Everything is a Primary Source

"We'd Like to Solve the Puzzle": Analyzing "Wheel of Fortune" as a Primary Source with Dawn from DAWNVERSATIONS Dawn is a fellow podcaster and her fabulous show, Dawnversation s, is a lot like mine in that she’ll be glad to talk about most anything with her guests.  When I approached her about doing a podcast together the brainstorming for a topic began.  A side mention that she had been a contest...

EPS Podcast Shorts: "Far and Near Sighted" Segment 1: Postcards are not as common as they once were thanks to technology allowing us to make custom images of our travels and post them to social media. But throughout the 20th century these mailable documents of tourism grew in popularity thanks, in large part, to an ever growing cohort of people going places.  Those of us who grew up in the 20th ce...

S2E2 Everyone has a story, but what they do with that story speaks volumes about who they are.  Leah Angel Daniel’s story is one of obstacles and trying times as she navigated the foster care system in Western New York through the 80s and 90s.  Her experiences make her story a document of the time period and place in which she has lived. Leah is  the author of I Shall Not Be Moved: My Extraordinar...

EPS Podcast Shorts: "Tell Me More, Tell Me More" EPS Podcast Season 2 Short #2 I knew I’d get at least one person wanting to sit down and talk about Grease when I packed my copy of the Soundtrack LP and brought it to EPS Podcast Live a few days after Olivia Newton John passed away, and I was right, actually getting two different people wishing to share their nostalgia for this nostalgia film.    T...

Season 2 Episode 1: "All the Way"  Dissecting both The Ramones and "On the Road with the Ramones" as Primary Sources with Monte A. Melnick Monte A Melnick was with the Ramones as their tour manager for their entire 22 years trotting all over the globe.  In 2003 he released a book called On the Road with the Ramones which chronicles the period from the mid 70s to mid 90s through quotes and anecdote...

Season 2  Shorts Premiere:  Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH is unique in the realm of living history museums in that the vast majority of the buildings that make up the museum are original to the spot where they stand.  Also, unlike its peer institutions such as Colonial Williamsburg or Old Sturbridge Village, Strawbery Banke interprets each of the homes to a different time period, so vis...

Summer Short 6 "Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits 8-Track" This is the last Summer Short that was recorded live at the NH Maker's Fair in Dover.  A very nice family stopped by and the 8-Track of Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits stuck out to them.  We had a great conversation deciding just what this version of the album tells us about the time period in which it was made.

Summer Short 5 - "Raggedy Ann" I knew when I chose to bring along a handmade Raggedy Ann doll from the 1940s to my remote recording session that it was going to be selected by a visitor for a podcast episode.  The character is probably one of the most enduring figures in American Pop Culture, and the fact that, unlike most toys, she can made from home, means that each version of the doll tells a s...

Summer Short 4 - "Plastic People" This is the fourth installment of conversations recorded at the 2022 Makers Fest at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire in Dover.  I was very happy to speak with Nathan Grey of Plastic Recycled and Caitlin of UNH Cooperative Extension 4-H .    The first segment is all about how, while recycling has been part of pop culture since the late 80s and 90s, it is so o...

Seeing as how the Children’s Museum of NH Hosts the annual NH Maker’s Festival it only makes sense that several of visitors to my booth were kids.  This week’s summer short is regarding a wide range of topics, ranging from baseball cards to Little Shop of Horrors to hand drawn maps.  

Darren Windham, who is the economic developer for the Town of Exeter, NH stopped by at my booth at the Makers Fest 2022 for an impromptu conversation.  We had a very nice chat about how craft breweries have really come into their own in the last few decades, elevating their status in society and local economies. 

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.