Jumping Frenchmen

Your Brain on Facts is a half-hour podcast of things you didn't know, things you thought you knew, and things you never knew you never knew, covering topics as diverse as science-fiction, funerals, food origins, heroic animals, and the strategic butter reserve. Before she started the Your Brain On Facts podcast to safely vent the copious bonus facts in her brain, Moxie LaBouche performed and produced burlesque, specifically "nerd-lesque." It was her privilege to produce the only George R. R. Martin-approved burlesque tribute to Game of Thrones and even to play for the man himself. Moxie has presented a local TED talk, is the prolific author of unfinished fiction, knows seven words of Latin, and previously earned her living as a goat farmer and soap maker. She is also the creator and co-host of the Science With Savannah, Age 7 podcast and YouTube channel. Moxie lives in Virginia with her husband and a dozen or so pets. http://yourbrainonfacts.com/ TRANSCRIPT Jumping Frenchmen of Maine is a bizarre rare condition characterized by an unusually extreme startle response, including repeating the words or actions of others. Not only will sufferers react with exaggerated movements to surprising stimuli, they also become powerless to refuse commands for a brief time. It was first observed in French-Canadian loggers in New England, hence the name.