The idea that you could come to the United States and practice whatever religion you wanted was kind of a big deal. It’s a thread you can find throughout American history, since the founding of the country. You can see it in the Great Awakenings in the 1800s and in the hundreds of thousands of immigrants that arrived from Europe during the Revolutions of 1848 and the Russian pogroms in 1877. But you can also see it in smaller ways - like in two synagogues in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Buildings on the National Register are listed because they have a story to tell, whether it’s about architectural trends or social movements, they all tell us something about us.

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This is a story about a cough that shaped the way we lived in the 20th century.

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Phones are a basic part of our everyday life. They're so basic, they're kind of boring. They aren't even just phones anymore - now they’re pocket-sized computers we can take with us everywhere. Today, phones make front page news when Apple or Google releases their newest model, otherwise, they’re stuck in the business section. But when phones were first invented in the 1870s, the phone - and phone companies - were news machines. The phone was a new frontier in communications and business in the United States, and, like the actual frontier, it was full of drama and intrigue.

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(This week’s episode is the first part in a series following a sod house autopsy from start to finish.)

Sod houses used to be a staple of the Great Plains in the 1800s, when settlers from the east started making their way west. There are a handful of sod houses still standing today, but it’s only a small percentage out of the hundreds and hundreds there used to be. Most of them, like the one in Larry Estes’ backyard, are not in the best condition. But ecologists, archaeologists, and historians can still learn a lot from it - once they get it into their labs.

Listen in to find out how to to get a sod house from the field into the lab!

Read more: http://tmblr.co/ZUZXqs-P2HxB

In Nebraska in 1919, the state had the chance to build a new symbol. The state had already built two state capitols, but neither of them had lasted very long. The state wanted to build a proper capitol - one that would tell the story of the state. But there’s no one way to look at history.

When we create a building that’s a symbol of who we are and where we come from, how do we pick which story to tell about ourselves?

One of the first suburbs in Lincoln, NE was Park Manor. When it was built in the 1950s, the whole neighborhood sat on the edge of the city, but today it’s just one of many neighborhoods tucked into midtown. Jill Dolberg grew up in Park Manor and recently went back to see her old neighborhood, not only as an adult, but as a historian.

http://secondstoryradio.tumblr.com/post/65334930661/the-same-and-not-quite-mine

Bob Luebbe owns the Hoffman Building in Ashland, NE. He wants to turn it into a new office for his software company. But it needs a lot of work before it’s ready. Historic buildings can be cheap to buy, but expensive to fix up, depending on how the building has been maintained over the years. But there is a system in place to help make it easier for businesses to do just that. Listen to find out more!

http://secondstoryradio.tumblr.com/post/64015851069/money-for-history

We love road trips in the United States. But it turns out, it took a little while for them to catch on. It wasn’t that we didn’t like cars. Between 1904 and 1910, car ownership went from 55,000 to 500,000. But the first road cross-country road trip didn’t happen until 1913.

The problem wasn’t with drivers. It was with the roads. There weren’t any to get you from one state to another. This is the story of the first highway, and the first time we could take off on the open road.

http://secondstoryradio.tumblr.com/post/62720169013/the-open-road