S4E45: "Highways and Byways: Gas station roadmaps of the 20th century as primary sources."

Chris has a fondness for the many road trips he and his family took when he was growing up in the second half of the 20th century. Perhaps it was collecting and studying the maps they picked up at gas stations which propelled him to a career in graphic design. Even if it didn't, we had a great conversation this past winter at the Ephemera Fair based on the stack of glove-compartment maps I brought along.

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#highway #roadsideamericana #byways #roadtrip #memorialdayweekend #roadside #popculture #history

S4E44: "Gilbert & Salmonsen Present 'Space Opera': The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy as documents of their time"

I met Gilbert, a social studies teacher in Louisiana, at the NCSS conference in Boston last year. While Star Wars has been a consistent topic on this podcast, the prequel trilogy has yet to be covered, so Gilbert and I remedied that. These movies certainly have their flaws, but just like everything else, they are still very telling of time and place.

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#starwars #prequels #starwarsprequeltrilogy #starwarsprequels #episodeI #episodeII #episodeIII #Starwarsday #mayforce #may4thbewithyou #history #popculture #modernhistory

S4E43: "Profile of an Old Stone Face: The Old Man of the Mountain as a reflection of modern New Hampshire."

A series of rocky ledges on Cannon Mountain which formed the profile of a man's face in what is now called Franconia Notch, New Hampshire, has been held in importance by the people of the area for thousands of years. In the modern era, the "Old Man of the Mountain" became the symbol of the state of New Hampshire, unofficially replacing the Seal of the state, even after it collapsed on May 3rd, 2003. My drop-in guest, Gregg, an educator with Grand Classroom, an experiential education company, shared with me his connection with, and insights about the Great Stone Face last year when we met in Boston.

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#nh #oldmanofthemountain #history #newhampshire #popculture

S4E42: "Have You Read Your Atari Today?: looking at the companion comic book to the Atari as a primary source"

Dave is a collector of vintage items and ephemera, and a host of The Million Dollar Peddlers on YouTube. He joined me in Old Greenwich, CT at the ESA Ephemera Fair, to discuss Atari Force, the print companion to the Atari video game systems in the 1980s.

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#history #popculture #atari #comicbooks #freecomicbookday #videogames

S4E41: "Bat TV: Analyzing the 1960s Batman TV series as a document of its times"

Batman returns...after all it's the second time this season we've covered the character, and third time overall (season 1 episode 1 is on the 1989 movie). Matt, a social studies teacher from Haverhill, MA, by way of Kansas and Rochester, NY, joined me in Boston last Fall to talk about a number of pop culture topics before landing on one of the finest examples of 60s camp there is.

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#batman #adamwest #1960s #tv #joker #1960stv #history #popculture

S4E40: "Gotta Catch 'em All--Pokemon Go as a document of the modern era"

You may remember the summer of 2016 as a time of large crowds gathered in parks, front lawns of public libraries and anywhere else where it looked like a festival--just minus vendor stalls and rides. It was the summer of Pokemon Go, the first major augmented reality (AR) game to take the world by storm. Adam, who cohosts the "Lured Up Podcast," a show all about Pokemon Go, was just the person to speak with last year to give the game its place in recent history.

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#pokemon #popculture #pokemongo #ar #2016 #2010s #modernhistory

S4E39: "Goodwill Hunting -- Goodwill Outlets/Buy the Pound/ Clearance Centers as primary sources of the modern era"

After years of descending on one Goodwill Outlet (aka "the bins") or another every few weeks in search of pop culture primary sources, making videos about my experiences and finds, and showcasing the incredible treasures I uncover there, I finally address the most wonderful place on earth in the podcast.

Stephanie teaches outside of Portland, Maine close to my absolute favorite Goodwill Buy the Pound, and after talking social studies shop for a bit, we get to dissecting the archeological-digs on wheels experience provided by the well-respected charity.

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#socialstudies #popculture #history #modernhistory #podcast #historypodcast #goodwill #thriftstorefinds

S4E38: "April Mornings - Comparing Revolutionary and Civil War commemorations"

April is an important month concerning two formative events in American history; 250 years ago saw the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the start of the Revolutionary War, and four score and six years later the Civil War began with the bombardment of Fort Sumter. President Lincoln was killed in April four years later, just after the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia had surrendered, effectively ending the war.

I spoke with Danielle and Eleanor, two experts in the study of these conflicts, to compare and contrast how the Revolutionary War and Civil War have since been commemorated, and to decide how that is reflective of each era that has memorialized.

Join the conversation at everything-history.com/classroom/epsproject

#civilwar #revolutionarywar #america250 #lexingtonandconcord #socialstudies #history #popculture