← Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
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- [00:00]
Podcast Host
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
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- [01:06]
Podcast Host
You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.
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- [03:28]
Tim Harford
Pushkin In October 1932, a newspaper article landed on doorsteps across the United States. Modern Crusoe and his wife seek happiness on Lonely Isle. The piece told of how a doctor and his wife had traded life in Germany for a rocky outcrop 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador. The pair wanted to be self sufficient, to live directly off the land, close to nature and without the luxury of modern conveniences. Here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, they spent their days in philosophical contemplation. That is when they weren't tending to their food stock or repairing their weather beaten shack. When the Ridders first went to the island, they carried with them 800 pounds of baggage. The freighter captain set them ashore with many misgivings. The modern Crusoe and his wife were married, but not to each other. Each had left a spouse behind in Germany. Dora Strauch and Friedrich Ritter were starting afresh, free of the fetters of civilization. According to the article, the lovers planned to remain on their island until death relieved them of their adventure. I'm Tim Harford and you're listening to cautionary tales. Spring 1927. From her hospital bed in Berlin, Dora Strauch watched the doctor move from patient to patient. There was something intriguing about him. He was small and extraordinarily lithe and she was struck by his steely blue gaze. His forehead was ridged with furrows. This man was a deep thinker. Dora recognised a kindred spirit. She was a deep thinker too. And she had long felt herself to be set apart, different. As a child, she'd preferred the company of animals to people. That sense of her own singularity only deepened over time.
- [06:20]
Dora Strauch
A kind of conviction grew in me that there was some task which I was born to fulfill, although I had no notion what it could be.
- [06:30]
Tim Harford
In search of that essential task, Dora had trained as a teacher. But she was disappointed. This was not her vocation and so she turned next to philosophy. Reading Schopenhauer convinced Dora that the destruction of life for human nourishment was wrong. So for a year and a half she subsisted on a diet of figs Alone. Her body grew weaker. But it was really her soul, she said, that was starving. She began to crave another project to feed it. By 23, she believed she'd found one. She accepted the marriage proposal of a family friend. He was a schoolmaster, quiet, serious, many years her senior.
- [07:25]
Dora Strauch
I thought it would be a work worth doing to thaw him out with sunshine.
- [07:32]
Tim Harford
Dora was positive that with her own bright disposition, she would lure her husband to a life of youthful cheerfulness. That confidence was misplaced. Once they were married, the schoolmaster's sedate solemnity devolved into miserly gloom. Dora was miserable and she was also increasingly unwell. Walking became painful and difficult. She wondered if her body was rebelling against her bleak home life.
- [08:08]
Dora Strauch
I broke down completely. The next 17 months I spent in a hospital where the doctors diagnosed me with multiple sclerosis.
- [08:19]
Tim Harford
She also underwent or perhaps was subjected to a hysterectomy.
- [08:26]
Dora Strauch
I do not know whether this really had to be or not, but I do know that when I learned that I could never become a mother, something inside me broke and gave up hope.
- [08:40]
Tim Harford
Dora was 26 and grief stricken. She could never carry a child. Her marriage was a failure beyond repair and she was facing life with a painful, incurable illness. It was then at her lowest ebb that she crossed paths with Dr. Friedrich Ritter. Truth be told, something about him unnerved Dora. At first, his face was strangely absent of any trace of amiability. But she quickly pushed this thought aside. The doctor started visiting Dora every day, speaking of his faith in the power of thought. After examining her, he told her, you are not ill, but you desire to be ill. Dora was impressed and exhilarated. Could a cure really be a simple question of mind over matter? Other patients had already benefited from the doctor's unique outlook on disease. And those that resisted the will to mend, he left them to their own devices. Dr. Ritter didn't like sick people and he certainly wasn't going to nurse dead weight. As time went on, the pair developed a friendship. They bonded over their fervent admiration of Nietzsche, in particular his concept of the Ubermensch, or superman, who transcends society's conventions in favour of self reliance. They liked the idea of thriving through discipline and determination, no matter the challenges in their way. In fact, Dr. Ritter shunned much of what society had to offer. He rejected the evil inventions of modern costume, in particular the mass produced civilised shoe. He chose to wear homemade leather slippers instead. He was convinced that a carnivorous diet was the enemy of the nervous system and he was therefore a strict vegetarian. Dora was still in pain and limped when she walked, the will to mend proving elusive, but she was nevertheless full of admirable inspiration for the doctor.
- [11:21]
Dora Strauch
While some have thought him an eccentric, I know that he was one of the world's geniuses.
- [11:28]
Tim Harford
Friedrich in Turn recognized Dora's potential as an acolyte. Soon they were in love.
- [11:38]
Dora Strauch
Our happiest hours together were spent in unforgettable and endless talks, during which I sat at the feet of this man who looked on me as his disciple.
- [11:52]
Tim Harford
Like Dora, Friedrich was unhappily married, and the pair dreamt of running away together, of fleeing civilization for solitude and radical independence. Germany seemed to have little to offer them. Not only did social mores dictate that they remain with their spouses, but. But the early 1920s had seen astronomical inflation. As the German mark became all but worthless. Many people had found their life savings wiped out. Now the forces of nationalism and fascism were on the rise. The paramilitary wing of the growing Nazi party, the thuggish Sturmabteilung, had begun to attack its enemies on the open source streets. Germany seemed poised to descend into darkness. Dora and Friedrich spent many secretive hours together, pouring over maps in the state library of Berlin in search of an island paradise. They agreed it should be tropical.
- [13:05]
Dora Strauch
In not having to spend our energy in the rough struggle against inclement weather, we should have the more left for that higher struggle in which we were engaged.
- [13:17]
Tim Harford
Eventually they settled on the small Galapagos island of Floriana. They'd read about its diverse flora and fauna and its freshwater spring in the work of naturalist William Beebe, and they liked the fact that he had described the archipelago as the world's end.
- [13:37]
Dora Strauch
We had chosen a place where no one was, for we had learned that it is the contact with unlike natures that destroys the inner harmony of lives.
- [13:52]
Tim Harford
They began to prepare for island life, choosing only the most necessary of their possessions. Bedding, cooking utensils, carpenter's tools, Nietzsche's Zarathustra, some Greek and Latin textbooks. Dora packed a few simple dresses of artificial silk, believing the fabric would keep her cool in the intense tropical heat. Anticipating dental problems and committed to a life without the extravagance of healthcare services, Friedrich had all of his teeth pulled out. He was fitted with a set of steel dentures. Part pragmatism and part experiment.
- [14:40]
Dora Strauch
He had a scientific desire to find out whether gums might be so far toughened as to become a substitute for teeth in chewing.
- [14:50]
Tim Harford
There was one final problem for the couple to solve before they left Germany. Their jilted spouses would no doubt suffer grievously in their absence. It was Dora who came up with a solution. Their partners could simply set up house together. Somehow, Perhaps fearing scandal, Dora's husband and Friedrich's wife agreed to move in together. And in July 1929 Dora and Friedrich set sail for Ecuador. In her book Eden Undone, Abbot Kayler describes how their ship cruised through the Bay of Biscay and past the dramatic cliffs of the Azores. Eventually they crossed the Panama Canal and landed on the mangrove fringed coast of Ecuador. Here they boarded a boat for Floreana. From the deck of their schooner, Dora and Friedrich watched the island they'd read about draw closer, its rugged volcanic mounds rising from the ocean.
- [16:06]
Dora Strauch
We landed, our hopes as cloudless as the sky against which the great extinct volcano darkly rose.
- [16:15]
Tim Harford
Night was already falling, and Dora observed how the red rays of the sun gilded the ocean, where black shark fins cut through the surface of the water. A cacophony of unseen birds and insects mingled with the roar of the surf.
- [16:37]
Dora Strauch
Friedrich and I, forgetful of all matters, took each other by the hand and started to go inland, the two children of our German fairy tale setting forth to find the treasure at the rainbow's end.
- [16:54]
Tim Harford
A German fairy tale? Perhaps so. What awaited them was a story worthy of the Brothers Grimm. Cautionary tales will return.
- [17:16]
Commercial Announcer
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- [17:47]
Podcast Host
You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.
- [18:16]
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- [18:40]
Podcast Host
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- [18:49]
Tim Harford
In 2016, the British television network Channel 4 launched a reality television experiment. 23 men and women were dispatched to the remote reaches of the Scottish Highlands. They were to remain there for a year, cut off from the rest of society, building their own shelter, growing their own vegetables, and raising their own livestock. The TV show, which was called Eden, contemplated a simpler time, a world untainted by civilization. It asked, what if we could start again? How would we create society from scratch? Many of the participants felt disillusioned with 21st century life. Among their number was a doctor, a vet, a chef, a carpenter, a shepherdess. You get the idea. But after just a few instalments, the show went dark. There were no more dispatches for a year. Then it returned with a new name, Eden. Paradise lost. Channel 4's Commissioning Editor, Ian Dunkley, explained how the experience experiment had taken on a life of its own. I don't think anyone expected it to go as feral and dark as it did. Faced with the physical hardship of the experiment, the group had quickly fractured into cliques. The women described being bullied by their peers for their perceived physical weakness. They were advised to stick to to trivial tasks like washing, cleaning and gardening, while the men chopped wood and handled the hunting and fishing. Bickering about rations Spiralled Raff, a carpenter from London, described how hunger had eroded any shred of group solidarity. I went in wanting to help everyone and share my skills, but that turned into, if I do this for you, I can get that. Like many of the women, Ali, a doctor, left the experiment early. She said, I saw the darkness coming. Dora and Friedrich gradually explored their island. Pirates and pioneers had come and gone over the years, leaving their stamp on Floriana, some barrels at the main bay, a dilapidated hut, an improvised bed in a cave. But at present it was uninhabited. They built a small settlement on a lush acre of land near the freshwater spring. Friedrich gave their new a name. This is our place, Dora, and we shall call it Frido. It was a portmanteau of their own names, but it also echoed the German word for peace, Freedom.
- [22:10]
Dora Strauch
All my heart went out in happiness to our Eden found and to this man whose dream was my dream.
- [22:20]
Tim Harford
Friedrich salvaged an old pipe and managed to connect the kitchen of their shack with running water. Dora rescued some half starved chickens and kept them as her pets. Later, she took an old donkey in, calling him Burrow. Friedrich disapproved. Your affection for these wild creatures is no more or less than a flattering and cherishing of the animal in yourself. Friedrich remained on a pedestal for Dora, but she also began to feel a little uneasy in their relationship. As they worked together on their new home, Friedrich seemed to disregard her limited mobility. Everything Dora did was to his Italian eternal dissatisfaction. They survived mostly on eggs, fruit and vegetables. Friedrich, who said he would not touch any food obtained through violence, refused potato and beetroot on account of the brutal force required to wrench them from the earth. Bananas and other fruit were in plentiful supply on the island, but the couple struggle to get their crops to flourish.
- [23:40]
Dora Strauch
That is the odd thing about the Floreana soil. It can be made to bear rich life, but is so shallow that nothing can take firm root in it. Perhaps there was in that an omen for us, but neither of us knew it then.
- [23:59]
Tim Harford
In fact, at times, the island seems Seemed rather hostile to them. Cockroaches devoured Dora's artificial silk dresses, and ants attacked their scant food stores. Friedrich railed against this disrespect of private property. The socialism of the ents is nothing more than a systematic, common robbery of all other life. Vampiric sand fleas burrowed into the soles of Dora's feet, which erupted into painful, festering sores. Friedrich removed 32 of them. The operation was excruciating. Dora and Friedrich had gone to pains to flee civilization. They had not reckoned on civilization for following them. But when passing ships dropped off food parcels and seeds for things like coffee and cabbages, they weren't displeased. One wealthy American captain was a regular visitor. A courier was also specially dispatched by the Ecuadorian post office to deliver their mail. One day, a few months into their adventure, they were assuming astonished to receive a parcel containing 46 letters and a newspaper. These missives were from total strangers, complimenting the couple's courage and ingenuity. What was going on? Hands trembling, Dora opened up the newspaper. She'd been fearful to read of more political turmoil back home. But what she found on those pages was much more disturbing. A headline told of Dora and Friedrich's flight from human society. It covered the breakup of their marriages in lurid detail.
- [26:01]
Dora Strauch
I felt as though the things that Friedrich and I held most sacred were being dragged mercilessly through the mire. I was inconsolable.
- [26:14]
Tim Harford
More letters followed. Friedrich and Dora tried to ignore them, but more often than not, a horrible fascination compelled them to open up the envelopes. Dora was filled with the cold horror that some of these tactless intruders might come and find them. She was right. Wealthy pleasure seekers, intrigued by the German couple they'd read about in the newspapers, liked to pass by Floriana on their yachting trips. Most were just passing through. Then the Wittmers arrived. Heinz and Margaret had also wanted to leave behind modern city life in Germany and had been drawn to the Galapagos Islands by the newspaper stories. They'd brought with them their 13 year old son, Harry. This seemed to Dora to be immensely irresponsible. Worse still, Margaret was five months pregnant. Having read about Friedrich's medical training, the Witmers were apparently expecting him to assist in the delivery.
- [27:30]
Dora Strauch
Friedrich was anything but pleased, but by.
- [27:34]
Tim Harford
And large, the new neighbours rubbed along without too much difficulty. Journalists continued to pitch up on Floriana, casting Dora and Friedrich as modern Crusoes and Adam and Eve. The newspaperman noted that for Eve in particular, paradise seemed a little disappointing. They commented on the couple's rustic abode. I saw cracks and chinks in the walls through which I could stick my arm. And on Friedrich's glittering teeth. Instead of toothpaste and a brush, he shined them up once in a while with a wad of steel wool. Abbot Kaler notes a central irony in her book Eden Undone. Friedrich and Dora had fled civilization only to become obsessed with how civilization perceived them. One journalist, Rolf Blomberg, thought that Friedrich rather liked having his picture taken, although he claimed he had no desire to make a sensation. In 1932, another tactical, reckless intruder arrived. The Baroness Antonia Wagner von Verborn Bosquet. Dora watched through narrowed eyes as she rode up to Frido on a donkey.
- [29:02]
Dora Strauch
She was platinum blonde. Her eyes were hidden behind dark spectacles. She wore a kind of workman's overalls, with sandals on her bare feet and a beret set jauntily upon her head. It was all obviously composed for effect, but not without a certain artificial charm.
- [29:23]
Tim Harford
The Baroness carried a whip and a revolver, and flanking her on foot was her adoring retinue, Robert Philipson, her lover, and Rudolph Lorenz, who seemed to be a climb kind of unpaid servant who was more than happy to fawn on her. The Baroness hailed from Austria via Paris, or so she said. Dora doubted her story.
- [29:51]
Dora Strauch
If this were a mere baroness, she certainly behaved as though she were at least a queen.
- [29:57]
Tim Harford
Dora was convinced that she meant to fight them for copy conquest of the island, to subjugate them to her rule. The imperious Baroness did indeed have something up her sleeve. We'll find out what after this short break.
- [30:23]
Commercial Announcer
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- [30:54]
Podcast Host
You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.
- [31:24]
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- [31:30]
Tim Harford
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- [31:43]
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Tim Harford
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- [31:47]
Podcast Host
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- [31:55]
Tim Harford
Before long, the baroness had announced her plans. She was going to build a L hotel on Floriana. Dora and Friedrich were disgusted. The Hacienda Paradiso would no doubt draw a deluge of American millionaires, turning their island into a sort of Miami. This wasn't the utopia they'd had in mind at all. Elsewhere, cracks became craters. On one occasion, the baroness took some bags of rice that the Wittmers had ordered and held them for ransom. On another, Dora was convinced that the baroness had stolen her donkey. When the elderly burro was finally returned home, he seemed dejected. Dora thought his skin had been rubbed raw by ropes and heavy weights. Overall, life was getting grimmer. One by one, Dora's teeth began to rot. Friedrich seized the opportunity to criticise her love of sugar and performed agonising extractions on her without dental equipment or painkillers. After that, they shared the notorious steel dentures whenever they were and company Only the person wearing the teeth would speak. Friedrich monopolized them for long stints, and Dora grew ever more silent. The Baroness steamed ahead with her plans for a luxury hotel. She gathered flamingos for a Floriana zoo, and she ordered a 100 sheets of corrugated iron to serve as the hotel walls. Soon a penciled sign appeared at the island's main bay. Friends two hours from here lies the Hacienda Paradiso, where the weary traveller can rejoice In Paradiso, you have only one.
- [34:07]
Narrator/Advertiser
Friend.
- [34:09]
Tim Harford
Yet for all these promises of friendship, it was clear that there was trouble at the Paradiso. The Baroness's servant, Rudolf Lorenz, became increasingly frail and unhappy.
- [34:24]
Dora Strauch
His whole manner expressed a terrible resignation.
- [34:30]
Tim Harford
Lorenz confided to Dora and Friedrich that the baroness was violent towards him and was holding him prisoner. Heinz Wittmer agreed that the baroness was a menace. Dora recorded his raving fury.
- [34:46]
Commercial Announcer
We let her get away with everything.
- [34:48]
Tim Harford
What I want is for us to all get together now and put an end to this rottenness. We are our own law here on Floriana. And then, quite suddenly, the baroness disappeared. The Wittmers believed that she and Robert Philipson had sailed to Tahiti. Perhaps they had. Strangely, though, they had left all of their belongings behind, including the Baroness's most prized possession, her copy of A Portrait of Dorian Gray. Good riddance to foul rubbish, said Lorentz. Then he calmed. He asked Dora if she'd like to buy any of the Baroness's effects from him. He too was about to leave the island, and he needed the money. That year, 1934, a punishing drought blasted Floriana.
- [35:54]
Dora Strauch
A strange wind rose like a vast fan of invisible fire. Everything perished under its sweeping breath.
- [36:03]
Tim Harford
The earth burned as though a furnace blazed beneath the rocky ground. Even at night, the leaves withered on the trees and the freshwater spring at Fredo dried to a weak trickle.
- [36:19]
Dora Strauch
Gathering, evil was closing in upon the island.
- [36:24]
Tim Harford
Friedrich brooded over his philosophical writings. Dora tended to the animals and the garden alone. Their relationship broke down even further. Friedrich started whipping Dora and she felt her passion for him turn to hate. In the Channel 4 television series Eden, Paradise Lost, things go from bad to worse. Bullies deride experts and moonshine fuels fist fights. The group hasn't caught as many fish as hoped, and boatman Anton is suspected of sabotage. Soon he becomes the focal point of everyone's ire. He goes off to live in a log cabin he's built for himself in the woods. Later, Anton is voted out of the community. Before he leaves, he burns his carefully constructed cabin to the ground. If he can't have it, no one else will either. Next, members of an all male clique calling itself the Valley Boys make fun of cameraman Matt because he dates men, not women. Their language is obscene, but confronted, they dismiss it all as mere banter. The Valley Boys embark on an all meat diet and start slaughtering the communal livestock at an alarming rate. Veterinarian Rob is horrified. Just before he leaves Eden, he sees decomposing animal heads hanging from trees around the Valley Boy's camp. The Valley stinks of rotting meat, he says. It's a muddy, dark, stinking hellhole. The idea that civilization has corrupted us can be a tempting one. It's easy to imagine that without the demands and complications of modern society, life would be blissful. That if we could just shake off the rules, a more authentic existence awaits us. But the story of Floriana suggests that without the machinery of civilization, abuse, opportunism and brute force can win out. The rules might seem like shackles, but they can also help keep us safe. So perhaps it's worth being wary of people who fantasize about throwing off the rules. Perhaps we should question their motives. What is it that they want to do once they're cut off from the rest of society? How might they treat other people? After all, the isolated setting of Eden, paradise lost, amplified some of mankind's ugly selfishness, homophobia, bigotry, misogyny. We had the opportunity to show some of humanity's strengths. Carpenter to Raf reflected. Really, we showed a lot of society's weaknesses. No one on or off Floriana ever saw or heard from the Baroness and her lover, Robert Philipson, again. Perhaps they did say, start afresh on Tahiti. Perhaps, but it seems unlikely. When she was so excited about her new hotel, Rudolph Lorenz vanished too. But his mummified body was eventually found. In his haste to get away from Floriana, he had blundered onto another island, one without any access to fresh water. He died of thirst. In December 1934, an American captain landed on Floriana. He had visited the island several times before, and he was used to Friedrich coming to greet him, asking if he had brought anything from the mainland. But this time, Friedrich was nowhere to. Eventually he heard a woman shout, and then he saw Dora stumbling towards him, gripping her cane. She was crying. She told the captain a terrible tale. The long drought had ruined Friedrich and Dora's crops, and reluctantly, they decided they must slaughter one of their pet chickens.
- [41:28]
Dora Strauch
There was a certain degree of danger in this, we very well knew, for our chickens had been decimated lately by a curious sickness.
- [41:38]
Tim Harford
Friedrich thought they could neutralize whatever poison was in the bird by cooking it thoroughly. When he was satisfied, he took the chicken to their dining table.
- [41:49]
Dora Strauch
We ate one spoonful of it each, for the sake of necessary nourishment, and made the rest of the meal of our vegetarian fare.
- [41:58]
Tim Harford
Later, Friedrich began to complain that he felt ill. Dora wondered if it could be the chicken, although she herself felt fine. It may be something else, but don't worry, I shall be alright. Friedrich was not alright. Nausea set in and then agonizing pain. It became clear to Dora that a tide of poison was overwhelming him.
- [42:31]
Dora Strauch
At last an icy sweat broke out. It was the sweat of death. He knew that he was lost, and I could only look on.
- [42:43]
Tim Harford
Ignorant, helpless, never one to waste an opportunity for philosophical enlightenment, Friedrich asked Dora to read to him from Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra. Mark these lines, Dora, and remember them always in memory of me. Later, when Friedrich was too weak even to speak, Dora brought him a pencil and paper. He managed to convey that in no circumstances should she go to their neighbours, the Wittmers, for help. With her difficulty walking, she might not make it on her own. Dora began to despair. What if she were left at Frido alone? Eventually she did go for help, but there was nothing to be done. Dora, Margaret and Heinz watched as Friedrich convulsed and then passed away together. They buried him in his favorite corner of the garden. The American captain was deeply saddened by the news. He'd been fond of Friedrich. A few days later, he helped Dora onto a boat bound for Germany. It was now under the Nazi dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. But Dora had nowhere else to go. Margaret Wittmer remembered Friedrich's demise a little differently. She would, perplexed by the fact that even though Dora and Friedrich had apparently eaten the same meat, one of them was at death's door and the other had suffered no ill effects. Nor could she understand why Dora had waited so long to come to them for help. She remembered something else too. Whenever Dora drew near Friedrich, he would try to hit her, kick her. His eyes filled with hate. Mustering all his effort, he had scrawled his companion a final message with pencil and paper. Margaret saw the note. I curse you. With my dying breath, Heinz Witmer and his older son carried Friedrich's body to its final resting place in the garden. And Margaret decorated the grave with flowers. Dora said Margaret did not attend the funeral. The key sources for this episode are are Dora Strauch's memoir Satan Came to Eden and Abbott Kaler's book Eden Undone, A true story of sex, murder and utopia at the dawn of World War II. For a full list of sources, see the show notes@timharford.com Cautionary Tales is written by me, Tim Harford, Andrew Wright, Alice Fiennes and Ryan Dilly. It's produced by Georgia Mills and Marilyn Rust. The sound design and original music are the work of Pascal Wise. Additional sound design is by Carlos San Juan at Brain Audio. Ben Nadhaff Haffrey edited the scripts. The show features the voice talents of Genevieve Gaunt, Melanie Guttridge, Stella Harford, Oliver Hembrough, Sarah Jopp, Nasea Munro, Jamal Westman and Rufus Wright. The show also wouldn't have been possible without the work of Jacob Weisberg, Greta Cohn, Sarah Nix, Eric Sandler, Carrie Brodie, Christina Sullivan, Keira Posey and Owen Miller. Cautionary Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. It's recorded at Wardour Studios in London. I Noria Barr and Lucy Rowe if you like the show, please remember to share, rate and review. It really makes a difference to us. And if you want to hear the show ad free, sign up to Pushkin plus on the show page on Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin FM plus.
- [47:22]
Podcast Host
This message is brought to you by Apple Card did you know Apple Card is designed to help you pay off your balance faster with smart payment suggestions? And because fees don't help you, Apple Card doesn't have any. So if your credit card is an Apple card, maybe it should be subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City Branch. Variable APRs range from 18.24% to 28.49% based on creditworthiness rates as of July 1, 2025. Terms and more at applecard.com.
- [47:56]
Tim Harford
Song stands about an obsessed fan who's taken me.
- [47:59]
Podcast Host
Too literal from Eminem and The producers.
- [48:01]
Tim Harford
Of 8 Mile never seen anything like Eminem fans.
- [48:04]
Podcast Host
This is the story of a fan base. I had to look in the mirror and be like, am I one of these crazy Stans that created a culture? I do have an addiction to Eminem.
- [48:13]
Commercial Announcer
I travel the world for him.
- [48:14]
Tim Harford
Without Eminem, I wouldn't have the life.
- [48:17]
Narrator/Advertiser
I have right now.
- [48:18]
Tim Harford
What's your first question?
- [48:20]
Podcast Host
Stans new documentary, streaming August 26th on Paramount. Untold Stories Life with a Severe Autoimmune Condition, a production from Ruby Studio in partnership with Argenics, is back with Season four. Join me, Martine Hackett, as we explore the realities of life with myasthenia gravis or mg, and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, or cidp. We'll uncover the stories of resilience and self advocacy in the face of uncertainty. From overcoming misdiagnosis to finding empowerment in small victories, these are moments that change us. Here's a glimpse of what's in store Whenever I go to my specialist, he mentions the R word. Remission. Is it possible? Like, is it over? But also knowing it's never really over, but just being able to say, hey, there's light at the end of the tunnel. Stay the course. Don't give up on yourself. Every single person living with the autoimmune illness has a life worth living, and it's up to you to define that, to capture that, and to go guns blazing. Follow and listen to untold Stories on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast.