S5E19: "Strictly In It: Analyzing a 1907 postcard to determine what it tells us of time and place"

Jonathon Ahl is the Education coordinator at the Rokeby Museum in Ferrisburgh, Vermont, and therefore is no stranger to dissecting a document on the spot, sight unseen. We applied our analytical skills to a postcard from Oregon featuring a cartoon duck, printed and filled out in the first part of the 20th Century.

Join the conversation at everything-history.com

#podcast #history #ephemera #postcard #oregon #popculture #early20thcentury

S5E18: "This One's For Chuck: Chuck Mangione and his Album Feels So Good as a document of the late 1970s"

The waning days of December is the time to reflect on the previous year and that includes notable people we have lost. Jazz musician Chuck Mangione was one such purpose, and I had the pleasure of speaking to one of his biggest fans about Mangione's most recognized album, Feels So Good at a conference in October, to decide how it's a reflection of the era.

#podcast #history #jazz #chuckmangione #popculture #kingofthehill

S5E17:"Gee the Traffic is Terrific: Navigating with road maps and travel culture as documents of time and place"

John King teaches in Florida, New York, and joined me at the Mid Hudson Council for the Social Studies conference this Fall to talk about some of the road maps in my collection that caught his eye. This is not the first time that road maps have come up on the show, but as John demonstrates, everyone has their own perspectives and experiences as they navigate around a shared roadway culture.

#popculture #history #podcast #travel #travelculture #roadways #roadmaps

S5E16: "Ready to Relaunch: The Atari 7800 Pro System as a document of the mid 1980s"

In 1986 American video game pioneer Atari responded to the growing popularity of Nintendo by introducing their 7800 machine, a game system with graphics and (some) games that rivaled the NES, but never quite took. On this episode my guest Jason and I trade stories of how we got our 7800s, the features and games we liked most, and how cool we think its metallic look is. We also go over, however, the shortcomings of Atari's attempt at relaunching their dominance of the market, and how Nintendo was able to surge ahead by decade's end.

#history #popculture #videogames #gaming #videogamehistory #atari #atari7800

S5E15: "Everyday is Woman's Day: The magazine and the crafts it has inspired as primary sources of several eras"

Since 1931 many women have turned to Woman's Day magazine to get inspiration on home economics, recipes, remedies and arts and crafts. Monica is a social studies teacher in New Hampshire and my drop-in guest back in October at the NHCSS (of which she is the president) conference where we talked about how this publication may be responsible for a good amount of the crafting industry and culture that exists to this day.

#popculture #artsandcrafts #history #womansday #podcast #historypodcast

S5E14: "Giving Thanks: The Mayflower II project as a symbol of post-War trans-Atlantic relations"

Richard Stone literally wrote the book on the 1950s Mayflower II project, which saw two groups--one British and one American--simultaneously work to create a replica of the ship which ferried the Pilgrim Separatists from England to America in 1620. We discuss the context of this project both through the historical lens as well as a geopolitical one, as the wooden ship ended up being a symbol of the Cold War "special relationship" between the World War allies Great Britain and the United States.

You can find Richard's book Project Mayflower: Building and Sailing a 17th-Century Replica wherever books are sold, (including your local bookstore).

#podcast #mayflower #mayflowerii #history #1950s #coldwar #britishhistory #americanhistory #modernhistory

S5E13: "I Am Sam, Sam I Am: Uncle Sam as a measurement of Americans' view of the the US Government"

2026 NH Teacher of the Year Megan Philbrook joined me in dissecting Uncle Sam--the character more than the real person--and deciding how the bearded, star-spangled figure acts as a regular indicator of how Americans view their government as well as America's identity and place in the world.

#history #popculture #unclesam #cartoons #politicalcartoons #US #warof1812 #artwork #socialstudies

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.

Together, we explore why the project was conceived, how they and their team chose what stories to tell, , and why every documentary is ultimately a reflection of “here and now,” just as much as it is a record of the past. This episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at how narrative decisions, source material, and creative choices become primary sources in their own right.

#PopCulture #history #podcast #AmericanRevolution #KenBurns #DocumentaryFilm #PublicHistory #HistoryEducation #PrimarySources #TeachingHistory #HistoryPodcast #AmericanHistory #EPluribusUnum #EverythingIsAPrimarySource #America250 #HistoricalDocumentary #FilmmakingProcess #USHistory @PBS @kenlburns