The Cardiff Giant
The giant that fooled the entire America
4.4 (39)
39 mins
Explore the bizarre 1869 discovery of a ten-foot stone giant buried beneath a New York farm. Uncover the elaborate hoax, the mastermind behind it, and how a carved statue became one of 19th-century America’s biggest sensations.
Ep 1:
A Stone Giant Rises
A farmer's well digger unearths a ten-foot stone man in 1869, igniting a national frenzy—but the true mastermind behind this 'ancient' discovery has a very personal grudge to settle.
Ep 2:
Fortunes, Fakes, and Barnum's Gambit
As crowds pay fortunes to see the giant, skeptics circle and a bitter rivalry emerges when PT Barnum, denied ownership, decides to out-hoax the hoaxers with his own audacious replica.
Ep 3:
The Con Man's Crumbling Legacy
The hoax unravels as underpaid sculptors talk and Hull's ego seals his fate, while the giant itself drifts from barns to fairs before finding an unlikely, enduring home.
Discussions (5)
Mark
Level 10 · 1 week agoPT Barnum making more money off a fake of a fake than the original fake made is genuinely the most American thing I've ever heard.
Ella
Level 10 · 1 week agoPT Barnum fake-faked the fake. Respect.
Teresa
Level 4 · 1 week agoHull never paid the sculptors. Of course they talked.
