Off the Path

By Davis DunavinSociety & Culture Places & Travel

Off the Path episodes

April 17, 2020 Behold The Mechanical Messiah
Thirteen brothers and sisters made up the Hutchinson Family Singers. They toured the United States and Europe. And they drew crowds of thousands of people.
9 min
April 03, 2020 Be(a)man
Cesar Beman marched and fought with black and white soldiers during the Revolutionary War up and down the Hudson River. But he wasn’t supposed to be there.
8 min
April 03, 2020 Be(a)man
Cesar Beman marched and fought with black and white soldiers during the Revolutionary War up and down the Hudson River. But he wasn’t supposed to be there. “He fought in place of the man who enslaved him,” says Jesse Nasta, a visiting professor of African American Studies at Wesleyan University. He says Cesar was one of thousands of enslaved people in New England. “It was sort of a compensation that he would be manumitted.” There were almost 300 African American soldiers in the Revolutionary War
8 min
March 20, 2020 The Man Who Defied Gravity
An economic genius is remembered for predicting the 1929 stock market crash that led to the Great Depression. His last words of wisdom live on – stenciled on a series of boulders in a Massachusetts ghost town.
9 min
March 20, 2020 The Man Who Defied Gravity
An economic genius is remembered for predicting the 1929 stock market crash that led to the Great Depression. His last words of wisdom live on – stenciled on a series of boulders in a Massachusetts ghost town.
9 min
February 28, 2020 A Quirk Of The Map And A Wild Prizefight
Note: The area today known as “Boston Corners” was once known as the singular “Boston Corner” – no “s.” To avoid confusion, this story refers to the area by its contemporary name throughout.
7 min
February 28, 2020 A Quirk Of The Map And A Wild Prizefight
Note: The area today known as “Boston Corners” was once known as the singular “Boston Corner” – no “s.” To avoid confusion, this story refers to the area by its contemporary name throughout. If you look at a map of Massachusetts, there’s a little slice missing from the far southwest corner.
7 min
February 14, 2020 Drinking The Ale That Never Lets You Grow Old
McSorley’s Old Ale House opened in the 1850s – it’s one of the oldest bars in New York City.
8 min
February 14, 2020 Drinking The Ale That Never Lets You Grow Old
McSorley’s Old Ale House opened in the 1850s – it’s one of the oldest bars in New York City. Its slogan now? “We were here before you were born.” (Its slogan used to be “Good Ale, Raw Onions and No Ladies” – but they let ladies in now.)
8 min
January 24, 2020 Searching For The Lost Limner
Travelling portrait painters were common in the 1800s, but many didn’t even sign their work. There are hundreds of these paintings attributed to one artist: a man named Ammi Phillips.
9 min

About Off the Path

From the publisher's feed

For Davis Dunavin, being a journalist is a little bit like being a cross between a wandering storyteller and a detective. For nearly eight years, he's set sail to learn about pirate history, hiked the…