A couple of things

STONINGTON REMEMBERED

Originally given as a series of talks to the Stonington Travel Club in 1950, “Recollections of Old Stonington” by Anne Atwood Dodge is a vivid look at life in Stonington Borough just before the turn of the century, and presents an intriguing landscape of characters – sailors, spinsters, ministers, heretics, and many more. The reflections are a product of their time, so expect references to the status of women and some observations on her relatives’ fear of, and fascination with, foreign cultures. That said, the writing is quite beautiful and transportive in places, and the songs, social rituals, hobbies, expectations and mischief- making of past generations are on wonderful display:

“Main Street of a summer afternoon was as much an outdoor living room as a street. Where there were porches people sat on them, but not many of the old houses had porches and the more usual thing was a red carpet spread on the door steps with turkey red cushions scattered here and there and perhaps a chair or two brought out for older members of the family. All up and down the shady street was a froth of muslin skirts and a flutter of fans.”

$ 8.95, Published by Globe Pequot: globepequot. com

IN GOOD COMPANY

As podcasts go, “Grating the Nutmeg” is an exceptional companion. Produced by State Historian Walt Woodward in collaboration with Connecticut Explored magazine, the seminal, wild and weird particularities of Connecticut history are unpacked by leading authors, educators and other experts. From strange chapters in state history ( Why was Connecticut the first New England state to execute someone accused of witchcraft?) to untold or obscured narratives ( like how post- World War II federal housing

Editor’s note: Connecticut history is the focus of this occasional column. policies had a hand in creating certain racial and ethnic enclaves) Grating the Nutmeg is lively and illuminating.

Available on iTunes, iHeart Radio, Spotify, and at ctexplored. org/ listen/.

Recommended listening:

“Feasts, Facts and Fiction: Cooking Real New England Holiday Foods” ( Nov. 17, 2018): With an unforgettable disquisition on pie, this episode is worth a listen any time of year. Once you are sufficiently inspired, there are 12 recipes from Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzergerald’s book, “United Tastes: The Making of the First American Cookbook” available to download at ctexplored. org/ historic- holiday- recipes, just in time for Independence Day.

“Mark Twain’s Native American Problem” ( July 1, 2018): As history shows, extraordinary gifts are usually tethered to notoriously fallible organisms. Ironic too, that the mythology that grows up around towering figures like Twain precludes modern readers from a thorough knowledge of the man himself. As author and scholar Kerry Driscoll explores in this recorded lecture, Twain’s views on the continent’s First Nations are by turns, hostile, messy and occasionally just bizarre. Yet, the discussion is a balanced, instructive invitation to the actual living world of Samuel Clemens, who rose above it in many ways, but not all.

- Faye Parenteau