Coffee With Jeff

Today I have the story of a day in which dozens of dangerous, man-eating animals, including a polar bear, a panther, a Numidian lion, several hyenas, a rhinoceros, and a Bengal tiger, that escaped from the Central Park Zoo and killed 49 men, women and children and injured hundreds more.

This tragedy is known as The New York Zoo hoax, a hoax because not only was no one dead or injured, but all the animals were still locked safely in their cages. 

Sources I used to write this story:
Central Park Zoo Escape - Museum of Hoaxes
A carnival of death’ on New York’s streets - Washington Post
“A Shocking Sabbath Carnival of Death” - Slate
James Gordon Bennett, I Presume - New York Yacht Club
James Gordon Bennett Jr. - Wikipedia

We could do a deep dive on any of these six films, but we want to give you just enough of a taste that you might be inclined to seek them out yourselves. We picked movies that aren’t necessarily blockbusters. Some have just gotten lost in the never-ending onslaught of newer films, some were popular overseas but not in America, and some just have nostalgia value.

Gordon's picks: Zulu (1964), Appaloosa (2008), Alatriste (2006)
Nancy's picks: A Very Long Engagement (2004), Conagher (1991), Gunga Din (1939)
Bonus mentions: Ride with the Devil, Joyeux Noel, Tombstone, They Shall Not Grow Old.

The United States general election of 2020 has proven to be a hotly contested circus, and as we record this episode in the second week of December, it looks like it’s far from over. Crazy, right? Some might say “unprecedented”. Well, those people would be wrong. It’s happened before, and will probably happen again. Stay tuned to find out that, once again, there’s nothing new under the sun, especially when it comes to politics. For more of Gordon's musings on political shenanigans, be sure to listen to CWJ episode 207, "Outsider Presidents".

In 1888, Nellie Bly was the most successful reporter in America, but she needed a vacation. She decided to take a working vacation, a trip around the world. Not only would she write about her adventures, but she would also try to complete the journey in under 80 days, beating the time of Jules Verne’s fictional hero, Phileas Fogg. This episode is the story of her journey.

Links to the Sources I used to write the episode
Around the World in Seventy-Two Days by Nellie BLY Audiobook
Nellie Bly: Around the World in 72 Days - Decades TV Network
Nellie Bly’s Record-Breaking Trip Around the World Was, to Her Surprise, A Race
Around the World in Seventy-Two Days by Nellie Bly
Nellie's Big Adventure - American Experience

This is the story of a young, pretty woman in the latter half of the nineteenth century who oddly had no desire to get married, have kids, or run a household. She became a pioneering reform-minded journalist, exposing many injustices and corruption in American Society. A muckraker who did many amazing things. Born Elizabeth Jane Cochran, most know her as Nellie Bly and today I have part one of her story.

Featuring the amazing voice of Nancy Frye as Nellie Bly.

Link to the sources I used to write this story
Nellie Bly: daredevil, reporter, feminist by Brooke Kroeger
Bylines: A Photobiography of Nellie Bly by Sue Macy
ADC COLLEGE: The Curious Story Of Nelly Bly
PBS - Nellie's Milestones
Nellie Bly - Wikipedia

You never know who you can trust, be it, nurse, landlord, mother, or wife! On this special Halloween edition of CWJ, I present two true stories of Serial killer. First, in 1880, Catherine and Margaret Flannagan found a great way to make extra cash, it just took a little arsenic. The second tale is the story of a nurse who they called Jolly Jane in 1901. Jane really took care of those she was looking after! It murder after murder on this podcast!

Links to the Sources I used to write these tales of Horror

The Black Widows of Liverpool
The Black Widows of Liverpool - Wikipedia
The Black Widows of Liverpool - the haunting story of two sisters hanged for a devious poisoning plot
THE BLACK WIDOWS OF LIVERPOOL - Crime Museum
Old Police Cells Museum - Evil Female Murderers
Serial killer sisters murdered relatives - BBC
EXECUTION OF TWO WOMEN. PapersPast

Jane Toppan
Jane Toppan - Wikipedia
Inside The Twisted Mind And Murders Of “Jolly” Jane Toppan
Jane Toppan “Jolly Jane”
Female Serial Killers: How and why Women Become Monsters by Peter Vronsky
Jolly Jane: (mis)understanding a female serial killer - Criminal Historian

This episode is the second part of the story of Daniel Sickle, a very unusual man that lived in the ninetieth century. Dan was disgraced for forgiving his wife for having an affair, so he thought the best thing to do was be a General in the American Civil War! This story is only one of many adventures of the man called an American Scoundrel.

Links to the Sources I used:
The Battle of Chancellorsville
The Peach Orchard at Gettysburg - Ranger Matt Atkinson
Daniel Sickles: The Colorful and Controversial Commander of Gettysburg - Ranger Matt Atkinson
Daniel Sickles - Wikipedia

American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious Civil War General Dan Sickles by Thomas Keneally
The Wounding of General Dan Sickles: 157th Anniversary of Gettysburg Live! (Day 2)

This episode is the first part of the story of Daniel Sickle, a very unusual man that lived in the ninetieth century. In 1859 he shot and killed a man in front of the White House in Washington DC in front of several witnesses and got away with it. And it was only one of many adventures of the man called an American Scoundrel.

Links to the sources I used to write this.
American Scoundrel by Thomas Keneally
Dan Sickles: Hero of Gettysburg and Yankee King of Spain by Edgcumb Pinchon
Daniel Sickles: The Colorful and Controversial Commander of Gettysburg - Ranger Matt Atkinson
“Legally Insane: Murder and Daniel Sickles”
The Washington Tragedy 
Daniel Edgar Sickles Major General, United States Army

The more things change, the more they stay the same. It's just human nature. Politics have always been a little crazy, and never more than when somebody who doesn't play by the rules runs for president. In this episode guest host Gordon Frye shares his thoughts about outsider presidents, including Jackson and Lincoln, with a few more for good measure. 

Back in the early 1950s, there was a race to discover DNA. When it was over, three men would be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Overlooked at the time was a remarkable chemist and crystallographer Rosalind Franklin. Today I have this woman’s story!

Links to the Sources I used:
Rosalind Franklin - Wikipedia
Rosalind Elsie Franklin Pioneer Molecular Biologist
Dr. Rosalind Franklin - RosalindFranklin University
25 Minute Rosalind Franklin Biography DNA: Secret of Photo 51
Aaron Klug - Rosalind Franklin and the discovery of DNA
Rosalind Franklin (In Our Time)
DNA - Episode 1 of 5: The Secret of Life - PBS Documentary
The DNA Double Helix Discovery — HHMI BioInteractive Video