Radiolab
Episode: Detective Stories
Date: September 10, 2007
Hosts: Jad Abumrad, Robert Krulwich
Producers: WNYC Studios

Overview

"Detective Stories" explores how clues to the past—hidden in garbage dumps, obscure letters, and even our own DNA—can uncover remarkable human stories and rewrite our histories. Radiolab’s hosts guide listeners through three investigative journeys: unearthing ancient papyri in Egypt, reconstructing the life of a mysterious woman from discarded letters, and tracing the genetic footprint of Genghis Khan across continents. Each story reveals how remnants of human life, often overlooked, can become unexpected time capsules, shaping our understanding of history, identity, and memory.

Segment 1: Garbage as a Time Capsule

[00:10 — 19:00]

Key Points

• Setting the Scene:
  Jad Abumrad takes listeners to Staten Island’s Fresh Kills landfill with Chief Dennis Diggins from the NYC Department of Sanitation, highlighting the site’s 50 years of accumulated trash—“one big time capsule.” [02:40]

  “All these mounds are getting wrapped in plastic and covered with grass…But underneath it all, the garbage will still be here. Fifty years of trash waiting patiently until someone comes to look for it. And someone always does.” (Jad, 01:42)

• Garbage Archaeology:
  Fresh Kills once received 11,000 tons of rubbish a day. Diggins describes past archaeological work, including a ten-year-old hot dog found perfectly preserved in the landfill. [02:14]

  “How do I say it right?” (Jad, 02:04)
  “Archaeological garbage man…came up with a hot dog, landfill, ten years previously.” (Chief Dennis Diggins, 02:14–02:18)

• Ancient Garbage in Egypt:
  The story transitions to Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, 1898. Two Oxford archaeologists, Grenfell and Hunt, discovered a thousand years’ worth of undisturbed trash mounds containing vast quantities of ancient pottery, textiles, everyday objects—and, crucially, papyrus fragments.
  [03:56]

• The Papyrus Mother Lode:
  Dirk Obink, Oxford scholar, recounts their discovery—over 700 boxes’ worth of papyri, many still being studied today (covering only ~1% so far). Inside: everything from lost sayings of Jesus to works of Homer and common documents.
  [06:09–08:34]

  “It may take another ten centuries to get through the rest.” (Jad, 08:11)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Recognizably a hot dog. That’s amazing. And disgusting.” (Jad & Diggins, 02:25)

• “This is what 2,000-year-old paper sounds like.” (Jad, 06:40)

Timestamps

• 00:10 — Standing atop Fresh Kills landfill
• 02:14 — Ten-year-old hot dog found
• 03:56 — Discovery at Oxyrhynchus
• 06:09 — Boxes of papyri in Oxford

Segment 2: Greatest Hits from Ancient Garbage

[10:00 — 19:00]

Key Points

• The Challenges:
  Most papyri are fragmentary, like “conglomerations of corn flakes.” Piecing together and reading them may take centuries.
  [07:46–08:59]

• Top Three Finds:
  Jad shares his “Ancient Garbage Greatest Hits:”

  1. 666 or 616?
     The earliest known New Testament fragment reveals the “Number of the Beast” as 616, not 666.

     “But in fact, Chi Yoda Sigma don’t say 666… 616 may be the original.” (Jad and Dirk, 12:26)

  2. Homeric Contradictions:
     Infrared technology recovers an ancient poem by Archilochus retelling the Trojan War—not as a tale of heroic last stands, but celebrating strategic retreat:

     “We turned our backs to flee quickly, and that’s okay. He actually celebrated it as something he was proud of...Sometimes you had to run and it was okay.” (Dirk Obink, 15:22)

  3. Everyday Papyrus: Erotic Literature:
     Among the fragments: ancient Greek “filthy satire”—suggesting the popularity of racy stories even 2,000 years ago.

     “What do you think people in the first century were reading? ... That’s what they were reading.” (Jad, 16:27)

Timestamps

• 10:00 — Restoration process in Oxford
• 11:12 — Ancient fragment with “666”—or “616”
• 14:18 — Archilochus’ version of the Trojan War
• 16:27 — Ancient erotic literature found among papyri

Segment 3: The Mystery of Ella Chase

[20:58 — 42:25]

Key Points

• Finding Ella Chase:
  Reporter Laura Starcheski investigates a box of old letters discovered by Eric Gordon on the side of Highway 101—a serendipitous find triggered by stopping to look at a goat standing on a cow.
  [23:24]

  “We sit in the truck for a minute watching this cow…The goat kind of shifts…balancing.” (Eric Gordon, 24:06)

• Letters from the Past:
  Over 300 letters addressed to Ella Chase, spanning the 1890s–1950s, offer glimpses into her relationships. Many WWII soldiers, unrelated to her, wrote to “Mom”—suggesting she became a kind of surrogate mother to young men far from home or family. [26:38–27:45]

  “Well, Mom, I hope you don’t mind me calling you this because you were just a mother to me.” (Letter from W. Murphy, 27:06)

• Detective Work and Dead Ends:
  Laura and genealogist Marina Cole track census records, archival documents, and cemetery records, gradually reconstructing Ella’s life—a divorce trial splashed across newspapers, a husband’s tragic death, and her eventual burial with her parents.
  [32:41–36:52]

• Closure & Coincidence:
  The letters had been accidentally lost by Ella's grandson Bob while driving down Highway 101—a chain of accidents leading to their discovery. Eric and Bob reconnect through Laura, exchanging more family mementos and closing an accidental circle.
  [39:02–41:00]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “She became this matriarch to all of these men in the war.” (Laura, 27:57)
• “If there’s no one to take them over, I want to live with them as a mystery.” (Eric, 38:33)
• “Bob passes by…the box flies out…a couple hours later, this goat jumps on a cow’s back and causes these two people to stop and get the letters.” (Jad, 41:00)

Timestamps

• 23:24 — Goat-on-cow encounter
• 26:02 — Discovery of letters to Ella Chase
• 29:00 — Students create “ghost biographies” for Ella
• 32:41 — Visit to original house & cemetery
• 36:52 — Finding Ella’s grave
• 39:02 — Grandson Bob’s accidental loss of letters

Segment 4: Genghis Khan and the Genetics of Conquest

[44:52 — 60:52]

Key Points

• Tracking Ancestry with DNA:
  DNA is not only for crime but also for tracing deep lineage. The Y chromosome—passed unchanged from father to son save for rare mutations—serves as a genetic time capsule.
  [45:39–47:12]

• Expedition into Central Asia:
  Geneticist Spencer Wells and team collect blood samples across Asia. In the lab, Tatiana Zerjal finds a startling pattern: a massive number of men from disparate Asian populations share a recent male ancestor (~1,000 years ago).
  [47:39–50:35]

• Connecting the Dots—To Genghis Khan:
  Geographic mapping of the “mutation” aligns precisely with the spread of the Mongol Empire; historical records parallel the scientific findings.
  [51:44–53:02]

  “I said to him, you know, Chris, I think I found Genghis Khan.” (Tatiana, 52:14)

• Genghis Khan’s Legacy:
  The genetic lineage matches historical accounts of Genghis’s vast progeny—one of the most prolific biological “fathers” in human history, with an estimated 16 million male descendants alive today.
  [54:47]

• Cultural Resonance and Commercial DNA Tests:
  The public’s fascination: DNA tests for “Genghis Khan ancestry” become popular (and lucrative), though the only way to absolutely confirm is to locate and test Genghis Khan’s actual remains. Adventurers and scientists continue the search—in vain, so far—but even without the definitive body, the genetic evidence tells a powerful story.

  “Does that really mean anything definitively? … The only way you ever know for sure is you gotta go to the body, pluck some DNA from the body. See if it matches the mutation. So you gotta find Genghis Khan’s body.” (Jad & Robert, 56:14)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “In all of time…he may be the most successful biological father in human history.” (Jad, 54:47)
• “I never thought there would have been that interest [in DNA testing for Genghis Khan].” (Restaurant owner at ‘Shish,’ 56:07)
• “The neat thing about all these tales is…there are clues about the past everywhere.” (Robert, 60:39)

Timestamps

• 45:39 — Introduction to Y chromosome and DNA inheritance
• 47:43 — Spencer Wells’ expedition in Asia
• 51:44 — Map of genetic findings matches Mongol Empire
• 52:14 — “I think I found Genghis Khan.”
• 54:47 — Genghis Khan as “most successful biological father”
• 56:14 — The need for Genghis’s body for confirmation

Closing Thoughts

Radiolab’s “Detective Stories” uses curiosity-driven investigation and inventive storytelling to show how everyday refuse, accidental finds, and genetic markers hold the power to unravel mysteries, rewrite facts, and forge new connections with the past. Whether combing landfills, deciphering boxes of old letters, or mapping humanity’s genes, each tale reminds us that the traces we leave behind are never truly lost, and sometimes, the most profound clues to our origins are hiding in plain sight.

Essential Timestamps Guide

| Segment/Theme | Timestamp | |----------------------------------|---------------| | Fresh Kills as Time Capsule | 00:10–03:00 | | Oxyrhynchus Papyrus Discovery | 03:56–08:59 | | Ancient Garbage “Greatest Hits” | 10:00–16:27 | | Eric Gordon & Ella Chase Letters | 23:24–41:00 | | Genghis Khan’s Genetic Legacy | 44:52–60:52 |

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• “This is one big time capsule.” (Chief Dennis Diggins, 02:41)
• “We pulled out the lost sayings of Jesus…almost 2,000 years old.” (Dirk Obink, 05:08)
• “If there’s no one to take them over, I want to live with them as a mystery.” (Eric Gordon, 38:33)
• “I think I found Genghis Khan.” (Tatiana Zerjal, 52:14)
• “You pluck the piece of paper and Jesus is talking to you. There are clues about the past everywhere.” (Robert, 60:39)

Listeners come away reminded that detective work doesn’t happen only in laboratories and archives—it happens wherever curiosity meets the ordinary, and the past waits, hidden, in the most unexpected places.