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This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. This show is sponsored by American Public University. Success starts with your drive, and American Public University is here to fuel it. With affordable tuition and over 200 flexible online programs, APU helps you gain the skills and confidence to move forward. Whether you're changing careers, starting fresh, or pursuing a lifelong passion, APU's programs are designed for people who never stop you. Bring the fire. Apu will fuel the journey. Learn more at apu.apus.edu. Welcome to Erin Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and mild. 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. Long before it haunted medieval stories, the bacterium Yersenia pestis emerged on the steppes of Central Asia, setting the stage for a catastrophe that would later be remembered across Europe as the Black death. In the 1300s, it was carried westward in caravans on the Silk road, and in 1347, it made itself known to the population of Europe in horrifying fashion in the port town of Messina, when 12 ships docked from the Black Sea port, workers and onlookers were horrified to discover that the bulk of the sailors aboard each of the ships had died covered in black boils, and in the many years to follow, it would decimate nations and in one case may have actually been used as the first instance of biological warfare. In the 14th century, Crimea was a hotspot for commerce, and the Republic of Genoa, now northern Italy, had a trading outpost in Caffa, where enslaved peoples, silk and foodstuffs were bought and sold. But the Genoese town stood as an affront to the Golden Horde, an offshoot of the Mongolian empire under the rule of Khan Jani Beggar. Due to religious differences and trade disagreements, the khan found the Genoese troublesome, and after a massive brawl between Muslims and Christians in the city of Tana, they laid siege to that city. The Genoese escaped to Kaffa, another trading post long allowed by the Golden Horde, and continued their business there. But the khan had grown tired of the Genoese. Tensions rose enough that the Genoese government sent a fleet to Kaffa, including a considerable number of soldiers, to fortify the settlement's defenses. It was the end of August in 1346 when the Golden Horde arrived to surround Caffa. With an army numbering in the thousands, they began the work of laying siege to the city, digging trenches and building siege towers from which to attack. Any attempt by the Genoese to halt their action was violently pushed back. And so, by early September, as stones flew from trebuchets and archers sent cascades of arrows over the city walls, the Genoese were cut off from any reinforcements or supplies that could ever come by land. Their attackers did not go unscathed, though. The plague had entered the Mongol camp with the rats and quickly began infecting their army. Now, historians all agree that the plague eventually did spread on to the Genoese. But a particular story emerged to explain how. You see, in addition to the stones and arrows that the Golden Horde hurled over the walls of the city, they also began launching the bodies of their plague victims. And as the defenders inside the walls attempted to remove those bodies, the disease began to infect them too. As a result, the Genoese found themselves increasingly outnumbered, as their own fell to the plague. In desperation, they came up with a daring plan. Under the COVID of night, they slipped out from the city walls and set fire to the trebuchets and siege engines that had caused so much destruction, attacking those who came to fight the blaze. By the time they made it back to the city, they had managed to kill a large number of their attackers, although not nearly enough to make a difference. In the end, it wasn't clever warfare that finally ended the siege. It was a second wave of plague that swept through the Golden Horde, killing nearly a third of their entire army. This massive blow made the Khan's campaign increasingly untenable. On 4 October, the Khan made the decision to abandon Kaffa. His men retreated, leaving the besieged city. To the Genoese, it could hardly be described as a victory, though their own ranks had been ravaged, and the boatloads of victims that they had sent to other ports only helped to spread the Black Death across Europe. It was the first wave of a pandemic that would claim between a quarter and one third of the entire population of Europe. The siege of Caffa illustrates how a single flashpoint can intertwine warfare, trade and disease, and into a torrent that reshapes continents. Although the Genoese managed to hold the city, the conditions created by the siege created a series of channels for the Black Death to make its way into Europe. Whether or not the Golden Horde truly catapulted plague infested corpses over the walls remains a topic of debate. But the legacy of the siege reminds us that the consequences of warfare extend far beyond the battlefield, creating tragedies that echo down to us through history. This show is sponsored by American Public University. Success starts with your Drive and American Public University is here to fuel it. With affordable tuition and over 200 flexible online programs, APU helps you gain the skills and confidence to move forward. Whether you're changing careers, starting fresh or or pursuing a lifelong passion, APU's programs are designed for people who never stop. You bring the fire. APU will fuel the journey. Learn more at apuapus.edu. this episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. February is full of flowers, candy, stuffed animals and of course, lots of talk about relationships and dating. And no matter where you are, whether you're married or dating or single or just focusing on you, you are right on time. Therapy can help you find your way so that you can see more clearly where you want to be. And can I just say, from one human being to another, that everyone is still figuring life out? I know I am. And maybe we need to take this pressure to have it all together off ourselves. And the best place to start that journey is with BetterHelp. BetterHelp does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals. A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences and and their industry leading match fulfillment rate means they typically get it right the first time. BetterHelp is fully online and you can pause your subscription whenever you need to. And it's convenient. You can join a session with a therapist at the click of a button, helping you fit therapy into your busy life plus switch therapists at any time. BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the US and with over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform, having served over 6 million people globally. And it works with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for a live session based on over 1.7 million client reviews. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com curiosities that's betterhelp H-E-L-P.com curiosities. Austin, Texas is home to its fair share of skyscrapers. The city's slogan, Keep Austin Weird is exemplified in the unusual designs that are used in buildings all over the city, from a power plant built in an Art Deco style to the lonely moonlight towers illuminating the city at night. Austinites have been redefining urban architecture for decades, and perhaps no one more than the artist Vince Hanneman. In 1988, Vince began creating what has become Austin's most unusual structure, and he did it in his very own backyard, weighing over 60 tons and standing more than 30ft high, it is much smaller than the skyscrapers a few blocks north. But what makes this tower so special are the materials used in its construction. Aside from a few iron trusses, Vince's entire backyard structure is made of junk. It started with Vince seeking out heavy pieces of mass produced materials, but most of the structure today is made from donations. Local school schools, closing businesses, tour groups of other artisans. They all bring something to contribute. You might be picturing a massive pile of trash in someone's backyard, but Vince's build is much more artistic than that. The central tower of the structure is mostly discarded car bumpers and old plumbing equipment, with a throne room at its center. An old red recliner welded to a mountain of old bicycle parts sits in the middle. And on either side of it are staircases made of rusting brass instruments and pieces of iron fences. The cathedral of junk has quite a few levels, and the structures are sound enough for most people to ascend them. The second floor of the cathedral contains a lookout point where visitors can see the Austin skyline from Vince's own backyard. But one issue here is that you can also see Vince's cathedral from pretty far away. You see, Austin might embrace its weird side and, and lean into creativity more than a lot of other cities, but that doesn't mean that Vince's neighbors are all that thrilled to be living next door to this particular public piece of art. From some perspectives, the cathedral is basically just a pyramid of trash in someone's backyard. And so a few of the neighbors formed a group, and they complained to the city of Austin. At first, they tried to get the whole thing demolished. Unfortunately, Texas is big on personal freedoms, and the local government wasn't keen to remove a community landmark. And just because some people thought that it was an eyesore. Which is why in 2010, that same group of neighbors got the Austin code department involved. Maybe there wasn't much that you could do about someone's backyard landscaping, but how could anyone be sure the building was even safe if a bad storm or a tornado came their way? What was to stop debris from flying out from Vince's backyard and straight through a neighbor's roof or window? When Vince learned the cathedral would be subjected to dozens of inspection inspections, he thought about throwing in the towel right then and there. He had enjoyed making it, certainly, but he had never intended to make junk building his entire life. But like all good Texans, Vince believed a person should be able to do what they please with their own property. His mind was made up. Let the inspections begin. And so they did. City Officials poked and prodded every inch of Vince's creation, looking for weak spots, and they found virtually none. This thing is built to withstand Texas storms, vince boasted to one man who did his best to shake the base of the structure. Engineers, inspectors, public safety officers all did their best to find a flaw. In the end, only one thing had to go. As Vince describes it, I called it the TV pyramid. About 200 old screens I'd stacked together. One guy told me, this isn't a pyramid. This is just a pile. And I told him this, well, what kind of pile expert are you? Aren't we just a kind of pile? The engineer was unmoved by this philosophical question, though, and the pyramid came down. Today they have been moved to a smaller zen garden of TVs. Vince is still welcoming guests into his backyard cathedral. He's happy to answer questions about where things came from or how he put them together. But that isn't what everyone wants to know, vince says. People ask me all the time, what made you want to do this? Like it had some sort of profound meaning. I just did it because I liked it. And when I stop liking it, I'll take it down. And as for those who love what Vince has done for Austin's artistic community, they hope that day never comes. 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 Fung. Learn more about the show and the people who make it over@grimandmild.com 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 monthly fee. Learn more and sign up over@patreon.com grimandmild and until next time, stay curious. This show is sponsored by American Public University. Success starts with your drive, and American Public University is here to fuel it. With affordable tuition and over 200 flexible online programs, APU helps you gain the skills and confidence to move forward when Whether you're changing careers, starting fresh, or pursuing a lifelong passion, APU's programs are designed for people who never stop. You bring the fire. Apu will fuel the journey. Learn more at Apu Apus. Edu this is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.