Everything is a Primary Source

Teacher and author Carolyn Watkins sat down with me at the NH Maker's Fest to chat about her book The Knock: A Collection of Childhood Memories and how it, as well as how it was made, is a reflection of the time period in which we live.

"Nature's Balance": Analyzing Pet Rescue, Pet Ownership, and Pet Psychics as primary sources Episode 30: "Nature's Balance" - A few years ago I spoke with Psychic Sara Moore on a phone reading regarding my household's animals.  By the end of the conversation she was encouraging me to pursue radio broadcasting as she felt that I had a story to tell.  There is no one better to have on as a guest to...

Episode 29: "Twin Piques" Analyzing The Rat King and TV Reboots as (two different) primary sources This episode is comprised of two conversations I had with two different comic book artists that were featured at the Free Comic Book Day event in Rochester, and is the last of my episodes recorded that day.  The first segment is my conversation with Jim Lawson, who is best known for his work in the e...

Episode 28:  "Con-munity" Analyzing PopCultAnime Con as a Primary Source with Hemlock Inyx This is the second podcast to come from Jetpack Comics' Free Comic Book Day event. I sat down with Hemlock Inyx, organizer of the Pop Cult Anime Con in Boston to talk about this year's event, how Japanese animation has opened the door to Americans to learn more about Japanese culture, and the way that conven...

Episode 27:  "Top Shelf Turtles" Analyzing "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" the 1990 Movie, as a primary source This is the first of a series of episodes I recorded at the Jetpack Comics Free Comic Book Day extravaganza in Rochester, NH.  I was so happy to meet Spencer from Dime Comics Bros. Podcast and record an episode about the very first, and very best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.  Is the...

Episode 26: "A Podcast with Dawn Brodey" Dissecting Stand-up Comedy as a Primary Source   Like everything else, stand-up comedy has a history, and like all things, it can be treated as a primary source.  The trouble is, which era does the current art form reflect? I am joined by LA-based comic, historian and podcaster Dawn Brodey to dissect stand-up and determine what it tells us about the last ce...

"The Spirits of America": Analyzing Soul Sisters Paranormal and (paranormal investigation in general) as a primary source There are countless stories to be told about people and places from America's past, but the pace of modern life doesn't always match up well with visiting traditional historic sites and museums. I am joined by paranormal investigator Kristy Sumner, PhD, founding member of Soul...

Episode 24:"Marvel-us Day"  Analyzing Free Comic Book Day as a Primary Source   Free Comic Book Day is fast approaching so who better to turn to than the New Hampshire comic store who has made the day into a city-wide festival?  Ralph DiBernardo, founder and owner of Jetpack Comics in Rochester joins the EPS Podcast to talk about the origins of FCBD, what motivated him to develop it the way he and...

"The Apostle of Joey Ramone" Dissecting Joe Queer's career with his band, The Queers, as a primary source Episode 23: The Queers are the perfect combination of two of the greatest rock n roll groups of all time, The Beach Boys and the Ramones.  It's only appropriate that the band's leader, Joe Queer, learned directly from the King himself, Joey Ramone.    It was great talking with Joe about the Qu...

"Makeup Exam": Analyzing the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act of 1938 as a Primary Source Dr. Gwen Kay, author of Dying to Be Beautiful: The Fight for Safe Cosmetics , joined to break down the 1938 Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act as a primary source of the time period. This law was designed to repeal the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act as much had changed in American society and culture over the course of th...

"Creator's Block": Looking at Samz Brego, "Lego Masters" and Lego bricks themselves as primary sources Episode 21:  It's really quite amazing how a collection of connecting blocks, originally marketed to children, have made such a lasting impression on societies and cultures all around the world  It was so nice talking with Corey Samuels , Fox's "Lego Masters" competitor, one half of Brothers Who...

"A Sense of Tradition": Dropkick Murphys' 2001 album "Sing Loud, Sing Proud" as a primary source  With Special Guest Al Barr Episode 20:  Al Barr, lead singer of the Boston-based Dropkick Murphys, took the time on two occasions to talk with me about the group's 2001 record, "Sing Loud, Sing Proud."   The months after Y2K and before 9/11 make up a unique time period for American society for a varie...

** Special Preview Episode ** Al Barr, lead singer for Dropkick Murphys , took the time recently to talk with me about the band's 2001 album Sing Loud, Sing Proud. The conversation was full of great stories like the ones here.  I hope you enjoy this excerpt and be sure to keep a look out for the full episode being released soon.

***Bonus Episode*** The Dream of the 90s was alive in Hartford this past weekend, or at least a part of the 90s .  The Tie Dyed Librarian and I talk about our take on the first ever "90s Con," some of the high and low lights, as well as the fact that there were some glaring omissions in this TGIF, Nickelodeon-rich event.

"Millennial Revivalism": Analyzing "90s Con" as a primary source I am glad to be joined by historian Briann Greenfield, PhD, author of Out of the Attic: Inventing Antiques in Twentieth Century New England to look forward to this weekend's first annual "90s Con" in Hartford, CT.  While nostalgia for 1990s pop culture is what drives this event (for which I am very excited to attend), it is not uniqu...

Episode 18:  "Yes, Chef!" Treating the career of a classically trained chef as a primary source Food, glorious food!  Food is the most delicious pop culture artifact, and this conversation was long overdue. Food has been the centerpiece and guiding force of my friend, Chef John Keller.  He was kind enough to lend his story to be the first time for this podcast in treating a life as a primary sourc...

Episode 17: "Where Everyday is Halloween" Dissecting Beetle House NYC as a primary source If everything is a primary source, then everyday can be Halloween, right?    Beetle House started as a Tim Burton-themed popup in 2016 but has rapidly become a fixture in New York City. I spoke with Nick Vincent Barbera , who portrays Jack Skellington at Beetle House, to analyze his workplace as a product of...

"Doomsday's Coming, 1981" Analyzing the Ramones' "End of the Century" (1980) album cover as a primary source The Ramones are my all time favorite rock group, so choosing the cover art to their 1980 album "End of the Century" to analyze as a primary source creates a nerding-out fiesta.  The cool, casual voice of my friend and music aficionado Kris is who you'll hear in between my blurting out of Ra...

**Super Bowl Sunday Extra** "In the Name of Love" Looking at U2's 2002 Super Bowl Halftime Show as a primary source Musical performances have the opportunity to convey the right ideas and feelings at the right time.  This was true in 1968 when James Brown performed at the Boston Garden the night after Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, and it was true in 2002 when U2 played the Superdome during t...

Episode 14: "Commando, Involved Again" Dissecting 1985's "Commando" as a primary source  My friend, Professor Dan Hipp , is an accomplished cognitive psychologist and neuroscientist. So when I asked him to be a guest commentator on my podcast we, naturally, decided to discuss the 1985 Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie, Commando.  Treating this violent, catch phrase-laden shoot-'em-up as a primary...

Episode 13:"The Legend of Zelda" : Examining Francis Cugat's "Celestial Eyes" (1925) as a Primary Source I'm joined again by Andrew to look at how the cover art for 1925's The Great Gatsby is just as useful as a primary source of 1920s America as the book it graces.  Created fairly early in the history of graphic design, Cugat's painting was deeply intertwined with the story The Great Gatsby itsel...

Episode 12: "The Technicolor Rangers" Analyzing 1940's "Northwest Passage" as a primary source American movie audiences had their share of historical pictures to sort through by the end of the 1930s.  Many fillms during the Great Depression displayed figures from American history overcoming obstacles and hardships as a way to inspire moviegoers in their own difficult times.  But as war clouds gath...

Episode 11: "Fortune Tellers! How Droll!" Taking a look at Disney's Robin Hood (1973) as a primary source Oo De Lally!  Adi and I talk and dissect a shared favorite, Disney's 1973 animated feature Robin Hood .  Was its recycled animation a cost-cutting measure reflective of the company's restructuring in the era, or is it telling of something else?  How is this retelling of the English folk tale p...

Episode 10: Memorials, monuments, and markers tell us more about those who made them then they do of their subjects.  While recently touring around our home state of New Hampshire, my family and I were attracted to Milford and what Atlas Obscura , the ultimate guide to destination primary sources, describes as the 1838 "Grave With a Grudge" in the Elm Street Cemetery.   But I couldn't help but pay...

Episode 9: "I Saw the Sein": Opening up our eyes to seeing "Seinfeld" (1989-1998) as a primary source w/ Kyle Hello, New Year.    What's the deal with all these podcasts? Kyle returns to talk all things Seinfeld --its inception, influence, place in television history--but most importantly for this podcast, what does its success tell us about the society and culture in the era in which it was made?...