PODCAST · society
Off the Path
by Davis Dunavin
For Davis Dunavin, being a journalist is a little bit like being a cross between a wandering storyteller and a detective. For nearly eight years, he's set sail to learn about pirate history, hiked the Appalachian Trail, spent the night in Lizzie Borden's house and browsed the books in Mark Twain's library, all in search of the hidden stories buried in everyday places across the Northeast.This season on Off The Path, he digs deep to explore the origins of things that are ubiquitous, Teddy Roosevelt, the tuxedo, the first video game, as well as those stories we think we already know, like the first airplane flight or stories that aren't as well-known, like the beginnings of the artist behind the Barack Obama “Hope” poster. But every single episode involves an element of surprise, an ironic twist or a fascinating connection you might not expect when the story begins.
Episodes
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Revolutionary: NYC's Fraunces Tavern, where Washington toasted and the cabinet met
The Sons of Liberty, the activists who helped start the American Revolution, liked to frequent a watering hole on the tip of Manhattan Island called Fraunces Tavern. The tavern played more than one surprising role during the American Revolution. 250 years later, it still serves libations — and...
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Revolutionary: The only intersection that predates 1776 and survived a British burning
There’s only one known intersection in America where the buildings on all four corners were built before the American Revolution. The place is Kingston, New York -- the state’s first capital -- until British troops burned it to the ground. But that corner survived - and a few dozen more…
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Revolutionary: the war heroine who disguised herself as a man to fight
The first woman in American history to get an honorable discharge or a military pension served almost 250 years ago. Her name was Deborah Sampson. She disguised herself as a man and fought in several skirmishes -- and was injured -- before she was found out. Her adopted hometown, Sharon,...
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Revolutionary: 250 years later, the 'Liberty Tree' blooms again
Long before the first shots of the American Revolution were fired, there was -- a tree. An elm tree in a grove in Boston, where some say the Revolution truly started. It became famous across the colonies in paintings, engravings and poems as the Liberty Tree. Now, 250 years after the British...
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Brave Little State: The case of the missing Tinmouth apple
Today, a mystery rooted in Vermont history: the case of the missing Tinmouth Apple. Once thought to be lost, the search for this rare apple reveals how one community worked to preserve a piece of its agricultural heritage. Thanks to our friends Sabine Poux, Josh Craneat, Vermont Public and their...
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The Twice-Lost City of Dura-Europos
It’s believed that some of the oldest preserved depictions of Jesus Christ are from a town in Syria, abandoned nearly 2000 years ago. The paintings, on a rough stone wall, can be seen at the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven.
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Vampires! On a Boat! In New York City!
Every Halloween, WSHU’s Off the Path gets a little .... spooky. Visits to Lizzie Borden’s house, a haunted pirate cave, and Sleepy Hollow, to name a few. This year, reporter Davis Dunavin finds himself on a boat in the middle of New York Harbor — surrounded by creatures of the night — for New…
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Looking for the Original "Podunk Town"... In Connecticut
The origins of the word "podunk" are shrouded in history. In the Algonquin language, it most likely meant a boggy place, a swamp or a junction of streams and rivers. But we now use it to mean a small, unimportant, and isolated place. There was also a tribe called the Podunk, one of many who lived...
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Off the Path Revisited: Where the Appalachian Trail Began
The Appalachian Trail stretches more than 2,000 miles from Maine to Georgia. It was the brainchild of an idealistic forester who drew inspiration from a mountain top in Vermont.
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The Making of Theodore Roosevelt
We like to picture Theodore Roosevelt as this vigorous, energetic, hyper-manly guy. And he was. But he didn’t start that way. He began as a bedridden, asthma-stricken boy in New York’s East Village. He went through a lot to become the guy who led the charge up San Juan Hill and served as our 36th...
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Andre the Giant Has A Posse
Back in the summer of 1989, a lot of weird little stickers appeared on the streets of Providence, Rhode Island. They were on walls, trash cans and utility poles. You’d find them outside bars, record stores and skate shops. They were all the same, a grainy black-and-white picture of a bulky…
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A Trip to Tuxedo Park, the Cradle of American Etiquette
It began with one of America's richest men jumping out of a moving train to trudge through the mud and scope out the property. It was the cultivating grounds for the 'queen of American etiquette,' Emily Post, as well as the most iconic men's suit in the modern world. This week, join us for a tour...
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Did a German immigrant in CT fly before the Wright Brothers?
Everyone knows the story of the first manned airplane flight, right? The Ohio-based Wright Brothers flew a biplane more than 850 feet across North Carolina’s Outer Banks in December of 1903. That historical event is featured on the license plates and on the state quarters of Ohio and North...
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Spacewar! Or, the Rise of the Computer Bums
The first widely-played video game wasn’t Pong, or Donkey Kong, or Space Invaders. It wasn’t made by Nintendo or Atari. Instead, imagine a bunch of scruffy young nerds at MIT in 1962, given free rein over the latest computer technology. The result: Spacewar!
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Trailer: Where It All Began
This season on Off The Path, Davis Dunavin digs deep to explore the origins of things that are ubiquitous, Teddy Roosevelt, the tuxedo, the first video game, as well as those stories we think we already know, like the first airplane flight or stories that aren't as well-known, like the beginnings...
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The Ghost Pirate of Dungeon Rock (A Halloween Bonus Episode)
In the mid-1800s, a father and son spent years digging a long, winding tunnel into solid rock on a hill in Lynn, Massachusetts. They said they were looking for lost treasure—with directions from a ghostly pirate.
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Off the Plank: A National Special
It's here! The hour-long Off the Plank special aired this fall on stations nationwide, distributed by American Public Media. Hear about sea shanties, pirates, lighthouses, white whales and more.
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Off the Plank: The Great Gloucester Sea Serpent
Over two centuries ago, a sea serpent showed up in Gloucester Harbor, swimming and playing and splashing in full view of the townsfolk. It’s one of the most well-documented sea serpent sightings in history. But what was the mysterious creature?
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Off the Plank: Pirate City USA
Pirates terrorized the Atlantic coast in colonial times during what was called the Golden Age of piracy. But there was one place where pirates were welcomed with open arms — for a while. That place was Newport, Rhode Island.
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Off the Plank: The Ranzo Boys are Young, Queer and Here to Sing Sea Shanties
This season of "Off the Path" has featured music from the Ranzo Boys, a New York City-based traditional folk music trio. In this episode, Davis Dunavin sits down with the Ranzo Boys to learn more about the stories behind the songs.
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Off the Plank: The Buried Treasure (Or Not) of Captain Kidd
One of history’s most notorious pirates is Captain William Kidd. His legend is tied to rumors of the buried treasure he supposedly left up and down the Atlantic coast, from the Caribbean to Canada. But Captain Kidd insisted he wasn’t a pirate — and in reality, he may not have buried much treasure...
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Off the Plank: The Daring Rescues of Ida Lewis
A lighthouse keeper in Newport, Rhode Island, became nationally famous in the late 1800s for rescuing sailors. Her name was Ida Lewis — and she drew the attention of a sitting president and the early suffragette movement.
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Off the Plank: Murder on Smuttynose Island (Revisited)
There’s a 27-acre island off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire called Smuttynose Island. The population in 1873 was six: a family of Norwegian immigrants who rented the only house on the island. So it shocked the country when two of them were brutally murdered. The murder still inspires wild...
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Off the Plank: The Pirate and the Preacher
William Fly’s pirate career was short and brutal — and his death in 1726 is sometimes considered to mark the end of the days when pirates ruled the Atlantic. It began with a mutiny — led to a last-ditch conversion attempt — and ended with a gruesome display on an island in Boston Harbor.
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Off the Plank: Moby-Dick in New Bedford
Herman Melville published one of the great American novels in 1851. Just in case you missed it in high school, a quick refresher: we follow Ishmael. He’s a crew member aboard the whaling ship the Pequod. Its captain, Ahab, is a menacing figure obsessed with catching a whale he calls Moby-Dick.…
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Off the Plank: The Turtle, America's First Submarine
America's first submarine dates to the Revolutionary War. Built by a Connecticut inventor, it sailed into New York Harbor in 1776 with a mission to blow up a British warship. It was ahead of its time — maybe a little too ahead of its time. There are a few places you can see replicas of the Turtle…
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Off the Plank: The Wreck of the Whydah
One of the most successful pirates of all time died at sea in a dramatic storm, leaving all his treasure buried under the ocean floor. Hundreds of years later, a Cape Cod man followed a real-life treasure map to find it — and now you can go to his museum to see real-life pirate booty. Featured...
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Off the Plank: Trailer
Host Davis Dunavin previews his upcoming adventure at sea! Among other things, you’ll hear about quite a few pirates in this series, which is why we decided to call it Off the Plank.
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The legend of Sleepy Hollow lives on
In 1820, Washington Irving wrote a short story steeped in the ghostly folklore of New York’s Hudson Valley. Its simple premise and terrifying climax has spooked and entertained people for two centuries. It was set in North Tarrytown, but Irving called it Sleepy Hollow.
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A 'close encounter' in New Hampshire
Barney and Betty Hill claimed they had an encounter with aliens more than 60 years ago. Their story became the launching point for alien abductions in popular culture. And it happened — supposedly — late one night on a lonely road in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.
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The Desert of Maine: An ecological odyssey at a tourist spot
The state of Maine has deep forests and rocky shores. It also has one small stretch of sandy dunes in the town of Freeport — that looks more like the Sahara than northern New England.
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Christina's World: The "enigma" and friendship behind a classic American painting
Andrew Wyeth’s 1948 painting “Christina’s World” shows the reality of life for his longtime friend, a woman with a disability, on her farm in coastal Maine.
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"Appreciate the Mundane" at a museum for umbrella covers
A small museum on an island in Maine boasts the world’s largest collection of a specific kind of artifact: umbrella covers. Not umbrellas — just the covers.
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The "Lost Limner" returns in a new play
The "Lost Limner" returns in a new play
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Chicken Farmer I Still Love You
There are six words spray painted on a rock along a highway near Newbury, New Hampshire. How they got there is still a mystery. Davis Dunavin took a drive up Route 103 to see the mystery rock — and maybe get some answers.
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The view and the visionary behind the Appalachian Trail
The Appalachian Trail stretches more than 2,000 miles from Maine to Georgia. It was the brainchild of an idealistic forester who drew inspiration from a mountain top in Vermont.
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Inside Robert Frost's legendary stone house
The beloved poet bought a home in Vermont — where he wrote some of his most famous poems, weathered family tragedy and picked lots of apples.
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Off the Path: Trailer
Host Davis Dunavin is back on the road as he previews his next set of adventures on a new season of Off the Path!
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Herb Lore: Why it's okay to eat off the ground in New York City
Most New Yorkers might be a little skeptical about eating something they found on the street — if it’s not from a food cart. But one New Yorker has made it his life’s work to convince his neighbors that nature’s bounty is accessible even in the heart of the city.
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Herb Lore: How witch hazel made its way into everything
Take a look through your medicine cabinet — from skin cream to body wash and deodorant. Many of these products share an ingredient: witch hazel. And the witch hazel industry has deep roots in the Connecticut River Valley.
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Herb Lore: The nearly 400-year-old fruit tree that keeps giving
The first colonial governor of Massachusetts planted a pear tree in the 1600s. It’s now believed to be the oldest cultivated fruit tree in the Americas.
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LGBTQ Stories: How "Family Week" helped gay families find acceptance
A few LGBTQ families met up on the tip of Cape Cod one summer in the mid '90s. Their fun beach week had a bigger impact than they expected. Family Week — as it’s called — has helped redefine ideas of marriage and family for more than 25 years. And it still takes place every summer in…
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LGBTQ stories: Andy Warhol's unlikely spirituality
One of America’s most beloved artists kept a secret. Andy Warhol — pop artist and gay icon — was also a lifelong Catholic who went to mass regularly at a church in New York City’s Upper East Side.
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LGBTQ stories: The 'Sip-In' paved the way for gay rights
A few years before the Stonewall riots, a protest took place at another New York City gay bar, just about a block away. It didn’t draw as much attention, but in its own way, it was a milestone for gay rights.
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Folk Songs: Opening up traditional music to new audiences
Musician Nicole Singer, the organizer of Youth Traditional Song Weekend, which took place online this month due to the pandemic, is trying to bring young people and non-traditional audiences into folk music.
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Folk Songs: Sea Shanties are the sound of New England's nautical history
Sea shanties have enjoyed some renewed attention on social media. A lot of them have strong ties to New England’s maritime culture and whaling industry.
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Folk Songs: An 'Exceedingly Good' Night of Music
A group singalong has hopped from bar to bar in New York City for years — and in the age of the pandemic, it lives on Zoom. It’s called Exceedingly Good Song Night.
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Folk Songs: A folk dancing camp for the people
There’s a camp in the woods of Massachusetts where traditional styles of folk music and dance from around the world are kept alive. It’s the oldest continuously operated folk dance camp in the United States. It’s called the Pinewoods Camp.
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Beyond Salem: New England's other witch hunts were in Connecticut
At least 11 people were executed for witchcraft in Connecticut. And they’re far less remembered than the victims of Salem.
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Off the Path — Garden State: The Institute Of 'Useless Knowledge'
The Institute for Advanced Study doesn’t have any students or classes. There’s no regular daily agenda full of meetings and conferences. The scholars here don’t even have to research any specific topic.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
For Davis Dunavin, being a journalist is a little bit like being a cross between a wandering storyteller and a detective. For nearly eight years, he's set sail to learn about pirate history, hiked the Appalachian Trail, spent the night in Lizzie Borden's house and browsed the books in Mark Twain's library, all in search of the hidden stories buried in everyday places across the Northeast.This season on Off The Path, he digs deep to explore the origins of things that are ubiquitous, Teddy Roosevelt, the tuxedo, the first video game, as well as those stories we think we already know, like the first airplane flight or stories that aren't as well-known, like the beginnings of the artist behind the Barack Obama “Hope” poster. But every single episode involves an element of surprise, an ironic twist or a fascinating connection you might not expect when the story begins.
HOSTED BY
Davis Dunavin
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Off the Path have?
Off the Path currently has 136 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Off the Path about?
For Davis Dunavin, being a journalist is a little bit like being a cross between a wandering storyteller and a detective. For nearly eight years, he's set sail to learn about pirate history, hiked the Appalachian Trail, spent the night in Lizzie Borden's house and browsed the books in Mark Twain's...
How often does Off the Path release new episodes?
Off the Path publishes regularly with 136 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Off the Path?
You can listen to Off the Path on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Off the Path?
Off the Path is created and hosted by Davis Dunavin.
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