Your History Your Story

In June 1913, a little over a year since the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic, the Karluk, which was the flagship of a three vessel Canadian Arctic expedition set off from British Columbia, near the southern tip of Vancouver Island. The expedition’s mission was to conduct geographical and scientific exploration in an area lying between Alaska and the North Pole.

The leader of the expedition was Vilhjalmur Stefansson, a Canadian born anthropologist, who had already spent several years studying the Inuit people (Eskimos) in arctic Canada. Stefansson had selected experienced arctic mariner, Robert Bartlett as Captain of the Karluk. Sadly, shortly into its’ journey, the Karluk became trapped in ice on its way to a rendezvous point with the other two ships. 

Months later, the ship was crushed by the surrounding ice and the small crew and passengers struggled to survive for months in the punishing arctic weather. Nearly half of the people onboard would not survive.

In this episode of Your History Your Story, we will be speaking with Buddy Levy, journalist and author of eight books, the most recent one being, “Empire of Ice and Stone: The disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk”.

Buddy was also the co-star for twenty five episodes on History Channel’s hit docuseries, “Brad Meltzer’s Decoded”.

Buddy will tell stories of the ill-fated Karluk and of the bravery and determination of its’ passengers and crew. He will also talk about the distinctly different personalities and leadership qualities of Stefansson and Bartlett.

Photo(s): Courtesy of Buddy Levy / St. Martin's Press

Music: "With Loved Ones" Jay Man

Your History Your Story Social: https://linktr.ee/yhyspodcast

Buddy Levy website: www.budylevy.com

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Jim Meskimen is a professional actor, comedian and impressionist and those are only a few of his talents! Jim is also the son of America’s favorite mom, 

Marion Ross, who played Mrs. Cunningham or commonly called Mrs. C on the hit television show, Happy Days. 

 Jim’s acting credits include the movies, How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Apollo 13. He has also appeared on television shows such as, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Friends and Who’s Line Is It, Anyway?. Jim is also a gifted voice artist and his work includes the creation of voices for characters in video games.

In this episode of Your History Your Story, Jim will talk about his career and experiences that have shaped the man he is today. 

Photo(s): Courtesy of Jim Meskimen / St. Martin's Press

Music: "With Loved Ones" Jay Man

Your History Your Story Social: https://linktr.ee/yhyspodcast

Jim Meskimen: www.jimmeskimen.com  or www.jimworkingactor.com or www.jimpressions.com

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Today, we begin season 7 of Your History Your Story with a popular returning guest, Marty Blumberg. Marty was on our show back in season 3 talking about his first book, My Brooklyn, My Way. 

Marty has recently published a second book called “Going Back to Brooklyn”. It’s a fun, coffee table book filled with stories and poems about his experiences growing up in Brooklyn during the 1950’s. His poems and the stories behind them are Marty’s way of describing his wonderful childhood and preserving Brooklyn’s rich history for future generations.

Photo(s): Courtesy of Marty Blumberg and YHYS Podcast

Music: "With Loved Ones" Jay Man

Your History Your Story Social: https://linktr.ee/yhyspodcast 

Link to purchase Marty Blumberg's book on Amazon: Going Back to Brooklyn

#yhys #podcast #storytelling #history #youhaveastorytoo 

Jim Thorpe was born in the late 1880’s in what was then known as Indian Territory, now the state of Oklahoma. Thorpe who was predominantly of Native American descent, was a member of the Sac & Fox Nation. However, his father who had some European blood, felt that it was important for his son to attend school and assimilate into the English speaking culture. 

After a series of tragic personal losses, including the death of his twin brother and his mother, Thorpe was eventually sent away to school by his father who wished for him to get an education. Despite his hopes of staying home and his general dislike for school, Thorpe eventually traveled to Pennsylvania, where he attended the Carlisle Indian School. It was there that his extraordinary athletic ability was first noticed. 

Thorpe went on to excel in many different sports, including baseball, football and track & field. He attended the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden where he won two gold medals for the pentathlon and the decathlon, becoming the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States. Sadly, those medals were later rescinded when it was discovered that Thorpe had briefly played for a minor league baseball team for a small amount of money. In 1982, almost thirty years after his death, his gold medals were restored to his family. However, Thorpe remained listed in the record books as co-winner of those events.

In this episode of Your History Your Story, we will be speaking with Jim Kossakowski, the great grandson of Jim Thorpe. Jim will share stories from the life of one of America’s most iconic athletes and will also share what it is like to be descended from the legendary Jim Thorpe.

After the interview….

Please note that in July of 2022, shortly after the recording of this interview, The International Olympic Committee restored Jim Thorpe’s name as the sole gold medal winner of pentathlon and decathlon events at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm.

Music: "With Loved Ones" Jay Man

Photo(s): Courtesy of Jim Kossakowski

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As we enter the 2022 Christmas season, many of us will be decorating our homes, purchasing gifts, listening to our favorite holiday music and settling our plans to visit and celebrate with friends and loved ones.

However, as we busy ourselves with many activities of the season, we should pause to remember Christmas’ from long ago and reflect upon how those memories and traditions from our childhood remain in our hearts and still bring us comfort and joy today. 

In this episode of Your History Your Story, we will be speaking with friends from around the world who will share their special childhood memories and Christmas traditions from their home countries. Our guests will be: Kattia Roman from Costa Rica, Baba Oluyemi from Nigeria, Marje Zayas from Estonia,    Dara Kelly from Ireland and WWII veteran, John “Lucky” Luckadoo, who grew up in Tennessee. Our host, James Gardner will also share a story about his favorite childhood Christmas.

We hope these stories will inspire you to reflect on your own Christmas memories and will bring warmth and happiness to you and your loved ones as you gather together to celebrate Christmas this year.

Photo(s): Courtesy of Kattia Roman, Bab Oluyemi, Marje Zayas, Dara Kelly, John Luckadoo & Your History Your Story.

Music: "With Loved Ones" Jay Man & "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" Paul Werner

Time Stamps:

Kattia from Costa Rica - 1m.43s

Baba from Nigeria - 20m.26s

Marje from Estonia - 35m.58s

Dara from Ireland - 54m.22s

John "Lucky" from Tennessee, USA - 1h.18m

James Gardner from New Jersey, USA - 1h.33.50s

Your History Your Story - media links: https://linktr.ee/yhyspodcast

What do you do when adversity strikes? Do you see obstacles that can’t be overcome or do you see opportunity and the possibility to transform yourself?

In this episode of Your History Your Story our guest is Robert Pardi. Robert is a transformational life coach, speaker and author of “Possibility in Action - A Journey to an Intentional Life”.

Robert grew up with an alcoholic father and was forced at a young age to develop coping techniques in order to deal with his difficult home life.                            In college, Robert met Desiree, his future wife.  They got married and  looked forward to an exciting life together.  Little did they know that just prior to Desiree’s thirty first birthday, while she was studying to become a doctor, she would be diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. Robert walked hand in hand with her throughout her journey and their love for each other continued to grow. They had an action plan that compelled them to make the most out of every day they had together. Sadly, despite her strong will to live and immeasurable courage, Desiree lost her battle with cancer and Robert was devastated. 

Trying to find his way again, he leaned into some of the coping skills he developed as a child and the experiences he had during his wife’s illness to transform his life. He eventually moved from New York to Italy where he has become an amazing life coach, using his passion and compassion to help others live their best life. Robert has a special way of connecting with those he encounters.

Photo(s): Courtesy of Robert Pardi

Music: "With Loved Ones" Jay Man

Your History Your Story - Social Links and Website: https://linktr.ee/yhyspodcast

To purchase "Possibility in Action: A Journey to an Intentional Life", please use our Amazon associate link: https://amzn.to/3fVaxgV

Robert Pardi website: www.robertpardi.com 

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