The Man with the Golden Arm | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW
Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production of iHeart Radio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm. Josh and there's Chuck. And it's just. us. And that's okay because we're going. to get bloody here on this episode of. Stuff You Should Know. >> I just had a cockroach crawl over my. barefoot. >> I've got a cockroach story for you. First of all, how are you doing? you. okay with that cockroach experience you.
just had? >> It's it it's not my favorite thing. >> Secondly, why are you barefoot? We're. working. >> Uh, you know, I don't put on shoes. unless I have to. >> Uh, thirdly, do you want to hear my. cockroach story? >> Uh, yes. Although, I will quickly say that's. not the worst. The worst cockroach story. I've ever had is when I saw one as I was. turning out the light fall from a. ceiling above my bed. >> Yikes. And then the light went off. >> And then right there,
>> you heard a cockroach go night. >> What's yours? >> It just happened today. Uh I don't know. if this is my worst or not. It's pretty. bad. I went to go pour coffee from our. coffee pot and a roach spilled out along. with the coffee into my mug. It was like in the pour the top that you. can take off. He was in the little spout. apparently. I just remembered I had the. worst one because I think this top's. yours. I I drank a cockroach in some red.
wine one time. >> That That's the worst one. There you go. Could you feel it crawling around in. your gullet? >> The swimming through the red wine in my. mouth. Uh and I just spit it out. >> And I'm sure you everyone just heard me. stomping in the background. >> Oh, tell me you didn't. >> Dude, you want me to get up in the. middle of a recording and save a. cockroach? >> I'd wait. Yeah. No, I don't save. cockroaches. I don't feel bad about it. either. >> We've talked about this before. >> Fleas, tick, mosquitoes, cockroaches, everything else.
>> I'm with you on fleas, ticks, and. mosquitoes. >> Cockroaches I'll leave alone. >> I know you you've claimed that many. times. We all know you're better. >> I saw a cartoon. It was um it was the. annual meeting of insects people like. and it was they switched to the next. panel and it was just a butterfly. sitting alone at a conference table. >> That's cute. And but you know you you. can't save a cockroach if they just. crawled into the cup. I might think. about it, but they don't. >> Okay, I disagree. I try to get them with.
a paper towel, lightly pick them up, and. throw them outside and sayanara. >> Sure, they suffer no damage. >> Probably not. They're pretty tough. >> Okay, this one was. >> Let's get uh let's get That's terrible. Let's uh get to this episode because. this is a profile in courage and heroism. of a everyday guy who found out he was a. little more special than the rest of us. and he put it to good use. And his name.
is James. Harrison. Is that how am I saying that correctly? >> I think so. Uh Australia's own James. Harrison who is the um probably the most. prolific blood donor in maybe human. history. Uh he donated blood 1,173. times over a 60-year period. >> Yeah. >> And is credited with saving the lives of. 2.4 million babies. >> Yeah. >> Uh referred to as the man with the. golden arm. And we need to back up a. second. Uh you can either pause and go.
listen to our episode on blood types. >> That was a live one, right? >> I think so. Uh or you can listen to a. quick explanation of what Rh disease is. and what Rh incompatibility is. Uh. because when you have a blood type, um. you've you've heard now we know that you. can be like positive or negative like oh. positive, oh negative. That negative or. positive is your RH factor. Uh so named. after the the RH reesus monkey. Uh.
inadvertently not correctly named. And. so that's a Rh factor. That's a it's a. protein found on the outside of your red. blood cells. And then you either have it. or you don't. It's an inherited thing, >> right? >> Uh 85% of babies that are born are Rh-. positive, which means they have that. protein. >> Mhm. >> But you either have it or you don't. And. that becomes incompatible when it. doesn't match up with um what the your. mom has, >> right? Yeah. That's a real problem. because the if your mom is Rh- negative, meaning she doesn't have those proteins,
her body's never been exposed to those. proteins. So, when she has a baby. developing in her um stomach, her womb, I guess you'd call it, um, and some of. those um red blood cells cross the the. placental barrier, her body flips out. It's like, what is this? We need to. create some antibodies to attack this. And those antibodies attack the red. blood cells, the protein on the red. blood red blood cells, the Rh factor, and tear them apart. And that is not.
what you want happening to your fetus. while it's developing in your womb. >> No, it's not. Uh, and just to be clear, it's not it's not a problem at all to. have a negative blood type. It's just. this incompatibility in pregnancy. >> is a problem. Uh, and on the first uh. pregnancy, um, this can happen and. everything is likely going to be okay. it's the subsequent pregnancies that are. the issue. And so to prevent this from. happening, uh the pregnant person is.
giving uh immunoglo globulin. I have. such a hard time saying that. And that's. that prevents those antibodies from. forming and attacking. And it's a it's a. done in the way of a plasma injection. called anti-D, >> right? And the reason why the first. birth is okay is because the mom's body. is still generating antibodies. Because. again, these are brand spanking new for. her immune system. And so when the the. the first baby comes out, her immune. system's like, "Yeah, that's right. Walk. away. Walk away." And then when the.
second baby comes, it's ready. And. that's when it really becomes a problem. And uh it can um result in and very. frequently results in stillborn um. babies and uh and newborn deaths as. well. So if it if it wasn't bad enough, just add dying babies to it and it. suddenly becomes much more urgent. And. it's not that rare either is the thing. >> Yeah. I mean, they didn't even know. about this until 1939. Uh the Rh factor. Before that, it was just the the.
system. Uh but there was a woman who had. given birth to a stillborn baby, was. given a transfusion from her husband. >> and had an averse reaction despite. having a matching blood type. So that's. when scientists figured out like, oh, hey, there's another factor here and. it's this negative and positive Rh. factor. And another Australian, a guy. named John Gorman, a doctor, uh was. working in blood banking, and this was. in 1958. >> Yeah. He said, "Hey, I think that if we.
give these mothers an RH antibbody, they. wouldn't make any of that antibbody. themselves." So, it's kind of like a. weird reverse treatment, >> right? Yeah. And that's it's really. worth saying. It's weird because they. don't know still to this day exactly how. it happens or how it protects uh. developing um fetuses, infants. Um they. think the best guess is that these. antibodies that they consider passive. antibodies um they don't attack the red.
blood cells of the developing child. Uh. instead they actually attach to it and. act as a protective bayer layer. >> Uh essentially like Obi-Wan saying to. the mom's uh immune system, these are. not the red blood cells that you seek. >> This is not the factor that you're. interested in. Beat it. In the words of. Obi-Wan, like I said, >> so Dr. Gorman and his uh research. partner, they tested this idea out um on.
prisoners on male prisoners at Singh. Prison in New York uh injecting that RH. uh negative uh into them uh with. antibodies and then measuring the. response and they found that it worked. and that it was safe. Um obviously not. the most ethical thing. Uh. theoretically, I guess these were. volunteers, but you know how that goes. Um but the question still remained like. will it save a baby? And it turns out. that his sister-in-law Kath was a nurse. and was Rh- negative and uh his brother,
her husband was Rh- positive. And they. were like, "Hey, we'll be the guinea. pigs in this one. Let's do it.". >> Yeah. So, the problem was is that John. Gorman's uh brother and sister-in-law, Kathn Frank, um lived in London at the. time, and Gorman, like you said, was in. America, even though he was Australian. It's a brain buster, I know. But the. upshot of it is that Gorman sent this. anti-D um inoculation essentially that. he was testing out to the Gormans in.
London. They had to go to Heathrow to. pick it up. John Gorman um had to get it. to them so quickly he didn't even fill. out paperwork. He just sent it like it. was. >> Yeah. >> I don't know like a a. >> deodorant. >> A push pop or something like that. Push. >> Yeah. Deodorant. Great. >> Um and they had to go to Heathrow to. pick it up. That's how um time urgent. this was. And if there was if it wasn't. urgent before it was when they got to. Heathrow because Kath went into labor. when they were picking up this. injection.
>> Yeah. So they uh were somehow managed to. talk this doctor into administering this. treatment which that's probably the most. surprising thing that this doctor went. along with it. But. >> uh that doctor did and Kath Gorman had. uh a healthy son and then she had. another healthy son a year later after. giving this injection and they were like. hey it it worked and uh now uh it's. given to women in the 28th week of. pregnancy. Um, and if the baby is found. out to be Rh- positive, uh, given again. within 72 hours of giving birth.
>> Yeah. I think one of the other things. that stood out to me about Kath and. Frank Gorman's story is, um, that the. doctor who gave them the injection was. persuaded to do so also by a team of a. rival team from Liverpool who were also. working on some sort of antidote to Rh. factor disease. So they basically said. like this is actually going to launch. John Gorman into the lead here even. though we're competing to come up with.
this but seriously you should you should. inject her with this. It's going to be. great. >> Yeah. >> So they they put they put saving babies. before their own career. >> That's great. >> Yeah. Uh I think Gorman ended up saying. that it was the most coste effective. drug ever produced. Uh in 50 years there. have been no fatalities from this. treatment. Uh and he said it saves about. a billion dollars every year pri uh by. preventing high-risisk RH pregnancies. >> Yeah. So it was really something. The. thing is you still need to this day.
human blood to make the antid uh. immunoglobin. globbulin. It is hard to say Chuck. >> Yeah. >> Inoculation. >> Yeah. Plasma technically. Yeah. >> Yes. And this is where James Harrison. comes in. But he doesn't come in yet, dear people, because you are going to. have to pay through the nose to get to. him by listening to these commercials. [Music].
[Music]. >> Okay, everybody. Thanks for listening to. those commercials. We're back and it's. time that we really introduce you to. James Harrison. Uh he was an amazing. guy, but I feel like we should go back. to before he was a full guy when he was. just a 14year-old because he underwent a.
really big-time surgery and I could not. find out why, but he um had to have an. entire lung removed again at age 14. >> Yeah, there's not a lot about the guy. Even when you read his obituary, the. just details are scant. And I'm sort of. feel like he probably wanted it that. way. >> Mhm. >> Uh as a kind of a low-key awesome dude. Um but yeah, at 14 he had a lung. removed. He was in the hospital for 3. months. And during that time, he. required almost two gallons of blood. Uh.
13 units of donor blood. A human adult. has about 10 units of blood. So a. 14-year-old wouldn't even have that. much. So basically a a full plus. transfusion of his blood. >> Yeah. that saved his life and comes out. of it as a 14-year-old. And his dad. explains what happened. And he's like, I. I know my calling. Like, when I come out. of this and I'm able to be old enough to. give blood and plasma, like that's what. I'm going to do with my life. >> Yeah. His dad was already a blood donor, too. So, I'm I'm sure it was gratifying.
for him. And uh James Harrison, I guess. he had to wait a few years before he was. eligible to donate blood. But once he. did, he started doing it um right off. the bat, right when he could. Yeah. >> Um but it took another 11 years, I. guess, when he was in his early 30s. >> Yeah. Something like that or about to be. 30 before the doctors were like, "Hey, hey, this guy's something special. He's. got some dynamite plasma." because. they think when he got all of that.
blood, he was Rh- negative, but he got a. lot of Rh positive blood and his body. started making Rh- positive antibodies. that can just knock your socks off. So. this guy James Harrison when he was 14. essentially acted inadvertently as a. human test tube or petri dish. >> where they put together Rh negative and. Rh positive shook it up and this guy. started making antibodies for the rest. of his life that would go on to save. babies.
>> Yeah. I mean his his his stuff was so. good and he was so prolific and. dedicated and we'll talk more about. that. Uh there was a doctor that said in. the Sydney Morning uh Morning Herald in. 2018 that every ampule of ANTD ever made. in Australia has James in it. >> Yeah. Primo stuff. >> Pretty cool. So the 2.4 4 million babies. he saved. Not an exact number obviously, but they basically did a calculation uh. where they analyzed birth data from 1964. moving forward, accounted for the people.
who got this antid treatment and then. weighed overall mortality uh mortality. risk from Rh disease and came up with. that number two and a half million. babies. >> Yeah. Because I mean when you donate. blood you do save lives, but you don't. necessarily save babies lives. It's like. James Harrison was a baby saving. machine. >> That's right. Uh they they tried a. synthetic version, but they're they're. they're still not there yet. So they. >> um they're still relying on people, you.
know, donating their blood and plasma, but um the synthetic that they've been. working on it, they call it James in a. jar, which is kind of cute as well. >> Right. For sure. Uh so like you said, it. is kind of tough to u to find much about. James Harrison's life other than his. blood donation. Um, uh, Laura Clawson, Dr. Claw helped us with this one and she. found out that he was a clerk in the. regional railway authority and his wife, his beloved wife Barbara, who died in. 2005, was a teacher. And Harrison's. dedication was such that um, when they.
went on vacation, they whenever they. went on vacation, they would um, putts. around Australia in a camper. He would. um, find the closest blood donation. clinic and go donate blood. And the. reason why he did that so often was. because with plasma donations your body. um regenerates the the plasma so quickly. I think within 48 hours that in some. cases in some countries you can donate. plasma a couple of times a week rather.
than the uh I don't I can't remember. it's several weeks if not a month or. more um that you have to wait to donate. whole blood like the regular kind. >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean you have to wait 2. weeks for plasma even, but um he he. wanted to donate so frequently they. would bend the rules and like they said. that he would come in at day like 10 and. 11 sometimes. >> Mhm. >> and be like, "Come on, just take my. plasma. I'll be fine." And they did. often times and they don't get paid for. it. You can get paid. It's a It's a sort. of a I don't know how common it is, but.
it's an old uh trick if you're uh really. broke and can't make rent, right, >> to sell plasma in the United States. because you can get paid for donating. plasma. But he didn't get paid for any. of this either. >> No, we should also say um if you've. never donated plasma, but you've donated. blood, it's a it's slightly different. Donating blood can take 15 minutes, maybe. Donating plasma is a whole thing. where they take your blood out just like. they do with whole blood and then they. run it through a machine that separates. the plasma from the platelets and the.
red and white blood cells and returns. the red and white blood cells to you. And the whole process takes about an. hour rather than a quarter of an hour. And um it has all the other stuff, the. leadup and the recovery that a whole. blood donation um takes. So when you. take that into account, James Harrison. making these donations um it's just even. that that much more hat removal worthy. >> Yeah. Like I mean one of these guys said. it's like a half a day basically when. you count in travel and all that.
>> Yeah. So if he donate, you know, let's. say that's like four hours, uh, and if. he donated, you know, 11, I mean, how. many times was it? 1100 plus. >> Yeah. >> Like that's just thousands and thousands. of hours of his life where he's trying. to donate even more frequently. Like, hey, it's been 10 days. Get me in there. I'm ready. >> For sure. I'm sure his co-workers were. like, "Oh, James gets to take a 4hour. lunch break every every couple weeks.". and his supervisors like, "Let me tell. you about James and what he's doing with.
this 4-hour lunch.". >> Exactly. You like saving babies, >> right? >> Uh so he and his wife Barbara had a. daughter and uh two grandchildren and um. the daughter was an ANTD recipient. herself and she made a big statement. after he died. Uh as an anti-D recipient. myself, he has left the family behind. that may not have existed without his. precious donations. >> Mhm. Uh, and I believe a uh, granddaughter-in-law, uh, Rebecca. Mellowship also got the ANTD treatment.
So, he even furthered his own family by. helping out his daughter and. granddaughter-in-law. >> Yeah. I guess he had four great. grandchildren when he died uh, this past. February in 2025. >> Yeah. >> And yeah, like she said, like you can. make a really good case that these. people would not necessarily exist. without him donating his very special. plasma. Um, and this was like not uh. it's not like his family wasn't aware of. this. Like this was a big celebrated. thing, not just with his family, but in. Australia.
>> Um, and so his grandson Scott turned 16. and said, "I want to join the family. racket and start donating blood, too.". So, the first time he gave blood, he. went with his grandfather took him with. him. And so, Scott's first time was his. grandfather's 10,000th donation, too. And apparently the whole family donates. blood which I mean imagine being the one. family member who's like no I don't feel. like it and everybody else. >> oh man. >> is donating it but you know there's one. you know there's one.
>> family shame. >> he uh his wife passed away Barbara in um. 2005 so very dark times for him and he. pressed through and did not let that. disrupt his donation schedule. So for. the last 20 years of his life as a. widowerower, he uh he you know kept kept. giving that that stuff even though he. hated needles, he hated the sight of. blood and he had a very low threshold. for pain. >> Yep. There it is. Our Oh Henry style. ironic twist. >> Yeah. >> The man who gave blood 1,173.
times to save 2.4 million babies was. afraid of needles. >> That's right. And he had a favorite arm, too, right? >> Yeah. His right arm. He said at some. point that uh he feels like and he he. even admitted it could be placebo effect. but um he can feel them injecting the IV. into his left arm but he doesn't feel it. in his right arm. So out of those 1173. times only about 10 were in his left.
arm. >> Yeah. Should we take a break? >> We should. >> All right. We'll take a break and uh. finish up right after this. [Music]. Joshua. [Music]. All right. So, we're back to talk a. little bit more about the dedication of.
James Harrison, the most prolific blood. donor and plasma donor in history. uh. even in his older years because he um he. gave until he was 81 uh in 2018 they. finally said you got you got to stop and. he didn't want to stop but they're like. you know for your own health you can't. keep doing this but uh up until that. point he would ride the train an hour. each way to go to this donation center. that was the closest one or at least. that was the regular one that he became. accustomed to and he was really broken. up he said it's a sad day for me the end.
of a long run I'd keep going on if they. let me. >> and Uh, this is just I have a hard time even. getting through the sentence, but the. last time he gave the blood, he was. surrounded by moms and babies that he. had saved. >> Yeah. >> Incredible. >> Pretty amazing. Yeah. Uh, apparently, even though he was something of a. celebrity, at least at blood blood banks. in Australia, I think well beyond that, too, he was um very unassuming in in. that he never walked in, you know,
wearing sunglasses and a scarf. The man with the golden arm is here. >> Exactly. And just wearing his jacket. over his shoulders, >> right? Yeah. >> He instead would just kind of chitchat. other people who were giving donations. and kind of telling him like, "Hey, you're doing something great." But he. didn't say, "And I should know because. I've saved 2.4 million babies." He was. not that kind of person. I feel like. this would be a different episode if he. had been that kind of person. It'd still. be worth talking about, but maybe less.
celebratory. I don't know. But this guy. doesn't seem to have. >> really been bad at all in any way, shape, or form. And we really looked. >> Well, here's a couple of quotes. Uh it. becomes quite humbling when they say, "Oh, you've done this or you've done. that or you're a hero." It's something I. can do. It's one of my talents. Probably. my only talent is that I can be a blood. donor. Uh and that saving one baby is. good. Saving two million is hard to get. your head around, but if they claim. that's what it is, I'm glad to have done. it. And like you just imagine every one of.
these quotes, he's got his hands in his. pockets and he's just kind of kicking. around some pebbles with his feet. looking down. >> Yeah. I'm going to get a shirt that says. what would James Harrison do, right? >> Man, one of my favorite shirts of all. time is um uh that what would Jason do? It's like a hockey mask instead of a J. >> That's funny. >> Just the implications behind the whole. thing make it even funnier, too, you. know? >> Yeah. What would Jason do? He'd gill. He. just slaughter everybody with a baby.
>> No, I I love that t-shirt, I guess, is. what I'm trying to say. >> Do you have it? >> No, I've looked before and I can't find. the exact one. There was a guy who we. worked with who wore one to work once. and I was like, that shirt's awesome, but also unsettling in the office. setting. >> Who was it? Do you know? >> I can't remember his name. He was a big. guy. Um, and he looked like the kind who. would wear that shirt. He looked like he. was clearly into horror movies. >> Okay. He was strapping large dude. Um I. cannot remember his name. He was a good.
guy. >> Okay. Was this way back in the day? Was. this Buckhead? Okay. >> Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. Way back in the. day. >> Yeah. That was back in the times where. there were so many people working in our. office. I didn't know half of them were. >> You would have interacted with this guy. He was one of the writers. I I. >> Oh, no. I remember that guy. >> Yeah, that guy. >> Yeah. The big dude. >> Yes. >> Like just very tall big guy. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Do you remember like a football player? >> Yeah, kind of. Do you remember that. shirt? >> No, but man, what a vague memory of that. guy. I totally remember Jerry would.
know, but she's not here. >> No, she's not here as usual. >> So, back to James Harrison. Uh, what. would he do? Uh, sadly, he would. eventually pass, but he lived to be 88. and like you mentioned, he just died. recently in February of this year. Uh, but before he passed in 1999, uh, which means his wife Barbara got to. see this, who was also a blood donor, by. the way, quite regular. Sure. >> Um, he received the Medal of Order in. Australia for his efforts. >> That's amazing. >> Again, almost two and a half million.
babies just saved by this guy. And he's. not the only one. Um, he's one of just a. small number of people, it turns out, who are able to donate blood because. they produce the antibbody needed to. create the antidoculation. Um, when this first was realized, I. guess shortly after 1958, a group of women in uh, Winnipeg in. Canada got together and they became.
known as the RH Ladies of Winnipeg. Um, and they started um, donating plasma to. make the Canadian version of ANTD. Winroe. >> And one of them was a woman named Mary. Talu who had lost three different babies. to Rh incompatibility. and she went on. to donate for 15 years. And again, this. is not normal blood. These people's. blood is incredibly special and it saves. babies.
>> Yeah. Uh there's less than 200 ANTD. donors in Australia. One of those is a. woman named uh Kieran Frois. I don't. know how you pronounce that. Froze. >> Freeze. >> Freeze. Maybe it's either the O silent. or the E is silent. Uh but uh Karen was. a uh is a midwife and benefited from the. antid drug during her own pregnancies. >> Mhm. >> And she learned that people uh who had. the right kind of blood could donate for. this and she advocated to be allowed to. do so and apparently had to like kind of.
lobby to be able to do it. Right. >> Yeah. Because she didn't naturally make. the antibodies herself like other people. like James Harrison does. There's a way. that you can actually sensitize people. by exposing them to the antibodies and. then over time their body will start. making the antibodies themselves, these. protective ones. And that's what she she. did. She's like, I want to volunteer to. be inoculated with this stuff so that I. can start producing this plasma. And she. had to prove that she was no longer able.
to have children. She had to send her. medical records showing her hysterctomy. to Lifeblood, the Australian blood. donation people uh before they would. even let her like get into this program. >> Yeah. And we can't forget about the. people who also allow that to happen by. contributing to that program despite not. having that Rh negative blood, right? like she gets those sensit uh. sensitization boosters from people. donating their blood to be transfused.
into her and others like her. >> Yeah. And from what I saw, there's only. one there's one match donor that donates. when they go in to give blood and. they're anonymous. When they go in to. give blood, their blood is taken and. given specifically to Kieran Froze or. Freeze. So like this person is I it's. just cool that they're anonymous too and. that that's what they're doing. Like. that's some pretty niche blood donation. if you think about it, you know. >> Oh yeah, absolutely. Um and you know the. they're they're doing the right thing in.
Australia. Uh wealthier countries. obviously have um a better time with. this, but very sadly um as you guessed. it, studies estimate that half the women. in the world who need treatment don't. get it. uh in developing countries um. obviously um most acutely um 50,000. fetuses and 114,000 newborns die every. year as a result of this RH. incompatibility who can't get this. treatment. Uh and the United States, we. don't do a great job donating blood. So, I'm calling people out and asking you to.
step up to the table and to that needle. uh 62% of the population is eligible to. donate, but 3% do so. Uh compared to 57%. in Australia that are eligible and 14%. do so. So they could kick it up a bit. too, but that 3% is shameful. >> Yeah, it's not totally out of balance. though with other industrialized western. countries. The UK um 2.6% 6% of the. population donates. Um 4% in France and.
then somewhere between five and six for. Denmark, Germany, Greece, and Cyprus. Um. so yeah, we could definitely do a lot. better. It seems like from what I can. tell, I look to find what country has. the most blood donors. From what I can. tell, Australia far and away leads the. pack. Oh wow. In the whole world. That's. my own research. >> Take it or leave it. It's I didn't do. any math, so it is possible. So it's. accurate, but that seems to be the the. highest percentage I could find was.
Australia. >> I bet you anything old James Harrison. has something to do with that and the. news and story surrounding his uh his. efforts. >> for sure. I would think so, too. >> This has spurred me to to get out there. and and do this on the reg, too. So, I'm. going to donate some blood next week. >> Good for you, buddy. I'm going to get. back to it, too. Yumi introduced me to. it, and I've definitely fallen off. So, let's go together. We can hold hands. while we donate. A. >> it'd be pretty cute. >> That would be cute. >> Uh and you know what? I'm going to get. us matching blankets with James.
Harrison's picture on it. >> Very nice. >> Uh okay. Well, Chuck said very nice, which is what I was fishing for, which. means also he just triggered listener. mail. >> Uh yeah, this is I guess a bit of a. correction for the heavy metal episode. Uh hey guys, there were a few mistakes. that I won't hassle you about. After. all, I didn't catch anything too. significant. However, I should tell you. that Rob Halford's leather infatuation. did not come from his time in SNM clubs. and bars. Uh, in his own book, Biblical. Heavy Metal Scriptures has a chapter.
called Denim and Leather, where he. speaks about how although it did spawn a. leather fetish, his love for denim and. leather came from bands uh other bands. like Saxon who wore the combination and. turned it into a heavy metal uniform of. sorts. >> Uh, the quot he is even quoting him. Uh, others reckon that I started wearing my. studs and leather as a means to express. my repressed homosexuality. No, I effing. didn't. Denim Leather has been part of. metal basically from the beginning. Uh, it was a visual display of how the.
originators felt on the inside, the way. the music sounded, the way they felt. Rebellious. Uh, his book is great, by. the way. I recommend it if you're into. ancient metal gods speaking on the. topic. Again, thank you so much for the. three-part episode, guys. That has to be. a record, right? Including the horns. episode. I call that a triple. Much love. to you all. That is from Joshua. Ernsburgger of Ogden, Utah. >> Very nice. Thanks, Joshua. Thanks for. setting us straight. We appreciate that. Especially from another Josh. You know. what I'm saying? >> That's right. And you know what? In your.
defense, that sounds like the kind of. thing that is just everywhere on the. internet. >> I saw it everywhere. And I had no reason. to um doubt it. >> Sure. >> Because I hadn't read Rob Halford's. autobiography, which was just stupid of. me. >> Yeah, you didn't have time. It's okay. Sorry, I fell for it. Everybody, uh, if. you want to get in touch with us like. Joshua did and set us straight, you too. can send us an email. Send it off to. stuffodcast at@ iheartradio.com. [Music].
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