Behind the Scenes Minis: Pacts and Facts

Summary

Stuff You Missed in History Class: Behind the Scenes Minis: Pacts and Facts (June 26, 2026)
Hosts: Holly Frey & Tracy V. Wilson (iHeartPodcasts)

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Episode Overview

This "Behind the Scenes Minis" installment dives into follow-up discussions from two recent main episodes: the Catacombs of Rome and the story of Louis Le Prince, a pioneering figure in early cinema. Holly and Tracy reflect on behind-the-scenes research, fascinating tangents, the nature of historical transitions, and their personal fascinations and insights. The conversation ties together the threads of how history’s lesser-known players, socio-religious transformations, and the persistence of myth and misinformation continue to intrigue.

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Key Discussion Points

1. The Catacombs of Rome and the Pact of the Catacombs

Discussion Starts: 03:29

• Condensing Vast History:
  • Holly expressed some "guilt" at having to leave notable details behind due to the vast scholarship on the Roman catacombs.
    • "There's so much scholarship about it...I feel like I'm leaving so much stuff out." — Holly (03:34)
• Pact of the Catacombs (1965):
  • Describes an event in 1965 where 40 bishops, during the Second Vatican Council, pledged to renounce privilege and live in solidarity with ordinary people, formalized in the "Pact of the Catacombs".
    • "They were supposed to sign over [land] to the church...keep everybody keep it cool. Let's stay basic..." — Holly (04:06)
  • The pact received support (eventually signed by ~500 bishops) but faded due to concerns it might be viewed as communism. Pope Francis revived attention to it in 2022.
    • "In 2022, Pope Francis was like, 'Hey, you guys remember this?'" — Holly (05:37)
    • "Its popularity waned...they were a little worried that if they suddenly renounced everything...people would be like, are you communist now?" — Holly (06:04)
• Wealth of the Vatican:
  • Holly notes the almost mythic, incalculable wealth held by the Vatican, making true valuation difficult due to age, hidden holdings, and lost knowledge.
    • "If you look up valuations of the Vatican's holdings, like, it's almost impossible. Nobody really knows everything..." — Holly (07:06)
    • Anecdote: Holly tells a story from library cataloging, illustrating how institutions lose track of rare items over time.

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2. Religious and Cultural Diversity in Ancient Rome

Discussion Starts: 08:32

• Transition Era:
  • Tracy reflects on only learning about pagan Rome in school, but visiting and researching shows Christianity's dominance in Rome is inescapable.
    • "In school, we mostly learned about Rome in the context of ancient Rome...But visiting Rome...the amount of Christianity is inescapable." — Tracy (08:32)
  • She notes she never considered the transition period between paganism and Christianity, nor the coexistence with Jewish communities.
    • "I had not really thought about that process..." — Tracy (09:12)
• Speed of Religious Change:
  • Holly is astounded by how rapidly the Roman Empire's attitude toward Christianity flipped from persecution to official religion.
    • "It's surprisingly quick...It's less than 70 years after that that they're like, by the way, Christianity, official religion. Yeah, that's fast." — Holly (09:48)
  • Discussion on whether any modern nation has experienced such a radical change of official religion so quickly.

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3. Fascination with Catacombs

Discussion Starts: 11:49

• Comparing Catacombs in Paris and Rome:
  • Holly shares her experience in Paris's catacombs and her anticipation about the even larger Roman sites.
    • "The catacombs in Rome are much bigger...some sections...have vaulted ceilings..." — Holly (12:35)
• Logic Jumps and Historical Misinformation:
  • Holly is fascinated by how logical assumptions made in history often end up incorrect but nevertheless become widely accepted, thus perpetuating misinformation.
    • "People will make logic jumps about things they're observing that don't really hold water, but they seem reasonable, so people pick 'em up and run with them." — Holly (13:27)
  • There could be more catacombs yet undiscovered due to Italy's careful approach to archaeological digs.
    • "I bet we'll find more in our lifetimes. They're going to come up on earth. I guarantee it sometime." — Holly (15:03)

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4. Louis Le Prince: Life, Legacy, and Mysteries

Discussion Starts: 19:47

• Exposure to Historical "Nexus Points":
  • Holly points out that Le Prince attended expositions where major historical figures and innovations converged.
    • "It is the expo that Jules Verne attended and was so inspired by what he saw there that he went home and wrote 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." — Holly (20:52)
  • Discussion of the Morris-Jumel mansion (the oldest home in New York), rumored to be haunted, and its connection to Le Prince and his wife Lizzie.
• Le Prince's Relationship & Supportive Partnership:
  • Holly admires the close, intellectually equal relationship between Le Prince and his wife Lizzie.
    • "Their letters to one another are like the relationship everyone wants. Right. They seem like best friends...He trusts her intelligence. They're just. It's very sweet." — Holly (22:27)
• Amusing Details — Daguerre’s Medal:
  • Louis Daguerre, the photographic pioneer, wore his Legion of Honor medal everywhere for the rest of his life.
    • "He apparently wore that medal everywhere...That is not a small medal. It's a big cross. It's very charming to me." — Holly (23:04)
  • The hosts jokingly compare this to wearing race medals at Disney or as jewelry.

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5. Debunking the Edison Conspiracy

Discussion Starts: 24:11

• Persistent Theories:
  • Holly and Tracy discuss the myth that Edison may have orchestrated Le Prince’s disappearance, but Holly points out logistical and evidentiary flaws.
    • "I think the logistics of something like that may have been beyond anybody, really...the logic to me just falls apart really fast." — Holly (24:41)
    • "I'm sure there's somebody out there who's done a deep dive. But it's unclear to me at this point if Edison even was fully aware of what Le Prince was doing." — Holly (25:56)

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6. Reflections on Historical Communication and Resilience

Discussion Starts: 31:27

• Era of Slow Communication:
  • Tracy notes the contrast between our hyper-connected present and the delays of the past—Lizzie Le Prince had to wait for word from her husband, sometimes receiving only waterlogged, barely-legible letters.
    • "I am grateful to live at a time where when there is an emergency, it's possible to at least reach someone's voicemail immediately." — Tracy (31:27)
    • "She got at least one...weird letter from him...a balloon that had been smuggled out of France...but it only had his name...but none of the actual information..." — Holly (33:07)
  • Lizzie’s resilience during years of single-handedly supporting her family is highlighted.
    • "She was a single mom, essentially, in a city...She just had to be really resilient. She seems amazing." — Holly (33:26)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On privilege and the Pact of the Catacombs:
  • "It's a really lovely sentiment...But then it just kind of faded in the background." — Holly (05:11)
• On how people jump to the wrong logical conclusions in history:
  • "People will make logic jumps about things they're observing that don't really hold water, but they seem reasonable, so people pick 'em up and run with them." — Holly (13:27)
• On enduring mysteries:
  • "Mysteries." — Holly (26:08)
• On deep-cut references:
  • "I almost said, like a bar of soap, which is the most deep cut Tom Waits reference I could ever make..." — Holly (35:47)
• On Lizzie Le Prince:
  • "She was very pretty. She was very youthful. She was very smart. I love that. To her, the most fulfilling thing was working at a school for the deaf and introducing art to those kind of curricula..." — Holly (34:06)

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Fun Tangents & Personal Asides

• Holly discusses her catacombs bucket list; Tracy recalls Holly’s "transfixed" catacombs expression (12:26).
• Jokes about wearing medals around all the time, and playful talk of research obsessions leading to episodes about everyday items (running medals, soap, etc.) (23:34, 34:58).
• Holly expresses hope that listeners have restful, joyful weekends, even if it’s just eating peanut butter toast (36:19).

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Catacombs of Rome & Pact of the Catacombs: 03:29 – 08:32
• Rome’s Religious/Cultural Diversity: 08:32 – 11:49
• Catacomb Experiences & Misinformation: 11:49 – 15:22
• Louis Le Prince, Nexus of History & Relationship: 19:47 – 24:11
• Edison Conspiracy Theory: 24:11 – 26:36
• Communication in Le Prince’s Era & Lizzie’s Resilience: 31:27 – 34:57

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Final Thoughts

The episode gives a lively, warm window into the hosts’ research process, personal predilections, skepticism about persistent historical myths, and the enduring allure of the odd corners of history. Holly and Tracy balance good-humored banter with candid reflections on history’s gaps, resilience in adversity, and the continual process of learning and revising our understanding.

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Listen for:

• Insights into the blending of ancient and modern religious culture in Rome
• The untold stories of supportive historical partnerships
• Why so many people love a good conspiracy theory
• The reminder that everyday objects and overlooked details often have fascinating origin stories

(Skip ads/offer sections for the content-rich discussion above.)

Transcript

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[Holly Fry]

Welcome to stuff you 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]

We talked about the Catacombs of Rome this week.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Fry]

This is one where I felt almost a little guilty because there's so much scholarship about it. Giving a brief overview. I feel like I'm leaving so much stuff out. But there was one particular recent development that was pretty interesting to me that isn't really germane to the catacombs as an entity themselves. It's a thing that references the catacombs. So in 1965, there was a meeting or a Mass, depending on which source you read, held in the Catacombs of Domitia. There were 40 bishops there. They were in Rome for the Second Vatican Council, and they had this meeting there to discuss the way that the clergy, and particularly the bishops, were living and their lifestyle and its lack of alignment with the people that they were pledged to serve. Sure. So this resulted in a document which is called the Pact of the Catacombs, where these bishops committed to live their lives as the average man, basically, like, renouncing their life of privilege, holding no land, like any land that any of them had. They were supposed to sign over to the church. They, you know, were not supposed to wear fancy vestments, even, like, keep everybody keep it cool. Let's stay basic and make it about our religious promise and not about all of the benefits that being connected to the Vatican gives us. It's a really lovely sentiment. It got a lot of sort of groundswell support. Like, eventually it started with those 40 bishops, and eventually I think 500 bishops signed it. But then it just kind of faded in the background.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Oh, what?

[Holly Fry]

But then in 2022, Pope Francis was like, hey, you guys remember this? Which fits if you know anything about, you know, his papacy and the way he went about it. And he had another Mass there at the basilica to kind of recommit people to it. It's really interesting because NPR did a piece about it. I think it was NPR where they had interviewed people like historians within the Vatican and stuff. And they were kind of like, well, some of the reason that it fell out of favor is not necessarily what you think. Like, it's not necessarily, like, it's hard to give up fancy stuff. As in the time 1965, they were a little worried that if they suddenly renounced everything and were like, we are going to live as simple, common men, that people would be like, are you communist now? Its popularity waned pretty quickly, but it's interesting, and I like that it has been reintroduced in recent years as something to consider, you know, for anybody. I mean, listen, nobody needs a billion dollars. Nobody needs a billion dollars. I mean, it's very funny because the Vatican is one of the wealthiest entities on the planet, right? I mean, I wonder all the time, because if you look up valuations of the Vatican's holdings, like, it's almost impossible.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Right.

[Holly Fry]

Nobody really knows everything. And some of it is just, like, logistically it's impossible. It's not even necessarily that things are being withheld. It's that there are, like, catacombs that technically they are in charge of, but they can't get in there to know what's in there. Like, there are. When you have an entity that is so many centuries old, there's just stuff that's hidden. I'm suddenly reminded of a completely unrelated thing from back when I was working in cataloging in a university library, when there was, like, a very specific and very rare book that I think one of our professors wanted from a library in London. And we were like, it's in your catalog. Like, what do we need to do to make this work? Like, where he can get access or you can even ship it and insured. And we'll. And they were like, here's the problem. It's here, but we don't know where because it predates the bombings during World War II. And a lot of things in our catalog are not really accessible, but we keep them in the catalog for the sake of the record. And I was like, that's fascinating. And so this is a similar thing in many cases, right? There's stuff that's there. Yeah. Buried, probably. It's very fascinating.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. Something I really liked about this episode. Like, in school, we mostly learned about Rome in the context of ancient Rome. Ancient Rome, paganism, the story of early origins of democracy. That's a whole separate thing. But that's sort of how it was taught to me in K through 12 school. And then visiting Rome, the one time that I've Been there. The amount of Christianity is inescapable.

[Holly Fry]

Oh yeah.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

It's just like, just everywhere. And so I had never really thought about this window of time, like the transitional period between Roman paganism and Christianity becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire. Like I knew about, conceptually, about persecutions and all of that, but I had not really thought about that process and also thought about the fact that there were also Jewish people there. Yeah, like that just, it just was a thing that had not really solidified in my mind and then this story laid it all out.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, yeah. And it is, it's surprisingly quick when you think about it. Right, yeah. That it goes from, hey, you gotta get out because we don't like that you're proselytizing to, you know, 200 and change years later going, by the way, everybody's cool with that last gasp of we hate Christians to everybody, worship whatever you want. It's fine, it's fine, it's fine. Also, whatever deity is the real one, be cool with us. And then it's only, it's less than 70 years after that that they're like, by the way, Christianity, official religion. Yeah, that's fast. Yeah, yeah, it's very fast. Fascinating. Like, could you imagine, I mean, I think some of this is because of, you know, where it is on the timeline, recorded history, but could you imagine, I'm trying to think if there's an, an example of a country today that changes its official religion in less than a century. Like from, you know, hyper intensive persecution to. No, that's actually our religion. It's interesting in that regard. Yeah. And you don't. I mean, it makes sense when you think about it. Trying to kind of apply our knowledge of how humans live and work and tend to congregate in the metropolises that are seats of power, that there would be like other diverse people moving in. But we don't get it in school as. And also there were Christians and Jewish people living there and they all had to figure out how to make this work. And they had to. And it didn't always work. And they had to figure out how to handle Jewish day to day things like burying the dead. It's just interesting to me. And so different from France where It's like, oh SpaghettiOs, we got a lot of dead people we gotta do something with.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

That was a whole different thing.

[Holly Fry]

So completely different that I was ready for it to be less different than I didn't realize. They went all the way back to

[Tracy V. Wilson]

like the first century.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, fascinating. Yeah, fascinating. On my list. Although I am slightly claustrophobic, I managed okay in the catacombs in Paris because once you're down that spiral staircase, going down was not my friend. But once you're down there, it's so cool that like the fear parts of my brain took a hike.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. I remember when we were down there, like, your expression was just like utterly transfixed once we were down there into it.

[Holly Fry]

And the thing is, the catacombs in Rome are much bigger. Like when you're in the catacombs in Paris, it's close. You're. There's not a lot of headroom. There's a. This literally has like vaulted ceilings in some sections. In some cases, you know, it's multi stories. So I think it would probably feel less claustrophobic. So we'll find out when I go to Rome next. I don't know when that is, but we're gonna make it happen one way or another. Yeah, because I gotta see this. I had to pull myself out of museums long enough to go do another thing. This episode was also fun in how illustrative it is of the ways it's come up recently on the show before. So it may just be top of mind for me right now, but how illustrative it is of the ways that people will make logic jumps about things they're observing.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Mm.

[Holly Fry]

That don't really hold water, but they seem reasonable, so people pick em up and run with them.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah,

[Holly Fry]

that's just fascinating to me. I'm like, oh, this is how misinformation perpetuates itself throughout years and years and years as we try to sort out what's going on historically. And this is an instance where there is enough recognition of the importance of both the Jewish and the Christian catacombs that there is a lot of scholarly interest in them. So who knows if we'll get more information as time goes on. It's also everything kind of, you know, modern that's written about it too always does that kind of like, hey, btw, there could be more we haven't figured out yet. Like, there's the high possibility that there are even more that we just haven't identified or uncovered. Because there's, you know. Yeah, they kind of like ran. You know, Rome had its kind of spokes of roads out of the city and a lot of them ran kind of parallel to some of those roads, like, because people needed to be able to access them. And so there are places where people are like, no one's found one here yet. There very well could be one but then you would have to initiate a dig and get permission. As we know. You know, the Italian government is very careful about what they do and do not give permits for. I mean, even from their. Their art as well as their history. So that's part of why it.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah. Why.

[Holly Fry]

It will probably take a minute, but I bet we'll find more in our lifetimes. They're going to come up on Earth. I guarantee it sometime. Yeah. I like how I just made a guarantee. I can't substantiate in any kind of way other than vibes, but I. It was fascinating to me. I don't know why I love catacombs so much. I just do.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

They're cool.

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[Holly Fry]

We talked about Louis Le Prince this week.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yes.

[Holly Fry]

And his fascinating, often sad, super interesting life. Did not learn not to trust his brother in law's ideas. No, but that's okay. I saw somebody quoting something Lizzie had written about her brother, about how he was just not governed by, you know, sensibleness. But that. That's how all great thinkers work. And I was like, oh, Lizzie, you loved him. One of the cool things that I wanted to mention is that the exposition that Louis Le Prince went to with the Whitley Foundry when he first started working for them in the 1860s was like one those historical nexus points where a bunch of cool stuff is going on in one place. Which happens with expositions anyway. Right. That's where a lot of interesting things are happening. But that was also the one where electricity was first showcased.

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[Holly Fry]

It is the expo that Jules Verne attended and was so inspired by what he saw there that he went home and wrote 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. Like there were just a lot of people there that we now think of as like standard parts of history. And there he was. I just find that cool. I wish. That's another use for the time machine. We can go to expos that we. And just walk around. We mentioned only briefly, but it has its own interesting history and could potentially maybe be an episode at some point. The Morris Jumel mansion.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Oh yeah, that I pronounced wrong and you had to correct me and I had to do it over again.

[Holly Fry]

I had to look it up, cause I wasn't sure. But it's really interesting. It is the oldest home in New York. It was built in 1765, at least the oldest standing. I'm not sure if it's the oldest, like if it was the first one, but it's historic and really interesting. George Washington used it as one of his sort of meeting places during the Revolutionary War. It has always been rumored to be haunted. It's been, you know, and apparently people tried to scare Lizzie off of it with that, like, don't buy that house. It's scary. She's like, I don't care. We're gonna fix it up and make it cool. Which is sad. Cause her husband never got to see all of in making this amazing home for him and like where they were gonna essentially host people and show them his cool inventions. Like they really thought they were on the precipice of changing the world. In some ways I do love how close they were and their partnership, like their. Their letters to one another are like the relationship everyone wants. Right. They seem like best friends. He doesn't ever treat her like she is not his equal. Like he asks her opinion. He trusts her intelligence. They're just. It's very sweet. Yeah, I love it. Here is one my favorite thing I learned while researching this episode.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Okay.

[Holly Fry]

It's not about Louis Le Prince. It's about Louis Daguerre. Okay, so we know. I'm sure we've mentioned it before on the show that he was given the French Legion of Honor. He apparently wore that medal everywhere.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

That's funny.

[Holly Fry]

Like for the rest of his life after he received it. You would just see him out walking in the village with his medal.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

That's funny.

[Holly Fry]

And that is not a small medal. It's a big cross. It's very charming to me. But then I got to thinking about it. At first I was like, you silly thing. And then I was like, you know what? That might be a better way to handle it than putting it in a drawer or in a display case. And only ever occasionally looking at was his day to day jewelry.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

I'm kind of reminded of that time that we ran a race at Disney and then walked around with our medals on. You had more medals than me because you ran much more than me.

[Holly Fry]

And they went clanky, clank, clank, clank, clank everywhere.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

But yeah, we just walked around. Everybody just walks around with their medals on. It's great.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, but just for the day.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Just for the day or night.

[Holly Fry]

Weekend. Some people will do it for the rest of the weekend, but I can't imagine wearing them every day for the rest of the.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Just wearing them to the now.

[Holly Fry]

I'm like, maybe I should. I have a lot of running medals, so I could break those out.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

You could cycle through them as accessories.

[Holly Fry]

I'll be like Flava Flav, but with running medals. That'll be my thing. Everybody will know. I am almost as fascinated with how badly people want to believe Edison put out a hit on Louis Le Prince as I am with Louis Le Prince himself.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah, I just. There's plenty to criticize about him, but I just don't envision him as a murderer or a hired hitman employer.

[Holly Fry]

I think he was capable of being so ruthless, but I think the logistics of something like that may have been beyond anybody, really. He wasn't like a mob boss who had a whole network of people that could communicate things. And if you buy into that, you have to somehow implicate his brother. Because how else would anybody know that he missed the morning train and had to Take the afternoon train. Like, there's so, like, the logic to me just falls apart really fast. But I know people love that idea. And a lot of. If you read different Louis Le Prince biographies or even books about the history of cinema that, you know, dedicate a section, whether it's like a chapter or even just a few paragraphs to him, they all seem to have their own take on what happened to him. And I mean, a number of them do kind of push forward this Edison idea. And it's very, very interesting. I mean, according to Lizzie's writing, there was a time where Louis Le Prince debated when they were living in New York over, like, should I put together a pitch and go to Edison and tell him what I've done? But there's no evidence he ever did that or that he ever had any real contact with him. And so I'm sure there's somebody out there who's done a deep dive. But it's uncle to me at this point if Edison even was fully aware of what Le Prince was doing.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Holly Fry]

That's the other thing is you don't always know who knew what about other people's work, like where they were in their progress. Because on the one hand, people did talk about stuff, on the other. That doesn't mean everybody got broadcast and knew about everybody else's business. And Louis the Prince didn't write stuff down. So, yeah, yeah. Mysteries.

[Jennie Garth]

This is Jennie Garth from I Choose Me with Jennie Garth. You know, history is full of surprising little details. And laundry turns out it's got its own fascinating story too, because not all detergents are created equal. Tide liquid laundry detergent isn't just clean, it's boosted clean for cleaner, whiter, brighter and fresher results compared to Tide Simply. And those stubborn stains that always seem to show up at the worst times. Tide tackles 100% of common stains for every load. Every time. Now, if grease is your nemesis, think food spills, cooking splatters. Tide's got 10 times grease fighting ingredients compared to bargain brands. And it works in a machine, in any water condition, on all your machine washable fabrics. It's no wonder Tide was America's number one detergent in sales last year. So if it's gotta be clean and it's gotta be fresh, got to be tied. Shop now at your local retailer. Tide is a proud sponsor of the Elton John Impact Awards, honoring those who have helped shape a more inclusive and compassionate world with their artistry, advocacy and unwavering commitment to equality. You won't want to miss the Elton John Impact Awards podcast, available on June 1st on the iHeartRadio app. And everywhere podcasts are heard.

[Cal Penn]

Hey, everyone, it's Cal Penn, host of Irsay, The Audible, and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I'm sitting down with Divergent author Veronica Roth to talk about her sprawling new novel, Seek the Traitor's Son. It's a sci fi fantasy epic about two protagonists on opposite sides of a war and a prophecy neither of them wanted.

[Holly Fry]

My first book was Divergent, and when that came out, like, because it was so popular, I think it attracted, like, mostly positivity, but the negativity I sucked in like a sponge.

[Cindy Crawford]

And I think.

[Holly Fry]

I think it was, like, critiques of things I liked when I was like, you know, I was 23 and I wrote this book and it had all my, like, dorky little cheesy or maybe unrealistic loves in it. And I started to feel a lot of shame about those things. And so for the rest of my career, I steered away from those little things that, like, make you feel pleasure when you read. But I also was, like, saying no to these parts of myself that I then was like, screw it. Yeah, so that's this book.

[Cal Penn]

Listen to Irsay, the Audible, and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Cindy Crawford]

Hi, I'm Cindy Crawford, and I'm the founder of Meaningful Beauty. Well, I don't know about you, but, like, I never liked being told, oh, wow, you look so good for your age. Like, why even bother saying that? Why don't you just say you look great at any age? Every age. That's what Meaningful Beauty is all about. We create products that make you feel confident in your skin at the age you are now. Meaningful Beauty. Beautiful skin at every age. Learn more@meaningful beauty.com

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[George Severis]

This is George Severis and Sam Taggart from Stradiolab. Okay. Hey, picture your apartment after a Saturday workout. The gym bag, the couch, maybe even the car, Mi amor. It's a full novella of odors and not the glamorous kind.

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[George Severis]

You won't want to miss the Elton John Impact awards podcast, available June 1 on the iHeartRadio app and everywhere podcasts are heard.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

When we were talking about his disappearance and like getting in touch with his brother to try to find out what happened, I was thinking about how I I am often kind of frustrated by the ability to be contacted at any moment all the time, and the like torrent of information that we are sort of having heard at all times. But I am grateful to live at a time where when there is an emergency, it's possible to at least reach someone's voicemail immediately. Yeah, not the same situation as needing to reach a brother in France to find out what happened at the time that we were talking about.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, there are several moments where one of my many takeaways was that Lizzie Le Prince was an incredibly resilient woman. Right. Because when Louis decided like I have to go to France and fight, they had a baby of their own who was just a few months old and she didn't know if he was living or dead. There is a story that she got at least one, maybe more weird letter from him. And the weird is not the letter. It's like how it landed in her possession where there was a balloon that had been smuggled out of France that contained a batch of letters. But that balloon went down over the ocean and some of the letters were recovered from the water.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Right.

[Holly Fry]

And she got one of those, but it only had like his name. I think it was like the date and his name and where he was and she could make out his signature. But, like, none of the actual information it conveyed was in there. I don't know if that's better or worse to get that when you don't know what's going on with your loved one.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Fry]

And she didn't hear from him again until he was like, okay, we're wrapped up. I'm coming home. And then when he went back to Europe for what they thought was probably gonna be a few months, and he stayed for three years while she took care of the kids and he wasn't making money to send back to her. Like, I don't know how exactly she survived. I presume her parents probably helped her because they were in a better financial position. But, like, that's a long time. She was a single mom, essentially, in a city where they had been living for a while at that point. But, like, she was not native to. She just had to be really resilient. She seems amazing.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Yeah.

[Holly Fry]

Also, she was beautiful. I've seen one photograph of her, and I was like, it's one of those things where it's, like, them with their kids who were, like, in early adulthood. Oh, sure. And I got real confused because Lizzie looks as young as the kids, and I'm just like, she had good genes. She had really good genes. She was very pretty. She was very youthful. She was very smart. I love that. To her, the most fulfilling thing was working at a school for the deaf and introducing art to those kind of curricula, which was not something that was prioritized at the time in a lot of places. She just seems cool. More Lizzie, please. Damn. More Lizzie, please. Anyway, cinema history, the thing that I mentioned briefly in the episode, and I didn't name the person's name because I don't want to, that I was like, this might also be an episode has nothing to do. Do with film. You'll be happy to know.

[Okta Representative]

Okay.

[Holly Fry]

I do love talking about early film history, but that one is. It's home deck, and it's completely different. Fingers crossed I can find enough. Nice fingers crossed. I'm really into weird inventions lately, so get ready. Get ready. Not necessarily weird, but, like, stuff that's commonplace to us that, like, if we don't even think about, where did that come from? Did it fly through the air and land here? I almost said, like a bar of soap, which is the most deep cut Tom Waits reference I could ever make. It's like a reference to an interview he did, like, years ago, where he said songs to him seemed like they just sometimes flew in from outer space. And landed like a bar of soap. And I was like, that's a great way to describe how a song comes to be.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Anyway, I just made a perplexed face because I did not get the reference at all.

[Holly Fry]

No, I would not expect anybody to. I mean, it's a weird deep cut. That's one of those things that to me seems very normal. I say it all the time to myself. Nobody else knows what I'm talking about. It's fine. In any case, if this is your weekend coming up and you go to the movies, thank the people like Louis Le Prince and everyone else who was trying to figure out how to capture motion pictures. It's all very cool. If you don't go to the movies, I still hope you do something so fun. I hope you eat something incredibly delicious. Right now I'm craving peanut butter toast for no reason, but doesn't that sound like push away the gourmand food? I want peanut butter toast. I don't know what that's about. You crave what you crave. I hope that you have restful times, that you're able to find moments of peace and joy. I hope if you have things that you have to do, responsibilities that you still make the best of them and they aren't too taxing and you don't feel burned out by them and that everybody is kind to one another because we need it desperately. We will have something brand new on Monday to talk about and tomorrow we will have a classic.

[Tracy V. Wilson]

Stuff you missed in history class is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Jennie Garth]

Eczema is unpredictable, but you can flare less with epglis, a once monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema. After an initial four month or longer dosing phase, about 4 in 10 people taking ECGLIS achieved itch relief and clear are almost completely clear skin at 16 weeks and most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

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HempGlass Lebricizumab LBKZ, a 250mg injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe

[Holly Fry]

eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, that is

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[Holly Fry]

Eye problems can occur occur.

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Tell your doctor if you have new

[Holly Fry]

or worsening eye problems.

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You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with Eglis before starting Ebglis. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.

[Jennie Garth]

Ask your doctor about eglis and visit eglis.lilly.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979.

[Holly Fry]

Identity theft can cost more than you think Drained investment accounts, stolen tax returns, lost wages, expenses for lawyers. It's a lot. That's why Lifelock is backed by the Million Dollar Protection package, which covers up to $1 million each for stolen funds, fees for experts and lawyers, and out of pocket expenses. Don't face the burden of identity theft alone. Protect your future and finances with LifeLock. Join now and save up to 30% your first year at LifeLock.com iHeart terms apply.

[Jennie Garth]

This is Jennie Garth from I Choose Me With Jennie Garth, history is full of mysteries like how people ever survived before modern laundry detergents. Luckily, Tide's here with boosted stain fighting for cleaner, whiter, brighter and fresher laundry versus Tide. Simply no wonder it was America's number one detergent in sales last year. If it's gotta be clean, it's got to be Tide. Tide is a proud sponsor of the Elton John Impact Awards, honoring those who have helped shape a more inclusive and compassionate world with their artistry, advocacy and unwavering commitment to equality. You won't want to miss the Elton John Impact Awards podcast, available on June 1st on the iHeartRadio app. And everywhere podcasts are heard.

[Cal Penn]

Hey everyone, it's Kel Penn. I'm inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with my podcast, Hearsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Every episode, I nerd out with amazing guests and dive into the best new audiobooks available on Audible. It's the book club for your ears. Listen to Hearsay, the Audible and iHeart audiobook club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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