Kittie Knox and the Bike Boom

Tracy talks about how she first became interested in Casimir Pulaski's story, and how her focus changed during research. She also talks about selecting episode topics and later learning the subject is problematic.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Rebecca Smith Pollard published a book of poems to mark the U.S. centennial in 1876, and also a novel with some questionable messages. She also developed a method to teach children to read that was ahead of its time. Research: Chetwynd, Sally Morong “Sam.” “Birth of Rebecca Smith ...  Show more

Evan Friss, an associate professor of history at James Madison University, historicizes the bicycle’s place in New York City’s social, economic, infrastructural and cultural politics. On Bicycles: A 200-Year History of Cycling in New York City (Columbia UP, 2019) curates a histor ...  Show more

Chris Boardman is an Olympic cyclist, businessman and the Cycling and Walking Commissioner for Greater Manchester. Both his parents were keen competitive amateur cyclists and they backed Chris as he gradually became interested in the sport as a teenager. He left school at 16, and ...  Show more

In June 1907, five plucky teams departed the Chinese capital and embarked on a 9,317-mile automobile race to Paris. Traversing scorching deserts and perilous mountain passes in ill-equipped vehicles, the participants regularly risked their lives – but their tenacity would transfo ...  Show more

After Napoleon occupied Egypt, Europeans became obsessed with the ancient cultures of the Nile. In Britain, the center of Egyptology research was University College London (UCL). At the heart of the UCL program was the Egyptologist, Margaret Alice Murray. During this golden age o ...  Show more