Latest / Amigos, Afraid! / 44. Eat or be Eaten: Zombies and the Donner Party

Transcript

44. Eat or be Eaten: Zombies and the Donner Party · Amigos, Afraid!

0:00
Record. What's in your head?
0:04
In your. Head.
0:12
I don't know the words. I think that's evanescence.
0:14
Wake me up. Yeah, that's.
0:16
A different song. Oh sorry, same vibe I think.
0:19
Yes, but evanescence in the cranberry is two different.
0:22
Oh Oh no. Two very popular songs, yes, but
0:24
very, very different vibes. I am indeed wrong.
0:28
Hi, Jerry. Hey, what's up?
0:30
Welcome back to the podcast. Welcome back.
0:34
Thank you for being here. Guys, if you're listening to
0:37
this right now, that means it's Thursday.
0:39
It's Thursday, and you somehow found yourself listening to the
0:41
Daily BJ. Thank you.
0:44
Appreciate it. I'm not saying anything until
0:47
they give me a dollar. Damn guys, Jerry is getting a
0:51
gross is. Hating.
0:52
OK, we. No, no, no, don't take it back.
0:54
Stand by it. We need.
0:55
Stand by, we need funds. Guys, we need you to fund all
0:59
our trips to all the cool places we want to investigate and bring
1:02
you along audibly and visually. I want basically, yeah, I want
1:06
to like and, and I'm not asking for donations, I promise.
1:09
I want to like get gear, more gear so that we can set up at
1:13
different places, different cameras and real spirit boxes.
1:17
I have been watching more Raz Hernandez videos.
1:22
Jesus Christ. I want the camera that she has,
1:25
the little handheld 1. Yeah, dude, it's so practical
1:29
and it's so good quality. I think we've talked about her
1:32
once before, but on YouTube there is this comedian named Roz
1:37
Hernandez where she goes out to different places and she does
1:40
ghost tours and like just ghost hunting in different hotel
1:44
rooms, different haunted areas. And the most recent one, I think
1:47
she was at a bar. It was like, yeah, it was a.
1:54
A bank. A converted bank that survived
1:56
the the earthquake. The earthquake in San Francisco.
2:00
And they turned it into like a bar slash like experience.
2:02
Yeah, for people. During Halloween, they do like
2:06
mazes, yeah. Yeah, that was, it was a really
2:09
good video, like the the content of just paranormal stuff really
2:13
good. Dang, I made the mistake of
2:15
putting it on with a sleep timer so I can fall asleep so I don't
2:18
remember what happens at the end.
2:20
He fell asleep. But look at me now, unafraid of
2:23
anything. Ghost stuff lulls me to bed.
2:25
Dude that's amazing. You've come a long way.
2:26
Like I remember playing, was it? No, that's different
2:31
Phasmophobia. I wasn't even gonna gonna go
2:34
there, but yeah, playing Phasmophobia in the dark and
2:37
you're like, no, I'm scared, I'm scared.
2:39
No, that one is creepy. That one's pretty fucking
2:41
frightening. Like the jump scares are no
2:43
joke. Yeah, 'cause odds are I as much
2:45
as I want to believe in the spooky supernatural, I am not
2:49
going to run into the freaking twin demon in my normal everyday
2:53
life. That's just, I don't see that in
2:55
the cards for me. But with that VR headset, it's a
2:58
damn near close to how they might might feel like in your
3:01
life. So.
3:01
We need to bring that. Back I'm down.
3:03
We have a paranormal podcast experience, like live, but all
3:08
VR, so we're actually experiencing demons and
3:13
possessions and all that. Yeah.
3:14
And you guys are going to witness us just tangled in
3:16
cables because you're not going to have the video feed.
3:18
It's just going to be us. Walking into my sliding door
3:21
because I lose all perception of where I'm at, Yeah.
3:25
So what's new with you this week, Jerry?
3:27
Brian Yes. And to the folks listening at
3:29
home or in your car, emphasis on the car I, and by I, I mean we
3:37
purchased a new car. Oh my.
3:39
Goodness. What's been in the talks for
3:43
quite some time now. I think like over 2 years of
3:46
upgrading because my my vehicle is very tired.
3:52
I upgraded we finally upgraded we got a new car and I am we are
3:57
now dripping, dripping. We're not dripping, we're not
4:02
dripping. Dang, we're not driving a new
4:05
car and it's it's amazing. It worked out.
4:08
It was very stressful. I want to shout out Dulce for
4:11
her Capricorn negotiating and just demeanor and assertiveness
4:16
because she killed it. So shout out to her.
4:19
I was there sitting pretty like just Yep, just nodding every
4:23
time she says something. But but very proud of myself
4:27
because I did step in when I could here and there and just
4:29
like no, I think the dynamic of me being like a man at a car
4:35
dealership, like I get a lot of the attention.
4:36
I'm like Nah dude. Like I'm.
4:38
Going to take. A who's who's who's been talking
4:40
this whole time like yo. Why you keep you looking at me?
4:43
You. Better shake her fucking hand
4:45
first like you know so, but it worked out every the cards were
4:48
there. It was in the divine universe
4:53
that we were going to get it that day.
4:55
So it was very exciting. It was very exciting and we and
4:58
it checked off everything off our list.
5:00
We wanted this exact same car and we got it.
5:03
So very happy, very proud of us and excited to see what
5:07
adventures await us. I'm so happy for you guys, it is
5:10
well deserved. I've been in Jerry's car many a
5:13
times. I've had my forehead smacked
5:16
many a times by his visor that does not stay up and as much as
5:21
I would try to hold it up every time I'd forget and it smacked
5:23
me in the base. Which once again, that car was
5:27
the first time you and I had like a little one-on-one.
5:32
Absolutely the encounter. I mean, true.
5:35
It's the first time our fates cross.
5:37
Exactly. Yeah, I just happened to be
5:38
driving the home. Wow, that makes me sentimental.
5:42
You can't get rid of it now, Jerry, Sorry.
5:44
It's it's gone. Fuck, it's gone.
5:46
Damn, it's sitting in the junkyard.
5:48
Some What Car? What are you talking about?
5:50
Which one? We don't think about her
5:51
anymore. I'm kidding.
5:52
Let that be a lesson to anyone buying a car.
5:54
It is not easy and it takes forever.
5:57
Yep Yep Yep Yep. And don't let them fucking force
6:00
anything on you. They say it's optional but then
6:02
they push for you to keep it because it's saving money, no?
6:06
No, no, just say no, no, no. I thought about it.
6:12
It's still a no. It's still no.
6:14
I thought about it and it's more of a no.
6:15
Yeah, now it's more of a no, because you're now you're just
6:17
being pushy. It's the opposite of a yes.
6:19
Yeah, no. Absolutely not.
6:22
We said no, Yeah, no. I said talk to the wife.
6:26
Yeah, I said. I said nothing, I said.
6:28
I pointed at her. I just smiled.
6:31
It was good. While Jerry was over here
6:33
suffering. I mean, I don't know how much he
6:35
was suffering. He was sitting there looking
6:36
cute. I was hungry.
6:37
I oh, I wasn't because guys, I spent the Sunday at the LA
6:43
County Fair, which I had not been to since I think maybe
6:48
right after graduating high school.
6:52
It was so much more fun than I remember.
6:54
Being an adult is so cool because you could just literally
6:58
go and do whatever you want. Yeah.
7:00
Yeah. You can ride about any ride.
7:02
And no matter how scary it is, you can get whatever food you
7:05
want. I had a blast.
7:07
We were there to celebrate Jesse's birthday.
7:09
Shout out to you, Jesse. Belated birthday.
7:11
Jerry says happy birthday. We had all of the gays,
7:16
literally the gays, the vase, the themes and we had a blast.
7:22
I guess it's also the first day of Pride, May 17th, 18th,
7:27
whatever day that was. Pride.
7:29
Thank you. Jerry owes me money.
7:32
Shit, I'll, I'll, I'll Apple Pay you what you sent me last time.
7:36
Oh, thank you. Guys, I I won.
7:40
It finally happened. I won.
7:42
The gays love going to round one.
7:44
This is some background and I will join them, but I will not
7:47
play because I hate winning. I mean not winning.
7:50
I hate losing and when I go to round one I lose.
7:54
So I've stopped giving them my money.
7:56
I even went on Saturday with the the girls and Jerry.
8:00
Jerry was one of the girls. He was there.
8:02
I was there. And once again I thought I'd
8:04
give it a try. Lost twice.
8:06
I said I'm done, I'm done here. I'm going to play the arcade
8:10
games. So here's the thing about the
8:12
fair. It has become very similar to
8:14
round one where you buy a card and you load it up with no way
8:17
it's almost identical. You get a digital card, which is
8:20
an app, and then that's gives you game credit to play the
8:24
different games and use the rights.
8:26
I went on the UFO that spins you around real crazy where you're
8:30
leaning on the back in the the whole panel shoots up to the
8:33
sky. Disgusting.
8:35
Later that day, Anthony and Andrew did the freaking
8:37
slingshot. Oh my goodness, that was so
8:40
scary crazy. I gave them hugs goodbye just in
8:43
case. You never know, I would never
8:45
wish that on anyone but. Love you guys.
8:47
I hope you're not going through midlife crisis or something
8:49
right now. If you are, I support you will
8:52
please do things on the ground that are more safe.
8:55
Love you. But early on I said this is all
8:59
I'm spending today. This is my hard limit.
9:01
Times are tough. I I can only afford to spend
9:03
this much on the games. That's good for you, friend.
9:06
I'm proud of you. I'm walking by and I see a giant
9:09
Squirtle hanging there, massive. And the game is you throw a ring
9:15
and has to land on some rubber duckies that are floating.
9:17
Huge duckies. Yeah.
9:18
And I'm like, I'm gonna try it. Fail.
9:22
I'm like, OK, you know what? I'm gonna try it one more time.
9:24
I make one. This is it.
9:27
I would like the Squirtle. And the girl goes, no, you have
9:30
to make 2 for the big ones. The little ones are just for the
9:33
1. You could get one of these and
9:35
they were ugly. And I'm like fuck, OK.
9:38
And I could she could tell I was disappointed.
9:41
So she just looks at me and she says try again.
9:44
So she gives me another four rings to try again.
9:47
I get so close it literally swings off of it.
9:50
And in that time Eli is trying to win the same game because
9:54
they have a massive Sonic to get for Jesse.
9:57
They make one too. And we're like Oh my God this is
9:59
amazing. We both fail to make the second
10:04
one. Fuck.
10:06
I don't know if we just rubbed her the right way, if we were
10:09
just so fun and silly and gay that she was like Oh my God you
10:12
guys won. Which one do you guys want?
10:15
And I was like, wait, really? That's fucking cool.
10:17
It's like. Yeah, I'm like, I can leave with
10:18
a Squirtle. This one the big.
10:20
This one this. One and she's like, uh huh, can.
10:22
You put that in writing, please. She's like, I have to go get my
10:24
guy, but you'll get it. And what do you guys want?
10:26
And then they're like the Sonic we're like.
10:29
Oh my God. Girl, you did that for us and
10:31
you made our day. Yeah, MVP.
10:34
The only downside was carrying those plushies literally all
10:36
day. That was the only downside.
10:38
Aside from that, it was so fun. The food was good, the vibes are
10:41
great. May I say when I saw you that
10:44
night and you brought out your son?
10:46
He goes everywhere with me now. That is the best fucking thing
10:50
you can walk around with. Like I, I, I know, I understand
10:53
that. It was hard and powerful.
10:54
Dude, you're just walking with a big ass stuffed Squirtle.
10:58
I felt like that bitch. Dude, it feels nice holding a
11:02
Pokémon, huh? Just just around.
11:03
A huge one. So you are a water type trainer
11:08
champion? I'm going to take a step back
11:10
because I got a Bulbasaur at the Round 1 so I walked out that
11:15
weekend with a child. A Bulbasaur.
11:18
Cute little soft plushy Bulbasaur Pokémon trainers.
11:21
But anyways, I that that's so cool.
11:22
I've never been to the LA County Fair.
11:24
It sounds like a blast. I want to go to just play games.
11:27
It's fun. It's expensive.
11:28
So expensive. I bet food is so expensive.
11:31
But it looks so good. Yeah, but.
11:33
I if I didn't get lucky and win I would have said it's over
11:37
hyped but no dude I had a blast. That's fucking cool.
11:40
Best best weekend I've had in a little bit.
11:42
Love that. Happy for your friend.
11:44
Thank you. So Jerry, down to business.
11:46
Let's get down to business. Tell me what haunted you this
11:49
week? Brian, what haunted me this week
11:55
was probably one of the like, my number one.
11:59
What am I terrified to ever live through?
12:02
I've had nightmares of it involving really close people in
12:06
my life. And I think it's something that
12:10
if I were to live through, I don't think I would like
12:13
survive. I would lose it.
12:16
Zombies. You zombie, zombie, zombie.
12:24
Sorry, your zombie boy. Exactly.
12:28
That's a great song though. So let's talk about some origins
12:32
of the word zombie. Oh, let's give you some some
12:35
some facts. OK, so before zombies became the
12:37
kings of apocalypse fiction, the word itself already carried a
12:41
really dark and complicated meaning.
12:44
The term zombie is most commonly linked to the Haitian Creole
12:47
word zombie, which referred to a person who had died and then
12:53
been brought back through supernatural means.
12:56
Some historians and linguists also believe the word may trace
12:59
back to West African languages and spiritual traditions brought
13:03
over during the transatlantic slave trade.
13:07
That's important because Haiti's religious and cultural
13:10
traditions were heavily shaped by African beliefs mixed with
13:14
Caribbean influences over generations.
13:17
Understanding where zombies come from makes modern zombie movies
13:20
feel very different because the original zombie wasn't some
13:23
monster sprinting forward trying to rip your arm off.
13:26
The horror was psychological. In Haitian folklore, becoming a
13:30
zombie meant losing your freedom, your identity, and your
13:33
control over your very own body. Some stories describe zombies as
13:38
people trapped in an in between state, technically alive but
13:42
spiritually imprisoned and forced to obey another person
13:46
forever. The zombie myth reflected very
13:49
real historical fears connected to slavery, forced labor,
13:53
colonial oppression, and the loss of individuality.
13:57
For many people, the idea of becoming a zombie symbolized
14:01
becoming powerless. It represented a fate worse than
14:04
death, existing without autonomy.
14:07
The wording concept slowly entered Western pop culture
14:10
during the early 1900s. One major turning point came in
14:13
1929 with William Seabrook's book The Magic Island.
14:18
Seabrook traveled to Haiti and wrote about local folklore,
14:21
including stories of of zombies. The book fascinated American
14:26
readers because most audiences had never heard anything like it
14:28
before. And of course, Hollywood saw
14:31
this and immediately thought, you know what this needs
14:34
Dramatic lighting and a cursed castle that led to some of the
14:38
first zombie movies ever made. The zombie keeps changing
14:40
depending on society's fears. But at the core of the myth, the
14:44
original zombie was never about just death.
14:47
It was about losing yourself and not the Eminem lose.
14:50
Yourself. Oh my God.
14:53
Question for you. Uh huh.
14:55
If someone turned you into a zombie, what's the worst eternal
14:58
task they could have forced you to do?
15:00
Oh my God, Any kind of physical labor, if they're like, oh, you
15:04
have to, you have to collect the dog poop for the rest of your
15:08
life. I It'd be over for me.
15:09
What kind of dog though? A Great Dane?
15:11
Oh, good luck. That's personal hell for me.
15:15
OK, OK. Just is this why you don't have
15:17
a dog? Yeah, that's why I don't have a
15:19
Great Dane. And I've always told myself you
15:23
would be a Great Dane owner. Oh, sure, I see it.
15:27
You could ride them everywhere I wave.
15:30
You can take them to the planet. You could take them to our
15:34
place. The Great Dane, Sure.
15:36
And then write them back. Oh, just kidding.
15:38
Do not ride on the backs of your Great Dane.
15:40
I was about to say that. Saved me so much on gas.
15:44
So let's continue the zombies roots in myth and folklore.
15:49
Humans have feared the dread returning to life for thousands
15:52
of years. Nearly every culture has stories
15:55
involving restless spirits, undead creatures, cursed
15:58
corpses, or beings that exist somewhere between life and
16:02
death. Humanity looked at funerals and
16:05
collectively decided, what if this situation somehow got
16:08
worse? The Haitian zombie became the
16:10
most influential version in modern culture.
16:13
The Haitian zombie became the most influential version in
16:16
modern culture. But it wasn't the only undead
16:18
myth in the world. Different cultures have their
16:21
own terrifying variations. European culture had revenants,
16:25
corpses believed to return from the grave.
16:27
I've heard of these. The Norse mythology featured the
16:31
drouger, undead beings guarding treasure and attacking the
16:34
living. They got those in Skyrim.
16:36
Do they really? They do the drouger.
16:38
Wow. Chinese folklore included
16:41
Zhangshi hopping vampire like corpses.
16:45
Slavic legends spoke of restless undead spirits similar to
16:49
vampires. Humanity has been deeply
16:52
uncomfortable with the dead people getting back up for a
16:55
very long time. But Haitian zombie folklore
16:58
stood out because it wasn't mainly about violence or
17:01
monsters. It focused on control.
17:03
According to some voodoo traditions and folklore,
17:07
sorcerers believed to possess supernatural abilities could
17:10
allegedly create zombies through rituals, curses or magical
17:14
substances. Sores described these zombies as
17:17
emotionless laborers carrying out commands without thought or
17:21
resistance. That image is haunting because
17:24
it mirrors real fears of exploitation and dehumanization.
17:27
Some researchers even explored whether real life chemicals or
17:30
toxins inspired zombie legends. One famous theory involved One
17:35
famous theory involved tetrodotoxin, A neurotoxin found
17:39
in puffer fish, which can slow bodily functions dramatically
17:44
and create death like symptoms. Some speculated that people
17:48
mistakenly believed dead may have later revived, helping fuel
17:52
future zombie stories. Now, scientists still debate how
17:56
accurate those theories are, but the possibility alone made the
18:00
zombie myth even more unsettling.
18:03
Brian, what scares you more, A violent zombie apocalypse or
18:07
quietly losing control of your own mind and body?
18:11
The zombie apocalypse. Because if I'm quietly losing
18:14
control, I don't know. Until it's too late.
18:16
Yeah, exactly. And at that point, you don't
18:17
have that long to be fearful of the apocalypse.
18:20
You're just counting it down, dude.
18:23
Keeping tabs. There's probably an app or
18:24
something at that point telling you where the waves are.
18:27
I'm sure yeah, someone will develop some sort of apps.
18:30
Elon, he's going to have real time data just like the, I don't
18:33
know if you've been on TikTok this week, but they're raising
18:37
some questions on how he knew a certain someone won so early.
18:41
So I believe you'll have a zombie tracking app.
18:43
I like that. I don't like that, but I like.
18:44
Her. Yeah, I don't like it either,
18:46
but it's a presence we're living in.
18:48
Yeah, we're close. We're close to it, so for a long
18:52
time, zombies and movies were mostly super supernatural
18:55
servants controlled through magic or hypnosis.
18:58
Early films like White Zombie in 1932 showed undead people acting
19:02
more like cursed puppets and monsters.
19:04
George Romero arrived in 1968 and completely changed horror
19:08
forever. In his film Night of the Living
19:11
Dead, he reinvented zombies into flesh eating undead creatures
19:14
driven by hunger. Romero never even used the word
19:18
zombie in the movie originally, but audiences connected the
19:22
creatures to earlier zombie lore almost immediately.
19:25
And just like that, modern zombie culture exploded.
19:28
Whoa. Bromero's zombies introduced
19:30
most of the rules we recognize today.
19:33
The Dead Rising groups. Infection spreads rapidly.
19:37
Society collapses fast. Bites are deadly.
19:40
Headshots stop zombies. Survivors become paranoid and
19:44
desperate. But what really made his film
19:47
special was a social commentary underneath the horror.
19:50
The zombies themselves were terrifying, sure, but the humans
19:54
often caused just as many problems.
19:57
People fought each other, they ignored the warnings, they made
20:00
selfish decisions, they panicked instantly.
20:04
And this was incredibly realistic.
20:06
Of course, what does this remind you off the top of your head?
20:09
Literally COVID. Through COVID we saw all of
20:13
this. Zombie stories become less about
20:16
individual monsters and more about societal breakdown.
20:19
The real horror became what happens when civilization stops
20:22
functioning. The idea only became more
20:25
powerful over time. In the 1980s and 1990s, zombie
20:29
media grew bigger through movies, comics, and video games.
20:33
Then the 2000s absolutely launched zombies into mainstream
20:37
obsession. Call of Duty movies like 28 Days
20:40
Later, Resident Evil, Dawn of the Dead remake, World War Z
20:46
introduced faster, more aggressive infected creatures
20:49
and humanity collectively realized we are not surviving
20:53
this damn clock it. Slow zombies create tension and
20:57
dread. Fast zombies create panic
20:59
attacks. There's a huge psychological
21:02
difference. With slow zombies.
21:04
You think maybe I can survive with fast zombies?
21:08
You immediately start evaluating rooftops.
21:11
Modern zombie media also expanded zombie biology and
21:15
abilities. Suddenly zombies weren't just
21:17
corpses anymore, they became infected humans, fungal
21:21
creatures, mutants, parasites, scientific experiments, alien
21:26
infections. And at this point, zombie
21:29
fiction basically asked what's the worst possible apocalypse?
21:34
Realistically, Brian, how long do you think society lasts
21:38
during a zombie outbreak? 28 days, just like the movie.
21:43
That is, I've never heard of that.
21:44
Brad. That's a really good answer. 20
21:46
days on the dot. Let it be known.
21:49
I've never seen that movie. Imagine when people realize
21:52
there's no Wi-Fi. How are they going to use the
21:55
app? How are we going to use the app?
21:58
After we find that out, it's done.
22:01
Starlink is down, Sir. Starlink is down.
22:07
They've hit the second Starlink. Oh.
22:08
No. The zombies, they're so fast and
22:12
so slow. They're space zombies.
22:14
They're fast in space. But slow on Earth.
22:17
They just got there. They have sea legs.
22:19
What's it? Called, yes, I think when when
22:21
they're like wobbly in the land. Yep.
22:23
They're drunk, the zombies. At this point, zombies are
22:27
basically unavoidable in entertainment.
22:30
Movies, TV shows, comics, anime, video games, books, theme parks,
22:34
Halloween stores. Zombies have infected literally
22:37
every form of media possible. Video games especially pushed
22:41
zombie evolution into complete madness.
22:44
Games introduced giant mutated zombies, acid spitting zombies,
22:48
screaming infected armored zombies, regenerating monsters,
22:54
giant bioweapons the size of buildings.
22:57
At some point, zombie science stops being science and becomes
23:00
yeah, sure, why not? Let's add Yep.
23:02
Give them give them two sets of arms.
23:04
Give me everything they need. They need guns now.
23:06
Yeah. They need to know how to operate
23:07
machinery. But they all want brains.
23:09
Yep, and to get their certification to drive a what is
23:13
this, a forklift? A forklift.
23:17
Some of the biggest franchises include Resident Evil, The
23:21
Walking Dead, The Last of Us, Left for Dead, Call of Duty,
23:24
Zombies which you mentioned earlier, and Dead Rising.
23:28
Have you played any of? Them just Call of Duty zombies
23:30
and I didn't own it, it was someone elses.
23:32
So play it and stuff. Brief.
23:34
Yeah, brief experience. I've played Call of Duty
23:36
Zombies, which I mean the first Black Ops one that I played that
23:40
I actually owned. Terrified, really.
23:42
Would you catch me playing that at like midnight?
23:44
No, dude. I was a daytime.
23:46
Only I think it was like the anxiety of like running around
23:49
and like I remember playing with friends and they were just so
23:51
good. And I'm like, dude, one, I suck.
23:54
Two, I was like anxious because I'm like, dude, I, I, I'm
23:57
running from zombies, which is a, a real fear.
23:59
I truly fear like just the undead, like zombies.
24:02
I they got mine. They got me.
24:04
I played The Walking Dead, I've played some of The Last of Us
24:07
and I've watched a lot of that played through.
24:09
Oh, I've played The Walking Dead.
24:10
Yeah, it's a story one, right? The the tell tale games and then
24:15
never played Dead Rising, left 4 dead or I've I've seen Resident
24:18
Evil playthroughs and never played it myself.
24:20
Same. So fun but bio zombie thingies.
24:23
Yeah. No.
24:24
Every single universe has different survival rules.
24:27
In The Walking Dead, exhaustion and resources are the main
24:29
threat. In World War Z, overwhelming
24:32
speed is terrifying. In The Last of Us, fungal
24:35
infection creates horrifying body mutations.
24:38
Resident Evil corporations apparently wake up every morning
24:41
and choose evil science. Zombie comedy has also become
24:45
massively popular because people realize apocalypse situations
24:49
can accidentally be hilarious. Zombie comedy movies like Shaun
24:54
of the Dead I've never seen but I've heard never funny reviews
24:58
and Zombieland. Oh my God, Yeah, you're right.
25:00
Zombieland is for sure top ten favorite movies.
25:04
That's the one where she falls in love with the zombie, right?
25:06
The Shawn of the Dead. No, Zombieland is that.
25:08
Not in Zombie in Zombieland 2. I think they they there's a girl
25:12
that they run into who was like, I think she just had an allergic
25:14
reaction and they like push her out.
25:16
She's supposed to be like this very like airhead character.
25:19
I don't know, Is that the one you're talking?
25:20
About no, I'm thinking about 1 where she's dating a zombie and
25:24
that's the whole thing. I'm not sure.
25:28
I am who knows I. Also, forget the main character.
25:30
Who Zombie? Knows anyways, these movies show
25:33
how absurd humans become during disaster scenarios because no
25:38
matter how serious apocalypse gets, somebody always says let's
25:41
split up let's split the party. You know we got to go this way.
25:44
There's zombies around. We have to split up.
25:46
Another question for you. Oh, what fictional zombie
25:49
universe are you surviving the longest in?
25:52
Resident Evil, The Walking Dead, The Last of Us Left for Dead,
25:57
Call of Duty, Zombies, or Dead Rising.
26:00
Which is the one with Petro Pascal?
26:02
I don't know. Wait.
26:03
Yes, yes, yes. The Last of Us.
26:05
I'll do that one just because he's there.
26:06
Because he's there. I'm not surviving.
26:07
You can protect you. Yeah, I'm.
26:09
I'm not surviving and I'm not surviving that long.
26:12
You're not surviving with him or on him, under him, All of the
26:15
above. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.
26:16
Everywhere. Anything I'll let.
26:19
What if different movie, but yes, I I I see, I see it's it's
26:23
about the everything bagel at. The end of the day, yeah,
26:25
absolutely. No, I I don't ever see myself.
26:30
I mean, I'm knocking on wood that this never becomes a
26:32
reality, but Nah, I'm I'm screwed in a zombie apocalypse.
26:40
Are you? Well, I mean, you have a bunch
26:42
of weapon. I'm kidding.
26:42
No, you don't. No, you don't.
26:43
I'm kidding. I'm kidding.
26:44
I'm kidding. These hands, these hands, this
26:46
tongue. That the, the, the guns that I
26:49
see the biceps. Oh.
26:50
Crazy shit, Jerry. Me up, me up, me up.
26:53
Oh, look at my tan. How my shoulders.
26:56
I'm now blind. The farmer's tent is insane.
26:59
Thank you. Working real hard on it.
27:02
I think I would survive The Walking Dead zombies.
27:05
Yeah, there's there's some time. You know the the just the.
27:08
They give you time to react, yeah.
27:10
Of course there's some. I know there's like different
27:12
types, like, not that they've evolved, but I remember, yeah,
27:16
they had different names. Like, yeah, there's different
27:17
types of them and I could be wrong.
27:19
Somewhere fast and then somewhere big and fat.
27:22
And those are the ones that did a bunch of damage.
27:25
They would like clobber you. I know for sure, like in
27:29
Resident Evil, those are really bad.
27:32
And and The Last of Us, like the exploding ones.
27:34
I forgot the names like the screechers or clickers.
27:37
Yeah, yeah, I know. Not, not not surviving the Last
27:41
of Us, for sure. Fungus grows everywhere.
27:43
Like that's mushroom. Exactly.
27:46
Like that's going to grow no matter what, no matter what
27:47
condition. Chop it up, put in a omelet.
27:50
I've never really liked mushrooms in my breakfast.
27:53
You're Oh, OK. Yes, Sir.
27:56
I love breakfast at any time of the day that's.
27:58
Picky. That's worse than a zombie
28:00
apocalypse. Mushrooms in my omelet.
28:03
No, thank you. I'm good.
28:05
Have mushrooms in their coffee. Good for them.
28:07
I'm going to drink my coffee over here.
28:10
My regular coffee bean. One reason zombies never
28:13
disappear from pop culture is because they constantly evolve
28:16
alongside society's fears. Of course, we've made that
28:19
clear. Zombies are almost never just
28:21
monsters. They're metaphors.
28:23
Different generations interpret zombies differently depending on
28:26
what's happening in the real world.
28:28
During disease outbreaks. Zombies symbolize pandemics and
28:30
infection, political instability.
28:33
They reflect fear of collapse and chaos, economic struggles.
28:37
They represent desperation and survival during periods of mass
28:41
consumerism. Zombies symbolize mindless
28:44
consumption and routine. George Romero especially loved
28:48
using zombies as social commentary.
28:50
In Dawn of the Dead, zombies wander through the shopping mall
28:53
because it was familiar to them in in life.
28:56
Even after death, they instinctively returned to
28:59
consumer behavior, which is one of the funniest critiques of
29:02
society ever made. Imagine being undead and still
29:06
wanting to go shop. I'm I'm down, I'm go, let's
29:10
let's go. We need vans, let's go.
29:13
Modern interpretations also connect zombies to burnout and
29:16
exhaustion. Some people see zombies as
29:18
symbols of people trapped in repetitive systems.
29:21
Wake up, work, consume, sleep, repeat.
29:26
Damn that's me that hit. Like that's literally what we
29:30
do. Some weeks, that's me.
29:32
And that's it. Like you're like, what day is
29:33
it? What time is it?
29:35
Fuck, it's barely Tuesday. Oh my God.
29:38
That's why it's so important to like be busy and do things.
29:40
And I'm not telling you what to do, but that helps.
29:42
That helps me and that helps us so much.
29:44
Break out of the routine. Break out of the routine, take a
29:47
day off, take take multiple days off.
29:50
Call in sick, Use your PTO, use your sick time.
29:54
Go outside, get that vitamin D. When I was commuting, morning
29:59
traffic like morning traffic was like seeing a zombie apocalypse.
30:03
Oh my God, I was a zombie in the apocalypse.
30:05
You're just like mindlessly driving in the morning on your
30:07
way to your job, like waking up. There's people that are
30:11
distracted 'cause they're also doing the same thing.
30:13
And I'm and I'm not trying to shit on anyone, but morning like
30:15
just traffic in general just reminds me of that, you know,
30:17
and who put the. Puts us in that scenario.
30:19
Capitalism. It all circles back.
30:22
What's his name? Romero.
30:23
Romero, George Romero. You you were on to something
30:27
even way back then. Zombie stories also explore
30:30
uncomfortable questions about humanity.
30:33
Would people cooperate during disaster?
30:35
No. Would governments maintain
30:37
order? How quickly would panic spread?
30:41
What moral rules disappear during survival?
30:44
Zombie media almost always gives that same answer.
30:47
Humans become very messy very quickly.
30:51
We live through it. That's why zombie stories, dude.
30:55
The toilet paper was. Crazy.
30:58
No, no, thank you for bringing that up because going back to
31:00
COVID, that was what tripped me out the most like.
31:03
This is the hill we're dying. On toilet paper like we're we're
31:06
all just going to like fight over toilet paper at Costco
31:09
because you want to buy the the Max that you can.
31:13
And you know who won that fight? People who have bidets.
31:17
That's so true. I want to be nice.
31:20
Let me I'll maybe I'll install one soon.
31:23
Honestly, I, I, I think that would help in terms of waste
31:27
because how much paper and you know, well, I know some of it's
31:31
recycled, but I personally don't.
31:33
Sorry, that's. That's that's a whole.
31:35
Those are my horrors of what we lived through during that
31:38
apocalypse. So that's why zombie stories
31:41
remain so effective. The undeterred scary.
31:43
Yeah, sure. But the collapse of society
31:45
feels possible. That's the real reason zombie
31:47
stories endure. They force us to wonder how
31:50
fragile civilization really is. My last question for you.
31:54
OK, what disappears first in an apocalypse?
31:58
Morality or patience? Oh, I think it's, I think
32:08
immorals. I think people will lose their
32:09
morals if they see that there's no alternative.
32:13
Like at that point, society has collapsed.
32:16
It's me against the world, my survival over others.
32:20
Yeah. I, I agree with you.
32:22
I think I'm going to say patience because I think most
32:25
people don't wait. From my personal view, I think
32:28
they don't wait around for direction.
32:31
They're just going to go do what they feel is going to be best
32:33
for them. So a little bit more on the
32:34
selfish side, not negative. And then once shit starts
32:39
breaking down, when the resources start being limited
32:42
and people are fighting over things, the morals go out the
32:45
window because it's not no longer about morality, it's
32:47
about survival. Yeah.
32:49
I I think either one, yeah. Either one.
32:51
It could be either one. Yep, some.
32:52
Some lose it. Some lose it first, morality
32:55
first and then patience and vice versa.
32:57
Clock it. Some people just lose.
32:58
Lose it in general. You better lose it yourself in
33:01
the music. The moment you own it, you
33:03
better never let it go. Why am I quoting Eminem?
33:06
Fuck, that's two times today. I know why because I'm blonde.
33:12
Yeah, you're channelling him right now.
33:14
It's the bleach fumes, Slim Shady.
33:17
It's the dark roots. That's crazy, not like 3 songs,
33:20
I know a couple. That's so interesting friend.
33:24
I did some research while you were enlightening me and the
33:29
movie I was talking about is Warm Bodies.
33:31
I've never heard of that. From 2013.
33:34
It's a romantic horror comedy, so that's why I remembered.
33:37
No, it was a funny movie. And she's dating a zombie.
33:39
It has it has Nicholas Holt as the as the zombie.
33:44
OK. And it's got Teresa Palmer.
33:48
Dave Franco I'm I'm guessing young Dave Franco cause.
33:51
Yeah, 2013 before he was accused of sleeping with his freaking
33:55
acting students. Is that James?
33:58
It was one of the Francos. I know James is a teacher.
34:00
I don't, I don't know. Same.
34:01
Yeah, one in the same to me. And then second, I did want to
34:06
note that you said two incredibly hard phrases.
34:09
That would be amazing band names, one of which is cursed
34:13
corpse. You love it.
34:14
The second one is cursed puppets.
34:16
That's another one. Wow, I had to write those down
34:19
because I'm that's someone can make money off that.
34:22
You're welcome. Motionless and White has a song
34:24
named Puppets, which is one of my favorite songs.
34:28
Well, you can have a band named Cursed Corpse that's 10 out of
34:31
10 name. There's a there's a band called
34:33
Cannibal Corpse. Oh my God, don't get me started
34:35
on cannibals. What do you mean?
34:38
Funny enough, funny enough, the questions that you were asking
34:41
at the end really, really hit home with me.
34:45
Because what haunted me this week involves cannibals.
34:50
Yeah, and that's crazy. The morality of went at one
34:53
point. Do you lose morality?
34:55
Fuck. For some people, it's when it's
34:57
life or death. Jerry, do you know anything
35:00
about the Donner Party? No, you don't.
35:06
That's perfect, because I'm going to tell you.
35:08
No, no, I don't, Donner. Isn't that an ice cream?
35:12
No, it's a cannibals, a group of.
35:13
Cannibals. Oh, interesting.
35:14
Got it. I was close.
35:15
I was close. Very, very close.
35:17
Thinking of Haagen Dazs. No, that's not Haagen Dazs.
35:21
That's Donner. I'm sorry.
35:25
I know we had this whole conversation about zombies.
35:28
The scariest thing to me about zombies is the desire for human
35:32
flesh. You can't get in the way of
35:34
that. Based on all the media we've
35:36
consumed on zombies, it's because they're hungry for
35:38
humans. Never in my life has that
35:41
craving existed in my reality. But your story does beg the
35:47
question, what if you can't help it?
35:50
There's one very prominent case in American history where people
35:52
faced exactly that choice. Eat one another or starve.
35:57
Fuck, never want to be in that situation.
36:01
You'd be surprised because a good 40 something people found
36:05
themselves in that situation. Oh, so today I do want to go
36:10
back to 1846 and discuss the events of the Donner Party and
36:14
how a group of travellers were ultimately forced into
36:16
cannibalism. Dang, what was the Donner Party?
36:21
The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who became
36:23
stranded in the Sierra Nevada while emigrating to California
36:26
in 1846. OK, OK, OK.
36:29
The travelling party consisted primarily of the families of
36:32
George Donner, who's a 65 year old farmer, his younger brother
36:35
Jacob, and a local businessman called James Reed.
36:40
The Donner Party began the five month journey to California from
36:43
Springfield, IL in April of 1846.
36:47
The group, initially led by the wealthy Donner brothers,
36:50
followed the original California trail up towards Bridger,
36:53
Wyoming. But why were they travelling
36:56
West in the 1st place? Like many Americans of the time,
36:59
they were driven by the idea of manifest.
37:01
Destiny, get the fuck out of here with that bullshit.
37:05
Which we all know because we hopefully all had some sort of
37:08
American history class. It was the belief that America
37:12
was destined to expand westward. Families like the Donners were
37:15
promised Freeland economic opportunity and a better climate
37:20
than what they were experiencing back in Illinois.
37:22
Promised Freeland is wild. That's.
37:26
Really funny. Mexico somehow does play a part
37:29
in this story and you're you're going to be very surprised out.
37:32
OK, The trip was immediately off to a troubling start.
37:36
I would imagine. The party had left much later
37:39
than travellers are typically advised to.
37:41
That meant they'd be crossing dangerous terrain much later in
37:44
the year when temperatures would already be dropping.
37:47
Shit, they forgot to put an alarm.
37:50
If someone came up to you and said we're moving across the
37:52
country, what is the minimum luxury you would require to make
37:56
this voyage? Am I with with like technology?
38:01
Yeah, just now. Oh, now, yeah, yeah.
38:04
I mean important documents close for the majority Like no.
38:10
No no. Like what would make that trip
38:11
easier? A car?
38:14
Uh huh. AGPS.
38:14
Yep. My wife.
38:17
My wife. Your wife.
38:19
Some snacks. ACAC.
38:21
My phone. Yeah.
38:23
Entertainment of some sort. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
38:25
Like if you're cross country traveling.
38:27
Oh, I I need seeds. Oh, really?
38:28
Yeah. It keeps me awake.
38:29
That's the only thing that works.
38:30
For me, I would substitute that with some jerky, like the hard
38:33
jerky that you got to chew. Yes.
38:35
Yeah, those that would be good but tell you how to fuck with
38:37
your stomach for a long period. Maybe it's a little bag.
38:41
OK, OK, just a tiny one, just for the chewing.
38:43
Just a little bit. Well, back in 1846, they had
38:46
none of that. Sucks to suck.
38:48
You had to have some really well built wagons, you had to have
38:52
enough cattle or just livestock to take you there, but also to
38:58
kind of kill along the way to eat for sure.
39:00
And especially if you're a farmer like Mr. Donner, you have
39:03
that all readily available. So you are travelling in luxury.
39:06
According to the Times. Wow.
39:10
The group reached Missouri on May 12th, where they agreed to
39:13
join another wagon train led by Lansford Hastings.
39:17
This explorer claimed he had discovered a much shorter route
39:20
to California called the Hastings Cut Off Supposedly,
39:24
this shortcut would save nearly 500 miles by cutting through the
39:28
Great Salt Lake Desert in Utah. I love that he says I have a
39:31
shortcut and it's named after me.
39:35
Private Pass. Concerned about their late
39:37
start, the Donner Party trusted Hastings and his route.
39:40
The group eventually grew to more than 80 travellers, over
39:43
half of them children. He had started with around 30.
39:46
His family, his brother's family, their friend's family,
39:50
most of them are a bunch of kids.
39:52
Together. They reached Fort Laramie, but
39:54
on July 20th, the group split in two.
39:58
Donner had been warned about the dangers of the Hastings cut off,
40:00
but he dismissed their concerns. Someone who had gone to
40:03
California came back, found out that they were doing this and
40:07
said no, don't do it, it's not worth it.
40:09
Just follow the regular path. Got to split the party, Jesus.
40:13
And he did exactly that's what they did.
40:15
They decided to split the party fully dismissing the concerns
40:18
one group left ahead to leave a trail for the other one.
40:23
They're like, Nah. So Hastings went first and
40:26
George was left to cover the second-half that they'll follow
40:29
right after. OK, Unfortunately luck was not
40:33
on their side. The shortcut actually took
40:37
longer than the normal route and ended up being over 100 miles
40:41
longer. So.
40:44
What happens? Unprepared for the extra travel
40:46
time, the Donner Party quickly exhausted their supplies,
40:49
especially their livestock. They reached the Great Salt Lake
40:52
Desert on August 30th. Last check in was July 20th.
40:57
That's like a month and 10 days. Once there, they found a note
41:02
from Hastings promising that they could cross the desert in 2
41:05
days. It took 5.
41:10
Desert keyword desert. During those five days, they
41:15
lost nearly a dozen cattle and were forced to abandon several
41:19
wagons. They wasted even more time
41:22
trying to round up the cattle only to come up empty handed.
41:26
They lost everyone, they lost everything.
41:28
Of the ones that escaped, they lost.
41:30
They did not find them. Good.
41:33
Just kidding. By the time they completed this
41:36
shortcut, it was already late September.
41:40
Back on the original trail, they now had to face the brutal
41:42
winter conditions of the Sierra Nevada.
41:46
With tensions rising, a violent disagreement broke out between
41:50
James Reed and another traveller, ending with Reed
41:54
fatally stabbing the man. Reed was exiled from the group
41:57
and forced to continue W alone on horseback while his family
42:01
stayed behind with the Donners. OK, let's say we're going cross
42:06
country and it's 1846. OK, one of your homies starts
42:11
beefing with someone that he brought along and kills him.
42:16
That's the only option, right? Exile.
42:18
You don't keep them with you, right?
42:22
What other option is there? Well, see, I would act as like
42:28
the the liaison between both parties and no, I'm ex.
42:34
Yeah, no, I'm ex. My client's dead.
42:38
Let the What's it saying anyways?
42:41
Anyways? Yeah, you have to exile them.
42:43
That's the only thing. That's the only answer.
42:44
I did think that was very nice of them, like overtly nice of
42:47
them to be like, here's a horse, here's some supplies, leave.
42:52
Yeah, but good luck to you. Yeah, let the record state my
42:55
client's dead and. We're going to give you a horse.
42:58
And we're going to give you a horse at some supplies, I'm
43:00
sure, and then send you off your way to just get ahead.
43:03
I mean, it'd be easier to travel by horse anyways.
43:05
I guess, but remember this is James Reed has left on a horse.
43:12
Remember last time I said bookmark that, bookmark it,
43:15
bookmark this information too. Bookmarked.
43:18
The journey through the mountains was chaos.
43:22
More cattle were lost during attacks by native tribes and the
43:25
travellers began discarding most of their belongings to reduce
43:28
strain on the remaining animals. They kept the bare essentials.
43:32
You're moving cross country. You're bringing your entire
43:34
wealth. They had jewelry, they had
43:37
important documents. They had heirlooms.
43:40
They just buried them in random holes on the way.
43:42
They're hoping that they would come back and get them because
43:45
they were carrying too much stuff and they only had so many
43:48
animals left who are exhausted by this point.
43:51
Not enough food. Who are you going to feed, the
43:53
people or the animals? The people exactly.
43:57
I hope, I hope the indigenous folk were like looking like, OK,
43:59
they put the watches in that hole.
44:01
They put the money in that hole. Like let me just dig it.
44:04
Up we killed some of their cattle.
44:05
We're going to eat just fine. We know how how to live up here.
44:10
Hell yeah. On October 31st, they reached
44:13
what is now known as Donner Pass, where their path was
44:15
completely blocked by massive walls of snow near Truckee Lake.
44:20
The group was forced to make a camp for the foreseeable future.
44:23
Because it is storming. They cannot move.
44:26
For four months, the Donner Party remained trapped in the
44:28
mountains as their food supplies slowly disappeared.
44:32
Most of what we know about this period comes from the journal of
44:35
Patrick Breen. He documented the horrifying
44:38
conditions from the moment they're trapped up there through
44:41
March 1st, 1847. So that's from December through
44:45
March. So four whole months of them
44:47
just being stuck up there. He was wise enough to be like,
44:50
let me document everything. Good.
44:53
Boyliss Williams became the first to die from malnutrition
44:56
on December 15th. The very next day, a desperate
44:59
rescue group of 15 people, ten of which were men, five were
45:02
women, left camp in search of help.
45:05
They will later become known as the Forlorn Hope, they said.
45:08
We're going to take a small group.
45:10
We're going to go find help. We'll be back.
45:14
Eight of the 10 men died. Oops.
45:18
Oops. One by one, they succumb to
45:20
starvation and exposure. With no food left and no hope of
45:24
hunting in the frozen wilderness, the survivors made
45:27
the horrifying decision. They began to eat the dead.
45:32
Fuck. After more than a month of
45:36
struggle, the remaining members of the search party finally made
45:38
it to the Sacramento Valley. News quickly spread about the
45:41
stranded families at Truckee Lake.
45:44
On January 31st, after the worst of the winter had passed, a
45:47
rescue party was sent to the mountains.
45:49
On February 13th they located the survivors.
45:53
So this is like a two week journey to go from the settlers
45:55
camp up to the Donner Party camp.
45:58
When they got there, there was barely enough food to help
46:01
anyone at all. So the rescuer said we're taking
46:05
some of the strongest ones back down.
46:06
Anyone who's willing and capable, we're going to lead you
46:09
back. Tragically, many still died
46:14
during the descent down the mountain.
46:16
They took a gamble and some of them unfortunately lost.
46:20
Meanwhile, the once exiled James Reed had survived his solo
46:25
journey. I mean, yeah, just from one
46:27
person yourself. Yeah, he was on a horse.
46:30
It was a lot easier for him to move through.
46:31
He didn't have to wait on anyone else.
46:33
He glided through. After he learned what had
46:38
happened to the Donner Party, he began raising money and
46:40
organizing another rescue mission to save his wife and
46:42
children because they were still there.
46:45
Following a brief stint fighting in Alto, CA during the Mexican
46:48
American War, Reed recruited a small group of men from Santa
46:52
Clara and headed back to the Sierra Nevada.
46:56
By this point, cannibal. By this point, cannibalism had
47:00
become widespread. The survivors had completely run
47:05
out of food. Only 17 people remained alive
47:09
when Reed's rescue team finally arrived.
47:11
Thankfully, he managed to bring his family to safety.
47:13
One survivor later said, I can't overemphasize the importance of
47:17
James Reed. If it wasn't for Reed, the rest
47:19
of the Donner Party would have died.
47:21
Two additional rescue missions followed.
47:24
The final survivor discovered was Louis Kessberg, found in
47:28
April of 1847. He was reportedly surrounded by
47:32
the gruesome remains of partially consumed corpses.
47:36
April. The snow has long been melted.
47:39
Oh yeah, bodies are are decomposing now.
47:43
Kasberg was later accused of murdering and eating several
47:46
members of the Donner Party, including George Donner's wife.
47:51
He was eating good. He was, and people are like, yo,
47:54
it's not cold up here anymore and he's still going and there's
47:57
still corpses out here that look freshly chomped.
48:01
Bro. Although he was ultimately
48:04
acquitted in court, he became permanently known as a
48:07
bloodthirsty cannibal. They said, we get it, you had to
48:12
do what you got to do. Don't do it again.
48:14
But you're not welcome around these parts.
48:17
Stay away. Because of poor planning,
48:22
terrible timing and blind faith in a shortcut, the Donner Party
48:26
created the perfect storm of suffering and horror.
48:29
Entire families perish in the mountains while the survivors
48:31
were pushed to do the unthinkable just to stay alive.
48:35
Based on what I told you, what is the earliest point where you
48:38
would have noped out of this? When you when like they decided
48:46
to take the first shortcut, which then to the desert long
48:49
yeah, they elongated the from two to five days.
48:52
That's your first one is like hey, the shortcut was not the
48:56
way. Let's just take the regular Rd.
48:58
So I think from the beginning, I don't, I don't think it's wise
49:03
and not one I've never cross country then wagon and with my
49:07
family and cattle and all that stuff.
49:09
But after the first failed attempt at a shortcut, that's
49:15
it. And it's 3 days longer and it's
49:16
3. Days longer like I'm good, you
49:17
know what, from here on out, we're just going to stick to
49:20
plan of a route that people have taken.
49:23
I think at that point though, you're too far gone.
49:26
You're so far removed from the original trail.
49:28
Oh, I see. I see what you mean, OK.
49:30
Backtracking at that point seems impossible, but it's also
49:33
hindsight versus foresight. You would not have known.
49:37
This man is telling you, oh, there's a shortcut.
49:38
I named it after myself. Maybe that's when I would have
49:41
been like, OK, well, we have a perfectly good trail that people
49:46
have survived on. You have a shortcut.
49:48
No one is vouching for you. No one is saying, Oh my God,
49:52
love his shortcut. His shortcut so short.
49:55
It's the shortest cut we've ever seen.
50:00
Wasn't there a person who was like, yeah, yeah.
50:02
And there was someone else that was like, no.
50:03
Came back and said no it's not worth it.
50:06
No one has done it. Use the regular trail.
50:09
You're already late. Yeah, no point in rushing it.
50:12
Just. Also, remember April?
50:15
That's when they started. The last person was found in
50:18
April. Yeah, that is a one year
50:19
difference. Yeah, it was supposed to be a 5
50:21
month. Trip.
50:22
That's crazy. Also I think seasons play a huge
50:26
effect so like when they said that it started getting into
50:28
that tail end of or or. They went through all of the
50:32
summer, Yeah. And then now you're the winter
50:33
approaching. Fall or fall into the colder
50:35
months. Territory you've never been in.
50:37
You should know that like you should know that you are never
50:40
going to beat the elements. Mother Nature does not give a
50:44
fuck about your no wagons and your, your personal, your
50:47
personal items and, and expenses and riches.
50:50
And so not expenses riches. Yeah, no, I was going to say you
50:56
said a quote from 1:00. Of the survivors.
50:59
One of the survivors, when they were found by Reese Reed Reed,
51:04
he was like, I can't emphasize the importance of James Reed.
51:08
I thought you were going to say I can't emphasize how close we
51:11
were to eating your family. I mean, he's.
51:14
Like, I'm going to be honest, dude, they were that close.
51:17
They were. Probably the ones eating.
51:19
Yeah, yeah, without a doubt. That's 80 something out of the
51:25
80 per in total. Once the two parties kind of
51:28
grouped up at first before they split up, there was like 80
51:31
something people with a majority of them being kids.
51:36
So there's very few adults. There's a whole lot of kids.
51:42
I don't have the exact numbers of how many of them were like
51:44
men, but they're the ones making these, making these decisions,
51:48
and they were bad. They were bad decisions.
51:55
Men making decisions at. The end of the day I got one big
51:59
question. If you were trapped in the same
52:02
situation, what would you do? Just use my GPS.
52:06
What the fuck Siri? Where am I going?
52:08
Siri, how do I go to California? Australian Siri, can you just
52:11
get me to where I got to go in two months in the in the three
52:15
months in the five months plan, not a year?
52:17
Hey Siri, what's that shortcut called again?
52:19
She's like, oh, don't recommend it.
52:21
It's a toll road. That's fine.
52:23
Let's not do that. No, no, tolls don't Highways,
52:25
streets, only Donner Toll Road. Yeah, no, we're not doing that.
52:28
Fuck that Kinzabe. Who knows?
52:32
Who knows what I it being in that situation and living that
52:35
lifestyle in that time. You know you're, you're, you're
52:38
desperate. You got to make have Yeah, if,
52:41
if everyone else has already started, yeah.
52:44
And if people have done it together in groups, you're going
52:47
to trust a group. Unfortunately, I'm hoping and
52:51
praying never in my life that's something I have to deal with.
52:54
Her face, These people did not anticipate it.
52:58
This was probably never in their realm of possibilities that we
53:01
would run out of food and cattle and we'd have to freaking eat
53:03
our own and. I'm pretty sure like wealthy
53:06
people, 'cause they had a lot of stuff, right?
53:08
You know what's really funny? The one family that ultimately
53:11
ended up being really successful after all of this?
53:15
The Reed family. Snaps.
53:19
All it takes is murder a man, get exiled, come back later
53:24
after fighting in war. And now benefit off of your
53:29
failures. That's, that's crazy.
53:35
I, I mean, the fact that he also like rallied a bunch of like,
53:37
well, a couple people to go back.
53:38
Yeah. His fellow troops find his
53:39
family. Dude, they're trauma bonded.
53:41
He got them so easy. He said.
53:43
Come I, my family's out there. I know they are.
53:45
We got to save them. Yeah, and.
53:47
And he did before they were eaten.
53:50
If anything, James Reed was a man of his word.
53:54
Short temper, but a man of his word.
53:56
Wasn't George Reed the first to coin the phrase?
54:00
Y'all really ate yeah? I think I saw that in the
54:04
dictionary. That was James Reed, yeah.
54:06
It's in the Almanac too. Yeah, the Farmer's Almanac.
54:09
Y'all left no crumbs. No, no, they did.
54:14
They left a couple. Libs.
54:15
Oh, they did yeah, they left after the snow.
54:16
They. Lived in uneaten.
54:17
Corpses. You're right, you're right.
54:19
Half chewed, half chomped. Like that jerky you were
54:21
mentioning. I don't like that call back.
54:25
There is so this whole thing reminded me of a movie we
54:28
watched which is really good. It was on Netflix.
54:30
Society of the Snow it's about a plane crash and survivors and
54:36
cannibalism. If you have not watched it, the
54:38
direct inspiration I true story by the way 1972 recommend it
54:44
watch it. Whoa Society of the Snow true
54:47
story. True story.
54:48
Cannibalism is everywhere guys, you just got to be able to see
54:51
it. The film, obviously the film was
54:54
was released in 2023, but it's from 1972, based in 1972.
54:58
Wow, I I would recommend it when I watched it and and I watched
55:01
it in Spanish because it's I think they're a little Wyan.
55:05
Oh, so it's directed, I think by.
55:08
Support me Gente Latino. Exactly.
55:10
Yeah. So just kidding.
55:12
Is it Amazon? No.
55:14
Netflix. Netflix.
55:16
What's really funny? Recommended.
55:17
I mean, not funny. I mean kind of funny.
55:20
I had heard the Donner Party and they knew about it, but in my
55:23
head they weren't pioneers. In my head I thought it was like
55:29
a skiing incident, like they got stuck in a cabin somewhere.
55:33
And they had to. And they just had to start
55:35
eating each other. No, it was 1846.
55:39
One of the like, one of those moral questions where it's what
55:43
would you do in that situation? Like you don't, you don't know.
55:45
You know, you're not fighting to stay alive with no resources, no
55:50
help. You're stuck are you do not
55:53
going to eat based off of moral you know like what are you going
55:56
to do right now? I can confidently say no, fuck
56:00
that, but. You don't know until you're.
56:02
You don't. Know and that sucks.
56:04
That's fucking scary, man. Well, hopefully that gives you
56:07
something to to sit on think about it.
56:13
Please let us know your opinions on this.
56:15
Infect my brain. What are some of your favorite
56:18
zombie movies? Yes, recommend some.
56:20
I need to watch a lot of them. Yeah, I think Evil Dead.
56:22
Is that one of them? Maybe.
56:24
I want to watch it. And it's.
56:25
It's got to be a classic, right? Sure.
56:28
I know, man. And Frenchie have a poster.
56:30
Oh. Yeah, I think Evil Dead, right?
56:31
Andrew likes it too. Evil Dead.
56:35
Yeah, I remember like having dreams, vivid nightmares where
56:39
it's a family member and what do you do?
56:45
It's scary. I hope I never have dreams like
56:48
that. I don't want to experience it in
56:50
real life. Don't want to experience it in
56:51
my dreams either. I do want to recommend Zombie
56:55
Boy by Lady Gaga as my song. Sorry.
56:58
Beat you to it and got me. You know what?
57:00
No, I have some. I have one.
57:02
I just got to pull it up because I have not listened to it in a
57:05
while. But it's a White Zombie song.
57:07
What is that? The name of the band it is, It's
57:13
yes, it should be a group. White Zombie Thunderkiss 65 Wow,
57:19
look at this zombie on theme. It's been great having you guys
57:24
here. Thank you for listening.
57:26
I had a bite, a blast. Oh, Jerry, why are you looking
57:31
at me like that? Guys is drooling.
57:38
I was going to cough really loud and I was like, no, it's going
57:39
to be really loud on the mic. Never mind.
57:41
I was going to start choking on on like spit not doing that.
57:46
OK, bye guys. Thank you for listening.
57:48
I love you. Be careful of zombies.