The Surprising History of Christmas Gifts (HT...

May 12, 1949. After eleven months under Soviet blockade, the people of West Berlin flood into the streets to celebrate. The lights are back on. The autobahn is open. The siege is over. But just months earlier, West Berlin seemed doomed. Surrounded deep inside Soviet-controlled te ...  Show more

Family Lore is a weekly narrative podcast that celebrates and investigates ancestral mystique. Each episode begins with a guest sharing a fascinating family legend, followed by a historical deep-dive to uncover the truth and meaning behind the tale. Available now: link.pscrb.fm/f ...  Show more

“There is a million dollars here for the asking!” This is the story of Christmas in the 1920s. Yeah, the whole decade—why not? One hundred years ago, people were just beginning (or reviving) traditions that are entrenched in our holiday celebrations today. Charitable giving at Ch ...  Show more

Why are our lives filled with so much stuff? In Crap: A History of Cheap Stuff in America (U Chicago Press, 2023), Wendy Woloson, Professor and Chair in the Department of History at Rutgers University, tells the history of these objects and things, from the early years of peddler ...  Show more

Rachel Herrmann charts the long history of America’s famous holiday – from modern parades and celebrations to the first feast From the fabled first feast between the Pilgrims and Native Americans to the darker side of the holiday's history, the American tradition of Thanksgiving ...  Show more

This episode looks at the early days of Christmas trees, the origin of glass ornaments, and the practice of mounting lit candles on trees before electric bulbs were invented. 

Research:

·     “36 Perish as Pa ...