Colonial Williamsburg History Podcasts - Image Enhanced

Rats on a ship smuggle a story of transatlantic trade and a colonial global economy. It’s a big idea, but the concept is made simple by the team of writers, researchers and producers who create Colonial Williamsburg’s Emmy-winning Electronic Field Trip series.

What were colonists buried in? This was a question posed to Research Librarian Juleigh Clark. Tracking down the answer led her, and us, through the history of funerals, burials, shrouds and winding sheets.

It takes a lot of bricks to build a Market House and our brickmakers are busy. So it seems like a good time to revisit this October 2011 podcast about the process for the building blocks of the Historic Area. Brickmaker Jason Whitehead tells the story.

Jamestowne Island’s Director of Archeological Research and Interpretation Bill Kelso says that choosing which historic sites to protect from deterioration of all kinds is a matter of reading history backwards. We must consider “What are the priorities today, what are the legacies today of our history? And then look to what areas contributed.”

No matter where the Earth glides on its axis, the days both long and short shine on a years-worth of work on the colonial farm. At Great Hopes plantation, the turning of the seasons brings with it a task suited to the temperatures: plowing, sowing, planting and harvest. Learn the rhythm of the year with Historic Farmer Wayne Randolph.

Planning the fiery colors of autumn is a year-round endeavor for Manager of Landscape Services Laura Viancour. She and her team keep Colonial Williamsburg’s trees healthy and maintained, and they inform their choices with historic documentation of the 18th-century’s treescape.

Retired US Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni has some sharp insights and powerful ideas to share in his new book, “Before the First Shots are Fired: How America Can Win or Lose off the Battlefield.” Listen this week as he previews some of the philosophies he shares in his fourth book.

The 2014 Early Music Festival promises to be a lively one. With instruments, scores, and performances of an 18th-century vintage, you’ll be surrounded by the sounds of another century. Enjoy this musical preview featuring Jane Hanson and Michael Monaco from the opera “Thomas and Sally.”

Intelligence born of practice combines with the study of science to complete the historic tradesman’s store of knowledge. There was no better spokesman for the Historic Trades program than Director Jay Gaynor. Jay recently passed away and we miss him. This encore podcast is dedicated to him.

When people from various regions of Africa were forcefully transported to the colonies, they brought nothing with them but the clothes on their backs and the beliefs of their hearts. This latter possession varied widely by region and tradition, but was to each a fundamental part of daily life.

Historian Harvey Bakari describes the African American Religion exhibit.