Around the World in 72 Days

Phileas Fogg was a reserved, retiring English gentleman who traveled around the world in 80 days. He was also fictional, the invention of Jules Vernes in 1873. Some 16 years later, the world would be circumnavigated in less than 80 days for the first time, by a person who was neither shy nor a gentleman. Her given name was Elizabeth Jane Cochrane, but the world came to know her as Nellie Bly. She pioneered the field of "stunt reporting," where journalists impersonated ordinary people to gain access to controversial situations. Under the guidance of the New York World's infamous shock publisher Joseph Pulitzer, Bly masqueraded as a madwoman and got herself admitted to the Blackwell Island asylum, reporting from the inside on the bleak conditions of New York City's most notorious madhouse. She posed as an unwed mother to expose the illegal baby buying trade to the world. And in her capping stunt, she traveled around the world in less than 80 days, with only a handful of silver coins, a watch and a jar of cold cream in her tiny grip sack (Michael Palin take note). Readers were swept away by her accurate writing and wonderful sense of style--she even took a newsworthy break on her hurried journey to have wine and biscuits with Jules Vernes in France. In 1889, at age 25, Nellie Bly was the most famous woman on earth, performing a stunt a week. And her incredible story is told here with the usual high production values associated with The American Experience series. Highly recommended. Aud: J, H, C, P. (R. Ray)