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American folklore

Mercy Brown's grave

It’s not just witches. New England has a history with vampires, too.

Arts, Culture & Media

The Mercy Brown incident was the last known case of The New England Vampire panic. This particular brand of folklore was a variant on a practice born in places like Romania, Hungary and Germany.

The chapel of the Alamo, San Antonio, Texas

Phil Collins is more than a drummer, singer and songwriter. He’s also obsessed with the Alamo

Conflict & Justice

New book looks at John Brown’s role in starting American Civil War

Global Politics

American Icons: John Henry

The World

Hatfields And McCoys Shoot It Up In Transylvania

Arts, Culture & Media

John Brown: Civil Rights Legend or Homegrown Terrorist?

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. The road to America’s bloodiest conflict was certainly a long one. But the spark that set the war in motion began on October 16th, 1859. That night, a fierce abolitionist named John Brown staged a bloody raid on the armory at Harper’s […]

Billy the Kid Photo Sells for $2.3 Million

The only authenticated photograph of the infamous Billy the Kid was auctioned off this weekend in Denver. The auction house expected the photo to sell for somewhere in the ballpark of $300,000 tp $400,000. Instead, Florida billionaire William Koch won the photo with a bid of $2.3 million.   We talk with Mark Lee Gardner, author […]

The World

Clearcutting: All In a Day’s Work

Former logger Robert Leo Heilman comments on the trouble he had justifying to himself that his work was ethical. Heilman’s collection of essays, Overstory Zero: Real Life in Timber Country, is published by Sasquatch Books.

The Living on Earth Almanac

This week, facts about Johnny Appleseed, who began his legendary apple planting mission on the American frontier 200 years ago.

The World

Bufflalo Bill’s Wild West

Arts, Culture & Media

He was the most famous American in the world ? a showman and spin artist who parlayed a buffalo-hunting gig into an entertainment empire. William F. Cody’s stage show presented a new creation myth for America, bringing cowboys, Indians, settlers, and sharpshooters to audiences who had only read about the West in dime novels. He […]