The Nifty Fifty Show

Send a textWe're on both I-80 and I-90...a thrill as we drive into Ohio! We'll stop and talk for awhile in Toledo, Glass City, before heading east and (sadly) bypassing Cleveland. There is time, though, for a few rollercoasters at Cedar Point!

Send a textWe're crossing the Mississippi! But not until we talk about wrestling and why Iowa. After we'll talk about John Deere and flat states vs pancakes before passing Chicagoland and ending near Notre Dame!

Send a textToday we're talking boxed cakes, rivers, and gilded domes as we travel from one state capital and past another. We also finally leave Nebraska and are finished with the dry Western states!

Send a textWe're taking a quick break from the interstate (again) and heading south through the plains of Nebraska to see where America's favorite childhood drink was invented and stop by a literary gem of a town before heading to Lincoln to pick up our journey again. 

Send a textWe're making it out of the West and into the Midwest as we leave Wyoming. Today's topics range from women's suffrage to Cabela's to a heartfelt community story centered on trains running through North Platte. The land is getting greener as we enter the rain-fed plains...

Send a textNow comes the worst possible drive ever: Wyoming. (Sorry not sorry.) But before we leave SLC, we'll talk about the Olympics and pioneers, then endure Evanston and the barrenness of central-southern Wyoming where it snows in June and there's a random Lincoln statue in the mountains.

Send a textWe're crossing the West, I promise! Today's episode covers eastern Nevada and Western Utah, ending in Salt Lake City! We'll talk about Basques, the Great Basin, salt, and Utah's lovely hilltop state capitol. 

Send a textWe're taking a small break from the interstate and heading south of Reno to Nevada's cute state capitol and one of the most gorgeous lakes in the world. We're also in true Western territory, with some of the largest ghost towns and silver mines in American history close by as well. 

Send a textWe're continuing our journey eastward over the Sierra Nevada. This will be a short jaunt, be we've got two 19th century stories to talk about: the Donner Party and the namesake of Reno, Nevada. 

Send a textThis is the first episode of our armchair roadtrip! We're starting in one of America's most scenic cities: San Francisco. We'll enjoy some time eating sundaes and looking at the Golden Gate Bridge (getting some steps in on the hills!) before hopping into the car and winding our way around the bay and into the Central Valley. It's a short drive to Sacramento, but we'll talk about the second-most flood prone city in the US, which is coincidentally one of the sunniest cities on the planet. We're off to a great start!

Send a textInterstate 80. Millions see and drive on it every day, but did you know it is one of the heavy lifters of the US Interstate System? It also parallels the routes of the earliest cross-country road trips (mostly) as well as the first transcontinental railroad. Before we depart on our armchair roadtrip, we'll talk about how the interstate highway system came to be and about Interstate 80 in particular. 

Send a textI'm back after 18 months! This season is going to be different...instead of stories all over, we're going to take an armchair roadtrip along Interstate 80. 

Send a textSome parties are infamous, becoming legends. The Hurricane Party of 1969--while Hurricane Camille roared on shore--is one of those parties. But what really happened in Pass Christian, Mississippi all those years ago? Were there really a bunch of hedonists laughing in the face of death, or just a group of people staying together for company? Find out in this episode how a quest to make a memorial led to the truth of what really happened on the Gulf Coast that fateful night.

Send a textThe name Napoléon evokes France instantly. But what if he had closer ties to the United States...? While Napoléon never came to the US (he thought about it for a hot second), his family did. Two brothers, Joseph and Jérôme, would spend some time here, dazzling American society. Achille Murat, a nephew, would renounce his titles and move to Florida. Join me on this wild ride to discover the impact of the Bonapartes in America!

Send a textThe Chicago River pops up in the news every March when it's dyed green. Have you ever wondered why Lake Michigan isn't subsequently green? You'd be forgiven for thinking that the Chicago River emptied in Lake Michigan, but that's not the case anymore. In this episode, I discuss how a group of politicians and engineers got together to pull off the ultimate reverse Uno card on Mother Nature by reversing the Chicago River to solve their sewage woes. 

Send a textBorders are one of mankind's enduring geographic obsessions. Sometimes, natural features lend a hand to form them...until they decide to switch places overnight like the Missouri River did in 1877, stranding a little part of Iowa on the wrong side of the river. This anomaly eventually landed at the center of three Supreme Court cases, each one attempting to untangle tricky ideas such as avulsion and diversity of citizenship. Welcome to Carter Lake!

Send a textFreedom of religion is often touted in the American public arena. But where did it come from? This episode answers that question: Flushing, New York. When Quakers find refuge in a tiny farming village to the east of New York City, Peter Stuyvesant wants nothing to do with them. He gets, however, more than he bargained when many in the town rise up against him. What results is a foundational document that influenced the Constitution, leaving an immense legacy. 

Send a textThe United States is full of small cities, spread out over a vast landscape. One of these towns is Yankton, South Dakota. It's likely that more people look at it from a plane than visit it. However, Yankton is full of surprises. It has two nicknames: the Mother City of the Dakotas and Cement City! Tune in to find out how Bismarck stole the territorial capital, leaving Yankton with a "bitter memory" and how Yankton is connected with some of the great engineering marvels.

Send a textEver wonder why we don't have supersonic planes? Just ask Oklahoma City in 1964. The military and the FAA joined up for Operation Bongo II, subjecting the people of Oklahoma City to over 1,200 sonic booms for roughly six months. The result was a space age tragicomedy, full of broken windows, shrinking furniture, and exploding backyards. 

Send a textThere's nothing like flying in or out of Salt Lake City and seeing the vast expanse of the Great Salt Lake and its barren surroundings. As the western boundary to Utah's most populous region, the lake has seen its fair share of strange events. In this episode, we dive into three of the most bizarre dramas to use the Great Salt Lake as their stage, including a grave digger, whales, and a lonely flamingo. 

Send a textHello! The Nifty Fifty Show is a podcast exploring the many places that make up the United States. There are no flyover states here!