Everything is a Primary Source

S3E12: "Hail to the Chiefs" Analyzing pop culture artifacts connected to presidents as documents of their respective time periods First segment:  Jade discusses the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth and its legacy Segment two: Dr. Stephen Carney on JFK's funeral and its pop culture impact Final segment: Allison and I use George and Martha Washington salt and pepper shakers to ascertain ideas of the recent...

S3E11: "Parks and Education" On this Giving Tuesday I present to you conversations with and/or about three non-profits in the Seacoast of NH region. Prescott Park Arts Festival American Independence Museum The Moffatt-Ladd House Museum Enjoy the dialogue, and consider supporting these or similar organizations near you.

Pop Music of the 20th Century This episode is made up of podcast karaoke segments about pop music Steve and I spoke about John Philip Sousa Nigh discussed the evolution of the Beach Boys Fred and I talked about rock n roll and the Civil Rights movement Musician Tom elaborated on how music drew him to Portsmouth, NH in the 1990s

S3E9: "Ingrid, Victor, and Joan" 1948's Joan of Arc as a primary source with Johan of Edutainment Daily. Plus, a look at a previous Victor Fleming movie, The Wizard of Oz

S3E8: "Sing Us a Song" 1973's Piano Man album by Billy Joel as a document of its times

S3E7:  "Saying Boo" 1938's "The War of the Worlds" radio drama with Taylor Cormier Plus Logan from WOKQ's Kira and Logan in the Morning talks country music radio in New England

S3E6: "Doc's Appointment" Analyzing 1989's "Back to the Future Part II" as a primary source of the late 1980s with Dustin Regec of Recycled Architecture . Also, An interview with Professor Kevin of the SCA about Kinzua State Park in Western Pennsylvania 

S3E5 ; "What's This?" Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas as a document of 1993 with Nick Vincent Barbera. Plus An oral essay about two real Halloween Towns, Salem, Massachusetts and Sleepy Hollow, NY

S3E4: "California Pipeline" Treating 1963's "Checkered Flag" by Dick Dale & His Del-Tones as a primary source with surf guitarist Laramie Dean .

S3E3: "Our Wrongs and Our Rights" Charles in Charge as a document of its era with Amy and Jay of The Sitcom Study Podcast . Plus A conversation with Andrew about his portrayal of Seymour in this summer's production of Little Shop of Horrors at Prescott Park in Portsmouth, NH

S3E2: "En Fuego" More of ESPN's SportsCenter as a document of history with Deremy of the Bigger than the Game Podcast , plus an impromptu "Ted Talk" about Apollo 13 from Prescott Park in Portsmouth, NH.

S3E1: "Back Back Back Back Back! -Chris Berman" Season 3 Premiere! ESPN's SportsCenter as a document of history with Deremy of the Bigger than the Game Podcast (Part 1 of 2).

It was such an honor to have a Laurie Halse Anderson, an authority on finding and analyzing historical documents, join the Everything is a Primary Source so the two of us could discuss the power of primary sources. Laurie has made a career out of working with primary sources.  Her bibliography of nearly 30 books for children and young adults includes several historical fiction titles, and she is a...

"In My Life"  Dr. Kitty Oliver's life and career as a reflection of the Beatles era Dr. Kitty Oliver cites her experience seeing The Beatles at the Gator Bowl in the 1960s as the event that changed everything for her. The Fab Four from Liverpool’s arrival to the Sunshine State during their famous 1964 US tour marked a momentous change not only for her, but for the state of Florida as well. The Bea...

The Second Season of the Everything is a Primary Source podcast is nearing its end,  but I’d like to use the final EPS Podcast short slot to give a preview of the bonus episode that will be released in a few weeks. Award-winning author Laurie Halse Anderson’s writing career boasts a litany of wonderful books, many of which are categorized as historical fiction. In this segment and throughout the e...

"Trailblazers": The Oregon Trail game as a Primary Source with Dan of Tracing the Path The Oregon Trail. That term evokes images of either pioneers making their way from east to west in the middle of the 19th century, or the computer game where, no matter what you do, at least one of your characters will die of dysentery. The game was such a staple of elementary school computer labs throughout the...

"We Love Wii" Nintendo could have followed the trend of Sony and Microsoft in the early 2000s and produce a console that had players sitting on couches and beanbag chairs playing their games through wired remote controls. But being a follower never really worked well for Nintendo, so the interactive, physical gaming of the Wii was introduced as an alternative to the Playstation and XBox. It didn’t...

Land of the Rising Sun: MS Blues Trail and Million Dollar Quartet Musical as Primary Sources This two-tiered episode is less about the 1950s, or Sun Records or the blues, and more about the early 21st century and a desire by the creative forces behind both the Mississippi Blues Trail and the Million Dollar Quartet jukebox musical to secure for all time these important cultural milestones. To help...

"I am a Neon Light" Talking neon with Jeremy of the SCA If there is anyone who gets me and the Everything is a Primary Source mindset, it is Jeremy Ebersole and the Society for Commercial Archaeology, or SCA . Their mission is to locate, study and preserve roadside America so that the clues about the country’s commercial past don’t fade away silently. I was glowing with excitement to have Jeremy j...

 "Recorded Live from Biddeford, It's Sometime on Tuesday!" Phil Hartman was the kind of person SNL’s producer, Lorne Michaels, has always tried to stock his cast with--smart, multi-faceted,--so the audience would get that weekly dose of witty social commentary the show has long provided. And it was this level of talent that made for a talking point for me and my guest Tony at Biddeford Maine’s Ban...

"Suburban Rebels" - Dungeons and Dragons as a Primary Source w/ Rob from We Met in a Tavern Dungeons and Dragons has seen an uptick in exposure these last few years, thanks in large part to its heavy presence in the storyline of Netflix’s Stranger Things . Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves , the latest film based on the role playing game, premieres in the US on March 31st, and by the looks...

"Not Fade Away" Buddy Holly and the Crickets as a Primary Source Buddy Holly and the Crickets contributed significantly to the evolution of rock n roll, especially in the realm of creating a rock n roll band, rather than just one figure on stage. This makes for one incredibly large fragment as so many legendary groups from the Beatles to the Hollies to the Rolling Stones to the Beach Boys followed...

EPS Podcast Shorts "I'll Be Back...Again, and Again, and Again" Pt1 Back in 1991 and 1992, Terminator 2: Judgement Day was a pop culture force to be reckoned with. T2 broke box office records and won awards, pioneered computer effects in movie-making and tells an incredible story. It was also masterfully marketed, sweeping across the interests of a rather wide audience. Each home gaming platform h...

"A Strong Figure for Children's History": The Strong Museum of Play w/ Chris Bensch Established in 1968 as the “Margaret Woodbury Strong Museum of Fascination,” the first iteration of what would become the home of both the National Toy Hall of Fame and National Video Game Hall of Fame was based on the many collections that the museum’s namesake had assembled throughout her life. But times change a...

EPS Podcast Shorts "Doctor(s) My Eyes" I’m always on the lookout for irregular pop culture relics so when I came across a selection of TV and movie-related 45s at a thrift store recently I gladly took the lot. The copy of “The Theme from Ben Casey and the Theme from Dr. Kildare” played on piano with orchestral and choral accompaniment brought out ironic Gen Xer in me and I brought it to a recent p...