Chips For The Fish Monger
Sep 24, 2026 · 27 min · 12 segments
- Show signals
- SuitabilityLimitedBiasNot political
Sep 24, 2026 · 27 min · 12 segments
Aubrey Mason at your service.
At Assignments Unlimited, we do anything, anywhere, at any time.
33 Half Moon Street.
Chips for the fishmonger.
Not all the tasks undertaken by Assignments Unlimited are spectacular or particularly dangerous.
In fact, the unusual is the exception rather than the rule.
The nervous little old Frenchman who came into my office requested the services of our organization for a task which was mundane in application and only unusual in a theatrical sense.
I'd already mentally slotted Cannon into the vacant niche and wondered what his reaction would be.
Monsieur Paul Duclair, for such was the client's name, wished the services of a night attendant over the preserved body of a dead whale.
On reflection, it was perhaps an unusual request.
I said so.
You, uh...
You did say a dead whale, Monsieur Duclair.
A magnificent exhibit...
A Greenland whale.
I began with a blue sperm whale, but found it too large to transport through the doors of most oils that I hire.
Extraordinary.
You see, a whale bone is immensely strong, and I discovered that if the inside of the beast is removed and the carcass inflated with air, it is possible to preserve the outer skin and membrane with formaldehyde.
In time, the shell hardens and the air can be released.
Well, that's most interesting, Monsieur Ducard.
I take it that you then exhibit the whale.
Oui.
I have a great success in France, and I have now come to your country for a short tour of three weeks before I go on to the United States, where I hope to enjoy singular success.
Just out of interest, Monsieur de Clair, how do you pump up the whale in the first place? Ah, good question.
On top of the head is contained a pocket of amber grease.
Aubrey Mason at your service.
At Assignments Unlimited, we do anything, anywhere, at any time.
33 Half Moon Street.
Chips for the fishmonger.
Not all the tasks undertaken by Assignments Unlimited are spectacular or particularly dangerous.
In fact, the unusual is the exception rather than the rule.
The nervous little old Frenchman who came into my office requested the services of our organization for a task which was mundane in application and only unusual in a theatrical sense.
I'd already mentally slotted Cannon into the vacant niche and wondered what his reaction would be.
Monsieur Paul Duclair, for such was the client's name, wished the services of a night attendant over the preserved body of a dead whale.
On reflection, it was perhaps an unusual request.
I said so.
You, uh...
You did say a dead whale, Monsieur Duclair.
A magnificent exhibit...
A Greenland whale.
I began with a blue sperm whale, but found it too large to transport through the doors of most oils that I hire.
Extraordinary.
You see, a whale bone is immensely strong, and I discovered that if the inside of the beast is removed and the carcass inflated with air, it is possible to preserve the outer skin and membrane with formaldehyde.
In time, the shell hardens and the air can be released.
Well, that's most interesting, Monsieur Ducard.
I take it that you then exhibit the whale.
Oui.
I have a great success in France, and I have now come to your country for a short tour of three weeks before I go on to the United States, where I hope to enjoy singular success.
Just out of interest, Monsieur de Clair, how do you pump up the whale in the first place? Ah, good question.
On top of the head is contained a pocket of amber grease.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.