Banjo Strings and Drinking Gourds

Lights, camera, action! In this episode, we take a peek at what kind of discussions can happen around the breakroom table at the Frontier Culture Museum regarding pop culture. Movies, books, TV shows, video games, toys...all of these are vehicles for historical content and of course, historical interpreters have a lot of feelings about all of it. 

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Closing Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

This episode started as Alex's ambitious project to encapsulate just why the 17th century should be considered a formative century, one that had a direct impact on the formation of the modern world. That...may not be what actually happened. We did learn a valuable lesson, however, namely that we should not attempt to cram such a broad, wide-ranging topic into a typical episode. But, we did have a lot of fun arguing the point, so enjoy!

Start Music: Zac Bell

Transition Music:  Positunes Music

End Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

To finish our special Women's History Month series, Mary Kate describes an unusual aspect of women's history: women in trades. As one of the Frontier Culture Museum's blacksmiths, Mary Kate is well-versed in the historical role of women participating in the so-called men's trades. In this episode, she describes a fictional blacksmithing family and the role of the women with that trade.

Continuing our Women's History Month series, Makayla details the life of a Virginia farmer's wife in the mid-19th century. Her recounting includes actual quotes from contemporary sources, like the American Frugal Housewife, first published in 1828. Be sure to compare this Day in the Life to the others across time and place.

Music: Zac Bell

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

We're continuing our set of episodes for Women's History Month. Today, Misti describes a spring day in the life of women of the Eastern Woodlands. Seasonal and year-round activities each have their own place in the day and the visitor to a village can observe the rhythms of life.

For Women's History Month, we thought we'd change things up a bit and give you a taste of what a typical day would be like for some of the women we talk about at the Frontier Culture Museum. This month, we'll be bringing you four short episodes, in both first and third person, that paint a picture of daily life for women of the past. This week, we start in the 17th century with a typical spring day for a yeoman farmer's wife.

In this episode, we take a turn for the serious in observance of Black History Month. Mark, who has been a guest previously discussing navigation and shipping, talks to us about the traumatic and often deadly journey from freedom to enslavement via the Middle Passage. 

Intro Music: Zac Bell

Close Music: Jean-Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

Have you ever thought about how easy it is to buy clothes in the modern world? Or how much automation goes in to making them? In the past, of course, everything was more labor intensive, particularly in the pre-industrial periods. But that labor intensity meant that finished products often held a higher societal and economic value. In this episode, we (attempt to) figure out just why clothes were worth so much more and explain the production process from raw material to wearable garment. We may even answer the question: which costs more comparatively, car or clothes?

Intro and Transition Music: Zac Bell

Closing Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

For another episode on current topics, we feature Makayla Baker Paxton discussing the long history of inoculation and vaccines. Featuring such notable figures as Catherine the Great, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson, the story of vaccines, ever present in our minds today, has many similarities with the situation under COVID-19.

Intro Music: Zac Bell

End Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

In this episode, we talk about archaeology: what it is, why we care, and how it interacts with history. Archaeology and the archaeological record is a valuable resource for knowing how people lived in the past. When written records are scarce or misleading, archaeology can fill in the gaps. The physical traces left behind by people tell their own stories.

Open Music: Zac Bell

Close Music: Jean Claude Hatungimana

Cover Art: Emily Noble Day

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