CWW: Roman Concrete: a Forgotten Stroke of Genius

07/20/16 • 7 min

History Author Show

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Jack Kelly – Heaven’s Ditch: God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal

July 18, 2016 - This week, we strapping our time machine to a canal boat, and sail down the modern marvel of early American commerce: The Erie Canal. The 360-mile slash between Lake Erie to Albany, and down the Hudson River to New York Harbor isn't just one of engineers and back-breaking, dangerous manual labor, but of fascinating human drama and America itself. The book is Heaven's Ditch: God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal. By the time the canal opened 1825, the nation had fallen in love with this man-made waterway. Now, you can fall in love with it, too, thanks to Jack Kelly -- journalist, novelist, and New York Foundation for the Arts fellow. His previous books include Band of Giants, which earned the Daughters of the American Revolution's History Award Medal. You can see him everywhere from the Wall Street Journal to the History Channel, or by clicking over to HeavensDitch.com.

Next Episode

H5F: James Shapiro – Henry Clay Folger: History’s Biggest Shakespeare Fan

July 22, 2016 - It’s History in Five Friday, presented by Simon & Schuster — kicking off your modern weekend, with people from the past. Today, we meet lifelong Shakespeare fan, industrialist Henry Clay Folger, who founded the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. to serve as the leading western research and education center on the famous playwright. We have a familiar passenger in our time machine: James Shapiro, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He’s the author of Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare, and The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606. You can hear our interview (recorded in the shadow of Shakespeare’s Central Park statue), wherever you enjoy our show. History in Five Friday. It’s the perfect way to kick off your modern weekend... with people from the past.