The Secret Life of Death Podcast

The Secret Life of Death Podcast

The Secret Life of Death is a podcast which explores the stories of ordinary people, starting with their gravestone and placing them into the context of the history of their life and times. The show primarily is based in New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts, but it stories reach throughout New England and beyond. Local historian and archaeologist Gail Golec researches, writes, hosts and produces this podcast.

Episodes

Episode 8: Identity, Part 6

June 25, 2023 • 46 mins
In the final installment of the “Identity” series, we move the story of the first LGBTQ+ bar in Vermont, Andrews Inn, into the present day. Though the bar closed its doors in 1984, its legacy was broad and deep for the community of Bellows Falls, affecting lives in the village today and in ways many of us may not even be aware of.
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Episode 8: Identity, Part 5

June 3, 2023 • 57 mins
At the end of 1982, Andrews Inn had been sent reeling from the set-up and raid by authorities and their business struggled in its aftermath. But 1982 was also the year that AIDS broke into the public consciousness, also affecting business. Not much has been said about both topics in the last 40 years, which makes you think about what stories get told and what stories do not - and why that might be.
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Episode 8: Identity, Part 4

June 3, 2023 • 66 mins
After the sale of Andrews Inn to gay couple, Thom Herman and Jeremy Youst (1979) went through and some of the fervor of the anti-gay protest march that took place in its wake had died down, life got on in Bellows Falls. The Inn, its owners, staff and patrons had forged a mostly civil and at times, fruitful and supportive relationship with the town. But in 1982 - things began to change.
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Episode 8: Identity, Part 3

June 3, 2023 • 69 mins
By 1979, Andrews Inn, now operating as a “gay nightclub” as well as a sit down restaurant and bar was doing well and though locals didn’t always understand and weren’t always happy about the LGBTQ+ crowd it attracted, they were inclined to leave well enough alone. That year, the Moisis family were looking for buyers and found some: Thom Herman and Jeremy Youst, an openly gay couple. Openly gay business owners was a first for this t...
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Episode 8: Identity, Part 2

June 2, 2023 • 53 mins
In 1973, the Moisis Family of Bellows Falls, VT bought the historic Hotel Windham building in the downtown, cleaned it up, refurbished it and opened a nice, sit down restaurant with the look and feel of the town’s former 19th century glory. But this fine dining experience didn’t seem to fly in this burned out, blue collar old mill town. So the family found a clientele that would be interested in the good food, dancing and socializi...
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Episode 8: Identity, Part 1

June 1, 2023 • 33 mins
Part 1 of 6, the "Identity" series explores the history of Andrews Inn, the first and at the time, the only gay bar in the state of Vermont (1973-1984). We begin with a discussion about , why is knowing this little slice of gay history so important.
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True Crimes from Olden Times - Episode 1: The Farmhand's Awful Work

June 14, 2022 • 49 mins
Here at TSLOD, we are excited to announce a new podcast collaboration with Caitlin Abrams (of TikTok cemetery fame with her fantastic gravestone cleaning/story telling videos as Manicpixiemom). I interviewed Caitlin last summer (Episode 9: Taphosphere) and frankly, we hit it off! Caitlin and I both cover cemeteries but in different ways, so we had the idea to join forces (like Superman and Batman in the Justice League) and do a lit...
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Episode 10: Neighborhood

April 19, 2022 • 66 mins
Taphophiles are a niche group of enthusiasts and so too, it would follow, are the podcasts that cater to them. What follows is an interview with another neat and nichey cemetery podcaster, Liz Clappin - host of the Tomb With A View Podcast. From her perspective as an urban planner in Atlanta, GA, Liz has some very interesting ideas for the future of historic cemeteries. I love it!
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Episode 9: Taphosphere

December 20, 2021 • 57 mins
Taking a break on the finishing touches on Episode 8: Identity to round out the year, with a new show, Episode 9: Taphosphere! This one is F.U.N! When I met internet cemetery sensation, Caitlin Abrams, for the first time this fall, I felt like I had known her forever. We “knew” each other, as only two people who share and interest boarding on obsession can - our shared love of historic New England cemeteries unknowingly connected...
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Episode 8: Identity, Charity and Sylvia Teaser

September 6, 2021 • 26 mins
Turns out, in the process of podcastery, a lot of extra audio material gets left of the cutting room floor, so I’ve taken some of that extra stuff and cut together another “teaser”/”pre-show” show. So come along and visit the Weybridge Hill Cemetery with me and TSLoD cemetery adventure team (CAT) as we explore the grave sites of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake. Charity and Sylvia were a same sex couple who lived together in Weybrid...
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Episode 8: Identity, Fall Mountain Hike Teaser

May 17, 2021 • 13 mins
Another quick teaser episode with extra material from the cutting room floor from the upcoming Episode 8: Identity series. I take a hike up local landmark, Fall Mountain, with my friend and frequent TSLoD guest, Kate Butt and we learn some local history while enjoying the views and being scoped out by turkey vultures. It's a lot of fun! We’re still working away on the next installment of TSLoD, I swear! I know I keep saying that i...
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Episode 8: Identity, Toilet Teaser

March 6, 2021 • 2 mins
The winter wears on and I am still working away on the next series, Episode 8: Identity, about Andrews Inn - the first LGBTQ+ bar and hotel in the state of Vermont. It was actually the ONLY such place in the state for its decade of existence (1973-1984). The series isn’t done yet but close! And I thought you might enjoy some clip reels of the material that was funny or was good but wasn’t going to show up in any of the broadcast ep...
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Episode 8: Identity, Prologue

January 13, 2021 • 7 mins
We welcome you to Season 3 of TSLoD Podcast with the prologue to Episode 8: Identity~ We’re doing this prologue to help set up the Episode 8: Identity series because for this show, we’re going to be doing things a little differently. The Episode 8: Identity series is about a place called Andrews Inn, an LGBTQ+ hotel and bar that existed in Bellows Falls, VT during the 1970s and 80s. So, a more modern history, a more local history a...
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Episode 7: Degenerate, Part 2

October 28, 2020 • 36 mins
Picking up where we left off in Episode 7: Degenerate, Part 1, Part 2 delves into the deep, complicated historic reasons why cemeteries in New England became abandoned. We talk to the experts: Robin Lacy, of Spade and the Grave, who shares her research into Puritan burial customs and culture; Brian Post, of Standing Stone Landscape Architecture, who takes us on a tour of some of his gravestone restoration work; and Tom Giffin, of...
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Episode 7: Degenerate, Part 1

September 5, 2020 • 28 mins
The Kathan Cemetery in Putney, VT, is the oldest burying ground in town, set up by and for the earliest Anglo-American settlers in the area. It’s situated on a high bluff, on an old road that used to connect the village of Putney to the Connecticut River. All pretty typical New Englandy stuff. But from the first approach to this place, you can tell something’s not right. First, it’s tucked away, behind a house and you have to liter...
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Episode 6: Awe, Part 4

June 15, 2020 • 37 mins
In the final installment of the "Awe" series, we discuss the connection between gravestone motif design and other artistic forms, like mourning jewelry, at the turn of the 19th century. And we thumb through all of our research thus far and see what the art of Relief Wilcox Town's gravestone says about her, in the context of her time.
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Episode 6: Awe, Part 3

June 5, 2020 • 27 mins
In the third part of this series, we are still trying to understand and interpret the meaning and origin of the incredible artistic design of the gravestone of Relief Wilcox Town (d. 1813) from Halifax, VT. To that end, we try to learn more about Relief herself, and start with dissecting the inscription on her epitaph. Turn-of-the-19th-century Epitaphs are a great place to find all sorts of cultural and social clues. They give ...
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Episode 6: Awe, Part 2

March 4, 2020 • 29 mins
In this, the second of three shows, we are still contemplating the fascinating gravestone art on the stone of Relief Wilcox Town of Halifax, VT, and the extravagant and symbolic nature of the moon/stars and willow motif. To understand what is could mean, we need a lesson is the history of gravestone art in the region. From skulls, to soul effigies to the ubiquitous willow and urn, gravestone art changes over time. Come and learn wh...
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Episode 6: Awe, Part 1

February 22, 2020 • 36 mins
The gravestone inscriptions of late 18th/early 19th century New England can tell us more than just the deceased name and date of death. Symbolic and literal representations of life and death flourish during this time period, creating gravestone art in a wide and dazzling array of styles. Knowing what those symbols mean can help us interpret the life of the individual as well as their time and culture. In this three part series, we ...
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(Bonus) Episode 1: Epidemic, The Follow-up

December 20, 2019 • 26 mins
This show is a follow-up to my very first TSLoD episode, (http://www.thesecretlifeofdeath.com/tslod-episodes/2017/3/26/episode-1 ) about a devastating epidemic disease outbreak in the town of Acworth, NH in the year 1812. This epidemic was terrifying. It killed people within hours of the first symptoms and had incredibly high mortality rates. In the day, doctors were calling the disease "Spotted Fever", which usually referred to ty...
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