Grating the Nutmeg

THE P T BARNUM YOU NEVER KNEW In this special Connecticut Public Television audio documentary, we tell the story almost no one knows about the other side of PT Barnum. Almost everyone is familiar with Barnum's extraordinary career as a showman, entrepreneur, and creator of The Greatest Show on Earth, but "Barnum's Connecticut", which host Walt Woodward wrote and produced as a companion to CPTV's broadcast of the American Experience documentary "The Circus" CPTV.org/thecircus shows a side of this world-changing impresario that will challenge anything you think about him right now. Featuring Kathy Maher of Bridgeport's Barnum Museum and Sally Whipple of Connecticut's Old State House in Hartford, this is an episode you don't want to miss. And to hear the companion episode "Barnum's Circus" visit the Connecticut Public Television "The Circus" webpage

This episode, the fourth in our 6-part series commemorating the Constitution of 1818, explores one of the main accomplishments of the state's first constitution: the separation of church and state. Professor Robert Imholt challenges that assertion, though, arguing that the process to disentangle religion from the state began much earlier. Still, find out how deep our Puritan roots were as the state finally convened to write a state constitution in this episode of Grating the Nutmeg. This episode is sponsored by attorney Peter Bowman, holding distracted drivers accountable for their actions. Find out more at bowman.legal

In the 1910s, a group of Connecticut reformers formed a society aimed at solving a growing crisis – the spread of venereal diseases. The United States' entry into WWI provided this so-called "social hygienist" movement with an unprecedented opportunity to influence the sexual mores of Americans. In this episode produced by Connecticut Historical Society's Natalie Belanger, Natalie tells us how that worked out for these well-intentioned reformers—especially one George P. Thayer, a crusader for clean living that saw a little more in France than he'd bargained for. This episode is sponsored by Attorney Peter Bowman. Find out more at bowman.legal. Read more about Connecticut in World War I at ctexplored.org in the Spring 2017 and Winter 2014/2015 issues.

Hartford native Gerry Peterson has played golf with President Barack Obama and was inducted into the Black Golf Hall of Fame in 2015. Golf has always been a huge part of his life from his start as a kid caddie during the Depression to playing as a young executive at Aetna Life and Casualty. But what did it take for Peterson, a black golfer, to become a member of the whites-only Keney Park Golf Club in 1963? Gerry Peterson will tell us and historian Jeffrey Mainville , author of this summer 2018 issue's story "The Midway Golf Club" will reveal Hartford's part in the national struggle to end racial discrimination at municipal golf courses in America. This episode was produced by Mary Donohue, Asst. Publisher of Connecticut Explored and engineered by Patrick O'Sullivan, PDO Films. Subscribe at ctexplored.org For more stories of struggle and triumph by Connecticut's African American community, order your copy of our book African American Connecticut Explored, now in paperback, on Amazon. This episode was sponsored by attorney Peter Bowman, helping the seriously injured and holding distracted drivers accountable for their action. More at bowman.legal. And Connecticut Humanities, co-publisher of Connecticut Explored, the magazine of Connecticut history. Visit cthumanities.org

Attorney Wesley Horton, president of the Connecticut Supreme Court Historical Society, outlines the main issues of debate as state delegates finally gather to draft a state constitution. What happened inside the convention? How do we know? Find out in this episode of Grating the Nutmeg. This episode was recorded at Connecticut's Old State House and produced by Elizabeth Normen. This episode is sponsored by attorney Peter Bowman, holding distracted drivers accountable for their actions. Find out more at bowman.legal. And Connecticut Humanities, co-publisher of Connecticut Explored. See Episode 45 for Constitution of 1818 Part I Trouble in the Land of Steady Habits See Episode 55 for Constitution of 1818 Part 2 The Collapse of Federalist Dominance Read More! Buy the special 200th Anniversary of the Constitution of 1818 Fall 2018 issue of Connecticut Explored at ctexplored.org.

Dr. Richard Buel Jr., Professor Emeritus, Wesleyan University, describes the political climate that led to the Constitution of 1818 and how we must look to what was happening in France, and the ongoing conflict between England and France to understand what was happening here. This episode is sponsored by attorney Peter Bowman, holding distracted drivers accountable for their actions. Find out more at bowman.legal. And Connecticut Humanities, co-publisher of Connecticut Explored.

Part 1 - Henry 'Opukaha'ia Two young native men. Henry Opukaha'ia, a native of Hawaii, who died in Cornwall, CT in 1818. Albert Afraid of Hawk, a Lakota Sioux native who died in Danbury in 1900. Nick Bellantoni was the archaeologist tasked with helping return the remains of each of these men to their homes and families, more than a century after they had died. Hear him tell their strangely connected and deeply moving stories in this special two part Grating the Nutmeg episode based on Bellantoni's new Wesleyan Press book The Long Journeys Home: The Repatriations of Henry 'Opukaha'ia and Albert Afraid of Hawk This podcast is sponsored by attorney Peter Bowman, holding distracted drivers accountable for their actions. Find out more at bowman.legal. And Connecticut Humanities, copublisher of Connecticut Explored.

PART TWO: ALBERT AFRAID OF HAWK Two young men. Henry Opukaha'ia, a native of Hawaii, who died in Cornwall, CT in 1818. Albert Afraid of Hawk, a Lakota Sioux native who died in Danbury in 1900. Nick Bellantoni was the archaeologist tasked with helping return the remains of each of these men to their homes and families, more than a century after they had died. Hear him tell their strangely connected and deeply moving stories in this special two part Grating the Nutmeg episode based on Bellantoni's new Wesleyan Press book The Long Journeys Home: The Repatriations of Henry 'Opukaha'ia and Albert Afraid of Hawk

In an unforgettable interview, historian Barbara Beeching describes the creation of a black middle class in Hartford – not in the twentieth century, but back in the 1800s. It's a tale full of insights and surprises – not the least of which is Beeching herself. BONUS: For reasons that will become clear in the 1st five minutes, this episode may make you want to upgrade your Bucket List. WWW This episode is sponsored by Attorney Peter Bowman—find out more at bowman.legal, and Connecticut Humanities, co-publisher of Connecticut Explored, visit cthumanities.org.

In this episode recorded at the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Twain scholar and University of St. Joseph Professor of English Emerita Kerry Driscoll explores one of the last unexamined aspects of American author and humorist Mark Twain. Twain, a resident of Hartford from 1871 to 1891, wrote some of his most beloved works while living in Hartford and was generally known for championing the underdog. But Driscoll unflinchingly reveals here and in her book, Mark Twain Among the Indians and Other Indigenous Peoples, Twain's blind spot when it came to America's first peoples. Want to win a copy of Mark Twain Among the Indians? Share the podcast on Facebook (facebook.com/CTExplored), Twitter (twitter.com/CTExplored), and Instagram (@ct_explored) and tag us to be entered in the drawing. Expires 7/15/18 This episode is sponsored by Attorney Peter Bowman—find out more at bowman.legal, and Connecticut Humanities, co-publisher of Connecticut Explored, visit cthumanities.org.