E267: MACABRE - This Is The Greatest Show (part III)
Fresh Hell Podcast
freshhellpodcast
4.8 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 31 January 2025
⏱️ 59 minutes
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Summary
In this final part of our Barnum deep dive, we cover his biggest spectacle yet—The Greatest Show on Earth. From the moment he took his circus on the road to his partnership with James A. Bailey, we explore how Barnum turned entertainment into an empire. And of course, we wrap up with the ultimate Barnum move—reading his own obituary before he died. Love him or hate him, Barnum left a legacy that changed the entertainment world forever."
Barnum, The Greatest Show on Earth, James A. Bailey, circus, freak show, Tom Thumb, Jumbo, PT Barnum, Barnum & Bailey, philanthropy, widow, second marriage, politics, Bridgeport, Connecticut, obituary, showman, spectacle, entertainment history, 19th century, traveling circus, legacy
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You are listening to the Fresh Hell podcast. |
| 0:14.6 | Fresh Hell contains stories of a disturbing and often graphic nature and is intended for a mature audience. |
| 0:20.6 | Please don't let your kids listen to this, |
| 0:22.4 | or they might turn out like us. |
| 0:29.8 | Hi, I'm Annie from Massachusetts in the USA. And I'm Johanna from Austria, and you're listening to |
| 0:37.3 | your favorite international podcast. |
| 0:40.4 | Before we start, we would like to give a huge shout out to our newest patron members and they are Amy Brown, Iris Moreno, Michelle Painter and Kathleen Lee. |
| 0:52.5 | Thank you so much. Speaking of Patreon, the first episode of us talking |
| 0:58.8 | and sort of reviewing and giving you our thoughts on true crime shows and documentaries is already |
| 1:05.9 | online. It's available for our murder tier members and the first show we're discussing is candy. It's on Hulu. It's on Hulu. It's available for our murder tier members, and the first show we're discussing is Candy. |
| 1:13.7 | It's on Hulu. |
| 1:14.8 | It's about Candy Montgomery who murdered her affair partner's wife, Betty Gore. |
| 1:21.5 | So check that out. |
| 1:23.3 | It's interesting. |
| 1:24.9 | All right. |
| 1:25.4 | So now we're going to jump right back into the life and times of Phineas Taylor, |
| 1:30.6 | aka P.T. Barnum. |
| 1:32.8 | If you haven't listened to the previous two episodes, please go back and do that. |
| 1:36.9 | It'll help everything make more sense. |
| 1:39.2 | But if you need a quick refresher, Johanna has got you covered. |
| 1:43.1 | Yes, so we started with the history of freak shows and the cultural fascination with human |
| 1:48.5 | curiosities, and then we kind of explored the roots in ancient and medieval times, their |
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