Cassie Chadwick: The Gilded Age's Most Infamous Con Woman

In the penultimate episode of Season 7, Alex travels back to the Gilded Age to uncover the forgotten story of the greatest con woman of the era, Cleveland's Cassie Chadwick. In the second part of a two-part con artist series, Alex tells the story of how Cassie defrauded some $60 million from banks using her alleged connection to America's richest man, Andrew Carnegie.

We're joined by two great guests to tell us the immigrant stories of Cassie Chadwick and Andrew Carnegie in the Gilded Age. Author William Hazelwood joins the program to discuss his new book Greed in the Gilded Age: The Brilliant Con of Cassie Chadwick (2022). Hazelwood brings Cassie's story back to life from her humble petty criminal days in Canada to her many scams in her new home in Cleveland, Ohio. Buy William's book here. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/greed-in-the-gilded-age-william-elliott-hazelgrove/1139927521

Our second guest and our favorite recurring guest is Bruce Carlson from the podcast My History Can Beat Up Your Politics rejoins the show to discuss the rise of Andrew Carnegie from Scottish immigrant child laborer to steel magnate to the richest man in America. It's Cassie's claim that she's Carnegie's illegitimate daughter that sparks her greatest con that would lead to her con story captivating the entire country in 1905 and landed her behind bars. Check out Bruce's amazing podcast here or wherever you get your podcasts. https://myhistorycanbeatupyourpolitics.wordpress.com

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