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

No Such Thing As The Have An Ice Cream Bird

August 20, 2026 • 53m

Summary

⏱️ 12 min read

Overview

This episode of No Such Thing as a Fish explores fascinating facts about Nobel Prize history, endangered sea creatures, early computer security, and unusual bird names. The hosts discuss how Alfred Nobel's housekeeper won the first female Peace Prize, the dramatic decline and recovery of sunflower sea stars, the bizarre physical locks used to protect 1980s computers from hackers, and the go-away bird that attracts mates by shouting 'go away.'

Alfred Nobel's Housekeeper and the First Female Peace Prize

The episode begins with the remarkable story of Bertha von Suttner, who briefly worked as Alfred Nobel's housekeeper for just one week before running off to marry her boyfriend. Despite this short employment, she maintained a lifelong friendship with Nobel and went on to become the first woman awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905. Her pacifist work and influential novel 'Lay Down Your Arms' helped shape Nobel's decision to establish the Peace Prize, though he never lived to see her receive it.

  • Bertha von Suttner was Alfred Nobel's housekeeper for only one week before eloping with her boyfriend who was seven years younger
  • She became the second female Nobel laureate ever and first woman to win the Peace Prize in 1905
  • Von Suttner invented an improv game called 'puff' with her cousin that could go on for days
  • Nobel's secretary had to transport millions through Paris streets in a horse-drawn cab with a revolver for protection
" I could never be really unhappy because I always had him there by my side "
" These things do happen mom, these things happen "

Nobel Prize Origins and Administration

The establishment of the Nobel Prizes was fraught with challenges, as Alfred Nobel's will left massive wealth to create the prizes but provided no instructions for administration. His 25-year-old secretary spent three years fighting to get the will approved and establishing the necessary institutions. The prizes come with unique perks, including special parking at Berkeley that laureates often forget to renew.

  • Nobel left the equivalent of 200 million pounds in modern money to establish the prizes in chemistry, physics, medicine, literature, and peace
  • Nobel Prize winners get a million dollars, a medal, a certificate, and free parking at UC Berkeley that must be renewed
  • Winners are cold-called from Stockholm, with callers emphasizing 'this is a very important call from Stockholm' to get through
  • Nobel was also a poet and playwright whose only published work featured incest, murder, and a 40-minute torture scene
" We tell them this is a very important call, a very important call and then he pauses and he says from Stockholm and he's always been put through so far "
" He's not a very good playwright "

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