About the Episode
About this Episode
The lABLEd Podcast episode delves into the history of Joseph Merrick, also known as the Elephant Man. Joseph was born on August 5, 1862, in Leicester, with significant physical deformities. He faced societal rejection, including being abandoned by his stepmother and working as a hawker. Merrick’s life improved when he became a human exhibit, attracting medical and social attention. He lived in the London Hospital for years, receiving care and attention from high-society benefactors. Merrick’s cause of death remains debated, with theories including accidental asphyxiation. His skeleton and medical samples are preserved at Queen Mary University.
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Production Team
Hosts: Alice Evans, Daisy Holder, and Lucy Wood
Editor: Adam Hull
Transcript of this episode
Resources
The Autobiography of Joseph Carey Merrick (1884) — The Public Domain Review https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/re-examining-the-elephant-man/
Spectacle of Deformity: Freak Shows and Modern British Culture By Nadja Durbach
The Elephant Man iMDB and BFI Toulmin, Vanessa (2007),
“‘It was not the show it was the tale that you told’ : The Life and Legend of Tom Norman, the Silver King”,
National Fairground Archive Howell, Michael; Ford, Peter (1992) [1980]
, The True History of the Elephant Man (3rd ed.), London: Penguin Books, ISBN 978-0-14-016515-9
Wikipedia (various)
Support this Podcast
Like LABLEd Podcast on Facebook
Follow LABLEd Podcast on Instagram
Got a comment or Question? Please email us!
lABLEd Podcast is currently self-funded. Please consider donating to keep this show going. You can visit our Go Fund Me. If you want more exclusive content, sign up for our newsletter.
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