We've hooked a big one for today's episode! We're getting into Binghamton's former AHL hockey team, the Binghamton Whalers. And don't worry, Rob finds a way to shoehorn in a couple canal references along the way.

⁠⁠⁠Watch Understanding Upstate: The Documentary ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠



Check out Jim's comedy album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Upstate Understandings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also check out Rob's album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NY Sticky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Jell-0, it was food of dreams in the early 1900's, but if it's got vegetables and fish mixed inside it, it's the stuff of modern nightmares! This simple food has a complex backstory that leads all the back to the town of LeRoy, located in none other than Upstate NY.

⁠⁠⁠Watch Understanding Upstate: The Documentary ⁠⁠⁠⁠



Check out Jim's comedy album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Upstate Understandings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also check out Rob's album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NY Sticky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Lights, camera, action! We're talking about Upstate NY's many contributions to cinema from it's very inception (but not the movie Inception) up to the modern film making happening upstate! We're talking famous Upstate actors, the film industry's beginnings, and movies past and present that were shot Upstate.

⁠Watch Understanding Upstate: The Documentary ⁠⁠

Check out Jim's comedy album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Upstate Understandings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also check out Rob's album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NY Sticky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This week we are basking in the majestic glory that is the Carrier Dome. Home to the Syracuse Orange and many pivotal Upstate events, the Carrier Dome is a venue to behold! A dome may not be able to match the magnificence of a canal... but it can get close!

Watch Understanding Upstate: The Documentary ⁠

Check out Jim's comedy album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Upstate Understandings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also check out Rob's album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NY Sticky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Understanding Upstate: The Documentary is out and available to watch! Rob and Jim chat a little bit about the documentary which is a behind the scenes look about what it takes to put out your own comedy album and Jim's process of pulling material from his childhood in Binghamton and his experiences as an adult living in Brooklyn. Once you get a little bit of your weekly dose of the UU Pod, go watch the doc!

Watch Understanding Upstate: The Documentary

Check out Jim's comedy album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Upstate Understandings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also check out Rob's album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NY Sticky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Before there was Understanding Upstate, there was one main source to get all the info on Upstate New York that you could ever want, and that source was the poet laureate of Upstate New York, Arch Merrill. We get into his 1,600+ articles and 23 books all focused on the history, development, and folklore of Upstate New York. 

Watch Understanding Upstate: The Documentary ⁠

Check out Jim's comedy album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Upstate Understandings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also check out Rob's album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NY Sticky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get hyped, because we're talking about one of the biggest public works projects to ever happen in the United States, which helped brand a little upstart place called New York, as The Empire State, and it's all located in Upstate NY. What could it be? It's the Erie Canal baybee!

Find us on IG: @understandingupstate

Check out Jim's comedy album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Upstate Understandings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also check out Rob's album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NY Sticky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This week we've got a showdown for the ages, it's the battle of the ice cream sundae as we figure out who got the scoop on this delicious desert! Was it Ithaca, NY with their cherry on top or Two Rivers, WI with a little drizzle of chocolate? We'll figure out how we went from sunday to sundae, and how the frozen treat became so popular, all while Rob takes a hard stance on Baskin Robins. We'll put the cherry on top of your week with another great episode, so indulge in the sweet treat that is this week's Understanding Upstate!

Check out Jim's comedy album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Upstate Understandings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also check out Rob's album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NY Sticky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

It's the second episode in our double header focusing all on baseball in Upstate New York, which means we are of course going to talk all about the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY. Not only that, but Rob offers a rare retraction (don't get used to it), and we get into the myth centered in Upstate NY behind baseball's elusive origins.

Check out Jim's comedy album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Upstate Understandings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also check out Rob's album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NY Sticky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

There’s nothing minor about today’s episode because we are talking all about Binghamton’s own Minor League Baseball team, the Rumble Ponies! We’ll get into the history of the team, the rise and fall of Penn-New York League, and all the crazy dealings that have played a part in shaping minor league baseball in Upstate New York.

Check out Jim's comedy album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Upstate Understandings⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Also check out Rob's album: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠NY Sticky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠