The Lizzie Borden Podcast

In this episode we interview Steven Cheslik-deMeyer, who along with Alan Stevens Hewett and Tim Maner, created the rock opera Lizzie, which is enjoying a world-wide production life, from its humble beginnings as a 45 minute, 4-song experimental musical, created for the tiny mythic theatre company in the 1990s. LIZZIE has grown to be a […]

In this episode we interview with Derrick and Brian Belanger, publishers of Belanger Books, one of the world’s most prominent Sherlock Holmes publishers. Founded in 2015, they have an ever-expanding library of anthologies and novels. Derrick and Brian discuss their publishing house, stable of writers, and areas of interest, as well as how Lizzie Borden […]

In this episode we once again interview with Dennis Binette, co-author of many books published by the Fall River Historical Society, including The Knowlton Papers, Women at Work, the Fall River Discourses series, The Knowlton-Pearson Correspondence, The Jennings Journals, and Parallel Lives: A Social History of Lizzie A Borden and Her Fall River. Dennis discusses […]

In today’s episode we explore where the archive and the imagination meet—sometimes in productive dialogue, sometimes in open confrontation. This is a place where documents matter, facts matter, but so does the question of what history feels like once it has passed through the human mind. Our guest is Ric Rebelo, author and filmmaker, whose […]

I’m joined today by Dr. C. Michael Hiam, author of Murder Aboard: The Herbert Fuller Tragedy and the Ordeal of Thomas Bram, a gripping new work of historical true crime. This maritime mystery unfolded off the coast of Massachusetts, just three years after the trial of Lizzie Borden, and invoked startling parallels to the Borden […]

I’m joined today by the brilliant Anna Behrens, a devoted Sherlockian and fellow Lizzie Borden aficionado, for a conversation that explores an intriguing literary crossover: what happens when the world’s most famous fictional detective steps into one of America’s most infamous real-life murder cases? We’re diving into four imaginative works that bring Sherlock Holmes and […]

In this episode, we interview Dr. Tracy J. Revels, Sherlockian, author, historian, and professor of humanities at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, about her unique approach to teaching freshmen to consider how Sherlock Holmes would have investigated the Lizzie Borden case.

In this episode, we’re turning our attention to the town of Webster, Massachusetts, and a truly immersive museum experience that brings the past to life in a remarkable way. We talk with Barbara Van Reed who is the executive director of the Samuel Slater Experience and Nicole Gaudette, the museum’s program coordinator.

In this episode, we interview Bruce Dorsey, author of the book Murder in a Mill Town: Sex, Faith, and the Crime that Captivated a Nation, the story of the Sarah Maria Cornell case and its societal ramifications, including social change, the birth of a new religion, popular culture, and jurisprudence.

On this episode of the Lizzie Borden Podcast, we are pleased to bring you a reading of “The Purloined Curio” by author Richard Behrens. It is one of the earlier stories in the Lizzie Borden Girl Detective mysteries. The title is no doubt an homage to Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Purloined Letter.” The story includes […]

In this episode, we interview George Schwartz, the curator-at-large for the new exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, titled, Conjuring the Spirit World: Art, Magic, and Mediums. Over the past twenty years, at PEM, George contributed to many of the institution’s most successful exhibitions. He has lectured internationally and teaches courses on […]

In this episode we interview the curator of the Fall River Historical Society, Michael Martins, about the past few years of work at the Society and the changes yet in store. It is a fascinating look at what goes on behind the scenes at the oldest cultural institution in Fall River, now celebrating its one […]

In this episode we interview Fall River historian and professor emeritus of history at Bridgewater State University, Dr. Philip T. Silvia Jr. He has edited three books on the Victorian history of Fall River, Titled Victorian Vistas, which are considered important sources not only of the history of the region but of labor and immigration. […]

In this episode we present part 3 of our interview with Dennis Binette, co-author of many books published by the Fall River Historical Society, including The Knowlton Papers, Women at Work, the Fall River Discourses series, The Knowlton-Pearson Correspondence, The Jennings Journals, and Parallel Lives: A Social History of Lizzie A Borden and Her Fall […]

In this episode we present part two of our interview with Dennis Binette, co-author of many books published by the Fall River Historical Society, including The Knowlton Papers, Women at Work, the Fall River Discourses series, The Knowlton-Pearson Correspondence, The Jennings Journals, and Parallel Lives: A Social History of Lizzie A Borden and Her Fall […]

In this episode we interview Dennis Binette, co-author of many books published by the Fall River Historical Society, including The Knowlton Papers, Women at Work, the Fall River Discourses series, The Knowlton-Pearson Correspondence, The Jennings Journals, and Parallel Lives: A Social History of Lizzie A Borden and Her Fall River. From his many years as […]

In this episode we interview Bill Spencer, author of the new book The Other Fall River Tragedy: The Murder of Bertha Manchester. Out now on Amazon in hard copy and Kindle, as well as the online store for the Fall River Historical Society. Bertha Manchester was murdered by multiple blows with an ax in her […]

In this episode we are delighted to have PeggyRae Johnson, award winning director and actor, and member of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association. She has multiple voice-overs to her credit, including recordings for Simon and Schuster Publishers. She will perform a dramatic reading of The Melancholy Scion. This story was first published in The Hatchet: A Journal of […]

In this episode we interview Dr. Stefani Koorey on her endeavor to raise funds to erect a marker on the grave of Edwin H. Porter, the author of The Borden Tragedy: A History of the Borden Murders, published in 1893. https://gofund.me/c593b4f9

In this episode we interview Bill Pavao, history teacher, author, former curator of the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast, and close personal friend of the late Leonard Rebello. This episode is talk about Len Rebello, a remembrance of sorts, an honor for those who knew him. Len passed away on February 13th of this year. […]