Episodes: page 8

On this week’s re-release of PreserveCast, we’re heading back to the brackish marshes of Maryland’s Eastern Shore to talk Tubman, slavery, and freedom. Few names have become as synonymous with grit, determination, and liberty as Harriet Tubman. A Moses for her people, Tubman has become an almost mythical character who represents the best of the […]

Sara Bronin has spent her career exploring, researching, and publishing on the intersection of law, policy, and preservation. Today, as the preservation community grapples with the challenges of equity, climate and inclusionary zoning – Sara’s research and expertise is filling an important role. Bronin was recently nominated by the Biden administration to chair the U.S. Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) and will have an opportunity to shape preservation policy at a seminal moment – a perfect guest for this week’s PreserveCast. 

A two-time Pulitzer Prize winning artist, Bill Mauldin’s cartoons embodied the spirit of the infantryman during World War II before turning his critical pen to those in the political sphere. On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re talking with James Brundage, the curator of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library to explore the preservation of this unique art and how Mauldin’s message still resonates.

We all need role models – and we need to see ourselves represented – whether in film, print . . . or in Mattel’s iconic Barbie. Today’s guest, Despina Stratigakos, Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence at the University at Buffalo, is a writer, historian, and professor. She is the author of three books that explore the intersections of power and architecture. Her most recent book, Where Are the Women Architects? confronts the challenges women face in the architectural profession.

How do serve your mission, your visitors and keep the lights on? That’s a question that nonprofit leaders in the cultural and museum fields ask themselves every day and is all in a day’s work for Colleen Dilenschneider, today’s guest on PreserveCast. Colleen provides data and analysis to inform the evolution of visitor-serving organizations so that they may optimize mission execution and financial sustainability. I’ve been following Colleen’s blog for many years – and have always found her analysis to be some of the very best out there for visitor serving organizations – a voice I knew I wanted to bring to our growing PreserveCast audience.

On this third edition of PreserveCast Conversations: The Professor and the Practitioner, a new monthly feature of PreserveCast, co-hosts Nicholas Redding and Dr. Whitney Martinko explore the trends, topics and issues that are making headlines in the world of preservation this month.

All across America, the physical vestiges of slavery and tenant farming are being lost to the ravages of time and indifference. Without expert documentation – there’s a real chance we could lose all memory and understanding of these important buildings. That’s why Preservation Maryland is partnering with the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training to laser scan structures on Maryland’s eastern shore as a part of a broader national effort – a topic we knew we had to bring to our listeners.

This week’s guest is unique; we’re bringing back Bonnie McDonald to talk about the work of her organization, Landmarks Illinois, as they celebrate their 50th anniversary and look forward to the next 50 years of saving places and making preservation relevant in a rapidly changing world.

From preservation philanthropy to Mohawk ironworkers, hosts Nicholas Redding and Dr. Whitney Martinko are covering a lot of ground in today’s episode of PreserveCast Conversations.

Over the course of the past year on PreserveCast, we’ve explored several crossovers between heritage preservation and entertainment – with a particular focus on the BBC “farm” series – and this week’s episode is a further dive into this concept with the founder of Past Preservers, a firm dedicated to that very work of connecting experts with media.

In Burgundy, France, around forty workers are taking up an extraordinary challenge: to build a fortified castle using the techniques and materials used in the Middle Ages. It’s almost a surreal project and today we’re talking with Sarah Preston, a bilingual tour guide at Guédelon, a site that is literally resurrecting age old trades in the name of preservation, history and understanding.

As a preservationist, I cut my teeth on battlefield preservation – working for what’s today the American Battlefield Trust. I led an effort to defeat a proposed Gettysburg casino – so the idea of how we preserve and protect hallowed battlefields has always interested me. That’s why when I heard about a controversial proposal to build a so called, “D-Day land,” I knew we had a good fit – and so on this week’s PreserveCast, we’re heading to the bocage country to talk about heritage preservation with a French twist.

On this first edition of PreserveCast Conversations: The Professor and the Practitioner, a new monthly feature of PreserveCast, co-hosts Nicholas Redding and Dr. Whitney Martinko explore the trends, topics and issues that are making headlines in the world of preservation this month.

To regular listeners of PreserveCast, you know that I’m a huge fan of the BBC “farm” series – which have explored Tudor, Victorian, Edwardian and other eras of British history. Alex Langlands rounds out our interviews with each of the presenters from the series – and Alex also recently published a new book, Craeft: An Inquiry into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts, which is a perfect topic of conversation at a moment when the world is almost entirely virtual.

Connecting place to story to digital resources is a challenge confronting communities across the globe. That’s why when I learned about nashvillesites.org, I knew we had a winner for PreserveCast. Not only is Nashville an amazing town – but this story holds many lessons for countless other places looking to bring their history to life. […]

Like the rest of the internet – I came across Seamus Blackley’s incredible story via Twitter and knew he’d make for an incredible PreserveCast guest. A true renaissance figure, Blackley is known widely as the “father of the Xbox,” and has also spent several years perfecting the art of extracting yeast from unusual environments to save and savor the taste of the past. A perfect slice of history for this week’s PreserveCast.

Candacy Taylor is an award-winning author, photographer and cultural documentarian working on a multidisciplinary project based on the Green Book. In her book, “Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America,” Taylor has masterfully pulled together this story of resilience and segregation in a way that elevates and memorializes this history – a history still rooted in countless towns and cities across America. 

Like many episodes, this week’s guest came from a personal passion and fascination – in this case with historic blends of teas. After my first sip of Oliver Pluff tea, I knew we had to get to the bottom of this story and learn how this Charleston, South Carolina based company has cornered the market on heritage tea in the United States. It’s a story brewed over several thousand years and one we’re serving up piping hot on this week’s PreserveCast.

If these walls could talk is an old refrain used by lovers of historic places and buildings, and thanks to the in-depth research and loving care of today’s guest, a historic log cabin in West Virginia’s panhandle is talking again.

Ask anyone working in the trades about who we should be keeping on eye on – and many will tell you Amy McAuley. It’s for that reason that I knew we had to get Amy on PreserveCast and release that episode in conjunction with our celebration and recognition of women in preservation and the historic trades. Known for working with hand tools (that means no power tools), Amy is a master craftsperson making waves in a field that deserves far more attention.