Episode 2: Explore the Ancient Great Lakes Crossroads Linking All North America—And Other Indigenous Revelations You Never Learned in School
Release Date: 09/23/2019
Episode 15: War of 1812 Factoids Americans Would Love to Know
North Americana
PBS storyteller Robert Reid shares his funny factual dive into the war that few people can explain on either side of the border. And why all this matters today.
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Episode 14: New France Cuisine Across North America
North Americana
Beyond poutine, two stories in this episode set the table for the varied culinary legacy of New France in North America. From Montreal bagels to Cajun gumbo.
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Episode 13: A King, a President & a Hotdog Save the Free World
North Americana
The little-known story of how a King, a US president, and a hotdog saved the free world. And how our host Liz Beatty is connected to all this!
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Episode 12: Mushing From Fairbanks to Whitehorse - The Yukon Quest
North Americana
An insider take on this cross-border odyssey from National Geographic photographer and writer Katie Orlinsky. We get the goods straight from mushers who take on this most gruelling of dog sled races.
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Episode 11: Canadian Black Baseball’s Quest for Cooperstown
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National Geographic Editor, Heather Greenwood Davis, reveals how a black baseball team in Ontario, pre-Jackie Robinson, were among the best in the world. And how their descendants are still fighting for their due recognition.
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Episode 10: The Hawaiian Roots of BC’s Salt Spring Island
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Long before steamships and airplanes, Hawaiians were planting roots in British Columbia’s Salt Spring Island. And they still are.
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Episode 9: Martin Short, Eugene Levy and the Moment Unknown Canadian Comics Would Change US Comedy
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From Eugene Levy, Martin Short and Toronto's 1960s version of Godspell to the Emmy-sweeping Schitt’s Creek — we return to the precise moment when a group of unknown Canadian comics were launched and American comedy would never be the same.
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Episode 8: How Did Siberian Reindeer Get to Canada’s Arctic
North Americana
Lonely Planet Editor, Alex Howard, shares this crazy 1930s quest — Siberian reindeer shipped to Alaska, then driven over 1500 miles to Canada’s Mackenzie Delta. And they’re still there today!
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Episode 7: Montreal and NYC’s Hip Hasidic Neighbourhoods
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A deep dive into these hip duelling traditional Jewish neighbourhoods from National Geographic contributor Nina Caplan.
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Episode 6: Butter Tarts Explained by a US Foodie
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Fat, sugar and gluten come together in a way that beguiles American foodie, Carolyn Heller. She digs in to explore why butter tarts are so deeply Canadian.
info_outlineThink the explorers or the voyageurs opened up North America, finding trade and travel routes? Do you imagine regional indigenous peoples once living in idyllic isolation? Think again. With the help of National Geographic Travel Media Editor Norie Quintos, North Americana explores the massive crossroads of pre-contact North America. Northern Ontario’s Manitoulin Island is a fascinating portal to the Great Lakes first peoples, and their ancient axis across which trade, people and ideas flowed from the far north to the Gulf of Mexico to the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic coast. And all this millennia before Christopher Columbus.
In this episode, meet the Anishinaabe people of the Great Lakes flowing across the Canada US border. Hear their fascinating stories on their own terms. Like our host Liz Beatty, you’ll be forever changed.
Podcast: https://www.northamericanapodcast.com
Facebook: @northamericanapodcast
Twitter: @north_podcast
Instagram: @northamericana
See images, get links to insider travel tips and resources for everything in Episode 2 on our show page. Also, hear some common misconceptions debunked and more little-known indigenous history from the full interview of Michigan State University Professor John Norder, a Native American of the Spirit Lake Tribe of North Dakota.