Thomas Edison electrocuted an elephant to win a business argument. That single sentence sounds like a lie — but it's one of the most documented events in the history of American invention. This is the story of two geniuses, one impossible rivalry, and a war fought not with weapons but with electricity. The wrong side almost won.

In this episode:

• How Nikola Tesla arrived in New York with four cents and an idea that would power the entire modern world
• Edison's horrifying public campaign to discredit alternating current — including paying children to collect stray animals for electrocution
• The night at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair when 200,000 lightbulbs proved Edison wrong in front of 27 million visitors
• Why Tesla died broke in a hotel room while the man who tried to destroy him died a millionaire