In the early Twentieth Century, Joe Magarac was the American steel industry's answer to Paul Bunyan. And then it was discovered he might not be an authentic folk tale, but a relatively recent invention...

https://order-of-the-jackalope.com/jackass-forever/

Key sources for this episode include Owen Francis's "The Saga of Joe Magarac: Steelman"; Jennifer Gilley and Stephen Burnet's "Deconstructing and Reconstructing Pittsburgh's Man of Steel: Reading Joe Magarac Against the Context of the 20th-Century Steel Industry"; Kevin J. Patrick's "Joe Magarac and the Spirit of Pittsburgh"; and Marshal W. Fishwick's "Sons of Paul: Folklore or Fakelore?".

What I really recommend, though, is Irwin Shapiro's Joe Magarac and his U.S.A Citizen Papers. The dialect is charming instead of grating, the location- and period-authentic detail helps keep everything grounded, the jokes are actually funny, and the moral is still relevant today. And on top of that you have some really powerful illustrations by James Daugherty. Five stars, A+, would read again.

Part of the That's Not Canon Productions podcast network. https://thatsnotcanon.com/

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