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This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. I turned off news altogether. I hate to say it, but I
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don't trust much of anything.
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It's the rage bait.
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It feels like it's trying to divide people.
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If we got clear facts, maybe we could calm down a little.
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NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the Facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News News Reporting for America. The official language of football is trash talk, late night group chats, memes and unbelievable highlight clips. That's why Boost Mobile brings you our new global connection plan, the first plan ever made for WhatsApp. Get unlimited data, talk and text, international roaming and calls to over 100 countries for just $40 a month. $40 price includes five dollar a month autopay discount after 40 gigabytes of premium high speed data speeds will be lowered. Coverage not available everywhere. Visit boostmobile.com for details.
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Hi, it's Karen and Georgia from My Favorite Murder.
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We cruised around LA in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and dove into the fascinating life of actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr.
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Want the full story? Take a listen.
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She starts dating Howard Hughes and in fact, she helps him design a faster plane. So she finds the fastest bird and the fastest fish and sketches out a drawing of what the two would look like as a plane. And that becomes the plane that we know today. And he calls her a genius. Check out our new episode, spotlighting groundbreaking innovators like Hedy and Lamarr and Billie Jean King.
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Presented by the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
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Goodbye. Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Menke. Listener discretion advised as Te Fuero Fuero watched his foes retreat toward the muddy banks of the Huatara River. It all felt too easy. For nearly two years, the seasoned Maori warrior had led his vast army to push their tribal rivals down the west coast of what is now known as New Zealand's north island. By late 1821, early 1822, Te Fuero Fuero and his Waikato tribe allies had battled against the Ngati Toa across forests, mountains and swamps, with both sides suffering through hunger, pain and frequent casualties. So why now was his enemy retreating? Why would Te Fuero Fuero's savvy opposite number, Te Rapuaraha, simply back off once his party had reached the Taranaki region? Because that's where their reinforcements were surely waiting. Between Te Fuero Fuero's years of military experience and his lifetime of absorbing Maori lore and tribal connections, he knew there were plenty of hostile adversaries who would be more than happy to attack his allied forces as they progressed into the Taranaki territory. And so, despite the retreat, Te Fuero Fuero urged his army to halt. But many of his fellow leaders did not listen, instead ordering their men to charge. What followed was a brutal military disaster in which many of Te Fuero Fuero's side were slaughtered. Those who survived made a hasty retreat. But Te Fuero Fuero refused to join them. As the stories go, he instead stayed by the side of a killed Waikato chief. There the allies of the enemy tribe found him. The fighters were tempted to shoot Te Fuero Fuero on the spot. After all, he was the enemy leader. He'd likely been responsible for the deaths of many of their relatives. But then the leader of the enemy group, Te Raparaha, arrived on the scene. No one dared get in the way of the prominent chief and warlord who had transformed his small tribe into one of the most powerful on New Zealand. Te Raparaha himself had lost loved ones to his bloody years long feud with Te Fuero Fuero. So it's hard to imagine him not being tempted by the chance to inflict fierce vengeance as he walked towards his nemesis. As for Te Fuero Fuero, he was not one to go down without a fight. He was proportional, reportedly just as skilled with words as he was with weapons, which was a fortunate backup skill to have because according to several sources, the only weapon available to him at that moment was a digging implement. Despite being ridiculously outnumbered and outgunned, Te Fuero Fuero grabbed the tool and with his life, his tribe's fortunes, the power dynamics of the region and even the fate of long term royal control of New Zealand all hanging in the balance. He wielded his small weapon with every last bit of gravitas he could gather as his enemy approached. I'm Dana Schwartz and this is Noble Blood. Trying to rule over the entirety of New Zealand was no easy feat, especially in Te Fuer Fuera's era because there was no existing monarchical structure or overarching sense of national identity. To paint an extremely broad strokes picture of New Zealand's early history, its two largest islands, now simply called the north island and south island, were the last large habitable landmasses on earth to be reached by humans. According to both modern archaeological studies and generational Maori wisdom, Polynesians first traveled to the north island by canoe in approximately 1250. Scientific analysis has shown that they used more sophisticated navigation methods than many historians initially acknowledged. And by about 1350, Polynesian settlers were migrating in more substantial numbers over time, as villages grew, they began forming a distinct Maori culture. It wasn't until the 17th century that European sailors visited the grouping of over 600 islands. Then it took almost 200 more years for friction between colonists and Maori tribes to fuel a brutal period of political turmoil, Land grabs, and forced assimilation, all of which I will circle back to later. For now, the key hierarchies to know about that existed on the north and south islands When Te Fuerra Fuero was born around 1770 were the complex Maori systems of iwi, or tribes, hap, sub tribes and rangatiri, or chiefs. A rangatira's power was often, but not always, hereditary. In Te Fuero Fuero's case, it certainly was, since his father was a chief and his mother the daughter of another chief within the large Waikato tribe. This afforded him ample clout and opportunity from birth. Te Fuero Fuero also initially benefited from growing up in a period of relative peace, since that allowed him plenty of time to gain valuable knowledge and experience. Under the supervision of his renowned warrior father, Te Fuerrefuer reportedly honed his fighting skills, studied military strategy, and absorbed traditional Maori lore. Then he continued to learn genealogy, sacred rituals, and arcane wisdom at an exclusive Maori institution of higher learning, where elders instructed a select few pupils, mostly sons of chiefs. This all helped enhance the Te Fuerafuera's mana, a crucial element for a Maori leader. The concept of mana is extremely complex and profound within Maori culture and therefore difficult for me to succinctly encapsulate. That said, it's often translated and understood as an intangible force that gives a person or entity prestige, prestige, authority or power. As we'll explore more soon, mana was key to Te Fuera Fuera's life and unprecedented ascent as a leader. The peaceful period could only last so long for his Waikato tribe, and Te Fuero. Fuero soon needed all the mana he could get to survive the coming musket war. The musket wars were actually a series of thousands of battles among Maori tribes spanning 1807 to 1845. These violent conflicts were later grouped together by scholars Due to how they were markedly influenced by the introduction of, you guessed it, the musket. As European settlers brought and traded guns, it essentially sparked a Maori arms race among tribes and sub tribes. Although the Europeans, the majority of them British, supplied the firepower, they were initially vastly outnumbered and supposedly mostly focused on trading, whaling and proselytizing as Protestant Christian missionaries. This meant that in his warrior prime, Te Fuero Fuero's biggest foes were other tribes. He went on numerous military campaigns, the most dramatic being his war against the Ngati Toa iwi. Because in this rival tribe, Te Fuero Fuero met an equally formidable adversary, a mighty chief by the name of Te Raparaha. According to many sources, tensions particularly ratcheted up when members of the Ngate Toa killed a relative of Te Fuero Fuera's. This prompted him to spearhead a series of revenge missions which included allegedly overseeing the murder of one of Te Rauparaha's wives when she visited waikato territory in 1820. This sparked a bitter feud over territory, resources and purported hostile transgressions. While Te Fuero Fuero's father continued to lead the larger Waikato tribe, Te Fuero Fuero led a coalition army of warriors from Waikato and another IWI against the Ngata Toa and their chief, Te Raparaja. Te Fuero Fuero's side won decisive victories, attacking by land and sea and eventually surrounding the Ngate Toa near Kaffia harbor on the North Island's west coast. Te Fuero Fuero and his legion of warriors seemingly had a perfect chance to annihilate their opposition. And yet they didn't. The reasoning behind this apparently perplexed some scholars, especially those predominantly accustomed to studying European monarchies. One likely explanation proposed by experts on Maori culture is that Te Fuero Fuero showed restraint due to deeper dimensions within his tribe's structure. Namely, while his larger Waikato IWI was at war with Te Rauparaha's Gate Toa iwi, there were still numerous critical links between many of the involved fighters. Sub tribes. The specific names of these connected sub tribes were seemingly not well documented or commemorated, but multiple accounts claim that the majority of the senior members in Te Fuerafuero's army were against executing Te Roparaha. Ultimately, Te Fuero Fuero listened to his people and negotiated for his tribe and to take control of Ngatitoa territory. And he banished his foes to the Taranaki region to the south of his enlarged Wakato domain. Subsequently, Te Fuer Fuero led his army into Taranaki, possibly to keep pushing Te Rauparaha south, although it appears probable that his most pressing goal was to rescue an allied war party from that was under siege nearby. This is where things took a drastic turn. Te Fuerafuero supposedly had the foresight to realize Te Roparaha was planning the fake retreat. But when his fellow Waikato warriors and chiefs disregarded his warnings and attacked anyway, he had little choice but to support them. The legends and history books are murky about the exact identity of the slain Waikato chief with whom Te Fuero Fuero stayed while his enemies closed in. But according to the many probably embellished accounts of that fateful day, his loyalty to his allies and love for his fellow leader could not have been clearer. The real question was how far any related benevolence stretched among his enemies, namely, what mercy was within the heart of Te Roparaha. Fortunately for Te Fuero Fuero, his chief adversary, arrived and ultimately decided to stay his execution. Once again, the question of why has intrigued historians and writers. The simplest explanation is that Te Ruparaha felt compelled to repay his debt since Te Fuer Fuero had previously spared his life. As we've touched upon, the more complex answer involves several other notable factors, including territory negotiations and underlying relationships between sub tribes. Importantly underpinning all of this was the fascinating and foundational concept of mana. As previously mentioned, mana denoted the authority and prestige of a person. It bestowed respect. It was the essence of someone's aura. But mana went beyond that. Maori society had no specific word or concept of religion in the same sense that many European cultures at the time did. As certain researchers and anthropologists have pointed out, supernatural and natural were inextricably linked and intertwined throughout the fabric of Maori daily tribal life all through mana. Mana was inherited at birth but also constantly fluctuated over one's lifetime. Maori could increase their mana through courageous acts such as fighting heroically in battle, while their mana might decrease if they suffered distinct embarrassments such as allowing themselves to be shamefully tricked on occasion, mana could be sneakily stolen or even stem from brash humor. In a 1990 issue of New Zealand Geographic, a journalist and student of Maori culture and customs named Chris Winitana recounted this amusing story about his ancestor from roughly 300 years ago who was famously skilled with a type of long staff weapon. One day he was caught alone near the Star Lake by a battalion of soldiers out to settle a score. Outnumbered 400 to 1, he had a choice to make die run or simply see who had the most mana. Deciding on the latter, he calmly lifted his war apron, exposed himself, and urinated in front of the enemy. Satisfied that he had made the right impact, he yelled out to them, you have now seen my long staff. Do not come forth for its mana will kill you. Nonchalantly, he turned around, broke wind, and walked away, fearing the double edged threat of his mana. Not One of the 400 was game to have a go. Power, prestige, pissing contests, all were laced with mana, and above all, mana was deeply rooted in family. A Maori person's mana went all the way back to their ancestors and to the Atua, their ancestral deities and potent keepers of knowledge who helped to link people to the natural world. Crucially, Te Fuero Fuero's and Te Rauparaha's respective mana were believed to flow all the way from the revered captains of the two legendary Polynesian canoes that first landed on the shores of the North Islands. So these leaders crossing paths as influential chiefs in their own rights was something of a full circle moment. In terms of New Zealand Maori and hereditary history, Te Fuero Fuero would have undoubtedly known this thanks to his schooling and genealogical wisdom. Accordingly, he was reportedly an eloquent orator and so he surely made his case well when faced with his rival chieftain and the threat of execution, and what he couldn't get across in words, he backed up with his actions. Because Te Roparaha did not let Te Fuero Fuero off easy. As the stories go, Te Fuero Fuero first had to face numerous well armed chiefs in single combat with only the simple digging tool he had to defend himself. Unlike the, ahem, long staff master who boldly peed and farted to intimidate his foes, Te Fuero Fuero had to actually fight for his life, since his opponents apparently were all game to have a go. But he conducted himself valiantly and in the end, the combination of Te Fuero Fuero's heritage, past deeds, charisma and raw power all ostensibly persuaded Te Raparajas to negotiate for his release when a number of Waikato allies returned. Put simply, Te Fuero Fuero had too much mana to deny. It's worth noting that scholarship today largely relies on both European historical texts and Maori oral traditions. Understandably, these sources often offer decidedly different perspectives. For a long period, Maori oral traditions were disregarded by many colonial scholars. These dismissals purportedly went hand in hand with the sort of Eurocentric vision for New Zealand that was used to directly and indirectly justify attempts throughout the 19th century to separate Maori from their lands and force them to culturally assimilate. However, later analysis by a range of both Maori historians and non native researchers frequently showed that while sometimes embellished, these oral histories were just as accurate, if not more so, than many European settlers. Written documentations and if anything, the passed down legends give us the best context and insight regarding many significant and densely interconnected Maori tribal events such as Te Fuero Fuero and Te Rapu Raha's epic rivalry. Te Fuero Fuero's legacy kept growing through the musket wars. In terms of hierarchy, Te Fuero Fuero took command of the overall Waikato iwi when his father died in about 1830. He then continued to increase Waikato territory throughout the central part of the north island, ultimately helping to make them one of the most powerful and prosperous tribes in all of New Zealand. Te Fuerafuero eventually even saw value in negotiating for peace with the Ngata Toa. According to some chroniclers, it was quite mutually beneficial for these prominent tribes to work together as their interests further aligned due to the encroachment of common enemies and their increasing need to deal with foreign governments and monarchs. Some scholars have additionally posited that Te Fuero Fuero's peacemaking was a result of his increased interest in British missionaries, Christian teaching and values. All that said, Te Fuero Fuero by no means became a universally beloved individual or an entirely magnanimous figurehead. After all, he'd still committed and instigated plenty of war and murder. But as a warrior ranked he kira and spiritual leader, Te Fuer Fuero was seemingly always able to garner some level of respect even from his opponents. And in many ways, the image of Tifuera Fuero loyally standing guard besides a fallen ally brandishing a digging implement while attackers encircled him, was symbolic of both his Persona and of dramatic events to come. Because as colonists increasingly ventured from Europe to New Zealand, the dark storm clouds of a Maori versus British war began gathering on the horizon. Te Fuerro Fuero would soon find himself caught in the middle as he was ultimately presented with the staggering opportunity to become the first ever monarch in Maori history. That's part one of the story of Te Fuer Fuera's unique rise to royalty. But stick around after a brief sponsor break to learn a fascinating piece of his rival turn comrade's spiritual legacy. When summer rolls around, I always think about my closet. It makes me just want to get rid of all the unnecessary things and have quality great pieces that I can reach for again and again. I'm not someone who is so good at fashion. I just need a few pieces that work with everything. And that's really why I keep coming back to Quint. They focus on high quality essentials like breathable linen, the soft organic cotton, washable silk, and it's without the luxury markup. So it's this rare balance where everything feels elevated but it's all still easy. Quince has beautiful everyday pieces like 100% European linen pants, which personally I'm wearing pretty much every other day when it's summer in Los Angeles. I love linen. It's so light. It's so easy. Quince also has denim that's soft and easy to wear and organic cotton sweaters that are perfect for throwing on layering when the nights get cool. And everything at Quint's is priced 50 to 80, 80% less than similar brands because they're working directly with ethical factories, cutting out the middlemen. So you pay for the quality of the clothes, not the brand markup. And it's also not just clothes. Quint also is a destination for elevated essentials across home bedding and beyond. I have curtains from Quints. I have them in my room. I have them in my baby's room. So elevate your summer wardrobe. Go to quince.comnoble for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N c e.comnoble for free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.comnoble I turned off news altogether. I hate to say it, but I
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don't trust much of anything. It's the rage bait.
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It feels like it's trying to divide people.
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We got clear facts. Maybe we could calm down a little.
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NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the Facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News reporting for America. The official language of football is trash talk, late night group chats, memes and unbelievable highlight clips. That's why Boost Mobile brings you our new global connection plan, the first plan ever made for WhatsApp. Get unlimited data, talk and text, international roaming and calls to over 100 countries for just $40 a month. $40 price includes $5 a month autopay discount after 40 gigabytes of premium high speed data. Speeds will be lowered. Coverage not available everywhere. Visit Store or BoostMobile.com for details.
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For anyone who has watched New Zealand's vaunted international rugby team, the All Blacks, prepare for a match in recent decades, the sight and sound of their forceful haka, or ceremonial challenge is incredibly iconic. Interestingly, the haka most commonly performed by the All Blacks and many other New Zealand sports teams is Ka Mate, which was composed by none other than Te Fuero, Fuero's one time bitter rival, Te Rapuraha. Maori oral histories credit the famed Ngatutoa chief with creating the haka in 1820 after evading some of his Waikato enemies in the Musket wars, the chief reportedly had to hide in a sweet potato storage pit with the help of a female farmer. When he safely emerged into the sunlight, he was so elated and thankful that he composed the chant as a celebration of life over death and as an ode to the spiritual power of the woman who stood guard and helped save his life. Not only did New Zealand's sporting traditions benefit from the chief surviving Te Fuero Fuero eventually would as well, because the rival chief's lineage would greatly impact Se Fuerr Fuero's eventual candidacy to become the first king of New Zealand. But listen to next week's episode to find out about that. Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Erin Menke. Nobleblood is hosted by me, Dana Schwartz. Writers for Noble Blood are Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Paul Jaffe, Natasha Lasky, and me, Dana Schwartz. The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk and Gnomes Griffin, with supervising producer Rima Il Kayali and executive producers Erin Menke, Trevor Young and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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Hi, it's Karen and Georgia from My favorite Murder.
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We cruised around LA in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and dove into the fascinating life of actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr.
- [30:05]
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Want the full story? Take a listen.
- [30:07]
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She starts dating Howard Hughes and in fact she helps him design a faster plane. So she finds the fastest bird and the fastest fish and sketches out a drawing of what the two would look like as a plane. And that becomes the plane that we know today. And he calls her a genius. Check out our new episode spotlighting groundbreaking innovators like Hedy Lamar and Billie Jean King.
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Presented by the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
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Goodbye.
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This is Bethany Frankel from Just Be with Bethany Frankel. Most dog food is marketing, not nutrition. That is why Biggie and Smalls eat just food for dogs. Real 100 human grade food with ingredients I actually recognize. And yes, I do see the difference. Better digestion, healthier skin, more energy. Dogs that feel better. My babies, if you've been on the fence about switching, stop overthinking it. What's more important than your furry babies and their health? Go to justfoodfordogs.com right now and get 50% off your first box. No code needed. Just try it.
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When Kohler, global design leader in luxurious kitchen and bath products, asked me to be their ambassador for timeless, elegant, durable cast iron, I said, I'm in. Soon after I was in their Kohler, Wisconsin foundry watching molten iron, poured, enamel applied by hand, and the beautiful finished pieces ready to ship. Since 1883, Kohler cast iron has been crafted by incredible artisans, and seeing it firsthand gave me a whole new appreciation for their craftsmanship. Now I'm proud to lend my stamp of approval to my favorite Kohler cast iron products for their durability, beauty and enduring style. Shop my curated picks@kohler.com. as the Kohler Cast Iron Ambassador, I say long live Cast Iron.
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This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.