Mainely History

Jonathan Hayes, a breeder, musher, and historian of Seppala sled dogs discusses the history of Maine's own breed of Siberian Husky, descended from Togo, a famous canine participant in the 1925 Serum Run to Nome, Alaska.

Joel Lefever and Erin Tewksbury join Tiffany, Ian, and a live audience at the Old York Historical Society to talk about the history of the Old York Gaol, and how it transformed from a prison to an icon of local history and, eventually, tourism. 

Joe Hall joined Tiffany, Ian, and a live audience at the Auburn Public Library for a conversation about the project to map and commemorate the Wabanaki Pejepscot Portage. 

Elizabeth DeWolfe returns to talk about the life of Jane Tucker "alias Agnes," an undercover detective hired to spy on a Kentucky congressman's mistress caught up in one of the most notorious scandals of the Gilded Age. 

Robert Cray, historian of war and memory, discusses the history and commemoration of the locally famous "Lovewell's Fight" of 1725 with Tiffany and Ian.

Jason Newton starts off Season 3 by discussing the era of industrial scale logging in Maine's northern forests.

Film historian Vaughn Joy triumphantly returns for another end of year bonus episode, this time assessing a genre-mixing Christmas Western directed by Maine's own John Ford.

Marine Biologist Gina Lonati returns to the pod to discuss Maine's most endangered marine mammal.

Author Sharon Kitchens discusses the Maine places that shaped the career of the "King of Horror" Stephen King, and his influence on the Pine Tree State.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows joins the show to discuss the history of Maine's state flags as voters decide whether to bring back the old "Pine Tree" flag.

Jack Furniss, historian of Civil War era party politics, discusses why Maine Republican Hannibal Hamlin made an attractive vice president for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, why he was dropped from the ticket in 1864, and what a Hamlin administration might have looked like.

Rebecca Brenner Graham returns to the pod to discuss Frances Perkins's little-known work aiding refugees from Nazi Germany.

Catherine Burns discusses the history behind Maine's 1875 redaction of parts of the state constitution dealing with public lands and obligations to Wabanaki nations.

Genevieve LeMoine of Bowdoin College's Peary MacMillan Arctic Museum discusses the controversial contest to reach the North Pole.

Elizabeth DeWolfe discusses the tragedy, trial, and media sensation surrounding the death of a young Biddeford mill worker named Berengera Caswell in 1849.

Food writer and historian of vegetarianism Avery Yale Kamila speaks with Tiffany and Ian about dietary reformer Sylvester Graham's controversial Maine speaking tour, which drew both fans and riotous critics in the 1830s.

Ian chats with composer Bryan Den Hartog about how he created the music of Mainely History.

Film historian Vaughn Joy returns to discuss the baffling 1988 Christmas movie "Some Girls," starring Lewiston's own Patrick Dempsey in this bonus episode.

Alexandra Montgomery returns to the pod for a discussion on the significance and complicated legacy of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 for Mainers and their neighbors on both sides of the US-Canadian border.