Queenly

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Aaron Mahnke’s Cabinet of Curiosities

Episode Title: Queenly
Date: April 23, 2026
Host: Aaron Mahnke
Producers: iHeartPodcasts and Grim & Mild

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Overview

In this episode of Cabinet of Curiosities, Aaron Mahnke presents two fascinating tales centered on the theme of “queenly” actions—exploring how individuals or works embody boldness, defiance, and complex leadership. The first story examines the infamous “Headington Shark” sculpture in Oxford, England, and its journey from protest installation to cultural icon. The second story delves into the nuanced life of Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba, an African monarch who was both revered and reviled for her shrewd diplomacy and unyielding leadership during a period of intense conflict with the Portuguese empire.

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Story 1: The Headington Shark – Protest, Persistence, and Ironic Legacy

Timestamps: 00:48–05:52

Key Discussion Points

• Surprise of Suburbia:

  • August 9th, 1986, suburban Headington, Oxford is stunned when a 25-foot-long great white shark sculpture appears, head-first, through the roof of a house owned by Bill Hayne, crafted by sculptor John Buckley.
  • “Planted in the roof of the building was a 25-foot tall sculpture of a great white shark, its head embedded into the shingles. It looked as if it had dropped there head first.” (01:06)

• Purpose and Perception:

  • The installation, titled Untitled 1986, was a political statement marking the anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki—symbolizing sudden, destructive violence from above.
  • “It was supposed to represent death coming suddenly from above onto the heads of innocent civilians, like a shark lunging at its prey from the murky darkness of the ocean.” (01:30)
  • Public skepticism abounded: some believed Hayne was hiding an antenna or pulling a prank.

• Clash with Authority:

  • The Oxford City Council objected fiercely, citing the lack of permits and aesthetic disruption, leading to years of legal battles.
  • “No, that would be the Oxford City Council. The council took an immediate dislike to the shark. They thought that it was an eyesore on the otherwise pleasant looking row of houses.” (01:58)
  • Hayne responded by holding annual birthday parties for the shark, garnering neighborhood support.

• Battle for Legitimacy:

  • Hayne’s attempts at retroactive permission were rebuffed; ultimately, national authorities recognized the piece’s “disruptive” value as essential art, declaring it could stay after six contentious years.
  • “One of the government inspectors sent to survey the shark even called it unique and brilliant.” (03:16)

• Changing Tides:

  • Over decades, the shark required maintenance, and Hayne struggled with upkeep until his son acquired the house, working with the council to secure its future.
  • In a twist of fate, the city that once opposed the shark spent ten years helping designate it as a local heritage site by 2022.
  • “The council lobbied for over a decade to get the Headington shark listed as a local heritage site, finally succeeding in 2022. Hayne didn't live to see this, sadly passing away in 2019. In his honor, gold leaf was added to one of the shark's fins.” (04:39)

• Irony and Legacy:

  • Now an Airbnb, the house invites guests to “stay underneath one of the most esoteric pieces of independent art in England.”
  • “A piece of art created without permission to protest the way society is blind to the cruelties of war has become a tourist attraction. Whether that represents failure or success, though, is entirely up to you.” (05:44)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the shark’s message:

  • “It was supposed to represent death coming suddenly from above onto the heads of innocent civilians...” (01:30)

• On bureaucratic irony:

  • “A piece of art created without permission…has become a tourist attraction. Whether that represents failure or success, though, is entirely up to you.” (05:44)

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Story 2: Queen Nzinga – Warrior, Diplomat, and Enigma

Timestamps: 07:29–13:31

Key Discussion Points

• Breaking Down the Legend:

  • Mahnke introduces Queen Nzinga as an “exemplar of complexity,” revered as a saint by some, demonized as a warlord by others.
  • “Her African descendants often paint her as something akin to a saint while her European rivals tried to depict her as a ruthless warlord. In truth, she was a complex, curious person from one of the most violent settings in human history.” (07:33)

• Early Life and Ascendancy:

  • Born in 1583, Nzinga was the favored daughter of the King of Ndongo, learning diplomacy and warfare; her brother Mbandi, upon ascending the throne in 1617, viewed her as a threat.
  • Mbandi killed all male relatives—including Nzinga’s own son—and forcibly sterilized her and her sisters to protect his reign.

• Diplomacy with the Portuguese:

  • Despite abuse, Mbandi utilized Nzinga’s negotiation skills, sending her to deal with Portuguese colonizers.
  • In a symbolic act during negotiations, she refused to sit on a mat (a sign of inferiority), opting to sit on the back of an enslaved servant, making a powerful statement.
  • “She looked at the mat and then motioned to one of her enslaved people. He came forward and went down on all fours, providing her a place to sit.” (09:01)

• Betrayal and Power Struggles:

  • Agreements failed as the Portuguese continued enslavement raids. After Mbandi’s suspicious death in 1624 (possibly an act of Nzinga’s vengeance), she became queen but was soon forced out by rival nobles backed by the Portuguese.

• Alliance and Adaptation:

  • Nzinga joined the fierce Imbangala, adopting their brutal customs, and ultimately married their leader. She then seized Matamba, establishing a new base of power.
  • “She agreed to the offer and soon she was personally leading Imbangala raiding parties. Keep in mind that she was a woman in her 40s at this point.” (10:31)

• Courtly Curiosities and Leadership:

  • Nzinga assembled a harem of male concubines, reversing the typical gender roles of royal courts, and dressed as a man to project authority.
  • “She had the concubines dress as women while she dressed as a man in order to seem more like a king than a queen.” (11:13)

• Lasting Impact and Compromise:

  • After years of conflict, Nzinga secured a treaty in 1656, maintaining Matamba’s independence at the price of participating in the slave trade.
  • Her kingdom would remain one of Africa’s few with a succession of female rulers into the 20th century.
  • “In the end, it's fair to say that Nzinga was a curious mixture of warrior and diplomat, liberator and enslaver, feminist and matriarch.” (12:51)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On historical complexity:

  • “When people tell stories, we often sand off the rough edges. We try to make people good or bad rather than the complex reality.” (07:29)
  • “She was no storybook queen, and yet her accomplishments were absolutely legendary.” (12:59)

• On negotiating with the Portuguese:

  • “She looked at the mat and then motioned to one of her enslaved people. He came forward and went down on all fours, providing her a place to sit.” (09:01)

• On leadership:

  • “She was a curious mixture of warrior and diplomat, liberator and enslaver, feminist and matriarch.” (12:51)

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Episode Reflections

Aaron Mahnke’s “Queenly” episode weaves together stories of outsized defiance—one from bold public art, the other from the annals of African royalty. Both stories challenge easy categorization, highlighting individuals who provoked authority, bent tradition, and left legacies tinged with irony.

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Useful Timestamps

• Headington Shark Story Start: 00:48
• Legal Battle & Resolution: 02:30–04:00
• Legacy & Airbnb Transformation: 04:42–05:44
• Queen Nzinga Story Start: 07:29
• Nzinga’s Diplomatic Meeting: 09:01
• Nzinga Assumes Throne/Imbangala Alliance: 10:31
• Matamba Treaty and Legacy: 12:30–13:10

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Stay Curious

Mahnke’s signature blend of vivid storytelling and nuanced reflection encourages listeners to look beyond appearances—whether pondering the meaning behind a rooftop shark or reassessing history’s most formidable queens. The episode reminds us: the truth is always more curious than any legend or headline.

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Transcript

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[Erin Menke]

Welcome to Erin Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities,

[Podcast Host]

a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild.

[Erin Menke]

Our world is full of the unexplainable and if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. It was the morning of August 9th of 1986 in the neighborhood of Headington, Oxford. It was an unassuming place, suburban, with cookie cutter houses lining a quaint street, a perfectly ordinary British suburb. On that morning though, something had changed. By 8 o' clock a small crowd had gathered outside of a two story brick house on New High street and everyone was looking up. Planted in the roof of the building was a 25 foot tall sculpture of a great white shark, its head embedded into the shingles. It looked as if it had dropped there head first. There was no mystery where the shark came from. Standing beside it on the roof were two men, one of them an American expat named Bill Hayne who owned the house, and the other man was John Buckley, a British sculptor who had crafted this shark. The creators of this piece of art refer to it only as Untitled 1986. It was, at least according to its creators, a political statement set up on the anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki. It was supposed to represent death coming suddenly from above onto the heads of innocent civilians, like a shark lunging at its prey from the murky darkness of the ocean. Of course, not everyone believed that this was the intent. Skeptics suspected that Hain put up the artwork in order to hide an antenna of some kind, or as a prank for his neighbors. But these lone speculators were not the statue's primary enemy. No, that would be the Oxford City Council. The council took an immediate dislike to the shark. They thought that it was an eyesore on the otherwise pleasant looking row of houses. They were also annoyed that Hayne and Buckley had not gotten any permits to put such a visible statue up. And for years the city council in Hain went to war over this statue Council members created a petition to have it removed and asked everyone in the district to sign. They even solicited signatures from local retirement homes. Meanwhile, Hayne held a birthday every year for the statue, which his neighbors attended in droves. In 1990, as a peacemaking solution, Hayne sent a petition to the council asking for retroactive permission for the statue. The council refused, though, stating that they could not approve a statue that's so disruptive to the neighborhood, it must be taken down, they said. After that, Hayne's petition went all the way to the Department of the Environment. A representative there agreed that the shark was quite disruptive visually, but said that this was clearly the point of the artwork and allowed it to stay. One of the government inspectors sent to survey the shark even called it unique and brilliant. It had taken six years, but after 1992, Untitled, 1986, was safe. However, public pieces of art must be maintained. In the years since then, the sculpture, referred to by locals as the Headington Shark, started to show the wear and tear of age. The Department of the Environment suggested that it should be repainted every nine months and not illuminated after 10:30pm it's unclear if these suggestions were followed, but a full renovation was undertaken in 2007. Even as Hain himself grew older and struggled to maintain the same enthusiasm for the sculpture that he had shown as a younger man. In his later years, as his mortgage ran out and his work prospects dwindled, Bill Hayne considered taking the shark down. As of 2016, it had been 30 years since the shark had started standing over the neighborhood, which was a long time, and he was tired. Fortunately, his son was able to buy the house from him and take over maintenance of the sculpture. He found an ally in the Oxford City Council, the same body that tried to have the shark taken down in the 1980s and 90s. The council lobbied for over a decade to get the Headington shark listed as a local heritage site, finally succeeding in 2022. Hayne didn't live to see this sadly passing away. In 2019. In his honor, gold leaf was added to one of the shark's fins. Today, the house is available as an Airbnb, so. So if you're visiting Oxford, it's entirely possible to stay underneath one of the most esoteric pieces of independent art in England. The irony is not lost on anyone. A piece of art created without permission to protest the way society is blind to the cruelties of war has become a tourist attraction. Whether that represents failure or success, though, is entirely up to you.

[Sponsor Announcer]

This show is sponsored by American Public University the future won't wait and neither should you. That's why American Public University offers Master's programs designed for momentum, affordable, high quality and flexible. So you keep moving forward. With career relevant programs in business, healthcare, education, it and more. You can gain skills you can use right away and the confidence to power your next move. American Public University made for what's next. Learn more at apu.apus.edu Eczema is unpredictable,

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[Erin Menke]

When people tell stories, we often sand off the rough edges. We try to make people good or bad rather than the complex reality. And no figure in history better exemplifies this complexity than Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba. Her African descendants often paint her as something akin to a saint who while her European rivals tried to depict her as a ruthless warlord, in truth, she was a complex, curious person from one of the most violent settings in human history. Nzinga was born in 1583, the daughter of the king of Ndongo in southwestern Africa. She had a close relationship with her father from a very young age, and this made her brother Mbandi quite jealous. Nzinga, you learned everything that she could from her father as he waged war against the invading Portuguese enslavers. When her father captured one of their missionaries, she made the missionary teach her how to read and write in Portuguese. And although she was the most fit to rule, her brother, of course, took the throne when their father died in 1617. Now a grown woman of 34 years old, she had to watch in horror as Mbandi killed all of their male relatives, who he saw as a threat to his rule. And this included her own son. After this, Imbandi also forcibly sterilized Nzinga and all other sisters so that they couldn't have children that would one day grow up to challenge him. Despite this mistreatment, though, Mbandi still relied on Nzinga's superior acumen. When it came time to negotiate with the Portuguese, it was her that he sent. She arrived at the negotiations clad in elaborate traditional dress. Right away, the Europeans tried to demean her by providing only a mat on the floor for her to sit on while they had chairs. She looked at the mat and then motioned to one of her enslaved people. He came forward and went down on all fours, providing her a place to sit his back. She spoke Portuguese and even offered to convert to Christianity. But she was determined that her kingdom would not become a vassal. She told the Portuguese that, yes, they could enter into the human trafficking business, but they had to respect Mbandi's authority. The Portuguese were impressed and agreed to her demands, and the two parties signed a treaty. But as soon as Nzinga got back home, she learned that the Portuguese had refused to withdraw their troops and were continuing to raid to kidnap human lives. Mbandi was weak and indecisive in Nzinga's eyes. He wasn't the man to stand up to these enslavers. He died under mysterious circumstances in 1624. The official story, if you're curious, was that he died by suicide. But others claimed that Nzinga had finally gotten her revenge. She ascended to the throne, beginning a period of political maneuvering between her and the Portuguese. Ultimately, though, the Portuguese were able to gain the support of the nobles of Ndongo, who installed a puppet king. The nobles, it seems, preferred a male ruler. Nzinga was forced to flee on foot to the east, where she found unlikely allies. She met a band of m', bengala, roving marauders with a strict code of military discipline. Various historical accounts describe them as ruthless. They literally ate their enemies and killed and sacrificed any children born within the tribe. The only way to join was to prove yourself in combat. The tribe had no use for infants, they say, and although Nzinga was shocked by their way of life, she was even more shocked when the tribe leader offered to marry her. He was impressed with her abilities and the way she handled the Portuguese compared to her brother. She agreed to the offer and soon she was personally leading m' Bengala raiding parties. Keep in mind that she was a woman in her 40s. At this point, Nzinga and her new allies conquered the nearby kingdom of Matamba, where she became the new ruler, and there she grew in power, equally loved and feared by her people. One of the most curious features of her court, though, was a harem of male concubines. She thought that this was only fitting since male rulers had their own harems of women. Strangely, though, Nzinga had the concubines dress as women while she dressed as a man in order to seem more like a king than a queen. With her new kingdom in tow, Nzinga attacked her homeland, the now Portuguese controlled kingdom of Ndongo. Fighting would continue for years, but neither side was ever able to truly get the upper hand. Ultimately, Nzinga had to settle for a peace Treaty in 1656, although it did recognize her authority in her kingdom of Matamba, but it also required her to recommit to Christianity and allow the Portuguese slave trade to continue. Matamba, by the way, remained independent until the 20th century when it was joined with Angola. It's also one of the few countries in the world to have multiple successive female rulers. In the end, it's fair to say that Nzinga was a curious mixture of warrior and diplomat, liberator and enslaver, feminist and matriarch. She was no storybook queen, and yet her accomplishments were absolutely legendary. I hope you enjoyed today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities. This show was created by me, Erin Manke, in partnership with iHeart Podcasts, researched and written by the Grim and Mild team and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about the show and the people who make it [e-mail] curiosities. You'll also find a link to the official Cabinet of Curiosities hardcover book available in bookstores and online, as well as ebook and audiobook. And if you're looking for an ad free option, consider joining our Patreon it's all the same stories but without the interruption for a small a small monthly fee. Learn more and sign up [e-mail] grimandmild and until next time, stay curious.

[Sponsor Announcer]

This show is sponsored by American Public University. The future won't wait, and neither should you that's why American Public University offers Master's programs designed for momentum, affordable, high quality and flexible so you keep moving forward. With career relevant programs in business, healthcare, education, IT and more, you can gain skills you can use right away and the confidence to power your next move. American Public University made for what's next. Learn more at apu.apus.edu this is an iHeart podcast.

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