What connects Quakers and the Big Bang?

0:06 What is the similarity between the Big Bang,

0:10 the Tories, Cubism, and the Quakers?

0:13 I'll give you that one more time.

0:14 What is the similarity between the Big Bang,

0:17 the Tories, Cubism, and the Quakers?

0:20 This is almost the ideal question for me

0:22 as an art historian and a Quaker, but not a Tory.

0:25 (others giggling) And not involved...

0:28 The Big Bang.

0:29 ...in the Big Bang.

0:30 But almost half.

0:31 Two outta four ain't bad.

0:32 (laughs) Well, I am aware of the Big Bang.

0:35 Of Tories, of Cubism, and of Quakers, and— Oh, that's it.

0:39 That's the answer.

0:40 Matt's aware of them.

0:41 That's— Thank you, alright!

0:42 We'll move on to question two!

0:43 There we go.

0:44 I know there's a whole thing about Quakers not speaking much,

0:47 but I'd have to say that the Tories are certified yappers.

0:50 (blurts laugh) That's a difference.

0:52 Very, very Gen Z little slang going in there, Matt.

0:55 (giggles) Yes.

0:57 Whoa, hang on, remind me again.

0:59 It's the Big Bang, Tories, Quakers and...

1:02 Cubism.

1:03 Cubism.

1:04 Which is...

1:05 an art style where everything looks a bit odd and mixed up sometimes,

1:11 and with perspectives, as I understand it.

1:13 I mean, I'm gonna ask the art historian for a definition there.

1:16 (group chuckles) Yeah.

1:17 What is the cubism?

1:19 So, cubism was invented by Picasso and Georges Braque.

1:25 And they were basically like super, super besties.

1:29 And then they fell out and never spoke about it again.

1:31 So, so maybe there's something here about lovers' tiffs.

1:35 But fundamentally, with Cubism,

1:38 you can see the same thing from multiple perspectives at one time, so...

1:43 Which is why it all looks a bit blobby, but...

1:47 Cubism?

1:48 Maybe they all started in France.

1:50 (laughs heartily) Notoriously, the Big Bang.

1:54 It's got French energy.

1:55 (giggles) It's the centre of everything.

1:58 (laughs) (Matt and Rowan wheeze) Technically it

2:00 should be called Le Grande Bang, but...

2:02 Ah!

2:03 (guests laughing) Le Grand Pouf.

2:05 Thank you.

2:06 I was really hoping that someone would come

2:07 up with a translat— Because I started that sentence,

2:10 and by the time I got to the end of it,

2:11 I didn't have the French word for 'bang'.

2:13 (Verity and Rowan giggle) So I know obviously the Tories is not...

2:18 I'm interested in that phrase as opposed to 'conservatives',

2:21 because technically it's kind of the same

2:23 as saying like the GOP for the Republicans.

2:25 Like it's a nickname or it's another name for it.

2:27 And so I'm wondering if this is kind of like a suffragette style thing where...

2:32 it's not the original name for the thing.

2:34 It got named by someone who was in opposition to it,

2:37 or named as a nickname that wasn't meant to be good.

2:39 And then they were like, "I guess this is us now." Yes.

2:43 Yes.

2:44 Oh.

2:45 (group laughs heartily) Do you wanna talk more

2:49 about the— Do we start with the Tories there?

2:52 I'm not gonna lie to you, Tom.

2:53 I truly don't know.

2:54 This wasn't like, I knew that that was true for one of them,

2:57 and so I extrapolated.

2:57 I truly didn't know that was true for any of them.

2:59 But I was like, I just know that this is maybe something that wasn't,

3:02 'cause the big bang also, it's not necessarily like an officious

3:06 sounding thing for quite an important theory.

3:08 So yeah, that was just a guess into the darkness that turned out to be correct.

3:13 The 'Big Bang' was popularised by astronomer Fred Hoyle on BBC Radio in 1949.

3:18 He was sceptical about it.

3:19 He thought it sounded ridiculous.

3:20 Thank you, Producer David.

3:22 The Big Bang in French is 'Le Big Bang'.

3:25 Thank you.

3:26 Never!

3:26 Thank you so much.

3:27 Or alternatively, 'Le Grande Explosion'.

3:29 But 'Le Big Bang' is what people use.

3:32 You mentioned Georges Braque, Verity, who is in my notes here.

3:36 Yeah.

3:37 I also have Louis Vauxcelles.

3:39 Yeah, so he basically...

3:41 he was a writer, and then he basically named loads of art movements being like,

3:47 "I think this is no good." And then they were like, "I like the name 'no good'.

3:51 We'll use that." So he's all over the place.

3:53 Yeah, and that's what happened with Cubism.

3:55 'Tory' was originally...

3:57 I mean, it says in my notes, it's a 'slur',

4:00 which I feel is a strong term to use.

4:03 But it comes from the Irish 'tóraidhe',

4:07 which I'm probably mispronouncing, for outlaw or robber.

4:10 And— Oh, it's quite accurate then.

4:12 (cackles) And 'Quaker', I'm gonna ask the Quaker,

4:16 do you know where that name came from?

4:18 Well, it used to— back in the 17th century,

4:21 when the Quakers were founded by George Fox.

4:24 And the idea is that you sort of, you're having a think,

4:28 and then maybe you'll sort of have some sort of revelation about the way we live

4:32 and the world we live in, which can cause

4:34 you to basically have a bit of a flutter.

4:37 So I imagine it was a slightly eye-rolly, "All of this quaking they're doing.

4:41 Oh." Yep.

4:42 Quaking or trembling in a religious context.

4:45 Absolutely right, Rowan, out of nowhere, congratulations.

4:49 They all came from derisive nicknames.

4:52 The Lateral Producer's Club is at lateralcast.com

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