Health & Life – Past & Present Podcasts

Options for cancer detection and treatment were few in the 18th century. Medical Historian Sharon Cotner lays out some of the common practices in this week’s show.

The funeral industry arises from a combination of necessity, sentimentality, and vanity. Dr. Kelly Brennan Arehart describes the path of America’s death business, and the early vestiges still with us today.

Modern marriage owes its structure to an historic form. Equal parts love, practicality, and business, today’s unions share more than you’d think with their colonial counterparts.

The common cold was a nuisance our forbears suffered in much the same way we do today. But what remedies were uniquely colonial? Eighteenth-century apothecarist Robin Kipps shares the causes and eases for the cold.

The Revolutionary City finds resonance and relevance across the country and around the world in a vibrant partnership with the Chautauqua Institution of New York. “We walk in the same intellectual waters,” says Colonial Williamsburg Foundation President Colin Campbell in this interview with Chautauqua’s President Tom Becker.

Buildings bear silent witness to the history that happens inside them. Conservator Matt Webster makes sure structures live to tell their tales.

Southerners adapt to summer temperatures in every century. Curator Linda Baumgarten tells us how to dress for the heat in colonial style on this week’s podcast.

King George is remembered as “The Mad King,” and “The King Who Lost America.” Was he insane, or did his doctors mistreat a medical condition? Author Ed Crews examines the evidence in his article “The Poisoning of King George” in the journal Colonial Williamsburg.

George Washington copied out and adhered to 110 simple rules for polite society. What were they, and do they still apply today? Historian Cathy Hellier dissects the codes of 18th-century conduct.

For Thomas Jefferson, religion was a matter between a man and his god, with no interference in between. Listen to Bill Barker’s portrayal.

Patrick Henry would have the church provide social services that today we relegate to the state. Listen to his religious views presented in his Assessment Bill of 1784. Richard Schumann interprets.

A powerful agent of change during a time of the greatest repression, minister Gowan Pamphlet shared a message of hope and dignity. The first ordained slave preacher in America paved the way for the civil liberties and meaningful equality the future would bring. Hear his story.

A disgruntled pirate’s haunted history lingers in the town where his shipmates met the hangman. Carson Hudson and Willie Balderson team up for “Pirates Amongst Us.”

Historical myths can be more appealing than the historic record. Author Mary Miley Theobald tells some of her favorites.

Punishments considered cruel and unusual by today’s standards were commonplace in the colonial period. Historian Martha McCartney describes practices intended to shame, horrify and appall.

Alcohol quenched nearly every thirst there was in colonial America. Author Ed Crews explains why the preference existed and how the prevailing medical wisdom supported it.

At his inauguration, George Washington had just one tooth left. Mount Vernon curator Laura Simo describes history’s most famous set of dentures.

The manners of the parlor codify the feminine culture. Kristen Spivey keeps up appearances in The Polite Academy.

Doctors treating madness in 1773 embraced methods like bleeding, vomiting, restraint and intimidation. Interpreter Donna Wolf researched the topic for her program, “A Method for Madness.”

George Washington’s retirement venture had a high alcohol content. Mount Vernon’s Director of Preservation, Dennis Pogue, leads us on a tour through Washington’s whiskey distillery.

Williamsburg’s jail, or gaol, set the standard for colonial prison architecture. Visit the building this year as we celebrate the 75th anniversary of its reconstruction. Architectural historian Carl Lounsbury describes the structure.

In an age when water was suspect, sometimes beer was the safest thing to drink. Food historian Frank Clark discusses the brewing process common to most colonial homes and recreated in Historic Area kitchens.

Attaining ideal beauty in the 18th century might require hog’s lard, mousehide, toxic lead, and daily application of gin. Historical Interpreter Meg Brown shares her favorite discoveries.

The first English words spoken in Virginia were pronounced with a 17th-century London accent. Linguistics professor Anne Charity-Hudley explains the evolution of the American sound.

Growing up colonial meant babies in crash helmets and boys in dresses. Program developer Kristin Spivey compares childhood now and then.

The backyards of Williamsburg’s finest homes tell the story of a separate society. Author Mike Olmert reads the architecture of outbuildings.

Papa Said, Mama Said preserves the African-American community’s long tradition of storytelling. Art Johnson shares a fable.

Jumping the broom was a marriage ceremony rich with meaning for communities denied traditional rights. Training Specialist Rose McAphee describes the wedding recreated weekly at Colonial Williamsburg’s Great Hopes Plantation.

The hangman’s noose was the last stop for many a felon. But the ultimate penalty could be avoided with the recitation of one special psalm. Historian Linda Rowe explains the Benefit of Clergy.

American Patriot Patrick Henry is burdened with his first wife’s tragic decline into insanity. Interpreter Richard Schumann tells the tale.

Children and the law: Historian Cathy Hellier and Law Professor Jim Dwyer contrast 18th-century and 21st-century juvenile justice.

Gentry girls had but one job: to find a husband. Historian Cathy Hellier explains the custom.

The modern Cherokee Nation is enjoying a renaissance in language and culture. Living History Demonstrator Paula Nelson shares the resurgence.

Colonial Williamsburg marks 75 years of costumed interpretation in 2009. Costume Design Center Director Brenda Rosseau describes the metamorphosis from 1934.

Individuals of all classes rest in the peace of the Bruton Parish graveyard. Church guide Anne Conkling describes one of America’s oldest cemeteries.

Horses lend their speed and strength to the American colonies. Head coachman Joyce Henry shares the horse’s role in early Virginia.

Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr act out a fatal altercation. Mark Schneider provides the details.

Rules and ceremony govern this gentlemen’s contest. Mark Schneider describes the Code Duello.

America’s smallpox eradication has its roots in 18th-century Boston.

Colonial medicine is not for the faint of heart. Sharon Cotner describes the philosophies and practices.

Old sources give fresh voice to slavery’s story. Manager of African American programs Tricia Brooks explains how we know what we know.

Author Carson Hudson shares some practical 17th-century tips for identifying witches.

Investment in the field yields profits in the marketplace for diligent tobacco farmers. Rural tradesman Wayne Randolph describes the hungry crop’s allure.

Storytelling Festival favorite Art Johnson shares the tale of The Combustible Woman.

Naturalist Mark Catesby reveals a foreign landscape to a curious world. Interpreter Robb Warren talks about the man and his art.

The cost of modern speech is paid in verbs as America trades eloquence for speed. Historian Cathy Hellier explains the change.

For poxes, headaches, and fevers, the apothecary has a preparation to ease your symptoms. Medical historian Susan Pryor details the treatments.

A corset’s engineered strictness defines the shape of the 18th-century woman. Journeywoman Brooke Welborn explains the trend.

Stories of famous captures are rivaled only by stories of famous escapes at Williamsburg’s Public Gaol. Tom Hay shares his favorites.

Old toy trains and sprawling dollhouses connect imaginations through the span of years. Curator Jan Gilliam has the happy task of laying them out.