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Cold Start · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menkey'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. A new year usually means new beginnings. It's
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  Speaker 1: a time for reinvention, rebirth and resolutions. Those with aspirations
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  Speaker 1: to shed some weights or learn a new language might
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  Speaker 1: join a gym or take classes. But if you're Bernard McFadden,
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  Speaker 1: you might try to completely reinvent yourself and how we
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  Speaker 1: celebrate the new year in the process. Bernard McFadden was
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  Speaker 1: born in mill Spring, Missouri, in eighteen sixty eight. He
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  Speaker 1: had a tough childhood, both physically and emotionally. His parents
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  Speaker 1: were often sick, and their illnesses eventually claimed their lives
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  Speaker 1: while he was still just a boy. The young McFadden
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  Speaker 1: himself also faced health troubles, but he was able to
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  Speaker 1: overcome them with the help of a farmer who took
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  Speaker 1: him in after the deaths of his parents. The manual
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  Speaker 1: labor strengthened his frail form, and the hearty farm food
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  Speaker 1: nourished him. It had been the perfect cure for his
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  Speaker 1: meager body until he left a few years later to
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  Speaker 1: work behind a desk in St. Louis. It didn't take
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  Speaker 1: long for McFadden to revert back to his old self
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  Speaker 1: when he realized how much he missed the way he
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  Speaker 1: used to feel. He returned to what he'd learned on
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  Speaker 1: the farm instead of manual labor. Though he began lifting weights,
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  Speaker 1: he changed his diets and became a vegetarian, and he
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  Speaker 1: walked everywhere, sometimes logging six miles a day. He also
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  Speaker 1: refused to pollute his body with tobacco and alcohol, opting
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  Speaker 1: instead to participate in act ativities of strength and agility,
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  Speaker 1: such as boxing and wrestling. McFadden also took his physique seriously,
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  Speaker 1: more so than any man he'd ever encountered, and he
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  Speaker 1: used his growing fame to show others what could be
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  Speaker 1: achieved with a life of proper diet and exercise. On
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  Speaker 1: a trip to England in the late eighteen nineties, he
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  Speaker 1: partnered with a man named Hopton Hadley, who had invented
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  Speaker 1: an apparatus that mounted to the wall and allowed people
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  Speaker 1: to develop the different muscles in their arms, legs, and torsos.
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  Speaker 1: McFadden helped Hadley in marketing the device to the public.
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  Speaker 1: Then in McFadden became an entrepreneur himself when he started
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  Speaker 1: Physical Culture magazine. It was more than a lifestyle publication.
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  Speaker 1: It was the start of something bigger than he ever
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  Speaker 1: could have imagined. Physical Culture spawned almost a dozen other magazines,
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  Speaker 1: ranging from true crime to Confessions, and even Tales of
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  Speaker 1: the Supernatural if that's your sort of thing. He also
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  Speaker 1: wrote articles for other outlets on topics such as fasting
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  Speaker 1: and something he called the milk diet. McFadden by this
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  Speaker 1: time had changed his name to Bernard McFadden, adding an
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  Speaker 1: extra A between the M and C of his last name,
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  Speaker 1: and styling his first name after the roar of a lion.
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  Speaker 1: He wanted it to sound stronger and more masculine, although
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  Speaker 1: it was hard to imagine the man as anything but clearly.
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  Speaker 1: He modeled his life on pushing himself to the limits.
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  Speaker 1: He believed fasting was one of the ultimate ways for
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  Speaker 1: a person to control their body and show their superiority
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  Speaker 1: to others. From the nineteen thirties to the nineteen fifties,
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  Speaker 1: McFadden also launched a series of boarding schools dedicated to
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  Speaker 1: preparing young men for a future in the military. Bernard
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  Speaker 1: McFadden was a lot of things to a lot of people.
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  Speaker 1: He was a restaurantur, a hotelier, publishing magnates, an educator,
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  Speaker 1: a model, a spokesman, and an entrepreneur. And at the
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  Speaker 1: age of eighty four, he had a daredevil to that
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  Speaker 1: list when he jumped out of a plane and parachuted
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  Speaker 1: over the Seine in France. Yet of all the things
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  Speaker 1: he accomplished and created, only one has stood the test
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  Speaker 1: of time. It began on New Year's Day in nineteen
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  Speaker 1: oh three. McFadden, a proponent of cold baths to boost
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  Speaker 1: one's energy, invited fifty men and women to join him
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  Speaker 1: on a Coney Island beach in New York. He first
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  Speaker 1: let his guests in a workout, and then he had
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  Speaker 1: them all jump into the ocean for a quick cold swim.
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  Speaker 1: The water was cold enough to take one's breath away,
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  Speaker 1: but the act of jumping into the frigid waters of
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  Speaker 1: the Atlantic on January first became something of a tradition.
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  Speaker 1: In his search for the secrets of life, Bernard McFadden
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  Speaker 1: had created the Coney Island Polar Bear Club, who continued
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  Speaker 1: to meet New Year's Day from that point on and
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  Speaker 1: swim in water that doesn't get much warmer than thirty
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  Speaker 1: five degrees fahrenheit. Today, the annual event draws crowds of thousands.
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  Speaker 1: Some are clad in nothing more than swim trunks and bikinis,
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  Speaker 1: while others don tuxedos and host tea parties among the
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  Speaker 1: shrieking revelers. They may not know the man behind it,
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  Speaker 1: but they probably would and be surprised by his story.
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  Speaker 1: After all, it's more than a little curious. When we
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  Speaker 1: want to remember the good times, like birthdays and weddings,
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  Speaker 1: we tend to haul out the photo album. Each page
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  Speaker 1: acts as a window into the past, taking us back
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  Speaker 1: to the moments where smiles and tears have been captured
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  Speaker 1: on film. We can't help but be overcome with feelings
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  Speaker 1: of love, warmth, and togetherness. But for the inhabitants of
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  Speaker 1: Miyaki Jima, those photos might give off a more post
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  Speaker 1: apocalyptic vibe. In fact, many photos taken here are of
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  Speaker 1: people clad in gas masks, as though everyone living on
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  Speaker 1: the island were part of some kind of doomsday cult,
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  Speaker 1: just waiting for the world to end, and in a
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  Speaker 1: way they are waiting for something. Miyaki Jima is a
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  Speaker 1: tiny island in the Philippine Sea, just off the coast
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  Speaker 1: to southeastern Japan. It covers roughly twenty one and a
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  Speaker 1: half square miles, with a population of about people, which
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  Speaker 1: is spread across five settlements. It's also home to rare
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  Speaker 1: and endemic fauna such as the Easoo thrush. But Miyaki
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  Speaker 1: Jima is perhaps best known not for what lives on
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  Speaker 1: top of it, but for what is brewing down below.
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  Speaker 1: Those who call it home must be on constant alert
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  Speaker 1: thanks to Mount Oyama, the volcano in the middle of
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  Speaker 1: the island. Mount Oyama has erupted six times in the
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  Speaker 1: past hundred years, spilling toxic gases across the island. Three
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  Speaker 1: the village of Acco was completely destroyed. What's left of
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  Speaker 1: its elementary and junior high schools can still be seen
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  Speaker 1: among the igneous rocks. The terrain has changed considerably over
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  Speaker 1: the years, with new trails blazed literally by flowing lava.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, back in June and July of the year
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  Speaker 1: two thousand, the volcanic eruption did more than alter the landscape.
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  Speaker 1: It changed the lives of everyone living there. The entire
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  Speaker 1: island was forced to evact. You wait, ash plumes and
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  Speaker 1: sulfur dioxide gas shot ten miles into the air. Seventeen
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  Speaker 1: thousand earthquakes shook the ground for twenty five straight days,
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  Speaker 1: rendering Miyaki Jima uninhabitable. Everyone had known the eruption was coming,
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  Speaker 1: as scientists had been tracking thousands of tiny quakes leading
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  Speaker 1: up to the event. Still no amount of warning would
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  Speaker 1: have prepared someone to uproot their entire life. In minutes,
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  Speaker 1: plants and trees either died or were burned. Cars were
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  Speaker 1: abandoned on the side of the road. Those who left
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  Speaker 1: eventually returned home. Five years later, but things had changed
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  Speaker 1: for good. The government now required everyone on the island,
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  Speaker 1: whether they lived there or we're just visiting, to carry
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  Speaker 1: a gas mask with them at all times. In the
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  Speaker 1: event that air quality became too toxic, masks would be
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  Speaker 1: needed to be worn until authorities said otherwise. But despite
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  Speaker 1: all that, life has remained much the same since the
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  Speaker 1: last major eruption. The folks living on the island go
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  Speaker 1: about their days much like anyone else. They drive to
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  Speaker 1: work and shop for groceries. People get married and have
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  Speaker 1: children too. The island is home to kids, adults, and
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  Speaker 1: the elderly, all of whom are just trying to get by.
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  Speaker 1: The only difference is the sound of the blaring alarms
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  Speaker 1: that ring out whenever the air quality becomes too dangerous
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  Speaker 1: to breathe. Clearly, it's not easy sharing an island with
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  Speaker 1: an active volcano. However, for anyone hoping to visit the
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  Speaker 1: place sometime in the future, you can when flights aren't
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  Speaker 1: grounded due to high sulfur levels or volcanic activity. The
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  Speaker 1: island has many sites to offer. Scuba Diving off the coast,
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  Speaker 1: for example, is said to be breathtaking, an experience that
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  Speaker 1: includes the occasional dolphins sighting as well. But if you'd
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  Speaker 1: rather explore miaki Jima on land, just be sure to
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  Speaker 1: bring your gas mask, and if you don't have one,
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  Speaker 1: you can buy one. Just swing by one of the
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  Speaker 1: many gift shops and pick up what might be one
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  Speaker 1: of the most curious souvenirs in the world. I hope
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  Speaker 1: you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities.
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  Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about
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  Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show
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  Speaker 1: was created by me, Aaron Mankey in partnership with how
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  Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore,
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  Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show and
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  Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World
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  Speaker 1: of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Yeah,