Everything is a Primary Source

America at 250 Episode 11: "Voice of the People: the democratization of media and its reflection of time and place."

Having spent fifteen years working as a reporter and news anchor for different news affiliates around the country, Shawn Patrick Floss knows a thing or two about the power of cameras and microphones when placed in reach of ordinary people.   We met at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago and ...

America at 250 Episode 10: "Staying in the Loop: Chicago's WLUP radio as an example of terrestrial radio's role in civic life."

The Museum of Broadcast Communications has a special exhibit dedicated to its hometown Rock n roll radio station, 97.7 FM, WLUP.  Starting in 1977, "The Loop" immediately secured its place in the everyday life of Chicagoans like my guest, Luke, who grew up listening to its lineup of boundary-p...

America at 250 Episode 9: "Sweepin' the Clouds Away: Sesame Street as a product of, and contributor to, American culture." 

Mary Cay carries a lifelong adoration of Sesame Street and is quite familiar with its place on the pantheon of both children's educational TV and public broadcasting.  We had a wonderful conversation about how the show came to achieve that status at a hall of honor, the Museum of Broadcast Co...

America at 250 Episode 8: "X Marks the Spot: How The X-Files represent 1990s society and culture."  

Val is the archivist at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, and therefore a deep thinker about television and radio programming's place in history.  She chose her favorite TV show, The X-Files, to be the subject of the first drop-in episode in the Windy City, and we had a great conversation about the ...

America at 250 Episode 7: "Full Circuit: 'Electronic Selector' as a refection of the 1950s'"  

Ric chose to discuss "Electronic Selector," a cross between a trivia board game and a electrical tutorial from the 1950s as the last recording during the preview event at the NH Telephone Museum in Warner back in May.  If this box was marketed in the present it would likely be referred to as a STEM activity, because as Ri...

America at 250 Episode 6: "Future Boy: 1985's Back to the Future as a primary source"  

Gwen asked to chat about 1985's Back to the Future for her podcast segment and I was glad to oblige considering it is one of my all-time favorites.  The 1985 movie could've been incredibly hokey but the recipe of writers, director, actors and special effects makes it a near-perfect contemporary classic.  But what can it tel...

America at 250 Episode 5: "A Telephone's Ring: The many tales the telephone tells"

If you host a drop-in podcast at a telephone museum, you're bound to get more than a few conversations about the world-changing device recorded.   A veteran social studies teacher, my guest, Pam, teaches just as I do, using artifacts of everyday life to tell stories and learn about the past in doing so.  In this talk we go from learn...

America at 250 Episode 4: "A Lineman for the Country: A conversation about the evolution of telecommunications with a career phone company man."

This is the kind of episode I imagined making when I started taking the Everything is a Primary Source Podcast out into the world.  I had just sat down with Pam to record a piece at the New Hampshire Telephone Museum when Bill, a retired telephone company man, and his family ca...

America at 250 Episode 3: "Our House: Virginia Lee Burton's 1942 picture book, The Little House as a primary source."

Sage took the time to speak with me at the New Hampshire Telephone Museum this Spring, selecting Virginia Lee Burton's 1942 Caldecott Award-winning picture book, The Little House to chat about.  The book tells the tale of a personified pink cottage as it enjoys its existence in the country until the nois...

America at 250 Episode 2: "Telecom Rebels: Phone Phreaking as a Document of the 1970s"

Dave met with me at the New Hampshire Telephone Museum in Warner to discuss the "Phone Phreaking" trend of the 1970s.  Rebellious, technologically-minded youth used their know-how to work the monopolistic phone system to make free calls to telephones all over the world.  This at the forefront of the computer revolution, something...

America at 250, Episode 1: "We Begin."

Historian Jim Ambuske, Ph.D. specializes in 18th Century studies, and the American Revolution specifically, so I could think of no more appropriate guest to have on the podcast to dissect the Declaration of Independence as an artifact of its time and place.

This is the first episode of a special season of the Everything is a Primary Source where, in celebration of the 250th anniv...

S5E35: "No Payne, No Gain: Dissecting 1995's Major Payne as a document of its time."

Eric is joined by filmmaker Steven Martini, whose break out role as an actor came as Cadet Alex Stone, the foil for Damon Wayan's title character, to discuss Major Payne as a document of its era.  As you'll hear, the talk about the 1990s movie and Steven's latest projects transform into a discussion on copyright law with a pretty h...

Debora Masterson is the guest on this episode of the Everything is a Primary Source Podcast, discussing the 1970s band, Freedom Quest, of which she was a member, and her new book, Freedom Quest: A Love Story, and what they both can tell us about time and place.

This is fitting as one month from the publication of this podcast, I’ll be wrapping up a Freedom Quest of my own. I’ll be taking the Everything is a Primary Sourc...

S5E33: "Bridge to the Past: Kinzua Bridge State Park in Pennsylvania as a Primary Source"

This is an interview from 2023 with Professor Kevin Patrick, an active member of the Society for Commercial Archeology, regarding Kinzua Bridge State Park in Western Pennsylvania.  Although on the shorter side, we covered topics that are very relevant as we round out Preservation Month and approach Memorial Day.

Learn more a...

S5E32: "Somewhere That's Green: 'Little Shop of Horrors' as a primary source

Since it’s that time of the year again when people begin to plan out their planting for the season, I figured I’d cultivate an episode from a short recording from few years ago about Roger Corman’s 1960 B Horror Comedy Little Shop of Horrors. Let this be a cautionary episode of the Everything is a Primary Source Podcast.

#po...

S5E31: "Failure is Not an Option: Apollo 13 as a primary source of the mid 1990s"

This episode of the Everything is a Primary Source podcast is another clip extracted from the archives, this time a conversation with a drop-in guest named Ted about the 1994 book Lost Moon, which was the basis for the 1995 film, Apollo 13.

It may have taken a few years but my guest’s wish is about to come true. I will be beginning my week...

S5E30: "Greetings from the Jersey Shore: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band as a document of time and place."

Melissa Ziobro is the Director of Curatorial Affairs for the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music, which is set to open to the public in its brand new building later this Spring.  Melissa is also a native to the Jersey Shore, and therefore the best person to speak with to discuss Spr...

S5E29: "Back to L.A.: SCA and Historic Preservation in Los Angeles"

This episode is a callback to three years ago when I spoke with members of the Society for Commercial Archeology during their conference. One of the top priorities of SCA is historic preservation, particularly of signage and structures along America’s roadways and throughout our developed towns and cities. My summer roadtrip project is in the same vein...

S5E28: "There's No Place Like Home: The Wizard of Oz as a Primary Source"

This episode of the Everything is a Primary Source features a discussion about The Wizard of Oz. It was recorded a few summers ago at Prescott Park in Portsmouth, NH, just before a performance of Little Shop of Horrors. This portion was originally included in with a longer dialogue in Season 3, but is now taking its own path down the yellow brick...