It was a grim scene.

Two enormous whales, boiled alive in their tanks by the fire that gutted their home,

had collapsed through the walls and splattered onto Broadway.

Everyone passing by just stared in horror, unsure of what they could possibly do,

and who could blame them?

Because the most famous building in New York City was engulfed in flames,

and the animals

inside it, both dead and alive, were escaping.

In stark contrast to all the chaos and noise and heat of that disaster, at that very same

moment in 1865, the owner of the building was stepping onto a stage in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

And as he did,

someone slipped him a note with the news. He unfolded it, read it, and then tucked it away and

continued speaking. This man wasn't the sort to be rattled. He was P.T. Barnum, after all,

but the news of the destruction of his great American museum hit him hard, and he knew things would never be the same.

What he didn't know, though, was how much it would change America.

Welcome to Grim and Mild Presents, an ongoing journey into the strange, the unusual, and the fascinating.

For our inaugural season, we'll be giving you a backstage tour of the always complex

and often misunderstood cultural artifact that is the American side show.

So come along as we visit the shadowy corners of the stage and learn about the people who

are at the center of it all.

In a place where spectacle was king, we will soon discover, there's always more

to the story than meets the eye. So step right up and get in line. Grim and Mild Presents

...