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Holly Fry
You're listening to an iHeart podcast.
Unknown
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Andrea Gunning
I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone, most of all his wife, Caroline.
Tracy V. Wilson
He texted, I've ruined our lives. You're going to want to divorce me.
Andrea Gunning
How far would he go to cover up what he'd done?
Unknown
The fact that you lied is absolutely horrific, and quite frankly, I question how many other women are out there that may bring forward allegations in the future.
Andrea Gunning
Listen to betrayal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Maria Tremarky
Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Fry and Maria Tremarky, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the Highwayman suggests men dominated the field, but tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrers, known as the wicked lady who terrorized England in the mid-1600s, her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Find more crime and cocktails on Criminalia. Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Holly Fry
Welcome to Stuff youf Missed in history class. A production of iHeartradio. Hello and happy Friday. I'm Holly Fry.
Tracy V. Wilson
And I'm Tracy V. Wilson.
Holly Fry
So we talked about the Meiji Restoration and the Meiji Jingu Shrine today, this week.
Tracy V. Wilson
That's a lot of stuff.
Holly Fry
It's a lot of stuff. And I really wanted to talk about it in part because I had such a very moving experience there, which is kind of indicative to a lot of stuff you and I have been talking about on the show lately and the times that we're living in. But it hit me so hard while I was there that I just kind of broke down, because we mentioned at the end of the show that one of the things you can do is, like, write a letter essentially, with your hopes and your wishes in it, and you tuck a little money in and you put it in their offering box. And in my letter, I was trying to convey in a succinct way the troubles of the world we're living in and how much I wanted to pass through them and be in a better place. And it broke me. Like, I really was just like, I can't. To try to parse it in a simple way made it so oddly painful and moving. I'm getting very choked up just talking about it, that I literally. My best friend was like, are you okay? Brian? Who was not doing his letter. He was kind of standing around and enjoying the space. They were both a little like, this is not what we expected to happen. Oh, no. But it's what happened. It was really, really beautiful. But as a remedy to that, I will tell you about the spectacular car ride we had back to our hotel afterwards because we had a driver. I love this man with my whole soul. He does not speak English, but he ran all of his stuff through a translator, and he told great jokes, and he was really funny and really lovely. And one of the things that was really interesting that he talked about was the fact that a lot of Westerners will come to visit as tourists and they'll go to someplace like the Meiji Jingu Shrine. And their takeaway is that it's really a shame that Christianity got pushed into this country and, you know, somehow adulterated these beautiful religions that were already here and have existed for centuries. And he was like, listen, we have gods of everything in this country, so adding Jesus was not a problem. And I was just like, I don't know if this is the perspective of everyone, but it was so hilarious and sweet and funny. He was like, you know, we literally will worship the spirits of, like, pencils and leaves so, like, it's fine. It's not in conflict for us. We can incorporate all of it together. And I was like, that is a cool way to consider it, because I have often been that person that's like, why do you have to go shift everybody's cultural beliefs to match your own? But his being like, it's fine. It really doesn't change ours in any way.
Tracy V. Wilson
We've also talked about much earlier periods of Japanese history when, like, all of the Christian missionaries were either expelled or killed.
Holly Fry
Right.
Tracy V. Wilson
Way earlier on from what we were talking about today. My experience in Japan recently has been playing the video game Assassin's Creed Shadows, which is set in Japan at the end of the 16th century. There are shrines all over that game, and there are. You do the thing in the game where you clap and you bow.
Holly Fry
Yeah.
Tracy V. Wilson
You get a little shrine blessing. Sometimes, though, you go to a shrine and it's. It's full of enemies and you might end up having to kill all of them, and that's it. It feels disrespectful to me.
Unknown
Yeah.
Holly Fry
Yeah.
Tracy V. Wilson
I'm not saying that as a criticism of the game designers. I don't know what their thinking was. I don't know what people in Japan's thinking was, but anytime I get into a fight in a shrine, I'm like, I don't like, this is.
Holly Fry
What am I supposed to be doing this. I feel.
Tracy V. Wilson
This feels a little bit bad to me.
Holly Fry
Yeah.
Tracy V. Wilson
I have been thinking about doing something related to Japanese history because I've been spending so much time playing this game. But number one, I'm not to the end of the game yet. And I just. I sort of. I don't want to pick something that then is going to be influential to the end of the game. And there are. It also, the game does overlap with some things that we have talked about on the show before, and so I would not want to repeat those things. So I was glad that you picked something out of a completely different era of Japanese history to talk about today.
Holly Fry
Yeah, I mean, it was, you know, informed by my own curiosity and desire to know more about it. But it really is quite fascinating, their art, shrines all over Japan. And I really do find the Shinto belief system very beautiful. And I just love the idea of, you know, there being many things we can appreciate and pay respects to. And I really love that driver who also sang with us. Aww. He told us. Oh, you're gonna laugh. It's not okay. I mean, they're charming songs, but it's not gonna Be what you think. He was telling us that, you know, for a long time a lot of kids in J because everything they got from the west in terms of television was dubbed that. There were many kids that he knew growing up that thought that Americans were all bilingual and could speak Japanese. And when American movie stars first started really doing stuff in Japan, you know, like promoting films and like going and doing interviews, they realized they had been so wrong and that those people did not speak Japanese. But his point was that what English he knows, he learned from 1980s television. And then we sang the theme to Knight Rider together and the A team theme together.
Tracy V. Wilson
Okay.
Holly Fry
I love that, man. That was the best 45 minutes of my life.
Tracy V. Wilson
That sounds very fun.
Holly Fry
He was so charming and so delightful and really, really lovely. I mean, we met a lot of wonderful, wonderful people in Japan, but that was the best ride we had for sure. He was great and really, really interested in, like sharing their culture with us and talking about our perceptions of it. And praise technology for translator apps because he and Brian were making jokes to each other through a translator app, which was the funniest thing on the planet to watch because they were both just belly laughing. It was the best. It was the absolute best. And it was nice because I had had my little breakdown at the shrine, so I liked having a big giggle moment.
Tracy V. Wilson
That's fun.
Holly Fry
And I will always think about him talking about the spirits of pencils and how we'll worship that just like anything else. And I was like, I love you, man.
Unknown
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Breaking News T Mobile Network outperforms expectations in all sectors because T Mobile helps keep you connected from the heart of Portland to right where you are on America's largest 5G network. Switch now keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off up to $800 per line via prepaid card. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com KeepAndSwitch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card will last 15 days. Qualified unlock device, credit service port in 90 days. Device and eligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card is no cash access and expires in six months.
Andrea Gunning
I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone, most of all his wife, Caroline.
Tracy V. Wilson
He texted, I've ruined our lives. You're going to want to divorce me.
Andrea Gunning
Caroline's husband was living another life behind the scenes. He betrayed his oath to his family and to his community.
Holly Fry
She said you left bruises, pulled her hair, that type of thing. No?
Andrea Gunning
How far would Joel go to cover up what he'd done?
Unknown
You're unable to keep track of all your lies and quite frankly, I question how many other women may bring forward allegations in the future.
Andrea Gunning
This season of Betrayal investigates one officer's decades of deception, lies that left those closest to him questioning everything they thought they knew. Listen to betrayal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Unknown
Amy Robach and TJ Holmes here, Diddy's former protege, television personality, platinum selling artist and Danity Kang alum Aubrey o' Day joins us to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation.
Aubrey o' Day is sitting next to us. Here you are. As we sit here, right up the street from where the trial is taking place. Some people saw that you were going to be in New York and they immediately started jumping to conclusions. So can you clear that up? First of all, are you here to testify in the Diddy trial? Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise based on her firsthand knowledge from her days on making the band. As she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be opposite of the glitz and glamour.
Andrea Gunning
It wasn't all bad, but I don't know that any of the good was real. I went through things there.
Unknown
Listen to Amy and TJ presents Aubrey O' Day covering the Diddy trial on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
Tracy V. Wilson
One of the things that we talked about on the show this week was the Triple Nickels Parachute Battalion. I do not know the answer to why they went with the spelling N I C K L E S, which is not how we would normally spell the nickel coin. And I did not find a conclusive explanation for why that spelling was the one that they wound up with. I did again want to thank Josiah for submitting this topic because number one, great topic, very much appreciated. Number two, just as the email arrived, I was thinking about wanting to find a similar topic to cover on the show because while we do have topics that are about combat units or battles or aspects like that related to the military and warfare, I also really like the ones about units that are doing things that aren't necessarily what a person might initially think of in terms of the military. So things like smoke jumpers and the people sorting the mail and the people going on test long distance bike ride.
Holly Fry
Yeah.
Tracy V. Wilson
The women Air Force service pilots that we've talked about a number of times a long time ago, all of that. So yes, thank you so much for sending me.
Holly Fry
Yes, it's a super engaging story. I'm really glad you did this one.
Tracy V. Wilson
Thank you. Me too. I did have to do way more research than usual at the wayback machine at archive.org if anyone is not familiar with the wayback machine, archive.org maintains an archive of websites. It does not have every single website in the world. It is possible for people to opt their website out of it, but it contains sort of snapshots of prior versions of websites. This is how a very long time ago when we were we had been part of a company called How Stuff Works and we had a website for the podcast and eventually after we were acquired by iHeartradio. IHeartradio did not control that previous website. It did not belong to iHeart. It belonged to How Stuff Works. And so we lost access to it. And so for a long time, the Wayback Machine is how I would find old stuff related to old episodes of the show that had some kind of something that was on the website that I did not have saved on my machine anymore or whatever. It got used a lot in the research for this because there were a couple of things that seem to have been reorganized or removed from government websites some years in the past. But then there were also quite a number of things that they disappeared in January or early February, presumably because they fell afoul of the executive orders relating to dei. And I did not enjoy that. It made me angry every single time I followed a link from somewhere and it took me to a 404 page and then I put that same link into archive.org and I would find the exact same correct thing, but you know, on a page that's no longer actually there via the military, via a government website, it made me mad. Didn't like it.
Holly Fry
Yeah, that's some justified anger.
Tracy V. Wilson
I also went down kind of a rabbit hole with this episode. I did read the memoir by Lt. Col. Bradley Biggs for this episode about called the Triple Nickels, America's first all black Paratroop Unit. And he described the accident that we talked about briefly that happened at Eglin Field. He did not name specific like dates that that had happened in the memoir. So it took me a little bit to figure out exactly when this accident happened and a little bit more detail about what was involved. It was clear from his memoir that he did not feel that it had been appropriately investigated or handled by the military. And so as I was looking into it, I was like, do I need to put in some FOIA requests for this?
Holly Fry
Right.
Tracy V. Wilson
Like so that's the Freedom of Information Act. Had I done that, I definitely would not have gotten an answer by the time we needed to record the episode. So I don't really know if there is further information from the military about that accident and what happened. It was reported in the local newspapers immediately after it happened. I did not find any follow ups in newspapers about the results of any kind of investigation from later on though.
Holly Fry
Right? Yeah. Like I mentioned in an aside, I grew up not far from Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt Field, which is a little ways away. But they often work in conjunction and I certainly don't recall ever hearing anything about it. I was there, of course, decades later. But there are a lot of historical markers and whatnot about many things that have happened in the area and specifically related to the bases. And I don't recall ever seeing anything about it. Now it's also possible that I, a self involved and stupid kid, maybe just never noticed it.
Tracy V. Wilson
Right?
Holly Fry
Yeah, yeah.
Tracy V. Wilson
My starting point had been lists of incidents associated with the, with the airfield and I was not finding it on those lists. But also those lists were primarily about things involving an aircraft crashing.
Holly Fry
Right.
Tracy V. Wilson
Not what happened in this case, which was bombs being deployed in the wrong.
Holly Fry
Yeah.
Tracy V. Wilson
So yeah, I wish I had more detail about that. I don't know if maybe as some side project later on I might be FOIA time, I don't know. But yeah, it was clear from his memoir that he did not feel that it had been handled appropriately.
Holly Fry
Do you need comedic relief from the sort of sadness of that and.
Tracy V. Wilson
Oh, sure.
Holly Fry
The general racism that's part of this episode.
Tracy V. Wilson
Yeah.
Holly Fry
Listen, this is a big confession because as everybody knows, I'm a military kid.
Tracy V. Wilson
Yeah.
Holly Fry
I do not understand military division names.
Tracy V. Wilson
I don't either.
Holly Fry
Honestly, I never grasped them. Like when we were doing the 3rd Battalion, 505th Airborne Infantry, 82nd Airborne.
Tracy V. Wilson
What?
Holly Fry
And I know my dad has tried to explain this stuff to me before, but I'm like, this is so needlessly complicated and convoluted. Nobody needs this many names. I'm sure they do in some way. I'm sure there's justification in some. I never understand them. And, like, when I meet people or I have friends who are really big fans of military history and they can just rattle these things off, and they look at me like I am Princess Ding Dong that I don't grasp what all of these mean. I'm like, shrug. I don't know what to tell you, dude. Do you want me to tell you a lot of Star wars details that you probably don't understand? Like, I don't. I. It's just not something that has ever clicked for me. Yeah.
Tracy V. Wilson
I got kind of in the weeds about exactly, exactly what's a platoon and how big is the platoon. But the word test platoon was used so consistently in the description of this that I was like, okay, test platoon has to be correct. There was also. There were multiple different dates that came up in the creation of it. Like, there were. We did not mention a lot of these dates in the episode because I found them a little bit confusing, and they would not have added to the overall understanding of this. But there was a date for when the President ordered it, a date for when it was created, a date for when it was activated, which was another separate, separate thing. There were just lots of different dates, and I had some similar. Some similar confusion about exactly what each of the different dates signified. Graduating from training that I understood.
Holly Fry
Makes total sense.
Tracy V. Wilson
Departing for Pendleton. That makes sense. Also, various dates associated with the creation of the unit, I found a little bit more confused. Confusing.
Holly Fry
Yeah. So, yeah, I find these things confusing. I do my best, but I find them very confusing.
Tracy V. Wilson
So whatever's coming up on your weekend, boy, do I hope it's as good as it can possibly, possibly be. I took a little time off for myself recently and was able to recharge a little bit, do some things that I enjoy, which is important to all of us in these times to be able to keep ourselves going. So whatever's coming up for you, I hope you have a little bit of that. Also. We will be back with a Saturday classic tomorrow and with something brand new on Monday. Stuff youf Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Andrea Gunning
I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone, most of all his wife, Caroline.
Tracy V. Wilson
He texted, I've ruined our lives. You're going to want to divorce me.
Andrea Gunning
How far would he go to cover up what he'd done?
Unknown
The fact that you lied is absolutely horrific. And quite frankly, I question how many other women are out there that may bring forward allegations in the future.
Andrea Gunning
Listen to betrayal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Maria Tremarky
Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Fry and Maria Tremarki, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the Highwayman suggests men dominated the field, but tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrers, known as the wicked lady who terrorized England in the mid-1600s, her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Find more crime and cocktails on Criminalia. Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Tracy V. Wilson
A crime makes headlines, people talk about it for a few days, then it disappears. But for the people left behind, their story is just beginning.
Unknown
But at night, we hear the garage opening and my son hears it.
Tracy V. Wilson
We freak out. Honestly, I didn't tell my son this.
Holly Fry
But I felt that was it.
Tracy V. Wilson
From the exactly right network, this is the Knife. Real stories of crime's ripple effects told by the those who lived them. New episodes every Thursday. Listen to the knife on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Jake Hanrahan
I'm Jake Hanrahan, journalist and documentary filmmaker. Away Days is my new project reporting on countercultures on the fringes of society all across the world. Live from the underground, you'll discover no rules fighting, Japanese street racing, Brazilian favela life, and much more. All real, completely uncensored. Listen to the Away Days podcast, reporting from the underbelly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Holly Fry
You're listening to an iHeart podcast.
Podcast Summary: Stuff You Missed in History Class
Episode: Behind the Scenes Minis: Jokes in Translation and the Wayback
Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts
Release Date: May 23, 2025
In the episode titled Behind the Scenes Minis: Jokes in Translation and the Wayback, hosts Holly Fry and Tracy V. Wilson delve into their recent experiences in Japan, exploring cultural insights, personal emotions, and historical research challenges. This episode offers a blend of heartfelt moments, humorous anecdotes, and in-depth discussions on historical military units.
Holly Fry shares a deeply personal and moving experience at the Meiji Jingu Shrine, highlighting the emotional impact the site had on her.
Holly recounts writing a letter to their offering box, expressing her hopes and wishes amidst global troubles. This act brought her to tears, illustrating the profound connection she felt with the place and the larger existential concerns of the current era.
To balance the emotional depth, Holly describes a joyous car ride back to their hotel with their non-English speaking driver, whose use of a translator app led to hilarious interactions.
The driver shared insights on Japanese religious practices, emphasizing the harmonious coexistence of Shinto beliefs with Christianity.
Holly appreciated his perspective on cultural integration, noting how he humorously equated the worship of everyday objects like pencils and leaves with religious practices.
Tracy V. Wilson discusses her engagement with Japanese culture through the video game Assassin's Creed Shadows, which portrays Japan in the late 16th century. She expresses discomfort with the depiction of shrines as battlegrounds within the game.
Tracy contrasts this portrayal with their own respectful experiences at actual shrines, emphasizing the importance of cultural sensitivity.
Holly elaborates on the Shinto belief system's flexibility in accommodating new religions without conflict, as observed through conversations with their driver.
She admires the ability to honor multiple deities and spirits, fostering a sense of inclusivity and cultural harmony.
The hosts pivot to a historical exploration of the Triple Nickels Parachute Battalion, America’s first all-Black paratroop unit. Tracy shares the extensive research process, including the challenges faced in uncovering detailed information.
She discusses utilizing the Wayback Machine to access archived websites and the frustrations encountered due to missing or reorganized government information, potentially influenced by executive orders related to DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion).
Tracy highlights the lack of follow-up on the accident involving the unit at Eglin Field, pointing out discrepancies between historical accounts and available records.
Both hosts express their struggles with understanding military division names and structures, highlighting the complexity and specificity of military nomenclature.
Tracy delves into the confusion surrounding various dates associated with the creation and activation of the Triple Nickels, illustrating the intricate and often overlapping timelines in military history.
Amidst the intensive research, Tracy emphasizes the importance of self-care and taking breaks to recharge, especially when dealing with emotionally charged and complex historical topics.
Holly shares her own experiences of feeling overwhelmed by military terminology, drawing parallels to everyday frustrations and the need for understanding.
The episode wraps up with the hosts expressing gratitude for listener engagement and teasing upcoming content, including a Saturday classic and fresh material scheduled for Monday. They reiterate the significance of their historical discussions and the personal connections that drive their passion for uncovering lesser-known stories.
Holly encourages listeners to continue exploring history with them, promising more engaging and informative episodes.
Behind the Scenes Minis: Jokes in Translation and the Wayback offers listeners an intimate glimpse into the hosts' personal experiences and the meticulous research behind uncovering historical narratives. Through emotional storytelling and engaging dialogues, Holly Fry and Tracy V. Wilson illuminate the intersections of culture, history, and personal growth, making history both relatable and captivating for their audience.