category
Just in time for Halloween: here’s a grisly murder story from the greater Boston area! It takes place in 1849 and 1850, with characters from high and low life, terrible mysteries, worse revelations, forensic and circumstantial evidence, and deeds so vile that people find it hard to believe the story, even today. Below this line […]
ReadI sum up the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the fallout afterwards, including the wealth of strange incidents surrounding the murder. Written, researched and presented by April Grant Edited by Dan Thurston Reading recommendations include but are not limited to: Behind The Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House […]
ReadHear the tale of Joseph Palmer, 1789-1873: farmer, abolitionist, stubborn person, wearer of a magnificent beard. Written, researched and presented by April Grant Edited by Dan Thurston Sources: Matteson, John. Eden’s Outcasts. (2007) Source of quote from Palmer in final confrontation with Reverend Trask, as well as info on the Alcott family’s interactions with Palmer. […]
ReadI’m pleased and proud to announce that there’s another history video on my YouTube channel! It’s a sordid story about a failure in industrial regulation and the people who were killed by that failure. The central incident is bizarre, but the causes and the outcome are sadly still relevant today. Here’s our tale: “The Long […]
Read
I have a new challenge to myself: post a video of me singing a song, every Sunday throughout 2023. The theme is “whatever I feel like recording in the moment” and the songs are scheduled to post on Sundays at noon. Please give an ear to January’s batch of songs below. I’ll do a round-up […]
Read
I first heard this sung by Tom Gibney, traditional singer and all-round excellent person, a couple of years before his death in 2005. Here’s a recording of his version of the ballad “Hind Horn”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5USN8G7vso8 (Tom performed alongside traditional song sensations David Jones and Heather Wood, as a group called Poor Old Horse. They made […]
Read
“Die Gedanken sind frei” means “Thoughts are free.” This is a German song dating back to the 1780s. It was often sung or recited by people in the German anti-Nazi resistance in World War II. In 1942, Sophie Scholl played the tune of this song on her flute, outside the prison where her father had […]
Read
I learned this from singer/historian/radio host/all-round cool person Judy Cook, whose way of doing it has been delighting me for years. Everyone interested in traditional singing should check out her work. This song was first written by Thomas Haynes Bayly [aka Bayley] (words) and Sidney Nelson (music), in 1831, though their original doesn’t mention the […]
Read
This song was written in the US, by Yale students Zo Elliott (music and lyrics) and Stoddard King (lyrics) in 1913. Elliott subsequently went to Trinity College in Cambridge (UK), and managed to have the song published, with his mother covering half the initial cost. The song became a huge sensation with the British army […]
Read
On the evening of Tuesday, May 9th, 2017, I had the honor of being Featured Teller at The Story Space. Renowned storyteller Doria Hughes was my videographer.
Read