Hoosier History Live is an independently produced new media project about Indiana history, integrating podcasts, website, newsletter, and social media. Its original content comes initially from a live with call in weekly talk radio show hosted by author and historian Nelson Price. You can hear the show live Saturdays from noon to 1 pm ET at WICR 88.7 fm or stream the show live at the WICR HD1 app on your phone.
December 09, 2023
Preempted show for U Indy sports, again, and current news
Hoosier History Live will be preempted this Saturday (Dec. 9) so WICR-FM can broadcast live coverage of a University of Indianapolis sports event. Because we won’t be airing a live show, we thought you would enjoy a look back at an assortment of photos and history tidbits from captivating shows this past year, our 15th on the air. Hoosier History Live will return Dec. 16 with a new, live show about a colorful aspect of our heritage.
On our April 22 show, Nelson's guest, Jamie Ward, author of "100 Things To Do in Indiana Before You Die", shared several "bucket list" suggestions. They included a visit to Cataract Falls, the state's largest waterfall. Located near Spencer in Owen County, Cataract Falls consists of two spectacular waterfalls, upper and lower, in an area managed by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. In her guidebook, Jamie also urges visitors to check out a historic site nearby, the Cataract General Store, which was built in 1860 and is the oldest general store in Indiana. Click here to listen to the podcast.
Professor Watermelon, the performance name used by Indianapolis-based children's book author and educator Chadwick Gillenwater, shared tips for getting kids excited in history during our May 6 show. He travels to schools, libraries and museums. In addition, he hosts summer camps at sites such as the courtroom of the Indiana Supreme Court, as seen in this photo. "If you bring historical characters to life by showing how they lived, what they wanted, or who and what was in their way, you will have engaged learners," Chadwick said. Click here to listen to the podcast.
During a June 10 show about "The largest Dune and why it's gone", we explored the towering Hoosier Slide near Michigan City, which was a national tourist attraction during the late 1800s and early 1900s. As seen in this 1890 photo (notice the tiny images of visitors atop the mountain of sand), the Hoosier Slide was the biggest of the Indiana Dunes on Lake Michigan. Described as a sandy version of a Swiss Alp, the massive Hoosier Slide was the setting for wedding ceremonies, picnics and endless frolicking. During our show, we explored the heyday of the Hoosier Slide, the reasons it had vanished from the landscape by 1920, and the flourishing of Michigan City as a lakeside resort during the era that the legendary dune attracted so many visitors. Click here to listen to the podcast.
The "Vinyl era of Indiana music heritage" was the focus of our July 15 show. The Indiana Music Heritage Project is spotlighting the 40-year vinyl records era (generally defined as 1950 to 1990) with various endeavors. Nelson's guest Rick Wilkerson, the project's executive director, described an evolving, Wikipedia-type resource called Indiana Musicpedia with categories about genres of music ranging from "folk/acoustic" to "country/bluegrass". The project also includes a gallery of vinyl-era artifacts such as the recreation of a radio station from the 1960s and '70s, as seen in the photo. Click here to listen to the podcast.
You can listen to podcasts of all of these shows – and many more from previous years – in our trove in the Archives section on this website.
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