audience, these aren't what, you know, people might be imagining. It's not like a horseshoe situation. I looked at a picture. Shoe lovers, may, I don't know, a closed toe gladiator sandal, if you will. Maybe, is what it looks like to me.

SM: Yeah, it's very. Yeah, that's probably the easiest way to explain. I mean, at first, obviously, because I didn't know, really know the anatomy of a camel. When I first met Timujin obviously I looked at the underneath of his feet and thought, well I can't make a shoe is going to have to be a boot. It was challenging to say the least.

NK: What are they made of?

SM: So, the actual boot itself is made of a high grade box calf leather, which is double skinned, and inside that is surgical memory foam, which gives him the comfort on his pads and the back of his tendons. And then on the other side of the leather underneath of stitched on a custom made rubber soul. So, he doesn't slip and slide around and he's got plenty of grip.

NK: Very thoughtful. And then the straps around the ankles have Velcro on them. Yeah. And when you were fitting Timujin with these boots, as you call them, was Timujin temperamental, you know, upset about it or open to the process?

SM: Do you know what, I mean, I'd never met a camel before. I'd only ever seen one, you know, on the television and pictures and stuff. They are one of the most gentle creatures you're ever going to meet. And they are, they're a very intelligent animal. From the minute I met him after the first fitting, it was almost like he knew I was trying to help him.

NK: Awe. Well, you must have given off a nice energy, too. They can sense that. So, it's partly, partly what you were bringing.

SM: There is a little side story with that, obviously Timujin isn't the only camel that a Lady Chichester has [NK: Obviously]. She's got four. One of them is called Luna, which is a female camel who has a rather soft spot for me.

NK: Oh. How did that reveal itself? Dare I ask Stuart.

SM: I mean, the first time I was there, Luna came up behind me without me knowing and placed her head on my shoulder and then proceeded to lick my ear, which obviously startled me. [NK: Very forward Luna goodness]. And then stepped away. And then ever since then, the minute I pulled onto the estate in my van, it was almost like she knew. And I mean, she used to bat her eyes at me and [laughter] Yeah. It was just, it was quite unnerving. I mean, she's a lovely animal. But she every time I went anywhere near the camels, she made a beeline for me to come and say hello.

NK: Interesting. I mean, we could interpreted that she cares about Timujin and wanted you to be... But, I mean, I don't want to take away from your relationship... [laughter] So, do you think that this is going to be a new side business for you or part of your shop?

SM: I mean, I'm open to suggestions, you know, I mean, I've... on my shop, one of the signs in my shop window does say "no job too big or small". Not for one minute did I ever think that I would be approached to make a pair of boots for a camel. But I've always had an attitude where if something can be done, then why not?

NK: Stuart, you're a busy cobbler. Tell me about when that phone call came in. What was the person on the other end of the line looking for?

STUART MOSS: At first, to be perfectly honest, obviously, the phone rang, I answered it, as always. And then unbeknown to me, it was Lady Chichester. When she said, you know, would you be willing to make a pair of shoes for a camel? My first instinct was I thought it was one of my friends trying to, you know, prank call me or something. But obviously, the further we got into the conversation, I then realized she was deadly serious. And Timujin who's the camel had a bit of a problem.

NK: What was wrong with Timujin why did he need help?

SM: So Timujin has got stretched tendons on his two front feet, so therefore he was no longer walking on his pads. He was walking on his pad and the back of his leg.

NK: So, he's in a lot of pain.

SM: Yeah. Yeah.

NK: Lady Chichester, I mean, had you ever spoken to her, or do you know her?

SM: Never spoken to Lady Chichester before. I didn't even know you know, she existed to be perfectly honest. I'm quite new to the area. I've only been here a year. So, you know, it was all very, very new to me. Obviously, after the conversation we had, we exchanged numbers. Then the messages went backwards and forwards. I then agreed to go down and look at the Timujin walking to see if there was anything I could do.

NK: And there's so many surprises for you and us as we listen in that conversation. First of all, you don't know if it's a real call. You don't know Lady Chichester. You've come to understand that she's a real person and she's she needs help with her camel. But also, why does she have camels? Maybe you didn't ask...

SM: I mean, she's a massive, massive animal lover. When I went onto her estate, that was immediately apparent. I mean, she's got alpacas, she's got llamas, she's got goats, she's got pigs. She's got chickens, camels, dogs. Yeah. I mean, she clearly loves nature, which is really nice to see.

NK: Yeah. To be clear with our audience, these aren't what, you know, people might be imagining. It's not like a horseshoe situation. I looked at a picture. Shoe lovers, may, I don't know, a closed toe gladiator sandal, if you will. Maybe, is what it looks like to me.

SM: Yeah, it's very. Yeah, that's probably the easiest way to explain. I mean, at first, obviously, because I didn't know, really know the anatomy of a camel. When I first met Timujin obviously I looked at the underneath of his feet and thought, well I can't make a shoe is going to have to be a boot. It was challenging to say the least.

NK: What are they made of?

SM: So, the actual boot itself is made of a high grade box calf leather, which is double skinned, and inside that is surgical memory foam, which gives him the comfort on his pads and the back of his tendons. And then on the other side of the leather underneath of stitched on a custom made rubber soul. So, he doesn't slip and slide around and he's got plenty of grip.

NK: Very thoughtful. And then the straps around the ankles have Velcro on them. Yeah. And when you were fitting Timujin with these boots, as you call them, was Timujin temperamental, you know, upset about it or open to the process?

SM: Do you know what, I mean, I'd never met a camel before. I'd only ever seen one, you know, on the television and pictures and stuff. They are one of the most gentle creatures you're ever going to meet. And they are, they're a very intelligent animal. From the minute I met him after the first fitting, it was almost like he knew I was trying to help him.

NK: Awe. Well, you must have given off a nice energy, too. They can sense that. So, it's partly, partly what you were bringing.

SM: There is a little side story with that, obviously Timujin isn't the only camel that a Lady Chichester has [NK: Obviously]. She's got four. One of them is called Luna, which is a female camel who has a rather soft spot for me.

NK: Oh. How did that reveal itself? Dare I ask Stuart.

SM: I mean, the first time I was there, Luna came up behind me without me knowing and placed her head on my shoulder and then proceeded to lick my ear, which obviously startled me. [NK: Very forward Luna goodness]. And then stepped away. And then ever since then, the minute I pulled onto the estate in my van, it was almost like she knew. And I mean, she used to bat her eyes at me and [laughter] Yeah. It was just, it was quite unnerving. I mean, she's a lovely animal. But she every time I went anywhere near the camels, she made a beeline for me to come and say hello.

NK: Interesting. I mean, we could interpreted that she cares about Timujin and wanted you to be... But, I mean, I don't want to take away from your relationship... [laughter] So, do you think that this is going to be a new side business for you or part of your shop?

SM: I mean, I'm open to suggestions, you know, I mean, I've... on my shop, one of the signs in my shop window does say "no job too big or small". Not for one minute did I ever think that I would be approached to make a pair of boots for a camel. But I've always had an attitude where if something can be done, then why not?

CH: From September, that was cobbler Stuart Moss explaining the surprising call from Lady Chichester about her ailing camel -- and the shoes he made for Timujin, the camel. Mr. Moss's invention suggests a glorious future, in which camels wear shoes. But this year's breakthrough by Darryl Sherk and his colleagues at Hacksmith Industries suggests a non-glorious future that smells horrific and is gross. Hacksmith's thing is to take inventions from fictional sources and turn them into real-life things. Such as -- surprisingly, and regrettably -- a "stillsuit" from the Dune books and movies. A sort of futuristic coverall with a mask and tube that extracts moisture from your immediate environment. Like, your extremely immediate environment. Your own body. In Dune, the stillsuit enables the wearer to drink their own sweat and whatever else, let's not get into it. And this real-life version of the suit does the same -- but at a cost. Part of the cost is...that it allows the wearer to drink their own sweat. Another part of the cost -- as Hacksmith Industries' production manager Darryl Sherk told Nil -- is the smell.

SOUNDCLIP

NK: Daryl, I can't believe I'm asking you this, but how does your sweat taste?

DARYL SHERK: Honestly, warm and just, it's got a tang to it. It's kind of weird.

NK: Okay, I won't probe further into that just for everybody's sake. [laughter]

DS: How do you ask another question after that?

NK: Yeah. That's it. We're done. Bye. No... Daryl, what is this suit, just describe what it looks like to our listeners if they haven't seen your video.

DS: So, the suit that we built came right out of the movie. So, it's basically this kind of, like, fabric garb, that, you know, covers the entire body. And then underneath it has a system that basically recycles the moisture of your body to make it drinkable. And it doesn't try to waste any, moisture at all.

NK: And where is the sweat collected?

DS: So, the sweat is collected in, we built a system that, it collects the sweat in kind of like this, like Camelbak backpack. And basically, using a device, like, kind of acts like a humidifier or like an air conditioner, where it's drawing any moisture from within the side of the suit, and then it's kind of dripping down into this vessel that's in a backpack underneath the suit.

NK: And we should also mention you're wearing a mask as well to collect moisture coming out of your mouth, right?

DS: Yeah. So basically, inside that mask is my drinking spout, basically. And then it's also taking the moisture from, my breathing and also putting it into the filter as well. Yeah.

NK: How does it feel to be in it. Because if you're claustrophobic this sounds nightmare. Yeah. Total nightmare.

DS: Yeah, honestly. Very uncomfortable. It's not practical, at all. Like, you're like, you're basically, if you were in a desert, you're putting on multiple more layers just to get hotter so that you could drink the sweat you sweat from. So, it's just an annoying, uncomfortable, situation all around. Yeah. Being in it for a couple of hours, I wanted to definitely get out of it as fast as possible.

NK: Were you surprised in the end that it worked?

DS: Honestly, yes. Usually with, like, when we're building something in one day, this was like a one day build. So, you're kind of like, you're working between a 9 to 5 day. So, when we're building something like that, the results can be varying, right? But for this, it was like it not only worked, but it was like quite fun to build and the process was really, really enjoyable for the viewer, which is, important. So, yeah. And we're thrilled that it's a functioning thing. It's currently sitting in our showroom.

NK: In the film, the suits collect all bodily fluids.

DS: Yeah, yeah.

NK: Just give our listeners a minute to list in their minds all of the different bodily fluids.

DS: There's a few.

NK: So, but you draw a line for your experiment. There's only so much you would do for science and entertainment. Where did you stop?

DS: Honestly, I don't know if it's science, but it's more like the line was drawn on, what are you open to putting on to the internet forever? Is the real question. Now hypothetically, though, with the suit, it's like, yeah, if I were to like, just pee into the suit, that would evaporate into the filter and the moisture from that would go through the filter, turning into, the going into the Camelbak backpack, making it drinkable. Not something I'm willing to do. But, yeah, I'll leave it at that.

NK: [chuckles] How much liquid did you collect in the end? Is it something, you know, could you, based on your deep knowledge of Dune, could you survive off of it on Arrakis?

DS: That's a good question. Not as much as you would think. So, like the amount of sweat like I wouldn't... A couple shot glasses, maybe worth. It's not a large amount, and it was not worth drinking over an extended period of time. Is it a viable product to survive in the desert of Arrakis? Maybe not. But does it get the concept across? I think so.

NK: Is this a onetime use kind of suit? Because I can only imagine after two hours. I mean, what do you just hose it down? What? Yeah.

DS: Yeah. I don't think anyone else will want to put it on. I'm going to be honest. Yeah. It's a... I think it's a me suit now. Like no one else is going to want to even go near that.

NK: And the smell. The studio really wants to know what it smelled like. They're like...

DS: It's so bad. It's so gross. Like, I'm not even joking. Like, I would walk into my co-worker’s offices and they're like, oh, like, it just smells like B.O. it's so bad in here. And I was like, well, that's kind of accurate to the books and the movies, like their suits in... Were described as like sewage smelling. So yeah, you know, it's pretty accurate.

NK: So, victory in the end.

DS: I see success here.

NK: Yeah.

CH: From May, that was Darryl Sherk -- production manager for the Canadian YouTube channel Hacksmith Industries -- talking to Nil about the hideous tang of his own sweat. Felicia Dawkins' suit also included a mask. Beyond that, she was on her own. And so was everyone else who worked at, or paid money to visit, the fiasco within a debacle inside a catastrophe known as "Willy's Chocolate Experience". That event in February, in Glasgow, Scotland, was advertised as a delightful, immersive visit to a world inspired by Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. It was not delightful, and the only thing it immersed people in was despair. For the equivalent of $55, visitors got a mostly empty warehouse, a small bouncy castle, half a cup of lemonade, and two jelly beans. But they also got a breakout character known as "The Unknown".

SOUNDCLIP

MAN: Oh my God! What is that?! It’s The Unknown!

CH: A tiny clip of The Unknown -- a character in a shiny silver mask, emerging from behind a mirror, frightening a child. Felicia Dawkins played The Unknown. Nil spoke to her in April.

SOUNDCLIP

NK: If we go back in time, when you, when you decided to take on this gig, you showed up, you saw the space that we've now all seen. What did you think?

FD: [chuckle] My first thought was this is going to end up in a disaster. The space was far too big and props were far too small. It just wasn't going to work together.

NK: Yeah, it's interesting that you noticed that. And the people who put it on didn't put that together before [chuckling] going so public with this. So the character -- The Unknown -- what were you to do and create?

FD: I was given no direction whatsoever. The only thing I was told was to be creepy, [NK chuckles] and I was told to improvise because we scrapped the script, like, 10 minutes before starting. [NK chuckles] So, I just thought to be creepy, and that's what I did.

NK: Yeah, I've seen some of the videos and the children crying in response. [both chuckle] Was, did you intend to make little children cry?

FD: No, not at all. [NK chuckles] I felt so, so bad when I seen them start to cry, but some of the kids thought it was funny, and some were just, like, really confused.

NK: Yeah, they were scared. So you were doing your job well. [FD chuckles] What was, what was this character supposed to be? The Unknown is not part of the Willy Wonka cinematic universe.

FD: The Unknown is an AI-generated bad guy. The Unknown was supposed to be Willy Wonka's arch nemesis. And at the end of the, like, the whole performance, The Unknown was supposed to get sucked up by this big vacuum cleaner and disappear. [NK chuckles] But none of that happened.

NK: Yeah, well, maybe that's for the best, given how traumatic it already was [FD chuckles] for, for the people who visited. But you mentioned the script was thrown out just before the performance. That's scary for, for any actor in any show. These scripts were AI-generated. When you were flipping through this, what did you think?

FD: Well -- at first -- I was cast as one of the Wonkas, but the script was basically just whole Willy Wonka monologue. So I was really panicking about it. But then -- the next day -- I got cast as The Unknown. And The Unknown had fewer lines, so I was much more thankful for that. But -- still, reading that back -- I was like, some of that doesn't make sense because there was some parts where you have to anticipate the audience reaction, and you weren't going to know how the audience were going to react. So the organizer just said, oh, just make sure they react that way -- [NK chuckles] which was really scary to hear.

NK: Okay, The Unknown was supposed to be unknowable and was unknown. But some people were going online saying, it's me, I'm The Unknown. You said I've got to put a stop to this. What did you do?

FD: And that's the reason I did come out because so many people were saying I was The Unknown, no, I was The Unknown. And I was like, no, I was The Unknown. [NK chuckles] I had to take credit for my acting.

NK: How are you dealing with all of this attention? Of course, any actor wants their performances to, to be notable, but this is something totally different. I mean, when a magazine like Rolling Stone is calling you a breakout star, [FD chuckles] how are you processing all of this?

FD: Well, I'm super, super overwhelmed because it mostly happened overnight. One day, I was just Felicia, and then the next day, I was this, I was everywhere. But it was also super, super exciting because I was like, oh my gosh, I'm out here. People know me.

NK: Yeah.

FD: And people were laughing at, like, laughing along with my performance, which I was so, so happy with because -- at the end of the day -- that's all I wanted to do was make people happy and smile and laugh.

NK: Yeah.

CH: Nil, talking to actor Felicia Dawkins in April. That whole story was a surprise. Even to the people in it. And this story surprised its participants as well. Sure, they said they wanted the city of Boston to put googly eyes on its trains. And yes, they staged a very friendly demonstration to convince the city to put googly eyes on its trains. But they didn't necessarily believe the city actually would put googly eyes on its trains. Arielle Lok was one of the organizers of the googly-eyes-on-Boston-trains campaign. She talked to Nil in July.

SOUNDCLIP

NK: Arielle, wherever people live in the world, chances are they might be complaining about transit, and often with, with good reason. What difference are these, these eyes on the trains going to make for people there?

ARIELLE LOK: You know, we're not really trying to fix the trains. We're trying to add joy and whimsy into your daily commute. I think that the eyes are the window to the soul. And the soul of a city is in its transit system. So, I think that these eyes are trying to connect these dots and give all the riders of the MBTA a new fun way to connect emotionally. It's such a cornerstone part of the city.

NK: Our listeners may not know you grew up in Canada. You lived in Vancouver as well. I grew up there, too. Did Vancouver's transit system have a hand in leading to this project?

AL: Yes, big time. I grew up in Calgary, but when I moved to Vancouver, my one of my favorite things about the transit system was, actually, every December the Translink would actually put these Rudolph busses out. And you would see these busses with these big noses that are, like, red, and they would have, like, antlers. And the inside would also be decked out. And that was a huge part of things that I missed about Canada a lot when I moved to the States, especially when I came out to Boston, we didn't have anything fun like that at all on the trains, and you would hear a lot of complaints about it, but not so much the joy of actually seeing one of them come at you. So, I think the eyes really, really were a reflection of my time there in Vancouver.

NK: I've been on one of those busses, and I remember, you know, the driver obviously has to have a great energy as well. And them leading us in a, you know, we were singing carols, [AL chuckles] fogged up windows, packed bus. Not, not normally a fun situation, but we were singing the carols. So, you just reminded me of that.

AL: Oh yeah! The best of times!

NK: Was there a particular moment or incident or something in the news with transit in Boston that reminded you of Vancouver and then wanted, you know, made you want to print out these, these googly eyes?

AL: Honestly, it was like a rainy day. So, I guess maybe that reminded me of Vancouver. But I was just waiting on the platform and the train was late, and that's just kind of the norm here.

NK: Yeah.

AL: And when it pulled up, I was just like, man, you know, I would not be as mad if this train had feelings. [NK chuckles] Or this train had eyes, that would be so silly. And then I was telling my coworker about that, and I was like, I should just stick them on myself. Then we both decided that that was just like a Band-Aid solution to something bigger than all of us. And we wanted systematic change. So, that's when we decided to pull this march together and change the vision for The T, which is giving The T vision.

NK: And what kind of response did you get?

AL: So, we did a awesome march where, like, a bunch of strangers came out to Boston Commons, which is a giant park in downtown Boston. And, like, everyone was united to get these eyes on The T. So, people we had never met in our whole lives were just, like, screaming these silly chants. And I can even say so for you. And once we got to the MBTA office, like, people initially thought that we were just protesting. But when they actually talked to us and heard our demands, and there was only one demand, put googly eyes on The T, all of them, like, would share a laugh with us. And ultimately, that's how I think it happened. One of the MBTA execs who were there took a pair of these eyes. Brought it up to Philip Nyng, who is, like, the general manager-slash-like-the-big-guy. And they just thought it was so silly, so easy, and it brought so much joy that they just did it.

NK: You can, and yeah. If you have a favorite chant, I'll take it.

AL: [chuckle] I think my, my favorite chant is, dot your I's and cross your T's. Googly eyes on T trains, please. [NK chuckles] And I really like that one because of the additional please at the end.

CH: Arielle Lok, talking to Nil in July about the successful campaign to get googly eyes on Boston transit trains.

[folk]

Part 2

CH: On this New Year's Day edition of As It Happens, we're looking back at the surprises of the past year. And, of course, many surprises involve opening a box to see what's inside. Is it the air fryer you've been dropping hints about since six months before your birthday? Is it another box, within which is another box, with another box inside, with another box inside, until eventually you go mad attempting to open a box of impossible tininess? Or is it half-a-dozen clay penises? "Ha ha, it's never half-a-dozen clay penises," you say. I assure you that sometimes it is. One time it was, anyway. The time Dale Wells -- artist, and owner of the Turntable Gallery in Cleethorpes, England -- got a mystery package. A package that appeared to be connected to another package: the missing genitalia of a statue of the founder of Grimsby, England -- a man, according to legend, named "Grim". Nil spoke to Mr. Wells about these mailed appendages in February.

SOUNDCLIP

NK: Dale, what did you find when you opened up this mystery package?

DALE WELLS: Yes. So, we, we had a bit of an unusual one. And we found a box. It was just a, it was just a brown paper wrapped box, a bit of writing on it. Upon opening it, we had this shoe box. Inside the shoe box, there was a cookie tin. Inside the cookie tin -- so it's a bit like a Russian doll -- [NK chuckles] inside the cookie tin, there was straw with a note and six penises. And also looks like the workings of a gland as well. So I don't know if they were --

NK: A gland?

DW: In different, yeah, [chuckling] the end of the penis. So, it looked like they were kind of going through various, various options for, for the look.

NK: Right. And is horrified the right word? Or am I projecting?

DW: No, I think you're projecting. It's -- [laughing]

NK: You were, you were like totally fine. What a nice surprise.

DW: You know what? We, we are in almost one of the weirdest counties in, in the country.

NK: [chuckling] If you weren't before, this will cement that, yeah.

DW: [laughing] Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's unsurprisingly kind of, work it out, to be honest. [both chuckle] Yeah, we, we've been involved with it so long that we almost felt like it was a magnet drawing these penises in a tin towards us.

NK: What did that note say?

DW: Right. Well, to sort of paraphrase it, it said something like, I've just been clearing through my grandad's possessions. And I think these are what you are looking for. [NK chuckles] Been following the story closely. So, it's obviously somebody that has seen our stories. I don't know if you've read, but we had a penis amnesty last year [chuckling] because the, it was that part of the statue that we were restoring we'd lost several times. And we'd said, you know, it'd be great to maybe find one of these that were, you know, lying as relics in somebody's house. And instead of one, they delivered six.

NK: So, the statue at the centre of this mystery -- just to let our, listeners in -- is the statue of your town's founder. It's in storage right now. And as as our listeners just heard Chris mention, it's, it's constantly missing, missing appendages and body parts. So, it's in storage right now, right?

DW: It is, yeah. So, it's, it's in a bit of a, it's a shabby state. It's been kicked about so many times. Like you said, it is missed it's, it's phallus. Well, I mean, there must be three, four, five of them around the town somewhere. But it's lost, you know, the back of its head. It's missing the foot, hands, etc.

NK: Why are people doing this?

DW: You know what? I think it's, it, it sounds like a bit of a silly way of putting it, but almost it's, it's the townspeople taking it into their ownership in a lot of ways. You know, if you can, I don't know, break its willy off and keep it in your, in your drawer or something, it's a part of that founder's statue that is, that is with you forever, you know?

NK: But it, it, to be clear, the gifts that you received from that mystery sender. You don't think they belong to the statue?

DW: In some ways. I mean, I'm guessing that if this person has followed the story, then they must know, you know, that their grandparent was maybe a sculptor or an apprentice sculptor or somebody who helped. And otherwise, I don't know how you would get the link, to be honest. So, I think there might be some kind of original penis sort of story in there. But I don't think they're the ones that were broken off it. I think they were maybe maquettes or, you know, work-ups to, to, to make a cast of.

NK: I see. You and your partner are working on making a new statue to replace the old one, right? So, are you going to integrate [trying not to laugh] one or more of these pieces?

DW: Do you know what? I think we need an absolute halo of them around. And that way, we need to, we need --

NK: I don't know. I don't know if I would say yes to that, [DW chuckles] but it's your town.

CH: Gallery owner Dale Wells, telling Nil about the normal time he received six disembodied clay penises in the mail. It's nice to get surprises in the mail. It's why we all rush out as soon as it's dropped off, only to find that it's bills, or a letter from someone claiming to be a lawyer who says you had an unknown great-uncle who just left you a million dollars in his will, along with quote-unquote "documentation" proving that's quote-unquote "true". Straight into the recycling! Anyway, Carrie Clark didn't get a surprise in the mail; she lost a surprise in the mail. Ms. Clark lives in Lehi, Utah. So does her cat, Galena. So Ms. Clark was very surprised to get a call from a person in California, telling her that Galena was in California. She shared her surprise with Nil in April.

SOUNDCLIP

NK: Carrie, how's Galena doing today?

CARRIE CLARK: She's doing great. She's so happy to be home. She's very lovey and just wants all the snuggles. And we're so happy to have her back home after this crazy adventure that she's been on.

NK: I bet. So if we go back, how did Galena end up travelling hundreds of kilometres from your house to California?

CC: Yes, it's quite the story. She's an indoor cat. And so, she's usually around around me pretty often. And we could not find her anywhere. We tore apart our house looking for her. We put flyers across the neighbourhoods around us and in our neighbourhood. We spent hours upon hours searching for her and she was just nowhere to be seen. We spent a whole week trying our very, very best to find her. I got a phone call and it was from a, well, first I got a text on my phone that told me that her -- Galena's -- microchip had been scanned and that she had been found. And you can imagine my excitement when I got that text.

NK: [chuckling] Yeah.

CC: And then within 30 seconds of that text, I got a phone call from a vet in California, and she told us that -- she told me that -- Galena was safe in California. That they had found her and that Brandy -- an Amazon worker -- had rescued her. And, and she was in California. And we just, I just couldn't even believe it.

NK: Yeah. The fact, there are many things that are, that are unbelievable here. How do you think Galena ended up in the return box? I mean, if it was an empty box, I can see her playing around in it. But the box got taped up and labelled and shipped out.

CC: I know. It's so, it's such a sad circumstance. [NK chuckles] What ended up happening, no, we did not ship our cat out intentionally at all.

NK: No!

CC: Never, ever would we do that. We love Galena. I've had her since she was a kitten, and she is a part of my everything. And what ended up happening was my husband had a big, giant Amazon box. It was a try before you buy. It's about three feet by three feet by three feet, like, those were the dimensions. He was trying on some work boots for his job, and he ended up, you know, keeping one pair. And then he returned the other five steel-toed boots and put them back in the box. And -- unfortunately -- when he left the room to go and get tape and scissors to seal the box up, that's when Galena must have jumped in on her own because she loves to play in boxes.

NK: Oh, Galena! [chuckle] Sure! Is she a quiet cat, though?

CC: THis is just part of her personality. Oh, she is so quiet.

NK: Okay.

CC: Yeah, she's definitely a very shy cat who loves to hide. And in the past, we've let her play in the Amazon boxes. But, but not anymore. [laughing]

NK: The, the Amazon, the Amazon worker -- Brandy Hunter -- you mentioned said, you know, her, her co-workers actually called her because she's known around there as -- her words -- the crazy cat lady. So it's, however unfortunate it was that Galena got in the box, she found the right person to take care of her until you could come.

CC: Absolutely. It was a miracle that Galena was sent to Brandy's warehouse. Because Brandy is known to be the cat, the crazy cat lady who loves cats and knows all about them and all about their behaviour. And she was the only one who knew that this was an accident. She was the one who assumed goodwill, and she knew that it was an accident and it wasn't on purpose. And we would never do that to our cat.

NK: She knows that cats can get up to trouble. She knows that cats can --

CC: Absolutely, she knows that cats hide in boxes. And she knows that, she could tell that she was a cat who was loved.

NK: They did not ship her back, though. You had to make your way out to California, right? How quickly?

CC: Absolutely not! [both laugh] Right. So once we found out what had happened to her -- like that giant bombshell of news -- we immediately booked a flight to California the next morning -- as soon as we could. And we hopped on the airplane and we coordinated with Brandy and got to talk to her on the phone about everything. And we decided to meet up at the vet's office. And that was when we had our big reunion together. And I got to meet Brandy, who rescued our kitty, and I got to see Galena again, and it was so emotional. It was just amazing to see her and how well she looked, and how it was just miraculous that she had gotten through everything she did.

CH: Carrie Clark, sharing the story of how her cat, Galena, made a surprise trip to California, without Carrie knowing. And probably without Galena knowing. She was in a box the whole time, after all. Plus which, she doesn't know where California is, or what California is. Now, sometimes, of course, we surprise ourselves -- by doing something we didn't believe we were capable of. Exceeding what we thought were our limits. Surpassing the obstacles we thought were insurmountable. Whistling incredibly loudly, through our noses. Of course, there's one undisputed master of nose-whistling -- as certified this year by Guinness. Her name is Lulu Lotus, and Nil spoke with her in January.

SOUNDCLIP

NK: Lulu, congratulations, first of all.

LULU LOTUS: Thank you so much.

NK: When did you first, I mean, at what point in your life do you realize you have this very special skill?

LL: Um, I was around seven years old when I discovered it.

NK: And how, how does that pop up?

LL: I was just, um, playing around with my body, trying to figure out what kind of things I could do. And I was playing around with, I guess, the muscles in my throat. And I happened to make a whistle sound, and then I just kept practicing that until I could get different melodies.

NK: You wanted to, to have that one thing?

LL: Yes. [both chuckle]

NK: Well, you found it. You found it. And so, how does one, you know, hone that craft, train your instrument to get to the level you're at today?

LL: I guess you just keep practicing. [NK chuckles] That's all I did. [chuckling]

NK: So the, the, the decibel level here is crucial. The loudness of, of your nose whistle is what got you this record. So, how loud are we talking.

LL: It was about 44.1 decibels.

NK: And that is as loud as -- from what I've been reading -- as some bird calls.

LL: Yeah, which is exciting because I love birds.

NK: [chuckling] I've seen the videos, and you seem very calm in them. It doesn't seem like you're exerting a lot of pressure to get to that decibel level, are you? What, I want to know, you know, inside the craft.

LL: You know what? Sometimes, if I clench my teeth a little bit, I feel like I have more control over the sound of the whistle if that makes any sense.

NK: It does. I don't think I could execute it, but it does make sense. Sort of. And okay, let's not make people wait any longer. I've had a sneak preview from, from some of your recordings, but you don't just make a single note that's loud. You are able to nose whistle some pretty famous songs. Why don't you, you play a favourite for us?

LL: Sure. I'll do the Godfather theme song first, if that's okay?

NK: Absolutely!

LL: Okay.

[yup.... that's the theme to the Godfather. How dare you blow your nose whistle on this, the day of my daughter's wedding]

NK: I mean, bravo!

LL: Did you hear it?!

NK: Yeah, I heard it. It was great.

LL: Oh, that's great!

NK: I have to say.

LL: Awesome!

NK: What's the, you know, but how do they judge you? How do they make sure that you don't have some,

uh, little tiny tape recorder behind you?

LL: [both chuckle] Um, so I had to go to an audio engineering studio, and they had me go into, like, a special room, and they, um, measured the sound using a device. Um, so I had three attempts, and I did it three times, and then they were able to calculate, uh, I guess, the average.

NK: And you have a repertoire. There are other songs you do, but, but there's only one song that's really important to us, and that's our, that's our theme song. We did send it to you before. You haven't had a lot of time to practice, but, uh, if you wouldn't mind, we'd love to hear some.

LL: I'll give it a try.

[yup... that's our theme. How dare you nose whistle our theme on this, the day of Chris Howden's wedding]

LL: I honestly, it was a hard one to memorize. If I had more time, I could get it.

NK: That was pretty good. That was pretty good for just, you know, an hour or so that you, that you had to pull that together.

LL: Thank you!

NK: How often are you doing this a day?

LL: Um, honestly, it's just, it's so much fun for me to do. I do it randomly throughout the day. And when my sons were younger -- when they were babies -- instead of singing them lullabies, I would nose whistle lullabies to them.

NK: [chuckling] So, how old are they now?

LL: They're five and six. And my five-year-old, he can nose whistle two. So, I'm wondering if it's genetic or something.

NK: Is the six-year-old jealous, though?

LL: He, honestly, yes.

NK: Awe!

LL: He wishes he can do it and I keep trying to teach him. I think one day, maybe he'll get it, but I don't know.

NK: Oh, maybe he'll find out he has a special, unique skill, uh, all his own. Do they enjoy it, though? Or are they just like, Mom, can you just read me a book? Sing me a regular lullaby.

LL: We do that, too. [chuckling] But honestly, I think they think it's pretty cool. Especially that I got into the, you know, the Guinness Book of World Records, like, they're, they're excited about that.

NK: And is there a community of nose whistlers around the world that you've become acquainted with?

LL: I wish! I haven't been able, I haven't been able to find, um, many other people. I saw a YouTube video of somebody, um, but they weren't very active on social media, so I couldn't get a hold of them. But I'd love to find others. Maybe we could, like, nose whistle together.

CH: Lulu Lotus of Mississauga, Ontario, talking to, and nose-whistling for, Nil in January. Now, Ms. Lotus has a gift. And Kelly Blair was given a gift. A gift of things that were, admittedly, already his. The things were his garden gnomes. Which, first, were abducted from his lawn. And then, were returned, spruced up -- their hats a more vibrant red, their beards a lusher white. The only thing about this story that isn't surprising is that it took place in Kelowna, B.C. I mean, obviously. Guest host Peter Armstrong spoke with Mr. Blair in July.

SOUNDCLIP

PA: Kelly, you're sitting amongst your gnomes right now in the backyard. Can you give us a sense how much better they're looking now than they used to?

KELLY BLAIR: Well, from about three metres away where I am, the one that hasn't been redone is almost camouflaged. And all the others just stand out nice and bright amongst the mint and tomatoes and rocks in the little bed there.

PA: It must feel pretty good.

KB: It feels great.

PA: [chuckling] When did you realize they were missing?

KB: About two to three weeks ago, I guess now. I went to take pictures of them to send to a lady that I was going to give them to because I'm moving. And I came out and realized that there was only one gnome left, presumed at the time they'd been stolen with the canoe and other things. And, oh well, so be it. Wednesday morning, a quiet knock on my back door. And there was this lovely older lady saying, I'm just a delivery person. Handed me the envelope that said homeowner on the front and inside with a photocopy cutout of a gnome on the back. It simply said the Norm Restoration Society. And that was it.

PA: [chuckling] This is an odd experience, I'm sure.

KB: Absolutely. And wonderful in, in, in many ways, you know, it's just such a RAK thing -- random act of kindness.

PA: And she gives you this envelope. Presumably, she gave you the gnomes, too, correct?

KB: She says, Please follow me to my car. And she had obviously no threatening manner about her. So I, of course, followed to her car. She opens the trunk of her little sedan, whatever it was. And there's two boxes of gnomes, and you open the trunk, and all of a sudden there's this huge splash of color, and there's all my gnomes back. In fact, there was two more than were taken.

PA: So, you saw a profit of gnomes through this?

KB: [chuckle] Well, I don't like the word profit per se, but yes, absolutely. I had eight taken and 10 returned.

PA: How big are they?

KB: They're anywhere from about 15 centimetres, eight, 10 inches tall, to one big guy with the pipe. And, again, shifting slightly here the detail on some of them. They made sure that the ash in his pipe, you know, was, was a grey tone.

PA: Oh my. Have you been able to piece together anything about what this Gnome Restoration Society is?

KB: Not at all. And I'm not much of a sleuth, and you media people are. [PA chuckles] And I've actually had a guy from the Washington Post in D.C. reach out to me.

PA: Oh wow!

KB: And he, he asked, I mean, not not conspiratorially, but, you know, they are, you know, ones that will really dig for details if they. He even asked if I knew anything about the model of her car, what she was dressed like. And I said, no, I don't remember anything really, other than she was a very sweet lady, you know, and clearly stated that she was just the messenger. All I could get from her really, was that, and I didn't try hard because that was what was wanted, if you know what I mean, was that they were mostly retired people who did this, and that they wished to remain anonymous.

PA: Have you heard of anybody else having any experience with, with anything like this?

KB: No, not at all. And, obviously, I'd love to. And everybody would, you know? It would be neat to find out that somebody else has been [chuckling] so nicely robbed, if you know what I mean.

PA: But this is a serious operation. They snuck into your backyard in the quiet of night. They grabbed eight gnomes. The one big guy you're saying is quite large.

KB: And he's probably, you know, close to 20 kilos. I mean, I am not a, you know, a big strong guy, but, you know, it's a fair effort to pick him up with both hands. You don't grab grab it, you know, the top of his hat with one hand. An individual would have to make almost eight or nine trips, you know, just one at a time.

PA: Listen, you sound like you're loving this. And I'm loving it, too, don't get me wrong. But if somebody had gnomes with kind of sentimental value, whatever that may be, something that they didn't want somebody traipsing into their backyard and touching their stuff. Should these mysterious gnome restorers kind of be sneaking in and touching other people's property and changing it in the first place?

KB: You know, this has no maliciousness to it. Quite the opposite. I have absolutely no problem that they came into my yard and took them, you know, unannounced, unlike the canoe and everything else that was taken, stolen, there was never any ill intent here. So, no, I would I would have no problem with that. They didn't open the gate. They didn't jimmy a lock. They didn't do anything. And I have no idea how they knew they were there. Maybe somebody came to that garage sale I had about a month ago and saw them sitting in the yard. But they weren't for sale. They weren't --

PA: See, you're pretty good at this sleuthing detective work after all.

KB: Well, not really. I'm just stating the obvious. You know, as I say, I, I didn't even notice they were missing until they went to take pictures of them. That's, that's how sharp I'm not.

CH: Guest host Peter Armstrong talking to Kelly Blair about his experience with the mysterious Gnome Restoration Society.

[instrumental]

Part 3:

CH: You're about to hear a recording of Jessica Daley as Eva Peron in the musical Evita on the 6th of January, 2024.

SOUNDCLIP

[“Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina” as sung by Jessica Daley]

CH: I mean, that's fantastic. What a beautiful performance -- you really believe she doesn't want Argentina to cry for her. Which is impressive considering Ms. Daley only found out she would be playing Eva Peron earlier that same day. At the beginning of January, Evita was on at the Curve Theatre in Leicester, U.K. But then the lead got sick. So a great opportunity for the understudy -- if she hadn't also been sick. So the Curve decided to throw itself a curve -- and contact Jessica Daley out of the blue.

SOUNDCLIP

NK: Jessica, your phone didn't actually ring. It wasn't a phone call, but it did light up just before noon on Saturday with a text. What did that text say?

JESSICA DALEY: Um, that text did say, well, it said Happy New Year. And it said, um, we're struggling here at the theatre for an Eva Peron this evening, for this evening show of Evita. And wondering if you're free to, uh, hop in the car and come and help us in Leicester, which is crazy.

NK: And how long did you have to make up your mind?

JD: Um, not very long, actually. I kind of made my mind up immediately that I was going to, um, get in the car. Um, I was in a bit of shock for a bit. Um, I did, I, I waited for my mum to come home. She went to walk the dog. [laughing] And I shouted when she came back in. I said, Mum, I've got to get in the car. And I was in the car within, like, an hour, um, with a fully-packed suitcase, ready to rock and roll. Um, so yeah, it was almost immediately that I was like, this is happening, I'm going to do it.

NK: And you live about three hours from the theatre, we should mention.

JD: Yes, I do live three hours away. Um, so I had to throw everything in the car and I hit the road, and I got there at 4 p.m., um, on the afternoon. And then, I was on stage by 7:45 p.m. in the evening.

NK: Curtain was at eight.

JD: Uh, 7:30. But, um, because of rehearsal time, it kind of went over. They gave me an extra 15 minutes, which was very, very helpful to throw some makeup on my face and to make myself look presentable.

NK: How generous, how generous. [JD chuckles] You have played Evita professionally before, but it's been several years, about five years since you did that. And also, this is a different kind of production of Evita. The songs are obviously the same, the story is the same, but the staging is different. So, how did you get yourself into that?

JD: Oh, it was very, very different. I mean, I did the original, um, Hal Prince production, um, over in China, um, internationally performance. Um, this production in Leicester was a more of a modern approach to things, um, kind of like she's a social media star. And obviously, I had created a version of her within one production, and then to go into a completely different production was really different. Um, and absolute kudos to the cast, who adapted to me as much as I adapted to what they were offering. We were all kind of in it together in the end.

NK: Were you on that, that three-hour drive singing the entire soundtrack, or at least the Evita parts?

JD: No. Yes, I was. I had the, um, the cast recording actually came in really handy. [NK chuckles] Um, when I was, when I was packing my suitcase, um, initially, I'd already, oh, at the moment, I'm on to, uh, with a different sure called, um, I Should Be So Lucky. And my touring suitcase was, like, half-full and I was half sorting it out. [chuckle] So, I kind of threw everything into that. Um, and while I was packing that I had, like, I was like, Alexa, play Evita. And, um, so, I had ringing out whilst I was packing. And then immediately when I got in the car, it was, it was on, and I was listening, and recapping, and revising, uh, until I got to Leicester.

CH: Jessica Daley talking to Nil in January, about filling in as the lead in Evita on less than a day's notice. Our theme tonight is surprises. I think that story qualifies as a once-in-a-lifetime surprise. No one expects to be asked to star in Evita out of nowhere. Just like no one expects to stumble on two humpback whales having sex, and be the first to take pictures of humpback whales having sex. We all hope it will happen, of course, but we never expect it. A couple of years ago, two photographers were in a boat off the coast of Hawaii, when a pair of humpbacks -- both male -- started swimming around them. And then one of them started swimming rhythmically on top of the other one.

SOUNDCLIP

[whale sex music]

CH: This was it. The photo op all of humanity had been waiting for. The first-ever photo -- and a tasteful photo, too -- of two humpbacks who love each other very much, loving each other very much. The photographers sent their photos to Stephanie Stack -- who's a researcher with the Pacific Whale Foundation. Who was the lead author on a paper analyzing said photos. Nil spoke with her in March.

SOUNDCLIP

NK: Stephanie, what did you see when these images came across your desk?

STEPHANIE STACK: So I was contacted by these two photographers, and they told me that they had captured what they believed to be the first photographic evidence of two humpback whales mating. And I was a bit sceptical at first. I thought, okay, let's have a look at this. And they showed me the photographs. And indeed, that is what they had captured. And I was just stunned and amazed when I saw these photographs.

NK: To be clear, this is the first time an image has been captured. This is happening often?

SS: You're correct. I mean, of course, whales mate. It's something that we do. We see baby whales all of the time. But in the scientific community, it has never been observed or documented before. And so this is the world's first.

NK: And we're going to talk about why it is so rare to capture that kind of image. But there was something else in this particular series of photos that caught your attention as well.

SS: That's right. Yeah. So we were looking at the photographs, and then one of the photographers asked me, he said, are you sure that this is a male and a female? And I said, oh, can you send me the other photographs that you have taken? And we looked at the underside of the whales, because in humpback whales, males and females are different externally. They have different anatomy. And so you can tell them apart. So we looked at the underside of the whales and realized, yes indeed, these are two male whales. So that was quite a surprise to us. And we realized that this was incredibly unique and rare and some very special photographs to have obtained.

NK: What did you say when you saw them and realized what was going on in them?

SS: My mind was completely blown when I saw the photographs. And then when I realized that it was two males, it was not what I was expecting. And so I thought, oh my gosh, this is incredible. And I immediately asked them if we could publish it, write it up and share it, because I knew it was going to be a very rare situation and an important one that we document and share with the community.

NK: And we should say, these are just two photographers. They're not researchers or scientists.

SS: That's correct. Yeah. They were two members of the public who were out recreationally boating and just happened to be in the right place at the right time. They are professional photographers, and so they had great photographic equipment with them on the boat, which turned out to be really lucky for me, and just leaned over the side of the boat with their cameras and took these photos.

NK: And what did they think they were capturing?

SS: They really didn't know. At first, when they saw the two Wales, so the two Wales swam towards their boat and then swam in circles numerous times around the boat. So they were just thinking, oh, what a great opportunity to take some beautiful underwater photos of whales. And then their attention was sort of drawn towards them because one of them appeared on a thin side and the colour looked a little bit off to what a normal whale looks like. So they thought, oh, maybe there's something going on and we can take a look from the underwater footage.

NK: Were there other things that they discovered, you know, as they were taking these photographs that tell you more about the mating rituals?

SS: Mm hmm. So yeah, thanks to their firsthand observation and all of the really good documentation that they had collected, you know, I was able to look through the scientific literature and see what we knew about whale reproduction and whale sexual behaviour and sort of piece this together into a story. But because this is the first time it's ever been observed and documented, a lot of what we know now is because of this particular encounter. So before these photographs, for example, we didn't know the positioning and exactly how two whales would position themselves together when they're having sex. So we have evidence of that now, and it's a really great advancement in terms of our knowledge of whale biology.

CH: Nil's conversation with whale researcher Stephanie Stack, from March. What a pleasant surprise. Although, as Nil pointed out, we did infer that this was happening, from the result -- which is, usually, baby whales. Whereas Rodney Holbrook was seeing a result, but was unable to guess what was happening. Yes, someone was moving stuff around in his shed. But nothing had been stolen. And, in fact, in the morning, his shed was tidier than it had been when he'd gone to bed. What kind of weird vandal was this? Well, Mr. Holbrook was going to find out. So he set up a night vision camera, and began a game of cat and mouse. Literally. Well, half-literally. I mean, Rodney Holbrook is not a literal cat. But the figurative mouse was a literal mouse.

SOUNDCLIP

NK: Before you set up this camera, Rodney, what did you notice? What kinds of things were being moved in your shed?

RODNEY HOLBROOK: Well, the first thing that did happen is in that box that we, where you see on the video, I got the peanuts in there that we took out for the birds. And every, every day, I'll fill it back up again. And, but I noticed one morning I went in there and there was none, no peanuts in there. And I thought, well, I put them out last night. So, I filled it back up again. And the next morning, all the peanuts was gone again. I thought, well, what is going on here? [chuckling] Where's the peanuts going? A few days later, I find like an old pair of shoes, which is in one of the drawers of my unit in the shed, and all the nuts was filled up in there inside the shoe.

NK: [laughing] So, and was it just food being moved, or did you see other things moved as well?

RH: No, it was, it was just the peanuts.

NK: Okay.

RH: So what I'd done, I filled it up again. And lo and behold, the next morning, they wasn't taken but I had lots of items put in there, like nuts and screws and all sorts of things which you seen on the video, but just covered them over. So, I thought, I'm going to have to film this.

NK: Okay. So, you decided to set up the camera, and then I can imagine the anticipation.

RH: The next day, it was all full up again. So, I took the camera down and it videoed about probably 60 videos. And, uh, well, when I got on my computer and I thought, wow, well, look at this! [chuckling] There's the, the mouse in there filling up with these, uh, items. So, I was amazed. I was absolutely amazed.

NK: Just a single mouse.

RH: On one of the videos there was a mouse. There was two once, but I only ever sees the one. Generally, it's just the one. I don't video every day. I haven't videoed for a week now, right?

NK: But now, all the fans -- everyone calling you today -- do they want, do they want more content? They want more videos?

RH: Something different. I don't know. [NK chuckles] I'm a wildlife man, so I don't really like setting things up in that way. I'd rather it be natural. So, this is as natural lives as I can get it, really.

NK: A pest expert named Gareth Davies spoke to the Washington Post and, and says that the mouse, I know you've described it as tidying. It says the mouse is likely hoarding. He says, quote, mice are very inquisitive creatures, and they are hoarders. They love hoarding food and everything else. It's in their nature. They're completely different to rats. So, does that, does that match up with what you're seeing? It's not so much tidying as --

RH: It certainly does. It certainly does. Yeah, and I think it's covering the nuts anyway. What he's putting in there -- the items -- is probably covering the nuts to stop any other mouse getting in there. Trying to hide them.

NK: It's protecting its, its food.

RH: Yeah, its stash, chuckling.

NK: It's become part of the family now? Are you worried it's going to, they're going to leave now, this mouse? Now, it's going to abandon you.

RH: Well, they, by all accounts, the wood mouse, that's what they're called, the wood mouse, the, they only live about a year anyway. So, according to some expert, I don't know if that's true, but they told me they live about a year. So, this time next year, it probably won't be there.

NK: Oh. You know, most people want to get rid of mice as soon as they hear them or see them --

RH: Oh, they do where I live!

NK: But you, do you, do you like having this one around?

RH: Yes! He don't do much. He don't cause much trouble. He just got into a bag I had that I put rubbish in, you know, garden rubbish. He got into that and made a great big hole in it. So, I had to get rid of it. [chuckling] But other than that, no, no problem.

NK: Not leaving a mess, droppings, etc.?

RH: Not really, no.

NK: Okay. That's good.

RH: I think he's possibly, possibly come in from outside into me shed.

NK: It sounds like this mouse is like a fairy tale mouse. I remember watching Cinderella, the industrious little mice.

RH: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

NK: Or people have talked about Ratatouille.

RH: That's right. Yeah, yeah, it's very much like him.

NK: What kinds of, what are some of the other things that, that it's moving around for you, or for itself?

RH: Um, a few things been added to the, to me bench from a part, parts of the, um, the, parts of the shed, other places. Like, I had some, my wife had her clothes pegs in there. Well, he moved some of them over to the table. And you'll see on the video, he's put a gnome in the box.

NK: Why?

RH: So, he do carry a few things over. But generally, half of it is what was there already.

NK: Yeah.

RH: But I just sort of I needed somebody to tidy it up for me, and he's done that.

NK: [both chuckle] You're grateful to this little guy.

RH: Yeah.

CH: Rodney Holbrook, telling Nil about his helpful shedmate, the "Welsh Tidy Mouse", in January. By now, we've established that nature is full of surprises. But is any surprise more thrilling than learning that certain leeches in Madagascar can jump? Yes. Yes. All surprises are more thrilling than that. That is a bad surprise, and it fills us with disgust. But when the leech researcher who discovered they could jump told the whole story, it was hard not to stay disgusted but also be impressed. Mai Fahmy spoke to Nil in June.

SOUNDCLIP

NK: Mai, we obviously weren't there with you at that moment when you first saw this leech jump. Can you take us to that moment and describe what was happening?

MAI FAHMY: Of course. So in 2017, I was in Madagascar collecting samples for my PhD dissertation -- which was on leeches, but not so much about their locomotion and their, the way they move -- their behaviour. It was more about using their blood meals to analyze biodiversity in forests where I was collecting them from. And so, I thought I would go out one afternoon and instead of just sort of collecting them without observing at all, I would take a moment to sit beside a leech and just watch what it might do in its natural environment. And that's when I decided I would take out my phone and begin recording when I spotted this leech on a leaf near the ground. And so, I sort of squatted down next to it, took out my phone, and that 10-second video is not edited or cut. I mean -- in under 10 seconds -- that leech jumped twice as soon as I sat down next to it. [both laugh]

NK: And what did you say? I mean, you're trying to hold your phone steady, obviously. What did you say to yourself and the leech?

MF: Oh okay, so here's the thing. I didn't think much of it at the time. I was brand new to the world of leeches, to leech biology. And I assumed that this was really well-documented, well-studied behaviour. And it wasn't until when I came back to the U.S. that I realized that that wasn't the case and that there was actually this centuries-long debate that had raged amoung academics. [chuckling].

NK: So you were thinking -- I mean -- did you just think that you had captured a cool video?

MF: I didn't think it was even that cool! [NK chuckles] I casually just figured I was recording something that happens all the time in the field that people know about.

NK: And just to dissect -- pun intended -- I guess.

MF: Yeah. [chuckling]

NK: The, the, the jump's themselves. How high are we talking about?

MF: Yeah. So, it's, it's really tricky to see from the videos that we have how much upwards motion they might have. But -- I mean -- the leeches themselves are only a few centimetres in length. And if we had to estimate just based on the video, it looks like maybe a few millimetres at best. But that doesn't take away from the fact that this was [NK chuckles] sort of an active motion, a propulsive thrust. It wasn't simply just a tumble or a fall.

NK: No, they're, they're jumping with purpose.

MF: Absolutely. [both laugh].

NK: And clearly, we're talking about terrestrial leeches. And looking at the pictures -- you know -- they look different than, than leeches you might find in the water.

MF: Yeah.

NK: But -- you know -- there are, there are historical accounts -- as you said -- of local communities talking about jumping leeches, but they were dismissed -- historically -- by scientists at the time. Why were they so quick to dismiss it?

MF: Unfortunately, this is not unusual for the academic community to dismiss local accounts of, of observations. But -- you know -- these leech specialists likely were visiting leech territory which is -- you know -- the rainforests of the Indo-Pacific region. They were likely coming in for short periods of time, not spending very long in the field observing leeches. And they were most likely, most of the time collecting specimens to bring back wherever they came from. And so, they're not taking any time in the field to observe any sort of natural behaviours in the natural environment. And -- you know, of course -- there is a bit of colonialism and racism baked into these opinions, where scientists -- European scientists -- tend to dismiss the opinions of, of non-scientists. So -- unfortunately -- this is a pattern that we see all the time.

NK: At least in this case, the, there's, there's your video. We said that they seem to be jumping with purpose. What do you think their purpose is? Any, any theories so far?

MF: So the common denominator in the two videos that were taken -- the one I took in 2017 and the one in 2023 -- were that I approached the leech, likely close enough for it to perceive me in whatever way that they do that, right? We don't really understand how they go about sensing their environments. They may do that through chemical cues, through, sensing movement and vibrations. And they also have five pairs of eyespots. So it's likely that they're able to, to discern shadows to some degree. But it's likely that these leeches sort of sense that I was near, sense that I was a nice host, potentially their next meal, and so, they jumped in my direction. We assume in pursuit of, of a blood meal. You know, moving towards that next pray item.

NK: I have to ask you. It jumped and jumped on your face. [MF laughs] There's a picture of that. And I was scrolling through the article, bracing myself to see the picture. It wasn't as terrifying as I thought, and you seem very calm about it. Obviously, you like them. [MF chuckles] How, what does it feel like to have one on your face?

MF: Yeah. So actually, that, that picture that you're referring to, that leech did not jump on my face. I mean, I don't really know how it got there. [NK chuckles] I didn't even feel it. I didn't realize I had a leech on my face.

NK: Not terrifying at all.

MF: Yeah. And then I felt the slightest little prick. And I asked my friend who took the picture if I had a leech on my chin, and she said -- in fact -- you do. And -- you know -- we had a little photo shoot. And, [both chuckling] and that's the story of that picture. But otherwise -- I mean -- they are very sneaky. And in the rainforest, it's hard to discern what might, what might be a leech because leeches are cold to the touch. They're cold and wet -- much like rain in the rainforest. And so, it's hard to, it's hard to tell for sure until you sort of look at your clothes and realize you're drenched in blood. [chuckling]

CH: [chuckling] Yes, drenched in blood! Leech researcher Mai Fahmy just being casual and fun about how her subject matter drains her precious life fluid, in June. Now, speaking of being drained of life: is there anything worse than opening the door to your hotel room and realizing it is horrendous? That you'll be spending the night in a dank, putrid room with a view of a dumpster and no cable? And paying for the privilege? This is the kind of awful surprise that Rory Bradley experienced in June, when he and some friends travelled to Düren, Germany for the UEFA European Soccer Championships. And then he got another surprise, which was that the first awful surprise wasn't the only awful surprise.

SOUNDCLIP

NK: Rory, what did you and your friends expect to see when you checked in in Düren?

RORY BRADLEY: We were expecting a lot nicer than we got -- that's for sure. The images in Booking.com made the property look excellent. It looked nice and clean. Nice and tidy. Really bright and kind of fresh-looking. And all these kind of words I'm using to describe this place are the exact opposite of what we got.

NK: When did you realize something was not right?

RB: More or less, as soon as we opened the front door. [chuckling] We opened the door and -- like -- the kind of wall that faced us as we opened into the apartment was, was really mouldy in the bottom left hand corner.

NK: [crestfallen] Oh.

RB: And I was thinking instantly -- oh -- this isn't a good start. And then, we walked into the, the sleeping space of the apartment and my friend -- as you do when you arrive at a place that you're staying at on holiday -- jumped onto the beds, [both chuckling] which he soon discovered was made of cardboard [NK chuckles] when the bed sank underneath him. And we were kind of planning to just dump our bags and then pop off towards that game that was on that night. But -- at that point -- we thought, you know what? We should probably stay in and try and sort this situation out. Because we would soon after discover that the second bed which we're supposed to be sleeping on was a sofa bed, and it was torn and mouldy. So, it wasn't for sleeping in -- that's for sure.

NK: I, I'm wondering -- at that point -- are you laughing because you're a jovial guy and you're with a group of friends, or are you guys enraged at this point? [chuckling]

RB: Yeah -- at this moment in time -- it was kind of split around the room. I was seeing the bright side of it. But --

NK: What bright sides? [laughing] What's the bright side?

RB: Oh -- I don't know -- just that it's a laugh, you know? [NK chuckles] And it makes for a good story, I guess.

NK: Sure.

RB: But -- like -- all of that kind of energy just completely changed as the night went on.

NK: Because you, you call Booking.com customer service. And what did they say?

RB: So -- initially -- the first person I spoke to was kind of expecting us to pay for something and then send them an invoice -- which really wasn't an option for us because we're all kind of working-class boys, and we've been saving up for a long time for this trip. And the money that we had left over was to kind of enjoy the trip.

NK: Yeah.

RB: It was for having a drink, having a laugh, having dinner, and that type of thing. So, it wasn't an option for us. So the gentleman forwarded this onto his manager -- who then after a little bit of a chat -- understood our situation and said that Booking.com would basically pay for somewhere else for us to stay up to the value of €900.

NK: Okay. All right. So they say we're going to put you up somewhere better. And then, how do you get to the second place?

RB: We walked across Düren in, in the middle of the night. And whilst we were on our way there, the gentleman that owned the second property had sent us some details about how to get to the -- I guess -- I would call it a compound. [chuckling]

NK: Oh God! [chuckling]

RB: And as we walk into the property, so there's like a, maybe you'd call it an awning or an old what used to be a storage kind of area, where you walk under before walking in the door to where we were staying. We found abandoned medical beds -- like hospital beds. Two of my friends -- they were coming back out to go and get food while I was back on the phone Booking.com -- they looked up as they were coming out and see a massive crucifix in the wall. [chuckling] So they thought maybe it was somewhere between an abandoned church and an abandoned medical facility.

NK: Well, depending, depending on -- you know -- how do you feel about those kinds of things, it could have made you feel safer. But the other amenity in addition to the crucifix that I saw you post about, the other big amenity was an axe.

RB: Yeah, that was, [NK chuckles] when we'd seen that, that, that's when we really realized that the place that we are wasn't okay, you know?

NK: Yeah.

RB: And we walked down the stairs from this kind of compound storage area into the property and we found really industrial equipment -- like massive drill bits for masonry work and stuff like that, there was exposed wires, exposed pipes. This is all within six feet of the entrance that didn't lock. The door wouldn't lock. So if we --

NK: You don't need it to lock; you have an axe and a crucifix.

RB: Yeah, a few people have said that, that axe was for our protection. The guy had left it there because the door didn't lock.

CH: Soccer fan Rory Bradley, describing his shockingly terrible accommodations at a soccer tournament in Düren, Germany, in June. He and his friends wound up staying in a hostel in Cologne. I guess it's not that surprising that we're near the end of tonight's show about surprises. Feels like I've been talking forever, doesn't it feel like that way to you? [chuckling] Yeah! Exactly! So tonight's final surprise is that that party robot at the party you were at? Was not actually a robot! The party robot was a person disguised as a robot! It may even have been Ronald Arevalo. He's a party robot on Long Island -- and Nil talked to him in April.

SOUNDCLIP

NK: Ronald -- you probably know -- most of the world is worried about robots taking over their jobs. You're taking the job of a robot. So could a robot actually do what you do?

RONALD AREVALO: I would probably say not. You know, the kind of shows that we put on are very interactive. And a lot of it has to do with dancing and dancing ability. So I think we're safe for the time being.

NK: [chuckle] Describe Party Robot for our listeners, those who have not -- unlike me -- had the pleasure of seeing a photograph.

RA: Absolutely. So, Party Robot is a concept where the person is on stilts. So -- normally -- I'm a little around six feet tall. When I'm on stilts, I'm close to nine feet tall. So it's a costume -- very futuristic looking, with LED lights. The helmet is very similar to if anybody's seen the movie Predator, that's what the helmet of the robot looks like. And these lights basically change colours to, like, beat of the music to create, you know, some excitement on the dance floor.

NK: Yeah. But what says party more than a Predator mask? [chuckling] I mean, that wouldn't be my first choice maybe. But I, as I was looking at this, I couldn't decide if it would feel empowering to be in this suit and on those stilts, or just suffocating. What is it like inside?

RA: Well, it's definitely strenuous, I would say. The helmet itself does have a fan, so it does help with the breathing. But the costume itself, it does weigh over 100 pounds. So I would say you have to be in somewhat decent shape to be dancing around for 30, 40 minutes, you know, on stilts and wearing a suit that weighs, you know, over 100 pounds.

NK: Yeah, I'd say you'd have to be in pretty great shape and love what you do also. How -- I mean -- all great performers have to feed off a great crowd if they, if they find one. So what, what is the reaction like when you show up on the dance floor?

RA: Well, we definitely bring the wow factor [NK chuckles] when we show up because you're literally towering above the crowd. You're above everybody else, and everybody's looking up at you. You know, especially when we do the younger kids’ events. We've done some birthday parties, communions, and such where the kids are really young. And now -- obviously -- you're nine feet up in the air, so, they love that, you know, that feeling when they're looking up, and we're walking around and we're giving high fives and fist pumps to all the kids, just greeting them and, you know, having a lot of fun with them.

NK: Yeah. So they may not know at that age that there's a real person in there. But what about the older crowds? Do they think it's a, it's a robot at their party?

RA: No, I don't think so. I think by the movements that we bring to the dance floor, you know, that we're very energetic on the dance floor. So just from the movements that we have, I think people know that, you know, a robot couldn't really, you know, move that fast, I would say.

NK: Yet, we'll see how the technology goes.

RA: Yet. Yet. [both chuckle]

NK: So far, your job is safe. Any signature moves, Ronald?

RA: Well, I mean, we do a lot of multicultural parties, so we kind of have to change it around a little bit depending on, on the party that, that we do. But we always kid around, and we say, you know, it's fist pumping music. It's good music for the robot to dance to. So the famous Jersey Shore fist pump [NK chuckles] is -- for sure -- one of our favourites and the crowd favourite as well.

NK: There is, I mean, apart from everything you describe, you know, being high on those stilts, and the hot costume, and the heavy costume, we heard about your story through the Washington Post. And in that, another performer talked about [chuckle], I mean, hazards of, of the job slipping on a chicken wing. How do you avoid all of those potential hazards?

RA: Yeah, stay away from the chicken wings. [NK laughs] So we have performed at some nightclubs, and I think mostly now we, we stay away from that. And we do mostly private events. Sometimes with the nightclubs, you know, people are drinking and, you know, they're spilling drinks and whatnot. And that could be, could get a little dangerous, I would say. So any shows that we do, we do have a robot assistant. So we bring an assistant with us on the dance floor to basically look out for all these things.

NK: Why do you love doing this so much?

RA: I love dancing, and the stilt-walking was just something that I picked up by doing construction. So I worked in a construction site where we would do the spackling. So you would need to be on stilts.

NK: Oh!

RA: So I just put the two together. And I love what I do. I love the smiles that we bring to brides and grooms and teen events for sweet sixteens and bar, bar mitzvahs. Just love the energy that comes, comes along with the job.

NK: Why do you think people want to have a robot who's not really a robot at their party?

RA: I think just hype. You know, it's very trendy right now, and it's just something different for the event. We usually come on in the later part of the party. So a lot of times, you know -- these parties -- the energy kind of comes down at the end. And I think it's just an added boost to energy to, to any party to kind of take it to -- I would say -- the next level.

NK: One final but I think really important question -- Ronald.

RA: Sure!

NK: Do you do the robot as a robot or would that just be too hard?

RA: That's definitely, you know, one of our signature moves. Sometimes, you know, a guest will come up and they bring some dance moves. They want to battle me as the robot, [NK chuckles] and they're doing the robot. So what better way to get them back than to do the robot, right, you know, right back to them? Signature robot move.

CH: Human party robot Ronald Arevalo. Nil talked to him in April.

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