0:00

Hey, everybody, Hey, y'all.

0:02

I felt like I had a little secret when I said it

0:04

like that. Hey, everybody,

0:07

what guess what? I have no secrets

0:09

for you. I wear everything on

0:11

my sleeve. You get what

0:14

you know what you're getting with me. That's one thing. People

0:16

have always said, I got nothing

0:18

to hide. Do you think

0:20

that's true? You know

0:22

me better than most.

0:24

I don't think you have anything to hide unless you've

0:26

hidden it very very very well. For me.

0:30

Maybe I have.

0:31

I know well and apparently you can.

0:34

I guess I'm really good at keeping secrets.

0:36

Then I'll tell you what secret.

0:39

I'll tell you what. I don't have any secrets right now,

0:42

but I'm a great secret

0:44

keeper. Right If someone says,

0:46

hey, don't tell anyone about this, because you know we

0:48

we know people. I'm sure everyone knows people

0:51

where if you tell them, don't tell anyone about

0:53

this. They can't help

0:55

it. It bursts out

0:57

of them like just you know, a rain

1:00

erupting from

1:03

I'm a magical volcano. They

1:06

have to get it out. There's just an impulse.

1:08

It's like I must tell someone,

1:11

and I'll tell you whatever that

1:13

is in your brain, it's broken

1:15

in mind. I have no impulse

1:18

to share secrets. It's just

1:20

not interesting to me. So you can

1:22

tell me whatever you want, as long as you say, please

1:24

don't tell anyone. Eh, okay, well

1:26

yeah.

1:27

I need to know it's in confidence. I've

1:29

definitely had someone like I've said like, oh, yeah,

1:31

I remember talking about that with so and so about whatever,

1:33

and they'd be like, oh damn, put me on blast. You know,

1:36

yes, we'll talk about that. And I was like, oh, if

1:38

you had said so, I would have definitely kept it to myself.

1:41

But if you're just talking to me, yeah, you

1:43

got. I'm not going to assume that this is a privileged

1:45

information.

1:46

Right, So everyone

1:48

email your deepest darcacy to

1:51

ridict romancegmail dot com with

1:53

the subject line keep this a secret.

1:56

Yeah, and we will not read it on the show,

1:58

but we'll be glad to know it. But

2:02

you were about to say something.

2:03

Oh I don't okay, sorry,

2:05

I'm trying to think of something to talk about this. It's not going

2:07

to frustrate me.

2:09

Oh well, it must be a mere weeks

2:11

away from the Atlanta Fringe Festival.

2:13

It is mere weeks in the fringe.

2:15

Well, we'll just leave it at it's

2:18

very exciting it's going to be a festival

2:21

with lots of cool performances, and you're very

2:23

tired and.

2:23

Overwel and

2:26

I'm tired and I'm here now

2:29

all as well.

2:30

Yeah, we're we're we're going to take

2:32

a break from that and

2:34

uh and go back in time a little bit. How does

2:36

that sound?

2:37

That sounds lovely?

2:38

Yeah, separate ourselves from that

2:40

chaotic world into this chaotic world.

2:42

Yay, a different chaos,

2:45

someone else's chaos. More importantly true,

2:47

I'm not mine, I'm

2:49

not involved.

2:50

Yeah, you all can leave

2:53

your troubles behind and enjoy these people's

2:55

troubles just like us.

2:57

Because this is a pretty crazy story we're

3:00

about to tell you today. This story was suggested

3:02

by a listener Katie p or

3:05

At a clockwork Kitten on Instagram.

3:09

Thank you, Katie, this is a really good recommendation

3:11

because today we're talking about Bernard

3:14

Borischool, who is a French

3:16

diplomat who got into some really big trouble

3:18

in the nineteen eighties for slipping information

3:21

to the Chinese government on a deal

3:24

to help protect his friend and lover Shu

3:27

Pay Pooh, who

3:30

was Sha Pay Poo. Well, that's

3:33

where it gets complicated. So let's

3:35

dive into the story of show pay Pool and

3:38

Bernard Boris Skull and the honey

3:40

pot plot that titillated a

3:42

nation.

3:43

Oh sounds dangerous. Let's go.

3:45

Hey their French come listen.

3:46

Well, Eli and Diana got

3:48

some stories to tell.

3:50

There's no matchmaking, a romantic tips.

3:52

It's just about ridiculous relation, ships,

3:55

a love.

3:55

There might be any type of person at all, and

3:58

abstract concept don't conquer. But

4:01

if there's a story, we were the second Glance

4:04

Ridiculous Romans.

4:06

A production of iHeartRadio.

4:09

Okay, most of our info is coming from

4:11

a nineteen ninety three New York Times

4:13

article written by Joyce Wadler that's

4:15

called the true story of m

4:18

Butterfly, the spy who

4:20

fell in love with a shadow.

4:22

Fascinating So, Bernard

4:24

A.

4:24

Burisco was a

4:26

Frenchman. He was bored. I don't know if that's you

4:29

put on that. Well, anyway, he is a

4:31

Frenchman. He was born in nineteen forty

4:33

four, and he went to boarding schools as

4:35

a kid, and while he was there he

4:37

engaged in multiple homosexual

4:40

affairs. Sure, but after

4:42

he left school he became very determined to

4:44

have sex with a woman because he felt that homosexual

4:47

activity was just like a rite of

4:49

passage in an all male school. He

4:51

was like, that's not me, that's just what you do.

4:53

That's just another sport we play, right, I guess

4:55

so much boys in a room? What else are we getting into?

4:59

Joyce wrote quote, he enjoyed it,

5:01

but it made him feel guilty. He felt

5:03

so badly about it that when he turned eighteen,

5:06

he made a promise to himself, he will

5:08

stop sleeping with boys. It's

5:10

a schoolboy's game. Oh okay,

5:14

what a weird schoolboy game.

5:16

Well, you know, back then it was

5:18

like that or a hoop and a stick, right, I.

5:20

Guess so one or the other. Nineteen forty

5:22

four we.

5:24

Got our own hoop and stick over here. I

5:27

don't know.

5:29

It's sad though that He was like, I enjoyed it, but

5:31

I can't do it.

5:32

I know it does suck to that. There's like everybody's

5:35

it's clearly what everybody's into. Why

5:37

do we have to feel guilty about it? Well? Well,

5:40

Bernard ended up a college dropout

5:42

at the age of twenty, but he managed to finagel

5:44

himself a job as an accountant

5:47

at the French embassy in China.

5:49

In nineteen sixty four. This is right

5:51

around or just after the Cultural Revolution

5:54

when Mao Zetong was taken over, and

5:56

a lot of stuff changing in China at this time.

5:59

Yeah, very period.

6:00

Oh yeah, And French President Charles

6:02

de Gaulle, who you might know from the

6:05

worst airport in the world. We've

6:07

got a personal story about that one will

6:10

horrible. Well,

6:13

Charles Degall recognized the People's Republic

6:15

of China and the new communist regime of

6:17

Chairman Now in January of nineteen

6:20

sixty four, and then France

6:22

became the first Western power to

6:24

open an embassy there in China since

6:27

the Korean War eleven years earlier. So

6:29

a lot of relations going on between France and

6:31

China. Probably a relatively

6:34

good relationship between the two countries at the time,

6:36

yeah, compared to a lot of the others.

6:38

Right, But in China,

6:41

foreigners are not welcome at

6:43

this period of time. They're kind of like, we

6:45

just want to be dealing with China's

6:47

stuff with Chinese people. We don't want a bunch

6:49

of randoms run around. So it's

6:52

kind of dangerous to be a foreigner

6:54

in China. You don't really get

6:56

to talk to Chinese people. Without government permission.

6:59

Everyone who's in the French embassy

7:01

is basically just like pushing paper.

7:03

They're saving for retirement, you know, they're not really

7:05

there to like make big changes in the

7:07

world. There's something so Bernard

7:10

is kind of bored and lonely. He thought

7:12

he would get an exciting, like traveling

7:14

diplomat job, but he ends up in this

7:16

embassy where you like can't really leave, you're

7:19

not really talking to anybody new. And yeah,

7:21

he does get invited to like French

7:23

embassy things, little events and

7:25

get togethers and whatever, but all

7:27

the diplomats that work there can tell he's

7:30

like a working class kid. He's not really

7:32

one of them. You know, they're from a

7:34

higher echelon of society and

7:36

this guy's just a clerk, you know. Okay, so

7:39

he's kind of getting iced out at the parties.

7:42

You dropped at the college you and

7:44

the boarding school where you played oops

7:46

and sticks. Will the other boys you're

7:48

not one of us, well, Bernard

7:51

is. I mean, he's a good looking guy. He's kind of shortening.

7:53

He's got these broad shoulders and he's got a small

7:55

waist. He's got like a swimmer's body. A

7:58

top little fellow nice. So

8:00

you know, people are always giving him the eyes and

8:02

they're like, oh, never mind, he is from our

8:04

class. So at a Christmas

8:07

party that year, Bernard meets a twenty

8:09

six year old Chinese man named Shape

8:12

Pooh. And this guy was teaching

8:14

some of the embassy wives Chinese.

8:16

They could get around a little easier. And

8:18

Bernard really wanted to befriend

8:21

some Chinese people. He's trying

8:23

to open up his diversity, you know, getting

8:25

to know the locals. I'm sick of being trapped

8:27

in this little box. And he says,

8:29

hey, maybe we should be friends. I could

8:32

stand to learn the little Chinese myself. And

8:35

they do. They get to know each other a

8:37

little bit. Bernard suggests, as

8:39

should that he go out dancing. There's

8:41

all these pretty girls here, sir,

8:43

why don't you go out and try dancing. You're a handsome

8:46

lad. And she says, well, I

8:48

don't really like dancing and never

8:50

really date women at all. And

8:53

when Bernard asks him why he

8:55

never dates, he tells him, oh,

8:57

well you would never understand.

8:59

He's like, I would.

9:00

I love a schoolboys game, right,

9:03

Oh so you're hoop and stick

9:05

player, I see now.

9:07

Sha of course, is his last name, not his first

9:09

name, but it's easier to say, so we're just

9:11

gonna say them now. Sha

9:14

invited Bernard to dinner a few

9:16

days later, which was very exciting because you

9:18

don't usually get to like go out and hang out with Chinese

9:20

people. And he tells him, I

9:23

was an actor and a singer as a teenager

9:25

under the tutelage of Mae Lanfeng,

9:27

who is one of the most famous

9:29

actors in China, and they

9:32

specialized in female roles. Okay,

9:34

so they're playing women on stage.

9:36

Okay, Shakespearean kind of thing, and the men are playing

9:38

women exactly.

9:39

Sha also played female roles, that's

9:42

what you know. He learned to do under the

9:44

tutelage of Meylan Feng, and he

9:46

was really well suited to it because he was kind of a short

9:48

guy. He had sort of feminine features in small

9:50

hands, so he was able to really play

9:53

with that androgyny. But now

9:55

he writes operas and plays and

9:57

he's telling Bernard, my dad was a professor

10:00

before he died. But my mother lives

10:02

with me in Beijing and she's a teacher. And

10:04

Sha also had two older sisters. Okay,

10:07

so she's learning all this stuff about Sha, they're

10:09

getting really close.

10:10

Well, they did become very close friends, and they hung

10:13

out all the time. Bernard felt

10:15

like they tell each other things they

10:17

can't tell anyone else. Say I'm a bestie.

10:19

I know I can unload on you. And she

10:22

had a really lonely childhood because his sisters

10:24

are actually way older than him. So

10:27

he tells Bernard a lot of stories about

10:29

the history of China and his own

10:31

roles on stage, and one night he

10:33

told him about the most famous role

10:35

he ever had. It was in a production of

10:38

the Story of the Butterfly.

10:42

Long ago in China, there lived a

10:44

beautiful girl named Ju ying

10:46

Tai. She was the daughter of a very

10:48

learned man, and she dearly wished to

10:50

attend one of the imperial schools, but

10:52

being a girl, she was not permitted

10:54

to do so. But her brother did

10:56

really badly in school, so she really upset

10:59

her. She made a plot with her

11:01

brother. They exchanged clothes

11:03

and she went to school in his place,

11:05

pretending to be a boy. And she was this brilliant

11:08

student. But in school she met a

11:10

handsome boy named Lang Shan Beau

11:13

and they came to love each other. Oh,

11:15

but Liang could not understand this strange

11:18

attraction that he felt for another boy.

11:21

It's like a Mulan situation. And

11:24

Ju, who was attracted to Liang as well,

11:26

yearned to tell him her secret, but

11:29

of course she refrained because

11:31

she was afraid it would bring dishonor to her family.

11:34

Then word came out that she had to go home

11:37

because her family had found her a husband.

11:40

So finally, Jue revealed

11:42

her true identity to her friend Liang,

11:45

and he declared his love for her and asked her to

11:47

marry him. But even though she

11:49

loved him, Ju could not disobey her family,

11:52

so she went home, and distraught,

11:54

Liang took his own life. Ju's

11:57

family insisted that she proceeded with her wedding

11:59

with the other guy that they found, and

12:01

she agreed, but she said she had to first go

12:04

visit her beloved's grave and

12:06

you know, pay her respect, say her goodbyes. And

12:08

there beneath the willows, she threw

12:10

herself on his tomb and died.

12:13

Her family, who finally understood

12:16

how much their daughter loved Liang, buried

12:18

her beside him, and the souls

12:20

of the two lovers turned into butterflies

12:23

and flew away together and over

12:25

the grave, willow branches grew

12:28

and intertwined.

12:29

Oh lovely story.

12:31

So that's the story of the Butterfly.

12:33

Well. In mid March of nineteen sixty five,

12:35

Bernard was offered a position at

12:38

an expedition in Brazil. Not

12:41

so bad, I mean, some nice tropical

12:43

vacation in there.

12:45

I'm sure he's excited because he was like, that's the whole

12:47

point of me being a diplomat or a diplomat's

12:49

accountant, run around

12:51

the world.

12:52

Yeah. So he tells Sha that he

12:54

plans to resign from the embassy in China,

12:56

and she says, hey, why don't you come over

12:58

to my house? And this is the first time he's had an invite

13:01

over to Show's house. Bernard is very

13:03

excited because hardly any

13:05

foreigners ever get to go to a Chinese

13:08

person's home. It's very special.

13:10

Yes, and there he met SHA's mother,

13:13

who served him some tea. Now

13:15

days later, Sha walked with

13:17

Bernard through the Forbidden City and

13:19

he told him the story of the Butterfly again,

13:22

and he told Bernard I have a secret

13:25

quote, look at my hands,

13:28

look at my face. That story

13:30

of the butterfly, it's my

13:32

story too.

13:34

Yes, it turned out that shape

13:37

Coop was secretly a

13:40

woman. She had been born years

13:43

after her two older sisters, and

13:45

she explained to Bernard that her

13:47

mother had been told by her mother

13:49

in law that if she had another

13:51

girl, the son would take another

13:54

wife.

13:54

Oh.

13:55

So she's mother is like, she

13:57

has another girl, and she's like, I don't want to lose

14:00

my position in my household is some other lady.

14:03

And of course the husband actually

14:05

didn't want another wife either. He sort of loved his

14:07

wife, so he's like, get off my back,

14:09

mom. So they agreed to

14:11

raise Sha as a boy and

14:14

conceal his true identity from the

14:16

grandmother. Wow, I'm like, what kind of

14:18

power does the grandma have?

14:19

Oh?

14:20

I had him full online about

14:22

her grandkid to keep her from getting you to marry

14:24

someone else.

14:25

You know, Elders across many cultures

14:27

have some sway. But I think in China, as I understand.

14:29

It, Oh, yeah, a very serious

14:31

situation.

14:32

That is wild.

14:34

So Sha has been concealing themselves

14:36

as a man, teaching Chinese to these

14:38

ladies, uh huh, and befriending Bernard,

14:41

and finally decides to reveal her

14:43

true identity to her best friend

14:45

Bernard.

14:45

Amazing. I bet when she was playing

14:48

in the Butterfly Show, they were like, damn,

14:51

you are so good at

14:53

playing a woman pretending to be a man. You

14:55

know. I don't know where you get

14:57

that instinct, but you just a natural. I'm total

14:59

natural.

15:00

Close my eyes and I really get method

15:02

with it.

15:03

Well, that is incredible. Obviously

15:05

there's going to be some fallout from this, and

15:07

of course we want to know Bernard's reaction. So

15:09

we'll take a quick break and we'll be right back more

15:11

after this.

15:15

Welcome back to the Honeypot.

15:18

So Bernard believes Shaw's story

15:20

right away, and he promises, I will not tell

15:22

anyone about this your secret

15:25

then mind. But now that he knows Sha

15:27

is a woman, he feels like they

15:29

should start having sex. The

15:32

New York Times article says, quote, he

15:34

doesn't feel a great passion. It's

15:36

something he feels he and Shad have

15:38

to do. You are a woman, I am

15:40

a man. We love one another. Therefore

15:43

we should have.

15:43

Sex, all right, Bernard.

15:45

Yeah, So his attitude is like, oh, well,

15:47

if you're a woman and you're talking to me, that means

15:50

we should be doing it, right, Like we should sleep

15:52

together.

15:53

So like he just cannot imagine being friends

15:55

with a lady.

15:56

Oh yeah about a sexual component,

15:58

or maybe it was like.

15:59

His you know, insane, he

16:01

was like so obsessed

16:03

with trying to have sex with a woman. Yea, So maybe

16:05

he was just like, oh, we get along and turns out

16:08

you're a woman, so maybe I could finally fulfill.

16:10

This, yeah life's mission.

16:12

But he wasn't very good at talking to people except

16:14

this dude apparently, so well,

16:18

he makes this proposition and she is like, yeah,

16:20

okay, but not now, all

16:22

right, And of course Bernard is like, all

16:24

right, well, you know, no rush, just let me know. It's

16:26

been you know, eight years, what's

16:29

what's few more weeks? Take

16:31

your time.

16:32

So eventually they did start having

16:34

a physical affair, but the

16:36

sex was not very satisfying.

16:39

She always seemed very nervous and

16:41

had to like guide him. It was very rushed

16:43

and in darkness, and she tells

16:46

Bernard that in order to maintain her fake

16:48

identity as a man, she's taken

16:50

hormones and she's afraid that it's

16:52

damaged her health, and that's sort of

16:54

offered up as an explanation for why their

16:57

sex is always kind of rushed

16:59

and so carefully guided and everything.

17:02

But you know whatever, he's like getting what

17:04

he always wanted. So he's probably feeling

17:06

pretty good, right.

17:07

I guess, or he's like really

17:11

everything I was hoping it would be.

17:13

Maybe that's it. It's like, wow, turns out all

17:16

of us about.

17:17

Maybe Hoop and Stick was more fun.

17:19

Boys do it better.

17:21

Well.

17:21

At the end of December nineteen sixty five,

17:24

just as Bernard is about to leave for

17:26

Brazil and leave Sha behind in China,

17:29

Shit tells him she's pregnant. Oh

17:31

well, Bernard swears he will come back,

17:33

and he's like, I can't cancel the expedition now, but I

17:36

will come back to China. I promised you, And

17:38

he says, we'll please name the kid Bertrand

17:41

if it's a boy.

17:43

Well, four years later, Bernard

17:45

finally comes back to China. Now

17:47

he has had a serious love affair with a

17:50

beautiful French medical student, a woman,

17:52

and he is still seeing her at this point.

17:55

But after his trip through the Amazon

17:57

rainforest in Brazil, he did

17:59

end up get a job back at the French embassy

18:01

in Beijing as an archivist so

18:03

that he can find Shappey Pooh and

18:06

his son Bertrand. He

18:08

writes to her, but he's not sure he

18:10

has the right address anymore, so he tries

18:13

visiting, but he goes to all these wrong

18:15

houses until a girl is like, oh my god,

18:17

you're looking for shipepoo. Come with me right this way.

18:20

She takes him to the right address and there

18:23

is Shad pay pooh. Four years later,

18:25

and Bernard goes in and gives her a big old

18:27

smooch.

18:29

And she tells him times have been awful

18:32

while he was gone. Those last four years have been

18:34

really difficult, and it's

18:36

really too dangerous for him to be visiting

18:38

her because everyone in the building is going

18:40

to see that there's a foreigner in her apartment. Oh,

18:42

not cool, that's not cool. And of course

18:44

we know Sha is concealing a giant

18:47

secret, still living as a man, right,

18:49

so it's understandable that shows like, please

18:52

don't get attention on me, right, And I mean,

18:54

you can't just be coming around here and people are going to start asking

18:56

me a lot of questions. They're going to start paying a lot more attention

18:58

to me than I want. Yeah, and she tells him

19:01

we do have a son together, he's just not here.

19:03

But on Bernard's second visit, she does show

19:05

a picture of bertrand to him

19:07

and he sees he sees the kid, and

19:09

he's like, oh, I'm so excited. But

19:12

just then loud shouting is

19:14

heard right outside the door. Sha

19:16

is terrified. She opens the door and dozens

19:18

of people Russian. They start yelling and pointing

19:21

at Bernard, and one grabs an

19:23

alarm clock and says it's a radio.

19:25

They're spine.

19:26

Oh shit, So she was not

19:28

fucking around saying it was really dangerous.

19:30

No.

19:30

Yeah, people are jumping in all kinds of conclusions.

19:32

Right, So these three guys in army

19:34

uniform show up and they take share to her bedroom

19:36

and they close the doors. You study here while

19:38

we deal with this frenchman. And

19:41

one of them does speak French, so he's like, what

19:44

are you doing here, bro? And Bernard thinks

19:46

fast and he's like, oh, well, I'm taking

19:48

lessons from Sha on the on

19:51

the greatness of Chairman MoU to

19:53

better understand the cultural revolution.

19:56

First, they're like, well, there's so much to say about

19:59

the great chair.

20:00

Oh well, allow me to shime in. I've

20:02

got a few things to add too. Oh yeah,

20:04

oh yeah. So they you know, they do kind

20:07

of accept this story after a minute, after

20:09

Bernard really grovels and says, he's

20:11

so great. I just needed to learn more about this

20:13

awesome guy, isn't he the.

20:15

Besket if only Plans was more like

20:17

China, right, what I say?

20:19

They're like, hey, this guy's all right, So

20:22

they do accept his story. They let him

20:24

go, They send him out of the apartment. All right,

20:26

go on your way home. Praise beat a

20:29

mau. We all love him, We're glad you do too,

20:31

et cetera, et cetera. But after

20:33

a little while, Shaw has not returned,

20:35

so Bernard is getting worried

20:38

that he got shut into some serious trouble.

20:40

So he becomes a little obsessed

20:42

with just seeing her one time just

20:44

to make sure she's okay. And he knows

20:46

he can't just like drop by again, right

20:48

that turned out really badly, So

20:51

instead he borrows a bicycle

20:53

from the embassy and he bikes by her neighborhood

20:55

just to see even catch a glimpse of her while she's walking around

20:57

outside or something. But he realized

21:00

he's being followed three

21:02

guys who are also on bikes and they're just following

21:04

around. So he's like, oh, he doesn't

21:07

sound like maybe the smartest guy in

21:09

the world. Because he borrowed the bike from

21:11

the embassy, so it has diplomatic plate,

21:13

oh man, like street plate. So

21:15

it's like, you're not really incognito, my friend.

21:19

Maybe they're like, well, he's not a spy, because

21:21

that's the stupidest thing a spike can do.

21:24

They need some better training. But

21:26

this makes him even more nervous. She's like, what happened

21:28

to shit, I haven't seen her now, people follow me around,

21:30

like what's going on. Finally, in

21:33

October he spots her

21:35

walking with an elderly lady and

21:37

he's like, so he kind of surreptitiously gets

21:40

up close to her, and he kind of whispers in her

21:42

ear that he'll wait at a certain

21:44

corner of this really busy intersection

21:47

in the city every Thursday at two

21:49

pm. And he's like, just come there

21:51

so I can see you. I know you're okay. And

21:54

for months, she takes a

21:56

bench across the street and he takes a bench

21:58

on the other side of the road, and so they're not even

22:00

in the same side of the street. They're crossed

22:03

like seven lanes of traffic.

22:04

Wow.

22:04

But they sit on the bench across from each

22:07

other again just to see each other, just to kind

22:09

of be close for a second. One

22:11

time, Bernard managed to pass a

22:13

letter to Sha, but a woman saw

22:15

him do it and screamed out

22:18

loud, oh my God, which sounds like she

22:20

was going through something else. I

22:22

don't know why guys like somebody would

22:24

be so scary.

22:25

I mean, I just feel like the culture at the time

22:27

people were so nervous about spies and

22:29

foreigners and stuff that, and they're

22:31

such you know, they're so into their

22:34

country right that they see someone

22:37

passing a note and they're like, it's my

22:39

civic responsibility to draw

22:42

attention to this.

22:43

Yeah, that's a spy.

22:44

Somebody do something.

22:46

It's very true. It kind of gives you a good idea

22:48

of what kind of environment.

22:49

You're dealing with.

22:50

Yeah, so Bernard's

22:52

losing hope. He starts to feel like he's never going to see

22:55

Shaw or his child ever.

22:57

Well, one day in Spring called

23:00

Bernard up and says that she spoke to her

23:02

boss at the Writers' Association and

23:05

received permission to teach Bernard

23:07

classes about Chairman Mao twice a week.

23:09

So this scheme was still gonna work.

23:11

Oh, just made the lie real.

23:13

Yeah. Yeah, they remember how much they

23:15

loved it when you said you were taking classes on chairman.

23:17

Now let's do that. Let's just do it. So

23:19

Bernard comes to her house and she

23:22

reads to him from a book of Mao quotations,

23:24

and he sits across from her, and he praises

23:27

Mao as a great poet, and think, oh,

23:29

man, this guy knows how to write a book. You

23:32

know, little red backed and smart.

23:34

I like it. They're afraid that there's

23:36

microphones in the house. They really want to put on a

23:38

show. But then Bernard talks to her

23:40

out in the hallway, and over the next month or

23:43

so, he learns that their son

23:45

together, Bertrand, was obviously

23:48

of mixed race, right. They knew this was

23:50

half Chinese half French child, So

23:53

therefore he was not safe in Beijing.

23:56

So Sha had him sent to live near

23:58

the Russian border with one of

24:00

the family servants.

24:02

So that's why he ain't engaging with.

24:04

Her sun around. Yeah.

24:05

Well, then Bernard learns that she's

24:08

not going to be teaching him anymore. All of a sudden,

24:10

someone else from the Chinese government is going to

24:12

take over his lesson.

24:14

That was the whole point. Wait

24:16

about I feel like it's a movie

24:18

trope too. When you walk into a party and you're

24:20

like, oh, I'm gonna I'm going to ask

24:22

this girl to dance and finally

24:25

get to know her. And she's like, oh, I was just about to start

24:27

the room here dance with my sister. Oh

24:29

that's not what I wanted.

24:30

I don't want to dance with her.

24:32

I wasn't really interested in dancing, right.

24:35

So unfortunately, now Bernard actually has

24:37

to take real classes,

24:39

take these real classes from

24:41

someone else in the Chinese government whose name was

24:44

Kang shown okay, and

24:46

they study. Now it's all chill for

24:48

a few weeks. But then Bernard

24:50

says, hey, I completely

24:52

understand the Cultural Revolution.

24:55

Now I've learned enough.

24:56

Thank you, I'm

24:59

ready to graduations.

25:00

Well, I think he

25:02

probably don't need to take these classes anymore.

25:04

Huh, I'm a head out.

25:08

But no, He's like, you've taught me everything. The

25:10

Cultural Revolution is so amazing. I feel

25:12

like I've got a real grasp on the principles

25:14

of it and everything you're trying to do. And da da da, And

25:18

now I want to help the Chinese people.

25:20

I want to help the Cultural Revolution really

25:22

succeed because I get it so much. It's

25:25

so amazing. It's definitely the best way to run things,

25:27

and he's suggests a Kaying that his

25:29

position at the embassy might

25:32

give him access to some useful

25:34

information. Now,

25:37

Bernard is a low level we already said this, right,

25:39

He's not like a diplomat, right, He's not

25:41

in some high level meetings or anything. He

25:44

doesn't get military reports, but he

25:46

does get everybody's messages to file,

25:49

so he's like, they've already read them, but like I can

25:51

look at them too, And there is

25:53

some tantalizing stuff about

25:55

the movements of Russia,

25:58

the Russian army. At this

26:00

point, China does not have an ambassador

26:02

in Russia, so they're very interested

26:04

in what's going on there because they don't have anybody reporting

26:07

back to them, right, and they have a huge border with Russia.

26:09

So it's like I need to know what they're

26:11

up to. So Bernard starts slipping

26:14

documents under his shirt or into his briefcase

26:16

at THEES day, bringing them

26:18

to Kang, who makes copies and then

26:21

gives them back to Bernard, and then he goes and slides

26:23

them back in their files. No harm, no foul,

26:25

nobody'll know, right, And Bernard

26:27

doesn't really feel bad about this because Kang

26:30

is like, we don't have any interest in French

26:32

state secrets. Okay, we don't want to know what France is

26:34

up to. We only want to know about Russia.

26:36

Okay.

26:36

So Bernard's like, I'm not betraying my own country.

26:38

Here, so it's okay, betraying

26:40

the Russians,

26:43

like whatever. Well,

26:46

he does manage to start seeing Shaw more

26:48

and more often, but it's not really

26:50

all that great of a time together.

26:53

She makes him these extensive

26:55

shopping lists of stuff to buy for

26:57

her. She's always complaining that he doesn't

26:59

spend enough time with her, and he's like, because I'm

27:01

always at the store. I mean. They're

27:04

having sex, but it's as unsatisfying

27:06

as ever, and Shit basically just uses

27:09

her hands and her mouth in their sexual

27:11

encounters. He actually

27:13

threatened to marry the French girl at one

27:15

point, and she's like, oh, wow, so you

27:18

would do that. You would just leave and go to

27:20

France and never see your son

27:23

again? Oh no,

27:26

oh damn, I did have a son. I guess

27:28

I got some responsibilities here, even though he

27:30

hasn't even seen this kid. Right, But

27:33

sometimes things are okay between them. They still

27:35

get along, They still have a something

27:37

of a relationship, and sometimes

27:40

they even talk about living in Paris

27:42

together. Well, in spring of nineteen

27:44

seventy two, Bernard's post at the Chinese

27:46

embassy ends and he does ask Sha

27:49

if she would go to Paris with him, but Kang

27:51

says not, it's impossible. You can't get

27:53

out of the country. Show you're gonna stay right here. And

27:56

Bernard's upset about this, but he does

27:58

feel like, hey, I've kind of

28:00

done quite a service to the Chinese government.

28:02

I've given them hundreds of documents

28:05

about Russia and all this mail and everything,

28:07

so y'all kind of owe me. I

28:09

guess she'll be safe.

28:10

Here with you guys, right right, Maybe

28:13

I don't have to worry about her.

28:15

Yeah.

28:15

But a year later, he goes back to

28:17

see Sha okay and knocks

28:20

on the door. Sha greets him, and she says,

28:22

I've got a surprise for you. Oh,

28:24

and right behind her is Bertrand

28:27

so Bernard finally meets his kid for the first

28:30

time, and he does see a family

28:32

resemblance. He's like, that's my kid, Bertrade.

28:34

Amazing, and the kid

28:37

is about six years old at this point. But

28:39

Sha said, you know, as you've been away,

28:41

the environment in China got a little more liberal,

28:44

and also her mother was very sick

28:46

and dying, and she wanted to see your grandkid one

28:48

more time. So Sha thought it would be okay to bring

28:50

Bertrand to Beijing. But to keep up

28:52

appearances, she had adopted Bertrand

28:55

as Sha Pepou, the

28:58

man, her male self as her males adopted

29:00

Bertrand as her son. Okay,

29:03

interesting, so Bertrand's Chinese name

29:05

was Sha.

29:05

Dude do okay? Well,

29:08

Bernard has met his son,

29:10

He's seen Sha again. It's time to return

29:13

to Paris. At this point, he has

29:15

quit the diplomatic service. He hasn't worked

29:17

in months, but he's making ends meet because

29:19

he's selling rugs and other things that he bought

29:21

in China or Saudi Arabia bottom

29:23

sheep there sell them back home for a high price.

29:26

And he also does have some one night

29:29

stands with both men and women alike.

29:31

Then he met a handsome Frenchman

29:34

named Tieri Toulet. These

29:37

guys fell crazy in love together

29:39

and they moved it together quickly, and eventually,

29:42

you know, the rug bunny ran out and Bernard

29:44

had to join the diplomatic service again. You

29:46

know, every time I get out. They keep following me back

29:49

in because I need money paycheck

29:51

right, So he accepts

29:53

a posting at the French Embassy in

29:56

New Orleans. Fun. Yeah,

29:58

it's the seventy it's New

30:00

Orleans. They're going to gay bars

30:02

and clubs. They're having a great time

30:05

for about two years.

30:07

But then it was nineteen seventy seven,

30:09

and by now China is in the

30:12

news a lot because the Gang

30:14

of Four who were kind of in charge of

30:16

everything, or the old guard they

30:18

had fallen. Everything's changing in

30:20

China. It's another chaotic time, and

30:22

Bernard is getting really worried about Sha

30:25

and Bertrand because he's like, all the people

30:27

I knew there, they might not be there anymore.

30:29

Who knows, Like, I don't know what the purge did. So

30:32

finally, one night he confesses

30:34

everything to Tieri. He

30:36

tells him I actually have this woman back in

30:39

China. We have a kid together, and

30:41

he asks, can I bring Shah back to Paris

30:43

and we all live together in a minage.

30:46

That's my ideal situation is

30:48

that I have both my wife and my husband at

30:50

the same time, same place.

30:51

My wife, my husband, my son. You

30:54

know, it's all about me and everybody else just

30:56

kind of has to join in on this thing.

30:58

And Tierri's like, oh, okay,

31:00

he's not really in the idea. But he's like, I mean, I guess

31:02

you're married, So what am I going to do?

31:04

Well that day you find out your husband has

31:06

a wife and a kid, you know, what can

31:08

you do?

31:09

Okay? Adapt He's like, I

31:11

don't want to break up with you, right, I mean? So

31:13

Bernard asks about getting a job or

31:16

diplomatic posting in the Far East

31:18

so he can get closer to shut and

31:20

he gets offered this real shit

31:22

job in Mongolia. Oh it

31:24

is the smallest French embassy. Everyone

31:27

thinks it's the most miserable place in the world.

31:29

Oh man, that's all you're hearing about this. But

31:32

it's only a thirty six hour

31:34

train ride from Beijing.

31:36

Is that all?

31:37

Thirty six hours is so long?

31:38

Ass? Yeah? I guess it's closer

31:40

than Paris.

31:41

It's closer to the New Orleans, New Orleans.

31:43

Yeah.

31:43

So Bernard's like, great, I'll take the job.

31:46

Well, security at this Mongolian

31:48

job sucks. There is no official

31:50

embassy. The diplomats work out of hotel.

31:53

Since it's such a small staff, Bernard

31:56

has not only his job, but he doubles as

31:58

the ambassador's secretary. So

32:00

he's like, yeah, you gotta file this paperwork, but you gotta

32:02

do my drag cleaning. You gotta give me a ride

32:05

to wherever I gotta be in the morning. Make

32:08

my coffee. I said, two creams,

32:10

no sugars. Well,

32:12

on his way to the gig, he stopped

32:15

over in Beijing to visit you, and

32:17

he tells her get in touch with Kang. Let

32:19

him know we can get back on that espionage

32:22

horse. And I'm go ahead and

32:24

slip you some more info from my new job.

32:27

Let Kang no se Yeah that sounds old,

32:29

Kang boy.

32:30

Yeah, but the.

32:31

Communications at his new job are super

32:34

boring. All they get is like, there's

32:36

Mongolian plans for a staging of

32:38

the opera Carmen Ooh, big

32:41

secrets. Kang's

32:43

like, wow, so glad I know that you're really

32:45

changing the global power map here, buddy.

32:48

Thanks, I'm I'm gonna elevate this right to

32:50

the top.

32:50

Yeah. Or he digs up quote a

32:53

request from the ambassador for

32:56

ten 'bdifiers and a cheese

32:58

tray. My

33:01

god, how did you ever

33:03

get this sensitive information rights?

33:07

What are they up to?

33:10

We've got our top guys on

33:12

it.

33:13

They're clearly planning to cut something.

33:16

So basically he's got nothing to offer

33:19

Kang at first, but Kang is still like, look,

33:21

there's no such thing as bad intelligence,

33:24

so whatever you can tell us about Russia is still

33:26

super important because China is

33:28

threatened by Soviet revisionism,

33:31

where like, they don't want Russia defining

33:33

what communism is, right, I want

33:35

their own thing to kind of be the global idea

33:37

of communism. So Bernard is

33:39

still in the lookout. He's like, don't worry, I

33:41

know how to look past the cheese trays and the

33:43

operas. I'm gonna find some good dirt

33:46

on Russia.

33:46

Meanwhile, he asks for a visa

33:48

for his cousin TIERI visit

33:51

him.

33:52

We're close, You're very very

33:54

close.

33:54

Cousin Tierri. He also set

33:56

up a court of like young Mongolian students

33:59

who like became like his besties.

34:02

I guess his little followers in Mongolia

34:04

because they lived in pretty deprived conditions

34:07

until Bernard came along. At

34:09

the university, they're only allowed

34:11

a three minute shower once a week,

34:14

and it's like the matron, you

34:16

know, is standing outside the shower

34:19

controlling the water, so at three minutes she

34:21

just shuts it off. Oh so, but

34:23

Bernard is like, you can use my bathroom whenever

34:25

you want. And they don't have a lot of

34:27

good food, but he has the best food and

34:30

French champagne and he just lets them

34:32

like rate his fridge whenever he wants. And I don't

34:34

care how good your food is. If you got college students

34:36

around, they're gonna come over for that. But

34:39

the best thing about it was that there was nothing sexual

34:41

in his invitations. The students were never

34:44

propositioned or anything. He just liked

34:46

having folks around. You know, this guy's again,

34:48

he's a bit of a kind of a party

34:50

guy, right. He wants people, he wants friends.

34:52

He wants to be out at parties and in the middle of

34:54

like nowhere Mongolia.

34:55

And as she's spending time with these guys, he's like, whoof

34:57

you get a three minute shower once?

35:00

It's a week and I'm having a hard

35:02

time hanging out with you guys, So why do you come over to

35:04

rinse off once in a while?

35:06

I needed to use my bathroom.

35:07

Now she can love this French soap I

35:09

got. Well,

35:12

you know, Bernard also can't be tied down.

35:14

So while he's trying to figure

35:16

out how he's gonna get Sha back to Paris, he does

35:18

have a couple of affairs, one with a

35:20

married woman, but quote that doesn't

35:23

deter him. He has a formula for married

35:25

women. You invite the woman to lunch,

35:27

which is a respectable meal. Then you invite

35:29

her back to your apartment for coffee, which is

35:31

merely polite. There you play

35:34

the bittersweet love songs of Jacques

35:36

prel and sit beside her on the

35:38

sofa and take her in your arms.

35:40

When she says no, you ignore

35:42

her because she means yes. By

35:45

six she has returned to

35:47

her husband. Wow, Bernard,

35:50

what a system you've got. She had a problem you

35:52

straight up include when she says

35:54

no, she means yes.

35:56

O Lord, what a ridiculous

35:59

ula. You

36:01

just say, take it on lunch and you turn a coffee,

36:03

and then you put on the bittersweet love

36:05

songs of Jacques Brea.

36:09

All amidst all these affairs, his

36:11

partner Tieri came to visit him, but

36:13

after he left, Bernard had a little fling

36:16

with a Polish girl. Oh so,

36:18

just a lot of opportunities for him here in Mongolia.

36:22

Right, I guess I am happy that he

36:25

has really embraced his bisexuality.

36:27

At this point, the guys decided, you know what,

36:29

it don't need to be ashamed of liking sex with

36:32

men, right, I also like sex with women.

36:34

Sure.

36:34

Now, while all this is going on, he is visiting

36:37

Beijing every six weeks

36:39

with documents from the embassy.

36:42

He gets thirty six hours in the city,

36:44

so as long as the train ride, it's just

36:46

enough time to buy things for the Mongolian

36:48

students and for Sha. Everybody's always

36:50

given Bernard a damn shopping list. He

36:53

socialized with the diplomats, he rendezvous

36:55

with Kang, but of course

36:58

Shah is getting mad at him that he doesn't spend

37:00

more time with her when he's in Beijing. And

37:02

now he does try to get some better info for

37:04

Kang, you know, some more sexy stuff

37:06

that they can use. But it's

37:09

like always dumb shit that he's picking up.

37:11

He's got stuff about like how East

37:13

Germany built a meat processing plants,

37:16

oh no, or how the French

37:18

ambassador feels that the fedoras that Mongolian

37:21

politicians wear make them look like al

37:23

Capone.

37:25

These Deep States secret

37:28

here, I guess we have.

37:29

To write a report every day about what you're

37:31

doing. You're just like nothing, I mean,

37:34

nothing's going. It's Mongolia. It's

37:36

the middle of nowhere. The university

37:38

students smell better. I don't know, but

37:42

Kang keeps telling him, don't go out of your way,

37:44

all right, it's too dangerous for you to like

37:46

try to get sensitive

37:48

stuff. So whatever you come across,

37:51

that's fine. You don't have to go out of your you

37:53

know, don't have to go the extra mile.

37:54

Right. In nineteen eighty two, Bernard

37:57

submitted an official request for a visa

37:59

for Sure to come to a three month cultural

38:02

lecture tour in France. It's like,

38:04

how about she comes here and tells us how

38:06

great Communism is day. But

38:09

when she arrives in Paris with their

38:11

son, bertrand Bernard is

38:13

in Belize on another posting, so

38:17

Tiery has to look after Sha

38:19

and Bertrand it's like, oh,

38:21

okay, I guess I'll spend my weeks caring

38:24

for my boyfriend's girlfriend

38:27

and her son.

38:28

Okay, right, I don't even want

38:30

them here.

38:31

So Sha and Bertrand move in with Thierry, and

38:33

he knows the secret that Sha is really a

38:35

woman. But she, of course, she has to stay disguised

38:37

as a man even while they're in Paris, so

38:39

that no one in China hears anything suspicious.

38:42

Secret can't get out. Finally,

38:44

Bernard returns to parish.

38:46

Tiery is like, oh my god, thank god, take

38:48

your girlfriend, get her out of my face, and

38:51

he does. He goes and starts introducing around to all

38:53

his friends, but he doesn't introduce her

38:56

around. He introduces him

38:58

around because of course they don't want this sea getting

39:00

out. Sha does have to go back to China.

39:02

Eventually, they don't reveal her secret

39:05

and she's got their son with

39:07

them, but Bernard introduces

39:09

her as Bertrand's uncle. So

39:12

Sha starts networking, getting to know people

39:15

in Paris. She ends up working

39:17

in opera again and even gets

39:19

into two TV shows. So

39:21

monsieur Sha, this fella,

39:24

this uncle is actually getting pretty

39:26

famous in Paris.

39:27

Yeah, you know what that means. It

39:29

means attention, right, And so these

39:31

French surveillance agents

39:34

they realize that shape Poo is living

39:37

in Bernard's apartment and they're

39:39

like, huh, so you must have met while

39:42

in your diplomatic service, So that means

39:44

that might be a government employee of China.

39:46

That's a big problem. They need to, you know, have

39:49

clearance to have a government person run

39:51

around. They don't want same issue as in China.

39:53

You can't have somebody run around work with the government

39:55

that you don't know about. Maybe pass the secrets.

39:57

They don't want since he worked in the garn

40:00

in China, they don't want his Chinese

40:02

friends coming back because those guys are probably

40:04

also government, right.

40:06

I think they're just like, we just need to like clear him,

40:08

you know what I mean. I get asked some questions. So

40:10

in nineteen eighty three they bring Bernard

40:12

in for questioning and ask

40:15

him what's up with this guy? What's your relationship?

40:17

What's the deal? And two days later they

40:19

charge Bernard with Espiona. Oh shit,

40:22

and then they go see Sha Pey poop. Now

40:24

Sha is like, oh shit, I'm in

40:26

trouble. Starts complaining about a history of

40:28

heart problems. It says, I'm real sick.

40:31

So they're like, great, we'll bring a doctor in, but she

40:34

won't allow an examination. When the doctor

40:36

comes in, so they're like okay, and

40:39

she finally says, okay, I'll tell you

40:41

the real truth. I'm a woman.

40:43

I was raised as a man, you

40:46

know, explain to them that she never knew

40:48

Bernard was involved in espionage

40:51

and that has completely got nothing to do with me.

40:53

I only taught him classes about chairman.

40:55

Now, my friend Bernard espionage,

40:58

how weird. He's like a male clerk,

41:00

what does he know?

41:03

So five days later, the French

41:06

arrests Sha as well, and the judge

41:08

says, we're going to give Sha a medical examination,

41:11

prove this whole story about being

41:13

a woman in a man's disguise.

41:15

Well, on July eighth, in prison,

41:18

Bernard heard that Sha is

41:20

in the same prison as him, and he's like, Oh, that's

41:23

weird because of course I'm in a male prison

41:26

and Sha is really a woman, So I guess

41:28

they don't know that yet. They still

41:30

think it's a man. They just put her in here

41:32

whatever. Both of them are

41:34

escorted by police back to Bernard's

41:36

apartment for a search. Tierry

41:39

is there too, and while

41:41

they're at the apartment with the police and everybody,

41:44

Bernard asks Sha to

41:46

marry him. Oh he thinks that'll

41:48

keep her safe, right, Like, oh, if we're

41:50

for a husband and wife, they can't charge a

41:53

husband in mine with the same crime.

41:56

It's like the Blues method always

41:58

worse.

41:58

I got the worst fucking lawyer. Well,

42:03

anyway, he just does think this, this will help if

42:05

they're married, if everybody thinks they're getting married.

42:08

But she says it's too late, we

42:10

can't do this. And on July

42:13

thirteenth, Bernard was sitting in his

42:15

prison cell listening to the news on the radio,

42:18

and there's a bulletin that talks

42:20

about the accused spy should

42:23

pay Pooh, a man who

42:25

is disguised as a woman, who

42:27

is actually a man.

42:30

The announcer on the radio said,

42:33

quote, he is a man.

42:37

So totally blows

42:39

Bernard's lid right off the top of his

42:41

head, absolutely bakes his

42:44

baguettes. Uh, completely

42:48

unravels his beret.

42:50

I don't know cargo.

42:53

Yes, his croissants are

42:55

toasted. He's like, what should

42:58

put should pay? Pooh? Is really

43:00

a man this whole time? No way.

43:02

Well, look, we've got a little bit

43:05

more to this story, and we're gonna tell

43:07

you everything that's happened here and try and make

43:09

it all make sense. So stick around right

43:11

off this break and we'll be right back. Welcome

43:16

back, everybody. Let's figure out what the

43:18

hell's going on here with pe poop, I.

43:21

Am all turned around. So this is a man

43:23

dressed like a woman who's actually a man. So

43:25

it turns out that when the French gave

43:28

Sha the medical examination, they

43:30

had been given a set of rules,

43:33

like some things to figure out.

43:34

Okay, here's your checklist

43:36

exactly.

43:37

And this is the check The following is the checklist.

43:40

Quote. Determine if

43:42

the prisoner, in addition to his masculine

43:45

organs, has external female

43:47

organs. If he does, not, determine

43:49

whether he might have had female organs

43:51

in the past. Determine

43:54

whether the prisoner shows any trace of surgical

43:56

intervention of the sexual organs.

43:58

If so, make a report of the nature

44:00

of that intervention. Determine

44:03

whether the prisoner, as he has claimed,

44:05

has the ability to withdraw his

44:08

penis and testicles into

44:10

his body cavity. And finally,

44:13

examine the prisoner's anis for signs

44:15

of sodomization.

44:17

Damn, examining my anis

44:19

is a sign of sodomization.

44:21

You don't know about withdrawing your That's

44:24

like it's like a go go gadget thing to which, well,

44:27

I have heard of penis into your cavity.

44:29

Drag Queen's being able to do this. Oh

44:31

okay, uh yeah. I had a drag queen friend

44:33

who was like, this is how you can actually those

44:36

up inside. I mean

44:39

that's from whence they came, you know, I guess

44:41

so, which sounds

44:43

like something I'm not going to experiment with myself.

44:45

But more power to you if that's your superpower.

44:48

Also, what a checklist? I know,

44:51

you know, the doctors that got it were like, I went

44:53

to a medical school for this, you.

44:55

Know, eight years of university.

44:58

Eight years.

44:59

So the doctors do their little check and

45:02

determine that Sha is a man

45:04

with very typical male sexual

45:07

organs, no signs of surgical intervention,

45:10

no signs of sodomization, and

45:12

despite all of his talk about heart problems,

45:15

they say, this guy's got a totally normal heartbeat.

45:17

Nothing wrong there, Everything looks fine.

45:19

So Sha says, after this, okay,

45:22

all right, let me explain everything

45:24

to you guys. The New York

45:26

Times article quotes it for us in words

45:29

that will just borrow from them.

45:31

Yeah, and if talk

45:33

about anatomical manipulation

45:35

bothers you you know, I don't know,

45:37

plug your ears for a second or something, they

45:40

say, quote easily smoothly.

45:43

He pushes his testicles up

45:45

into his body cavity. The skin

45:47

of the scrotal sack hangs slack

45:50

like curtains. The man now

45:52

pushes his penis between his legs towards

45:55

his back, bisecting the skin

45:57

of the scrotum, and squeezes his legs

46:00

tightly together. The penis is

46:02

hidden while the skin of the scrotum

46:04

resembles the vaginal lips beneath

46:06

a triangle of pubic hair pushed

46:09

between the empty scrotle sack. The penis

46:11

has also created a small

46:13

cavity so that shallow penetration

46:16

is possible. Wow,

46:19

So now we learn about what this

46:21

sort of weird, uncomfortable sex

46:24

that Bernard and show we're having,

46:28

and why Bernard didn't really know and

46:30

why should eventually was just like let me just

46:32

use my hand's mouth here for both

46:34

of us.

46:34

Much better. Yeah,

46:37

okay, okay.

46:38

You know, in a in a dark bedroom,

46:41

when when emotions are

46:43

high and everybody's trying to have a good time, you

46:45

can miss a lot.

46:48

I guess, especially if you know she's like

46:50

turn all the lights off. Yeah, you know, our

46:52

guide your where you need

46:54

to go, and it'll be very specific every

46:57

time. And now, of course

46:59

I'm the radio. All they say is that Sha

47:01

is a man. They don't explain all the squirtle curtains

47:04

or whatever. But Bernard is

47:06

not believing this, of course, He's like, no,

47:08

I can't be okay, I've known her for

47:11

years now decades and we have a kid

47:13

together, and like, what are you talking about?

47:14

Right?

47:15

So they're interrogated separately

47:17

for six months, and then they finally get interrogated

47:20

together. Oh and Bernard

47:22

hears Sha say with his

47:24

own mouth that he is a man. He

47:28

also hears Shah say quote, I

47:30

never told Bernard I was a woman. I

47:32

only let it be understood that

47:35

I could be a woman.

47:36

Wow. So the old uh you know,

47:38

I'd never technically and told you trick.

47:41

Come on, another

47:44

blue family legal trick.

47:45

I see, maybe yeah, probably. And

47:48

then he also says that Bertrand is

47:50

not his son, but of course,

47:53

but he also does say that through artificial

47:55

insemination, Bertrand is Bernard's

47:58

son.

47:59

Oh whoa, which I got quite like, so

48:01

I saved it.

48:02

Okay, that'sn't like Bernard's like,

48:04

you like, what how did you just anyway

48:06

throw this?

48:07

Well it's shallow cavity, uh,

48:09

I mean.

48:10

You know, scraped into a vial.

48:11

I don't throw that in the freezer and

48:14

then take it to the lab and we'll

48:16

make.

48:16

A kid in a I mean, what a weird,

48:19

elaborate thing to do.

48:20

Okay, okay, Well, for

48:22

eight months people have been telling Bernard

48:24

that Sha was really a man, but he had

48:27

refused to believe it. After a

48:29

second interrogation at court, they

48:31

were sitting together in a holding cell

48:33

waiting for police to transport them back to prison,

48:37

and Bernard says, quote, so

48:39

it's true you're a man,

48:41

and Sha says, quote, of course.

48:44

Oh so, Bernard says, show

48:47

me, and Sha pulls

48:49

down his pants to prove it. And

48:52

when Bernard asks, why didn't you

48:54

tell me this whole time? I mean, I'm

48:56

bisexual. Come on, like, I don't have a problem.

48:58

This would have been fine, okay, and Shaw says,

49:00

quote, oh there was no time.

49:03

There was no time when I've

49:05

known you for a decade, when

49:07

I've been buying you shit every fucking thirty

49:10

six hours.

49:10

Oh real quick, before you go to the grocery store,

49:12

I'm actually a man.

49:14

Okay, Like, why

49:16

even bother with the lie in the first place?

49:18

Oh so weird,

49:21

So Chris Bernard is devastated

49:24

and very depressed. Again,

49:26

most sure Shah is famous

49:29

in France. Oh yeah, yeah, and so this is a really

49:31

big deal. Even if it was, you know, it

49:33

probably would be anyway because it's like an espionage

49:35

thing. But this is with a

49:37

famous person doing espionage, so it's

49:39

like all over the country everybody

49:42

knows about it. Bernard's a bit of a laughing

49:44

stock, and so he's really depressed. And

49:47

then he hears that Shah gets released from prison

49:49

to go await trial at home because

49:51

of his heart problems. Oh the

49:53

quote unquote heart problem. Right,

49:56

so he's like, man, Shug gets to go like hang

49:58

out at home. Then another

50:01

blow when blood tests come back proving

50:03

that Bertrand is not Bernard's

50:05

son at all.

50:06

Oh man, no relation.

50:09

Poor Bernard was very upset

50:11

and he decided he would rather be dead.

50:14

So he pulled the razor blade out of his shaving

50:16

razor and he slit his

50:18

own throat. But he

50:20

survived. He did not go deep enough,

50:22

I guess.

50:23

Yeah. Well, in May of nineteen eighty six, they

50:25

finally have this trial, and lawyers

50:28

argue that Bernard didn't even give the Chinese

50:30

government any substantial info it would be stupid

50:33

to throw the book at him. Just be a waste

50:35

of time. You know, what are we even talking about here?

50:37

Some cheese plates exactly.

50:39

They're reading this stuff.

50:40

Like come on, come on, Oh, Mongolia

50:42

is doing Carmen.

50:43

Like, okay, they wear fedoras, who

50:45

cares, what's the big deal.

50:48

And the lawyers say that Shah could have

50:50

escaped to China while awaiting trial

50:52

if he was, you know, such an incredible spy,

50:56

right, so you know, we let him stay at home and he doesn't

50:58

break out, so he can't really be

51:00

some superspy that we're all making him out to be. So

51:03

at the end of the trial, both of them get sentenced

51:06

to six years in prison. But

51:08

in April of nineteen eighty seven, just the next

51:10

year, Sha got a presidential

51:13

pardon because his imprisonment

51:16

is an embarrassment to the Chinese government

51:18

and it was damaging international relations

51:20

between China and France, and this case

51:22

wasn't serious enough for those kinds

51:25

of consequences to be acceptable. This is not

51:27

worth what we're going through.

51:28

So, right, if you were selling French state secrets

51:31

or something really important, sure, but.

51:33

So Sha enjoys this notoriety,

51:36

ends up staying in Paris. I've made so many

51:38

friends here and I got all these connections. And

51:40

he returned to the opera to perform.

51:42

Bernard got his pardon, his

51:44

presidential pardon four months later.

51:47

I guess they were like, you can stay for a minute, think.

51:49

About what you've done.

51:50

Yeah, and again, you

51:52

know, he's a bit of a laughing stock in Paris.

51:54

But he ended up living contentedly with

51:56

Thiery. Ok So Tierry's still there.

51:58

I'm happy he didn't break.

51:59

Up with it. That

52:01

guy stuck it out.

52:03

I thought, this is a very easy going gentleman

52:05

like that.

52:06

Worth it. My god.

52:08

There's no contact between Bernard

52:10

and Sha or Bertrand who.

52:13

Of course, Sha had adopted back in China, so that's

52:15

still his adoptive.

52:16

Sh So the adoption was real.

52:17

The adoption was real.

52:19

Okay.

52:19

I guess he really needed a cover for this pregnancy

52:22

or whatever. But anyway, in nineteen

52:24

eighty eight, their story was turned into the

52:26

famous play M Butterfly by

52:28

David Henry Hwang. Actually B.

52:30

D Wong played the part of Well,

52:33

the part that was inspired by Sha.

52:35

B d Wong I know, phenomenal

52:38

actor, great actor. If you might know

52:40

him as the scientist in Jurassic Park,

52:42

doctor Wu what

52:44

did we just see him? And oh he was in Gotham. He

52:47

was the other doctor Strange,

52:49

the DC mister Strange in

52:52

Gotham. A scientist, that's right,

52:54

that's a bad scientist anyway, many

52:56

more things. But of course B. D.

52:57

Wong and like Sha, doesn't give a lot of

52:59

inner views. He prefers to be sort of a mysterious,

53:02

you know, kind presence. But Bernard

53:04

cooperated with author Joyce Wadler

53:07

on a full biography of his story called

53:09

Liaison. It was published in nineteen ninety

53:11

three, and he's not as bitter

53:13

as he could be about the whole thing. He's

53:15

quoted as saying, quote, when I

53:18

believed it, it was a beautiful

53:20

story. So I guess he I

53:23

don't know, maybe those four months were good for him to,

53:25

like, right.

53:26

Think about what he'd done.

53:27

Yeah, getting well, there's very and I feel

53:29

like I would be very mad. So I don't know.

53:31

Just I guess he figured out, you

53:33

know whatever, no no harm really came from

53:36

it. I suppose.

53:37

I mean, it's so nice that he's able to take something positive

53:39

from it. I guess. I mean, you know what the

53:41

emotions were real, you know that kind

53:43

of thing is like, maybe that person didn't really

53:45

love me, maybe that person was lying to me the whole time.

53:47

But I was a person in love, you know. I

53:50

had this amazing magical experience of whatever

53:52

he's He technically got his adventure

53:55

right, going all over the world. Maybe it wasn't as

53:57

fantastic as he imagined it would be. But

53:59

the guys lived a pretty adventurous

54:02

life for a long time there.

54:03

That's very true.

54:04

So what about the young boy Bertrand?

54:07

Or should do do well?

54:10

He explained the mystery of where he came from in

54:12

his own statement to the police. He was

54:14

from China's Huiger minority,

54:16

and he said that he had actually been sold

54:19

by his mother. He said, quote,

54:21

it was not that my mother did not love me. We

54:23

were starving. And

54:25

from Joyce Wadler's two thousand and nine obituary

54:28

for Sha, it said that at the

54:30

time of SHA's death in two thousand and nine,

54:32

Bertrand was living in Paris and had

54:35

three sons of his own.

54:37

Man Bernard brought both of them over from

54:39

China. He had brought like his biggest mistake over

54:41

from China. I had to like share the city.

54:44

Had a great time living it up in Paris.

54:45

Yes.

54:46

Now.

54:47

In that obituary, that same obituary, it

54:49

was reported that Sha Pepoo disliked

54:51

answering questions about the sexual

54:53

specifics of the affair.

54:55

Sure, as many people do.

54:56

Most people don't like. But

54:59

in a nineteen eighty eight interview, he said,

55:01

quote, I used to fascinate both

55:03

men and women. What I was

55:05

and what they were didn't matter. I

55:08

mean, I guess, but it sort of does matter

55:11

to poor Bernard.

55:12

Well, you know, I guess

55:14

it doesn't matter if you know it

55:16

doesn't matter. But if you're deliberately misleading.

55:19

Right exactly.

55:19

I think that's if someone's like, are you a man

55:21

or are you a woman? You can absolutely say

55:24

like does it matter to you? What difference

55:26

does it make? And that person can then say

55:28

you're right, fuck it, I think you're cool, I think you're hot.

55:31

Who cares? Or you can say,

55:33

well, personally, it does matter to me, and

55:35

it's something that you know I would

55:38

I would like to have disclosed

55:40

in some way or another. I mean, maybe you don't identify as a

55:42

man or a woman, it may matter

55:44

to someone else for their sexual preferences

55:48

in terms of how you identify.

55:50

Yeah, and I think too, it's like so odd

55:53

to make up this lie,

55:55

Yeah, especially because Bernard

55:58

really didn't seem to care, particularly if you're

56:00

a male or female. I mean especially later on.

56:02

You know, at the time he met Sha, he was very much

56:05

looking for a woman to have an affair with. Yeah,

56:07

but later he's like, you know, I'm with Thierry

56:10

you know when, and women alike. I don't have no

56:12

problem.

56:13

Well, I think that's what I'm saying too, is like it's not so much

56:15

that the identity is important.

56:18

It could very well not be important to anyone.

56:20

But the deliberate secret keeping

56:23

exact's sketchy, that's not honest.

56:26

And that gets into like consent issues,

56:28

right, Like I lied to you about

56:30

who I am, and then we had a sexual relationship.

56:33

Well, then I didn't really have a sexual relationship with the

56:35

person I thought I was. That's deceitful.

56:38

Yeah, that's true. And it sounds

56:41

like the plan here was

56:43

for Sha to I guess,

56:46

to pretend to be a woman, so the baby thing

56:48

would happen and it would like tie Bernard

56:50

to China. I see, I'm assuming that

56:53

that was maybe the idea was that it would be like,

56:55

oh, if you have a kid here, you'll keep coming back.

56:57

You'll want to like take care of us. Okay,

57:00

you know, but in some ways it just feels like really

57:02

bored spies trying to have fun.

57:04

Spy thing happened, right, They made

57:06

up this honeypot with this guy who really can't

57:08

get him anything exciting.

57:10

So you're saying, just to clarify that she was

57:14

put up to this by the Chinese government, is

57:16

the implication?

57:17

Yes, I believe. So it looks like it was

57:19

a honeypot trap. It was supposed to be. This

57:21

sexy woman comes in and

57:23

you fall for her, and then she starts

57:26

pulling your strings for it.

57:27

Which I mean just goes to show the elaborate nature

57:29

of espionage and how in

57:31

depth something might be just to learn

57:34

from one guy, like when

57:36

Mongolia is getting a cheese plate. You know, the

57:40

investment. I don't feel like the payoff was worth

57:42

the investment, but I guess you have to throw

57:44

that much stuff at the wall to

57:47

see where sick.

57:48

And maybe they even start with low level because they're

57:50

like, well, you'll get promoted one day and you'll already

57:52

be in my pocket. But I imagine that was maybe

57:54

the idea, and they didn't realize they were dealing with somebody

57:56

kind of unambitious, like you're not not trying

57:59

to like I'm a diplomat. He's like, I just

58:01

want to go party.

58:02

I didn't realize they

58:04

overestimated they

58:06

were working with here. I guess, so that's

58:08

funny. I mean yeah, I mean, I guess

58:10

that makes sense. Like we're going to give you a Chinese

58:13

sun. You're going to really feel like

58:15

that. The more you progress here, probably

58:18

the deeper we're going to pull you in, exactly

58:20

to the point where suddenly he's like chief ambassador

58:23

to China from France and

58:25

they're like, yeah, you're basically Chinese

58:27

at this point, right, And like.

58:29

Even this stuff like keeping him away from Shah

58:32

so much, and like the following him on bikes

58:34

and all this stuff might have added to

58:36

it, like he would feel, oh, she you know,

58:38

she's in real danger and I have to do. You

58:40

know, I'm assuming

58:43

all of that was completely fabricated.

58:46

Amazing, amazing, how expensive

58:48

you.

58:48

Know, Oh my god, I mean, spy

58:50

shit is for real, Like you say,

58:53

you do so much work, you know, to

58:55

maybe get one nugget of a donation that

58:57

may or may not ever be useful.

58:59

That's the other thing. What an embarrassing flop

59:01

for Chinese intelligence because

59:04

even even when he got caught and the

59:06

French government was like, yeah, this really

59:08

was nothing. This is just we're only

59:11

punishing you because you were so stupid, and

59:14

China's like, wow, we really really

59:16

kind of bungled that one, right.

59:18

And I guess Show was like, I ain't going back to China.

59:21

Yeah right. I wonder if Show would

59:23

have been in danger back in China because maybe

59:26

he revealed too much once he got

59:28

caught, you know that

59:30

once the gig was up, it was like, yeah,

59:32

don't come home.

59:33

I wondered that too, Or if he was just like I'm

59:35

in Paris and it's like more fun.

59:38

I don't know.

59:39

Yeah, I'm making it as an

59:41

opera star. True.

59:42

I wasn't doing opera in China, And.

59:44

So that part of the story must

59:46

have been true. Yes, the butterfly

59:48

story.

59:49

That I think was true.

59:51

I guess that's the best way to build a fake

59:54

character is you got to include a lot of truth in there that's

59:56

so true.

59:56

You got to build it around a nuggetive truth

59:59

that you can have that ring of sincerity.

1:00:01

Yeah, What I love is that

1:00:04

Bernard is introducing everyone to Sha

1:00:07

and be like, this is a man, and

1:00:10

everyone else is like, yeah, that's a man. And

1:00:12

Bernard is the only one who

1:00:14

thinks this guy's a woman, and he doesn't know

1:00:17

he's He's the only one who's.

1:00:18

Wrong, I know. But

1:00:20

then I am like, okay, so then show why

1:00:23

bother telling the French government that you are

1:00:25

a woman. Of course they're gonna like did

1:00:27

he really think they weren't gonna make

1:00:30

to verify that.

1:00:31

I think he was like, oh,

1:00:33

yeah, well you're gonna have to get a doctor in here,

1:00:36

and they're like, we've actually got one outside. Yeah, And it

1:00:38

was like, oh shit. In China that would have taken six weeks.

1:00:41

They're like, you know, this is France. Have you ever heard

1:00:43

of impotency court? You're

1:00:45

one looking at your genitals.

1:00:50

Wow.

1:00:50

When Bernard was notified at

1:00:52

the time, he was living in a French nursing home and

1:00:55

he was notified of SHA's death, Bernard

1:00:57

just said quote, he did so many

1:00:59

things against me that he had no pity for. I

1:01:02

think it's stupid to play another game now

1:01:04

and say I am sad. The plate

1:01:06

is clean. Now I am.

1:01:08

Free Oh wow, So

1:01:10

I kind of think that's sad.

1:01:11

I mean, how long is were they together? And

1:01:13

Bernard's like putting all of this time

1:01:16

and energy and love into a fake,

1:01:19

completely fake relationship and

1:01:21

he didn't even get to build a bond with Bertrand,

1:01:24

which I guess is kind of a blessing in disguise

1:01:26

because they ended up not having a relationship at all.

1:01:28

But I'm just like, man that

1:01:30

you know, to just think this whole time that you

1:01:33

have someone a kid with somebody and you're

1:01:35

you're working so hard to keep them safe

1:01:37

and supplied and comfortable

1:01:39

and whatever, to and then be

1:01:41

like, I feel like a fucking moron. I'm a total

1:01:44

patsy.

1:01:44

Yeah, And I mean for all the for

1:01:46

all the adventure that he got, Yeah, I mean to

1:01:48

know that the underlying motivation for

1:01:51

it was false. I

1:01:53

mean, you know it was a total lie, and that

1:01:55

you did that, yeah, that that you loved this person

1:01:58

and that they clearly did not love you back the way they

1:02:00

told you they did. That that hurts no matter

1:02:02

what the circumstances. And then you add that it's all

1:02:04

about like you know, super high

1:02:07

governmental espionage bullshit. That's

1:02:10

just insult to injury, and then on.

1:02:11

Top of that, the friendship

1:02:13

wasn't even real. Yeah, so he's like,

1:02:16

even if you're not a woman and we're not in love

1:02:18

and whatever, that was my friend.

1:02:21

That was my best friend. If

1:02:23

we recall, he said I could tell him things

1:02:25

I could not tell anyone else, Like that's

1:02:27

how he felt about him. So just

1:02:29

to find out that that's completely fake would

1:02:31

just be really.

1:02:32

Heartbreaking, right, And I imagine should going back

1:02:34

to Kang the Chinese government and just being

1:02:36

like, well, I found out this guy used to play hoop

1:02:39

and stick at his boarding school. Like I

1:02:41

don't know, he's telling me all his secrets, but it's

1:02:43

not like there's state secrets.

1:02:44

You know, Yeah, I got nothing.

1:02:46

How long do I have to keep doing this?

1:02:47

Like, you know what, let's take a pregnancy. This is going to

1:02:50

be the thing that does it. He'll be like, I got to provide

1:02:52

for my family and get a better job at

1:02:55

the embassy.

1:02:56

I don't know, I do wonder show.

1:03:00

We can assume Shaw was happy to

1:03:02

help his government, right, I

1:03:04

can assume that, yeah, but also we

1:03:07

don't know. I mean, like, you know, how much of this show

1:03:09

was like can I can I get away from this dude,

1:03:12

is this really going to be my whole life is pretending to this guy's

1:03:14

secret wife?

1:03:15

Right?

1:03:15

You know how long agot to keep

1:03:17

this up for that's got to be frustrating too.

1:03:19

I mean that's very true.

1:03:20

You know, definitely not the victim here,

1:03:23

but probably a victim at least of

1:03:26

you know, of government manipulation. Right.

1:03:29

I do have so many questions. I wish there was a little

1:03:31

more information about Shah yeah

1:03:33

and his like real background, because

1:03:37

was he placed at

1:03:39

the embassy teaching the wives,

1:03:43

you know, as like a lay

1:03:45

in the groundwork for a honeypot thing or

1:03:47

was he actually doing that? And then when he's like, oh,

1:03:49

I made friends with this guy here, right, the

1:03:51

government then was like, oh hey, well let's use

1:03:54

that.

1:03:54

You know.

1:03:54

I'm just wondering what the timeline is. I wonder if

1:03:57

government work.

1:03:58

I wonder if Shaw wasn't very good at it, and

1:04:01

they were and they were like, okay, go teach

1:04:04

embassy wives until you make friends with an

1:04:06

ambassador and then you're going to seduce him and

1:04:08

tell him you're a woman. And like three

1:04:10

months in he cannot make friends

1:04:12

with an ambassador until this one, like loser

1:04:15

comes up He's like I made

1:04:17

friends with a clerk and they're like,

1:04:19

fuck whatever, fine, take

1:04:21

it. He's like their lowest agent.

1:04:25

He's like really trying to prove himself

1:04:27

because he's bungled all the last three of his cases.

1:04:30

Damn shu.

1:04:31

Yeah, well this is what you get. You got

1:04:33

your head in the clouds. All you ever think about is opera

1:04:36

and the story of the Butterfly Wild.

1:04:40

What a ride?

1:04:41

Yes, oh my god, he.

1:04:43

Was on a roller coaster this time for real.

1:04:45

Well, thank you again to Katie for this amazing

1:04:47

suggestion. This was really fun to learn about.

1:04:49

I wish I did have a spy here to kind of explain

1:04:51

that that process right, But I feel

1:04:54

like we nailed it. We probably

1:04:56

got it right. But you

1:04:58

guys, let us know what you think. We always

1:05:00

want to know what you think and what other stories

1:05:02

we should be doing, So reach out to us. Our

1:05:04

email is redict romance at gmail

1:05:06

dot com.

1:05:07

That's right. You can find us on Instagram. I'm

1:05:09

at O Great, it's Eli.

1:05:11

I'm at Diana Mite Boom.

1:05:12

And the show is at redict Romance. Follow

1:05:15

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1:05:17

reviews and your thoughts, and we can't wait

1:05:19

to catch you all at the next episode.

1:05:20

Thanks so much for spending time with us today. We

1:05:23

love you.

1:05:23

Bye, Solong friends,

1:05:26

it's time to go. Thanks for

1:05:28

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