PreserveCast

10/11/2025

Richard Bell joins us on the podcast today--his research explores American history between 1750 and 1877, uncovering the people, politics, and paradoxes that shaped the early republic.

Bell’s newest book, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World (Penguin/Riverhead, 2025), has earned starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, and Kirkus Reviews for its sweeping and deeply researched look at the global impact of America’s founding event.

On November 14, the Maryland Center for History and Culture will host a preview screening of Ken Burns’ The American Revolution, an expansive and evenhanded exploration of the virtues and contradictions at the heart of independence. Following the screening, Bell will moderate a panel discussion delving into the film’s themes and what they reveal about civic engagement today. Register for that event here: https://www.mdhistory.org/calendar/preview-screening-the-american-revolution-and-civic-engagement-night/

PreserveCast is an award-winning podcast about where historic preservation and technology meet. New episodes are released on Monday and available anytime on our website. PreserveCast is powered by Preservation Maryland and hosted by our Executive Director, Nick Redding.

03/11/2025

Today we’re joined by Despina Stratigakos and Elana Shapira about their new book, Finding Ella Briggs: The Life and Work of an Unconventional Architect.

Ella Briggs was a talented architect, designer, and writer whose influence was felt on both sides of the Atlantic. She trained with the Viennese Secessionists and brought their radical ideas to Gilded Age New York. She designed modernist housing for the masses in Austria, was jailed as a suspected spy in Mussolini’s Italy, and thrived in Weimar Germany before suffering persecution under the N***s. Fleeing to London, she contributed to England’s postwar reconstruction. Yet despite a long and prolific career, her name is largely forgotten today. Finding Ella Briggs restores Briggs to her rightful place in the history of modernist design.

PreserveCast is an award-winning podcast about where historic preservation and technology meet. New episodes are released on Monday and available anytime on our website. PreserveCast is powered by Preservation Maryland and hosted by our Executive Director, Nick Redding.

27/10/2025

Today, ahead of Maryland Emancipation Day on November 1, we're joined by Alex Green, president and chief interpreter at the Harriet Tubman Freedom Center in Cambridge, Maryland, as well as founder of Harriet Tubman Tours. Come along as Alex discusses his work in education and heritage tourism.

PreserveCast is an award-winning podcast about where historic preservation and technology meet. New episodes are released on Monday and available anytime on our website. PreserveCast is powered by Preservation Maryland and hosted by our Executive Director, Nick Redding.

20/10/2025

Today we’re talking with Dr. Vaughn Scribner about his book, Under Alien Skies: Environment, Suffering, and the Defeat of the British Military in Revolutionary America.

Vaughn is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Central Arkansas. In addition to his latest book, he is also the author of Merpeople: A Human History (Reaktion Books, 2020), and Inn Civility: Urban Taverns and Early American Civil Society (NYU Press, 2019)—in addition to numerous articles, book chapters, and other publications. He is currently writing a biography of America’s original celebrity “influencer,” Lord Timothy Dexter of Newburyport, Massachusetts (1747-1806). This episode is sponsored by The Landmark Trust USA

PreserveCast is an award-winning podcast about where historic preservation and technology meet. New episodes are released on Monday and available anytime on our website. PreserveCast is powered by Preservation Maryland and hosted by our Executive Director, Nick Redding.

13/10/2025

Cory McCray is a journeyman electrician, father of four, and public servant who proudly represents East and Northeast Baltimore in the Maryland State Senate. As the only member of the Maryland General Assembly to have completed a registered apprenticeship, he brings an unwavering commitment to expanding access, uplifting working families, and removing barriers to opportunity.

His debut book, The Apprenticeship That Saved My Life, is a blueprint for those navigating the “earn-while-you-learn” path and a call to action for educators, policymakers, and mentors to see the potential in every young person.

Thank you to this episode’s sponsor, The Landmark Trust USA

PreserveCast is an award-winning podcast about where historic preservation and technology meet. New episodes are released on Monday and available anytime on our website. PreserveCast is powered by Preservation Maryland and hosted by our Executive Director, Nick Redding.

06/10/2025

Today we’re joined by Kevin Miller, an architect who also serves as the President of the Board of Baltimore Architecture Foundation. Kevin and his team have been preparing for Doors Open Baltimore, an annual city-wide festival honoring Baltimore’s diverse cultural tapestry by highlighting its vibrant neighborhoods, captivating architecture, and distinctive spaces that contribute to the city’s exceptional charm.

This episode is sponsored by The Landmark Trust USA.

PreserveCast is an award-winning podcast about where historic preservation and technology meet. New episodes are released on Monday and available anytime on our website. PreserveCast is powered by Preservation Maryland and hosted by our Executive Director, Nick Redding.

29/09/2025

Today we’re joined by Marden Fitzpatrick Nichols, who selected, translated, and introduced a collection of ancient Roman writings about home design and decoration in How to Make a Home: An Ancient Guide to Style and Comfort (Princeton, 2025).

Nichols is particularly interested in how debates about the significance of art and architecture shaped ancient Roman cultural and intellectual history. She has also written about the reception of classical art in the 19th and 20th centuries.

PreserveCast is an award-winning podcast about where historic preservation and technology meet. New episodes are released on Monday and available anytime on our website. PreserveCast is powered by Preservation Maryland and hosted by our Executive Director, Nick Redding.

22/09/2025

Typically we’re in studio 1:1 with our guests, but today’s episode comes to you in different format. Join us on-site at the Maryland Association of Counties’ annual conference where we pulled up a chair (and a mic) with policymakers, heritage area colleagues, Main Street advocates, county reps, elected officials, and fellow history lovers to swap stories about historic preservation, Maryland’s past, funding, and what’s in store for the future. Preservation Maryland Maryland Association of Counties

PreserveCast is an award-winning podcast about where historic preservation and technology meet. New episodes are released on Monday and available anytime on our website. PreserveCast is powered by Preservation Maryland and hosted by our Executive Director, Nick Redding.

17/09/2025

As preservationists from across the country gather for the National Trust for Historic Preservation's PastForward 2025 conference, we’re reminded that our work—protecting and activating historic places and the stories they hold—is more important than ever.

On this special release episode of PreserveCast, we welcome Carol Quillen, President & CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, for a timely and thoughtful conversation about the challenges and opportunities facing our field.

We discuss the importance of preservation not just as a way of protecting the past, but as an essential investment in our future. At a moment when federal programs, grant opportunities, and staffing that support preservation are at risk, we cover what we should expect from our leadership in this space and the work being done to save history.

PreserveCast is an award-winning podcast about where historic preservation and technology meet. New episodes are released on Monday and available anytime on our website. PreserveCast is powered by Preservation Maryland and hosted by our Executive Director, Nick Redding.

15/09/2025

Kate Livie is a Chesapeake educator, writer and social historian whose work explores the Chesapeake’s culture, history, traditions and environment.
Formerly the director of education and associate curator at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, Livie serves as adjunct faculty in Chesapeake Studies at Washington College and as chairman of the maritime committee at the Maryland Center for History and Culture.

Her 2015 book, Chesapeake Oysters: The Bay’s Foundation and Future, won the Maryland Historical Society’s Marion Brewington prize for Maritime History. Livie contributes regularly to regional publications like Chesapeake Bay Magazine, Baltimore Magazine, and Edible Delmarva, and has hosted programs on Bay culture and history for MPT, NPR and the History Channel. Livie regularly lectures on topics exploring the intersection of Chesapeake environment and tradition at cultural institutions, colleges and non-profits throughout the region.

https://www.preservecast.org/2025/09/15/oysters-origins-and-the-chesapeake-with-kate-livie/

08/09/2025

Dr. Melissa Reid is the executive director of the Taylor House Museum, located in historic downtown Berlin, Maryland. Dr. Reid’s doctoral research focused on community and artifactual literacies. Her work documented how historical stories of the local Black community were shared in the larger Berlin community. This research helps supports the mission of the Taylor House which is Telling the Stories of Berlin. Her family has roots in the Berlin area, going back several hundred years. She comes from a long line of storytellers. Town of Berlin Maryland Calvin B. Taylor House Museum

PreserveCast is an award-winning podcast about where historic preservation and technology meet. New episodes are released on Monday and available anytime on our website. PreserveCast is powered by Preservation Maryland and hosted by our Executive Director, Nick Redding.

25/08/2025

Historic foodways is a fan-favorite topic here on the podcast (pretzels, pizza, and many others) so we’re thrilled to have comedian, Emmy Award-nominated TV writer, podcaster, and author of Raw Dog, the Naked Truth About Hot Dogs, Jamie Loftus join us today! Jamie’s book is a blend of travelogue, culinary history, and critique of capitalism, revealing how the hot dog, a food often associated with low culture and affordability, has become deeply intertwined with American identity and commercialism.

PreserveCast is an award-winning podcast about where historic preservation and technology meet. New episodes are released on Monday and available anytime on our website. PreserveCast is powered by Preservation Maryland and hosted by our Executive Director, Nick Redding.