Top Story Tonight!
Summary: We are at a critical moment in history, where the 24/7 news cycle no longer just covers the story. It influences the story. Sometimes it IS the story. Do you love history and find the media maddening? #MeToo! “Top Story Tonight!” revisits great moments in history as if the modern media existed at the time - cable news, Twitter, Instagram, talk radio, reality TV, even the dark web of conspiracy theories. Imagine retelling the story of Cleopatra as the original Kim Kardashian on Instagram. Think Henry VIII as the king who wants to Make England Great Again. #MEGA! You get the idea. This podcast brings history to life—warts and all—with a modern twist.
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- Artist: Jane Wells
- Copyright: Copyright Jane Wells
Podcasts:
When God decides to create the heavens and the earth (and Man), the media is there! Confused reporters do their best to explain the unexplainable!
In the finale, the Pilgrims make peace with other local tribes after responding to threats with a brutal display of force. Meantime, stock market traders believe the investors back in England will turn a profit on this venture after all. Then the most successful daytime TV talk show host in history helps everyone celebrate Thanksgiving, with a surprise gift for the audience.
If “The Bacherlorette” existed in 1620 in New England, a young woman would not have many choices. Listen as the teenage Priscilla Mullens tries to choose between two Mayflower survivors pursuing her. We take a classic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Courtship of Miles Standish,” and ruin it with reality TV.
As Captain Myles Standish starts to build out the Plymouth Colony, the Pilgrims have yet to meet any native peoples. That suddenly changes when a tall, naked man walks into the colony to introduce himself, just as Standish is trying to get the hang of the “Instra-granite Stories” app. Then we meet Massasoit, leader of the Pokanoket, who hits the Sunday morning news programs to propose a deal with the English, one that will Make Pokanoket Great Again.
Finally, they get off the ship! They also have their first encounter with the Native Americans. It does not go well. At least the Pilgrims have chosen a place to settle, in an area near an (alleged) outcropping they (allegedly) decide to call Plymouth Rock. Young Priscilla Mullens pines for John Alden, a member of the Mayflower crew, hoping he notices her. However, it’s hard to be romantic when dozens of people are dying around you.
The Pilgrims have arrived to the New World, but they have yet to get off the ship. There is mayhem on the Mayflower, as the “Separatists” are at odds with the “Strangers,” the others on board sent over by the trip’s investors. Both sides finally agree on a governing set of rules called "The Mayflower Compact." Meantime, a small group leaves the ship to begin exploring nearby territory. They steal corn, a crime caught on tape by “Native America's Most Wanted." The local Pokanoket tribe debates the fate of these newcomers on talk radio.
It’s July, 1620, and the Puritan “Separatists” are a group of Christians on the lam from the British crown hiding out in Holland. They decide it’s time to head west to the New World. The only problem —they have no cash, so they seek investors. The investors demand more than just a return on their money. They force the “Pilgrims” to take dozens of other people with them. It’s a disaster from the get-go. We’ve got you covered on both sides of the Atlantic with breaking news!
They say history repeats itself. But would history repeat itself if every moment was tweeted, covered by cable news, dissected by conspiracy websites? Learn history a new way, as we hear the story of the Mayflower in real time, on both sides of the Atlantic, with hashtags.
