public support and everybody. Good morning. I'd like to welcome you all. Thank you so much for coming to discuss this extremely important topic with us today. I'm Catherine Bell from Quartz, the global business and economics news site, and I'm here today with an absolutely tremendous panel who I will introduce in a moment. When it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion, we are at a very frustrating state of affairs at the moment where we are moving forward and backward at the same time. Since we all last met in Davos, companies have made real progress pushing DEI initiatives further up their agendas and investors have started taking the S in ESG more seriously. But COVID and the more recently the war in Ukraine have really set us back. They have exacerbated inequalities and delayed progress on a number of fronts. So the global gender gap, for example, has been extended by a full generation. LGBTQI and women's rights are under intense pressure in many places. And two years after George Floyd's murder, the racial equity movement has lost some momentum. 67 billion dollars were committed by major global corporations after that and only one percent of that has been actually dispersed. So here we are. We've been hearing a lot about the outlook for the economy and that is worrying because as we all know, when the economy goes in a negative direction globally, underrepresented groups are disproportionately affected. So what we want to do is take this as an opportunity to make sure that we build in a way that is truly inclusive and that ends up in a place that's better than we were before the crisis. And so we have a fantastic group of people here from all sectors to talk about how to do that. So first we have Ilham Kadri, who is the CEO and chairman of the Executive Committee of Solve in Belgium. We have Peter Grower, who is the chairman of Bloomberg. We have Petra DeSuter, who is a deputy prime minister, also of Belgium, and also minister of public enterprises and public administration. And finally we have Nadia Murad, who is a Nobel Peace Laureate. She is the president of Nadia's initiative and the co-founder of the Global Survivors Fund. Thank you all so much for being here with us today. So Ilham, I'd like to start with you. You work in the chemical industry, which is not known as an industry in the absolute forefront of DEI initiatives. Can you talk about what your biggest challenges have been over the last couple of years and what steps you're taking to tackle them? My personal challenges. Well, the challenges that your company is facing and industry is facing. Well, first of all, thank you for having me. And yeah, I'm indeed very proud to represent the industry and the chemical industry. Well, first of all, I'm here probably because I'm a pure product of inclusion and diversity and equality, right? And I'll start by saying, if I can do it, everybody can do it, right? And it started by my upbringing by my grandmother, illiterate grandmother, who raised me. I was born and lived in, raised in Morocco for 17 years in a very frugal home where sustainability started at home. And she taught me one thing. In Africa, we say for young girls that you have two exits in your life. The first one is from your father's home to your husband's home. So we are all asked to make a good marriage and be a good wife and good mother, learn how to cook, et cetera. And the second exit was to the grave. My grandmother illiterate said, well, this is not sexy, isn't it? So she asked all the girls of the family to find their third exits. Mine was education, as simple as that. So I'm passionate about technology. I'm a scientist and humanist. And you know, I abuse of mentoring. I found great mentors, many, many men, by the way, mentors along my career. And I took some trains. So it comes with you first, right? And after when you climb the ladder, obviously, it's not easy in all continents. I lived in the four continents, in America, in Japan, in Middle East. I worked in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I am now back in Europe. It's not easy. And it's universal. It's sobering. You're right when you talk about the statistics. So at Solvay, and I joined, I'm leading this 160-year-old lady since now three years and a half. And I was wondering, frankly, when I was trying to craft the Diversity Equality and Inclusion program, and I reflect on my career. I've been 25 years in the industry. I always failed in the DENI. I must confess it. Because, you know, the diversity is the statistic. The inclusion, I would put the I before the D. So at Solvay now, we launched what we call Solvay One Dignity, because it's about putting the dignity at the center of everything we do, regardless if we're a woman, regardless of races, ethnic, religion, sexual orientation. It was a taboo in my company. Now we have LGBTQ employee resources programs.  Because if I leave today Solvay, and I left diversity before that, if I leave Solvay today, 99% chance that it's a white male, you know, successor, right? So we need a pipeline. We need this education. We need academia. We need policymakers. I must say now we have 48% in my senior leadership council.  And you need this education. You need to bring more and work on the unconscious bias. And I can talk more, but I will, you know, honor my 120 seconds. So Peter, the next step really from, from working with your workforce to make sure that you're doing as well as you possibly can on DEI metrics across your workforce is to really put those ideas and those values at the center of your business and the center of your business model. I know that's something that you're committed to doing at Bloomberg. Can you talk about how you're thinking about making that shift and why? Yeah. So this has been a journey that we've been on for a long time, but really formalized in April of 2014 when I said to our founder and my boss, Mike Bloomberg, that as executive chairman of the company, I was going to put a stake in the ground and really lead the charge internally. And as is the case with anyone in an institution like ours, you make some steps forward, you make a couple of steps backward and external events occur, which influence what goes on internally. But I'm fond of saying, first of all, what we are all doing from a DNI perspective, almost regardless of the application, is it's evolutionary. It's not revolutionary. These things aren't going to happen overnight. The second thing that I would say without being too articulate is that we are in a race without a finish line. This never stops. And so my mission and our mission has been to basically permeate the organization with the underlying importance of the value of inclusion in our workforce. We have about 22,000 people that work in 130 countries around the world. We are consistently every day in a war for talent. We have to be able to attract people from lots of diverse backgrounds, whether they're any underrepresented group or most that you can think of. Because what we are looking for is that unique combination of people and intellects that bring together and create a unique environment, a unique opportunity for our clients, for our product offerings. And so we're on this journey and I think all of our 22,000 employees around the world understand that diversity and inclusion is a critically important value of our firm. Number one, number two, we all have a responsibility to contribute to the best outcomes that we possibly can. And number three, that responsibility starts at the senior most level in the firm setting really the tone at the top of the organization. But all of our businesses, we have 13 separate business units. Each business leader, similar to putting together an annual operating plan, puts together a DNI strategy focused on recruiting, retention, development, and then kind of an all other category, which is give me your best idea. Let's throw the pasta against the wall, see if it sticks. If it does, we'll take that throughout the organization and really benefit more broadly than just doing it in a more narrowly focused environment. We review those plans twice a year, once when they submit them. And then in six months, we have a formal review. Our head of DNI meets with our managers literally on a monthly basis to make sure that they're on track. And if not, what can we do to make sure that they're on track? But the important thing is, as I said at the outset, everybody understands this is a critical part of our business strategy, and we've got to execute successfully to maintain our market position and do the things that we do. I would close by saying at our company, 85% of the profitability of our business goes to Mike Bloomberg's foundation. And as a consequence, it's a tremendous draw for people to come to the firm, which is why diversity inclusion is so critical to our performance. Because in the end, Mike's going to give away, for example, in the last year, he's given away over $1,700 million to a number of causes around the world. And that really drives us. But the DNI component enables us to have the best performance possible to enable us to give all that money away. Thanks, Peter. Petra, we've seen a lot of evidence that diversity and inclusion increases resilience both at the company level and in the public sector. So what can governments do to make sure that they're including DEI ideas in all of their policies so that they can create more resilient societies? Yes, I want to answer to that. And you alluded to it in the beginning. You said we're only looking at the economy. But if you talk about inclusion, diversity, you are talking about efficiency of institutions, organizations, companies and so on. So it has also an economic interest. I think we have to stress that specifically to people that do not always understand why this is important. Of course, at the level of the organization being more inclusive will create a culture where people feel safe, represented and will be happy. Whereas if they are having to work in an organization where they're not represented and I'm responsible for public administration, which means that I really want that public administration reflects the society that we are serving that we're working for. I would add that it's not enough to use quota or KPIs. How many people of this and that do we have? You'll have to take an intersectional approach, of course. I think we will maybe discuss this later. And by the way, it's difficult to use quota and find out how many people you have because we do not ask sexual orientation or even people with a handicap. It's very difficult because not all people want to disclose this. And so how are you going to increase the number of people with the disability in your organization? Now, at the policy level itself, as you ask, we really try to take that intersectional approach and to use, for instance, the principle of gender mainstreaming in the decision making that we're doing. In the COVID pandemic, we had to take a lot of decisions that affected specifically vulnerable groups in the society. We know that you talked about inequality that has increased and the pandemic was definitely one of the causes for that. So if we take measures, we have to think about what will be the effect of gender equality, for instance. We are now in our government working on a pension reform. And in that pension reform, the gender dimension is pretty important because we know that there's a lot of inequalities in pension systems if you compare men to women. So we can try to address these. And in the recovery plan, because you're all trying to reinvest after COVID and we get European money for that, we have added the dimension of gender mainstreaming there. Very specifically, every project will be also judged on its effect on gender equality. I think it's a positive way of looking at it and trying to improve policies in the work that we're doing. Your point about representation not being enough came up a lot in both the LGBTQ panel and also the disability inclusion panel that I also moderated this week, where it was such an important point that people aren't just there, but that you listen intensely to them and also that they are really involved in decision making and designing and every part of the business. We'll talk more about that. Just add a few seconds. There it is important to stress the difference between equality and equity. Maybe not everybody knows the difference. It's very important that you give the right tools to people so that they can enjoy the equality that you want to propose. For instance, for people with disabilities, if we want to recruit them in the public service, we offer them reasonable accommodations, as we call it, so that they can really do the tests with the same starting possibilities as other people without disabilities. You have to help them. This is positive action that is absolutely needed to reach that equity rather than just say, okay, we're equal. You are welcome. Everybody can do the same thing for gender equality. It's gender equity. Of course, women can enter in the public service, but if you look at the top management, 25% are women. Why is that? That's what we have to address. We've been talking about a lot of progress. At the same time, people's fundamental rights are being violated in many parts of the world. Nadia, I wanted to ask you, because you work in this area, how are these things related? How are the day-to-day discriminations that people experience in the workplace around the world related to sexual violence and other traumas that are taking place in conflict zones? Well, thank you so much for having me. Sexual violence is used as a weapon of war in conflict around the world. Right now, it is happening in Iraq, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Ethiopia, Colombia, Myanmar, in Ukraine, and in so many other places.  Now, there is a better understanding that sexual violence is used as a targeted strategy to destabilize communities, to destroy victims' lives, to dissolve the ties that bind our communities. It is important that recognizing and naming sexual violence for what it really is. It is an important first step. And now, we need to translate this understanding into coordinated international action to prevent and respond to sexual violence, support survivors, and hold perpetrators accountable, not just for terrorism, but for genocide and sexual violence. We need consistent commitments from the international community to address the root causes of gender-based violence through law and accountability. With all the devastating news we've been hearing from all of the places you just mentioned, are you seeing progress on the way that we're approaching sexual violence as an international community at all? This is very slow. What happened to me in my community, it was just eight years ago when ISIS attacked my community and they enslaved more than 6,500 women and children into sexual slavery, including myself, 11 of my sisters-in-law, five of my sisters, my nieces, my cousins. And as we speak, 2,800 women and children are still missing in captivity. I mean, there's no way that I can explain that we have made any progress in Iraq for women and children who were taken from their own homes, their own families, into sexual slavery. We were both unsold.  And we have all the evidence to hold the perpetrators accountable. And so far we have only seen one case in Germany when last year a German court convicted an ISIS member of genocide and sexual violence. So more is needed. And that's why it is repeated. We are seeing the same pattern repeated in other places. And we have seen reports of sexual violence already coming from Ukraine. So we have failed to protect the basic human rights of women, especially in Iraq or in Afghanistan and so many other places. And you know where I came from and even here in some places in Europe, sexual violence comes with a lot of shame and stigma. And it's a taboo. You know, it's so hard for survivors to speak about it because there is no laws or institutions to support them to stand up for their rights. What do you think are the most important steps the international community needs to take to start addressing this? I think the most important thing. So I have been working with my lawyer, Mal Cloney and the UN member states for like, we worked for two years to establish the UNATA team. It's a UN team investigating in ISIS crimes in Iraq. They have all the evidence, thousands of survivors have given their testimonies and we have documentation.  We have all the evidence and it is hard to heal and to recover without justice.  You know, after I escaped with thousands of other survivors from ISIS captivity, we had nowhere to go. We had to go to displacement camps. For eight years, survivors of sexual violence in Iraq are being displaced. They have no basic privacy. They don't have job opportunities, no education. How can they recover from the trauma? They have been, you know, giving their stories times and times without any justice, any progress to help them to go back to their homeland in Sinjar or to bring them to, you know, places where they can have asylum. There's only two ways to help survivors in a sustainable way, to, you know, help them to access support and justice, to go back to their homes and have a no basic services or to give them asylum in other countries. We cannot just keep them after all they have been through in displaced camps where they can't recover. The camps are, there are thousands of people in there. You know, there are journalists and other investigators. They go to them and they ask for their stories and sometimes they retraumatize them. You know, that's why I worked with the UK government and last month we launched the Murat Code, which is a guide for journalists, investigators and anyone who is working with survivors to do it in a respectful and supportive way because we should not retraumatize them. And we have shared with the government of Ukraine, with the survivors and we are hoping that, you know, they deserve more. They've been through a lot and we cannot just solve the issue of gender-based violence, conflict-related sexual violence by just, you know, we cannot just address their trauma. We have to talk about other aspects of marginalization as well.  So, Nadia, you've talked about involving survivors in rebuilding communities and also that intersectional way of approaching things that you can't just address one problem without all of the others at the same time. And Petra, I'm wondering from, you know, from your position in government and looking at policymaking, how you think about incorporating underrepresented groups in the decision-making that affects them? Yes. What is so much to comment on what Nadia said, but I understand we have to discuss other topics as well. I think it's extremely important if you, as a government, as policymakers say we want to work on more inclusion and diversity that you talk to the people that you want to involve, of course, that they are the ones that needs representation, that needs their rights to be respected, that need to participate to whatever policy you are making, so you have to sit with them and talk with them. And I think, at least in Belgium, we are trying to do that as much as possible. I gave already the example of people with a disability that we apparently are not successful in attracting them into public service. While we are sitting together with their representatives, their organizations to see what can be done to improve, to increase the numbers in public service, we have, of course, very close ties to the LGBT community, and they have their own groups within the public administration, which is much more difficult in Belgium, at least in the public administration, is to reach and to attract more people with a migration background. That is really difficult. We do not have data. We cannot really follow up. But of course, I started to say the data is not what is really important, so we have to do much more of an effort to reach out and to attract the people to get for recruitment, for instance, in the public administration. So I think at all these levels we're trying to do that, and then we didn't even discuss intersectionality, of course, because if you're a woman of color, your situation is quite different from other women and of men of color. I mean, we need to realize that because we usually look into silos and we say, okay, we're doing so much for the women.  But intersectional approaches are more and more important, and we need to address them also in the way that we're looking into ways to improve inclusion. What do you think are concrete steps that organizations of any type can take to take a more intersectional approach? Because you're right. It's so siloed right now, and in reality, all of us have multiple identities happening at once and affecting each other. What does that look like in practice? Well, to start, I would say, raise awareness about that, educate people in your management. So what are we doing? Because of course, the federal administration in Belgium is quite large as a number of people working there. We train the managers. We train the management. We explain what we want to achieve, and we have, of course, our policy goals that you set as a minister when you start, and then you say, how are we going to do that? We do a lot of analysis and studies, and that's very interesting, but then you need to work with that. And the first thing is to train the management and to raise awareness about all these issues, and very often they will say, well, we're doing whatever we can, and they understand, if you explain them, what unconscious bias is. You mentioned that. I think it's extremely important. It's something a lot of people do not understand, or they are not, well, it's unconscious, of course, so they're not realizing that they are biased, and then even in the decisions that they make to improve gender equality or whatever inclusion, they sometimes make the wrong decisions. So you have to train from the management up, and otherwise, you also have to work bottom up, of course, and really have the people that you are working for and with the voice, so that they can tell you, I will tell you what is important for me, and so maybe we can get further from that perspective. So it's a continuous work that you have to do. Another thing I've been thinking about a lot lately is that DEI means something very different in different parts of the world. So if you're in Nairobi, if you're in New York, if you're in Tokyo, how those things play out is different. So Peter, I'm wondering from your perspective and from anyone else's, as a company that works internationally, how do you overlay that international lens on to thinking about this? Yeah, I think I mentioned at the outset we have colleagues in 130 countries around the world, so it's a pretty broad sampling. And the argument often comes up as to which culture is the prevailing culture? Is it the firm culture, or is it the country culture and the city culture, wherever we're operating in around the world? And we have concluded that for us, kind of the firm culture is what is the umbrella under which everything else operates. And within the context of that umbrella, obviously we want to be good citizens, we want to do the things that are requested, we want to be better than that. But it's very much kind of the fundamental values of what our company Bloomberg is all about. But with a heavy understanding that we've got to be good citizens locally, we've got to basically address the issues that we should, and in many cases, extend ourselves beyond what other organizations do. And so far, that has worked quite well for us. Many of you may also know we are the premier provider of news and data to the financial services community. But on the news side of things, obviously Bloomberg News is on our terminal, but we're in the media business. We have probably the only global media platform, which is Bloomberg Television, both digital and obviously over the air. And so we have kind of a different platform that we can also address some of these issues with through our media outlets. And we try and be consistent, obviously, but focus on the issues that are important in local environments in which we operate as well. So we try and do it both within the firm. But as I mentioned also before, 85% of our profits go to the Bloomberg Philanthropy Philanthropic Foundation. And then through that vehicle, we do an awful lot with local organizations to address issues of inequality, to address a wide range of social issues, because we feel giving back to the local communities is a critically important part of being good citizens and good partners within those areas. So I'm about to turn it over to all of you for questions, but I have one more question for you, Aham. How do you think about extending, you know, moving from thinking about EI internally to extending your company's influence to the industry and beyond? Well, first of all, you need to do the job internally. We're not yet there as a company. I have 30% of women. We are 21,000 people around the world across one third, one third, one third, across the three big regions. 30% women. But when you climb the ladder, less than 20% in the top 30. So it's sobering. It's not because you have a woman at the top that the problem is resolved. So we have a code of business integrity, which I made it mandatory to be read, to obey to, and to sign it off every year by all employees of Solve. It's new in the company. And there there is zero tolerance to discrimination, harassment, or racism, etc. We hire and we fire, regardless of your performance, because of the business of business integrity. And then, you know, you know, that I belong to the chemical industry. So climate change in the top of the agenda, house gas emissions. So what we did in Solve One Planet, where Solve One Dignity belongs to, we put the DNI at the same sense of urgency as the climate and the resources is the same. They're related, right? They're related. They're related that the most vulnerable they suffer. And it impacts my pocket. You need to walk the talk. So 15% of my variable compensation is linked to Solve One Planet. So it is for the whole organization. So we walk the talk. And then I think a lot has been mentioned from training the top leaders, right, on unconscious bias. I have one. Everybody has one hiring with anonymous CVs and resumes to attract more ethnicity and obviously gender. Help women to be more ambitious. We have an A effect, A for ambitious, and raise the hand, right? We walk the talk as a company three weeks ago. We have published the wages gap between men and women. It's the first time in our history. We promise to close it. By the way, it goes both sides because in Belgium, women at Solve, without my salary, are paid more than men. So it's an anecdote, unfortunately, but it's the case. We also realize that we are losing women during maternity leave, right? And this is very tough times, including personally, I suffered during my maternity. So what we've done is that we extended the maternity leave to 16 weeks.  And what happened is that last year, 200 babies enjoyed their fathers, which is great at Solve. So welcome to future fathers who want to enjoy their babies. But what happened as well is that the LGBTQ communities, right, made their coming out because they have also gone off for adopted children or whatever. And we want to, you know, frankly, beyond diversity and the saying, invite diversity to the party and don't forget to dance with it. Because if not, it will leave you and the best people leave you first. What we are doing is really we're getting this bottom up approach. Are people recognizing that dignity has to be at the center of everything we do? Because if you have it, if you have this respect, if people can bring their whole self at work, by the way, we're not going to do it because we're not charitable company. I'm running a profitable company. And it impacts the bottom line, definitely. On that note, who has questions? Thank you, everyone, for excellent insights this afternoon. My name is the Bangat Rehan. I'm a global shaper from India. In multiple conversations around DEI, I've observed that the common consensus is if you can share your stories, you can start a conversation. My question really is that historically, when people with disabilities, LGBTQ community members, they've shared the stories, they've been injected, they've been discriminated, they've often been bullied as well. What can we do as a society to ensure and give that psychological safety in schools and colleges and workplaces that the next time a person on the margins wants to share their story, they're not discriminated against and they're not bullied? I'll add a post script to that, which is in a world where things are in many countries are getting more polarized. Anti-DEI language is being used politically increasingly. And so in that context, tackle that question. Petra? Yes, I'm willing to start because it's an incredible important and difficult question at the same time. I think it starts with having the legal frameworks that protect people. And as you know, and for instance, at a higher level in Europe, we have established that in the workplace.  Many countries have extended that to other circumstances in society. That's the legal framework. I think you really need to fight for that and it's a political struggle and it is not easy and there is evolution in different directions today in the world. We know that we need to be aware of that. But then you're not there yet because we know that even if you have that legal framework, it is in the minds and the hearts of people that discrimination arises very often in very close surroundings.  So it's a two-step approach. But I think the legal framework is very important. That's the political struggle so that you know you're living in a country where laws protect you, you cannot be discriminated, you can go to court, you have your rights and the second step is much more difficult and we know that but it is also work in progress. We still have to fight for that every day, all of us in our environment, to your friends and family, what the values are that we cherish. Thank you so much. My question is regarding, you mentioned using blind resumes. So I'm working on inclusion of people with disabilities in Latin America and I want to dig further about your experience using blind resumes because in ours, blind resumes can get you to an interview but if you're not removing the bias, nothing is changing. I mean it's delivering further frustration and it's not working for anyone. No, it has to go together. It's an excellent question. I actually trained my top 100 leaders on unconscious bias and I sat with them because I have an unconscious bias. When you look at me, you say oh she's not from Scandinavia, she's probably African, Arab, whatever. So I think the unconscious bias is part of us and we need really to be trained and remind ourselves during interviews, rights about it. So it's about training, educating again and again. At the end of the day we want the best people and the best competency to take the job and we never compromise as a business leader about competency but I'm forcing for the hot jobs, right?  And I'm not known as a lady of quotas. I've been always fighting quotas in my life saying I'm not taken because I am a lady but because of my competency and my CV and my resume and my track record. But I must say maybe it's age and maybe before my retirement I'm wondering gosh how I'm going to make an impact and how I'm going to make those minorities more visible. So we are forcing now the 50% of shortlisted candidates to come from the minorities in the interviews which made people think where the headhunter comes back say cannot find them. Impossible to fight Chinese. I don't have enough Americans in my top 30 where the U.S. is my number one country of sales. Not enough black African American. We started an employee resource now group. So you really need to make it as urgent as making money. That's it. Really, as urgent as making money. And I think when it's parts of your conversation like now climate and sustainability dashboard are parts of our discussion you will see that we start moving the needle. So let me add a couple of things. Just we do unconscious bias training once a year for our entire workforce. The issue on all these things that we're talking about is persistence.  Because of the intentionality of what we're ultimately trying to accomplish but also the value of what we're trying to accomplish.  And remind them we're doing this for the greater good and it's not just the right thing to do for us. It's very much a business imperative. But if the leadership and we've been talking about this on the stage if the leadership isn't committed and doesn't set the right tone you'll fail almost immediately. But if you do it right and have staying power you'll ultimately get to the end game. But the end game will come as I said at the outset and please don't forget this. This is a race without a finish line. It's never over. And we're never people in leadership positions should never be satisfied. Yeah I just wanted to add on the quota we don't use quota but we use quota for the selection jurist. Because a jury is you know more you know inclined to choose from candidates that are representing themselves. So if you make your juries more diverse you will have more diverse in top management positions. That is that is where we do it is. And this works. It really works. No it's an important point from the minister. We also have now a hiring group rather than just one manager to really ensure ensure that the decision is done with intersections of views and divergent views. It's great we do it. Hi like Gabriel I also work on disability inclusion and diversity Katie I think has become like a bad name. And what we realized while inclusion of disability it's been really about including value right about maximizing value. So in this value inclusion we have realized a very important insight and I have a question based on that that there is a competency required it's no longer about awareness it's a knowledge skill and attitude and we call that include ability. And I'll tell you why even along with all that access provision or whatever is done the level playing field for equity it could be that the person has not a good education because they didn't get access to education couldn't go to a school and that would be for underrepresented communities and or their language is different and you know there are solutions for all of this just so I had two part question one is are there things like that that you're faced where you've had to step in it's not a policy yet and then you made a policy where we'll take somebody on based on skills and not education etc. So you'll notice that it's a decision that means it's a competency you had to display. So my second part would be really especially Peter I'm wondering whether we conduct a training which is on include ability it's a count competency at management institutes so it's it's more to do with now institutionalizing this and I just wonder if you know there should be something done regarding that so just a two part question one is so it's a two part question with less than a minute I'm so sorry yeah my mistake then we can we can take it offline well listen yeah I mean that's why I started with my personal story of accessing education at the end of the day we can dance on our head it's about having access girls and minorities to that education and that's why for me I'm engaging more and more with academia on and I have a problem as representing the chemical industry the industry but the science technology engineering and math there is a nutrition and we lose a woman along the way so we're doing a lot for girls for sciences right bringing them above and beyond the stereotype that this is not their their field but you're right it's about access to education and now we have in the company and I know it's that some jobs are almost oversized with specs which are over qualification and the question is can we actually review our specs right to welcome more you know less educated probably people back to you Peter thank you we're out of time but thank you all by the bell damn that was close I tried to be fast but oh it didn't work you're all wonderful thank you so much thank you


Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and is intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. Although you've likely never heard of Bladenborough, you might be surprised to learn that it's home to a very intriguing North Carolina vampire beast legend. In the early 1950s, locals reported a strange creature emerging from the woods and killing multiple livestock and dogs, leaving their mutilated bodies behind. This happened several different times within the course of a month, but the strangest thing was that the creature seemed mostly interested in drinking blood. Thus was born the beast of Bladenborough legend that still thrives in the area. I'm Darren Marlar and this is Weird Darkness. Welcome, weirdos. This is Weird Darkness. Here you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained. Coming up in this episode... We've all heard of cryptids like Bigfoot, Mothman, the Loch Ness Monster, the Jersey Devil, the Dogman and so on. But have you ever heard of a cryptid that isn't flesh and blood, but made of plants? The story of Isabella Guzman went viral on TikTok six years after she was convicted of the murder of her mother. During the trial, she claimed she was abused. Then she pleaded insanity. But one good thing did come from the trial. A serious discussion about mental illness. If you're a proponent of execution, no judgment here, just go with me. The only way to see that through is to have someone push the button, flip the switch, pull the trigger or whatever methods being used in order to snuff out the life of the soon-to-be-dead inmate. Someone has to get their hands dirty, metaphorically speaking. And even if you think you'd have the stomach and determination to do the job, let me ask you this. Would you be okay with literally getting your hands bloody?  What would life be like with that job? But first, every part of the world seems to have its own share of cryptids and sometimes creatures that are unique to that area. For example, along with the ubiquitous Bigfoot you may have heard about North Carolina's Moon-eyed People or the Wampus Cat. But I'm guessing you've not heard about what some call the Vampire Beast of Bladenborough. We begin there. If you're new here, welcome to the show. While you're listening, be sure to check out WeirdDarkness.com for merchandise, to visit sponsors you hear about during the show, sign up for my newsletter, and our contests. Connect with me on social media. Plus, you can visit the Hope in the Darkness page if you're struggling with depression or dark thoughts. You can find all of that and more at WeirdDarkness.com.  The story behind the Vampire Beast terrorizing Bladenborough is a long and strange one. Between footprints, animal corpses and eyewitness sightings, it's clear that there is some sort of mysterious beast in the area, and no one is really sure what it is. Mysterious animal deaths still crop up in the area from time to time, leading some to believe the beast may still be on the loose. There are a few myths about vampires in the United States and this one is certainly memorable. Whether you yourself have spotted the cryptid or whether you just enjoy the legends, it's interesting to ponder what's lurking out there in the woods and why gruesome mysteries like this remain unsolved. The first sighting of the beast happened back in 1953. On the evening of December 29th, a woman heard her neighbor's dogs causing a fuss outside at night. They were barking and whimpering as if in fear. She went out to check to see what the matter was. To her surprise, she reportedly found a large, cat-like creature that she thought was a mix between a lion and a bear. It slunk away into the darkness before she could get a decent look at it however, leaving her reasonably shaken from the experience. But that wasn't all. In some accounts of the incident, the dogs did more than just bark. The creature came prowling back and ended up killing both dogs in a horrifying manner. Later on, there would be more sightings and more killings, but it was on that day that the beast of Bladenborough was born. There was one chilling factor that set the beast apart from an average bear or wild dog. It seemed fixated on blood. When dogs in livestock began turning up dead, local authorities found that the animals had been drained of blood with only few drops left in the corpses. While some of the victimized animals were horrifyingly mutilated, some bodies were found simply with bites and broken bones and were flattened. One witness even recalls that it seemed the strange animal was drinking blood from one of the dogs it had killed. Newspapers, as you might guess, latched on to the notion that there was a bloodsucker about and began describing the beast as vampiric. This also gave rise to the notion that the beast might be something supernatural or mutated, as few animals in the world particularly feed off of solely blood. While this mystified and sensationalized the beast, it also frightened people and they soon decided the beast had to be caught. While the beast took down livestock including goats, pigs and perhaps even horses, its preferred prey tended to be dogs, leading to further speculation that the vampire might be more cat-like than wolf-like, as cats are notorious enemies of dogs. After the first sighting in December, the beast reemerged and went on a rampage. On New Year's Eve, 1953, Woody Storm found two of his dogs gruesomely killed on his property, both that obviously had been brought down by something large as they were not exactly small dogs and had been drained of blood. Over the next few days, reports came in from across the country, all reporting that dogs had been killed by some massive cat or bear or monster. The animals sometimes tore the dogs apart, drained their blood or just dragged them off into the woods. A few of the poor animals were not found until later, dead and mutilated in the woods, but why did the beast particularly target dogs? Nothing's ever been proven. The other telltale sign that the beast had been at work was that the bodies of its victims found were terribly mutilated and not just a slashed stomach either. The beast had decapitated its victims or at the very least smashed their skulls to the point of flattening them. Many of the bodies later found in the woods were completely missing their heads and one rabbit was found completely decapitated but still warm as if the creature had just snapped off its head in one bite before fleeing. Dogs were often found with their lower jaws torn completely off or smashed back to the point of being unrecognizable. This indicated that the creature was strong and it cast serious doubt on leader suggestions that the animal was merely a bobcat or stray hound. Another thing many witnesses reported is that the beast of Bladenborough made an absolutely chilling sound. While many accounts differ in the size and color of the beast, most agreed that its call sounded partly human in an unearthly way and truly unnerving. Some described it as the sound of a baby crying in pain somewhere outside. Others said it was like a woman screaming as if she had been stabbed or had been hurt. Some people even reported seeing the animal open its jaws to make the sound so it was not the noise of one of its unfortunate canine victims dying. No matter how it was described, pretty much everyone agreed that the beast's call was positively blood curdling. While the beast definitely seemed to prefer canine prey, it did once try to attack a human. On the evening of January 5, 1954, Mrs. C. E. Kinslaw was in her home when she heard some strange sounds outside. The dogs sounded like they were whimpering and she went outside to see what the matter was.  The beast rushed at her as if to attack her and she screamed before running inside for help from her husband. Apparently frightened by her screams, the beast slunk back into the woods. The beast never attacked another human, seeming to prefer dogs and livestock. However, the incident made the papers, especially noting that there had been tracks left outside. It proved the beast was real and that it could be dangerous to people. After the mysterious and gruesome deaths of so many local animals, people who lived in Bladenborough decided it was time to take down the beast. In January of 1954, a massive group began to comb the forests and swamps, trying to find this mysterious creature. The hunt got so big, in fact, that big game hunters came from miles away and across state lines just for a shot at tracking down the creature. Of course, given the rough terrain in the area, it was difficult to track the beast and even more difficult to catch it and after a long while it passed the mayor called off the hunt, but not before a tantalizing moment of near success. One man caught a wildcat in a trap and newspapers circulated images saying that the beast had been caught. Not only do experts agree that the animal was far too small, but there were also more killings after the wildcat had been killed. It is incredibly unlikely that this cat was actually the fabled beast. As to what the beast is, nobody is sure, but there are plenty of theories. The most obvious is that the animal is some sort of mountain lion, also called a catamount or a cougar. But bloodsucking doesn't exactly make sense in the case of a cougar, so some experts have speculated that perhaps the animal lapped up the blood after crunching on the bones and bodies rather than actually sucking it out. Along those lines, Bobcat has also been suggested even if most people agree that they are not big or strong enough to fit the beast's characteristics. Another theory says that the beast is actually a large dog that was raised by a local before escaping that was supposedly truly massive. Some others have said that it is simply a bear that people mistook for being cat-like in the dark. The beast of Bladenborough seems to grow bigger and more frightening with each retelling of its legend. Because of all the attention and notoriety the animal received, some people were attracted to the beast myth for personal gain. Some hunters killed Bobcats and displayed them as the legendary beast, even asking for payment for viewing. Some pranks, though, were more silly and harmless. One Bladenborough resident later confessed that he intentionally created fake evidence of the creature for attention. He and his friends found a large dog, possibly a greyhound, then took the animal to a creek where the bank was still soft. They then tied a bead of dried peas to its tail and turned it loose. The sound and feeling of the peas frightened the dog and it leaped around creating strange and frantic paw prints in the mud. Then they went to reporters and said the tracks were from the beast. While these accounts were false, there were plenty more witnesses who claimed their sightings were genuine. The beast was spotted on the outskirts of the town of Bladenborough, North Carolina, which is located nearly an hour from any other cities and boasts a population of less than 2,000. In fact, one of the town's only real claims to fame is its legendary beast, and this is what put it on the map. News sources all along the coast and in many other states reported on these strange killings and nearly overnight, Bladenborough became a recognizable name. When you think about it, though, North Carolina is a great habitat for cryptids. Bladenborough in particular is surrounded by both forests and swamps, which makes combing the area for signs of an unknown creature rather difficult. This proved especially true when locals tried to hunt down the beast after attacks became more frequent. Although the creature appeared on the scene and wreaked its worst havoc in the 1950s, the beast still surfaces from time to time. In 2003, more farm animals and dogs began to turn up with crushed bones, bite marks, and very little blood in their bodies. Strange tracks were also found near the bodies leading people to believe that the beast was back at work, but it didn't just stop with dead livestock and pets. In 2013, a local family reported that their dog and three of their horses had been slaughtered in the night. The dogs had been barking and when the son of the family, Tyler, investigated, he said he had seen a strange creature in the shadows running away from the body of a dead dog. The dead animals had been drained of blood and given that the attack again happened in Bladenborough, people quickly linked the attack to the beast. Even though the beast has killed numerous family pets and livestock, the locals actually celebrate the creature rather than fear it now that its activity has somewhat subsided. Some older folks are reluctant to talk about it, but at the same time, as one local puts it, there is such a thing as too much publicity for a small town. As if to prove that, the town now has a festival called Beast Fest held annually. There's live entertainment, food, and admissions free to anyone who shows up. The family-friendly festival is meant to boost the small town and draw in tourism, capitalizing on its dark experience with a murderous feline cryptid. Around 10,000 people generally attend the festival, many of them hopeful that maybe, just maybe, they might catch a glimpse of the legendary beast of Bladenborough. Coming up on Weird Darkness, the story of Isabella Guzman went viral on TikTok six years after she was convicted of the murder of her mother. During the trial, she claimed she was abused, then she pleaded insanity, but one good thing did come from the trial, a serious discussion about mental illness. Plus, would you survive living the life of a medieval executioner? We'll find out what day-to-day living was like for them outside of the swinging of an axe. These stories are up next.  Absolutely free. Every other month, I'm filming an unboxing video of the newest creepy crate that I get in the mail, then I'm boxing it all back up and giving it away by random drawing to someone subscribed to the Weird Darkness email newsletter. And before I close up the box for good, I might toss in a couple of Weird Darkness goodies as well for good measure. You can keep the creepy crate for yourself or give it away to a weirdo friend or family member. To watch my latest creepy crate unboxing video and to register to win a creepy crate of your own for free, visit WeirdDarkness.com slash creepy crate. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash creepy crate. Each month, you'll be captivated by an original Timothy Wayne Williams painting, beautiful and captivating. But within each painting hides a monster. Bigfoot is hiding somewhere in each painting. Search for Bigfoot and invite others to do so as well with the new Find Bigfoot calendar available now at WeirdDarkness.com slash Bigfoot. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash Bigfoot. Isabella Guzman made headlines in 2013 when the then-18-year-old stabbed her mother, 47-year-old Yunmi Hoi, 79 times. Although the media portrayed Isabella Guzman as a killer, the case went in a new direction when Guzman claimed her mother had abused her for years leading up to the murder. The Isabella Guzman case eventually went to trial, where Guzman pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.  We're about to step back to 2013 to look at what led to Isabella Guzman to committing such a violent crime against her mother. In August 2013, Isabella Guzman was 18 years old and living with her mother and stepfather in Aurora, Colorado after dropping out of high school. Family members described the teenager as both affectionate and loving. Following her mother's murder, reporters interviewed Guzman's aunt, Melanie Guzman, who described her niece as a normal teenager. Her demeanor is pretty sweet. She's very coquette.  Melanie Guzman added that she couldn't imagine her niece becoming violent and that there was something more to it, apparently referring to the police investigation. For years, Isabella Guzman's mother, Yunmi Hoi, claimed her daughter was a difficult child. When Guzman was seven years old, Hoi even sent her daughter to live with her biological father, Robert Guzman. At the time of Hoi's murder, Guzman was living with her once again, but there was reportedly significant tension in the household. Guzman's stepfather, Ryan Hoi, later told the media that in the days leading up to his wife's murder, Guzman became threatening and disrespectful toward Yunmi Hoi and that the mother and daughter fought often. Robert Guzman later said of his ex-wife, she tried really, really hard for her family, but Isabella didn't appreciate anything she did for her. On the afternoon of Wednesday, August 28, 2013, Yunmi Hoi called police to report Guzman's threatening behavior, telling them she was afraid of her daughter. Police responded to the scene and reportedly informed Guzman that her mother had a right to kick her out of the house if she didn't abide by her mother and stepfather's rules. Guzman's father later drove to Hoi's home to speak with his daughter. Robert Guzman later told the media, I went to talk to Isabella and we sat down in the backyard looking at the trees and the animals, and I started to talk to her about the respect that people should have for their parents. Robert stated that he thought the conversation had been productive, but he received a call only hours later that Guzman had murdered Hoi. Just before 10 p.m. on August 28, 2013, Ryan Hoi was at home when he heard a thumping sound coming from upstairs, as well as his wife's voice calling out his name. Yunmi Hoi had returned from working at the Portrait Studio she owned around 9.30 p.m. and gone upstairs to take a shower, but when Ryan Hoi reached the bathroom, he noticed blood seeping from under the door. Hoi claimed Guzman was holding the door shut, so at 10.05 p.m. he ran back downstairs to call 9.11 and asked police to once again come to the family's home on the 2600 block of South Lima Street in Aurora, Colorado. By the time police arrived at 10.16 p.m., Yunmi Hoi was dead, and Isabella Guzman was nowhere to be found. When Ryan Hoi returned to the bathroom after calling 9.11, Guzman opened the door. Inside the bathroom, he reportedly saw Guzman holding a knife and covered in blood. Yunmi Hoi was dead on the bathroom floor, and a baseball bat lay near her lifeless body. According to an affidavit, Guzman was just staring straight ahead when she walked past Ryan Hoi. She apparently said nothing to her stepfather before fleeing the home. Hoi also claimed he heard his wife, a Jehovah's Witness, shout Jehovah prior to Guzman opening the bathroom door. Authorities pronounced Yunmi Hoi dead at the scene after administering CPR, and an autopsy later revealed Guzman had stabbed her a total of 79 times, 31 wounds to the face, and 48 to the neck. Before police and medical personnel arrived at the scene, Isabella Guzman left her family home, wearing only a pink sports bra and turquoise shorts. Police found her roughly 16 hours later. She had been hiding in an office building's parking garage, located only a mile or so from the family home. Police found Guzman after they received a call from someone seeing a body in a car. Upon police's arrival, they found the car empty, though Guzman had left some personal effects behind, including items tying her to Hoi's murder. The search for Isabella Guzman came to a dramatic end around 2 p.m. on August 29, when three officers drew their weapons on her after seeing Guzman attempting to leave the parking garage. Guzman was taken into custody where she was held without bail. As investigators began collecting evidence related to Hoi's murder, more information came to light about the hours leading up to the killing. The day before, Tuesday, August 27, Ryan Hoi claimed Guzman spit in her mother's face. Guzman then wrote Hoi an email that said, among other things, you will pay. Yumi Hoi didn't see the email until Wednesday morning, when she eventually decided to call police. After police left, Guzman reportedly went to her room for the rest of the afternoon. Ryan Hoi later told authorities he had seen Guzman in the kitchen around 8.30 p.m., only an hour before Hoi returned from work and Guzman attacked her. Following her arrest, Guzman told law enforcement her mother and stepfather had abused her for years, leading up to the events of August 28 and that the pair were incredibly strict with her. Guzman stated, my parents are Jehovah's Witnesses, and I left the religion when I was 14 and the abuse at home worsened after I quit. In addition to the abuse Guzman allegedly endured while living with her mother, she also claimed an employee at the Colorado Mental Health Institute sexually assaulted her in a utility closet sometime in 2015. Guzman reported the assault at the time but said there were two more incidents with the employee. Guzman later said that I was afraid that if I didn't do what he wanted, that he could ruin my life. In the summer of 2014, Isabella Guzman was put on trial for her mother's murder. She faced a first-degree murder charge, which could have resulted in the death penalty. However, doctors brought in as expert witnesses told the court Guzman was in fact schizophrenic and didn't believe her mother was her mother at the time of the murder.  Guzman's mental illness reportedly also accounted for her atypical behavior in court the day after murdering Yoon Mi-hoi. In addition to refusing to leave her cell, which delayed court proceedings, Guzman smirked and made faces at camera crews once she entered the courtroom. Based on doctor's testimonies, the prosecutor for Guzman's case, 18th Judicial District Attorney George Broschler, called for Guzman to be placed in a psychiatric facility. Broschler argued before the court that people convicted for crimes knew they did something wrong. However, Broschler stated, in this particular case, I am convinced, based on the evidence that I have seen and the information that has been presented in court, that this woman did not know right from wrong, and she could not have acted differently than she did given the significant schizophrenia and paranoid delusions audible visual hallucinations that she was going through. Guzman was subsequently found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo, Colorado. Isabella Guzman's name resurfaced in the media in November 2020 when she requested release from the Colorado Mental Health Institute. Guzman, then 25, stated that at the time of her mother's murder, I was not myself and I have since been restored to full health. Guzman added that she was no longer a danger to herself or others, criteria that prosecutor George Broschler had specified Guzman needed to meet when she was first sentenced to a psychiatric facility. Broschler stipulated at the time that Guzman could spend days or the rest of her life in the hospital depending on how much treatment she required. In the summer of 2021, Guzman was eventually granted approval to leave the hospital in order to meet with her therapist. Prior to being granted partial release, Guzman said of killing her mother, if I could change it or if I could take it back, I would. As news of Guzman's bid to be released from the Colorado Mental Health Institute surfaced in the media, her story went viral on TikTok. While some were sympathetic to Guzman's plight, other creators on the app played the 2013 court footage of Guzman glaring at camera crews in tandem with Eva Max's 2018 song, Sweet But Psycho, which included the lyrics, Oh She's Sweet But A Psycho, A Little Bit Psycho, At Night She's Screaming, I'm Mamma Outta My Mind. The TikToks made about Guzman quickly became the source of much controversy, with many claiming the videos either romanticized or stigmatized mental illness. The reaction to the videos reportedly showed the deep divide in how the public perceived Isabella Guzman and her 2013 actions. And before I leave this story, if you know someone who may be in a mental health crisis, please visit the Hope in the Darkness page at WeirdDarkness.com for numerous resources for a variety of mental health-related situations. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash Hope. It is no surprise that the medieval period was filled with all kinds of undesirable jobs. There were leech collectors, cesspool cleaners, serfs, and gong farmers, to name a few. But one location that was perhaps one of the toughest was the job of the medieval executioner. Theirs was one of the darkest, most taboo jobs of the Middle Ages. Whether employed in splendid royal courts or backwater petty castles, these vicious headsmen had a singular purpose, to do the job that very few could or wanted to do. Theirs was the role of taking lives, tightening the noose, or decapitating those who were destined for an early grave. Their axes knew no class or creed. The sharp iron culled both king and peasant. During much of the early medieval period, as well as the centuries that followed, crime and lawlessness were rampant throughout the world. From Europe to Asia and the Middle East, evil was an everyday occurrence. Raps, thievery, murder, heresy, and leprosy, all manner of sin and decadence ran rampant in the unruly medieval world under the auspices of death itself. But where there is lawlessness, there is also justice, albeit sometimes a cruel one. Mercy was not the usual approach to solving crimes, much to the disadvantage of the budding criminal of the period. This means that once dealt, justice was swift and brutal, a determined and definite retribution against the usurpation of the order of society. In short, the death penalty was often the sentence. As the earliest epoch of the Middle Ages slowly advanced into a new, slightly more developed period, it also saw the rise of a new vocation. Someone was needed to perform the role that no one wanted. That was the executioner's vocation. From as early as the 1200s, the societies of Western and Central Europe were increasingly requiring an official position that would satisfy their needs for delivering capital punishment to their convicts. Prominent cities throughout France, Germany and England required skilled executioners to act as the divine hand of justice appointed by the state and the royal court. One of the earliest documented official executioner positions dates to 1202, when a prominent Hezman, Nicholas Johann, nicknamed La Justisse, was appointed the Vicente, an official executioner of the Normandy town of Coe. From then on, this official position spread through many capitals and large towns of Western Europe. But even before that period and certainly well after it, the role of the executioner was definitely a troubled one, straddling a gray area between good and evil and between acceptance and repugnance. Executioners were very much ostracized. Death, and moreover, murder always had a difficult position in society. When done by a massive people, as in lynching, murder was no longer a taboo act. The group erased the perpetrator. But once an individual took the matter into their own hands and performed a murder, the situation was different. And such was the predicament of the executioner. A person in this position, who was known to be the Hezman, was seen as a troubled person, a sinner beyond redemption and simply put, a killer. The masses could not accept the wanton taking of a life on command and could not comprehend the state of mind that hid behind the eyes of the Hezman. One good example of this viewpoint of the masses can be observed from the many writings and memoirs from the Middle Ages and, chiefly, the writings of Josef de Maistre. Here is a part of his observations of the character of an executioner. Quote, this head, this heart, are they made like ours? Do they not have something odd or foreign to our nature? On the exterior, he, the executioner, is made just as we are. He is born like us, but he is an extraordinary being. Is he a man? Quote, the truth is not very far. A medieval executioner had a hard time in the society around him. In many, if not most cultures of the medieval world, the executioner was an ostracized, shunned person who belonged to a markedly different caste of society. Even though they sometimes enjoyed financial benefits and could earn reasonable amounts from their work, these people still suffered in solitude and lived life on the margins of society simply because of their vocation. To freely deliver death, torture, and all manner of foulness on another person was seen as reason enough for the people to look down on an executioner and shun him. In most countries, executioners and their families lived on the peripheries of cities, well away from the main residences. They also couldn't be buried like the rest of the citizens. Their graves were separated from the main graveyard, marked and much less elaborate. The executioners had to be recognizable even when off duty, much like Jews, lepers, and prostitutes during the Middle Ages, they too had to wear a special marking on their person at all times. And the ostracizing was similar outside of Europe. In Japan, for example, an executioner was extremely discriminated against and denigrated. They were exclusively from the Burukumen class, the lowest social caste of Japan. In the Ottoman Empire, no citizen could be an executioner. This vocation was reserved exclusively for the Roma Gypsies. This fact alone separated them and the Ottoman society, and they were looked down upon due to their cruelty and unflinching approach to all the gruesome tasks. These Roma caravans and throngs were an essential part of the baggage trains of Ottoman armies. They were tasked with the cruelest tortures and executions against the subjugated peoples of the empire. The Ottoman Roma executioners were widely feared for their cruel methods, such as impalement on a stake. This was the execution method used against brigands, thieves, and captured freedom fighters in occupied lands. The medieval executioner, especially in the early periods, was actually much more than just an executioner. One could hardly expect to have a fresh head to chop off every day, and thus different means of earning money had to be found. That is why the executioner was tasked with many more jobs, none of them decent. In fact, an executioner never had a single location in the early medieval period. An executioner earned his daily bread by doing many unsavory tasks, which were shunned by the rest of society. In France, they were known as masters of high and low works. For example, they would tax the prostitutes and lepers of the town, especially those that were illegally there. An executioner that found an illegal leper begging on the streets had the right to confiscate all the belongings and money of the leper and to find him an additional amount. They were also well known as naggers, people tasked with collecting animal carcasses around town, as well as killing sick, dying, and old animals. The carcasses would then be rendered to gather anything usable, fat, hides, tallow, or bone meal. This was a shunned and foul job, but very lucrative. In many areas, naggers were also exclusively executioners. An executioner was also employed to oversee the town's prostitutes, another task that was seen as disreputable and decadent. These men were tasked with exacting a tribute from the prostitutes, a fixed sum several times per year. Curiously, the medieval executioner, particularly in France and Western Europe, was tasked with managing the town's stray dogs. In what way, you can guess, as well as farm animals kept illegally in town premises. For example, in Dijon, France, the law declared that no citizen may keep any sort of pigs in the town premises.  He was in his rights to cut off the head and keep it for himself as payment. Another shunned job was related to gong farming, cesspits, latrines, and similar foul fecal aspects of the medieval society. While these jobs were highly degrading, unsanitary, filthy, and ostracized, they were nonetheless lucrative, and executioners were often in charge of them. But even when they had a range of tasks that were in a sense critical to the functioning of the town, the executioners were still ostracized. They were not allowed to come into contact with the upstanding, well-off citizens of the town and were thus put into the corner with the same social outcasts they had authority over. This shunning throughout the medieval period slowly drove executioner families to endogamy, the practice of marrying people that belonged to the same background and social caste. Executioners almost exclusively married women who came from executioner families themselves, and in that way they almost created small, separate executioner communities. In time, those headsmen that were employed in the royal courts, their sons, and their grandsons all were in the family business. This saw the rise of many prominent, hereditary executioner dynasties, which were often well-off, infamous, tasked with relieving some highly important individuals. In France there was the Guillaume dynasty of Paris executioners, which was prominent in the business for more than a century. They were succeeded by the even more famous Sansen family, whose offspring, Charles Henry Sansen, would execute Louis XVI with a guillotine. Then there was the Desmores dynasty, an offshoot of the Guillaumes, which gave France of the period more than 50 prominent executioners. In Western Europe there was the prominent Dallenborg dynasty of executioners, who performed their role across Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. Execution methods were many, and most notably they were done by the axe, the sword, the noose, or garret. It wasn't always easy to complete the task. History remembers many notable cases of clumsy executioners, which resulted in some botched and prolonged capital punishments. One example is the execution of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Bekleu in 1685. He was executed by the infamous Jack Ketch, the executioner employed in the court of King Charles II. Ketch was infamous for his botched executions, which could have been done on purpose out of a sadistic nature. When the Duke of Monmouth was on the chopping block, he specifically implored Ketch, in front of many gathered witnesses, to grant him a swift death, unlike the ones before. He gave Jack Ketch six guinea, and vouched that his servants would give more gold to the executioner if the death was swift. Nonetheless, the execution was botched and extremely unpleasant. It took Ketch eight hacks to finally sever the head. The gathered masses were enraged and attempted to lynch the executioner without success. Today, we are shown the slightly romanticized, perhaps inaccurate image of the medieval executioner as a hooded, secretive, and mysterious death dealer, while the reality could have been very different. It was difficult for an executioner to remain anonymous. His post and his vocation was known by all, and thus a hood and a mask would have been pointless. And we can now understand that the position of an executioner was almost always discriminated against. Taking lives no matter how lowly or sinful they are has never been an easy task, and it plunged the medieval executioners into the realm of social outcasts, forcing them to earn their money by doing all the gruesome and degrading jobs that were on offer, from collecting carcasses and burying bodies to managing stray dogs and overseeing the clearance of cesspools. Such was the hard life of the headsmen, and if their lives of solitude and despair drove them to crime and murder, they could end up on the other side of the axe. All necks were the same to the sharp iron of the executioner's blade. When Weird Darkness returns, we've all heard of cryptids like Bigfoot, Mothman, the Loch Ness monster, the Jersey Devil, the Dog Man, and so on. But have you ever heard of a cryptid that isn't flesh and blood, but made of plants? What makes someone kill not only innocent people, but sometimes the very people who loved and trusted them? What imagined wrongs could drive a deluded individual to seek revenge by taking another person's life? What lengths will people go to to get what they want? Murderous Binds, Volume 2, stories of real-life murderers that escaped the headlines, is the latest offering in a series that takes you inside the life of killers who committed cold-blooded murder for a glimpse at events that drove them to kill. Each tale is sorted, twisted, and worthy of newspaper headlines. By weaving a tale in which dark fantasies turned reality, this book invites you to see life from a perspective few ever witness, that of the killer. Paired with an in-depth account of each case, it will be a nightmarish journey to the darkest reaches of the mind of these real-life murderers. Murderous Minds, Volume 2, written by Ryan Becker, narrated by Weird Darkness host Darren Marlar. Here are free sample on the audiobooks page at WeirdDarkness.com. Birthdays, the presents, the friends, the games, the silly hats and noisemakers, what's not to love? But no birthday is complete without the cake, am I right? And even as an adult, when you take a bite of birthday cake, those memories just come flooding back like they were yesterday. But if you're watching your calories, sugars, carbs, well, birthday cake is off the menu, until now. I just received the newest flavor from Built Bars, birthday cake puff. This is a protein bar with 16 grams of protein, low calories, low sugar, but I swear it is like eating a piece of moist birthday cake. You can taste the cake, the frosting, even the candy sprinkles with the satisfying little crunch they give you. If you miss birthday cake, or if you're looking for a healthier option to get your birthday cake fixed, you'll want to grab this limited release protein bar before they run out. Visit WeirdDarkness.com slash Built and look in the limited release section for birthday cake puff. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash Built and use the promo code WeirdDarkness, all one word, to get 10% off your entire purchase. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash Built and use the promo code WeirdDarkness. Cryptozoology, or cryptids for the common folk, has fascinated humankind for thousands of years, beginning as early as the 15th century B.C. While media has glamorized the field, drawing images of wild-eyed creature hunters chasing anomalous beasts into the night, cryptozoology is really just the study of unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated. But reports of strange organisms don't stop at the animal variety. Enter cryptobotany, sometimes also called cryptophytology, or simply the study of plant cryptids. Just like its animal counterparts, this field of study focuses on the bizarre plants of folklore and legend that have evaded scientific confirmation. While there may not be any captivating security camera footage or blurry photographs of these elusive plants, some reports are surprisingly compelling. Some flora cryptids you could tentatively approach and feed plant food. Others might make you the plant food. Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare. It's deadly fun, but will sulk in the sun. While many only associate the Devil's Snare with one of many trials guarding the philosopher's stone in Harry Potter, this terrifying plant has a longer, more frightening history than children's fantasy can convey. Deep within the innermost swamps of Nicaragua, a vampiric vine awaits its next victim from whom it can drain blood. Natives to the area named it the Devil's Snare and described it as an octopus-like plant that not only captures its prey but seems to somehow absorb it. One eyewitness report claimed to have encountered this deadly plant near Lake Nicaragua after hearing sounds of pain and terror from his dog. When he found the source, he discovered his dog entangled by a network of roots and fibers covered in thick adhesive gum. As the eyewitness struggled to cut his dog free, the plant fought back, wrapping its vines around his hands and leaving his flesh red and blistered. Thankfully, he managed to free his petrified pup, although it was wounded with strange suction marks where the vines had made contact with the skin. After his ordeal, he asked locals about the plant and learned it was well-known and feared by the community. Another report from Africa in 1852 dubbed a similar plant a vegetable serpent, describing it as a spotted serpent that drags itself along on the ground with a sickly flower for a head, a white and soft flesh, and a cartilaginous frame filled with yellow marrow. This report had no mention of vulnerability to sunlight, but should you encounter one in the wild, perhaps try a flashlight. Have you heard of the tree that eats cows? It was midday on October 18, 2007, and young Pushpalatha from the small village of Petrame, India, made her way through the forest to visit a local shop. Her normal day ground to an abrupt halt, however, when she witnessed a tree lift a struggling cow by its hindquarters from the ground. Despite the cow's writhing, the tree held fast and tangled its limbs around the animal's tail and hind legs. Understandably frightened, Pushpalatha ran to get her mother and a local farmer working on a nearby fence. While her mother warned her not to touch the tree, the farmer, Visana, quickly jumped in and cut the tree's branches to release the cow. The tree reportedly did not release its iron grip on the cow until it was cut down. As the story went viral across the early internet, the owner of the rescued cow told reporters trees like this were known locally as pilimara or tiger trees and were sometimes mentioned in folk songs. Another villager recalled a similar event in which a tiger tree ensnared a bull and a group of villagers had to cut the branches to release the animal. They also claimed tiger trees could be climbed if the tree was pierced with an iron sickle first, as iron is believed to have power over carnivorous trees. Unfortunately, the original reporting on these incidents is a bit garbled, so it is hard to say if these events are truly separate or different accounts of the same events. While localized to India, this story seems to ring true with other stories of carnivorous trees around the world and the power of protection iron offers from spirits and monsters. The leshy has had some moments of stardom in recent years, from being featured as an enemy in the video game Cult of the Lamb to getting a moment in the limelight as Leshen and Netflix's The Witcher. However, this plant-crypted celebrity isn't an invention of the modern world. In fact, the leshy comes from Slavic mythology and was seen as a god of the forests and hunting. He was considered a wild and spiteful being who prowled the deepest backwoods of Eastern Europe. Legend describes him as a giant, gaunt man with tangled green hair covering his body and skin rough like tree bark, but that wasn't his only form. This tree man was no friendly ant from Lord of the Rings. Leshy was also known to be a shapeshifter that sought to trick those who walked his woods and lead them to their demise. Many stories accuse him of kidnapping children, likely used to frighten naughty kids, while others framed him as more of a neutral trickster spirit that guarded the forest and could often be heard singing, laughing or even whistling in the woods. Roped off by tangled vines and roots, corralled by nine-foot tall saw grass and guarded by unknowable murky depths, Florida swamps could be hiding anything. Gators, exotic pets turned loose, spiders that are clearly God's mistake, and of course, the moss man. Teals of this seven-foot tall bipedal humanoid made of moss and vegetation date as far back as the 1500s when a young girl from the local tribe was captured, killed, and beheaded, after which her attackers tied her head to a tree in the swamp. The tribe's medicine man allegedly used his magic to call upon the spirits of the swamp to seek out vengeance, causing the girl's head to take a human form of weeds, branches, and other vegetation to hunt down her murderers. Other versions of this story claim the medicine man created a golem of vegetation to keep away the pillaging Spaniards. Aside from his great height, the moss man is said to have eyes that glow in amber or reddish hue and possess a hypnotic quality. But a sighting in 1978 firmly wove the moss man into folklore when a couple strolling along a Boca Raton beach along the Everglades reported seeing a humanoid figure made of moss, grass, and leaves. They claimed he glared at them with glowing red eyes, prompting them to flee. When they returned later, the creature was gone and only bits of Spanish moss remained strewn about the beach. Humanity's fascination with carnivorous plants has gripped us for centuries. After all, plants and trees are often seen as vibrant, life-giving sentinels of nature who just want water and sunlight. The idea of certain ones being stone-cold killers of insects or small mammals feels strangely personal. What if your monstera plant or oak tree in the backyard goes after humans? Well, that's exactly what legend says happened to the Yateveo, a well-known carnivorous tree found in Central and South America, Africa, and on the shores of the Indian Ocean. Described as having a thick, stout trunk and long, tendril-like branches used to catch its prey, some reports even claim it has an eye to locate potential dinner. In 1881, a letter was published from the German explorer Karl Leicht describing a terrible tree called the Yateveo and how it ate members of the Madoko tribe of Madagascar. He notably described his own encounter with the tree as it coiled its tendrils around a filly, strangling the young horse with the cruel swiftness and savage tenacity of anacondas fastening upon their prey. Although the story was later revealed to be a fictitious work of writer Edmund Spencer for the newspaper New York World, the appearance of similar stories of carnivorous plants and trees and other parts of the world, that cow-eating tree of India, for example, raises some interesting questions. First spotted in the abundant Honey Island Swamp of Louisiana in 1963, the Honey Island Swamp Monster has long been blamed for the death of animals and the unexplained disappearances of local children. Sometimes described as a cross between an alligator and a chimpanzee, the Honey Island Swamp Monster stands over seven and a half feet tall and weighs between 400 to 500 pounds with a thick coat of matted swamp weed and grayish hair. While this has earned it the nickname Louisiana Wookiee, this doesn't account for its yellow reptilian eyes and the stench of death, the latter of which many attribute to the natural smell of marshlands. Hunters made early sightings of the Honey Island Swamp Monster reporting a towering humanoid mass of plant matter prowling the swamps and leaving webbed, three-toed footprints in its wake. A rather unique legend surrounding the swampy beast involves an alleged train wreck that occurred near Pearl River in the early 1900s. The story goes that a train of exotic circus animals, namely chimpanzees, escaped in the accident and bred with alligators. Delightfully fantastical as the myth may be, monkeys and alligators cannot interbreed. Others speculate this swampy monster is just bigfoot adapted for a more aquatic environment. Whether it's a swamp weed coming to life or a marsh-type bigfoot, Honey Island residents and visitors still see this mysterious entity in the swamp to this very day. Cats are often accused of being a bit prickly, according to dog lovers, but this plant cryptid deserves the reputation. The cactus cat is described as a bobcat-like creature with thorns for fur, sharp, protruding bones and a branched tail. Most sightings have been reported in the southwestern desert of the U.S., most often in California, Nevada and New Mexico, although there have been a few sightings in Colorado. Early 19th century legends of the cactus cat claim this creature came out at night to slash open cacti and drink the fermented sap within to get a nice buzz and stumble about. While they were reportedly not aggressive and rarely attacked humans, unless they stole its beloved cactus booze, contemporaries of the time claimed the cactus cat had a haunting wail that filled the desert night air, accompanied by the chalky sound of its bones rubbing against each other. Named from the Arabic word kafir, meaning a non-believer in Islam, the quipra is a Philippine creature often called a tree giant. With its towering seven-to-nine-foot height and hairy muscular physique, sightings often mention a powerful odor from the cigars it smoked and the wearing of an indigenous northern Philippine loincloth. Its name is deeply tied to early Arabs and the Moors, who used it to refer to non-Muslims, but it was later co-opted by the Spanish to prevent Filipinos from assisting escaping African slaves brought to Latin America. Despite the names sorted past, the creature called the quipre, or quipri, or however you pronounce it, is said to dwell in big trees, wears a belt of invisibility, and possesses a magical white stone that grants the wishes of any who obtain it. Those who claim to have seen the quipri quipre, whatever, reports rustling tree branches without cause or hearing loud laughter from an unseen being. Others recall seeing plumes of smoke with no source or big red eyes glaring at them from the trees. A Thailand-based plant cryptid is supposedly spotted in the infamous and perilous jungles, appearing half-human and half-plant. While they are known for throwing rights rocks at those passing through the jungle, the Naree Paan or Nere Paan actually have an origin in Buddhist mythology. According to legend, Vesantara's wife often went into the forest to collect fruits, but feared attacks from the hermits and yogis who lived there due to her beauty. The god Indra created twelve special Nere Paan trees that would bear fruits resembling the wife's beauty to distract the men and allow her to collect the fruits in peace. It's said the men would take the fruits back home, and after making love to them would sleep for four months and lose all their powers. Two alleged specimens of this plant cryptid are housed at a sacred temple in Bangkok, Thailand, but without permission to examine them it's difficult to say if they are legitimate evidence of the Naree Paan or if they will remain a legend. Healing from Central Asia, the vegetable lamb of Tartare was believed to grow sheep, like a tree grows a fruit, connected to the plant by an umbilical cord. The vegetable lamb was described in Henry Lee's 1887 book The Vegetable Lamb of Tartare to be both living animal and plant. Beliefs surrounding whether the vegetable lamb is flesh and blood, like a normal lamb, or more plant-like, have shifted over time, along with speculation about whether or not it could survive without the umbilical cord to the plant. Interestingly, when comparing the vegetable lamb to similar tales, the yadua of Jewish folklore is a very close match. The yadua lore features a lamb that's sprouted from a stern growing directly from the earth. Severing the connection between lamb and stem would be the only way to kill the creature, so its bones could be used during prophetic ceremonies. In some versions of the tale, the lamb plant is actually dangerous and will capture any poor soul foolish enough to wander within its reach. With these similarities, Jewish folklore may be the origin of the vegetable lamb of tartaree. Thanks for listening, and be sure to stick around for the bloopers at the end. If you like the show, please share it with someone you know who loves the paranormal or strange stories, true crime, monsters or unsolved mysteries like you do. You can email me anytime with your questions or comments at darren at WeirdDarkness.com. Darren is D-A-R-R-E-N. WeirdDarkness.com is also where you can find information on any of the sponsors you heard about during the show, find all of my social media, listen to audiobooks I've narrated, sign up for the email newsletter, find other podcasts that I host, including Church of the Undead, visit the store for Weird Darkness merchandise and more. WeirdDarkness.com is also where you can find the Hope in the Darkness page if you or someone you know is struggling with depression or dark thoughts. Also on the website, if you have a true paranormal or creepy tale to tell, you can click on Tell Your Story. You can find all of that and more at WeirdDarkness.com. All stories on Weird Darkness are purported to be true unless stated otherwise, and you can find links to the stories or the authors in the show notes. Plant-based cryptids was written by Amanda Boyson for a graveyard shift. Isabella Guzman, the viral teenage killer, is by Patrick Thornton for unspeakable crimes. Life as a medieval executioner was written by Alexa Makovic for ancient origins. The Beast of Bladenborough is by Laura Allen for ranker. Weird Darkness is a registered trademark. Copyright, Weird Darkness. And now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little light. Proverbs 12, verse 13. A sinner is trapped by his sinful talk, but a godly person escapes trouble. And a final thought, if you're not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness. The Fabled Beats That this cat was actually the fabled beets. Yes, the fabled vegetables. They then tied a band. They then tied a band. In Japan, for example, an executioner was extremely discriminated against and was extremely discriminated against. They were an essential part of the baggage trains of Ottoman outskirts. These Roma caravans and throngs were an essential part of the baggage trains of Ottoman. In France, there was the Guillaume dynasty of Paris executioners. One example is the execution of James Scott, first Duke of Monmouth, first Duke of Monmouth, first Duke of Buchlouche, Buchlouche, Buchlouk, Buchlouk, Bucca Rue. That's what it is. First Duke of Bucca Rue. That must be what it is. In 1881, a letter was published from German explorer Karl Leik. Sometimes, German explorer Karl Leik. Hey Weirdos, be sure to click the like button and subscribe to this channel and click the notification bell so you don't miss future videos. I post videos seven days a week. And while you're at it, spread the darkness by sharing this video with someone you know who loves all things strange and macabre. If you want to listen to the podcast, you can find it at WeirdDarkness.com.


Hi everyone, a big welcome back to my channel. So as you guys probably know, I don't tend to make monthly TBR videos.  I feel like what with reading tons of new books sent by publishers and reading proof copies ahead of pub dates, I just already have some level of pressure and dictation put on my reading, and I don't necessarily want to add to that. That being said, this month is different, apparently. I'm just super excited this month about having a TBR and sharing it with you all. I've got some incredibly exciting upcoming new releases that I cannot wait to read. I will definitely be picking them up this month, plus it's Pride Month, so I'm excited about dedicating some of my reading to queer books as well. So let's just have a chat about the books I'm excited to read this month. It's going to be a good time, I can feel it. So let's start with The Biggie, shall we? Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney. I have been lucky enough to be sent a proof copy of this highly highly anticipated new novel coming out in September. Thank you so much, Faber and Faber. It's honestly like I'm living some kind of dream. For those of you who don't know, this novel follows four characters, Alice, who is a novelist, and Felix, who works in a warehouse, who meet and travel to Rome together. And we also have Eileen and Simon in Dublin, two childhood best friends who slip back into flirting with each other. I'm already reading this one, obviously. I couldn't wait. And I'm actually vlogging reading this one for you guys, so you can experience it with me every step of the way. It's been so fun. I imagine the vlog will be going up in a couple of weeks, so keep your eyes peeled. I won't say any more about this one now, but rest assured, it is Fab. I'm loving it.  Next up is another exciting new release, this one coming out on the 24th of this month, and that is Animal by Lisa Tadeo. This is the first novel by Lisa Tadeo, the author of Three Women, the non-fiction journalistic storytelling e-book that came out a couple of years ago. I loved Three Women. I thought it was super raw and refreshing and compulsively readable. Naturally, I was very excited to hear that Lisa Tadeo was bringing out a novel, described as being full of female rage. I believe this novel follows a story of a young woman who witnesses some violent act by a man. She then flees New York and ends up unraveling some traumatic event that happened to her as a child. I'm really intrigued by this. I'm hoping it's going to be just as intelligent and touching as Three Women, while also being something completely new and exciting and fresh. Fingers crossed, I'm going to love this one. Next up on my TBR is The Henna Wars by Adiba Jagadar. This is one of the books I'm going to be reading in celebration of Pride Month, but also just because it sounds super cute and I've been meaning to read it for a while now. This is a YA romance novel following the story of a 16-year-old Bangladeshi girl named Nishat, who is coming to terms with her sexuality and has a crush on a beautiful girl named Flavia. When a school competition invites students to set up their own businesses, both girls set up rival henna businesses. This just sounds wonderful and adorable. I'm super excited to read about a Bangladeshi teenage protagonist. I'm super excited to learn more about henna as an art. I'm super excited for the Rivals to Lovers trope. And I've also just heard nothing but amazing things about this author and about this book specifically. I think I'm really going to enjoy this one and it just feels like the perfect time to read it while the sun is shining so beautifully. Next up on the TBR is Reputation by Lex Croucher. Another new release this one is coming out next month in July. This is a historical Regency-era romance novel following the story of a young middle-class woman named Georgiana, who goes and lives with her dreary aunt and uncle. There she meets the wealthy enigmatic Francis falling into the upper echelons of debaucherygency society. This book is being marketed as for fans of Bridgerton and Jane Austen. I cannot tell you how up for this I am. This just sounds so fun, probably hilarious. I'm really hoping it's done well because I think this could be brilliant. Next up is Modern Medicine by Lucy Hurst. This is a new contemporary poetry collection coming out on the 18th of this month. I believe to explore the weirdness and discomfort of bodily suffering through experiences of medicine and illness and disability. This premise just fascinates me. I really want to read more about and learn more about pain and how we view it as a society and how we treat it especially with regards to female pain. I think this should be a really interesting collection and hopefully pretty illuminating. And the final book I really hope to get to this month is The Service by Frankie Mirren. This is another new literary novel that just recently came out. I believe it follows a story of three different women whose lives start into twine when brothels in London start being braided. Laurie has a young daughter and works illegally in a rented flat. Freya is a student making money as an escort and Paula is a journalist leading a campaign against prostitution. This book is said to challenge conceptions surrounding sex and women's bodies and entitlement and power. It is said to have dystopian vibes. Everything about this sounds exciting to me. It's such cool social commentary but also being really character focused. I think I'm really going to enjoy this one. So there we have a few of the books that I really want to get to this month. My top priority reads. I hope you guys enjoyed having a little look into my tbr for once. Please let me know if you enjoyed it down below. Tell me what you think about the sound of these books. Also definitely let me know what's on your dune tbr. What's the book you are most excited to get to. Thank you so much for watching everyone. As always I appreciate it so much and I will hopefully see you really soon in another video. Bye everyone.