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Speaker 1: It was a grim scene. Two enormous whales, boiled alive

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Speaker 1: in their tanks by the fire that gutted their home,

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Speaker 1: had collapsed through the walls and spluttered onto Broadway. Everyone

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Speaker 1: passing by just stared in horror, unsure of what they

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Speaker 1: could possibly do and who could blame them, because the

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Speaker 1: most famous building in New York City was engulfed in flames,

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Speaker 1: and the animals inside it, both dead and alive, were

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Speaker 1: escaping in start contrast to all the chaos and noise

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Speaker 1: and heat of that disaster. At that very same moment

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Speaker 1: in eighteen sixty five, the owner of the building was

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Speaker 1: stepping onto a stage in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and as he did,

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Speaker 1: someone slipped him a note with the news. He unfolded it,

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Speaker 1: read it, and then tucked it away and continued speaking.

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Speaker 1: This man wasn't the sort to be rattled. He was p. T. Barnum,

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Speaker 1: after all, but the news of the destruction of his

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Speaker 1: great American museum hit him hard, and he knew things

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Speaker 1: would never be the same. What he didn't know, though,

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Speaker 1: was how much it would change America. Welcome to Grim

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Speaker 1: and Mild Presents, an ongoing journey into the strange, the

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Speaker 1: unusual and the fascinating. For our inaugural season, we'll be

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Speaker 1: giving you a backstage tour of the always complex and

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Speaker 1: often misunderstood cultural artifact that is the American Side Show.

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Speaker 1: So come along as we visit the shadowy corners of

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Speaker 1: the stage and learn about the people who were at

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Speaker 1: the center of it all in a place where spectacle

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Speaker 1: was king. We will soon discover there's always more to

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Speaker 1: the story than meets the eye, So step right up

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Speaker 1: and get in line. Grim and Mild Presents premiers Friday,

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Speaker 1: January seven. Subscribe today on the I Heart Radio app,

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Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn

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Speaker 1: more over at Grimm and Mild dot com Slash Presents