Hoosier History Live

Originally aired on 5/3/2025. Indiana "went dry" before Prohibition went into effect nationally in January 1920. Guest Jason Lantzer, assistant director of the honors program at Butler University, talks with Nelson about a range of aspects of this colorful and controversial era including moonshine makers and one of the largest raids in the Midwest unfolding in southeastern Marion County.

Thomas R. Marshall was vice president in 1919 when President Woodrow Wilson suffered debilitating strokes that created a crisis. Before that, Marshall had been a popular governor of Indiana who is remembered for his wit, including the line: "What the country needs is a really good 5-cent cigar." Nelson's guest is Ray Boomhower of the Indiana Historical Society.

Originally aired 04/12/2025. The full menu for this show doesn't just include food traditionally associated with Indiana such as tenderloins, sugar cream pie, persimmons and catfish. Nelson and guest Bradley Hohulin, the dining reporter for the Indianapolis Star, also delve into whether restaurant and menu preferences here differ from other regions.

Chili parlors owned by Mexican Americans were popular in Indianapolis as early as 1907 and during the 1920s and '30s, a "hot tamale craze" occurred from Elkhart to Evansville. Nelson is joined by Nicole Martinez-LeGrand of the Indiana Historical Society to follow up on previous explorations of the early Mexican heritage in the state, including new details about a "Lost Barrio" of the 1950s and '60s.

Originally aired 03/29/2025. Guest David Steele shares his knowledge on two trailblazing women he has spent time researching and shares the impact they have had on Hoosier history. One of them was an Indianapolis school principal and the other a jazz pianist in Richmond. Their lives were entwined with a range of aspects of Indiana history, from our Native American heritage to our jazz recording heyday.

Originally aired 03/08/2025. What happened 200 years ago when the Indiana General Assembly met for the first time in Indianapolis? Where did the legislature stay in 1825, how did they entertain themselves, and what kinds of issues were they coping with? Nelson explores all of that with guest Libby Cierzniak, a retired lawyer and lobbyist, whose career has been intertwined with the Indiana Statehouse. Libby writes about Indianapolis city history on her blog called Indypolitan.

Originally aired 03/01/2025. Originally aired 03/01/2025. Ever hear of the former Monroe City High School, where the mascot was the Blue Jeans? How about the Bunker Hill High School, where the mascot was the Minutemen? For this Hoosier History Live show, Nelson is joined by Reta Williams, a retired principal from Clinton County who found the lyrics and other details about the fight songs of more than 620 bygone high schools across Indiana that were at risk of being lost.

Originally aired 02/15/2025. Nelson's guest on this Black History Month show is Aleta Hodge, author of the biography, "The Robust Life & Times of Noble Sissle." Indianapolis native, Noble Sissle was the lyricist and co-producer of the first hit Broadway musical by and about Black people titled "Shuffle Along" (1921). He was a tenor, orchestra conductor and member of the Army regiment known as the "Harlem Hellfighters" during World War I.