Ed Helms

I am not. Yeah, so one of the things we get into in this season of Snafu is this really staggering... realization that for a long time the government was putting additives into industrial alcohol to prevent people from drinking it. And these were things that made industrial alcohol, this process was called denaturing.

I am not. Yeah, so one of the things we get into in this season of Snafu is this really staggering... realization that for a long time the government was putting additives into industrial alcohol to prevent people from drinking it. And these were things that made industrial alcohol, this process was called denaturing.

And it made alcohol incredibly yucky to imbibe, but it also made people a bit sick. just enough to keep people from drinking it. And that was going on for decades before Prohibition. Industrial alcohol had a lot of uses, obviously. Then during Prohibition, Formula 6 emerges. And in order to try to dissuade people from drinking alcohol,

And it made alcohol incredibly yucky to imbibe, but it also made people a bit sick. just enough to keep people from drinking it. And that was going on for decades before Prohibition. Industrial alcohol had a lot of uses, obviously. Then during Prohibition, Formula 6 emerges. And in order to try to dissuade people from drinking alcohol,

they start adding real poison to alcohol in levels sufficient to kill people. We get into the really remarkable story of the New York City Medical Examiner's Office, Charles Norris and Alexander Gettler, who kind of pieced this together by examining the corpses of a lot of people dying and starting to see patterns of different chemicals and poisonings. And also, at the same time, revolutionizing

they start adding real poison to alcohol in levels sufficient to kill people. We get into the really remarkable story of the New York City Medical Examiner's Office, Charles Norris and Alexander Gettler, who kind of pieced this together by examining the corpses of a lot of people dying and starting to see patterns of different chemicals and poisonings. And also, at the same time, revolutionizing

chemistry in the service of toxicology and medical examination as a practice. These were relatively new at the time. And Alexander Gettler is credited with really kind of inventing a lot of processes to figure out what chemicals were in dead bodies or in human tissue. Anyway, it's just wild what they start to piece together.

chemistry in the service of toxicology and medical examination as a practice. These were relatively new at the time. And Alexander Gettler is credited with really kind of inventing a lot of processes to figure out what chemicals were in dead bodies or in human tissue. Anyway, it's just wild what they start to piece together.

You're dead.

You're dead.

There was a drink called D-Rail because it was an alcohol that was used in the industrial railroad industry. And it was making people terribly sick. That was basically bootleggers. just using industrial alcohol to enhance their product.

There was a drink called D-Rail because it was an alcohol that was used in the industrial railroad industry. And it was making people terribly sick. That was basically bootleggers. just using industrial alcohol to enhance their product.

I, of course, was drawn to the LSD story.

I, of course, was drawn to the LSD story.

That's no different than you calling up Paramount, pretending to be your own agent. Not at all.

That's no different than you calling up Paramount, pretending to be your own agent. Not at all.

We're running low on Manischewitz. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

We're running low on Manischewitz. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

It's almost like the scale of the stupidity of prohibition as a law is commensurate with the scale of how much organized crime then penetrated American society. In other words, the fallout of prohibition is commensurate with the stupidity of it. Absolutely.

It's almost like the scale of the stupidity of prohibition as a law is commensurate with the scale of how much organized crime then penetrated American society. In other words, the fallout of prohibition is commensurate with the stupidity of it. Absolutely.