A: Hello everybody, and welcome back to famous Brits under the Microscope. But this episode we call it famous Brits under the microscope but it probably be better say, most notorious Brits under the microscope.
L: The most infamous.
A: The Halloween, which is this moth in October, we are gonna be talking about one of the most infamous, most known criminals in history and somebody that can send a chill down the spine of anybody who knows anything about London, and this man is still a mystery today. Today, we are gonna be talking about Jack the Ripper.
L: Jack the Ripper, 开膛手杰克 like Alan said, he is one of the most notorious serial killers in world history.
A: And if you considered that Jack the Ripper, this all took place over 130 years ago, and people still talk about him.
L: By the way, notorious means famous but for the bad reasons
A: Yeah. Famous is generally a positive word. We would say infamous or notorious to describe somebody who is famous for bad reasons.
L: Infamous or notorious criminal like Jack the Ripper.
A: Yes.
L: So let's dig into the story. I'm sure a lot people heard about Jack the Ripper, even for people who don't speak English, know nothing about England, they probably heard it in some TV series or movies. But not that many people actually know the full story.
A: No.
L: And This is exactly what we are going to explore today.
A: Well, not the full story. The full story is quite graphic. So we only gonna give you the basics and if you are interested in the story, then please feel free to check on line. But I warn you, it's a very graphic story.
L: But we are not going to do that bloody in the show. First of all, when did it happen? It happened in the end of the 19th century, right? I believe it's 1880 something?
A: It was 1888. It took place in the East End of London.
L: What is the East part of London like?
A: Well, you remember an episode we did about the West End of London.
L: Oh that's the theater district.
A: Yeah, the entertainment, the theater, is the bright lights. The East End of London is poorer area of London.
L: And then this is also where the crimes tend to happen.
A: Yeah.
L: What about nowadays? Nowadays it's better, isn't it?
A: Nowadays it's getting better. It's getting more gentrified. So slightly richer people were starting to move into that area. But the East End if you mention it, people do think about crime. Lots of famous criminals lived in that area.
L: Including Jack the Ripper.
A: Apparently.
L: So that was the Victorian age. What was the Victorian London like? How did people live? Were they well to do? Were they live in a comfortable life?
A: Victorian London was the largest city in the world. Think about the Height of the British empire. So London really was the center of the world. And even known as such important city, it was full of rich, poor, all living together.
L: It's probably is the combination of the brightest, the richest, but also the poorest, the most deprived.
A: Yeah, so the East End of London was filled with the immigrants who came to London and it was also filled with working class. There was lots of poverty, people really struggled, and some people starve to death. It was an area of crime. It was an area of drinking as well. That were lots, lots of pubs.
L: Lots of drunks. Lots of girls who worked at night.
A: Yeah.
L: So lead us into the story.
A: It was the 30th of August,1888. It was early in the morning. It was still very dark, and a man who was driving a cart saw a bundle of rags, old clothes on the street. He took a closer look, and saw that it was a woman who'd been murdered.
L: That was the first victim.
A: Yeah. And overall five women were murdered. Some people say that there were more, up to about 9. But there were 5 confirmed women. All of these women were prostitutes and the crime, the killing was horrific. It was terrifying what Jack the Ripper did to these women.
L: We are not going to go into details in order not to upset everyone. But Jack the Ripper is called Ripper for a reason.
A: Yeah.
L: They were horrific murders and obviously that terrified the neighborhood and they all shared similarities. So people started to think that this is the act of a serial killer. Because these all done in a similar way.
A: Yeah. But one of the greatest mysteries was Jack the Ripper was never caught. But only a few months later in November 1888, they suddenly stopped. There were no more crimes.
L: So there was a period and then 5 or 9 women died. And then, that was it. It stopped.
A: And that was one of the greatest mysteries-why did it stop?
L: I think the bigger mystery is who was Jack the Ripper.
A: Well, nobody knows. There were many suspects but nobody has proven their identities. The actual name comes from a newspaper.
L: Oh, yes. I read it somewhere. So the newspapers they received a letter claiming to be the murderer, calling himself Jack the Ripper. And he addresses the letter to Dear Boss. So it always reads: Dear Boss, I have done this or that and you will never catch me.
A: Yup. Unfortunately, it was almost certain that the letter was fake.
L: People have been studying those letters for years.
A: Some people still believed that they are real. But generally people now say that they are fake.
L: If they are fake, who were they from?

A: Apparently, they were from a journalist.
L: Ah, try to make the story. So were there no clues? You said they never found him and they never solve the murder.
A: He was known as Leather Apron for a short time as well. Because they found part of a leather apron at the crime scene.
Leather apron.
L: Those type of things that a butcher would wear.
A: A butcher or carpenter, somebody who work with their hands. And the police thought that he was a doctor or a butcher, because it was obvious that there was somebody who knew how to use a knife and also had a very good knowledge of anatomy.
L: Had a knowledge of anatomy人体解剖学，well this leads to what he did.
A: But this was the age before fingerprinting or any type of forensic evidence.
L: So DNA was out of the question.
A: No. And they tried to find him. There even was a famous story where policeman was dressing up as women going around the streets.
L: So they went undercover.
A: Yeah.
L: Ah, poor policeman. Then that all amount to nothing.
A: Nah, but apparently that was easy to find them because they were still wearing their police boots.
L: They were not doing their jobs thoroughly then. But you said that there were quite a few suspects. They were later proven to be wrong suspects. They were not really Jack the Ripper. Who were these suspects?
A: There were some suspects. Lots people blamed the immigrants to the East End, especially the Jewish immigrants.
L: Because East End has always been a place for immigrants.
A: And some people who even said that a famous painter was Jack the Ripper and even a royal prince.
L: Really? The royal family was dragged in.
A: Yeah.
L: Later on, obviously it was proven to be the wrong one. So why were people or why are people so interested in Jack the Ripper? There were tons of other criminals.
A: Oh, absolutely. One is the crime himself. The crime was quite horrific.
L: Um, graphic. That wasn't just simple killing.
A: No. But it was also the first time that mass media was popular. So more people could read and tabloid newspapers had been invented.
L: I believe that they didn't leave out any graphic details.
A: No. So people could read about Jack the Ripper, a lot more than before.
L: It's because mass media, they played a part. But you also mentioned that London back then, there was a huge gap between the rich and the poor. East End is on the edge of the city of London.
A: Yeah. So one of the reasons why it was so popular is that it shone a light on this very poor area of London. And it was a time of social problems as well between the establishment. So the establishment are the rulers of the country who generally are quite wealthy and there are also men as well as the poor of the East End. So this symbolized that difference.
L: The huge difference which led to social problems. This is kind of like underneath all these bright lights there were still so many problems. There were still so much deprivation and poverty. He is still famous today with people. People still fascinated.
A: I think it's because it is unsolved murder. It's unsolved mystery that's why people so fascinated. And they even have people called Ripperologists.
L: Ripperologists people who specialize in Jack the Ripper. And I think this also tie sin list of English tradition of murder mystery.
A: Yeah.
L: To me, if it's a horrific crime that happens in your time then of course something is really serious. But if it's in history, there is a safe distance between you and the murder. So people talk about it, as more of a fascination, more of a mystery.
A: Yeah. And this is why this has been an inspiration. So there were TV series called, for example, White Chapel and Ripper street.
L: Both are British TV series. White chapel白教堂血案，because that is the area in East London, White chapel area, where all the murders happened. And Ripper street. White Chapel is actually about the modern day crimes that are linked with the past. But Ripper Street was a historical drama.
A: Yeah. They were both quite popular TV shows. And even now, if you look on Amazon,there were about 2000 search results on Jack the ripper related books.
L: 2000, wow. Surly there are lots of Ripperologists out there.
A: Yeah. And it's also interests tourists as well. If you go to London, "Jack the ripper" walking tours that go down that area are still very popular.
L: Walking tour would be you have a guide that guides you through these sights. You will have an experienced guide, every good storyteller taking you around the area and telling you the stories with some of them you even get to investigate the crime with the Victorian detectives.
A: Yes, when I was at university, I used to do walking tours like this.
L: As the guide?!
A: As the guide, yes.
L: Hopeful the next time you are in London, and Alan happens to be there, maybe he can take you on a tour.
A: Yeah, absolutely.
L: I hope you enjoyed today's episode today. We did not include anything graphic, so that would be suitable for all of you. And hopefully we still manage to create a Halloween mood.
A: So let's know what you think in the comment section. Please don't add too many details for the sake of our younger listeners in the comments.
L: And if you are interested in listening to the stories of any other famous Brits. Let us know as well. We will see you next time.
A&L: Bye.

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