Everything is a Primary Source

S5E12: "E Pluribus Unum: Looking at The American Revolution as a Document of Here and Now" Documentaries shape the way we remember the past and they also reveal the time in which they’re made. In this episode, I’m joined by Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, co-directors with Ken Burns of the new film The American Revolution, for a conversation about the craft behind historical storytelling. Togeth...

Food is major part of any society's popular culture, even in a time of war.  World War I expert and fellow social studies teacher Kristin Stelfox joined me in analyzing a collection of three papers from the Great War, detailing the food rations and cooking needs of an American unit in France.  It is remarkable what one can learn about time and place just by reading into their menus of food and dri...

S5E10: "Life Goes On: Life magazine as a reporter of historic eras" Life magazine has been in print since the 1880s, but the monthly photographic document publication that usually springs to mind began its run in 1936.  My drop-in guest at NH Makers Fair (apologies for background noise) and I spoke to all iterations of Life to decide how the publication has reflected the excitement of the 20th cen...

S5E9: "From Stack to Streaming: Unsolved Mysteries as a continuous reflection of America." Author Ally Russell joins the show to discuss and compare the original run of "Unsolved Mysteries" with the Netflix update from 2019.  How have these shows informed, and been informed by, the society and culture of their respective times? Ally's latest book is Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave, which can be f...

S5E8: "A Good Ol' Worker and A Good Ol' Pal: The Erie Canal as a Primary Source" This October is particularly Erie as it marks 200 years since the opening of New York's "Grand Canal."  Kevin Leisten, who teaches social studies within a few miles of the canal, joined me to discuss the Erie Canal as both a reflection of the time in which it was conceived, as well as a force for development and chang...

S5E7: "A Walk on the Wilde Side: The Picture of Dorian Gray as a reflection of 1890s society and values " Daniel stopped by at the Makers Fair this Spring and selected to discuss Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray as a document of its era, 1891.  Is it possible that the famed Irish writer was forecasting our 21st century relationship with fame and celebrity, or is it something that people ha...

S5E6: "Representatives of Discontented Youth: Repo Man as a document of the early 80s" Richard Erdmann, owner of Mare Booksellers , joined me to talk about 1984's Sci-Fi/Punk Rock/Chase Comedy Repo Man as a reflection of the society and culture of the era. See how you can interact with the conversation, and learn more about EPS To Go! at everything-history.com #history #popculture #punk #repoman #...

S5E5: "What Would Coach Bombay Do?: The Mighty Ducks (1992) as a indicator of youth sports in the modern era" This episode was actually recorded over two years ago when I set up my exhibit at just outside McCue's Comedy Club in the Roundabout Diner in Portsmouth, NH.  Comedian Liam Hales sat with me before the show he was hosting and we used The Mighty Ducks as a jumping off point to discuss the e...

S5E4: "Mama Duck: Robert McCloskey's 'Make Way for Ducklings' as a document of 1941" Children's book author Ashlee Ridlon and I talk about 1941's Make Way for Ducklings and how it acts as a report from 1940s Boston. #history #popculture #makewayforducklings #boston #childrensbooks #picturebooks #caldecottaward 

S5E3: "Survivors: The things we hold onto and collect in storage units" I met with Tony, cohost of the podcast "Storage Unit 217," at the AES Ephemera Fair earlier this year, and we got to talking about our shared interest in helping otherwise forgotten pieces of the past survive as long as possible. Learn more about EPS To Go! and join the conversation at everything-history.com

S5E2: "Age of Enlightenment: Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson as a document of history" Gibby sat down with me at this year's Makers Fest at the Children's Museum of New Hampshire to talk about Calvin and Hobbes and the comic strip's role as a document of the era in which it ran. Learn more about EPS To Go! at everything-history.com/epstogo Join the discussion at everything-history.com . #histo...

Season Premiere! S5E1: "All's Fair: The New York State Fair as a living document of the 19th century" I spoke with Jason, a teacher with the NYS OCFS, about the significance of the New York State Fair to Central New York's history and identity. Learn more about EPS To Go! at everything-history.com/epstogo Join the discussion at everything-history.com . #NYSFair #History #popculture #newyorkhistory...

SEASON FINALE!   S4E50: "Never Forget What They Did Here: The Battle of Gettysburg, and its legacy' as primary sources" Picking up where episode 38 of this season left off, Danielle and I dissect the Battle of Gettysburg--what it connects to in other parts of American History, and its legacy as reflections of different time periods since July 1-3, 1863. Would you like to add your ideas to this con...

S4E49: "Magic Moments: Walt Disney World Silhouette Portrait Souvenirs as Primary Sources" I met with Lenore at the Ephemera Fair this past Winter and we talked about the Walt Disney World silhouette portrait souvenir I had on display, something she and her siblings had made when visiting the park in the 1970s.  Although Walt Disney had passed away by the time his company's second park opened that...

S4E48: "A Literal Deep-Dive: Scuba diving as a document of modern history" I met Paul at the Ephemera Fair in Greenwich Conn. this past Winter as he was looking to learn about some financial documents that have been in his family since the mid 19th century.  A "Diver's Log" in my collection caught his eye and so we ended up doing a deep dive on the underwater archaeology activity that he is quite...

S4E47: "Ciencia Publica: Analyzing Popular Science magazine as a primary source" Sylvia is an archivist and a practitioner of material culture analysis.  I was delighted to speak with her a few months ago at the Ephemera Fair in Old Greenwich Connecticut regarding a 1931 issue of Popular Science (or cover thereof) that a student gifted me last year.  In the ultimate coincidence, we just happened t...

S4E46: "In Memorial: ' A Young Man on the Front Line' as a Primary Source I caught up with Elaine Makas last Fall at the NCSS conference in Boston where she was promoting her book,  A Young Man on the Front Line: Lessons of War .  It is a World War II story following the experiences in the conflict and afterwards by her father, Sgt. Chris Makas.  We discuss not only how his generation and how they...

S4E45: "Highways and Byways: Gas station roadmaps of the 20th century as primary sources." Chris has a fondness for the many road trips he and his family took when he was growing up in the second half of the 20th century.  Perhaps it was collecting and studying the maps they picked up at gas stations which propelled him to a career in graphic design.  Even if it didn't, we had a great conversation...

S4E44: "Gilbert & Salmonsen Present 'Space Opera': The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy as documents of their time" I met Gilbert, a social studies teacher in Louisiana, at the NCSS conference in Boston last year.  While Star Wars has been a consistent topic on this podcast, the prequel trilogy has yet to be covered, so Gilbert and I remedied that.  These movies certainly have their flaws, but just l...

S4E43: "Profile of an Old Stone Face: The Old Man of the Mountain as a reflection of modern New Hampshire." A series of rocky ledges on Cannon Mountain which formed the profile of a man's face in what is now called Franconia Notch, New Hampshire, has been held in importance by the people of the area for thousands of years.  In the modern era, the "Old Man of the Mountain" became the symbol of the...

S4E42: "Have You Read Your Atari Today?: looking at the companion comic book to the Atari as a primary source" Dave is a collector of vintage items and ephemera, and a host of The Million Dollar Peddlers on YouTube.  He joined me in Old Greenwich, CT at the ESA Ephemera Fair, to discuss Atari Force , the print companion to the Atari video game systems in the 1980s.   Join the conversation at every...

S4E41: "Bat TV: Analyzing the 1960s  Batman TV series as a document of its times" Batman returns...after all it's the second time this season we've covered the character, and third time overall (season 1 episode 1 is on the 1989 movie).  Matt, a social studies teacher from Haverhill, MA, by way of Kansas and Rochester, NY, joined me in Boston last Fall to talk about a number of pop culture topics...

S4E40: "Gotta Catch 'em All--Pokemon Go as a document of the modern era" You may remember the summer of 2016 as a time of large crowds gathered in parks, front lawns of public libraries and anywhere else where it looked like a festival--just minus vendor stalls and rides.  It was the summer of Pokemon Go, the first major augmented reality (AR) game to take the world by storm.  Adam, who cohosts th...

S4E39: "Goodwill Hunting -- Goodwill Outlets/Buy the Pound/ Clearance Centers as primary sources of the modern era" After years of descending on one Goodwill Outlet (aka "the bins") or another every few weeks in search of pop culture primary sources, making videos about my experiences and finds, and showcasing the incredible treasures I uncover there, I finally address the most wonderful place on...

S4E38: "April Mornings - Comparing Revolutionary and Civil War commemorations" April is an important month concerning two formative events in American history; 250 years ago saw the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the start of the Revolutionary War, and four score and six years later the Civil War began with the bombardment of Fort Sumter.  President Lincoln was killed in April four years lat...