In this episode, Jake and Justin are joined by public historian Codie Eash of the Seminary Ridge Museum for a deep dive into one of the most contentious and misunderstood chapters in Gettysburg's postwar history: the fight over Confederate monuments on the battlefield.

What feels like a modern debate turns out to be anything but - Union and Confederate veterans arguing bitterly about memory, treason, and reconciliation as early as the 1880s.

The conversation centers on the first Confederate monument erected at Gettysburg, why it appeared when it did, and why Union veterans immediately pushed back. Along the way, Codie traces how battlefield monuments were negotiated, resisted, and weaponized - revealing that the "Lost Cause" argument didn't emerge quietly or uncontested, but sparked outrage from the very men who had fought the war.

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:

• The first Confederate monument at Gettysburg—and why it caused an uproar
• Union veterans calling treason exactly what it was
• Bureaucracy, loopholes, and missing meeting minutes
• Why monument debates started long before the 21st century
• Bradley Tyler Johnson saying the quiet part out loud about the Lost Cause and power
• How Gettysburg became a battlefield for memory, not just history

Seminary Ridge Museum: https://www.seminaryridgemuseum.org/

Podcast Thumbnail: MD Center for History and Culture - 2nd MD Monument Group Portrait, October 28, 1894

In this special holiday episode, Jake, Justin, and Molly gather to talk about It's a Wonderful Life - not just as a Christmas classic, but as a deeply historical film shaped by war, economic depression, and the unsettled, unstable world of 1946. What starts as a cozy movie night quickly turns into a wide-ranging conversation about community, capitalism, trauma, and why Frank Capra's vision of America still hits a nerve nearly eighty years later.

The trio digs into the film's historical moment, Jimmy Stewart's wartime experience, and why Bedford Falls feels both comforting and painfully distant in 2025. Along the way, they wrestle with Mr. Potter, Mary Bailey, the Great Depression, and the unsettling realization that many of us may already be living in Potterville.

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:

• It's a Wonderful Life as a post–World War II home-front story
• Jimmy Stewart, combat trauma, and why George Bailey feels so real
• Bedford Falls, Potterville, and the economics of community
• Mary Bailey as the emotional backbone of the entire film
• Why the FBI once thought this movie was communist
• "We don't want characters here"

Happy holidays - and here's to finding a little Bedford Falls wherever we can.

In this episode, Jake sits down with public historian EJ Murphy of the Destination Freedom Project at the Waverly Community House to talk about abolition, the Underground Railroad, and the way slavery's political shockwaves reached even the smallest Northern communities before the Civil War.

Jake and EJ dig into how Waverly became a key stop on a regional freedom network connecting places like Wilkes-Barre, Montrose, and the Southern Tier of New York. They also talk about the challenges of telling these stories with limited sources, what the Fugitive Slave Act changed on the ground, and why local history hits hardest when you realize it was never "just local."

Learn more about Waverly's Destination Freedom and plan a visit:

https://waverlywalkingtours.com/

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:

• Waverly's role in the Underground Railroad in Northeastern Pennsylvania

• The Fugitive Slave Act and why it radicalized communities in the North

• A letter about organized resistance - and "pockets loaded with pistols"

• George Keys and the growth of Waverly's Black community

• Native American paths that shaped escape routes and regional geography

• Why visitors keep saying: "I grew up here…and I had no idea"

On the night of October 8, 1871, a wall of fire roared out of the Wisconsin woods and erased the town of Peshtigo in a matter of minutes. More than 1,200 people were killed, making it the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history - yet its story was overshadowed almost immediately by the Great Chicago Fire burning the same night.

In this episode, Jake takes listeners into the story of the disaster and its surprising legacy.

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:
• Jake's role as "Mr. Sadman" — and why grim stories matter
• Civil War veterans who survived the battlefield only to face Peshtigo
• Peshtigo as the "Sodom" of the Upper Midwest
• The shockingly destructive power of fire and wind
• How firestorms evolved into a weapon of modern war
• What Peshtigo can teach us as urban wildfires again reshape American life

In this episode, we look ahead to America's 250th anniversary and ask what this milestone should mean in 2026 and beyond.

The conversation ranges from the messy, decade-long road to revolution to the very local ways towns like Frederick, Maryland, are already marking the moment with traditions like Repudiation Day. Along the way, the crew wrestles with how we remember the founding, who gets included in that story, and what it means to celebrate a past that was never as simple as the textbooks made it seem.

Jake Wynn, Justin Voithofer, and Molly Keilty dig into the Revolution as a civil war, the long shadow of alliances with powers like France, and the way Ken Burns' new documentary series could reshape what many Americans think they know about 1776. They also trace how the founding documents were built for change - and how modern politics has drifted from that idea.

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:

• America 250 and why one big birthday isn't enough

• Repudiation Day in Frederick and Frederick, Maryland's colonial protest

• Molly's London fog and accidental Tory vibes ☕

• The Revolution as a civil war between neighbors

• George Washington: bad tactician, essential rebel-in-chief

• The Patriot, Heath Ledger, and Jake's historical movie watching habits

In this episode, we dive into Netflix's Death by Lightning, the gripping new series about President James Garfield's short presidency, his assassination, and the troubled mind of his killer, Charles Guiteau. Drawing from Candice Millard's acclaimed book Destiny of the Republic, the show brings to life an era of bare-knuckle politics, deep factionalism, and a presidency undone by one man's delusions.

Jake, Justin, and Molly unpack the series, the wild political landscape of the 1880s, and the strange cultural crosscurrents that shaped Garfield's world.

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:

• Brains in jars
• Patronage politics, federal jobs, and the fight between reformers and Stalwarts
• Charles Guiteau's spiraling madness
• How Civil War medicine killed James Garfield
• Free love and the Oneida Community
• Nick Offerman playing presidents

In the 1950s, the once–thriving town of Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania was fading fast. Local newspaperman Joe Boyle was determined to revive it - and a chance meeting in 1953 with the widow of legendary athlete Jim Thorpe set off one of the strangest civic reinvention stories in American history.

This episode unpacks how Mauch Chunk became Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania - a story about boosterism, economic desperation, and a bizarre bid for survival.

This is the debut episode of our newly rebranded Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly, and we're thrilled to welcome co-host Molly Keilty to the show.

In our new season, we're digging into the stories we love while taking a fresh look at how history is interpreted in museums, historic sites, and popular culture.

In this episode, we explore:
• The rise and fall of Mauch Chunk
• The shadow of the Molly Maguires
• Jim Thorpe's extraordinary athletic career - and his childhood as a "hostage" of the U.S. government
• 1950s publicity stunts like the Nickel-A-Week campaign
• What it means for a town to take on someone else's name and legacy

In this episode of Public History with Jake and Justin, we're joined by Matt Maris, public historian and founder of Local Historia, a history-focused small business based in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.

Matt has built a reputation for creating immersive walking tours and community-based history programs that bring the past to life while strengthening local identity. Together, we talk about his deep love for Bellefonte's layered stories, how Local Historia began, and the ways that public history can serve as a tool for economic development in small towns across Pennsylvania and beyond.

This conversation explores how connecting people to their communities through walking tours and storytelling can foster pride, tourism, and revitalization. You'll hear how Matt uses local landmarks, hidden histories, and human stories to help residents and visitors alike see Bellefonte - and places like it - through fresh eyes.