0:00

Thank

0:00

your job stinks. Well, just wait until

0:02

you hear what it was like to be a funeral

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clown. Long before all of human

0:07

knowledge was in your it. People had some pretty

0:09

bizarre professions. Luckily, you

0:11

don't have to come in contact with a sin

0:13

eater or a barber Sergio. these

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days, but you're about to find out

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what it's like to get surgery with an afternoon

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shave. new podcast. This

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job is his history is hosted by Chris Parnell

0:25

from Saturday Night Live and Rick and Morty.

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Steeped in factual history this brilliantly

0:30

funny podcast delves into quirky

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and absurd jobs from the past with hilarious

0:35

interviews infused with fascinatingly true

0:38

Easter eggs. Come get weird with us

0:40

each week as impromptu comedians from groundlings

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and UCB act out their old

0:44

fashioned gigs from another time.

0:47

You'll be glad your guidance counselor didn't recommend

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any of these jobs. We're about to hear a

0:51

clip from this job is history. While

0:53

you're listening, make sure to follow this job

0:55

is history wherever you get your podcasts.

0:58

Hey, Prime members. You can listen to this

1:00

job is history early in ad free on Amazon

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Music. download the Amazon music

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app today. From Wondery,

1:07

it's this job is With

1:09

me, Chris Marshall. Each week,

1:11

my Producer, Linda and I invite actual

1:14

people from the actual past who

1:16

worked the strangest and most unexpected jobs

1:18

throughout time. You'll be transported

1:21

into the past and hear remarkable on

1:23

the job stories straight from the mouths

1:25

of the people who worked them.

1:29

It's

1:29

not often that we get to talk to someone from

1:31

the eighteenth century, especially

1:33

someone in your line of work. So

1:35

tell us in your own words, what exactly

1:38

is a sin eater?

1:40

Well, sin eaters

1:42

are very well below the poor.

1:44

They're below the hierarchy altogether,

1:46

Leah, but that's where you stand

1:48

when your job is banned by the Church of England.

1:51

Wait. Why would sin eating be banned

1:53

by the church? If what you say is true, you're

1:55

saving people souls.

1:56

First of all, Chris, it is

1:58

true. Second of

1:59

all, it's complicated. So

2:01

you know how Catholics have lost rights,

2:04

confession before they die -- Right. --

2:06

of course. See, ever since we became

2:08

a protestant country, it's

2:10

not generally accepted to do Catholic

2:12

things like last rites or confession.

2:15

The vicar says that faith alone is

2:17

enough to grant you God's grace.

2:20

But most of us in believe

2:22

it does know to have a little extra

2:24

reassurance.

2:25

Oh, so you're still sort of

2:27

doing the thing that the Catholic communion wafers

2:29

and confessions do. You're just doing it after

2:31

people die at dinner time.

2:33

No. It's completely different.

2:36

and calling it Catholic would get me in

2:38

a lot of trouble. What

2:40

I do as a good protestant

2:42

is help people deal with their guilt

2:44

and fears. Otherwise, what would they

2:46

do?

2:47

I wouldn't know. I mean,

2:49

not to brag, but my therapist says I'm

2:51

remarkably good. at suppressing

2:53

feelings of shame.

2:54

What's a therapist?

2:57

Is that what you call centimeters nowadays?

3:00

Oh,

3:00

a therapist is a person who you see every

3:02

week to talk. They give you the confidence

3:04

to speak up for yourself. Like when someone kind of

3:06

tough looking takes your drink at Starbucks, or

3:09

when a kid on a bicycle bumps into

3:11

you and says something nasty. Okay.

3:13

Abigail, you talk

3:15

to a therapist about your feelings they

3:17

help you cope with, regrets, shame, things

3:19

like that. Actually, they basically

3:21

are sin eaters without

3:23

the eating part. I

3:26

don't want to alarm you, but

3:28

talking about feelings doesn't

3:30

seem like it would save you from damnation.

3:32

Well, you're symbolically reassuring

3:35

people.

3:36

No. I'm literally eating

3:38

their sins. Chris, why

3:40

don't we move on to some other questions?

3:42

Yeah. Abigail, I'm so sorry if

3:45

I implied that eating corpse spread didn't literally

3:47

absolve sins.

3:48

Well,

3:49

I accept your apology question. I

3:51

thank you kindly. Now here's

3:53

a different question. How do you know

3:55

what sins you're eating? Or

3:57

does it all taste like bread? Truthfully,

3:59

the

4:00

I can taste it. Yeah.

4:02

I've got the gift. When you've been a

4:04

sin eater as long as I have,

4:07

each sin starts to become very

4:09

distinguishable. Gluttony. Take

4:11

for example, gluttony. Always

4:13

always hungry afterwards. That's

4:15

when I know gluttony.

4:18

Sloth Now, sloth, you

4:21

can't keep the crumbs off the floor. Doesn't

4:23

matter what you do, if you wear a bib,

4:25

if you've got a tray, they're all over

4:27

the place. Now lust, Lewy me

4:29

tell you something last is

4:30

fantastic. It's

4:33

subtle but tasty. It's got a bit of

4:35

a

4:35

kick to it, you know. Lewy,

4:38

Prime members. You can listen to this

4:40

job history early and ad free on

4:42

Amazon Music. Download the Amazon

4:44

Music app today.