Interview: Anne Byrn's 'American Cookie'

Before the ballpoint pen, people used their hands, reeds, bamboo, brushes, quills, and eventually nibs to write or draw. But how did things evolve from there to get to things like the fountain pen, an...

7 Jul 202535min

This 2022 episode starts with the story of John Bibb, credited with cultivating Bibb lettuce. But his family’s legacy, good and bad, is all tied to having enslaved people build their familial wealth. ...

5 Jul 202533min

Holly discusses the inscription on the Beachamps' headstone and the court of public opinion. Tracy shares information about Wilfred Owen's brother Harold.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inform...

4 Jul 202525min

Wilfred Owen is considered one of the most important English-language poets of World War I. His work also part of a shift in how many British poets were writing about war. Research: Bonellie, Janet....

2 Jul 202544min

The Beauchamp-Sharpe tragedy of 1825, sometimes called the Kentucky tragedy, involves a politician, a young lawyer, and the lawyer’s wife. It unfolds as a story of sexual scandal and political intrigu...

30 Jun 202536min

This 2014 episode covers transgender activist Sylvia Rivera. She became famous, in part, for participating in the Stonewall riots, and she spent her life campaigning bravely, stridently and vocally fo...

28 Jun 202528min

Rosina Bulwer-Lytton week generates discussion of her relationship with Edward, including many people who sided with him over the years despite allegations of abuse and infidelity. Tracy and Holly als...

27 Jun 202518min

Once Rosina Bulwer-Lytton and her husband Edward separated, his life seemed to become more and more successful while she struggled with finances. The estranged couple then spent years battling very pu...

25 Jun 202541min