Alie Ward (host)

So not only did this goo get them safely to the afterlife, but it also landed their bodies and bandages in 19th century apothecaries as vials of powdered mummy became a prized item for people.

Just a little dusting.

of the dead with a botanical earthy bouquet to heal what ails you.

Now, a little less divine, if I can just back this thing up, so to speak.

Oh, I was going to say, you know, you're mentioning sulfur and gas.

I don't feel like I've read any passages about farting in any book.

Does it come up?

I mean, considering how part of the human condition it is,

Okay, so this 1920 novel by the Irish author James Joyce, it is a whopper at 700 pages.

It's a dense one, but wanting to buck Irish conservatism at the time, Joyce made it real juicy, exploring themes of love and sex in the bushes and even wanking it.

And it was published in these serialized chapters via one literary magazine in the U.S., which landed the publishers in court.

And at one point, a passage involving someone nutting was going to be read in the court, but the judge objected because there were ladies present.

And the lawyers were like, the ladies are the publishers of the magazine.

And the judge famously said that they probably just didn't understand what they had printed.

But yeah, that trial was a big one and the publishers were found guilty and they were charged a fine of like a hundred bucks.

So why was it so sensual and bodily and threatening to the general public in the eyes of the law?

To be fair, this scene was set in an outhouse, so rising smells like a poltergeist are likely not subtle.

But at the time, rising smells never made cameos.

If this was gross for you, I get it.

You can see our disgustology episode to learn more about how your brain is protecting you by retching.