Echoes From the Attic

Most of us know our houses by their quirks: a creaky stair, an oddly placed window, or the way the light moves through a room. But many houses have hosted other lives before ours.In this episode, I talk with Portland public historian Doug Decker about how to research and document the history of your home. He shares insights from decades of researching houses and neighborhoods across Oregon, including why windows matter, how people-centered records bring houses to life, and what changes when you start to see neighborhoods as collections of interconnected house stories. Be sure to check out Doug's blog, https://www.AlamedaHistory.org, and his historical property consulting site, https://www.deckerhistorical.com. All music licensed and provided by Sound of Picture, https://www.soundofpicture.com.

Once upon a Saturday, every teen in the U.S. knew exactly where to go. A place to see and be seen, meet new people, stumble into unexpected adventure…and sometimes, stir up some trouble. In this episode, I have a conversation with Matthew Newton, author of the book, Shopping Mall, which explores the emotional and cultural significance of malls in shaping teenage identities--especially in the 80s and 90s. Matthew is a writer, editor, and arts worker from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His work has appeared in aperture, Artforum, The Paris Review, Oxford American, CityLab, and Guernica. Shopping Mall was published in 2017 as part of Bloomsbury's Object Lessons series. Learn more about his work at www.matthewnewton.us.The tracks “Transit Center,” “Streetbeat Heat,” “No Talking On The Dancefloor,” “Lip Gloss,” and “Breezin” are all licensed for use by Podington Bear, soundofpicture.com.Shopping mall sound effects from Pixabay: Dragon-Studio and Freesound_community.

In this episode, we're joined by two experts to explore the fantastical worlds built by the World's Fairs and Expos. They promised us futuristic dreamscapes, gave us inventions we still use today, and sometimes even sold us wild fantasies that never quite came true. Dr. Lisa Schrenk is Professor of Architectural History at the University of Arizona and co-founder of the Global Institute for the Study of International Expositions (www.isie-global.org). She's the author of the books Building a Century of Progress: The Architecture of Chicago's 1933-34 World's Fair, and The Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright. Charles Pappas is senior writer for Exhibitor Magazine and the author of the books Nobody Sits Like the French, as well as Flying Cars, Zombie Dogs, and Robot Overlords: HowWorld's Fairs and Trade Expos Changed the World. He also co-authored Expo 2020 Dubai: The Definitive Edition.To stay up to date on the ISIE free online public lecture series, join the mailing list at http://www.isie-global.org.

Before safety standards and warning labels, there was Flubber. And Jarts. And glass-blowing kits--for children. In this episode of Echoes From the Attic, we climb into a 1970s attic and open a toy chest packed with sharp edges, open flames, and questionable judgment...America’s most dangerously delightful toys.“Airliner” track licensed for use by Podington Bear, soundofpicture.com.

In this debut episode of Echoes From the Attic we explore what makes estate sales so compelling—part treasure hunt, part time capsule, part unintentional autobiography—and the strange, sentimental, and sometimes eerie things people leave behind.