Last Podcast On The Left – Episode 654: Topsy the Elephant

Release Date: February 27, 2026
Hosts: Marcus Parks, Henry Zebrowski, Edwin Ewing

Overview

This episode of Last Podcast On The Left delves into the tragic and brutal history of elephants used in human entertainment, focusing on the infamous story of Topsy the Elephant, a circus elephant executed in Coney Island in 1903. The hosts—Marcus, Henry, and Ed—blend dark humor, historical research, and social critique to explore the intersection of animal cruelty, spectacle, and the bizarre moral logic of early 20th century America.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Strange Relationship Between Elephants and Humans

• Elephant Basics & Behavior
  • Asian and African elephants: differences in size, cultural use, and violence statistics.
  • Elephants as highly intelligent, emotional, and sometimes very dangerous creatures.
  • "In Africa, elephants kill about 500 people annually." (06:24 - Marcus)
  • Asian elephants are implicated in even more human deaths annually, often due to population density and domestication (08:06).
  • Discussion of "musth": the period when male elephants are hyper-aggressive and hormonal—"testosterone can be up to a hundred times greater than usual." (12:15 - Marcus)
• Rogue Elephants & Notorious Incidents
  • Stories about rogue elephants named "Osama bin Laden" in India, responsible for multiple fatalities and legendary among locals (13:32-15:26).
  • "He killed 22 people in 10 days… only has one tusk." (15:01 - Marcus)
  • The infamous case of an elephant who killed a woman at a well, then returned to her funeral to attack her corpse—a chilling example of elephant memory and aggression (16:14-18:09).

Elephant Execution as Spectacle & Punishment

• Historical Elephant Executions
  • Execution by elephant as a death penalty in Southeast Asia and India dating back centuries—elephants trained for torture as public spectacle (19:21-29:45).
  • Emperor Jahangir of India used elephants not just for executions but creative torture, such as tossing people, impaling them with blade-fitted tusks, and skinning them alive:
    • "His staff would then stuff them with hay and feed them to dogs." (27:36 - Marcus)
  • Discussion of how these events were societal entertainment, akin to public executions in Europe and America, and the overlap between animal cruelty and human cruelty for audience amusement.

War Elephants & the March of Progress

• Elephants in Warfare
  • From ancient times until the advent of cannons and firearms, elephants were essentially "living tanks" and deployed by civilizations such as the Indian kings, Persians, and Alexander the Great (33:25-35:58).
  • With technological advances, the role of war elephants faded, and their value shifted towards ivory rather than utility (37:03-37:16).

The Tragic Tale of Topsy the Elephant

• Topsy’s Origins & American Showbiz
  • Stolen from the wild in 1875 and smuggled from Asia to Germany to America; quickly commodified for show business by Carl Hagenbeck, "the Jeffrey Epstein of exotic animals," and and later American circuses (38:08-44:44).
  • Her name, appropriated from Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and the constant marketing lies about her background.
• Incidents and Reputation
  • Series of violent incidents attributed to Topsy, with her most infamous being the killing of a drunken man in Brooklyn who taunted her and tried to force her to drink whiskey and eat a lit cigarette (45:41-46:32).
  • "Topsy then picked up Blunt with her trunk, slammed it to the ground and headbutted him to death." (46:32 - Marcus)
• Circus, Abuse, and Escalation
  • Chronic abuse and neglect by her handlers, particularly the notorious Whitey Alt, led to more public incidents, culminating with Topsy rampaging into a police station (54:47-57:04).
• The Execution: Media Spectacle
  • Unable to rehome Topsy due to her reputation, Luna Park owners chose public execution as a marketing stunt for their new amusement park, promising a spectacle for 25 cents admission (57:42-58:29).
  • Massive public anticipation and intervention by the ASPCA, resulting in plans to first poison, then hang, and ultimately electrocute her—often all at once, for maximum effect (58:51-66:55).
  • "The official plan was to feed Topsy carrots laced with 460 grams with cyanide, walk her over a bridge to the electrical tower, hang her from it, and then electrocute her for good measure." (66:40 - Marcus)
• The Execution Explained
  • Carried out on January 4, 1903, witnessed by about 100 people in person and thousands more observing from outside and rooftops.
  • Topsy was electrocuted with 6,600 volts, her body hung by a steam-powered winch, then autopsied and her remains used for trophies (70:19-71:37).
  • Edison’s role: Often blamed, but in reality, he only profited from filming the event and was not directly involved (73:56-74:43).
  • "The execution was filmed and turned into a 74 second movie... Electrocuted Shooting an Elephant. It did not run long because it was not very popular." (72:10 - Marcus)

Other Elephant Executions and American Morality

• The Case of Murderous Mary & More
  • The 1916 lynching of "Murderous Mary" in Tennessee after she killed an abusive handler—brutally hung in front of 2,500 people, and her body examined only afterward to confirm her pain was caused by a rotten tooth where she’d been prodded (75:03-77:17).
  • At least 36 public elephant executions occurred in the US between the 1880s and 1920s, often as "punishment" for not performing or for retaliating against abuse (77:37-78:26).
• Reflection on Animal Exploitation
  • Persistent theme: The arbitrary, cruel logic used to justify animal mistreatment for entertainment, profit, or spectacle.
  • Modern reflection: Even as late as the 1990s, elephants like Tyke were still killed after rampaging due to circus stress (81:00-81:22).
  • Ringling Bros. and other circuses forced by law and public outcry to retire elephants (80:36-80:55).

The Critique of Trophy Hunting and Conservation Excuses

• Celebrity and Royal Trophy Hunts
  • Criticism of Trump’s reversal of ivory import bans and high-profile trophy hunters claiming their actions "help conservation by funding reserves" (83:35-85:24).
  • Marcus’s personal disdain: "As someone who has been on safari in Africa, there wasn’t one moment when I thought, man, it’d be pretty cool to shoot that elephant in its huge, beautiful brain." (85:24)
• Animal Rights and Societal Values
  • The ethics of using wild animals for entertainment, killing for sport, and the need for genuine conservation:
    • "The animal kingdom deserves our respect. So maybe it’s time to throw some of these sad, weak-ass poachers and politicians to the elephant garden." (86:34-87:01 - Marcus)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On elephant violence:
  “They are huge, brilliant, loyal, emotional, and most importantly, violent creatures.” (03:29 – Marcus)
• On the execution of Topsy:
  “You can’t buy this type of publicity.” (50:18 – Forepaugh, paraphrased by Marcus)
• Rogue elephants:
  “This rogue elephant killed 22 people in 10 days. He is believed to be currently in must. He must be, as well as being rogue, and only has one tusk.” (15:01 – Marcus)
• Spectacle of public cruelty:
  “Execution was entertainment.” (25:29 – Ed)
• Topsy’s final moments:
  “The event commenced. So the official plan was to feed Topsy carrots laced with 460 grams of cyanide, walk her over a bridge to the electrical tower, hang her from it, and then electrocute her for good measure.” (66:40 – Marcus)
• On trophy hunting:
  “If you go on a plane to go hunt on another continent, you can suck my balls.” (85:44 – Henry)
• Closing moral:
  “The animal kingdom deserves our respect. So maybe it’s time to throw some of these sad, weak-ass poachers and politicians to the elephant garden.” (87:01 – Marcus)

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Topic | |---------------|-------------------------------------------------------| | 02:13 | Episode Introduction: Focus on elephants | | 06:01 | Elephants vs. vehicles – a size comparison | | 08:06 | Asian elephants and their interactions with humans | | 13:32 | Indian Rogue Elephants: Osama bin Laden legend | | 16:14 | The "revenge" elephant at the funeral pyre | | 19:21 | Elephant executions in Southeast Asia | | 25:11 | Emperor Jahangir’s "elephant garden" executions | | 33:25 | Elephants in war, ancient to WWII | | 38:08 | Topsy’s origin story | | 45:41 | Topsy kills the drunken antagonist | | 54:47 | Topsy is sold to Coney Island/Luna Park | | 57:42 | Decision for Topsy’s public execution | | 66:40 | The execution plan in detail | | 70:19 | Topsy’s death and its aftermath | | 73:56 | Edison’s real (limited) involvement | | 75:03 | Murderous Mary’s lynching in Tennessee | | 77:37 | The history of elephant executions in America | | 80:36 | Modern circus elephant retirements | | 83:35 | Trophy hunting and conservation debate | | 86:34 | Final moral and call to respect wildlife |

Tone and Style

As always, the Last Podcast on the Left masterfully balances macabre historical content with sardonic humor, improvisational riffs, and the hosts’ signature irreverence toward authority—whether circuses, politicians, or trophy hunters. While the subject matter is grim, the delivery is brisk, conversational, and often self-deprecating, inviting listeners to both reckon with the horror and laugh at the absurdity.

Final Thoughts

This episode provides a sobering yet wildly entertaining exploration of how the monstrous treatment of elephants in entertainment both reflected and fueled darker elements of human culture: cruelty, spectacle, and exploitative capitalism. In telling Topsy's story and others like hers, the hosts challenge us to reconsider our responsibilities toward the animal world, even as they gleefully riff on history’s absurdities. The lesson lingers: “Throw them to the elephant garden”—but let’s hope, at last, it’s the abusers and exploiters who end up there, not the elephants.