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In this third episode of our October History and Haunting Series, Anne Marie talks to Denver Ghost Hunters' (DGH) team members Stephanie and Elise about their favorite histories and how their ghost-hunting endeavors connect to them. 

With the nineteenth-century United States Western expansion, many a restless soul came to the then Kansas Territory (Colorado) with only their dream and a prayer in hopes of finding a better life. Many of DGH's local haunts are steeped in the spiritual residue of people who came to the mountains to create a new life, some with success and some without.

Ghost hunter and psychic Stephanie shares the evolution of her supernatural skills and how she and her team utilize the tools at their disposal, including her psychic abilities, ghost-hunting equipment, and the intuition of the team to match up a haunted site's history with paranormal evidence whenever possible.

Resources
Denver Ghost Hunters:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/denverghosthunters
website: https://denverghosthunters.com

Silver Queen Walking Tours: https://www.silverqueenwalkingtours.com

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Anne Marie continues her discussion with the co-authors of A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts. 

This non-fiction book is coauthored by actress, playwright, ghost tour guide and award-winning bestselling author Leanna Renee Hieber and Boroughs of the Dead founder Andrea Janes. 

“Sorrowful widows, vengeful jezebels, innocent maidens, wronged lovers, even the occasional axe-murderess—America’s female ghosts differ widely in background, class, and circumstance. Yet one thing unites them: their ability to instill fascination and fear long after their deaths. Here are the full stories behind some of the best-known among them, as well as the lesser-known—though no less powerful. Tales whispered in darkness often divulge more about the teller than the subject.” 

Their approach to the ghost story differs from most in that they look at the history of these tales and the deeper implications of how we have traditionally framed the spooky campfire stories we love to hear and tell.


Buy the book: A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts, bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-haunted-history-of-invisible-women-true-stories-of-america-s-ghosts-leanna-renee-hieber/17787938?ean=9780806541587

Andrea Janes, website: https://boroughsofthedead.com
Twitter: @MacabreNYC
Instagram: @boroughsofthedead
Facebook: Boroughs of the Dead

Leanna Renee Hieber, website: https://www.leannareneehieber.com
Blog: http://leannareneebooks.blogspot.com
Twitter: @Leannarenee
Instagram: @leannareneehieber
Facebook: Leanna Renee Hieber

Also discussed in Part 2
Haunted Houses by Larry Kettelkamp: https://amzn.to/3Ml1PEm
Amanda R. Woomer, Spook Eats:  https://spookeats.com

Silver Queen Walking Tours: https://www.silverqueenwalkingtours.com

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Twitter: @ArmchairHistor1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/armchairhistorians

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Check out Anne Marie's historical fiction and download free short story: A.M. Cannon website: www.amcannon.com 

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If you know Anne Marie at all, you know that Halloween is her favorite holiday. Some of you may know that, as a side gig, she is the founder of Silver Queen Walking Tours. By popular demand, she does more ghost tours than straight history tours. So when she discovered this newly released book, A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts, by these two amazing women who have first-hand knowledge and experience of the art and mystery behind the ghost tour guide craft, she was sold before cracking the book open.

This non-fiction book is coauthored by actress, playwright, ghost tour guide and award-winning bestselling author Leanna Renee Hieber and Boroughs of the Dead founder Andrea Janes. 

“Sorrowful widows, vengeful jezebels, innocent maidens, wronged lovers, even the occasional axe-murderess—America’s female ghosts differ widely in background, class, and circumstance. Yet one thing unites them: their ability to instill fascination and fear long after their deaths. Here are the full stories behind some of the best-known among them, as well as the lesser-known—though no less powerful. Tales whispered in darkness often divulge more about the teller than the subject.” 

Their approach to the ghost story differs from most in that they look at the history of these tales and the deeper implications of how we have traditionally framed the spooky campfire stories we love to hear and tell.


Buy the book: A Haunted History of Invisible Women: True Stories of America's Ghosts, bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-haunted-history-of-invisible-women-true-stories-of-america-s-ghosts-leanna-renee-hieber/17787938?ean=9780806541587

Andrea Janes, website: https://boroughsofthedead.com
Twitter: @MacabreNYC
Instagram: @boroughsofthedead
Facebook: Boroughs of the Dead

Leanna Renee Hieber, website: https://www.leannareneehieber.com
Blog: http://leannareneebooks.blogspot.com
Twitter: @Leannarenee
Instagram: @leannareneehieber
Facebook: Leanna Renee Hieber

Silver Queen Walking Tours: https://www.silverqueenwalkingtours.com

Follow us on Social Media:
Instagram: @armchairhistorians
Twitter: @ArmchairHistor1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/armchairhistorians

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/armchairhistorians

Support Armchair Historians:
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Check out Anne Marie's historical fiction and download free short story: A.M. Cannon website: www.amcannon.com 

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In this episode, Anne Marie talks to author, sweetheart of the sideshow, and fashion writer Ilise Carter about her new book The Red Menace: How Lipstick Changed the Face of American History.  

In America, lipstick is the foundation of empires; it’s a signature of identity; it’s propaganda, self-expression, oppression, freedom, and rebellion. It’s a multi-billion-dollar industry and one of our most iconic accessories of gender.

From the colonial period until today, this engaging book focuses on the many-layered historical aspects of this one product including, social, cultural, marketing, corporate, political, religion, and much more.

ILISE S. CARTER is a freelance writer, consulting copywriter to the beauty industry, and sideshow performer based in New York City. She has written for Allure, New York Times, Racked, Wall Street Journal, and others, with a focus on pop culture. In addition, she’s spent over a decade as a consulting copywriter for beauty brands such as Shiseido, bliss, Laura Mercier, Avon, L’Oréal, and Madame CJ Walker, specializing in brand voice and identity. As her stage persona, The Lady Aye, she has worked as a professional sideshow performer (sword swallower, fire eater, blockhead, and pain-proof girl) and MC with acts ranging from Rob Zombie to Cirque du Soleil, and has appeared on TV’s Gossip Girl, Oddities, The President Show, Mysteries at the Museum and Dickinson. Carter holds a BA in American Studies from Barnard College at Columbia University and a Certificate in Film Production from NYU. 

Resources

The Red Menace, Ilise Carter: https://amzn.to/3RlTemL
My Life as a Sword Swallower, The Atlantic: https://bit.ly/3QfYK96
Lady Aye, Website: https://www.ladyaye.com
Tough Jews, Richard Cohen: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780375705472
Hope in a Jar, Kathy Peiss: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-8050-5550-4
Lipstick Index, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipstick_index
Fierce: The History of Leopard Print, Jo Weldon: https://amzn.to/3etuM48
Shocked and Amazed: On and Off the Midway, James Taylor: https://amzn.to/3et6jvL

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/armchairhistorians

Support Armchair Historians:
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Check out Anne Marie's historical fiction and download free short story: A.M. Cannon website: www.amcannon.com 

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In this episode, Anne Marie Talks to Andrew Nagorski about his new book Saving Freud: The Rescuers Who Brought Him to Freedom. The book recounts the dramatic true story of Sigmund Freud’s last-minute escape to London following the German annexation of Austria, why he waited until after the Nazi take over, and the colorful cast of characters who persuaded and extricated him from his beloved Vienna to London.

Andrew Nagorski is an award-winning journalist and author who spent more than three decades as a foreign correspondent and editor for Newsweek. From 2008 to April 2014, he was vice president and director of public policy for the EastWest Institute, an international affairs think tank. Nagorski is now based in St. Augustine, Florida but continues to travel extensively, writing for numerous publications. His recent books -- Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power (Simon & Schuster, 2012), The Nazi Hunters (Simon & Schuster, 2016), and 1941: The Year Germany Lost the War  -- have all received rave reviews. In a starred review, Kirkus calls his new book, Saving Freud: The Rescuers Who Brought Him to Freedom (Simon & Schuster, August 2022), "a riveting page-turner...a fine biography." Publishers Weekly calls it "an invigorating look at a lesser-known chapter of Freud's well-documented life."

Resources
Andrew Nagorski Website: http://www.andrewnagorski.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndrewNagorski/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndrewNagorski
Saving Freud: http://www.andrewnagorski.com/book/saving-freud-rescuers-who-brought-him-freedom
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_the_Third_Reich
Mein Kampf: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mein_Kampf
Anschluss: Annexation of Austria: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anschluss


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Check out Anne Marie's historical fiction and download free short story: A.M. Cannon website: www.amcannon.com 

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In this episode, Anne Marie talks to professor of history and author Robert McElvaine about his latest book, The Times They Were a-Changin': 1964, the Year the Sixties Arrived and the Battle Lines of Today Were Drawn.

1964 is when the sixties truly arrived, from JFK’s assassination in November 1963 It was then that the United States began a radical shift toward a much more inclusive definition of “American,” with a greater degree of equality and a government actively involved in social and economic improvement. It was a radical shift accompanied by a cultural revolution. The same month Bob Dylan released his iconic ballad “The Times They Are a-Changin’,” in January 1964, President Lyndon Johnson announced his War on Poverty.

McCelvaine uncovers 1964’s moment of reckoning, when American identity began to be reimagined, tying those past battles to their legacy today. Throughout, he captures the changing consciousness of the period through its vibrant music, film, literature, and personalities.

McCelvaine is the Elizabeth Chisholm Distinguished Professor of Arts & Letters and Professor of History at Millsaps College. He is the author of seven books, including The Great Depression: America, 1929–1941 and Eve’s Seed: Biology, the Sexes, and the Course of History, and is the editor of three. Among his many honors are the Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence and the B. L. C. Wailes Award for national distinction in the field of history. He has served as a historical consultant for several television programs, including the PBS series The Great Depression, and has written more than one hundred articles and opinion pieces in such national publications as the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, the Nation, and Newsweek and has been a guest on about the same number of television and radio programs. He lives in Clinton, Mississippi.

Author Website: http://robertsmcelvaine.com/
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_S._McElvaine
Simon & Schuster author page: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Robert-S-McElvaine/183511950
Simon & Schuster book page: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Times-They-Were-a-Changin/Robert-S-McElvaine/9781950994106
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Times-They-Were-Changin-Sixties/dp/1950994104/
Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/robertmcelvaine
Twitter: https://twitter.com/robertmcelvaine
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bob.McElvaine/

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In this episode, the third in our Mudlark Series, Anne Marie interviews Jason Sandy, co-author of Thames Mudlarking: Searching for London's Lost Treasures. Jason shares his River Thames journey and talks about the river's history and the fellowship he has found within the mudlark community.

Jason Sandy is an American architect and property developer in London. He is a member of the exclusive Society of Thames Mudlarks. Jason’s mudlarking adventures have been featured on national television in Britain, Germany, and Canada. He has written extensively about mudlarking for magazines in Britain and USA. His mudlarking collection has been exhibited in the British Museum, Tate Modern, and other cultural institutions. Jason also lectures about mudlarking in schools, universities, and organizations. For regular posts, follow him on Instagram @jasonmudlark.

Resources

Instagram: @jasonmudlark
Thames Mudlarking: Searching for London's Lost Treasures, Amazon: https://amzn.to/3J2BvgS
Thames Museum. website: http://www.thamesmuseum.org

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In this episode, the second in our Mudlark series, Anne Marie talks to Mudlark Lynn Pew. Lynn mudlarks along the River Irwell in Lancashire, England, where she scours its banks for beautiful pieces of broken pottery, little pieces of history tumbled by the river for over 100 years. Lynn tells us about the river's history and where many of the pieces she finds originated.

Lynn is fascinated with how these tiny fragments made their way into the river and the journey they have been on. Cracked and faded, their edges are worn smooth from their watery passage, a mere remnant of what once was. Who last held them in their former, utilitarian life before she plucked them from the banks of the river.

Years after she began collecting these lovely miniature pieces of history, she incorporated them into handcrafted one-of-a-kind mosaic works of art, which she entered and won a place in Country Living Magazine's 'Kitchen Table Talent' competition.

Resources:

The Mudlark Website: https://themudlark.co.uk
Instagram, Alice and the Mudlark: @alice_and_the_mudlark
Lancashire Past Website, Grants Tower, Ramsbottom, Bury
Ramsbottom, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsbottom
River Irwell, Wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Irwell

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Check out Anne Marie's historical fiction and download free short story: A.M. Cannon website: www.amcannon.com 

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In this special episode of Armchair Historians, Anne Marie is joined by her great-nephew and co-host Finley. We talk to YouTube sensation Simon Bourne of Si Finds about one of our favorite hobbies, treasure hunting and specifically mudlarking. Since the beginning, the River Thames which flows from the Cotswolds, through the heart of London, and into the North Sea has been a place where people from all over the world and throughout time have crossed, sailed, and walked along. It is a tidal river that rises and recedes with the tide of the North Sea. It's at low tide when mudlarks come out and peruse the Thame's foreshore for treasure, pieces of history.

Its history stretches back to over 30 million years ago when the river was once a tributary of the River Rhine because Britain was not an island. Mudlarks have been known to find Roman coins, 400-year-old clay pipes, Tudor pottery, and the list goes on.

Simon is a Society of Thames foreshore permit holder which means he is an advanced mudlarker known for his historically relevant foreshore finds. This designation also gives him access to otherwise restricted areas of the River Thames. Simon takes us on his adventures along the foreshore and other historic places through his YouTube channel, Si-Finds, teaching us about history through his finds.

Resources:

Si-Finds, YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Sifinds
Mudlark, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudlark
Port of London Authority, Foreshore Permits: https://www.pla.co.uk/Environment/Thames-foreshore-permits
Mudlarker Simon returns Nathan Posener’s RFC dogtag he found in Thames ,East London Advertiser: https://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/mudlarker-simon-returns-nathan-posener-s-rfc-dogtag-he-found-3449608

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Check out Anne Marie's historical fiction and download free short story: A.M. Cannon website: www.amcannon.com 

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Today’s guest has made it his mission to look at the chroniclers who have shaped our understanding of the past by looking at their personal history and taking into account how their personal story shaped their biases and therefore their interpretation of history.

Author Richard Cohen talks to Anne Marie about his new book, Making History: The Storytellers Who Shaped the Past. Cohen says “Every author of a work of history is an interpreter, a filter, with his or her own personal input.”

He has thoroughly investigated and compared the published works and private utterances of our greatest chroniclers to discover the rivalries, the religious beliefs, the lost loves, and the cultural pressures that informed their (and, subsequently, our) views of the world.

Richard Cohen is the author of By the Sword, Chasing the Sun, and How to Write Like Tolstoy. He is the former publishing director of two leading London publishing houses, he has edited books that have won the Pulitzer, Booker, and Whitbread/Costa prizes, while twenty-one have been #1 bestsellers. He has written for most UK quality newspapers as well as for The New York Times Book Review and The Wall Street Journal, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Resources:

Mentioned in Interview:
Edward Gibbon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Gibbon
Shakespeare: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare
Leo Tolstoy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn
The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gulag_Archipelago
William Hickling Prescott: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Prescott
Hugh Trevor Roper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Trevor-Roper
David Knowles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Knowles_(scholar)
A.J.P. Taylor: https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/08/obituaries/ajp-taylor-british-historian-dies.html

Works by Richard Cohen:

Making History, Simon & Schuster: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Making-History/Richard-Cohen/9781982195786

Chasing the Sun, Book Browse Summary: https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/5670/chasing-the-sun

How to Write Like Tolstoy, Kirkus Review: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/richard-cohen/how-to-write-like-tolstoy/


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