Tales From The Kentucky Room

This episode has brief strong language when reading a quote from the killer in the newspaper, listener’s discretion is advised.    Mariam sits down with longtime listener of the podcast Zach Davis to discuss the 1897 murder of local pension attorney Thomas H. Merritt. Zach Davis is the President and Principal Broker of local real estate brokerage Kirkpatrick & Co., and came across this story w...

Lauren Cole Brown joins us with a humorous tale from her time in nursing school.   Lauren Cole Brown is a Registered Nurse who received her BSN from the University of Kentucky.  She stays busy designing online nursing school curriculum with Archer Review, allowing the use of her nursing knowledge as well as her creative background in the arts.  Lauren is married to James, an avid cyclist, poet and...

Mariam sits down with Tammi Johnson, lead researcher and founder for the Project USS Strong DD467 website, to discuss her life’s work finding the ship her uncle Billy Hedrick served on in World War Two. The ship, the USS Strong DD467, was torpedoed in the battle of Kula Gulf in the Solomon Islands and sank, killing Billy and 45 other men on July 5, 1943. They talk about her work with David Mearns...

Join Sylvia Lovely as she tells a story of her own in our Quilting Kentucky's Stories series recalling a humorous moment she shared with her family during a time of impending loss.  Sylvia often introduces herself as a lawyer by training, a CEO by experience and a media mogul in her dreams. She has a rich history in media as the author of three books, numerous articles and opinion pieces for a var...

Mariam sits down with Matthew Strandmark about his biography of Kentucky’s perennial political candidate, Gatewood Galbraith. They talk Gatewood’s childhood in Carlisle, Kentucky, his family life, his local law career and he captured the state’s attention with his political career.   In Gatewood: Kentucky's Uncommon Man, Matthew weaves together personal stories, public records, and oral history in...

Kali Mattheus joins us with a story of finding comfort in our memories and letting go of the guilt of missing a goodbye.   Kali Mattheus is a podcaster, producer, videographer, editor, and writer who has called Lexington, Kentucky home for more than half her life. She has a rich background in television and movie production that stems from a deep love of storytelling. She sits on the advisory boar...

Forget what you know about the Daughters of the American Revolution and join Mariam as she sits down with three members of Kentucky’s Lexington chapter of the DAR. Judy Owens, Robin Fisher, and Sharon Withers talk about the contemporary society and what it means to each of them, their work to research and identify patriots of color, historical preservation at McConnell's Springs and Sharon's pione...

This Memorial Day, Terry Hall joins us with a story of hope and healing. While Terry's story has a happy ending, he describes the darkest period of his life as he dealt with alcoholism and post traumatic stress, including thoughts of of suicide, deaths during war, and a description of the murder of a friend.  Please take care of yourself while listening to this episode. Terry Hall is a disabled Ar...

Mariam sits down with Kim Wickens, author of Lexington: the Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America’s Legendary Racehorse , to discuss her book and Lexington’s impact on the sport of horse racing in the mid-19th century.   Kim tells us about Lexington’s racing career, how his racing career ended in 1855, and how his offspring fared in both war and the racetracks in the Northern Union Sta...

Leo York joins us to tell us about the magical experience he had in Kentucky's forests.   Leo is a copywriter from Corbin KY. He writes commercial screenplays, and also writes all manner of narrative fiction, and helps assist inventors and entrepreneurs at Inventors Network KY. He is also cohost of the popular paranormal podcast, The 13th Floor.    Theme song "Appalachian Lofi" composed and perfor...

Yesterday, April 2, 2024, there were three confirmed EF-1 tornado touchdowns in three different Kentucky counties, with severe storm damage affecting many more, including Lexington. Today, April 3, 2024, is the fiftieth anniversary of the tornado super outbreak in 1974, with 7 F5 tornadoes attributed to this one storm. The super outbreak affected thirteen states with a total death toll of 319 peop...

Librarian JP Johnson joins Mariam to discuss his research into the life of Ella Offutt Pepper, avid horsewoman and long-time owner of the James E. Pepper distillery. When her husband James E. Pepper took ill, he sold her the distillery to manage, which she did until after his death in the early 1900s. JP tells us about her widely-reported divorce from her first husband in Louisville, to the quiet...

Retha Hicks joins us with a tale of how she successfully protested the dress code for teachers in  Fayette County Public Schools in the early 1970's.   Retha Perkins Hicks is a writer, a tour guide at Waveland State Historic Site, and a retired public school teacher. She was born in an Eastern Kentucky coal camp and lived in several different coal camps until she was eight years old. Those coal ca...

Quilting Kentucky's Stories is a year-long series of autobiographical tales from Lexington Residents, some of them funny, some of them heartwarming and some heart wrenching, but all of them important as they build the quilt of Kentucky life.   Donna Carter joins us for our inaugural episode, performing the speech she gave on Martin Luther King Jr. Day for Winchester (Clark County), Kentucky. She r...

Mariam sits down with JP Johnson, Kentucky Room Librarian to discuss his research into Pralltown, one of Lexington’s best known Black Enclaves. They talk about the founding of Pralltown, how the residents of Pralltown stood up to urban renewal and destruction of their neighborhood in the mid-twentieth century, and a few of Pralltown’s famous residents: community leader James Herndon, known to most...

Join Sylvia Lovely for a preview of the upcoming series presented by Tales from the Kentucky Room: Quilting Kentucky's Stories.  Quilting Kentucky's Stories is a year-long series of autobiographical tales from Lexington Residents, some of them funny, some of them heartwarming and some heart wrenching, but all of them important as they build the quilt of Kentucky life. Theme song "Appalachian Lofi"...

This episode has mentions of violence of dueling, listener’s discretion is advised.  Mariam sits down with Stuart Sanders to discuss his newest book, Anatomy of a Duel: Secession, Civil War, and the Evolution of Kentucky Violence. They talk about his role and artifacts at the Kentucky Historical Society, why dueling was so embraced in Kentucky (Henry Clay himself dueled more than once), and Stuart...

In our last episode of 2023, Mariam sits down with Betty Abdmishani, retired Village Branch manager and Jackie Arakaki, one of the original staff members at Village Branch, to discuss the history of the Village Branch location. Village Branch became an essential and beloved part of the community by never saying "we don't do that here" and helping customers with whatever they needed, in many ways s...

Mariam sits down with local author Doris Settles to discuss her latest book, Kentucky and the War of 1812: the Governor, the Farmers and the Pig detailing Kentucky’s heavy involvement and heavy losses during the War of 1812. Doris details how Henry Clay pushed for the fledgling United States’ declaration of War on Great Britain, and what led to Governor Isaac Shelby leading 4000 Kentucky farmers n...

Mariam sits down with Rona Roberts and Barbara Sutherland to discuss their work on Segregated Lexington. Segregated Lexington gathers primary sources and research to show how systemic racism in housing result in unequal life opportunities for Lexington’s Black residents versus white residents. They speak on redlining in particular, as well as the effect of realtor steering in relation to home owne...

Mariam interviews local author Gary O’Dell about his new book Bluegrass Paradise: Royal Spring and the Birth of Georgetown, Kentucky . Royal Spring is the largest spring in central Kentucky and is located in Georgetown, Kentucky. They discuss how Gary became interested in springs in Kentucky, and how he gathered the information for his new book about Royal Spring. They also discuss Kentucky’s pion...

David guest hosts to interviews Wayne about more street names and how streets are named in Lexington. Part Two covers the names of streets in subdivisions and major roads around Lexington. And yes, Wayne does tell us the origin of the name Chinoe and how to pronounce it like a native Lexingtonian.

Shelby joins us to read selections from Lexington’s Fallout Shelter Plan from 1965. The plan was created in a pilot program funded by Stanford Research Institute and the Federal Offices of Civil Defense to maximize survivability using shelters in the event of an atomic attack. One city in each state developed a plan, and Lexington was the representative city for Kentucky. The full plan can be foun...

David guest hosts to interview Willie Carver, Jr., Kentucky Poet and 2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year about his new work, “Gay Poems for Red States.” They discuss Willie’s approach to poetry, growing up gay and Appalachian in the 90’s, and the effect on book banning in schools on students. Willie reads his poem “First Crush” for the podcast.  “Gay Poems for Red States” is available for checkout  ...

David guest hosts and interviews Wayne about street names in Lexington. The first episode of this two-part series covers streets named after racehorses, racetracks, and horse farms in Lexington.    The Week of June 5th is Secretariat Week in the Kentucky Room, so check our events page for more information about the programs for this week.