Nellie Bly: 10 days in a mad house to 72 days around the world
A young reporter weaponises performance to reveal what happens when society locks people away and calls it care. Then she flips the whole enterprise into a global spectacle, racing the world itself - and winning.
The Compendium: An Assembly of Fascinating Things
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Show Notes
Nellie Bly faked madness to enter Blackwell's Island asylum, then turned fearless reporting into a 72-day race around the world.
Before she became a legend, Elizabeth Cochran was a young reporter trying to force her way into a profession that barely made room for women. This episode follows her rise from sharp-tongued columnist to daring undercover journalist, as she exposes the cruelty inside Blackwell's Island, builds her reputation through investigative journalism, and catches the eye of Joseph Pulitzer. From Ten Days in a Mad House to a globe-spanning stunt that made her famous, it is a story about nerve, performance, ambition, and the price of becoming extraordinary.
Topics include:
- Her early career and the making of Nellie Bly
- Going undercover inside Blackwell’s Island asylum
- What her investigation revealed about care, cruelty, and institutional neglect
- Investigative journalism as performance, risk, and public spectacle
- Joseph Pulitzer, the New York World, and the machinery of sensational reporting
- Her 72-day trip around the world and the frenzy that followed
- 10 days in a madhouse - by Nellie Bly
- Nellie Bly - Wikipedia
- Woman & The American Story - nyhistory.org
Host & Show Info
- Hosts: Kyle Risi & Adam Cox
- Intro Music: Alice in dark Wonderland
Community & Calls to Action
- Review & follow on: Spotify & Apple Podcasts
- Instagram: @theCompendiumPodcast
- Website: thecompendiumpodcast.com
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