Tennessee lifestyles: food and drink, music, the outdoors, travel, people, the arts, places, crafts, home and garden, fashion, events, and more. Anything that makes Tennessee, Tennessee. If Tennessee culture is on display, that's where State & Beale will be.
True Tennessee Stories: The Great Western Land Pirate
Every year, the Tennessee State Museum brings out a severed human thumb for the public to see.According to legend, it belonged to John Murrell, the infamous Tennessee outlaw once known as the Great Western Land Pirate.But who was John Murrell really?A criminal mastermind who led a vast secret organization called the Mystic Clan? A river outlaw whose hidden treasure inspired Mark Twain and Tom Sawyer? Or simply a horse thief and slave thief whose legend grew larger than life?In this episode of True Tennessee Stories, we explore the strange and fascinating tale of John Murrell, including the preserved thumb, the missing skull, the treasure hunters, the Mark Twain connection, and the question historians are still debating nearly 200 years later:How much of John Murrell was real… and how much was legend?CHAPTERS0:00 The Severed Thumb1:14 The Great Western Land Pirate2:51 The Slave Thief3:42 The Mystic Clan5:59 Mark Twain’s Outlaw7:12 Murrell’s Lost Gold8:46 The Thumb and the Missing Skull10:04 Did America Invent John Murrell?
28 May 2026
True Tennessee Stories: Murderous Mary
In 1916, a circus elephant named Mary killed a handler during a parade in Kingsport, Tennessee.
What happened next shocked the nation.
Under pressure from angry crowds and fearful towns, the circus transported Mary to Erwin, Tennessee, where thousands gathered to watch one of the strangest and darkest events in Tennessee history: the public execution of an elephant using a railroad crane.
More than a century later, the story of “Murderous Mary” still haunts East Tennessee — raising questions about justice, spectacle, fear, cruelty, and how people once treated animals in America.
In this episode of True Tennessee Stories, longtime Tennessee journalist Toby Sells tells the bizarre true story of Murderous Mary.
#Tennessee #TrueCrime #History #Appalachia #CircusHistory #MurderousMary #Elephant #TrueStories
7 Apr 2026
New Tennessee State Symbol: Cast Iron
Cast iron isn’t just cookware in Tennessee — it’s history, culture, and family.
In this episode of State & Beale, I sit down with Scott Selliers, one of the people behind a the push to make cast iron the official frontier cookware of Tennessee.
From a Rotary meetings to the State Capitol, what started as a simple idea between friends made its way all the way to the governor’s desk.
We talk about:
How the bill came together
Why cast iron matters across all three Grand Divisions
The culture and stories behind it
And yes… how to actually take care of cast iron (myths included)
State & Beale — Tennessee stories that help communities feel like destinations.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
1,536
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.8 / 5
6 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 43 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
37
Social presence
0
YouTube
65
Engagement
60
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