Let's talk about the 'worst year to be alive,' it's not this one - it's 536 CE! Of course, that's just a guess, but it's an educated guess because we know that there was a volcano that blotted out the sun - and THAT was the beginning of a mini-ice age that ushered in famine, mass migration, wars, and the plague!
Let's talk about the 'worst year to be alive,' it's not this one - it's 536 CE! Of course, that's just a guess, but it's an educated guess because we know that there was a volcano that blotted out the sun - and THAT was the beginning of a mini-ice age that ushered in famine, mass migration, wars, and the plague!
Some Sources
Cooling and societal change during the Late Antique Little Ice Age (536 to around 660 CE)
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/items/072ba4aa-014e-4f87-8fc7-334ebf876f1f
Why 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive'
https://www.science.org/content/article/why-536-was-worst-year-be-alive
Taylor says he doesn't understand offsides in soccer
>> Taylor: In the matter of the people of the State of California vs. Orenthal James Simpson, case number BA097.
>> Farz: And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you. Boom. Hello. Hello, Taylor, how are you?
>> Taylor: Good, how are you?
>> Farz: Good. I'm a little worn out. It's been a pretty tiring family, fun filled weekend. So not the most relaxing, but you know, that's life. Yeah, we'll take it.
>> Taylor: That's good, that's good. I've done just have been cleaning the house for like a week and it's insane. You know, I'm just like opening up every cabinet and like cleaning it and doing all these things because my library is never going to be finished. I mean maybe someday but like it's taking a long time because the guy hurt himself, which is.
>> Farz: Oh no.
>> Taylor: Hopefully he'll be better soon. I came over today, drop off scaffolding, things should be okay. But all that being said, I just need to like, I can't keep having piles of books everywhere. Like I need to do something about it, you know, so I'm going, I'm slowly like cleaning things and making it look a little bit better so I don't lose my mind.
>> Farz: Nice. Nice. That's productive. Your spring cleaning is the summer cleaning.
>> Taylor: Exactly, exactly.
>> Farz: Nice.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: Have you been keeping up to speed on all things World Cup?
>> Taylor: I have. Not in a way that like I'm happy when people are happy.
>> Farz: Yeah. That's good.
>> Taylor: I don't know, I don't, I mean I don't, I don't understand the rules of soccer and my children play soccer and I don't get it and so. And I haven't.
>> Farz: Aren't you a coach?
>> Taylor: No, I coach baseball where I understand the rules. Except infield flies, I don't understand that better than everything else. And then soccer, I don't understand it. Thing I specifically do not understand is being offsides. And now I learned via one of these hockey romance books that you can be offsides in hockey too. And I was talking to one of the moms who coaches soccer and has for many years and she told me she know what offsides meant either.
>> Farz: I didn't actually know it was a thing really because I saw the Iran's games and they both. There were two games they could have won, they scored but they were offsides. And I was like, does it mean. And apparently it's like you. The offensive player can never be further afield than the defensive player. Which kind of seems like odd.
>> Taylor: Like how can that not be the
>> Farz: goal I know, like, like I don't know, like in that situation then if you were the goal, maybe I'm misinterpreting it. If I am, please tell me I'm
>> Taylor: wrong because someone explained to us. Because I, I feel exactly the same way you do. I feel like you want to do that.
>> Farz: Wouldn't you? Like here's an idea if I was the coach, just tell your entire offensive team, including the goal, they just run to the other side of the field, then all the way across the field past you to be able to score. Like I don't.
>> Taylor: I think I'm glad that you also don't understand offsides or think that might
>> Farz: be ridiculous or I just said yeah, yeah. Like it's most likely that I don't understand, you know?
>> Taylor: Yeah, anything.
>> Farz: That's the most likely thing here. But no, I've been enjoying it. I, I don't watch soccer at all and usually I don't even watch the World cup games for some reason. It's like nice to have like a global thing that's like kind of like together.
>> Taylor: It's 100 that like I, I'm actually going to bring that up in a little bit later that it's like we could just all play sports and just like have and like get together and like I imagine if like the regular people hung out we'd be like, cool, everything's good, you know, it's not like the end of the world. Yeah, it sucks. It's. It, it sucks and is nice to see at the same time that you're like, why can't we all just get along?
>> Farz: Also like why isn't anybody else thought of this in terms of like having like a global basketball get together and a global hockey get. I guess it's because most countries don't have those things. Nevermind. That makes no sense.
>> Taylor: Well, no, because like there's the Olympics, you know, which is like a global get together for various sports. But I don't know, I don't like. But soccer is just so popular that like.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: Gets its own worldwide event in addition to being part of the Olympics, which is fun. I like watching people from different cultures experience different cultures. It's cute to watch like Korean people eat Mexican food.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: It's been delightful. I've loved it. Nice weight limiter.
>> Farz: Yeah.
Welcome to Doomed to Fail. We bring you historical disasters and failures
>> Taylor: Let me introduce this because that actually gets me, gets me close to starting.
>> Farz: Let's do it.
>> Taylor: Hello. Welcome to Doomed to Fail. We bring you historical disasters and failures and I am Taylor joined by Fars. And actually before I start I have some announcements. Are you ready? Can you hear me?
>> Farz: I can.
>> Taylor: Are you excited that I've known this?
>> Farz: Okay, you caught me off. You caught me off guard. So that's.
>> Taylor: I know I said that. I said I. That brought me right into it. But then I forgot that I have some announcements.
There was an earthquake in Venezuela and it's terrible. I donated to UN refugee agency
One, there was an earthquake in Venezuela and it's terrible. And I want to acknowledge that, like we talk about things that happened a long time ago and sometimes recently, but like everything that is happening in Venezuela, like those buildings falling down, we have talked about that a bunch in like different his time periods and different things. And it just looks absolutely devastating. I can't. Like the pictures of, you know, just apartment building blocks that are totally like just pancake to the ground. So I just want to say, I know we talk about these things a lot, but they're actually unbelievably horrible. And I'm sure there are people there, like still underground who are not going to make it. And that's actually a nightmare. I found a link that I clicked on to the UN refugee agency and I donated on a link on the UNHCR website from Canada. I don't know how I got there, but whatever. But they said that the money is going to go directly to Venezuela. That's where I donated to. I don't know, I think because it looks awful. So I hope that people are found or, I don't know, I don't know, a lot of things. So there's that.
USA250 is the 250th episode of the show
And then in good news, we didn't even talk about the fact that we did our 250th episode.
>> Farz: I know, I know. I saw you posting about it.
>> Taylor: I wrote an email because I was
>> Farz: like, oh, wait, it's so weird. Like sometimes you get plugged into things by total accident. The fact that it's like the 250 birthday of America. It's our 250th episode. It's so weird that that kind of all like we didn't plan any of that. It just happened. And it's kind of like that would
>> Taylor: have been impossible to plan too, you know, like.
>> Farz: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's so wild.
>> Taylor: I did buy a USA250 shirt at Walmart for $6 and I put it in my political box that I have for my kids. I have this like, box, like a pasta container that has like, you know, my Obama T shirts from, you know, 2008 and like some like voting guides and things and things like that. So I don't want to. I'm not in the Mood to wear it. But I did want to put it in there so the kids have it when they.
>> Farz: It's like a. It's like the time capsule that we all watched on Nickelodeon when they buried it in, like, 1995. Remember that? Oh, yeah.
>> Taylor: Oh, yeah.
>> Farz: What happened to that time capsule?
>> Taylor: I have no idea. I feel like time capsules were so huge then.
>> Farz: I know, but we don't do as
>> Taylor: much as we should. So. Anyway, that's my time caps for my kids. But anyway, congratulations to you for 250
>> Farz: episodes and to you.
>> Taylor: Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I thought that was cool. That's very exciting. Anyway.
>> Farz: Oh, they're gonna unearth it on April 30, 2042.
>> Taylor: Oh, God, I wonder if I'll be around. I think that's why my student loans are due to be paid off.
>> Farz: So sad. So sad. I think I'm in the same boat you are.
>> Taylor: Meh. I had a great time. It's fine.
Recently, things have felt better, but they're still bad
So, actually, okay, now to go back to the thing that I was seguing into is this year has been long and a lot of bad things have happened. You'll remember specifically, I cried all through February and. But lately, things have felt better. They're still bad, but they feel better. And I think the World cup has been part of it because it's been, like, delightful and, like, fun to see that, like, the Knicks stuff was fun, you know. You know, like, I think sporting events have been, like, exciting, so I felt a little bit better. And you and I have talked about how, you know, a lot. One thing that we're learning through this is, like, you know, every era has bad things, and you're not living in the worst of times, you know, and it's okay to be like, you know, I want things to be better for women in America while still acknowledging that, like, things are bad for women much worse in other places. And I, you know, want this for this here and this here. And, you know, what I wrote was, like, we're not going to Harrison Bergeron or Happiness, which is, like, common denominator. You know, like, we still can want for better things.
Taylor: It's coined as the worst year to be alive
So anyway, this year is. Has been. Has up and downs, but it has not been the worst year. But I want to tell you about the worst year.
>> Farz: The worst year in history, like, anywhere.
>> Taylor: This is the. It's coined as the worst year to be alive.
>> Farz: Oh, that's interesting. How did you even pick? I don't even understand how you'd pick.
>> Taylor: So it's actually coined by a historian named Michael McCormick. And also, just to note, if you're listening to this, your ancestors survived the worst year to be alive. So congratulations, because you made it. Your bloodline survived. And the year was 536 A.D. interesting. Which is the beginning of some really, really bad times. Very specifically in, like, the Northern Hemisphere, there's. It might not have been as bad in the Southern Hemisphere. We don't have those records like we do for what we have in the Northern Hemisphere for, you know, a million different reasons. So what we know from the Northern hemisphere is that 536 started a chain of events that are going to make the next hundred. Couple hundred years really bad for everyone.
>> Farz: Sweet.
>> Taylor: So, yeah, okay, so things are really bad. Besides the fact that, like, there's no air conditioning, which is, like, my biggest thing for staying alive is I need to have an air conditioner.
>> Farz: So you live in a desert, Taylor. You wouldn't feel this way if you lived in Seattle.
>> Taylor: No, no. Do you remember when you got married near Seattle? And there was not an air conditioning in my room, and I went to the front desk and my room was broken.
>> Farz: And they were like, vaguely remember that event?
>> Taylor: They were like, none of her ac. And I was like, I'm sorry, what? I was like, what? So no climate control indoors until that happened. Things were terrible. But this is specifically this. So what happened in 536 that changed at least, like, the world, in the northern half of the world, and it was a big climate change event. And can you guess what it is? Guess what happened that changed the climate specifically? Cooled it down by several degrees.
>> Farz: It had to be a volcano.
>> Taylor: Yes, it was a volcano. So we know a lot about volcanoes. I feel like you know that because I told you before, specifically in episode 46 of our show, which was about the. The Tambora eruption, which is the year without a summer. Right. So that was in 1918, 15. And that's the one where we get, like, the ash from Tambora, which is in Indonesia, which is in the Ring of Fire, which is to the west of, like, Hawaii. Like, around there, the whole Pacific Rim is called the Ring of Fire. And there's a lot of, like, volcano. Volcanic islands, and then also a lot of, like, underwater volcanoes. My main source on that is the Octonauts movie the Ring of Fire, which is really, really good if you like children's cartoons about animals. I learned a lot about the Ring of Fire.
>> Farz: I do. I do like that.
>> Taylor: It's so cute. They're a cute little intrepid group of, you know, animals that help other Animals, and they're in the ring of fire. And I actually was like, I didn't know that that existed. So Indonesia is in the ring of fire. And that's where Mount Tambora erupted in 1815. And then the ash essentially got up into the stratosphere, into the trade winds, and then it was everywhere. And then, you know, the temperature in Europe and across North America declined that summer. And, you know, Europe was so gloomy that, like, Mary Shelley, Rowe, Frankenstein, like, that's the. That's the thing that happened during that time. So we know from relatively recent history how big a change it can have on the climate when volcanic ash gets into the air, you know, so that's how we kind of figured out that it was this thing. But in 536, you don't really know that that's happening because you're not anywhere in views. Yeah, you. Not anywhere near the volcano. You've never even seen a volcano. You know, like, you don't even know what a volcano is. And why would you, you know, like, if you're living in, you know, living in Europe, you don't have. You don't have a volcano. So one of my favorite things, this is just an aside, is people in ancient times, like, you know, medieval times, not understanding or knowing the science behind, like, weather events and things like this and like, what the stories that they tell sort of make them make sense. And I love, just as an example, when there's an eclipse during a battle, it is the most delightful thing you can possibly think of. And it's happened several times in recorded history. About a thousand years before 536. So 5. On the other side, during a battle between the Libyans and the Medes in Turkey, there was an eclipse and everyone stopped fighting and signed a peace treaty. Because what would you think was happening?
>> Farz: God. It has to be God, right?
>> Taylor: How fun would that be to be like, this is it. Like, the gods are coming to kill us. And then it happened during Alexander the Great's rule. It happened to the Zulus and happened to George Washington, where there was an eclipse in the middle of a battle.
>> Farz: That's so fun. I will agree. Like, when I saw the eclipse that happened, what Was that in 24 or 23?
>> Taylor: I don't remember.
>> Farz: I can't remember either. But I went outside and it was so weird. It was like it went dark. But the weird part was, like, all the birds stopped sinking and, like, all the crickets and bugs started making sounds. I was like, oh, this is wild.
>> Taylor: I don't like that. I don't like that, but I get the idea.
Scientists think volcanic eruption in Iceland could have affected global temperatures
And I bring that up because, like, A, it's fun to think, like, you know, what are things that you might think something is if you don't know what it is. And then B, that's kind of what the weather was like after this volcanic eruption. So people recorded things like the Byzantine historian Procopius, sure, he said, quote, for the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon during the whole year. So kind of if it would have felt like that eerie eclipse, like glow, you know, the whole year. And it happens in Rome. We have records from there. We have records from China where it's cold and the crops are failing. Records from Ireland where they couldn't bake bread. It lasted for 18 months, if not more so 18 months of the sun not fully being out in a huge part of the world. We also have some cool scientific evidence that like, yeah, five, like 536, like, whatever. Like, I don't have my calendar. I don't know exactly it was exactly that year when this happened. But like, it's around this time. And part of the reason we know that is from things like tree rings. So they can tell, you know, what year on the tree was a bad year. You know, like when it was like the weather was specifically cold or it wasn't getting any, the right amount of nutrients or whatever. So they can tell, go through the rings a couple bad years. And then you also can find those things in an ice core. So they have. I feel like we've talked about this before, it's very X Files, but you like, you know, drill into the ice, pull out 100 years of ice and you can see the different pieces of the ice, different, different layers and what happened during, during that time, which is,
>> Farz: I think, I think you'd be hard pressed not to be able to relate anything back to X Files in some way, shape or form.
>> Taylor: I was watching it last night. It's so good. There it is, the one last night I was watching. There's an invisible elephant that like attacks a town. And then you're like, what is happening? You're like, it could only be caused by an invisible elephant. Fantastic. So anyway, so that's cool. We think that the, the, the volcano might have been in Iceland because from the ice core that you pulled out and people were looking at the pieces, there are bits of Icelandic glass in Sweden from like 536. Does that make sense?
>> Farz: So they're like, yeah, yeah, it does.
>> Taylor: If the volcano erupted in Iceland, Remember the one that happened like in recent history where you couldn't fly to Europe for like a week? Yeah, yeah. So like that, like if that happened, but like worse obviously, because it like affected global temperatures, then glass from Iceland could be all the way in other parts of Europe because of that ash and wind that was covering.
>> Farz: That makes sense.
>> Taylor: You know, that's what they think that could be there. So this is going to start 536 is going to be the start of the next decade being the coldest it's been in 2000 years. So all the work that humans have done to like get their crops going yearly and all these things is going to be f***** with because it's going to be as colder than it's been in 2000 years. So no one remembers what to do before that anyway, you know. And so this becomes a mini ice age. And they can also tell from those ice rings that mini ice age probably ended about 100 years later because around 6, 4, 40, there's more lead in the ice rings because they were mining more silver. When you mine silver for whatever reason, there's more lead in the atmosphere and they were mining more silver because they were more economically prosper. So it took about 100 years for the economy to fix itself after this.
>> Farz: Wow.
>> Taylor: You know, so that's a lot.
>> Farz: But I mean, real quick, I would say it's not an economy, it's a survivalist culture. Right. Like there's not.
>> Taylor: No, I mean, no, it's 536. There's like the Roman Empire has already collapsed. There's plenty of, you know, stuff.
>> Farz: Okay. There is a merchant class. It's not just agrarian.
>> Taylor: No.
>> Farz: Okay.
>> Taylor: No. And there's a lot going on, which I'll tell you, this is also going to affect then migration because you're going to have to go someplace where you can, you know, trade better or have food, those things. So. But before I get to that, it also affects art and culture.
In Norse mythology, Ragnarok is an apocalypse foretold in different stories
So there's one thing that I thought was really cool, that I wish I knew had time to learn a lot more about is so obviously you know the word Ragnarok from.
>> Farz: Yeah. I don't know which movie it is from.
>> Taylor: Thor. Ragnarok.
>> Farz: Thor. There are. Yep, you're right. You're right. Yep.
>> Taylor: So in Norse. Norse mythology, Ragnarok is an apocalypse that is foretold in different stories. And in the tale, all of the gods perish. And there were some other ones that didn't know. But the ones obviously that you know are Odin, Thor and Loki, like those gods die, the world burns and then rises again. It's like a. Just a collective story in north mythology. And people think that that story is like a collective memory of what happened in 536. And I was like, that's interesting. I wonder, like, what evidence they have. And then I have this quote that I totally buy. So from the poem Volspa. Sorry, whatever. From a poem. The Ursula drank a translation. So he translated this poem. I won't read it in whatever in Old Norse, I'll read in English. But from a poem from Ragnarok. It says, quote, it states itself, on the lifeblood of faded men paints red the powers homes with crimson gore. Black becomes the sun's beams in the summers that follow. Weather is all treacherous. Do you still seek to know? And what. So the part in there where they're like, black becomes the sun. Sun's beams in all the summers, like, that sounds like exactly what we're talking about. When volcanic ash covers the sun.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: Isn't that cool?
>> Farz: That's pretty cool.
>> Taylor: I think that's super cool.
>> Farz: I was like, it's pretty metal.
>> Taylor: It's also some of the King Arthur myths and battles happened during this time as well. So it could have affected that too because of the, like, disease and famine that come next.
The Islamic Empire starts to grow because of crop failures in the Mediterranean
So the next thing that can happen is migration in Asia. The Turks and the Avars are coming west into the Eastern Roman Empire, which is the Byzantine Empire. They're starting to come into more into Europe. In, like India and other parts of Asia, the Sassanian and Gupta empires collapse and the Islamic Empire starts to grow. And one of the. And I'm not going to get into the details of this. One of the reasons that it starts to grow is because crops in part of the Mediterranean actually are better for camels because of this weather change. And so there are more camels. They're able to move further.
>> Farz: I guess that does make sense. You know, I was under the impression that Islam wasn't a thing until 13 or 1400 years ago. So I don't know if it's an Islamic empire more so than a Middle Eastern empire.
>> Taylor: I mean, I'm telling you it's Islamic empire, but that's. Isn't that right? Isn't 2026 minus 1400, like 536ish?
>> Farz: Oh, you know what? The math. See, this is why. This is why my parents. This is why my parents put me in those Kumon classes. Because my math was so bad I had to take. I had to take remedial math. And this is also when I went to college and they had to put me in this one class with like kids started fires because, like it was like the remedial class for basic arithmetic.
>> Taylor: But then. Yes, then we're both right. Yes. So also in like more northern Europe, more Slavic people start to move around and all this will start happening. And it wouldn't necessarily have happened without people having to migrate because of crop failures.
>> Farz: Right.
>> Taylor: Is, you know, the direct result of this. So a lot of the way that Europe and the Middle east was shaped is because of this event, because people were able to move differently. Had to move differently, which is cool. So the next thing, I think this is like the last thing that happened, which is like kind of connected to all of that, is because of that. And you know, to your question earlier, like, there are trade ships that are going all around the Mediterranean, like up obviously, like up like to the UK and all of all those places. And in the Eastern Roman Empire, again, the Byzantine Empire. The Western Roman empire fell in 476. The Byzantine Empire will, will fall in 1453. And again, it's like one day you wake up and it fell like years and whatever, not exact dates, but that's when that happens. But because a lot of people are dying of starvation and they're moving to cities and they're moving to places to get more food and figure out how to like live a life, they're going to start dying of starvation in these cities and in these places and they're going to try to get food from other places and there's going to be all of this trade and all of these people who are maybe immunocompromised and guess what that means. Guess what happens.
>> Farz: Disease.
>> Taylor: Disease. This one is a plague, wrote. Yes, a plague, because you have travel and you have rats and on the rats you have fleas and then you have the plague.
To talk about the plague, we have to talk about two other things
So to talk about the plague, we have to talk about two other things. This is all over the place, but I think it's like an interesting little bucket of info. So you'll remember also far as from episode 12 of Doomed to Fail, when I talked about the Nika riots and Emperor Justinian. So that was another tie back to talking about the World cup. Because while I was thinking, like you were saying, why can't we all get along and play sports, I remembered the nika riots from 532, where it was basically a sports riot and people, a lot of people died because their sports team.
>> Farz: Yeah, it was in this really weird sounding stadium. What was It. Thanks.
>> Taylor: Yeah, yeah. A hippodrome is like, it was. There's many hippodromes. It's a stadium that is like a big oval so that you can run chariot races around it.
>> Farz: Right.
>> Taylor: But yeah, it was literally like the Reds versus the Greens sporting event and a ton of people died. So maybe we can't all just get along and play sports. We can't get along at all, you know, so maybe I'm wrong.
>> Farz: That sounds right.
>> Taylor: But the Nika riots happened in 532. So Justinian is kind of a tyrannical leader. He's trying to, you know, grow his part of the Roman Empire back up through Italy, back into all of Europe. So there's that. Then the bubonic plague, which is the plague that's going to happen and going to be called the Justinian plague. So a bubonic plague is yersinia pestis, which is also the Black death. So if that helps you understand what it is before it is gross. This is the one where you get the flu and then all your nodes swell and some of them pop and you get like big pustules. And then I was like, what is a lymph node? Do you know what a lymph node is?
>> Farz: No. I know they're little balls inside of you and they hurt sometimes.
>> Taylor: That's exactly what they are. They're like little bean shaped things. I feel like. I only feel like I know where mine are. Like you were just pointing to your neck. On my neck. Whenever. Sore throat. You know, you're like, oh, my lymph nodes are swollen. That's the only time I ever think of it. But you actually have hundreds of them throughout your body. And what they do is they protect the lymphatic system, which protects your body and it fights off disease. So when your lymph nodes are swollen, it's because they're working overtime to fight off disease. Makes sense. So if you have the plague, your lymph nodes are all going to swallow to the point again that they could burst. It's a really bad way to die. It takes about 10 days. So the plague is going to come to Constantinople, where Justinian is Emperor in 541. So it's been like five years since the volcano eruption. Five years of crop failures. And they are getting wheat from Egypt and that wheat probably has rats in it. And that's probably where it started. And where it came from is the rats from that thing. So people start to get sick. Thousands of people die in Constantinople daily. Anywhere from like 5 to 10,000 people die. 40% of the city dies. And in the end, a quarter of the people in the area are going to die from this. So it's like, really, really bad. And you know that, like, burials aren't happening, obviously. You know, it's just like there's probably a lot of people, like, bleeding people, just. And if they couldn't figure it out and like, you know, a thousand years later in the Black Plague or whenever that was, like, they have no idea what to do.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: You know, so Justinian isn't handling it well because he's like, but I still have all these wars, and I really want to do some stuff in my city. Like, he wants to build the iOS Sophia. He wants to, like, build those beautiful buildings, wants to do all these things. And for that he needs money and he needs tax money. But you know who doesn't pay taxes? Dead people? Oh, yeah, probably. But also mostly, there's also probably lots of. But dead people. So Procopius, who you'll remember is our historian who talked about the sun before. He also was here during the Justinian plague. And he just has, like, a little bit of a bit on how s***** Emperor Justinian was. And he says, quote, when pestilence swept through the whole known world, and notably the Roman Empire, wiping out most of the farming community and if necessary, leaving a trail of desolation in its wake, Justinian showed no mercy toward the ruined freeholders. Even then, he did not refrain from demanding the annual tax, not only the amount at which he assessed each individual, but also the amount for which his deceased neighbors were liable.
>> Farz: So that's bad? Yeah, like, that's a way to get deposed.
>> Taylor: Yeah, everyone's dead and you're to pay their taxes. Like, could not be worse. So we obviously didn't get the money, but that ties into, like, more migrations and more wars. And it changed what Europe could have been if Justinian had gotten all of that money and been able to grow his empire back west. He had to stop his plans of expansion and the plague because of Justinian's, you know, expansion and because of the trade and because of the famine. It goes all over Europe. It gets all the way to, like, France, where the Gauls are. It goes all the way to Jordan and the Arabian Peninsula, and it's just everywhere. And it's going to be around as a, like, version of the plague for 200 years. Like this version of the Black. The Black Death, we'll call it later. And it's estimated that, like, 14 to 100 million people died of it.
>> Farz: You know what percentage that is?
>> Taylor: I think it's like a quarter of the people. But also, like before, like, after the first, like, rush of it, it, like, ebbs and flows for a while because, like, 200 years, it wasn't. Isn't 200 years of 5,000 people dying every day, you know, it, like, gets better and then it gets worse and then, like, goes back and forth. But it, like, started specific during this time.
>> Farz: Yeah, it's awful.
Imagine what it would feel like in a place with piles of dead bodies outside
Which was also awful when it took a third of Europe in the 1400s.
>> Taylor: It's just so I just. I have. I don't think I've smelled like. Like there's like, a dead mouse, you know, And I put it in the garbage can, and like a couple days later, you open the garbage can and it smells terrible. You know, like, that's as close as I've gotten, really, just smelling a dead body. I cannot imagine what it would feel like in a place where just, like, piles of dead bodies outside, you know.
>> Farz: You put your dead mice in the garbage can.
>> Taylor: Where do you put them?
>> Farz: Well, I don't have mice. Fingers crossed. Knock on wood. I hope I don't. But whenever I see a dead roach, I have a roach grabber. I got this, like, grabber because it can't be near roaches. So I have a grabber and I go and grab it, and then I open the side door and I take it out to my neighbor's hedges and I threw it. Throw it to his edges because I don't want it anywhere near me. That's how I handle my problems. Taylor.
>> Taylor: That totally reminds me. I had a boss who told me that he had a mouse, like, in his pool filter and in his pool, and he took, like, the. The. The skimming net and got it out and he just, like, flung it and it hit his neighbor. His neighbor was like, what the f***? Like, from across the fence.
>> Farz: They probably decomposed on the neighbor, too, because it was. If it was sitting in water, it's probably just you at that point.
>> Taylor: Yeah, the point is, imagine that times a thousand bajillion.
>> Farz: Right, right. That was the point.
>> Taylor: How terrible that would be. So that was it. That was the beginning of, you know, like the dark. Quote, quote, dark, dark ages and times when things look really bad along the Northern hemisphere, specifically, and the volcano and the resulting climate change, you know, really opened up space for a lot of, like, cultural turmoil and interesting things to happen that maybe that wouldn't have happened without it.
For men between 18 and 40, it is any year mandatory military service
And then I wanted to end with this morning we were watching the Simpsons, and a quote from Homer that made me laugh is, he said, if God wanted people to be outside, he wouldn't have invented global warming. That made me laugh, because it's not just a little warming. It's all kinds of other things that could just, like, abruptly change your temperature and change literally everything.
>> Farz: You know what I was thinking about earlier this week was, do you remember way back when we were kids and they kept telling us about the hole in the ozone layer?
>> Taylor: Yeah, that's gone. They fixed it.
>> Farz: Yeah. It was like. It was aerosol spray or something. Right. They just, like, stopped doing aerosol spray. Mm.
>> Taylor: That's like, a thing that I always see on social media as an example of, like, global cooperation. You know, when we do want to do something, we can do it.
>> Farz: Yeah. Well, one time we could. Yeah. I would also put a little bullet. Bullet point in the worst year to be alive. Because, again, I think there's so many
>> Taylor: years, you cannot say for certain which is the worst year. No. And like I said, like, this. I think it also just, like, so much depends on, like, your basic needs being met. You know, like food and shelter and all those things. Like, you can.
>> Farz: I was thinking for. For men between 18 and 40, it is any year in a country where compulsory military service is required and you're at war, that would probably be one of the worst years ever for that
>> Taylor: person, I don't think. And I thought about doing this, like, talking about the draft as an episode, because my dad was drafted but for Vietnam, but he couldn't go because he had a knee injury from playing football in high school. And. But he remembers, like, in his frat, they would put. They would have everybody have their number and then, like, announce the numbers, and some of the guys would go, you know, And I feel like that generation, like, that boomer generation, their dads, which we've talked about before with my dad and like, with World War II stuff, is all of their dads went to World War II, especially from the United States. You know, my dad was telling me in that polio episode, like, every. You would say, like, oh, every dad would meet at, like, the park, and they'd be like, oh, you know, what did you do in the service? Like, everyone did. Like, there was no. Like, everyone was in World War II. And then all their sons are in Vietnam getting drafted, you know? And, like, I feel like this is obvious. Obvious, but they all need to go to therapy and stop. Like, that's a big thing that was not addressed for anyone.
>> Farz: Didn't we do an episode on conscientious objectors?
>> Taylor: We've talked about conscience, conscientious objectors, and, like, different ways.
>> Farz: I'm talking about different episode.
>> Taylor: Yeah, we talked about drafts in different ways, too, because, like, Vincent van Gogh paid to get out of being drafted because of, like, the compulsory stuff that he had to do. And so that's always been like, some countries have always had some kind of compulsory service. And then some people have. Some countries have the draft and I don't know. And then it's also the thing. Well, basically, this is what I was going to say in the episode when I researched it for four seconds. But, like, all of that, plus most of human history has been like, you're expected to fight whenever we ask you to.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: You know, it's like. And we've, like, joked about it before, like, get your bucket, put it on your head. Like, time to go fight someone. And you have to go do it. And then you have to hope you come home and you're about, your crops aren't dead. You get them.
>> Farz: All those things, which I. I know that I'm a coward for saying this, but I'm really thankful that I'm at that age where bones are rickety.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: So that nobody wants me.
>> Taylor: No, no, I don't. I. No, I don't want any. Anyone to go. It's. It's terrible.
>> Farz: So.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: Sweet. That was fun.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: The worst year to be alive.
Tell us what you think the worst year to be alive is
All right, well, guys, please write to us @dunfeld Potter gmail.com. tell us what you think the worst year to be alive is because there's. Yeah, I'm sure there's a lot of opinions there.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: Also, depending on who you are as a person, what demographics you fall in, you're also going to have a different perspective on literally.
>> Taylor: Exactly. Like, you can't say it for anything. Like, you know, you were. Weird year to be alive is obviously different than like, anyone else's, but we're talking, like, globally, the beginning. And you can market with an event that started a whole bunch of. Of a whole bunch of death, specifically, you know, because of that one event. Volcanoes.
>> Farz: Love it.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: Do we have any listener mail?
>> Taylor: I do. I have a note from our friend Nadine, and her son listened to my episode on the Halifax Explosion, and I said, starboard side, and he thinks it should be pronounced starboard. And I think he's right.
>> Farz: He is right.
>> Taylor: Yeah. So I just thank you to Nadian, son. He's totally right.
>> Farz: Thank you, son.
>> Taylor: You should have told me if you're like, so confident.
>> Farz: I have a weird thing where I try not to correct people because it comes across rude when I do it, so I try not to do it.
>> Taylor: You did just try to correct me about the Islamic Republic. And then even though we agreed that it was the same thing after we
>> Farz: do the math, but you got to, like, gauge whether it's an inconsequential correction or a consequential correction in. In the asl, The Islamic one was consequential because the audience learned about my struggles with mathematics. So you're welcome, audience.
>> Taylor: I also took, like, remedial math in college because I was like, I don't need math, and I'm definitely not doing it. So I took it my senior year, and the thing I remember the most is there was a guy who would come in every morning and he would eat a cinnamon raisin bagel with peanut butter on it. And I was just like, you need a glass of water. And like, stop it.
>> Farz: It's so weird. So weird. Yeah. Well, those teachers who told us we never have a calculator handy whenever we need it.
>> Taylor: But I also, like, no one cares. You can stop listening, everyone, right now. But I, like, used to love doing long division, like. Like, by hand, you know, like, just because it was, like, fun to do that. And, like, Florence did a thing this year where she, like, plotted points where you, like, do long division problems and you get different answers and you plot the points on a graph and it, like, draws a picture. And I was like, I loved doing that.
>> Farz: You are taking me back to my poor teachers and family trying to teach me multiplication. Like, it was just like this. Like, it was a black hole in my brain. It didn't matter how easy they made it. Like, it was just not soaking in.
>> Taylor: I've seen. I mean, obviously I'm, like, chronically online, but I saw another thing that was like, you're so creative. Thanks. I used to cry during my math homework, and I'm like, yeah, that checks out, too.
>> Farz: Exactly. Exactly. Sweet. Well, thank you for sharing, Taylor.
Fars: I 3D printed a clock. I know. Perfect. Give us a review. A good one or bad one
Anything else to lead off with?
>> Taylor: Yeah, look at. Look what I made
>> Farz: you. 3D printed a clock.
>> Taylor: I 3D printed a clock, and it's going to have another side, and then it sticks out of the wall like, this way, like, out. I know. I had to learn how to do two different colors on one thing, and then I had to learn how to buy a clock piece and make it work, which I did. And I kind of understand clocks now because the clock turny thing has three different sizes of tourney things. So one size turns the hour, one size turns the minute.
>> Farz: You mean gear?
>> Taylor: Yes. That's not gear. It's like a little pole that comes out. You know what I mean? Anyway, I 3D printed a clock.
>> Farz: This. This might be a good setup. Taylor and I talked about this forever ago, where one of us at some point should do an episode about the concept of time. Because the more you start, like, looking into it, the more you're like, it goes into this weird abstraction, like really, really fast that' really hard to comprehend. And. But now you're getting closer to being qualified to do an episode on time.
>> Taylor: Perfect. I feel like we should do some legal drugs and then do that episode.
>> Farz: Exactly.
>> Taylor: It'll be like three hours long. We'll be like crying. It'll be real fun.
>> Farz: It'll be a multiple series.
>> Taylor: Yeah. So thank you, Fars. If anyone has any thoughts on terrible years to live, things we should discuss that are disastrous. Doom to philip Gmail.com. doom. Tod on all of the socials and thank you. Give us a review. A good one or bad one?
>> Farz: Just review it.
>> Taylor: No, stop asking.
>> Farz: Fine. Fine.
>> Taylor: Good. Cool.
>> Farz: Thanks. Alrighty. Thanks, Taylor. We'll cut it off there.