Making History Fun and Approachable

We want history to be relatable with our main character, Sierra, a high school newspaper reporter who can see and talk to spirits and is not afraid to ask historical figures tough questions. We’re pairing each episode with worksheets, activities, and quizzes so teachers, homeschoolers, and families can explore history in a fun and engaging way. Alongside The Spectral Summit, our sister series The Literary Summit will pair famous poems and short stories that were popular during those historic periods so the students not only get a history lesson but a sense of what people in that time were reading, including authors like Edgar Allen Poe, Emily Dickenson, O. Henry,  Alexander Hamilton, Walt Whitman, Dorothy Parker and many others. You have the option of listening to the audio portion or watching the video of the episodes which includes historic photos of the figures and events we reference. 

Our vision is to offer these podcasts/videos and materials through a low-cost subscription — starting at just $10/month for one historical and one literary podcast/video each month, complete with classroom-ready materials. You can pick a monthly subscription on Teachable or just take one course at a time on Outschool.  We also have discounted yearly subscriptions as well as subscriptions for classrooms and schools. 

Click to go to Teachable

Click to go to Outschool

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Spectral Summit Episodes: 
Episode 1 - Harding: Legacy in Limbo – Sierra, a school newspaper editor and her friends meet the spirits of Warren and Florence Harding at a train museum and discuss his history as a journalist, POTUS and his scandalous legacy.  The President and the First Lady offer guidance after Sierra’s story on mill workers is sacked by the high school administration. 

Episode 2 - Eleanor and FDR – When Darcy, a school reporter, is having trouble writing an article about a disabled student at their school, the three teen journalists go to the train museum and tour FDR’s train car where Sierra sees the spirits of the President and Eleanor Roosevelt. Sierra gets her mill worker article published in a regional publication much to the chagrin of her principal.

Literary Summit Episodes: 
Tell Tale Poe – Join us as we discuss the influence of Edgar Allen Poe on horror, romantic and gothic literature. This episode includes Max Grimm reading Poe classics The Raven, Tale Tell Heart and Annabel Lee. 

The Ransom of Red Chief - Check out a fun episode we look at the influence of O. Henry and how his talent for plot twists and surprise endings shine as we read about a pair of bumbling kidnappers who abduct the son of a wealthy man only to find out that they picked on the wrong captive. 
 
Upcoming Episodes: 
Harding & FDR: Normalcy vs. Progress – Sierra summons the ghosts of Harding, FDR, Eleanor, and Florence for a debate on leadership, inspiring her friend and follow journalist Robbie to overcome her fear of public speaking and encourage her classmates to share their own truths.

Federalist Paper No. 70 - Alexander Hamilton argues for a strong, unified executive branch—an idea that helps frame later debates over presidential leadership, from Harding’s restraint to FDR’s expansive use of executive power. 

Ben Franklin's Silence Dogood Essays - Take a surely 16-year-old founding teen in 1722 and have him prank his older brother who runs a newspaper but won't print his writings and you get the essays which young Ben wrote to satirize New England Society through the eyes of a well-heeled middle-aged widow named Silence Dogood. Franklin even changed his handwriting so that his brother wouldn't know he wrote them. 

The First Ladies Spill the Tea - In this episode, Sierra, Darcy and Robbie discuss with Edith Wilson, Florence Harding and Eleanor Roosevelt how they handled their husbands' health issues and when it's appropriate to share information, especially as Edith, became the "steward" for President Wilson and made crucial decisions while they dealt with this stroke in 1919. 

Dorothy Parker and Savvy Humor - In The Waltz and The Telephone Call, Dorothy Parker uses humor and inner thoughts to show how people hide their true feelings, helping students think about social expectations, silence, and power.