Episodes

25 minutes ago
Jenny Lind Serenades the City
25 minutes ago
25 minutes ago
In September 1850, Swedish opera star Jenny Lind began an 18-month tour of American cities promoted by P.T. Barnum. The tour brought her to Buffalo four times in 1851, but one of the performances was special. It was a fundraiser, bringing relief to victims of a fire in the city’s Canal District. This is the story of Lind’s American tour, her visits to Buffalo, and the 1851 Canal District fire.
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**The Echo Song, as heard in the podcast is performed by Swedish soprano Elisabeth Söderström. As stated in the episode, there are no known surviving recordings of Jenny Lind.

Friday Mar 07, 2025
The Silent Bells of Buffalo
Friday Mar 07, 2025
Friday Mar 07, 2025
In the 1860s, Buffalo Bishop John Timon commissioned a 43-bell carillon for the city's St. Joseph's Cathedral. The bells, however, would run into a series of problems which prevented them from being heard for more than a half century--and then for nearly another century after that. This is the story of the bells, their unlucky journey, and their eventual installation at Buffalo's Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Tuesday Jan 14, 2025
Wedding of the Waters: The Opening of the Erie Canal
Tuesday Jan 14, 2025
Tuesday Jan 14, 2025
October 26, 1825 marked the ceremonial opening of the Erie Canal, a waterway that would shape the future of the nation. To celebrate, Governor DeWitt Clinton led a cross-state procession, stopping in each town along the man-made waterway.

Monday Jun 24, 2024
Suicide of a Goddess
Monday Jun 24, 2024
Monday Jun 24, 2024
On July 1, 1902, the Pan-American Exposition's Goddess of Light statue was torn to the ground. The statue, which adorned the fair's tallest structure, had become a symbol of the Exposition. Now, it had been sold off. However, it would never make it to its new owner.

Monday Apr 15, 2024
Two Souls Lost: The Titanic and Buffalo
Monday Apr 15, 2024
Monday Apr 15, 2024
112 years ago today, RMS Titanic disappeared into the icy depths of the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg. The disaster would take the lives of more than 1,500 passengers and crew, two of whom were Buffalo's own. This is their story.

Friday Mar 22, 2024
The Saturn Club Liquor Raid
Friday Mar 22, 2024
Friday Mar 22, 2024
On August 23, 1923, a team of Federal Prohibition Agents raided Buffalo's elite Saturn Club in search of illegal alcohol. The raid, which uncovered large amounts of booze, was led by one of the Saturn Club's own members, "Wild" Bill Donovan.

Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Rise and Fall of the Canadiana
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Between 1910 and 1956, the Canadiana ferried passengers between Buffalo and Canada's Crystal Beach Amusement Park. This is the story of the ship, her demise, and her near resurrection.

Thursday Jul 06, 2023
Love Canal, Part III: Escape
Thursday Jul 06, 2023
Thursday Jul 06, 2023
Twenty years after Hooker Chemical buried its last metal drum in the depths of William Love's abandoned canal, local residents begin experiencing health problems. The ensuing years become a fight for their lives.

Friday Jun 09, 2023
Love Canal, Part II: Hooker Chemical
Friday Jun 09, 2023
Friday Jun 09, 2023
Fifty years after William Love abandoned his Model City settlement in Niagara Falls, a local chemical manufacturer made use of his half-excavated canal. Part III coming next week.

Friday May 26, 2023
Love Canal, Part I: Model City
Friday May 26, 2023
Friday May 26, 2023
In 1894, William T. Love broke ground on his grand vision—a utopian community which he called "Model City." His dream however, would never come to pass. In time, what remained of his project would become the epicenter of one our nation's worst environmental disasters. Stay tuned for part two.