“If Shelly’s one of the greatest poets in English literature, how come nobody gives a shit about him today.” “Thats a complicated question.” That shit sent me.
"I'll be starting sentences in one location - and finishing them in another." 😅 Classic trope. They must've watched a lot of real historical docos to nail all these clichés and it's brilliant.
It's actually a brilliant summary of natural selection. One of the main reasons why people fail to understand evolution is that they overthink it as some kind of transformational driving force. In fact it really is just about some individuals leaving a lot of offspring and some leaving few or none.
As a historian I really love this series - it's funny, it's well put together, the questions are so basic and dumb that they actually can help give a very rough sketch of british history for those who are unaware of it. - Which likely is why the experts agreed to join into the series. That and because academics can't shut up about topics that interest us.
@@user-pl6bh4bd7q It means you have a university degree in most cases - it's not being pompous, it's being a nerd who can't shut up about their favorite topic.
@@RuerlKhan then why not just call yourselves nerds? lol also, louis ck has this great bit about asholes. basically it goes like this: “you ever have a friend that’s an ashole and you tell them and then they say, ‘im not ashole’. but you dont get to decide if youre an ashole. that’s for everyone else to decide” now replace ashole with pompous 😂
@@user-pl6bh4bd7q Well, because academic is an actual thing, not just "nerd" - it's not pompous anymore than it's "pompous" to call yourself an electrician or a plumber. (Both things that require a great deal of know-how, I should know as my academic degree just landed me with unemployment, so now I am in training to become an electrician). Academic is just a catch-all phrase for a teacher or scholar at an university - so to be one you have to be either graduated from it, studying at it or teaching at it. Feel free to think it pompous however, that's entirely on you and won't really influence me one way or another. (Merry christmas if you celebrate that btw).
Historians basically have low standards for who they're willing to talk to. They're not very snobbish. Actually not kidding, you have to be very patient if you're going to teach anyone anything. It's a good quality.
@@jimfiggerty833 Roman slaves, among many others up until the transatlantic slave trade rose to prominence. The Emperor Pertinax was one such slave. The emperor Septimius Severus was an African and the last Roman Emperor to try his hand at conquering the Pics. Chattel slavery in perpetuity has never before existed in human history. To suggest there is some kind of comparison between the two is reductive at best and just plain ignorant at worst. I hope it's the prior Jim!
I seem to remember reading that they're told it's comedy, but they have no idea what they'll be asked. Honestly, though, I'm not sure how they would be able to find enough experts who're completely unfamiliar with Philomena Cunk, or especially being unfamiliar with Diane Morgan generally.
"Workers did long, feckless hours, with no breaks and low pay, in squalid and threatening environment, conditions unthinkable to anyone today who isn't a junior doctor" - thanks Philomena for tribute to us :)
Plenty of experts give funny absurd answers to Ms. Cunk's funny absurd questions. That particular expert managed gave an absurd answer right out of the gate. Unforced error imo
"A face like Alfred Hitchcock watching a dove drown." What an incredibly random line! The writers come up with such original takes and jumbled readings, and her delivery is incomparable.
@@2HN. Everything is deadly whether or not it moves. Camping? Gum trees shed limbs to crush people, and leaves might cause excruciating pain when used as toilet paper. Walk in the woods? Koalas might drop down and maim someone, and the ticks could cause allergies to beef and pork for the rest of your life. Since chicken was still a delicacy, going vegan in 1850 is the worst experience. Swimming? Box jellyfish are lethal. Staying home? Most spiders are venomous, and the puddles outside have brain-eating parasites living in them. Most land is either arid or jungle, which are the 2 worst kinds of living conditions humans could settle in the 19th century.
When Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited Australia, an Australian customs officer jokingly asked Philip if he had a criminal record. "I didn't realize that was still a requirement," Philip replied.
"Why would you want to turn a pig into a cow? Pigs are quite good at being pigs, and cows are relatively good at being cows." I love the experts in this series
He says that, but if no other species other than cows have tried being cows, what's his frame of reference for cows being relatively good at being cows? Cows might be shit at being cows compared to pigs.
He does not seem to understand evolution. The environmental niche being available would create a cow if cows did not exist. You would have some sheep or pigs who were more cowlike over time and eventually would take over the whole niche, become larger, produce more milk, and so on.
"So why did he come up with a theory than turns monkeys into men? Aren't monkeys quite good as monkeys and men just quite good as men? " That should have been her next question.
Gotta say, the people Philomena interviews are taking it so stoically that it makes me believe in their expertise more than any "normal" conversation would😂
" These days people pay thousands of pounds to visit the sun kissed islands of the Caribbean. In the seventeen hundreds you could go there for free. If you were black ...and didn't want to go there " XD
@@jasonporter5912 Originally they weren't. But I think the character has been around for so long that they are wise to it now. Although I suppose some of them might still be caught off guard.
@@jasonporter5912 they are (and were) , they got instructions to answer all questions as genuine as possible, they didn't know exactly what she was going to ask, just that it was a comedy program
'Babbage never foresaw the terrible consequences of his invention - a machine that would auto-correct his name to Cabbage every single time' - brilliant, classic line!
"The idea that man and ape were close relatives was considered both hilarious and shocking; a bit like Graham Norton, but with more profound consequences for humankind".
Her interview subjects were absolute stars in this. Prof. Greg Dart (the first interview about the romantics) delivered the greatest straight man performance I've ever seen.
"Workers did long thankless hours, with no breaks and low pay, in a squalid and threatening environment -- conditions unthinkable today to anyone who isn't a junior doctor." As a physician in the US, this hit way too close to home :D
Junior doctor (resident) from the Philippines here. 30+ hr shifts, 36C weather with broken AC, and tuberculosis everywhere. All for 16,000 pesos ($275) a month after taxes. Very relatable 😂
She is speaking the truth- no joking at all. I am a retired RN and junior drs are treated terribly . Even when really tired they perform well and are not idiots.
I love that she crossed all the voting boxes, ticked one then they hold the camera angle on her and a sign saying "put a cross in only one box. It's the small details that show the writers care.
I noticed this only a short while back. This series has almost ZERO filler. They had SO much good stuff that they wanted to get out, that they didn't have time to put in bullshit filler. It's jam packed with thoughtfully made content.
@@LTPottenger right wingers when they rant about the fall of the white race on a video about the minions or a coconut or some other completely unrelated shit
It wasn't . They just picked it up , it could've been anything . It was previously languishing in obscurity , forgotten by everyone , barr a few , now adult , women who are prob married to / divorced from , the wrong men . It was sh*t , just watch AN episode .
Is the joke that BBC documentaries make contrived segues to crap they still have the rights to in order to pad out time/content? I don't know, I don't watch that many actual BBC docs.
@@lisasommerlad1337 yeah , me too , much like Hale and Pace had been ; until , some genius brought them to mind recently ~ I was quite annoyed , if ever anything designed to entertain didn't . Hope I haven't ruined your day .
"Babage never foresaw the terrible consequences of his invention: a machine that would autocorrect his name to 'Cabbage'... ever single time." 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
“It was immediately obvious to anyone that slavery was wrong. Which is why it was only allowed to continue for hundreds of years.” 🤣 Phelomena is a fricken genius & why she isn’t more famous is beyond me! GIVE THIS WOMAN HER OWN SHOW!!!
A mere 3mins into it and I had to pause vid because I couldn't stop laughing! "Who was Ron?" "Ron?" "The one how wrote all those poems and signed it By Ron".....crying from laughter!
12:27 - "Babbage never foresaw the terrible consequences of his invention: A machine that would auto-correct his name to 'cabbage'. Every. Single. Time."
It is, no doubt about it. Unfortunately it is in danger of becoming extinct. Less and less people possess it, and there is a good argument that this nation is becoming progressively a humourless one. All the clues are thete....that is why, when one finds a gem like this one, it is to be cherished.....
If there were some unified entity under the label "British humor," then there wdn't be such divergence between, say, "The Bennie Hill Show" and "Monty Python's Flying Circus," or among the many comics whose stand-up you can watch on "Live at the Apollo," or among the many comics whose quips you can catch on hundreds of "Mock the Week -- Scenes We'd Like to See" clips on YT. Yes, some British humor is sublime -- as is some American humor, and some Australian humor, etc. -- and some is crummy. Please avoid stereotypes -- they never do any good (even the so-called positive ones), and they usually cause a lot of harm. In addition, thinking in stereotypes is a sure way to become intellectually flabby, and the last thing this world needs, given the existential crises we face, is for anyone to let his/her brain turn to mush.
