WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.459 So Heart of Stone, it's one of those idioms that 00:00:07.459 --> 00:00:09.419 really feels like it's been around since we lived 00:00:09.419 --> 00:00:12.679 in caves, just staring at the fire. Yeah, absolutely. 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:15.279 You hear those three words and you just immediately 00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:17.280 know the architect we're talking about, like 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:21.460 the cold villain or the. the unfeeling ex -partner. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:23.460 Or that corporate shark who just fires people 00:00:23.460 --> 00:00:26.300 without even blinking. Exactly. It's this universal 00:00:26.300 --> 00:00:28.420 concept. It really is the ultimate shorthand 00:00:28.420 --> 00:00:31.280 for emotional impenetrability. It implies a very 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:35.679 distinct lack of empathy. Precisely. But today 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:38.799 on this deep dive, we aren't here to just give 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:40.960 you a dictionary definition. No, I think you 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:42.740 already know what it means. Right. We're here 00:00:42.740 --> 00:00:44.719 because we've been looking through this absolutely 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:48.609 massive stack of data. cultural databases, copyright 00:00:48.609 --> 00:00:52.229 registries, historical archives. Even medical 00:00:52.229 --> 00:00:54.350 journals, which we will get to. Oh, we are definitely 00:00:54.350 --> 00:00:56.369 getting to that because we found something really 00:00:56.369 --> 00:00:59.409 weird. We as a species are just absolutely obsessed 00:00:59.409 --> 00:01:02.020 with this specific combination of words. Obsessed 00:01:02.020 --> 00:01:03.799 is definitely the right word. When we started 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:05.980 pulling the source material for this deep dive, 00:01:06.620 --> 00:01:09.120 I honestly, I expected maybe a handful of songs 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:11.939 and like a movie or two. Standard pop culture 00:01:11.939 --> 00:01:14.719 stuff. Right. Standard stuff. But the sheer volume 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:18.319 of content titled Heart of Stone is, it's staggering. 00:01:18.420 --> 00:01:21.280 It's a complete data obsession. And it isn't 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:23.799 just the volume either. It's the variety. I mean, 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:26.819 we are looking at a phenomenon that links 1920s 00:01:26.819 --> 00:01:31.629 German silent cinema, 1980s heavy metal. by Thirlers 00:01:31.629 --> 00:01:34.950 from 2023. Yes, and this is my favorite part, 00:01:35.469 --> 00:01:38.090 literal medical textbooks. It really is the title 00:01:38.090 --> 00:01:40.670 that refuses to die. It just keeps reinventing 00:01:40.670 --> 00:01:44.030 itself for every single generation. So here is 00:01:44.030 --> 00:01:47.069 our roadmap for this deep dive. We're going to 00:01:47.069 --> 00:01:49.670 unpack a timeline that spans over two entire 00:01:49.670 --> 00:01:51.989 centuries. Which is wild. It is. And we're going 00:01:51.989 --> 00:01:54.510 to look at the musical tug of war over who actually 00:01:54.510 --> 00:01:57.109 owns this title. Because literally everyone from 00:01:57.109 --> 00:01:59.689 Cher to Motorhead seems to think it belongs to 00:01:59.689 --> 00:02:02.269 them. And we are going to finish with the most 00:02:02.269 --> 00:02:05.030 surprising twist in the research, which is that 00:02:05.030 --> 00:02:07.890 biological reality I hinted at, because it turns 00:02:07.890 --> 00:02:10.810 out having a heart of stone isn't just a metaphor. 00:02:11.370 --> 00:02:14.789 It is an actual medical diagnosis. It is. OK, 00:02:14.789 --> 00:02:16.229 so let's start with the visual side of things. 00:02:16.409 --> 00:02:19.729 Film and television. I was I was scanning the 00:02:19.729 --> 00:02:21.889 release dates in the database and there's this 00:02:21.889 --> 00:02:24.110 incredible book end effect happening that I really 00:02:24.110 --> 00:02:26.110 need to ask you about. You mean the gap between 00:02:26.110 --> 00:02:29.129 the 1924 film and the recent blockbuster. Exactly 00:02:29.129 --> 00:02:32.289 that. So in 1924, you have a German silent film 00:02:32.289 --> 00:02:36.610 titled Heart of Stone or Das Kalte Herz in the 00:02:36.610 --> 00:02:39.030 original German. Right. that is literally a century 00:02:39.030 --> 00:02:42.009 ago, black and white, expressionist, very atmospheric. 00:02:42.610 --> 00:02:44.930 And then you fast forward to 2023, which is basically 00:02:44.930 --> 00:02:48.819 yesterday. And you have this massive budget American 00:02:48.819 --> 00:02:52.120 spy action film starring Gal Gadot. Also titled 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:54.020 Heart of Stone. Also titled Heart of Stone. I 00:02:54.020 --> 00:02:55.659 mean, think about the technological leap there. 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:58.539 This title has survived the transition from silent 00:02:58.539 --> 00:03:01.400 film to talkies to technicolor to the digital 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:04.159 age. And now it's surviving streaming algorithms. 00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:07.419 It suggests the phrase is completely genre agnostic. 00:03:07.620 --> 00:03:09.919 Right. It doesn't sound dated. Exactly. It doesn't 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:12.580 feel old timey like saying the cat's meow. But 00:03:12.580 --> 00:03:15.569 it also doesn't feel... overly futuristic. It 00:03:15.569 --> 00:03:18.509 just sits in this really weird, timeless space. 00:03:18.689 --> 00:03:20.909 It really does. And the list in between those 00:03:20.909 --> 00:03:23.949 two dates is so eclectic. You've got an East 00:03:23.949 --> 00:03:27.409 German film from 1950, then you jump to 2001, 00:03:27.909 --> 00:03:29.870 and there's an American psychological thriller. 00:03:30.050 --> 00:03:33.419 Yep. than a 2009 documentary. It is everywhere. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:36.139 That East German production from 1950 is super 00:03:36.139 --> 00:03:38.699 interesting, actually. Why is that? Well, because 00:03:38.699 --> 00:03:41.819 usually titles are very specific to their cultural 00:03:41.819 --> 00:03:44.139 moment. You know, a title like Rebel Without 00:03:44.139 --> 00:03:47.259 a Cause screams 1950s America. Oh, sure. But 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:49.900 Heart of Stone works for a communist era state 00:03:49.900 --> 00:03:52.500 production, just as well as it works for a slick 00:03:52.500 --> 00:03:55.460 Hollywood blockbuster. It implies a moral center 00:03:55.460 --> 00:03:57.819 or maybe a lack of one that resonates totally 00:03:57.819 --> 00:04:00.219 regardless of the political backdrop. That makes 00:04:00.219 --> 00:04:02.400 a lot of sense. But it's not just the big screen, 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:05.159 though. The television writers are arguably even 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:07.300 more addicted to this trope. Oh, they love it. 00:04:07.580 --> 00:04:10.360 They do. But I notice a pattern in the show list. 00:04:11.139 --> 00:04:14.259 It isn't usually like sitcoms or police procedurals 00:04:14.259 --> 00:04:16.620 using this title. It's very specific. No, it 00:04:16.620 --> 00:04:19.399 is almost exclusively speculative fiction, sci 00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:22.439 -fi and fantasy. Right. The sources list, Star 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:25.209 Trek. Deep Space Nine, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, 00:04:25.529 --> 00:04:27.949 and an animated show called Mysticons. Right. 00:04:28.430 --> 00:04:30.790 Why do you think these genres specifically gravitate 00:04:30.790 --> 00:04:33.209 toward it? I think it comes down to the fundamental 00:04:33.209 --> 00:04:36.389 nature of the characters in those worlds. In 00:04:36.389 --> 00:04:38.870 a sitcom, characters are usually just humans 00:04:38.870 --> 00:04:42.009 dealing with awkward everyday situations. But 00:04:42.009 --> 00:04:45.370 in sci -fi or fantasy, you're often dealing with 00:04:45.370 --> 00:04:47.910 entities that are struggling with the very definition 00:04:47.910 --> 00:04:50.990 of humanity itself. Like shapeshifters or cyborgs 00:04:50.990 --> 00:04:53.750 or magical beings. Exactly. Take that episode 00:04:53.750 --> 00:04:57.149 of Star Trek, Deep Space Nine. The episode titled 00:04:57.149 --> 00:04:59.370 Heart of Stone centers on the character Odo, 00:04:59.470 --> 00:05:02.829 who is a changeling, in Colonel Kira. The tension 00:05:02.829 --> 00:05:05.209 in that universe is often about logic versus 00:05:05.209 --> 00:05:08.649 emotion, or duty versus love. When a sci -fi 00:05:08.649 --> 00:05:10.870 writer slaps Heart of Stone on a script, they 00:05:10.870 --> 00:05:12.790 aren't just saying someone is being mean. They're 00:05:12.790 --> 00:05:16.230 being literal. Often, yes. They're exploring 00:05:16.230 --> 00:05:19.910 a literal shedding of humanity. A character is 00:05:19.910 --> 00:05:23.370 becoming a machine or a statue or losing their 00:05:23.370 --> 00:05:26.949 soul to magic. So in a realistic drama, it's 00:05:26.949 --> 00:05:30.189 just a metaphor. But in fantasy, it's often an 00:05:30.189 --> 00:05:32.660 actual physical threat. or a transformation. 00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:35.180 Precisely. It really raises the stakes. If you 00:05:35.180 --> 00:05:37.259 have a heart of stone in a fantasy show, you 00:05:37.259 --> 00:05:39.560 might actually be actively turning into stone. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:41.459 Right. Well, speaking of raising the stakes, 00:05:41.819 --> 00:05:43.860 let's move to the section of the notes that honestly 00:05:43.860 --> 00:05:45.500 gave me a headache just trying to organize it. 00:05:45.819 --> 00:05:48.300 The music. The music section is absolute chaos. 00:05:48.500 --> 00:05:50.959 It really is. It seems like every musician in 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:53.079 the last 40 years looked at their track list 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:55.540 and said, you know what's missing? A song called 00:05:55.540 --> 00:05:57.870 Heart of Stone. It is the ultimate default setting 00:05:57.870 --> 00:06:00.370 for a rock or pop song. But there is a pattern 00:06:00.370 --> 00:06:02.230 in the chaos if you look closely. Well, there 00:06:02.230 --> 00:06:03.750 is definitely a center of gravity in the data. 00:06:03.889 --> 00:06:06.509 We need to talk about the Cher Nexus. Ah, yes, 00:06:06.750 --> 00:06:09.629 the late 80s saturation point. This is wild. 00:06:10.149 --> 00:06:13.089 So looking at the data here, in 1989, Cher releases 00:06:13.089 --> 00:06:16.689 a massive album. The title, Heart of Stone. Such 00:06:16.689 --> 00:06:19.990 an iconic era for her. Big hair, leather jackets, 00:06:20.310 --> 00:06:22.870 music videos filmed on battleships. But she is 00:06:22.870 --> 00:06:26.310 not done. In 1990, just a year later, she releases 00:06:26.310 --> 00:06:30.050 a single. The title of the song, Heart of Stone. 00:06:30.209 --> 00:06:32.610 She doubled down. She planted her flag. She did. 00:06:32.829 --> 00:06:35.649 But here's the twist. That song she released 00:06:35.649 --> 00:06:38.930 wasn't an original. No. It was a cover. It was 00:06:38.930 --> 00:06:41.170 originally released by the British group Bucks 00:06:41.170 --> 00:06:44.649 Fizz in 1988. So let's map that timeline out. 00:06:45.269 --> 00:06:48.779 1988, Bucks Fizz releases the song. 1989, Cher 00:06:48.779 --> 00:06:52.399 names her entire album after the phrase. 1990's 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:55.199 Cher covers the song. Wow. Within a 24 month 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:57.180 window, the charts were just pummeled with this 00:06:57.180 --> 00:06:59.240 one phrase. It was a hardest stone gold rush. 00:06:59.540 --> 00:07:01.060 Everyone wanted a piece of that real estate. 00:07:01.399 --> 00:07:03.779 But we can't talk about this title without acknowledging 00:07:03.779 --> 00:07:06.180 who likely made it cool in the first place. The 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:08.680 Rolling Stone. 1964. This is the real anchor 00:07:08.680 --> 00:07:12.040 point. Before 1964, the phrase was mostly literary 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:14.870 or folkloric. But when Mick Jagger sings it, 00:07:15.310 --> 00:07:17.170 it completely changes the texture of the words. 00:07:17.230 --> 00:07:19.410 How so? It wasn't just about being unfeeling 00:07:19.410 --> 00:07:22.689 anymore. It became about being tough. The Rolling 00:07:22.689 --> 00:07:25.009 Stones made Heart of Stone a badge of honor. 00:07:25.389 --> 00:07:27.649 It implies you've been hurt, so you calcified 00:07:27.649 --> 00:07:30.970 yourself to survive. That toughness clearly appealed 00:07:30.970 --> 00:07:33.519 to a specific crowd, too. Because when I was 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:35.220 looking through the list of artists who have 00:07:35.220 --> 00:07:38.319 a song called Heart of Stone, the genre whiplash 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:41.300 is hilarious. It really is. It's like hitting 00:07:41.300 --> 00:07:43.680 shuffle on the weirdest iPod in history. Give 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:46.660 us the spread. Give us the genres. Okay, so in 00:07:46.660 --> 00:07:49.720 the Tough Guy corner, we have Motorhead. Their 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:53.199 song is on the Iron Fist album from 1982. Let 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:55.319 me kill mister singing about a heart of stone 00:07:55.319 --> 00:07:57.819 that I immediately believe. Absolutely. That 00:07:57.819 --> 00:07:59.680 fits the brand perfectly. It sounds like armor. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.360 Then you got Whitesnake giving us their version 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:05.120 on the Slash and Blood album in 2019. You've 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:08.319 got the metalcore band Under Oath in 1999. And 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:11.120 the band, you know, the final countdown guys, 00:08:11.459 --> 00:08:13.060 they had a Heart of Stone on that same album 00:08:13.060 --> 00:08:16.100 in 1986. So that is very much the leather and 00:08:16.100 --> 00:08:18.139 pyrotechnics camp. For them, Heart of Stone is 00:08:18.139 --> 00:08:20.139 something you wear into battle. It means you 00:08:20.139 --> 00:08:23.319 can't be hurt. Exactly. But then you flip the 00:08:23.319 --> 00:08:25.360 record over and who else is using this title? 00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:29.779 Taylor Dane. Pop dance icon of the 90s. A completely 00:08:29.779 --> 00:08:32.620 different emotional landscape. Totally. Erasure. 00:08:33.340 --> 00:08:35.299 Synth pop legends. They had one on The Innocents 00:08:35.299 --> 00:08:38.200 in 1988. Silver Convention in the disco era, 00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:42.419 1975. See for erasure or Taylor Dane a heart 00:08:42.419 --> 00:08:44.620 of stone isn't something they have it's something 00:08:44.620 --> 00:08:47.399 they are running up against It's usually a song 00:08:47.399 --> 00:08:49.299 about unrequited love. It's why won't you let 00:08:49.299 --> 00:08:51.860 me in versus motorheads? You can't hurt me. It's 00:08:51.860 --> 00:08:54.240 the exact same three words, but diametrically 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:57.059 opposite meanings That is fascinating and it 00:08:57.059 --> 00:08:59.539 doesn't even stop at pop and rock musical theater 00:08:59.539 --> 00:09:01.940 fans You aren't safe either right musical six, 00:09:01.980 --> 00:09:04.240 which has become this massive global phenomenon 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:07.039 recently Right the show about the six wives of 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:09.490 Henry VIII Toby Marlowe and Lucy Moss wrote a 00:09:09.490 --> 00:09:11.970 song called Heart of Stone for Jane Seymour's 00:09:11.970 --> 00:09:15.289 character in 2018, which is this beautiful sweeping 00:09:15.289 --> 00:09:18.509 ballad. And in that context, she is saying she 00:09:18.509 --> 00:09:20.750 needs a heart of stone to survive the king's 00:09:20.750 --> 00:09:23.269 love, to survive the loss. But she can't force 00:09:23.269 --> 00:09:26.649 herself to have one. It is entirely about vulnerability. 00:09:27.129 --> 00:09:29.210 And just to prove this isn't some retro trend, 00:09:29.490 --> 00:09:33.169 we have a source from this year, 2024, Jelly 00:09:33.169 --> 00:09:36.250 Roll, the country rap crossover star. He has 00:09:36.250 --> 00:09:38.909 a song called Heart of Stone. It literally hasn't 00:09:38.909 --> 00:09:41.649 retired. From the Rolling Stones in 64 to Jelly 00:09:41.649 --> 00:09:45.730 Roll in 24, that is 60 years of musicians saying, 00:09:45.950 --> 00:09:48.730 yep, that is the title I want. It really raises 00:09:48.730 --> 00:09:52.330 the question, is it just laziness? Or is the 00:09:52.330 --> 00:09:54.330 phrase just so perfect that you genuinely can 00:09:54.330 --> 00:09:56.169 improve on it? I think it's the rhythm of it, 00:09:56.350 --> 00:09:59.909 heart, stone. It's bunchy. It is. Oh, and I have 00:09:59.909 --> 00:10:01.889 to mention one more music detail because I just 00:10:01.889 --> 00:10:04.389 love a bit of Eurovision chaos. The Andreas Kummert 00:10:04.389 --> 00:10:08.019 story. Yes. So in 2015, Andreas Kummert is competing 00:10:08.019 --> 00:10:10.440 to represent Germany in Eurovision. The song 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:13.220 he is singing, hardest done. Naturally. He actually 00:10:13.220 --> 00:10:15.039 wins the national selection. The audience votes 00:10:15.039 --> 00:10:17.360 for him. And then he famously declines to go 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:19.139 right on live television. Right on stage, he 00:10:19.139 --> 00:10:20.840 hands it over to the runner up. Talk about a 00:10:20.840 --> 00:10:23.179 twist. But you mentioned something earlier about 00:10:23.179 --> 00:10:26.480 Germany, because we had that German silent film, 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:29.559 the East German film, and now a German Eurovision 00:10:29.559 --> 00:10:32.000 contestant singing a song with that title. This 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:33.799 is where the deep dive gets really interesting. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:36.759 We tend to think of this as an English idiom 00:10:36.759 --> 00:10:39.519 because of the Rolling Stones or Cher, but the 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:41.779 roots of this phrase, specifically as a title 00:10:41.779 --> 00:10:44.980 for a story, seem to dig really deep into German 00:10:44.980 --> 00:10:48.299 soil. Okay, let's unpack this. We saw the 1924 00:10:48.299 --> 00:10:51.409 film. Was that the start? Not even close. The 00:10:51.409 --> 00:10:54.769 oldest source in our stack is from 1827. 1827, 00:10:54.830 --> 00:10:57.690 that is nearly 200 years ago. It is. It's a German 00:10:57.690 --> 00:11:01.470 fairy tale titled Das Kalte Herz. Literally the 00:11:01.470 --> 00:11:03.909 cold heart, but it's often translated and adapted 00:11:03.909 --> 00:11:06.610 as heart of stone. It was written by Wilhelm 00:11:06.610 --> 00:11:08.649 Hof. I don't think I know that one. What is the 00:11:08.649 --> 00:11:11.090 actual premise? It's a classic Faustian bargain, 00:11:11.230 --> 00:11:13.370 but with a twist. The protagonist, a guy named 00:11:13.370 --> 00:11:16.129 Peter Monk, wants to be rich. He is tired of 00:11:16.129 --> 00:11:19.149 being poor and invisible. So he goes to a forest 00:11:19.149 --> 00:11:22.009 spirit called Dutch Michael. Okay. Michael tells 00:11:22.009 --> 00:11:24.350 him that his emotions, his fear, his anxiety, 00:11:24.490 --> 00:11:26.470 his empathy are what is holding him back from 00:11:26.470 --> 00:11:28.830 success. So they make a trade. Let me guess. 00:11:29.470 --> 00:11:32.309 He trades his heart. Literally. He gives up his 00:11:32.309 --> 00:11:34.529 beating, living heart and the spirit replaces 00:11:34.529 --> 00:11:37.850 it with a heart made of marble. Cold stone. Wow. 00:11:38.929 --> 00:11:41.480 And suddenly he's successful. Wildly successful, 00:11:41.659 --> 00:11:44.179 he becomes a wealthy timber merchant. But he 00:11:44.179 --> 00:11:46.419 can't feel joy, he can't love his wife, he can't 00:11:46.419 --> 00:11:49.159 even taste food properly. He becomes a monster. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:51.899 Not because he's inherently evil, but because 00:11:51.899 --> 00:11:54.879 he is completely numb. That is profoundly relevant. 00:11:55.080 --> 00:11:57.360 Isn't it? It frames the heart of stone not just 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:00.159 as being mean, but as an economic transaction. 00:12:00.440 --> 00:12:03.240 You trade your humanity for success or stability. 00:12:03.610 --> 00:12:05.950 That connects so perfectly back to the Star Trek 00:12:05.950 --> 00:12:07.669 and sci -fi examples we talked about earlier. 00:12:07.669 --> 00:12:10.629 The cyborg who trades flesh for efficiency, it 00:12:10.629 --> 00:12:14.210 is the exact same story as the 1827 fairy tale, 00:12:14.470 --> 00:12:16.450 just with spaceships instead of dark forests. 00:12:16.710 --> 00:12:19.370 Exactly. The medium changes. You go from folklore 00:12:19.370 --> 00:12:23.110 to silent film to synth pop to sci -fi, but the 00:12:23.110 --> 00:12:25.809 core anxiety remains exactly the same. What is 00:12:25.809 --> 00:12:28.429 the cost of stopping the pain? If I turn my heart 00:12:28.429 --> 00:12:30.929 to stone so I don't feel hurt, do I end up losing 00:12:30.929 --> 00:12:33.529 everything else? That is heavy. We also have 00:12:33.529 --> 00:12:35.509 a literary mention here, by the way, a novel 00:12:35.509 --> 00:12:38.649 from 1996 by Sebastiano Vasale called Heart of 00:12:38.649 --> 00:12:41.129 Stone. It seems the novelists are in on it, too. 00:12:41.169 --> 00:12:43.409 It really does cover every medium. It is omnipresent. 00:12:43.549 --> 00:12:45.769 It is just the story we can't stop telling ourselves. 00:12:46.250 --> 00:12:48.169 But speaking of literal meanings, you promised 00:12:48.169 --> 00:12:50.590 us a twist at the beginning. I did. We have talked 00:12:50.590 --> 00:12:54.309 about metaphors, songs, movies, and fairy tales. 00:12:54.850 --> 00:12:56.950 But there is one category in our source stack 00:12:56.950 --> 00:12:59.679 that doesn't fit with the arts at all. the medical 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:01.740 category. I honestly thought this was a mistake 00:13:01.740 --> 00:13:03.620 in the notes at first. I thought maybe the search 00:13:03.620 --> 00:13:06.019 algorithm just grabbed a bad result, but it's 00:13:06.019 --> 00:13:09.000 really there. It's there. Heart of stone is a 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:11.159 colloquialism and sometimes even a descriptive 00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:14.720 term used in pathology for palsification of the 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.960 heart. Specifically, conditions like calcific 00:13:17.960 --> 00:13:20.539 constrictive pericarditis. OK, please break that 00:13:20.539 --> 00:13:23.120 down for us non -doctors. What is actually happening 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:26.039 inside the body? So the heart is surrounded by 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:28.580 a sac called the pericardium. It is supposed 00:13:28.580 --> 00:13:31.080 to be flexible like a balloon, allowing the heart 00:13:31.080 --> 00:13:34.600 to beat and expand normally. But in certain disease 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:37.519 states, things like chronic inflammation, tuberculosis, 00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:40.600 things like that, calcium deposits begin to form 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:43.980 on that sac. Calcium like bone. Exactly like 00:13:43.980 --> 00:13:47.720 bone. Over time, that flexible sac creates a 00:13:47.720 --> 00:13:50.259 hard shell. It literally turns into an eggshell 00:13:50.259 --> 00:13:53.059 -like casing around the entire heart. The surgeons 00:13:53.059 --> 00:13:55.220 describing it say it physically feels like tapping 00:13:55.220 --> 00:13:57.740 on a stone. It is terrifying. And the physiological 00:13:57.740 --> 00:14:00.879 result is fascinatingly ironic. We use heart 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:04.440 of stone to describe someone who is strong, unyielding, 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:08.519 maybe a bit ruthless. But biologically, a heart 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:10.970 of stone is weak. Because it can't move. Right, 00:14:11.129 --> 00:14:12.850 because the casing is hard, the heart muscle 00:14:12.850 --> 00:14:15.429 can't expand to fill with blood, it is constricted, 00:14:15.710 --> 00:14:18.190 it works harder and harder just to pump a tiny 00:14:18.190 --> 00:14:21.309 amount of blood. So all these poets and songwriters 00:14:21.309 --> 00:14:23.269 singing about a heart of stone to describe their 00:14:23.269 --> 00:14:26.850 tough, unfeeling ex -lovers, they're accidentally 00:14:26.850 --> 00:14:28.909 describing a heart that is suffocating itself. 00:14:29.250 --> 00:14:32.070 It is the ultimate irony. A calcified heart is 00:14:32.070 --> 00:14:34.610 a failing heart. It bridges the gap between the 00:14:34.610 --> 00:14:36.929 poetic and the pathological in a way I really 00:14:36.929 --> 00:14:39.250 don't think most songwriters realize. It adds 00:14:39.250 --> 00:14:41.250 a whole new layer of darkness to the lyrics. 00:14:42.049 --> 00:14:44.970 If Cher or Mick Jagger knew that, the songs might 00:14:44.970 --> 00:14:47.009 have been a lot sadder. It suggests that the 00:14:47.009 --> 00:14:49.070 armor we build around ourselves, metaphorically 00:14:49.070 --> 00:14:51.190 speaking, actually stops us from functioning. 00:14:51.669 --> 00:14:54.820 Wow. So we have covered a massive amount of ground 00:14:54.820 --> 00:14:57.759 here. We have gone from Wilhelm Hoff's fairy 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:02.120 tales in 1827 to Jelly Roll in 2024. We have 00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:05.919 gone from East German cinema to Eurovision drama, 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:09.399 from heavy metal posturing to calcified pericardiums. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:12.059 It is a complete journey through human anxiety, 00:15:12.100 --> 00:15:14.519 really. What is the big takeaway for you? Why 00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:16.799 is this specific combination of three words, 00:15:17.179 --> 00:15:20.039 heart of stone, have such a grip on us? Why not 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:22.440 heart of ice or heart of iron? I think heart 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:24.879 of stone is the ultimate blank slate title. Think 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:26.980 about it. If you say heart of ice, it implies 00:15:26.980 --> 00:15:29.679 coldness, maybe death. Heart of iron implies 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:33.110 machinery industry. But stone. Stone is natural, 00:15:33.169 --> 00:15:35.710 but it's dead. It's ancient. It's heavy. It carries 00:15:35.710 --> 00:15:38.389 more weight. It works for everyone. If you are 00:15:38.389 --> 00:15:40.929 a heavy metal band, Heart of Stone sounds strong 00:15:40.929 --> 00:15:43.389 and impenetrable. If you are a pop singer, it 00:15:43.389 --> 00:15:45.950 sounds tragic and lonely. If you're a spy movie, 00:15:46.049 --> 00:15:47.870 it sounds mysterious. And if you're a doctor, 00:15:47.970 --> 00:15:49.970 it's a diagnosis. It changes color depending 00:15:49.970 --> 00:15:51.990 entirely on the background. It is the universal 00:15:51.990 --> 00:15:54.870 adapter of idioms. And it speaks to that fundamental 00:15:54.870 --> 00:15:56.870 contradiction we all feel. We all want to be 00:15:56.870 --> 00:15:59.100 strong, right? We want to be... rock solid so 00:15:59.100 --> 00:16:01.460 things can't hurt us, but we're also terrified 00:16:01.460 --> 00:16:04.059 of losing our softness, our ability to genuinely 00:16:04.059 --> 00:16:07.879 love. The phrase captures both that desire for 00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:10.580 strength and the fear of numbness perfectly. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:13.159 That's such a great way to put it. It's the tension 00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:16.220 between being unbreakable and being unable to 00:16:16.220 --> 00:16:18.059 connect. And as long as humans are trying to 00:16:18.059 --> 00:16:20.240 figure out that balance, I don't think this title 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.639 is going anywhere. So here is my question for 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:25.860 you listening to this right now. We have cataloged 00:16:25.860 --> 00:16:29.330 over a century. of Hearts of Stone. It has been 00:16:29.330 --> 00:16:32.490 used in every genre imaginable. Is it time to 00:16:32.490 --> 00:16:35.049 retire it? Have we squeezed every drop of meaning 00:16:35.049 --> 00:16:37.789 out of this stone? Or does its persistence prove 00:16:37.789 --> 00:16:39.350 that we're still trying to figure out what it 00:16:39.350 --> 00:16:41.549 means to be cold in a chaotic world? I have a 00:16:41.549 --> 00:16:43.629 feeling we will see another one before 2030. 00:16:43.909 --> 00:16:46.909 Maybe a VR experience or a TikTok trend. I definitely 00:16:46.909 --> 00:16:49.690 wouldn't bet against it. Next time you are scrolling 00:16:49.690 --> 00:16:53.289 through Spotify or browsing Netflix, keep an 00:16:53.289 --> 00:16:56.000 eye out. you will probably spot a heart of stone 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:58.799 in the wild sooner than you think. And when you 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:01.620 do, remember, it might mean strength, it might 00:17:01.620 --> 00:17:03.299 mean heartbreak, or it might just mean you need 00:17:03.299 --> 00:17:05.619 to see a cardiologist. Thanks for diving in with 00:17:05.619 --> 00:17:06.160 us. Take care.