The Past and The Curious: A History Podcast for Kids and Families
Mick Sullivan
A History Podcast for Kids! Parents love us, Teachers love us, and most importantly, kids do too!
History can be amazing, inspiring and relevant to anyone. We love to share the stories of Spies, funny foods, George Washington's foibles, early advancements in cartooning and ballooning and much more! A professional music score and important songs accompany nearly every themed episode. Proud Kids Listen Member @pastandcurious
History can be amazing, inspiring and relevant to anyone. We love to share the stories of Spies, funny foods, George Washington's foibles, early advancements in cartooning and ballooning and much more! A professional music score and important songs accompany nearly every themed episode. Proud Kids Listen Member @pastandcurious
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 13, 2018 • 25min
Ep. 22: Play Ball! Jackie Mitchell, Moe Berg, Summertime and more
You don't have to like baseball to like this episode!
First, Kelly Moore shares the story of Jackie Mitchell, a young woman who struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
Next, Bailey Mazik of the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory sheds some light on the baseball playing spy, Moe Berg.
Amber Estes Thieneman and Mick Sullivan perform "Summertime," plus a summery quiz-time!
Episode written and produced by Mick Sullivan
May 21, 2018 • 26min
Ep. 21: Journeys! Horatio and Bud, John Ledyard and more!
The history podcast for kids and adults joins the Kids Listen Sweeps party and tells two stories about two great adventures. Melinda Beck tells the tale of Horatio Jackson and the first drive across the country (and his dog Bud), while Will Oldham/Bonnie Prince Billy shares the story of John Ledyard - who would've made it around the globe if it wasn't for that touchy queen, Catherine the Great.
Also features quiz time and a performance of "Long Journey Home" by Mick Sullivan. Stories written by Mick Sullivan. Someone hire him to write stuff, please.
Apr 6, 2018 • 30min
Ep. 20: Bridges - Emily Roebling, Sonny Rollins and more!
Join us for two tales connected by bridges. First, Emily Roebling winds up as a lead engineer in the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, the first American woman to find herself in such a position.
Second, Sonny Rollins, one fo the greatest saxophonists in history isn't happy with his playing, despite the fame he receives. His days on a bridge change his life.
Also quiz time, and a new segment with Dr. Awkward, the Palindrome Professor.
Featuring Mick Sullivan, Meg Samples, Graeme Gardiner, and Lani Powers.
Mar 7, 2018 • 27min
Ep.19 The Statue Of Liberty!
The Statue of Liberty could have wound up in Egypt, Philadelphia, or the bottom of the ocean. Once she wound up in New York she had to wait for America to raise a lot of money - which they did in many different ways.
Four quick, funny, and poignant stories will fill you on on the history of the most American of Symbols.
Featuring Melinda Beck and Mr. Eric (What If World - Podcast)
"New Colossus" poem read by the Kids Listen Players:
Andrew and Polly (Ear Snacks)
Joey Mascio (ImagiNate)
Rebecca Weaver (Cozy Corner)
Chaska, Mirabel, Leilani and Brennan (Book Power for Kids)
Also includes "Lady Be Good" performed by Mick Sullivan.
Episode written by Mick Sullivan
Feb 7, 2018 • 23min
Ep. 18: Music! Marian Anderson, The Great Caruso and more!
Episode 18 of the most engaging history podcast for kids!
Did the invention of the record player make an opera singer named Enrique Caruso the first superstar of music? It might just have.
What did Marian Anderson do when she was denied the stage at a theatre because of the color of her skin? She found a bigger audience and a bigger stage.
Featuring the voices of Jason Lawrence, Meg Samples, and Chaska, Mirabel, and Leilani from Book Power for Kids Podcast.
Jan 6, 2018 • 29min
Ep. 17 Spies!
Kate Warne saved Abraham Lincoln's life on the way to his inauguration. John Honeyman may (or may not)have been a double agent who helped George Washington's famous Crossing of the Delaware. We'll hear these stories and much more!
You'll hear hear Amber Estes-Theineman sing the classic "I'm Confessin'" while you're here, too!
Dec 15, 2017 • 21min
Christmas Special - Mummies and Bladders!
Christmastime means two things to us: mummies and bladders.
Join us as we meet a young William Clark, an accidental and enterprising watch salesman named Sears, and the hottest gift of the 1971 holiday season.
Featuring "Kashmir of the Bells" by Squeeze-bot
Dec 7, 2017 • 29min
Ep. 16 Up In The Air!
Have you ever heard about the time Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt ducked out of a dinner to take a flight over Washington DC?
Or about how Bessie Coleman had to go all the way to France to learn how to fly an airplane because no one would teach her in America?
This episode also features the Fred Fischer and Alfred Bryan song from 1910, "Come Josephine In My Flying Machine," which is performed by Mick Sullivan and Suki Anderson.
"Bessie Coleman" read by Kelly Moore (featuring the voice of AJ Cornell)
"Amelia and Eleanor" read by Amber Estes-Thieneman
Production, music and stories by Mick Sullivan
Also featuring incidental music from Squeeze-bot
Nov 24, 2017 • 18min
Bonus Episode: Curious Names
There are a lot of really great names in the past - like, just really cool sounding names. So we're picking a few of our favorites and telling a story or two about them.
This episode features American Revolution figure Button Gwinnet and Harlem Renaissance artist Zora Neale Hurston.But there's a lot more ground we cover than just those two!
Nov 7, 2017 • 26min
Ep. 15 Cartoons!
Everyone loves cartoons! So we’re taking an unusual look at two big moments in cartoon history – when a vaudeville performer and comic-strip writer made animation history on a cold Chicago night, and also the time a cheeky political cartoonist brought down one of the most crooked politicians in history.
Gertie the Dinosaur and Winsor McCay read by Amber Estes-Thieneman
Thomas Nast and Boss Tweed read by Jason Lawrence
On the Sunny Side of the Street performed by Mick Sullivan
The Past and the Curious is a history podcast for kids, families and adults created by a professional museum educator with the help of brilliant friends. We are a proud Kids Listen member and dedicated to nurturing curiosity of the past in everyone.
Written and produced by Mick Sullivan. Don’t steal things you didn’t create.


