Mainely History: Recent Episodes
Ian Saxine
Unscripted conversations about Maine and New England history. Join host Ian Saxine as he talks with writers, curators, and other knowledgeable guests, connecting colorful local stories to big ideas.
Ashley Rattner, a scholar of early American utopian movements, discusses The Testament of Ann Lee, a recent biopic of the 18th century founder of the Shaker movement, whose three remaining members live in Sabbathday Lake in Maine.
Andrew Holman discusses the infamous World Heavyweight Championship boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston held in Lewiston, Maine in 1965.
Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai, Chief Historian at the Massachusetts Historical Society--America's first and oldest state historical society--hosts Ian and Tiffany for this special road show episode about the creation of the oldest historical society in the United States.
James Melcher returns to the show to discuss the Pine Tree State's history of electing liberal Republicans, and the 20th century political coalitions making that not only possible, but common.
Renowned historian of the Great Awakening Douglas Winiarski discusses the major role southern Maine played in the origins of American Evangelical Protestantism.
Tis the season for our Christmas bonus episode, featuring returning film historian Vaughn Joy and a discussion of The 12 Dogs of Christmas, a movie about a fictional Maine town that outlawed dogs during the Great Depression.
Gilded Age historian Gideon Cohn-Postar returns to the show to discuss the Netflix Series Death by Lightning, which dramatizes the election and assassination of James A. Garfield, and includes a major focus on Maine's own James G. Blaine.
Amy Fluker is the guest for this Halloween discussion of Civil War hauntings, the marketing and reception of ghost stories, and which states are the most haunted.
Tiffany and Ian discuss the founding of the International Appalachian Trail, which now extends from Maine to Morocco, with one of its early architects, Don Hudson.
Three organizers of the November 2024 Descendants Walk in York discuss the practice of public history and commemoration of tragic local history, in this case York's role in the 1724 massacre at Norridgewock.
Jonathan Hayes, a breeder, musher, and historian of Seppala sled dogs discusses the history of Maine's own breed of Siberian Husky, descended from Togo, a famous canine participant in the 1925 Serum Run to Nome, Alaska.
Joel Lefever and Erin Tewksbury join Tiffany, Ian, and a live audience at the Old York Historical Society to talk about the history of the Old York Gaol, and how it transformed from a prison to an icon of local history and, eventually, tourism.
Joe Hall joined Tiffany, Ian, and a live audience at the Auburn Public Library for a conversation about the project to map and commemorate the Wabanaki Pejepscot Portage.
Elizabeth DeWolfe returns to talk about the life of Jane Tucker "alias Agnes," an undercover detective hired to spy on a Kentucky congressman's mistress caught up in one of the most notorious scandals of the Gilded Age.
Robert Cray, historian of war and memory, discusses the history and commemoration of the locally famous "Lovewell's Fight" of 1725 with Tiffany and Ian.
Jason Newton starts off Season 3 by discussing the era of industrial scale logging in Maine's northern forests.
Film historian Vaughn Joy triumphantly returns for another end of year bonus episode, this time assessing a genre-mixing Christmas Western directed by Maine's own John Ford.
Marine Biologist Gina Lonati returns to the pod to discuss Maine's most endangered marine mammal.
Author Sharon Kitchens discusses the Maine places that shaped the career of the "King of Horror" Stephen King, and his influence on the Pine Tree State.
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows joins the show to discuss the history of Maine's state flags as voters decide whether to bring back the old "Pine Tree" flag.
Jack Furniss, historian of Civil War era party politics, discusses why Maine Republican Hannibal Hamlin made an attractive vice president for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, why he was dropped from the ticket in 1864, and what a Hamlin administration might have looked like.
Rebecca Brenner Graham returns to the pod to discuss Frances Perkins's little-known work aiding refugees from Nazi Germany.
Catherine Burns discusses the history behind Maine's 1875 redaction of parts of the state constitution dealing with public lands and obligations to Wabanaki nations.
Genevieve LeMoine of Bowdoin College's Peary MacMillan Arctic Museum discusses the controversial contest to reach the North Pole.
Elizabeth DeWolfe discusses the tragedy, trial, and media sensation surrounding the death of a young Biddeford mill worker named Berengera Caswell in 1849.
Food writer and historian of vegetarianism Avery Yale Kamila speaks with Tiffany and Ian about dietary reformer Sylvester Graham's controversial Maine speaking tour, which drew both fans and riotous critics in the 1830s.
Ian chats with composer Bryan Den Hartog about how he created the music of Mainely History.
Film historian Vaughn Joy returns to discuss the baffling 1988 Christmas movie "Some Girls," starring Lewiston's own Patrick Dempsey in this bonus episode.
Alexandra Montgomery returns to the pod for a discussion on the significance and complicated legacy of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 for Mainers and their neighbors on both sides of the US-Canadian border.
Jeremy Ellis, president of the Clotilda Descendants Association, speaks with Tiffany and Ian about the final ship of enslaved Africans illegally brought to the United States in 1860, and their ties to Maine-born slave trader Timothy Meaher.
Meg North and John Babin discuss the haunted past and present of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Portland home with Tiffany and Ian.
New Mainely History co-host Tiffany Link joins Ian to talk about day jobs, side-gigs, historical dinner guests, and what to expect for Season 2!
In this live show at the Maine Historical Society, Hannah Peterson and Daniel Bottino spoke with Ian about the 1735 trial, incarceration, conversion, and execution of Patience Boston, a Nauset indentured servant.
Jacqueline Beatty discusses how New England women navigated life a new American republic that assumed their dependent status, while equating true citizenship with independence.
Tiffany Link discusses Benedict Arnold's doomed expedition through Maine to seize Quebec during the American Revolutionary War.
Medievalist John Sexton discusses why so many 19th century Mainers were looking for lost Viking settlements, and what we know today about the actual exploits of Norse seafarers in the North Atlantic long ago.
Dan Mandell and Alden Vaughan talk about the work that goes into finding and preparing historical sources for publication, and changes in the craft of history in this wide-ranging discussion.
Brian Payne discusses how ecological, commercial, and cultural transformations caused the decline of independent herring fishermen in Downeast Maine a century ago.
The creators of Temp Talesdiscuss the origins and reception of their cult classic animated series with Ian, including the aspects of Maine's history that influence their work.
Gideon Cohn-Postar discusses the important legacy of Maine's two Gilded Age Speakers of the House with Ian, while making time to bash newly relevant President Grover Cleveland.
Vaughn Joy returns to the pod to discuss the Yuletide cinematic contributions of Maine's best-loved 21st century cultural export- Anna Kendrick- in this special end of year Bonus episode.
Lydia Moland speaks with Ian about the pivotal career of a 19th century radical activist whose best known work today is a children's song about visiting grandmother on Thanksgiving.
Ashley Johnson Bavery and Thomas MacMillan discuss the extensive--even mainstream--influence of the Klan in 1920s Maine and the nation.
Larissa Vigue Picard speaks with Ian about a planchette held in the Pejepscot History Center, and the role of devices like these in the world of 19th century séances, mediums, and spiritualists.
James Risk and Ian discuss the construction of the iconic Portland Observatory in Munjoy Hill, and its role in the network of maritime signal stations in the early American republic.
Kim Smith and Craig Green of the Presque Isle Historical Society discuss the rich history of potato farming in Aroostook County, including its impact on the region's culture and economy.
Ian joins Emerson Baker on a special on the road episode featuring discussion of beer and other alcoholic drinks in colonial Maine, as well as tasting some modern "heritage" brews.
Jamie Rice and Ian discuss fashion from centuries past in this special episode recorded at the Maine Historical Society
Darren Ranco talks about Indigenous nations' status in federal and Maine law, major cases shaping the current landscape, and how these issues impact ongoing legal and environmental questions in Maine and around the world.
John Morton discusses how different religious networks among Wabanakis, American citizens, and British subjects created and gave meaning to the Maine-New Brunswick border after the American Revolution.
Laura Chmielewski talks about colonial Maine's earliest Catholics, including Indigenous converts, secret faithful in English towns, and loud, proud Jesuit missionaries.
Amy Fried discusses Ross Perot's history making independent bid for the presidency in 1992, and why Mainers were so receptive to the Texas billionaire's message.
Vaughn Joy stops by to talk about the emergence of Christmas films as a genre, and to analyze several notable movies with a Maine connection.
David Silverman talks with Ian about what the Plymouth Colonists of Thanksgiving fame were doing in Maine during the 17th Century.
The conclusion of Emerson Baker's discussion of George Burroughs and the Salem Witch Trials
Emerson Baker discusses the curious case of George Burroughs, a Harvard educated minister on the Maine frontier who found himself among the accused--and executed--in the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. Part One
Sara Georgini discusses John Adams's formative years as a young attorney, including his experiences riding the circuit through Maine, and how the legal system operated in the years just before the American Revolution.
Keri Holt discusses John Neal, an 19th century writer, activist, and literary influencer, who helped shape an emerging New England "Yankee" character, even while trying to challenge it.
Gina Lonati spouts off about North Atlantic Right Whales, answering Ian's questions about whale sounds and personalities, while explaining scientists' role in efforts to save this critically endangered species.
Ian Stevenson stops by to discuss Civil War veteran organizations and the rise of the modern summer vacation in Maine.
Kristalyn Shefveland, Alexandra Montgomery, and Ian present their chosen candidates before a live audience in a contest to determine the most petty, corrupt figure in colonial North America.
Tiffany Link joins Ian to discuss why the British singled out Falmouth (future Portland) for destruction in 1775, the course of the attack, and the legacy of that day.
Shennette Garrett-Scott discusses the significance of Maine-born Adelbert Ames' tumultuous time as governor of Mississippi after the Civil War.
Diana Greenwold and Ian discuss Maine's 19th century traveling painters, their customers, and what they hoped to capture on the canvas.
Rosemarie Zagarri discusses the meaning and extent of women's rights in Revolutionary America.
Andrew Wehrman discusses how the revolutionary generation thought about the role of government in public health during a continent-wide smallpox pandemic.
Carol Dana shares her experiences learning, teaching, preserving, and revitalizing the Penobscot language in Maine.
Laurie LaBar speaks with Ian about the often overlooked history of Maine communities as told by generations of women quilters.
Michael Hillard discusses the life of mill workers during the paper industry's height, and how they experienced--and now remember--its fall.
Jamie Goodall discusses the "Golden Age of Piracy" in Maine and the wider Atlantic, including the reality, the legend, and where the historical evidence is buried.
Matthew Mason and Ian discuss the hopes and fears driving the controversial Hartford Convention of 1814 and its lasting consequences down to the present day.
Stephen Nissenbaum discusses the Puritan anti-Christmas campaigns in both New and Old England
Alexandra Montgomery and Ian compare how British colonists and distant officials tried to make their vision of empire a reality in Nova Scotia and Maine
Gideon Cohn-Postar discusses how a disputed election in late 19th-century Maine encouraged reformers to argue that voting in secret was a vital part of fair elections
Kelly Brennan Arehart discusses the intrepid pioneers who built the funeral industry in this special Halloween episode
Ian and James Melcher discuss why Maine and Nebraska insist on distributing their electoral votes differently than the other 48 states, along with the rest of Maine's other electoral quirks.
Allison Lange speaks with Ian about the visual imagery of the campaign for women's suffrage, common misconceptions about the struggle, and New England's surprising role as a bastion for anti-suffragists.
Rebecca Brenner Graham talks with Ian about the surprisingly fierce 19th century battle over whether the US Postal Service should deliver on Sunday.
Ian talks with the captain of Dirigo Vintage Base Ball Club about your neighbors who play ball like it's 1860
Introducing Mainely History, a podcast of unscripted conversations about mainly history and mostly Maine, previewing upcoming episodes