Your humble hosts are traveling this week, trying to see the first total eclipse of our lifetimes. Â While weâre gone, listen to the story of the 1806 eclipse, the first total eclipse seen in Boston after European colonization.
Episode 41: Canoes and Canoodling on the Charles River
During a late nineteenth century canoe craze, recreational canoeing became Bostonâs hottest leisure time activity. Â Young lovers took advantage of the privacy and intimacy of a canoe to engage in a little bit of illicit romance, leading a humorless state police agency to ban kissing in canoes on the Charles River.
Continue reading Episode 41: Canoes and Canoodling on the Charles River
Episode 40: Banned in Boston
Despite our liberal reputation today, for years Boston was a bastion of official censorship. Authors and playwrights whose works were considered obscene had to create a watered-down âBoston version.â The Watch and Ward Society decided what art, theater, and literature was permissible, and what would be Banned in Boston!
Blooper: Live Rewrite
Sometimes, the scripts we write for ourselves donât sound as good when spoken out loud as they did in our heads. When that happens, we have to rewrite the show in real time. Â This is what that sounds like.
Blooper: words are hard
In which I have to say the words tomaszewski  and ostracization in the same sentence.  (mildly NSFW)
Blooper: Math is hard
How do you know that the hosts of a history podcast were humanities majors, not hard science? Listen to us try to subtract 1942 from 1993.
Blooper: Jake’s chair
What does it sound like when a podcast hostâs chair almost overturns during a recording session? Â Youâre about to find out.
Episode 39: Tragedy at Cocoanut Grove
The 1942 fire at Bostonâs Cocoanut Grove nightclub killed a staggering 492 people, making it the deadliest fire in Boston history and one of the deadliest fires in US history. For Boston, it is the deadliest modern disaster of any type. Only the smallpox epidemics of the early 1700s and the 1918 Spanish flu rival it for loss of life.
Episode 38: The Reign of Charles “King” Solomon
This weekâs show is about Charles âKingâ Solomon, also known as Boston Charlie, whose criminal enterprise placed him at the head of organized crime in Boston throughout the prohibition era. Â He reached influence at the national level, set policies in play that led to tragedy at the Cocoanut Grove, and in death, left a wake that may have led to the rise of Whitey Bulger.
Continue reading Episode 38: The Reign of Charles âKingâ Solomon
Just say “Massachusetts”
Hereâs a fun blooper from Jake.  While I was hosting solo last week, I ran up against the Boston history podcasterâs Achilles heel⌠a complete inability to say the word âMassachusetts.â  I stumble almost every time, and itâs a word that comes up a lot.  Here, I try several times to say âMassachusetts Commission Against Discrimination,â with sad results.