Blog Podcast

The Podcast: A Dramatic Experience

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For all other episodes from 2017 to the present, use the boxed links for Apple Podcasts and Spotify in the left sidebar.

Listen to podcast episodes all the way back to 2017 by clicking one of the boxed links for Apple Podcasts and Spotify in the left sidebar.

Driftless Anthology
September 14, 2026
My Latest Read by Jim Potter Having just completed reading Laurence Kruckman’s Driftless Anthology: Coming of Age in Western Wisconsin (Little […]
8 Comments
Researching Robert
September 4, 2026
Naval Radio School at Harvard University By Jim Potter By January 20, 1918, when Seaman Second Class Robert Parks began classes at the Navy School of […]
2 Comments
In 1934, how could Fay Brown legally sell beer at his Hutchinson restaurant?
August 29, 2026
In 1934, how could Fay Brown legally sell beer at his Hutchinson restaurant? By Jim Potter Steve Harmon, Hutchinson, Kansas, historian, called me […]
10 Comments
Chelsea Piers, New York City, in 1912
February 20, 2026
While researching the New York City waterfront and its piers, I found this incredibly detailed photograph of Chelsea Piers. The photograph was identified as having been taken between 1910 and 1920, but I was pretty sure I could narrow the date down to the exact year. In this essay I'll share some history and explain how I determined the photo was taken in 1912. […]
6 Comments
Researching Robert
January 26, 2026
Gladys Gamble grew up in a Hull household where the family had to stretch their income to make ends meet, including a strict food budget during the war. I can imagine Gladys' appetite on the Scythia while sitting in the airy and spacious dining room with long, communal tables set with white linen and silver, eating her way through multiple courses of abundant, high-quality British cuisine. While first-class passengers were served French culinary traditions, second-class passengers were pleased to have the choice of Yarmouth bloaters (smoked herring), grilled ox kidneys, roast muffin, and plum pudding. […]
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Cobh, Irish Free State
November 25, 2025
Before Gladys Parks could get familiar with the sounds and rhythm of her ship, the RMS Scythia, and prior to traveling in the rougher seas of the Atlantic Ocean, the liner had one port call, Cobh (pronounced "cove"), located in the Irish Free State. […]
5 Comments
A Horse and Buggy Doctor
November 2, 2025
Despite having a doctor's office in Inman, above his drug store, Dr. John S. Graves was known for traveling the countryside outside of town in his horse and buggy to care for his patients at their homes. […]
4 Comments
No One Ever Forgets Their First Car
October 5, 2025
"Cars are not just cars. They are memories, and these memories last a lifetime. Memories of one’s first car are often vivid, powerful, and emotional. They are etched in our memories forever.” - Michelle Peck, Executive Director of The Garage Automotive Museum, Salina, Kansas […]
4 Comments
Postcard Detective
September 19, 2025
The oldest artifact we have in our home is 148 years old. It's a postcard from 1877. The Reward or Wanted postcard informs the reader that a horse was stolen June 5, 1877, from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and that a reward of $70 was offerred for the arrest and conviction of the thief and the return of the bright bay mare. […]
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Researching Robert
September 14, 2025
On June 5, 1926, as Mrs. Gladys Gamble Parks, 18, prepared to board the RMS Scythia from Liverpool’s landing stage, she may have considered the ships she had previously observed from the docks of Hull. […]
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SAVE the Reno County Museum!
September 7, 2025
I’m concerned that after last year’s $45,000 reduction in the museum’s budget to $140,000, you may have plans to continue in this downward direction. With the current budget, you have reduced the efficiency of the museum staff to a point where they are unable to fulfill the museum’s mission. […]
2 Comments
Have You Ever Been Seasick?
September 5, 2025
We boarded the ship in Seattle, and I quickly made a plan for what I feared might feel like confinement. I quickly assessed that approximately five and a half laps around the deck would make a mile, so I figured my routine of starting the day with long walks would be doable, and since the ship would be moving, I wouldn't get the same suffocating feeling I get when forced to walk circles at a track or, worse yet, go nowhere on a treadmill. […]
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Western Towers
August 31, 2025
Western Towers: The Healthy Tree Massacre By Jim Potter The so-called “Golden Years” weren’t golden for Archie Lemon. He and his wife, […]
4 Comments
Seasickness Postcards
August 19, 2025
One online search about seasickness led to another. Soon, I discovered the existence of "seasick cards." Later, a postcard collector explained to me there was a similar category of postcards referred to as "puke cards." […]
8 Comments