Island: Recent Episodes
Chance Kelly
The first three hundred years of colonization of Manhattan Island and its resounding impact on our culture and our world. Created and hosted by actor, writer, and New Yorker Chance Kelly, the series illustrates how this place is an island unto itself, not just geographically, but idealistically, philosophically and spiritually. Island uncovers our true lost American History. It examines the city's effect on religious and personal freedoms throughout the world. Chance's own heritage is central to much of this story directly as his great, great, great uncle Honest John Kelly, himself emerged from the slums of Five Points to become one of the first Irish-Catholic Congressmen in 1856, and would later reform the reeling Tammany Hall in the wake of the Boss Tweed era. John Kelly was a fiercely courageous advocate for oppressed immigrants from everywhere. Island is the character-driven portrait of the inimitable souls responsible for a place founded on capitalism but perpetuated on an infectious and unapologetic measure of tolerance. Our narrative begins in 1609 when Henry Hudson happens upon Manhattan and the river that would come to bear his name, and culminates in 1909 when Western interloper William Randolph Hearst has infiltrated New York publishing and the fistfight that is Manhattan politics. Climb aboard this voyage of discovery as we tell the epic story, over three centuries, of the forging of the epicenter of the universe. Researched, written and produced by Chance Kelly and Dr. Jaap Jacobs. Research Associate James Edward Malin.
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Griet's smile widened at the prospect of these 53 combat mariners and 104 Company soldiers disembarking de Soutbergh, having accompanied the incoming Governor and incoming Minister to this Island, as she readies herself for a bit of a business boom...
And with this morning's arrival, Supercargo Hans Jorisz Hontom certainly promises to continue imposing his own special brand of chaos on this Island, unlike anyone else.
And along with his return, comes the return of yet another key player of the earliest days of this place -- someone who goes all the way back to the earliest voyages of Adriaen Block. But long experience does not necessarily dictate long integrity -- and sure enough, with Hans Jorisz Hontom as half of any duo, trouble can't be far away.
But with the arrival of the feckless Wouter van Twiller, the trouble is just getting started on this raw and increasingly uncivilized island of Manhattan.
Episode 13 - Trouble.
Climb aboard...history is cool ;)
A young revolutionary once wrote that "...in the big lie, there is always a certain force of credibility."
And with the insurgence of Marcus de Vogelaer's vehemently anti-patroon faction, his planted Provincial Secretary Jan Remunde wasted no time in teaming up with the increasingly embittered first Minister in order to effect that very big lie. And in short order, scored a decisive victory, by manipulating the dismissal of Walloon Pierre Minuit.
And in the fallout of this upheaval, the Island now being called "the Manhattans" would be introduced to a young man who would eventually be the namesake of today's "Governor's Island" -- a 26-year old former clerk (who just happened to also have an uncle by the name of Kiliaen van Rensselaer.)
Yes, this story is complicated.
And as this inexperienced incoming "Governor" tacked east toward the Strand at Pearl Street, it was not the sight of the three active windmills that actually caught his attention...but rather the posture of a buxom German woman provocatively perched atop that dock, with her hazel eyes locked directly into his...
And if nothing else, the one thing this paunchy Dutch boy knew for sure was that he was not in Amsterdam anymore.
Episode 12 - Governor.
Climb aboard.
#historyiscool :)
As Walloon Pierre Minuit stared into the dark eyes of those twenty-two displaced Angolans, huddled together along de Heere Wegh, alongside that fledgling "construction project" of sorts at the Island's southern tip, his refugee heart wrestled with the dutiful commitment that he had made to his employer. Because this Walloon, whose family had been in exile his entire life, had never enslaved anyone. And so, this life-long refugee and stalwart servant of God was going to need to dig deep -- into his own soul, in order to arrive at a reckoning -- one that would not only square him with the people before him -- but most ultimately with his God.
And the Company, believe it or not, would actually assist him with that, when they beat the Plymouth Pilgrims to the punch by sending the first ordained minister to Manhattan. But the particular one they chose to send is no Protestant pacifist. No. Jonas Michaelius is every bit the fighting Flemish fanatic that his father was before him. And with his arrival, this wild Island is about to get a little bit wilder.
Episode 10 - Minister. Climb aboard.
Griet's smile widened at the prospect of these 53 combat mariners and 104 Company soldiers disembarking de Soutbergh, having accompanied the incoming Governor and incoming Minister to this Island, as she readies herself for a bit of a business boom...
And with this morning's arrival, Supercargo Hans Jorisz Hontom certainly promises to continue imposing his own special brand of chaos on this Island, unlike anyone else.
And along with his return, comes the return of yet another key player of the earliest days of this place -- someone who goes all the way back to the earliest voyages of Adriaen Block. But long experience does not necessarily dictate long integrity -- and sure enough, with Hans Jorisz Hontom as half of any duo, trouble can't be far away.
But with the arrival of the feckless Wouter van Twiller, the trouble is just getting started on this raw and increasingly uncivilized island of Manhattan.
Episode 13 - Trouble.
Climb aboard...history is cool ;)
A young revolutionary once wrote that "...in the big lie, there is always a certain force of credibility."
And with the insurgence of Marcus de Vogelaer's vehemently anti-patroon faction, his planted Provincial Secretary Jan Remunde wasted no time in teaming up with the increasingly embittered first Minister in order to effect that very big lie. And in short order, scored a decisive victory, by manipulating the dismissal of Walloon Pierre Minuit.
And in the fallout of this upheaval, the Island now being called "the Manhattans" would be introduced to a young man who would eventually be the namesake of today's "Governor's Island" -- a 26-year old former clerk (who just happened to also have an uncle by the name of Kiliaen van Rensselaer.)
Yes, this story is complicated.
And as this inexperienced incoming "Governor" tacked east toward the Strand at Pearl Street, it was not the sight of the three active windmills that actually caught his attention...but rather the posture of a buxom German woman provocatively perched atop that dock, with her hazel eyes locked directly into his...
And if nothing else, the one thing this paunchy Dutch boy knew for sure was that he was not in Amsterdam anymore.
Episode 12 - Governor.
Climb aboard.
#historyiscool :)
As Walloon Pierre Minuit stared into the dark eyes of those twenty-two displaced Angolans, huddled together along de Heere Wegh, alongside that fledgling "construction project" of sorts at the Island's southern tip, his refugee heart wrestled with the dutiful commitment that he had made to his employer. Because this Walloon, whose family had been in exile his entire life, had never enslaved anyone. And so, this life-long refugee and stalwart servant of God was going to need to dig deep -- into his own soul, in order to arrive at a reckoning -- one that would not only square him with the people before him -- but most ultimately with his God.
And the Company, believe it or not, would actually assist him with that, when they beat the Plymouth Pilgrims to the punch by sending the first ordained minister to Manhattan. But the particular one they chose to send is no Protestant pacifist. No. Jonas Michaelius is every bit the fighting Flemish fanatic that his father was before him. And with his arrival, this wild Island is about to get a little bit wilder.
Episode 10 - Minister. Climb aboard.
As Walloon Pierre Minuit stared into the dark eyes of those twenty-two displaced Angolans, huddled together along de Heere Wegh, alongside that fledgling "construction project" of sorts at the Island's southern tip, his refugee heart wrestled with the dutiful commitment that he had made to his employer. Because this Walloon, whose family had been in exile his entire life, had never enslaved anyone. And so, this life-long refugee and stalwart servant of God was going to need to dig deep -- into his own soul, in order to arrive at a reckoning -- one that would not only square him with the people before him -- but most ultimately with his God.
Episode 10 - Minister.
Coming this Friday.
Climb aboard.
Tucked stealthly into this blind cove atop the Guajira Peninsula in Venezuela in 1627, the rugged privateer by the name of Marijn Adriaensen, for all his confidence and tenacity, could not possibly have prepared himself the nature of the particular "possessions" that he and his shipmates were about to wrest control of from their Iberian rivals.
After all, four years into this ambitious "Grand Design" committed young seabeggars like Adriaensen and his team were devout in their pursuit of enriching their beloved upstart Dutch Republic via the maneuvers of this war-machine of a Company that employed them. And while all is fair in love and war, the cargo that he and his crew would be taking from this approaching Portuguese vessel was neither silver nor gold, timber, nor salted fish. But rather, a frightened, but courageous teenage girl, and two hundred and twenty four of her fellow Angolans.
But then, fate plays a pervasive and intriguing supporting role in this overall epic story. And just as they had changed the trajectory of this massive Portuguese ship, so too, would these bold mariners alter the course of the lives of these captive people...because, thanks to Marijn Adriaensen and his crew, these Angolans would not be brought by the Portuguese to the selling block at Caragena, but rather, were now going Dutch, on a direct course for the wild and still quite untethered Island of Manhattan.
ISLAND™ Episode 9 - MAYKEN
Climb aboard.
In the waning days of 1626, Walloon Pierre Minuit would find himself having gone, in less than two years, from unpaid volunteer, to the most senior official in the Dutch West India Company's latest and most nebulous projects on Earth - the remote outpost that Captain Adriaen Block had established as "New Netherland" a dozen years earlier.
And in the spirit of the Unleashed Lion, the pious and proud Minuit was a fitting apostle to this ambitious "Grand Design": building a 1000-ton man-of-war to conquer Spaniards, while simultaneously vowing to the Algonquin powers-that-be that he will never become his oppressor.
All while balancing diplomacy with the Puritans 200 miles northeast.
And with that, this unrelenting refugee of the Eighty Years War is ready to pilot this rag-tag, ad-hoc, so-called "colony" to a place where no man had gone before.
Episode 8 - The Grand Design.
Climb aboard --
--history is cool™ :)
The coolest man -- and possibly the coolest head -- on talk radio today. 770 WABC's James Golden (aka: "Bo Snerdley").
This Friday, Oct 7 on Island Voices.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/island-voices/id1574898368
Climb aboard.
History is cool :)
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The true history of this incredible place that we now call "New York", is in truth, the history of this remarkable nation that we now call "The United States of America."
And all of that really started with a young man studying to be a Catholic priest, in 16th century Europe. But the connections of this story cover a remarkable swath of history, and in honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, are just one more example of how History is cool :)
www.thepodcastisland.com
In 1942, the U.S. Navy needed to secure New York City's ports. But the only way it knew how to do that completely and effectively was to partner with the most unlikeliest of factions: the mafia.
To get your advanced order of Matthew Black's remarkable book "Operation Underworld", use this link: https://amzn.to/3uUTyPK
And email me any questions or comments and I'll be sure to discuss them with him on Jan 18th (for our interview which airs Jan 26, 2023.)
Climb aboard...history is cool :)
Our patron saint of American Independence was an English Quaker who spent his life discarding his heritage, his given religion and searching for his true home and his true purpose.
And when he finally set foot on American soil in 1774 he was a thirty-seven year old fledgling writer / excise tax collector who instantly became convinced that this remarkable land of opportunity MUST stand on its own. And in short order this amateur scribe penned what would become the most popular document ever to hit this "New World" of North America, save for only the Bible. And within the next year, ENGLISHMAN Thomas Paine would be the singular motivational force behind the American Revolution.
So the soul of this American hero rests peacefully forevermore, right?
Well, not exactly.
You see, when he was finally laid to rest in 1809 here on the southeast corner of North Avenue and Paine Avenue on his 277-acre farm in New Rochelle, NY, he did rest peacefully...for a decade - when his bones were suddenly dug up in the middle of the night in 1819 by an overzealous (and quite possibly insane) Englishman by the name of William Cobbett who stole them away to England where he had lofty plans for them. But when those plans never came to fruition, Cobbett subsequently lost track of Paine's bones and they were thereby lost forevermore.
So does the spirit of Thomas Paine rest peacefully? Probably not.
But regardless, we're gonna find out.
This Halloween.
And you don't want to miss it.
So be sure to subscribe -- to Island Voices on YouTube and wherever you LISTEN to podcasts.
Climb aboard.
History is cool...
...and sometimes it's a little scary.
History #Paranormal #Investigation #ThomasPaine #NewRochelle #historyiscool #island
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The spirit of the Walloons rises to new heights, when Walloon Pierre Minuit goes from unpaid volunteer to Governor of this fledgling "colony" in a matter of a year. And when tragedy strikes the northern reaches of that colony, Minuit, a man of action, does what no one had ever thought to do before -- and suddenly this Island has more significance and importance to this colony than ever before.
Our Season One conclusion.
Climb aboard.
History is cool :)
The spirit of Thomas Paine is, in many ways, the spirit of the independence of this great nation. He is in fact our patron saint of American independence. But after all he gave and accomplished, does he rest peacefully? Probably not. When he was buried on his farm in New Rochelle, New York in 1809, he hadn't rested a decade when his bones were dug up and stolen away to England by an overly zealous admirer -- and those bones would never be seen (officially) again.
Well, this Halloween, we're going to find out how peaceful things are -- or are not -- with old Thomas Paine.
And you don't want to miss it.
So be sure to subscribe to Island Voices on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Climb aboard.
History is cool...and sometimes, it's a little scary.
The Dutch West India Company finally find their boots on the ground in the fierce and passionate race of refugees who would not only become our bonafide "Manhattan Pilgrims", but would in fact forge the most impactful society ever known to man.
And by 1626, these Walloons would make their mark on this incredible Island, for evermore.
Climb aboard.
History is cool :)
"To every time, there is a season."
And while Ecclesiastes' prophetic words sounded a bit different out of the mouths of the original settlers of this incredible place that we now call "New York", it meant the same thing in the seventeenth century as it does today.
And faced with the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, these bold, intrepid servants of God refused to accept the tyranny and oppression imposed upon them by the Holy Roman Empire and Hapsburg Spain. And in 1624, this fiercely passionate race of humans came here when no one else would and with their own sweat and blood they forged the roots of what would become the greatest city -- and eventually the greatest nation -- on Earth.
"Il y a un temps pour tout, un temps pour toute chose sous les cieux."
There is a time for everything.
And in 1624, it was the time for THEM.
Let us never forget the story of our true "Manhattan Pilgrims". Let us never forget the story of the Walloons.
After toiling away in this fertile new land for the entirety of his young adult life, Jacob Eelkens was certain that the advent of this "New Netherland Company" would be his opportunity to shine in this priceless market. But upon Captain Hendrick Carstyaensen's return to the Hudson, Jacob would be shattered to learn that not only was he and his uncle Hendrick Eelkens not included in the exclusive list of investors for this company, but that Jacob's entire existence here, would now be thoroughly regulated by this newfound entity.
And suddenly Jacob's childhood as a shamed outcast in Rouen, France cloaks the fallen Catholic in a murky darkness, and when he retreats to the hills above Sapokanikan, he formulates his own, odd three-way alliance, between himself, the increasingly detached Orson, and the man who most wants to see Hendrick Carstyaensen disappear -- the inimitable Hans Jorisz Hontom.
Climb aboard.
History is cool :)
Over the long winter of 1613, Manhattan's first immigrant, Juan Rodrigues, becomes an integral component of the Sachem's trade and in the process an invaluable asset to the Dutch traders upon their return.
But, Rodrigues' choice of Dutchmen to trade with is certainly NOT the ones who brought him to this island, Thijs Volkertz Mossel and the despicable Hans Jorisz Hontom. Rather, Rodrigues, now thoroughly versed in the finer points of this burgeoning trade system, makes it quite clear to Carstyaensen and Block that it is they whom he wishes to work for and as "a free man", feels it is his right to make that choice. But, unfortunately, just as Frans Jansen has said, this Mossel and Hontom are nothing but trouble...or ONRUST, which is exactly what unfolds on this wild and untamed Island of Manna-hata in the spring of 1614.
Climb aboard.
History is cool :)
Following two successful voyages to this fertile new land called "Manna-hata", Lambert van Tweenhuysen recognizes the inevitable reality of the competition developing over this lucrative new fur trade. And as Adriaen Block and Hendrick Carstyaensen race back to their Sachem at Sapokanikan for a third time, the rude encroachment of this new wave of poachers creates newfound trouble on this otherwise idyllic island. And with the sudden presence of a dark-skin crewman being called "Jan", there emerges a newfound sense of unrest, for Jacob Eelkens and the entire Adriaen Block team. And as a direct result of the untoward ways of one such poacher, Captain Thijs Volkertz Mossel and his despicable supercargo Hans Jorisz Hontom, results the defection of the one they're calling "Jan", creating Manhattan's very first immigrant -- who hails not from the Netherlands, France, Spain nor England, but rather, from the island that was tagged by Columbus as "Hispanola", or the one we call the Dominican Republic today.
Episode 103.
Climb aboard.
History is cool :)
In the tattered wake of Henry Hudson, Adriaen Block navigates the onrust that develops amongst both the Algonquins and the Dutch alike. And in the process, he becomes ward to two Algonquin teens whose Sachem father has requested that the Captain take boys to Amsterdam to further educate them in this growing fur trade. But the unintended consequences of this undertaking would darken the efforts of the noble Adriaen Block and his eager, fallen Catholic apprentice Jacob Eelkens in immeasurable ways.
Ep. 102 - Orson & Valentine, 1612.
In 1609, the Dutch East India Company hired who they thought was the right navigator to go find the fabled waterway shortcut to Asia. But while they not only mis-calculated the ulterior designs of the slippery Englishman named Henry Hudson, they were also very interested to learn about the magnificent trove of beaver skins that his Dutch crewmen just happened to have received in trade -- directly from the natives of this place. The place which Hudson's ancient man of the sea Robert Juet recorded as "Manna-hata" before any other European had ever recorded it as such. And from that point forward, life upon this raw, fertile island, and in effect, upon the entire vast Earth, would never be the same again.
Episode 101: Manna-hata 1609.