Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Timely Conversation with Carol Quillen as PastForward 2025 Begins

As preservationists from across the country gather for the PastForward 2025 conference, we’re reminded that our work—protecting and activating historic places and the stories they hold—is more important than ever. On this special release episode of PreserveCast, we welcome Carol Quillen, President & CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, for a timely and […]

Oysters, Origins, and the Chesapeake with Kate Livie

Kate Livie is a Chesapeake educator, writer and social historian whose work explores the Chesapeake’s culture, history, traditions and environment. Formerly the director of education and associate curator at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, Livie serves as adjunct faculty in Chesapeake Studies at Washington College and as chairman of the maritime committee at the Maryland […]

Historic House Museums with Dr. Melissa Reid

Dr. Melissa Reid is the executive director of the Taylor House Museum, located in historic downtown Berlin, Maryland. Dr. Reid’s doctoral research focused on community and artifactual literacies. Her work documented how historical stories of the local Black community were shared in the larger Berlin community. This research helps supports the mission of the Taylor […]

A Frank History of the Hot Dog with Jamie Loftus

Historic foodways is a fan-favorite topic here on the podcast (pretzels, pizza, and many others) so we’re thrilled to have comedian, Emmy Award-nominated TV writer, podcaster, and author of Raw Dog, the Naked Truth About Hot Dogs, Jamie Loftus join us today! Jamie’s book is a blend of travelogue, culinary history, and critique of capitalism, […]

Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free with Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson

Today we’re joined by journalist and author Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson, talking about her critically-acclaimed book, Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free, which came out in June of 2025 from Simon & Schuster. Named a New York Times Editors’ Choice, an Amazon Editor’s pick for Best History, and a must-read book featured in Oprah […]

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival x Historic Trades with Jordan Riggs

Today we’re joined by The Campaign for Historic Trades’ Recruitment and Outreach Manager Jordan Riggs to talk about the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and The Campaign’s role in this year’s event, spotlighting the value of careers, training, and education in historic trades. The Campaign for Historic Trades, like PreserveCast, is powered by Preservation Maryland. 

Building for the Future: Cultural Heritage & Climate with Nina Jean-Louis

Today we’re talking with Nina Jean-Louis, a structural engineer passionate about bridging engineering, cultural heritage, and climate science to design culturally sensitive strategies that help communities safeguard their heritage sites from climate change impacts. Her research involves transdisciplinary methodologies merging qualitative and quantitative approaches to holistically quantify cultural landscape resilience in co-production with community relational […]

Tailcoats to Tan Suits: Presidential Fashion with Summer Anne Lee

Today’s episode threads history through the needle of style as we welcome our first-ever fashion historian, Summer Anne Lee. Based in Brooklyn and teaching at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Summer joins us to talk fashion and the wardrobes of America’s commanders-in-chief with her forthcoming book, Presidential Fashion: An Illustrated History, set to be published […]

Trades Takeover with John Chan of Durable Restoration

Trades Takeover is back! In this episode, Director of Historic Trades Natalie Henshaw speaks with John Chan, Principal and Executive VP for the Durable Slate Company. John is a nationally recognized expert in historic roofing and a passionate advocate for preserving traditional roofing methods. He started slate, tile and copper roofing at The Durable Slate […]

Giants of Urban Design with Thomas Campanella

We’re sitting down with Thomas Campanella, historian and author of the new book, Designing the American Century: The Public Landscapes of Clarke and Rapuano, 1915–1965. Tune in as we talk about two unsung giants of American landscape and urban design. Thomas J. Campanella is professor of urban studies and city planning at Cornell University and Historian-in-Residence […]