Weird Island

Hidden away in Woonsocket, RI is a church that has been called the Sistine Chapel of New England. Inside is one of the largest collections of frescoes in the United States. While the artwork is incredible, it’s only the beginning. After the paintings draw you in, what you find are stories--because all 475 people painted into the frescoes are real people who lived in Woonsocket in the 1940s. And some of these stories will make you say, “Wow, I’ve never heard something like that before.”  

To Visit: 84 Cumberland Street, Woonsocket, RI 02895 - Tours Sunday 1-4

Episode Source Material: 

• Mission Statement
• The 40 Angels of St. Ann, the Sistine Chapel of Woonsocket
• The Miracle of the Woonsocket Mill Order
• New England Notebook: One Reporter, Six States, Uncommon Stories -  p. 47
• At 100-year celebration, St. Ann Center recalls church's past military connection
• French Americans
• New England French
• Quebec diaspora
• Guido Nincheri
• Guido Nincheri: An Italian-Canadian Treasure
• Guido Nincheri, Inducted
• Guido Nincheri, 86, Won Papal Medal for his Art
• Marguerite B. Forget - Obituary - Woonsocket, RI - Fournier & Fournier Funeral Services

Have you heard the story of Hachiko, Japan’s most loyal dog? Find out why there’s a statue of Hachiko hidden in Woonsocket, RI.  

To Visit: 1 Depot Square, Woonsocket, RI 02895

Episode Source Material:

• Akita (dog)
• History of the Akita Breed - The Akita Breed
• Akita History: Hachikō & the Revival of the Devoted Japanese Breed – American Kennel Club
• 15 thoughts on “What does Hachiko mean?”
• Hachikō
• Hidesaburō Ueno
• Hachi: A Dog's Tale
• Around New England: Woonsocket's Railroad Station's Deserved, but Short-Lived Stardom - Design New England
• Hachiko - A Dog's Loyalty
• 10 things you didn't know about Hachiko, Japan's most loyal dog 3 days ago
• Hachiko Breed Information: History, Health, Pictures, and more

Episode Source Material

• The Birth of American Industry: Why Pawtucket? - Online Review of Rhode Island History
• The Industrial Revolution - The Big Story - Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
• Rhode Island and the Industrial Revolution | EnCompass
• Slater Mill | EnCompass
• Brown University Portrait Collection
• Wikipedia, History of Rhode Island
• Samuel Slater - Wikipedia
• David Wilkinson (machinist)
• How America's Industrial Revolution Was Launched by Spies
• Hannah Wilkinson Slater and Mary Dixon Kies | Profiles in Sewing History - Threads
• How Industrial Espionage Started America's Cotton Revolution | Smart News
• Moses Brown - Wikipedia
• Moses Brown (1738-1836) Papers
• RI Historical Society | Volume 33:2 May 1974 - P. 35
• Economic Growth and the Early Industrial Revolution [ushistory.org]
• John Slater (1776-1843)
• Francis Cabot Lowell
• Slater, Samuel
• US Slavery: Timeline, Figures & Abolition - HISTORY
• Thomas Jefferson and the Embargo Act of 1807 (thoughtco.com)
• Industrial Revolution | Definition, History, Dates, Summary, & Facts
• Rhode Island and the Industrial Revolution | EnCompass
• #3 - Report on manufactures. - Full View
• Cotton production in the United States  
• Pawtucket Visitor Center Signage

Episode Source Material: 

• GEOLOGY OF MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND - 184
• The American journal of science
• Rhode Island State Rock: Cumberlandite
• Cumberlandite Raw Cubes stone of Venus – Song of Stones
• GC51DR2 Only in Rhode Island (Earthcache) in Rhode Island, United States created by Twohig260
• Walking RI: Hunt for RI's rare state rock at Cumberland's Blackall/Ballou Preserve
• Cumberlandite - Cumberland, Rhode Island USA - Places of Geologic Significance on Waymarking.com
• Historic and Architectural Resources of Cumberland RI
• Avalonia
• Igneous Rocks.
• 2 Replies to “Igneous Rocks: How Are They Formed?”
• Intrusive rock | geology
• Gabbro
• Geology of Rhode Island
• Eastern Avalonia

Episode Source Material: 

• Gotham state of mind: what do comics tell us about cities?
• Why Superhero Comics Are Obsessed With Cities
• DC Finally Confirms Metropolis is Located in New York
• CLE Myths: Ohio Bell Building Inspired Superman
• The Architecture of Superman: A Brief History of The Daily Planet
• Daily Star - Supermanica
• Daily Star (DC Comics)
• The Daily Planet in Film and Television | Arts & Culture
• Architectural Critic Will Morgan: Superman Building
• Industrial National Bank Building
• Industrial National Bank Building
• Industrial Trust Building, Providence RI
• PHOTOS: Inside Providence's Superman Building
• Crumbling face of an icon: Can 'Superman' be saved?
• Providence Magazine | Industrial Trust
• Providence's Most Iconic Skyscraper Needs a Superhero
• Adaptive Reuse, Innovation, and Saving Superman — The Providence Foundation
• Art Deco architecture of New York City
• The Beauty and Backstory Behind Art Deco Design
• Peregrine falcon - Wikipedia
• The Falcon Eye | peregrine brown falcons

Episode Source Material: 

• Respect (and Customers) Comes Back to Drive-Ins (Published 1997)
• Rustic Tri-View Drive-in Theatre in North Smithfield, RI
• Drive In Movie Theaters History Northeast Connecticut Rhode Island Massachusetts
• Lonsdale Drive-In: Rhode Island Blueways
• Drive-in Theaters: A History from Their Inception in 1933
• The History of the Drive-In Movie Theater
• A History of the Drive-in Theater
• Drive-in theater - Wikipedia
• Why old drive-in movie theaters were popular, and what they were like
• History of the American Drive-in Theatre
• Richard Hollingshead
• Park-In Theatres v. Loew's Drive-In Theatres, 70 F. Supp. 880
• Invention of the Drive-in Theater
• Did the Pandemic Save the Drive-In Movie Theater?
• Daylight saving time
• Energy Does Daylight Saving Time Conserve Energy?
• Watching porn in public: The rise and fall of the adult movie house
• City Journal: The Last Porn Palace
• 82 years ago today, first US drive-in theater opened in NJ - nj.com
• Rustic Tri View Drive-In

Episode Source Material: 

• VIDEO: Ride along with the Providence Police, 1993. Documentary featuring the old downtown Police HQ, the RISD May Day riot, and of course Buddy Cianci. : providence
• PROVIDENCE TUNNEL OPENED | New York Times
• Description of East Side Tunnel project
• East Side Train Tunnel
• providence.html
• What's underneath — Erik Gould Projects
• Transit advocates say reusing Providence train tunnel a waste of money/ Poll
• The Indy
• With Demolition Looming, A Look Back At The Counterculture Of An Iconic Rhode Island Bridge
• Crook Point Project
• City announces Crook Point Bridge design winner
• An ‘attractive nuisance,’ Crook Point Bridge to be torn down
• Environment Art Connectivity
• May 3, 1993: Tunnel party ends in melee; students and police clash
• May 5, 1993 editorial: Eyewitness to the tunnel riot - News - providencejournal.com - Providence, RI
• The Waco tragedy, explained
• Satanic Panic's long history — and why it never really ended — explained
• The Untold Inside Story of 'Law Enforcement Guide to Satanic Cults,' the Ultimate Satanic Panic Educational Video
• It's Time to Revisit the Satanic Panic

Controversy and Opinions on the Gaspee Affair: 

• Was the Gaspee Affair About Slavery?
• The Gaspee Affair was about the business of slavery – Uprise RI
• The Conspiracy to Destroy the Gaspee

Additional Episode Source Material: 

• About: Gaspee Days
• Conflicts That Led Up To the Burning of the Gaspee
• Copy of the testimony of Aaron Briggs | EnCompass
• This Licentious Republic: Maritime Skirmishes in Narragansett Bay 1763-1769
• The Story of the 1772 Gaspee Affair – in Virtual Reality – Virtual Reality for Education
• The 1772 Gaspee Affair, Rhode Island's Own Tea Party (But the Ship Burned) Part 2
• Burning The Gaspee - 2020
• The Documentary History of the Destruction of the Gaspee
• British vessel burned off Rhode Island - HISTORY
• Gaspee Affair - Wikipedia
• Rhode Islanders complain historians overlook ship they burned in 1772
• Molasses Act - Wikipedia
• Sugar Act - Wikipedia
• Colonial molasses trade - Wikipedia
• The Untold Truth Of Molasses
• Newport Rum, Slavery and The Burden of History
• JCBL_Exhibitions

Episode Source Material: 

• Best Places - Donut Data Set
• Home / Rankings / Top Donut Cities
• A Dozen Things You Didn't Know About Dunkin' | Dunkin'
• The Salvation Army USA Blog - The Salvation Army Celebrates National Donut Day!
• National Donut Day
• Doughnut Girls: The Women Who Fried Donuts and Dodged Bombs on the Front Lines of World War I - World War I Centennial.
• Donut Day History - The Salvation Army Metropolitan Division
• The Women Who Fried Donuts and Dodged Bombs on the Front Lines of WWI

Check this out! 130 years of facial hair trends, in one chart

Episode Source Material: 

• Ambrose Burnside, The Sideburned Civil War Commander Who Didn't Want The Job
• Ambrose Burnside - HISTORY
• 'Sideburns' The Hairy History of 'Sideburns'. 
• Why is this Style of Facial Hair Called Sideburns?
• How Sideburns Got Their Name | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
• the history of ‘burnsides’, ‘sideburns’ and ‘sideboards’
• Women in the Civil War
• The History of Shaving and Beards | Timeline of Cultures & Facial Hair | The Old Farmer's Almanac
• President's Day: When was the last time a US president had facial hair? Not in 100 years
• Evolution of Facial Hair Over the Past 200 Years
• Survival of the Scruffiest
• The Racially Fraught History of the American Beard
• The Rise and Fall—and Rise—of Facial Hair
• How Do You Grow & Trim Sideburns Styles For Your Face Shape?
• What Are Imperial Beards & Friendly Mutton Chops?
• Men's Sideburn Styles, Trimming & Maintenance