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Music History Podcasts The Jazz Age

Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”: A Jazz-Age Drama

On January 3, 1924, 25-year-old George Gershwin was shooting pool in a Manhattan billiard hall when his brother Ira read aloud a shocking newspaper article: “George Gershwin is at work on a jazz concerto.” There was just one problem—George had never agreed to write any such piece. What happened next would change American music forever.… Read More

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Food History Friday Night Fever Podcasts Writers and Artists

Pete’s Tavern and McSorley’s Old Ale House: The Oldest Bars in New York City

The ultimate bar crawl of Old New York continues through a survey of classic bars and taverns that trace their origins from the 1850s through the 1880s. And this time we’re recording within two of America’s most famous establishments, joined by the people who know that history the best. In Part One, we introduced you… Read More

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Friday Night Fever Podcasts

The Oldest Bars in New York City: The Ultimate History Bar Crawl Begins Here

The history of New York City — as told through the stories of its oldest bars. We’ve put together the ultimate New York City historic bar crawl, a celebration of the city’s old taverns, pubs, and ale houses with 18th- and 19th-century connections. And throughout this two-part mini-series, you’ll learn so much about the city’s… Read More

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Food History Founded by NYC Health and Living Podcasts

New York used to be the City of Oysters. Can it be again?

Once upon a time New York City oysters were not only plentiful and healthy in the harbor, they were an everyday, common food source. The original fast food! For that reason, the oyster could be an official New York City mascot. Oyster farming was a major occupation. Oyster houses were an incredibly common place for… Read More

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Events Gilded Age New York Podcasts

Gilded Age Golden Girls: Bowery Boys History Live at City Winery

A special presentation of our live show Bowery Boys History Live, recorded at City Winery, July 2, 2025, with a very unusual theme — Gilded Age Golden Girls. Whatever could it mean? *cue the song Thank You For Being A Friend* Bowery Boys History Live is a storytelling cabaret of all-true tales and spellbinding secrets from the past,… Read More

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Mysterious Stories Podcasts The Gilded Gentleman

Getting a Bad Rap: Spiritualism in the 19th Century

On a new episode of The Gilded Gentleman, prepare for a very chilling exploration of spiritualism with Carl and a man very attuned to the spirit world. Many people throughout the 19th century were fascinated with the idea of connecting with the beyond. Even the famous ‘Commodore’ Cornelius Vanderbilt was intrigued with the notion. Historian Anthony Bellov joins Carl… Read More

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Podcasts Pop Culture

Super City: The Secret Origin of Comic Books

PODCAST  A history of the comic book industry in New York City, how the energy and diversity of the city influenced the burgeoning medium in the 1930s and 40s and how New York’s history reflects out from the origins of its most popular characters. In the 1890s a newspaper rivalry between William Randolph Hearst and… Read More

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Amusements and Thrills Podcasts

The Jersey Shore Shark Attacks of 1916

TERROR ON THE BEACH! Seaside resorts from Cape May, New Jersey, to Montauk, Long Island, were paralyzed in fear during the summer of 1916. Not because of the threat of lurking German U-boats and saboteurs. But because of sharks.On July 1, 1916, Charles Epting Vansant was killed by a shark while swimming at a resort in Beach… Read More

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Podcasts The Gilded Gentleman

Meet the real Mrs. Astor: The woman who invented New York’s high society

We bring you a classic episode of The Gilded Gentleman, hosted by social and culinary historian Carl Raymond, just in time for a new season of HBO’s The Gilded Age. In The Real Mrs. Astor, Carl looks at one of the most legendary figures of the period – Caroline Astor, or the Mrs Astor, the ruler and creator of… Read More

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Gilded Age New York Podcasts

The Gilded Age Mansions of Fifth Avenue: At Home with the Astors and Vanderbilts

So we don’t know if you’ve heard, but New York City is an expensive place to live these days. So we thought it might be time to revisit the tale of the city’s most famous district of luxury — Fifth Avenue.   For about a hundred years, this avenue was mostly residential— but residences of the most… Read More

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Neighborhoods Podcasts

The Story of Inwood and Marble Hill: Tales of Caves, Old Mansions and Forgotten Amusement Parks

People who live in Inwood know how truly special it is. Manhattan’s northernmost neighborhood (aside from Marble Hill) feels like it’s outside of the city — and in some places, even outside of time and space. Unlike the lower Manhattan’s flat avenues and organized streets, Inwood varies wildly in elevation and its streets wind up hills and… Read More

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Brooklyn History Museums Podcasts

The Brooklyn Museum and the Birth of a New City

While you may know the Brooklyn Museum for its wildly popular cutting-edge exhibitions, the borough’s premier art institution can actually trace its origins back to a more rustic era — and to the birth of the city of Brooklyn itself. On July 4, 1825, the growing village laid a cornerstone for its new Brooklyn Apprentices… Read More

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Bridges Podcasts Preservation Robert Moses

Moses vs. Bard: The Battle for Castle Clinton

In 1939, Robert Moses sprung his latest project upon the world — the Brooklyn-Battery Bridge, connecting the tip of Manhattan to the Brooklyn waterfront, slicing through New York Harbor just to the north of Governor’s Island. To build it, Moses dictated that the historic Battery Park would need to be redesigned. And its star attraction… Read More

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Newspapers and Newsies Podcasts

The Trial of John Peter Zenger: New York and the Birth of the Freedom of the Press

A long, long time ago in New York — in the 1730s, back when the city was a holding of the British, with a little over 10,000 inhabitants — a German printer named John Peter Zenger decided to print a four-page newspaper called the New York Weekly Journal.  This is pretty remarkable in itself, as… Read More

Categories
Brooklyn History Parks and Recreation Podcasts

Parkways and the Transformation of Brooklyn

When Prospect Park was first opened to the public in the late 1860s, the City of Brooklyn was proud to claim a landmark as beautiful and as peaceful as New York’s Central Park. But the superstar landscape designers — Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux — weren’t finished. This park came with two grand pleasure… Read More