How hungry have you ever been? Quick trip to the snack drawer? A cheeky Chinese takeaway on a Friday night? How about getting a large pizza instead of a medium one? Well have you ever been so hungry - so impressively famished - that you take a look at the family dog and think to yourself: "Yeah, that'll do the trick." For this week's episode, that's not the weirdest thing to cross Tarrare's mind.
Born in 1772 near Lyon, France, Tarrare was a medical marvel unlike any other we've ever seen. The man with such an insatiable appetite that going back to the buffet counter for a second helping of everything on offer was a mandatory part of a meal and never a suggestion, he began his career as a showman travelling with a band of thieves and prostitutes demonstrating his incredible ability to just eat... and eat... and eat... An entire basket of apples? No problem. A quarter of a bullock? Piece of cake. Live animals you found roaming around the square where he was performing? Swallowed whole without the chance to ask him if he wants fries with that. If you thought The Duke from Resident Evil 8 could afford to say no to his 9th McDonalds order of the day, you've not seen anything yet.
Join Hayley this week as she recounts the medical marvel that was Tarrare. From his early days as a showman to his enlistment in the Revolutionary Army during the War of the First Coalition and him putting James Bond to shame, to a potential mishap in a hospital where a one-year-old toddler went... "missing", this is one of those stories that will make you throw up whatever you ate last so it might be best to have a bucket nearby when listening to this one... just don't let Tarrare near it because he WILL slurp it up.
This episode was hosted by Hayley O'Connor and joined by Arron Keegan and Conor Daly. The intro and outro music - Strollin' Along - was recorded by David Renda. Join our Discord server and follow us on social media by following the links below!
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Sources & Further Reading:
- BBC, "The tragic fate of the man who couldn't stop eating", online at https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20161014-the-man-who-couldnt-stop-eating (15 Oct. 2016).
- Bondeson, Jan, "Freaks: The Pig-Faced Lady of Manchester Square & Other Medical Marvels" (2006).
- Bondeson, Jan., "The Two-Headed Boy, and Other Medical Marvels" (New York, 2004).
- Bradley, T., Fothergill, Samuel, and Hutchinson, William (ed.) "Polyphagism" in "London Medical and Physical Journal, 42, (London), p. 205.
- Gould, George M., and Pyle, Walter L. "Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine" (1896).
- Millingen, J. G., "Curiosities of Medical Experience: Second Edition" (London, 1839).
- O'Sullivan, Shawn Devin, "Tarrare" (2022).
- Wall, Jonathan Frederick, "Intermedia, hypermedia, and metamedia" in "Tarrare: Consumption Studies" (University of North Carolina Dissertations & Theses, 2013).
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Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(00:30) Episode Start
(05:47) Introducing Tarrare
(15:58) Tarrare Enlists in the Revolutionary Army
(32:36) Tarrare Becomes a Spy
(41:03) Return to the Hospital and Trying to Find a Cure
(44:58) Tarrare's Health Deteriorates
(48:58) Post Show Banter