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The comedy4cast Network. Let's dog ear that for now.

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Well, hi. Clinton here. Welcome to the Dog Days of Pumpkin Spice Season.

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Yes, August got away from me because life. So this is my unofficial extension of Dog Days.

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For more information on that, go to dogdaysofpodcasting.com.

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I always use Dog Days to give you 31 episodes full of some interesting,

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yet totally useless, odd news.

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And this year, to celebrate the platinum anniversary of comedy4cast,

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or PAC for short, I'll end each Dog Days episode with part of a classic comedy4cast episode.

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So, let's get started with...

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Odd News PAC!

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Earlier, we reported on a man who set himself up as the ambassador to a handful

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of fake countries in order to scam people.

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Now we're reporting on a totally different man who has declared himself president

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of a country you might struggle to find on a map.

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Meet Daniel Jackson, founder of the Free Republic of Verdis,

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a sliver of forest less than 25 acres in total along Europe's Danube River.

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It turns out that Jackson discovered that this small parcel of land was unclaimed

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by either Croatia or Serbia due to an ongoing border dispute.

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So, on May 30th, 2019, he declared Verdisian independence, complete with a flag,

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cabinet, currency, and nearly 400 citizens.

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Hmm, sounds like they don't have a national anthem.

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Oh, Mr. President, I seem to have one hanging around from that other story.

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Call me. The area the British man claimed, known on the maps as Pocket Three,

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has since been named the world's second smallest country, right behind Vatican City.

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Jackson is a 20-year-old digital designer who earns a living by creating virtual worlds in Roblox.

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He began shaping Verdis into a functioning government when he was just 18,

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forming some laws and creating a flag.

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He says that Verdis has now built up a government and has a, quote,

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Cabinet. The current listed population, as of this recording,

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is 350, although over 15,000 applications have been received.

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Each citizen receives a passport, though Jackson has warned people against trying

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to use it for actual international travel.

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That said, some citizens have reportedly used their Verdisian passport to enter other countries.

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Although the country's official website states that Verdis was not claimed by

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use of force, nor is it a separatist or a secession movement,

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there have been political struggles.

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It turns out that Verdis is accessible only by boat from the Croatian city of Osijek.

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In October 2023, Croatian police detained several settlers, along with Jackson

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himself, before deporting them and issuing them a lifetime ban from entering the country.

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Now operating what he calls a government in exile, Jackson travels frequently

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to Belgrade, Serbia, where he says officials have been more receptive.

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He continues to advocate for the right to access Verdis via Croatia and hopes

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to return to live there one day.

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We'll have a link to the Verdisian government's official website in the show

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notes for this episode, A Pocket-Sized Paradise, over at comedy4cast,

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all one word with the number four, dot com. And remember, Mr.

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President, call me about that national anthem.

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And now, let's celebrate 20 years of comedy4castt with this classic clip.

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In this clip, from July of 2006, I try to introduce a new character into the

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show, and let you get to know a bit about his backstory.

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My name is Worthington Hammond Chesterfield III.

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My friends call me Ham. I'm not really sure why.

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And, for some reason, people tend to think that I'm rich or sophisticated or even smart.

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I'm not. I'm just handsome and I talk this way.

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You might find that funny, but it's been a problem for me all my life.

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For instance, there was a time my dad got called in to speak with me and one of my teachers.

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He came right from his shift at the car wash.

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Thank you for coming today, Mr. Chesterfield. Please sit down. Uh-huh. Oops.

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Are you all right? Yeah. Car wax on my pants.

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Go ahead. I'll just sit down here. Well... Whoa!

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Check out all the gum under the desks. As I mentioned on the phone,

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I'm very disappointed in your son Worthington. Who?

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Oh, you mean Ham. Yes, Ham.

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I expect foolish juvenile behavior from some of the others in class, but not, um, Ham.

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It's distressing. He's been acting like a child. Ham? But, Dad, I am a child.

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I'm eight years old. Yes, but you're obviously a very sophisticated eight years old. Nuh-uh.

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I just talk this way. I know. You're trying to fit in, not make the other children

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feel bad by hiding your intelligence.

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I'm just an eight-year-old kid. I think bugger jokes are really funny.I

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can't tie my shoelaces.

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The color orange confuses me.

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Perhaps Ham is bored in class. If a child isn't intellectually stimulated, that can happen.

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I was considering making a recommendation that he be advanced to a higher grade. What?

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He'd be in with older children, ones at a higher level. You mean taller?

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No. Well, yes, but I specifically meant more intelligent.

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What are you talking about? I'm in third grade and can't count past 14.

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He does talk so eloquently, doesn't he?

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Um, is that a good thing? Where did you get that gum, Mr. Chesterfield?

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Oh, from right here under the... Oh, no, no, never mind.

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Then it's agreed? Sure, whatever you say. Now, can someone help me up?

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I think I'm sitting on a glue stick.

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That about wraps it up for today's Odd News Pack.

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But first, a shout-out to the comedy4cast Patreon patrons,

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including our producer-level patrons, Paul Barrie from the A Window to the Magic

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podcast, and Kirby Bartlett-Sloan from the 20-megabyte Doctor Who podcast.

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You, too, can support comedy4cast and get episodes before everyone else

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for as little as $2 a month.

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Just search for comedy4cast, all one word with the number 4, on Patreon.com.

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Lending their voices in this episode were Bonnie Kanderdine and Nathan Alvord.

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Additional voices, script, and original music by me, Clinton Alvord. Copyright 2025.

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All rights reserved. Talk to you again next time. But for now,

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that's it. We're done, done, done, done, done. Bye-bye.