The John Batchelor Show

S8 Ep584: 1. David K. Randall, *The Monster's Bones: The Discovery of T. Rex and How It Shook Our World*. Barnum Brown, born in 1873, was named after showman P.T. Barnum after his brother visited a traveling fair. A formative 2,000-mile trip with his father introdu

S8 Ep583: WEISBERG4.mp3 Weisberg discusses the evolution of divorce in New York, noting a significant increase during the Gilded Age. The scandal influenced novelist Edith Wharton, Mary’s cousin, who later wrote about these social circles. Additionally, the diary o

S8 Ep583: EISBRG3.mp3 Mary confesses her affair and a pregnancy of uncertain paternity to a stunned Peter. Peter pursues a taboo divorce to gain custody of their children, citing his patriarchal rights. The sources describe a sensational five-week trial in 1865 tha

S8 Ep583: WEISBERG2.mp3 Weisberg details Mary’s growing unhappiness and physical fragility following multiple pregnancies and life at Waverly. The narrative shifts as Mary begins a secret affair with Peter’s brother, Edward, after a chance encounter. This betrayal

S8 Ep583: WEISBERG1.mp3 Guest Barbara Weisberg introduces her book about Peter Strong and Mary Stevens, two elite New Yorkers who married in 1853. Despite their prominent backgrounds, Mary felt stifled living at Waverly, the Strong family estate in Queens, under he