It will help cover the costs of transcription and allow other to enjoy it. If you appreciate the full text transcript, please consider donating to AoM. Listen ad-free on Stitcher Premium get a free month when you use code “manliness” at checkout.Ĭlick here to see a full list of our podcast sponsors. Subscribe to the podcast in the media player of your choice. Listen to the episode on a separate page. Joe on Twitter Listen to the Podcast! (And don’t forget to leave us a review!) The Crazy, Forgotten Story of America’s First Fitness Influencer.Lessons in Manliness From Harry Houdini.A Magician’s Search for Wonder in the Modern World.Resources/Articles/People Mentioned in Podcast Why does Houdini still captivate us today?.His lasting influence on magic and how he became an archetype.What was it that really killed Houdini?.Harry’s relentless ambition and what really drove him.The athletic prowess and mindset of Houdini.The difference between magic and escape artistry.Was there an early act that cemented Houdini’s future as a magician?.The state of magic when Houdini was getting into the industry.What led Joe, a sportswriter, to write a bio about Houdini.If reading this in an email, click the title of the post to listen to the show. We end our conversation with why some modern magicians downplay Houdini’s talents, while he yet remains an enduring cultural icon amongst the public. From there we turn to the fact that Houdini was, and wasn’t, interested in money, his insatiable ambition and drive for fame, and how even the turn he took later in life towards debunking spiritualism kept him in the public eye.

We get into the way Houdini brought an athlete’s physicality and mindset to his performances, and how the difference between magic and escape artistry can be described as the difference between the impossible and the amazing. We then explore how escape artistry became Houdini’s calling card and why it resonated so much with the public. We then discuss Houdini’s early days as a magician, the trick he honed that helped make his name, and the outsized importance of that name in his fame and legacy. His name is Joe Posnanski, and we begin our conversation with Houdini’s childhood - how he mythologized it and carved a path out for himself from his desire to not be like his father. Though it’s been almost a century since his death, Houdini still occupies a prime place in the cultural imagination, and my guest explains why in his book, The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini, and for us today on the show. Dimes to donuts, you just thought of Harry Houdini.

The amazing houdini