Mercy Street Rewind is a special feature from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Historian and cultural critic Megan Kate Nelson joins me for a review of each episode of the PBS drama, "Mercy Street."  It's a fun, fast-paced conversation about the Civil War history behind the show, plus our take on its storylines, characters, and whatever else catches our eye.
This week we talk about Season 2, Episode 6, “House of Bondage.”
Learn more at the show page - http://inthepastlane.com/mercy-street-rewind-season2/

tags: americanhistory, civilwar, history, historypodcast, mercystreet, #mercystreetpbs, mercystreetrewind, pbs, ushistory

Mercy Street Rewind is a special feature from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Historian and cultural critic Megan Kate Nelson joins me for a review of each episode of the PBS drama, "Mercy Street."  It's a fun, fast-paced conversation about the Civil War history behind the show, plus our take on its storylines, characters, and whatever else catches our eye.
This week we talk about Season 2, Episode 5, “Unknown Soldier.” Learn more at the show page - http://inthepastlane.com/mercy-street-rewind-season2/
tags: americanhistory, civilwar, history, historypodcast, mercystreet, #mercystreetpbs, mercystreetrewind, pbs, ushistory

Mercy Street Rewind is a special feature from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Historian and cultural critic Megan Kate Nelson joins me for a review of each episode of the PBS drama, "Mercy Street."  It's a fun, fast-paced conversation about the Civil War history behind the show, plus our take on its storylines, characters, and whatever else catches our eye.
This week we talk about Season 2, Episode 4, “Southern Mercy.” Learn more at the show page - http://inthepastlane.com/mercy-street-rewind-season2/

Mercy Street Rewind is a special feature from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Historian and cultural critic Megan Kate Nelson joins me for a review of each episode of the PBS drama, "Mercy Street."  It's a fun, fast-paced conversation about the Civil War history behind the show, plus our take on its storylines, characters, and whatever else catches our eye.
This week we talk about Season 2, Episode 3. Learn more at the show page: http://inthepastlane.com/mercy-street-rewind-season2/

How did it come to pass that in the United States that we imprison more people than any nation in the world? That's right - the US comprises 5% of the world's population, but it holds 25% of the world's prison population. That's more people in US prisons than Russia, China, Iran -- you name it. How did it come to pass that we've put 2.3 million of our fellow Americans in prisons?  Well, in this first of a two-part exploration of the origins of mass incarceration, I visit the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, PA. It's a famous prison built in the 1820s that closed in the 1970s and then later was turned into a museum. I take a tour of this fascinating institution with staff guide Lauren Bennett. I took A LOT of photographs so you'll want to check them out at www.InThePastLane.com. And keep in mind, this is part 1 of a deep dive into the history of prisons and criminal justice in American history. In part 2, I speak with historian Elizabeth Hinton about her book, From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America (Harvard University Press). You won't want to miss it! 

Mercy Street Rewind is a special feature from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Historian and cultural critic Megan Kate Nelson joins me for a review of each episode of the PBS drama, "Mercy Street."  It's a fun, fast-paced conversation about the Civil War history behind the show, plus our take on its storylines, characters, and whatever else catches our eye.
This week we talk about Season 2, Episode 2. Learn more at the show page: http://inthepastlane.com/mercy-street-rewind-season2/

Mercy Street Rewind is a special feature from In The Past Lane, the podcast about history and why it matters. Historian and cultural critic Megan Kate Nelson joins me for a review of each episode of the PBS drama, "Mercy Street."  It's a fun, fast-paced conversation about the Civil War history behind the show, plus our take on its storylines, characters, and whatever else catches our eye.
This week we talk about Season 2, Episode 1. Learn more at the show page: http://inthepastlane.com/mercy-street-rewind-season2/

For Mercy Street, Season 1, I interviewed co-creator Lisa Wolfinger. So it only seemed right to speak with the other co-creator, David Zabel, as a prelude to the much anticipated Season 2. David brings a lot of experience in TV and film to Mercy Street, but the most notable credential is his work as showrunner on the hospital drama, ER. Clearly, this experience in working on a medical drama prepared him well for work on Mercy Street. But as he reveals in this interview, working in the history genre (not to mention a PBS-sized budget!) presented some challenges. Still he says he loves working in it. He also takes pleasure in working with the team of historians who serve as consultants on Mercy Street. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did! 

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