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The Long Island History Project

It’s a long island with a long history. Want to hear it? Interviews with historians, scholars, authors and anyone with a story to tell and a passion for this unique region of New York.

Jun 10, 2026

Consider the pickle. Whether sour or sweet, sliced or speared, it’s a seasoned veteran vegetable with a story to tell. New York plays a big part in that tale, as does Long Island. Today we reach deep into the barrel of food history and talk with Paul van Ravestein, co-author along with Monique Mulder of The Pickled...


May 11, 2026

Long Island played a major role in the development of whaling in the Americas. Native Americans along the south shore were well practiced in harvesting whales near the coast. They shared their knowledge with early settlers, leading to chartered companies and competition for what became, for much of the 19th century, a...


Jan 12, 2026

Today we come to praise the one-room schoolhouse of the 19th century (and some of its earlier forebears). Humble in appearance, these buildings might be easy to overlook but their existence hints at a broader social, cultural, and educational history across Long Island.

Zach Studenroth, architectural historian...


Apr 8, 2025

The voices of the past are all around us, if you know how to listen. And sometimes those voices are trapped on small thin strips of tape wrapped in cheap plastic. That’s where Robert Anen comes in. As project archivist for the Long Island Library Resources Council, he works with historical collections across Nassau...


Mar 22, 2025

Isle of Ever is Jen Calonita’s newest middle grade novel, a story grounded in the history of Long Island’s North Fork. On today’s episode, Jen discusses growing up on Long Island and spending many summers at her grandparents’ house in Mattituck. It was here, in between trips to Greenport, that she first heard...