Marco Polo & Neil Armstrong

You're one small step away. Oh wow, Like the one small step are other figure astronaut Neil Armstrong talked about in his famous moon landing. Yeah, one small step and then one giant leap to the left and this game can be done. Gotcha wow, Jane. I hate to say this, but you may need to moisturize a little more. Your skin feels incredibly tough. B That wasn't me, that was Geraldine and she's very sensitive about her dry skin. So

raise up off. Oh um, Eric, will you please play us in and distract this angry elephant with the theme song Here we go? What do you think you know about the race from this story? The game is on. To get some energy and buckle up your brain because it's time to play the Whos podcast because it's sound to play. But who Live from Top the Land or so called so Cow Los Angeles. Welcome to Who Was? The history quis show that gives contestants the chance to

win mega prizes and podcast. Glorie, I'm being your announcer and daily dose of Vitamin be. And here's your host, a man with resting I hate resting face. It's Elliott Haylen. Thank you be and I just love work so much and welcome everyone to Who Was? Podcast. This show is like Jeopardy, only a surprise. Guests Silly Games and an air Friar were knee deep in salmon filets and French Brian.

Our knees are so oily it's great. Our contestants were sent Who Was books about two great figures from history. Now they're here to show off their knowledge and the hopes of winning fantastic prizes. Prizes. Today we're discussing two star stuck travelers, Marco Polo and Neil Armstrong. But before we get to know them, let's get to know our contestants. First up, we have Evelyn. Evelyn, will you please introduce yourself? Hi, my name is Evelyn, and I have three triplet brothers.

Oh my goodness, three triplet brothers. So now does that mean that you have nine brothers because you have three sets of triplets, three brothers who are triplets. That that would that's that will be so much less expensive for college than having nine brothers. They that I've wondered this about triplets. Do they sleep in a three level bunk bit? Um? No? Actually, they sleep all together in a twin size bed, even though we have three different twin size beds for them.

Oh my goodness. Now, how old are they? They're eight years old. Okay, so they're they're small enough still where they can all fit in one bed. But soon enough, that's gonna be too many triplets sleeping. You know that that face game? Yeah? Well cool. Thank you so much for being here today. We're excited to have you on the show, and we also have Raymond here with us today. Raymond, please introduce yourself. Hi. I'm Raymond. I love dogs and video games. Now is there a video game about dogs

that could combine both of your interests? I don't think so yet, Not yet? All right, I do remember a game. Maybe Elliott will remember. This game is from the nineties. It was called paper Boy, Raymond, have you ever played this? A dope? But I've heard my dad talk about it. In paper Boy, a dog would chase you while you were trying to deliver the newspaper. So maybe it's a good thing that there aren't that many dog video games, because it sounds like these dogs are not a joy

to have around in video games. Although imagine, do you have a dog, Raymond, Yes, your dog is a joy to have. And what's her name? Zelda? Zelda? Another video game? This is? This is amazing. You really do love dogs and video games. Thank you both so much for being here, and thank you to erk or a musician for providing that lovely meet the contestants music. That's who is Now let's find out who was Marco Polo with four fast facts prospects. Marco Polo was born in twelve fifty four

and died in thirteen twenty four. Marco Polo wrote a book, The Travels of Marco Polo, describing amazing adventures he said he had exploring China and the Far East. Marco was nicknamed Marco Millions because people thought his book was nothing but a million lies on his deathbed, Marco's friends asked him to admit his stories r untrue, and his answer was,

I never told half of what I saw prospects. Now, I think that's important because never ever have we done in four fast facts with a little accent in the fast facts. I just wanted to point that out. We both went into our Telli an accent as much as possible. For Marco, that's right. But so Marco Polo had a bunch of amazing travels. And I'm wondering if any if our contestants today have taken any really cool trips that

they could tell us about. Raymond, have you ever taken like a really cool trip that you would want to share with us? I went to England. You went to England. Where in England did you go? I went all around it. Did you go to the Beatles Museum in Liverpool? Yes? Oh? Wow? Okay? And what was your favorite part of your of your trip to England seeing the Beatles Museum? Oh? I nailed it? Wow? You you you two should go on a trip to England together. It sounds like you would have want to

do a lot of the same things. You have a lot of fun together. But I don't want to play any British video games? No? Thanks. Now I'm trying to think of what a British video game would sound like, something like this. It's Mario and and Evelyn. What about you? Have you ever had an amazing exciting trip somewhere. I haven't really left the US, um, but I've gone to South Carolina, which is across the country for me. Wait. Did you go to Myrtle Beach? No? Wait, no, no,

no wait wait wait the Beatles Museum. Did you go to Charleston, South Carolina? Um? Actually I went to um, Myrtle Beach, Gilton Head and Charleston. I went everywhere all over South Carolina. Yeah, those are those are the big three in South Carolina. You gotta see it. And did you go to eat North Carolina or Middle Carolina? The Carolina that doesn't exist but I made it up that goes between North and South Carolina. No, okay, good TWI

question and you got out of that one. Good good making sure you weren't being a Marco million telling stories about made up Carolina's. Well, thank you so much for sharing those trips stories with us. They all sound great. But let's take a trip over to our first game. That's right. It's called true or false. False. Is a true true that it was true? Or true? True or false. Here's how this game works. Be will read a statement about Marco Polo and you'll tell us if it's true

or fault false. And since it's our first game, each question is worth one point. Evelyn, You'll be going first. True or false. While some teenagers have to beg their parents just to drive to the corner store. Marco Polo was seventeen years old when he first traveled to China. Is that true or false? True? That's right, the answer is true. In twelve seventy two, seventeen year old Marco joined his father, Nicolo and his uncle Mafeo on their

latest trip from Venice to China. Marco didn't want to be left behind, and though the trip would be dangerous, his father and uncle agreed to take him along and it would change his life and history forever, Raymond, your true or falls. Once he arrived in China, young Marco Polo struggled to find work and was never accepted by China's ruling class. False. That's right. The answer is false. Marco Polo not only met the Emperor of China Kubla Khan he worked for him. Kubla Khan found Marco to

be smart and amusing, and Cohn liked that. According to Marco, he went on missions for Kubla Khan for seventeen years. Marco never said what these missions entailed, but he did give the con report of what he'd done and seen after each mission. And of course Kubla believed everything Marco was telling him, because, as they always say, you can't Kna Cohn Evelyn back to you. True or false. Marco Polo wrote that he thought a unicorn in his travel True.

That's right. The answer is true. Thanks to his travels, Marco Polos a lot of things most people hadn't seen or even heard of yet. He wrote in his journals that in the island of Sumatra he tasted a nut quote the size of a man's head. That was a coconut. The unicorn he thought he saw it was actually a rhinoceros, so kind of a lumpy unicorn, Raymond, you get the last. True or false? True or false? Marco Polo wrote his book The Travels of Marco Polo while he was in jail. True,

that's right, the answer is true. During the war between his home of Venice and another Italian city estate, Genoa. Marco was captured while in a Genoese jail. He entertained the other Venetian prisoners with tales of his travels. An author named rousta Cello was in the same jail and offered to help Marco turn his stories into a book. Marco told his stories while Rosticello wrote them down. Marco couldn't remember everything, so he had his father sent his

journals to the Genoa jail. That's right, it was a Genero jail journal's journey for junior. And that's the gend of true or false, true, true, true or true orful. What an exciting round and so much alliteration at the end there, and there's even more excitement and possibly more literation to come after this break. Eric, would you please play us some misidentified unicorn music. It's a dog, It's it's a horse. Welcome back to the Who Was podcasts.

Today we're learning who was Marco Polo and who was Neil Armstrong? And now back to your host Ellie Kalin, Thank you be, and let's journey across the seas to producer Kovla Jane with the scores Fighter mind telling you, me and uh Elliott that we are all tied up. I'm discovering that chap two points. Fantastic. The game's all tied up. Now let's find out who was Neil Armstrong for We're Fast Facts, Fast guys. Neil Armstrong was born

in n and died in twelve. Neil Armstrong was the first person to ever walk on the Moon and the first person to walk on the Moon on TV. Neil Armstrong was a Navy fighter pilot in the Korean War, and he flew on seventy eight mission. Neil Armstrong was one of the nine Apollo Astronauts, only the second team of astronauts ever in human history aspects. Those facts were out of this world. But now it's time to go into this backpack for a game we call Backpack from

the Past. From the Past, Baby. We have a backpack contains some of Neil Armstrong's personal objects. Will describe those objects for our contestants and the listeners at home. Contestants, you will choose which multiple choice answer best describes it. Since this is our second game, each question is worth two points. Raymond, here's the first object. Oh awesome, check it out. I found a model airplane. Why would that be in Neil Armstrong's backpack? Is it because A Ever

since he was a boy, Neil wanted to fly planes. B. Neil just like building any kind of model he could or see Neil would build model planes and sell them to other kids. Hey, that's correct. The answer is A. Neil Armstrong was fascinated by planes and flying as a young boy. He took his first plane ride when he was six, and loved building model planes at of balsa wood, wire and tissue paper. He'd even use a fan in his family's basement as a wind tunnel to see how

well his models flew. Okay, Evelyn, here's the next object for you. It's an eagle. Oh it's flying around the studio. Luckily our studio has a window. Let me just there you go, Eagle be free, thanks be Why would Neil Armstrong have an eagle in his backpack? A. The spacecraft Neil landed on the Moon was named the Eagle. B. Neil wanted to open a bird sanctuary. Or see, Neil wanted a pet that liked flying just as much as

he did. That's right, The answer is A. The Eagle was the landing module that actually landed on the Moon. The Eagle had to touch down on a flat surface, otherwise it wouldn't have been able to take off from the Moon's surface, again, leaving the astronauts stranded. The landing was meant to be controlled by computers, but Neil saw that the landing area was too rocky, so he took the controls and with less than a minute's worth of fuel, he found a better place to land. Amazing, Raymond, This

next object is for you. Okay, it's sand, well, like a lot of sand, maybe too much sand. Why would this be in Neil Armstrong's backpack? Is it because he he wanted to make a sandbox at NASA B he worked as a test pilot in the Majabi Desert. Or see he loved building sandcastles. B. Yes, the answer is B. After he was a fighter pilot, but before he was

an astronaut, Neil was a test pilot. He worked at Edwards Air Force Base in California's Majabi Desert as a test pilot, kneeled out to fly new types of aircraft. One of the experimental aircraft Neil flu was called the X fifteen super cool name. It was rocket propelled and could go nearly four thousand miles an hour and reach altitude of two hundred and seven thousand, five hundred feet. That altitude was considered the start of outer space, so flying the X fifteen was an early test for flying

into space as an astronaut. Evelyn get ready for the final object. Let's see here. That startled me. Oh, it's a tent and it popped right into shape. Why would a tent be in Neil Armstrong's backpack? Is it a he loved to camp out in his backyard. B he owned a sporting goods store called One Giant Leap Sporting Goods, or see it was used in his astronaut training. Correct.

The answer is ce Neil and the other astronauts did training exercises that seemingly didn't have much to do with being an astronaut, such as being sent to Panama with only a small tent and a survival kit. However, it actually had a lot to do with being an astronaut. Upon returning from the Moon, a spacecraft might land anywhere on Earth, places like a mountaintop, where the desert or

the jungle. In such an event, Neil and the other astronauts would need to know how to survive until they were rescued, and hey, maybe they'd find out the moon had a jungle on it. I don't know. I've never been there. And that's the end of Backpack from the Past. Back from the Past. We're going to take one more break and then we'll be back with scores and our final game. So stay excuse me, we're recording a show. You can't just barge in. Hello and Neil Armstrong, good things.

That's right, the two and only started to interrupt. Well it's okay, um, Hey, what are you guys doing here? Are you here to teach us more about your lives? I see how you think that, But no, we had here because we are in the new season this spectacular race. Wait that silly worldwide scavenger hunt reality game, Showa shilly. By the way, you have never even been to China or space? Am I right? Empty? Sick? He hasn't. That's truth in comedy, right there. So how has the competition

been going so far? Fan tasting you may be surprised to hear this. There's a lot in astronaut and an explorer from the fourteenth century can learn from each other, like what well I learned that Neil was both a highly skilled pilot and an engineer, so he know the mechanics of planes and the flight. I'm sure that gave him an upper hand. And wink it they wink when he applied to be an astra. Well I learned. I learned Old Marco's trip to China back home was eleven

thousand miles. It's that sounds like a long trip to me. And I've been on the mooning back home. Think about it that way, And I learned that the footprints mea left on the moon are still there to this very day. I mean, I left my body that was, but not literally. It's true, Marco here inspired other explorers, and when you think about it, isn't space travel the ultimate exploration. I mean, you gotta crawl before you can walk, and you gotta sail on the seats before you sail to the move.

But honestly, despite all those accomplishments, we can't win this reality show and hope to get on an all star season without a little help from you, right now, all right, all right, well what can we do for you? Well, my friend, Team Polo Strong, that's us, you mean Team Arms Strollo School Schools it's easy. We are very close to the next leg of this spectacular race, but according to our crew, we need a microphone. I wish we could help, but this equipment all belongs to the studio,

not to me. And be come on, pal, don't you want to help your favorite space stakes and you're a favorite sailor man? First of all, sir, all due respect, my favorite sailor man is Popeye. Hey, Elliott, maybe we should take a page out of their book what Hey? Get your feel the hooks off on my BOOKA It was the only thing that kept me going when I was behind bars in Genoa. That's the book. He's like a son to me, and my son is like it looked to me now that they think abouten not literally, Marco.

I mean maybe we should take more risks and be more adventurous, Elliott. These two are heroes and the least we can do is help them win a reality competition that has little to no bearing on anything. What do you say, kids, Okay, fine, take a microphone. We'll just tell the studio be lost it or that I ate it. I do a lot of wacky stuff over here. Friends, We must go now if we want to stay ahead.

Of the other team. They dreaded Mike and Nicki. They told everyone right at the start that they weren't here to make friends. And you believe that. Okay, good luck. Now we'll take that break, and not just because I need an invitrophone. Are please boil us some experimental playing music store your carry one from your sal you who was there, Marie Carrie? You may remember me from winning multiple Nobel prizes, or perhaps from my episode of the

Worst Podcast where I played myself. I wanted to take a moment to read one of my favorite reviews about the Whos podcast. This is from Shaking Bay and it reads loved this Me and my little sister love this show more. Please Our faith is Rie Toban. If you want to hear your review right on the air, make sure to subscribe, like and review to the Worst Podcasts in the I Heart Radio up or wherever you give your podcasts revoir or should I stay abbiendo. Welcome back

to the Who Was Podcast. Today we're learning who was Marco Polo and who was Neil Armstrong? And now he's your host, Elliott Cola. Thanks be and without further ado, let's take one giant leap to producer Jane for the scores, Hellium be it. Don't mind telling you that there's no giant separation in the scores. They are tied at six points each. Oh, it's such a close game. Amazing. We'll see how things turn out in our final game, Converge

of Greatness, which is happening right now. That's such inspiring music. It's probably what they listened to when they went to the moon. Maybe they just listened to whale sounds. In this multiple choice game for BLO score how Marco Polo and Neil Armstrong connect, over lap or converge. Choose the best answer ach question, and because we're dealing with double the history, each question will be worth three points. Ready.

First question goes to Evelyn the take us Away. Marco, Polo and Armstrong both worked as part of a crew. Marco started out on his father and uncle ship. Neil went to the Moon with two other astronauts named a Captain Kirk and Mr Spock b Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins or see Han Solo and Luke Skywalker B. Yes, the answer is be the only answer with real people's, actual, real living names in them. Armstrong was the commander of the Apollo eleven mission. Once they're spacecraft, the Columbia was

pulled into the Moon's orbit. He and Buzz Aldron left the craft in a landing device for the Moon's surface. Michael Collins had to stay aboard the Columbia and orbit the Moon while Neil and Buzz got to do fun stuff like plant a flag and collect rocks. Yeah, poor Michael Collins. It's like he had a layover at the Moon and didn't get to see anything besides the airport. Yeah, something like that. Okay, Raymond, this next question is for you. Neil Armstrong and Marco Polo both had plans that didn't

quite go the way they hoped. Neil finished college later than he had tended due to war, and Marco had difficulty leaving China because a there was too much traffic, b his boat needed repairs that he couldn't afford. Or see Kubla Khan didn't want him to leave. See. The answer is see by the time he was in his late thirties, Marco Polo had spent half his life at China. Many times over the years, Marco, his father and his uncle had asked Kubla Khan if they could leave and

go home. But the Great Cohn said, oh, con Trair, I like having the Polos, you know, Yolo, so no low. Without the cons protection, the trip back to Italy would be too dangerous, so Marco felt stuck. But in twelve ninety one, the Polos got lucky and Kubla Khan let them leave China to escort a Mongol princess who was going to Persia to be married. It's a classic story. It's how I got at a summer camp. Evelyn back to you for his next question. Marco Polo and Neil

Armstrong both faced the dangerous of the unknown. When Neil Armstrong was the command pilot of Gemini eight, he and his co pilot were put in danger when a Aliens attacked B Gemini eight started spinning out of control or ce Gemini eight lost oxygen. Yes, the answer is B. Neil and his co pilot, David Scott, were docking Gemini ate was satellite already in space when Gemini eight started

spinning out of control. The ship was rolling so violently that both astronaut's vision began to blur like cartoon characters or something. Neil managed to work Gemini's hand controls and steady the spacecraft. The problem was a faulty thruster, a small rocket that provides forward motion. Raymond, let's take it home with the final question. Neil Armstrong and Marco Polo both brought material home that most people had never seen before.

For Armstrong this meant lunar material from the move, but for Marco Polo this was a fascinating new material for many Europeans, a cotton b silk or see pleather cotton and I'm sorry the answer was actually be silk. At this time, silk made from the cocoons of silkworms was only manufactured in China and nowhere else. It was hard to get and highly prized. Other rare goods the Polos might find or bring back included nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper, porcelain,

crude oil, the very best melons in the world. That's just objectively true, coal pearls and ivory. Put all those things together with lunar material, that a delicious stew and the end of that game means it's just about the end of the show. While Jane Tally is the score, I'd love to hear from the contestants. What was something you were surprised to learn about Marco Polo and Neil Armstrong, Evelyn, what surprised you? I didn't know that Marco Polo he

actually met his dad. Thing was fifteen, like because he was on a trip so like like a trading chip, so he didn't get to like see your dad for the very first time till he is fifteen. That's right. It took so long to travel back then, and people had to go so far so slowly that he did. His dad wasn't even home until he was a teenager. It's amazing when you think about how it took Neil Armstrong and the Apollo restronauts less time to go to the moon and back then it took Marco Polo and

his family to travel between Italy and China. It's just I guess, I guess it's not that surprising. A spaceship is is should be faster than like a horse. But you know, that's uh, you know what. I'm still going to stand by my original statement that it's pretty amazing. It's pretty amazing. And Raymond, what surprised you about Marco Polo or Neil Armstrong. One thing that surprised me about Marco Polo was that people didn't leave very much of what he said, even though like most of the stuff

that he said actually came true. Yeah, it was interesting, like to to think about that and say like, oh, it's a unicorn, but actually was were a rhinoceros. So he didn't know what he didn't know, right, um, And so he wrote about it and people were like, no, you're a liar. I don't think it's that he was lying necessarily, it's that he was trying to put in a context things that people had could never even imagine.

Although it does make me wonder what it is about Marco Polo that when he came back, people were not inclined to believe him, Like, do you think I wonder if when Marco Polo was talking, he was like yeah, yeah and I saw yeah it was like unicorn, yeah yeah, and there's these big nuts as big as your head. Yeah yeah, yeah, that's what it was. Just maybe the way he talks, maybe people not believe him. I don't know, Marco, if you're listening, have confidence in your statements and people

will believe all your stories. It's right. Well, thank you so much for sharing both of your surprising learnings about Marco polo, and now it is time for the big moment. Jane, please announced our winner for today. Oh well, yeah, it was a very close contest throughout, but at the end Evil then launched herself into the winning circle with twelve points. Congratulations, Evelyn, you played a game. Raymond who also played a fantastic game, which should be very happy and very proud with how

you did today, Evelyn. As our winner, you have ten seconds for your shout out scope work. Who would you like to thank for bringing you to this victory. I'd like to thank by mom, my dad, by three chiplate brothers, by friends, by two guinea pigs, and my dog Lucy. Oh nice, Okay, we get shoutouts for the dogs Lucy and Zelda. Love that. And I have to know are the guinea pigs twins? Um? They're actually cousins. Yeah, what they wanted. Identical twin cousins. Identical twin cousins. They look alike,

sound alike. They're both guinea pigs. Our winner and their library of choice where we're receiving a selection of who was books And I'm going to give my own shout outs to intern Zach Jane, Eric Jonah Ray for being our Neil Armstrong and Chris Ferry for being our Marco Polo and of course to be And a big thank you to both of our contestants who both played an amazing game today. And of course, most of all, the biggest thank you in the universe goes to you the

listener for listening. Thank you. Next week join us as we find out who Was two more amazing figures from history. Until then, this is Elliott X fifteen Kalin saying We're history. Goodbye. Everybody got a question for any of our famous figures, Send us a voice memo at the Who Was Podcast at gmail dot com. It might just end up on the show. The Who Was Podcast, as produced by Radio Point, I Heart Media and Penguin Workshop, is based on the

best selling who h Q series published by Penguin. This show was hosted by Elliott Klin with co host Megan O'Neill as b It also starred Jane Baker as producer, Jane, Eric shack Me as Eric, Chris Ferry as Marco Polo, and Jonah Ray as Neil Armstrong. Executive producers are Richard Porson, Alex Foch, Elliott Kalin, Megan O'Neill Daniel Powell and Houston Snyder. Executive producer for Penguin Workshop is Francesco Sadita. Executive producer

for iHeart Media is Lindsay Hoffman. This show was written by Devin Coleman, Elliott Klin, and Megan O'Neill, who was produced by Bernie Kaminsky and Taylor Kawalski. The talent was produced by Jane Baker. The theme song and the music were composed and performed by Eric Shackney, who was edited and mixed by Kate Moldenhower, who was recorded by Alison Worth. Special thanks to Zach Timpson, Charlotte Dianda, and Michael Lewis Howard.

Sound services provided by Great City Post. Thanks the podcast because it's standard playbooks.