Dear Diary, Today we accomplished a true feat by charging through the rest of Patsy's story! Join us as we power through to find out what happens to Patsy and the rest of the freed folk of Davis plantation. Will they ever get a teacher? Will Patsy choose her new name? Yours Truly, Cate and Jen RibbonBookClubPod.com @RibbonBookPod on Facebook and In…

Dear Diary, This week we are cracking open a new book! I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl was written by Joyce Hansen and published in 1997. It was awarded the Coretta Scott King Award in 1998, which recognizes "outstanding books for young adults and children by African Americans that reflect the African American…

Dear Diary, We have a special extra treat for you! We are here with a further historical note about the Irish Famine with author, Susan Campbell Bartoletti! Bartoletti is an author and speaker who does not shy away from tough topics in history. We had her on the show to talk about writing history and historical fiction for young readers. We also ha…

Dear Diary, This week we got to talk to Ranger Aubrey Brown who works at the Lowell National Historic Park! Aside from becoming instant best friends, we also learned a lot about the real history of Lowell, Massachusetts, and the textile mills that made it famous. Tune in to hear about how the city of Lowell was planned, how textile mills worked har…

Dear Diary, On to the second half of our discussion of So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl! This time, we finally make it to Lowell and the mills! Mary catches on quickly to her work in the mills. Thanks, in part, to her new friend, Annie. And aren't they just great gal pals? But life in the mills is hard work. Accident…

Dear Diary, It's new book time! And this one is a fan favorite. We're reading So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl. This is the second book in the series by Barry Denenberg and it was published in 1997. The story begins in Skibbereen, Ireland where Mary Driscoll lives with her Ma and Da. Ireland is in the depths of the p…

Dear Diary, We got to talk to an old friend of Jen's, Chris Carey about his work at the Whitman Mission National Historic Site! Chris had some great facts to share about life on the Oregon Trail and some fresh insight into the story of the Whitman Mission. Chris also had a surprise choose-your-own-adventure game at the end of our conversation! Oreg…

Dear Diary, It's the second half of our recap of Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell! We get to find out what happens to the Campbells and their wagon train as it continues along the trail. Will Hattie ever get a straight answer about what marriage is like? Will Wade ask Hattie to dance? Will the klepto M…

Dear Diary, We took a nice long break but we're back with another season and a new book! This week we're reading the first half of Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie: The Oregon Trail Diary of Hattie Campbell. It was written by Kristiana Gregory and it was published in 1997. This marks our first repeat author! In the book, we are introduced to Ha…

Dear Diary, We finished our first season with a great chat with Paul Ringel! Paul is a history professor at High Point University, and an author of books including Commercializing Childhood: Children's Magazines, Urban Gentility, and the Ideal of the Child Consumer in the United States, 1823-1918 and Kid History, Inc.: Selling Children the American…

Dear Diary, We finished recapping A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl by Patricia C. McKissack, and what an incredible story! So much happened: we learned more about the abolitionists and Spicy's history, and Clotee figured out what freedom looked like to her. An engaging and essential read. Tune in to hear more! Yours Truly, Ca…

Dear Diary, On to a new book, and boy, this one is different than the last! A Picture of Freedom: The Diary of Clotee, a Slave Girl was written by Patricia C. McKissack and was published in 1997. (a very good year!) Clotee is a clever 12-year-old girl who works in the Big House on a plantation in Virginia and teaches herself how to read and write. …

Dear Diary, We're back for part 2 of our discussion of When Will This Cruel War Be Over?: The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson written by Barry Denenberg. Is it better than the first half? Wellllll...... on the plus side, there's more action! Tune in to find out what's in store for Emma, Tally, and Cousin Rachel. What happens when the Yankees come t…

Dear Diary, We've reached book 3 in the series! And it's... certainly something! Author Barry Denenberg tackles a big topic with When Will This Cruel War Be Over?: The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson. We have a lot of thoughts about this book, namely, why did they choose to focus on a slave-owning white girl from the South? Tune in to hear our hot …

Dear Diary, Now that we're done reading The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart, we got to talk to a park ranger from Valley Forge National Historical Park! Ranger Beth Dhunjisha shared with us some great information about the history of the Continental Army's winter encampment of 1777-1778. We talked about myths…

Dear Diary, This week we finished recapping The Winter of Red Snow: The Revolutionary War Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart. We learned about Baron Von Steuben training the Continental Army, Elizabeth learned what happened to her bounty coat, and we had a lot of feelings about George Washington and Lucy's parents! Tune in to hear all that, and stay tun…

Dear Diary, On to book two! This week we're recapping the first half of The Winter of Red Snow: The Diary of Abigail Jane Stewart written by Kristiana Gregory and published in 1996. In Abigail's diary, we learn about the winter encampment at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-1778. We meet George Washington and Abigail's friend, Lucy. Topics of dis…

Dear Diary, We had our first guest on the show! Tom Begley from Plimoth Patuxet Museums spoke to us about what he does at the museum, life in the early Plimoth settlement, and writing historical fiction for young readers. We had a lovely conversation, and we hope you enjoy listening to it! Yours truly, Cate and Jen P.S. You can find Plimoth Patuxet…

Dear Diary, We were so excited to sit down and talk about the second half of A Journey to the New World! In this half, we learned about the Pilgrim's first winter in Plimoth. We talked about Mem's interactions with the Native Americans and learned about the devastating effects of illness on the fledgling settlement. Spoiler alert, there's a lot tha…

Dear Diary, It’s the first episode! We read the first half of A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple by Katherine Lasky and had so much fun talking about it. Did you know the Mayflower was called a “sweet ship”? Or that the pilgrims called themselves “saints” and lived in the Netherlands before they traveled to North Ame…

Dear Coven, We're starting a new podcast! For some of us, the Dear America book series was a huge part of our lives growing up. Now that we're older, we want to take a look back and see how they hold up. We'll talk about the history behind these stories, discuss the joys and drama of adolescent girlhood, and interview historical experts! Join us on…

Dear Diary, We're starting a podcast! For some of us, the Dear America book series was a huge part of our lives growing up. Now that we're older, we want to take a look back and see how they hold up. We'll talk about the history behind these stories, discuss the joys and drama of adolescent girlhood, and interview historical experts! Join us as we …

This is it! We read some of your lovely listener stories and reminisce about the past few years making this great lil' show. We may be bringing this show to a close but we'll see you 'round the web! Twitter: @Haunted_Pod Instagram: @ThisPodcastIsHaunted Facebook: This Podcast is Haunted Discussion Group…

This week we're moodily looking out to sea from our respective lonely islands as we talk about haunted lighthouses! Stay tuned for an announcement at the end! Twitter: @Haunted_Pod Instagram: @ThisPodcastIsHaunted Email: ThisPodcastIsHauntedBy Jen Vos and Cate Reed

Mercury is in retrograde and we are slip-sliding back in time and back into nonsense! Cate has a timeslip story about Versailles, and Jen gets groovy in Liverpool. Twitter: @Haunted_Pod Instagram: @ThisPodcastIsHaunted Facebook: This Podcast is Haunted Discussion Group Email: ThisPodcastIsHaunted@gmail.com…

We are officially back on our bullsh-t with an episode about cryptids! Cate introduces us to a little-known sea serpent, Jen discusses the legend of the Deer Woman. Our Patreon is on pause while we get back in the swing of things! Thank you all so much for your support and understanding Twitter: @Haunted_Pod Instagram: @ThisPodcastIsHaunted Faceboo…

CW: COVID, hospital stays, medical issues We're back after a long, unexpected hiatus! Cate tells the story of what happened. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled spookiness soon! Twitter: @Haunted_Pod Instagram: @ThisPodcastIsHaunted Facebook: This Podcast is Haunted Email: ThisPodcastIsHaunted@gmail.com…

This week we're delving into the archives of declassified CIA stories to find what weird treasures we can find! Thank you to our patrons! Find us a Patreon.com/ThisPodcastIsHaunted Twitter: @Haunted_Pod Instagram: @ThisPodcastIsHaunted Facebook: This Podcast Is Haunted Discussion Group Email: ThisPodcastIsHaunted@gmail.com…

Happy Halloween! We're celebrating like we do every year, with a special episode of some spooktacular listener stories!! Grab your seasonally appropriate snacks and settle in. Thank you to our patrons! Find us at Patreon.com/ThisPodcastIsHaunted Twitter: @Haunted_Pod Instagram: @ThisPodcastIsHaunted Facebook: This Podcast is Haunted Discussion Grou…

We're taking a mental trip to New Zealand this week while we discuss haunted theaters, men who had it coming, and why Jen was bullied in high school. Cue up "Concerning Hobbits" and tune in! Thank you to our patrons! Find us at Patreon.com/ThisPodcastIsHaunted Twitter: @Haunted_Pod Instagram: @ThisPodcastIsHaunted Facebook: This Podcast is Haunted …

Get ready to set sail! This week we're talking about pirates! arrrrr Thank you to our Patreon patrons! You can find us at Patreon.com/ThisPodcastIsHaunted or on Twitter: @Haunted_Pod Instagram: @ThisPodcasIsHaunted Facebook: This Podcast is Haunted Discussion Group Email: ThisPodcastIsHaunted@gmail.com…

This week it's part 2 of our series on historical labor issues that turned deadly! Cate talks with Steve Lehto about the Italian Hall Disaster in Calumet, Michigan. You can find Steve Lehto on Youtube: Steve Lehto Twitter: @stevelehto and at lehtoslaw.com Thank you to our Patreon patrons! You can find us at Patreon.com/ThisPodcastIsHaunted Twitter:…

We are back and more radical than ever! We had so much content that we had to split it into a 2-parter! So this week Jen tells the classic tale of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and gets real heated about labor issues. Thank you to our wonderful Patreon patrons! You can find us at Patreon.com/ThisPodcastIsHaunted Twitter: @Haunted_Pod Instagr…

Happy summer! We're breaking in with a special bonus episode with some very special guests! Sean and Sinéad Persaud, the brilliant brother-sister writing team behind Shipwrecked Comedy! They are Kickstarting a new project called Headless: a Sleepy Hollow Story a comedic reimagining of the classic American legend. We were so geeked to talk with Sean…

On this week's season finale, we were joined by friend of the pod Carrie Overgaard and magician John Kippen to talk about one of the most magical places on earth, the Magic Castle! Fantastic guests, history, ghosts, and magic. What more could we ever ask for? Find John Kippen's TED talk and more on his website, johnkippen.com Catch Carrie on TikTok…

You know it, you love it, we're reading your ghost stories! Tune in for a spooktacular time! Thank you to our patrons! Find us at Patreon.com/ThisPodcastIsHaunted Twitter: @Haunted_Pod Instagram: @ThisPodcastIsHaunted Facebook: This Podcast is Haunted Discussion Group Email: ThisPodcastIsHaunted@gmail.com…