Birth. Stamps. Death.

Sam Goodson and Christopher Putney
  • 5.0 (8)
  • History

Birth. Stamps. Death. is an unpretentious, sometimes esoteric—but always eclectic—show about stamps, stamp collectors, and the histories and cultures that produce them.

  1. Road to Boston 2026: All Things Postcrossing with Ana Campos

    May 25

    Road to Boston 2026: All Things Postcrossing with Ana Campos

    The Boston 2026 World Stamp Expo is here folks! And we're over the moon to be chatting in this episode with Ana Campos, founding and long-time team member at Postcrossing. If you're new to Postcrossing—or were unaware that the USPS is unveiling its first ever stamps to commemorate the project during the show—you're in luck. Ana tells us all about what it took to get here, and why Postcrossing is still a force for fun and connection for collectors and non-collectors alike after more than two decades. We chat with Ana about the early years of the project (founded in 2005 by Paulo Magalhães!), Postcrossing's remarkable growth and evolution, and all the awesome Postcrossing meet-ups and other activities taking place in Boston this week. Ana joins us from Boston, where her and the team will also be part of the First Day of Issue Ceremony taking place at the show on Tuesday May 26th. You won't want to miss it. As always, we'd love to hear from you, especially if you're writing from Boston! Listeners who write to us from the World Stamp Expo—or during this show week—will receive a special thank you item while supplies last. Postcrossers unite!—and write to us at: P.O. Box 26 Grant Central Station New York, NY 10163 (Or digitally, at: birthstampsdeath@gmail.com) Links: The Boston 2026 World Stamp Expo About Postcrossing (Postcrossing) The Postcrossing Blog (curated by Ana) Register for the Postcrossing First Day of Issue Ceremony (USPS) Other First Day Ceremonies for new stamps at the Show (USPS) Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC, USPS) A bit about stamp designer and artist Antonio Alcala (NPR) Shout-out to All Good for our theme song (Spotify) And thanks to our special outro "assistant" on this one, Scott McKenzie, for his (1967) "San Francisco."

    36 min
  2. The Road to Boston 2026: Zeppelins, Air Mail, and More with Jim Hill & David Ball

    May 22

    The Road to Boston 2026: Zeppelins, Air Mail, and More with Jim Hill & David Ball

    With the World Stamp Expo officially kicking-off tomorrow—Saturday, May 23, 2026—we're thrilled to chat in this episode with Zeppelin mail expert Jim Hill and fellow aero/astrophilatelist and friend of the show, David Ball, current President of the American Air Mail Society (AAMS). In addition to opening some excellent listener mail, we chat with Jim and David about a new project debuting next week in Boston: a first-of-its-kind digital zeppelin and airship catalogue long in the works by a team of expert collectors and postal historians. We also hear from David and Jim about the litany of killer talks, programming, and other aerophilatelic goings-on people can expect to find at the show. Buckle up folks, because the World Stamp Expo's almost here! Links: Boston 2026 (World Stamp Expo) Philosateleia (our favorite local post!) Background on local posts (Wikipedia) Local Post Collectors Society (LPCS) The American Air Mail Society (AAMS) The U.S.S. Los Angeles, a 1920s-30s US Navy Airship (Reparations Zeppelins era) Cheryl Ganz's Maynard Sundman Lecture on the Graf Zeppelin issues (Smithsonian) Chery's book on the 1933 Century of Progress (Worlds Fair) (Amazon) The Union Army's Civil War-era Ballon Corps (Arlington Public Library) The Zeppelin Collectors Group (Facebook) As always, we'd love to hear from you, especially if you're writing from Boston! Listeners who write to us from the World Stamp Expo will receive a special thank you item. Write us at: P.O. Box 26 Grant Central Station New York, NY 10163 Or digitally, at: birthstampsdeath@gmail.com

    1 hr
  3. The Road to Boston 2026: Lisa Bobb-Semple (USPS) on Celebrating the Best of America

    May 15

    The Road to Boston 2026: Lisa Bobb-Semple (USPS) on Celebrating the Best of America

    Our count-down to the World Stamp Expo in Boston (May 23-30) continues folks! And we are absolutely thrilled to have a very special guest on the show this week: Lisa Bobb-Semple, Director of Stamp Services at the United States Postal Service. Lisa's a 20+ year veteran of the USPS, and was appointed to lead the national stamp program in 2023. In this rich conversation, Lisa tells us all about the considerable work that goes on behind the scenes at USPS—over years—to bring a stamp idea from basic concept, through CSAC approval, vetting, design, and production, and the vital role stamps continue to play in "celebrating the best" of the nation's history and people. Lisa also gives us an insider's view of the National Postal Forum, the highly anticipated Postcrossing stamp, and the exciting first day ceremonies we can expect in Boston starting next week. Links: The Boston 2026 World Stamp Expo (Expo) Stamps to be unveiled in Boston (USPS) The Postcrossing Issue (Postcrossing Blog/USPS) The Stamp Encore Contest (USPS) The USPS Semi-quincentennial (USPS) 250 Years of Delivering Stamp Pane (USPS) The (2026) Harriet Powers Issue (USPS) More about Lisa's work and her USPS journey (UVA) The World Expo Issue (USPS) As always, we'd love to hear from you; write to the show at: P.O. Box 26 Grant Central Station New York, NY 10163 Or digitally, at: birthstampsdeath@gmail.com

    52 min
  4. The Road to Boston 2026: Graham Beck on the World Stamp Expo

    May 6

    The Road to Boston 2026: Graham Beck on the World Stamp Expo

    We are long overdue to catch up listeners, and very glad to be back in your feeds after a busy April—especially to cover such a riveting topic with returning guest and friend of the pod, Graham Beck (Exploring Stamps, CSAC, piXPost). Graham's helping us kick-off our "Road to Boston" series, where—in the weeks ahead—we'll learn all about the much-anticipated World Stamp Expo taking place in Boston May 23-30th. As you'll hear, it's going to be big—and filled with all sorts of philatelic fun and activities. We also speak with Graham about the latest on all things piXPost, new Postcrossing stamps being unveiled at the show, and his collaboration with the modern Scott Catalogues—as well as the Exploring Stamps Studio. You won't want to miss this one. As always, we'd also love to hear for you; write to the show at: Birth. Stamps. Death. P.O. Box 26 Grand Central Station New York, NY 10163 Links: Boston 2026 information Boston 2026 program details The soon-to-be-released Postcrossing Stamps (USPS/Postcrossing) Exploring Stamps and Scott (Graham's Youtube channel) The piXPost app An intro. to international stamp expos in the United States (Mystic) CSAC's work (USPS) The storied Pony Express riders' Mochila (Smithsonian)

    1h 3m
  5. The Iconic USPS Blue Box (and other philatelic fun)

    Mar 2

    The Iconic USPS Blue Box (and other philatelic fun)

    In this episode we're diving into our first batch of listener mail (much more to come folks!), as well as a topic of long-standing interest to (at least one) of our hosts: the USPS's iconic Standard Collection Box, aka the "blue box." For well over a century these sturdy steel sentinels (and their many predecessors) have helped move mail around the country's vast delivery network. And though their volume and locations continue to change, they remain a fascinating and ubiquitous fixture of American postal infrastructure—and a small but wonderful symbol of resilience and community. As always, we'd love to hear from you: write to the show and we may send you a little something in return! Birth. Stamps. Death. P.O. Box 26 Grand Central Station New York, NY 10163 Links: USPS Postal Facts on Blue Collection Boxes (USPS) Mail Collection Boxes: A Brief History (USPS) Background on early mail collection boxes in urban places (Smithsonian) Evolution of the Post Box (The Postal Museum, London) I Love Jeb Co. Mailboxes (A wonderful personal blog) What is a Collection Box? (USPS) Find some real-life blue boxes on PixPost (@chrispy_stamps) Episode gallery (including our friend Cole's Chicago snapshot of old mail boxes!)

    48 min
  6. Revisiting the Fourth Bureau Issues

    Feb 7

    Revisiting the Fourth Bureau Issues

    In this episode we look at an iconic series of U.S. stamps, the so-called "Fourth Bureau Issues"—a quintessential example of early twentieth-century American definitives produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) starting in 1922. This series ushered in major changes in both the speed and scale of stamp production—moving from flat plate to rotary presses—as well as the kinds of images that found their way onto these gorgeous issues. We're also joined by a special guest to learn a little more about the production details. As always, we'd love to receive some mail from our dear listeners. Write us at: Birth. Stamps. Death. P.O. Box 26 Grand Central Station New York, NY 10163 Note: We've received some wonderful listener mail since the recording of this episode, so if you've sent us something and we don't mention it here don't fret! We're diving into your wonderful missives and a long-awaited answer to our Irish stamp riddle in next week's episode. Links: Our Website Our Instagram We're very grateful to the band All Good for supplying our intro and outro music, check them out on Instagram and head over to Spotify or wherever you stream your music to give them a listen. The Fourth Bureau Issues (Smithsonian) Portrait of Sioux Chief Hollow Horn Bear (Smithsonian) Close up of the 15c Statue of Liberty Single (Smithsonian) Close up of the 30c American Buffalo Single (Smithsonian) $5 Head of "Freedom" Single (Smithsonian) Our Special Guest's Hipstamp store Special thanks to Rod Juell's excellent writing and research on the Fourth Bureaus, much of which we relied on for this episode.

    57 min
  7. Mr. Zip! with Haley Maloney

    Jan 19

    Mr. Zip! with Haley Maloney

    The Birth. Stamps. Death. team is joined by Haley Maloney to discuss the USPS's iconic zip code mascot Mr. Zip! Mr. Zip dragged the mailing public reluctantly into the zip code era, improving the efficiency of mail delivery and endearing millions to his cheerful orange visage. We also talk about what Haley collects, what got her into collecting, and the joys of the regional stamp club. We would LOVE to receive some mail from our dear listeners, write us at: Birth. Stamps. Death. P.O. Box 26 Grand Central Station New York, NY 10163 In our zeal to bring the zip saga to you we misstated a couple of facts: 1) there is no Mr. Zip stamp, a grave injustice 2) the United States has 10 first digit postal regions, not 9. Links The Mr. Zip promotional campaign (Smithsonian) Overview of Mr. Zip's many uses in the 1960s and 70s (Smithsonian) Mr. Zip as a pop cultural icon (Smithsonian) Overview of Mr. Zip's origins and trajectory over the years Haley's Art Insta Ryan Goldberg's Bird City Our Website Our Instagram We're very grateful to the band All Good for supplying our intro and outro music, check them out on Instagram and head over to Spotify or wherever you stream your music to give them a listen.

    51 min
  8. Grand Central Station (the Post Office!)

    12/23/2025

    Grand Central Station (the Post Office!)

    We're back, dear listeners, with sincere apologies for our prolonged absence. Today we talk about Grand Central Station, the post office near Grand Central Terminal, where we have recently opened a P.O. Box for all of your fan mail. We also have a brief guest appearance by the pod's Irish correspondent Katie Swabb, who offers us a tantalizing postal riddle. She'll join us again on a future episode to answer the riddle and tell us about her research in the Irish National Folklore Collection. To respond to the riddle, or to just say hello, write to: Birth. Stamps. Death. P.O. Box 26 Grand Central Station New York, NY 10163 Links: Historic Photographs of the Station Grand Central Terminal Stamp Our Website Our Instagram We're very grateful to the band All Good for supplying our intro and outro music, check them out on Instagram and head over to Spotify or wherever you stream your music to give them a listen.

    55 min
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Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Birth. Stamps. Death. is an unpretentious, sometimes esoteric—but always eclectic—show about stamps, stamp collectors, and the histories and cultures that produce them.

Information

  • Creator
    Sam Goodson and Christopher Putney
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Sam Goodson 2025
  • Show Website
    Birth. Stamps. Death.

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