Centre Trail History Podcast

Considered one of the most haunted sites in America, the Waverly Hills Sanatorium is sure to scare anyone. Come listen to former Centre Trail Intern Payton Howard and myself discuss the history behind this building as well as tell some ghost stories that surround it.

John and Tara sit down to talk about Tara's research over the summer. She had two main projects: a book on American holidays written for a popular audience, and in-depth archival research on documents from Centre College's mid-nineteenth century history. She talks about what it is like to work on two projects, and the benefits - to professor and student alike - of working with an undergraduate on historical research.

We're back! John and Tara are back at Centre, though in truth we never left, or at least did not leave for long... John talks about his research trip to the Vatican and adventures in reading through documents in languages you are unable to read.

Today, CentreTrail intern Colleen Coyle takes over the podcast, interviewing two of her favorite Spanish professors, Dr. Chantell Limerick and Dr. Laura Chinchilla about what role the topic of history plays in the Spanish classroom.

Our intern Colleen Coyle joins us this week to talk about relics and other objects and spaces that people like to commemorate, from a President's prosthetic leg to computerized renditions of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

John and Tara celebrate Opening Day in the United States by talking about the subject of John's book coming out this summer: baseball... in Taiwan! Come for tales of imperialism and cultural interaction across the Pacific, stay for slightly graphic accounts of intensive high school baseball training sessions.

This week we talk about Tara's latest publication, a book chapter about multiracial communities in antebellum Ohio. We discuss Quakerism and slavery in North America and the complexities of multiracial identities and communities in early nineteenth century Ohio.

Tara asks John about one of this classes this term, an upper division course called "Age of the Samurai." John talks about what the course covers, from romantic battles to noble deaths.

John and Tara are coming to the end of a long semester, and with Thanksgiving on the horizon sat down to chat about a subject they both enjoy a great deal: historical fiction! In particular, we talk about why we like this genre of writing in our capacity as historians. When is there too much fiction in your history? What are the benefits of being able to play around with historical fact in the interest of telling a story?

Today, Maddie Huber and previous Centre Trail Intern Payton Howard discuss the history of Black Friday and what the retail holiday means today.