Weird Island

Episode Source Material: 

• VIDEO: It Rained Fish In Mexico, Officials Say. No, It's Not The End Times (We Think)
• Rain of Fish
• MAY 1900 WEATHER DATA - NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND MAY 1900 WEATHER DATA - NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND
• Weatherwatch: Raining fish | US weather
• Can it rain frogs, fish, and other objects?
• Fish fall from sky with rain in northern Mexico
• Every Year, the Sky ‘Rains Fish.’ Explanations Vary. (Published 2017)
• Lluvia de Peces (Rain of Fish) – Yoro, Honduras.
• Strange Rains
• Honduras: Reportan lluvia de peces en las redes sociales - Diario El Heraldo
• Fish Rain Over Streets in Thailand
• Lluvia de Peces: Visiting the town that rains fish
• RAINS OF FISHES
• When Animals Fall from the Sky
• What is a waterspout?
• Pliny the Elder | Natural History

Episode Source Material: 

• Third Floor - Rhode Island - Nellie M. Gorbea
• The Man Atop the Statehouse
• The Independent Man, "Hope," Rhode Island State House
• Rhode Island State House
• My Turn: Patrick T. Conley: Taking down the Independent Man
• Head of the Independent Man – URI's Cabinet of Curiosities
• Rhode Island State House
• State Capitol Buildings, Statues of Men at the Top
• RI's Independent Woman
• In search of the Rhode Island independent woman
• New York Tribune | April 17, 1921 | Notables to Aid in Unveiling Bolivar Statue 
• Newport Mercury | The Grist Mill 
• BOLIVAR'S STATUE UNVEILED.; CEREMONIES AND ADDRESSES AROUND THE SITE IN CENTRAL PARK. (Published 1884)
• DISLIKE BOLIVAR’S STATUE: National Sculpture Society Officials Write to the Park Board Condemning the Model
• That Statue of Bolivar
• Statues of New York
• New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, April 12, 1921, Page 8, Image 8
• The Simon Bolivar Statue - Central Park at 6th Avenue  

Episode Source Material: 

(Research for this episode turned up a lot of inconsistent dates and references to elephants by different names, ages, heights, weights, etc.--there doesn’t seem to be a consensus on where the Crowninshield elephant ended up or if Old Bet was the first or second elephant in America. I did my best to reference only the most apparently legitimate sources in my storytelling, but recognize that opinions differ on some details.)

• The First Living Elephant in America
• Memorial to Betty the Learned Elephant – Glocester, Rhode Island
• Off The Path Revisited: The Elephant Man
• An Elephant is Murdered in Chepachet in 1826 - Online Review of Rhode Island History
• Betty The Learned Elephant
• Elephant Shot In Chepachet – 1826
• Walking Tour Chepachet, RI
• American Heritage | Setting the Record Straight on Old Bet
• The Crowninshield Elephant
• The First Living Elephant in America
• A PACHYDERM'S TALE
• Old Bet
• American Circus Anthology, Traveling Menagerie
• The Elephant Comes to America
• Killing the Elephant: Murderous Beasts and the Thrill of Retribution
• Town of Somers History Beasts and Ballyhoo Menagerie Men of Somers
• America’s Big Circus Spectacular Has a Long and Cherished History
• Old Bet: The first circus elephant brought to the US was killed by a religious fanatic
• RANDOM NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF THE EARLY AMERICAN CIRCUS
• Never Forget - Down East
• Year Without a Summer
• Was America’s First Circus Elephant in Haverhill?
• Elephants in the (Reading) Room

Episode Source Material: 

• The Ugliest Buildings in Every US State
• Images: Apex
• About Apex
• Apex Department Store
• My Turn: Catherine W. Zipf: Mass. gets Pawsox; R.I. keeps Apex
• The Apex Companies
• The Apex of Potential 
• He Saw Start, Now End for Apex
• At Apex, history of inaction leads to next step
• ‘A false narrative’: Apex owners file new lawsuit in eminent domain fight
• $400M Pawtucket soccer project unveils new look without plans for Apex
• Pawtucket Moves to Enable Use of Eminent Domain for Apex Site
• Pawtucket moves toward seizing Apex property
• Reddit Comments: Here, Here, and Here

Andrew Geller / Raymond Loewy 

• Andrew Geller
• ANDREW GELLER: Architect of Happiness, 1924-2011
• Raymond Loewy
• Meet the Product Designer Who Made Mid-Century America Look Clean and Stylish

Downtown Pawtucket

• Downtown​ ​Pawtucket​ ​Tour
• Slater Mill Book
• PDDP Volume 1 : Existing Conditions Report by Thurlow Small Architecture - issuu
• Maps Show How Tearing Down City Slums Displaced Thousands
• History of the Interstate Highway System - 50th Anniversary - Interstate System - Highway History. 

Episode Source Material: 

Rumors:

• The Biltmore Hotel
• Real Stories of the Paranormal | Biltmore Hotel Providence Haunted
• Historic Taverns of Rhode Island: 
• From the Archive: Haunts around Rhode Island - providencejournal.com - Providence, RI
• A Haunted Murder Scene in Each New England State

History:

• 1920's – The Providence-Biltmore Hotel had a Poultry Farm and Garden on the Roof — City Farmer News
• National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form - Biltmore
• Historic American Buildings - Biltmore
• 8 Surprising Facts About Historic Graduate Providence
• Time Lapse: President John F. Kennedy found happy days in Rhode Island
• The Providence Biltmore – RI Venue Spotlight | Bliss Celebrations Guide
• History of the Biltmore Hotel—1922 to 2019  
• the Bacchante in the Providence Biltmore
• Biltmore begins search for 200 former Bacchante Girls - News - southcoasttoday.com - New Bedford, MA  
• Great American Hoteliers: Pioneers of the Hotel Industry
• Magical Destinations of the Northeast: Sacred Sites, Occult Oddities and Magical Monuments:
• Black Duck bootlegging boat tied to 'Crime Castle' in Warwick
• Prohibition & Bootlegging Archives - Online Review of Rhode Island History
• Prohibition and a Murky Beginning
• Prohibition: Speakeasies, Loopholes And Politics
• Little Rhody's Big Thirst: Alcohol Prohibition in Rhode Island (1919-1934)
• Patriarca crime family
• State of the Mob in Rhode Island
• Cianci Portraits Removed At Providence's Graduate Hotel, Once Known As Biltmore
• Missing Persons by State 2021
• NamUs.gov
• Did Investors Really Jump Out of Windows After the 1929 Stock Market Crash?

Episode Source Material:

Anthropodermic Books: 

• The Anthropodermic Book Project – A research project to identify the world's books bound in human skin
• Dark Archives: A Librarian’s Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin
• The macabre world of books bound in human skin
• Anthropodermic Bibliopegy – A Flay on Words – Odd Things Considered
• Tanneries of human skin? Meudon
• Anthropodermic Bibliopegy: Books Bound in Human Skin
• 'Dark Archives' Explores The Use Of Human Skin In Bookbinding
• Seeking the Truth Behind Books Bound in Human Skin
• The Hide That Binds | by Mike Jay
• Books Bound in Human Skin Aren't Fiction and a UCLA Librarian Has the Story
• Books Bound in Human Skin – The Practice Isn’t As Rare As You Might Think!
• A Book by Its Cover | Lapham's Quarterly
• Science Confirms: Yup, This Book Really Is Bound in Human Skin
• The Skin She Lived In: Anthropodermic Books in the Historical Medical Library
• In a literal bind
• Hay Library's Special Collections offer more than a human skin-bound book
• Anthropodermic bibliopegy

Hans Holbein:

• Hans Holbein's Dance of Death (1523–5) – The Public Domain Review
• Hans Holbein: Dance of Death
• Danse Macabre

Andreas Vesalius:

• From the library's historical treasures < Yale School of Medicine
• L'Histoire de la reliure de Josse Schavye
• The self-publicist whose medical text books caused a stir
• Public Dissection Was a Gruesome Spectacle
• (PDF) Stolen and lost copies of Vesalius's Fabrica

M. Adolphe Belot:

• Mademoiselle Giraud, my wife
• Mademoiselle Giraud, Ma femme, and: Mademoiselle Giraud, My Wife (review)
• In the Flesh? Anthropodermic Bibliopegy Verification and Its Implications  

Burke and Hare:

• The Worlds of Burke and Hare

James Allen

• Narrative of the life of James Allen : alias George Walton, alias Jonas Pierce, alias James H. York, alias Burley Grove, the highwayman : being his death-bed confession, to the warden of the Massachusetts State Prison. - Rare Books -

History of Anatomy

• The study of anatomy in England from 1700 to the early 20th century
• History of anatomy
• History of medicine in France
• Human cadaveric dissection: a historical account from ancient Greece to the modern era
• Murder Act 1751

Episode Source Material: 

History of the Providence Place Mall:

• Providence Architecture | Locations | Providence Place Mall
• What's in store for Providence Place's next 20 years?
• Assessing the Providence Place Mall
• The Death of the Providence Renaissance
• Nordstrom to close at Providence Place
• Providence Place - Wikipedia. 
• Arcade Providence Micro Lofts - Living in America's Oldest Mall

History of American Malls:

• The Death And Rebirth of the American Mall
• The Origins and Influence of the American Shopping Mall
• A Brief History of the Mall | ACR
• When Malls Saved the Suburbs From Despair
• The Terrazzo Jungle
• The strange, surprisingly radical roots of the shopping mall |

The People Living in Providence Place:

• Artist sentenced for secret apartment in mall
• Where Are They Now: Artist wishes he could go 'home' again to Providence Place mall
• Where Are They Now? Providence Place apartment artist
• Trummerkind
• Gimme Shelter
• Columbia Chronicles
• The couple who lived in a mall
• Artists' hideaway in Providence mall exposed

Episode Source Material: 

• The Root of the Matter – The Rhode Island Historical Society
• Roger Williams Park cemetery tour untangles route to founder's final resting place
• 1868 Book, “A Fourteen Weeks Course in Chemistry,” by J. Dorman Steele
• Read the eBook Memorial of Roger Williams by Zachariah] [Allen online for free (page 1 of 2)
• Apple Tree Root | EnCompass
• Williams Root - A Brief History of Roger Williams
• Roger Williams and the Founding of Rhode Island | EnCompass
•  “A Key into the Language of America: A help to the Language of the Natives in that part of America called New England.” 
• Roger Williams - Founder of Rhode Island & Salem Minister - HISTORY
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams
• God, Government and Roger Williams' Big Idea | History
• roger-house-lot - Roger Williams National Memorial (US National Park Service)
• How long does it take for a human body to decompose in a grave?
• Life after death: the science of human decomposition
• Recycling the dead
• "Preserving their form and features": The role of coffins in the American understanding of death, 1607-1870
• Later Years - Roger Williams National Memorial (US National Park Service)
• Roger Williams Biography
• BBC | How can I become a fossil? 

Episode Source Material:

Jonnycakes: 

• Narragansett - HISTORY
• All About Johnnycakes - Herald Tribune 
• Famous Rhode Island Foods - Your AAA Network
• The Big Flavors Of Little Rhode Island
• Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity - White Cap Flint Corn 
• About our Corn, Narragansett Indian Flint Corn
• JOHNNYCAKE IS TRADITIONAL, AND CONTROVERSAL, IN RHODE ISLAND (Published 1981)
• What is a Johnnycake?
• What Are Johnny Cakes and Are They Different Than Hoe Cakes?
• The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food by Mark Kurlansky 
• Jonnycake Corn: Disappearing Link to Past?
• KEEPING THE JOHNNYCAKE TRADITION
• What are jonnycakes (not johnnycakes), and where should you try them?
• Rhode Island: The jonnycake tradition - ExploreNewEngland.com
• Foods of England - Jannock 
• The Amazing Journey of Maize

Quahogs: 

• How the Quahog Became a Rhode Island Icon
• Sacred Symbol: Beauty of Wampum
• Rhode Island Clam Cakes
• Meet the Clam Cake
• Rhode Island has its own clam chowder – and it was the first
• A Brief History of Clam Chowder - EATER
• A Brief History of Oyster Aquaculture in Rhode Island

Pizza Strips: 

• Rhodeside Diaries: Pizza Strips | Edible Rhody
• New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, December 06, 1903, Page 5, Image 35
• Italian tomato pie
• “The Providence and Rhode Island Cookbook” by Linda Beaulieu 
• Let's talk about Sfincione, a Sicilian pizza. — Palermo Street Food
• What Is Sicilian Pizza?
• 15 Iconic Regional Pizza Styles, Explained | Eat This Not That
• Best RI Pizza strips are featured in Only In Your State today : RhodeIsland
• Rhode Island, Explained!   
• An Illustrated History of Pizza in America
• The History of Pizza - ManyEats

Episode Source Material: 

Hot Wieners:

• Food & Drink A Brief History Of The Hot Dog
• The Hot Wiener: A Rhode Island Icon
• Olneyville New York System Restaurant - Rhode Island's Best Hot Wieners!
• Awards Watch: Meet the 2014 America's Classics
• Break Out the Buns: The History of the Hot Dog
• How Hot Dogs are Made | NHDSC
• Rhode Island's hot wiener: Don't call it a hot dog
• Historical Society - Rhode Island Food Tradition

Coffee Milk: 

• Rhode Island Coffee Milk - New England Today
• The History of Coffee
• Autocrat: A Swallow Will Tell You
• List of US state beverages
• Coffee Milk: A Living Piece of Rhode Island Drink Culture
• Coffee Milk
• The Big Flavors Of Little Rhode Island
• Coffee Milk | Wikipedia
• Dairy In RI by Taylor Lanzet
• What's In That Coffee Cabinet? A Delicious Taste Of Rhode Island History

Del’s Lemonade: 

• The Del's Story - Del's
• Lemonade on a hot day: Why are acidic drinks refreshing?
• The Fascinating History of Lemonade | HowStuffWorks
• Mark Patinkin: The flavor and faces behind R.I. icon Del's
• DEL’s WIKI
• NPR | How Lemonade Helped Paris Fend Off the Plague
• The Fascinating History of Lemonade in America 
• A Brief History of Lemonade - WSJ