Tag: interview

Revolutionary Surgeons: Patriots and Loyalists on the Cutting Edge, with Dr. Per-Olof Hasselgren (episode 237)

Dr. Per-Olof Hasselgren is a practicing surgeon and author of the recent book Revolutionary Surgeons: Patriots and Loyalists on the Cutting Edge, which is a profile of eleven Revolutionary War surgeons.  Dr. Hasselgren joined Jake to discuss the Boston physicians, brothers, and brothers in arms Joseph and John Warren.  Joseph is famous for arranging the lantern signal from Old North and dispatching Paul Revere on his famous ride, as well as for his heroic death at Bunker Hill.  His little brother John followed him into politics and medicine, and went on to found Harvard Medical School. 

Dr. Hasselgren brings a unique perspective to the conversation, examining the medical careers of these eminent physicians through a physician’s eyes.  The episode explores how 18th century physicians learned their craft, how they earned a living, and how they intermingled medicine and politics, as well as how surgery was changing during the Revolution and the groundbreaking surgery pioneered by John Warren and his son John Collins Warren.


Continue reading Revolutionary Surgeons: Patriots and Loyalists on the Cutting Edge, with Dr. Per-Olof Hasselgren (episode 237)

Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston’s Struggle for Justice, with Jan Brogan (episode 236)

In the book Combat Zone, Murder, Race, and Boston’s Struggle for Justice, journalist Jan Brogan turns her impressive research and reporting skills on the case of Andy Puopolo, a 21 year old Harvard football player who was killed in a fight in the Combat Zone in 1976.  The case would pit the most privileged group at the most privileged school in the world against three poor Black men on the margins of society, while in the background Boston tore itself apart on racial lines.

The book plumbs the depths of white, working class Boston’s racial resentments during the busing era, a criminal justice system that stacked the deck against Black defendants, and a police department that was compromised at its core by organized crime.  It highlights the street violence that helped cement Boston’s reputation as the most racist city in the country, as well as the two trials that came to diametrically opposite verdicts in the same city, just a couple of years apart.  It also puts the reader in the mind of the younger brother of the victim, left behind to deal with his feelings of grief and guilt, while wrestling with the possibility of revenge.


Continue reading Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston’s Struggle for Justice, with Jan Brogan (episode 236)

Mutiny on the Rising Sun, with Dr. Jared Ross Hardesty (episode 234)

This week, Jake interviews Dr. Jared Ross Hardesty, author of the new book Mutiny on the Rising Sun: a tragic tale of smuggling, slavery, and chocolate, which uncovers the dark web of interconnections between Old North Church, chocolate, and chattel slavery.  Dr. Hardesty will explain why a reputable sea captain would become a smuggler, trafficking in illegal chocolate and enslaved Africans; the risks an 18th century Bostonian would take to provide himself with a competence, or enough money to allow his family to live independently; and what it meant in that era to be of but not from Boston.  At the heart of the story is a brutal murder and mutiny on the high seas, illustrating the fundamental brutality of life in the 18th century, but the role of the church (specifically Old North Church) in the social and economic lives of Bostonians is also central to understanding the life and death of Captain Newark Jackson.  


Continue reading Mutiny on the Rising Sun, with Dr. Jared Ross Hardesty (episode 234)

Boston’s Oldest Buildings and Where to Find Them, with Joe Bagley (episode 230)

Joe Bagley is the archaeologist for the city of Boston, and his new book Boston’s Oldest Buildings and Where to Find Them catalogs 50 of the oldest houses, stores, churches, and even lighthouses that still stand here in the Hub.  In this episode, he tells us how it’s still possible to rediscover an unknown house from the 1700s in the North End in 2020, and how a house from the 1790s, the 41st oldest building in Boston, could be demolished in the few short months since the book was published.  Along the way, we’ll talk about how he researched the book, the rules he had to write for himself about what “counts” as a historic building, and how similar his life is to Indiana Jones.  We’ll also explore how historic buildings can reveal the otherwise untold stories of enslaved Bostonians, women, and even some of the earliest Japanese citizens to visit the United States.  Plus, I’m joined by special guest host Nikki this time around!


Continue reading Boston’s Oldest Buildings and Where to Find Them, with Joe Bagley (episode 230)

Lost Wonderland, with Stephen Wilk (episode 210)

The show this week is all about Wonderland, the early 20th century amusement park at Revere Beach.  Dr. Stephen Wilk has deeply researched the investors and entrepreneurs who bought 27 acres of land along Revere Beach Boulevard and opened the park; the inventors behind rides like Shoot the Chutes, Hell’s Gate, and Love’s Journey; and the people who ran attractions like a firefighting demonstration, a wild west show, and a model Japanese village.  His new book Lost Wonderland: The brief and brilliant life of Boston’s million dollar amusement park reveals all of that, as well as changes in the broader economy that doomed Wonderland nearly from the beginning.  After opening in 1906, the park went through periods of success and bankruptcy in a meteoric run that lasted just four short years, while leaving a major cultural impression on the Boston area, and Revere in particular.


Continue reading Lost Wonderland, with Stephen Wilk (episode 210)

Matthew Dickey: Saving History with the Boston Preservation Alliance (episode 205)

This week, Jake sits down with Matthew Dickey, the Communications and Operations Manager at the Boston Preservation Alliance to discuss the organization’s important work in saving the historic nature of Boston’s many diverse neighborhoods.  They fight to preserve individual buildings of historic importance, but they also work to keep the cohesion of historic neighborhoods and raise awareness with the public through efforts like the Boston Preservation Awards.  Stay tuned to the end to learn how you can attend this year’s virtual awards ceremony, where HUB History will be one of the nine honorees.

(Don’t forget to vote for us for the “fan favorite” award!)


Continue reading Matthew Dickey: Saving History with the Boston Preservation Alliance (episode 205)

The Clipper Ships of East Boston (episode 199)

Kick back and enjoy our interview with Stephen Ujifusa, author of Barons of the Sea, and Their Race to Build the World’s Fastest Clipper Ship, which originally aired in July 2018.  Stephen takes us back to an era when the fastest, most elegant ships in the world were built in the East Boston shipyard of Donald McKay.  He also describes how they were used to trade for tea in China or gold in California, and how they helped America’s most prominent families amass fortunes through opium smuggling.  


Continue reading The Clipper Ships of East Boston (episode 199)

Prescott Townsend, From the First World War to the First Pride Parade, with Theo Linger (episode 193)

Prescott Townsend was one of the most interesting figures in Boston’s LGBTQ history.  He was the ultimate Boston Brahmin, coming of age at Harvard in the shadow of Teddy Roosevelt and enlisting in the Navy during World War I. He served time in prison after getting caught in a Beacon Hill tryst back when homosexuality was a crime in Boston, and spent decades as an activist, helping to found the gay liberation movement, and marched at the head of the nation’s first pride parade on the first anniversary of Stonewall.  We’re also going to meet a researcher who has uncovered new information about Prescott Townsend as part of an effort to improve how the National Park Service interprets the LGBTQ history of Boston.


Continue reading Prescott Townsend, From the First World War to the First Pride Parade, with Theo Linger (episode 193)

A People’s Guide to Greater Boston, with Joseph Nevins and Suren Moodliar (episode 192)

A People’s Guide to Greater Boston is a new kind of guidebook to Boston and surrounding towns.  Instead of giving an overview of the Freedom Trail and introducing readers to the hot restaurants and hotels of Boston, this guide uncovers the forgotten stories of radicals and activists hidden in every neighborhood and suburb.  It has sections covering Boston’s urban core, the neighborhoods, adjoining towns, and suburbs from Brockton to Haverhill.  In each section, the authors unearth a wide range of sites, and in some cases former sites, that are tied to Black, indigenous, labor, or other radical historic events and figures.  For listeners who complain that our normal episodes are too political, or our point of view is too liberal… well, sorry in advance.  This guide definitely doesn’t keep politics out of history, and its point of view is well to the left of our usual editorial voice.


Continue reading A People’s Guide to Greater Boston, with Joseph Nevins and Suren Moodliar (episode 192)

Marathon Man, with Bill Rodgers (episode 187)

HUB History loves the Boston Marathon almost as much as we love Boston history. Patriots Day is one of Nikki’s favorite days of the year, and Jake has run Boston for charity. Just days before the BAA announced that the 124th Boston Marathon would have to be held as a virtual event, we had an opportunity to chat with a Boston Marathon legend. Bill “Boston Billy” Rodgers is a four-time winner of the Boston marathon, so we were excited to talk to him about marathon history, the runners he looks up to, and his own historic runs. Listen now!


Continue reading Marathon Man, with Bill Rodgers (episode 187)