Today is Charles Mingus's birthday. As you may know, I'll never pass up an opportunity to remind you that Mingus loved cats, especially his best friend "Nightlife," and developed a method for toilet-training them, which he self-published in order to help others do the same.

You could send Mingus a self-addressed envelope to a PO Box in Manhattan, and he would send you back your very own copy of the Cat-A-Log. Mingus's biographer told me Charles genuinely thought this would take off, that there was real money to be made. He was always scheming.

The Cat-A-Log has meticulous instructions. Take a cardboard box and get your cat comfortable pooping in it. Then move it closer and closer to the bathroom, and up onto the toilet. Then but bigger & bigger holes in the box until you can remove it entirely. https://www.charlesmingus.com/mingus/cat-traning-program

This is surprisingly similar to the method employed by the plastic kits (like "City Kitty") you can buy today. I don't think there's an intellectual property argument to be made, though. Really, Mingus was tapping into basic cat psychology.

Much of the pamphlet reads more like cat therapy than anything. "You've got to get him thinking." "He has to learn to follow it." "The main thing to remember is not to rush or confuse him." I spoke with a cat expert who said it's clear that Mingus understood what makes cats tick.

Here is the late, great Reg E Cathey reading the Mingus method in its entirety. He was in The Wire, Oz, House of Cards, and lots of very serious theater, but I think this is his best role.

We made this video as a companion to a piece I reported on Mingus, cats, madness, and more. We also tried to toilet train a cat. It didn't take. https://www.wnyc.org/story/charles-mingus-toliet-trained-his-cat-we-put-his-method-to-the-test/

I have a cat that is toilet-trained, though. It's glorious. There's no litter box, a particular godsend when you're stuck inside the house for going on five weeks. If you're inclined to try, Mingus method or other, this might be a decent time. Let me know how it goes. /END

Oh while we’re on the subject of weird animal stories involving people I admire, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that this week’s the anniversary of Jimmy Carter being attacked by a giant “swamp rabbit.” That’s a story for another time, maybe a future episode of @thisdaypod.