Quit Your Job, Become a Pirate! (They Have Workers' Comp)

Ahoy, Whimsy Weirdos! 🎙️ Grab your sea legs and pour yourself a glass of cheap rum (or a nice cup of tea if you’re trying to be fancy) because today, we are stripping away the Hollywood gloss and taking a crash course into the gritty, fascinating, and deeply weird reality of historical pirates. In this episode, we are getting very whimsical, and a little dark. Together, we shatter everything we thought we knew about the Golden Age of Piracy (roughly 1650s to 1720s). Did you know that life in the Royal Navy was an absolute living hell of maggot-infested biscuits and tyrannical captains? It turns out, most pirates weren’t born criminals, they were just fed-up mutinous workers looking for a better gig with actual benefits. We break down how a pirate ship was actually one of the most progressive, democratic workplaces of the 18th century, complete with equal voting rights, a system of checks and balances via the Quartermaster, and literal workers' comp (lose an arm, get 600 pieces of eight!). We also dive deep into the legends of two pirate icons: Blackbeard (Edward Thatch/Teach): The absolute master of psychological marketing. We discuss his theatrical drama-kid energy, and how he strived to look like a literal smoking demon, holding the entire city of Charleston hostage for... medical supplies, and his brutal, 25-wound final showdown. Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts: The undisputed corporate CEO of the high seas who captured over 400 ships! He was a total sober dandy who wore a crimson damask waistcoat into battle, demanded lights out by 8:00 PM, banned gambling, and gave his ship musicians a mandatory day of rest on Sundays. Plus, we bust the myth of buried treasure (spoiler: you can't bury a barrel of flour or silk in the sand), uncover the history of Cornish "wreckers" in Jacklynn's own criminal bloodline, discuss Stevie's royal connection to Robert de Bruce, and try (and hilariously fail) to find our true pirate names using a terrible internet generator. It’s a short life and a merry one, mateys! Press play and join the crew! Send us Fan MailWant more Weirdos of Whimsy? Check out https://bio.site/weirdosofwhimsy to find everything in one place! From there, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel, grab some official merch, or follow us on Instagram to chat!Have a bone-chilling story of your own? We want to hear it! Send your scary encounters to [email protected] or DM us. Your story might just make it onto a future episode!