Prestigious Minds

24/01/2023

Join us for the final episode in the Vanderbilt series on Prestigious Minds podcast! We are working on a few smaller project and one large project. We are continuing the one episode a month for now.

22/11/2022

A big thanks to everyone who has been listening to Prestigious Minds! We will be taking a break over the holidays, but there will still be about three episodes released to finish the Vanderbilt series!

Stay tuned for big news coming in the Spring of 2023!

27/10/2022

The final episode in the Scaretober Event Series by Prestigious Minds is here! We bring you the classic tale of Cinderella with all the fun gory details of the story. There was a version where Cinderella instead of forgiving her stepsisters, she had them attend her wedding as her bridesmaids. But that is not all, she also had a pear of doves come out from her dress to peak their eyes out. Talk about a dark ending!

Subscribe for FREE on your podcast player of choice to listen to the whole story today!

https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

25/10/2022

This Tuesday brings back the Vanderbilt series. The Commodore has his sights set on international trade, and taking advantage of the California Gold Rush. We also peer into the life of the Vanderbilt family which tells of a nearly absent father and husband. Did you know that his favorite son, George Washington Vanderbilt, was only 20 when he died? Check out today's episode to find out how!

Listen to the latest episode for free on your podcast player of choice: https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

20/10/2022

Hansel and Gretel is a classic fairytale that has been told millions of times - some in a very grim light others in an innocent lesson, but this telling is going to be one of a treat. Instead of telling this very dark story as a tragic tale, Prestigious Minds put a unique comedic twist that is sure to make you laugh!

Check it out for free by subscribing to your podcast player of choice: https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

18/10/2022

You have probably heard Rapunzel and seen the movie Tangled, but have you ever heard the story of Redneck Rapunzel in Ohio?

Looks like you are in luck1 Prestigious Minds just released the latest in the Scaretober Series; listen for free on your podcast platform of choice: https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

18/10/2022

The tale of Rapunzel is one of selfishness and disregard by several of the adults in the tale. The origin of the story is supposedly based off of the story of Saint Barbara which was locked in a tower because of her beauty, but was then beheaded by her own father for not renouncing her Christian faith. Rapunzel was locked in a tower by an enchantress that did not want her to have contact with the outside world. That is where the similarities between these stories end. As Rapunzel eventually has a happy ever after ending.

Check out the latest episode of Prestigious Minds on your podcast player of choice: https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

13/10/2022

This Thursday we tell the not so pleasant version of Little Red Riding Hood complete with the details as they were when the story was first told.

Scaretober continues! Listen now for free on your podcast player of choice!
https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

13/10/2022

Little Red Riding Hood is the classic tale of what happens when you disregard the wisdom of your elders. The base story we know today comes from a 17th-century root, but the tale has been around much longer. Some stories from Roman and Greek traditions have parallel similarities where the antagonist is a wolf or a spirit in wolf's skin, and the victim of the wolf is a young woman. Most versions were spread among the peasant population of several European countries starting the 10th century which is most likely where the modern telling of the story comes from. As with any old fairytale it is mostly assumptions and guess as to how the story came into being itself. There is one thing we can all agree on, and that is don't chat with talking wolves when you're on your way to visit your grandmother!

Listen to Prestigious Minds for free on your podcast player of choice: https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

11/10/2022

Cornelius Vanderbilt uses his new found wealth to invest more into transportation this time connecting railroads with his steam ship routes. Providence to Boston is the move. Eventually Providence is overshadowed by new railroads that make for a quicker trip to Boston.

Listen to the full story on the latest episode of Prestigious Minds for free here: https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

11/10/2022

Vanderbilt's exploits over steamboats continues as he uses his recently gained funds to invest in connecting steamboat routes with railroad depot points. He also build bigger more advanced ships to challenge all others in the steamboat game. He began running routes connecting Providence, and later Stonington, to Boston. This proved to be very fruitful for both the steamboat routes and railroad side of Vanderbilt's investments.

Listen to the latest on Vanderbilt for free on your podcast player of choice: https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

06/10/2022

This wraps up the first week for the Prestigious Minds Scaretober event series! The tale of Rumpelstiltskin with all the glory of the classic, but added to that some modern touches. Listen to the complete folktale for free on your podcast player of choice!
https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

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06/10/2022

Did you know that no one quite knows where the story of Rumpelstiltskin? Or that when being translated in other languages it is not always the meaning that is translated but uses a similar sounding name. It is a tragic story in some versions where old Rumpelstiltskin dies and others he leaves angry.

Listen to Prestigious Minds for free on your podcast player of choice to get the full story.
https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

04/10/2022

This folktale is not a popular as it once was, but at the time it was written down many versions existed orally. Blue Beard is the tale of a wealthy man with a mysterious life that no one really knows. Listen to the Prestigious Minds telling of this tragic folktale of triumph as well as the history and thoughts behind it.

Listen for free on your podcast player of choice!
https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

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04/10/2022

The folktale Blue Beard was first written down by the French author, Charles Perrault. Blue Beard is about a very wealthy man that many do not like either due to his blue beard being considered ugly or his personality being distasteful. His story is one of mystery and dark overtones.

The story is thought to be based off of the legend of Breton king Conomor the Accursed, who married Tryphine. Which was subsequently warned by the ghosts of his previous wives that he murders them as soon as they become pregnant. Since Tryphine herself is pregnant by this stage, she flees the castle in a panic, but Conomor catches up with her and murders her. St. Gildas brought her back to life, however, and upon being confronted with his now-no-longer-dead wife back at his castle, Conomor is killed under the weight of his own collapsing castle.

The true back story however is lost to history. If you want to hear the whole story check out Prestigious Minds for free on your podcast player of choice: https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

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30/09/2022

Welcome to Prestigious Minds. If you had been listening to our most recent episodes, you would've heard about something called Scaretober. The very first here on prestigious minds, to go a little bit more in depth on what we're gonna be doing here. We're gonna be telling you the original versions of the classic fairy tales that you may grew up with watching on Disney.

These are gonna be how the children of Rockefeller and Carnegie and Vanderbilt and all the other. People would've heard these fairy tales. And even before, as most of these go back way further than the 18 hundreds, and this is gonna be a good twist for the show it's still relevant and it's gonna be fun and entertaining.

We're gonna be telling you the original versions of these fairy tales here on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Don't worry. You will still have your original programming on every other Tuesday, but this is a fun event. join us for our hour first ever Scaretober event. this coming up Tuesday, This has been an announcement of Prestigious Minds.

27/09/2022

The Emerald was a premier ship that was commissioned by Gibbons to compete with a top rival.

The Emerald was big and it was fast - had all the amenities. It had only been in service for a few months when Vanderbilt was awoke very early in the morning to the Emerald being a blaze outside of Bellona Hall at the dock.

So you have this beautiful brand new Steamboat, barely even run any routes. And all he could do by the time he got out there was let loose the forward lines and let the current carry it away from the dock, so that the trolling boat and dock would be safe from the fire. Eventually it ended up sunk in the middle of the bay. It was considered a total loss because it was uninsured.

Listen to the full episode that goes live today! Subscribe for free on your podcast platform of choice: https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

27/09/2022

During operation, the General Jackson was competing heavily with the Steven's line of steam ships. On June 7th, 1831 off of Grassy Point near Haverstraw ,the boiler of the General Jackson had the safety valves closed and the pressure gauges were ignored when the boiler exploded killing more than 14 people.

Van Wart (part owner) was captaining at the time of the explosion. He was killed along with several others, and then a few other people were scalded to eventually die of their injuries a few days later.
Reporters when they were talking about this story, speculated that the safety valves had been closed and that the boiler was over pressurized, leading to the explosion. Jacob [Vanderbilt, the Commodore's brother], however, was not on board. He did not know exactly what happened, but he praised the engineer on board, calling him "One of the finest and had been recommended personally by Cornelius himself," as well as, that the system was not over pressurized at. Of course, that's not true, but he had ignorance in this.

The General Jackson, however, was able to be repaired and put back into service after costly repairs.

Photo credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia commons, This is a photo of the modern paddle boat named in honor of the General Jackson steam boat.

22/09/2022

Steam power completely changed the game when it came to mining. Later it became possible to use steam as a means for transportation. This metaphorically sped up time. Eventually this new way to generate electricity using steam was made possible by turbines.

Learn more about steam now by listening to this week's episode here: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/75c29afc-4624-4ad0-8d21-4b2a4df8af35

22/09/2022

While Vanderbilt was working for Thomas Gibbons, he also ran his own ferrying business. During the late 1820s Gibbons had Vanderbilt take trips in the waters of New York harbor. This was a breach in the exclusive rights granted to Livingston family by New York to be the only people allowed to use steam vessels in New York sanctioned waters. One such person who had been granted rights via purchased license was Aaron Ogden. Gibbons and Ogden used to be business partners, but the relationship had soured and Gibbons put Vanderbilt on the task of making incursions into New York waters. Eventually port officials began trying to find Vanderbilt and arrest him for breaking the law in relation with this monopoly. Vanderbilt began getting crafty in deceiving the port officials by hiding below deck, leaving port minute within arriving to drop off passengers. He even had a special hidden closet built for him to hid in. This game of cat and mouse became a very popular past at the docks for the locals.

Photo credits: Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons

20/09/2022

With the US being so young many entrepreneurs took advantage of the open gaps in the market. One of these was making exceptional use of the waterways for transportation of goods and people. As with many endeavors if you are not first you are last. Business is no different. Thomas Gibbons decided to take on a long standing monopoly granted to the Livingston Family by the state of the New York to run steam boats in New York waters. He had the perfect man to be the thorn in the side of the monopoly, a veteran, rough neck captain, Cornelius Vanderbilt.

Here is a teaser of one of the stories from Episode 10 talking about the danger of unsafe steam operation driven by trying to be the fastest in steam boat travel.
Give it a listen here: https://prestigiousminds.captivate.fm/listen

19/09/2022

During the research for this particular episode we learned about Vanderbilt's involvement in a landmark Supreme Court case on interstate commerce. Did you know he would hid in a hidden compartment on the ship when docked in New York, so the port official wouldn't be able to arrest him for breaking the Livingston license. Learn more by giving it a listen!

Quickly and easily listen to Prestigious Minds for free!

17/09/2022

Traffic congestion in Edwardian London.
"Made over 100 years ago, this footage shows a number of scenes shot around central London, taking in locations such as Hyde Park Corner, Parliament Square and Charing Cross Station. We see crowds of people disembarking from a pleasure steamer at Victoria Embankment, pedestrians dodging horse-drawn carriages in Pall Mall and heavy traffic trotting down the Strand."
Credit: BFI