Cowboy Stories

Guest: Marshall Trimble, Arizona State Historian

Tall tales and cowboy poetry are as central to the history of the American West as our formal histories. Fortunately, historian Marshall Trimble moves nimbly between fact and fiction to preserve cowboy culture. 

 

Circus World

Guest: Scott O’Donnell, Circus World Museum

Ever since "The Greatest Showman" hit theaters, interest in circuses and circus life has exploded, according to Scott O'Donnell, of the Circus World Museum, a Wisconsin Historic Site dedicated to the history of circuses in America. Attendance has shot up. But P.T. Barnum wasn’t the only showman in the U.S. at the time; in fact, over one hundred circuses had their roots in this state, the most unlikely of places. One of those circuses was started by a group of brothers, fittingly named “The Ringling Brothers,” whose circus reputation rivaled Barnum's. 

Our Special Collections producer, Jeff Simpson, spoke with Scott O'Donnell about the Circus World Museum, the history and wonder of circuses in the U.S., and O'Donnell's own story of being a kid who literally ran away to join the circus. 

 

Flying Dutchman

Guest: Agnes Andeweg, Assistant Professor, Literature, Utrecht University, the Netherlands

Chances are you know a thing or two about the Flying Dutchman, perhaps after seeing it rise from the sea in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest." In the Hollywood franchise about piracy, the Flying Dutchman is notorious for spreading terror across the seas, while being capable of sailing on the surface as well as underwater – disastrous for those who happen to cross its path. We retrace the legend of the Flying Dutchman through the centuries.

 

Retracing Audubon's Steps

Guest: Hitnes, Italian painter and muralist

In memory of J.J. Audubon, Italian painter and muralist Hitnes spent a summer capturing photographs and painting massive murals of some of America’s most iconic birds.