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- [00:00]
A
Today on the show, dear listener, congratulations. You've won an all expense paid two weeks vacation to Gamat.
- [00:07]
B
Whoa.
- [00:07]
A
The Planet of Pleasure.
- [00:11]
B
Oh, boy.
- [00:12]
A
We hope you're ready to have every hole filled except the one in your heart.
- [00:17]
B
Yep, no amount of ecstasy or dildos will fill that hole. Sorry, is that on the nose? Welcome to Gom Jabbar, your guide to the iconic world of Dune. We'll be exploring the themes, philosophies and characters found in the sandy depths of this vast universe. From Frank Herbert's groundbreaking novels to the adaptations on film and tv. My name is Leo.
- [00:50]
A
And my name's Abu.
- [00:51]
B
And today on the show, we're doing a steamy, sensual, romantic. Rawr. Valentine's Day special. And we're talking about Planet Gamont.
- [01:04]
A
That's right. Oh, my gosh.
- [01:06]
B
Yeah.
- [01:07]
A
You know what's crazy? We have been cracking jokes about Planet Gammat for nigh on six years now.
- [01:13]
B
Yeah.
- [01:14]
A
And we have yet to dedicate an entire episode toward it. And today we finally write. That. Wrong.
- [01:20]
B
I was gonna say almost a crime. Literally. How did we get this far?
- [01:25]
A
Well, before we get into talking all about the Planet of Pleasure, let's take care of some quick housekeeping. Starting, of course, with our spoiler warning. Today's conversation is mostly going to be sourced from the Dune encyclopedia. We'll explain why shortly, but we will be making light references to things that take place in the first four books. So that's Dune all the way to God, Emperor of Dune. Nothing super plot related, but just to be ultra safe, we recommend you've at least read the first four books if you care about plot stuff.
- [01:59]
B
Indeed. Now, of course, also before we get started, a huge shout out to our Kwisatz Haderach level patrons. Daniel Dion, Seth Redding, Greer Bard, Brad Hutchins, which is written Bard in our script. Again, Brad Hutchins, Kevin Mohinram, and Roger Young.
- [02:16]
A
Yes.
- [02:16]
B
Oh, folks, if we won five all paid careful tickets to Gamada.
- [02:23]
A
Careful.
- [02:23]
B
We'd send you. And we would stay home. Absolutely. Unless. Unless two of you don't want to go. And then we would go. But of course, you get first dibs on the tickets. Your generosity deserves no less than that.
- [02:38]
A
Of course, if we somehow won hundreds of tickets, then we'd let all of our patrons at every level go. Because our heartfelt thank yous and our gratitude extends to all of you who help support and make this show possible.
- [02:52]
B
Okay, let's talk about today's episode. Let's talk about the game plan. First, we are going to briefly introduce our Destination. In case you have somehow stumbled upon this as your first episode of Gom Jabbar and you have not heard us make jokes about Gammat, we will tell you a little bit about it.
- [03:09]
A
Right.
- [03:09]
B
There's not a lot of Frank lore to back up Gammat and to tell you about Gamont, but it'll maybe get us in the mood. It's gonna be a short foreplay session, so to speak. Then we are going to spend the bulk of our episode on the planet itself via diaries recovered after House Atreides takes the Imperial throne. Brought to you straight from the planet itself.
- [03:33]
A
Yes, that's right. A firsthand account, folks. A primary source.
- [03:38]
B
Primary source about what it's like on Gammond. Again, we are so sorry it took us six years to get through this entry. It's so much fun. So I'd like to say buckle up. But for today's sensual, romantic episode, perhaps unbuckle, lower the lights, pour a glass of wine, get all of your clothes unfastened, just in case, you know, just in case. We're going to Gamont, but before we do, we have some prep to do in the bathroom. We gotta. We gotta get. To get ready. You know, it's not. You don't want to rush into things. Yeah. You wanna be baby powder, but a cologne, maybe a mouthwash, you know.
- [04:17]
A
Yeah, that's right.
- [04:18]
B
We're going to take a quick break. Don't go when we're back. We're really going. We're going to. Come on. We are, we are. In a second.
- [04:30]
A
Welcome back, folks. All right, let's talk about Gammat.
- [04:34]
B
Yeah.
- [04:35]
A
And let's start with what is in prime canon, AKA the words of Frank Herbert himself. What does Frank himself have to say about planet Gamont? The answer is, unfortunately, very little.
- [04:48]
B
Not much. Yep.
- [04:49]
A
There are only a scant few references to Gamont and Frank's original six books. So the first time Planet Gamont shows up, for example, is in Dune, when Baron Vladimir Harkonnen references a slave purchased from the planet. The. That young fellow we bought on Gammont. The one with the lovely eyes. End quote.
- [05:13]
B
Yeah. About, like, having sex with that person. This is like a pleasure slave. Someone whose.
- [05:19]
A
Yes.
- [05:19]
B
Their job is to be.
- [05:21]
A
Exactly. Exactly. Now, Gamont also is defined at the end of the first book in the terminology of the Imperium. And Frank really gives us a real short elevator pitch. Not much detail.
- [05:35]
B
I do appreciate, though, that he's like, I know you have questions. I know it's mentioned once in the entire fucking book. But I did want to tell you a little bit about it.
- [05:45]
A
I'll define it in the glossary.
- [05:46]
B
There you go.
- [05:48]
A
So here's how it's defined. The third planet of Niushi noted for its hedonistic culture and exotic sexual practices. End quote.
- [06:00]
B
Yep, yep. Okay.
- [06:02]
A
I'm a little more tantalized now.
- [06:04]
B
Sure.
- [06:05]
A
Tell me more.
- [06:05]
B
Frank Little bot in. Yeah.
- [06:06]
A
Unfortunately then Frank Herbert writes five more books and never once brings up Gamont except for a one off comment in the last. In the sixth book chapter House Dune, where Gamont is like sort of mentioned offhand.
- [06:21]
B
Yeah. It's like a list of planets and that's it.
- [06:25]
A
That's it. Those are the references to Gamont in prime canon and Frank Herbert's own words. There's not a lot of salacious details there. Of course. Luckily Leo the Wonderful, the exquisite Dune Encyclopedia exists. And the Dune Encyclopedia is here to fill in the gaps, so to speak.
- [06:48]
B
Yeah. Yes, it is on many topics and in many ways. So let's talk about it. The Dune encyclopedia entry is almost five pages long. Yeah, there are encyclopedia entries that are just like a paragraph or two. So this is five pages. But the entry is anything but normal. In fact, the entry starts off with a foreword from the editor of the Dune Encyclopedia as this kind of in universe document.
- [07:17]
A
Yeah, the fictional editor.
- [07:18]
B
The fictional editor. Quote. Discoveries from the Rakis finds about the planet Gammat have been so widely publicized in the popular press that any details given here would be repetitious. Instead we present not a different picture of Gammont but the same picture seen from a different viewpoint. What follows are the relevant parts of portions of a diary discovered in the House Corrino records transferred to Arrakis during the Atreides Imperium. I fucking am obsessed with this. That's so funny to me. I love the idea that the Rakis finds, Right. This thing that happens after God, emperor of Dune has these like bits of salacious scandalous details. And those get covered by the popular press.
- [08:13]
A
Right.
- [08:13]
B
So fucking funny to me. What an incredible picture to paint of humanity that 60,000 years from now people are like, ooh, sex things. Headlining news. You know, make sure it's in every newspaper. And the thing that makes this unique is that this is, as you said in our intro, a firsthand account. We're actually with someone as they go to Gamont.
- [08:36]
A
Yeah. And you know, reading into this a little bit more, this reads to me like Gamont is somewhat exclusive. Gamont is not like Disneyland where you can just buy a pricey ticket and show up whenever you want or buy like an annual pass and go as many times as you want. I think Gamont sells some of the mystery of sex. Right. Things are sexy when they're a little taboo, when they're a little unknown, when they're a little mysterious. And the fact that the popular press takes these insider tales of Gamont and runs with them, the things that are discovered in the rakis horde, the things in Leto's horde, just tells me that Gamont is somewhat of a secretive place. It's not like a fucking theme park you can just go to whenever you want.
- [09:21]
B
Yeah. Or at least it's not widely talked about and details are scarce. I think that's a great takeaway. You know, I kind of akin maybe to like, I get the impression there are like nudist retreats you can go to and like, you know, swingers retreats and things, you know, like kind of sexually free, fun, kinky things you can do.
- [09:41]
A
Oh, certainly.
- [09:41]
B
And they're out there. You can find them, you can google them. But how much does the average person actually know about them? And then to find out, oh, no, this is like a. This is like a place.
- [09:52]
A
Yeah.
- [09:52]
B
Look at what happens here.
- [09:54]
A
Yeah. I mean, I think the closest real world parallel I can think of right now is Amsterdam's red light district. Right. Like, everyone knows it exists. Everyone knows what's going on there, legally speaking.
- [10:05]
B
Yeah.
- [10:05]
A
But it's still fun to read like tantalizing stories of like, you know, someone's article in the New Yorker or whatever. Like my, my 48 hours in the red light district and what I saw and experienced. Yeah, that's still like fun to read as someone who's never actually going to go there. You know, I've been to Amsterdam on a trip, didn't go to the red light district. Allegedly.
- [10:25]
B
Sure, sure. Good. We all believe you, Abu. Yeah.
- [10:31]
A
So I think on that level it also makes sense. You're absolutely right. Like, even if people know Gamont exists and know the sexual possibilities of a planet like Gamont, it's still just kind of fun to read them as an outsider who maybe never intends to go.
- [10:47]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. Because that's us. That's us. Never intended.
- [10:50]
A
That's totally us. You know, me going to Gamont, that's great.
- [10:53]
B
Going to the Amsterdam red light district. No, no, no, no. Would never, would never. Go on, wink. Well, the diary, getting back to Dune. The diary is that of a 57 year old bene Gesserit sister, Matilda lover. Protect her at all costs.
- [11:12]
A
Truly Protect Matilda.
- [11:14]
B
Protect Matilda. She is the head laundress, okay. Of Wallach.
- [11:19]
A
Nice.
- [11:20]
B
Which is like, what an incredible job. Now, her diary entry reveals that she only goes to Gamma because she wins a two week, all expense paid trip via the back of a soapbox.
- [11:34]
A
Stop. Oh, my.
- [11:35]
B
And I fucking love that idea that this, like, soap company accepted some sort of sponsorship deal with Gamont the planet. And then they're like, what is this soap company?
- [11:47]
A
Right?
- [11:48]
B
It's incredible. I love it.
- [11:49]
A
Tide Pods is like, our pods aren't the only thing you should swallow.
- [11:53]
B
You know, don't swallow our pods. But here's a district where you can swallow all sorts of things. Tide Pod is partnering with Amsterdam Does. Do your clothes have interesting stains? Tide Pod is here to. Oh, my gosh. That's shockingly. I think.
- [12:13]
A
I don't know, it's maybe the perfect sponsorship right now that we're talking about it.
- [12:17]
B
Holy hell. So we're going to talk you through Mathilda's incredible journey to Gamont because it is actually such a fun little story and I think definitely deserves its place on our list of things that could be adapted into a very fun movie or long episode or something. I think this belongs in the anthology for a much lighter look at the Dune universe. But I think, dear listener, for this Valentine's Day, we want to take lessons that Matilda learns on Gamma. And we want to use these lessons to help you when you win your two week, all expense paid trip via the back of a soapbox.
- [12:58]
A
Check your Tide Pod box.
- [12:59]
B
Yeah, check the Tide Pod box. You might get a sex trip out of it. We want to make sure that your trip is as good, as sensual, as pleasurable as possible. So we're going to be breaking down. Never before heard details about Gammad.
- [13:15]
A
Yes.
- [13:15]
B
It should be a lot of fun. Excited about it. So listen, put your kiddos to sleep, dim the lights, maybe light some candles. Pour a glass of spice liquor. You know, snuggle into your chair, dog. This is going to be steamy. I hope you're excited.
- [13:32]
A
All right, dear listener, here's what you can expect for your arrival on planet Gamma At. Every part of your two weeks on Gamma at has been considered and designed to optimize your enjoyment. Think of this like a big amusement park, but way sexy.
- [13:53]
B
Mm. Yeah.
- [13:55]
A
When you get off that ship on planet Gamma at, you'll almost immediately be handed a beaded necklace. Now, this necklace is incredibly important because each one of those beads acts as a form of payment.
- [14:11]
B
Oh.
- [14:12]
A
Because, look, on this planet, you don't need pockets. And you certainly don't need pants.
- [14:18]
B
Yeah, true.
- [14:20]
A
So your form of payment will be laying comfortably around your neck. Each bead is what you will use for food, drinks and other activities.
- [14:32]
B
And other activities. Now, we did want to give you a quick warning because when you arrive, you may notice singing, petitioning, pamphleting. Sardaukars of Salvation, which is an organization now, legally they are allowed to proselytize. They are trying to save, of course, the eternal souls of the people of the Imperium visiting Gammad. But we did want to reassure you they're not going to spoil the mood. You know, you and your favorite person, arm in arm, walking down the plank onto the planet. You know, you get your beads. You're like in the vibe. They're not allowed to talk to you. It's okay. They are only allowed by law to talk to people leaving gammat.
- [15:16]
A
That's right.
- [15:17]
B
I think this falls very in line with the philosophy of gammat. Don't ask the powers that be for permission to do the kind of things you're going to do on Gamma at.
- [15:29]
A
How unsexy.
- [15:31]
B
That's not sexy. Ask for forgiveness instead. Hello. That's the way to do it. What's that old joke? It's like I prayed to God for a bicycle my whole life and never got one. So I stole a bicycle and prayed for forgiveness. He's known for forgiving. He's not known for handing out bicycles. That's our point. They are here to give you that pamphlet and to help you out if you have any kind of misgivings on the way out of here. But don't worry, they're on the other side. And I'd say pick up a pamphlet. It's a nice little keepsake. On the way off of Gamma at.
- [16:03]
A
Exactly. Before you depart, grab one of those pamphlets. You can think back on it fondly. Now, one last note before you arrive at your lavish accommodations. Here on gammat. We use a unique calendar. And it's important for you to start learning and using the local lingo.
- [16:21]
B
Yeah.
- [16:21]
A
We have entirely different days of the week here. They are as follows. Fun Day. Great Man Day.
- [16:29]
B
Okay.
- [16:29]
A
Tuesday. Woman Day. Three Day.
- [16:34]
B
Whoa.
- [16:35]
A
Try it. Day.
- [16:37]
B
Why not?
- [16:38]
A
And Saturday. That's S a T Y R day.
- [16:42]
B
Yeah.
- [16:45]
A
So get to know the local terminology. Because this is how you'll be counting your days here on gamat.
- [16:50]
B
Indeed. And listen, I knew as we were kind of putting this episode together, Abu, you'd be curious. So I looked it up and it looks like this year, both of our Birthdays fall on threesday, which is very exciting. Whoa. Last year, also, coincidentally, yours and my birthdays are always on the same day of the week.
- [17:09]
A
No way.
- [17:10]
B
Naturally. Like different dates, but like, always the same day of the week. Yeah, yeah.
- [17:13]
A
Gotta be some astrological thing there.
- [17:15]
B
I mean, there's also only seven. There's only seven of them. But I was like, oh, that's a little boring. I should. You know, I'll check my wife's birthday. Also on the same day of the week as US3. So there you go. That's why we only have the two examples. So I checked next year, our. Our birthdays fall on Try It Day, which is very exciting. And last year, our birthdays fell on Woman's Day. So there you go. I don't know what any of that means, but now we take that as you will. Yeah, I will take that as I will.
- [17:47]
A
I appreciate you doing the homework to look that up. Yeah, I was definitely curious.
- [17:51]
B
Yeah, I knew you would be. So let's talk about your accommodations. Now, by all accounts, your romantic getaway on Gamont will be very comfortable, very taken care of. And we wanted to give you just a quick warning because we know that not everything that you experience in Gamanta is going to be everybody's cup of tea. This is also a warning Matilda definitely could have used. Yes, you may. The second day that you're on Gammat, wake up with someone in your bed who's not necessarily your plus one. Don't panic. Don't take a couple of deep breaths. They're not going to hurt you. They believe in consent. Everything's good. The person in your bed is your guide to the pleasures of Gammad.
- [18:35]
A
Wow. A local guide. A local expert.
- [18:38]
B
A local expert. Local in both the sense of under the COVID local and also Gamont, more broadly. Yes, that's right. Whether this is a guide for your sightseeing to guide you around or something more, that is up to you. We get. We actually do get a bit of description about these two that we see in the. In the diaries. Both very handsome.
- [19:03]
A
Yes.
- [19:04]
B
And hey, we here at Gom Jabbar, we don't judge. Maybe it's three. So enjoy your time with your guide. Now, once you've had a bit of time to rest, or not, dear listener, or not, well, you can head out. You've got a bunch of beats to spend. We get it. You're gonna have a day on Gammad.
- [19:24]
A
Indeed. And look, it's your vacation. We're not gonna try and tell you how to Spend it. Right.
- [19:29]
B
Yeah.
- [19:29]
A
Some folks vacation because they want to go out and do the sightseeing, see the historical monuments and take the tours and dine in the finest restaurants.
- [19:39]
B
Right, right.
- [19:40]
A
Other folks don't want to leave the resort and spend their time in the hot tub. You do what fits you best on Gamma at. And your local guide, who will potentially wake up in your bed with you the next day, will accommodate all of your desires.
- [19:55]
B
All of them? All of them. Even the ones you're not even articulating right now? All of them.
- [20:00]
A
That's right. Okay, so let's say you're the more adventurous or you want to go out onto Gamat and see what pleasures and wonders lay in store.
- [20:09]
B
Yeah.
- [20:10]
A
Let's talk about what you'll find. The layout of Gamont is divided into what are called little worlds. Here's how Matilda describes it in her diaries. Quote, you go inside one and you can pretend you are someone in the past or future and they do all sorts of unusual things. End quote.
- [20:29]
B
Yeah. Probably mostly sex. Sex stuff.
- [20:33]
A
Right? Unusual is a euphemism.
- [20:35]
B
Yeah.
- [20:36]
A
To be clear.
- [20:37]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [20:37]
A
Now, there are three worlds in particular that we want to highlight for you, dear listener, that you should be aware of on your trip to Gamma.
- [20:43]
B
Yes.
- [20:44]
A
There's Eden, there's Nantucket, and there's Harem World. So Eden recreates the mythological ambiance of that ancient garden. Guests wear cotton leaves over choice body parts. Their choice.
- [20:59]
B
Yeah.
- [21:00]
A
And little else.
- [21:02]
B
Wow. Life before sin. My God.
- [21:04]
A
Life before sin. The introduction of sin is up to you.
- [21:08]
B
Take a bite of an apple, say hi to a snake, if you know what I mean.
- [21:15]
A
The second world is Nantucket.
- [21:18]
B
Yeah.
- [21:19]
A
Which we can only assume is based on the sleepy historical town on old Terra on planet Earth. Nantucket features lovely dining establishments with lively folksy music, all on a beautiful beach for you to experience. Spend time at the restaurants, enjoy the music, or lay on the beach with your certain someone.
- [21:40]
B
Tan those buns.
- [21:43]
A
Yeah. Get a good dad or whatever. Finally, the third world we want to tell you about is Harem World. In Harem World, you dress in beautiful sheer outfits. Very see through, to be clear.
- [21:56]
B
Underwear optional.
- [21:58]
A
Underwear?
- [21:59]
B
Extremely. This isn't like a Korean spa, like you're allowed to wear, you know, but like.
- [22:03]
A
Yeah, yeah. It's not like a textile free spa or something.
- [22:05]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's also encouraged, clearly encouraged that you get the sheer. That's all you need.
- [22:12]
A
That's all you need in Harem World. Now you'll enter a beautiful palace here with Soft music. Water will be bubbling in a nearby fountain. There will be strong, muscular, huge, tall guards everywhere in this palace.
- [22:28]
B
Love it.
- [22:29]
A
Guarding certain rooms where things are happening.
- [22:32]
B
Yeah, things.
- [22:35]
A
And here's the fun part of harem world, folks. You or your partner may be chosen by the sultan himself.
- [22:46]
B
My God.
- [22:47]
A
To be taken to the very special sultan's quarters.
- [22:51]
B
It's true. And what happens there, who knows? But at least the one example we have of it. You end up naked. That's. That's all we know. And it's apparently great. It's a great time. Judging from Bertha's experience. She's like, I was chosen.
- [23:07]
A
You want to be chosen by the siltas.
- [23:09]
B
You do the best version of like, Nevermore or whatever. All right. Other notable attractions. Because again, that is, we've already described. You could spend probably a few days in each of these worlds just really getting every flavor, every scent stimulated. But we do want to tell you about some of the other experiences, the other attractions that exist. Of course. No better way to travel from world to world than by a thorse drawn carriage. Wow. Yeah. The Imperium's favorite six legged work animal. Carrying you.
- [23:48]
A
Yeah.
- [23:48]
B
From location to location. Love that.
- [23:51]
A
Right out of a fairy tale.
- [23:52]
B
Right out of a fairy tale.
- [23:53]
A
Right out of a fantasy.
- [23:54]
B
Stay past midnight. It's not going to turn into a mouse. You're good. It's from a movie, Abu, called Cinderella. Have you seen it?
- [24:05]
A
We should keep talking about. Come on. Something about a shoe, right? Cinderella. Yeah, yeah, I know the gist.
- [24:14]
B
You've seen it. Sounds like you've seen it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We also have exotic boutiques. You want to buy? Do some shopping, do some buying.
- [24:21]
A
Oh, of course. You're on vacation.
- [24:22]
B
Why not buy a souvenir? You got beads to spend. And again, you need to rest your body sometime. You've eaten enough, you drank enough that. What else do you do? You buy some stuff, right? There is a. There's a boutique that they do get that gets highlighted called V Half Vase, which I think is just. We have ways. Yeah, the leather goods store. And of course, they sell everything you could imagine. Belts, buckles, collars, hoods, muzzles, harnesses. You want to be suspended from the ceiling. They've got that. Rope, swips, paddles. Indeed, they've got. You'll be saying, PA chow until the cows come home. And yeah, we did technically add items to that list that are not in the dune encyclopedia, but it's obvious, dear listener, that that's the kind of store it is.
- [25:11]
A
Yes.
- [25:12]
B
So we're confident we'll put our full chest behind that. That's the kind of shit you can buy there. Top tier workmanship, by the way.
- [25:19]
A
Indeed.
- [25:19]
B
Never a better paddle you'll buy.
- [25:21]
A
That's right. Handcrafted at ve have ways.
- [25:25]
B
We have ways. Yes, we do. Yes, we do. And finally, there is also a Bene Gesserit house. Indeed. Whoa. And this might seem out of nowhere, but of course, students of Gom Jabbar who have been studying the Bene Gesserit for many books know, well, hey, breeding sisters. Sisters who their entire job is like, seducing and getting some genetics from the, from the council, you know, from the high highest echelons of imperial society. They gotta be trained somewhere.
- [25:53]
A
That's right.
- [25:54]
B
And this is where they can be trained. That being said, they won't let just any old tourist or sister in the special. Sisters chosen for training on Gamont, quote, serve as concubines and sometimes even wives. They come here to gamat to learn the best ways of pleasing themselves and their royal lovers. End quote.
- [26:17]
A
That's right. So, folks, if you are not one of these chosen sisters, we're sorry, they won't let you in.
- [26:23]
B
I'm like that Eric Andre Gif, where he's like pounding on the bar, he's like, let me in, let me in. I want to know. Teach me your ways. And of course, one last detail about this Bene Gesserit house is keep your eyes peeled. This will look like an Easter egg hunt in the lobby and in the sort of waiting room. And once you're inside, you may even spot famous, well known Bene Gesserit sisters in lewd pictures hanging on the walls. Fucking incredible detail.
- [26:57]
A
Incredible.
- [26:59]
B
But also I kind of get it. Like, stepping outside of the sensual tone for a second. Like, I kind of get it if you're like a Bene Gesserit sister. You've been told your job is to be a breeder. You're on this, like, sex planet, you have all this training and you go, like, what better way to be? Like, listen, even people like Gaius Helen Moheim are like, kind of bought in. It's like, it gives a sense of maybe validity or it's a little bit of a reassurance. Oh, even the people up top, you got pictures of them sunbathing. Like, this is not that strange. You respect them. They're the most powerful women in the universe. They do shit like this. I could see that as actually being quite compelling for a young sister who's maybe feeling a little overwhelmed by all the stimulus, so to speak.
- [27:45]
A
Yeah, yeah. I think internally it certainly acts as a way to raise the reputation of this Bene Gesserit house in Gamat. Imagine you're a young Bene Gesserit acolyte who has just graduated to becoming a breeding sister, and you get sent to Gamat. Maybe you're a little nervous, but you walk in the lobby and you look up and you're like, wait, look at all of these other legendary reverend mothers that I look up to now. And look, that's my professor.
- [28:09]
B
What the fuck? You know, this program.
- [28:13]
A
And like, the tiniest bikini I've ever seen. Didn't need to see that.
- [28:15]
B
Yo. She can get it.
- [28:17]
A
But I think that offers, like you're saying, some validity and some confidence to the sisters going through this program. Right? Yeah, because they're obviously leaving Wallach 9 or whatever sisterhood school that they were doing their training in and being sent to this unknown planet. And so maybe they're giving. Given a little bit more reassurance. I also wanted to bring up that maybe externally this works as a bit of a sales pitch because you imagine there are very powerful people from across the imperium, from the great houses or the children of great houses coming to Gamat, Right. To tap into the pleasures of this wonderful planet. They'd maybe swing by the Bene Gesserit house, and to look up and see all of these beautiful women who have graduated through this house is a great sales pitch.
- [29:02]
B
Yeah, no kidding.
- [29:03]
A
Is a reason for maybe a young lord, a young heir to a great house throne to go, oh, boy, I need a Bene Gesserit wife. Yeah, dude, I should ask my dad for a Bene Gesserit wife. Look at. Look at all these photos hanging up around me. I even imagine, like, as exclusive as this house is, I imagine that if you are powerful and wealthy enough and. Or if the Bene Gesserit needs your DNA, you get to enjoy some of the pleasures on the Bene Gesserit house in Gammat.
- [29:30]
B
I mean, they need partners to train with. You know, they need partner.
- [29:33]
A
Exactly.
- [29:33]
B
You've been through training for a couple months. Hey, here. Here's your. Your. Your final exam is a visiting royal. Yeah, blow them away.
- [29:41]
A
Exactly right. Convince them. Convince them that they're. They're going to want a Bene Gesserit wife in the future. So I think internally, you're totally right. It helps the sisters coming in for training. But I think externally, this lobby full of pictures also acts as a very powerful sales pitch to the young lords and ladies who come to Gamat and spend their papa's riches on the planet Papa.
- [30:04]
B
Yeah, Indeed. I think that's spot on. And that's a little bit of what you can expect from Gammat.
- [30:11]
A
Dear listener, we hope you're excited.
- [30:13]
B
We hope you're excited. Two weeks. All because you checked the back of a Tide pod container. That's incredible. Much more, I'm sure, than you were expecting. That's great.
- [30:24]
A
That's true.
- [30:25]
B
So let's talk actually about Mathilda's experience in Gamant, because some of you, dear listener, may be a little bit more. Maybe you're kind of traditional and you don't really have that much of an appetite for some of these things. Well, Mathilda might give you a peek into what that experience might be for you if you went in unprepared.
- [30:43]
A
Yeah.
- [30:43]
B
So we are going to talk a little bit more about details about Kamant.
- [30:47]
A
Yes.
- [30:48]
B
But we're going to focus on Matilda's experience. Right after a quick break. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back.
- [30:57]
A
Welcome back, folks. Let's get into it. Let's crack open Matilda's diary entries and talk about, frankly, her odyssey, her epic adventure. So let's get into it. Let's crack open these diary entries of Matilda's. The diary entries are dated and Matilda's adventures on Gammont begin on the 25th of the month. So the entry dated the 25th is when Matilda and her fellow sister, sister Bertha, arrive on Gamat. And like we said earlier, upon your arrival, you receive a necklace of beads. And Matilda and Bertha certainly do. They receive a necklace of beads that they will use for payments for their adventures on this planet. And we're told that Bene Gesserit sisters in particular are given a special set of beads that come in a plain envelope. So it seems like even here on Gamont, they want to stay on the Bene Gesserit's good side. Maybe they have some sort of deal so that sisters can come through and get training. It seems if you are a sister, you get a bit of the VIP treatment here.
- [32:04]
B
Yeah, it's discretion. Right. It's like you're here, you might be a little bit more for work. And this also signals to the staff to give you a special, like a bit of extra treatment, that sort of thing. Yeah, for sure.
- [32:16]
A
Exactly. Exactly. Now, fast forwarding a day, once Bertha and Matilda get settled, the entry dated for the 26th is when poor, sweet, sweet Matilda is shocked awake by their guides, Ahmed and Paul, who are in their beds with Bertha and Matilda when they wake up on the morning of the 26th.
- [32:39]
B
Yeah.
- [32:39]
A
Of course, Matilda not interested in any extracurricular activities, let's say.
- [32:45]
B
Sure.
- [32:45]
A
And mostly just wants the guides to show them around to act as simple guides to Gammad.
- [32:50]
B
I love the thought where she's like, what a weird hotel that someone accidentally got into my bed. Like, she's so innocent. He's like, I'm here to guide you around Gamat and the pleasures of Gammat. She's like, but it's dark out. I can't see anything.
- [33:07]
A
Wait till the sun is up.
- [33:08]
B
Wait till the sun's up. That's so impractical, you silly boy.
- [33:12]
A
What am I supposed to do on this planet after dark when the sun is down? You're making no sense.
- [33:17]
B
You make no sense at all if that is your real name.
- [33:22]
A
Here's a really innocent and cute summarization of Matilda's thoughts so far on Gammont. Just two days in. Quote. I certainly learned things about Gamont when it got light. I thought it was for vacations, like the seaside on Kestrel where my parents used to take me and people would build sandcastles and swim and eat ice in the evening. Gammat is not like that. End quote. Which is perhaps the understatement of the century. That's so funny, my dear, dear Matilda. Now, Matilda, speaking of the worlds that we talked about earlier, if you'll Recall, Eden, Nantucket, etc. She opts out of Eden. She does not want to enter this sacred garden wearing nothing but cotton leaves on her breasts and other parts.
- [34:09]
B
Yeah.
- [34:10]
A
She doesn't want to disrobe. So Matilda and Bertha skip Eden and instead they end up going to Nantucket and eating at an establishment called the Flipping Frog.
- [34:21]
B
Yeah.
- [34:22]
A
There at the Flipping Frog, a couple of singers regale the restaurant with an actual 1927 song called Balaki Bill the Sailor.
- [34:34]
B
Yeah.
- [34:35]
A
And dear listener, if you look up the lyrics, you'll get an idea of the tone of this eating establishment and the vibe of this song. Most of this goes entirely above Matilda's head. She misses all of the double entendres and writes in this diary entry for the day that she was broadly confused by the lyrics. Although Sister Bertha.
- [34:58]
B
Yeah, she got it all.
- [34:59]
A
She understood it all and was having a grand old time.
- [35:04]
B
Yeah. Bertha was, like, choking on her food right in the face, laughing, like, just having the time of her life. We really get a sense of the difference between these two women. It's so good. All right. Now, the next day the 27th is mostly their trip to Harem World, where our gal Bertha begins her rapid descent. Let's go into like, win and row mentality. She's just like, let's fucking go naked under the sheer. Let's do it. Why not? We're on fucking gamma, baby. Let's do it.
- [35:37]
A
Yep, she's leaning in finally.
- [35:39]
B
Yo, she's. She's leaning in. So she foregoes modesty. Matilda ends up taking a nap in like a reclining harem chair.
- [35:46]
A
Yeah.
- [35:47]
B
Wakes up to find Bertha naked in the sultan's chamber, having been chosen. Good for you, Bertha. Having the time of your life. Good Lord. And so Matilda, though, is like, again, she's a little bit more modest. She's like, boys, cover your eyes. Don't see her. And her nudity, even though she was wearing sheer things the whole time.
- [36:05]
A
Right.
- [36:06]
B
She gathers Bertha, she rushes them back to the hotel, and she says, bertha, stay here. Pole, don't let her leave. Make sure she's taken care of. Of course, missing her own double entendres as well. That's right, Matilda, a little bit more innocent. She's going, wow, what strong, right? Big guards and lovely fountains and shadowy alcoves. I guess I'll take a nap.
- [36:28]
A
Yeah, it's cozy.
- [36:29]
B
It's cozy.
- [36:30]
A
A little gaudy, but cozy. I'll take a nap.
- [36:32]
B
Yeah.
- [36:32]
A
She's so innocent.
- [36:33]
B
She's great.
- [36:34]
A
Okay, let's talk about the 28th. This is a big day. The next day is a huge day for Matilda. This is where she goes to the leather store that we talked about earlier.
- [36:44]
B
Yeah.
- [36:46]
A
And she stops by because she's like, wow, look at these wonderful belts and buckles in the window. I'm gonna pop in because I've been meaning to pick up some souvenirs for my laundry sisters back home.
- [36:57]
B
Yeah. Laundry sisters love clothing. That's. That's what I know about my co workers.
- [37:02]
A
That's right. I. I don't know what this mask is for, but. But you know what? Jill is going to love it.
- [37:08]
B
No eye holes, but a mouthful. Fascinating. I mean, I guess they say you want to talk, but also get some good night. Like good night's sleep, you know? Yeah.
- [37:16]
A
What a great sleep mask. Now, again, displaying her naivete, when Matilda sees that the leather store also sells whips, she writes in her diary, quote, though why anyone would want to whip a sweet, gentle creature like a Thors, I don't know. I'll protect her.
- [37:37]
B
Protect her at Matilda cost.
- [37:39]
A
That's right. My God, that is what the Witches.
- [37:42]
B
That's why those are there. Yeah. No other reasons, Matilda. No other reasons. That whole wall of accoutrement, just ignore it. It's not right. Yeah. It's for Thorses, right?
- [37:54]
A
Now, after the leather store shopping, once she has bought souvenirs for all of her fellow sisters at home, she stops by the Bene Gesserit house. She sees it down the street and she's like, whoa, I recognize that logo. Yeah, that's Ben Jesuit. She walks in and she's greeted by, like we were talking about earlier, this lobby full of pictures of former students of this G school in lewd poses. And folks, here's a student you might recognize. Matilda writes, quote, there was that nice, young and smart Helen Mohim, who. And it's beyond me why she would let them take a picture of her sunbathing. End quote.
- [38:39]
B
Even in my naivete, I was thinking, oh, yeah, in, like, a bathing suit. Probably not. No, probably not.
- [38:45]
A
Probably not in a bathing suit. That's right, folks.
- [38:49]
B
Wow.
- [38:49]
A
Guy is Helen Moheim herself passed through the Gamansky. There's a photo of her hanging in the lobby.
- [38:55]
B
My God.
- [38:56]
A
Of a young babe Moheim.
- [38:58]
B
I can imagine a number of universities that if they had shown me, like, sexy pictures of alumni, I would have been more likely to try to go to the university.
- [39:06]
A
I'm saying it's a great marketing strategy.
- [39:08]
B
Great marketing strategy. Yeah. I'm like, okay, Harvard, I know your reputation, but who are the hotties who've graduated from Harvard?
- [39:14]
A
That's right. That's right. Now in the lobby, Matilda meets Reverend Mother Maxine, who is the woman in charge of this Bene Gesserit house on Gammont. And this is where Matilda is shocked to learn, apparently for the first time, about Bene Gesserit who come to this planet for training.
- [39:35]
B
Yeah.
- [39:36]
A
Here's the relevant part of our diary entry. It seems there are three kinds of sisters. The regular ones that live in the chapter houses, and some that go into the world and marry and have families. Well, I knew about that. But then there are others. The lay sisters. Some joke whose job is to infiltrate the great houses and let the sisterhood know what's going on. End quote.
- [40:03]
B
Yes.
- [40:04]
A
Lay sisters being, like, getting laid. Who.
- [40:07]
B
Fuck. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [40:09]
A
Sisters.
- [40:10]
B
I get the impression. So this distinction. She knows about the kind of concubines and wives, but she doesn't know about the Bene Gesserit of secret rank. Right. This idea of, like, the Margot Fenrings, who. People go, oh, she's not Bene Gesserit. Is she, you know, like the Bene Gesserit who act as spies and people like, again, Margot Fenring, who will go seduce Feyd Rautha and he think nothing of it.
- [40:35]
A
Collect those genetics.
- [40:36]
B
Collect the genetics and then get out of there. Like that is something that clearly is not as widespread knowledge as we might have thought before reading Matilda's diary because she works on Wallach. But again, need to know. Guess she's just like, maybe she's just.
- [40:53]
A
So compartmentalized from the rest of the sisterhood's going is on.
- [40:56]
B
Yeah.
- [40:57]
A
That this is a revelation to her. The fact that there are sisters who come to Gamat, get specialized sex training, and go out into the world and infiltrate great houses.
- [41:07]
B
Yeah.
- [41:07]
A
She learned that today, folks.
- [41:09]
B
She was today years old when she learned about sex training. It's incredible. Yeah, that's right.
- [41:16]
A
So Matilda is deeply shaken by this and needs to process all this information that she's learned. So she calls it a day. She goes back home and spends the rest of the night in her hotel.
- [41:26]
B
Yeah.
- [41:27]
A
By the way, Bertha entirely missing from this day. Bertha is off on her adventures, doing whatever the hell she wants.
- [41:33]
B
Bertha's having a time. Bertha's with Paul doing what she wants.
- [41:36]
A
Yes.
- [41:37]
B
This isn't written, but I definitely get this. Subtextually that Matilda understood the Bene Gesso at school to be kind of what the school purports to be to outsiders, that we are a school for young women who train them and prepare them for a successful career in the world. And that's what the school is. And the idea that there are women who their entire job at the sisterhood is to be a sexual being who goes and is used by men, but for the purposes of the Bene Gesserit. I think it's that manipulation that really shakes her, because for her, she thought she was again, a part of the institution of Harvard or Yale. And then she's finding out it's more like the CIA with fucking spies and manipulation and, like, intrigue.
- [42:23]
A
There's like an NSA branch of her school that she never knew existed.
- [42:26]
B
Right. And then I think, because this. This all leads up to her fifth day, and this seems dramatic. She checks out of the hotel, she tells Bertha, whoa, Bertha, here are my fucking beads. I'm out of here. Do what you want. You're on your own.
- [42:40]
A
Oh, my God. Bertha's eyes lighting up.
- [42:42]
B
Bertha's like, I got double the beads.
- [42:44]
A
Yeah.
- [42:45]
B
She didn't use any of them. She used them for food only. This is incredible. And she leaves. And she leaves Bertha, she sits in the lobby of the hotel. She checks out. This is day five of her day.
- [42:58]
A
Five of a free two week trip.
- [42:59]
B
Two week trip. She's like, two weeks at Universal Studios. She's like, day five. I've seen enough of Spider Man. I'm done. I'm not interested anymore. So sitting in the lobby, she writes, quote, I won't use other people because I wouldn't want them to use me. And I won't be a part of anything that does. I know what my duty is. I need to tell the Emperor just what's going on here. Then it's his problem. And I wash my hands of the man, end quote. And I just want to say, fuck, yeah. Matilda standing on business. She's like, I didn't know about all that manipulation, subterfuge bullshit.
- [43:38]
A
Yeah.
- [43:38]
B
I don't like that this organization does that. I'm done.
- [43:41]
A
Yeah.
- [43:41]
B
I don't know what I want to do. I don't want to go back to Wallach. She says she doesn't want to go back to Wallach. She doesn't want to go back to Harem World or Nantucket or any of these fucking places. So she has Ahmed mail her diary in the imperial mail to the Emperor. She goes, once he knows of what I've written here, he gets to decide what to do, Right? Highly doubt it. Ever saw it. Never left the P.O. box. Yeah. Sitting there the whole time, never saw it. Maybe Mohim herself intercepted it or whatever. And she literally then goes on to find honest work on Gamache. She ends her final diary entry, quote, with my experience, I know there will be something for me to do at Suds and Bubbles, end quote. But I kind of like. I was like, obviously, it's all very funny. It's all very light, whatever. But I was also like, dude, standing on business and really being like, this is not aligned with my morals. I'm out of here. I'm done.
- [44:43]
A
Yeah.
- [44:43]
B
I'll just get work. Doing something I know how to do. I'm a. I'm a laundry person. I like the kind of simplicity of my job. Fuck all of that intrigue and shit. I don't want to be a part of it. I'm done.
- [44:53]
A
Yeah.
- [44:53]
B
I'm staying here.
- [44:54]
A
Yeah. You got to respect how incorruptible Matilda is. Yeah. Gamont is a place where you go to be corrupted.
- [45:00]
B
Yeah.
- [45:01]
A
Bertha couldn't last 48 hours before she.
- [45:03]
B
Was all in on Gamma, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [45:06]
A
And yet here, our heroine, sister Matilda.
- [45:10]
B
Yeah.
- [45:11]
A
Stands by her morals. You gotta respect it.
- [45:14]
B
You know, I think we can make the mistake of celebrating those who are kind of, like, being kind of open and free and liberal and all this stuff, but I think for someone to say, no, this is the line in the sand that I don't want to cross, and then really confidently not crossing that. Hell yeah, to that, too. Yeah.
- [45:30]
A
That's just as respectable.
- [45:31]
B
That's just as respectable.
- [45:32]
A
Knowing your own boundaries and standing by them.
- [45:34]
B
Hell, yeah. And she does that through and through. So she is perhaps not the brightest bulb in the fucking light bulb box, but like, you know, she's not the tastiest tide pod in the Tide Pod bag, but like, no, certainly she's what a. What a. What a great character through and through. And that's. That's our time, basically. That's our time on Gamont. That's our time with Matilda.
- [45:57]
A
That's right.
- [45:57]
B
That is.
- [45:58]
A
That's where the diary entries end.
- [45:59]
B
That is where the diary entries end. And that is the end of the entry in the Dune Encyclopedia. So we're going to wrap up now, but I think it's good to kind of take a step back because this Dune Encyclopedia entry exists within the Dune Encyclopedia. More broadly. Abu, what did you think about this entry? And did you enjoy the time on Gaman? How did it kind of land for you also? Well, actually, before that, serious question. What world are you checking out first? Are you going to Nantucket, Eden or Haremworld first?
- [46:29]
A
I hate a beach, so I'm never going to Nantucket, frankly.
- [46:32]
B
Sure.
- [46:34]
A
So it's really between Eden and Harem World. For me. Harem World is giving a little, like, fetishization. Racist, exotic. Like, you know, it's very like, this is the Sultan's palace.
- [46:47]
B
All men are in turbans. It's all. Yeah.
- [46:49]
A
So I'm going to. I'm going to Eden first. I think we'll see if I enjoy Eden. Maybe. I'm spending most of my time there.
- [46:56]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [46:57]
A
What about you?
- [46:57]
B
I think I'm very much like, I'll try everything once, but I'm squeamish and I'm, like, nervous and shy. So I'm starting in Nantucket for sure. I'm going to the Flipping Frog. I'm going to do some window shopping. Yeah. Ease into it. Kind of get a lay of land. Day. Day three, day four, who knows? Sky's the limit. But, you know, first couple of days, I'm enjoying a meal at the Flipping Frog and enjoying the live music and stuff. I don't love beaches or like hanging out at beaches. But, like, I love a good meal. I love live music. Live music's my jam. So, like.
- [47:29]
A
Right.
- [47:29]
B
Nantucket sounds nice. So I'll start there and then we'll see. The mood takes me. Yeah.
- [47:34]
A
Yeah. And of course, the ultimate goal is to get that VIP Benny Jessard house pass. You know, the exclusive ticket.
- [47:41]
B
Yeah. Who knows? Who knows? The famous people you'll. You'll encounter there rub elbows or other body parts with them. So.
- [47:48]
A
That's right.
- [47:49]
B
The. Okay, so that out of the way, what did you think of this entry? How did it land for you?
- [47:54]
A
So this was a weird one for me. I was actually quite shocked reading this entry because it feels so utterly out of place to me in the Dune Encyclopedia. Almost everything about this entry is dramatically different than 99% of the other entries. The tone, the format, even the characters themselves are just so, I guess, deeply unserious.
- [48:18]
B
Yeah.
- [48:18]
A
In a way where I think the rest of the encyclopedia really takes this lore seriously. You know, like McNelly is like, really on the ball. And this feels to me like mostly just sort of a light hearted joke entry. Like most of this reads like slapstick comedy all throughout. And that really got me thinking because I was like, okay, maybe this is just a one off entry where McNelly got the rough draft and was like, all right, you know, this is actually kind of silly and funny. Whatever, let's include this one. I don't really care. That might be the thinking, but maybe there's something more. And the conclusion, again, me maybe perhaps overthinking this a little bit, but where I landed, where my headcanon is currently at, is that I think this entry in lore in universe is actually just some sort of like, comedic stage play or like short novella about a fictitious character called Sister Matilda and her bumbling cutesy adventures on Gamont. I imagine there's maybe a whole Sister Matilda series where she has bumbling cutesy adventures on exotic world around the Imperium.
- [49:30]
B
You know, so it's like Dune encyclopedia historians misinterpreting this, like, fictitious play.
- [49:37]
A
Yeah. Something that was meant to be parody.
- [49:39]
B
Yeah.
- [49:40]
A
As like, as a primary, genuine source.
- [49:43]
B
Yeah. Whoa.
- [49:44]
A
So that's sort of my headcanon. And, you know, a couple of things stand out to me in this entry and in the writing that support that for me. One is that this whole entry seems to very clearly be written by somebody who has no insider knowledge of the sisterhood. The fact that so many of these things are shocking to Matilda or the fact that she herself seems to not understand much of the inner workings of the sisterhood could be compartmentalization, as we theorized earlier. Maybe she's just so low on the ladder of the sisterhood that she just doesn't know anything else going on there. But I think, to me, reads more as somebody who only knows about the sisterhood from the rumors circling around the Imperium, like, you and I quote, unquote, know things about what the CIA or NSA is up to. But do we really? All we really know is the stories that get out there. And maybe those are the stories being written in these Matilda novels. The other thing that really sticks out to me is Matilda herself, to me reads, is just like an extremely unbelievable Bene Gesserit sister.
- [50:50]
B
Sure, yeah.
- [50:51]
A
I understand she's the head laundress, and so maybe she didn't go through much of the advanced training. But you have to imagine, like, she went through some acolyte training, and the fact that she's still within the sisterhood means that she was capable enough to keep around and not just be, like, expelled or offloaded to a backwater planet or something. And I just don't believe Matilda graduated the acolyte schooling. So, again, reads, as somebody who doesn't know anything at all about acolyte schooling.
- [51:18]
B
An outsider, perhaps it's worth noting she is on Wallach, like, one of the most important planets for the. If she were on, like, a backwater planet, it's a little bit more like, yeah, she's of any degree of schooling. But you imagine the people on Wallach in particular.
- [51:33]
A
Yes.
- [51:34]
B
Are pretty closely guarded as humans.
- [51:37]
A
Exactly my thinking. Yeah, exactly my thinking. And the last piece of evidence I want to put forth is that the final lines of the final entry really read to me like, the end of extremely mediocre story. You know, like, oh. And then, you know, the moral of the story is that Matilda stood by her morals and she quit the Bene Gesserit and she left Gamont. And there's your, like, sort of sappy moral ending to the story. But also, does she have more adventures at Suds and Bubbles? I'm gonna leave a little thread open for a potential sequel.
- [52:11]
B
Good reception. We'll write another. You know, it's like a airport book when you're waiting for your guild highliner, you see the adventures of Matilda. You go, whoa. Yeah.
- [52:21]
A
So those are my sort of takeaways. After having gone through this entry and scripting and everything, I. I just couldn't shake the fact that this reads to me entirely like some sort of, like, Comedy player novella, short story series about Sister Matilda just because it is so dramatically different from everything else in the encyclopedia. But what about, what about you? What was your read on this entry?
- [52:46]
B
Yeah, I mean, I love that. You know, I'm always happy to pop on a tinfoil hat. So I'm like, dude, the idea of historians misinterpreting some smutty novel from the airport library as like a historical document. Oh my God, did you hear about this guy, Zayden Rierson? Apparently he was like a magic wielder and he had a dragon. Oh, my God. He lived in Brooklyn in 2005, you know, but I know I really enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun with it. I also fully agree that, like, man, the tone is so different now on some level you say, yeah, the tone is different because this is a first person account. This is a diary from a person. So of course it's not going to read like the scholarly article, peer reviewed, blah, blah, blah.
- [53:30]
A
Very true.
- [53:31]
B
And there is mention of the Procuratrix. So the sister at the Reverend Mother Maxine is a Procuratrix that Matilda mentions? Oh, yeah, she's a Procuratrix. So then the question is, is Procuratrix that we talked about in our, I think like the training, the path, the journey of the Bene Gesserit, is that public knowledge, I think would be an important data point. But I also, I agree that it is like a very interestingly written article. So I was also looking kind of from a meta standpoint. The author of this entry is Julia Reed, and then in parentheses, Myers. And I cannot for the life of me find out much about this person. There are a lot of Julia Reeds in the world. I can imagine when you add in Myers and Walter E. Myers as like husband. A lot of it is him. A lot of it is him because he was a professor and a linguist and he wrote many books and they were both contributors to the Dune Encyclopedia. So Julia Reed wrote maybe five or six entries. Walter E. Myers also wrote quite a few entries for the Dune Encyclopedia. And we actually talked about one of her other entries, Taizor Lichalo, in the Spice Morsels episode. It was the third Spice Morsels episode we did, and we actually started. Maybe this will help refresh anyone who is trying now desperately to remember who the fuck Tyzor Lecalo is. He was like the most influential musician in the Dune universe who was from Chusik. He like family made instruments. He then went on to like, influence every musician following him ever and so we talked about him and he had this great. But the thing is, and what I wanted to point out here, his entry is also very character focused, very grand, very fun. There's this adventure, I think literally he ends up dating a member of his choir after his wife dies. And like, it's kind of intriguing and fun. So. So I'm also like, maybe that's just Julia Reid's style as an author. Maybe she is writing these more fun, colorful, character driven stories and that's where adapting it into a first person diary delivery system is like brilliant. And honestly, dear listener, doing the mental math, it's possible Julia's still around. Maybe we'll try to track her down and ask her about these five pages she wrote in 1983. Right, whatever. But the point is, I really enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun with it. I think we talk about the Bene Gesserit so much on this podcast and it is worth remembering that we are talking about the top 1% of the top 1% at all times. Jessica, Mohaim, Odre, Terrazza, even fucking Lucilla. And like, you know, Shuang you these are characters who are at the very top echelon of Reverend mothers who are in all of the secret pies. So the idea that of the thousands of Bene Gesserit worlds and the millions, if not billions of people within the Bene Gesserit order, there aren't countless people like hapless, innocent, naive Matilda. Yeah, I'm kind of like, yeah, probably for sure.
- [56:49]
A
There's an argument to be made for that. Yeah, for sure.
- [56:51]
B
So I love both possibilities. I love a. That there is this like, if we're looking at the pyramid of like Bene Gesserit power dynamics, the bottom rung are just all like naive, you know, pearl clutching, like, oh my God, sex Matilda's of the world. Matilda's. Yeah, why not? Like we, we would never know that because we're never talking about them in Frank's prime canon. But I also am fucking obsessed with your theory that this is like some smutty like airport book that the historians are like, my God, she had such an interesting journey.
- [57:23]
A
Oh my gosh. We've uncovered a primary source.
- [57:25]
B
A primary source from Gammar is so good. So either way, I had a blast with this. I'm so such a fun. It's incredible we didn't talk about this. And it's also true that like, you know, you mentioned it earlier that McNelly did cut things from the Dune encyclopedia for being too silly. In fact, There are, I think, 11 Duncan, Idaho entries that have been cut from the Dune encyclopedia, and three or four of them were simply cut because they were too silly. So he did have this, like, threshold, and this clearly made the pass. But again, maybe it's because it's about Gamont, the hedonistic sex planet. I don't know. It's so fun.
- [58:06]
A
You know, maybe his. The threshold's lower because we're talking about such a silly planet.
- [58:11]
B
Yeah, right.
- [58:12]
A
And maybe he let this one pass. By the way, folks, if you're wondering how we know there are 11 cut Duncan, Idaho entries that McNelly never published, it's because we have our hands on them.
- [58:22]
B
Yeah. Yeah.
- [58:24]
A
From the Fullerton archives that Leo visited. And we will be talking about these cut entries in episodes over the course of the year. So keep an eye out for the lost entries. Series of episodes where we talk about the entries that never made the cut and were never published in the encyclopedia. But we were able to uncover.
- [58:43]
B
Yeah, and we'll probably also do, like, grabag episodes where it's like, hey, these three paragraphs were cut from these and blah, blah, blah. So it's like. Yeah, there's a lot of. Yeah. Oh, there's so much.
- [58:52]
A
Yeah, there's a lot on the cutting room floor. There's like a whole other encyclopedia worth of stuff just on the cutting room floor.
- [58:57]
B
Yeah, that's worth talking, honestly. True. So there you have it. There's Gamont. I hope, dear listener, this puts you in the mood to write a smutty book. Spend some quality time in Amsterdam, I guess. Eat some Tide pods. No, don't eat any Tide pods. For legal purposes, do not eat Tide pods. It's not food. Don't eat not food.
- [59:17]
A
It's not safe.
- [59:18]
B
It's not safe. But before we let you go, we want to remind you of some ways to support us here at Gom Jabbar and what we do. So the two best ways, of course, become a patron at our patreon.com gomjabbar Add free episodes, early access to book clubs, and peeks at our upcoming secret project, Reanalog. If you want to know about that, check out our Patreon. And of course, we have a merch store, gomjabar shop, New URL. We have Dune themed merchandise there if you like Dune and you want to show it off to people. But cool designs, some by me. Check them out. Those links are in the show notes.
- [59:54]
A
Check them out. Of course, we love to hear from you. And one of the best ways to get in touch with us is to email us. Gomjabbarpodcastmail.com is a great way to get in touch and share your. I'm not gonna open that can of worms. Just say hello. You know, come to bar podcastmail.com send us your thoughts and questions and cute pictures of your pets. But.
- [60:18]
B
And when we say anything, your parents. Yeah, when you say cute pictures of your pets, every word is literal. Cute pictures. Cute of your animal pets.
- [60:30]
A
That's right. There's no innuendo here.
- [60:36]
B
Cannot stress this enough to your parents and or youth pastor. Those are the people you're emailing.
- [60:45]
A
Think of Matilda.
- [60:47]
B
You are emailing Matilda. Baby Angel. Matilda. Sweet baby angel. 57 year old Matilda.
- [60:55]
A
That's right.
- [60:55]
B
Do not upset if your email doesn't.
- [60:57]
A
Pass the Matilda's test.
- [60:59]
B
Please. We have a. We have an AI filter that just Matilda style.
- [61:06]
A
The most puritan filter.
- [61:11]
B
Oh dear.
- [61:16]
A
Well friends, there is no real ending. It's just the place where you stop the recording. But this podcast is always one step beyond logic. So help spread the word of Muadib and leave us a review on Apple podcasts and Spotify. And of course be sure to check out the other shows on the Lore Party podcast network on loreparty.com youm can also follow us on Twitter and Instagram at loraparty. And we are on YouTube. Thank you so much for listening and remember, whoever controls the podcast controls the universe. We'll see you in Eden.
- [61:50]
B
Whoa. Or Nantucket first and Eden in two days.
- [61:55]
A
Whatever you're comfortable with.
- [61:56]
B
Whatever you're comfortable with.