Episode 852: What Is P.T. Barnum’s Dream? It’s Just Dreams!

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Matt Belinkie, Mark Lee, and Pete Fenzel make their vague dreams into iconic realities by overthinking The Greatest Showman. Is it a concept album with spectacular visuals and only a loose plot, or a symbolic visual poem packed with bangers? An idealistic romp about a great historical cynic, a flagrantly inaccurate yarn about a man who might have loved it, The Greatest Showman asks us to consider the difference between dreams and lies, and whether a dream must come true to matter deeply. For its subject, it also offers inadequate ramp-up or justification for a man’s obsession with and exploitation of “human oddities.” Watch the happiest movie about Hugh Jackman stealing bread, and come overthink it with us! This is the Greatest Podcast!

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Further Reading

• Alan Moore on Magic
• “This Is Our Story and Finale” from Shrek the Musical
• “Songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul Achieve EGOT Status With Emmys Win,” from Variety