# Political Pork

An episode of [Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1396546917), 21 May 2026, 9:01.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/arttrk.com/p/D5CA5/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/e062c374-9a39-42fa-888f-ae2c007b3c85/17bbf1e5-ae07-4d23-97f3-b45000ea8b6d/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=f0f95fe5-d5de-4abe-ada4-ae2c007b3c8e

Some tales are clearly legends due to their fantastical elements, while others bring the fantasy right into real life. either way, the story is worth the ride. Order the official Cabinet of Curiosities book by clicking here today, and get ready to enjoy some curious reading! Join our Patreon for ad-free episodes!: https://www.patreon.com/grimandmild See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:04] Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
[0:07] Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild.
[0:12] Speaker 2: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history
[0:17] Speaker 2: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are
[0:20] Speaker 2: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.
[0:25] Speaker 2: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. It's impossible to understate
[0:38] Speaker 2: how important ancestors are to human society. It's easy to
[0:42] Speaker 2: evoke the concept as some ancient belief, but it never
[0:45] Speaker 2: really has gone away. We honor those who came before us,
[0:48] Speaker 2: regardless of our religion, political belief, or culture. The ancestors
[0:53] Speaker 2: brought us to where we are. Their knowledge is how
[0:56] Speaker 2: we built our cities. Because at the end of the day,
[0:58] Speaker 2: no society can exist entirely in the present and the future.
[1:03] Speaker 2: But what do we do when our ancestors have a
[1:05] Speaker 2: more sinister reputation, when their knowledge and wisdom was important
[1:09] Speaker 2: but their actions were despicable. It turns out this conundrum
[1:14] Speaker 2: is as old as time itself. It exists in legends
[1:17] Speaker 2: that pre date written history. The Kowea people of the
[1:20] Speaker 2: Western United States have a legend that tells this story,
[1:23] Speaker 2: and it's one that still resonates today. Centuries before Spanish colonization,
[1:28] Speaker 2: they lived in the canyons and deserts that would become
[1:31] Speaker 2: southern California. One of their first leaders was a shaman
[1:35] Speaker 2: named Takwits. His knowledge and skill with medicine came from Mucat,
[1:39] Speaker 2: creator of all things, and he led the Koweah people wisely,
[1:42] Speaker 2: teaching them how to become shamans of their own. He
[1:45] Speaker 2: was something greater than a human, a spirit who guided
[1:48] Speaker 2: his people and showed them right from wrong. But even
[1:52] Speaker 2: spirits can fall from grace.
[1:55] Speaker 1: Takwits, after countless years of teaching and shepherding his people,
[1:58] Speaker 1: began to grow arrogant. The Koeah people grew to fear
[2:02] Speaker 1: his wrath and his pride. He began to kidnap the
[2:05] Speaker 1: women of the tribe and kill them. Horrified by what
[2:08] Speaker 1: he was doing, the tribe seized him and erected a
[2:11] Speaker 1: pyre to burn him alive. The flames climbed high and
[2:14] Speaker 1: would have killed any normal human being, but Taquits instead disappeared.
[2:19] Speaker 1: His spirit fled deeper into the San Jacinto Valley, where
[2:22] Speaker 1: he would remain terrorizing the Quia from the shadows. In
[2:25] Speaker 1: some versions of this tale. Like a dragon in medieval Europe,
[2:28] Speaker 1: he would lurk in his lair, only occasionally emerging to
[2:32] Speaker 1: kidnap a member of the tribe and carry them away forever.
[2:35] Speaker 1: One day, the great chief Algut heard that his son
[2:38] Speaker 1: and two other young men from the tribe had gone
[2:40] Speaker 1: off to vanquish Taquits on their own. Fearing for their safety,
[2:43] Speaker 1: he followed their trail into the valley, and there he
[2:46] Speaker 1: found his son's two friends unconscious. When they had been revived,
[2:50] Speaker 1: they told him that his son had been slain by
[2:52] Speaker 1: the demon. Swearing vengeance, Algoot went home and trained long
[2:56] Speaker 1: and hard. He climbed mountains, swam rivers, wrestled with bears
[3:00] Speaker 1: and mountain lions. He knew that in order to face
[3:03] Speaker 1: Teqwits he would need to be stronger than any mortal man,
[3:06] Speaker 1: and when the time came, he went into the valley
[3:08] Speaker 1: again and confronted the demon who had killed his son.
[3:12] Speaker 1: The two fought in the canyon. First, Tequits attempted to
[3:15] Speaker 1: crush Algouts with boulders, but when that didn't work, they wrestled.
[3:19] Speaker 1: When Tecqwits realized that the chief was stronger than he was,
[3:22] Speaker 1: he began to change form from one animal to another,
[3:26] Speaker 1: but still the chief held on tightly to him. So
[3:28] Speaker 1: Tequeits changed into a sea serpent and attempted to flee,
[3:32] Speaker 1: but Alguts swam after him and caught him. He strangled
[3:35] Speaker 1: the former shaman to death and had the tribe burned
[3:38] Speaker 1: the body. Of course, in these sorts of legends, there's
[3:41] Speaker 1: never a true end to the spirit is there. As
[3:44] Speaker 1: the sea serpent smoldered on the flames, the spirit of
[3:47] Speaker 1: Tequits rose in the form of smoke and slithered back
[3:50] Speaker 1: into the valley. Teqwits would never again seize men, women,
[3:54] Speaker 1: or children from the village, but he would still cause
[3:57] Speaker 1: trouble for the Kowea people. Earthquakes, fleed bloods, storms, and
[4:01] Speaker 1: deadly natural phenomena are all said to be his doing.
[4:04] Speaker 1: He's also said to bring disease to the residents of
[4:07] Speaker 1: the valley. They rarely see him manifest again, except on
[4:10] Speaker 1: rare occasions where he appears as a green fireball soaring
[4:14] Speaker 1: across the night sky, and the evidence of this legend
[4:17] Speaker 1: is still around today. In southern California, just outside of
[4:20] Speaker 1: Palm Springs and below Mount San Jacinto is a valley
[4:24] Speaker 1: known as Taquit's Valley. In spite of its namesakes cruelty,
[4:27] Speaker 1: it is a beautiful place with a waterfall and lush wildlife,
[4:31] Speaker 1: a refreshing area on.
[4:32] Speaker 2: The edge of the desert.
[4:34] Speaker 1: Legend says that much of this valley was carved out
[4:36] Speaker 1: of the mountain during the fight between Taquits and Elgut,
[4:40] Speaker 1: and it stands today as a memorial to the demon's defeat. Nature,
[4:44] Speaker 1: after all, is like a fickle god. It gives us
[4:47] Speaker 1: everything we need to survive, but can just as easily
[4:51] Speaker 1: take it all away. Nineteen sixty eight was a chaotic
[5:08] Speaker 1: year for the United States. The civil rights movement was
[5:11] Speaker 1: in full swing, Protests against the Vietnam War were reaching
[5:14] Speaker 1: a fever pitch, and doctor Martin Luther King Junior had
[5:18] Speaker 1: just been assassinated, sparking riots across the country. But in
[5:21] Speaker 1: the midst of all of that turmoil, one presidential candidate
[5:25] Speaker 1: emerged who promised to be totally different from any other
[5:28] Speaker 1: leader America had ever seen. On an afternoon in August,
[5:33] Speaker 1: that candidate rode through the streets of Chicago on the
[5:35] Speaker 1: back of a station wagon. He'd grown up on a
[5:37] Speaker 1: farm nearby and had never been politically involved until very recently,
[5:41] Speaker 1: when he was recruited by the Youth International Party, better
[5:45] Speaker 1: known as the Yippies, a countercultural group opposed to the
[5:48] Speaker 1: Vietnam War. In just a few days, the Democratic National
[5:52] Speaker 1: Convention was going to begin right there in Chicago. The
[5:55] Speaker 1: Yippies hated their front runner, the Citying Vice President, Hubert Humphrey,
[6:00] Speaker 1: because of his support for the war, so as a
[6:02] Speaker 1: stunt to bring attention to their cause, they were officially
[6:05] Speaker 1: nominating their own candidate the same week in the same town.
[6:09] Speaker 1: The station wagon pulled up outside a crowded plaza where
[6:12] Speaker 1: hundreds of young people with long hair and beards were
[6:15] Speaker 1: waving signs and shouting. Police officers were everywhere ready to
[6:19] Speaker 1: step in if this rally got out of control, as
[6:22] Speaker 1: Yippie events often did. As the candidate passed through the crowd,
[6:26] Speaker 1: the spectators clapped and cheered. He took the stage, and
[6:30] Speaker 1: the audience quieted, waiting to hear his acceptance speech. Sadly, though,
[6:34] Speaker 1: the candidate was unable to deliver the speech himself because
[6:38] Speaker 1: he was a one hundred and forty five pound black
[6:40] Speaker 1: and white spotted pig named Pigasus. He was running with
[6:45] Speaker 1: the campaign slogan, If we can't have him in the
[6:47] Speaker 1: White House, we can have him for breakfast. One of
[6:50] Speaker 1: the men standing on stage beside Pigasus unfolded a piece
[6:53] Speaker 1: of paper and began to read off a prepared speech
[6:56] Speaker 1: announcing the pig's candidacy for president of the United States.
[7:00] Speaker 1: As soon as he started speaking, police rushed the stage.
[7:03] Speaker 1: Two officers scooped up Pigasus and dragged him away. In
[7:07] Speaker 1: the ensuing chaos, seven humans were also arrested for disorderly conduct.
[7:13] Speaker 1: Pigasus was put in the back of a police wagon
[7:15] Speaker 1: and taken to a local animal shelter. Later that day,
[7:18] Speaker 1: one of his comrades came by and tried to bail
[7:21] Speaker 1: him out by telling the worker at the counter he
[7:23] Speaker 1: was looking for his lost dog, which was black and
[7:26] Speaker 1: white with a curly tail. But the worker took one
[7:28] Speaker 1: look at the young man's beard and weird stovepipe hat
[7:32] Speaker 1: and recognized him as one of the yippies, and so
[7:34] Speaker 1: he was sent home empty handed. All the other yippies
[7:37] Speaker 1: from the rally that day who were arrested were released
[7:40] Speaker 1: after posting bond, but Piggis's fates is a mystery. A
[7:44] Speaker 1: rumor claimed that the Chicago police had barbecued and eaten him,
[7:48] Speaker 1: but more reputable newspaper reports suggests that he was actually
[7:51] Speaker 1: sent to a farm about an hour north of Chicago,
[7:54] Speaker 1: Wherever Pigasus ended up. He lived out the rest of
[7:57] Speaker 1: his life without ever holding a major political office, but
[8:00] Speaker 1: he also went down in history as the first and
[8:03] Speaker 1: so far only pig to be nominated for US president,
[8:07] Speaker 1: although there are some today who dispute that claim. I
[8:14] Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed today's guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities.
[8:18] Speaker 1: This show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership
[8:22] Speaker 1: with iHeart Podcasts, researched and written by the Grim and
[8:25] Speaker 1: Mild team, and produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about
[8:28] Speaker 1: the show and the people who make it over at
[8:30] Speaker 1: Grimandmild dot com slash Curiosities. You'll also find a link
[8:35] Speaker 1: to the official Cabinet of Curiosity's hardcover book, available in
[8:38] Speaker 1: bookstores and online, as well as ebook and audiobook. And
[8:42] Speaker 1: if you're looking for an ad free option, consider joining
[8:45] Speaker 1: our Patreon. It's all the same stories, but without the
[8:48] Speaker 1: interruption for.
[8:49] Speaker 2: A small monthly fee.
[8:50] Speaker 1: Learn more and sign up over at patreon dot com
[8:53] Speaker 1: slash grimandmild, and until next time, stay curious, m

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