A Race Around the World: Based on the True Adventures of Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland

December 20th-25th: Elizabeth Bisland is deliciously indulgent in Malaysia. But even in all the beauty of the tropics, she can't help feeling homesick as she sits on the thousands of miles from home.

November 14th- 21st: Elizabeth Bisland begrudgingly takes a trip across America. In this episode, we travel the northern route of the Great American road trip from New York to California. Over these 4000 miles, we stop in Chicago, pass through the Midwest, interact with Native American women, and explore San Francisco’s Chinatown. As Elizabeth Bisland passes through America, her mood transforms as well. She starts to take this race seriously as she steps off American soil and heads to the far east.

December 8th- 12th: The same days that Elizabeth Bisland is falling in love with Japan, Nellie Bly is having a hard time being present in Ceylon. The fates have intervened, and Nellie’s plans get turned upside down. What will Nellie Bly do now that the unexpected has happened, and will she ever get off the paradisiacal island of Ceylon?

December 13th- 16th: Nellie Bly is anxious as her steamship crosses through the Bay of Bengal and the Straits of Malacca to make up for lost time.

In these few days, she does make progress. She touches down in two ports in Malaysia: Penang and Singapore.

While in Singapore, she analyzes how different cultures express the human experiences in vastly different ways. She compares and contrasts her normal to those on the other side of the planet and makes a very impulsive purchase.

But to her delight, she has reached her mid-point, and Nellie Bly is officially halfway around the world.

Nellie Bly isn’t the only woman to leave New York on November 14th to race around the world. On the same day, the editor of the Cosmopolitan magazine, John Brisben Walker, recognized the potential for a sensational story. He dispatched ( aka bribed, badgered, and threatened) his literary writer Elizabeth Bisland to jump into the race as well. But, instead of following the same path, Elizabeth took a westward route. She packs her items and jumps onto a train headed to San Francisco. While many know about the historical race from Nellie’s perspective, Elizabeth Bislands story is often left in the shadows and will provide an alternative perspective to going around the world. This episode sheds light on Elizabeth Bislands upbringing, her ambitions and talents, and how she got roped into this wild goose chase of a race.