This week on the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast, inquiring minds want to know if sea burials of the past were just as solemn and religious as those on land, why post-mortem photos taken in the past were considered more respectable than in today's modern society, could cremated ashes added to…
You’re walking through a 170-year-old cemetery and find a tombstone that’s… a desk? Welcome to Wyuka Cemetery in Nebraska City. The city itself was founded in 1855 after the U.S. Army abandoned Fort Kearny just eight years earlier. Thanks to its spot on the Missouri River, it became a boomtown…
Happy belated Flag Day! On this week’s Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast, Dianne and Jennie are honoring the women behind the American flag. You know Betsy Ross, but do you know Mary Pickersgill and Grace Wisher? Did Betsy Ross really make the first flag? And why does she have three possible…
In the previous episode of the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast (#281), Dianne and Jennie explored Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts and some of its most visited monuments including one often called, "The Boy in the Boat" which marks the grave of little Louis Mieusset. We shared the common story…
This past Monday, men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice were remembered in Memorial Day tributes across the United States, and on this episode of the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast Dianne and Jennie chat with Ryan Seidemann who returns for the latest "Death and Dying 101" segment with questions…
This week, Jennie interviews author Daniel Grace about "In the Wake of Golgotha", a novel where Judas and Pontius Pilate live again in modern New York. Their story begins at Golgotha, also known as Calvary Hill, the site of history’s most famous death, where one execution sparked a new faith…
Thirty years after her death, Erma Bombeck is still the patron saint of moms everywhere so it felt only fitting to celebrate her life and legacy with Mother's Day just around the corner. She wrote the messy, hilarious, heartwarming truth about marriage and motherhood before it was a hashtag. "I…
This week on the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery, Jennie and Dianne are joined by one of their favorite living historians MJ Henion, to unravel a Civil War mystery that still haunts historians today. Meet Brigadier General Richard B. Garnett, a Confederate officer whose story ends at Pickett’s Charge… or does it?…
On this episode of the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast, Jennie and Dianne are joined by author Gigi Berardi to talk about "Bianca’s Cure", her fact-driven historical novel about Bianca Capello, who in real life was famed for her beauty, but Gigi’s Bianca is a scientist centuries ahead of her time,…
This week, Jennie and Dianne are "digging" into some truly Ordinary Extraordinary recent news stories from cemeteries across the US. First up, Lafayette, Colorado, where a local cemetery has run out of burial space, leaving families in a lurch despite owning plots. Then, on to the stunning shores of Lake…
Tune in for this week's riveting episode as Dianne and Jennie chat with award-winning author Sherry Skye Stuart about her thrilling new book, Forgotten Female Felons. Just as Women's History Month wraps up, Jennie and Dianne chat with author Sherry Sky Stuart about her fascinating new book, Forgotten Female Felons.…
"For most of history, Anonymous was a woman." — Virginia Woolf In this episode of the Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery, Dianne and Jennie follow a single name etched on a simple marble stone in the Pioneer section of Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs - Lorenda Judd. She rests there alone. No…
What dessert would you eat in a cemetery? This week, we're sharing some of your wild and wonderful social media responses to that very question, inspired by the authors of "To Die For A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes" and "Haunted Virginia Cemeteries"! We're unwrapping a brand new episode that also…
All aboard! Join Jennie and Dianne this week as they "ride the rails" with the Pullman Porters, unsung heroes of American history! These men overcame unimaginable prejudice and racism; from being called "George" by passengers, regardless of their name, to working 400+ hours a month with little time off, their…