Year without Summer, Terrible Olympics

Anachronismo!

Today we're talking about the Year Without a Summer and the disaster that was 1904 Olympic Games. The year was 1816. A series of volcanic eruptions had spewed dust into the atmosphere, lowering GLOBAL temperatures and leaving a blood-red fog in the sky. Crops failed, people died, and... Mary Shelly wrote Frankenstein?!? Sure it was a disaster, but tune in to find out how this year where everyone was hungry also inspired paintings, recipes, and the invention of the bicycle!

After that, Jackie takes us into the world of the 1904 Olympic games. The games, recently resurreted, were at odds with the World's Fair, which blackmailed the organizers into holding the games in St. Louis. No offense to ST Louie, but most European athletes just didn't want to go. And we can't really hold it against them, since the games were a twisted carnival of racism, poor planning, and the most incredibly stupid marathon we've ever heard of. A marathon with only 32 contestants and only 14 finishers. Between a stupidly hilly course, an experiment in dehydration and ANGRY DOGS, it's a miracle that no one died. And that's not even getting started on the racist 'human zoo' taking place back at home camp! It's insane, and you have to hear about it.