PreserveCast

I have been a big fan of Peter Ginn ever since I watched the first episode of Victorian Farm, where he portrayed a Victorian-era farmer in England alongside Ruth Goodman and Alex Langlands. Peter has deftly combined his knowledge of the past with entertainment and is a proud ambassador for preserving historic trades and crafts. In short, he’s the ideal PreserveCast guest. 

On this special edition of PreserveCast we're flipping the script! Normally, our host Nicholas Redding asks the questions and our guests tell us the story. On today's episode Nick will be our storyteller, chronicling one of his first preservation advocacy battles and the hard-won lessons learned that can listeners can heed and use to speak out on behalf of places that matter to their communities. ...

Saving communities and historic places from an increasingly unstable climate takes real action – and thoughtful, well-crafted policy. Maryland State Senator Sarah Elfreth is a national leader on this issue and has helped to craft a new funding source to help communities battle climate change and save historic places. I first met Senator Elfreth outside of a Budget and Taxation hearing to discuss a...

On this week’s PreserveCast we’re diving deep into the technology of preservation with Greg Galer and Taryn Williams about their roles at The Association for Preservation Technology International (APT). We’re talking about how preservationists keep up with changing technology and how those trends, tools and the science of buildings is helping keep our historic structures standing. And, we’ll discu...

What is smart growth and why should preservationists care about it? On this week’s PreserveCast we’re talking with David Adler, an asset manager from David S. Brown Enterprises about transit-oriented development, incentives for smart growth, and how historic preservationists can incentivize better growth in their own communities. All that and more, as we push the boundaries of preservation, on thi...

On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re heading back 250 years to the mid-18th century to talk to Ed Schultz, master farmer of Colonial Williamsburg. We’ve covering a lot of ground in this episode – rich fertile ground – and will take a closer look at what it takes to learn this style of farming and what lessons it holds for the future of sustainable agriculture. We’ll also talk with Ed about his work...

The experiences of hundreds of free and enslaved people of color who witnessed and took part in the Battle of Antietam, one of America’s bloodiest battles, have never been shared in depth until now. Join us on this week’s PreserveCast as we talk with author Dr. Emilie Amt about her book Black Antietam: African Americans and the Civil War. Emilie will give us a glimpse into her book and the African...

On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re heading to the brackish waters of the Chesapeake Bay to revisit an episode with Imani Black, founder of Minorities in Aquaculture , a dynamic new organization that is using heritage and history and a host of other innovative tools to develop opportunities for minorities to engage in this growing and sustainable industry. Like many guests, I read about Imani in an...

Once one of the top 10 cities in the United States, Buffalo’s historic Elmwood district could once again be a model for America’s cities. On this week’s PreserveCast, join us as we talk with Clinton Brown, a heritage and project architect, about his book Olmsted’s Elmwood: The Rise, Decline and Renewal of Buffalo’s Parkway Neighborhood, A Model for America’s Cities. Brown takes us through this Buf...

Join us on this week’s PreserveCast as we talk with Katherine Porter, a design director at Waterhouse Wallhangings. Waterhouse’s collections contain new and old wallpaper designs, including some authentic reproductions, first used in the early days of the US. Join us as we explore how wallpaper has changed since it was first brought to the US, peeking into Waterhouse’s archives, and the difference...

Want to know how sailors used to get their tattoos centuries ago? On this week’s PreserveCast, we will be talking with Owen McGarry a New England tattoo artist who specializes in hand poked tattoos. The stick and poke tattoo method has been performed for thousands of years from sailors to indigenous Americans and Europeans. Owen will walk us through this slow tattooing process and where he gets hi...

One a day keeps the doctor away. Join us on this week’s PreserveCast, as we talk with Tom Brown who is on the search for “Lost” heritage apple varieties. Listen in as Tom shares his decades-long journey to rediscover heritage apples and what it takes to preserve these “Lost” breeds.

One of preservation’s biggest challenges is climate change. On this week’s PreserveCast, we are talking with Benjamin Curran, a 2021 recipient of the Harrison Goodall Fellowship. Curran’s project intended to explore the viability of constructing low-cost open-source sensors for the purpose of increasing the breadth of communities engaged in self-monitoring their susceptibility to sea level rise. J...

On this week’s PreserveCast, we’ll head back to the 19th century to explore the landscapes and sites associated with Frederick Douglass and talk with Jeffrey McGuiness about his photographic journey to document these sites for his new book published by The St. Michael’s Museum, Bear Me Into Freedom: The Talbot County of Frederick Douglass. Jeff McGuiness is a photographer and writer fascinated by...

On this week’s PreserveCast we are talking with Charles Henry the President of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), a non-profit organization that works with libraries, cultural institutions, and higher learning communities to improve research, teaching, and learning environments through the digitization and preservation of cultural heritage. Charles will be sharing the threat...

Roll your oak barrels over – we’re making whiskey! On this week’s PreserveCast, join us in talking with Aaron Hollis, the Co-Executive Director of West Overton Village Museum in Scottdale, PA. Aaron will be sharing about re-establishing the whiskey distillery on the property after almost 100 years. The distillery is operational and is used to educate visitors about how whiskey was made over 100 ye...

Reuse for Our Future! And join us on this week’s PreserveCast as we talk with Stephanie Phillips a recipient of the 2021 Goodall Fellowship. Stephanie will be sharing about the Circular Heritage Project, of which the fellowship supported the launch. The Circular Heritage Project, which seeks to strengthen the alignment between the heritage conservation field and the growing circular economy moveme...

On this week’s PreserveCast, we are talking with Christopher Oakley from UNC Asheville about his research behind solving the number 1 question guests at the Gettysburg National Cemetery ask. “Where did Lincoln stand [during the Gettysburg Address]?” Join us while Oakley takes us through the intense analysis of 19thcentury photographs with today’s technology & 3D modelling software. Christopher...

There is perhaps no author or person who has made more of an impact on the modern notion of Christmas than Charles Dickens. The famed author is now almost synonymous with Christmas – and his legendary work, A Christmas Carol, has sold millions of copies and has been turned into no fewer than 135 different movies. With this legendary success, how best to tell his story? That’s the subject of today’...

We're excited to bring you today's PreserveCast live from the field! We're in Annapolis, Maryland on the grounds of the historic State House, where we're sitting down with Drew Brown of the Christman Company to discuss the organization's work on the overhaul of the State House's c. 1788 dome. Then we'll shift the conversation to talk with three of the project's tradespeople, skilled in window rest...

The first comprehensive research study on the status of heritage trades in the US has now been published! On this week’s PreserveCast, we are talking with Donovan Rypkema from PlaceEconomics about the Historic Trades Labor Study published by The Campaign for Historic Trades (Powered by Preservation Maryland). Rypkema will take us through the research and how he and his team conducted the study, so...

For most of us – Thanksgiving is a time of reflection, communion and appreciation – shared around a table groaning under the weight of rich foods with family and friends. Central to the holiday is a story dating back to the 1620s – when our European forbearers gathered with native peoples and peacefully celebrated a harvest. Or, at least, that’s what legend, myth and selective memory would lead us...

Join us in exploring a new narrative of the American Revolutionary War from the eyes of hired German Soldiers, known as Hessians. On this week’s PreserveCast, we are talking with Friederike Baer about her book Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War. We’ll explore the untold stories of the Hessians and the profound impact they had in the American Revolution. Friederike Baer is...

Hold onto your steering wheel as we’re about to hit the road on this week’s PreserveCast as we talk with Evans Paull about Baltimore’s Stop the Road movement, the historic waterfront communities saved, and the Highway to Nowhere. Detailed in his recently released book, Stop the Road: Stories from The Trenches of Baltimore’s Road Wars, Paull will give us a glimpse into the up-close-and-personal acc...

It’s time for The Great Maryland Recipe Hunt! Join us on this week’s PreserveCast as we talk with Joyce White from A Taste of History to discuss the upcoming anniversary of one of Maryland’s most iconic cookbooks, Maryland’s Way, The Hammond-Harwood House Cook Book. This cookbook included recipes found in historic handwritten journals as well as many that were donated from Marylanders across the s...