From the Charter Oak to the last of the red-hot mamas

If you haven’t subscribed to Grating the Nutmeg, a podcast dedicated to Connecticut history, you’ve been missing some great Hartford-related episodes.

Logo for Grating the Nutmeg, a podcast dedicated to Connecticut history.

In the August 19th episode, State Historian Walt Woodward delved into the legend of the Charter Oak. He offered “a new, true, and sometimes amusing look into the history behind this foundational legend.” Mary M. Donohue, assistant publisher of Connecticut Explored, followed on August 30 with the story of Sophie Tucker, the internationally famous entertainer who grew up in Hartford’s East End.

Speaking of entertainment, be sure to listen to the Charter Oak episode all the way to the end. That’s where Woodward channels Hartford poet Lydia Sigourney by giving a dramatic recitation of the elegy she wrote when the tree fell in 1856. It’s, um, unforgettable.

These were the 100th and 101st episodes of the podcast, a project of Woodward’s office and Connecticut Explored, a quarterly magazine concerning state history. Fortunately, you can catch up on all of the episodes in this archive. (And here are some of the Hartford-related ones.)