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Jason Donner

Host of Old Kentucky Tales podcast

  • Brent and Jason talk about a comical hypnotist from the early 1900's, Stanley Hart, the Laugh King. The Fake History Sponsors include an ad for Foot Powered Scroll Saws and an ad for Jello Ice Cream Powder. Share comments here or on the Apple Podcasts app, iTunes or NPROne. Old Kentucky Tales is produced by sound engineer Todd Birdsong at Paducah School of Art and Design on the campus of West Kentucky Community and Technical College
  • Brent and Jason are joined by WKCTC English professor Kelly Paul as they discuss several women who fought alongside the soldiers during the Civil War. The Fake History Sponsors include an ad for the Egg Cage and an ad for Ms. Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative. Share comments here or on the Apple Podcasts app, iTunes or NPROne. Old Kentucky Tales is produced by sound engineer Todd Birdsong at Paducah School of Art and Design on the campus of West Kentucky Community and Technical College
  • Jason and Brent examine the memoir of Dr. Daniel Drake, Pioneer Life in Kentucky, with a tale of local customs, ad hoc whiskey sales and who has to milk the cows. The Fake History Sponsors include an ad for a mid-century Electric Clothes Dryer sponsored by a Kentucky power company and an ad for The Boyd-White Private Surgical Hospital in 1896. And we learn how to make Todd's namesake drink in more Producer Appreciation Month. Share comments here or on the Apple Podcasts app, iTunes or NPROne. Old Kentucky Tales is produced by sound engineer Todd Birdsong at Paducah School of Art and Design on the campus of West Kentucky Community and Technical College.
  • Brent and Jason recount the story of 19th century Kentucky artist Joel Hart, his marble sculpture Woman Triumphant and how it was destroyed. The History Sponsors are ads for a 1954 Method To Cure Bedwetting and Munsingwear's Horizontal-Fly Knit Briefs, with even more from Producer Appreciation Month. Share comments here or on the Apple Podcasts app, iTunes or NPROne. Old Kentucky Tales is produced by sound engineer Todd Birdsong at Paducah School of Art and Design on the campus of West Kentucky Community and Technical College.
  • Jason and Brent discuss the backstory of the invention of chewing gum as Dr. Colgan's Taffy Tolu Gum. The History Sponsors are ads for Vacuums For Kids and Hardney and Landhoffer's Ladies Restaurant, with more from Producer Appreciation Month. Share comments here or on the Apple Podcasts app, iTunes or NPROne. Old Kentucky Tales is produced by sound engineer Todd Birdsong at Paducah School of Art and Design on the campus of West Kentucky Community and Technical College.
  • Brent and Jason (plus Todd, again) dive into the illustrious firsthand account of the 1862 Battle of Perryville, Kentucky. Told from the perspective of a common soldier with gruesome-ish details, the recollection has its moments of uncertainty, exhaustion, levity and cooperation. The Fake History Sponsors are ads for Mother's Friend Makes Childbirth Easy and Dr. Vanderveer's Genuine Schiedam Schnapps. And they 'celebrate' Producer Appreciation Month. Share comments here or on the Apple Podcasts app, iTunes or NPROne. Old Kentucky Tales is produced by sound engineer Todd Birdsong at Paducah School of Art and Design on the campus of West Kentucky Community and Technical College.
  • Jason and Brent (plus Todd) discuss how people reacted to the Bubonic Plague in the mid-1300s, otherwise known as the Black Death, contrasting that with the 2020 pandemic.
  • Brent and Jason investigate the 1806 duel between a young Andrew Jackson and accomplished duelist Charles Dickinson. Their complex feud led to a tense, bloody duel just over the border from Tennessee, the details of which are compelling and decisive. They are joined by political consultant Daniel Hurt.
  • Brent and Jason discuss the the World War II story of wives and mothers working in a munitions factory in Kentucky and how that pivotal role they played for the war effort would change how many Americans saw work opportunities they never imagined.
  • Brent and Jason discuss prohibitionist Carry Nation, a Kentucky native who traveled the country to crusade against alcohol, and her physical confrontation with a 1904 saloon keeper.