Ep: 010 This week Brad Shreve shares information some people won't like, and some people will like. Plus, he makes a recommendation.

Queer Writers of Crime Website

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Brad's recommendation:  Halfwit History

Ep: 009    In 2016, people around the world people heard the news of those killed by a shooter in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.   Over 40 years earlier, 32 people lost their lives in a fire at another bar popular with the LGBTQ community.  Likely started by an arsonist, it is still on recorder for having the largest number of people killed by a fire in the city of New Orleans.

You haven't heard of it? It's not surprising if you haven't. Unlike the tragedy in Orlando, the world did not grieve, America did not grieve, and most of the city of New Orleans did not grieve either. The people who did that night in 1973 deserve to have their stories heard.

French Quarter Frank's Website

LGBTQ+ Archives Project of Louisiana

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Ep: 008 The brothel known as the Chicken Ranch, sat between Houston and Austin for 60 years and was no secret. Trouble brewed when the house of ill-repute had the misfortune of being the target of a TV news sensationalist giving the Governor no choice but to order it be closed. Even then, the brothel may have been quickly forgotten had it not been put in the spotlight by The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, a stage play and later a major motion picture. But how much of what you know of the chicken ranch is true? I chat with Jayme Blashcke who spent years studying the true story and shares what he knows.

Link to Jayme's book:  Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse

Jayme's Website: Chicken Ranch Central

Charles Durning as the Governor in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

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Ep: 007 After Alfred Nobel invented dynamite large shipments of them were sold around the world to companies and for building infrastructure., which kept him busy opening new factories and laboratories. In 1871, on the Ardeer Peninsula in Scotland, he opened his 6th factory. In this episode get inside the plant and hear some former employees describe the dangers, friendships, and fun they had while working there. 

Thank you, Jack Dickson for inspiring this episode. You can watch Jack's videos on YouTube.

Nobel Explosives at Ardeer 1871 - 2021

Shifting Sands 150 Years of Nobel Explosives

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Ep: 006  Alfred Nobel's life up until he became a young adult is a rag to riches, to rag, to riches story.  That rollercoaster ended when he invented dynamite in 1866 and he became one of the wealthiest men of his time. Why was Nobel almost obsessed to create dynamite?  Hear Alfred's story up to and after his death when the Nobel Prize was created.

The Nobel Prize Website

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Ep: 005 In 1850, a California Gold Rush boom town, angered by tighting government controls from the new state, and a tax imposed on miners, wrote a formal declaration secceeding from the union and founded The Great Republic of California. The story has been reported numerous times on radio, television, newspaper, and magazine articles, and has even been portrayed on a TV series. But, how much of the story is true?

Historical researcher Maria Brower's Amazon page.

The Rough and Ready Chamber of Commerce Website

Real bad television. The 1958 Rough and Ready episode of Death Valley Days on YouTube.

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Ep: 004 In 1883 a devastating tornado hit Rochester, Minnesota  united a Franciscan school administrator and an agnostic doctor. The hard work of the sisters who worked as teachers at the school gave William Worrall Mayo no choice but to take over a small 12 bedroom hospital they built. This is their story.

You can learn more about the Mayo Clinic on their websites:

Mayo Clinic History Timeline

Video: A Leap of Faith - The Founding of St. Mary's Hospital

Video: My Brother and I: The Founding of Mayo Clinic

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Ep: 003  In WWII, After the Doolittle Raid Over Tokyo, The Japanese Planned a Unique Way to Get Even.  The Fu-Go Project

More information Can Be Found At japaneseballoonbombs.com

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Ep: 002 The Combat Zone, Boston's adult entertainment district, was given its moniker by the Boston Daily Record. "An adult Disneyland" is how it was described by the Wall Street Journal. In this episode you'll learn how an elegant neighborhood near a shopping district called Scollay Square turned into one of the most popular districts of the city, with burlesque shows and vaudeville acts.  While scandalous at the time, they were nothing compared to the strip clubs, adult bookstores, peep shows, and pornographic movie theaters that popped up in the Combat Zone as Scollay Square was coming down.  And it all happened with the support of the leaders of the city of Boston.

Anthony Sammarco joins Brad and shares a seedy side of Boston many citizens wish to forget.

You can get "The Other Red Line, Washington Street from Scollay Square to the Combat Zone" and many of his other books about the Boston area on his Amazon Author Page. 

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Ep: 001 Following the Civil War after the Reconstruction era, many former slaves had grown disillusioned over integration and decided their only hope for freedom was to establish their own communities. In 1879, 15,000 African-American's moved to Kansas within one month based on a rumor the government was giving free land to former slaves.

This is the story of Nicodemus, Kansas, the first all black town West of the Mississippi and the only one remaining. Angela Bates, the founder and executive director of the Nicodemus Historical Society joins me to tell their story.

Nicodemus Kansas Historical Society Website

Nicodemus Kansas Homecoming & Emancipation Celebration Website

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