Everything is a Primary Source

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...

"A to Z of the  www." Amazon.com as a Primary Source of the 1990s w/Christopher Mims Initially Amazon.com was a product of the existing infrastructure of United States, including the ever-expanding access to the Internet that Americans enjoyed. As time went on Amazon enjoyed utilizing the globe’s robust supply chains—themselves products of decades if not centuries of development—to then become the...

EPS Podcast Shorts "Picture it, Pizza Hut, 1992" You’ve just come back famished from a late Spring baseball game or it’s Saturday in the Winter and your Book It! pin is filled up. Maybe you’re celebrating a birthday or just want to take a look at framed black and white photos of Italy while you eat delicious deep-dish pizza. Regardless of the reason, Pizza Hut was the place to be in the 1980s and...

"Everyday is Diner Day in the USA" Diners as documents w/ Scott Given the choice, I’ll always go with the fresh-brewed-coffee scented, sizzling-griddle-sounding, sit-where-you’d like diner over any other kind of restaurant. Their straightforward menus and no frills aesthetics have always been a beacon to me, and I know I’m not alone. Scott hosts Diner Day in the USA an Instagram account which cele...

EPS Podcast Shorts "You Teach Me and I'll Teach You" My son and I started a new tradition a few months ago that when he stays home sick from school, and is feeling up to it, we record a podcast together about something he has interest in. With National Pokémon Day on the horizon, we decided to talk about the Japanese mixed media export, of which he is self-taught expert.

"Johnny Hit and Kick Bullies" Cobra Kai as a Primary Source w/ Adam of Raised on Film Reboots, sequels, prequels and reimaginations have been all the rage of late, and there’s plenty of reasons for the trend, most notably the power of nostalgia. Cobra Kai arrived in 2018 and seemingly out of thin air. As far as I can tell there wasn’t a widespread call for the Karate Kid storyline to continue, esp...

EPS Podcast Shorts "Kidz Bop with Cheeseburgers and Pop" Last week’s short centered around collectible Garfield glasses from McDonald’s that originated somewhere in the 1980s. It was determined that it was unlikely that these breakable pieces were inserted in Happy Meals because at that time kids received little plastic toys or small coloring books alongside their cheeseburger or McNuggets. This w...

"More than a Disco Movie to Me" 1977's Saturday Night Fever as a Primary Source w/ Kevin John Travolta is attached to two movies that define the 1970s, 1977’s Saturday Night Fever and the following year’s Grease . The former is an icon of the age of Disco, and therefore contemporary of its time, while the latter speaks to the feelings of nostalgia that ran (and continues to run) deep in American c...

EPS Podcast Shorts: "For the Love of Lasagna" It always looks like I’m having a yard sale when I set up for my live podcast karaoke events.  Everything from records to comic books, VHS tapes, toys, even glassware is laid out, hoping to catch the eye of an audience member turned podcast guest.  Back in November of 2022 Ashley spied a glass Garfield mug from McDonald’s that I’d brought along to my s...

"Opening Drive": Super Bowl I and Pro Football's Fight to Dethrone Baseball   w/ Deremy of Bigger than the Game The Super Bowl has become so ingrained in American popular culture that it is difficult to imagine a time before all the hype surrounding The Big Game existed.  That’s not to say that professional football’s popularity or the concept of a championship game for the sport was invented in 1...

"Moses- Deliver Us": NYC Parkways with Chance Kelly New York City commuters don’t have a lot of time to dwell on the history of the roads they use each day to get to and from work and home, but behind each paved throughfare is a story about the past waiting to be told.  You already know actor Chance Kelly from his roles in Generation Kill, Aquarius, and one of my favorites, Fringe, but he’s also t...

EPS Podcast Shorts: "Eric and Bob Revisit Highway 61 Revisited" Season 2 picks back up with a short that was recorded way back in October of last year at Defiant Records and Craft Beer in Laconia, New Hampshire.  What a perfect spot for a night of podcast karaoke; not only did I bring a slew of pop culture selections for tap room guests to choose from, but directly in front of me were the stacks o...

Special Bonus Episode "A Christmas Story Christmas, Christmas" This year’s, A Christmas Story Christmas has been presented as the official sequel to the 1983 contemporary classic, despite a few other pieces of media that have come out over the last twenty to thirty years which could make the vie for the honor.  My wife, Erin the Tie Dye Librarian, was the first member of my family to screen the ne...

"The House at Good Old Cleveland Street" - Analyzing  The "A Christmas Story" House as a Primary Source w/ Guide Ernie Scales It may come as a surprise that 1983’s “A Christmas Story” was not a big hit upon its initial release, a trait that 1946’s It’s A Wonderful Life shares with the now much beloved story of young Ralphie Parker’s quest to get a Red Ryder BB Gun delivered to him on Christmas Day...

EPS Podcast Shorts "Train of Thought" Chris Van Allsburg’s The Polar Express has been a staple of the Christmas season since it was published in 1984, perhaps challenging The Night Before Christmas as standard bedtime read-alouds on Christmas Eve.  Its themes, images, awards and historical context all signal that this is an exceptional primary source of its time period and place—the early 80s in t...