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Rock the Vote · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
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  Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
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  Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
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  Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
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  Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
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  Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Nothing is made to last anymore, from computers
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  Speaker 1: to cell phones, even to close things only last for
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  Speaker 1: so long before they start to deteriorate. This brand new
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  Speaker 1: smartphone that you spent thousands of dollars on won't even
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  Speaker 1: turn on in a handful of years. And all those
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  Speaker 1: new clothes your team bought at the beginning of the
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  Speaker 1: school year probably won't even make it till Christmas. But
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  Speaker 1: buildings are different, or at least they're supposed to be.
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  Speaker 1: In nineteen fifteen Japan, a building was constructed that was
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  Speaker 1: meant to withstand the worst that nature had to offer.
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  Speaker 1: It just didn't count on what man had in store.
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  Speaker 1: The Prefectural Commercial Exhibition or Product Exhibition Hall was designed
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  Speaker 1: by Czech architect Jan Letzel as the centerpiece of the
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  Speaker 1: city's business district. It was intended to be a place
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  Speaker 1: for companies to showcase and sell their products, as well
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  Speaker 1: as a venue for local art exhibitions. Letzel's design was
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  Speaker 1: different from the other structures in the area too. It
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  Speaker 1: was three stories tall and made a brick, stone and steel.
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  Speaker 1: In the middle of it, a compered dome sat on
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  Speaker 1: top of a five story stairwell. It's unique asthetic was
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  Speaker 1: in stark contrast to the rest of the buildings in
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  Speaker 1: the area, making it a popular destination for locals and
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  Speaker 1: tourists alike. Thirty years after its completion, though, tragedy struck.
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  Speaker 1: The United States dropped a nuclear bomb on the middle
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  Speaker 1: of the city. The blast destroyed everything within a one
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  Speaker 1: mile radius. Homes, apartments, stores, and offices were reduced to rubble.
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  Speaker 1: Nearly one fifty thousand people were killed between the explosion
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  Speaker 1: and the radiation that followed, but not the exhibition hall.
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  Speaker 1: Though the roof had burned away and the center of
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  Speaker 1: the building was decimated, its sturdy frame still remained intact.
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  Speaker 1: Even the dome's skeleton was still there, perched atop the
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  Speaker 1: center of the structure. It was the only thing to
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  Speaker 1: have survived the devastating bombing of Hiroshima soon after the war,
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  Speaker 1: The dome was set to be demolished as part of
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  Speaker 1: the city's clean up efforts. However, it's remarkable condition amid
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  Speaker 1: the rest of the city's ruins made the decision to
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  Speaker 1: tear it down a difficult one. Some folks wanted to
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  Speaker 1: remove it, while others thought it made a perfect memorial
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  Speaker 1: for the bombing. The city decided to leave the exhibition
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  Speaker 1: hall alone and instead put a park around it. In
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  Speaker 1: nineteen sixty six, they voted to preserve what the locals
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  Speaker 1: had come to call the Genbakud Dome. Over the years
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  Speaker 1: since then, very little has changed. When modifications are made,
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  Speaker 1: such as a minor upgrade to earthquake proof the dome,
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  Speaker 1: the look of the building is always left alone. It
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  Speaker 1: looks almost exactly as it did just after the dust
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  Speaker 1: settled in. To further preserve the structure, the United Nations
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  Speaker 1: Cultural Organization UNESCO designated the dome a World Heritage Sites
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  Speaker 1: in n Today, the dome is part of a massive
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  Speaker 1: memorial complex meant to convey the scope and devastation of
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  Speaker 1: one of the worst moments in modern world history, the
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  Speaker 1: Hiroshima Peace Memorial. It's surrounding park and the other nearby
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  Speaker 1: monuments are stark reminders of the worst in human nature,
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  Speaker 1: but they also represent something else. They stand for resilience
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  Speaker 1: and ingenuity, or struggle and fortitude in the face of adversity,
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  Speaker 1: and in the case of the dome itself, it's a
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  Speaker 1: reminder of that old cliche. They just don't make them
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  Speaker 1: like they used to. Elections have a tendency to bring
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  Speaker 1: out the worst in people, from smear campaigns and all
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  Speaker 1: outlies to voters yelling at each other from opposite sides.
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  Speaker 1: Politics is, as they say, a circus. It's no wonder
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  Speaker 1: that many voters instead choose to stay home, refusing to
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  Speaker 1: participate in a process they feel is unfair or even corrupt,
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  Speaker 1: which is exactly what happened in San Paolo, Brazil in
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  Speaker 1: now At the time, the city was suffering. The sewers
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  Speaker 1: were in need of serious repairs. The prices of common
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  Speaker 1: goods had risen to astronomical heights at a food shortage
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  Speaker 1: had thrown everything into chaos, and understandably, people were upset.
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  Speaker 1: They'd had enough, and with an election around the corner,
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  Speaker 1: they saw their opportunity to turn things around. There was
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  Speaker 1: just one problem. The candidates who had been running were
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  Speaker 1: all equally unappealing no one wanted to vote for them,
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  Speaker 1: and many of the three point five million citizens of
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  Speaker 1: the city sat out the election. But those who voted
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  Speaker 1: found an alternative. Her name was Kakaikoh. She was a
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  Speaker 1: last minute candidate who had no idea her name was
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  Speaker 1: even on the ballot. After she was added, slogans in
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  Speaker 1: support of her were plastered all over town, and Brazilian
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  Speaker 1: voters became energized again. Finally they had a candidate they
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  Speaker 1: could believe in. Her campaign wasn't given much thought by
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  Speaker 1: the other candidates. Surely someone so new and inexperienced couldn't
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  Speaker 1: beat Brazil's political heavyweights in such an important race. And
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  Speaker 1: then on October eight, the votes were cast. One of
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  Speaker 1: the men running for city council earned a whopping ten
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  Speaker 1: thousand votes, an impressive showing from his supporters. Kakariko, on
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  Speaker 1: the other hand, brought in a few more ninety thousand more.
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  Speaker 1: To be precise, you see, one hundred thousand citizens had
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  Speaker 1: cast their vote for Kakariko, a landslide that ended the
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  Speaker 1: campaigns of eleven opposition parties almost instantly. It was a
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  Speaker 1: surprising victory for a candidate who had been added as
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  Speaker 1: a protest vote against the five D forty other parties running. Naturally,
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  Speaker 1: those other candidates were furious. They blamed their losses on
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  Speaker 1: a secret plan to undermine their campaigns. Could it have
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  Speaker 1: been foreign interest or a corrupt puppet master pulling the
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  Speaker 1: strings behind the scene. The answer, though, was far simpler.
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  Speaker 1: Local journalist its Abori Martins had grown sick of all
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  Speaker 1: the politicians talking out of both sides of their mouths.
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  Speaker 1: None of them seemed worthy of occupying a seat on
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  Speaker 1: the city council. So rather than sit out the election entirely,
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  Speaker 1: Martin's suggested Kakareko on a whim and then a half
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  Speaker 1: hearted domination somehow took off. Unfortunately, Martin's scheme fell short.
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  Speaker 1: There was no way election officials would allow Kakareko to
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  Speaker 1: serve on the city council. For one thing, she was
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  Speaker 1: only four years old. For another, she was a rhinoceros.
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  Speaker 1: She had been on loan to the San Polo Zoo
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  Speaker 1: for three months and inspired a new sentiment among the people.
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  Speaker 1: Better a rhinoceros than an ass, they said, and it
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  Speaker 1: started gaining steam with voters who looked at their options
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  Speaker 1: and wanted nothing to do with any of them. Cacaraco
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  Speaker 1: may not have ever gotten to serve on the city council,
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  Speaker 1: but her unwitting foray into politics did have one lasting effect.
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  Speaker 1: She spawned a political movement in Canada. Yes, thousands of
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  Speaker 1: miles to the north, a new political party was forming.
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  Speaker 1: It was called the Rhinoceros Party of Canada and was
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  Speaker 1: established in nineteen sixty three as the spiritual successor to
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  Speaker 1: Brazil's Cacaiko. Their motto, A promise to keep none of
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  Speaker 1: our promises said it all. They were only there to
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  Speaker 1: disrupt the status quo, much like their Rhino pal down south.
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  Speaker 1: When they formed, they named Cornelius the First as their leader.
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  Speaker 1: Cornelius lived at the Grandy Zoo in Quebec and was
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  Speaker 1: you guessed at another Rhinoceros. He held that position for
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  Speaker 1: almost thirty years, right up until the party was dissolved
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  Speaker 1: in Over the course of nine elections, the Rhinoceros Party
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  Speaker 1: didn't win a single seat in the House of Commons,
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  Speaker 1: but they stuck to their fairly simple platform, one that
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  Speaker 1: resonated with thousands of Canadians. Candidate Brian Gold, who ran
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  Speaker 1: for election back in described that platform as well as
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  Speaker 1: anyone might just two ft high he said, and made
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  Speaker 1: of wood. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of
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  Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
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  Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
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  Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Manky
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  Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award
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  Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series,
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  Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it
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  Speaker 1: over at the World of Lore dot com. And until
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  Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.