Waiting 4 Wrath - Episode 247 - The One Where We Spread our DNA All Over Utah

In This Week’s Show, episode 247, we use science to study our ancestors on the internet, in Utah, and in Nazi Germany… Good news, the last ones are dead.

Now, grab a beer and help us test the god hypothesis — because, while Eru Ilúvatar hasn’t struck us down yet, we are trying his patience!

Shea’s Life Lesson

This week I learned that if you boil a funny bone it becomes a laughing stock… I find that humerus.

Jenn’s Actual Lesson

Did you know that San Diego Zoo’s lovely Victoria, a southern white rhino, gave birth this past Sunday to a handsome little boy? (Well, he weighed about 125lbs so I guess ‘little’ is subjective.) He is the 186th rhino born at the Safari Park and the first southern white rhino born in North America from artificial insemination. Congrats, Victoria, and you don’t need no man!

But before we get to all that, let’s have a beer!

This Week’s Beer

Buffalo Gold Golden Ale from Boulder Beer - from RW

* BA Link: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/130/5088/

* BA Rating: 4.8/5

* Style: American Blonde

* ABV: 4.8%

* Aaron: 9

* Jenn: 6

* Shea: 8

* Steve: 9

This Week’s Show

Round Table Discussion

VM from Carl

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zgz2xBrvVQ

This Week’s Stories

Archiving Nazi DNA.

Available now at http://patreon.com/w4w!

* https://allthatsinteresting.com/rudolf-hess-doppelganger-theory

I’m going to go ahead and break rule #1 and start this story off with a dash of Nazi. Specifically, a 70-year-old conspiracy theory.

Rudolf Hess, for those who don’t know - not you Jenn or Steve - was a leading Nazi, Deputy Fuhrer, and an asshole. He was captured by the Allies in May of 1941 when his Messerschmitt Bf 110 crashed in Scotland en route to broker an unauthorized peace deal. The theory holds that sometime between his capture and the Nuremberg trials, Rudolf Hess was replaced by a doppelganger who stood trial for him and subsequently served his sentence.

W. Hugh Thomas, a doctor at Spandau, questioned if prisoner Spandau 7 was Hess as 7 refused to see his family and exhibited signs of amnesia. Subsequently the British government authorized investigation. Unfortunately, they had no means of truly verifying his identity so the conspiracy persisted. Spandau 7 was hung in 1987 at the age of 90.

It wasn’t until 8 years ago that we knew for sure. It turns out a pathologist at Spandau hermetically sealed a 1982 blood sample from Spandau 7. Considered unremarkable the sample was used as a teaching prop at Walter Reed Medical.

A US military doctor heard of the sample in passing and later, upon hearing of the conspiracy, put two and two together. Austrian molecular biologist, Jan Cemper-Kiesslich, extracted DNA from the sample and set out to find a living relative. The closest of whom had just died. “The family is very private,” said McCall. “The name is also rather common in Germany, so finding them was difficult.” Nonetheless, the team persisted and were able to track down a living male relative with whom they could compare blood samples and DNA.

The results presented an unwavering conclusion: there was a 99.9 percent likelihood that the Spandau 7’s blood sample and the sample of the living Hess relative were close biological matches.

And so, the mystery is closed. For their part the Hess family is understandably adamant in denying any further commentary or reaction to the results.