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Island

Island

Chance Kelly

The first three hundred years of colonization of Manhattan Island and its resounding impact on our culture and our world. Created and hosted by actor, writer, and New Yorker Chance Kelly, the series illustrates how this place is an island unto itself, not just geographically, but idealistically, philosophically and spiritually. Island uncovers our true lost American History. It examines the city's effect on religious and personal freedoms throughout the world. Chance's own heritage is central to much of this story directly as his great, great, great uncle Honest John Kelly, himself emerged from the slums of Five Points to become one of the first Irish-Catholic Congressmen in 1856, and would later reform the reeling Tammany Hall in the wake of the Boss Tweed era. John Kelly was a fiercely courageous advocate for oppressed immigrants from everywhere. Island is the character-driven portrait of the inimitable souls responsible for a place founded on capitalism but perpetuated on an infectious and unapologetic measure of tolerance. Our narrative begins in 1609 when Henry Hudson happens upon Manhattan and the river that would come to bear his name, and culminates in 1909 when Western interloper William Randolph Hearst has infiltrated New York publishing and the fistfight that is Manhattan politics. Climb aboard this voyage of discovery as we tell the epic story, over three centuries, of the forging of the epicenter of the universe. Researched, written and produced by Chance Kelly and Dr. Jaap Jacobs. Research Associate James Edward Malin. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Top 10 Island Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Island episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Island for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Island episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Island - 9. "Mayken"
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07/28/23 • 29 min

Tucked stealthly into this blind cove atop the Guajira Peninsula in Venezuela in 1627, the rugged privateer by the name of Marijn Adriaensen, for all his confidence and tenacity, could not possibly have prepared himself the nature of the particular "possessions" that he and his shipmates were about to wrest control of from their Iberian rivals.

After all, four years into this ambitious "Grand Design" committed young seabeggars like Adriaensen and his team were devout in their pursuit of enriching their beloved upstart Dutch Republic via the maneuvers of this war-machine of a Company that employed them. And while all is fair in love and war, the cargo that he and his crew would be taking from this approaching Portuguese vessel was neither silver nor gold, timber, nor salted fish. But rather, a frightened, but courageous teenage girl, and two hundred and twenty four of her fellow Angolans.

But then, fate plays a pervasive and intriguing supporting role in this overall epic story. And just as they had changed the trajectory of this massive Portuguese ship, so too, would these bold mariners alter the course of the lives of these captive people...because, thanks to Marijn Adriaensen and his crew, these Angolans would not be brought by the Portuguese to the selling block at Caragena, but rather, were now going Dutch, on a direct course for the wild and still quite untethered Island of Manhattan.

ISLANDTM Episode 9 - MAYKEN

Climb aboard.

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Island - 10. Minister
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08/04/23 • 30 min

As Walloon Pierre Minuit stared into the dark eyes of those twenty-two displaced Angolans, huddled together along de Heere Wegh, alongside that fledgling "construction project" of sorts at the Island's southern tip, his refugee heart wrestled with the dutiful commitment that he had made to his employer. Because this Walloon, whose family had been in exile his entire life, had never enslaved anyone. And so, this life-long refugee and stalwart servant of God was going to need to dig deep -- into his own soul, in order to arrive at a reckoning -- one that would not only square him with the people before him -- but most ultimately with his God.

And the Company, believe it or not, would actually assist him with that, when they beat the Plymouth Pilgrims to the punch by sending the first ordained minister to Manhattan. But the particular one they chose to send is no Protestant pacifist. No. Jonas Michaelius is every bit the fighting Flemish fanatic that his father was before him. And with his arrival, this wild Island is about to get a little bit wilder.

Episode 10 - Minister. Climb aboard.

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Island - 12. Governor
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08/25/23 • 30 min

A young revolutionary once wrote that "...in the big lie, there is always a certain force of credibility."

And with the insurgence of Marcus de Vogelaer's vehemently anti-patroon faction, his planted Provincial Secretary Jan Remunde wasted no time in teaming up with the increasingly embittered first Minister in order to effect that very big lie. And in short order, scored a decisive victory, by manipulating the dismissal of Walloon Pierre Minuit.

And in the fallout of this upheaval, the Island now being called "the Manhattans" would be introduced to a young man who would eventually be the namesake of today's "Governor's Island" -- a 26-year old former clerk (who just happened to also have an uncle by the name of Kiliaen van Rensselaer.)

Yes, this story is complicated.

And as this inexperienced incoming "Governor" tacked east toward the Strand at Pearl Street, it was not the sight of the three active windmills that actually caught his attention...but rather the posture of a buxom German woman provocatively perched atop that dock, with her hazel eyes locked directly into his...

And if nothing else, the one thing this paunchy Dutch boy knew for sure was that he was not in Amsterdam anymore.

Episode 12 - Governor.

Climb aboard.

#historyiscool :)

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Island - 13. Trouble
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09/08/23 • 30 min

Griet's smile widened at the prospect of these 53 combat mariners and 104 Company soldiers disembarking de Soutbergh, having accompanied the incoming Governor and incoming Minister to this Island, as she readies herself for a bit of a business boom...

And with this morning's arrival, Supercargo Hans Jorisz Hontom certainly promises to continue imposing his own special brand of chaos on this Island, unlike anyone else.

And along with his return, comes the return of yet another key player of the earliest days of this place -- someone who goes all the way back to the earliest voyages of Adriaen Block. But long experience does not necessarily dictate long integrity -- and sure enough, with Hans Jorisz Hontom as half of any duo, trouble can't be far away.

But with the arrival of the feckless Wouter van Twiller, the trouble is just getting started on this raw and increasingly uncivilized island of Manhattan.

Episode 13 - Trouble.

Climb aboard...history is cool ;)

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As Walloon Pierre Minuit stared into the dark eyes of those twenty-two displaced Angolans, huddled together along de Heere Wegh, alongside that fledgling "construction project" of sorts at the Island's southern tip, his refugee heart wrestled with the dutiful commitment that he had made to his employer. Because this Walloon, whose family had been in exile his entire life, had never enslaved anyone. And so, this life-long refugee and stalwart servant of God was going to need to dig deep -- into his own soul, in order to arrive at a reckoning -- one that would not only square him with the people before him -- but most ultimately with his God.

Episode 10 - Minister.

Coming this Friday.

Climb aboard.

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Island - 11. Patroon
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08/11/23 • 31 min

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Island - 7. ISLAND - 1626 (Part One)
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09/29/22 • 31 min

The Dutch West India Company finally find their boots on the ground in the fierce and passionate race of refugees who would not only become our bonafide "Manhattan Pilgrims", but would in fact forge the most impactful society ever known to man.

And by 1626, these Walloons would make their mark on this incredible Island, for evermore.

ISLAND - 1626 (Part One)

Climb aboard.

History is coolTM :)

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Island - 2. Orson & Valentine - 1612
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08/26/22 • 23 min

In the tattered wake of Henry Hudson, Adriaen Block navigates the onrust that develops amongst both the Algonquins and the Dutch alike. And in the process, he becomes ward to two Algonquin teens whose Sachem father has requested that the Captain take boys to Amsterdam to further educate them in this growing fur trade. But the unintended consequences of this undertaking would darken the efforts of the noble Adriaen Block and his eager, fallen Catholic apprentice Jacob Eelkens in immeasurable ways.

Episode 2 - Orson & Valentine, 1612.

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Island - 1. Manna-hata - 1609
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08/25/22 • 32 min

In 1609, the Dutch East India Company hired who they thought was the right navigator to go find the fabled waterway shortcut to Asia. But while they not only mis-calculated the ulterior designs of the slippery Englishman named Henry Hudson, they were also very interested to learn about the magnificent trove of beaver skins that his Dutch crewmen just happened to have received in trade -- directly from the natives of this place. The place which Hudson's ancient man of the sea Robert Juet recorded as "Manna-hata" before any other European had ever recorded it as such. And from that point forward, life upon this raw, fertile island, and in effect, upon the entire vast Earth, would never be the same again.

Episode 1: Manna-hata 1609.

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Island - 8. The Grand Design
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07/21/23 • 25 min

In the waning days of 1626, Walloon Pierre Minuit would find himself having gone, in less than two years, from unpaid volunteer, to the most senior official in the Dutch West India Company's latest and most nebulous projects on Earth - the remote outpost that Captain Adriaen Block had established as "New Netherland" a dozen years earlier.

And in the spirit of the Unleashed Lion, the pious and proud Minuit was a fitting apostle to this ambitious "Grand Design": building a 1000-ton man-of-war to conquer Spaniards, while simultaneously vowing to the Algonquin powers-that-be that he will never become his oppressor.

All while balancing diplomacy with the Puritans 200 miles northeast.

And with that, this unrelenting refugee of the Eighty Years War is ready to pilot this rag-tag, ad-hoc, so-called "colony" to a place where no man had gone before.

Episode 8 - The Grand Design.

Climb aboard --

--history is coolTM :)

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FAQ

How many episodes does Island have?

Island currently has 34 episodes available.

What topics does Island cover?

The podcast is about History, Podcasts, Arts and Performing Arts.

What is the most popular episode on Island?

The episode title '7. ISLAND - 1626 (Part Two)' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Island?

The average episode length on Island is 27 minutes.

How often are episodes of Island released?

Episodes of Island are typically released every 3 days, 20 hours.

When was the first episode of Island?

The first episode of Island was released on Aug 25, 2022.

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