Greg Jenner

Yeah, and we've done a coffee episode if people want to listen to that. So there we go. It's all synced up.

Yeah, and we've done a coffee episode if people want to listen to that. So there we go. It's all synced up.

Yeah, arguably that's not mining, that's theft. But sure, sure.

Yeah, arguably that's not mining, that's theft. But sure, sure.

Okay, fair enough.

Okay, fair enough.

Sharon, I think at the top of the show we mentioned Marco Polo sheep, which sounds delightful. What's that about?

Sharon, I think at the top of the show we mentioned Marco Polo sheep, which sounds delightful. What's that about?

Oh, that's fantastic.

Oh, that's fantastic.

I mean, that's amazing. So we call them Marco Polo sheep because he wrote about them. So this is him noticing these things and then modern day scholars going, oh yeah, the sheep that Marco Polo talked about. He also, he talks about luxury goods that were very valuable back in Europe and in the wider world that were from the animal kingdom.

I mean, that's amazing. So we call them Marco Polo sheep because he wrote about them. So this is him noticing these things and then modern day scholars going, oh yeah, the sheep that Marco Polo talked about. He also, he talks about luxury goods that were very valuable back in Europe and in the wider world that were from the animal kingdom.

Ria, if I say to you, ambergris and musk, do you know what those two things are? Whale vomit. It is.

Ria, if I say to you, ambergris and musk, do you know what those two things are? Whale vomit. It is.

I didn't know there was a song, but yes.

I didn't know there was a song, but yes.

It's quids in, isn't it? Yeah, it's tens of thousands of pounds. Yes, it's whale phlegm. And so ambergris was very luxurious, used in perfumes, as you say. Musk was extracted from the anal glands of certain types of deer, I believe, Sharon. Is that correct? Yes.

It's quids in, isn't it? Yeah, it's tens of thousands of pounds. Yes, it's whale phlegm. And so ambergris was very luxurious, used in perfumes, as you say. Musk was extracted from the anal glands of certain types of deer, I believe, Sharon. Is that correct? Yes.

Been a bit of a sausage fest so far. You know, I'm aware that we've really only talked about men so far. Marco, Maffeo, Niccolo, Kublai Khan. Marco Polo does write about the women he encounters on his 24 years. He talks about the women of Tibet as particularly interesting. Do you know why, Ria?

Been a bit of a sausage fest so far. You know, I'm aware that we've really only talked about men so far. Marco, Maffeo, Niccolo, Kublai Khan. Marco Polo does write about the women he encounters on his 24 years. He talks about the women of Tibet as particularly interesting. Do you know why, Ria?