Who Was The Mad Monk Of Russia? | QI

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This clip is from QI Series P, Episode 11, 'Potpourri' with Sandi Toksvig, Alan Davies, Cally Beaton, Rhod Gilbert, Phill Jupitus.

[@MLeoDaalder]

The most interesting chemistry story involving Rasputin I've heard about is when someone tried to poison him with cyanide laced bread, which Rasputin happily ate and didn't suffer at all from. Turns out that cyanide evaporates when put into the oven, the assassins probably only poisoned the baker.

[@laurencewinch-furness9450]

Fun fact - Rasputin's faith healing ended up helping the tsar's son, by pure chance. Rasputin urged the tsar to stop using conventional medicine to treat the boy's hemophilia. Since one of the "treatments" was asprin, throwing the stuff away was undoubtedly a good move!

[@samsonsoturian6013]

Becoming rich and famous is generally a matter of blind chance

[@trueaussie9230]

I place great faith in the principle of not taking aspirin.

[@GnomaPhobic]

That story about Rasputin’s daughter was really quite interesting. It must have felt bizarre for her to play act her own father’s death over and over.

[@danmayberry1185]

Had she repeatedly acted it out before his death, well ...

[@trueaussie9230]

​@@danmayberry1185 Now THAT I'd pay good money to see. Of course, to know how accurate the performance was one would need to wait around for the actual event. 🤔

[@NewMessage]

"Rah Rah Iliador" doesn't have the same ring to it.

[@sstills951]

That Cally Beaton is adorable.

[@DawidKov]

Should be noted - Rasputin was a target of a massive yellow press campaign during his time, and a lot of the myths invented by the press at the time persisted in cultural memory. "Lover of the Russian queen" is one of them - the man had the confidence of Empress Aleksandra, but she was very strict in terms of his behaviour while at court. There is no evidence to suggest that he had any intimate relations with her. He was, however, known indeed for hosting orgies, so there is that. One of the more interesting facts about him is how, during his pilgrimage to his home village Pokrovskoye, near Tobolsk in 1916, he expressed the wish for the Emperor and his family to visit the place as well. When his companion, Yulia Den, said that it was too far away, he replied "They must come. Willing or unwilling, they will come to Tobolsk, and see my home village before they die" As it happens, Nicholas and his family were indeed exiled to Tobolsk, and indeed passed through said village when Commissar Yakovlev was taking him, Aleksandra, and their daughter Maria to their eventual death.

[@trueaussie9230]

So, inyour mind 'lover' doesn't mean 'one who loves', it means 'one who has sexual intercourse with'. 😒 It's always good to hear from one who has greater knowledge than the 'experts'. 😉😊

[@DawidKov]

@@trueaussie9230 The distinction here is irrelevant, given that neither form of relationship has ever been conclusively proven between them. In her diary and correspondence with her daughters, Aleksandra calls him "our Friend". When the media spread a false story about Rasputin seeing the royal daughters to bed, she ordered him to leave the capital for a few months. They were close, and she valued his opinion, but it was not a romantic relationship. Nicholas and her maintained a good marriage. I also don't believe I've ever mentioned any experts, nor am I trying to refute them - I am correcting a common misconception found in a popular song, not something from academics. In fact, most academics will say the same thing I am saying.

[@trueaussie9230]

@@DawidKov Do you REALLY think it's so important?! SMH 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤪 JOOI - would you consider the unerequited love of one person for another constitutes a 'relationship'?! 🤔 How would it be possible to 'prove' that person 'A' did NOT 'love' (in any manner) person 'B'?! 🤔 It's commonly accepted that it's not possible to 'prove' a negative.

[@DawidKov]

@@trueaussie9230 Important? Of course not. But we are commenting on a clip from a show all about sharing interesting facts, regardless of their importance. And I would argue that it would be possible to prove something to be false if there is directly contradicting evidence. In this case, however, the burden of proof does indeed lie on the side making a positive statement, and the only source for the idea of Aleksandra and Rasputin having any form or relationship closer than a friendship is the yellow press of the time. And to address your interest - no, I would not consider that a relationship. "Lover", as per Oxford dictionary, means "a partner in a sexual or romantic relationship outside marriage". Unrequited love does not fall into that category, because it is a one-sided thing, and thus, cannot have a partner.

[@trueaussie9230]

@@DawidKov Oh, Now I understand your problem. You 'cherry-pick' definitions / evidence to suit your purposes and reject all others. What does the OED say about 'lover' in, for example, the phrase 'lover of cats'?! Do you believe the object/s of the attentions of a 'lover of fine arts' return ANY measure of 'love' - or any other emotion?! The core meaning of the word 'lover' is 'one who loves' in any capacity. (Compare with 'baker' - 'one who bakes'; 'fisher' - 'one who fishes'; 'driver' - 'one who drives'. The 'er' suffix is one of the basic constructs in the English language.) The definition you have cherry-picked is nothing more than a euphamistic colloquialism for 'partner in illicit sexual intercourse'. Absence of evidence in support of a premise does not constitute evidence that said premise is false. Whist reference to person 'A's death certificate and cremation records could present a strong probability that they did not commit a particular act at a particular date and time, it is not conclusive evidence. Throughout history many people have successfully faked their death - only to be discovered, many years later, very much alive. The best that can be - or should be - said is 'the (absence of / available) evidence strongly suggests ...'. However, by all means continue promoting, re your 'hero', whatever unsustainable propoganda you prefer.

[@ROBANN88]

ok, i'm gonna need some source for that "Putins and Rasputins DNA matched" story, cause i do not believe that at all. it sounds ridiculous

[@Ben-no4lz]

Yeah, if it comes from one of the panel & not from a Fact card it’s pretty much hit and miss. Alan once got halfway through a “Fact” and then realised it was something he’d made up himself as part of an old Stand Up routine 😂

[@steviebudden3397]

Cally herself only mentions it as a "rogue theory" so the only truth you'll ever likely to find is whether or not there's somebody out there mad enough to believe it.

[@jacquelinedavis6607]

​@@Ben-no4lz😂😂I remember that. He always looks so innocent.

[@liamwalsh4008]

I can't suspect there is any credible source for that story. It makes no sense whatsoever and is clearly nothing but sensationalised horseshit designed to beguile the witless.

[@geekehUK]

Chances are probably higher than you think. 1. She worked around ferocious animals. 2. She was presumably pretty good at taming lions. 3. She probably knew b*gger all about taming bears.

[@davidroberts3280]

😂

[@chequereturned]

Similar with Steve Irwin. He knew his way around crocs, but was an adventurer with dangerous animals generally. He apparently knew less about sting rays.

[@Oligodendrocyte139]

Please pop the subtitle option on. How hard can it be?

[@WHNorthcote]

So whens the new series out? Hopefully soon as I want to see what mayhem I can get up to after with strange facts.

[@spazbobstinkpants]

Why does Sandi always change into her yellow shirt to record to outros?

[@Stomski]

She doesn't, that's Stephen altered by special effects.

[@spazbobstinkpants]

@@Stomski Had me fooled. If he'd stood up though....

[@sstills951]

Considering their preferences, they should probably just switch bodies.

[@Stomski]

@@sstills951 please explain.

[@TCA17]

​@@Stomskithey are gay. He is being presumably funny

[@tjcassidy2694]

So the Mad Monk was in fact Rasputin’s Boswell.

[@Jaybird1306]

Please put on the subtitles, i can't understand what they're saying.

[@sstills951]

Stephen Fry used to trail off at the end of sentences too. I don't understand how the live audience can follow everything unless they have the ears of a bat.

[@Jaybird1306]

@@sstills951 I know right! I couldn't get anything on yesterdays video with Stephen!

[@Squant]

@@sstills951 What's hard to understand about other people having better hearing than you?

[@sstills951]

@@Squant 👂 huh?

[@JJONNYREPP]

Who Was The Mad Monk Of Russia? | QI 1820pm 20./10.23 i liked Rasputin. historically speaking... akin to (or not) the mad people who garner their insights into a person's innate psyche by referring to their you tube grammer. errors and all.

[@geoffroi-le-Hook]

Raz Putin, Dva Putin, Tri Putin ...

[@Lord_Skeptic]

I am the mad shaman

[@samsonsoturian6013]

Oddly enough a Shaman is a Siberia witch doctor

[@Lord_Skeptic]

@@samsonsoturian6013 they can move any mountain

[@sstills951]

Joe Wilkinson looks like Rasputin.

[@OmranMalek]

It’s funny how we see death differently, they mentioned how the daughter died and it made the audience laugh as if this wasn’t a brutal death of a human being

[@Atomkiller97]

They didn’t say she died. They went on to say what happened after she was mauled. She was attacked in ‘35 but didn’t die until ‘77.