Grim & Mild Presents (iHeartPodcasts and Grim & Mild)

Every story has a beginning, and the tale of the American sideshow—in many ways—begins in the aftermath of one man’s personal tragedy. Learn how it all began, and what the early days were like, on the inaugural episode of Grim & Mild Presents: Sideshow.

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The story of Saartjie Baartman is not an easy one to hear, but it certainly gives us an intimate look into how the early traveling sideshow once operated, and how some human bodies were treated in the process.

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Joice Heth never wanted to be in show business. It wasn’t the world that she came from. But when she met P.T. Barnum, the course of her life took a turn she never saw coming.

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Lavinia Warren was able to travel the world and charm audiences wherever she went. But what set Lavinia apart from many of her peers were the choices she was able to make along the way. 

Be sure to check out the Bridgeport Public Library’s Barnum collection, if you’re in the neighborhood – if not, take a look at the incredible digitization holdings here.

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Among the bearded ladies of the Sideshow, Julia Pastrana’s story is the longest: it spans her short life and long death, revealing the lengths some will go to make a buck.

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As humans, we are drawn to beauty. We decorate ourselves. We primp, we preen, and sometimes...we poke. 

Join us as we dive into the colorful world of tattooing—and the mark it left on the sideshow.

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From sailing the high seas and buried treasure to swilling rum, pirates represent a lot about the human spirit. Through the centuries, we’ve fallen in love with adventure, danger, and exploration. In season 2 of Grim & Mild Presents, we take a swashbuckling, narrative journey into the lives and legends of the rogues of the sea. Join us. Here, there be pirates, matey!

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Yo-ho-ho, matey. In this episode of Pirates, we’re talking about rum. Just how did alcohol, especially rum, become many a pirate’s choice of drink? And what does grog have to do with the British Navy and…fabric? Join us for another round of Grim & Mild Presents, Pirate edition. Drink up, ye hearties!

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For centuries, cutting into the human body was strictly forbidden. In fact, for a long time, medical schools taught aspiring physcians not to touch their patients. You can imagine how helpful this was. But then, a turn in the story: along came a class of people whose dirty, rough, and practical work changed the way we practice medicine: the surgeons. 

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 When we think of the Wild West, we conjure up certain characters in our imaginations. But none are more iconic than the outlaw.

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A doctor might dismiss your concerns by saying that something is all in your head…as if the brain doesn’t play host to many kinds of illness. Some  of our oldest corpses bear physical evidence that directly cutting into the brain is one way to attempt healing the mind. But what happens when our modern attempts at this become a bit more…misguided?

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This summer, Grim & Mild Presents continues its journey into the strange, the unusual, and the fascinating. For our newest season, we’ll be taking to the high seas to explore one of history’s most notorious types of criminal: pirates.

From naval battles and buried treasure, to deadly sword fights and stolen rum. Prepare to raise anchor! Grim & Mild Presents: Pirates sets sail on Friday, July 8th.

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 Getting from East to West was difficult, especially for those who chose the Oregon Trail. Survival meant timing their passage and path just right. Those who didn’t served as a dire warning to others.  

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From Stetson hats to barbed wire, this episode sheds some light on little-known Wild West icons and how they came to be. 

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Pirates appear to be the ultimate rebel. Their legendary greed for treasure and cutthroat nature made them non-conformist mavericks of the sea. And yet, not all is what we’ve been told. Pirates played an important part in politics and the matters of kingdoms and governments. Batten down the hatches for this episode of Pirates!

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Pirates. The lone wolves of the sea. Yet, not only did they know each other, but they also created a community referred to as the Pirate Republic. It’s not really surprising then that some joined forces. After all, most wolves hunt in packs. 

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When it comes to tales of the Wild West, there’s one tale that surfaces again and again — and for good reason. Join us for the story of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. 

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Poets have been writing about the madness of love for thousands of years. We love to be in it; we hate to be without it. But what if this wasn’t just hyperbole, and there is something indeed bigger happening to a brain in love? Where does love and madness meet? And, perhaps, where does one end, and another begin? 

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Cutthroat. According to dictionary entries, it’s someone so ruthless they cut the throat of another. A murderer is a person of vicious and Machiavellian nature. And in the world of piracy, there were cutthroats so cruel that they went over the line, even for their own crew.

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Centuries of history have led us to this point. The show continues to go on.

But even though the sideshow looks a bit different these days… we still see its signature everywhere. We haven’t looked away. 

Want to hear more even though our time is up? The sideshow curious should be sure to check out the following: 

• Freaks by Tod Browning 

• The digital Lost Museum Project, curated by the City University of New York 
• The P.T. Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut 
• The International Independent Showmen’s Museum in Gibsonton, Florida
• Showman’s Rest Cemetery in La Grange, Illinois 
• Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit by Dr. Robert Bogdan 

Louder Than a Riot by guest Kim Kelly, who writes about labor and the sideshow

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Welcome to Grim & Mild Presents. Each 13-episode season (published every other week, ongoing, for a non-stop, ongoing experience) will dive into the strange, the unusual, and the fascinating. History has never been this intriguing.

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In the not-too distant past, many European communities had their own local executioner. It was a paid government trade just like any other, but it came with a damning social stigma. But this role was a crucial one: though they brought imminent death, many people believed they also played a significant role in holistic healthcare. 

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Everyone poops. And for thousands of years, as civilizations have risen and fallen, humans have been trying to figure out exactly what to do with it all. The story of waste is one of ingenuity and class, of innovation and epidemic – and it is one that is deeply human. 

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Florence Nightingale set out to change the course of nursing as the world knew it… and ended up getting more than she ever bargained for. 

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From the Spanish to the French, to the British — everyone had their eye on the vast expanse of America’s western frontier. Then, in the early 1800s, Thomas Jefferson saw an opportunity and made a deal no one expected.

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The Gold Rush became a beacon of hope for many. They headed West to seek their fortunes. But Americans weren’t the only ones looking for a better life.  

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With westward expansion came the Homestead Act. What followed was nothing short of horrific for the people already occupying the land.

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In the world of healing, there have always been folks willing to make money off of the suffering of others. And it was often seen that the more shameful the secret, the more profitable these problems would be for cunning charlatans. 

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Gold. New lives. Second chances. The West provided many opportunities. But conquering the land often came at a high cost. Here’s the story of one of the most well-known families on the frontier: the Ingalls. 

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Humans have been mothering and midwifing since the beginning of humanity. Why, then, did something so natural become so fiercely under fire? 

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Every year on September 19, people worldwide join together to talk like pirates. Parents, children, co-workers. If you’ve ever wondered how International Talk Like A Pirate Day started or how to speak like a swashbuckler, then this episode is for you. 

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Humans are animals. But at some point throughout the course of evolution, our species got the upperhand.

Today, a short history of our co-existence with the animal kingdom… and what happened when we decided that these animals would join us on stage.

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Hollywood portrays the Wild West as a tough man’s world. Yet, there were some who refused to be labeled. 

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From protection from the Spanish to bringing in much-needed funds and provisions, early colonies in the Caribbean often turned to pirates and buccaneers for a little assistance. In this episode of Pirates, we’re on an adventure with a couple of the most famous cutlass-wielding and cutthroat buccaneers in the Caribbean. 

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Pirates created their own republic and formed a democracy. They made allegiances with each other and governments. The Golden Age of Piracy even sounds somewhat...romantic. But all good things come to an end. 

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From the Bronx to the silver screen, Schlitzie charmed all who knew him. And for those who loved him, they’d stop at nothing to keep him safe. 

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Circus trains: they were cities on wheels, integral to the sideshow circuit and home to all performers. Today, they’re a relic of a bygone time…but there’s one train that has solidified its place in the history books due to unthinkable tragedy. 

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From the blood in our veins to the search for eternal life, and everything in between, this is your chance to learn just how miraculous it is that we understand so much about the human body—and why many of those discoveries almost never happened.

Beginning January 6th 2023, Grim & Mild Presents: Bedside Manners will unpack the dark and twisted history of healing medicine.

Subscribe today on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Learn more at GrimAndMild.com/presents.

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The one guarantee in life is that it will end—we can anticipate that, and we have tried to cope with that truth forever. But when the suffering overextends itself, we’ve always tried to find ways to adapt. 

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Our language is ripe with turns of phrase that invoke the idea of blood. These idioms seem to illustrate some of our most intense human experiences – it’s the thing that we can’t live with, after all. So tell me this: what happens when the blood spills?  

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The post office has a saying about mail delivery in all kinds of weather. Meet Mary, a mail carrier in the West whose story is nothing short of a Western novel. 

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When he was born, they called Frank Lentini a monster… but what did that even mean? We’ll follow his story as we learn folklore, magic, medicine, and one man’s quest for the American Dream. 

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Hollywood adores the loveable rogue. Pirates are often depicted as wisecracking, kind-hearted individuals who set out for treasure but inevitably do the right thing. In the end, he usually gets the girl and the treasure. 

Pirates. The word itself hints at a story. And in our final episode, we have a couple more tales to tell.

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Staying alive is a tough task, and medicine’s function is to help us do just that. Often, we turn to pharmaceuticals. But we can trace a moment, very early in our construction of the healing arts, that the first chemists – the alchemists – sought something else: not just to extend life, but to make it eternal. 

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 One of the most horrific times in history came when treaties and deals with Native Americans were broken. In 1836, US troops rounded up Cherokee tribes with acts of extreme violence and forced them across the country. 

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Insurrections, rebellions, and mutiny! Oh, my! Though we think of pirates as lawless, they were anything but. In this episode, we explore the systems and codes that kept civility among pirate crews. No guidelines about it. 

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Behind the glitz and glamour of the stage, darkness lurked. And sometimes, that darkness was inescapable – and lived right in our own homes. 

If you or someone you know is in danger, there’s help available. Please reach out to the Domestic Violence Helpline at 1-800-799-SAFE for support.

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In the Golden Age of Piracy, pirate crews often came from different countries and walks of life. They shared equal pay and voting rights aboard the ship. Captains often chose their crew based on fierce loyalty rather than nationality or race. 

Some proved more fierce than others.

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From the early explorers and the indigenous peoples they encountered, to the gunslingers of legend, and everything in between, this is your chance to learn just how complicated our move into western North America really was—and why so many of the assumptions we have about it are dead wrong.

Beginning July 7th 2023, Grim & Mild Presents: A trek into the unknown, the misunderstood, and the forgotten tales of America’s westward expansion.

Subscribe today on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Learn more at GrimAndMild.com/presents.

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The human body has long been a battleground for morality. And one of the places that these ideas have shown up might be surprising to you: the dinner table.  

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Many pirates viewed women aboard ships as bad luck. One woman proved they were only bad luck for the ships they targeted. Meet Ching Shih, who went from flower boat girl to the leader of the Red Fleet, one of the largest and most powerful pirate fleets in history. 

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We often envision pirates as ruthless rogues who turned their back on family and love for treasures and a life at sea. In this episode of Pirates, we have stories of romance and friendship deeper and stronger than the briny deep.

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For much of human history, the interal geography of our bodies has been a mystery. We’ve walked a long, dark road as we’ve sought its secrets – taking many wrong turns, and leaving a trail of casualties in our wake.

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Ah! Pirates! We envision them in the Caribbean, raiding sea-faring merchant vessels, flying black flags, and burying treasure on a remote sandy beach. However, as we are about to learn, some of the most fascinating characters took to the lakes and rivers instead. 

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Families are curious entities. Blood, they tell us, is thicker than water. But what happens if there’s something stronger than blood that keeps you together… for better or for worse? 

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We didn’t become fascinated with the Wild West until Hollywood gave us gunfights at high noon and heroic outlaws. 

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The French, Spanish, and the Americans believed that heading west was a divine calling. This is the story of when beliefs cross the line into territory more dangerous than the land itself.

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