The Mississippi Valley Traveler Podcast

Dean Klinkenberg
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  • VIAGENS E LUGARES
  • QUINZENAL
The Mississippi Valley Traveler Podcast

The Mississippi River has cut a deep path through the heart of America for thousands of years, but how well do we really know the river beyond Huck Finn and headline-grabbing floods? In this podcast, Dean Klinkenberg wades into stories about the characters and places from the big river’s past and present.

  1. River Songs & Gratitude: Wrapping up 2024

    27/11/2024

    River Songs & Gratitude: Wrapping up 2024

    Send us a textA busy year is coming to an end, so we’re going to ease our way out of 2024 with a short episode that features a note of thanks and bonus interview content. This year, I asked eight interviewees to pick a song that represents something about their experiences with the Mississippi River. I’ve spliced together their picks for this episode, and they cover a lot of territory, from classic river songs to a couple of unexpected choices. While I can’t include the songs in this podcast ...

    17min
  2. What Can the Mississippi’s Past Tell Us About Its Future? A Conversation with Historian John Anfinson

    06/11/2024

    What Can the Mississippi’s Past Tell Us About Its Future? A Conversation with Historian John Anfinson

    Send us a textHistorian John Anfinson has spent much of his adult life working in jobs that keep him close to the Mississippi River, first with the US Army Corps of Engineers, then later with the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, a part of the National Park Service. In this episode, we have a wide-ranging discussion about his career as a river historian. During his tenure with the Corps of Engineers, for example, he learned of the work of Henry Bosse, whose photographs and maps ...

    1h11min
  3. Traveling the Mississippi One Week at a Time: Anne Sherve-Ose's 13-Year Journey Down the River

    23/10/2024

    Traveling the Mississippi One Week at a Time: Anne Sherve-Ose's 13-Year Journey Down the River

    Send us a textEvery year, dozens of people load up their canoes or kayaks and set out to travel the length of the Mississippi River. Anne Sherve-Ose and two friends took a different approach. Over the course of 13 years, they paddled the Mississippi River one week at a time. In this episode, I talk with Anne Sherve-Ose about those trips. She describes how the trips evolved and changed over time, shares an episode where they got stranded, and talks about the joys she experienced being on the r...

    50min
  4. The Dark Side of Steamboat Travel: The Disasters that Claimed Thousands of Lives on the Mississippi River

    09/10/2024

    The Dark Side of Steamboat Travel: The Disasters that Claimed Thousands of Lives on the Mississippi River

    Send us a textSteamboats revolutionized travel, dramatically shortening the time it took to get from place to place. When we think of the peak period of steamboat travel, we often picture images of tall boats with lacy trim and passengers dressed in finery relaxing in elegant lounges. But those steamboats were also prone to catastrophic failure that even the well-heeled passengers couldn’t escape. In this episode, I describe the threats that steamboat passengers and crew faced every day: the ...

    43min
  5. Much More than Snakes: The Unexpected Beauty and Unique Ecology of Snake Road

    25/09/2024

    Much More than Snakes: The Unexpected Beauty and Unique Ecology of Snake Road

    Send us a textIn this episode, I talk with wildlife biologist Mark Vukovich about the unique area known as Snake Road. Located about 40 miles south of Chester, Illinois, Snake Road passes through the LaRue-Pine Hills and Otter Pond Research Natural Areas. It’s an area full of surprises any time of year, but it’s best known for a few weeks in spring and fall when snakes move between the bluffs and nearby wetlands and the paved road is closed to protect them. In this episode, Mark talks about t...

    1h13min
  6. Explorers, Egos, and the Search for the Elusive Mississippi River Headwaters

    11/09/2024

    Explorers, Egos, and the Search for the Elusive Mississippi River Headwaters

    Send us a textToday, we all know—assume—that the Mississippi River begins at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota. How did we figure this out? Why does it matter? In this episode, I dig into the history of how European and American explorers searched the swamps and forests of Minnesota trying to figure out exactly where the Mississippi River springs to life, as well as what motivated their searches. Henry Schoolcraft is usually credited as the person who figured it out, but he had a lot of help,...

    36min
  7. Winged Wonders: Unraveling the Mysteries of Dragonflies and Damselflies

    28/08/2024

    Winged Wonders: Unraveling the Mysteries of Dragonflies and Damselflies

    Send us a textAmy Janik has a passion for winged creatures, which is how her professional career shifted from birds to insects in the order Odonata—dragonflies and damselflies. In this episode, we go deep into their world. After Amy describes how she got interested in dragonflies and damselflies, she offers a few tips about how to tell them apart, describes the species native to the Midwest near the Mississippi River, what they like to eat, and their life cycles. Based on her experiences in t...

    43min
  8. When Change is Possible: General John A. Logan’s Journey from Defending Slavery to Advocating for Equal Rights

    31/07/2024

    When Change is Possible: General John A. Logan’s Journey from Defending Slavery to Advocating for Equal Rights

    Send us a textJohn A. Logan grew up in a well-to-do household in Murphysboro, Illinois, in the years before the Civil War. He had political ambitions early, maybe even from the moment he took his first breath, but the trajectory of his career took some remarkable turns. In this episode, I talk with Betsy Brown and Laura Varner from the General John A. Logan Museum in Murphysboro about his remarkable life and what lessons we might take from it. We talk about the early years of his political ca...

    1h6min
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Sobre

The Mississippi River has cut a deep path through the heart of America for thousands of years, but how well do we really know the river beyond Huck Finn and headline-grabbing floods? In this podcast, Dean Klinkenberg wades into stories about the characters and places from the big river’s past and present.

Informações

  • Criado por
    Dean Klinkenberg
  • Anos de atividade
    2022 - 2024
  • Episódios
    53
  • Classificação
    Livre
  • Copyright
    © 2025 The Mississippi Valley Traveler Podcast
  • Site do podcast
    The Mississippi Valley Traveler Podcast

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