Episode 1: A Great Drama

Elliot and Paul discuss the centennial of women’s suffrage and its legacy with the Chicago League of Women Voters’ Anne Jamieson and learn about the Parkway Community House and the Vivian G. Harsh Collection with Chicago Public Library’s Beverly Cook.

Episode 2: The Lost City

Graffiti artist Gloria Talamantes and historian Carl Smith help Elliot and Paul understand what Chicago’s built environment reveals about our shared past.

Episode 3: This City’s Not Ready for Reform

Elliot and Paul explore corruption on the ballfield and in the city council with author Bill Savage and journalist Paul Dailing.

Episode 4: Building, Breaking, Rebuilding

Preservation Chicago’s Ward Miller talks with Elliot and Paul about the challenges facing architectural preservation in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and 25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez shares his thoughts on a proposed landmark district in the Pilsen neighborhood.

Episode 5: The Day Will Come

The Illinois Labor History Society’s Larry Spivack and Alma Washington talk with Elliot and Paul about the legacy of activist Lucy Parsons and the significance of the 1886 bombing in Haymarket Square, while journalist Aimee Levitt lays out the history of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #7 and how its past is impacting our present.

Episode 6: Small Pieces of the Past

Button Power authors Christen Carter and Ted Hake talk with Paul and Elliot about the history of button-making in Chicago and the role these small objects play in preserving our past, while Nance Klem gets our hosts thinking about the past beneath our feet and how close study of the soil itself helps us understand our city and communities.

Episode 1: The Sound of Heaven and Hell

Journalist Sam Cholke joins Elliot and Paul to talk about the first synthesizer, created here in Chicago, while Cultural Historian Emeritus Tim Samuelson suggests that the city’s most significant musical contribution isn’t what you might think.

Episode 2: Ever Evolving Bastion of Freakdom

Elliot and Paul talk about Chicago zine history and culture with zinesters Eric Bartholomew of Junk Drawer, Joe Mason of Chicago Gets 4 Stars, and Liz Mason of caboose and Quimby’s bookstore.

Episode 3: Get Caponi!

Paul talks with Elliot about efforts to find the earliest references to Al Capone and then with John Corbett and Julia Klein about a “lost” encyclopedia of the Chicago underworld, Bullets for Dead Hoods.

Episode 4: Chicago’s 7 Most Endangered

Paul talks with Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago, about the nonprofit’s annual list of the seven most endangered structures and spaces in Chicago.

Episode 5: All Politics is Local

Paul and Elliot look at the 150th anniversary of William Jennings Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” speech, given in Chicago, and the 50th anniversary of the publication of Mike Royko’s Boss with musician Justin Amolsch and scholar Bill Savage.

Episode 6: We’re All In This Together

Artist Nicole Marroquin talks about her project around the student-led protests in 1968 at Harrison High School and 1973 at Froebel High School while Dr. Allen Helm discusses the 1955 polio vaccination effort in Chicago.

Season 3 episodes coming soon…

Episode 1: Student Protests Revisited

Paul sits down with Nicole Marroquin and Sharron Matthews to discuss focusing on the first of the two student-led protests that occurred in 1968 Harrison High School, today’s Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy, at 24th St. and Marshall Blvd. in Chicago’s South Lawndale neighborhood.

Edited and Recorded by: Sydni Baluch

Aired: June 30th, 2022

Episode 2: The Silver Spray and Bum Boats

On the first half of this episode, Paul explores the history of Chicago’s very own shipwreck, the Silver Spray with co-host Kathleen Soler and special guest, Phillip Willink. Later, hear all about the notorious vices of the Bum Boats at the old Government Pier and one of their most infamous proprietors, Black Jack, with special guest Ted Karamanski.

Edited and Recorded by: Sydni Baluch

Aired: July 21st, 2022

Episode 3: Acidy Cassidy Meets Pie Plant Pete

On the first half of the episode show, we explore the complex history of the “Queen of Culture”, theater and classical music critic Claudia Cassidy. Later, learn about Pie Plant Pete’s rise to fame at the old WLS National Barn Dance. What connects these two Chicago gems? Find out by tuning in!

Edited and Recorded by: Sydni Baluch

Aired: August 4th, 2022

Episode 4: Hammond Family Values

On this episode of PGTH, Paul and guests tell the story of the Hammond family, Chicago’s own Royal Tenenbaums. This family saga has everything from inventors and poets, tragedy and triumph, a story you’ll have to truly hear to believe!

Edited and Recorded by: Sydni Baluch

Aired: August 18th, 2022

Season 6 episodes coming soon…