Frankenstein Versus the Volcano
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
Pushkin Industries
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 3 June 2022
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When Mount Tambora erupted it spewed ash across the globe; blotting out the sun; poisoning crops; and bringing starvation, illness and death to millions. It may also have helped inspire great scientific and cultural advances - including the horror masterpiece Frankenstein. How well do we adapt to catastrophe and what are the limits of our ability to weather even the worst circumstances?
For a full list of sources go to timharford.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hola Hola, I'm Viosa. |
| 0:02.3 | And I'm Mala. |
| 0:03.3 | And we are the host of Lookatora Radio. |
| 0:06.0 | Lookatora Radio is a radio-phonic novella. |
| 0:09.2 | Which is just a very extra way of saying... |
| 0:11.9 | A podcast! |
| 0:13.6 | Lookatora Radio is your prima's favorite podcast |
| 0:16.9 | bringing interviews with your favorite Latinx creatives to the airwaves. |
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| 0:29.7 | Pushkin |
| 0:38.2 | It was sunset when the Lieutenant Governor of Java, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, |
| 0:51.9 | heard the thunderous explosion. |
| 0:55.2 | He assumed it was the sound of cannon, perhaps the wily French, |
| 0:59.3 | seeking to wrestle colonial control of the Indonesian archipelago away from the British. |
| 1:05.1 | In response to the detonations, for hundreds of miles around, |
| 1:09.0 | British officials were sending out troops to look for invaders, |
| 1:12.7 | or warships to look for pirates, or rescue boats to look for shipwreck survivors. |
| 1:18.9 | The Java knees locals saw things differently. |
| 1:22.2 | They thought one of Java's many volcanoes was erupting. |
| 1:26.6 | That was about a guess. |
| 1:28.2 | The noise was coming from a volcano. |
... |
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