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Beast Master

By: Jamie Fullerton
Narrated by: Jamie Fullerton
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Episodes
  • Ep 1: The Rusty Palace
    May 12 2022
    It’s 2006, and young British writer Jamie Fullerton flies to Ohio to wrestle a black bear named Caesar for a magazine article. Caesar’s owner, Sam Mazzola, intrigues and disturbs Jamie – then years later shocking news about Sam makes newspaper headlines.
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    38 mins
  • Ep 2: Hail, Caesar!
    May 12 2022
    Jamie is back in Ohio to uncover the mysterious life of Sam Mazzola. He hears how Sam treated his bears like humans, taking them to health spas and protecting them from gun-wielding wardens. It was Sam and his animal empire vs the world.
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    36 mins
  • Ep 3: Wildlife Adventures
    May 12 2022
    Sam grew his animal empire with tigers and pet shops, but dark secrets were dumped into his shop’s trash compactor. Sam said he loved his creatures, but protestors doused him in pig blood as animal rights pressure on him mounted.
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    38 mins

Watch the trailer for Beast Master

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About the Creator and Performer

Jamie Fullerton is a British freelance writer. He has written for publications such as The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, CNN, Vice, and Buzzfeed.
After gaining a BSc in Psychology at Cardiff University in 2004, then graduating from London’s City University with a postgraduate diploma in Journalism, Jamie became staff writer of Loaded magazine. He specialized in adventure and subculture features, putting himself through vomit-therapy rehab and going rat hunting in Mumbai for articles.
Depending on your viewpoint, Jamie’s Loaded career peaked or troughed when he grappled a wrestling bear named Caesar in Ohio in 2006: the starting point for the story that would become Beast Master.
Jamie moved into music journalism in 2007, writing, editing and broadcasting at the New Musical Express (NME) magazine, website and radio station until 2013, when he relocated to Asia. He wrote and broadcast news and features from across the continent, returning to bizarre subculture stories often.
Highlights included spending a weekend with a group of Thai UFO-watchers who believe they communicate with Buddhist aliens, and wearing silica fake breasts for 24 hours in Shanghai as part of a course to help men understand motherhood.

What listeners say about Beast Master

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Excellent

It started out interesting and kept getting better. Very entertaining , highly recommend , three more words .

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    5 out of 5 stars
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This needs to be a movie

This story is crazy. I was trapped in the story. This crazy story is almost unbelievable.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Crazy how people live like this

Uh little bit speechless on how these beautiful animals were treated and that animals are still being treated like this somewhere

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Another Crazy Exotic Animal Guy

For a while, there was a time when Ohio had these crazily relaxed policies on exotic animal ownership. As humans will, people took advantage of this situation as a means of making easy money.
Animal swap-meet type fairs sprung up, and in this environment, a couple of larger-than-life characters took it way too far and in the process, rather lost touch with the reality of caring for the actual animals as they became his identity as well as his living. And, when you’re responsible for a bunch of big, dangerous animals, and you’ve rather lost touch with reality, bad things can happen.
Eerily similar to The Tiger King, this is a story about a guy who started out as a kid who loved animals. Early on he bumped heads with city officials over his animals and this set up a pattern of not dealing well with authorities. Meanwhile, this socially awkward young man discovers that his bears get attention when he takes them for ice-cream at the drive-in, setting him up for a lifetime of using the animals to lure humans into his sphere of influence, especially young guys.

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    5 out of 5 stars

Great! Fans of S-Town Take Note!

This is a great series that fans of S-Town will love. Jamie Fullerton does an excellent job of humanizing every player in the story. While there are some WTF-moments it is more than that. It’s sad at times and shocking, but also touching.

Definitely worth the listen!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Captivating!

This podcast kept my attention the entire time. That is not an easy thing to do. If you liked Tiger King, then you will like this too.

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Well told

The story was told very well with live interviews. Felt I’m like I was “watching “ a documentary.

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loved this

got me in 5 minutes. listened to all episodes without a break. worth every.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Jamie gets the point across....

From the beginning, Jamie captures the audience's attention with what is awaiting in the crypts of Sam Mazzalo. The deeper one digs into what hides in those crypts the more truths on the way and many masks that hide within. Wonderful job Jamie!!!

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"Unleashing the Beast"

If you're looking for an action-packed podcast that will keep you on the edge of your seat, look no further than Beastmaster. This podcast tells the incredible true story of a man named Sam Mazzola and his work as an animal trainer and caretaker.

The host does an excellent job of bringing the story to life, with vivid details and engaging narration that kept me hooked from start to finish. I was particularly impressed by the host's ability to balance the thrilling action with moments of emotional depth and introspection, making for a well-rounded and satisfying listening experience.

As for Sam Mazzola himself, his story is undeniably controversial. However, regardless of one's personal feelings about him, there's no denying that his life and work made for a fascinating subject for this podcast.

Overall, I highly recommend Beastmaster to anyone looking for a thrilling and thought-provoking podcast. Whether you're a fan of true crime, adventure, or simply great storytelling, this podcast is not to be missed.

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