Explain Boston to Me

In this episode, we're joined by Sebastian Belfanti of the West End Museum to talk about the history of the neighborhood — and its tragic fate at the hands of Urban Renewal. Turns out Boston looked at a dense, diverse downtown neighborhood and said, "Bring in the bulldozers."

Click here for images of the destruction of the West End. And here are images of The Gothic before its demolition. 

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Salem, the North Shore city with a long and complicated history, is now in the midst of a new chapter: Halloweenmania! Beginning before the first leaf even turns, its annual Halloween Happenings attracts tourists from around the globe, packing the streets and causing headaches in surrounding towns. How did it get this way?

To chat about this spooky phenomenon, I'm joined by brothers Adam and Art Antczak, a couple of dudes who have lived in and around Salem for decades. We talk about the time Bewitched came to town, the title of "official witch," the Hocus Pocus of it all, and why they can't visit their mother in October. Plus, Gritty, Plymouth Rock, and somewhere called Misery Island.

Here is a link to the scariest haunted house setting imaginable.

Here is the 2024/25 Celtics City Jersey.

"A reject from Sesame Street" — the initial reaction to Gritty.

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It's the dramatic conclusion of our discussion of the Boston Tea Party! Living history interpreter Audrey Stuck-Girard walks us through the aftermath and the legacy of this iconic incident.

Check out Audrey's custom historical wig business, Cuffed & Coiffed (here's the Instagram page).

The Wet Guy.

A clip from The Comeback, which is actually a three-part series on Netflix.

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In part one of our inaugural two-parter, we're talking with living history interpreter Audrey Stuck-Girard about one of Boston's most iconic incidents, The Boston Tea Party. This episode has everything: Colonial tax policy, tea talk, a creepy portrait of Paul Revere, an alibi for Sam Adams, a testy town meeting, smuggling, Connecticut slander, and more!

Check out Audrey's custom historical wig business, Cuffed & Coiffed (here's the Instagram page). 

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Not even COVID could keep me away from you! I'm back from vacation with an episode exploring an iconic part of New England culture: Lobster. To go deep (sea) on the subject, I'm joined by Curt Brown, a Maine lobsterman and marine biologist with a passion for this industry and clawfuls of optimism for its future.

Please blame any and all bad puns on my sick, addled brain.

Check out Sea Change: The Gulf of Maine, a NOVA Special Presentation.

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Oh how far we've come! I'm on vacation, so here's an oldie but a goodie — with a new intro!

On the first ever episode of "Explain Boston to Me,"  l learned about Allston Christmas, the smorgasbord of free curbside stuff that happens every September 1.

Explaining this phenomenon — and giving the overall scoop on Allston — is Matt Shearer, a reporter for WBZ News Radio. You might have heard him over the airwaves, but if you’re under 40 you’re probably more likely to have seen one of his viral “man on the street” segments pinging around the internet. Check him out @reportermatt on Instagram or @WBZnewsradio on TikTok.

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In this week's episode, we're joined by Dart Adams, author, journalist, historian, and Black Bostonian. He talks about how the culture being exported by the city — the movies, TV shows, media, and memes — doesn't reflect the actual diversity of the community.

Here is Randolph and Mortimer Duke: "Turn those machines back on!"

And here is a video of Joel Embiid trolling the French fans.

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This week, we're talking about one of Boston's most iconic neighborhoods, the North End. James Pasto grew up in this Italian enclave and now teaches a class on its history at Boston University. It's currently Feast Season — check out this calendar to plan your outing.

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This week, we're grabbing a drink where everyone knows your name. Oops. Not that place — we'll save that for another day. Zach Servideo of Value Creation Labs is an entrepreneur and dude in the tech/innovation space, but he is also a former doorman at The Pour House (RIP).  We talk about dive bar culture in Boston, how it's changing in this newly moneyed era, and why we still need these sacred spaces.

Here is Ben Affleck's new look.

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This week, we're talking about the housing crisis. And affordability. And development. And density. What could go wrong? Historian Jacob Anbinder is an expert on how cities grow and evolve, and the forces aligned against those changes. We discuss Boston's NIMBY-est towns, the recent drama in Milton over the MBTA Communities Act, and why we should take people at their word when it comes to why they fight development.

To read more from Anbinder, check out these two features from The Atlantic:
- "What Historic Preservation Is Doing to American Cities"
- "The Pandemic Disproved Urban Progressives’ Theory About Gentrification"

Here is Jalen Hurts smiling.

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