Although Theodore Roosevelt’s energetic personality is remembered today by most Americans as almost larger than life, who really was Roosevelt the person, not the legend? In our last episode of Season 5, Mary and Kirk are joined by Tony Williams, BRI Senior Teaching Fellow, to explore Roosevelt’s personal and professional life and what it is about him that continues to fascinate us today. How did Roosevelt overcome the death of both his wife and daughter by traveling west? What is his legacy of American imperialism that still exists today?

 As Emma Watson says in the HBO special “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts,” “there’s something about Harry Potter that makes life richer.” In this episode of Fabric of History, Mary, Kirk, and Haley explore the meaning of this phrase and why Harry Potter has had such a lasting impact on so many people’s lives. What is it about the human themes set in a magical world that makes the series and the way we engage with it so unique? 

View Our Episode Page for Additional Resources!
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/podcasts/the-spell-of-a-good-story-harry-potters-magical-universe

What happens when a pop culture depiction of history is better known than the history itself? The well-known Oregon Trail computer game created in the 1970s brings players on a tumultuous journey from Independence, Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon in the mid-1800s, but how accurate to history is it? In this special episode of Fabric of History, Mary is joined by Dr. Andrew Fisher, author and Associate Professor of History at the College of William and Mary, to shed light on how accurate the game's challenges were. Why did so many Americans choose to go West in the mid-1800s?  What were the impacts of pioneers interacting with Native Americans and their territory as they moved West?

View our episode page for additional resources!
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/podcasts/the-oregon-trail-the-game-vs-reality

As an American in the 21st century, it’s incredibly easy to look back on the Revolutionary War and joke about the "redcoats," but would you really have been a patriot if you lived at that time? In a special episode of Fabric of History, Mary is joined by Dr. Rebecca Brannon, Associate Professor of History and Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and author of "From Revolution to Reunion: The Reintegration of the South Carolina Loyalists," to take a closer look at the reasons why people chose to side as patriots or loyalists, or why they may have decided to walk the challenging tightrope of neutrality. What are some examples of regular citizens navigating this difficult time, and what happened to them after the Revolution? What unique challenges did the Revolution pose for minorities and women?

View our episode page for additional resources!
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/podcasts/was-the-revolutionary-war-americas-first-civil-war

Question: What do a piece of art, a medical record, and a top 40 song have in common? Answer: They can all be NFTs. In this episode, Mary, Kirk, and Haley, break down what exactly NFTs, or non-fungible tokens are, and their real-life applications outside of enthusiast communities. Why are NFTs so revolutionary, and how are they changing concepts of ownership and social interaction?

View our episode page for additional resources!
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/podcasts/what-are-nfts-and-how-can-they-impact-our-lives

What is Hollywood to you? Is it watching a movie that transports you to another world, a tabloid full of colorful celebrity stories, or the larger-than-life neighborhood in Los Angeles? In this episode of Fabric of History, Mary, Kirk, and Haley go back to the very beginning of show business in the once sleepy backwater of California to discover why Hollywood has endured and thrived in American culture.

View our episode page for additional resources!
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/podcasts/hollywood-the-origins-the-image-the-legacy

It’s uncommon to look at the front page of any newspaper and not see an article about impending Supreme Court nominations and debates. But was this always the case? Were proceedings of the Supreme Court as publicized throughout American history as they are now? In this week’s episode of Fabric of History, Mary, Kirk, and Haley explore what the Constitution actually says about the Supreme Court and how history has interpreted and evolved its role ever since.

View our episode page for additional resources!
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/podcasts/the-highest-court-in-the-land-how-has-the-supreme-court-evolved-through-history

Lawless bandits, high sea adventure, and buried treasure! When we dress up as pirates on Halloween, do our humorous sayings and elaborate costumes bear any resemblance to the real pirates that once terrorized North America? In this episode of Fabric of History, Mary, Kirk, and Haley discuss piracy's rise and fall in the Mediterranean and American Colonies, Blackbeard’s fierce tactics, pirate havens, and more. Why did so many choose this rough life and why do we romanticize pirates today?

View our episode page for additional resources!
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/podcasts/lawless-piracy-the-struggle-for-power-in-north-america

BRI Staff share their memories of Gary Colletti, cherished friend and colleague, who passed away on November 5, 2021.

In Memory of Gary Colletti 1975-2021 : https://billofrightsinstitute.org/in-memory-of-gary-colletti

Visit our episode page for additional resources:
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/podcasts/remembering-gary-colletti

Lizzie Borden, the famous woman from Fall River, Massachusetts, who went to trial for brutally murdering her father and step-mother, was acquitted, so why does the age-old rhyme vividly describe her wielding an ax, and why do so many of us believe she did it? In this episode, Mary, Kirk, and Haley break down the facts of the murders and explore why a century-old case captures our imagination in such a profound way. Why did the trial create a media frenzy across the country and bring a city to a standstill? How did it reflect important social issues of the time like women’s rights and classism?

Visit our episode page for additional resources:
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/podcasts/lizzie-borden-the-murders-the-trail-the-media-frenzy