Ready for a little summertime spookfest? This week we're thrilled to present to you a podcast appearance Greg made back in April on the Spirits Podcast. Hosted by Amanda McLoughlin and Julia Schifini, the Spirits Podcast is a weekly conversational show about all things ghosts, mythology, folklore and urban legends. If you like fun spooky things, add the podcast to your regular rotation! And as a sample, here is Greg's appearance on the show, talking about all sorts of New York City ghosty things.Get your tickets for the Bowery Boys Ghost Stories of Old New York live show at Joe's Pub.And here's the complete list of Bowery Boys ghost story podcasts
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#462 The Jersey Shore Shark Attacks of 1916
TERROR ON THE BEACH! Seaside resorts from Cape May, New Jersey, to Montauk, Long Island, were paralyzed in fear during the summer of 1916.Not because of the threat of lurking German U-boats and saboteurs. But because of sharks.On July 1, 1916, Charles Epting Vansant was killed by a shark while swimming at a resort in Beach Haven, a popular destination on the Jersey Shore.At first, this terrible tragedy received only limited attention. After all, millions were flocking to the beaches along the Jersey Shore and throughout the New York region -- Coney Island, the Rockaways and Staten Island's South Beach.Shark attacks were the stuff of pirate legends and dramatic works of art. Most experts were skeptical that sharks were dangerous at all; the Maryland mogul Hermann Oelrichs offered $500 to any person with proof that sharks were dangerous to humans. Nobody claimed the reward.But during that July, sharks did threaten the lives of humans -- not only on sandy beaches, but even in tranquil watering holes, several miles inland. What was in the water in July of 1916?This show contains descriptions of violence related to shark attacks. You've been warned.This episode was edited and produced by Kieran Gannon.Visit the website for more episodes of the Bowery Boys Podcast.
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Children of the Gilded Age
The children of the Gilded Age were seen but not heard. Until now!Listener favorite Esther Crain, author and creator of Ephemeral New York joins The Gilded Gentleman for a look at the world of children during the Gilded Age. As she shared in the episode “Invisible Magicians: Domestic Servants in Gilded Age New York” with writings by actual servants, Esther has uncovered documents written in children’s own voices that capture their world and reality. From a 12-year-old boy in Gilded Age Harlem to a teenage girl on what would become Manhattan’s Upper East Side, we can finally meet children who are both seen and heard. A special replay from The Gilded Gentleman podcast, in honor of the upcoming season of HBO's The Gilded Age.And listen to The Gilded Gentleman podcast for a wide range of shows about America's Gilded Age including this week's show on Frederick Douglass.This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon
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#460 The Brooklyn Museum and the Birth of a New City
While you may know the Brooklyn Museum for its wildly popular cutting-edge exhibitions, the borough's premier art institution can actually trace its origins back to a more rustic era -- and to the birth of the city of Brooklyn itself.On July 4, 1825, the growing village laid a cornerstone for its new Brooklyn Apprentices Library, an educational institution to support its young "clerks, journeymen and apprentices." This was a momentous occasion in the history of Brooklyn, a ceremony overseen by the Marquis de Lafayette and observed by a young boy named Walt Whitman.The library was part of a movement -- started a century before by Benjamin Franklin-- to make knowledge readily available within the young country.The Brooklyn Museum's celebratory new exhibition Breaking the Mold: Brooklyn Museum at 200 looks back at its storied origins and eventual growth, encompassing most of the young city's cultural institutions and soon expanding into a monumental new home next to the new Prospect Park, designed by McKim, Mead and White.Abigail Dansiger, the Director of Libraries and Archives, and Meghan Bill, the Coordinator of Provenance, join Greg on this week's show to explain the unusual origins of the Brooklyn Museum and the unique philosophies which inform its exhibitions.PLUS: A couple genuine mysteries lurk within the new exhibition, including a bottle-shaped niche within the cornerstone and an Egyptologist's unencrypted notebook.This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon
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#459 Moses vs. Bard: The Battle for Castle Clinton
In 1939, Robert Moses sprung his latest project upon the world -- the Brooklyn-Battery Bridge, connecting the tip of Manhattan to the Brooklyn waterfront, slicing through New York Harbor just to the north of Governor's Island.To build it, Moses dictated that the historic Battery Park would need to be redesigned. And its star attraction the New York Aquarium would have to be demolished.The aquarium was housed in the former military fort Castle Clinton which had seen so much of New York City's history pass through its walls under the name Castle Garden -- first as an early 19th century entertainment venue and later as the Emigrant Landing Depot, which processed millions of newly arriving immigrants.This valuable link to American history would surely have been lost if not for activists like Albert S. Bard, a revolutionary landmarking advocate who countered and disrupted Moses every step of the way.In this episode, Greg interviews another landmarking superstar -- author and civic activist Anthony C. Wood -- on the occasion of his new biography of Bard titled Servant of Beauty: Landmarks, Secret Love, and the Unimagined Life of an Unsung New York Hero.In his research, Wood discovered a personality far more interesting than his public persona and a man with far more at stake than just his beliefs in preservation.Visit the website for more information and images of things discussed on this show. This episode was edited by Kieran Gannon.
The tides of American history lead through the streets of New York City — from the huddled masses on Ellis Island to the sleazy theaters of 1970s Times Square. The elevated railroad to the Underground Railroad. Hamilton to Hammerstein! Greg and Tom explore more than 400 years of action-packed stories, featuring both classic and forgotten figures who have shaped the world.
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