New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Liz Covart

Liz Covart is the Digital Projects Editor at the Omohundro Institute at the College of William and Mary. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Davis. For more information about Liz and her podcast visit lizcovart.com.

Dutch History of Christmas Treats With Peter Rose

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ben_franklins_worldUndoubtedly, you have heard or read Clement Moore’s famous poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (1822), but have you ever wondered where the traditions of stockings, presents, and cookies come from? And what about jolly old Saint Nick? Who was he and why do we call him Santa Claus?

In this episode of the “Ben Franklin’s World” podcast, Peter G. Rose, culinary historian of Dutch foodways in North America and author of Delicious December: How the Dutch Brought Us Santa, Presents, and Treats (SUNY Press, 2014), joins me to discuss the origins of Santa Claus, cookies, and more in the United States.  [Read more…] about Dutch History of Christmas Treats With Peter Rose

Music and Politics in the Early United States

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ben franklins world podcastWhat was music like in Early America? How did different early Americans — Native Americans, African Americans, and White Americans — integrate and use music in their daily lives? This episode of Ben Franklin’s World is the fourth of a 5-episode series about music in Early America.

The exploration continues with music and politics in the early United States. Billy Coleman, an Assistant Teaching Professor of History at the University of Missouri and author of the book Harnessing Harmony: Music, Power, and Politics in the United States, 1788-1865 (UNC Press, 2020), joins Liz Covart to investigate the role music played in early American politics. [Read more…] about Music and Politics in the Early United States

Amateur Musicians in the Early United States

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The exploration continues with Amateur Musicians in the Early United States. Glenda Goodman, an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of the book Cultivated by Hand: Amateur Musicians in the Early American Republic (Oxford University Press, 2020) joins Liz Covart to investigate the role of music in the lives of wealthy white Americans during the earliest days of the early American republic. [Read more…] about Amateur Musicians in the Early United States

Music in British North America

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ben franklins world podcastWhat was music like in Early America? How did different early Americans — Native Americans, African Americans, and White Americans — integrate and use music in their daily lives? This episode of Ben Franklin’s World is the second of a 5-episode series about music in Early America.

The exploration continues with Anglo-American music in British North America. Liz’s guest is David Hildebrand is a musicologist and an expert on early American music. [Read more…] about Music in British North America

Music and Song in Native North America

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ben franklins world podcastWhat was music like in Early America? How did different early Americans — Native Americans, African Americans, and White Americans — integrate and use music in their daily lives? This episode of Ben Franklin’s World is the first of a 5-episode series about music in Early America.

The exploration begins with music in Native America. Chad Hamill, an ethnomusicologist who studies Native American and Indigenous music, guides Liz through Native North America’s musical landscapes before European colonization. [Read more…] about Music and Song in Native North America

The Great Power of Small Native Nations

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ben franklins world podcastIn this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Elizabeth Ellis, an Assistant Professor of History at Princeton University and a citizen of the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, joins to investigate the uncovered and recovered histories of the more than 40 distinct and small Native nations who called the Gulf South region home during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Ellis is the author of The Great Power of Small Nations: Indigenous Diplomacy in the Gulf South (Penn Press, 2022) [Read more…] about The Great Power of Small Native Nations

Possession and Exorcism in New France

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ben franklins world podcastIn this episode of the Ben Franklin’s World podcast, Mairi Cowan, an Associate Professor of History at the University of Toronto, Mississauga, joins Liz Covart to investigate the life of a young French woman named Barbe Hallay and her alleged demonic possession.

Cowan is the author of The Possession of Barbe Hallay: Diabolical Arts and Daily Life in Early Canada (McGill-Queen’s Univ. Press, 2022). [Read more…] about Possession and Exorcism in New France

Prisoners of War and the War of 1812

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ben franklins world podcastIn this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, Nicholas Guyatt, a Professor of North American History at the University of Cambridge, joins us to investigate the War of 1812 and the experiences of American prisoners of war using details from his book, The Hated Cage: An American Tragedy in Britain’s Most Terrifying Prison (Basic Books, 2022). [Read more…] about Prisoners of War and the War of 1812

Women and the Constitutional Moment of 1787

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ben franklins world podcastIn this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, Mary Sarah Bilder, an award-winning historian and the Founders Professor of Law at Boston College Law School, joins Liz to investigate the context of the United States Constitution’s creation with details from her book, Female Genius: Eliza Harriot and George Washington at the Dawn of the Constitution (UVA Press, 2022).

[Read more…] about Women and the Constitutional Moment of 1787

The Early History of the US Senate

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ben franklins world podcastOn September 17, 1789, thirty-nine delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the United States Constitution and submitted it to the states for ratification.

In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World features three historians from the Senate Historical Office — Betty Koed, Katherine Scott, and Daniel Holt — to investigate the creation and formation of the United States Senate. to investigate Article 1 of the Constitution and its creation of the United States Senate. [Read more…] about The Early History of the US Senate