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Hello, hello, hello and welcome to English Learning for Curious Minds by Leonardo English, the show where you can listen to fascinating stories and learn weird and wonderful things about the world at the same time as improving your English.

I'm Alasdair Budge and today is the start of another three-part mini-series and for our first mini-series of the year, the first of 2025, the loose theme will be a mystery. In part one, this episode, we are going to be talking about the shady world of secret societies and take a close look at three mysterious societies some people believe hold great power.

Next up, in part two, we will talk about the art of espionage and look at the curious history of spying. And in part three, we will finish it off with some stories of amazing lost civilizations. Civilizations that some people believe once existed, but of which all traces have now vanished.

Parts 2 and 3, like all of our mini-series now, will be member-only episodes. So let me quickly remind you, if you haven't checked it out already, that you can become a member of Leonardo English and unlock hundreds more episodes, as well as our interactive transcripts, study packs and more, over at leonardoenglish.com. Okay then, let's get right into it and talk about the shady world of secret societies.

An interesting piece of trivia for you is that the record for the longest continuous film shoot is held by Stanley Kubrick for his 1999 mystery thriller Eyes Wide Shut. It was a gargantuan effort, a huge piece of work, and Kubrick died of a heart attack just six days after showing the final version to Warner Brothers, the studio behind the film.

If you've seen this film, you'll remember that it stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. There is a scene in the movie where the character played by Tom Cruise is told about a mysterious party at a mansion outside New York City, held by a secret and highly exclusive society.

A special password is required to be allowed in, and everyone is required to wear a mask to disguise their true identity. Now, many of the characters aren't wearing much else, and the film continues with several scenes too explicit to be described on a family-friendly podcast, and without an advanced knowledge of vocabulary relating to human anatomy.

But this underlines our obsession with the idea of secret societies. Behind closed doors, anything could be happening. Men and women in strange masks, unusual passwords or codes, promises of brotherhood, and of course, sworn oaths of secrecy, which only serve to add to the allure.

Naturally, the very nature of a secret society is that, if it really is a secret society, the goings-on of the society – its rituals and the identities of its members – are a closely guarded secret. Members of the public might have some idea about its existence, some photos might exist of members together, but beyond that, little is known about what actually happens.

And such is, or perhaps I should say such was, the case with Skull and Bones, a secret society at Yale University, one of the top-ranked and most prestigious Ivy League universities. Skull and Bones was founded in 1832, during a time of great change in the United States. The country was still young,

having declared independence only 56 years earlier, and the idea of shaping a national identity was at the forefront. Elite universities like Yale were hubs for the children of wealthy and influential families, and they served as training grounds for the next generation of leaders.

Secret societies were becoming a trend in academic institutions, providing students with a sense of exclusivity and camaraderie. Skull and Bones was established as one of these societies, but it quickly distinguished itself by its intense secrecy and the powerful network it offered its members, of which there were only 15 new ones every year.

By focusing on rituals and an elite membership, it cemented its reputation as a group that was as mysterious as it was influential. And right from the very early days, it was the subject of intrigue and mystery for students at the university. Students who were not members, of course. To quote one book about Yale from 1871:

the mystery now attending its existence forms the one great enigma which college gossip never tires of discussing. In other words, nobody knows anything about it, so everyone talks about it. Now, with time, information has come out about people who were members of Skull and Bones, and it reads like a who's who of America's elite.

Rockefellers and Vanderbilts were admitted, as well as three generations of the Bush family: Prescott Bush, in the class of 1917; his son, George H. W. Bush, in the class of 1948; and his son, George W. Bush, who was in the class of 1968. In fact, the 2004 US presidential election was contested by two former members of Skull and Bones:

George W. Bush was one of them, and John Kerry was the other. And outside of politics, a list of former members contains powerful and well-known lawyers, journalists, financiers, high-powered CEOs, men who controlled hundreds of billions of dollars, newspapers, political parties, or even ran countries.

This has, as you might imagine, led to a lot of speculation about the nature of membership, of what being part of Skull and Bones entails, and why such a high proportion of its members go on to positions of importance. Are former members of this society all helping each other, ensuring that the ties formed as 20-something year old students remain in place for life?

Or, instead, is it that Skull and Bones selects the most promising students at an already highly exclusive university? So these are people who would have gone on to fame, wealth and power even if they had never been admitted to Skull and Bones?

Of course, it is a secret society, and members are required to swear an oath of secrecy. It is impossible to know for sure what membership of Skull and Bones entails, and what is expected of former members after they graduate. But we have some clues about what goes on behind closed doors.

In April of 2001, the New York Observer reported that it had managed to gain access to the initiation ceremony, the event in which 15 new members were welcomed into the society. What the newspaper revealed was plain weird. The ceremony involved young men screaming sexual insults at each other.

Others forced to kneel down and kiss a skull, and pretend to cut the throat of another member. Death was a recurrent theme, as you might imagine for a society named Skull and Bones, and there was almost as much nudity as in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut.

It was all very unusual, but was an age-old tradition that brought these university students closer together in a bond that united them for life. Now, Skull and Bones might be one of the most famous in America, but it is neither the oldest nor the best known outside the US at least.

One of the oldest and most famous secret societies is the Knights Templar, or the Templars, a Catholic military order founded in Jerusalem in 1119. It was first created for religious reasons, to protect Christian pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land. This was in the aftermath of the First Crusade.

Christian armies had managed to capture Jerusalem in 1099, and thousands of European pilgrims were inspired to make the journey to the Holy Land. To state the obvious, this was a difficult and dangerous journey. It was long, and the route was filled with bandits and hostile forces. This is where the Knights Templar stepped in.

Their job, their entire reason for existence, was to offer protection so that pilgrims could complete their spiritual journey safely. Initially, it was a poor religious order, with no real financial resources, and just a handful of knights. These knights were required to take an oath of poverty, pledging to hand over all of their material possessions to the order.

But, before long, the Order gained the support of the Catholic Church, and it was given special privileges. These included the ability to collect taxes, build fortifications, and operate independently of local authorities. It got endorsements from the Pope,

and wealthy Christian nobles handed over their fortunes to the Order, to help it continue its holy mission of enabling Europeans to make this dangerous pilgrimage safely. So, the Knights of the Knights Templar played an unusual role. On the one hand, they lived austere lives, vowing poverty and chastity, praying and following strict religious rules.

On the other hand, they were highly trained and disciplined soldiers who were feared on the battlefield. And today, we would also probably call them business pioneers. What they ended up developing was an early form of banking and international money transfer. Let's say a Christian pilgrim in France was planning to go to Jerusalem.

It was a long, dangerous and expensive trip, and carrying all of your gold and valuables in a purse on your person was a recipe for disaster.

So, instead, this person might go to a Templar in Europe and leave their gold or valuables, and be provided with a note that goods of equal value could be exchanged for this note at certain places along the route, or when the pilgrim eventually arrived in Jerusalem. Then, they would have a series of notes that could be redeemed for goods or services along the way, just like modern money.

As the order expanded, its role changed from simply protecting pilgrims on the journey with their weapons to one of administration, finance and governance. And, as you might imagine, with this came serious power. But it would come to be their downfall. Now, the going was good for the Knights Templar for a hundred years or so.

But when the Christian Crusaders were finally defeated in 1291 at the Siege of Acre and effectively booted out of the Middle East, the tide turned for the Knights. Their raison d'être, their entire reason for existence, was gone. They were forced to flee, first to Cyprus, before having to escape from the island and return to mainland Europe.

But the Order didn't just disband. It had tens of thousands of members, business interests throughout Europe and the Middle East. And although it was not as influential as it had once been, it was still a powerful force. In 1306, the leader of the Knights Templar was summoned to France to meet with Pope Clement V.

The meeting was ostensibly to discuss merging the Knights Templar with the Knights Hospitaller, a slightly older organisation whose objective was to care for injured pilgrims. Neither leader was keen on the idea of combining forces, but unbeknownst to them, there was another plan being hatched. Someone wanted to destroy the Knights Templar altogether.

The French king, Philip IV, was deeply in debt to the knights after an expensive war against the English. Seizing the Knights Templar's wealth was a convenient way to refill his coffers under the guise of justice. He seized on the idea of charging the knights with some kind of crime that would allow him to dismantle the organisation, seize its wealth, and free himself of his debts.

Given his influence, he managed to persuade the Pope to do this on his behalf. Dozens of knights were rounded up, interrogated and tortured. Their crimes, or accused crimes I should say, these were as wide-ranging as spitting on the cross, worshipping idols, homosexual practices and financial impropriety. Many of the knights admitted to these crimes under extreme torture.

and found themselves burned at the stake, executed publicly. One who refused to confess was the temple grandmaster, the leader of the order, Jacques de Molay. According to one eyewitness, as he was being burned alive, with his last words, he asked God to take revenge on the men who had tormented him.

Perhaps a perfectly reasonable sentiment if you've been unjustly accused of all sorts of crimes and you find yourself being publicly burned to death. Anyway, his dying wish seems to have been granted. He was executed in March of 1314, and less than a year later, both the French King and his puppet Pope, Clement V, were also dead.

Now, the Knights Templar was officially disbanded in 1309, its leaders burned at the stake. There are some people who believe that the order simply retreated into the shadows. We know that many former knights ended up joining similar societies, such as the Order of Christ, which is still around today and is headquartered in Portugal. What are the main order, the Knights Templar?

Well, the problem with a secret society is that even if there is no firm evidence for it existing, this doesn't stop people from believing it still exists. After all, a secret society that everyone knows about isn't a very good secret society. And this intrigue over whether it still exists has led to some pretty awful crimes being committed in the name of the Knights Templar.

For example, it was named by the Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik, who murdered 77 people in 2011. He claimed to be part of a reborn cell of the Knights Templar, a group fighting against multiculturalism in Europe, and continuing what they saw to be the work of the Knights Templar, protecting Christians against Muslims. Pretty vile stuff indeed.

Now, let's turn our attention to our last secret society, another enigmatic society that has captured the imagination of many: the Freemasons. Unlike Skull and Bones or the Knights Templar, Freemasonry isn't confined to a single institution, or hidden in history.

It's more like a global brotherhood that spans centuries and continents, with members that include historical figures like George Washington, Winston Churchill and Mozart. Freemasonry traces its origins back to the 14th century, to medieval stonemasons' guilds, organisations of skilled masons who built Europe's great cathedrals.

Originally, at least, the reason for the secrecy was to protect trade secrets, to ensure that not any Tom, Dick or Harry could learn the latest techniques of stonemasonry. But starting from this relatively specific function back in the 14th century, the Freemasons has evolved into a sprawling organisation that spans countries and continents, with an estimated 6 million members worldwide.

It is, on one level, highly visible. There are buildings, called Masonic Lodges, that you can see in many towns and cities, as they are typically marked by the iconic square and compass symbol. You can apply to become a Freemason, Freemasons give interviews about what being a Freemason entails, and in many respects, it isn't a secret society at all. For most members, Freemasonry

appears to be more about camaraderie, self-improvement and charitable work than anything else. But some elements are still kept secret. There are different levels to Freemasonry, with members needing to learn different codes to progress to the next. And of course, there are symbolic rituals, oaths and famously, secret handshakes.

Again, this mixture of secrecy and transparency has made it a prime target for conspiracy theories. Some believe they secretly control governments, financial systems or even the media, with claims of a hidden agenda for world domination, what's often called the New World Order. If you spend too much time down internet rabbit holes,

you'll find accusations of the Freemasons' involvement in historical events like the drafting of the US Constitution, the French Revolution, and even the moon landing. And, much like any conspiracy theory, any denials of involvement, or even evidence proving a lack of involvement, is not enough.

It is merely proof that the secret society is good at covering its tracks, or that the person claiming that nothing of major consequence happens at a Freemason's lodge just wasn't high enough in the order. Of course Skull and Bones would say that its members do not help each other. Of course nobody would admit to going to a secret meeting of a group of Knights Templar.

Of course the Freemasons want you to think that they are just a group of friendly old men concerned more with raising money for charity or drinking tea than being global puppet masters.

Whether these groups are as powerful as some believe, or simply ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, one thing is certain: nothing these groups say or do will ever fully extinguish the belief in their secrets. For some, the mystery is simply too enticing to let go.

Okay then, that is it for today's episode on the mysterious world of secret societies, part one of a three-part mini-series on the loose theme of mystery. Next up, in part two, we will be looking at the unusual history of espionage and spying throughout history. And in part three, we will discuss some mysterious lost civilizations.

Those will both be member-only episodes, so if you'd like to unlock those, as well as more than 250 other episodes, as well as all the learning materials that come with every single episode, then I'd love for you to think about becoming a member of Leonardo English. It isn't a secret society, I can tell you exactly what goes on inside, and although I cannot promise you insider access to an elite group of world leaders, I will say that it's a great place to improve your English.

So, I'd encourage you to check that out. You can find out more at leonardoenglish.com. You've been listening to English Learning for Curious Minds by Leonardo English. I'm Alistair Budge, you stay safe, and I'll catch you in the next episode.