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No Such Thing As A Fish
No Such Thing As A Fish

610: No Such Thing As Lily Allen In The Hellespont

November 20, 2025 • 56m

Summary

⏱️ 8 min read

Overview

This episode features Cariad Lloyd sharing fascinating facts about historical dynasties, from Joseph Bazalgette's sewer engineering legacy to his great-great-grandson's musical career in The Vapors. The discussion covers NASA's clean room bacteria discoveries, Byron's Don Juan being inspired by pantomime, and the history of land speed records on Welsh beaches. Throughout, the hosts explore surprising connections between families, innovation, and British culture.

The Bazalgette Dynasty: From Sewers to Turning Japanese

Cariad reveals that Ed Bazalgette, lead guitarist of The Vapors (famous for 'Turning Japanese'), is the great-great-grandson of Joseph Bazalgette, who designed London's revolutionary sewer system. The discussion explores Joseph's engineering genius in response to the Great Stink of 1858, his foresight in doubling the sewers' capacity, and how this French immigrant family shaped London's infrastructure. The Bazalgettes also include Peter Bazalgette, who brought Big Brother to British television.

  • Ed Bazalgette, guitarist of The Vapors, is great-great-grandson of Joseph Bazalgette, who designed London Sewers
  • Joseph Bazalgette doubled the planned capacity of London's sewers, allowing them to serve the city for 150+ years
  • The Great Stink of 1858 featured six-foot-deep piles of matter on Thames banks during a hot, dry summer
  • Joseph Bazalgette is buried in a Wimbledon mausoleum originally built for slave owner John Anthony Rucker
  • Peter Bazalgette brought Big Brother to British television as creative head of Endemol
" If your grandfather was talented, somehow you managed to still be fine. It's amazing how they're all so talented. "
" There is an alternate world in which he didn't double the capacity and in which 1960s London was overflowing with raw sewage. Swinging London would have just smelt it would have been the worst. "

NASA's Clean Rooms Breeding Super Bacteria

Dan discusses how 26 new bacteria species were discovered in NASA's spacecraft clean rooms, which are specifically designed to be sterile. Despite extreme sterilization methods including UV light, radiation, and temperatures above water's boiling point, certain bacteria have learned to survive by playing dead or hibernating. Some bacteria found only in clean rooms are actually eating the cleaning products, suggesting humans are creating super bacteria through accelerated evolutionary pressure.

  • 26 new bacteria species discovered in NASA clean rooms designed to have no bacteria
  • Bacteria survive by playing dead and going into hibernation to avoid detection
  • Some bacteria are found only in spacecraft clean rooms and consume cleaning products
  • The world's largest bacterium, Theomargarita magnifica, is the size of an eyelash—5,000 times bigger than previous record
  • Leading causes of death shifted from bacterial diseases (1900) to heart disease and cancer (2000)
" The bacteria knew to hide. Guys, guys, they're just passing, they're passing, everyone lie down, everyone lie down. "
" It's the equivalent of us meeting a human being who's as tall as Mount Everest. That's how big it is in comparison to a normal bacteria. "

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