This week, Aaron Stark joins the show to discuss his new book Disrupting Time: Industrial Combat, Espionage, and the Downfall of a Great American Company, which chronicles an attempt by a foreign power to infiltrate, emulate, and eventually annihilate a great American company. In the late 19th century, watches were at the forefront of technological innovation, and the Waltham Watch Company made some of the finest watches in the world. Unlike their Swiss competitors, whose products were fancy, handcrafted works of art, the Watham company specialized in mass produced, affordable, and reliable watches for the masses. At an 1876 Worldâs Fair, they announced their arrival on the worldâs stage, and the world took notice. The Swiss, in particular, took notice, and they took it by sending spies to steal the secrets of Walthamâs success.
Tag: Charles River
The Lost Viking City on the Charles (episode 275)
If you walk down Mount Auburn Street in Cambridge, you might notice a small stone marker that states, âon this spot in the year 1000, Leif Erikson built his house in Vineland.â You might be surprised to learn that Leif Erikson had a house in Cambridge, and if so, youâll be even more surprised to learn that the lower Charles River was the seat of a thriving Norse city around the turn of the first millennium. Learn about Harvard professor Eben Norton Horsford’s theory that the legendary Viking city of Norumbega was situated along the Charles River in this week’s podcast!
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Crossing the River Charles (episode 115)
What do you know about the earliest crossings over the Charles River in Boston? When it was founded, the town of Boston occupied the tip of the narrow Shawmut Peninsula, with the harbor on one side and the Charles RIver on the other.  Residents relied first on ferries, and later on a series of bridges to connect them with the surrounding towns and countryside. The progression of bridge construction illustrates not only the state of construction technology, but also the birth of corporations in America and a landmark Supreme Court case defining the limits of private property rights.
When Boston Invented Playgrounds (episode 111)
In the late 19th century, a new revolution in play was born in Boston. Â In an era when urban children had few spaces to play except in the alleys and courtyards around their tenements, and child labor meant that many kids had no opportunities to play at all, an immigrant doctor inspired a Boston womenâs group to take up the topic of play. Â From its humble beginnings in a single sandpile in the North End, the playground movement grew to a quasi-scientific pursuit, until it was finally adopted as a national goal. By the early 20th century, safe playgrounds with structured, supervised play were seen as vital to childrenâs moral and educational development.
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Love that Dirty Water (episode 90)
For many people, summertime in Boston means canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding, fishing, and even swimming in the rivers that run through and around our city.  To celebrate the season this week weâre coming three classic episodes about industry, adventure, and romance on the water. We’ll hear about the nearly 400 year history of corn, cotton, and condos on the Mother Brook; some late-nineteenth century fake news about Vikings on the Charles; and the early 20th century canoe craze that drove the state police to ban kissing in canoes on the Charles River. Listen now!
The Charles River Esplanade (episode 87)
This week, over a half a million people from near and far will flock to the banks of the Charles River to celebrate our nation’s Independence Day. Why did Boston decide to create new land dedicated to recreation along the river, and how did some of that land end up being used for a highway instead? The story begins with the Storrow family. Listen now!
Episode 59: Corn, Cotton, and Condos; 378 Years on the Mother Brook
Everyone knows the Charles River and the Neponset River, but have you ever heard of the Mother Brook? Â It is Americaâs first industrial canal, built by Puritan settlers in the earliest days of Massachusetts Bay Colony, and vital to the development of Dorchester, Hyde Park, and Dedham. Â Plus, by connecting the rivers on either side, it turns the landmass occupied by Newton, Brookline, and most of Boston into an island!
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Episode 41: Canoes and Canoodling on the Charles River
During a late nineteenth century canoe craze, recreational canoeing became Boston’s hottest leisure time activity. Â Young lovers took advantage of the privacy and intimacy of a canoe to engage in a little bit of illicit romance, leading a humorless state police agency to ban kissing in canoes on the Charles River.
Continue reading Episode 41: Canoes and Canoodling on the Charles River
Episode 17: Vikings on the Charles River (mini-sode)
Your hosts Nikki and Jake are away this week, but through the magic of podcasting, we’re still able to bring you this mini-sode. Â Since we’re exploring Iceland, land of the Vikings, it only makes sense to bring you the story of a 19th Century Boston millionaire who was convinced that Vikings had once settled along the Charles River. Â Listen to this week’s episode to find out why!
Continue reading Episode 17: Vikings on the Charles River (mini-sode)