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Episode 8: Living History
20 minutes. Release date: May 22, 2016
What if you could tour writer Mark Twain’s house with the maid, getting the juicy inside story? Join Connecticut Explored editor Jennifer LaRue as she tags along on one of the Mark Twain House’s new living history tours. Plus learn about the living history tour offered at the Windsor Historical Society. Then publisher Elizabeth Normen smells the lilacs in the Florence Griswold Museum’s gardens and takes you through their recent exhibition celebrating executive director Jeffrey Anderson’s 40th anniversary.
Related stories:
“Saving Mark Twain’s House,” by Steve Courtney, Spring 2013
Episode 7: A Communist’s Arrest in 1950s New Haven
28 minutes. Release date: April 19, 2016
In 1954, 32-year-old Al Marder was arrested in New Haven along with several others under the Smith Act for allegedly working to overthrow the US government. After a lengthy trial, during which he was defended by the celebrated civil rights lawyer Catherine Roraback, he was acquitted. With humor, grace, passion, and optimism, hear Al tell in his own words what he was fighting for and what it feels like when the full power of the state, federal, and local government is aimed at you. Recorded at New Haven Museum on April 14, 2016. An extended version including the entire 1-hour program is available as Episode 7E (Extended).
Read related stories in the Spring 2016 issue, including “A Life of Conviction: Al Marder” by Mary Donohue.
Episode 6: Irish in a Mill Town; Spring 2016: Voting and Protesting
45 minutes. Release date: March 13, 2016
Irish Eyes in a Connecticut Mill Town, 17 minutes. Jamie Eves of the Windham Textile & History Museum in Willimantic talks with state historian Walt Woodward about their new exhibition Irish Eyes: The Irish Experience in a Connecticut Mill Town.
What’s It All About, 13 min. The CT Explored editorial team talk about voting, protesting, and religious equality. Features Dave Corrigan on the 1991 income tax protest and Mary Donohue on the 1843 petition by Jews for religious parity in Connecticut.
Theodate’s Suffrage Journey, 12 min. Melanie Anderson Bourbeau, curator of Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, describes the suffrage journey of Hill-Stead’s architect and last resident Theodate Pope Riddle.
And these episodes relating to the Winter 2015-2016 issue
Episode 4: Connecticut Clocks and American Words
37 minutes. Release date: February 2016
They Keep On Ticking: A Visit to the American Clock & Watch Museum: Editor Jennifer LaRue tells us about the Mickey Mouse watch that saved the Timex Company during the Great Depression, and so much more.
Defining the American Language: A Visit to the Noah Webster House: Sarajane Cedrone finds out why Webster’s dictionary was so revolutionary.
Episode 2: Connecticut’s Iconic Brands
36 minutes. Release date: December 2015
What’s It All About: Editor Jennifer LaRue, publisher Elizabeth Normen, assistant publisher Mary Donohue, and curator of the Museum of Connecticut History Dave Corrigan talk about the big ideas behind their favorite stories in the Winter 2015-2016 issue.
A Birdcall Moment: Historian Rich Malley takes listeners out into the field to demonstrate the subject of his story “The Simple Genius of the Audubon Bird Call.”
It Doesn’t Look Like a Toaster: Editorial assistant Sarajane Cedrone takes listeners on a tour of the New Britain Industrial Museum, the subject of her story “Site Lines: Making Places,” with the museum’s executive director Karen Hudkins.