Episodes

  • Tracking Down the First Christmas Tree
    Mar 6 2025

    Where was the first Christmas tree? Proof is hard to come by. It seems that Windsor Locks, CT is among the very first – at least in legend; a stone monument lays claim to the first decorated tree in 1777. Researching this case turned up other very interesting side stories: German prisoners-of-war, Native American attacks, and even the Wizard of Oz.

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    20 mins
  • Broadcasting at an Illegal Pirate Radio Station at the Watkins Glen Concert
    Feb 27 2025

    Watkins Glen; world’s largest concert. 600,000 attendees. Six teenagers broadcast with an illegal pirate radio station they brought to the site, interviewing the Grateful Dead, broadcasting traffic and weather reports, and playing records. Attendees loved it. One of the broadcasters tells the crazy story.

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    22 mins
  • The First Public Library
    Feb 20 2025

    Access to knowledge for the masses. For many years in the United States, you had to pay a membership fee to a subscription library if you wanted access to books and information. That all changed in the early 1800s when the first publicly funded library opened in CT.

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    20 mins
  • A Religious Group Pinpoints the End of the World
    Feb 13 2025

    The end of the world was supposed to be on a Wednesday in November of 1873. One hundred religious believers gathered on an island in a New England river to ascend into heaven, even climbing trees to be among the first to rise up.

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    20 mins
  • TV Cameraman Inside Ground Zero
    Feb 6 2025

    Ground zero. 9-11. World Trade Center. John Maher was one of the first TV cameramen inside the buildings, while they were still burning. He shares his surreal memories and experience.

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    34 mins
  • An Ancient Hiking Rite Still Practiced
    Jan 30 2025

    It's an ancient European tradition. Hiking a town’s boundaries still occurs in three CT towns (Madison, Guilford, and Durham). They conducted theirs recently, complete with the carved ceremonial stone, for placement where the towns meet. Madison First Selectwoman Peggy Lyons has the story.

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    17 mins
  • Boxer / Opera Singer / Queen of the Rum Runners
    Jan 23 2025

    She was a boxer, an opera singer, and a rum runner. Nellie Green made it through 13 years of Prohibition with just one team member getting arrested, while keeping her patrons well supplied with alcohol. She also distributed some of her liquor to other bootleggers further inland, making hefty profits. How did this singing sensation – with a knock-out punch – end up being one of the biggest rum runners in the northeast?

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    21 mins
  • PT Barnum's Incredible Legacy
    Jan 16 2025

    PT Barnum – the world’s greatest showman. His legacy lives on. The 75-year-old Barnum Festival keeps the showman alive. It gives residents a chance to celebrate the man annually. Barnum was a major benefactor of Bridgeport. He served as Mayor and donated his estate to create beautiful Seaside Park. And, it will surprise you just how many important businesses and civic enterprises he established. We’ll hear about Barnum from this year’s Ring Master for the Barnum Festival, Greg Gnandt.

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    19 mins