PreserveCast

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. Kevin obtained a BS in Architecture and a Master of Architecture from Ball State University in May 2017 and has been working professionally as an architectural designer for the last five years. He is a digital artist, author, para...

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). Nicholas 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. https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691249124/how-to-make-a-home?srsltid=AfmBOooDqFMm2YMd3tql7jjGhL3nUUL_hbQ5FUq9mf-_iDgXZa15_L3P

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.

As preservationists from across the country gather for the 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...

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 Ed...

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.

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. To purchase: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250847751/rawdog/  

When you think of pirates – you may think of far-off warm islands and tropical beaches or perhaps your mind goes to modern-day piracy off the dangerous horn of Africa – but you probably don’t think of the brackish waters of the Chesapeake Bay off the coast of Maryland and Virginia. Dr. Jamie Goodall has spent years studying that very story – and has published a compelling account of piracy on these now quiet waters. Let’s set sail for Chesapeake Bay – but keep a clear eye because these waters be dangerous!

Today we're joined by journalist and author Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson, talking about her critically-acclaimed book, Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free, which came out in June of 2025 from Simon & Schuster. Named a New York Times Editors’ Choice, an Amazon Editor’s pick for Best History, and a must-read book featured in Oprah Daily, The Atlantic, Elle, Forbes, Harper's Bazaar, and on NPR's All Things Considered, among many others, Dickinson’s first book has been hailed as an exceptional biography and an essential read that “puts the American fashion icon Claire McCardell back in the pantheon,” according to Kate Bolic...

Today we're joined by The Campaign for Historic Trades' Recruitment and Outreach Manager Jordan Riggs to talk about the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and The Campaign's role in this year's event, spotlighting the value of careers, training, and education in historic trades. The Campaign for Historic Trades, like PreserveCast, is powered by Preservation Maryland. 

Today we're talking with Nina Jean-Louis, a structural engineer passionate about bridging engineering, cultural heritage, and climate science to design culturally sensitive strategies that help communities safeguard their heritage sites from climate change impacts. Her research involves transdisciplinary methodologies merging qualitative and quantitative approaches to holistically quantify cultural landscape resilience in co-production with community relational values.

Today's episode features a first - a fashion historian, Brooklyn-based Summer Anne Lee. She has an MA in Fashion and Textile Studies from the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she currently teaches various courses in fashion history. Summer's research areas have included subcultural style and the history of women's underpinnings, and she is currently writing a book titled Presidential Fashion: An Illustrated History for the Yale University Press. Learn more: https://www.summerannelee.com/ As referenced: The Roaring Twenties and The Swinging Sixties: https://www.fitnyc.edu/museum/exhibitions/roaring-and-swinging.php  </p

Trades Takeover is back! In this episode, Director of Historic Trades Natalie Henshaw speaks with John Chan, Principal and Executive VP for the Durable Slate Company. John is a nationally recognized expert in historic roofing and a passionate advocate for preserving traditional roofing methods. He started slate, tile and copper roofing at The Durable Slate Company while on college summer breaks in 1986 and joined the company full-time in 1989 after graduating from UCLA. After working through the ranks in the field, he became a principal of the company in 1992. In 1996, he relocated to open the Cincinnati branch, then went on...

We're sitting down with historian and author of the new book, Designing the American Century: The Public Landscapes of Clarke and Rapuano, 1915–1965, Thomas Campanella. Tune in as we talk about two unsung giants of American landscape and urban design.

Today we're on with Benjamin Prosky, president of the Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation, working to advance education, innovation, and stewardship in the fields of historic preservation, decorative arts, and historic landscapes. Listen in as Ben covers his preservation journey and the resources the Foundation stewards. 

Join us as we sit down with Olive Theodore, founder of Walrus Boat Recycling, a nonprofit project centered around saving and upcycling boats, and the capital campaign manager of the Center for Wooden Boats, aiming to connect each of us to Seattle's living maritime heritage of building, exploring, and using small boats through hands-on experiences. Listen in as we cover all things maritime!

On this special-release episode of PreserveCast, we're sitting down with Jack Gary from Colonial Williamsburg’s Department of Archaeology to discuss the opening of a "new" site at Colonial Williamsburg. Today, on Juneteenth, Colonial Williamsburg is opening a powerful chapter of American history,  the Williamsburg Bray School, the nation’s oldest-known schoolhouse used to educate enslaved and free Black children. The site dramatically expands the narrative of Colonial Williamsburg, deepening how the museum tells the story of our country’s origins through the lens of race, education, faith, and community. The project also centers descendant voices, who are hel...

In 2021 - 159 years after the first Juneteenth - the celebration became a federal holiday, changing the understanding of awareness of the holiday for millions of Americans. On this week’s PreserveCast, we’re talking with Dr. Dennis Doster, who runs the Black History Program for the Prince George’s County Department of Parks and Recreation about what the designation means and how Juneteenth fits into the broader American story.  Dennis A. Doster, Ph.D. is the director of the M-NCPPC Black History Program. Dr. Doster has close to 15 years of experience in the field of Public History. He has...

This week we're sitting down with Susan McMahon, Executive Director of the Landmark Trust USA, a nonprofit organization that preserves historic properties and makes them available as short-term vacation rentals. Susan has a background in community development and historic preservation. Historic preservation has always been a professional pursuit and a personal passion of hers. 

On this week's PreserveCast we're joined by Kathryn Mayer, who built a searchable database of 19th-century coroner’s records with the Baltimore City Archives. We're chatting about her project and more about how to evaluate historic information.